THIRD STANDARD.

HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAPTER I.

THE ROMANS. B.C. 55, to A.D. 409.

THIS new reading book is to be about the History of England; but before we begin it, I want to ask if any clever boy knows the meaning of the word history? If no one does, perhaps the boy at the bottom of the class will tell us what the word history would be if we left out the first two letters. Now a story is not a bad thing, is it? And perhaps, as history only means a true story, we shall not find our new Reader so very dull after all, although the title is long, and requires the dreadful effort of pronouncing an h.

Well then, now for the true story of England (or Britain, as England, Scotland, and Wales are called). Long, long ago, hundreds of years before the oldest man you ever saw was born-And what of this country of ours long, long ago? Did the children get up early, and help to put things in order, and dress themselves neatly, and tramp off to school? Did the grown-up people work hard all day in the fields, or shops, or countinghouses? And on Sundays, did the bells ring merrily, and everybody go to church? Oh dear, no! There was little trouble in keeping the houses tidy, for they were

only holes dug in the ground, or wooden huts. As for dress, that was no expense whatever; for the people wore no clothes. Some, indeed, who had a love for smartness, dyed their bodies blue. The children's schooling was learning to hunt or fish. There was very little work to be done in the fields; for Britain was nearly all one big forest, where wild beasts prowled about. And as for shops, there were none; and there would have been nothing to put in them if there had been any. Sundays never came at all, or rather, nobody was the wiser for their coming; for the inhabitants of Britain were heathens.

Some of the people, however, were wiser than the rest. They were the priests; they physicked the people when they were ill, and told them long stories when they were dull, and taught them how to worship the gods.

Now, dear children, remember, if you ever want to quarrel, be idle, and you will be sure to do so; and as the Britons could not hunt or fish all day long, and must have often found time hang heavy on their hands, they were constantly quarrelling and fighting. Like all heathens, they were cruel; and when prisoners were taken in war, they were often burned alive as sacrifices to the gods.

But, while Britain was in such a wild and savage state, other countries in Europe were inhabited by clever, intelligent, industrious people. About fifty-five years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the most powerful nation in Europe was the Roman. The Roman army was then led by a clever, ambitious man, named Julius Cæsar. The more power he had, the more he wanted. When

children are covetous, they long to take other children's toys; when grown-up people are covetous, they very often want to take other folk's money and Julius Cæsar seems to have wanted more countries, and more power. He must have been very like little Dick, who said, "I want them every day,

And I want them every one."

Cæsar had been fighting in France, and one day saw from its shores the dazzling white chalky cliffs of Britain. "I want that country too," cried he, and off he set with his soldiers. The Britons made some resistance, but could not stand against well-drilled troops. However, when Cæsar had got his toy, he did not care about it, and went back to Rome. Of course the Britons were then much in the same state as before the Roman invasion. But when nearly a hundred years had rolled away, and Cæsar's ambitious life had been ended by his being murdered, and the Britons who had seen his landing were dead and buried, the Romans came again to Britain. Numbers settled there, and it became a Roman colony. The Romans taught the Britons many useful things, how to make capital roads, how to till the ground, and a great deal besides.

It is not known how the Britons first became Christians. Probably in some way through the Romans, or the French, for one of the Apostles had undoubtedly preached in Gaul, as France was then called. Indeed some people think that one of them also preached in England. We cannot tell if this is true, but it is certain that in the second century there were many Christians in Britain.

CHAPTER II.

THE SAXONS AND DANES. A.D. 409-1066.

THE Romans, after many years, began to lose much of their power, and wanted all their soldiers at home. So the emperor of Rome called them all away from Britain. You might think that the Britons were pleased to have the place to themselves: but they were not. The north of Britain, the part which we now call Scotland, was inhabited by a wild sort of people. Whenever the folks who lived near the border land, that is, the part bordering on Scotland, had a good harvest, or some specially nice cattle, or anything else that was tempting, in rushed the Picts and Scots to steal. The poor Southerners had a hard life. It was no good running after the robbers, for they were capital climbers, and could easily get up the hills and hide themselves. So the Britons sent a piteous letter to Rome, called the " groans of the Britons."

The emperor sent off some soldiers to Britain, who built a good high wall between England and Scotland, believing that separation might produce peace. So it did, just as long as there was nothing to steal. But the next good harvest, over tumbled the Picts and Scots, caring nothing for the wall; while the poor disappointed Britons wrung their hands in vain. Again and again

they asked for Roman soldiers, but at

last the Romans

said they really could not do anything more for them, and in the year 409 left Britain for ever. Poor Britons! they had been so much helped by their neighbours that