A wondrous pyle of rugged mounierie • AL Placed on eche other in a drear* a*iar. It ne could be the worke of hum It ne was reared up bie menu omillar To the false god whom they d Dightynge hys altarre wit: gree Roastynge theyr vyctualie rou 'Twas here that Hengyst de. La como me As they were mette in court. STONEHENGE; OR, THE ROMANS IN BRITAIN. CHAPTER I. A wondrous pyle of rugged mountaynes standes, It ne could be the worke of human handes, It ne was reared up bie menne of claie. To the false god whom they did Tauran name, CHATTERTON'S BATTLE OF HASTINGS. THE period at which the following tale commences, wants some twenty years of eighteen centuries ago. The south of Britain was, at this time, in a state of impatient subjection to the Romans; a formidable rebellion headed by the brave Boadicea, by which the island had * Dressing. been almost wrested from her conquerors, having been recently crushed by the intrepidity of the Roman general Suetonius Paulinus. The native spirit of liberty was, however, rather checked than extinguished by this dire blow, and began to revive under the encouragement which it received from the dissensions existing between the general and the procurator of the province. These dissensions at last prevailed to such a degree, that Nero dispatched his freedman, Polycletus, to take cognizance of the matter; expecting that the pomp and ostentatious equipage of this court favourite would not only overawe the Roman disputants, but also strike terror into the indomitable islanders. In this expectation, the emperor was disappointed, for the measure produced a precisely contrary effect. The freeborn Britons cared not to conceal their contempt for the manumitted slave; and the terror which the victorious arms of Suetonius had inspired, was much diminished, when they beheld him submit to the haughty dictation of Polycletus. Nor were the manners of Suetonius calculated to conciliate, or sooth the wounded feelings of the half-conquered in Taciti Annales, lib. xiv. s. 39. |