27. When the Saxons had got possession of the whole country, you may perhaps suppose they would be quiet and contented, but this was not the case; for as long as there were separate kingdoms, they were continually at war with each other, and the principal cause of disagreement was, that, among the kings, there was always one called the Bretwalda, or ruler of Britain, who had some degree of authority over the rest; but as any one of them might be raised to this dignity, it was a constant source of quarrels and warfare, until, at length, the weaker kingdoms were overcome by the more powerful ones, and there was but one king over the whole country, which then took the name of Angleland or England, from a particular tribe of people called the Angles, who came here in great numbers with the Saxons. 28. I dare say you did not know before how Britain came to be called England; and you would be very much amused to hear how many of the places in it, came by their present names. 29. We will take for example Norfolk and Suffolk, which, with Cambridge, formed the kingdom of East Anglia, and was conquered by the Angles. Now these Angles consisted of two tribes, who divided their conquest between them, one tribe settling in the north part, the other in the south; so that they were called North folk, and South folk, and thus came the names of the two counties. QUESTIONS. 1. Who were the Caledonians? 4. How did they molest the Britons? 6. What was the state of the country at this time? 7. What was the Roman party? 8. What was the British party? 10. Who was Vortigern, and what did he do? 11. Tell me something about the Saxons. 16. Who were Hengist and Horsa, and how did they assist the Britons? 23. What did the Saxons do after this? 24. What was the Heptarchy? 25. How was the country changed by the wars? 27. How was the Heptarchy destroyed? CHAPTER IV. MANNERS OF THE SAXONS. [Illustration: ANCIENT SAXONS.] 1. I am now going to tell you what sort of people the Saxons were, and how they lived after they were quite settled in England; for you ought to know all about them, as they were our own ancestors, and made a great many of our laws; and their language was English too, although it has so much altered that you would hardly know it for the same. 2. The Saxons were not Christians when they first came here; but their religion was different from that of both the Druids and heathen Romans; for they worshipped great images of stone or wood, that they made themselves, and called gods; and from the names of their gods and goddesses, our names of the days of the week are derived. 3. At length, the bishop of Rome, who was called the Pope, sent some good men to persuade the Saxons to leave off praying to wooden idols, and to worship the true God.