HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAPTER 1.

BRITAIN BEFORE THE ENGLISH CONQUEST.

The Britons; Ireland and Scotland (1)—the Roman Conquest; invasion of Julius Cæsar; Cassivelaunus; description of the Britons (2)-Claudius; Caractacus (3) -the Isle of Mona; Boadicea (4)—Roman Britain; Agricola; the Roman Wall; Hadrian; Severus (5)-the British Church; St. Alban (6).

I. The British Isles.-England, the southern part of the Isle of Britain, has its name from the Angles or English, a Teutonic people who, with other kindred tribes, came over from the mainland of Europe, and won themselves a new home in Britain. They found the land already occupied by a Celticspeaking people, the Britons, who still exist under the name of Welsh. The Celts and the Teutons are both branches of the great Aryan family of mankind, to which nearly all the nations of Europe belong; and the earliest known Aryan inhabitants of Britain belonged to the Celtic branch; but it is believed that before them the land was overspread by a people who were not Aryans, and whom the Celts drove into the west of the island. There are however no written records of the coming of the Celts, or of the races which preceded them; so that our opinions are mainly formed upon the evidence afforded by bones, weapons,

and tools found in the caves which served the unknown men of old for dwelling or burial-places, and in the tombs called cromlechs, which still remain in many parts of Britain. In the island of Ireland, formerly called Terne and Scotia, there was a another Celtic people, the Scots or Gael, who afterwards made a settlement in Caledonia or North Britain, which from them came to be called Scotland. Two Celtic languages are still spoken in the British Isles. These are the Gaelic, dialects of which survive in parts of Ireland, in the Isle of Man, and in the Western Highlands of Scotland; and the Cymric or Welsh tongue, which is spoken in Wales.

2. The Roman Conquest. Julius Cæsar.— At the time when our historical knowledge of the Britons begins, the Romans were the most powerful nation of the world: and it was their great general, Caius Julius Cæsar, who first attempted to explore Britain, which was still scarcely known except to

those merchants who traded with the tribes on the sea-coast. Cæsar was then governor of Gaul, the land between the Pyrenees and the Rhine, the greater part of which he had himself conquered. Finding that his enemies in Gaul had often received help from Britain, he determined to invade the island. He accordingly came over with two legions in August, B.C. 55, landing either at Walmer or Deal, after a sharp fight with the natives. The next year he came again, when he was opposed by a league of tribes under a chief called Cassivelaunus, whose fortified town or camp the Romans assaulted and took; but neither time did Cæsar make any lasting conquest, or leave any troops behind him. He only saw the south-eastern part of the island; the population, he tells us, was large, and the buildings and cattle numerous. Corn seems to have been plentiful about his camp in Kent, the Kentish people being, according to him, the most civilized in Britain. The Britons employed both cavalry and chariots in war, and were remarkable for

their skill in driving, and the activity with which they leaped down to fight on foot and sprang back again to their cars. They were in the habit of staining themselves blue with woad, to look more terrible in battle. Their priests were called Druids, and human sacrifices were offered to their gods.

3. Claudius.-As Roman civilization spread in Northern Gaul, and commerce increased along the coast, Britain became much better known to the world, and carried on a larger trade. Its exports are said to have comprised corn and cattle, tin, lead, iron, gold and silver, besides skins, slaves, and hunting dogs. Pearls too were found, but of a poor kind. It was not however till the time of the Emperor Claudius, who himself came over A.D. 43, that the Romans began really to conquer Britain. One who struggled the hardest against the invaders was Carádoc, called by the Romans Caractacus, who at the head, first of his own tribe in the east, and then of the Silurians, a people dwelling by the Severn, long maintained the contest. He was at last taken and sent prisoner to Rome, where the Emperor, struck by his gallant speech and bearing, instead of putting him to death, the usual fate of a captive, gave him and his family their lives. It is told of Caradoc, that when, after his release, he walked through the stately streets of Rome, he asked bitterly why men thus magnificently lodged should covet the poor cottages of the Britons.

4. Boadicea.-In the year 61, Suetonius Paulinus, the Roman governor in Britain, attacked the Isle of Mona (now Anglesey), the refuge of those who stood out against the Roman power. A strong force of warriors defended the shore; the Druids stood around, calling down the wrath of Heaven upon the invaders; women with streaming hair and torches in their hands rushed wildly to and fro. For a moment the Romans quailed with superstitious terror; but, recalling their courage, they advanced; the defenders of the isle were

overwhelmed, and the sacred groves, where captives had been offered in sacrifice, were destroyed. Meanwhile the subject Britons broke out into revolt under the leadership of Boadicea, widow of a King of the Icenians, a tribe dwelling in what are now Norfolk and Suffolk. This people had been cruelly oppressed by the Roman officers; Boadicea herself had been scourged, and her two daughters subjected to brutal outrage. Breathing vengeance, the Icenians rose in arms, stirring up the neighbouring tribes to join in the revolt; while Boadicea, spear in hand, her yellow hair flowing below her waist, harangued her forces with fiery eloquence. The colony of Camulodunum (Colchester) was stormed, and the colonists slaughtered by the insurgents. In like manner were massacred the inhabitants of the Roman towns of Verulamium (near St. Albans) and Londinium (London), which was already a great trading place. In modern times there have been found, below the soil of London, charred remains of wooden buildings, supposed to be those of the ancient Londinium, which was probably burned down by the Britons. So far they carried all before them, but on the return of Suetonius, they were routed with great slaughter. Boadicea died soon after-a natural death, as some say; according to others, she poisoned herself in despair.

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5. Roman Britain.-The Roman dominion in Britain was gradually strengthened and increased. From the year 78 to 84 the governor of the province, the territory subject to Rome, was Cnaus Julius Agricola. He extended the Roman dominions to the Firths of Forth and Clyde, securing the frontier by a chain of forts while a second line of defence was formed by similar forts from the Tyne to the Solway. The wild northern tribes called Caledonians were never subdued, although Agricola defeated them in a battle on the Highland border. His fleet sailed along the northern coast and took possession of the Orkneys. Agricola was a wise