arable portion of an estate was generally situated nearest to the dwelling-house; it produced but a small quantity of corn, though sufficient for the wants of the population. Bread was made of barley as well as wheat. The Anglo-Saxons, however, were rather graziers than ploughmen; for almost three parts of the kingdom were set apart for cattle, and large flocks of sheep, as well as numerous herds of neat cattle and swine, were kept. There are many regulations concerning the pasturing of cattle in the AngloSaxon laws. In Wales, and probably also in England, the common lands were pastured by cattle belonging to several owners, under the direction of a neatherd and his assistants. Goats, geese, and fowls were likewise bred in great abundance. The nominal price of cattle was very low, but the value of money was greater at that period than it is at the present day.

Coinage. The money of the Anglo-Saxons consisted of farthings, pence, shillings, and pounds. They had two sorts of pennies, five of the large being equal to a shilling. Both sorts of pennies were silver coins, and of these there are many varieties still in existence. Gold was a medium of exchange in an uncoined state; no Saxon gold coins are indeed known, but a foreign gold coin was current. The value of the several coins, or denominations of money, is uncertain; almost the only thing known concerning them is, that the pound was always understood to be a full pound of silver. This, however, was not the common troy pound, but another measure, known in Germany by the name of the Cologne pound, and which was three-quarters of an ounce less than the pound troy. Out of this amount of silver it was usual to coin two hundred and forty silver pennies.

Manners and Customs. Of the manners and customs of the Anglo-Saxons there are many particulars on record. The respect paid to women and the influence which they enjoyed were very remarkable. Instead of being slaves, as they were in some countries, they exercised a permanent influence over men, and occupied the position of their associates and equals. It was rare that a woman took part in the labours of the field, even those of the lightest kind: men only were employed, and the shepherd who tended the flock also milked the ewes and made cheese. Their superior condition does not appear to have arisen from any peculiar refinement of manners among the Anglo-Saxon women; but rather from their diligent performance of their duties as mothers and housewives. Women were possessors of land, slaves, and other property, and they could make wills and bequeath possessions; all which must be considered as a tribute to the virtue and superior chastity of the Anglo-Saxon females.

Houses. The habitations of the Saxons appear to have resem

bled the old cottages and farmhouses still common in England. They were framed of timber, and the walls were covered with plaster or clay. In the houses of the rich the rude workmanship of the carpenter was concealed by hangings of needlework or painted cloth, often of a very expensive kind. The furniture was rudely constructed, but frequently consisted of rich materials and costly workmanship, and was sometimes ornamented with silver, gold, and ivory. A table is said to have been made in the reign of Edgar, by an artist named Athelwold, which was of the value of three hundred pounds. The tables were covered with tablecloths, and furnished with knives, spoons, drinking-horns and cups, bowls and dishes, but no forks. The vessels used at table were often very costly; but drinking-horns, some of which were richly carved and ornamented, were more common than cups of gold and silver. Glass vessels were rare in the early periods, but they became more common towards the Norman conquest. Illuminated manuscripts represent Anglo-Saxon bedsteads, and in some instances they have posts and curtains; but more generally they slept in a species of box or trough, filled with straw, and cloths or coverlets, which were sometimes made of skins of animals.

Dress. — The garments of the Anglo-Saxons, both men and women, were loose and flowing, and chiefly made of linen, adorned with broad borders of woven or embroidered colours. Woollen fabrics and skins of beasts were also used for clothing. The undermost part of the male attire consisted of a linen shirt; above which was worn a tunic of linen or woollen, according to the season, descending to the knee, and plain or ornamented round the collar, according to the rank of the wearer. This was generally confined by a girdle or belt around the waist. Linen drawers, stockings of linen or woollen were worn by the better orders, and shoes of some description were worn by all classes. The Saxon shoe is generally painted black, and drawn with an opening down the instep, which is secured by two thongs. They also wore a sort of buskin; and a half-stocking or sock was sometimes worn over the hose, which, however, were usually bandaged from the knee to the ankle with strips of cloth, linen, or leather. Coverings for the head are rarely seen, except upon the figures of warriors; the cap was their helmet, and its shape was generally conical. Silk was very little known; but it sometimes formed the mantle of sovereigns and princes; and furs were likewise used for the lining and ornamenting of garments. The female costume generally consisted of a long and ample garment with loose sleeves, worn over a closer-fitting one, which had high sleeves reaching to the waist. Their shoes were similar to those worn by the male sex, and they wore a head-dress formed of a veil, or long piece of linen or silk, wrapped round the head and

neck. The Anglo-Saxon ladies paid great attention to their hair; and in an Anglo-Saxon poem called Judith she is described as "the maid of the Creator with twisted locks." They appear also to have painted the cheek; and both men and women were adorned with ornaments of various kinds. Mention is made of a golden fly beautifully adorned with gems; of gold vermiculated necklaces, golden head-bands, earrings, a neck-cross, bracelets, brooches, belts of gold and silver, studded with jewels, and other ornaments of great value.

Food. The food of the Anglo-Saxons consisted of both vegetable and animal substances; but chiefly the latter. Their modes of preparing it were by boiling, baking, and broiling; the former being the most common. Herbs of various kinds were used to season their food; but their principal vegetable ingredient was colewort. Both sexes assembled round the table, and their manners were what would now be considered rude and coarse. After a feast, bones and other remains were to be seen scattered on the floor. Both males and females indulged freely in the pleasures of eating; and the former were addicted to excessive drinking, which was the common vice of all ranks of the people: even the festivals of the church were disgraced by intemperance. Ale was the national drink; and there were several sorts of this liquor. Wine was used as a foreign luxury, but mead was the favourite beverage. Mention is made likewise of other choice liquors, such as pigment, which was a wine enriched with honey and spices; morat, made from honey, with the juice of mulberries; and cider, the produce of apples. The guests usually drank from the same cup; and, as disputes often arose as to the quantity which each person had taken, Edgar caused the drinking-cups to be marked, so that no one might take more than his share. The harp as well as the drinking-cup, was handed round at festive meetings, and each individual was expected to sing and play on the instrument in his turn.

Salutations.-The mode of salutation among the Anglo-Saxons appears to have been similar to that which several continental nations still observe; namely, that of kissing each other. When a stranger entered a house it was customary to bring him water to wash his hands and warm water for his feet. The use of warm baths was indeed very general; and they were held in such estimation, that the deprivation of them, as well as of a soft bed, was inflicted by the church as a penance. On the other hand, cold bathing was imposed as a mortification; and at the same time the penitent was ordered not to pay any attention to his personal ornament or comfort, nor allow the iron to touch his hair or his nails.

Children.-Among the Anglo-Saxons the desertion of children sometimes occurred. This practice was indeed common to their ancestors; but the influence of Christianity soon caused it to be. considered as a crime, and a law was passed for its repression; and those who found and fostered a deserted child were paid a sum, which increased yearly and according to the appearance of the child. From the birth, until after the period of childhood, children were under the care of females, and women generally nursed their own children.

Travelling. The common method of travelling among the Anglo-Saxons was on horseback; and though they had carriages, they were of rude construction, and not common. Their wheelcarriages, called chariots, were light two-wheeled cars, and there were also four-wheeled vehicles, carrying four or six persons in a kind of hammock. The trappings of their riding-horses were very splendid; and the nobles had numerous retainers.

Amusements. In the Pagan times the amusements of the Saxons were brutal, and often bloody; but, as they advanced in civilisation, they adopted more innocent sports and pastimes. Hunting and hawking were the favourite recreations of the kings and nobles; and jugglers' tricks and postures requiring skill and dexterity were the delight of the whole population.

Literature, Language, Science, and the Fine Arts.-When the Saxons invaded England they were in a state of barbarism; and King Alfred states that, on his accession to the throne, all learning and knowledge were extinguished in the English nation; insomuch that none on the south of the Thames, and few south of the Humber understood the common prayers of the church, or were capable of translating a single sentence of Latin into English. By his exertions, however, a better state of things was brought about, and even in the dark ages preceding Alfred's reign there were some who prevented the total extinction of learning in our island. Among them was Gildas the historian, the only British author of the sixth century whose works are published. Gildas obtained the appellation of "the Wise," though his writings do not seem to entitle him to that distinction, and his history is only valuable for its antiquity. The immediate successor of Gildas, among our historians, is Nennius, said to have been one of the monks of Bangor; from the massacre of whom, in 613, he escaped; after which he wrote his History of the Britons. Contemporary with him was the Irish saint Columbanus, who was distinguished for his missionary labours among the Gauls and Germans. Of the Latin writers among the Anglo-Saxons the most ancient is Adhelm, Abbot of Malmesbury, and afterwards Bishop of Sherborn, who died in 709, and who wrote various works in prose and verse.

The Anglo-Saxon name, however, most distinguished in literature, is that of Beda, or Bede, upon whom the name of "Venerable" has been justly bestowed by posterity. Bede, who died in 735, wrote the Ecclesiastical History of England, and commentaries on most of the books of the Old and New Testament and the Apocrypha, besides two books of Homilies and a Martyrology. Contemporary with Bede were St. Boniface, the apostle of Germany, and Eddius, surnamed Stephanus, the author of the Latin Life of Bishop Wilfrid. Alcuin, Abbot of Canterbury, flourished as a philosopher, orator, and divine about seventy years after Bede: and composed many treatises on various subjects in an elegant and easy style. But the most learned man in Europe about the middle of the ninth century was Johannes Scotus Erigena, who was a native of Ayr in North Britain. He wrote many works, the chief of which is his work On the Division of Nature. The reign of Alfred is a memorable period in the annals of literature: inspired with the love of learning himself, he sought to encourage its growth among his people, and he founded a school (considered as the origin of the present University of Oxford), to the support of which he devoted no less than one-eighth of his whole revenue. After his death, however, the torch of science, which he had taken such pains to kindle, was almost extinguished, and, as it has been said, "The succeeding age, for its barbarism and wickedness, may be called the age of iron; for its dulness and stupidity, the age of lead; and, for its blindness and ignorance, the age of darkness."

The Anglo-Saxon language, the basis on which the present English language is founded, is one of the branches of the ancient Gothic. It has been divided by philologists into three dialects: the first, that in use from the arrival of the Saxons till the irruption of the Danes; the second, which prevailed from the Danish to the Norman invasion, called the Dano-Saxon; and the third, which was then in a state of transition to the English, called NormannoSaxon, which extends to the time of Henry II. These were, however, rather successive stages of the language than different dialects, for no clear traces are to be met with of anything that can properly be called a variation of dialect. The oldest branch of Anglo-Saxon literature was poetry, of which there are several manuscripts and fragments extant. Its other productions were commentaries, homilies, injunctions to the clergy, lives of the saints, or biography, theology, moral philosophy, civil and ecclesiastical history, laws, charters, accompanied by what are termed land books, or exemplifications of the boundaries of land, medical botany, and Romance literature. In all these branches of composition there are still some works, or fragments of works, extant. Poetry was much admired and cultivated among the Anglo