CONVERSATION II.

THE servant had no sooner removed the tea equipage, than the children requested their father to continue.

The Saxon Heptarchy.

"In the then defenceless and enfeebled state of the Britons, the Picts and Scots uniting, resolved to make the kingdom their own; and for that purpose attacking the northern wall which the Romans had built to prevent their excursions, they succeeded in forcing a passage, and ravaged the whole country with impunity; driving the distressed Britons before them, and obliging them to seek for shelter in their woods and mountains. In this harassed and enfeebled condition they had no resource but to crave the assistance of the

Saxons, the most formidable of the German nations, a people bred to war and fearless of danger. Vortigern, who was then king of Britain, sent the invitation, which was immediately accepted, and fifteen hundred Saxons, under the command of Hengist and Horsa, who were brothers, landed in the isle of Thanet. These being joined by the British forces marched against the Picts and Scots, who had advanced as far as Lincolnshire, where, giving them battle, they gained a complete victory.

"After this success, the Saxons soon became sensible of the fertility of the land to which they had been invited, and contrasting it with the barrenness of their own, ardently longed to possess it: to effect which, they sent for great numbers of their countrymen, and receiving a supply of five thousand soldiers, they formed a permanent settlement in the country.

"In the meantime, Vortigern, won by the beauty of Rowena, daughter of Hengist, to obtain her father's permission to marry her, was weak enough to settle upon

3.

But

him the fertile province of Kent. it appears this alliance did not cement the friendship of the two nations, for the chronicles of that period relate that Vortigern and his nobles being invited soon after by Hengist to a grand banquet, the latter taking the advantage of their being overcome with wine, caused three hundred of them to be slain, and the king himself to be made captive."

"Alas, poor Britons!" said Anne. "Well might they lament their former masters; for during the latter part of their subjection to the Romans, they enjoyed

“True,” replied Charles, "but I can, not but think they might have improved more in the art of war under such able commanders as the Romans, who had been four hundred years among them."

"After the death of Hengist, a body of Saxons, under the command of Ella and his three sons, founded the kingdom of the South Saxons, though not without great bloodshed; this included Surry, Sussex,

and the New Forest, extending to the borders of Kent.

"Another power, under the command of Cerdic and his son Kenric, landed in the west, and, supported by their countrymen, defeated the Britons who opposed them, and established the third Saxon kingdom in the island, naming it the West Saxons, and comprising the counties of Hampshire, Dorsetshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, and the Isle of Wight.

"It was in bravely opposing this Saxon intruder that Arthur, a prince renowned in story, acquired his fame; for though his valour was not successful in driving out the intruders, it was great, and could courage have repaired the disasters of the Britons, his might have been effectual. Heis said to have conquered theSaxons in twelve successive battles, in one of which it is asserted he slew no less than four hundred and forty with his own hand,but the Saxons were too numerous to be expelled by the efforts of one valiant commander, and the reward of his courage, instead of complete conquest, concluded only in making a

peace. The enemy still gained ground, and this prince, in the decline of life, had the mortification to be spectator of their further encroachments, for, distracted with family feuds, he had sufficient employment to quell the rebellion which they caused, and was himself at last slain in a battle with his nephew Mordred, who fell with him.

"The success of the Saxons in Britain made their countrymen still continue to emigrate. One body, under the command of Uffa, seized upon the counties of Cambridge, Suffolk, and Norfolk, and gave their commander, the title of King of the East Angles. This was the fourth Saxon kingdom founded in Britain.

"Another party took possession of Es sex, Middlesex, and part of Hertfordshire, which formed the fifth Saxon principality, and was called East Saxony.

"The kingdom of Mercia was next established by these invaders, and comprehended all the middle counties from