The Picts and Scots uniting together, began to look upor Britain as their own, and attacked the northern wall, which the Romans had built to keep off their incursions, with success. Having thus opened to themselves a passage, they ravaged the whole country with impunity, while the Britons sought precarious shelter in their woods and mountains.

It was in this deplorable and enfeebled state that the British kings and chieftains assembled to deliberate on the means which they should adopt for their safety, and resolved to apply for aid to the Saxons, a brave people; who, for their strength and valour, were formidable to all the German nations around them, and supposed to be more than a match for the gods themselves. They were a people restless and bold, who considered war as their trade; and were, in consequence, taught to consider victory as a doubtful advantage, but courage as a certain good. A nation, however, entirely addicted to war, has seldom wanted the imputation of cruelty, as those terrors which are opposed without fear, are often inflicted without regret. The Saxons are represented as a very cruel nation; but we must remember that their enemies have drawn the picture.

It was no disagreeable circumstance to these ambitious people to be invited into a country, upon which they had, for ages before, been forming designs. In consequence, therefore, of the invitation of Vortigern, sovereign of the Silures, and the most powerful of the British monarchs, they arrived with fifteen hundred men, under the command of Hengist and Horsa, who were brothers, and landed on the isle of Thanet. There they did not long remain inactive; but being joined by the British

• By "northern wall" the author probably intended the wall of Sevērus. The idea of securing the Roman conquests in Britain by works of art, sinos natural barriers were wanting, originated with Jūlius Agricola, who first erec ed a chain of forts between the Solway Firth and the mouth of the Tyne, and afterwards between the rivers Clyde and Forth. In the year 120, the Emperor Adrian threw up a rampart of earth, in the same tract with the forts of Agricola, from the Solway Firth to where Newcastle now stands; and, at the distance of ninety years, Sevērus built a stone wall parallel to the work of Adrian and only a few yards to the north of it, which he strengthened with numerous castles, turrets, and stations. Antoninus Pius, the successor of Adrian, in the year 140 caused a rampart to be erected between the Clyde and Forth nearly in the line of the forts built by Agricola. Of this structure the foundation only was stone, the rest earth; but protected by castles and military stations. By the natives this work of Antoninus was known by the name of Graham's dyke Scarcely a single trace of it now remains, and the ramparts of Adrian and Severus have almost wholly disappeared.-Ed.

forces, they boldly marched against the Picts and Scots, whó had advanced as far as Lincolnshire, and soon gained a complete victory over them.

The Saxons, however, being sensible of the fertility of the country to which they came, and the barrenness of that which they had left behind, invited over great numbers of their countrymen to become sharers in their new expedition. Accordingly they received a fresh supply of five thousand men, who passed over in seventeen vessels, and soon made a permanent establishment in the island.

In order to secure the country to themselves the Saxons concluded a peace with the Picts whom they came to subdue, made war on their allies who now saw their treachery and cruelty, and detesting Vortigern for his vices, fled, some to that part of France called from them Brittany, others to the woods, and a considerable number appointed Vortimer, son of Vortigern, king. This prince died soon after a victory which he obtained at Egglesford, when his father was reinstated upon the throne.

After the death of Hengist, several other German tribes, allured by the success of their countrymen, came over in great numbers. A body of Saxons, under the conduct of Ella and his three sons, had some time before laid the foundation of the kingdom of the South Saxons, though not without great opposition and bloodshed. This new kingdom, which included Surry, Sussex, and the New Forest, and extended to the frontiers of Kent, was founded in the year 457.

Another tribe of Saxons, under the command of Cerdic, and his son Cynric, landed in the West, and thence took the name of West Saxons. These met with a very vigorous resistance from the natives, but being reinforced from Germany, and assisted by their countrymen on the island, they routed the Britons; and although retarded in their progress by the celebrated king Arthur, they had strength enough to keep possession of the conquests which they had already made. Cerdic, therefore, with his son Cynric, established the third Saxon kingdom in the island, namely, that of the West Saxons, including Hantshire, Dorsetshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, and the Isle of Wight.

It was in opposing this Saxon invader that the celebrated Prince Arthur acquired his fame. However unsuccessful all his valour might have been in the end, yet his name made so great a figure in the fabulous annals of the times, that some notice must be taken of him. This prince is of such obscure original, that some authors suppose him to be the son of king

Ambrosius, and others only his nephew; others again affirm that he was a Cornish prince, and son of Gurlois, king of that province. However this be, it is certain he was a commander of great valour; and, could courage alone repair the miserable state of the Britons, his might have been effectual. According to the most authentic historians, he is said to have worsted the Saxons in twelve successive battles. In one of these, namely, that fought at Caerbadon, in Berkshire, it is asserted that he killed no less than four hundred and forty of the enemy with his own hand. But the Saxons were too numerous and powerful to be extirpated by the desultory efforts of single valour; so that a peace, and not conquest, were the immediate fruits of his victories. The enemy, therefore, still gained ground; and this prince, in the decline of life, had the mortification, from some domestic troubles of his own, to be a patient spectator of their encroachments. His first wife had been carried off by Melnas, king of Somersetshire, who detained her a whole year at Glastonbury, until Arthur, discovering the place of her retreat, advanced with an army against the ravisher, and obliged him to give her back. In his second wife, perhaps, he might have been more fortunate, as we have no mention made of her; but it was otherwise with his third consort, who was debauched by his own nephew, Mordred. This produced a rebellion, in which the king and his traitorous kinsman, meeting in battle, slew each other.

In the mean time, while the Saxons were thus gaining ground in the west, their countrymen were not less active in other parts of the island. Adventurers still continuing to pour over from Germany, one body of them, under the command of Uffa, seized upon the counties of Cambridge, Suffolk, and Norfolk, and gave their commander the title of king of the East Angles, which was the fourth Saxon kingdom founded in Britain.

Another body of these adventurers formed a kingdom under the title of East Saxony, or Essex, comprehending the counties of Essex, Middlesex, and part of Hertfordshire. This kingdom, which was dismembered from that of Kent, formed the fifth Saxon principality founded in Britain.

The kingdom of Mercia was the sixth which was established by these fierce invaders, comprehending all the middle counties, from the banks of the Severn to the frontiers of the two last named kingdoms.

The seventh and last kingdom which they obtained, was that of Northumberland, one of the most powerful and exten

sive of them all. This was formed from the union of two smaller Saxon kingdoms; the one called Bernicia, the othe Deira which comprehended Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Counties of Westmoreland, Durham, Cumberland, Northumberland, besides Scotland to the south of the Firth of Forth. These kingdoms were united in the person of Ethelfred, king of Northumberland, by the expulsion of Edwin, his brother-in-law, from the kingdom of Deira, and the seizure of his dominions. In this manner, the natives being overpowered, or entirely expelled, seven kingdoms were established in Britain, which have been since well known by the name of the SAXON HEP

TARCHY.

The Saxons being thus established in all the desirable parts of the island, and having no longer the Britons to contend with, began to quarrel among themselves. A country divided into a number of petty independent principalities, must ever be subject to contention, as jealousy and ambition have more frequent incentives to operate. After a series, therefore, of battles, treasons, and stratagems, all their petty principalities fell under the power of Egbert, king of Wessex, whose merits deserved dominion, and whose prudence secured his conquests. By him all the kingdoms of the Heptarchy were united under one common jurisdiction in the year 827; but, to give splendou. to his authority, a general council of the clergy and laity was summoned at Winchester, where he was solemnly crowned king of England, by which name the united kingdom was thenceforward called.

Thus, about three hundred and seventy eight years after the first arrival of the Saxons in Britain, all the petty settlements were united into one great state, and nothing offered but prospects of peace, security, and increasing refinement.

It was upwards of two hundred years before this period that St. Gregory undertook to send missionaries among the Saxons, to convert them to Christianity. It is said, that, before his ele vation to the papal chair, he chanced one day to pass through the slave-market at Rome, and perceiving some children of great beauty who were set up for sale, he enquired about their country, and finding they were English Pagans, he is said to have cried out, in the Latin language, Non Angli, sed Angèli, forent, si essent Christiāni, that is, they would not be English, but angels, if they were Christians. From that time he was struck with an ardent desire to convert that unenlightened nation, and ordered a monk, named Austin, or Augustine, and others

of the same fraternity, to undertake the mission to Britain in the year 596.

This pious monk, upon his first landing in the isle of Thanet, sent one of his interpreters to Ethelbert, the Kentish king, declaring he was come from Rome, with offers of eternal salvation. The king immediately ordered them to be furnished with all necessaries, and even visited them, though without declaring himself as yet in their favour. Augustine, however, encouraged by this favourable reception, and now seeing a prospect of success, proceeded with redoubled zeal to preach the gospel. The king openly espoused the Christian religion, while his example wrought so successfully on his subjects, that numbers of them came voluntarily to be baptized, their missioner loudly declaring against any coercive means towards their conversion. In this manner the other kingdoms, one after the other, embraced the faith; and England was soon as famous for its superstition as it had once been for its aversion to Christianity.

EXERCISES.

What nations united to harass the Britons on the departure of the Romans? What is meant by "northern wall"? Who first thought of secur ing the Roman conquests in Britain by works of art? Where did Julius Agricola erect his first chain of forts and his second? In what year did the Emperor Hadrian throw up a rampart of earth? Was the wall of Severus near that of Hadrian, and of what was it built? Describe the rampart of Antoninus Pius. To whom did the Britons apply for assistance? What was the character of the Saxons ? Who was then the most powerful of the British monarchs? Of what number did the first reinforcement of the Saxons consist? Who commanded them? Where did they land? Over whom did they gain a complete victory? What induced them to invite more of their countrymen to Britain? How many arrived in the second embarkation? In what manner did they afterwards act towards their allies? Why was Vortigern detested? What was the name and fate of his son? In what year and by whom was the kingdom of the south Saxons founded? What did it include? What was the name of the next Saxon kingdom, and under whose command was it established? What did it include? Who acquired celebrity in opposing this last settlement? Relate what is known of the history of prince Arthur. Under whom did the Saxons found their fourth kingdom? What title did he receive, and what counties were included in his dominions? What counties were contained in the kingdom of East Saxony? What was the name of the sixth Saxon kingdom, and what did it comprehend? Was there any other kingdom founded by the Saxons, and how was it called? What English counties did it comprehend? Did it include any part of Scotland? By what name are these seven kingdoms known in history? What was the consequence of the country being divided into so many independent states? Who obtained possession of the whole, and in what year? What title did he assume? How many years