Little Arthur's history of England

by Lady Maria Callcott

One of the first of them was King Arthur, who was one of the bravest men in the world, and he had some friends who were called his knights. They helped him to fight the Saxons, but the Saxons were too strong for them; so after fighting a long time, King Arthur was obliged to give up a good deal of his land to them. Yet he beat them at last in a great battle, and was able to keep the rest of his kingdom from them for many years. You will read many pretty stories about King Arthur and his knights, when you are older.

I have heard that they were all so good and so brave that nobody could tell who was the best, and the king himself did not know which to like best, so he had a large round table made, that they might all sit at it and be equal; because you know that at a round table the places are all alike, but at a long table one place may seem better than another. But I cannot tell you more about the knights now, for we must think about the Angles and Saxons.

By little and little, the Saxons and Angles drove the natives out of almost all Britain. The greatest number of those who remained went into that part called Wales, where there were high mountains and thick woods, where they could hide themselves. You will read in some books that some went with King Arthur to a part of France, which was called Brittany because Britons were living there already. But we cannot be sure of this.

Now the Angles and Saxons were fierce and cruel, for they had not yet learned anything about the true God; but instead of loving and serving Him, they made a great many figures of stone and wood, in the shape of men and women, and called them by different names, such as Woden, and Thor, and fancied they could help them and bless them, if they prayed to them; but you know this was both foolish and wicked. It was foolish, because stones and wood cannot hear or understand; and wicked, because we ought to pray to the true God only.

The Britons, who had all become Christians before the Angles and Saxons came to Britain, were very ill treated by their new masters, because they would not leave off loving and serving the true God. Their churches were pulled down, and the clergymen either killed or driven away. And the people of England (as Britain now began to be called) were almost in as bad a state as before the Romans came; for although the Angles and Saxons were glad enough to make them build houses, and plough the corn-fields, and take care of sheep for them, they would not let them read—they spoilt their schools, and burnt the books, besides pulling down the churches, as I told you before.

At length, however, these bad times ended, and the conquerors themselves left off being cruel, and did more good to the country than ever the Romans did, as I will tell you in another chapter.

CHAPTER VII.
How there were seven chief kingdoms in England; how Augustine and his friends came from Rome and made the people Christians; and how some of the young men went to Rome to be taught.

I told you, in the last chapter, that Hengist made himself king over part of Britain. His kingdom was Kent.

Soon afterwards other brave captains of the Angles and Saxons made themselves kings. So there were seven chief kingdoms in England, besides many petty kings. As soon as they were settled, they and their people began to like the houses and gardens and bathing places the Romans had left in the country, though they destroyed the most of them. But there were few, if any, of the Christian clergymen left among them, to teach them to know the true God. The Angles and Saxons lived as heathens in their new country for more than a hundred years. And now I will tell you how God gave them the word of life, and turned them from their false gods to the faith of Jesus Christ.