Dickens, Charles – A Child’s History of England

Dickens, Charles – A Child’s History of England

Dickens, Charles – A Child’s History of England

A Child’s History of England

CHAPTER I – ANCIENT ENGLAND AND THE ROMANS

IF you look at a Map of the World, you will see, in the left-hand

upper corner of the Eastern Hemisphere, two Islands lying in the

sea. They are England and Scotland, and Ireland. England and

Scotland form the greater part of these Islands. Ireland is the

next in size. The little neighbouring islands, which are so small

upon the Map as to be mere dots, are chiefly little bits of

Scotland, – broken off, I dare say, in the course of a great length

of time, by the power of the restless water.

In the old days, a long, long while ago, before Our Saviour was

born on earth and lay asleep in a manger, these Islands were in the

same place, and the stormy sea roared round them, just as it roars

now. But the sea was not alive, then, with great ships and brave

sailors, sailing to and from all parts of the world. It was very

lonely. The Islands lay solitary, in the great expanse of water.

The foaming waves dashed against their cliffs, and the bleak winds

blew over their forests; but the winds and waves brought no

adventurers to land upon the Islands, and the savage Islanders knew

nothing of the rest of the world, and the rest of the world knew

nothing of them.

It is supposed that the Phoenicians, who were an ancient people,

famous for carrying on trade, came in ships to these Islands, and

found that they produced tin and lead; both very useful things, as

you know, and both produced to this very hour upon the sea-coast.

The most celebrated tin mines in Cornwall are, still, close to the

sea. One of them, which I have seen, is so close to it that it is

hollowed out underneath the ocean; and the miners say, that in

stormy weather, when they are at work down in that deep place, they

can hear the noise of the waves thundering above their heads. So,

the Phoenicians, coasting about the Islands, would come, without

much difficulty, to where the tin and lead were.

The Phoenicians traded with the Islanders for these metals, and

gave the Islanders some other useful things in exchange. The

Islanders were, at first, poor savages, going almost naked, or only

dressed in the rough skins of beasts, and staining their bodies, as

other savages do, with coloured earths and the juices of plants.

But the Phoenicians, sailing over to the opposite coasts of France

and Belgium, and saying to the people there, ‘We have been to those

white cliffs across the water, which you can see in fine weather,

and from that country, which is called BRITAIN, we bring this tin

and lead,’ tempted some of the French and Belgians to come over

also. These people settled themselves on the south coast of

England, which is now called Kent; and, although they were a rough

people too, they taught the savage Britons some useful arts, and

improved that part of the Islands. It is probable that other

people came over from Spain to Ireland, and settled there.

Thus, by little and little, strangers became mixed with the

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Dickens, Charles – A Child’s History of England

Islanders, and the savage Britons grew into a wild, bold people;

almost savage, still, especially in the interior of the country

away from the sea where the foreign settlers seldom went; but

hardy, brave, and strong.

The whole country was covered with forests, and swamps. The

greater part of it was very misty and cold. There were no roads,

no bridges, no streets, no houses that you would think deserving of

the name. A town was nothing but a collection of straw-covered

huts, hidden in a thick wood, with a ditch all round, and a low

wall, made of mud, or the trunks of trees placed one upon another.

The people planted little or no corn, but lived upon the flesh of

their flocks and cattle. They made no coins, but used metal rings

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