HISTORY.

To the Norman Conquest.-Standard IV.

B.C. 55 To A.D. 1066.

Roman Conquest-B.C. 55 to A.D. 447.

B.C. 55.-England was early, known to the rest of Europe. It was peopled by the Gauls, or Celts, who came from Gaul, now called France. The most civilized parts were the southeast, especially what were afterwards the counties of Kent, Sussex, Hants, Suffolk, Essex, Middlesex. The chief occupations were tillage and agriculture. In the other parts of England the people gained a living by fishing or keeping flocks. They clothed themselves in the skins of beasts, and dwelt in huts in the midst of forests. The people were called Britons. Their government was in the hands of chiefs; their religion in those of the Druids, who educated the young, acted as physicians and magistrates, taught the doctrine of transmigration of souls, that is, that souls went into the bodies of animals after death; offered prisoners as sacrifices to their idols; were free from taxes and military service, and banished any who refused to obey them. These priests were divided into three classes: the Bards, Vates, and Druids, presided over by an Arch-Druid. The Bards were the heroic historians and poets; the Vates, the religious poets and prophets; the Druids, by far the most numerous, performed many offices. There were a few Druidesses, who were also divided into three classes. The first never married, and lived in solitary places; the second were married females; the third did the most menial work. The priesthood passed from father to son. Their great feast was Easter, when the Arch-Druid cut down a branch of the mistletoe with a golden sickle. Their worship was performed in the open air, near to raised stones. The most remarkable Druidical monument is at Stonehenge, near Salisbury, Wiltshire.

ROMAN INVASION.-Cæsar, the Roman general, invaded the part now known as Kent. The assigned reason he gave was that the Britons had helped the Gauls, but the real one was his desire to conquer Britain. The Britons, under a petty prince, Cassivelaunus, opposed his landing, and resisted the Romans near London, where the inhabitants were forced to surrender through the superior discipline of the enemy.

B.C. 54.-In the latter part of the autumn Julius Cæsar, Roman General, who had overrun all Gaul (France), cast his eye on our island. He had previously conquered the countries now called Austria, Hungary, and Italy. He embarked 8000 men on 120 vessels near the mouth of the Seine, and landed near Deal. The British, under Cassivelaunus, opposed the Romans as they disembarked, throwing stones, &c. Finding their efforts ineffectual, the British soldiers made hideous noises, and threw up their arms. The disciplined Romans in two hours landed, and drew up their soldiers, Cæsar putting himself at their head. He made a short speech-a custom common then-saying, "Comrades, I trust to your well-tried valour to achieve another conquest. I am not allured here by its riches or its renown, but am ambitious to carry our arms into a new world, and to revenge the help these people have given the Gauls." The British, contrary to the advice of Cassivelaunus, commenced the attack, which the Romans soon repelled. The disorganized troops again attacked the enemy, but were defeated. This disheartened them, and the Romans, seeing how matters stood, pressed their troops forward, cutting their way to the reserve troops under Cassivelaunus. The British General made a powerful appeal to the chiefs to support him, but the greater part left him. Cæsar advanced into the country, passed the Thames, and put Mandubratius in the place of Cassivelaunus. Having obliged the inhabitants to make new submissions, he again returned with his army into Gaul, and left the authority of the Romans more nominal tha real in this island.-Suetonius and Tacitus.

B.C. 54.-Cæsar had to return to Britain, as the Britons had broken their treaty.

B.C. 54 to A.D. 43.-Britain was in a state of anarchy, caused by civil wars and the pretensions of petty princes, who tried to usurp power.

A.D. 43.-Plautius, an able general, was sent over by the Emperor Claudius to subdue Britain, which task he accomplished.

A.D. 50.-Ostorius Scapula, another Roman general, advanced as far as the Severn, where he met with an obstinate resistance from a British prince named Caractacus, who was, however, defeated and sent to Rome.

A.D. 59.-Suetonius Paulinus attacked the Isle of Anglesey, the chief seat of the Druids. The Britons tried to prevent the Romans from landing on this sacred island; the women and priests mingled with the soldiers running about with torches, and with wild cries struck terror into the Romans. Suetonius, seeing his men waver, addressed his soldiers thus :-" Friends and companions in arms, do not be dismayed. Rome, which

has not been conquered, must not flee before women. On to the rescue." This encouraged them, and the fires which the Britons had made to burn the Romans in were used for the Britons. In the meantime an insurrection, headed by Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni (Suffolk, Norfolk, Huntingdon, and Cambridge), who had been shamefully treated by the Romans, had spread as far as London-a Roman colony. Suetonius hastened to the relief of London, which he found reduced to ashes, while 70,000 Romans were massacred. A battle took place near London, where 80,000 of the Britons were slain, and Boadicea herself, rather than fall into the hands of the enemy, put an end to her own life by poison.

GALGACUS AND AGRICOLA.-Tacitus relates the following:"In the year 138 the Picts and Scots, under Galgacus, formed a design to invade England, and to subjugate the southern part of the island. Agricola, hearing of their intentions through a Scotch deserter, hurried his troops over the Cheviot Hills, and gave battle to the Scotch near Edinburgh. The Scotch raised small earthworks, and planting themselves flat upon the ground, suddenly attacked the Romans with their swords. Agricola, however, was used to this kind of fighting, and expecting something like this, placed his best troops in a wood adjacent to the battle-field. As soon as he waved his hand, the Romans advanced before and behind, and hemmed in the Scotch, who were soon defeated, losing, as some reckon, as many as 20,000 men. To secure peace, Agricola fixed a chain of garrisons between the Friths of Clyde and Forth.

Britain was divided into seventeen states by the Romans. ROMAN GOVERNMENT.-The government of Britain by the Romans was entirely managed by the military and corporate towns, and the conquerors were very unfeeling to the Britons. The towns were peopled by the Romans; the country districts by the British peasantry. The large landowners were mostly Roman settlers. To keep a firm hold upon Britain, the Romans built fortified towns, and connected them by roads, the chief of which were:

1. Watling Street, extending from Dover through London, Chester, York, to Bowness (Cumberland).

2. Ermine Street, which ran from London to York, through Lincoln.

3. Sarn-Helen, connecting Chester with Caerleon (Monmouth), passing through the mining counties.

4. Fosse-Way, commencing in Devonshire, and passing through the middle of England, to end at Lincoln.

5. Rynneildway, from York to the mouth of the Severn. 6. Ichneildway, from Norwich to the middle of England, 7. Akeman Street,, from London to Bath.

To secure Britain from the Scots, the Romans built A.D. 121, Hadrian's Wall, between the Tyne and Solway. A.D. 140, Antonius' Wall, between the Forth and Clyde. A.D. 140, Agricola's Wall, between the Forth and Clyde. A.D. 210, Severus' Wall, between the Tyne and Solway.

The Romans kept the Britons in peace. This favoured. commerce, the mines were worked, and the conquerors made use of the rich stores of iron, salt, tin, &c. Farming was zealously followed. Large quantities of corn were yearly exported to Rome. The manners and customs of other more civilized countries were introduced, and bridges, baths, &c., were built. The native language was slightly altered by the introduction of Latin names.

CHIEF PERSONS.—(a) Cassivelaunus, or Cassibelan, supposed to have been born B. c. 90 or 100, so that he would be either 35 or 45 years of age when Cæsar landed; was commander-inchief of the Britons, and chief in the counties south of the Thames. He opposed the landing of the Romans, near Deal, and fought with the enemy, but, being deserted by the other petty princes, was obliged to surrender.

(b.) Caractacus opposed the Romans from A.D. 41-50, carrying on a guerilla war, cutting off detachments of the Romans, but was taken prisoner, A.D. 50, by Ostorius Scapula, who sent him in triumph to Rome. Tacitus relates :"While Caractacus was being led through Rome, he appeared no way cast down at the immense crowd of people gathered to see him, but casting his eyes on the ground, said: 'Alas! how is it possible that a people, possessed of such magnificence at home, could envy me a humble cottage in Britain.' The Emperor Claudius was so affected by his words, that he had him set at liberty.

(c.) Boadicea, queen of the Iceni. On the death of her husband (59) she was left with half of his kingdom, and the other half was ceded to the Romans. The latter took possession of the whole, and when Boadicea spoke against the injustice of their claim, she was flogged like a slave. This caused an insurrection, and no less than 230,000 men banded themselves together to drive out the Romans, and Boadicea was made leader. These soon reduced London to ashes, as everyone fled; but Paulinus overthrew them near London, with the loss of 80,000 of their men, and the queen was so disheartened that she poisoned herself.

(d.) Julius Agricola, the sixth Roman general who visited Britain, defeated the Scotch, and advanced into Scotland (then called Caledonia) as far as the Firth of Forth. He built a wall, called by his name (140). He introduced Roman laws, language, manners, letters, sciences, &c.

(e.) St. Alban, the first British Christian who joined "the noble army of martyrs," was put to death by the Romans in 304, at Verulamium, now St. Albans, in Hertfordshire. He had been a soldier in the Roman army, and having secretly heard the Word of God taught he embraced the faith.

(f.) Pelagius, a native of Britain, supposed to have lived from 400-450, denied the Godhead of Christ, and taught that He was merely a wonderful man.

(g.) Vortigern, chief of the British princes, invited over the Saxons into England to drive out the Picts and Scots from the northern borders of England, in 449.

BRITISH APPEAL FOR HELP, A.D. 448.-The unhappy Britons made a third appeal to Rome for help to attack the Picts and Scots, but these being in a strait themselves were cbliged to refuse. The letter was inscribed "The Groans of the Britons." The contents ran thus: “The barbarians, on the one hand, chase us into the sea; the sea, on the other, throws us back upon the barbarians; and we have only the hard choice left us, of perishing by the sword or by the waves."-Gildas and Bede.

The Saxon Conquest.-455 to 827.

A.D. 450.-The first arrival of the Saxons was in the Isle of Thanet, in Kent. The word "Saxon" is supposed to be derived from " Seax," a sword, from the short swords worn by them; by others it is derived from Sakai," a tribe of the Scythians. They were divided into three tribes; Jutes, Angles, and Saxons. The Jutes and Angles inhabited Jutland, Sleswig and Holstein in Denmark. The Saxons dwelt in the territory lying between the Weser and the Rhine, including the countries of Westphalia, Friesland, Holland, and part of Belgium.

Hengist and Horsa (brothers), leaders of the Saxons, landed with 1,000 men. Defeat of the Picts and Scots.

ARRIVAL OF SAXONS, 450.-Hengist and Horsa, two brothers, possessed great credit among the Saxons, and were much celebrated for their valour and nobility. They were reputed to be sprung from Woden, a god worshipped by the Saxons. A deputation from England set out in 450, asking the Saxons to send over troops to chastise the Picts and Scots, and promising them as a reward the Isle of Thanet. Hengist and Horsa took three vessels, and on these embarked 1000 troops, who landed in the Isle of Thanet, near Ramsgate. The brothers were welcomed by Vortigern, the British leader, and were feasted many days. The Saxons marched their forces to the north, and in a severe engagement fought on the borders near the Cheviot Hills, defeated the Picts and Scots. Finding the British could be easily subdued, the Saxons sought a quarrel, by complaining that the provisions and money for