The Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation

The recent formation of an English Historical Society seems to be a sign that English History is beginning to engage the attention of the public. It is needless to apologize for the publication of the present volume, inasmuch as three former versions of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History sufficiently attest the desire on the part of those who cannot read the original, to have the work translated into their native tongue. All these, however, are now become scarce and dear. It was not thought fit to reprint either of them exactly, as they all labour under certain defects which rendered such a course objectionable. The old translation by Stapleton is as early as the reign of Elizabeth, and appears to have been admirably written for that period; but the phraseology is in many places obsolete, and the slightest inspection would at once convince a person that it could not have been circulated for use in the present day.