respecting the extent of the world and of our earth, respecting the nature of things, respecting the power and the majesty of the immortal gods." These doctrines were supposed to have originated in Britain, and in Cæsar's time those Gauls who wished to study them visited our island for the purpose.

But the Druids were not merely teachers. On the contrary, they were rulers, who imposed ordinances on all classes, and enforced them by terrible penalties; they were the arbiters of peace and war; they had sacred groves and rude stone temples, in which they offered human sacrifices; and so powerful was their influence over their countrymen, that the Romans forsook their usual policy of leaving untouched the superstitions and priesthoods of conquered nations, and laboured zealously to destroy both the priests and the altars of Britain. Tacitus gives a lively account of the assault for this purpose on the stronghold of Druidism (A.D. 61).

Suetonius "prepared to fall upon Mona (Anglesey ), a country powerful in inhabitants, and a common place of refuge to the revolters and fugitives; he built, for that end, boats with broad flat bottoms, the easier to approach a shore full of shallows and uncertain landings; in these the foot were embarked; the horse followed, partly by fording, partly by swimming.

"On the opposite shore stood the enemy's army, in thick array compact with men and arms; amongst them were women running frantically every where, to and fro, representing the wild manner and transports of furies; dismally clad in funeral apparel, with their hair dishevelled and torches in their hands; round the host also appeared their priests the Druids, with their hands lifted up to heaven, uttering direful imprecations, and invoking celestial vengeance; insomuch, that at the amazing novelty of the spectacle, the spirit of the Roman soldiers was struck with dismay; and, as if all their limbs had been benumbed, they stood motionless, their bodies exposed, like

The name Mona is often given to the Isle of Man, but it is certain that Anglesey is meant in this instance.

The cromlechs which are found in various parts of our island were formerly regarded as temples,

fixed marks, to wounds and darts; till, by the repeated exhortations of the general, as well as by mutual incitements from one another, they were at last roused to shake off the scandalous terror inspired by a band of raving women and fanatic priests; and thus advancing their ensigns, they discomfited all that resisted, and involved them in their own fires."

The aboriginal Britons are described as dwelling in slight cabins of reeds and wattles, and in some instances in caverns in the earth, many sets of which, arranged with some degree of symmetry, antiquaries have recognized, in various parts of the country; but Cæsar tells us that the maritime tribes had buildings in the fashion of the Gauls, that is, of wood, of a circular figure, and thatched. They had, however, public edifices for the purposes of religion, of which we have an example in the stupendous fabric of Stonehenge, Such of their towns as came under his observation were clusters of huts erected on a cleared portion of the forests which covered the greater part of the island, and they were invariably surrounded by a rampart constructed of felled trees strongly interlaced and wattled, and a deep foss, which together constituted a fortification that we may believe even the veteran legionaries often found it difficult to storm. The site of the modern city of London, with the river Thames in front, the river Fleet on the west, and an almost impenetrable forest in the rear, may be taken as a fair specimen of the nature of the locality usually selected for the residence of a British chief.

At the time that the Roman supremacy had its greatest extent, we distinguish the two great districts of Britannia Superior and Inferior (in a general way, England and Wales, and Scotland) divided into the five provinces of Britannia Prima, Britannia Secunda, Flavia Cæsariensis, Maxima Cæsariensis, and Valentia.

1. Britannia Prima contained the country south of the Thames and the

but recent investigation has convinced the generality of antiquaries that they are in reality sepulchral monuments. One of the finest examples is the double cromlech at Plas Newydd, in Anglesey, figured at the head of this Introduction.

Severn, and, proceeding westward, we find tribes known to us by their Romanized names of the Cantii, Regni, Belgæ, Atrebates, Durotriges, and Dumnonii.

2. Britannia Secunda may be called Wales, and contained the Silures in the south and south-east, the Demetæ on the western coast, and the Ordovices in the north.

3. Flavia Casariensis, the country between the Thames, the Severn and the Humber, contained the Trinobantes in the south, north of them the Catyeuchlani and Iceni, and in the central and western parts the Dobuni, Coritavi, and Cornavii.

4. Maxima Cæsariensis, between the Humber and the Tyne, contained the Parisii on the Yorkshire coast, and the Brigantes, who occupied the rest of the north of England.

5. Valentia, between the Tyne and the Frith of Forth, was occupied by the Ottadeni on the east coast, the Gadeni in the centre, and the Selgovæ, Novantæ, and Damnii to the west and north. This province contained the Roman walls known as, (1) the Wall of Agricola (or of Lollius

This Wall has been closely investigated by an- | tiquaries, and its whole course satisfactorily traced. From the researches of Dr. Collingwood Bruce in particular, we learn that the Wall was about 73 miles long and probably 20 feet high. It had a

Urbicus, or Antoninus, from its restorers), which was the most northern, and (2) the Wall of Hadrian, to the south; this last being re-edified in the third century, or rather replaced by a wall of stone, the new structure is commonly spoken of as (3) the Wall of Severus. A wall, or rather chain of forts, also existed in the central part of the country, stretching from the Nen to the Severn; few traces of this remain, but of the other walls most of the stations have been identified, and many portions are still in a good state of preservation.

Beside these walls strong fortresses were erected in many places, particularly on the coast, of which the remains at Burgh castle, in Suffolk, Reculver, Richborough and Lympne, in Kent, and near Pevensey, in Sussex (probably Anderida), are especially interesting.

Our early historians mention four great roads by which South Britain was traversed, and these have usually been considered the work of its conquerors, but recent research has led to the conclusion that the Romans only kept in repair, and perhaps im

deep ditch on its northern front, and on its southern side a triple rampart of earth and stones, with foss, ran parallel to it, at a distance generally of 60 or 80 yards. The included space was traversed by a military road along which were disposed nearly

proved, the roads which they found in use on their settlement in the island. These great roads, under their modern names, are, the Watling Street, the Hermin Street, the Foss Way, and the Ikenild Street', and along their course, or in their immediate vicinity, are found the principal towns which, in pursuance of their usual policy, the Romans either founded or re-edified, and to which, according to the privileges bestowed, the various names were given of colonies, municipalities, stipendiary, and Latian cities".

Many other Roman roads exist, one

twenty Stationes (permanent camps), linked together by Castella (see engraving) at less than a Roman mile distant, and these connected by watchtowers, ("little more than stone sentry-boxes," says Dr. Bruce,) within hail of each other. Even in its

| of which stretches beyond the Wall of Agricola to the foot of the Grampians, and a Roman camp is found near the mouth of the Spey, on the Murray Frith, which may probably be taken as the most advanced post of the Imperial rule. The names of several tribes beyond the Roman limits occur in Ptolemy and other writers, but before the time of Severus they appear to have been all merged in the gene ral appellations of Caledonians and Mæatæ, as these in their turn in after days are known only as Picts and Scots.

present state the Wall is one of the most remark able works in Europe, and it furnishes a proof of the difficulty with which the Romans maintained their position in the north of England. It is in fact one vast intrenched camp from end to end,

and seems to have been intended as much to meet a rising of the tribes to the south as to guard against an invasion from the north.

The courses usually ascribed to these highways are, the Watling Street from Kent to Cardigan Bay; the Hermin Street from St. David's to Southampton: the Foss Way from Cornwall to Lincoln; and the Ikenild Street from St. David's to Tynemouth. There appears reason for supposing that these statements are incorrect, and that the Watling Street extended from Kent to the Frith of Forth; the Hermin Street from the Sussex coast to the Humber; the Foss Way from Cornwall to Lincolnshire; and the Ikenild Street from Caister to Dorchester.

m There have been identified among the colonies (using modern names), Bath, Cambridge, Caerleon, Chester, Colchester, Gloucester, Lincoln, London, and Richborough; among the municipia, St. Alban's and York; among the Latian cities, Carlisle, Cirencester, Dumbarton, Old Sarum; and among the stipendiariæ, Canterbury, Dorchester, Exeter, Leicester, Rochester, and Winchester. A much longer list is given in "De Situ Britanniæ," a book ascribed to Richard of Cirencester, but that this is a forgery of the last century, has been conclusively shewn by Mr. Mayor, in his preface to Richard's genuine work, "Speculum Historiale."

tain was reduced to a dependence on the prefect of Gaul, and the resident governor was then termed only vicar (or lieutenant). In pursuance of their ordinary policy, which made each conquered nation assist in keeping down the rest, the Romans sent the British youth in large numbers to garrison distant countries, and brought to Britain Gauls, Germans, Spaniards, Thracians and others as auxiliaries to the two (sometimes three) legions, that were deemed necessary to hold it. The ordinary amount of their military force is estimated at 30,000 foot and 6,000 horse, and they had a reserve in the veterans on whom they bestowed lands instead of pensions, and who with their families formed the bulk of the population in the towns that were styled colonies.

Independently of a rather doubtful passage in Gildas, there seems sufficient ground for the belief that the light of Christianity was diffused in our island as early as the apostolic age. Clement of Rome says that St. Paul carried the Gospel to the extreme bounds of the West, a phrase used by other writers where Britain is unquestionably intended; St. Peter, St. Joseph of Arimathea", Aristobulus, and others, are also named, but with less probability, as agents in the conversion of Britain. The British Church is often spoken of by writers of the third and succeeding centuries; although, from the destruction of documents, no list of sees can be given on anything more

P This was fully believed in the middle ages; and we find that Edward III. granted a licence dated June 10, 1345, allowing John Blome, of London, to search for the body of St. Joseph in the abbey of Glastonbury, about which, it says, he had received a divine revelation. The result is not recorded.

One of the most interesting of these is the church of St. Piran, near St. Ives, which, after being for ages buried in the sand, (hence the name of the hamlet, Perran-zabuloe,) was brought to light

than conjecture, and no names of British prelates have come down to us preceding those of the signers of the decrees of the council of Arles (A.D. 314). The Christian population of Britain, evidently numerous at the time of the Diocletian persecution, appears to have steadily increased, and when the Romans withdrew from the island they left behind them a people professing the truths of the Gospel, but corrupting them by the rash and dangerous speculations of the Pelagian and other heresies, and soon to be driven into the more remote quarters of the country, where their faith, purified by affliction, shone more brightly than it had done in the days of their prosperity. They were visited by many holy persons from Ireland, (which had early received the Gospel, and had as yet escaped the ravages of the northern nations,) such as St. Piran, St. Ia, St. Gwythian, and others, who, inflamed by missionary zeal, in the fifth and sixth centuries, proceeded to the coast of Cornwall, and have left numerous memorials of their labours, not only in the names of villages, but in the sculptured crosses and humble oratories still found there. To this period, prior to the coming of Augustine, also belongs the origin of the Welsh sees', which, as they gathered the scattered sheep to the fold, may be regarded as the living representatives of the Churches planted among us in the very earliest age of Christianity.

by its removal in 1835. It is of very small size (about 30 feet by 16) and simple architecture.

r Caerleon is by some writers said to have been founded in the Roman period, and Llandaff to have been established by King Lucius; but these are mere traditions, and the succession of bishops cannot be traced higher than to Dubritius, who apparently held both sees, and is said to have died A.D. 522. Kentigern of St. Asaph and Daniel of Bangor, the first bishops there, lived somewhat later.