manufactures. Here, too, are Scotland's harbors and, hence, her commercial opportunity. The population of this favored region is more than half that of all Scotland. The third division is that of the Lowland Hills, Scotland's natural barrier against invasion from England, the "border" of the ballads and historical romance. These are monotonous moorlands. They lack the picturesque beauty of the Highlands and the mineral wealth of the Plain, and are good for little but sheep pasture. The Tweed valley is a more prosperous region; verging on the coal districts of England, it shares their prosperity.

ture.

Ireland. Of the physical sources of national well-being, Ireland has but a niggardly portion. The island is shaped like a saucer. Along the coasts, north, west, and south, runs a ring of low mountain ranges. In the east alone are there considerable stretches of sandy shore, and even here, the coast line is broken by two mountain masses, the Mourne and the Wicklow hills. The interior is an undulating plain with hardly sufficient slope to afford watershed to the sluggish rivers. The soil has a limestone foundation, and is as fertile as that of England, but it is too wet for successful agriculture and is given over, in great part, to cattle pasNumerous lakes and tracts of bog-land lie across the heart of the country and reduce its tillable area. Ireland gets the first effect of the warm winds from the Atlantic, and the rainfall is excessive. The number of rainy days in the year averages two hundred and eight. The climate is in consequence warm, damp, and debilitating. Moreover, the mineral resources of the country are scant. The immense coal measures that originally covered its surface were carried away ages ago by glacial action. Isolated fragments of the once abundant store are found in the hills, but the output of the mines is quite inadequate to the industrial needs of the country. Ireland possesses rich deposits of iron, but they cannot be worked to advantage because fuel is lacking. The

1 The surface of Ireland is 72% arable land, 12% bog and marsh, 11% barren mountain, 4 % water, 1 % forest,

mountains contain other minerals, copper, gold, silver, and lead, and these have been mined at different epochs in Irish history; but the ores are nowhere so rich as those of the Pennine and Cornish districts, and the mining industries are to-day actually declining.

The fates seem to have conspired against Ireland. Her rivers rarely afford water power sufficient for manufactures. Her natural harbors lie to the west and north, where they are of little use. One first-rate harbor lies on the south coast and has become important since the steamship lines running from Liverpool to America make Queenstown a calling station. England stands between Ireland and the Continent. She can control and has successfully stifled the trade ventures of the weaker country. Deprived of commercial and industrial opportunities, the Irish people are restricted to agriculture. The population is distributed over the land in villages and scattered hamlets. There are but six towns of more than 20,000 inhabitants, - Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Londonderry, and Waterford. These, it will be noticed, are all on the seacoast and owe their importance to some commercial advantage. In northern Ireland conditions are more favorable. The climate is bracing, the juxtaposition of two such harbors as Belfast and Glasgow promotes commerce, while ready access to the Scotch coal district renders manufacture profitable. The poverty of Ireland may be partly accounted for by misgovernment, but it is mainly due to lack of material resources.

Industrial Opportunity and Population. The comparative prosperity of the political divisions of Britain is clearly indicated by the movement of population.1 Scotland has always been sparsely settled. The population of Ireland is actually decreasing, while that of England and Wales has rapidly increased since the opening up of their mineral re

sources.

1 Comparative densities, 1891: Scotland, 135 inhabitants to square mile; Ireland, 144; Wales, 204; England, 540; Saxony, 605.

CHAPTER II

RACE ELEMENTS OF THE ENGLISH NATION

Books for Consultation

SOURCES

Cæsar, Commentaries, Bk. IV, ch. XX-XXXVIII; Bk. V, ch. VIIIXXII.

Tacitus, Agricola, Sec. VII-XXIII.

Tacitus, Germania, Sec. V, VII, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XVI, XXI, XXV, XXVI.

Beowulf.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

Asser's Life of Alfred.

Bede's Ecclesiastical History.

Proverbs of Alfred, Publications of Ælfric Society.

SPECIAL AUTHORITIES

Windle, Early Man in Britain.

W. B. Dawkins, Early Man in Britain.

F. Seebohm, The Tribal System in Wales.

Mommsen, Roman Provinces, Vol. I, Bk. VIII, ch. V.

Wright, The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon.

Coste, Romans of Briton.

Worsaae, Danes and Northmen in England, Scotland, and Ireland. Ripley, The Races of England, ch. XII.

IMAGINATIVE LITERATURE

Lanier, The Boy's King Arthur.

The Aborigines or Paleolithic Men. Of the first inhabitants of the British Isles we know little with certainty. They belong to prehistoric time and have left no record of their existence save rude weapons chipped from flint or stone, ornaments of bone or ivory decorated with figures of animals,