566 ENGLAND. 



wards visited the island, and drove llie Celtic inhabitants into the interior parls. When Ju' 

 litis Caesar invaded the country, he found it possessed by various rude tribes, who dif- 

 fered very little from the modern savages of America. The Romans subdued the country, 

 and held possession of it for a period of 475 years from the first landing of Caesar. It was 



Romans invading Britain. 



then mvaded and conquered by the Saxons, who parceled out the territory into several dis- 

 tinct kingdoms. These were united in 827, into one kingdom under Egbert, king of Wessex, 

 or the West Saxons, who was properly the first king of England. 



Saxons in the time of Canute. 



Under the Saxon kings, England was harassed by frequent invasions from the Danes. But 

 in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, made a descent upon fhe island, defeated and killed 

 Harold, the Saxon king, at the battle of Hastings, and subdued the whole country. This 

 eveni is what is denominated, in English history, the Conquest. It produced a total change in 



i 



