THE EARLY HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume II, Issue 8, 30 August 1856, Page 3

THE EARLY HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

We think our Maori friends who know the English nation but as a great Giant who is feared and felt all over the round world, may like to hear of it when as a little child it knew not how to walk alone, and was hid from the oilier Countries of ilie earih among its wild woods and rocks. Among all the, trees that grow in Old England none spreads so far or wide as the Oak which springs from a little acorn; but it takes many years before it reaches its full height; so has it been with the English nation, it did not rise in a day, nor did one man make it great, but for 1800 years, meir of God, men- of Warj and men ©f Science have been adding new branches and new leaves totheold trunk, till it spreads its shade and shelter over the whole globe,, and leaves not a corner where its power is «n felt. What we now wrile is ta leH our Maori friends ofhow these men of God y these men of

War, these men of Science made their country great and good, the first by their' labor to lead all men in the ways of right and justice, the second by their bravery and love of Bome which made them guard 'it from a foreign foe, and the third by their deep thought which gave them power over lifeless things and made the mighty steamer plough the sea* and scraps of metal print books and papers to spread knowledge over the world. We must also tell how the selfishness, the cruelly, and the folly of other men hindered and stunted the growth of the English Oak, and how their names are engraved on the record to hand their shame and disgrace to us and to our children. When first we hear ofEnglan J, ii is as of a wild land where men live in woods and caves, and where wolves prowl, and fierce beasts roar, where the true God was and men worshipped the creatures He bad made. Bixt even in those days, now i9OO years ago, the country was rich and fertile, and the sound of its plenty reachinga strong and warlike people named the Romans, the spirit of desire* came into their hearts, and crossing the seas in their ships of war, they landed on the savage unknown shore; and would have subdued and conquered the children ©f the land Latf not mighty storms- arisen ®nd driven them in their sea houses from the coast. A hundred more years passed'and the Lord Jesus had 1 lived and died before these iron men, the Romans, again set sail for the Island of the Britons. At this lime they did not reave it disappointed, for they were skilled m war and their 10,000 mci*slew and

destroyed 80,000 of the untrained warriors of the Island, whose coverings of wild beasts skins stood not against the* sharp weapons -and superior skill of the strangers. But there is no evil so great but that the Great God may still turn it into good. Agricola, one of the generals of these Roman warriors was a man of worth, as well as of courage, and by his wisdom the natives grew in knowledge and in art, he taught them to make long roads, which are still left as witnesses of the time—and his people built towns and houses turning the wilderness into the homes of civilized man* In their lime too first dawned that great light which lightens the heathen, upon the dark minds of the native Britons and they learnt to know the God who ma.le the sun and moon they had before so ignorantly worshipped. But years rolled on, and the Roman warriors were needed to defend their 4>wa country from the foe ; and 478 years after they bad first landed on our shores, they set sail again, leaving nought to mark where they bad been but the roads and castles which their hands had made ; and the men they had conquered and subdued knew not bow to defend and pro tect themselves, from the many enemies around them now that their powerful masters had departed. In the day of their /ear and sorrow they bethought them of a powerful people separated from them by a narrow sea and to this people they sent, imploring their assistance and protection ; but it was like setting fire to watch over gunpowder, for no sooner had the Saxons landed on the Britons Isle, than, devoured by the spirit of greed, they seized the fruitful fields,

and soon built towns, devoted the mm who bad implored their assistance to death and remained lords of the country from sea shore to sea shore. But as these Saxons bad many chiefs and powerful men among them, quarrels soon arose, and the fair country of England was divided into seven smalt* kingdoms: darkness once more spread over the land, as these men knew not the true God, and the poor persecuted Britons gave up His worship too; the culture of the soil was forgotten, towns were no longer built, war and bloodshed reigned, and this once promising nation seemed doomed to-be so torn asunder, that no power could reunite it. But daylight was near. Among other savage habits the Saxons maintained the barbarous one of selling their children to foreigners; in this way some beautiful boys had reached Rome, the City of the Romans, 600 years after Christ, and Gregory the Ist, a Bishop living there at that time, struck by their beauty, askeJ where they came from, and when he heard they were from a land which koew not Christ, bis heart was touched with pity, and he sent Missionaries to teach and improve those who were in darkness—and soon under the light, rough paths grew smooth, beautiful churches arose throughout the land, men once more dwelt in safety, and not very long after the seven kingdoms grew into one strong pillar with a king called Egbert tor its head; and lucky it was that the bundle of sticks was so united, as in the reign of Egbert's son, strong men called Danes attacked it and bad each stick been separate they must have snrpped, never to grow together again. We. have

now come to the time when lived one of those .great and good men whose acts are felt even now and whose names live fop ever. Grandson of Egbert who joined the seven kingdoms into one solid pile, he became king of all England when danger was near from the. fierce Danes. Livingat a time when few men could read, he had taught himself, and knew more than all the wise men of the land, and above all he knew how to make use of his knowledge and let not one hour of precions time escape him. At one time the Danes took entire possession of his land, but assembling all his great men round him, he prepared to chase the intruder from his inheritance. Before he could do this he must know the strength and power of the enemy's army, but there was no one he could trust to bring him true accounts of this; so disguising himself as a singer of sweet songs, he took his harp in his hand and went bravely to the Danish Camp; there amidst men who thirsted for his life he sat sounding his sweet nrusic, and while they listened with joyful ears he noted how they kept bad watch, and stealing back to his true followers he led them up against his foes and completely overcame them J but in his triumph he was merciful, as instead of making slaves of the defeated, he gave them farms and made them settlers in the land. And now when peace and leisure were round his steps, he gave all thought to the happiness of his people. No law yet reigned in the land; each man might do as seemed good to his neighbour; and war and blood was what followed: but this wise king Alfred declared each crime must have its known and certain punishment, and that vengeance must be taken out of the impatient hand of the angry injured man, and put into the hand of a cool impartial judge who along with the twelve jurymen chosen from the same class as the accused should declare if he be guilty and what punishment it is meet he should receive; and so began the trial by jury of which the English are so proud. Now also Alfred knew that round his kingdom lay

* great sea wall which while it shut his ;peopte in and prevented their copying the wisdom and art of the other nations of the world; did not hinder these other nations who had discovered the path across the waters from attacking and annoying him. He resolved to-do as they bad done and b«il1 -great ships to defend his country and to carry bis people to learn the knowledge of the worlds but his men knew not how to form these great sea bouses, so be brought foreigners and sti angers to teach them, and this is Ihe little seed from which the ships England now has have sprung. He next founded a school upon ibe banks of a flowing river which has since sent out mighty minds *o sway and influence the men who have in *9OO years added bows and branches to the English Oak; and this great school, called Oxford, stands now with its glorious balls and stately colleges to receive and teach the sons of England, It was well that Alfred lost not the hours that were given him in which to work as they were few and he died with much pain and suffering at the age of 49; and the sons and grandsons who came after tiim seemed to belong to another tree, they were so weak and idle, so fond of pleasure, or so occupied with their own quarrels, that the interests and advancement of the people in their charge seemed but as vapour in their eyes, and the old foe the Dane came and -once more spread terror through the land, till a wise man, Canute, who was their leader made himself agreeable to both Saxon and Bane and reigned iu peace and usefulness till the day of his death. But he, like Alfred, had sons unworthy of the name, and the people, weary of their violence, called back the Saxon heirs of their great king to the throne and there we find them still, when *066 years after the birth of Christ a new race and a new conqueror appeared, of whom we shall tell you more at another time.