down southwards. Those who came into Europe, and from whom we descend, pushed the old inhabitants westwards.

23. It appears that the first of the Aryans who came into Europe were a tribe or race called Celts; they certainly came farther west than any of the others. They The Celts. settled themselves in parts of Italy, parts of Spain, in France, in England, Ireland, and Scotland. These were the people whom the Romans found in Britannia, and who are called the Britons; and we know that they were an Aryan race by their language. There are plenty of people living still who speak the same language (though the English do not), viz., the Welsh, the Irish, the Highland Scotch, and some others.

24. These Celts found in Spain, France, and Britain other people already settled, who were most likely the bronze or the neolithic people. No doubt they killed most of them, but some are believed to be living in Europe still, in the Basque provinces, in the north-west corner of Spain; and their language, which is not an Aryan language at all, is most likely the same old language which the makers of the bronze implements spoke.

25. It must now be explained why it is supposed that some of us English are partly descended from these old races. It is because there are two types or kinds of people in England, as well as in other parts of Europe, who are very different indeed from one another in appearance. One tall, large, fair-com

The two races.

plexioned, with light or red hair, and blue or grey eyes; the other short, dark-complexioned, with dark hair, and dark eyes. They are so unlike each other, that if we were not quite accustomed to them we should almost be obliged to think they belonged to different nations. Of course now we have all sorts of connecting links: some dark people are tall; some fair people are short; but if we went along the eastern coast of England, and noticed the people born and bred there, we should find nearly all of them tall, fair, and blue-eyed; while in South Wales we should find nearly all short, wiry, and dark. The Romans found just the same when they came to England. Tacitus says some had large limbs and red hair; some had tawny complexions and dark, frizzly hair. Those who have studied the subject say that the Aryan people-the Celts-were the tall, fair ones; and the bronze or neolithic people, whose land they took, were the short, dark ones. The neolithic men, it will be remembered, were only about five feet five inches high, as is shown by their skeletons; their sword-handles, too, are small. And the Basque people are mostly dark and small.

26. Evidently in Britain the Celts so thoroughly conquered the old inhabitants, that though they did not destroy them all, they quite put an end to their old speech, and when the Romans came they found no language spoken except different varieties of Celtic. But we have not even yet arrived at the people whom we must call our real, true forefathers. They were far away from Britain all this time.

LECTURE IV.-THE ROMANS IN BRITAIN.

Julius Caesar in Gaul. Invasion of Britain. Agricola. Progress of civilization. Introduction of Christianity.

1. BEFORE the time when Julius Cæsar came we have no written history of Britain. But, a very long time after he went away, people began to make up a history of the Britons. That, we feel sure, could not be a true one, because the writers had no means of knowing what had happened, or the names and exploits of kings who had lived and died (if they ever lived at all) hundreds of years before. There may, indeed, have been traditions; that is, things told by word of mouth from one to another, from father to son; but if we consider how stories get changed in repeating, even in the course of a day or two, we shall see that we cannot put any faith in those old tales. I mention them, partly, because King Lear and his daughters are said to have lived in the times they describe; and their story is very interesting, though almost certainly it is not true as history.

Вс 55. The Roman invasion.

2. But we will now see what Julius Cæsar himself tells us about his first coming to Britain. "Though but a small part of the summer now remained, for in those regions, Gaul, stretching very much to the north, the winters begin early, Cæsar nevertheless resolved to pass over into Britain, having certain intelligence that in all his wars with the Gauls the enemies of the commonwealth had ever received assistance from thence. He indeed foresaw that the season of the year would not permit him to finish the war; yet he thought it would be of no small advantage if he should but take a view of the island, learn the nature of the inhabitants, and acquaint himself with the coasts, harbours, and landing-places, to all which the Gauls were perfect strangers; for almost none but merchants resort to that island, nor have even they any knowledge of the country, except the sea-coast, and the parts opposite to Gaul. Having, therefore, called together the merchants from all parts, they could neither inform him of the largeness of the island, nor what or how powerful the nations were that inhabited it, nor of their

customs, arts of war, or the harbours fit to receive large ships. For these reasons, before he embarked himself, he thought proper to send C. Volusenus with a galley to get some knowledge of these things, commanding him as soon as he had informed himself in what he wanted to know to return with all expedition."

3. When Volusenus returned, giving what information he could (which was not much, for he had been afraid to leave his ship, or trust himself in the hands of the barbarians), Cæsar made all preparations for the crossing. "He weighed anchor about one in the morning, and about ten o'clock reached the coast of Britain, where he saw all the cliffs" (the tall, white cliffs of Dover) "covered with the enemy's forces. The nature of the place was such that, the sea being bounded by steep mountains, the enemy might easily launch their javelins on us from above. Not thinking this, therefore, a convenient landing-place," he sailed about eight miles farther, "stopping over against a plain and open shore. But the barbarians, perceiving our design, sent their cavalry and chariots before, which they frequently make use of in battle, and following with the rest of their forces, endeavoured to oppose our landing; and indeed we found the difficulty very great on many accounts, for our ships, being large, required a great depth of water; and the soldiers, who were wholly unacquainted with the places, and had their hands embarrassed, and laden with a weight of armour, were at the same time to leap from the ships, stand breast-high amidst the waves, and encounter the enemy; while they, fighting on dry ground, or advancing only a little way into the water, having the free use of all their limbs, and in places which they perfectly knew, could boldly cast their darts and spur on their horses, well inured to that kind of service. All these circumstances served to spread a terror among our men."

4. The soldiers seeming to hang back, and "demurring to leap into the sea, the standard-bearer of the tenth legion, having first invoked the gods for success, cried out aloud, 'Follow me, fellowsoldiers, unless you will betray the Roman eagle into the hands of the enemy; for my part, I am resolved to discharge my duty to Cæsar and the commonwealth.' On this he jumped into the sea, and advanced with the eagle against the enemy; whereat, our men exhorting one another to prevent so signal a disgrace, all that were in the ship followed him; which being perceived by those in the nearest vessels, they also did the like, and boldly approached the enemy."

5. Thus the Romans first set foot on British ground, from

which they did not finally go away for nearly 500 years, though they had many a hard fight before they could Difficulties. establish themselves there. We must not linger over all Cæsar has to say about the war in Britain, but only notice two interesting things. One is, that he had the greatest trouble with his ships, for the storms of these northern seas broke so many of them to pieces; and the Roman sailors were greatly puzzled by the tides, for they were most accustomed to the Mediterranean Sea, where there are no very observable tides. Cæsar says, "That very night it happened to be full moon, when the tides on the sea-coast always rise highest-a thing at that time wholly unknown to the Romans." The other interesting matter is about the war-chariots, which were quite new to the Roman soldiers, and terrified them very much. "Their way of fighting with their chariots is this: first they drive their chariots on all sides, and throw their darts; insomuch that by the very terror of the horses and noise of the wheels they often break the ranks of the enemy. When they have forced their way into the midst of the cavalry they quit their chariots, and fight on foot; meantime the drivers retire a little from the combat, and place themselves in such a manner as to favour the retreat of their countrymen, should they be overpowered by the enemy. Thus in action they perform the part both of nimble horsemen and stable infantry; and by continual exercise and use have arrived at that expertness, that in the most steep and difficult places they can stop their horses on a full stretch, turn them which way they please, run along the pole, rest on the harness, and throw themselves back into their chariots with incredible dexterity." It is often said that these chariots had sharp cutting scythes fixed on to the wheels and other parts, but it does not seem quite certain that this is true, as Cæsar tells us nothing about them, which he would most likely have done when he was describing them so carefully.

resistance.

6. With all his courage and skill, Julius Cæsar could not make much way; he got once as far as St. Alban's, but he never really conquered Britain. It was about 100 years British after his first coming that the Romans sent another great army, which really did subdue a good part of the island. One of the most celebrated British chiefs was a man named Caradoc, which the Romans lengthened out into Caractacus. He led his men very gallantly against the Romans, but at last was taken prisoner, and sent with all his family to Rome. In this calamity he behaved with such calmness and dignity