PREFACE TO NEW EDITION.

THIS little work is intended to give such a sketch English History as may be fairly mastered by t Upper Classes of National and Middle-Class Schoo and by Pupil Teachers in the early years of the apprenticeship. It has also been found useful (whe employed in conjunction with a larger work) students in Training Colleges.

The writer has endeavoured to avoid that drynes which too frequently characterises brief compendiums by introducing into the narrative striking illustrativ anecdotes and quotations from writers contemporar with the events recorded.

The chapters on the Constitution are entirely new and will, it is hoped, meet a want that has long been felt both by teachers and pupils. Even in our largest school histories, the history of the Constitution has been very meagrely handled, and in no case, so far as the writer is aware, has it been treated continuously. Yet it is surely of greater importance for a lad to know how our Constitution arrived at its present form than to know the biographies of the kings of England. E. D.

BATTERSEA, September, 1871.

OUTLINES

OF

ENGLISH HISTORY.

I. THE BRITONS.

1. Early History.-The British Islands appear to have been first peopled by various Celtic tribes, who must have migrated from the neighbouring coasts of Europe.

The Celts were a people, who, at a very early period, occupied a great part of Western Europe. It is conjectured that they came over to Britain in two bodies, and that between these migrations a considerable time elapsed. For the sake of distinction, the first body has been called the Old Celts, and the second the New Celts. The descendants of the former are supposed to be found in the Erse or Irish, and in the Highlanders of Scotland; those of the latter in the ancient Britons and modern Welsh.

Before the Romans visited Britain some Teutonic tribes had settled on its southern shores. They came from the district now called Flanders, having been driven from that country by an inundation.

They are said to have crossed the sea in open boats without sails, and to have first landed in the Isle of Wight.

2. Name. The derivation of the name Britain is uncertain. It comes most probably, however, from a Celtic word, meaning painted, which was, perhaps, first applied to the painted natives, and then transferred to the island itself. The British Islands were called by the early Greek writers Cassiter'ides, or Tin Islands, because tin was the chief article of commerce for which they were then visited.

Some derive Britain from Prydain, one of the early British princes; others from Erettan, signifying "a land of hills."

The common notion during the middle ages was that it cam from Brut or Brutus, the son of the celebrated Trojan princ Eneas, who was fabled to have visited this island soon afte the siege of Troy.

3. Earliest Religion.-The Ancient Britons wer idolatrous, and worshipped the sun, the moon, th serpent, fire and water, the oak, and especially the misletoe. Their religious rites were conducted by a class of men called Druids. These were divided into three orders, viz. :—

I. The DRUIDS PROPER, who were the priests and the chief rulers;

II. The BARDS, who were the poets, musicians, and teachers of youth;

III. The VATES, who studied astronomy, physic, and divination.

The name Druid comes most probably either from a Celtic word, meaning wise-men, or from deru, the Celtic name of the oak, the oak being highly venerated in the Druidical ceremonies.

Human sacrifices were frequently offered to their gods; and, on important festivals, numbers of captives were enclosed in huge wicker-baskets, and then committed to the flames. The Britons worshipped in rude open-air temples, consisting of large blocks of stone arranged in circles, one within another.

Of these some still exist. The most noted is Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain, the stones of which are so large that it was supposed to have been constructed by superhuman agency.

4. Manners, Customs, &c.-The dwellings of the Ancient Britons were made of interwoven boughs of trees and reeds, and were shaped like a hut or cabin. Their villages consisted of a number of these huts, surrounded by a trench and mound to protect them from their enemies. In the southern parts of the island agriculture was pursued to some extent, corn was grown, and the people were well, though rudely clothed; but in the centre and north the cultivation of the soil was neglected, the people lived chiefly on the produce of the chase, and were only partially clothed. They were engaged in continuous warfare, and, to

render their appearance the more terrible in battle, they painted and tattooed their bodies like the modern South-Sea islanders.

This tattooing was done by pricking out the outlines of various objects in the flesh, and then rubbing into the bleeding punctures a blue or green dye, obtained from a plant called woad.

They generally fought on foot, their principal arms being the javelin, the lance, a shield, and a rudely made sword. Sometimes, however, they fought on horseback and in war-chariots.

These chariots had scythes and hooks attached to their axletrees, and, when driven in amongst the enemy, mowed down everything that came in their course.

The boats, which they used for fishing and travelling, were formed of osiers, woven together and covered with skins, and differed very little from the coracle which may be still seen on many Welsh rivers.

They were acquainted with the methods of smelting some of the metals; and bronze, which is a mixture of copper and tin, was extensively used by them in manufacturing their implements of war.

Many of their metal weapons, and also of their flint arrowheads, have been discovered, and may be seen in our museums.

They subsisted chiefly on the flesh of the bison, the boar, and deer; their favourite beverage was mead, a drink made from honey.

18091

II. BRITAIN UNDER THE ROMANS.

B.C. 55 to A.D. 430.

1. First Roman Invasion.-Julius Cæsar, a celebrated Roman dictator and general, having conquered Gaul, determined on the subjugation of Britain. He set sail from a place near Calais with 10,000 men, and landed on the east coast of Kent, probably at Deal. Here he was so courageously opposed by the Britons, that, after the short stay of three weeks in the island, he returned to Gaul, B.C. 55.

The invading army was met by the natives on the beach, and so determined did they appear, that the Roman soldiers hesitated in landing. At length the standard-bearer of the tenth legion leaped overboard, exclaiming, "Follow me, my fellow soldiers, unless you will give up your eagle to the enemy. I, at least, will do my duty to the Republic and to our general." His bravery animated the rest of the Roman troops, and, after a well-sustained contest, they succeeded in effecting a landing.

2. Second Roman Invasion-In the following summer, B.C. 54, Cæsar returned with 30,000 infantry and 2000 horse, and landed at the same place as before. His troops were disembarked without any opposition, and he then marched on to the neighbourhood of the modern Canterbury. Here he was met by the Britons, who were assembled under the command of a prince named Cassivellaúnus. A battle ensued in which the Romans were victorious, and the Britons were obliged to retreat across the Thames. They were followed by Cæsar, and Cassivellaúnus was besieged in his own capital, an ill-defended fortress near the site of the present St. Albans. The British prince was soon obliged to submit, and Cæsar, having imposed a tribute and received hostages, returned to Gaul.

To fortify the passage of the Thames, the Britons drove sharp stakes into the bottom of its channel, sufficiently deep to be concealed by the water. The remains of them were visible as late as the last century.

Cæsar's expedition was never regarded as a conquest, and a Roman writer says, that "he did not conquer Britain, but merely showed it to the Romans."

3. AULUS PLAUTIUS. For nearly a hundred years Britain remained undisturbed by the Romans. Claudius Cæsar then determined on its re-invasion, and sent an army to Britain of 50,000 men, under two famous generals, Aulus Plautius and Vespasian, A.D. 43. Their success was at first but trifling, and after seven years they had not advanced further north than the Thames. In the western part of the island the Britons, under a prince named Caractacus, made a brave resistance for nine years; but they were