possession of the country, and in the course of the fifth and sixth centuries, the seven Saxon Kingdoms were erected, known in history by the name of the Heptarchy. These seven kingdoms, after three hundred years of war with the Britons, or with one another, were at last united under Egbert, who was crowned king of England in 827. From this period the inroads and ravages of the Danes became frequent, and Swein, the Danish king, made himself partially master of the country in 1012, and the conquest was completed by his son Canute in 1016. William, Duke of Normandy, landed with a large army in England in 1066, and defeated Harold in a great battle at Hastings, which ended the Anglo-Saxon dynasty, after a duration of about six centuries. The Conqueror divided the lands among his Norman barons, and introduced the Norman customs, laws, and language, into the island. Of the succeeding monarchs, the most renowned are Richard I., called Cœur de Lion, famous for his victories in the Holy Land; Edward I., who conquered Wales in 1284, and till the hour of his death in 1307, waged a merciless war with Scotland, in the vain hope of subduing that country; Edward, the Black Prince, son of Edward III., famous for his victories over the French at Cressy, in 1346, and at Poictiers, in 1356; and Henry V., famous for his conquests in France, and particularly for his victory at Agincourt in 1415. For thirty years, from 1455 to 1485, England was devastated by the civil wars between the rival houses of York and Lancaster, in which 100,000 men are said to have perished. These wars were terminated by the defeat of Richard III. at Bosworth, which ended the race of the Plantagenet kings, and established the house of Tudor on the throne. The civil wars in the reign of Charles I. began in 1642. The Commonwealth, under Oliver Cromwell, lasted from the execution of Charles I. in 1649, till the restoration of his son Charles II. in 1660. The Reformation, begun in the reign of Henry VIII., was completed by the Revolution in 1688, which expelled James II., and placed William and Mary on the throne. George I., Duke of Brunswick and Elector of Hanover, succeeded in 1714, and his descendants still continue to sway the sceptre of these realms.

LONDON was founded before the Christian era; and even at the Roman invasion is represented as a place of considerable trade. In the sixth century it was made the metropolis of Essex, or the kingdom of the East Saxons; and in the beginning of the ninth century it became the capital of England. The town was first lighted in 1416 by lanterns suspended from cords placed across the streets, a method still used in some parts of France. The first English printing press was established in Westminster by William Caxton in 1472. In 1615 the sides of the principal streets, which had been formerly covered with pebbles or gravel, were laid with flag-stones. The silk manufacture was introduced into England in the reign of James II., having been established at Spittalfields by French Protestants, who were driven from their native land by the revocation of the edict of Nantes. No other city in Europe, except Constantinople, has suffered so much as London from pestilence and conflagrations. The Great Plague in the reign of Charles II. carried off in the course of five months, 68,596 individuals. Scarcely had this pestilence ceased, when a terrible conflagration commenced on Sunday the 2d of September 1666. A violent easterly wind spreading the flames, the fire continued four successive days, and consumed 400 streets, 13,200 houses, 86 churches, and a very great number of public buildings. The monument at the north end of London Bridge, a fine column 200 feet in height, records this calamity.

London consists of three cities, each of them large and opulent, but so united as to form one great capital; the city of London properly so called-the city of Westminster and the borough or city of Southwark, which lies to the south of the Thames, and in the county of Surrey. This metropolis, the most populous in Europe, and the most commercial city in the world, is seven miles in length, by about five in breadth, and contains 1,500,000 inhabitants. Although the brick and plaster houses, and stuccoed pilasters of London are inferior in magnificence to the stone-built strength and rocky solidity of Edinburgh; yet the uniformity of the houses, almost all three stories high, the width and cleanness of the streets, the broad pavements for foot passengers, and the brilliant light with

The

which they are every evening illuminated, render London much superior to most of the continental towns. finest part of the town is the west end, the residence of the nobles and the wealthy. In this quarter are many magnificent and spacious streets, as Piccadilly, Pall Mall, Oxford Street, Portland Place, and Regent Street. In the same quarter are the Parks and Public Walks, Regent's Park, Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, St James's Park, and Green Park: these are the resort of the gay and the fashionable. The narrowest streets are those in the city, the most ancient and the most central quarter of London. But the east end is also inhabited by opulent merchants, particularly by those engaged in the foreign and colonial trade. In the same quarter are situated immense basins or docks for the reception of ships, and the largest store-houses in the world. The infinite current of population pouring along a thousand streets, and the movement and activity on the river, with unnumbered masts rising from the water, the average number of ships in the Thames being 1100, distinguish London from every other city in the world.

Of the many remarkable edifices in London we can only mention a few. The ancient fortress of the Tower, one-third of which is occupied by the mint, is a large pile of buildings, consisting of several streets, within an embattled wall and ditch. The small armory contains complete stands of arms for 200,000 men. The royal train of artillery, the horse-armory, and the jewel-office, are also situated in this fortress. The Lion's tower contains a collection of wild beasts. This fortress, which is still used as a state-prison, is situated on the north bank of the river, at the east corner of the old part of the town. Further up the river are the Old and New Palaces, the Houses of Parliament, the Guild-hall, and Westminster Abbey. The other palaces are St James's Palace, on the west of St James's Park, and Kensington Palace, at the west end of Kensington Gardens. St Paul's Cathedral

is accounted the noblest edifice in London; it is built on the model of St Peter's at Rome, but of smaller dimensions, being only 500 feet long, 250 broad, and 340 in height. Among the public buildings we may also men

tion the India-house, where a company of merchants give laws to 80 millions of subjects, and exercise dominion over an empire that extends from Indus to the Ganges. and from Cape Comorin to the mountains of Thibet.

Liverpool, Bristol, and Hull, are the most important sea-ports next to London; but Portsmouth and Plymouth, are the chief naval stations. Manchester is the chief seat of the cotton trade. Leeds, Bradfield, Halifax, and Wakefield, are noted for woollen manufactures; Birmingham and Sheffield, for cutlery and hard-ware; and Cambridge and Oxford for their famous universities.

II.-Scotland.

THE Grampian Hills, the loftiest range in Scotland, stretch across the island from Loch Lomond to Kincardineshire, forming the southern boundry of the Highlands. Scotland may, however, be regarded as naturally divided into three parts. The northern extends from the Pentland Frith to the chain of Lakes which occupy "the great glen of Caledonia," stretching from the Moray Firth to Loch Linnhe, and now connected by the Caledonian Canal. The middle part extends from these lakes to the Firths of Forth and Clyde, now connected by the Great Canal; whilst the southern and more level parts extend from this to the southern boundary of the Kingdom. The south and eastern parts of the country, called the Lowlands, are in general fertile, and bear some resemblance to England; while the north and north-west, denominated the Highlands, abound in lofty and rugged mountains, with deep ravines, blue lakes, and beautiful glens, presenting many scenes of wild grandeur, and romantic beauty. The Trossachs, at the outlet of Loch Katerine, are annually visited by thousands of tourists. Loch Lomond, the largest, and the most beautiful of the Scottish lakes, is thirty miles long, tapering from a breadth of nine miles in the south, to a narrow point in the north. Loch Awe at the foot of the lofty Ben Cruachan equals Loch Lomond in length, but in breadth varies from one to two miles.

Caledonia, called in the middle ages, Albania, was never subdued by the Romans, who scarcely penetrated beyond

the Grampian mountains. Shortly after the departure of the Romans, about the middle of the fifth century, the country was divided among four warlike and independent powers. Of the district south of the Forth, the eastern part belonged to the kingdom of Northumberland, and the western to that of Cumbria. On the north of the Forth, the eastern coast was inhabited by the Caledonians, or Picts, so called from painting their bodies, a practice common to all the Britons, as well as to other barbarous nations; whilst the Attacotti or Scots from Ireland estab lished a kingdom in Argyleshire in 503, and gradually spread themselves over the whole western coast. After a struggle of 340 years, between the Picts and the Scots, the latter prevailing, both were united into one sovereignty under the Scottish king, Kenneth M'Alpine, in 843. The southern part of the country soon yielded to the same power, and from that time the whole was denominated Scotland. From this period the Scots maintained the unity and independence of their country, repelling the piratical invasions of the Danes and Norwegians, and baffling every attempt of the English kings to subdue Scotland, as they had already done Ireland and Wales. Edward I., after a series of desperate conflicts, contrived to gain temporary possession of the country; but the battle of Bannockburn, in 1314, humbled the English monarchy, and confirmed the independence of Scotland. The wars which continued to rage for many hundreds of years between the two kingdoms were productive of heavy calamities to both. At the battle of Flodden, in 1513, the Scots lost their king, and a great part of their nobility. Upon the death of Elizabeth, in 1603, James succeeded to the throne of England: and the two kingdoms were formally united in 1707, in the reign of Queen Anne.

The Reformation in Scotland commenced in 1528, during the reign of James V., and made rapid progress under that of his daughter, the unfortunate Mary, though both of these sovereigns were Roman Catholics. It was rendered triumphant for a time by the consummate abilities and fervent zeal of John Knox, the Romish religion having been abolished in 1560, and the Reformation sanctioned by Act of Parliament. From 1572 to 1592