Page images
PDF
EPUB

from Phenicia settled Cadiz in Spain, about 900 years before the Christian era; and more than 500 years before the same era, a Greek colony built Marseilles in Gaul, now France. The southern part of Italy also was peopled by the Greeks, before the foundation of Rome.

33. Origin of the European Nations. That the nations of Europe originated in Asia, and from the same stock as the Jews, Arabians and Persians, is demonstrated by the affinity of their languages. A great number of words of the most common use, and which would be least likely to be lost among uncivilized nations, have been preserved by the Arabians in the east, by the Welch and Highland Scots in the west, and by all the Gothic nations on the Baltic, altho these people have been separated more than three thousand years, and the radical words are still found in the ancient Hebrew, Syriac, and Chaldaic languages. This fact is living and incontrovertible evidence of the truth of the scripture account of the origin of men.

34. Present political division of Europe. The territo ry of Europe is distributed into seven large or powerful empires and kingdoms, and many smaller states. The governments of most extent and power are Great Britain, France, Austria, Russia, Prussia, Turkey and Spain. The smaller states of most importance are Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Portugal, Switzerland, Naples, with numerous inferior states in Italy and Germany. The population of Europe is estimated at one hundred and fifty millions of souls.

35. Great Britain. The Empire of Great Britain comprehends England, Scotland and Ireland. Scotland is the northern part of the island of which England is the larger division. Formerly these two portions of the island were under distinct governments; but they were united by compact, July 22, 1706. Ireland was originally a distinct government; but conquered at first by the English, and held as a subordinate kingdom, governed by a lord lieutenant. At length, in the year 1800, it was united to Great Britain, and is now represented in the imperial parliament.

ENGLAND.

36. Names of England. The primitive names of Eng land recorded by the Greeks and Romans, were Albion and Britannia. Albion is supposed to be derived from a word in their languages signifying white; and to have been given to the island from the white cliffs of Dover, or hills of chalk. Britannia is supposed to be from a British word, brit, denoting painted; as the ancient inhabitants painted their bodies. But these explanations

are rather conjectural than certain.

37. Present name of England. The name England, is derived from a tribe of those continental nations who conquered the country after the Romans left it, and who were called Angles. They were from the Cimbric Peninsula, now called Jutland. They invaded the island in the year 547, settled in the middle counties, and called it Anglesland, which was corrupted into England.

38. Principal conquests and revolutions in England. When Julius Cesar invaded England, the Belgic colonies had established themselves in the south part of the island. They came from the opposit continent, and spoke the language of the Gauls. Cesar landed in England 55 years before Christ, and began the dominion of the Romans there; but the island was not really subdued, till the reign of Claudius, one hundred years after Cesar's invasion. The Romans when they had subdued, governed the island till the year of Christ 412.

39. Saxons. The Roman troops being recalled to defend Rome from the barbarians of the north, the Britons were left defenseless; and their northern neighbors, the Picts and Scots, began to invade and ravage their country. In their distresses, they applied to the more martial inhabitants of the opposit continent for assistance; and the Jutes arrived for that purpose in 449. These were followed in subsequent years by the Angles and Saxons, who were different tribes from the shores of the Baltic; who, having repelled the Picts and Scots, turned their arms against the Britons and took possession of the country. By the year 585, the invaders had established seven distinct states in England, usually called the Heptarchy. These states were all united under one prince in the person of Egbert, A. D. 827.

40. Danish Conquest. The Danes and Norwegians were very early distinguished for their knowledge of navigation, and their piracies. In the year 787, these rovers made a descent upon England for plunder; but about the year 832, they came in more formidable numbers; and after many bloody battles, in which the Saxon Kings distinguished themselves, and especially the Great Alfred, and after the best towns in England had been reduced to ashes, the Danes entered London A. D. 1013, and England submitted to Swein, the conqueror. 41. Norman Conquest. The Danes retained the government of England but a few years, when the kingdom was restored to its native princes. But in the year 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, landed in England at the head of 60,000 men to conquer the country. Harold, King of England, whose troops were diminished in numbers by a battle just fought in the north against the Norwegians, hastened to meet William, and encountered his army at Hastings. After a long and bloody battle, which lasted the whole day, Harold was slain, his troops put to flight, and William ascended the throne of England. In his descendants, the crown remains to this day, and this was the last conquest of England.

42. Present inhabitants of Great Britain. The inhabitants of Great Britain are therefore composed of the discendants of different tribes from the continent. First, the remains of the primitive Celts or Gaels, who are chiefly in Wales, and the west of England; in the west of Scotland, or Highlands, and in the north of Ireland. Their language is still preserved in the Highlands of Scotland, but is nearly extinct in Wales. Secondly, the body of the English and Scots are the descendants of the Belgic and Baltic tribes, who, at different periods, invaded and settled in England and Scotland. The latter tribes all spoke dialects of the same language. The English who came to America are their descendants, and we retain a great part of their language.

43. Situation of Great Britain. Great Britain is a large island lying in the Atlantic Ocean, near the western shore of Europe; extending from 50 to 581-2 degrees of north latitude, 70 degrees of longitude east of

B

Boston, and 75 east of Philadelphia. Its length is about 580 miles, and its bredth from 100 to 370. It is divided into England and Scotland. The ocean that surrounds this island, is called, on the east, the German Sea; on the south, the English Channel; on the west, St. George's Channel. On the south-east, the Channel is narrow; Dover in England not being more than twenty-five miles from Calais in France.

44. The extent of England. The part of Great Britain called England, extends from the south end of the island to the Cheviot Hills and the Tweed, near the 56th degree of latitude; and is about 380 miles in length. In this division of the island lies Wales, a mountainous region on the west, where dwell the descendants of the aboriginals. The contents of England and Wales are computed at 49,450 square miles, nearly 32 millions of akers, and the population at 8 millions and a half.

45. Mountains. The northern and western parts of England contain many mountains; but they are not of very great altitude. Wharnside, in Yorkshire, and Snowden, in Wales, are the highest peaks; the former rises a little more than 4000 feet, and the latter to 3500. On the north, the Cheviot hills form a continued ridge, and a central chain runs west of Durham and Yorkshire. Wales is a mountainous country.

46. Rivers. The Severn proceeds from the Plen limmon, a mountain in Wales, and after a winding course to Shrewsbury, runs southerly and westerly to the Bristol Channel, a distance of 150 miles, and forms a road for ships that cannot get to Bristol. It receives the two Avons, the Teme and the Wye.

47. The Thames.* The Thames has its source in the Cotswold hills, on the borders of Gloucestershire; and passing Oxford, Windsor and London, it mingles with the Ocean at the Nore. In its course which is easterly, and about 140 miles in length, it receives the Cherwell, the Teme, the Kenneth, the Mole, and the Lee. Near the ocean, it spreads into a broad bay or estuary, which

* This orthography is wrong; the true name is Tames, or Tamis, and it was never spelt with h for twelve hundred years after the invasion of Cesar.

receives at Sheerness the Medway, a considerable stream, from the south west. The Thames is navigable for large ships to London bridge.

48. The Humber. The Humber is an estuary or bay, formed by the confluence of several streams. Of these, the Trent is the most considerable. This river rises at Newpool, in Staffordshire, runs a north easterly course of 100 miles to the Humber, and is navigable to Burton. The Ouse from the north west, on which stands the ancient city of York, is another branch of the Humber. To these may be added the Dun, the Aire, the Calder, the Warf, the Derwent and the Hull.

49. Small Rivers, The Mersey, which springs from the west Riding of Yorkshire, is a short river of about 50 miles in length, but it forms an estuary on which stands the commercial city of Liverpool. On the Irwell, one of its tributary streams, stands the manufacturing town of Manchester; the Tyne, on which stands New Castle, famous for its coal mines; the Tweed, forming the boundary between England and Scotland; the Tees, dividing Durham from Yorkshire; the Eden, which wa ters Carlisle; the Avon in the south, on which stands Salisbury, and the Dee, in Wales, with several others, are small but valuable rivers.

50. Face of the country and soil. The eastern counties of England are mostly level, with a shore of sand or clay, or cliffs of lime stone. The northern and western counties are diversified with mountains of lime stone, free stone, and slate; many of them containing vast beds of coal. The south and east parts, from Dorches ter to Norfolk, abound with chalk, which composes the prominent cliffs of Dover The soil is of all varietics.

51. Climate. England, being surrounded by the ocean, has a temperate climate; the summers being cooler, and the winters less cold, than regions on the continent in the same latitude. The air however is moist, and moderate rains, with a cloudy sky, occur more frequently than on the continent. The air however is very salubrious, there being no extensive marshes, except in one or two of the eastern counties, and the inhabitants are remarkable for health and longevity.

« PreviousContinue »