A Pictorial History of England

S a source of useful and interesting knowledge, the history of England surpasses that of all other countries. A detailed account of the various steps by which a nation has risen from the savage state to an unexampled pitch of wealth, power, and civilization, cannot fail to be alike instructive and amusing to the general reader.

2. But to us the history of England is the history of our fatherland, the history of our ancestors, and of most of the institutions which belong to society in the United States. In government, religion, manners, customs, feelings, opinions, language, and descent, we are wholly or partially English. We cannot, therefore, understand ourselves, or our institutions, but by a careful perusal of English history. 3. To the philosopher, this subject is one of the most profound interest. When Great Britain first appears in the page of history, it is on the outskirts of the known world; remote from the great centre of science and civilization, and inhabited by a people of the most savage character. It is a dark and gloomy spot upon the face

CHAP. I.-1. Why does the history of England surpass all others in interest and instruction? 2. Why is the history particularly interesting to Americans? 3. Why is

of the globe, its inhabitants presenting an aspect as revolting as that of its cold and foggy climate.

4. At the present day, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland exhibits the most extraordinary spectacle of national glory which the world has ever witnessed. Rome, in her brightest days, could not compare with it, in point of wealth, power, and civilization. 5. To the eye of the traveller, the three kingdoms seem almost like a mighty garden, strown over with cities, palaces, villages, and country-seats. Here are the finest roads, and the best travelling vehicles in the world; railroads and canals cross the country in every direction; arts and manufactures are carried to the highest degree of perfection; and commerce brings hither the luxuries of every clime.

6. London, the metropolis of Great Britain, serves to indicate the character of the nation. It has more than 3,000,000 of people, and surpasses any other city in wealth and population. The government of England exercises a commanding influence, not only in the countries of Europe, but upon the fortunes of the world. Within our own day, China, which has more than one-quarter of the inhabitants of the globe, has been compelled to bow to the will of this Island Empire.

7. The colonies of Great Britain extend over the whole globe, and contain a population of one hundred and sixty millions. Ir allusion to the immense extent and power of the British Empire, it has been spoken of by a celebrated orator, as a kingdom that "has dotted the surface of the globe with her possessions and military posts, whose morning drum-beat, following the sun, and keeping company with the hours, circles the earth daily with one continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England." It is the history of this great people, which we are now about to consider.

this history interesting to the philosopher? 4. What of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland at the present day? 5. What do the three kingdoms present to the eye of the traveller? What of trade, &c.? 6. What of London? Population of Great Britain? The government? China? 7. The colonies of Great Britain? What has a celebrated orator said?

EARLY BRITISH HISTORY.

CHAPTER II.

Earliest Glimpses of British History.-Caesar.-Manners and Customs of the first Inhabitants of Britain.

1. We must now turn from this brief survey of the present condition of the British Empire, and go back to the earliest times of which history gives us any account.

2. Several hundred years before the Christian era, it appears that the Phoenicians visited England. Their chief object was to obtain tin, which was procured from the mines of Cornwall. Hence the Casterides, or Tin Isles, was the ancient designation of the British islands. Settlements are supposed to have been made by the Phonicians in Ireland, and it is conjectured that considerable trade was carried on with the people there.

3. The original inhabitants of England, Ireland, and Scotland seem to have been of the same Celtic stock which first peopled France and Spain, though they were divided into numerous tribes. The Roman writers mention the names of more than forty in England. 4. Some of these were more savage than others. A few among the southern tribes practised agriculture in a rude fashion, and wore artificial cloths for dress. They had also war-chariots in great numbers, and were acquainted with some of the first arts of civilized

II.-1. What of the Phoenicians? 2. What name did they give the British Isles" 3. What of the original inhabitants of England, Ireland, and Scotland? 4. Manera

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