gions of the island, was limited by the two other provinces on the south and west, and by the Humber, Don, and Mersey, on the north, and had about eight tribes and fifty stations, within it. Cirencester, Leicester, Lincoln, Caster, by Norwich, Colchester, Verulam, and London, were among the principal towns of this province. 4. Maxima, or Maxina Cæsariensis, comprehended all the region which was bounded by the two seas, the Wall of Hadrian on the north, and the Mersey, Don, and Humber, on the south; being the present counties of Durham, Westmoreland, and Yorkshire and Cumberland also, except two small parts of each. Of this province York was the metropolis, if not also of all the Roman possessions in Britain. 5th and 6th divisions, or provinces, i. e. Valentia and Vespasiana, were situated in the northern parts of Britain, about and beyond the great walls; and they were always held by the Romans on a very precarious tenure, as the hardy northern tribes were often apt to dispute their right to them and on the decline of the Roman power, and for some time before the final departure of that people, they appear to have been rapidly losing ground in those northern : parts. They had been at vast pains in erecting mighty walls and fortifications across the country, in different parts of those northern provinces, to protect the Roman subjects from the cruel depredations of the hostile Caledonians. But they often proved but a feeble and insecure protection; and when the legions were withdrawn they were never afterwards of any real use or benefit. With the extinction of the Roman power in Britain the above geographical or provincial divisions of the island also ceased for ever; and they were afterwards to be traced only in the Iters, or Itineraries of Ptolemy, Antonine, and other ancient geographers. ographers. The face of the country in succeeding times assumed other forms, and exhibited very different lines of demarkation. Under the Saxons, England was at first divided into seven kingdoms, which were afterwards reduced to one.Alfred after that divided the kingdom into counties, which division is still continued; though the disproportion or inequality of size which some of them exhibit, make what may be called a preposterous and whimsical appearance the counties of Huntingdon and Rutland, Towards the latter part, and in the decline of the power and sovereignty of the Romans in this island, their military force became greatly reduced, owing to the increasing dangers that threatened them nearer home, and even in Italy itself; which made it necessary to bring thither all the troops that could be spared from the distant provinces. The slender force that remained in this island was then chiefly stationed on the northern or Caledonian frontier, being the quarter from which most danger was apprehended. This left most of the other coasts in a defenceless state; which being known to the Irish they very soon took advantage of it. "Apprized of the new military arrangements (says Whitaker), and stimulated with the inviting prospect of conquest, they resolved upon an expedition against the whole western coast of England." This event, as the same writer informs us, took place in 395, during the minority of Honorius and the regency of Stilicho, and under the conduct of Neil NaGaillac, monarch of the Irish, who raised on that occasion the whole united power of his kingdom. This formidable assemblage or armament of Irish marauders, after having quitted their own ports, "ranged with their numerous navy along the coast of Lancashire, landed in the Isle of Man, and reduced it. They then made a descent upon North Wales, and subdued a considerable portion of the country. They disembarked a body of their troops in the dominions of the Dimetæ, and conquered the greatest part of them: and they afterwards extended their arms to the southern channel. This unexpected invasion, however, was soon afterwards repelled, by forces sent over by Stilicho, and joined by a large body of the provincials, legionary citizens, and original Britons, under the command of Cunedag (Cunedda), monarch of the Ottadini." Our historian further informs us, that the invaders were attacked, defeated, and driven to their ships, with so great a carnage that they never afterwards attempted any descents of conquests upon our western western coasts*. But the period was now arrived (adds our historian) that the Roman empire, having done the great work for which it was erected by Providence, was to be demolished for ever-God summoned the savage nations of the north, to come and erase the mighty structure of their empire, and avenge the injuries of the nations around them. The Roman legionaries, once the invincible of the earth, now retired on every side towards the heart of the empire: and Rome, once the tyrant of the world, daily shrunk into herself; contracting the dimensions of her territories, and losing the formidableness of her name. In this awful crisis the Roman soldiers finally deserted the island of Britain, in the year of the Christian era 446; five hundred-and-one years after their first descent upon the island, and four hundred-and-three after their settlement in the country." * Such is the substance of Whitaker's account of that memorable event; and it seems to be in the main, and as far as it goes, pretty correct. It is here introduced on account of the enormous evils it brought upon the Welsh people, which must have far exceeded every other calamity that had befallen them, during the whole period of their connexion with the Romans. Where the above battle was fought does not appear. It might be in some part of the west of England, to which those marauders had extended their depredations; in which case it might terminate as above described, in their total overthrow and complete expulsion from the country, so as never again to make a similar attempt upon that coast. But it does not appear that they were so soon driven out of Wales. On the contrary, it seems that they maintained thei. ground there for near fifty years longer, when they were entirely expelled by the natives, aided by Urien Rheged and the sons of Cunedda, who afterwards took up their residence in that country, and became the ancestors of some of its present most distinguished families.-Here it may be just hinted, that there now exist in Wales some plain and strong indications of an Irish predominance, of some continuance, over that country, at some former period, for which there appears no way of accounting satisfactorily, but by adverting or recurring to this portion of the British history.-It may be also further noted here, that the people of Wales were now treated with such brutal indignity by their Irish masters, that some of them were actually carried into captivity, one of whom was Padrig the son Mawon, alias Padrig Maenwyn of Gower-laud, commonly called Saint Patrick, who is said to have been then carried captive into Ireland, where he afterwards became the celebrated apostle and illuminator of that country. See Cambr. Biogr. art. Padrig. † Whitaker, b. 1. ch. 12. oct. ed. 265–269. Also Carte 1. 169. CHAP. CHAP. VI. CONCLUSION. Sketch of the State and Government of the British Provinces and Towns under the Romans-also of the Legionaries and Colonists-Effects of the Roman Conquest and Government on the State of the Country and the national Character. THE HE Roman empire was generally divided into provinces, each of which was governed by its own Prætor and Quæstor; the former was charged with the whole administration of the government, and the latter deputed to manage the finances under him. This was the case in this island. The conquered regions of Britain, as we have seen, were divided into six provinces; and those provinces were governed by six prætors and six quæstors. Each province formed a distinct government. They all acknowledged one head within the island, and were all subject to the authority of the Proconsul, Legate, or Vicar of Britain. The prætor always resided in the chief town of the province. There was his mansionhouse, denominated Palatiam, or Domus Palatina, by the Romans. In this was assembled the principal court of justice; judicial determinations were made by the prætor, and the imperial decrees, and prætorial, edicts promulged by his ministers. Other courts were opened under his commission in the other towns of the province, in which his deputies presided, inferior causes were determined, and the decrees and edicts equally promulged. Each prætor had many of these deputies under him, as each province had many of these towns. Britannia Prima comprised about forty, Britannia Secunda fifteen, Flavia fifty, Valentia ten, and Maxima twenty-five. Britain, from the southern sea to the friths of Forth and Clwyd, at the close of the first century, had a hundred-and-forty towns in all. butary, or tribute-paying; and as such, were subject to all the provincial regimen. Each was governed by a particular commandant, the deputy of the prætor, a merely annual officer.This præfect acted as an ædile, and therefore had the whole prætorial authority over the town and its vicinity or dependencies delegated to him. But the garrison in the station must have been independent of him, and subject immediately to the prætorial authority. Like the prætor, he had his quæstor, with him, appointed no doubt by the provincial quæstor, and authorized to receive the taxes of the town. These officers in the Roman government, made a very conspicuous appearance. By the former was all the discipline of the civil polity regulated, and all the taxation economy was adjusted by the latter. The payments assessed on the provincial Britons consisted of four or five different articles: One was an imposition upon burials, which is particularly urged as a grievance by the spirited Boadicia. Another was a capitation tax, which is likewise insisted upon by that British heroine. A third was a cess upon lands, which amounted to two shillings in the pound, or a tenth of the annual produce, in every thing that was raised from seed, and four shillings, or a fifth, in all that was raised from plants. A fourth was an imposition upon cattle. All the commercial imports and exports were subject to particular charges.--Such in general were the taxes of our British ancestors under the government of the Romans; and as they were the badges of the Roman dominion over them, they were naturally disliked by a newly conquered people; and embittered as they must have been to their minds by the natural haughtiness and insolence of a victorious soldiery, they were necessarily hated by a brave and high-spirited nation. But they were not oppressive in themselves; and perhaps no more than an equivalent for the burdens that had formerly been laid upon them by their own governments. The amount of them was probably scarcely sufficient to answer the expenses of the civil and military establishments in the island. The weight was evidently light and the smallness of the collections at last stimulated the policy of avarice to abolish all the provincial taxes, and substitute even the Roman in their stead. In this general condition of our towns, some were raised |