It is now generally believed that these gold ornaments were priestly decorations, which imparted dignity to the ceremonials of the Druids. The subject of native British money is still involved in considerable obscurity. Julius Cæsar positively states that the ancient Britons had no coined money; but in its stead made use of metal rings of a certain weight. These have been found in iron, bronze, gold, and silver, and on examination prove, it is said, to be exact multiples of a standard unit (twelve grains troy). 4. The religion of the Britons was that variety of pagan superstition known by the name of Druidism. The Druids were both priests and lawgivers, and from their oral instructions the British youth derived what knowledge they possessed. According to the accounts we have received of them, they are said to have been divided into three classes-Druids proper, Vates or soothsayers, and Bards. They taught the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, and believed in one God, although in later times the objects of their adoration were numerous, including the serpent and the heavenly bodies. Traces of their superstitions still remain in the bonfires of May-day and Midsummer-eve, and in the ceremonies of AllHallowmas. The oak was a special object of veneration among the Druids: they took up their abode beneath its spreading branches, and their sacred rites were never performed without some of its leaves. The mistletoe, when found growing upon it, was cut by the arch-druid with a golden knife, and the day of its gathering was kept as a solemn religious festival. Besides their natural temples in the oak groves, the large stone circles already mentioned are believed to have furnished them with a sort of consecrated temples. Within these remarkable structures it is supposed that the Druids annually assembled, to celebrate their orgies, and offer up human sacrifices upon the altars. But it would appear that the ordinary mode of immolation often proved too tedious, for we are informed by Cæsar that on certain occasions gigantic images of wickerwork were filled with men, women, and children, and being set on fire, the miserable victims were consumed in the flames. The whole subject of the rites and religion of Druidism is, however, involved in the deepest mystery. 5. JULIUS CESAR.-In the year 55 B. C., Caius Julius Cæsar, whose conquests in Gaul had brought him within sight of our coasts, resolved to cross over into Britain; for, in order to be master of Gaul, it was necessary to intimidate the warlike inhabitants of that island, who maintained a continual communication with their brethren on the continent. A fleet of eighty transports was accordingly prepared, and a Roman army, about 12,000 in number, after a vigorous opposition, landed on the coast of Kent. But this expedition nearly proved fatal to the invaders: on the fourth night after the disembarkation a violent storm arose, which almost entirely destroyed their fleet, and cut off all hope of immediate return to Gaul. The natives, gaining confidence by this disaster, prepared to drive the strangers into the sea; but Cæsar easily dispersed the undisciplined barbarians, and having repaired a portion of his damaged vessels, returned to the continent after an absence of seventeen days. This return was so like a flight, that Cæsar felt the necessity of attempting another expedition in the following year. His arrangements this time were on a more extensive 54. scale: a fleet of 800 galleys conveyed 32,000 Roman soldiers to the Kentish shore, where they landed without opposition. Marching rapidly into the interior, he found the natives advantageously posted behind a river, whose passage they gallantly disputed. Being compelled to retreat, they next took up a position within a wood, the approaches to which they strongly barricaded; but the rude fortifications of the Britons proved a feeble obstacle to the Romans, who soon forced an entrance, and drove out the defenders. On the following morning, Cæsar was informed that a tempest had again destroyed part of his fleet, and he lost ten days in repairing his vessels and drawing them up high on shore beyond reach of the waves. He then returned to continue his pursuit of the Britons, who had assembled in greater numbers than before, and had chosen for their commander a powerful and warlike chief, whose territories lay along the left bank of the Thames. He is called Cassivellaunus by the Romans, who always latinized both the names of persons and of places, so that it is difficult to discover what those names really were. "The Britons," says Cæsar, "fight in small bands on horseback or in chariots. When they commence the battle, they dart across the plain, startling the enemy by the swiftness of their course and the noise of their wheels. They are so skilful in managing them, that they drive their horses down the rapid slopes of the hills, run along the pole, and stand upon the yoke, all the while discharging missile weapons; and if the enemy is near, they throw themselves back into their chariots, that they may have a firm footing for the strife, or leap to the ground and combat hand to hand." This is probably a poetical description; for it is difficult to believe that on the rough ground without roads, and in rude chariots, the barbarians could show so much agility. That they were brave is evident, but their courage could not long resist the discipline and resources of the Romans, whose armies, by their own account, were so large as to outnumber any force which a thinly peopled country could bring against them. Cassivellaunus, after a variety of fortunes, left to his own resources, and unable to repair the losses sustained in successive defeats, could no longer make head against the legions. He was therefore compelled to sue for peace, which was willingly granted on condition of his paying tribute. Cesar had no sooner received the subinission of Cassivellaunus than he returned to Gaul; and the only result of his two expeditions was a number of barren victories which struck terror into the inhabitants. The Romans did not again visit the island till the reign of Claudius, about a hundred years afterwards, though preparations for invasion had been made both by Augustus and Caligula. 6. Barbarian tribes, in their quarrels with one another, are always naturally anxious to have the assistance of some powerful civilized people, forgetting that when the strangers are once called in, both the contending parties are liable to be subdued by them. It was in this manner that great part of our Indian empire was acquired. Some of the chiefs of Britain appealed to the Romans, who, in the reign of the Emperor Claudius, sent a new expedition to our coasts. The natives followed a A. D. plan which had been adopted by Cassivellaunus: the 43. stores of provisions were destroyed, the habitations burnt to the ground; all around the enemy the country became a barren, uninhabited desert. But the Roman general Plautius, who drew his supplies from Gaul, advanced fearlessly towards the interior of the island, employing his lightarmed German auxiliaries in the pursuit of the British, who at length made a stand on the banks of the Severn. Here they resisted Plautius two days, and then retreated to the marshes on the Thames, where, being favoured by the nature of the ground, they caused great loss to the Romans, and compelled thein to retire and wait for reinforcements. Ere long these arrived under the emperor himself, who advanced as far as Camalodunum (supposed to be Maldon in Essex), beyond the Thames, where he received the submission of several neighbouring tribes, and then returned to Rome to enjoy the honours of a triumph. It cost the Romans still many a hard contest before they were able to establish themselves in the island. Vespasian, one of Claudius's lieutenants, had to fight more than thirty battles before reducing the Belgæ and the inhabitants of the Isle of Wight. Plautius, on the north of the Thames, could only subdue the warlike tribes around him by sowing division among them at a vast expense of treasure. He was replaced five years later by Ostorius Scapula, who erected a line of forts on the Severn and the Nene, to protect the conquered territory. He also disarmed all the suspected Britons within the line; an act of caution which led to the formation of a vast confederacy to sweep the invaders from the island. At the head of this league was the powerful Caractacus, who was defeated after a hard contest, while his wife and daughter were made prisoners; his brothers surrendered at discretion; and not long after, he himself was betrayed by his stepmother, the queen of the Brigantes, with whom he had sought an asylum, and given up to Ostorius, by whom he was led captive to Rome. Among the luxurious Italians, the haughty bearing and unsubdued spirit of the barbarous chief produced a strong effect, and he was viewed with interest and wonder. The captive princes were usually put to death; but as an act of popular clemency, and of homage to his intrepidity, the emperor spared his life. The next military movement of the Romans was an attack on the island of Anglesea, the main place of resort of the Druid priests. In the meantime, Boadicea, the queen of the tribe of the Iceni, and her daughters, having suffered outrage and barbarous cruelty from some licentious Roman soldiers, many of the tribes, roused to a common thirst of vengeance by her wrongs, flocked round her. She appeared among the assembled multitude exciting them to do battle. But the Romans, under their leader Suetonius, were victorious over the combined host of barbarians, whom they cruelly slaughtered. The wretched Boadicea, disappointed alike of revenge and of her country's release, died by her own hand. 7. AGRICOLA.—In the year 78 after the birth of Christ that great general and statesman Julius Agricola took the command in Britain, and his deeds both of peace and war have had the good fortune to be recorded by his son-in-law Tacitus, the celebrated Roman historian. It was his policy to civilize the people, so that they might be less ferocious as enemies and more useful as subjects. In the year 81 he is generally believed to have entered Scotland, consolidating the empire of the Romans as he proceeded; and three years later, having penetrated beyond the Frith of Forth, he fought the celebrated battle of the Grampians, and conquered a Caledonian chief, whom the Romans called by the name of Galgacus. Tacitus gives a long and very eloquent speech, which he tells us that warrior delivered to his troops; but it is pretty certain, that besides the difficulty of finding out what a hostile general has said to his army, Tacitus would not have understood a word that Galgacus said if he had heard him quietly at a public meeting. No one has been able to prove where this battle took place: according to some it was in Fifeshire, according to others at Ardoch near Dunblane; while some antiquarians have maintained that the spot was as far north as Aberdeenshire or Inverness-shire. The fleet of Agricola sailed round the northern coast of Scotland, and thus discovered to the Romans that Britain was an island. Remains, which may still be seen, show how active and enterprising the Romans had been during the short time that they occupied Scotland. Their camps and forts were square, the ramparts consisting of high mounds of earth tapering to a narrow ridge at the top. The remains of these are scattered through all Scotland,--some of them north of the Grampian Hills in the shires of Aberdeen and Inverness. At Ardoch, in Perthshire, there stands a fort, consisting of several high ramparts one within the other, all distinct and sharp in their outline to this day. There is a good Roman bath at Burghhead on the Moray Frith, and their roads, known from their being paved with large stones, are found in many places. 8. The conquests of Agricola in the north were soon lost. A rampart or wall was built from the Solway Frith to the east coast of England, called Adrian's Wall, which marked the boundary of the empire. About the year 138, Lollius Urbicus, the governor of Britain, advanced the boundary. northwards, and made a line of square forts and a rampart across that narrow portion of the island between the Friths of Forth and Clyde, near where they are now joined by the Union Canal. This rampart was afterwards called Grime's |