the foul reproaches of Shimei1, would not allow him to be injured, though he himself was armed, and surrounded by his followers in arms, while Shimei was alone and defenceless; and afterwards, when David was triumphantly restored to his throne, he would not suffer punishment to be inflicted on his reviler. So, also, in the annals of all people, which indeed display the providence of God, clemency, munificence, honesty, circumspection, and the like, with their opposites, not only provoke believers to what is good, and deter them from evil, but even attract worldly men to goodness, and arm them against wickedness.

History brings the past to the view, as if it were present, and enables us to judge of the future by picturing to ourselves the past. Besides, the knowledge of former events has this further pre-eminence, that it forms a main distinction between brutes and rational creatures. For brutes, whether they be men or beasts, neither know, nor wish to know, whence they come, nor their own origin, nor the annals and revolutions of the country they inhabit. Of the two, I consider men in this brutal state to be the worst, because what is natural in the case of beasts, is the lot of men from their own want of sense; and what beasts could not acquire if they would, such men will not though they could. But enough of these, whose life and death are alike consigned to everlasting oblivion.

With such reflections, and in obedience to your commands, most excellent prelate, I have undertaken to arrange in order the antiquities and history of this kingdom and nation, of which you are the most distinguished ornament. At your suggestion, also, I have followed, as far as possible, the Ecclesiastical History of the venerable Bede, making extracts, also, from other authors, with compilations from the chronicles preserved in antient libraries. Thus, I have brought down the course of past events to times within our own knowledge and observation. The attentive reader will learn in this work both what he ought to imitate, and what he ought to eschew; and if he becomes the better for this imitation and this avoidance, that is the fruit of my labours which I most desire; and, in truth, the direct path of history frequently leads to moral improvement. But, as

1 1 Kings ii. 8.

we undertake nothing without imploring divine assistance, let us commence by invoking God's holy name :—

Prostrate beneath the terrors of thy frown,

Some, till they fill their cup of crime, remain,
Some, with its bitter dregs, thy vengeance drain.
The thoughts of kings and nations fluctuate,
Thou, in thy wisdom, rulest all their state,
Inflicting evil, as the prophet sings',
And wafting blessings upon angels' wings,
When such the pleasure of thy righteous will;
Thou self-existent, dread unchangeable,

From whom, by whom, and in whom all things are!
CREATOR, LORD and shepherd, king of kings,
Beginning, source, and growth, and end of things,
Fountain of light, whence heavenly radiance flows,
My work inspire, and guide it to its close;
My work, which tells the marvels of thy hand,
Thyself our Father, in our father's land.
THOU, by whose counsels and whose mighty aid,
Great in thy counsels, secret or display'd,
Realms are exalted, or again brought down,

AND THOU, exalted prelate, England's pride,
Our country's father, and our monarch's guide,
What I have well performed, in grace approve,
Where I have erred, correct me in thy love.
See here how nations prosper, realms decay,
And draw the moral for the future day.
Mark, holy father, how their power arose,
Their wealth, their fame, their triumphs o'er their foes,
Mark how in nothing all such glories close.

Isa. xiv. 7.

HENRY OF HUNTINGDON'S

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH.

BOOK I.1 1

BRITAIN is truly an island of the utmost fertility, abounding in corn and fruit trees, which are nourished by perennial streams. It is diversified by woods, sheltering birds and beasts of chace, affording merry sport to the hunter. Wild fowl of all sorts are exceedingly plentiful, both those which are peculiar to the land and those which frequent the water, whether the rivers or the sea. Moreover, the island is remarkably adapted for feeding cattle and beasts of burthen; insomuch that Solinus remarks that "in some parts of Britain the herbage of the meadows is so luxuriant that unless the cattle are shifted to poorer pasture there is risk of their suffering from surfeit." The never-failing springs feed rivers abounding in fish. Salmon and eels, especially, are very plentiful. Herrings are taken on the coasts, as well as oysters and other kinds of shell-fish. Among these are the muscles, which produce beautiful pearls, of a great

'Henry of Huntingdon, in this First Book, after giving a general description of Britain, and some slight account, mostly fabulous, of its early history, embraces the period from the invasion of Julius Cæsar to the final abandonment of the province by the Romans in the time of Theodosius II. But this Book is rather an epitome of the lives and characters of the Roman emperors, than a narrative of events in British, or Roman-British history. His principal authorities for the former are Eutropius, and the Epitome of Aurelius Victor; but Bede's Ecclesiastical History furnishes the staple of his narrative; and he also draws largely from the history of the Britons attributed to Nennius-by some to Gildas; and he has also interwoven in his history information derived from other sources which cannot now be traced.

B

variety of colours, red, purple, violet, and emerald; principally, however, white. Nor are the cockles wanting from which a scarlet dye is made, whose exquisite tint does not fade by exposure either to the sun or rain; the older it is the brighter the colour becomes. Dolphins and whales are also caught, as Juvenal says1:

"Far as the giant whales of Britain's sea
Exceed the dolphin."

Britain is also rich in metallic veins of iron, tin, and lead. Some of these contain silver also, though not so commonly; silver, however, is received from the neighbouring parts of Germany, with which an extensive commerce is carried on by the Rhine in the abundant produce of fish and meat, as well as of fine wool and fat cattle which Britain supplies, so that money appears to be more plentiful there than in Germany itself, and all the coins introduced into Britain by this traffic are of pure silver. Britain, also, furnishes large quantities of very excellent jet, of a black and brilliant hue. Rendered sparkling by fire, it drives away serpents; when it becomes heated by friction substances adhere to it, as they do to amber. The island contains both salt-springs and hot-springs, the streams from which supply baths accommodated to the separate use of persons of every age and of both sexes. "For water," as St. Basil observes, acquires the quality of heat by running over certain metals, so that not only it becomes warm, but even scalding hot."

This celebrated island, formerly called Albion, afterwards Britain, and now England, extends between the north and the west 800 miles in length and 200 in breadth, except where the jutting out of some of its bolder promontories expands its breadth. Including these, its complete circuit reaches 4875 miles. Britain has Germany and Denmark on the east, Ireland on the west, and Belgic-Gaul on the south. The first place which presents itself to those who cross the sea from the coast of Gaul is called Rutubi-portus,

1 Sat. x. v. 14.

2 Bede, from whose history this description of Britain is partially borrowed, makes the circuit of the island 3675 miles. See vol. i. of this series, p. 4.

a city whose name the English have corrupted into Reptacester1. The distance across the sea from Gessoricum2, a town belonging to the tribe of the Morini, and the nearest point from which the passage can be made is 50 miles, or, according to some writers, 450 furlongs. Belgic-Gaul derived its name from Beluaci, formerly a flourishing city of that part of Gaul. It appears that the province is now divided into two parts, one of which is called Ponthicu, and the other, where the Normans, a powerful and foreign race, are settled, Normandy. To the north of Britain, where it is exposed to the open and boundless ocean, lie the Orkney Islands, the farthest of which is called Thule3, as it is said:

"Ev'n utmost Thule shall thy pow'r obey."4

Britain is, indeed, surrounded by a number of islands, three of which are greater than the rest. First, we have the Orkneys, already mentioned; next, the Isle of Man, which lies in the middle of the sea, between Britain and Ireland; and third, the Isle of Wicht, which is situated to the south, over against the Normans and the Armoricans, who are now called Bretons. Thus it was said in an ancient discourse, where it treated of judges and rulers, "He shall judge Britain with her three islands." Britain was formerly famous for 28 cities, which, as well as innumerable castles, were well fortified with walls and towers, and with gates secured by strong locks. The names of these cities in the British language were Kair-Ebrauc, York; Kair-Chent, Canterbury; Kair-Gorangon, Worcester; Kair-Lundene, London; Kair-Legion, Leicester; Kair-Collon, Colchester; Kair-Glou, Gloucester; Kair-Cei, Chichester; Kair-Bristou, [Bristol;] Kair-Ceri, Cirencester; Kair-Guent, Winchester; Kair-Grant, Grantchester, now called Cambridge; and 1 Richborough, in Kent.

2 Boulogne.

3 The ancients appear to have had no certain idea of the situation of what they called Thule. The name seems to have been variously attributed to the farthest island in the North Sea, unknown with any certainty from the imperfect geographical knowledge of those regions. Some modern writers have discovered Thule in Thelle-marken, one of the western districts of Norway.

4

Georg. 1. 30.