This country has been often conquered, both in ancient and more modern times. About 500 years B. C., it was in part subjugated by the Carthaginians, who held their conquest three centuries. The Romans then succeeded as masters, in whose power it remained six hundred years. From the Romans, as we have already learned, it was wrested by the northern barbarians. These, as we shall see, in the next Period, are destined to be displaced by the followers of Mahomet.

It is deemed unnecessary to detail any events under the kings of the barbarous tribes who governed Spain, as they possess scarcely any interest. Euric may be considered as the founder of the Gothic monarchy of this country.

FRANCE.

19. FRANCE, anciently called Gaul, immediately previous to the dissolution of the Roman Empire of the West, was divided between the Romans, Visogoths, Franks, and Burgundians. A few years after that event, viz. 581 A. C., Clovis, king of the Franks, obtained, by degrees, possession of the country. He is therefore considered the true founder of the French monarchy, as before him, the Franks held only a few provinces on the right bank of the Rhine. From this people, ancient Gaul, obtained the name of France. The kings who have reigned in France, seem to be divided into four dynasties, viz. the Merovingian, the Carlovingian, the Capetian, and the Bourbon. The race of which we are now speaking, the first in order, derived its name from Merovous, the grandfather of Clovis, who reigned over that portion of the Franks, who had obtained, in some former age, a settlement in the country. The Merovingian dynasty continued till 752.

§ The Franks were supposed to have been of German origin, and to have inhabited the country between the Rhine and the Weser, which now forms part of Holland and Westphalia. Some believe them to have consisted of a mixed multitude of various tribes, living beyond the Rhine, who, when Germany was invaded by the Romans, united in defence of their common liberty, and styled themselves Franks, 1. e. free men. Of the clans into which they were divided, the Salii, and Ansuarii, were the most considerable. Between the years 234 and 254, they made an irruption into Gaul, but were signally overthrown by the Romans under Aurelian, then a military tribune. They finally obtained a footing in that country, about the year 264 A. C.

Succeeding this event, they had many contentions with the Romans, in which they often conquered, and were, oftener, perhaps, defeated. By the time, however, in which the emperor Constans reigned, they were generally at peace with the Romans, and several of them en

joyed places of distinction in the armies and at court. The petty Sovereigns who preceded Clovis, were Pharamond, who made the last settlement of the Franks in Gaul, Clodio, Merovous, and Childeric I. Clovis made many conquests: first over the Romans in the battle of Soissons: then over the king of Thuringia, who had invaded his dominions; afterwards over the Germans in the battle of Tolbiac; and finally over the Visogoths under Alaric, when he subdued all the south of Gaul. In his contest with the Germans, 496 A. C., he invoked the God of Clotilda, a Christian princess, whom he had married three years before. In consequence of his victory, he became professedly a believer, and together with three thousand of his subjects, was baptised on Christmas-day, the same year.

About thirteen years afterwards, he cruelly murdered most of his relatives, which shewed how little influence Christianity had over him. Clovis made Paris the seat of his kingdom. He died, 511.

Clovis was followed by a series of obscure kings, through the remainder of this period. They need not, therefore, be mentioned particularly. They were, in general, weak and wicked, and plunged the nation into deeper barbarism than it was under during the Roman dominion.

ENGLAND.

20. ENGLAND, whose ancient name was Britain, had been abandoned by the Romans fifty years, when the Empire of the West was subverted. In the mean time, the inhabitants, who were left defenceless, suffered from the encroachments of their northern neighbours, the Picts and Scots, and in their distress, solicited several of the warlike tribes of the continent, for assistThe Jutes first arrived for that purpose. These were

ance.

soon followed by the Angles and Saxons, in 451, from the shores of the Baltic. The object was soon accomplished, for which the Britons had invited them into their country. Their enemy was repulsed; but they found a more formidable enemy in their protectors themselves.

The Saxons, procuring large reinforcements from Germany, turned their arms against the Britons, and took possession of the country. It was not, however, without a long and severe struggle, of nearly one hundred and fifty years, that this conquest was achieved. The result was, the establishment of seven distinct states, or sovereignties, which were governed, more than two hundred years, by their respective kings. These states are usually called the Heptarchy.

§ The island of Britain, before it was known to the Romans, was inhabited by a very rude and uncivilized people. They were either

naked, or clothed only with the skins of beasts, having the bodies painted with various colours. Hence is supposed to be ti origin of the name, Britain, which is derived from a British word, brit, signifying painted. The name England was given to the country, from the Angles, a tribe of those continental nations, who conquered it in the fifth and sixth centuries.

The island was originally settled, in all probability, by a colony from Gaul, who were called Celtes or Gaels, the remains of whom are chiefly in Wales, in the highlands of Scotland, and in the north of Ireland. The period of their settlement is quite uncertain. The Phoenicians, indeed, traded very early with the inhabitants of Cornwall, for copper and tin, but they were unacquainted with the interior of the country. The Romans have given us the earliest authentic information respecting it. This commences with the first invasion by Julius Cæsar, 55 B. C.

Cæsar began the dominion of the Romans in Britain; but the island was subdued, only by degrees, under the Roman leaders who succeeded him. Forty-three years A. C., it was again invaded by the emperor Claudius, whose general, Ostorius, defcated Caractacus, king of the Britons, took him prisoner, and sent him to Rome, in 51. In the reign of Nero, 61 A. C., Suetonius defeated Boadicea, queen of the Iceni, (inhabitants of Norfolk and Suffolk,) slaying 80,000 men in a single battle. Boadicea, however, had previously obtained several victories over the Romans, by her gallant conduct. She committed suicide, rather than fall into the hands of the conqueror.

Agricola, who governed Britain in the reigns of Titus, Vespasian, and Domitian, formed a regular plan for subduing the whole island, and rendering the acquisition advantageous to the conquerors. For this purpose he penetrated into Caledonia, (Scotland,) defeated the natives in various encounters, and established a chain of forts between the Friths of Clyde and Forth.

Subduing most of the island, he soon diffused among the Britons a knowledge of the arts of peace. He introduced among them, laws and government; taught them to value the conveniences of life, and reconciled them to the language and manners of their masters.

To protect the southern inhabitants against the Scots, Adrian, in 121, built a wall in the north part of Britain, between the river Tyne, and the Frith of Solway. This was afterwards strengthened with new fortifications, by Severus, in 208. From this period, till the abandonment of Britain by the Romans, in 426, the inhabitants enjoyed uninterrupted tranquillity.

As has been already mentioned, the Romanized Britons, when left by their masters, were thrown into a defenceless state. Their long peace had somewhat enervated them, and they were unable to resist the attacks of their barbarous neighbours on the north. It was Vortigern, one of their kings, who invited the German tribes to his protection. The latter gladly availed themselves of the opportunity to visit a country long known to them in their piratical voyages to its coasts. Hengist and Horsa, two brothers, were their leaders on this

occasion, and with only 1600 warriors, in conjunction with the South Britons, they compelled the Scots to retire to their mountains.

After the Saxons, from being the protectors, had become the conquerors of Britain, and founded the Heptarchy, history records nothing that is very interesting respecting them, until the time of Egbert the Great, who became sole king of England, in 827. We may therefore pass over the English history, until that period, only remarking that the Saxons, who were partially acquainted with christianity before, were more fully converted to the faith, by the labours of the monk Augustin, in 597.

Distinguished Characters in Period III

1. Proclus, a learned Platonist and unbeliever 2. Boethius, a Roman poet, and Platonic philospher. 3. Procopius, a Roman historian-sometimes denominated the last of the classic writers.

4. Cassiodorus, the historian of Ravenna, and tutor to Theodoric, the Gothic king.

5. Belisarius, an heroic and successful general of Justinian.

6. Gildas, the most ancient British writer extant.

1. Proclus was born at Constantinople, in 410, and died in 485 A. C. He was a philospher among the later Platonists. In the chair of the academy, he taught philosophy with great reputation. Such was his industry, that frequently, in the same day, he pronounced five lessons, and composed seven hundred lines. "His sagacious mind," says Gibbon," explored the deepest questions of morals and metaphysics, and he ventured to urge eighteen arguments against the Christian doctrine of the creation of the world." This, as might have been expected, proved to be labour in vain. The foundations of truth can be overturned by no human sagacity, however great.

2. Boethius, who was distinguished both as a poetic and prose writer, was descended from one of the noblest families of Rome. In consequence of having remonstrated, with great spirit, against the tyranny of Theodoric, he was beheaded in prison, by the command of that king, in 524. Boethius wrote many philosophical works, the greater part according to the manner of the logicians; but his ethic composition, concerning the "Consolation of Philosophy," is his chief performance, and has always been justly admired, both in respect to the matter and the style. Mr. Harris, in his "Hermes," observes, that, "with Boethius, the last remains of Roman dignity may be said to have sunk in the western world:" and Mosheim testifies, that he "shone with the brightest lustre, as a philosopher, an orator, a poet, and a divine; and, both in elegance and subtilty of genius, had no equal in the sixth century."

3. Procopius belonged to Cæsarea, in Palestine, and flourished in 34. He was secretary to Belisarius, whom he greatly celebrated

in his History of the Reign of Justinian. This history is divided into eight books; two of which give an account of the Persian war, two of the Vandals, and four of the Goths, to the year 553; which was afterwards continued in five books, by Agalthias, till 559. The historian is thought to be too severe upon the emperor, though his performance, in other respects, has a high character. Some consider him as the last of the Roman classic authors.

4. Cassiodorus was a man of eminence, in many respects, and He united the statescalled, by way of distinction, "the senator." man and author in his character. He was born in Italy, about 463, and died at near one hundred years of age. His writings relate chiefly to history, theology, and criticism. He was inferior in abilities to Boethius, but still was very respectable.

5. Belisarius was truly a Roman in spirit, and the greatest general of his age. His life and exploits have been already told us, as particularly as this work will admit. In a degenerate and effeminate age, he put forth an energy, and acquired a fame in war, which would bear a comparison with the first leaders of the most favoured days of the republic. He was, however, as distinguished by his misfortunes as he was by his victories, owing to the ingratitude of Justinian; and he spent his last days, it is said, under the frown of his master, and, as some report, in actual want.

6. Gildas was a native of Wales. He was surnamed, The Wise. As the most ancient of the British writers, he deserves a notice here. His famous "Epistle," was written A. C. 560, and is a most severe censure of the depravity of the Britons at that time. He has some things well calculated to invite the attention of the learned.

PERIOD IV.

The Period of the establishment of the Saracen Dominion; extending from the flight of Mahomet, 622 years A. C. to the crowning of Charlemagne, at Rome, 800 years A. C.

ARABS OR SARACENS.

During this period, the darkness in Europe very much increased, and the times exhibited a melancholy contrast to the former splendid eras of Grecian and Roman refinement and literature. But while the human mind sunk in Europe, it rose in the East, under the auspices of the Saracens, where it was for a short time displayed, not only in the energies of a warlike superstition, but, at length, in the cultivation of the arts and learning. The history of this people is connected with a remarkable change in the aspect of human affairs.

SEC. 1. The Arabs, in all ages, have lived as wanderers, in a state of independence, and have never been subdued by any of the great conquerors of the world, though aleighbours. They derive