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CUSTOMS OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS.

CHAPTER VIII.

The Language and Religion of the Anglo-Saxons.-Origin of the Names of the Days of the Week.-Curious Circumstance which led to the Introduction of Christianity.

1. THE people who had now possessed themselves of Britain are called in history Anglo-Saxons. So completely was the country subdued, that no customs, truly British or Roman, were now to be seen; the language, which had been either Celtic or Latin, was discontinued, and the Saxon or English only was spoken.

2. The Christian religion also disappeared, for the Saxons were pagans, and worshipped a great number of gcds. From the chief of them the days of the week receive their names. Worshipping the Sun, they called the first day Sunday. The second was named Monday, from the Moon. Another god they called Tuisco, or Tiw, and to him they assigned the third day.

3. The next idol which they adored for a god was Woden; he had been a famous and victorious prince among them, and after his death they worshipped him as the God of Battle. The fourth day was named for him Woden's day, or Wednesday. Not only the Saxons, but all the northern nations worshipped Thor, whose name was given to the fifth day, Thursday.

4. Friday received its name from Friga, who was the same with the Earth, and was esteemed the mother of all the deities. They had another god named Saterne, and to him they consecrated the last day of the week, and called it Saterne's day, or Saturday.

5. But the Anglo-Saxons did not long remain pagans. For the early introduction of Christianity they were indebted to a circumstance, which furnishes a striking instance that a seeming evil often proves the source of the most lasting good.

6. Slavery, in its worst form, existed among the Anglo-Saxons. With most savage nations, prisoners taken in war are either slain or made slaves of. But few people are so debased as were these conquerors of Britain. To gratify some temporary appetite, individuals would sell themselves into bondage, and parents were known to sell their own children.

7. It happened one day, when Pope Gregory I. was walking in the streets of Rome, that he saw some very beautiful children exposed for sale. Asking from whence they came, he was told from England, on which he said they would not be Angli, but Angeli, if they were but Christians. Angli is the Latin word for English, and Angeli, that for Angels.

8. Gregory resolved to attempt this change; so he ordered St. Austin or Augustine, with forty other Roman monks, to go into

VIII.-1. What were the conquerors of Britain called? What is said of the Janguage? 2. What of the religion of the Saxons? 3, 4. From whom are the days of the week named? 6. What bad custom existed among the Saxons? 7. What attracted

INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY.

Britain and preach the Gospel.

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When these missionaries reached France, the people of which had already been converted to Christianity, they heard such dreadful stories of the savage manners of the Anglo-Saxons, that they were afraid to go on, and sent back Augustine to ask the pope's permission to give up the enterprise.

9. But Gregory exhorted them to persevere, and advised them to take some of the French people, then called Franks, as interpreters, for their language was nearly the same as that of the Anglo-Saxons. Augustine proceeded and found the danger much less than he had imagined.

10. Ethelbert, King of Kent, was already well disposed towards the Christian faith, for his wife Bertha was a daughter of Caribert, one of the kings of France. He therefore received the missionaries with kindness. Having heard what they had to say, he told them that he could not without consideration abandon the religion of his ancestors; but as they had come so far on a friendly errand, they might remain in peace, and use their best endeavors to convert his subjects.

11. The monks at once entered on their labors, which were crowned with such success, that in a very short time the king and a great number of his subjects were converted. Augustine baptized no fewer than ten thousand on Christmas day, 597, and was soon after made Archbishop of Canterbury.

CHAPTER IX.

The Anglo-Saxons.—Their Historians.—The Condition of the People.

1. In the course of time the manners of the Anglo-Saxons lost somewhat of their fierceness, and their customs and institutions became more civilized. Our knowledge of them is very imperfect. None but the clergy made any pretensions to learning. Few of these could do more than read their prayer-books and write their

names.

2. There were many even among the high clergy who could not do this. There are deeds still extant, made by lord bishops, which are signed by some other persons in their names, because the lord bishops could not write their own names.

3. The earliest historian is Gildas, who lived in the sixth century. He was so much admired by his countrymen, as to be called by them Gildas the Wise. In the seventh century there was another learned monk, named Bede, or, as he is generally called, the Venerable Bede. He was never higher in rank than a simple monk, yet, on

the notice of Gregory to Britain? 8. Whom did he send to convert it? 9. What did the monks do? 10. Who received the missionaries kindly? 11. What was their success?

IX.-1. What is said of the manners of the Anglo-Saxons? What of the state of learning? 3. What is said of Gildas? 4. What of the government of the Anglo-Saxons?

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26

THE CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE.

account of his writings, his fame spread through all Europe. The pope courted his company, and his advice in the government of the church.

4. From these sources we are able to tell you that the AngloSaxons were governed by a king, whose power was very much controlled and limited by an assembly of the wise men of the nation, called the Wittenagemot. The nobility, the high clergy, and all freemen possessing a certain portion of land, were, of right, members of this assembly.

5. The Anglo-Saxons were divided into three orders of men- the nobles, the freemen, and the slaves. The nobles formed a very large class. They were called Thanes. The freemen were called Ceorls, and were principally engaged in husbandry, whence a husbandman and a ceorl came to be synonymous terms.

6. A ceorl could raise himself to the rank of thane, in various ways. Success in agriculture might furnish him with the means of procuring the requisite quantity of land, with buildings proper to the dignity. If a ceorl acquired learning enough and became a priest, he was esteemed a thane. Success in trade, or in war, raised him to the same rank. Agriculture, commerce, arms, and the church, were considered the only professions for a freeman.

7. The slaves were by far the most numerous class. They were of two kinds, namely, household slaves, who lived in the family, and performed the ordinary duties of domestic servants, and rustic slaves, who were attached to particular estates, and were transferred with the soil.

8. These last were called villani, or villains, because they dwelt in the villages belonging to their masters, and performed all the servile labors required upon the land. The clergy made great efforts to improve the condition of the slaves, and to secure the rights which their influence had procured for them. Notwithstanding this, the greater part of the common people remained in abject slavery during the time the Saxons governed the country.

CHAPTER X.

The Laws of the Anglo-Saxons.—Modes of Trial.—The Ordeal.

1. UNDER the Romans, Britain was divided into colonies and governments. By the Saxons the country was parcelled out into counties, or, as they called them, shires, which means divisions. The government of a shire was entrusted to an eorl or corldorman, whence the present terms earl and alderman. The earl generally exercised this government by his deputy, called the shire-reeve, or sheriff-that is, guardian of a shire.

5. How were they divi led? 6. By what means could a man rise in rank? 7. What is said of the slaves? 8. Who were the villains? Why so called? How was

X.-1. How was Britain divided by the Romans? How by the Saxons?

LAWS OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS.

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2. The criminal laws of the Anglo-Saxons were very mild. Every crime might be compensated for in money. We consider the life and limbs of one man as valuable as those of another. But among the Anglo-Saxons the value of a man's life, or of his arm, or his leg, depended upon his rank, or his office, and a price was fixed accordingly, which was to be paid by the person who should deprive him of either.

3. Their mode of proving crimes was singular. Instead of being determined by the evidence of witnesses, they referred the decision to the judgment of God, as it was called. There were various modes of doing this, but the most common was the ordeal. This method was practised either by boiling water, or red-hot iron.

4. The water or iron was consecrated by many prayers and fastings, after which the accused person either took up with his naked hand a stone sunk in the boiling water, or carried the heated iron to a certain distance. The hand was then wrapped up, and the covering sealed for three days; if at the end of the time there appeared no marks of burning or scalding, the person was pronounced innocent; otherwise he was declared guilty.

5. Another way of performing the ordeal of hot iron was, by making the person to be tried, to walk blindfold over nine hot ploughshares, placed at certain distances. If he did this without being burnt, he was acquitted. These fiery ordeals were nothing but impositions on the credulity of mankind.

6. The whole was conducted under the direction of the priests, and the ceremony was performed in a church. No person was permitted to enter except the priest and the accused until the iron was heated, when twelve friends of the accused and twelve of the accuser were admitted, and ranged along the wall, on each side of the church, at a respectful distance.

7. After the iron was taken from the fire, several prayers were said, and many forms gone through; all this might take a considerable time, if the priests were indulgent. It was always remarked that no good friend of the church ever sustained the least injury from the ordeal; but if any one who had wronged the church was foolish enough to appeal to this mode of trial, he was sure to burn his fingers or his feet, and to lose his cause.

8. I am afraid you will think all this very dull, but these are n atters proper to be known. It may be a little more interesting to hear what officers were considered as necessary in the king's household. The first in dignity was the mayor of the palace, always a prince of the royal family. The priest was the next in rank, who sat at the royal table to bless the meat, and to chant the Lord's prayer.

9. The third was the steward, who had a variety of perquisites, and came in for a large share of every barrel of good ale, and cask of mead. Then came the judge, distinguished for his learning, and

the shire governed? 2. What of the criminal laws of the Anglo-Saxons? 3. How were trials conducted? 4, 5. Describe the kinds of ordeal, and mode of proceeding. 6. Who Conducted these ceremonies? 8, 9. What officers had the king about him?

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THE KINGDOM OF ENGLAND ESTABLISHED.

by his long beard. Last, and perhaps the most useful, was the king's feet-bearer. This was a young gentleman, whose duty it was to sit on the floor, and hold the king's feet in his bosom, while he sat at table, to keep them warm and comfortable.

CHAPTER XI.

The Kingdom of England established.-The Danes become troublesome.-Saxon Race of Kings from Egbert to Alfred.-Alfred the Great.

1. AFTER the Saxons had expelled the Britons, finding no other enemies to subdue, they began to quarrel among themselves. At last Egbert, King of Wessex, a prince of great natural abilities, who had spent some time at the court of Charlemagne, King of France, reduced all the other kingdoms to subjection, and in 827 was crowned king of Angle-land, or England, by which name this portion of the United Kingdom has from that time been called.

2. It was now nearly 400 years since the Saxons first came into Britain. They had begun to value the arts of peace, and hoped, under the government of one prince, to enjoy quiet. But they were disappointed. As they had robbed the more civilized Britons, so they themselves were subjected in their turn to the ravages of the

XI.-1. Who reduced England to one kingdom? When was he crowned? 2. Who