It appears that the _Family Library_, as well as the _Cabinet Cyclopædia_,
is to have its own _History of England;_ since the 21st "Family" volume is
the first of such a History, and comprises the Anglo-Saxon period, from
the pen of that distinguished antiquarian scholar, Francis Palgrave, Esq.
F.R.S. &c. The portion before us, as our readers may imagine, is extremely
interesting: it is well studded or sprinkled with origins and antiquities
popularly illustrated, and has little or none of the dryness of an
antiquarian pen. We quote two such passages, and especially direct the
attention of the reader to our third extract, relative to the early
influence of Christianity:--
_Stonehenge._
The temples in which the Britons worshipped their Deities, were composed
of large, rough stones, disposed in circles; for they had not
sufficient skill to execute any finished edifices. Some of these circles
are yet existing; such is Stonehenge, near Salisbury: the huge masses of
rock may still be seen there, grey with age; and the structure is yet
sufficiently perfect to enable us to understand how the whole pile was
anciently arranged. Stonehenge possesses a stern and savage magnificence.
The masses of which it is composed are so large, that the structure seems
to have been raised by more than human power. Hence, _Choir-gaur_[11] was
fabled to have been built by giants, or otherwise constructed by magic
art. All around you in the plain, you will see mounds of earth or
"tumuli," beneath which the Britons buried their dead. Antiquaries have
sometimes opened these mounds, and there they have discovered vases,
containing the ashes and the bones of the primeval Britons, together with
their swords and hatchets, and arrow-heads of flint or of bronze, and
beads of glass and amber; for the Britons probably believed, that the dead
yet delighted in those things which had pleased them when they were alive,
and that the disembodied spirit retained the inclinations and affections
of mortality.
[11] The "_Giant's Dance_"--the British name of Stonehenge.
_London in the Seventeenth Century._
London was quite unlike the great metropolis which we now inhabit. Its
extent was confined to what is now termed "the city," then surrounded by a
wall, built, as it is supposed, about the age of Constantine, and of which
a few fragments are existing. All around was open country. Towards
the north-east a deep marsh,--the name is yet preserved in
Moorfields,--extended to the foot of the Roman ramparts. On the western
side of the city, and at the distance of nearly two miles, the branches of
a small river which fell into the Thames formed an island, so overgrown
with thickets and brushwood, that the Saxons called it "_Thorney_," or the
"Isle of Thorns." The river surrounding Thorney crept sullenly along the
plashy soil; and the spot was so wild and desolate, that it is described
as a fearful and terrible place, which no one could approach after
nightfall without great danger. In this island there had been an ancient
Roman temple, consecrated to Apollo. And Sebert, perhaps on account of the
seclusion which Thorney afforded, resolved to build a church on the site,
and he dedicated the fabric to St. Peter the Apostle. This church is now
Westminster Abbey; the busy city of Westminster is old Thorney Island,
that seat of desolation; and the bones of Sebert yet rest in the structure
which he founded. Another great church was built by Sebert, in the city of
London, upon the ruins of the heathen temple of Diana. This church is now
St. Paul's Cathedral; and Mellitus being appointed the first Bishop by
Ethelbert and Sebert, the succession has continued to the present day.
_Influence of Christianity._
Before a century had elapsed, Christianity was firmly and sincerely
believed throughout Anglo-Saxon Britain; and, in the state of society
which then prevailed, the establishment of the true religion became the
means of conferring the greatest temporal advantages upon the community. A
large proportion of the population consisted either of slaves or of churls
or of villains, who were compelled to till the ground for the benefit of
their masters. These classes immediately gained the comfort of rest, one
day in seven; and they whose labour had hitherto been unremitted, without
any pause, except when fainting nature sunk under incessant toil, could
now expect the Sabbath of the Lord, as a day of holiness and of repose. So
strictly did the temporal laws protect the observance of the seventh day,
the right and privilege of the poor, that the master who compelled his
slave to work on the Sunday, was deprived of the means of abusing his
power,--the slave obtained his freedom.
A tenth part of the produce of the land was set apart for the maintenance
of the clergy, and the support of the destitute. Charity, when resulting
from the unaided impulses of humanity, has no permanence. Bestowed merely
to relieve ourselves from the painful sight of misery, the virtue blesses
neither the giver nor the receiver. But proceeding from the love of God,
it is steady and uniform in its operation, not wayward, not lukewarm, not
affected by starts and fancies, and ministering to more than the bodily
wants of those who are in need.
Paupers, such as we now see, then rarely existed. Bad as it was, the
system of slavery had given a house and a home to the great mass of the
lowest orders. And the laws, which placed the middling classes under the
protection, and at the same time under the control of the more powerful,
prevented all such as really belonged to society, from experiencing any
severe privations in those years when the people were not visited
by any particular misfortunes. But mankind were then subjected to many
calamities, which have been moderated in our times. If crops failed, and
the earth did not bring forth her fruit, vessels arrived not from distant
parts, laden with corn. Hunger wasted the land. Sickness and pestilence
followed, and thinned the remnant who had been left. Families were broken
up, and the survivors became helpless outcasts; for the people of each
country raised only as much grain as was sufficient for their own use, and
could not supply their neighbours. War often produced still greater
miseries. In all these distresses, the spirit of Christianity constantly
urged those who were influenced by this enduring spring of action, to
exert themselves in affording relief;--to clothe the naked and feed the
hungry,--to visit the sick--and bury the corpses of the departed.
The higher or ruling orders saw, in the plain letter of the Bible, the
means of amending the rude and savage laws which had governed their
forefathers; and religion also afforded the means of improving the whole
fabric of the state. In addition to their piety, the clergy were the
depositaries of all the learning of the age. All the knowledge which
distinguishes civilization from savage life was entrusted to them.
Admitted into the supreme councils of the realm, they became an order,
possessing acknowledged rights which could not be lawfully assailed. And
though they may occasionally have attempted to extend their privileges
beyond their proper bounds, yet, in a monarchy, the existence of any one
rank or order invested with franchises which the king must not assail, is
in itself a strong and direct protection to the privileges of all other
ranks of the community. Powerful as the nobles may have been, it is
doubtful whether they could have maintained their ground, had they been
deprived of the support which they derived from the Bishops and Abbots,
who stood foremost in the ranks, amongst the peers of the monarchy. Many a
blow which would have cleft the helmet, turned off without harm from the
mitre; and the crozier kept many an enemy at bay, who would have rushed
without apprehension upon the spear.
To the successors of the Anglo-Saxon prelates, we mainly owe the
preservation of the forms and spirit of a free government, defended, not
by force, but by law; and the altar may be considered as the corner-stone
of the ancient constitution of the realm.
* * * * *