THE ROYAL HISTORY READERS. No. I.-ENGLAND TO 1154. 1. THE EARLY BRITONS. 1. Two thousand years ago, the country in which we live was almost covered with dense forests, where roamed wolves, bears, wild boars, and whitemaned bulls. The Britons who lived in it then were the forefathers of the Welsh. But they were a wild and almost savage race. The country was little known to other nations.1 very 2. In those days there were no large towns, nor pretty villages, nor well-built houses; no churches, nor school-houses. Here, and there, where the forest had been cleared, there were a few poor huts, made of rods tied into the shape of a bee-hive or a sugarloaf, and covered with mud and turf. Perhaps a trench or ditch was cut around the huts, to keep off the wild beasts. 3. The Early Britons did not 'till the soil. They sowed no corn or other seeds. They lived on roots and fruits, and on the flesh of animals killed in hunting. In winter, they wore skins to keep themselves warm; but in summer they went almost naked; and they painted strange figures on their bodies, to make them look terrible to their enemies. 4. Those who lived near the south coast were not so 'savage. They traded in tin and in pearls with people who came across the English Channel. From their visitors they learned to till the soil, to grow corn, and to rear cattle. They had also learned to wear gay clothing, and chains of silver and of gold. 5. The Britons were fond of war. They fought with bows and arrows, with spears and clubs. They fought on foot and on horseback, and in 'chariots armed with scythes, which they drove wildly among their foes. 2 6. In religion they were 'pagans. They worshipped the sun and the moon and the serpent; and they looked on the oak, with the mistletoe growing on it, as a sacred tree. Their priests were called Druids. They had long beards, and they wore white robes. They made laws, they taught the young, they healed the sick, and they offered sacrifices to their gods. Sometimes these sacrifices consisted of men,-criminals and prisoners taken in war, —who were burned in large cages of wicker-work. char-i-ots, cars used in war. cleared, cut down. dense, thick; close. | pa-gans, idolaters; heathens. ter-ri-ble, fierce; frightful. mis-tle-toe, an evergreen plant which till, delve or plough. grows on certain trees. 1 Other nations.-In early times, some of the ancient nations of the Mediterranean coasts used to visit the Scilly Isles and the coast of Cornwall. wor-shipped, took as their gods. | They carried away tin with them, and called the islands the Tin Islands." 2 Druids. From a word meaning the oak-tree. |