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England (Including WALES the S)

including WALES, the S. and larger portion of the island_of Great Britain, is situated between 50° and 55° 46' N. lat., and 1° 46′ E. and 5° 42′ W. lon. On the N. it is bounded by Scotland; on all other sides it is washed by the sea; on the E. by the North Sea or German Ocean; on the S. the E English Channel; and on the W.

George's Channel and the Irish Mining Engineering is a combination of the three preceding branches as applied to the discovery operation mines, the building of mineral working by St. George's Channel plants, and treatment of ores.

Military Engineering deals entirely with the arts of war, the design, construction and maintenance of fortifications, machines of defense and attack, ordnance, and the surveying of country in preparation for military operations.

Marine Engineering is partly military Vol. IV-Cyc-B Sea. Its figure is, roughly speaking, triangular, but with many windings and indentations, the coast-line measuring not less than 2,765 miles. The length of the country, measured on a meridian from Berwick nearly to St. Alban's Head, is 365 miles. Its breadth, measured on a parallel of latitude, attains its maximum between St. David's Head, in South Wales, and the Naze, in Essex, where it amounts to 280 miles.

Area and Population. - The area of England and Wales is 58,311 square miles and the population (estimated 1919), England, 34,045,290; Wales, 2,- 025,202; or a total of 36,070,492.

The population of the principal cities in England in 1919 is estimated as follows:

London (Greater), 7,258,263; Birmingham, 861,585; Liverpool, 772,665; Manchester, 741,068; Sheffield, 473,695; ; Leeds, 430,834; Bristol, 361,247; Bradford, 282,714. Physical Features. The chief indentations are: On the E., the Humber, the Wash, and the Thames estuary; on the W., the Solway Firth, Morecambe Bay, Cardigan Bay, and the Bristol Channel; those on the S. are less prominent, though including some useful harbors.

The greater part of the coast consists of cliffs, in some places clayey, in others rocky, and sometimes jutting out, as at Whitby and Flamborough Head on the E., Beachy Head, Head, the Isle of Portland, the Lizard and Land's End on the S. and S. W., St. David's Head and St.

Bees Head on the W., into bold, lofty, and precipitous headlands. The most extensive stretches of flat coast are on the E., in the county of Lincoln, and from the S. part of Suffolk to South Foreland in Kent, and in Sussex and Hants on the S. coast. The chief islands are: Holy Island, the Farne Islands, Sheppy, and Thanet on the E. coast; the Isle of Wight on the S.; the Scilly Isles at the S. W. extremity; and Lundy Island, Anglesey, Holyhead, and Walney on the W.

The loftiest heights of England and Wales are situated at no great distance from its W. shores, and consist of a succession of mountains and hills, stretching, with some interruptions, from N. to S., and throwing out numerous branches on both sides, but particularly to the W., where all the culminating summits are found. The N. portion of this range has received the name of the Pennine chain. It is properly a continuation of the Cheviot Hills, and, commencing at the Scottish border, proceeds S. for about 270 miles, till, in the counties of Derby and Stafford, it assumes the form of an elevated moorland plateau. In Derbyshire The Peak rises to the height of 2,080 feet. By far the most important of its offsets are those of the W., more especially if we include in them the lofty mountain masses in northwestern England sometimes classed separately as the Cumbrian range. Amid these mountains lie the celebrated English lakes, of which the most important are Windermere.

Derwent Water, Coniston Lake and Ullswater. Here also is the highest summit of northern England, Scawfell (3,210 feet). The Pennine chain, with its appended Cumbrian range, is succeeded by one which surpasses both these in loftiness and extent, but has its great nucleus much farther to the W., where it covers the greater part of Wales, deriving from this its name, the Cambrian range. Its principal ridge stretches through Carnarvonshire from N. N. E. to S. S. W., with Snowdon (3,571 feet) as the culminating point of south Great Britain. Across the Bristol channel from Wales is the Devonian range. It may be considered as commencing in the Mendip Hills of Somerset, and then pursuing a S. W. direction through that county and the counties of Devon and Cornwall to the Land's End, the wild and desolate tract of Dartmoor forming one of its most remarkable features (highest summit, Yes Tor, 2,050 feet). Other ranges are the Cotswold Hills, proceeding in a N. E. direction from near the Mendip Hills; the Chiltern Hills taking a similar direction farther to the E.; and the North and South Downs running E., the latter reaching the S. coast near Beachy Head, the former reaching the S. E. coast at Folkestone.

A large part of the surface of England consists of wide valleys and plains. Beginning in the N., the first valleys on the E. side are those of the Soquet, Tyne, and Tees; on the W. the beautiful valley of the Eden, which, at first hemmed in between the Cumbrian range and Pennine chain, gradually widens out into a plain of about 470 square miles, with the town of Carlisle in its center. The most important of the N. plains is the Vale of York, which has an area of nearly 1,000 square miles. Properly speaking, it is still the same plain which stretches, with scarcely a single interruption, across the counties of Lincoln, Suffolk, and Essex, to the mouth of the Thames, and to a considerable distance inland, comprising the central plain and the region of the fens. On the W. side of the island, in South Lancashire and Cheshire, is the fertile Cheshire plain. In Wales there are no extensive plains, the valleys generally having a narrow, rugged form favorable to romantic beauty, but not compatible with great fertility. Wales, however, by giving rise to the Severn, can justly claim part in the vale, or series of almost unrivaled vales, along which it pursues its romantic course through the counties of Montgomery, Salop, Worcester, and Gloucester. S. E. of the Cotswold Hills is Salisbury plain, a large elevated plateau, of an oval shape, with a thin, chalky soil only suitable for pasture. e. In the S. W. the only vales deserving of notice are those of Taunton in Somerset and Exeter in Devon. A large portion of the S. E. may be regarded as a continuous plain, consisting of the Wealds of Sussex, Surrey, and Kent, between the North and South South Downs, and containing an area of about 1,000 square miles. The S. E. angle of this district is occupied by the Romney marsh, an extensive level tract composed for the most part of a rich marine deposit. Extensive tracts of a similar nature are situated on the E. coast, in Yorkshire and Lincoln, where they are washed by the Humber; and in the counties which either border the Wash, or, like Northampton, Bedford, Huntingdon, and Cambridge, send their drainage into it by the Nen and the Ouse. Many of these lands are naturally the richest in the kingdom; but have only been utilized by means of drainage.

England is well supplied with rivers, many of them of great importance to industry and commerce. Most of them carry their waters to the North Sea. If we consider the drainage as a whole, four principal river basins may be distinguished, those of the Thames, Wash, and Humber belonging to the German Ocean; and the Severn belonging to the Atlantic.

The basin of the Thames has its greatest length from E. to W., 130 miles, and its average breadth about 50 miles, area 6,160 square miles. The river itself, which is the chief of English rivers, has a length of 215 miles. The basin of the Wash consists of the subordinate basins of the Great Ouse, Nen, Welland, and Witham, which all empty themselves into that estuary, and has an area computed at 5,850 square miles. The basin of the Severn consists of two distinct portions, that on the right bank, of an irregularly oval shape, and having for its principal tributaries the Teme and the Wye; and that on the left, of which the Upper Avon is the principal tributary stream.

The area of the whole basin is 8,580 square miles. The next basin, that of the Humber, the largest of all, consists of the three basins of the Humber proper, the Ouse, and the Trent, and its area is 9,550 square miles, being about onesixth of the whole area of England and Wales. Other rivers unconnected with these systems are the Tyne, Wear, and Tees, in the N. E.; the Eden, Ribble, Mersey, and Dee, in the N. W. The S. coast streams are very unimportant except for their estuaries. Civil History. - The history of England proper begins when it ceased to be a Roman possession. On the withdrawal of the Roman forces, about the beginning of the 5th century A. D., the South Britons, or inhabitants of what is now called England, were no longer able to withstand the attacks of their ferocious N. neighbors, the Scots and Picts. They applied for assistance to Aëtius, but the Roman general was too much occupied to attend to their petition. In their distress they appear to have sought the aid of the Saxons; and according to the Anglo-Saxon narratives three ships, containing 1,600 men, were dispatched to their help under the command of the brothers Hengest and Horsa. Marching against the N. foe, they obtained a complete victory. The date assigned to these events is A. D. 449, the narratives asserting further that the Saxons, finding the land desirable, turned their arms against the Britons, and reinforced by new bands, conquered first Kent and ultimately the larger part of the island. It is certain that in the middle of the 5th century the occasional Teutonic incursions gave place to persistent invasion with a view to settlement. These Teutonic invaders were Low German tribes from the country about the mouths of the Elbe and the Weser, the three most prominent being the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. Of these the Jutes were the first to form a settlement, taking possession of part of Kent, the Isle of Wight, etc., but the larger conquests of the Saxons in the S. and the Angles in the N. gave to these tribes the leading place in the kingdom. The struggle continued 150 years, and at the end of that period the whole S. part of Great Britain, Strathclyde, Wales, and West Wales n, of Great Britain, with the exception of (Cornwall), was in the hands of the Teutonic tribes. This conquered territory was divided among a number of small states, seven of the most conspicuous of which are often spoken of as the Heptarchy.

These were: (1) The kingdom of Kent; founded by Hengest in 455; ended in 823. (2) Kingdom of South Saxons, containing Sussex and Surrey; founded by Ella in 477; ended in 689. (3) Kingdom of East Angles containing Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, Ely (Isle of); founded by Uffa in 571 or 575; ended in 792. (4) Kingdom of West Saxons, containing Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wilts, Hants, Berks, and part of Cornwall; founded by Cerdic 519; swallowed up the rest in 827. (5) Kingdom of North Cumberland, Westmoreland, Northumber- Northumbria, containing York, Durham, land, and the E. coast of Scotland to the Firth of Forth; founded by Ida 547; absorbed by Wessex in 827. (6) Kingdom of East Saxons, containing Essex, Middlesex, Hertford (part); founded by Erchew in 527; ended in 823. (7) Kingdom of Mercia, containing Gloucester, Hereford, Worcester, Warwick, Leicester, Rutland, Northampton Lincoln, Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham, Oxford, Stafford, Derby, Salop, Nottingham, Chester, Hertford (part); founded by Cridda about 584; absorbed by Wessex in 827.

Each state was, in its turn, annexed to more powerful neighbors; and at length, in 827, Egbert, by his valor and superior capacity, united in his own person the sovereignty of what had formerly been seven kingdoms, and the whole came to be called England, that is Angle-land.

Meanwhile certain important changes had occurred. The conquest had been the slow expulsion of a Christian race by a purely heathen race, and the country had returned to something of its old isolation with regard to the rest of Europe. But before the close of the 6th century Christianity had secured a footing in the S. E. of the island. Ethelbert, King of Kent and suzerain over the kingdoms S. of the Humber, married a Christian wife, Bertha, daughter of Charibert of Soissons, and this event led indirectly to the coming of St. Augustine. The conversion of Kent, Essex, and East Anglia was followed by that of Northumberland and then by that of Mercia, of Wessex, of Sussex, and lastly of Wight, the contest between the two religions being at its height in the 7th century. The legal and political changes immediately immediately consequent co on the adoption of Christianity were not great, but there resulted a more intimate relation with Europe and the older civilizations, the introduction of new learning and culture, the formation of a written literature, and the fusion of the tribes and petty kingdoms into a closer and more lasting unity than that which could have been otherwise secured.

The kingdom, however, was still kept in a state of disturbance by the attacks of the Danes, who had made repeated incursions during the whole of the Saxon period, and about half a century after the unification of the kingdom became for the moment masters of nearly the whole of England. But Alfred the Great, who had ascended the throne in 871, 71, defeated the Danes at Ethandune (887). Guthrum, their king, embraced Christianity, became the vassal of the Saxon king, and retired to a strip of land on the E. coast including Northumbria and called the Danelagh. The two immediate successors of Alfred, Edward (901- 925) and Athelstan (925-940), the son and grandson of Alfred, had each to direct his arms against these settlers of the Danelagh. The reigns of the next five kings, Edmund, Edred, Edwy, Edgar, and Edward the Martyr, are chiefly remarkable on account of the conspicuous place occupied in them by Dunstan, who was counsellor to Edmund, minister of Edred, treasurer under Edwy, and supreme during the reigns of Edgar and his successor. It was possibly due to his policy that from the time of Athelstan till after the death of Edward the Martyr (978 or 979), the country_had comparative rest from the Danes. During the 10th century many changes had taken place in the Teutonic constitution.

Feudalism was already taking root; the king's authority had increased; the folkland was being taken over as the king's personal property; the nobles by birth, or earldormen, were becoming of less importance in administration than the nobility of thegns, the officers of the king's court. Ethelred (978-1016), who succeeded Edward, was a minor, the government was feebly conducted, and the incursions of the Danes became more frequent and destructive. A general massacre of them took place in 1002.

The following year Sweyn invaded the kingdom with a powerful army and assumed the crown of England. Ethelred was compelled to take refuge in Normandy; and though he afterward returned, he found in Canute an adversary no less formidable than Sweyn. Ethelred left his kingdom in 1016 to his son Edmund, who displayed great valor, but was compelled to divide his kingdom with Canute; when he was assassinated in 1017, the Danes succeeded to the sovereignty of the whole.

Canute (Knut), who espoused the widow of Ethelred, obtained the name of Great, not only on account of his personal qualities but from the extent of his dominions, being master of Denmark and Norway as well as England. In 1035 he died, and in England was followed by the other two Danish kings, Harold and Hardicanute, whose joint reigns lasted till 1042, after which the English line was again restored in the person of Edward the Confessor. Edward was a weak prince, and in the latter years of his reign had far less real power than his brother-in-law Harold, son of the great earl Godwin. On Edward's death in 1066 Harold accordingly obtained the crown. He found a formidable opponent in the second cousin of Edward, William of Normandy, who instigated the Danes to invade the N. countries, while he, with 60,000 men, landed in the S. Harold vanquished the Danes, and hastening. southward met the Normans near Hastings, at Senlac, afterward called Battle. Harold and his two brothers fell (Oct. 14, 1066), and William (1066-1087) immediately claimed the government as lawful King of England, being subsequently known as William I., the Conqueror. For some time he conducted the government with great moderation; but of government on Normans, and divided among them a great part of the country.

The revolts of the native English which established, and the English Church re- Eng nental feudalism in a modified form was established, and the English Church re- At his death, in 1087, William II., of Canterbury.

At his death, in 1087, William II., commonly known by the name of Rufus, the conqueror's second son, obtained the crown, Robert, the eldest son, receiving the Duchy of Normandy. In 1100, when William II. was accidentally killed in the of his throne by his younger brother Henry (Henry I.), who in 1106 even mandy. Henry's power being secured, he entered into a dispute with Anselm the primate, and with the Pope, concerning clergy. He supported his quarrel with issue. His reign was also marked by the suppression of the greater Norman nobles in England. In 1135 he died in Normandy, leaving behind him only a daughter, Matilda.

By the will of Henry I. his daughter Maud or Matilda, wife of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, who had first been married to Henry V., Emperor of Germany, was declared his successor.

But Stephen, son of the Count of Blois, and of Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror, raised an army in Normandy, landed in England, and declared himself king. After years of civil war and bloodshed it was agreed that Stephen should continue to reign during the remainder of his life, but that he should be sucof his life, but that he should be succeeded by Henry, son of Matilda and the and Henry Plantagenet ascended the throne with the title of Henry II., being kings. A larger dominion was united under his sway than had been held by any previous sovereign of England, for at the time when he became King of England he was already in the posses-

Henry II. found far less difficulty in restraining the license of his barons than the clergy, who were supported by the formulated in the Constitutions of Clarendon (1164), which were at first accepted and then repudiated by the primate. The assassination of Becket, however, placed the king at a disadvantage in the struggle, and after his conquest of Ireland (1171) he submitted to the tomb. Henry was the first who placed the common people of England in a situation which led to their having a share in the government. The system of frankpledge was revived, trial by jury was nent by the Assize of Nottingham. To instituted by the Assize of Clarendon, and the Eyre courts were made permacharters to towns, thus laying the founcurb the power of the nobles he granted dation of a new order in society. 1189 succeeded his father, Henry_II., spent most of his reign away from Eng- Richard I., called Cœur de Lion, who in land. Having gone to Palestine to join in the third crusade he proved himself an intrepid soldier. Returning homeward in disguise through Germany, he was made prisoner by Leopold, Duke of Austria, but was ransomed by his subjects. In the meantime John, to the crown, and hoped, by the assistance of the French, to exclude Richard from an , his brother, had aspired his right. Richard's presence for a time restored matters to some appearance of pedition against France, he received a mortal wound at the siege of Chalons, in pedition against France, he received a 1199. of England, and secured possession of John was at once recognized as King of England, and secured possession of raine acknowledged the claim of Arthur, son of Geoffrey, second son of Henry II. power, these four French provinces were On the death of Arthur, while in John's power, these four French provinces were at once lost to England. John's opposito the see of Canterbury in 1205 led to the kingdom being placed under an interto the see of Canterbury in 1205 led to condition, he was at last compelled to recondition, he was at last compelled to receive Stephen Langton as archbishop, dict; and the nation being in a disturbed and to accept his kingdom as a fief of him with the nobles. In 1213 they refused to follow him to France, and on his return defeated, they at once took measures to secure their own privileges his return defeated, they at once took crown. King and barons met at Runnymede, and on June 15, 1215, the Great Charter (Magna gna Charta) was signed. It the Pope, and war broke out between mede, and on June 15, 1215, the Great crown. King and barons met at Runny- John and the barons, who were aided by the French king. In 1216, however, John John and the barons, who were aided by died, and his turbulent reign was sucreign of Henry III. Henry III. the abilities of the Earl of Pembroke, who was regent until 1219, During the first years of the reign of 7 when, in 1227, Henry assumed the reins of government he showed himself incapable of managing them. The Charter was three times reissued in a modified form, and new privileges were added to it, but the king took no pains to observe its provisions. The struggle, long maintained in the great council (henceforward called Parliament), reached an acute stage in 1263, when civil war broke out. Simon de Montfort, who had laid the foundations of the House of Commons by summoning representatives of the shire communities to the Mad Parliament of 1258, had by this time engrossed the sole power. He defeated the king and his son Edward at Lewes in 1264, and in his famous Parliament of 1265 still further widened the privileges of the people by summoning to it burgesses as well as knights of the shire. The escape of Prince Edward, however, was followed by the battle of Evesham (1265), at which Earl Simon was defeated and slain, and the rest of the reign was undisturbed.

On the death of Henry III., in 1272, Edward I. succeeded without opposition.

From 1276 to 1284 he was largely occupied in the conquest and annexation of Wales. When, in 1294, war broke out with France, Scotland also declared war.

The Scots were defeated at Dunbar (1296), and the country placed under an English regent; but the revolt under Wallace (1297), was followed by that of Bruce (1306), and the Scots remained unsubdued. The reign of Edward was distinguished by many legal and legislative reforms, such as the separation of the old King's Court into the Court of Exchequer, Court of King's Bench, and Court of Common Pleas, the passage of the Statute of Mortmain, etc. In 1295 the first_perfect Parliament was summoned. Two years later the imposition of taxation without consent of Parliament was forbidden by special act. The great aim of Edward, however, to include England, Scotland, and Wales in one kingdom proved a failure, and he died in 1307 marching against Robert Bruce.

The reign of his son Edward II. was unfortunate to himself and to his kingdom. At Bannockburn (1314), the English received a defeat from Robert Bruce which insured the independence of Scotland.

The king soon proved incapable of regulating the lawless conduct of his barons; and his wife, a woman of bold, intriguing disposition, joined in the confederacy against him, which resulted in his imprisonment and death in 1327. confederacy The reign of Edward III. was as brilliant as that of his father had been the reverse. The main projects of the third Edward were directed against France, the crown of which he claimed in 1328, in virtue of his mother, the daughter of King Philip. The victory won by the Black Prince at Crécy (1346), the capture of Calais (1347), and the victory of Poitiers (1356), ultimately led to the Peace of Brétigny in 1360, by which Edward III. received all the W. of France on condition of renouncing his claim to the French throne. Before the close of his reign, however, these advantages were all lost again, save a few principal towns on the coast.

Edward III. was succeeded in 1377 by his grandson Richard II., son of Edward the Black Prince. In 1380 an unjust and oppressive poll-tax brought their popular grievances to a head, and 100.- 000 men under Wat Tyler, marched toward London (1381). Wat Tyler was killed while conferring with the king, and the prudence and courage of Richard appeased the insurgents. In 1398 he banished his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke; and on the death of the latter's father, the Duke of Lancaster, unjustly appropriated his cousin's patrimony. To avenge the injustice Bolingbroke landed in England during the king's absence in Ireland, and at the head of 60,000 malcontents compelled Richard to surrender. He was confined in the Tower, and despite the superior claims of Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, Henry was appointed king (1399), the first of the House of Lancaster. Richard was, in all probability, murdered early in 1400. The manner in which the Duke of Lancaster, now Henry IV., acquired the crown rendered his reign extremely turbulent, but the vigor of his administration quelled every insurrection. The most important that of the Percies of Northumberland, Owen Glendower, and Douglas of Scotland-was crushed by the battle of Shrewsbury (1403). During the reign of Henry IV. the clergy of England first began the practice of burning heretics. The act under which this was done was directed chiefly against the Lollards, as the followers of Wyclif now came to be called. Henry died in 1413, leaving his crown to his son, Henry V., who revived the claim of Edward III. to the throne of France in 1415, and invaded that country at the head of 30,000 men. The disjointed councils of the French rendered their country an easy prey; the victory of Agincourt was gained in 1415; and after a second campaign a peace was concluded at Troyes in 1420, by which Henry received the hand of Catherine, daughter of Charles VI., was appointed regent of France during the reign of his father-in-law, and declared heir to the throne on his death, The two kings, however, died within a few weeks of each other in 1422, and the infant son of Henry thus became King of England (as Henry VI.) and France at the age of nine months.

England during the reign of Henry VI., was subjected to all the confusion incident to a long minority, and afterward to a civil war. Henry allowed himself either to himself or the realm. In France (1422-1453) the English forces lost courage to assume the conduct of his affairs, and the influence of his wife Marbeing retained. The rebellion of Jack celebrated Joan of Arc, Calais alone ground, and were finally expelled by the either to himself or the realm. In France (1422-1453) the English forces lost ground, and were finally expelled by the celebrated Joan of Arc, Calais alone father of Edward, afterward Edward Cade in 1450 was suppressed, only to be the throne. His claim was founded on IV., began to advance his pretensions to that year Richard, Duke of York, the father of Edward, afterward Edward IV., began to advance his pretensions to the throne. His claim was founded on his descent from the third son of Edward III., who was his great-great-grandfather on the mother's side, while Henry was the great-grandson on the father's side of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth son of Edward III. Richard of York was also grandson on the father's side of Edmund, fifth son of Edward III. The wars which resulted, called the Wars of the Roses, from the fact that a red rose was the badge of the House of Lancaster and a white one that of the House of York, lasted for 30 years, from the first battle of St. Albans, May 22, 1455, to the battle of Bosworth, Aug. 22, 1485. Henry VI. was twice driven from the throne (in 1461 and 1471) by Edward of York, whose father had previously been killed in battle in 1460. Edward of York reigned as Edward IV. from 1461 till his death in 1483, with a brief interval in 1471; and was succeeded by two other sovereigns of the House of York, first his son Edward V., who reigned for 11 weeks in of the House of York, first his son Ed- was succeeded by two other sovereigns 1483; and then by his brother Richard III., who reigned from 1483 till 1485, when he was defeated and slain on Bos- III., who reigned from 1483 till 1485, worth field by Henry Tudor, of the House of Lancaster, who then became Henry worth field by Henry Tudor, of the House VII.

Henry VII. was at this time the representative of the House of Lancaster, and in order at once to strengthen his own title, and to put an end to the rivalry between the Houses of York and Lancaster, he married in 1486 Elizabeth, the sister of Edward V. and heiress of the House of York. His reign was disturbed by insurrections attending the imthe House of York. His reign was dis- died in 1558. Perkin Warbeck (1488); but neither of these attained any magnitude. The king's and prosperity. He died in 1509. the royal power and to establish order tration throughout did much to increase worst fault was avarice. His administration throughout did much to increase the royal power and to establish order and prosperity. He died in 1509. which had been so much extended by Henry VII., was by his son Henry VIII. exerted in a tyrannical and capricious manner. The most important event of The authority of the English crown, the reign was undoubtedly the Reformation; though it had its origin rather in tion of his private affairs than in his Henry's caprice and in the casual situaconviction of the necessity of a reformation of his tion in religion, or in the solidity of reasoning employed by the reformers. Henry had been espoused to Catherine of Spain, who was first married to his elder his private affairs than in his brother Arthur, who died young. Henry who was first married to his elder honor, Anne Boleyn. He had recourse to became enamored of one of her maids of brother Arthur, who died young. Henry the Pope to dissolve his marriage; but failing in his desires he broke away got himself recognized by act of Parliament as the head of the English Church. He died in 1547. He was married six times, and left three children, each of entirely from the Holy See, and in 1534 whom reigned in turn. These were:

Mary, by his first wife, Catherine of Anne Boleyn; wife, Jane Seymour.

Aragon; Elizabeth, by his n; and Edward by his third his second wife, title of Edward VI., was nine years of age at the time of his succession, and died in 1553, when he was only 16. His short reign, or rather the reign of the Edward, who reigned first with the Earl of Hertford, afterward Duke of Somerset, who was appointed regent, was distinguished chiefly by the success which Earl of Hertford, afterward Duke of short reign, or rather the reign of the who acquired great part of the power formerly engrossed by the Catholics. The Somerset, who was appointed regent, was umberland, during the reign of Edward, distinguished chiefly by the success which his successor; but her reign, if it could be called such, lasted only a few days.

Mary, daughter of Henry VIII. was placed on the throne, and Lady Jane his successor; but her reign, if it could caused Lady Jane Grey to be declared umberland, during the reign of Edward, be called such, lasted only a few days. the crown only for the purpose of re- Political motives had induced Philip of Spain to accept of her as a spouse; but the crown only for the purpose of re- ecuted. Mary seems to have wished for Grey and her husband were both exestablishing the Roman Catholic faith. died in 1558. she could never prevail on her subjects Mary, was attached to the Protestant faith, and found little difficulty in establishing it in England. Having concluded peace with France (1559), Elizabeth set Elizabeth, who succeeded her sister herself to promote the confusion which prevailed in Scotland, to which her 5 cousin Mary had returned from France as queen in 1561. In this she was so far successful that Mary placed herself in her power (1568), and after many years' imprisonment was sent to the scaffold (1587). As the most powerful Protestant nation, and as a rival to Spain in the New World, it was natural that England should become involved in difficulties with that country. The dispersion of the Armada by the English fleet under Howard, Drake, and Hawkins was the most brilliant event of a struggle which abounded in feats of valor. In Elizabeth's reign London became the center of the world's trade, the extension of British commercial enterprise being coincident with the ruin of Antwerp in 1585. The Parliament was increased, and its members were exempted from arrest. In literature not less than in politics and in commerce the same full life displayed itself, and England began definitely to assume the characteristics which distinguish her from the other European nations of to-day.

To Elizabeth succeeded (in 1603) James VI. of Scotland and I. of England, son of Mary Queen of Scots and Darnley. His accession to the crown of England in addition to that of Scotland did much to unite the two nations, though a certain smoldering animosity still lingered. His dissimulation, however, ended in his satisfying neither of the contending ecclesiastical parties the Puritans or the Catholics; and his absurd insistence on his divine right made his reign a continuous struggle between the prerogative of the crown and the freedom of the people. His extravagance kept him in constant disputes with the Parliament, and compelled him to resort to monopolies, loans, benevolences, and other illegal methods. The nation at large, however, continued to prosper. His son, Charles I., who succeeded him in 1625, inherited the same exalted ideas of royal prerogative, and his marriage with a Catholic, his arbitrary rule, and illegal methods of raising money, provoked bitter hostility. Civil war broke out in 1642, between the king's party and that of the Parliament, and the latter proving victorious, in 1649 the king was beheaded.

A commonwealth or republican government was now established, in which the most prominent figure was Oliver Cromwell. Mutinies in the army among Fifth-monarchists and Levellers were subdued by Cromwell and Fairfax, and Cromwell in a series of masterly movements subjugated Ireland and gained the important battles of Dunbar and Worcester. At sea Blake had destroyed the Royalist fleet under Rupert, and was engaged in an honorable struggle with the Dutch under Van Tromp. But within the governing matters had come to a deadlock. A dissolution was necessary, yet Parliament shrank from dissolving itself and in the meantime the reform of the law, a settlement with regard to the Church, and other important matters remained untouched. In April, 1653, Cromwell cut the knot by forcibly ejecting the members and putting the keys in his pocket. From this time he was practically head of the government, which was vested in a council of 13. A Parliament the Little or Barebones Parliamentwas summoned and in December of the same year Cromwell was installed Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland. With more than the power of a king, he succeeded in dominating the confusion at home and made the country feared thoughout the whole of Europe. Cromwell died in 1658, and the brief and feeble protectorate of his son Richard followed.

There was now a wide-spread feeling that the country would be better under the old form of government, and Charles II., son of Charles I., was called to the throne by the Restoration of 1660. He took complete advantage of the popular reaction from the narrowness and intolerance of Puritanism, and even latterly endeavored to re-establish the Catholic religion. The promises of religious freedom made by him before the Restoration in the Declaration of Breda were broken by the Test and Corporation Acts, and by the Act of Uniformity, which drove 2,000 clergymen from the Church and created the great dissenting movement of modern times. The Conventicle and Five-Mile Acts followed, and the "Drunken Parliament" restored Episcopacy in Scotland. At one time even civil war seemed again imminent.

The abolition of the censorship of the press (1679) and the reaffirmation of the Habeas Corpus principle are the most praiseworthy incidents of the reign.

As Charles II. left no legitimate issue, his brother, the Duke of York, succeeded him as James II. (1685-1688). An invasion by an illegitimate son of Charles, the Duke of Monmouth, who claimed the throne, was suppressed, and the king's arbitrary rule was supported by the wholesale butcheries of Kirke and Jeffreys. The king's zealous countenance of Roman Catholicism and his attempts to force the Church and the universities to submission provoked a storm of opposition. The whole nation was prepared to welcome any deliverance, and in 1688 William of Orange, huband of James' daughter Mary, landed in Torbay. James fled to France, and a convention summoned by William settled the crown on him, he thus becoming William III. Annexed to this settlement was a Declaration of Rights, circumscribing the royal prerogative. This placed henceforward the right of the British sovereign to the throne on a purely statutory basis. A toleration act, passed in 1689, released dissent from many penalties.

In 1692 originated the national debt, the exchequer having been drained by the heavy military expenditure. A bill for triennial Parliaments was passed in 1694, the year in which Queen Mary died. For a moment after her death William's popularity was in danger, but his successes at Namur and elsewhere, and the obvious exhaustion of France, once more confirmed his power. The treaty of Ryswick followed in 1697, and the death of James II. in exile in 1701 removed a not unimportant source of danger. Early in the following year William also died, and by the act of settlement Anne succeeded him.

The closing act of William's reign had been the formation of the grand alliance between England, Holland, and the German Empire, and the new queen's rule opened with the brilliant successes of Marlborough at Blenheim (1704) and Ramillies (1706). Throughout the earlier part of her reign the Marlboroughs practically ruled the kingdom, the duke's wife, Sarah Jennings, being the queen's most intimate friend and adviser. In 1707 the history of England becomes the history of Great Britain, the Act of Union passed in that year binding the Parliaments and realms of England and Scotland into a single and more powerful whole. On the death of Anne, the House of Brunswick came to the throne in the person of George I. (1714-1727).

The principal events of the reign were abortive Jacobite risings, the divorce of the queen, and the "South Sea bubble."

George II. ascended the throne in 1727.

His reign was prosperous, but not very eventful, except for the rebellion under the young pretender. George III. became king in 1760. Under his rule, the British Empire in India was founded, the American colonies established their independence, and the French Revolution burst forth. England was for a time on the verge of ruin. The national debt reached enormous proportions. But the genius of Chatham, Pitt, Fox, Nelson, Clive and Wellington rescued the country, after the failure of George III.'s plan of personal government had been demonstrated. During this reign the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was effected. The king died in 1820, and was succeeded by George of England IV. His reign of 10 years witnessed Roman Catholic emancipation, the first development of England as a colonial power in the sense of to-day, and marked industrial expansion. William IV. ruled seven years (1830-1837). During this period the great Reform Bill, extending the suffrage, marked the dawn of the democratic era in English politics.

Victoria became Queen of E in 1837, and died Jan. 22, 1901, her reign being the longest in the country's history. Her sway covered the period which embraces the revolutions of 1848 throughout Europe, the wars of Prussia against Austria and France, the Crimean war, the Civil War in the United States, the struggle for Egypt and the control of Afghanistan, the problem of China and the conflict with the Boers which ended with the absorption of the Transvaal and the South African Republic into the British Empire. The matters of purely domestic concern were the corn-law aw agitation, the condition of the working classes, trade-union regulation, free trade and popular education. During these years, the naval supremacy of England was maintained, the colonial empire of Great Britain was cemented and strengthened, and home rule, in the face of persistent agitation, was refused to Ireland. There was a very democratic extension of the suffrage during one of the Gladstone administrations. The Indian Empire did not, on the whole, prosper during the period from 1890 to 1900, but the occupation of Egypt, dating from 1882, was successful. The British North American Act of 1867 and the Commonwealth of Australia Act of 1900 indicated the tendency to imperial federation, of which England's commanding position makes her the center. The royal power meanwhile waned to an extent which, with the extension of suffrage, left the country practically a democracy at the end of the 19th tury. Edward VII. became king in 1901. cen- In 1902 the New Education Bill was enacted and in the following year a Land Act for Ireland was passed, which provided for the distribution of £100,- 000,000 to tenants for the purpose of enabling them to acquire ownership of land. The distribution was made in the form of long-term loans. In the same year Joseph Chamberlain introduced a proposal for the modification of the fiscal arangements of the country which was equivalent to the abandonment of free trade. He proposed that the United Kingdom should enforce a duty on food imports from foreign countries and admit products from the colonies free. This question was agitated both within and without Parliament for several years, but with no political results. The Balfour cabinet resigned in 1905. A Liberal Ministry was organized by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. In foreign politics British prestige following the South African War was greatly increased. An alliance was made with Japan in 1902 and 1905. Trade relations were established with Tibet in

1904. In the same year the position of England in Egypt improved by an agreement with France by which the latter gave her approval to the British acquisition of that country.

In 1907 relations which had been growing increasingly strained between the House of Commons and the House of Lords brought about a desire for a modification of the powers of the latter body. This was accomplished in 1911 when a bill was passed depriving the House of Lords of practically all power over money bills and providing other curbs on the power of the Upper House.

An old-age pension bill was passed in 1908. In the year following, David Lloyd George became Chancellor of the Exchequer, and he at once began preparations of measures to produce increased revenues. These included a tax on land which met with wide opposition, especially in the House of Lords, which defeated it. The government went twice to the country in 1910 on this issue and was each time sustained. Edward VII. died in 1910 and was succeeded by George V. In 1914 the Home Rule Bill for Ireland was passed, as well as a bill disestablishing the Anglican Church in Wales. The Home Rule Bill was deferred on account of the outbreak of the World War.

When the war began in August, 1914, political conditions were most unfavorable. Ireland was on the verge of Civil War. The army was in poor condition and there were disagreements with the colonies in regard to the naval policy, and other matters. In spite of these conditions, however, England went into the war with great enthusiasm. War measures were passed providing for the authorization of war credits, and other legislation aiming at a successful prosecution of the war was put into effect. For an account of the part taken by England and Great Britain in the World War, see that title. See also articles on the separate battles, CANADA, AUS- TRALIA, MESOPOTAMIA, EGYPT, PALES- 'TINE, TURKEY, etc.

Although by April, 1915, 750,000 men had been sent to the front it was evident that more man power must be supplied. Conscription was proposed by many prominent men but did not at first meet with favor. A great campaign of recruiting was carried on in 1915 which resulted in the enlistment of about 830,- 000 men. In January, 1916, a militaryservice bill was introduced in Parliament. This provided that all bachelors and widowers between the ages of 18 and 41 were liable for military service.

Ireland was excluded from the operation of the bill. The bill was finally passed in May, 1916.

One of the chief problems to be met by the government was the question of munitions, which during the first period of the war was entirely inadequate to meet the demands of the rapidly forming new army. The Munitions Act was passed which provided for government supervision of all manufacturing, which made strikes and lockouts illegal.

In May, 1915, as a result of the cabinet crisis, a coalition cabinet was formed consisting of 12 Liberals, 8 Unionists, and one Labor member. In December, 1915, Parliament introduced a bill prolonging its life for 12 months.

By a later compromise this was reduced to 8 months.

In April, 1916, a serious outbreak occurred in Ireland under the direction of Sir Roger Casement. (See IRELAND.) In February, 1917, a bill was introduced into Parliament requiring all men between the ages of 18 to 61 to be enrolled. This bill was passed in March. Among other important events of 1917 were the introduction of the new budget which largely increased taxation besides providing for electoral reforms and woman suffrage. In March of that year the First Imperial War Cabinet including representatives from all British dominions was held in London. The Irish question continued to be the most serious domestic problem during this year. During 1918 many stringent measures were passed providing for increased efficiency in war work. A new military-service bill was enacted in April. This provided military service from every British male between the ages of 18 and 51 who had been in England since August, 1915. The second session of the Imperial War Cabinet took place June 10, 1918. The House of Commons in October of this year passed a measure providing for the membership of women in Parliament. A general election was held on December 14, 1918.

The Liberal party was divided into two factions, one of which supported Lloyd George and the other Asquith. The Coalition Government was successful in the election, electing almost 5 to 1 of its members as candidates. This marked the complete overthrow of the Asquith Liberals and the Pacifists. During the year an Irish convention was held for 4 the purpose of arriving at some agreement between the Irish factions. This, however, resulted in no substantial success and the Irish question was still unsettled at the end of the year.

When Parliament met in 1919 the traditional party lines were more or less obliterated. Several of the most conspicuous members, including Mr. Asquith, had lost their seats. David Lloyd George had been Prime Minister since December 7, 1916, and from that period until the end of the war he was the strongest figure and practically a dictator of the English government. He was given the fullest possible powers and was in most cases warmly supported by the people. With President Wilson, he was the most conspicuous figure at the Peace Conference in 1919. During 1919 economic conditions in England were very unfavorable and there were frequent strikes in the industrial centers. A threatened strike of the coal miners resulted in the formation of a coal commission, which succeeded in recommending conditions which were accepted by the miners. The railway strike was in force during the latter part of the year, but was broken by lack of support by the people. During 1919 the Prince of Wales visited the United States, where he was received with great enthusiasm.

In February 10, 1920, Parliament began a new session. Herbert Asquith, the former premier, was elected to the House of Commons from Paisley. After remaining in session until August 16, the House of Commons adjourned until 19. At the beginning of the session on that date, supplementary army estimates were introduced bringing the total estimates for the year to about £165,000,000. ementary During 1920 and_1921 disorder continued in Ireland. In some portions of the country a practical condition of civil war existed. For an account of these conditions, see IRELAND. The Irish Home Rule Bill was signed by King George in December, 1920, which was to go into effect at the discretion of the king.

In 1921 agreement was made with France in regard to the control of Syria and Palestine, and a practical protectorate was established over Mesopotamia. Egypt had already become an integral part of the British Empire. In March, 1921, the Supreme Council of the Peace Conference held sessions in London to decide the question of reparations by Germany.

For statistical data relating to England, see GREAT BRITAIN. For the territory embraced in the Empire, see BRITISH EMPIRE. See also articles on the