

BCAFFOtDma. 



how 10 hi* eoul mercy, tad gnuit him of his sins forgiveness ! " h.. 

 due* not feel that Uie monl qualities of tin- rit.-r were a* eminent an 

 UM o|>portuniUat enjoyed or thu UleoU that improved them I 



Among Anglo-Saxon prote writers, we must not forget the name of 

 Alfred. Hi* chief worlu re translation* from the Latin, and of these 

 the most remarkable an his version* of fiede, Oroaiun, and Boethius. 

 Certain venes of the hat-named author he has also paraphrased in 

 vene. Among what may be termed hi* original works, are hi* 

 account* of the voyages of the two Northmen \\ ulfatan and Ohthere, 

 which were inserted in Hakluyt's collection, and hare been the subject 

 of so much comment and criticism. 



ArohbUhop Wulfstan, better known by the name of Lupus, was a 

 voluminous writer of homilies. He was translated from Worcester to 

 York in 1002, and must be carefully distinguished from the Saint 

 Wulbtau already mentioned. A -till more celebrated divine was 

 AUfric, the great champion who led the English church in its re- 

 sistance to the Romish innovations of the llth century. As might 

 have been expected. Us authority was appealed to, and with powerful 

 fleet, by the friends of the Reformation. One of ArchbUhop Parker's 

 works i entitled * A Testimony of Antiquity, showing the ancient 

 Faith of the Church of England, Ac., being a Sermon translated out of 

 Latin into English by .tll'ric, abbot of St. Alban's.'&c. It required 

 all the exertions of the new theological school founded by Lanfranc 

 ux] Ansrlm to keep under the principles so deeply sown by /Kllric. 



We will close thu notice of Saxon literature by observing that the 

 influence it has exercised upon the modern literature of the country 

 has been much underrated. Without maintaining, as gome authors 

 have done, that Milton diligently studied Ceedmon, yet we do not fear 

 to ssi 1 1 that some favourite images, and even certain terms of expres- 

 sion, may be traced through our literature, century after century, 

 from the pages of the Saxon *cop to those of Spenser and of Shaksperc. 

 The mistaken criticism which some of these have called forth might 

 afford matter for instructive comment ; and serve in some measure to 

 teach us the value of a literature which has been so much neglected. 



SAXONS is the name of a branch of the German nation. Their 

 name is derived by some from that of the Saces on the Indus, by 

 others from s&r, a weapon, probably of the nature of a stone axe, and 

 by others it is traced to the work taacn, that is ' settled,' in contra- 

 distinction from those German tribes who led a sort of nomadic 

 life. The earliest writers who mention the Saxons describe them 

 as neighbours of the Danes, south of the Cimbriaii Chersonesus. 

 (' Geognph. Ravennas,' iv. 17.) Ptolemaeus also speaks of the islands 

 of the Saxons, which were probably the modem islands of Eiderstedt, 

 Nordstrand. Wicking Harde, and Boking Harde. Orosius (vii. 32) 

 says that they inhabited a marshy country which was almost inacces- 

 sible to strangers. Towards the south-west they seem at first not to 

 have extended beyond the Elbe. Tacitus, though he speaks of the 

 Angli and Varini, who must have been close neighbours to the 

 Saxons, does not mention them. 



The similarity of their language to that of the 1'ersiaus and ancient 

 Indians affords reason for believing that the Saxons were of eastern 

 origin ; but how and when they came to occupy the north-western 

 extremity of Germany, are questions which history cannot answer. 

 Thus much only is certain, that at first they occupied a great part of 

 the country between the Elbe and the Cimbrian Chersonesus ; but 

 when, during the migration of the barbarians, the neighbouring tribes 

 changed their countries and migrated towards the south, the Saxons 

 likewise began to extend in the same direction, and at last we find 

 them occupying the country between the Elbe, the Rhine, the Lippe, 

 and the German Ocean. This extensive tract of land is called by 

 Anglo-Saxon writers Old Saxony, to distinguish it from New Saxony 

 or England. 



In the 3rd century the Saxons often landed on the coasts of England 

 and France, and ravaged the maritime districts ; but about the middle 

 of the 5th century (449) a large body of Saxons and Angles established 

 permanent settlements in this island. The Angles, however, seem to 

 have prevailed in numbers or influence, for it was they that gave 

 the name to their new country, Angel-laud, Anglia (England), though 

 it was sometimes called Saxonia Transmarina. The name Anglo- 

 Saxons, which comprises both Angles and Saxons [ANGLES anc 

 ENGLAND, in Geoo. Div.l was invented by later historians for the 

 sake of convenience. The history of the Saxons, who settled in 

 England, and here, together with the Angles, became the origin of a 

 new population, henceforth forms part of the history of England. 



Those Saxons who remained in Germany conquered, about 530 

 conjointly with the Franks, the northern part of Thuriugia as far as 

 the little river Unstrut, but soon after gave up the eastern part of their 

 conquest to a Slavonic tribe. The southernmost of the Saxons, about 

 650, became tributary to the Franks, to whom they paid an annua 

 tribute of COO cows. In proportion as the Saxons advanced towards 

 the interior of Germany, and became better acquainted witli the 

 advantage* of agriculture and the breeding of cattle, they gradually 

 abandoned their former piratical mode of living, but remained never 

 thelen a spirited and warlike people. 



Toward* the close of the 7th century we find the Saxons divider 

 into three great tribes, namely, the Outfall on the western side ol 

 the Elbe, the Wentfali in the country between the Rhine, Lippe 

 and Ems, and the Engeri in the centre, between the t\vu former 



tribes, that is, on both banks of the Weeer. Their hostile feeling 

 toward* the Franks was kindled into a war under Charles Martel, who 

 conquered some Saxon districts on the northern banks of the Lippe, 

 and made their inhabitants tributary. This, however, was only a 

 relude to the great and bloody wars which, with several interruptions, 

 were carried on by Charlemagne from 772 till 8U3. During these wars 

 many thousand Saxons fell in battle, and thousands were put I" 

 because they refused to adopt Christianity. But they held out to 

 the last, even after their chief Wittekind had submitted and become a 

 Christian. The treaty of Selz on the Stale (803) at last term 

 the war : the Saxons agreed to become Christians, and were put on a 

 footing of equality with the Franks. Henceforth their history forms 

 a part of that of the Carlovingian empire. To diffuse a knowledge of 

 Christianity among them, and to establish the new religion more 

 firmly, Charlemagne founded seven bishoprics, and from the places he 

 appointed as the seats for these new ecclesiastical dignities, we may 

 see the extent of country which they then occupied. The seat* of the 

 bishops were Osnabriick, Verden, Bremen, 1'aderborn, Miuden, Hildes- 

 heim, and Miinstcr. 



SBIRRI, the name of a police force which existed in the Papal and 

 other Italian states. They were not a military corps ; they w. 

 uniform, and lived in their own houses ; they received a small pay, and 

 were furnished with arms. They were ready at any time of the day 

 or night to rally at the summons of their captain, who was styled 

 Bargello, for the purpose of tracing and arresting bad characters or 

 suspected persons. Parties of them went then- rounds in the towns at 

 night The Sbirri acted also as informers, and assumed various dis- 

 guises for the purpose. They were placed under the orders of the 

 respective governors of the towns and districts. This body of men fell 

 at last into great disrepute : they were open to bribery, and often had 

 a secret understanding with robbers and assassins. They were 

 recruited from among bad characters, respited criminals, &c. In 1809 

 they were abolished in almost every part of Italy, and replaced by the 

 Carabinieri, a regular military body, like the French gendarmes, who 

 are found much more effective and trustworthy. Sbirri, however, are 

 still employed in most of the Italian states, but generally under a 

 materially improved institution. 



SCABIES. [ItOH.] 



SCAFFOLDING. A temporary wooden structure, by means of 

 which the workmen employed in erecting the framework of a building 

 are enabled to place the various materials in their definitive positions. 

 Scaffoldings are either supported wholly, or in part, by the buildings to 

 which they are attached ; or they are made totally independent of those 

 buildings, with points of support upon the ground. Sometimes the 

 machinery for hoisting the building materials is placed upon the 

 independent scaffoldings ; at others, it is placed on the walls, or at the 

 foot of the structure, or again, the materials may be carried up inclined 

 roads formed in the scaffolding. 



When scaffoldings are supported by the buildings they are designed 

 to serve, they are usually formed by inserting cross-bearers in the 

 walls (if the Blatter should be of a con- 

 siderable thickness, and at some distance 

 apart), which cross bearers project beyond 

 the faces of the wall for a sufficient dis- 

 tance to allow the construction of a gang- 

 way for the workmen, and the extremities 

 are strengthened by means of inclined 

 struts. These cross-bearers are placed 

 about 5 feet apart, horizontally ; and in 

 rows, vertically, about 6 feet apart ; tmd 

 upon them boards of 1\ or 1J inches in thickness are laid. Holes are 

 left in the walls to receive the bearers, or putlngs, as they are called, 

 and the feet of the struts are clipped by vertical ties, which clip 

 also the putlogs, and thus form a complete frame acting on both 

 sides of the wall ; the whole of this framing is removed on the com- 

 pletion of the work, and the putlog-holes are filled in. When the 

 walls are close together, the putlogs bear upon them without any 

 struts, but the scaffolding in such coses rarely goes beyond the external 

 face of the wall, so that the workmen are obliged to lay the material* 

 "overhand." Chimney shafts are built in this manner, without framed 

 scaffolding ; many of the keeps of mediaeval castles were built by means 

 of framed projecting trusses ; and in Viollet le Due's ' Dictionnairc 

 RaisonniS de 1'Architecture Fransaise,' some curious illustrations of the 

 manner in which the mediaeval architects combined in the same 

 scaffolding the functions of a working stage, and of an inclined road, 

 will be found. 



The ordinary scaffoldings used in the south of England, which are 

 partially independent of the buildings, are composed of poles fixed in 

 the ground at distances of about 9 feet from centre to centre ; these 

 poles are called the standards, and they are tied together by horizontal 

 poles, or ledgert, at distances of about 6 feet vertically, as well as by 

 raking braces. Upon the ledgers putlogs are laid at distances of about 

 4 or 5 feet, and with clear bearings, between the wall and the outer 

 ledger, of from 3 feet 6 inches to 5 feet. The boards are laid upon 

 the putlogs. Both the putlogs and boards are left loose, in order to 

 allow materials to be hoisted without difficulty ; but the standards, 

 ledgers, and braces are firmly bound together by cords and wedges ; 

 nails or screws being, it is to be Observed, rarely used in the construe- 



