Ancient British History.

Laud—Britain—Britannia . He founded London , which , previous to its present name , was called Oaer-Troia , and iu a temple ivhich he there built , called the Temple of Diana , lie placed the sacred stone ivhich was the pedestal of the Palladium of the mother city of Troy . Seated on this stone , the British kings were for centuries sworn , at the time of their coronation , to observe the laws and usages of Britain , and i t was the firm belief in old times thatjso

long as this stone remained , New Troy , or London , would continue to increase in wealth aud power , but with its disappearance the city would decrease and finally disappear ; and it is one of the most ancient traditions of Britain that New 'Troy , or London , was destined to sway the widest empire in the world . This stone may to this day be seen by passers by , imbedded in another stone , on the south side of St . Swithin ' s Church , iu Caimon-streefc , London .

_ Eor one thousand five hundred years this Trojan invasion , or immigration , was never disputed , or questioned , aiul it is not now my intention to enter into the refutation of those monkish perversions of our British history which have laboured , unhappily with success , to obscure and confound this ancl other events of uKe interest iu our early annals - . before I conclude I shall account fco you satisfactoril y , I hope , for these perversions , and iu the time will merel

mean y epiote two ov three authorities who arc of more weight ou such a question than all the monks and priests that ever existed . Lord Coke , the greatest authority in this or any other country upon practical jurisprudence , in the preface to the third volume ot Ins Reports , states as follows : — - " The ori ginal laws of this land were composed of such elements as Brutus first selected from the ancient

Greek or Trojan institutions . " And Lord Fortescne , a still greater authority , insomuch as he could have no possible object m thus instructing his royal Norman pupil , states , in his treatise on fche laws of England , " Concerning the different powers kings chum over their subjects , I am firmly of opinion that it arises solel y from the different nature ofthe ori ginal institutions . So the kingdom of Britain had its ori gin from Brutus anil the Trojans who attended him from Italy and from Greece , and were a mixed government compounded of the rcaal and democratic . "

The laws so introduced arc still extant , as reduced into writiii" * by a successor of Brutus , Dyfmral Mojlmtid ; and if time permitted ot my reading to you such of the triads as have survived the continuous efforts to uproot these foundations of our independence and liberties ,, you would then require no aid from chief . j ustices , or any one else , to perceive their authenticity and excellence , but ivould heartily concur ivith a distinguished writer of the "

present day , the Hev . R . W . Morgan , who , after quoting a few of these original laws , states as follows : — " These and other primitive laws of Britain not only rise far superior in manlv sense ancl high principle to the taws of ancient Greece and Home , but put to shame the enactments of nations calling themselves Christians at the present day . They contain the essence of law , reli gion , and chivalry . A nation ruling itself by their spirit could not lie otherwise than great , civilized , and free ; one of their strongest

recommendations being , that they are so lucid as to be intelligible to all degrees of men and minds . " Reluctantly passing over the multifarious incidents of the thousand years which preceded the invasion of the Romans , but which . shakspeare did not think it beneath his notice to illustrate in his plays ot " King Lear " and " Cymbclinc , " I ivill . select but one incident , namel y , the conquest of Pome itself by the two British lclmus and

kings , .- Brcmms , near five hundred years previous to the ' invasioni of Julius Cicsar . These two kings were brothers , and engaged iu civil war in Britain , and ou the spot where the battle of Hastings was in after ages fought , two armies commanded respectively by these two brothers were ranged in hostile array While waiting the signal for attack , Corwenna , the aged mother of the two sovereignsintervenedand reaching the tells

, , , as story , wuh trembling steps the tribune from ivhich Brcmms ivas haranguing his army , she threw her arms around his neck as he descended to receive her , and kissed him with transports of affection . She then adjured him , hy every appeal a mother could address to a son , to save her from the horrible spectacle of seem" - her children engaged in impious hostilities against God . the laws of naturetheir countryand themselvesPointing out the in

, , . - justice ot his cause , and the case with which far nobler conquests than that over a brother mi ght be achieved if two such armies instead ot destroying , would unite with each other , she entreated lum to be reconciled to his ri ghtful sovcrcieri . Moved hy these representations Brennus deposited his helmet and arms ' on the mbune , and bareheaded went with her , amidst the profound sdejjee of both armies , to his brother . Seeing hiro approach ,

Behnus dismounted from his chariot , threw down his lance , and meeting him half way , folded him in his embraces . 'The cheers of tlie two armies ou witnessing the scene rent the skies . In a few minutes all order ivas dissolved ; Briton and Liguriau were no longer to he distinguished ; the banners were bound together ; the seamen of the fleet informed of the event poured ou shore ; aud a day which threatened to be one of the most shameful and

disastrous in British annals , ended in a general jubilee of joy and festivities . Happy would it be for mankind if every mother of kings were a Corwenna—if every contending monarch listened to the remonstrances of nature and humanity ivith the like readiness as Belinus and Brennus .

The result of this union ivas , that they entered upon and accomplished the conquest of Europe . . Koine was at that time an independent metropolis , exercising considerable influence in the Italian peninsula ; and the battle of the Allia , fought at the continence of a small river of that name with the Tiber , near to the walls of Borne , was followed three days after by the capture of the city , with the . exception of the Capitol , which , after standing a

siege of six months , ivas ransomed by the payment to Brennus of one thousand pounds wei ght in gold . The battle of the Allia ivas fought ou the b ' th of June , four hundred and ninety years B . C ., and in the three hundred and sixtythird year of the city of Koine ; aud , although excluded from all notice iu the annals of British history as compiled by the monks , was by the Konnms themselves noted in their calendar as the ' * black day , " on which it was the custom through many centuries to abstain from business , and to appear iu public in mourning vestments .

That this conquest of Rome hy the Britons ivas not the mere raid and ravage of a barbarian force , hut , on the contrary , indicates a state of British power and civilization at least equal to that of the Romans , appears from the accounts ofthe Eoman writers themselves .

The force which embarked from Britain is supposed to have been at least three hundred thousand , composed partly of Britons , and partly of Ligurians , or Gauls ; and the progress through Europe and the fertile fields of Italy of this vast host , as described by the Roman historian , reminds us of the notable characteristic ofthe British army under the Duke of Wellington , in the Spanish Peninsular War . "His forces , " states Plutarch , "injured no man's

property ; they neither pillaged the fields nor insulted the towns . " Ancl the poet Virgil , noted for his archiuological accuracy , thus describes the uniform and arms ofthe British host : — "Their vest was a mass of gold lace—iiurea veslis ; they wore the gold torque round their necks , a sword by the side ; two javelins with heavy steel heads were their principal missiles ; and strong shields , borne ou their shoulders during a march , covered their whole bodies ia action . "

The torque alluded to by Virgil is a martial distinction quite peculiar , I believe , to the ancient Britons ; and if any of my hearers would like to sec a modern specimen of this ancient order of valour , as also a human specimen of such men as wc may imagine the conquerors of Rome to have been , let him , the next time he is in the vicinity of the Regent ' s Park , in London , seek out the lodge-keeper , ' John Shields .

At the Llangollen Eisteddfod in . 1 . 358 , a splendid golden torque was awarded to Shields , as being the bravest ofthe brave amongst the heroes ofthe Crimea ; and he was selected hy the Duke of Cambridge , as commander-in-chief , to receive in this character this form of Victoria Cross from his countrymen . . 1 . have given you the Roman description ofthe vestments ofthe ancient Britons , also of their respect in the midst of war to private

ri ghts ; and I shall dismiss the liistory of the Britons anterior to the Roman invasion by a description of their character as soldiers , in the words of Plutarch , the great Greek historian ancl biographer . Comparing them with the Ligurians , or inhabitants of Gaul , who formed a part ofthe invading force , he says : — "The greater and more warlike Cimbri live iu the Northern Ocean , in the very ends of the earth . They arc called Cimbri , not from their

manners : it is the name of their race . As to their courage , spirit , force , and vivacity , wc can only compare them to a devouring flame . All that came before them were trodden clown or driven onward like herds of cattle . "

Amongst other nationalities with which they came into contact , was the Greek kingdom of Macedonia . Antigoims was then king of Macedonia ; and an anecdote recorded by the Eoman writer , Justin , is remarkable as indicating their own sense of superiority to this Macedonian power , which fills so large a space in classic history . "AVhat are these Greeks ? inquired the Britons of their ambassadors ; " to which the ambassadors replied— "These Greeks are remarkable for two things they call positions , which have