unable to pay the large sums the pope exacted from him, procured leave of his holiness to sell his pardons and indulgences to all the great towns in Germany. Dr. Martin Luther, hearing of this, protested against the proceeding, and openly disputed at Wirtemberg and Leipsic against those who asserted the power of the pope to grant pardons and indulgences, notwithstanding his being threatened with excommunication, and his being condemned as a heretic. The elector of Saxony approving of his doctrines, he boldly propagated them in other parts of Germany, where the dukes of Brunswick and Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, and the Marquis of Brandenburg, the Landgrave of Hesse, and the inhabitants of most of the imperial cities, became his disciples; and, in 1529, protested against the conclusion of the diet of Spire, by which all innovations in religion, till the decree of a future council should be obtained, were declared unlawful. From this protest they received the name of " PROTESTANTS."

The Roman, the Lutheran, and Calvinist religion only tolerated in Germany.

CHAPTER XII.

ENGLAND.

From its earliest period.-Heptarchy.-Norman Conquest.-Plantagenets.-Conquest of Ireland.-Civil Wars of York and Lancaster.-Reformation.

The accounts of the first population of all nations are extremely uncertain; the early æras, and the transactions of the immediately succeeding periods, are generally enveloped in thick darkness, or involved in fable.

Britain was little known before the invasion of Julius Cæsar, and its inhabitants were then remarkable only for their ferocity or barbarism. It received the name of Albion, from its white rocks.; and Britain from Britt, an old word, signifying, at that time, painting the skin, which was much used by the first people.

Julius Cæsar conducted his army into this unknown country, which was divided into several small states, governed by petty princes, fifty-five years before Christ. The emperor Claudius conquered a great part of the island, and carried their chief prince, Caractacus, to Rome in triumph. Under Nero, the Britons rebelled; but at last they were finally subdued by Julius Agricola. Five hundred years Britain continued a Roman province; when, by the decline and fall of the Roman empire, they again recovered their liberty. The South Britons were left in a defenceless state, suffering continual depredations from their neighbours, the Picts and Scots, who had not, like themselves, been reduced by the Romans to a state of civilised and peaceful servitude.— These two great tribes, into which the inhabitants of the northern region of the island were then divided, uniting, made frequent and destructive inroads into the territories of the Britons, which they plundered and laid waste.

About forty years after the dissolution of the Roman government, (A. D. 449) Vortigern appears to have obtained the supreme command of the princes and cities of Britain. This unfortunate monarch, harrassed by the continual invasions of a domestic foe, was at length reduced to the necessity of inviting the Saxons, a German nation, to protect his throne and people from the fury of those barbarians.* Hengist and Horsa, two Saxon chiefs, as they ranged along the eastern coast with three ships, were engaged, by the promise of an ample stipend, to embrace the defence of Britain; and their intrepid valour soon delivered them from their enemies. The isle of Thanet, a secure and fertile district, was allotted for the residence of those German auxilia ries, and they were supplied, according to the treaty, with an allowance of clothing and provisions. Having repulsed the Scots and Picts, the perfidious Hengist, being joined by successive colonies of his own coun

Gibbon.

trymen,* turned his arms against the Britons, and perpetrated a treacherous massacre during the security of a feast. After a long and violent contest, the Saxons extirpated or enslaved those whom they had engaged to protect. Different parts of the island being subdued by different chieftains or leaders-seven independent thrones-the Saxon heptarchy-were founded by the

conquerors.

The history of the Saxon heptarchy is obscure and uninteresting. It is sufficient to mark the duration of the several kingdoms, till their union under Egbert.

The kingdom of Kent began A. D. 455, and continued till Ă. D. 827, during which period the Saxons were converted to Christianity.

Northumberland began A. D. 547, and continued till A. D. 926.

East Anglia began A. D. 575, and continued till A. D. 928.

Mercia began A. D. 582, and continued to A. D. 827.

Essex began A. D. 527, and ended A. D. 827. Sussex began A. D. 491, and ended A. D. 687. Wessex, which ultimately subdued and united the whole heptarchy, began A. D. 519, and ended A. D.

827.

EGBERT, king of Wessex, having acquired the art of war and government at the court of Charlemagne, united these seven independent kingdoms, A. D. 827, and thus laid the foundation of the kingdom of England. His reign was disturbed by the Normans or Danes, who from time to time ravaged the coast, but were as often totally defeated (A. D. 838.) He left his kingdom to his son

ETHELWOLF, a prince better fitted to wear the cowl than the crown, during whose feeble reign the Danes returned, and continued their depredations unmolested.

ALFRED the Great, his youngest son, succeeded to

* These colonies were principally composed of three valliant tribes or nations of Germany-the Jutes, the old Saxons, and the Angles.

the throne, in consequence of the death of his elder brothers. The Danes landed in great numbers, made themselves masters of the sea-coasts, and of the most fertile provinccs. They were at last defeated with great slaughter; and Alfred allowed a body of the vanquished enemy to settle in Northumberland, on their consenting to submit to his government, and embrace Christianity. This great prince established a regular militia for the defence of his kingdom; divided England into hundreds and tithings; appointed trials by jury and county courts. He encouraged learning, navigation, and commerce.

On the death of Alfred, A. D. 899, England relapsed into barbarism. During the weak administration of several of his successors, the Danes renewed their invasions, till ETHELRED, a weak prince, at first endeàvoured meanly to compound with them for his safety, and afterwards, with a cruelty incident to weak minds, formed the design of massacreing the Danes in the kingdom, A. D. 1002, which he carried into execution. SWEYN, king of Denmark, took vengeance on the English for the slaughter of his countrymen, and compelled Ethelred to seek refuge in the court of his brother-inlaw, Richard, duke of Normandy, A. D. 1013.

His son, EDMOND IRONSIDE, after having bravely struggled for the independence of his kingdom, was at last betrayed by his general, Edric, and obliged to divide his dominions with Canute, son of the Danish king Sweyn. Edmund survived this division only a month, being murdered at Oxford by two of his chamberlains, A. D. 1017, whose treachery made way for the accession of CANUTE, the Dane, to the throne of England. This prince, by the conquest of Norway, became the most powerful monarch of his time; being sovereign of Denmark, Norway, and England.

Of HAROLD HAREFOOT, and HARDICANUTE, his sons and successors, nothing is recorded that merits attention only, that on the death of Hardicanute, the English shook off the Danish yoke, and placed on the throne of his sucessors, EDWARD, surnamed the Confessor, son of the unfortunate Ethelred. Though an