POPULAR ENCYCLOPEDIA; OR, "CONVERSATIONS LEXICON:" BEING A GENERAL DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE, BIOGRAPHY, HISTORY, WITH DISSERTATIONS ON THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF LITERATURE, BY SIR D. K. SANDFORD, A. M., OxoN., D. C. L. ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE, BY THOMAS THOMSON, M.D., F. R. S. L. & E., &c., &c. AND ON THE PROGRESS OF THE FINE ARTS, BY ALLAN CUNNINGHAM, Esq. VOLUME III. BLACKIE & SON, QUEEN STREET, GLASGOW; AND WARWICK SQUARE, LONDON. MDCCCXLVI. THE POPULAR ENCYCLOPEDIA; OR, CONVERSATIONS LEXICON. ENGLAND. ENGLAND, including WALES; the southern and larger portion of the island of Great Britain, is situated between 50° and 55° 45′ N. lat. and 1° 50 E. and 5° 40′ W. longitude. It is bounded by St George's channel on the west, the German ocean on the east, the English channel on the south, and Scotland on the north. Its figure is triangular, the base of the triangle being formed by a line drawn from the South Foreland in Kent to the Land's End in Cornwall; the eastern side, by a line drawn from Berwick to the South Foreland; and the western side, by another line commencing at Berwick and terminating at the Land's End. The dimensions of the triangle thus formed, are: base, 340 miles; eastern side, 345 miles; western side, 425 miles. North of the Humber, the average breadth does not amount to one-third of the average breadth south from that point. The superficial area of England and Wales has been estimated at 37,784,400 acres, of which about 10,000,000 are upcultivated. Claudius had begun. He extended his conquests to the northern part of the island; his fleet circumnavigated the whole. To secure his conquests he erected a fortification, stretching between the Forth and the Clyde, and of which the remains are yet visible. Adrian abandoned this fortified frontier, and retiring a considerable way, formed another rampart between the Eden and the Tyne. In place of a rampart, Severus afterwards substituted a wall, which withstood the attacks of the northern Britons, till the successful invasion of the Roman dominions by the surrounding nations forced them to withdraw their legions from Britain, for the purpose of defending the more important parts of the empire. This happened about the beginning of the fifth century. rier. The Scots and Picts, from the north, quickly passed it, and drove the terrified Britons to the southern extremities of the island. In this situation they could devise no other means of defence, than to invite the Romans to resume that superiority over them, which they had formerly possessed. Romans, unable to repel the invasions of the northern tribes from the vicinity of Rome itself, little regarded the petitions of their former subjects. The The South Britons were now free, but their long subjection to the Romans had unfitted them for the enjoyment of freedom. They could not now withstand the attacks of their ferocious northern neighbours. The Roman wall, no longer defended by Sketch of the Civil History of England.-With-Roman discipline and courage, proved a feeble barout entering particularly into the arguments which make it probable that England was originally peopled by the Gauls, from the opposite shore, it may be remarked, that, from the Romans, we have received the first historical account of the actual state of the country. When Cæsar was prompted to invade this island, he found the natives numerous, and expert in all the arts of barbaric war. Although the climate is not remarkable for heat, they went almost naked; they painted their bodies a blue colour, decorating them with figures of various objects, particularly of the stars, of the sun and moon. Their towns were little superior to the kraals of the Hottentots. Their fortifications, like those of New Zealand, were formed of palisadoes, or of trees, piled upon each other. They had horses, and even used them in battle; but they mounted not upon their backs, they yoked them to what the Romans called chariots, probably a rude kind of carriages; and by driving headlong upon their assailants, they endeavoured to compensate for their want of discipline, and the regular arts of war. Cæsar landed on the coast of England several times, but could not be said to have effected a permanent conquest. Britain, indeed, presented little to interest the man, whose ambition grasped at the sovereignty of the Roman empire. The attempt which Cæsar left unfinished, was renewed by Claudius, and his success was greater, notwithstanding the noble resistance made by Caractacus, and Boadicea. See the article Britain. Agricola, the general of Domitian, finished what The Scots and Picts, satisfied with the plunder which they had obtained, returned homewards; but, when the Britons, supposing that they were now to live in peace, ventured to leave their lurking-places, they were informed of the approach of another army, more numerous than that which had just ravaged their country. Less able to defend themselves than formerly, they thought only of courting the aid of some more powerful people. The Saxons, a nation inhabiting the northern parts of Germany, were, at that time, famous for their bravery, and the boldness of their piratical expeditions. By gifts and promises, the Britons hoped that they might induce the Saxons to undertake their defence; an experiment of which the consequences showed them the danger. The Saxons, inured to warlike expeditions, willingly accepted the invitation. Their own country was not the most fertile, and could scarcely support the number of inhabitants which it contained; they hoped, that, in Britain they might acquire new settlements, more fertile than those which they were to abandon; and they doubted not of their being able to defend them. Notwithstanding the terror which had been impressed on the Britons by the Scots and Picts, the Saxons seem to have reckoned these tribes by no means formidable. They despatched only three ships, containing 1600 men, under the command of Hengist and Horsa, brothers. Vortigern, at that time king of the Britons, received them with joy, and assigned them the isle of Thanet for a habitation. They immediately marched against the northern foe, and justified the report of their valour, by obtaining a complete victory. ; The Saxons settled in the districts allotted them by the Britons; but being so long accustomed to warlike undertakings, they were unwilling to cultivate the arts of peace. They remarked the effeminacy of the nation who had invited them into the island they saw that the soil and climate of Britain surpassed those of their own country; they were convinced that nothing would be more easy, than to establish themselves in a complete superiority over those whom they had come to protect. The arts of modern policy were little known to these uncultivated tribes. They seem not to have laid hold of any pretended breach of treaty. They found their situation convenient, and they invited over re-enforcements of their countrymen, that they might render their settlement secure; and that they might be in a condition of giving laws, rather than of receiving them. The Britons were soon convinced of the folly of their proceedings. They perceived that the Saxons, whom they had invited for the purpose of protecting them, were to become enemies more formidable than the Scots and Picts, from whose arms they had so earnestly sought to be rescued. They could invite no other nation to their protection: even had they known of such as were able and willing to assist them, their recent experience had shown them the danger of such assistance. They were compelled to shake off their lethargy, and to make some efforts for their independence. The Saxons were immediately attacked; but they were prepared to defend themselves. The Britons, indeed, exerted themselves much more vigorously than had been expected. Many battles were fought with various success; but with uniform cruelty. The history of these transactions is dark and confused. In this period, the fancy of writers has placed an Arthur, and attributed unto him exploits more nearly resembling those of romance than history. But whatever obscurity may be in the narrative of these transactions, it is sufficiently certain, that, after a struggle, which continued one hundred and fifty years, the Saxons remained entire masters of the country; and in 585, the southern part of Britain, with the exception of Wales, was divided into seven kingdoms, well known by the name of the Heptarchy, and governed only by Saxon princes. As this division forms a principal era in the ancient geography of the country, it may not be improper to lay before the reader the mode in which South Britain was at that time divided. 1. Kingdom of Kent, founded by Hengist, in 475, containing Kent. This kingdom ended in 823. 2. Kingdom of South Saxons, founded by Ella, in 491, containing Sussex, Surrey. Ended in 600. 3. Kingdom of East Angles, founded by Uffa, 575, containing Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, Ely, (Isle of). Ended in 793. 4. Kingdom of West Saxons, founded by Cerdic, 512, containing Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wilts, Hants, Berks, Lancaster. Swallowed up the rest, in 827. 5. Kingdom of Northumberland, founded by Ida, 574, containing York, Durham, Cumberland, Westmoreland, North. umberland, Scotland to the Firth of Forth. Ended in 792. 6. Kingdom of East Saxons, founded by Erchew in 527, containing Essex, Middlesex,Hertford, (part). Ended in 746. 7. Kingdom of Mercia, founded by Cridda, 582, containing Gloucester, Hereford, Worcester, Warwick, Leicester, Rut land, Northampton, Lincoln, Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham, Oxford, Stafford, Derby, Salop, Nottingham, Chester, Hertford, (part). Ended in 827. The history of the Anglo-Saxons, while the country continued to be divided into so many small and independent kingdoms, is not less confused than that of the period which immediately preceded it. Each prince was continually at war with his neighbours, and endeavouring to obtain for himself the entire sovereignty. Each state was, in its turn, annexed to some of its more powerful neighbours; and, at length, in 827, Egbert, by the exertion of much valour, and the influence of a superior capacity, united in his own person the sovereignty of what had formerly been seven kingdoms; and gave the whole the name of England, a name which it has still retained. En Egbert did not long enjoy in quiet his extensive dominions. The Danes, issuing from those regions which had formerly been possessed by the Saxons themselves, began about this time, to harass, by their inroads, their more southern neighbours. When Egbert had reigned only five years, they landed on the English coast, and carried off a considerable booty. couraged by their success, they returned the following year, with a fleet of 35 ships, and a great body of men. Egbert attacked them, but, though the Danes lost many of their number, they could not be prevented from escaping to their ships with their plunder. Far from being discouraged by resistance, they returned after an intermission of two years; and to show that they meant to persevere in the invasion of the Saxons, they entered into an alliance with the Cornish Britons. Egbert again met them, and again defeated them; but while he meditated some scheme for the permanent defence of his kingdom against the troublesome invaders, he suddenly died. This event took place in 838. Egbert was succeeded by Ethelwolf, his son, a prince remarkable only for his superstition. The Danes continued almost annually to visit the coasts of England; and notwithstanding their being frequently defeated, they never failed to return. Ethelwolf was ill qualified for making any systematic defence. By giving part of his kingdom to his son Athelstan, he adopted the mode of conduct which was most likely to occasion a civil war, had not the terror of the Danes prevented the Anglo-Saxons from entertaining any thoughts of internal insurrection. Ethelwolf was deficient in military capacity, but he had other qualities which were thought to compensate for the defect. He was willing to contribute to the safety of his kingdom; he inferred, that to secure the favour of heaven, was the most proper method of ensuring worldly prosperity; and he was taught to think, that the most proper way of securing the favour of heaven, was to secure the good-will of heaven's agents upon earth. To effect his purpose, he undertook a pilgrimage to Rome, where, by his liberality, he endeavoured to attain the benediction of the church. To the ecclesiastics of that city he granted annually 300 mancuses, of which 100 were to support the lamps of St Peter, 100 to support those of St Paul, and 100 for the use of the Pope. When he returned, he found that his piety had not prevented the Danes from continuing their ravages, or his son, Ethelbald, from usurping his dominions. No misfortune, however, could alter his pious resolutions. He prevailed on his son to be contented with one half of his territories; he bestowed on his priests tithes, which they had long demanded; and soon after died, leaving be hind him, particularly among the clergy, the reputation of a saint. Ethelwolf left his dominions to his sons, Ethelbald, and Ethelbert, but these sovereigns did not long survive him. They died in 866, and were succeeded by their brother, Ethered, whose reign was distinguished, like those of many of his predecessors, by suc |