have been wrested from the Britons till A. D. 50; and, within eleven years from that period, when the colony was destroyed by Boadicea, it had become a spacious town, capable of containing many thousands of inhabitants, and adorned with temples, baths, theatres, statues, and other public works.

As early as the reign of Augustus, the British chiefs began to send their sons to the Roman capital for education; for one of the ancient historians has affirmed that Cunobelinus, the father of the celebrated Caractacus, was educated at the court of that monarch. Sensible of the advantages of education and the benefits of science, the people were no longer willing to submit to the tyranny of their priests; no longer were they content that knowledge should be monopolized by the Druids; but became solicitous to obtain for themselves and their children similar or yet greater advantages. Having once tasted of the pleasant fruits of knowledge, their appetite was sharpened, and they sought it with insatiable avidity.

But the era of Agricola is that from which British civilization must be chiefly dated. The wise and liberal policy adopted by that commander induced the Britons to conform their habits to those of their Roman conquerors. Urged by his advice, and stimulated by his example, they erected in every part of the island, houses, temples, forums, and market-places: they adorned their towns and cities with costly and magnificent edifices, many of which were intended for civil and religious uses; but others were merely ornamental. Soon after this period, the natives became so identified with the Roman colonists, that it cannot be determined with any degree of certainty, whether those curious and splendid remains which have been discovered in many parts of the island, are of Roman or British origin. Some of the public works were unquestionably executed by the Roman legions stationed in Britain; such as the military roads with which the whole island was intersected; the fortresses built by Agricola; the earthen rampart thrown up by Adrian; and the immense wall constructed by Severus. But other architectural remains were probably British; especially as it is known that, at a subsequent period, artificers from

Britain were employed in rebuilding and adorning the
Roman capital.

In the rudest and remotest part of British history, poetry was cultivated in no ordinary degree. A distinct order of men was continually employed in celebrating the praises of their gods, the valour of their ancestors, and the events of former generations. How far this poetical spirit survived the loss of their national liberty, we have no means of ascertaining; but it can scarcely be imagined, that so intimate a connexion could be maintained with Rome in the most splendid period of her literary as well as political administration, without making considerable progress in every department of learning and taste. As literature sprang up and flourished in Britain during the Roman domination, it languished and fell into decay as soon as its patrons were withdrawn. Long ages of monkish ignorance succeeded, during which the Britons seem almost to have reverted to their former state of barbarism; or if a portion of science remained, it was effectually concealed by the mummeries of superstition, and the desolations of unceasing warfare.

On the subject of the preceding essay, consult the works of Jul. Cæsar, Tacitus, Pliny, Diodor. Sicul. Gildas, Beda, Camden, and Horsley's Brit. Rom.

REFLECTIONS.

However venerable may be those remains of Ancient Britain which we now behold, on account of the long succession of ages during which they have defied the ravages of time; the devout mind cannot contemplate them without the most painful emotions; because they were the theatres of sanguinary and infernal rites, the temples of a gloomy and cruel superstition. Were we to visit the plains of Bethel, and discover the pillar which Jacob set up in commemoration of the divine goodness or, in passing along the banks of the Jordan, could we

discern traces of the altar which the tribes of Israel erected by divine command-it would be with unmingled feelings of veneration and delight; but from the stupendous masses that once formed parts of the druidical temples, who can forbear to turn away with shuddering sensations—when he reflects that they contained altars deeply stained with human blood, and that there superstition long held her sanguinary revels? Yet may this horror be softened by the grateful reflection, that long since this blood has ceased to flow, and that these structures rear their shapeless forms, in a land distinguished by religious knowledge and christian ordinances.

If a mere cursory spectator were to institute a comparison between the state of Britain before and after the Roman conquest, he would probably be induced to decide in favour of the latter. Apart from the benefits of Christianity, which are unquestionably sufficient to turn the scale, he would contend, that great moral and intellectual advantages resulted from the relation that subsisted between the natives of this island, and their more polished conquerors. "Was it nothing," he might probably ask, "that these semi-barbarians were civilized and refinedthat they were drawn from their woods and mountains to live together in settled habitations-that they were freed from the bondage of a gloomy superstition, and instructed in the tenets of philosophy and the refinements of science that from a state of lawless anarchy, they were habituated to social order and tranquil security?" But a more attentive observer would discover amidst all this boasted improvement, evils springing up, no less malignant than those, to which they were before enslaved. He would perceive, that they had only exchanged one species of crime for another of at least equal magnitude. If the vices usually attendant on poverty were succeeded by those which spring from opulence-if the delusions of ignorance but gave place to the perversions of knowledge; or if lawless violence were only exchanged for unprincipled exaction-what was really gained by the transfer? In a few centuries, the Britons were reduced, by the habits of luxury and voluptuousness which they had contracted, to a still more enfeebled condition, than that in

which they were placed before the benefits of civilization had been extended to them.

It is manifest from the preceding statement, that every temporal good has its attendant evil, against which a most vigilant guard should be maintained. Wealth is in itself good-but how often has it been abused to nourish luxury and engender voluptuousness? Civil liberty is a blessing -but how often has it been perverted into licentiousness? Peace is a gem of inestimable worth-but how frequently does it lead to self-indulgence and false security! Knowledge is greatly to be desired-but how often has it proved a fruitful source of pride, and an instrument of swift destruction! This conviction should not indeed lead us to spurn these blessings as unworthy of our reception; but it assuredly ought to excite in our minds an earnest desire, that they may be carefully improved, being "sanctified by the word of God and by prayer." It should render us solicitous that they may be accompanied with that "wisdom which cometh from above, and is pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and of good fruits."

Studies in History.

THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

PERIOD THE SECOND.

ENGLAND UNDER THE SAXONS AND DANES, INCLUDING 655 YEARS.

ESSAY I.

On the Arrival of the SAXONS, and their gradual Conquest of ENGLAND.

FROM A. D. 449 To A. D. 585.

THE Romans having been compelled to abandon their British provinces, in consequence of the calamities which desolated the interior of the empire, the Britons recovered their national independence. But so far were they from accounting this event a public blessing, that they deplored it as the heaviest misfortune. Accustomed to rely upon the protection of foreign legions, when that defence was withdrawn, they resigned themselves to effeminate despair. They suffered the northern tribes, then known by the name of Picts and Scots, to make annual irruptions into their territories, and carry off, almost without resistance, their flocks and herds, and the produce of their fields. Dispirited by these ceaseless depredations, the inhabitants of the frontier provinces deserted their homes, left their lands untilled, and fled to the mountains. Famine, with its attendant evils, quickly followed, and reduced the unhappy Britons to the most