of the high and heroic part of their nature in the low and irreligious sensuality of Epicurean philosophy.* On the other hand, the poet has shown, in the Britons of the play, the good and the evil which appertain to an imperfect condition of civilization. He has elevated our thoughts of ancient Britain by adorning it with the character of Imogen-one of the loveliest of that matchless company of women who have their life and being in the drama of Shakspeare; and in the wild heroism of her two brothers, the stolen sons of Cymbeline,-he has shown, what has been truly said, that-"When a rude people have lost somewhat of their ferocity, and have not yet acquired the vices of a later stage of civilization, their character really exhibits much that is noble and excellent; and, both in its good and bad points, it so captivates the imagination, that it has always been regarded by the writers of a more advanced state of society with an admiration even beyond its merits."

In the imperfect state of historical knowledge respecting the early period of British history, we are apt, I think, to form a false conception of the civilization of the Britons. Receiving the first impression of their rude barbarism, we not only trust the description too much, but we carry it too far, in their history; and, accordingly, the common notion of the ancient Briton is, that they were savages who sacrificed human victims, and painted their skins. The truth as to the condition of

* It was upon the trial of the queen that Mr. Brougham, speaking of the perjured Italian witness, quoted Iachimo's words:

"I have belied a lady,

The princess of the country; and the air on't
Revengingly enfeebles me."

W. B. R.

Britain appears to be, that it was a favoured and flourishing portion of the Roman Empire. A very considerable number of large cities, and a greater number of towns, are known by name as having flourished in various parts of the country. The Romans brought with them their luxuries, arts, and sciences; and, accordingly, temples and theatres and towns, baths and porticos, gates, triumphal arches, and market-places arose, remarkable for their architecture and decorated with sculpture and statuary. Such was the reputation of the Romanized British architects, that they were sent by Constantius into Gaul to rebuild a ruined city. It has been said, with no less vividness than accuracy, that what Calcutta is now to London, London or York was to Rome. For four hundred years was the Roman influence at work in a large part of Britain; and that influence produced its results, not only in the arts as displayed in public and private edifices, but also in the more permanent political effects resulting from the establishment of the municipal rights and privileges of the towns.

Visible proofs of the condition of Britain during the Roman period are not unfrequently found at the present day, when some excavation discloses a tesselated pavement, or a buried arch, or military road, or when Roman coins are dug up, or sacrificial vessels, or ancient implements of war or peace. There are standing the more manifest ruins of the frontier walls-the extended lines of fortifications by which Britain was defended against the Caledonian-chiefly the wall of Severus, the height of which, in one part of its ruins, was curiously ascertained by that fervid antiquarian, Ritson. On a visit to Sir Walter Scott, Ritson, who was by nature very prone

to controversy, and, with all his learning, perhaps a little. insane, disputed the existence of any ruins of the wall, trusting to some information that had been given him. Scott assured him where the ruin was to be seen, and added that it was high enough to break the neck of Mr. Ritson's inaccurate informer were he to fall from it. This strong and natural expression, irritating Ritson's fiery zeal for accuracy, was carefully noted by him; and Scott was soon after astonished at finding how literally his uncalculating phrase had been taken.; for a letter from Ritson stated that he had indeed found the ruin, which he had visited for the very purpose of jumping down from the wall to test the fidelity of Sir Walter's description, which his escape with an unbroken neck proved to be hyperbolical. He adds, however, that the height of the wall was such as to make the experiment dangerous; and I repeat the anecdote to give you an impression as to the state of those famous Roman ruins. So little is preserved of the national relics of the RomanBritish times, and so little can be distinctly traced in the permanent influence of social or political institutions of that period, that there arises, what appears to me, another erroneous historical view of those distant eras. Knowing scarce any thing of the primitive British period, we are apt to conclude that the Britons became extinct or were pushed from their land, as the Indians in our own country are thrust away by the white population; and that, therefore, they transmitted to succeeding generations nc influence or national character. In like manner, though in less degree, we are apt to fancy, because our information is imperfect, that the Roman era of British history left but few traces behind it; and hence we hastily con

clude, that modern English and American character is derived only from the later elements of the Anglo-Saxon and Norman eras. Such a view is hardly rational, when we reflect that the Britons occupied the island from an unknown antiquity—that they never were driven from it, but were amalgamated with their Roman conquerors— and that Roman civilization abode there for four hundred years. The periods were of such duration, and the circumstances were such, that the influence could not have stopped abruptly as the periods respectively closed. It appears to me more reasonable and truthful, and certainly it raises the dignity of our race, to take such a view as preserves the continuity of the history, and to regard the successive periods as revolutions not destructive or overwhelming, but modifying ancient things by the introduction of new elements. The Britons underwent a Roman change, and then came, as we shall presently see, a Saxon change, and then a Norman change; and, from the successive influences of them all, there came forth a great —the greatest modern nation. The revolutions were not sudden, devastating, volcanic eruptions, leaving nothing but barren ashes and indurated lava, but rather may they be compared to a series of geological formations strewn in due and solid succession.

Before passing from the Roman period, I can do no more than advert to the early introduction of Christianity into Britain; and whether or no the gospel was first preached there by St. Paul or St. Peter, and whether or no the first Christian church was humbly and rudely built by Joseph of Arimathea, Druidical paganism passed quickly away. The remote and insular situation of the British Christians did not shelter them

from the perils which were the trials of faith in its early era. It was in the tenth and last of the great persecutions, when, according to a vivid poetic phrase,

"Diocletian's fiery sword

Worked busy as the lightning,"*

that Alban, the first of Britain's martyrs, gave up his earthly life. English chivalry has also exulted, that the first Christian king and the first Christian emperor were natives of Britain.

The great providential agency of Rome in the history of the world was now drawing to an end-the empire was near its death-the last of the legions was withdrawn from Britain, and the emperor bade the Britons provide for their own defence. They were left with Roman arts and arms and civilization; but the heart of the people was faint, and they were helpless in the simple necessity of self-defence. From their island home they piteously entreated once more for the protection of Roman supremacy, exclaiming "The barbarians drive us to the sea, and the sea drives us back to the barbarians."+ Help could not come from Rome, whose expiring strength was sinking before the hosts of the Goth, the Vandal, and the Hun. I need not stop to say how the Britons were saved from the Pictish and Scottish invasions only by the fierce alliance of the Saxons. The country was given over again to victorious invasion and the settlement of a race of Northern heathens. Nor need I dwell on the introduction of a new national element, which, though it

* "Diocletian's fiery sword," &c. Wordsworth's Sonnet on Persecution, p. 349.

† Milton's History of Britain, p. 125.