The reason which Cæsar gives for undertaking the invasion of the country is, the assistance the Britons had afforded their Gallic neighbours in their wars with the Romans *. It might probably appear to him a sufficient reason, but in the eyes of strict justice it can have but very little weight. It is, however, much like the reasons that are generally advanced by heroes and conquerors in justification of their violent and destructive proceedings.

Our triads seem to give some degree of countenance to the fact, that the Gauls had re

ceived some assistance from this country. They even assert that Cassivellaunus, or Caswallon, went over himself to Gaul, and appeared there at the head of sixty thousand men ; and moreover, that he fought against a body of Cæsar's allies, and killed six thousand of them. But with this the triads connect a very odd story, making it the chief object of Cassivellaunus's expedition, to recover his mistress Flur, whom Marchan, a Gallic prince of Gascony, had stolen from him, with a view of presenting her to Cæsar. In consequence of his victory, the story says that he recovered his mistress. This is so romantic a tale that one hardly knows what to make of it. The ingenious author of the Mythology and Rites of the British Druids, does not hesitate to allegorize, or rather mythologize it. "The character of Flur," says he, "imports that token or pledge of union, amongst the professors of druidism, which induced the Britons to assist their brethren of Gaul, as related by Cæsar, and thus furnished that great commander with a pretext for the invasion of this island t."

This

This was Cæsar's ostensible reason for invading this country. He had doubtless other reasons and other motives, which weighed with him no less, and perhaps much more than the other. No Roman general had ever before thought of conquering or invading Britain. That country was looked upon as belonging, in a manner, to another world and could Cæsar but subdue and add it to the Roman empire it was easy to see that it would highly gratify his ambition, and add greatly to his fame in the opinion of the Roman people. These were momentous matters in the eyes of such a man as Cæsar, and they sufficiently account for his procedures against this country, which he repeatedly attempted to reduce under the power and annex to the empire of the Romans.

Cæsar's first attempt was unsuccessful; nor does it appear that the second afforded him much reason for boasting.

Even some of his own countrymen thought that he had quite enough of it; and many have been of opinion that he never was more roughly handled than on British ground. It does seem however, that he did gain some advantages the second time, and that our ancestors, for the sake of getting rid of him, made some

submissive or conciliatory professions, and perhaps promised the payment of something in the shape of tribute. But we have met no clear evidence that it was ever regularly paid for any length of time. Nor do we find that the Romans had any intercourse with Britain, except in a commercial way, from Cæsar's last departure, which was near sixty years before the birth of Christ, till the reign of Claudius, which was an interval of about a hundred years.

In Claudius's reign, Britain experienced another Roman invasion which proved more successful than the former; and a great part of the island, after long and severe struggles, was reduced to the state of a Roman province. The country was soon held by the conquerors in high estimation, and as one of their most valuable acquisitions. Several of the emperors honoured it with their presence, and their armies here were commanded by some of their most able and renowned generals.

The face of the country in the mean time assumed a different appearance, and the progress of improvement soon became rapid and extensive. Large tracts, formerly covered with thickets and forests, were now

cleared

crops

cleared and converted into cultivated fields, producing abundant of the finest corn, which beside supplying the wants of the inhabitants afforded a large surplus for foreign markets. Marshes also were drained, and the low lands near the sea, and usually overflowed by the salt water, were secured by strong embankments, and effectually converted into most excellent pasturage and arable lands. The whole country was likewise intersected with excellent roads, which were formed with immense skill and labour, and made with the most durable and best materials, and often carried through extensive and almost impassable morasses.

Instead of the rude towns of former times, consisting of mere huts and hovels, numerous cities now sprung up, adorned with baths, amphitheatres, and all the insignia of Italian luxury and refinement. Ample means were also furnished for the cultivation of Roman literature, of which the higher classes appear to have very generally availed themselves. All classes soon imbibed the manners of their conquerors, and became as much Romanized as any one of the nations they had previously subdued.

To crown the whole, Christianity appears to have been introduced among our ancestors, at an early part of their connexion with the Romans, under the auspices of Brân ap Llyr and his family, who had embraced that religion during their long residence at Rome. But what sort of Christianity it was that they did then embrace and introduce among their countrymen, may admit of some doubt; for there were certainly two sorts of Christianity from the very first, as unlike each other as light and darkness. This, however, is a point that has been but little attended to; nor is this a proper place to enter upon the discussion of it.

But of whatever sort that Christianity was which Brân and his family introduced among our ancestors, there is no reason to suppose that it met with general acceptance, or that the whole nation was converted to the belief and profession of it. It will not be very easy to prove that any sort of Christianity was here a national and established religion before the days of Constantine, if not indeed even before those of the memorable monk Austin. Very absurd things have often been alleged about the state of Christianity among

the

the ancient Britons, and readily believed by multitudes; but which at the same time had not the least foundation in truth, and merited all possible contempt. This subject however must not here be enlarged upon.

The preceding hints exhibit some of the effects which the Roman conquest produced in this island, and may help us to judge whether that memorable revolution increased or diminished the former sum of national happiness and respectability. It will be necessary, before we attempt to form an estimate, to add a few circumstances to those which have been already stated. We notice chiefly instances of national advantage and improvement, which that great change produced. But it also produced effects of a very different and opposite description-the national character was degraded, the liberty and independence of

the country were completely annihilated, the nation was drained of its best youth, who were forced into military service, and employed in foreign wars, while multitudes of the common people were constrained to labour like slaves in the most servile occupations belonging to the public works that were carrying on in different parts of the country; of which they would some times most grievously complain. In short, all public spirit, and every generous and dignified feeling, were utterly destroyed.

Upon the whole, therefore, after carefully examining both sides, it seems pretty clear and certain, that the Britons lost more than they gained by their connexion with the Romans; and that the latter left this island, as was hinted before, in a much less happy and less respectable condition than they found it.

2nd volume, an account was given of the ancient divisions of

ously to the arrival of the Romans. Before we conclude the

present

present sketch, it may not be improper to give a brief account of those new divisions which took place under the direction of those celebrated people.

No one perhaps understood this subject better than Whitaker; we cannot therefore do amiss in placing ourselves here chiefly under his guidance

"The Roman conquest among us were divided (says he), in in general, into higher or western, and lower or eastern Britain, the one being separated from the other by a line that was carried through the length of the island. They were also divided, in particular, into six provinces, and distinguished by the six denominations of Britannia Prima, Britannia Secunda, Flavia, Maxima, Valentia, and Vespasiana. And a regular Itinerary, the first perhaps of Britain, appears to have been drawn up by Lollius for the whole *."

1. Britannia Prima comprehended all the country that lies to the south of the Thames and Severn, and of a line drawn from Creeklade or its vicinity, upon the one, to Berkeley or its neighhourhood on the other. It included eleven nations of the

Britons, and contained about thirty-six nations, subject to Ritupe or Richborough the provincial capital.

Caer

2. Britannia Secunda comprised all the country that lies between the Severn and Dee, contained three tribes of the Britons, and reckoned about twenty stations under Isca, or Caerleon, its capital. The three tribes it comprehended were, 1. The Silures, who originally inhabited the counties of Hereford, Radnor, and Monmouth, and eastern part of Glamorgan, with those portions of Gloucester and Worcestershires lying on the west of the Severn. went was their metropolis.2. The Ordovices, who inhabited the counties of Montgomery, Merioneth, Carnarvon, Denbigh, and Flint, and those parts of Shropshire which are to the south and west of the Severnto which may be added Mona, or the isle of Anglesey. 3. The Dimetæ inhabited the counties of Pembroke, Cardigan, Caermarthen, and Brecknock, with the western part of Glamorgan. Maridunum, or Caermarthen, was their metropolis.

3. Flavia, or Flavia Cæsariensis, took in all the central re

gions