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YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
by CHARLOTTE M. YONGE.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER.
1.--Julius Caesar. B.C. 55.
2.--The Romans in Britain. A.D. 41--418.
3.--The Angle Children. A.D. 597.
4.--The Northmen. A.D. 858--958.
5.--The Danish Conquest. A.D. 958--1035.
6.--The Norman Conquest. A.D. 1035--1066.
7.--William the Conqueror. A.D. 1066--1087.
8.--William II., Rufus. A.D. 1087--1100.
9.--Henry I., Beau-Clerc. A.D. 1100--1135.
10.--Stephen. A.D. 1135--1154.
11.--Henry II., Fitz-Empress. A.D. 1154--1189.
12.--Richard I., Lion-Heart. A.D. 1189--1199.
13.--John, Lackland. A.D. 1199--1216.
14.--Henry III., of Winchester. A.D. 1216--1272.
15.--Edward I., Longshanks. A.D. 1272--1307.
16.--Edward II., of Caernarvon. A.D. 1307--1327.
17.--Edward III. A.D. 1327--1377.
18.--Richard II. A.D. 1377--1399.
19.--Henry IV. A.D. 1399--1413.
20.--Henry V., of Monmouth. A.D. 1413--1423.
21.--Henry VI., of Windsor. A.D. 1423--1461.
22.--Edward IV. A.D. 1461--1483.
23.--Edward V. A.D. 1483.
24.--Richard III. A.D. 1483--1485.
25.--Henry VII. A.D. 1485--1509.
26.--Henry VIII. and Cardinal Wolsey. A.D. 1509--1529.
27.--Henry VIII. and his Wives. A.D. 1528--1547.
28.--Edward VI. A.D. 1547--1553.
29.--Mary I. A.D. 1553--1558.
30.--Elizabeth. A.D. 1558--1587.
31.--Elizabeth (continued). A.D. 1587--1602.
32.--James I., A.D. 1602--1625.
33.--Charles I., A.D. 1625--1645.
34.--The Long Parliament. A.D. 1649.
35.--Death of Charles I. A.D. 1649--1651.
36.--Oliver Cromwell. A.D. 1649--1660.
37.--Charles II. A.D. 1660--1685.
38.--James II. A.D. 1685--1688.
39.--William III., and Mary II. A.D. 1689--1702.
40.--Anne. A.D. 1702--1714.
41.--George I. A.D. 1714--1725.
42.--George II. A.D. 1725--1760.
43.--George III. A.D. 1760--1785.
44.--George III. (continued). A.D. 1785--1810.
45.--George III.--The Regency. A.D. 1810--1820.
46.--George IV. A.D. 1820-1839.
47.--William IV. A.D. 1830--1837.
48.--Victoria. A.D. 1837--1855.
49.--Victoria (continued). A.D. 1855--1860.
50.--Victoria (continued). A.D. 1860--1872.
YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAPTER I.
JULIUS CAESAR. B.C. 55.
Nearly two thousand years ago there was a brave captain whose name
was Julius Caesar. The soldiers he led to battle were very strong,
and conquered the people wherever they went. They had no gun or
gunpowder then; but they had swords and spears, and, to prevent
themselves from being hurt, they had helmets or brazen caps on their
heads, with long tufts of horse-hair upon them, by way of ornament,
and breast-plates of brass on their breasts, and on their arms they
carried a sort of screen, made of strong leather. One of them
carried a little brass figure of an eagle on a long pole, with a
scarlet flag flying below, and wherever the eagle was seen, they
all followed, and fought so bravely that nothing could long stand
against them.
When Julius Caesar rode at their head, with his keen, pale hook-nosed
face, and the scarlet cloak that the general always wore, they were so
proud of him, and so fond of him, that there was nothing they would
not do for him.
Julius Caesar heard that a little way off there was a country nobody
knew anything about, except that the people were very fierce and
savage, and that a sort of pearl was found in the shells of mussels
which lived in the rivers. He could not bear that there should be
any place that his own people, the Romans, did not know and subdue.
So he commanded the ships to be prepared, and he and his soldiers
embarked, watching the white cliffs on the other side of the sea
grow higher and higher as he came nearer and nearer.
When he came quite up to them, he found the savages were there in
earnest. They were tall men, with long red streaming hair, and such
clothes as they had were woollen, checked like plaid; but many had
their arms and breasts naked, and painted all over in blue patterns.
They yelled and brandished their darts, to make Julius Caesar and his
Roman soldiers keep away; but he only went on to a place where the
shore was not quite so steep, and there commanded his soldiers to
land. The savages had run along the shore too, and there was a
terrible fight; but at last the man who carried the eagle jumped down
into the middle of the natives, calling out to his fellows that they
must come after him, or they would lose their eagle. They all came
rushing and leaping down, and thus they managed to force back the
savages, and make their way to the shore.
There was not much worth having when they had made their way there.
Though they came again the next year, and forced their way a good
deal farther into the country, they saw chiefly bare downs, or heaths,
or thick woods. The few houses were little more than piles of stones,
and the people were rough and wild, and could do very little. The men
hunted wild boars, and wolves and stags, and the women dug the ground,
and raised a little corn, which they ground to flour between two
stones to make bread; and they spun the wool of their sheep, dyed it
with bright colors, and wove it into dresses. They had some strong
places in the woods, with trunks of trees, cut down to shut them in
from the enemy, with all their flocks and cattle; but Caesar did not
get into any of these. He only made the natives give him some of
their pearls, and call the Romans their masters, and then he went back
to his ships, and none of the set of savages who were alive when he
came saw him or his Romans any more.
Do you know who these savages were who fought with Julius Caesar?
They were called Britons. And the country he came to see? That was
our very own island, England, only it was not called so then. And the
place where Julius Caesar landed is called Deal, and, if you look at
the map where England and France most nearly touch one another, I
think you will see the name Deal, and remember it was there Julius
Caesar landed, and fought with the Britons.
It was fifty-five years before our blessed Saviour was born that
the Romans came. So at the top of this chapter stands B.C. (Before
Christ) 55.