leader whom they were bound to obey. They were very brave fighters: cowards were reckoned the most disgraceful of all men, and were buried alive in a bog.

When Christianity had spread over the Roman empire the German tribes who dwelt near the borders learnt the new faith, but the English, never having had any dealings with the Romans, continued to be heathens. Their chief god was Woden, the all-father. The fourth day of the week is called after him Wednesday, that is Woden's day. Similarly Thursday is the day of Thor, Friday the day of the goddess Freia, Saturday the day of Seotere, and Tuesday the day of Tew.

They thought the gods too great to dwell in temples made with hands, so they worshipped in sacred groves and forests. They had no idols, and it might almost be said no priests.

They believed that those who died in battle went to Valhalla, where they spent eternity in fighting and feasting. Those who died of sickness or old age went to hell; murderers and those who broke their oaths, to a horrible place formed of serpents joined together.

3

4

1 Peninsula, a piece of land almost an island; that is, having water nearly all round it. 2 descendants, children, grand-children, great-grand-children, and so on. ruddy, reddish. employment, work, business. 5 elderman, chosen for age and wisdom; our alderman is the same word. 6 eternity, time unending. 7 hell. Their hell was a place of ice and snow,

SOON after Julius Agricola had returned to Rome the unsubdued Britons who dwelt in the north began to come down into the conquered lands to plunder and kill. They were called Picts; and before long they made themselves masters of part of the country won by Agricola. To keep them from coming farther a wall was built from Solway Firth to the mouth of the Tyne.

Every now and then the Romans drove them back, but they soon returned. At length they were joined by a fierce people called the Scots, who lived in the north of Ireland. Some of these Scots afterwards settled in the part of Britain named after them Scot-land.

The Saxons, too, began to trouble the eastern shores. Thus you will see that altogether the Britons were in a poor plight, and when the Romans left they were worse off than ever. They begged the Emperor to help them, and once or twice he did send soldiers, but he could not allow them to stay.

It is said that then the British offered the English money to aid them against their other foes, that the English came, drove out the Picts and Scots, and seeing the land was rich and undefended, resolved to settle in it themselves.

We cannot be certain this account is true, though

it is quite likely to be. What we do know is that in 449 a band of Jutes, led by Hengest, landed in the Isle of Thanet. They did not plunder and sail away again as former bands had done, but after a while they crossed the strip of sea which then separated Thanet from the mainland.

They defeated the Britons in a great battle at Cray, but they were far from conquering the whole district yet. It took them still eight years of hard fighting to win Kent. Then they made it into a little kingdom, with Hengest for its king. The Britons who had been living there they slew or drove out.

Twenty years after the battle of Cray a band of Saxons attacked the coast of what came to be called from them Sussex-the land of the South Saxons. When fourteen years of strife had gone by they were masters of the country lying next the sea. The last place to fall into their hands was 1Anderida; they slew all that were therein.

About the same time other Saxons sailing up the Thames won the land on the north side and formed the kingdom of Essex, that is of the East Saxons. Years after they won London and Middlesex-the home of the Middle Saxons.

Fresh bands of Saxons invaded the country west of Sussex. After about twenty years of fighting Winchester and the country round were theirs. This was the beginning of Wessex, the kingdom of the West Saxons.

It is said that then these invaders were beaten in a great battle at Mount Badon by the British king

Arthur. Many wonderful stories are told of him and his knights, but we cannot be sure that any of them are true. We cannot even be quite sure that there ever was such a king. What we do know is that the West Saxon advance was checked for a considerable time.

The eastern part of the country was conquered by the Angles. Little by little they won the coast lands from the Forth to the Colne. They formed three kingdoms, Bernicia, Deira, and East Anglia. The first stretched from the Tees northward; the second took in what is now Yorkshire; the third was divided between the north folk and the south folk, from whom Norfolk and Suffolk get their

names.

The Angles, too, conquered the middle of the country and made Mercia-the kingdom of the march, or border.

Thus the English were firmly fixed in Britain, but they were far from having conquered even the southern half of the island. The country sea-ward in the east and south-east was theirs; the western part was still in the hands of the Britons.

There are different kinds of conquests, and you must notice what the conquest of Britain by the English was like. You will read by-and-by how William, Duke of Normandy, conquered England. He made up his mind to win the country; he got together a large army, crossed over the sea, and gained a great victory. He did not drive out the people, he only made them own him for king.

Nothing of this sort happened when the English conquered Britain. There was no one man who planned the conquest; there was no large army that came over, gained a few battles, and then made its leader king; in fact, there were many small conquests by bands of Angles, Saxons, or

Jutes, rather than one great conquest by the English.

The country was won piece-meal by separate bands, belonging sometimes to one tribe and sometimes to another. It was only when the conquered districts joined that they were formed into little