Ethelbald, whose reign was but short, and no ways remarkable, died
in 800, and was buried at Sherborne, in Dorsetshire.
_Ethelbert, the fourth King of England_.
Though Ethelbert bore an excellent character, yet he was no
favourite of fortune; for from his coronation in 860, to his death
in 866, he had one continued conflict with the Danes. He was
interred at Sherborne, near his brother.
_Ethelred, the fifth King of England_.
In 866, Ethelred, third son of Ethelwulf, succeeded to the crown: in
whose reign the Danes committed great ravages through the kingdom.
Notwithstanding, in 868, a great famine and plague happened in
England, yet those merciless and blood-thirsty Pagans the Danes, in
869, through their aversion to Christianity, set fire to the
religious houses in the city of York, murdered the monks, ravished
the nuns, and made a sacrifice of Edmund, titular King of the East
Angles, by first shooting his body full of arrows, and afterwards
cutting off his head. He was soon after interred at St.
Edmundsbury, in the county of Suffolk, from whom it has ever since
been distinguished by that name, as the manner of that Prince's
death entitled him to the honour of martyrdom.
Ethelred, after having reigned six years, was buried at Winbourn, in
the county of Dorset.
_Alfred the Great, sixth King of England_.
In the year 872, Alfred the Great (the fourth son of Ethelwulf)
succeeded his brother Ethelred, whose moral virtues endeared him so
far to his subjects, that they honoured him with the appellation of
the Father of the English Constitution. He was crowned at
Winchester.
In the year 878, the Danes settled themselves in divers parts of
England, with whom Alfred fought many battles, with various success;
but at length gave them a total overthrow at Eddington, in
Somersetshire, and not only obliged their leader Guthrun, the chiefs
of their army, and the main body of their people, to be baptized,
but afterwards to retire out of the kingdom.
This illustrious Prince, in 882, rebuilt the city of London, which
had been burnt and destroyed by the Danes in 839.
As he was an excellent scholar himself, he founded, or at least
greatly augmented, the University of Oxford.
In 893, the Danes, with 300 ships, under one Hastings, invaded
England again, but were defeated by Alfred's army, at Farnham, Surry
[sic].
In 897, a plague happened, and raged throughout the land for three
years successively.
In the year 900, Alfred died of a contraction of the nerves, after
he had lived 51 years, and reigned 29.
_Edward the Elder, seventh King of England_.
On his decease, Edward the Elder (so called to distinguish him from
Edward the Martyr, and Edward the Confessor) succeeded his father,
and was crowned at Kingston upon Thames.
This Prince was a brave warrior, and tho' invaded by the Danes, in
the year 905, he defeated them in Kent.
In the year 911, he improved the University of Cambridge, much after
the same manner as Alfred his father had augmented Oxford.
In 921, he was in the height of his glory, all the Princes in
Britain either submitting to his allegiance, or courting his favour.
He died in the 24th year of his reign, at Farringdon, in Berkshire,
and was buried at Winchester.
Tho' he had three wives, and several children, yet Ethelstan, his
son by one Egwinna, a shepherd's daughter, succeeded to his kingdom.
_Ethelstan, eighth King of England_.
He was crowned in the 13th year of his age, at Kingston upon Thames,
in the year 924.
In the year, 938, he defeated both the Danes and Scots, and made the
Princes of Wales pay him a tribute of 20 pounds of gold, 300 pounds
of silver, and 25,000 head of cattle.
The same year he caused the Bible to be translated into the Saxon,
which was then the mother tongue.
Much about this time the renowned Guy, Earl of Warwick, is said to
have encountered Colebrand, the famous Danish giant, and, after a
sharp contest, to have killed him on the spot at Winchester.
AN ACCOUNT
OF THE
SOLAR SYSTEM,
_Adapted to the Capacities of Children_.
[In the HTML version, the symbols for the planets can be seen
next to their names, except for Georgium Sidus, whose name was
later changed to Uranus.]
THE SUN, which is the fountain of light and heat, is placed in the
centre of the universe; and the several planets, namely, Luna,
(the moon); Mercury; Venus; the Earth; Mars; Jupiter; Saturn; and
Georgium Sidus; move around him in their several orbs, and borrow
from him their light and influence: on the surface of the sun are
seen certain dark spots, but what they are is not known. They
often change their place, number, and magnitude; and if they are
really in the sun's body, as to all appearance they are, we must
suppose that he moves around his axis in about twenty-five days and
six hours; otherwise those various changes and alterations cannot
be accounted for on the principles of reason and philosophy. The
daily motion of the sun from east to west is not real; for, as I
have observed before, the sun is fixed in the centre, and can have
no motion but upon its own axis, that is, of turning round in the
same space. The apparent motion, therefore, from east to west,
must arise from the true and real motion of the earth on which we
live, as I shall prove by and by. The body of the sun is so
immensely large, that his diameter or thickness is computed to be
822,145 English miles, and a million of times larger than the globe
of our earth; stupendous and amazing magnitude! which is supposed
to be all fire, and by whose beams of light the whole system of
beings about it is made visible.
The fixed stars which enamel and bespangle the concave expanse, or
canopy of heaven, by numbers and lustre, make the night beauteous
and delightful, which would otherwise be dark and horrible. The
UNIVERSE has no determinate form or figure at all; for it is every
way infinite and unlimited, and is called the MUNDANE SPACE, in
which all worlds have their place and being.
The MOON, which is the next planet, or body, we are to consider, is,
as to matter and form, not unlike our earth; for her body is uneven
and spherical. The bright portions we see in her are the more
prominent and illuminated parts of the land, as mountains, islands,
promontories, &c. to which we are obliged for the light that is
reflected to us; for the dark parts, which are supposed to be seas,
lakes, vales, &c. are incapable of reflecting any light at all.
Some of our philosopers [sic] assert, that there is an atmosphere
of air about her; and, if so, then is she subject to the wind,
clouds, rain, thunder, lightning, and other meteors, as well as the
earth, and of consequence may be inhabited by men and animals. The
diameter or thickness of the moon, is about 2175 English miles. The
moon revolves round the earth in about 27 days, 7 hours, and 43
minutes. According to the different position of the moon in her
orb, with respect to the sun and earth, she puts on different
aspects or phases, as new, horned, full, &c. And since, at the same
distance from the sun, she never appears of a different face, it is
evident that she has a diurnal motion round her own axis, which is
completed in the same time as her periodical revolution is about the
earth. So that the Lunarians, or people of the moon, (if there are
such) have their days and months perpetually of equal length.
The other planets, i.e. Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, and the Georgium Sidus,* all revolve in the same manner
about the sun as the centre of the system; and in the order from the
sun as they are named in the following figure of the UNIVERSE.
* The Georgium Sidus is a later discovery, having two moons;
without the orb of Saturn, and not represented in the following
scheme, for want of room.
[Illustration: woodcut of the Universe, as understood at that time]
The real motion of them all is from west to east, though sometimes
they appear to move from east to west; and at other times seem not
to move at all. And hence they are said to be direct, retrograde,
and stationary. The Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn, are often eclipsed
by the interposition of their respective moons, or satellites,
between the sun and themselves; and these eclipses are sometimes
partial, sometimes total, and sometimes central. The orbit of the
earth (or the circle which the sun seems to describe round the
earth), is called the ecliptic, which is divided into twelve equal
parts, called signs, and are distinguished by the following names
and marks, [again, the symbols for the signs can be seen in the
HTML version] viz. Aries, the Ram; Taurus, the Bull; Gemini, the
Twins; Cancer, the Crab; Leo, the Lion; Virgo, the Virgin; Libra,
the Balance; Scorpio, the Scorpion; Sagittarius, the Archer;
Capricornus, the Goat; Aquarius, the Water-bearer; Pisces, the
Fishes.
There are many other things peculiar to the planets; but as they
are not within the compass of my design, I shall pass them over, in
order to speak more particularly of the earth.
_Of the_ EARTH, _considered as a_ PLANET.
THE Earth, by its revolution about the sun in 365 days, 5 hours,
and 49 minutes, makes that space of time which we call a year.
The line, which the centre of the earth describes in its annual
revolution about the sun, is called the Ecliptic.
The annual motion of the earth about the sun, is in the order of
the signs of the zodiac; that is, from west to east.
Besides its annual revolution about the sun in the ecliptic, the
earth turns round also on its own axis in 24 hours.
The turning of the earth on its own axis every 24 hours, whilst it
moves round the sun in a year, we may conceive by the rolling of a
bowl on a bowling-green; in which not only the centre of the bowl
hath a progressive motion on the green, but the bowl, in going
forward, turns round about its own axis.
The turning of the earth on its own axis makes the differences of
day and night; it being day in those parts of the earth which are
turned towards the sun; and night in those parts which are in the
shade, or turned from the sun.
The annual revolution of the earth in the ecliptic is the cause of
the different seasons, and of the several lengths of days and
nights, in every part of the world, in the course of the year.
If the diameter of the sun be to the diameter of the earth as 48 to
1, (as by some it is computed), the disk of the sun is above 2000
times bigger than the disk of the earth; and the globe of the sun is
about 100,000 times bigger than the globe of the earth.
The distance of the earth's orbit from the sun is above 20,000
semidiameters of the earth; so that if a cannon ball should come
from the sun with the same velocity it hath when discharged from the
mouth of a cannon, it would be 25 years in coming to the earth.
We shall now consider the earth in another sense, and speak of the
several divisions made by geographers.
OF THE CIRCLES,
_Which are used by_ GEOGRAPHERS _to explain_
_the Properties of the_ NATURAL GLOBE.
You may suppose the following figure to be a globe or sphere,
representing the earth. The outermost circle, marked with the
letters A, D, B, C, is called the meridian; and on this circle the
latitude is reckoned, either from C towards A or B, or else from D
towards A and B.
The equator is the line C, D, which upon the globe is a circle, and
is sometimes called the equinoctial: Upon this circle the degrees
of longitude are reckoned, beginning at C, and counting all round
the globe till you come to C again; and O is the middle of the world
between A and B, which are the two poles thereof: A representing the
North Pole, B the South Pole.
The circles E F, and G H, are called the Tropics, beyond which the
sun never moves.
[Illustration: Woodcut showing Tropics, Ecliptic, Poles, etc.,
marked with the letters A-I, K, L, M, O]
The line G F, which upon the globe is a circle, is termed the
Ecliptic, in which the sun is perpetually moving from G to F, and F
to G again. When the sun is in O, he is then in the Equinoctial,
and the days and nights are of equal length to all the world, except
under the Poles. When he is at F, which is called the Tropic of
Cancer, days are at the longest to all those who dwell under the
North side of the Equator. When the sun is at G, which is called
the Tropic of Capricorn, days are at the longest to all those
dwelling on the South side of the Equator, and at the shortest to
those on the North side.
The circles LM and I K are called the Polar Circles, because to
those inhabitants who dwell under these circles, the longest day is
24 hours; so that the sun sets not, but moves quite round their
horizon. Thus much may suffice for the circles of the sphere; only
note this, that every circle, whether great or small, is divided
into 360 equal parts or degrees; so that a degree is no certain
measure, but only the three hundred and sixtieth part of the circle;
and these degrees are again supposed to be divided into sixty equal
parts, which are called minutes. Now, therefore, if a circle which
will reach round the earth be divided into 360 parts, then one of
those parts is equal to a degree, which was looked upon by the
ancients to be equal to sixty miles, and thus one mile was exactly
equal to a minute.
_Of the_ ZONES.
The Zones are certain tracts of land, whose boundaries are made by
the circles before described, and are five in number, namely, the
Torrid Zone; the Northern Temperate Zone; the Southern Temperate
Zone; the Northern Frigid Zone; the Southern Frigid Zone. 1. The
Torrid Zone contains all that space of land which lies between the
circles E F and G H; for to those inhabitants who dwell betwixt the
said limits, the sun, at some time of the year, becomes vertical,
i.e. right over their heads. 2. The Northern Temperate Zone is all
that space betwixt the circle E F, named the Tropic of Cancer, and
the line L M, called the Northern Polar Circle; and to all the
inhabitants within this compass, the sun, when in their several
meridians, casteth their shadows directly north. 3. The Southern
Temperate Zone is that tract of land which lies between the circular
line G H, called the Tropic of Capricorn, and the Southern Polar
Circle I K. To all the inhabitants within this space, the sun, when
in their meridian, casteth their shadows full south. 4. The
Northern Frigid Zone, is that part of the earth which lies between
the Northern Polar Circle L M, and the North Pole at A; to all
these inhabitants the sun, at a certain season, and when in the
Tropic of Cancer, does not set, but moves in view quite round the
horizon, casting their shadows every way. 5. The Southern Frigid
Zone is that part of the earth which lies between the Southern Polar
Circle I K, and the South Pole at B. To all the inhabitants within
these limits, the sun, when in the Tropic of Capricorn, sets not,
but moves in sight as before, casting their shadows also every way.
_Of the_ CLIMATES.
The Climates are reckoned from the Equator to the Poles; under the
Equator the day is always 12 hours long, and under the Polar Circles
the longest day is 24 hours. Geographers make 24 climates between
the Equator and each of the Polar Circles, because there are 24 half
hours difference between the length of day under the Equator, and
the longest day under the Polar Circle; so that any place where the
longest day in that place is half an hour longer or shorter than
that of another place, is of a different climate. The first climate
begins at the Equator; the second where the longest day is 12 hours
and a half; the third where it is 13 hours, and so on. There are in
all 48 climates of hours, that is, four [sic] from the Equator to
the Polar Circle, either Northward or Southward. Besides the
aforesaid 48 climates of hours, there are 12 more, called climates
of months, that is, six from each of the Polar Circles to the
Poles. They are called climates of months, because the longest day
in the end of the first climate is one whole month, the longest day
at the end of the second two whole months, and so on.
_Of_ LAND _and_ WATER.
The whole globe of the earth is called terraqueous, consisting of
two bodies, namely, Land and Water, which may be divided in the
following manner, viz.
LAND into Continents, Islands, Peninsulas, Isthmuses, Promontories,
Mountains.
1. A Continent is a large tract of land, comprehending divers
countries, kingdoms, and states, joining altogether, without any
separation of its parts by water, of which we have four, viz.
Europe, Asia, Africa, and America.