1. KENT, Cant-wara-rice, or the kingdom of the men of Kent, corresponding to the county of that name, founded by Eric, A.D. 457. The Roman Durovernum became the capital, and was called Cant-wara-burh, whence Canterbury. 2. SUSSEX, Suth-seaxna-rice, the kingdom of the South Saxons, which included the counties of Sussex and Surrey. It was founded under Ella, A.D. 477, and had Chichester for its capital. 3. WESSEX, West-seaxna-rice, the kingdom of the West Saxons, founded by Cerdic, A.D. 519. It embraced the country extending from the Sussex border westward to Devonshire, or the present counties of Hants, Berks, Dorset, Wilts, and Somerset. Winchester was the capital. 4. ESSEX, East-seaxna-rice, the kingdom of the East Saxons, founded by swein, A.D. 527. It included, besides the county so called, the greater part of Herts, with Middlesex, or Middel-seaxe, situated between Essex and Wessex. Capital, London. 5. EAST ANGLIA, East Engle, founded by the Angles under Uffa, A.D. 597. They styled themselves, after their relative position, North-folk and South-folk, whence Norfolk and Suffolk, with which Cambridgeshire was connected. Capital unknown. 6. MERCIA, Myrcna, raised to the rank of an independent state by Penda, A.D. 626, comprehended the central portion of the country northward from the Thames to the Humber. Capital, uncertain. But Tamworth was a favourite residence with several of the kings. 7. DEIRA, Deornas, founded by Ella, A.D. 560. It extended from the Humber to the Tyne, and embraced the modern counties of York and Durham. York was the capital. 8. BERNICIA, Bryneich, founded under Ida, A.D. 547, comprised the present Northumberland, and thence extended northward to the Firth of Forth. Capital, Bamborough. Deira and Bernicia speedily united to form a single kingdom, under the name of Northumbria, thus reducing the octarchy to a heptarchy. The remaining portions of South Britain, consisting of DAMNONIA, or the counties of Devon and Cornwall, with the whole of WALES; and CUMBRIA, or Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire, were held by British chieftains, who long maintained their independence. Among the Saxon kingdoms Wessex finally gained the supremacy, under Egbert, A.D. 800, who united them in a single sovereignty-the monarchy of England. The principal cities and towns existing in the Saxon age are mentioned in the following list, with their present names annexed : Winchester, the chief city of Wessex, became the metropolis of Saxon England, and retained the distinction till the close of the era, when London, no doubt far superior in population, began to supersede it. But under all the Norman sovereigns, the royal treasury continued to be kept at Winchester. III. IMPORTANT EPOCHS IN THE HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. Norman Invasion of England by William the Conqueror, A.D. 1066 Invasion of Ireland by Henry II. under the sanction of a Papal Bull, Magna Charta signed and sealed by King John, 1171 1205 1215 First State Document issued in the English language, Popular representatives first summoned to the National Councils, 1258 1265 1284 First legally constituted House of Commons assembled under Edward I., Wickliffe's vernacular translation of the Bible completed about the same date. 1485 Rupture with the Papacy commenced by Henry VIII., 1533 Suppression of the Monasteries in England, 1536 Establishment of the Reformation by the accession of Queen Elizabeth, Passing of the "Petition of Right" to restrain arbitrary government, 1607 1628 1642 1649 1660 1688 1707 Imperial Parliament formed by the Legislative Union of Great Britain and Ireland, OUTH BRITAIN, comprehending England and Wales, by far the largest and most populous division of the island, is separated from the northern part, or Scotland, mainly by the lower course of the Tweed, the line of the Cheviot Hills, and some small streams which fall into the Solway Firth. In other directions the frontier is formed by the North Sea on the east, the English Channel on the south, the Irish Sea on the west, and the Atlantic on the southwest. While the coast-line is not so minutely varied as that of the northerly portion, it presents an almost uninterrupted series of curves, bays, estuaries, and headlands, but is the most irregular, and at the same time the boldest, on the western side. The more considerable inlets and projections on the east are the Wash, the estuaries of the Thames, the Humber, and the Tees, with the rounded protuberance formed by the county of Norfolk, the tapering Spurn Point, and the far-advancing promontory of Flamborough Head in Yorkshire. The shore is generally high and rocky to the |