The French Wars of William III. and of Anne The Old Pretender, and the Rebellion of 1715 The Young Pretender, and the Rebellion of '45 The American War of Independence The French Revolution. Part I. The French Revolution. Part II.. HISTORY OF ENGLAND. THE ANCIENT BRITONS. THE Britain of 2000 years ago was very unlike the Britain of to-day. Where now there are large towns from whose busy streets there rises a ceaseless hum from dawn till darkness, there were then primeval forests rarely disturbed by human voice or footfall, where the deer and the hare revelled in a freedom that was not often interfered with, and the wolf and wild boar roamed at will. Then, as now, the ocean washed the shore as it has done for ages; but where to-day great vessels come and go, bearing the produce of all lands, anything larger than a rude boat was then seldom seen upon the waters. Yet, though in some parts of the island nature reigned almost alone, other portions were pretty thickly peopled. The original inhabitants were Celts, a race which had also established itself in Gaul or France. Even now the names of our hills, forests, and rivers are mostly Celtic. Centuries before the birth of Christ the Phoenicians of Tyre and Sidon traded hither for tin, still the chief mineral production of Cornwall. Later, they probably had lead and copper as well; and so anxious were they to keep the secret, that a Phoenician captain once ran his vessel on the rocks in order to mislead some Roman sailors who were following him. We should hardly know anything of that old-world Britain, but for the great Roman general, Julius Cæsar, who, after his victorious legions had overrun Gaul, resolved to invade the opposite country, separated only by narrow straits. It is from his pen that we gain our clearest knowledge of the ancient Britons. Far in advance of the people of the interior were the Belga, who lived on the south-east coast, for they wore manufactured clothes, and cultivated corn abundantly. The other tribes had no notion of such an occupation, but wandered to and fro, dressed in skins, and living on milk and flesh. They marked the boundaries of their pasture-lands by upright stones, some of which are still standing. The Britons coloured their bodies with a blue dye made from woad. They were a tall race, with large, muscular limbs, letting their hair grow long, while shaving off all their beard except on the upper lip. They were divided into a number of tribes; and polygamy in its worst form prevailed among them. Besides plenty of horses, which were often used in battle to draw their war-chariots, the Britons had strong, fierce dogs, famous for their skill in the chase, and they had also a great many cattle. The native huts seem to have had neither chimneys nor windows. They were sometimes built of wood and straw, and sometimes of stones piled one upon another without mortar. A British town was only a clearing in the forest, surrounded by felled trees, and, perhaps, by a ditch or a bank; and within this enclosure the houses were built. The dwellings on the coast were better than those I have described, and were furnished with wooden seats, and with bowls and plates; some of the latter articles were of rough pottery. It is true that the floor served for a bed, and a mantle for a coverlet; but the owners could easily keep themselves warm, as they had plenty of wood for fuel, and though they did not understand working a coal mine to any depth, they gathered up a great deal of what lay near the surface. The fires were probably lighted on the floors. Their arms hung on the walls, and consisted of stone hatchets or battle-axes, flint-headed arrows, bone lances, bronze daggers, etc. They also used shields; and a golden breastplate supposed to belong to this period has been found, as well as necklaces and collars of gold and silver. Such articles, however, were never possessed by those who lived in the inland parts of the country. The priests were called Druids. They presided over everything connected with religion. Human sacrifices, it is believed, were sometimes offered up by them to appease the anger of their gods. They were the source of all learning-poetry, music, or whatever it might be; for they were the only schoolmasters. Their pupils were taught to commit to memory what they learned, as the Druids thought it unlawful to explain their doctrines in writing, and would not teach this art. They did not serve in war, and they paid no taxes. They alone held the office of judges, and if any man refused to abide by their decision, he was treated as an outcast, and his neighbours would have nothing to do with him. The Druids believed that after death the soul passed at once into another body. They had the old reverence for rivers, streams, and wells; and to this day you may hear of Holy Wells, which very ignorant people imagine to have healing virtues. Thinking that God loved the oak-tree, groves of oak were used as places of worship by the Druids. Most sacred of all was the mistletoe, which, you know, is a parasitic plant, growing and feeding on another. They called it all-heal; and when any was found, a religious ceremony took place. A feast was prepared beneath the favoured tree, and two white bulls, bound ready for sacrifice, were led forth; while a whiterobed priest climbed up and carefully cut off the precious plant. Our Christmas associations with the mistletoe are, doubtless, a relic of Druidism. The same may probably be said of the custom still kept up in some places in England, of making bonfires on Midsummer Eve; for that was one of the holy days of the Druids, when they not only kindled special fires, but when all those in dwelling-houses were, it is said, put out, and the next day lighted again from the sacred flames, which were always burning. Although so many centuries have passed away, there are still traces in Great Britain of that old time. Circles of upright stone pillars standing at a little distance from each other, are still to be found, which were either places of worship or of burial. There are also huge mounds of earth called barrows, and there are cairns or heaps of loose stones, both of which are supposed to be graves. Then there are cromlechs, which consist of one enormous flat stone resting on perpendicular ones. Cromlechs, and many other Druidical remains, are to be seen in Cornwall. The most famous of all is Stonehenge in Wiltshire. Much is now displaced and altered, but as originally built, there seems to have been, first a bank, then a ditch, then a circle of upright stones fourteen feet high, each couple supporting a third laid across, so that an unbroken ring was formed at the top. Within, was a circle of smaller stones standing up, without any others resting on them. Inside this again were scattered groups of three, like those making the outer ring, only higher and larger; and before each group stood smaller pillars. In the middle was one large, flat stone. rows in abundance are near. Stonehenge appears to have been either a temple or a burial place; perhaps both. The history of Britain before the Roman invasion is thus written as it were in stone; but it cannot be always read with certainty. Bar QUESTIONS.-Who were the first visitors to Britain? What famous Roman general invaded the island? What does he tell us about the people? Describe a British hut and its contents. Who were the Druids? Give some account of Druidism. What Druidical remains are still found in the island? |