The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-09-07
The Saxon Heptarchy-The Lost Tribes

The Saxon eptarchy-The Lost Tribes
Editor of The Times:
Sir,-The most important event that
occurred in the world in a. D. 500 was
the birth of the English Heptarchy,
when the seven tribes united and placed
the Saxon crown upon Egberts head.
Just as the most important worldwide
fact that took place in 1176. was the
union of the Thirteen Colonies (Manassas
number) that ushured in the United
States among the sisterhood Of nations.
To escape the political intrigueS and sus-
picions of Brihtric, king Of Wessex, En-
bert had fled from England to the court
of Charlemagne. 1T was In the year
500. A. D., that Egbert was summoned
from France to the throne Of England.
He soon made all the Anglo-Saxon
kingdoms subordinate to his own'-Sha-
ron Turner's History, Anglo-SaXon, Vol
/. page 425. Kent, WesseN, Essex, Sussex
East Anglia, Northumbria and Morciea'
Pages 1886. These seven petty trib-
al governments formed the Saxon Hep
tarchy, from which sprang the British
Empire, whose morning drulnbeat, fol-
lowing the sun, is heard around the
world"
We trace the history Of the Saxon Kings
from Hengist GAO A. ID to Egbert 600
$50. A. ID and from Egbert the Saxon
riddle ((Ezek: xvii-2) moves right on
to the battle of Hastings. Egbert died
in $50 A. D. when after various politi
cal upheavals the Saxon crown finally
passed to William the Conqueror. when
Providence had ordained that a new dy-
nasty (Oout the same race-relativesO
should give new fortunes to the English
nation. When it was ordained by the
Supreme Director of events that England
should no longer remain insulated from
the rest of Europe, but should be con-
nected with the affairs of the continent
for Improvement of mankind" Sharon
Turner, Hist. Anglo-SaX.
ION the 9th of September. 1866,
at the mouth of the Somne, there
was a great sight to be seen
four hundred large sailing vessels.
thousand transports and sixty thousand
men were on the point of emba rkng."
Professor Tame. This was the Nor
man conquest. But they were the rel
atives of those they conquered. At the
end of three hundred years the conquer
ors themselves We're conquered. Their
speech became English. their blood by
frequent marriages, gained the predomi-
nance over the Norman blood in their
veins. The race finally remains Saxon"
Tame; Eng. Lit. p. S.
The British isles of the sea- seems
to have been the divinely APP
pointed rendezvous of the tribes
II SAM vii. 1O) HE that scattereth
Israel will gather him as shepherd doth
his flock DER XXI. 10). When Benja-
min the Normans) crossed the Straits
of Dover with the wolf upon the prov
o. his ships Gen. Xix. 27}. he was but
sailing under his tribal sign. and under
this sign ne entered England and was
gathered" to his brethren" his "rela-
tl1 es'' to the Saxon Heptarchy, making
the eighth tribe.
ION the map of Britain facing st.
Georges channel. is a group of counties
called Wales. inhabited by a people dis
tinct from, and very little understood
by those who surround them. Their
neighbors call them Welschmen. Walsh
or Walch is not proper name, but a
1eutonic term, siEnifyinS strangers. and
was applied to all persons who are not
| OF that family; but the proper name OF
! these people is Kymri. They are the
| last remnant of the Kimmeroi of Homer.
| From the Cimbric Chersonesus Jubland)
| a portion of these landed on the shores
! OF northumberland and gave their name
! to the county of Cumberland. and in pro-
| cess of time followed the seaside to their
| present resting-place. where they still!
call themselves Kymri. and give their
| country similar name. Their history,
| clear. concise and authentic, ascends to
| higher antiquity. Their language was
| embodied in verse (see samples of the
! Welsh Triads. in Sharon Turner, Vol. III J
! 'long before the languages now spoken
/ rose into notice, and their litera ture,
| cultivated and abundant. lays claim tc
/ being the most ancient In modern Eu-
/ rcpe."-Thomas Stephens Literature oil
| the Kymri.'' The identity of the Cymr
oe Wales" (says Professor Kawlinson)
with the C1nbri of the Romans, seems
worthy of being accepted as an histori-
cal fact upon the grounds stated by
/ Nieburh and Arnold. They were known
to their neighbors as CiEmerii, Gin
merit or Gommerii (see Gen. x), and al
tanned considerable power in Western
Asia and Eastern Europe about 500 B. c.
! (see Bible date of the captivity Of Ter
Tribes. 721 B. CD sis fact that car
4 scarcely admit of doubt. HeTodotus
calls these people Zimmerman fkumrD-
a people whose antiquity is above twen
~ x,a h,,rd has