serted their liberty and independence. If the Moors were unlucky in the north, they were singularly fortunate in the southern parts of that kingdom. Abdalrahman, the last heir of the family of the Ommiades-the Abassidæ now enjoying the Caliphate was recognized as the true representative of the ancient line of the southern Moors. He fixed the seat of his government at Cordova, which from that date for two centuries was the capital of a splendid monarchy. This period, from the middle of the eighth to the middle of the tenth century, is the most brilliant era of Arabian magnificence. Whilst Haroun Alraschid made Bagdad illustrious by the splendor of the arts and sciences, the Moors of Cordova vied with their brethren in Asia in the same honorable pursuits, and were undoubtedly, at this age, the most enlightened of the peoples of Europe. Under a succession of able princes, they earned the highest reputation, both in arts and arms, of all the nations of the West.

The Saracens at this time were extending their conquests in almost every quarter of the globe. The Mahometan religion was professed over a great part of India, and all along the eastern and Mediterranean coast of Africa. The African Saracens invaded Sicily, and projected the conquest of Italy. They actually laid siege to Rome, which was nobly defended by Pope Leo IV., a Roman by birth, who displayed at once the courage of the early ages of the Republic, and the moderation of a Christian minister. The infidel enemy was repulsed, A.D. 848, his ships shattered by storm, and his army literally cut to pieces. Had the Saracens but acknowledged one head, they might have risen to eminence and solid power; but their states were always disunited. Egypt, Morocco, Nubia, Libya, Spain, and India had all their separate sovereigns, who, though they continued to respect the Caliph of Bagdad, as the successor of the Prophet, acknowledged no temporal subjection to his government.

STATE OF THE CHURCH IN THE EIGHTH AND NINTH CENTURIES.

The popes had begun to acquire a temporal authority under Pepin le Bref and Charlemagne, from the donations of territory made by those princes, and they were now gradually extending a spiritual jurisdiction over all the Christian kingdoms.

Nicholas I. proclaimed to the whole world his par amount judgment in appeal from the sentences of all spiritual judicatories; his power of assembling councils of the Church, and of regulating it by the canons of those councils; the right of exercising his authority by legates in all the kingdoms of Europe, and the control of the pope over all princes and governors; and, in order to extend and consolidate the papal power, missionaries were despatched in all directions to found new churches: as Austin had been sent into Britain by Gregory; St. Patrick into Ireland, and Boniface to Germany. Whoever were chosen for such missions by the court of Rome were naturally careful to exalt the prerogatives of the Holy See, and to impress their converts with a deep sense of the supremacy of its bishops. Literary imposture gave its support to these pretences: the forgery of the epistles of Isidorus was not completely exposed till the sixteenth century. Among the prerogatives of the popes was the regulation of the marriages of all crowned heads by the extreme extension of the prohibitions of the canon law, with which they alone had the power of dispensing. It is upon record that one king of France, Henry the First, third of the Capetian race, in order to avoid. the vexatious embarrassments of consanguinity which had involved his predecessor in a contention with the see of Rome, sent even to Russia for a consort.

While the Church was thus gradually extending its influence, and its head arrogating the control over sovereign princes, these, by a singular interchange of character, seem in those ages to have fixed their chief attention on spiritual concerns. Kings, dukes, and counts, neglecting their temporal duties, shut themselves up in cloisters, and spent their lives in prayers and penances. Ecclesiastics were employed in all the departments of secular government; and these alone conducted all public measures and state negotiations, which, of course, they directed to the great objects of advancing the interests of the Church, and establishing the paramount authority of the Holy See.

At this period, however, when the popedom seemed to have attained its highest ascendancy, it suffered a severe wound in that remarkable schism which separated the patriarchates of Rome and Constantinople, or the Greek and Latin Churches. The Roman pontiff had hitherto claimed the right of nominating the patriarch of Constantinople.

The emperor Michael III. denied this right; and deposing the pope's patriarch, Ignatius, appointed the celebrated Photius in his stead. Pope Nicholas I. resented this affront with a high spirit, and deposed and excommunicated Photius, A. D. 863, who, in his turn, pronounced a similar sentence against the pope. The Church was divided, each patriarch being supported by many bishops and their dependent clergy. The Greek and Latin bishops had long differed in many points of practice and discipline, as the celibacy of .the clergy, the shaving their beards, etc.; but, in reality, the prime source of division was the ambition of the rival pontiffs, and the jealousy of the Greek emperors, unwilling to admit the control of Rome, and obstinately asserting every prerogative which they conceived to be annexed to the capital of the Roman empire. As neither party would yield its pretensions, the division of the Greek and Latin Churches became from this time permanent.

Amid these ambitious contests for ecclesiastical power and pre-eminence, the Christian religion itself was disgraced, both by the practice and by the principles of its teachers. Worldly ambition, gross voluptuousness, and grosser ignorance, characterized all ranks of the clergy; and the open sale of benefices placed them often in the hands of the basest and most profligate of men. Yet the character of Photius forms an illustrious exception. Though bred a statesman and a soldier, and in both these respects of great reputation, he attained, by his singular abilities, learning, and worth, the highest dignity of the Church. His Bibliotheca is a monument of the most various knowledge, erudition, and critical judgment; but is mortifying to the present age, as bearing testimony to the existence of various works of the classical writers of antiquity; now, in all probability, lost to the world.

EMPIRE OF THE WEST AND ITALY IN TENTH AND ELEVENTH CENTURIES. Henry I. (The Fowler), after the assassination of Berengarius of Tivoli, ascended the throne, and being a prince of great ability, introduced order and good government into the Empire. Henry's son, Otho (the Great), who succeeded him, again united Italy to the Empire, A. D. 961. He made Denmark

tributary to the Imperial Crown, annexed the crown of Bohemia to his own dominions, and aimed at governing entire Europe. In Pope John XII. he had a most formidable enemy, whom he tried and deposed; but the moment his back was turned, John, by the aid of his party, displaced Leo VIII. Otho returned, and took exemplary vengeance on his enemies by hanging at least one-half of the senate. Calling together the Lateran Council, he created a new pope, and obtained from the assembled bishops an acknowledgment of the absolute right of the emperor to elect to the papacy, to give investures to the crown of Italy, and to nominate to all vacant bishoprics.

In 1024, the Saxon dynasty came to an end; and in the person of Conrad the Second, the Empire passed to the Franconian line. Conrad was an able, active, and spirited prince, anxious to uphold the royal authority, though his reign was too short to admit of his completing the plans he had in view. The emperors continued to assert their sovereignty over Italy and the papacy, though with a constant resistance on the part of the Romans, and of the popes. The emperor, Henry III., strenuously vindicated his right to place his nominee in the pontifical chair, and created three popes without opposition: Clement II., 1046; Damasus II., 1048; and Leo IX., 1049. The latter having in 1053 led an army in person against the Normans, who had taken possession of the southern provinces of Italy, was defeated and taken prisoner; but, as it happened, much to the advantage of the Holy See; for, being treated with respect by his enemies, who were keenly aware of the advantages they might gain by his friendship, he formally granted them the investure of Puglia, Calabria, and Sicily, as fiefs of the Holy See; and, his example being followed by his successors, the Normans were converted from that time into powerful auxiliaries in favor of the court of Rome, against the emperors.

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM.

The system that prevailed during the period from the ninth to the thirteenth century, by which social and political relations, including particularly the rights of property, were regulated in nearly all the

countries of Europe, was called the "Feudal System," a feudal proprietor being a person who held his lands from another, on condition of certain services, which he, as a "vassal," was bound to perform for the other as "suzerain" or "superior." With the exception of the duty of military service to their superiors, the vassals of a king practically were invested with sovereign power within their own dominions, having vassals in various degrees beneath them; and living in their fortified castles, often by means of pillage, while the peasantry were bound as serfs, or slaves, to the soil. The feudal nobles and gentlemen fought on horseback, and were protected by a close-fitting armor of steel, often ornamented with gold and silver. Their prin

cipal weapons of offence were long lances, with which they rode fiercely against each other; and clubs, maces, or swords for hand-to-hand conflicts when their lances were broken, or when the combatants became unhorsed. The common soldiers fought on foot, were unprovided with protective armor, and used bows and arrows-either long bows or cross-bows. The Normans were skilled in the use of every species of arms, but especially in the cross-bow; and after the Norman invasion, the English became the most expert archers in the world. Cannon came into use in the middle of the . fourteenth century. The influences that gradually eat away the feudal system will appear later in this History.

IT is surmised that the original population of the British Isles came from the Celta of Gaul. The authentic history of Britain commences with the first Roman invasion, and we learn from Cæsar and Tacitus that the country was at that period in a state very remote from barbarism.

It was divided into a number of small independent sovereignties, each prince having a regular army, and a fixed revenue. The manners, language, and religion of the people were the same with those of the Gallic Celtæ. The last was the Druidical system, whose influence pervaded every department of the government; and, by its power over the minds of the people, supplied the imperfection of laws.

Julius Cæsar, after the conquest of Gaul, turned his eyes towards Britain. He landed, B.C. 55, on the southern coast of the island, and meeting with the most obstinate resistance, he was compelled to withdraw into Gaul for winter quarters. He returned in the following summer with a great increase of force, an army of 20,000 foot, a competent body of horse, and a fleet of 800 sail. The independent chiefs of the Britons united their forces under Cassivelaunus, king of the Trinobantes, and encountering the legions with great resolution, displayed all the ability of practiced warriors. But the contest was vain. Cæsar advanced into the country, burned Verulanium, the present town of St. Albans, the capital of Cassivelaunus; and, after forcing the Britons into articles of submission, returned to Gaul.

The domestic disorders of Italy proved of considerable benefit to the Britons, since they gave them

peace for nearly a century; but, in the reign of Claudius, the conquest of the island was determined. The emperor landed in Briton, and compelled the submission of the south-eastern provinces. Ostorius Scapula defeated Caractacus, who was sent prisoner to Rome. Suetonius Paulinus, the general of Nero, destroyed Mona (Isle of Man), the centre of Druidical superstition. The Iceni, the inhabitants of Norfolk and Suffolk, under their queen, Boadicea, attacked several of the Roman settlements. London, with its Roman garrison, was burnt to ashes. But in A.D. 61 a decisive battle took place, in which 80,000 Britons fell on the field, and Boadicea, unwilling to survive the liberties of her country, ended her life by poison. Not for thirty years afterwards, in the reign of Titus, was the island subjugated. The great general who performed this notable feat was Julius Agricola, whose deeds have been commemorated by his son-in-law, Tacitus. He was the first general to carry Roman armies into Scotland. After securing the Roman province against invasion from the Caledonians by walls and garrisons between the Firths of Forth and Clyde, he reconciled the southern inhabitants to the government of their conquerors by the introduction of Roman arts and improvements. Adrian contracted the limits fixed upon by Agricola by building a second wall between Newcastle and Carlisle: but under Severus the Roman province was again far extended into the north of Scotland, and secured by walls and fortresses built of more durable materials than those of either Agricola or Adrian. With the decline of the Roman power in the West, the southern Britons recovered their liberty; but it was only to become the object of incessant predatory invasion from their brethren of the

North. The Romans, after rebuilding the wall of Severus, finally bade adieu to Britain, very early in the fifth century, about 410, and it was now the turn of the Picts and Caledonians to burst down upon the South, to pillage, ravage, and destroy. After repeated applications to Rome for aid, without success, her legions being hotly engaged in other parts, the Britons solicited the Saxons of Germany for succor and protection. The Saxons received the application with great satisfaction, and to the number of 1,600 landed, under the command of Hengist and Horsa, A.D. 450. Joining the South Britons they soon compelled the Scots to retire to "Caledonia, stern and wild." They next turned their attention to the absolute reduction of the Britons, and after bitter and obstinate fighting for over one hundred and fifty years succeeded in reducing the whole of England to the Saxon government, many of the nations taking refuge in Wales, the remote county of Cornwall, and in Armorica in France, subsequently called, on this account, the province of Bretagne. Seven distinct provinces became as many kingdoms.

Among the Saxon kingdoms there were continual conflicts, and each chieftain aspired to the dignity of Bretwalda, or supreme being. This rank seems to have arisen out of the need for a common leader against the Britons, Picts, and Scots; and it was probably elective. The first Bretwalda was Ella, king of Sussex; the second Ceawlin, grandson of Cerdic of Wessex; the third was Ethelbert, king of Kent, in whose reign Christianity was introduced among the Anglo-Saxons.

Three Anglo-Saxon youths were exposed for sale in the market-place at Rome, when Gregory (afterwards Pope Gregory the Great) was passing by. Struck by their fair and open countenances, he asked of what nation they were. "Angles,' 99 was the answer. "Say rather Angels," replied he, “if they were only Christians. But of what province ?” "Deira." "De ira," said he; "yes, they are called from the wrath of God to his mercy. And who is their king?" "His name is Ella or Alla." "Allelujah," he exclaimed; "the praises of God must be sung in their country." He at once undertook the mission, but the Romans retained him at home; and on his accession to the Papacy, he sent to Britain a Roman monk, Augustine, at the head of forty missionaries. After some delay in Gaul, from the

dread of danger among the fierce Saxon heathens, Augustine landed in Kent in 597.

He found Ethelbert favorably disposed, owing to his marriage with the Christian princess, Bertha, daughter of Caribert, king of Paris. The king assigned him a residence in the Isle of Thanet, and received him to a conference; and in a short time, Ethelbert and many of his subjects were baptized. Augustine was made by Gregory archbishop of Canterbury, and Metropolitan of all the British churches. Augustine also founded the see of Rochester. Soon after Sebert, king of Essex, the nephew of Ethelbert, received the faith from Mellitus, who became the first bishop of London. The cathedral of St. Paul's was erected on the site of a temple to Diana, and another church was dedicated to St. Peter on Thorney Island, an islet formed by a small tributary of the Thames, now the site of Westminster Abbey. In 627 Edwin, king of Northumbria, was converted by Palinus, a bishop who was introduced by his queen Ethelburga, the daughter of Ethelbert. He was baptized in a temporary church dedicated to St. Peter, soon replaced by a cathedral which became the seat of the archbishopric of York, and the centre whence Christianity spread over the north.

The obscurity and confusion of the Saxon Heptarchy renders it colorless and uninteresting. It is sufficient for the purpose of this History to mark the duration of the several kingdoms till their union under Egbert. Kent began in 455, and lasted, under seventeen princes, till 827, when it was subdued by the West Saxons. In Ethelbert's reign, one of its kings, the Saxons were converted to Christianity by the monk Augustine. Northumberland began in 597, and lasted, under twenty-three kings, till 792. East Anglia began in 575 and ended in 793. Mercia subsisted from 582 to 827. Essex had fourteen princes, from 527 to 747; Sussex only five, before its reduction beneath the dominion of the West Saxons, about 600. Wessex, which finally subdued and united the whole of the Heptarchy, began in 519, and had not subsisted above eighty years when Cadualla, its king, conquered and annexed Sussex to its dominions. As there was no rule for fixed succession, it was the policy of the Saxon princes to put to death all the rivals of their intended succession. From this cause, and from the passion for celibacy, the royal families were