NORTHUMBERLAND. 
wal. Thefe lait were fituated more to the fouth and 
eaft than the Gadeni, and had for their chief city Breme- 
nium, the ruins of which are ftill feen near Rochefter in 
After the armies of Rome had extended their 
Fr a of Forth. 
in Britain 
ion, made 
hem 
; On th 
This paar enjoyed 
y thee pak ied, leaving 
hter, Edwi 
ung to take Geet hie elf the govern- 
ment, Ethelric, the. fecond fon of Ida, was aed to the throne. 
His reign lafted during five years of profound peace, at the 
end of which time he departed this life, aid left the king- 
om to his fon Ethelfrith, who, the better to infure the 
ftability of his fway over Deira, which of right fhould d have 
defcended to Edwin, efpoufed Acca, the fifter of that prince. 
Ethelfrith, ambitious of military renown, was conftantly en- 
gaged in war for the firft twenty years of his reign, either 
with the Britons or the Scots, whom he defeated in os 
defperate engagements, and {pread the terror of his a 
sin — the Saxon fates. 
mately led t 
derin ete 6 
made Saunt ve “with the batenided 
isle againft fae fled from Northumberland, in com- 
pany with his wife, and fought refuge at the court of Red- 1 
wald, king of the Eaft Angles. This prince, by the per. 
{uation of his queen, determined a i hazard the fortune 
of war,-than deliver up Edwin effe engers of the 
Northumbrian monarch, who demanded him with all the 
arrogance of a conqueror towards his vaffals. Accordingly 
colle&ting his forces, he followed the ambaffadors with fuch 
expedition as aftonifhed Ethelfrith, who, neverthelefs, ad- 
vanced againft him with perfc& confidence of fuccefs. Both 
armies tet upon the banks of the river Idle, where a fan- 
= ee ie in =_ Regenhere, the fon of 
sien was flain. wever, declared for the va 
his fubjects from = br pareeiiy life to which they had a 
been accuftomed, ftabli o excellent a fyitem 
Ys 
ended 
Every individual placed ies his throne 
he was one of thofe 8 
off by 
t as eae to his 
Saxon prince, drew Boece 
dered Edwin on the fpot, but for the noble condu& of Li 
an officer in his army. This heroic ee —— 
danger of his prince, and having no other ns of defence, 
een interpofed his own body between rat ne Eumer’s 
the | bisdon Hae to the crown of Northumberland. 
i Angles having pes againft 
d offered the 
Initead, dereor of grafping at the opportu- 
nity thus afforded him, of adding another powerful kingdom 
to his already extenfive territories, he remonftrated with the 
s deputies on the barbarity of their regicide, and declared his 
determination to fupport Earpwold, the fon of Redwald, 
on the throne of his father. Hitherto the Northumbrian 
Saxons continued to worfhip idols, and thou me attempts 
had been made to convert them to Chriftianity, all had failed 
to effect that defirable objet. The period, however, was 
now arrived in which they were deftined to receive the bleffed 
doGrines of the gofpel. Edwin’s = 
while he refided at the court of 
his fecond, Ethelburga, the dea Of Ethelbert, king of 
o was already converted, ad_efta ablithe d the 
os 
pulating a toleration for the exercife of her own wor 
which was readily granted, ufed every effort in her power to 
induce her hufband to adopt it alfo. 
his own, he would willingly comply ‘with her requett. 
apa he held foveal conferences with Paulinus, can- 
vaffed the arguments with the wifeft of his counfellors, and 
after a ferious and long inquiry, decided in favour of C 
tianity. But though allowed to pple their judgments on 
the great queftion of their falvation, the people did not re- 
= the truths saan od ra bape pear The Northum- 
rians, almoft to off the fhackles of idolatry, 
aa embraced ae new ela, Unhappily, aati Ps 
ucce 
