declared to the Britons that they could not for the future undertake such troublesome expeditions for their sake, advising them rather to handle their weapons like men, and undertake themselves the charge of engaging their enemies, who would not prove too powerful for them unless they were deterred by cowardice; and, thinking that it might be some help to the allies whom they were forced to abandon, they built a strong stone wall1 from sea to sea, in a straight line between the towns that had been there built for fear of the enemy, and not far from the trench of Severus.2 This famous wall,3 which is still to be seen, was built at the public and private expense, the Britons also lending their assistance. It is eight feet in breadth and twelve in height, in a straight line from east to west, as is still visible to beholders. This being finished, they gave that dispirited people good advice, with patterns to furnish them with arms. Besides, they built towers on the seacoast to the southward, at proper distances, where their ships were, because there also the irruptions of the barbarians were apprehended, and so took leave of their friends, never to return again.5

After their departure, the Scots and Picts, understanding that they had declared they would come no more, speedily returned, and growing more confident than they had been before, occupied all the northern and farthest part of the island, as far as the wall. Hereupon a timorous guard was placed upon the wall, where they pined

1 Readers of romance may be interested to compare Kipling, Puck of Pook's Hill, pp. 153-4.

2 Rather of Hadrian (A.D. 120).

3 From Wallsend, 4 miles N.E. of Newcastle, to Bowness, 12 miles N.W.

of Carlisle (Moberly).

4 'In the portions which now remain it rarely exceeds five or six feet in height' (Quart. Rev. 107. 66).

5 Probably 418 A.D. (Moberly).

away day and night in the utmost fear. On the other side, the enemy attacked them with hooked weapons, by which the cowardly defenders were dragged from the wall, and dashed against the ground. At last, the Britons, forsaking their cities and wall, took to flight and were dispersed. The enemy pursued, and the slaughter was greater than on any former occasion; for the wretched natives were torn in pieces by their enemies, as lambs are torn by wild beasts. Thus, being expelled their dwellings and possessions, they saved themselves from starvation by robbing and plundering one another, adding to the calamities occasioned by foreigners by their own domestic broils, till the whole country was left destitute of food, except such as could be procured in the chase.

4. THE COMING OF THE ENGLISH1 (A.D. 450–456)

Bk. 1, chap. 152

In the year of our Lord 449,3 Martian being made Emperor with Valentinian — the forty-sixth from Augustus ruled the empire seven years. Then the nation of the Angles, or Saxons, being invited by the aforesaid king, arrived in Britain with three long ships, and had a place assigned them to reside in by the same king, in the eastern part of the island, that they might thus appear to be fighting for the country, while their real intentions were to enslave it. Accordingly they engaged with the enemy, who were come from the north to give battle, and obtained the victory; which being known at home in their own country, as also the fertility of the country 1 Cf. Green, The Making of England.

2 Chiefly from Gildas.

3 Really 450.

4 The legendary Vortigern; for Gerontius, his historical counterpart, see Plummer 2. 23.

and the cowardice of the Britons, a more considerable fleet was quickly sent over, bringing a still greater number of men, which, being added to the former, made up an invincible army. The newcomers received of the Britons a place to inhabit, upon condition that they should wage war against their enemies for the peace and security of the country, while the Britons agreed to furnish them with pay.

Those who came over were of the three most powerful nations of Germany Saxons, Angles, and Jutes. From the Jutes are descended the people of Kent and of the Isle of Wight, and those also in the province of the West Saxons who are to this day called Jutes, seated opposite to the Isle of Wight. From the Saxons - that is, the country which is now called Old Saxony1 came the East Saxons, the South Saxons, and the West Saxons. From the Angles-that is, the country which is called Angulus, and which is said to remain desert from that time to this day, between the provinces of the Jutes and the Saxons are descended the East Angles, the Midland Angles, the Mercians, all the race of the Northumbrians, that is, of those nations that dwell on the north side of the river Humber, and the other nations of the Angles. The first two commanders are said to have been Hengist and Horsa; of whom Horsa, being afterwards slain in battle by the Britons, was buried in the eastern parts of Kent, where a monument bearing his name is still in existence. They were the sons of Wihtgils, son of Witta, son of Wecta, son of Woden; from whose stock the royal lines of many provinces deduce their original.

In a short time, swarms of the aforesaid nations came over into the island, and they began to increase so much

1 Nearly the modern Holstein (Moberly).

2 Approximately Schleswig.

that they became terrible to the natives themselves who had invited them. Then, having on a sudden entered into league with the Picts, whom they had by this time repelled by the force of their arms, they began to turn their weapons against their confederates. At first they obliged them to furnish a greater quantity of provisions; and, seeking an occasion to quarrel, protested that unless more plentiful supplies were brought them, they would break the confederacy, and ravage all the island; nor were they backward in putting their threats in execution. In short, the fire kindled by the hands of these heathen proved God's just revenge for the crimes of the people, not unlike that which, being once lighted by the Chaldeans, consumed the walls and city of Jerusalem.1 For the barbarous conquerors acting here in the same manner, or rather the just Judge ordaining that they should so act, they plundered all the neighboring cities and country, spread the conflagration from the eastern to the western sea without any opposition, and covered almost every part of the devoted island. Public as well as private structures were overturned; the priests were everywhere slain before the altars; the prelates and the people, without any respect of persons, were destroyed with fire and sword; nor was there any to bury those who had been thus cruelly slaughtered. Some of the miserable remainder, being taken in the mountains, were butchered in heaps. Others, spent with hunger, came forth and submitted themselves to the enemy for food, being destined to undergo perpetual servitude, if they were not killed even upon the spot. Some, with sorrowful hearts, fled beyond the seas. Others, continuing in their own country, led a miserable life in fear and anxiety among the woods, rocks, and mountains.

12 Kings 25. 9, 10; Jer. 52. 13, 14.

5. A VICTORY FOR THE BRITONS

Bk. 1, chap. 161

When the victorious army, having destroyed and dispersed the natives, had returned home to their own settlements, the Britons began by degrees to take heart and gather strength, sallying out of the lurking-places where they had concealed themselves, and unanimously imploring the divine assistance, that they might not utterly be destroyed. They had at that time for their leader Ambrosius Aurelius, a modest man, who alone, by chance, of the Roman nation had survived the storm in which his parents, who were of the royal race, had perished. Under him the Britons revived, and offering battle to the victors, by the help of God came off victorious. From that day sometimes the natives, and sometimes their enemies prevailed, till the year 2 of the siege of Mount Badon, when they made no small slaughter of those invaders, about forty-four years after their arrival in England.

6. THE SENDING OF AUGUSTINE (A.D. 596)

Bk. 1, chap. 23

In the year of our Lord 582, Maurice, the fifty-fourth from Augustus, ascended the throne, and reigned twentyone years. In the tenth year of his reign, Gregory, a man renowned for learning and behavior, was promoted to the apostolical see of Rome, and presided over it thirteen. years, six months, and ten days. He, being moved by divine inspiration, in the fourteenth year of the same emperor, and about the one hundred and fiftieth after the coming of the English into Britain, sent the servant 2 About 493 (Plummer).

1 Condensed from Gildas.