ready a flourishing colony; but found, on his arrival, that it would be requisite for the general safety to abandon that place to the merciless fury of the enemy. 8. London was soon, therefore, reduced to ashes; such of the inhabitants as remained in it were massacred; and the Romans, with all other strangers, to the number of seventy thousand, were cruelly put to the sword. Flushed with these successes, the Britons no longer sought to avoid the enemy, but boldly came to the place where Suetoni'us awaited their arrival, posted in a very advantageous manner with a body of ten thousand men. 9. The battle was obstinate and bloody. Boadi'cea herself appeared in a chariot with her two daughters, and harangued her army with masculine intrepidity; but the irregular and undisciplined bravery of her troops was unable to resist the cool intrepidity of the Romans. They were routed with great slaughter; eighty thousand perished in the field, and an infinite number were made prisoners; while Boadi'cea herself, fearing to fall into the hands of the enraged victor, put an end to her life by poison. 10. The general who firmly established the dominion of the Romans in this island was Ju'lius Agric'ola,* who governed it during the reigns of Vespa'sian,† Ti'tus,‡ and Domi'tian, and distinguished himself as well by his courage as humanity. For several years after the time of Agric'ola, a profound peace seems to have prevailed in Britain, and little mention is made of the affairs of the island by any historian. 11. At length, however, Rome, that had for ages given laws to nations, and diffused slavery and oppression over the known world, began to sink under her own magnificence. Mankind, as if by a general consent, rose up to vindicate their natural freedom; almost every nation asserting that independence of which they had been so long unjustly deprived. 12. During these struggles the British youth were frequently drawn away into Gaul, to give ineffectual succour * Julius Agric'ola was the father-in law of Ta'citus, the celebrated his torian. † Vespa'sian was the tenth Roman emperor; he was valiant, but very avaricious. Ti'tus was the eleventh Roman emperor, the son of Vespa'sian; he was so good a man that he was called the "delight of mankind." Domi'tian was the twelfth Roman emperor, and brother to Ti'tus; he was a great persecutor of the Christians, and of a most cruel disposition. B to the various contenders for the empire, who, failing in every attempt, only left the name of tyrants behind them.* In the mean time, as the Roman forces decreased in Britain, the Picts and Scots† continued still more boldly to infest the northern parts; and crossing the friths, which the Romans could not guard, in little wicker boats covered with leather, filled the country, wherever they came, with slaugh ter and consternation. 13. The Romans, therefore, finding it impossible to stand their ground in Britain, in the reign of the emperor Valentin'ian took their last leave of the island, after being masters of it for nearly four hundred years, and now left the natives to the choice of their own government and kings. They gave them the best instructions the calamitous times would permit, for exercising their arms, and repairing their ram parts; and helped them to erect a new wall of stone across the island, for they had not, at that time, artisans skilful enough among themselves to repair that which had been built by the emperor Sev'erus. The ruins of this wall, and the fortresses by which the Roman colonies were defend, are among the most interesting relics of antiquity in England. Questions for Examination. 1. What prevented Augustus from visiting Britain? Did Tiberius make an attempt upon Britain? 2. What exposed Caligula to ridicule ? 3. Who was the first person that was willing to repel the invaders? How long did Caractacus harass the Romans? 4. What remarks did Caractacus make on witnessing the splendour of Rome? 5. What caused the Britons to rebel? Who commanded Boadicea to be ill treated? 6. What were the consequences? 7. Who commanded the Roman forces at that time? 8. What was the fate of London and its inhabitants 9 Describe Boadicea's conduct, and the result of this battle. 10. At what time did peace prevail in Great Britain? 11. What was the situation of Rome at this time? 12. What were the nations that infested the northern parts? 13. When did the Romans take their leave of Britain? And how long had they been masters of it? *According to the "Notitia Imperii," no less than twelve British corps of infantry and cavalry were constantly dispersed in the distant provinces of the empire; while foreign soldiers were, according to the invariable policy of the Romans, stationed in Britain. + The names by which the inhabitants of Scotland were at that time dis tinguished. "The Picts (so called from Pictich, a plunderer, and not from Picti, painted), and the Scots from Scuite, a wanderer, in the Celtic tongue, were only different tribes of Caledonians."-Dr. Henry. 1. (A. D. 447.) THE Britons, being now left to themselves, considered their new liberties as their greatest calamity. The Picts and Scots, uniting together, began to look upon Britain as their own, and attacked the northern wall, which the Romans had built to keep off their incursions, with success. Having thus opened to themselves a passage, they ravaged the whole country with impunity, while the Britons sought precarious shelter in the woods and mountains.* 2. It was in this deplorable and enfeebled state that the Britons had recourse to the Saxons, a brave people; who, for their strength and valour, were formidable to all the German nations around them, and supposed to be more than a match for the gods themselves. They were a people restless and bold, who considered war as their trade; and were, in consequence, taught to consider victory as a doubtful advantage, but courage as a certain good. 3. A nation, however, entirely addicted to war, has seldom wanted the imputation of cruelty, as those terrors which are opposed without fear are often inflicted without regret. The Saxons are represented as a very cruel nation: but we must remember that their enemies have drawn the picture. 4. It was no disagreeable circumstance to these ambitious people to be invited into a country upon which they had for ages been forming designs. In consequence, therefore, of the solemn invitation of Vor'tigern, who was then king of Bri tain, they arrived with fifteen hundred men, under the command of Hen'gist and Hor'sa, who were brothers, and *In this extremity, they made application for succour to Etius, prefect of Gaul, in the following remarkable words:-"The groans of the wretched Britons, to the thrice-appointed Consul Ætius.-The barbarians drive us into the sea, and the sea forces us back on the swords of the barbarians, so that we have nothing left us but the wretched choice of being either drowned or murdered." Etius was, however, too closely engaged in opposing Attala, the renowned king of the Huns (who, from the havoc he made wherever his sword was drawn, was denominated "The scourge of God"), to bestow ay attention on the Britons. landed on the isle of Than'et.* 5. There they did not long remain inactive; but being joined by the British forces, they boldly marched against the Picts and Scots, who had advanced as far as Lincolnshire, and soon gained a complete victory over them. (A. D. 450.) The Saxons, however, being sensible of the fertility of the country to which they came, and the barrenness of that which they had left behind, invited over great numbers of their countrymen to become sharers in their new expedition. 6. Accordingly they received a fresh supply of five thousand men, who passed over in seventeen vessels, and soon made a permanent establishment in the island. The British historians, in order to account for the easy conquest of their country by the Saxons, assign their treachery, not less than their valour, as a principal cause. 7. They allege, that Vor'tigern was artfully inveigled into a passion for Rowe'na, the daughter of Hen'gist; and, in order to marry her, was induced to settle the fertile province of Kent upon her father, from whence the Saxons could never after be removed.t It is alleged, also, that upon the death of Vor'timer, which happened shortly after the victory he obtained at Eg'glesford, Vor'tigern, his father, was reinstated upon the throne. 8. It is added, that this weak monarch, accepting of a festival from Hen'gist, three hundred of his nobility were treacherously slaugh tered, and himself detained as a captive. After the death of Hen'gist, several other German tribes, allured by the success of their countrymen, went over in great numbers. 9. A body of Saxons, under the conduct of Ella and his three sons, had some time before laid the foundation of the kingdom of the South Saxons, though not without great opposition and bloodshed. This new kingdom included Surry, Sussex, and the New Forest; and extended to the frontiers of Kent. 10. Another tribe of the Saxons, under the command of Cerdic, and his son Kenric, landed in the west, and from thence took the name of West Saxons. These met with *Than'et is an island of Kent. Margate and Ramsgate are its principal towns. + Our old English historians say, that when the beautiful Rowe'na was fi st introduced to Vor'tigern, " she presented him, on her knee, with a cup of wine, saying Waes heal, hlaford cyning,' or 'Be of health, Lord King!' to which Vor'tigern, being instructed in the custom, answered, Drinc heal,' or, I drink your health.'"-It is proper here to observe, however, that some able historians have declared, that no authentic documents exist concerning these stories of Vor'tigern and Rowe'na, or of the slaughter of the British nobles: and that they are inclined to believe the whole a fiction, or, at least very much exaggerated. a very vigorous opposition from the natives, but being reinforced from Germany,* and assisted by their countrymen on the island, they routed the Britons; and although retarded in their progress by the celebrated king Arthur,f they had strength enough to keep possession of the conquest they had already made. Cerdic, therefore, with his son Kenric, established the third Saxon kingdom in the island, namely that of the West Saxons, including the counties of Hants, Dorset, Wilts, Berks, and the Isle of Wight. 11. It was in opposing this Saxon invader that the celebrated prince Arthur acquired his fame. However unsuccessful all his valour might have been in the end, yet his name made so great a figure in the fabulous annals of the times, that some notice must be taken of him. 12. This prince is of such obscure origin, that some authors suppose him to be the son of king Ambro'sius,‡ and others only his nephew; others again affirm that he was a Cornish prince, and son of Gurlois, king of that province. However this be, it is certain he was a commander of great valour; and, could courage alone have repaired the miserable state of the Britons, his might have been effectual. 13. According to the most authentic historians, he worsted the Saxons in twelve successive battles. In one of these, namely, that fought at Caerbadon, in Berks, it is asserted that he killed no less than four hundred and forty of the enemy with his own hand. But the Saxons were too numerous and powerful to be extirpated by the desultory efforts of single valour; so that a peace, and not a conquest, was the immediate fruit of his victories. 14. The enemy, therefore, still gained ground; and this prince, in the decline of life, had the mortification, from some domestic troubles of his own, to be a patient spectator of their encroachments. His first wife had been carried off by Melnas, king of Somersetshire, who detained her a whole year at Glas'tonbury,§ until Arthur, discovering the place of her retreat, advanced with an army against the seducer, and obliged him to give her back. 15. In his second wife, perhaps, he may have been more fortunate, as we have no mention made of her; but it was otherwise with his third consort, who was car * A large country of Europe, comprising many kingdoms and states. † A British prince, who established Christianity at York, in the room of paganism, or worshipping of idols. f King of the Britons. Glastonbury is a town in Somersetshire, noted for a famous abbey. |