It  was  the  landing  of  a  few  boat-loads  of  these
determined  and  ferocious  barbarians  on  a  small
island  near  the  mouth  of  the  Thames,  which
constitutes  the  great  event  of  the  arrival  of  the
Anglo-Saxons  in  England,  which  is  so  celebrat-
ed in  English  history  as  the  epoch  which  marks
the  real  and  true  beginning  of  British  great-
ness and  power.  It  is  true  that  the  history  of
England  goes  back  beyond  this  period  to  nar-
rate, as  we  have  done,  the  events  connected
with  the  contests  of  the  Romans  and  the  abo-
riginal Britons,  and  the  incursions  and  maraud-
ings of  the  Picts  and  Scots ;  but  all  these  abo-
rigines passed  gradually — after  the  arrival  of
the  Anglo-Saxons  —  off  the  stage.  The  old
stock  was  wholly  displaced.  The  present  mon-
archy has  sprung  entirely  from  its  Anglo-Saxon
original ;  so  that  all  which  precedes  the  arrival
of  this  new  race  is  introductory  and  preliminary,
like  the  history,  in  this  country,  of  the  native
American  tribes  before  the  coming  of  the  En-
glish Pilgrims.  As,  therefore,  the  landing  of
the  Pilgrims  on  the  Plymouth  Rock  marks  the


46  ALFRED  THE  GREAT.  [A.D. 449.
The  three  ships.  Number  of  adventurers.
true  commencement  of  the  history  of  the  Amer-
ican Republic,  so  that  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  ad-
venturers on  the  island  of  Thanet  represents
and  marks  the  origin  of  the  British  monarchy.
The  event,  therefore,  stands  as  a  great  and
conspicuous  landmark,  though  now  dim  and
distant  in  the  remote  antiquity  in  which  it  oc-
curred.
