An ancient historian relates the following anecdote:

"Hengist having been defeated by the Britons, sent ambassadors to Vortigern entreating for peace. The King invited the strangers to a friendly feast, where the treaty could be considered.

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Hengist gladly accepted the invitation, but secretly desired his chieftains to carry their short Saxon swords beneath their garments. "All proceeded pleasantly, until Hengist exclaimed, Unsheath your daggers, when every Briton present, with the exception of Vortigern, was slain."

In order to free their beloved King from captivity, the Britons consented to invest the Saxon leader with the sovereignty of the counties of Kent, Essex, Sussex, and Middlesex, and thus the invaders obtained a permanent footing in the island. Hengist died A.D. 488.

THE ANGLO-SAXONS.

SAXON CROWNS,

THE HEPTARCHY.

FROM A.D. 457 тO A.D. 827.

THE Saxons, whom the unhappy Britons had called to their assistance, no sooner became aware of the fertility of the soil, and the unwarlike nature of the inhabitants, than their acts expressed an unwillingness to leave the country. They concluded a peace with the Picts, and commenced a quarrel with the Britons about the promised rewards. A long and cruel war ensued, and Horsa being killed in an action near Ailesford, his brother Hengist assumed the title and dignity of King, and founded the kingdom of KENT, A.D. 457.

Encouraged by this success of his countrymen, a chief, by name Ella, came over to try his fortune, accompanied by a train of warlike attendants, and the Britons giving way, these Saxons established the kingdom of SOUTH SAXONS, A.D. 490, including the present counties of Sussex and Surrey.

About this time Cerdic arrived, and landing in the west, waged war against the natives for upwards of twenty years. Other bodies

of Saxons coming to his assistance, he was enabled to found the kingdom of WESSEX, embracing Hampshire, Berkshire, Wilts, Dorset, Somerset, and Devon, A.D, 519. It was against this colony of Germans that the celebrated King Arthur waged such long and inveterate war. We have in vain endeavoured to obtain some connected account of his life, but his acts are so involved in fable, that nothing to be depended

upon can be imported into this work. There is, however, sufficient evidence to show that among the Western Britons, there existed a brave and virtuous Prince of this name, who gained many victories over the Saxons, and for forty years inflicted severe damage and defeat upon them.

The EAST SAXONS (Essex, Middlesex, and part of Herts) were settled in England under Erkenwin, A.D., 527.

EAST ANGLIA (Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge) was founded by Uffa, A.D. 575;

MERCIA (Cheshire, Stafford, Derby, Worcester, Warwick, Gloucester, Shropshire, Hereford, Oxford, Bedford, Bucks, Huntingdon, Northampton, Rutland, Nottingham, Leicester, Lincoln, and part of Wales) by Creda, 585, A.D.

One of the earliest colonies of Saxons who came to this country, established themselves in the north; but it was Ida, in 547, A.D., who arrived off Flamborough Head, with fifty galleys, and established the kingdom of NORTHUMBRIA (Northumberland, Cumberland, Durham, Westmoreland, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Scotland, to the Clyde).

Thus the SAXON HEPTARCHY (or seven kingdoms) was completed. Of the Kings of the Heptarchical States, it is necessary to say but little here. The Princes who reigned over the West Saxons, grew in power, and carried on constant war with the other kingdoms, which in the end came to be under the sovereignty of one monarch, Egbert, King of WESSEX, a.d. 827.

CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY.-A.D. 590.

Gregory the Great was one day passing through the Roman Forum, soon after the merchants had set out the various wares they had brought with them for sale, when he observed a number of young men, with fair complexions, of fine air and beautiful faces, who were to be sold for slaves. Being struck with their appearance, Gregory inquired from whence they came, and was told they were from Deira, in the island of the Angles. He then asked if the people of that land were Christians or Pagans, and being told they were Pagans, he exclaimed: "Woe is me, that men so amiable in their external appearance, should be destitute of the grace of God in their souls. They would not be Angles, but angels, if they were Christians - -Non Angli sed Angeli si Christiani." He immediately applied to the Pope-for it was before he had himself been elected to the papal dignity-and earnestly entreated him to send missionaries into England, to attempt the conversion of the people to Christianity.

ETHELBERT AND THE MISSIONARIES.-A.D. 604.

Gregory despatched St. Augustine as a missionary to England, who, on landing, sent ambassadors to Ethelbert King of Kent, apprising him of his object. The King returned for answer, that he could not, without further consideration, abandon the religion in which he had been

educated, but, as his visitors had come so far on a friendly errand, he would assign them the city of Canterbury for a residence.

The missionaries, armed with the royal licence, entered Canterbury in solemn procession, carrying before them a picture of Christ, on a silver cross, and singing this hymn, "We beseech Thee, O Lord, of Thy mercy, let Thy wrath and anger be turned away from this city, and from Thy holy place, for we have sinned. Hallelujah!" In a short time, Ethelbert and great numbers of his subjects became Christians, and Augustine baptized no fewer than 10,000 persons on one Christmas day. Sebert, King of the East Saxons, was converted immediately afterwards, and, to prove his sincerity, he pulled down the Temple of Apollo, which stood on the site of the present Westminster Abbey. Sebert established a bishop's see in London.

ANTIQUITY OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH.

Although St. Augustine came to Britain as a missionary, 596, A.D., we know that a Christian Church existed here long before that time. Tertullian, writing about 209, A.D., affirms, that "those parts of Britain into which the Roman arms had not penetrated, were become subject to Christ." Eusebius tells us that the Apostles had preached with success in many countries, "and to those which are called the British Islands." St. Paul, in his Second Epistle to Timothy, speaks of Claudia, who is believed to have been a British lady. The martyrdom of St. Alban, during the persecution under Dioclesian, took place A.D., 286. A duly constituted Church existed in Britain in the time of Constantine the Great, for three British Bishops were summoned by that Emperor to attend the Council of Arles, A.D., 314. The arrival of the Saxons checked the growth of Christianity, and the mission of St. Augustine was undertaken with the view of converting those heathens.

INA, KING OF WESSEX.-A.D. 718.

The richest kingdom established by the Saxons, in England, was Wessex, or that division now called Hampshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset, and Devon. King Ina was one of its most powerful and fortunate Sovereigns. He rebuilt the abbey at Glastonbury, and was the founder of the magnificent cathedral at Wells.

After a busy and useful reign of thirty-seven years, it happened that he travelled with his excellent Queen to one of his royal castles, where a splendid banquet was prepared with all the magnificence of Saxon profusion.

SAXON KING.

The repast ended, Ina left the place, when a rustic, by the Queen's orders, strewed the floors with filth and rubbish, and placed a litter of pigs on the couch the King had occupied. Before they had advanced far on their road, the Queen desired to return to the castle; her husband acceded to her request, but, on seeing the state of the place, he angrily demanded the cause.

"My lord and husband," she answered, "this is not, indeed, the noisy hilarity of yesterday; here are no brilliant hangings, no flattery and no parasites; here are no tables borne down with silver vessels, no exquisite delicacies to delight the palate; all are gone like the smoke and the wind. Have they not already passed into nothingness? And should we not feel ashamed who covet them so much? for we shall be as transient. Are we not like a river, running heedless and headlong to the ocean of eternity? Think how disgusting those things become of which we are so enamoured. Here we may see what our own pampered bodies will become. Ah! my King, let us reflect that the greater we have been, the more alarmed should we be, for the greater will be the punishment of our misconduct."

The singularity of this incident is said to have had such an effect on the mind of Ina that he resigned his crown, and retired to Rome, where he subsisted, during the remainder of his days, by the labour of his hands.

LEARNING AND LEARNED MEN IN THE EARLIER SAXON PERIOD.A.D. 449 TO 800.

On the first arrival of the Saxons in Britain we seek in vain either for traces of learning or men of genius; their whole time was occupied in piratical incursions; and, if the songs or heroic chants of their Scalds can be received as an evidence of learning, it was the only branch of science at all regarded; these songs were solely used to celebrate some cruel fray, or to excite warriors to emulate the barbarous deeds of others.

The only author of the sixth century, whose works have been handed down to us, is Gildas, a native British historian. His History of Britain is, however, only valuable for its antiquity and the absence of more reliable information.

The conversion of the Saxons to Christianity, under Ethelbert and Sebert, gave a considerable impulse to learning. Among the earliest sages of England was Aldhelm, who received his education in a college at Malmesbury, and afterwards became Bishop of Sherborne. He travelled over the continent, and studied at Rome. He was a poet; and observing how backward his countrymen were to listen to grave instruction, he composed a number of little poems, which he sung to them, after mass, to very sweet tunes. Augustine had, on his arrival, established a college at Canterbury, which, under his successor, Theodore, grew to great distinction, and possessed, for the period, a remarkably good library. Before the arrival of Augustine, it is uncertain whether there was a single book in all Britain; and the difficulty of procuring them was so great two hundred years later, that Alfred gave Abbot Benedict Biscop an estate of eight hides of land for a work on geography.

By far the most learned among the Anglo-Saxons, was the Venerable Bede, who flourished at the latter part of the seventh and the beginning

of the eighth centuries. Although he never attained a higher position than that of a simple monk of the monastery of Jarrow, he was the great luminary of the Christian world at that period. In 1612 an edition of his works was printed at Cologne, consisting of eight volumes, and containing essays on one hundred and thirty-nine subjects.

The ravages of the Danes interfered much with the advancement of learning; they destroyed the colleges, burnt the libraries, and massacred the monks and professors.

Alcuinus flourished in the latter part of this century, and was very famed for his genius. He was sent on an embassy to Charlemagne, who contracted such a love for him, that he maintained him in great honour many years as his preceptor.

The only sciences studied at this age were grammar, rhetoric, logic, music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy.

SAXON MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

Courage was deemed a necessary possession by all persons, and it was the custom of Saxon parents to appoint a certain day, when the friends of the family being present, the father placed

his infant son on the slanting roof of his house. If the child cried, or appeared to be fearful of failing, the spectators mourned, and prophesied that he would grow up a coward; but if he clung boldly to the thatch, and did not cry, they were transported with joy, and pronounced that he would prove a great hero.

To teach a child to read was thought an effeminacy, and the youth of England were trained alone to hunting and martial exercises. When Alfred the Great was twelve years old, neither he nor either of his three elder brothers could read one word of their native language. It is told as one of the greatest changes effected by this King, that his youngest son was taught to read before he knew how to hunt.

SAXON HOUSE.

Previously to commencing war, the Saxons procured by stratagem one of the enemy's soldiers, and compelled him to engage in single combat with one of their own people, each armed after the manner of his country, and, from the event of the duel, they drew a presage of their probable victory or defeat.

They were proud of long flowing locks, and one of the severest punishments that could be inflicted was cutting the hair short.

Their dress consisted of a linen shirt; a tunic cut to the shape of the body, extending to the middle of the leg, sometimes with sleeves and sometimes without; breeches of woollen cloth reached to the knee, and were fastened by a belt worn round the waist. Their feet were covered with shoes, the sole of wood and the upper part of leather.