HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

BOOK I.

BRITAIN PREVIOUS TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SAXON HEPTARCHY.

CHAPTER I.

Introductory.

ENGLAND, Wales, and Scotland form together one island, called Great Britain. With these Ireland is intimately connected; forming, now, part of the same kingdom, and being usually comprehended with them under the appellation of the British Isles.

The inhabitants of these highly favoured countries have great reason to be thankful for the goodly heritage which their Creator has allotted to them. For whilst one portion of the earth, called the torrid zone, is exposed to violent, and long continued heat, which produces, besides many other inconveniences, harassing clouds of insects and numbers of venomous reptiles; and two other divisions, the frigid zones, are so cold that bread corn, that staff of life, cannot be raised within their limits; the British Isles are placed in one of those divisions which bear the name of temperate zones. The name of temperate has been given to these portions of the globe, because, lying between the frigid and torrid zones, their inhabitants suffer neither the intense cold which vails on one side of them, nor the excessive heat

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which is felt on the other; but live under the climate most favourable to the developement of the human frame, and to its preservation in a healthy state. To the advantage of being placed in the temperate zone, may be added that of living on an island. For the neighbourhood of the sea tends to correct and soften the seasons; making the summers cooler, and the winters warmer than in those countries of the continent, whose climate our's would otherwise, being in the same latitude, resemble. But there is much more than this to be thankful for, in the insular position of our native land. For, whilst other countries are only separated from their enemies in time of war by rivers, which may be crossed in a few minutes; or by mountains which must have some openings; the sea keeps all the enemies of these islands at a distance in war; whilst, in peace, it affords a cheaper, more speedy, and more universal means of access to other nations, than the most favourably situated continental state can possibly enjoy.

The blessings just alluded to, are obviously such as flow from the free bounty of GOD. But the history of England will exhibit many still more valuable instances of His mercy. We shall there see how much has been done by the counsels of wise and good men, under God's blessing, to make the people of this land happy in their intercourse with each other, and happier still in serving Him with a pure worship. Human pride might lead us to ascribe to human prudence the merit of having procured for us these great advantages, in so eminent a degree; instead of gratefully reflecting, that every wise device must have been suggested by Him through whom kings rule, and nations flourish, and that its successful execution must have been his gift ;-but history will prove the folly, as well as ingratitude, of giving to man's wisdom the praise due to GOD. History will compel us to see, that some of the most signal and

permanent blessings which we enjoy, have been brought about, not in consequence of the cunningly devised councils of sages and politicians, but evidently and undeniably by the disappointment and failure of their best intended schemes. For GOD hath not unfrequently chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence *. In the history of the Jewish nation, even where events might, otherwise, have appeared to have been guided solely by the will of man, the direct influence of GOD was rendered manifest, by his having declared long beforehand, that He would make things come to pass just as they eventually did. But the renown of kings or conquerors, the vain pomps and glories of the world, have no value in the sight of God. It was not in consequence of any natural importance belonging to the Jews, as a nation, that GoD avowed his purpose of exercising a marked interference in their affairs; but, because He had chosen them to be his peculiar people, amongst whom he would preserve the worship of his holy name, and because He had solemnly announced this choice to their forefathers. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee, said Moses to the Jews, to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor chuse you, because ye were more in number than any people, (for ye were the fewest of all people) but because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand. His choice, and the avowal of his choice, were reasons

* 1 Cor. i. 27.

for declaring that he would specially interfere in their affairs; and the proof that he did thus interfere, whether made evident by something obviously miraculous in the manner of his interference, or by its being the fulfilment of some prophecy, was intended to promote his glory, and encourage their obedience, by shewing that He was faithful who promised. To this conclusion Moses leads them in the words which immediately follow those last quoted, Know, therefore, that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him, and keep His commandments. As, therefore, it was not the political importance, but the effect of certain transactions on GOD's chosen people, which occasioned his avowal of special interference in those transactions, and its previous announcement; so it was not to be expected that He would speak, by His prophets, of the mightier battles, or more extensive revolutions which have occurred amongst other nations, unless they were to have some important influence on the welfare of His church. Such was to be the effect of the extension of the Roman power; and as the invasion of England by the Romans is the first known event in English history, the introduction to that history will properly comprehend an enquiry how this invasion formed a part of God's known purposes; and with what merciful intention He allowed a warlike but wicked people, to commence and succeed in their unprovoked attacks on the shores of our native land.

It was by the prophet Daniel that God had declared that mighty kingdoms should spread over large portions of the earth, before the establishment of the spiritual kingdom of his Son. These kingdoms were the Chaldean, the Persian, the Greek, and the Roman. The dominion which each of these nations in its turn exercised over Palestine and Egypt, was a part of the intention of GOD, discovered long before to Noah, when he foretold the superiority to which

the children of Shem and Japheth should attain above the children of Ham. For the two first of these ruling nations were descendents of Shem, and the two last of Japheth; whilst Palestine and Egypt were originally peopled and possessed by the children of Ham. But the prophet Daniel had a more immediate interest in the fate of these four great kingdoms, as successively having in their apparent disposal the fate of Judæa; and becoming, with different degrees of obstinacy and bitterness, persecutors of the faithful servants of GOD.

He was therefore commissioned to console those who trusted in the Lord, that he would deliver them, by announcing, that, irresistible as the power of these successive conquerors might appear to the men who groaned under the weight of their oppression, GoD had fixed limits to the authority and duration of each. And, that the rise of the fourth kingdom, especially, might be viewed with joy instead of terror, as the forerunner of a most happy consummation, Daniel was inspired to declare, that, before its close, the God of heaven should set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. The prophet again confirms the assertion, that His kingdom should not, like those which had preceded it, give way, in its turn, to fresh conquerors; adding, the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. But the elevation of the fourth great power, the Roman empire, was not only to be an acceptable signal for those who carefully observed the signs of the times, that the kingdom of God was at hand; it was to be a mighty instrument for facilitating the conquests of Christ's disciples, over territories which had been long subject to Satan. As a means of effecting the above important purpose, GOD had given to the Romans qualities and habits admirably adapted to make them both indefatigable and successful, in extending their empire ;