A Summary of the History of England, Tr. by J. Duncan (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: PART I. INVASIONS?FEUDALISM?RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION. CELTS OB BRITONS, ROMANS, PICTS, SAXONS, ANGLES, DANES?THE HEPTARCHY?EGBERT?POWER OF THE CLERGY. When Julius Caesar invaded Great Britain, that island, called by the Romans Albion, was inhabited by a people of Celtic origin, whose manners bore a great analogy to those of the Gauls. Entirely conquered under the Emperor Claudius, it rebelled and was subjugated in the year seventy-eight of our era, by Agri- cola, the Roman praised by Tacitus. The Britons accustomed themselves to the yoke of the masters of the world, under the paternal administration of that hero, who was virtuous, and respected in a servile and corrupt court. But when the Roman power began to totter, the Picts and Caledonians, who inhabited Scotland, crossed the wall which Agricola had constructed on the northern confines of England. The Romans, whose vast empire was menaced from all quar- 447 ters, evacuated the province, which they had occupied for nearly four centuries, and abandoned the Britons to themselves. For some time Christianity had been spread among them; they were divided by theological controversies, and the heresy of Pelagius. On several occasions the Picts ravaged the country with impunity. The Saxon vessels reached the coast. This people of the north of Germany were ferocious and warlike. In common with all the German tribes, they deliberated in camps, were faithful to their chiefs, neglected agriculture, reared flocks and herd, and lived a nomadic or wandering life. Having first vanquished and expelled the Picts under the chiefs Hengist and Horsa, they next subdued the Britons, who, after resistance and a reluctant submission, partly fled for shelter into Armorica. That French province is now called Brittany. New hordes of Germans, amon...