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LESSON LXIII.

MARCH THE FOURTH.

Ratification of the Pennsylvania Treaty

On this day, in 1681, an innumerable multitude of Indians assembled near the site of the present city of Philadelphia, and were seen, with their dark visages and brandished arms, moving in vast swarms in the depth of the woods which then overshadowed the whole of that now cultivated region. On the other hand, William Penn, with a moderate attendance of friends, advanced to meet them. He came, of course, unarmed, in his usual plain dress, without banners, or mace, or guards, or carriages; and only distinguished from his companions by wearing a blue sash of silk network, and by having in his hand a roll of parchment, on which was engrossed the confirmation of the treaty of purchase and amity. As soon as he drew near the spot where the Sachems were assembled, the whole multitude of Indians threw down their weapons, and seated themselves on the ground in groups, each under his own chieftain; and the presiding chief intimated to William Penn that the natives were ready to hear him.

Having been thus called upon, he began: "The Great Spirit," he said, "who made him and them, who ruled the heaven and the earth, and who knew the innermost thoughts of man, knew that he and his friends had a hearty desire to live in peace and friendship with them, and to serve them to the utmost of their power. It was

not their custom to use hostile weapons against their fellow-creatures, for which reason they had come unarmed. Their object was not to do injury, and thus provoke the Great Spirit, but to do good. They were then met on the broad path-way of good faith and good-will, so that no advantage was to be taken on either side, but all was to be openness, brotherhood, and love."

After these and other words, he unrolled the parchment, and, by means of the interpreter, conveyed to them, article by article, the conditions of the purchase, and the words of the compact then made for their eternal union. Among other things they were not to be molested in their lawful pursuits, even in the territory they had alienated, for it was to be common to them and the English. They were to have the same liberty to do all things therein relating to the improvement of their grounds, and providing sustenance for their families, which the English

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had. If any disputes should arise between the two, they should be settled by twelve persons, half of whom should be English and half Indians. He then paid them for the land, and made them many presents from the merchandise which had been spread before them.

Having done this, he laid the roll of parchment on the ground, observing again, that the ground should be common to both people. He then added, that he would not do as the Marylanders did, that is, call them children or brothers only; for often parents were apt to whip their children too severely, and brothers sometimes would differ; neither would he compare the friendship between him and them to a chain, for the rain might sometimes rust it, or a tree might fall and break it; but he should consider them as the same flesh and blood with the Christians, and the same as if one man's body was to be divided into two parts. He then took up the parchment and presented it to the Sachem, who wore a horn in his chaplet, and desired him and the other Sachems to preserve it carefully for three generations, that their children might know what had passed between them, just as if he had remained himself with them to repeat it.

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The Indians, in return, made long and stately harangues of which, however, no more seems to have been remembered, but that "they pledged themselves to live in love with William Penn and his children, as long as the sun and moon should endure." And thus ended this famous treaty; of which Voltaire has remarked, with so much truth and severity, "that it was the only one ever concluded between Savages and Christians that was not ratified by an oath."

1. What took place on this day, in 1681? 2. Where is Pennsylvania situated ?

3. What is meant by Friends, as here used?

4. What did the Indians when William Penn drew near? 5. In what terms has Voltaire remarked on this treaty ?

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WHEN Britain was deserted by the Romans, the country remained exposed to the savage incursions of the Picts and Scots; the inhabitants, unable to protect themselves, and refused aid by the emperors, who were oppressed by the barbarians, deserted their habitations, abandoned their

fields, and sought shelter in the hills and woods, where they suffered equally from famine and the enemy. At length Vortigern, one of their princes, advised his countrymen to seek foreign aid; and they, forgetting prudence in the extremity of their fears, invited the Saxons to their aid from- Germany.

The Saxons and Angles, from small beginnings, had gradually extended their sway from the mouth of the Rhine to the coast of Jutland; their piratical vessels scoured the seas of western Europe; and the maritime cities of Gaul, Spain, and Britain were frequently plundered by their corsairs, or forced to purchase safety by the payment of a large tribute. Among the chiefs of their warlike tribes, none enjoyed greater authority than the two brothers, Hengist and Horsa, who claimed to be descended from Woden, the tutelary god of the nation. To these leaders the application of Vortigern was made; they readily accepted his invitation, and accompanied by about 1600 of their countrymen landed in the isle of Thanet.

The Picts and Scots were subdued with so much facility that the adventurers began to reflect how easily they might conquer a nation unable to resist such feeble invaders; instead of returning home, they invited over fresh hordes of their countrymen, and received from Germany a reinforcement of 5000 men. A long and cruel series of wars ensued, in which the Saxons and another barbarous tribe, the Angles, continually supported by crowds of volunteers from Germany, triumphed over the Britons in almost every encounter, and finally drove the miserable remnant of the nation to seek refuge in the mountains of Wales and Cornwall. The struggle lasted 150 years, and ended in the division of southern Britain into seven Saxon kingdoms, commonly called the Heptarchy.

The Christian religion was first established in the county of Kent, the earliest and long the most powerful of the Saxon monarchies. Ethelbert, its sovereign, though a pagan, had married a Christian princess, Bertha, the daughter of Caribert, one of the successors of Clovis, and had promised to allow her the free exercise of her religion. Bertha, by the excellence of her conduct, acquired considerable influence over the mind both of her husband and his courtiers; and Pope Gregory thought it a favourable opportunity to send missionaries into England. Augustine, the chief of the mission, was honourably re

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ceived at the court of Ethelbert; and began to preach the gospel to the people of Kent, A. D. 597. The rigid austerity of his manners, and the severe penances to which he subjected himself, wrought powerfully upon the minds of a barbarous people, and induced them readily to believe the pretended miracles he wrought for their conversion. Ethelbert and the great majority of his subjects were soon received into the church, and Augustine was consecrated the first archbishop of Canterbury.

The history of the separate kingdoms of the Heptarchy scarcely possess any interest; they were perpetually engaged in petty wars; and the only name among their chiefs that deserves notice is that of Offa, King of Mercia, who zealously laboured to extend the power of the Romish see in England, and founded the magnificent monastery of St. Alban's. The kingdom of Mercia had nearly obtained the sovereignty of the Heptarchy when Egbert ascended the throne of Wessex (A. D. 799), as the kingdom of the West Saxons was called. He broke down the Mercian power; and as his policy was as conspicuous as his valour, he was enabled to unite the realm of England into an orderly monarchy, possessing tranquillity within itself, and secure from foreign invasion. This great event occurred in the year 827, nearly 400 years after the first arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain.

1. What was the name of the prince who invited the Saxons over to defend the Britons from the Picts and Scots ?

2. How long did the struggle last between the Britons and their once friendly invaders ?—and what followed?

3. At what period did Augustine commence his mission?

4. What ecclesiastical dignity was conferred on him?

5. When did Egbert put an end to the Heptarchy ?

LESSON LXV.-MARCH THE SIXTH.

The Writings of Oliver Goldsmith.

THE muse of Goldsmith was all simplicity; she brought to her favourite son the Hyblam honey on the oaken leaf. He required no trumpet's clang or golden shower to awake him to duty; but he sought the pulsations of the heart, as they beat in friendship and affection, and he made sweet music from them all. His prose and verse delight at every perusal, as the sight of a lovely landscape. The "Vicar of Wakefield,” the “Traveller," and the “De

serted Village," have a perpetual charter of existence. Youth commits them to memory, and age repeats them when his eye can no longer drink in the beauties of genius from the printed page. Let us take as a specimen of his style the following lines on "Freedom:

"As nature's ties decay,

As duty, love, and honour, fail to sway,
Fictitious bonds, the bonds of wealth and law,
Still gather strength, and force unwilling awe.
Hence all obedience bows to these alone,
And talent sinks and merit weeps unknown;
Till time may come, when stript of all her charms,
The land of scholars, and the nurse of arms,
Where noble stems transmit the patriot flame,
Where kings have toil'd, and poets wrote for fame,
One sink of level avarice shall lie,

And scholars, soldiers, kings, unhonour'd die.

"Yet think not, thus when Freedom's ills I state,
I mean to flatter kings, or court the great.
Ye powers of truth, that bid my soul aspire,
Far from my bosom drive the low desire!
And thou, fair Freedom, taught alike to feel
The rabble's rage, and tyrant's angry steel;
Thou transitory flower, alike undone

By proud contempt, or favour's fostering sun:
Still may thy blooms the changeful clime endure,
I only would repress them to secure:

For just experience tells in every soil,

That those who think, must govern those that toil;
And all that Freedom's highest aims can reach,
Is but to lay proportion'd loads on each.
Hence, should one order disproportion'd grow,
Its double weight must ruin all below.

"O then, how blind to all that truth requires,
Who think it freedom when a part aspires!
Calm is my soul, nor apt to rise in arms,
Except when fast approaching danger warns;
But when contending chiefs blockade the throne,
Contracting regal power to stretch their own;
When I behold a factious band agree

To call it freedom when themselves are free;
Each wanton judge new penal statutes draw,
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law;
The wealth of climes, where savage nations roam,
Pillaged from slaves, to purchase slaves at home;
Fear, pity, justice, indignation start,

Tear off reserve, and bare my swelling heart,
Till half a patriot, half a coward grown,
I fly from petty tyrants to a throue!"

The gifted author of "The Pleasures of Hope " (T. Campbell) thus speaks of the sterling qualities of Gold

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