The history of England, from the earliest times to the death of George II

Front matter

THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND, FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE DEATH OF GEORGE THE SECOND, By OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M.B. THE ELEVENTH EDITION, CORRECTED ; WITH A CONTINUATION TO THE TREATY CONCLUDED AT PARIS, IN THE YEAR 1S15; By CHARLES COOTE, LL.D. IN FOUR VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: PRINTED FOR F. C. AND J. RIVINGTON ; T. OTRIDGE ; J. NUNN j SCATCHERD AND LETTERMAN ; J. AND A. ARCH ; J. RICHARDSON ; J.M.RICHARDSON; J. CUTHELL ; LONGMAN, HURST, REErf, ORME, AND BROWN ; CADELL AND DAVIES ; J. BOOKER ; BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY ; G. AMD W. B. WHITTAKER ; W. BUTTON AND SON; J. BLACK AND SON; J. ASPERNE ; K. FENNER ; RODWELL AND MARTIN; R. SAUNDER8 ; EDWARDS AND KNIBB ; ANDB. REYNOLDS. 1819. Printed by S. Hamilton, Whitefriars. THE CONTINUATOR'S

Preface

. THE name of Goldsmith is familiar to every class of readers. His poems and other works have passed through many editions, and are yet in a state of requisition. He was a better poet than historian : but his efforts in the latter capacity have been honored with praise ; and the work, of which a continuation is now given, is sufficiently popular to claim a renewal of publication. It is, perhaps, too concise ; but it is to be considered, that a great number of readers are content with an abridge ment of more voluminous histories, and that many of those who have read larger works upon the same subject are occasionally in clined to have recourse to a compendium. The Continuation embraces a very remark able period ; and the events and transactions, worthy of record, are so numerous, that it is difficult to bring into a small compass the vast fund which offers itself to an historic writer. CONTINU ATOIt's

PREFACE.

. IV Omissions and errors will, therefore, be more readily excused by the candid reader. The author has endeavoured to unite propriety of remark, purity and force of language, with au thenticity and correctness of statement; but he cannot boast of complete success. Every one is not a Livy or a Tacitus, a Davila or a Guicciardini, a Hume or a Gibbon.

Chapter I

Ofthe Britons before the arrival of the Romans. It is fortunate for mankind, that those periods of his tory which are the least serviceable, are the least known. It has been the study of many learned men to rescue from obscurity, and throw light upon, those early ages when the Britons were wholly barbarous, and their country uncultivated. But these researches have generally terminated in conjecture ; so that whence Britain was at first peopled, or took its name, is still uncertain. The variety of opinions upon this head serve to prove the futility of all. It will, therefore, be sufficient to observe, that this beautiful island, by some thought the largest in the world, was called Britannia by the Romans long before the time of Cæsar. It is supposed that this name was originally given to it by the merchants who resorted hi ther from the continent.

These called the inhabitants by one common name of Briths, from the custom among the natives of painting their naked bodies and small shields with an azure blue, which in the language of VOL. I. B the country was called brith, and which served to distinguish them from those strangers who came among them for the purpose of trade or alliance. The Britons were very little known to the rest of the world before the time of the Romans. The coasts oppo site Gaul, indeed, were frequented by merchants who traded thither for such commodities as the natives were able to produce. These, it is thought, after a time, possessed themselves of all the maritime places where they had at first been permitted to reside. There, finding the country fertile, and commodiously situated for trade, they settled upon the sea-side, and introduced the practice of agriculture.

But it was very different with the inland inhabitants of the country, who consi dered themselves as the lawful possessors of the soil. These avoided all correspondence with the new-comers, whom they considered as intruders upon their property. The inland inhabitants are represented as extremely numerous, living in cottages thatched with straw, and feeding large herds of cattle. Their houses were scat tered all over the country, without observance of order or distance, being placed at smaller or greater intervals, as they were invited by the fertility of the soil, or the convenience of wood and water. They lived mostly upon milk, or flesh procured by the chase. What clothes they wore to cover any part of their bodies were usually the skins of beasts; but much of the body (as the arms, legs, and thighs) was left naked, and those parts were usually painted blue.

Their hair, which was long, flowed down upon their backs and shoulders, while their beards were kept close shaven, except upon the upper lip, where it was suffered to grow. The dress of savage nations is every where pretty much the same, being calculated rather to inspire terror than to excite love or respect. OF THE BRITONS. 3 The commodities exported from Britain were chiefly hides and tin. This metal was then thought peculiar to the island, and was in much request abroad, both in nearer and remoter regions. Some silver mines were also known, but not in common use, as the inhabitants had little knowledge how to dig, refine, or improve them. Pearls also were frequently found on their shores, but neither clear nor coloured like the oriental, and therefore in no great esteem among strangers.

They had little iron ; and what they had, was used either for arms, or for rings, a sort of money current among them. They had brass money also ; but this was all brought from abroad. Their language, customs, religion, and government, were generally the same with those of the Gauls, their neighbours of the continent. As to their government, it consisted of several small principalities, each under its respective leader ; and this seems to be the earliest mode of dominion with which mankind is acquainted, and deduced from the natural privileges of paternal au thority. Whether these small principalities descended by succession, or the princes were elected in consequence of the advantages of age, wisdom, or valour in their families, is not recorded. Upon great or uncom mon dangers a commander in chief was chosen by com mon consent, in a general assembly ; and to him was committed the conduct of the general interest, the power of making peace, or leading to war.

In the choice of a person to such power, it is easy to suppose that unanimity could not always be found ; whence it often happened, that the separate tribes were defeated one after the other, before they could unite under a single leader for their mutual safety. Their forces consisted chiefly of foot, and yet they could bring a considerable number of horse into the 1)2 field upon great occasions. They likewise used chariots in battle, which, with short scythes fastened to the ends of the axle-trees, inflicted desperate wounds, spreading terror and devastation wheresoever they drove. Nor, while the chariots were thus destroying, were the war riors who conducted them unemployed. These darted their javelins against the enemy, ran along the beam, leaped on the ground, resumed their seat, stopped or turned their horses at full speed, and sometimes cun ningly retreated to draw the enemy into confusion.

No thing can be more terrible than the idea of a charioteer thus driving furiously in the midst of dangers ; but these machines seem to have been more dreadful than dan gerous ; for they were quickly laid aside when this brave people was instructed in the more regular arts of war. The religion of the Britons was one of the most con siderable parts of their government; and the Druids, who were the guardians of it, possessed great authority among them. These endeavoured to impress the minds of the people with an opinion of their skill in the arts of divination ; they offered sacrifices in public and private, and pretended to explain the immediate will of Heaven. No species of superstition was ever more horrible than theirs. Besides the severe penalties which they were permitted to inflict in this world, they inculcated the eternal transmigration of souls, and thus extended their authority as far as the fears of their votaries.

They sacrificed human victims, which they burned in large wicker idols, made so capacious as to contain a multitude of persons at once, who were thus consumed to gether. The female Druids plunged their knives into the breasts of the prisoners taken in war, arid prophe sied from the manner in which the blood happened to stream from the wound. Their altars consisted of four broad stones, three set e.dge-wise, and the fourth at top, OF THE BRITONS. 5 many of which remain to this day. To these rites, tend ing to impress ignorance with awe, they added the au sterity of their manners, and the simplicity of their lives. They lived in woods, caves, and hollow trees ; their food was acorns and berries, and their drink water : by these arts they were not only respected, but almost adored by the people.

They were admired not only for knowing more than other men, but for despising what all others valued and pursued. Hence they were patiently permitted to punish and correct crimes from which they themselves were supposed to be wholly free ; and their authority was so great, that not only the pro perty but also the lives ofthe people were entirely at their disposal. No laws were instituted by the princes, or common assemblies, without their advice and approbation ; no person was punished by bonds or death, with out their passing sentence ; no plunder taken in war was used by the captor, until the Druids determined what part they should seclude for themselves. It may be easily supposed that the manners of the people took a tincture from the discipline of their teach ers. Their lives were simple, but they were marked with cruelty and fierceness ; their courage was great, but neither dignified by mercy nor by perseverance.

In short, to have a just idea of what the Britons then were, we have only to turn to the savage nations which still subsist in primæval rudeness. Temperate rather from necessity than choice ; patient of fatigue, yet inconstant in attachment ; bold, improvident, and rapacious :— such is the picture of savage life at present, and such it appears to have been from the beginning. Little entertainment, therefore, can be expected from the accounts of a nation thus circumstanced ; nor can its transactions come properly under the notice of an historian, since they are too minutely divided to be exhibited at one view ; the actors are too barbarous to interest the rea der ; and no skill can be shown in developing the mo tives and counsels of a people chiefly actuated by sud den and tumultuary gusts of passion. — , f

Chapter II

From the Descent of Julius Cæsar to the relinquishing of the Island by the Romans. The Britons, in the rude and barbarous state in which we have just described them, seemed to stand in need of more polished instructors ; and indeed whatever evils may attend the conquest of heroes, their success has generally produced one good effect, in disseminating the arts of refinement and humanity. It ever happens, when a barbarous nation is conquered by another more advanced in the arts of peace, that it gains in elegance a recompense for what it loses in liberty. The Britons had long remained in this rude but independent state, when Cæsar, having over-run Gaul with his victories, and willing still farther to extend his fame, determined upon the conquest of a country that seemed to promise an easy triumph.

He was allured neither by the riches nor by the renown of the inhabitants ; but, being ambi tious rather of splendid than of useful conquests, he was willing to carry the Roman arms into a country, the re mote situation of which would add seeming difficulty to the enterprise, and consequently produce an increase of reputation. His pretence was, to punish these islanders for having sent succours to the Gauls while he waged war against that nation, as well as for granting an asylum to such of the enemy as had sought protection from his resentment. The natives, informed of his intention, were sensible of the unequal contest, and endeavoured to appease him by submission. He received their am bassadors with great complacency, and having exhorted them to continue stedfast in the same sentiments, in the mean time made preparations for the execution of his design.

When the troops destined for the_ expedition were embarked, he set sail for Britain about midnight, and the next morning arrived on the coast near Dover, where he saw the rocks and cliffs covered with armed men to oppose his landing. Finding it impracticable to gain the shore ante where he first intended, from the agitation of ch. 55. the sea and the impending mountains, he resolved to choose a landing-place of greater security. The place he chose was about eight miles farther on, (some sup pose at Deal), where an inclining shore and a level coun try invited his attempts. The poor, naked, ill-armed Britons, we may well suppose, were but an unequal match for the disciplined Romans, who had before con quered Gaul, and afterwards became the conquerors of the world. However, they made a brave opposition against the veteran army ; the conflicts between them were fierce, the losses mutual, and the success various.

The Britons had chosen Cassibelaunus for their com mander in chief; but the petty princes under his com mand, either desiring his station, or suspecting his fide lity, threw off their allegiance. Some of them fled with their forces into the internal parts of the kingdom ; others submitted to Cæsar : till at length Cassibelaunus himself, weakened by so many desertions, resolved upon making what terms he was able, while he yet had power to keep the field. The conditions offered by Cæsar, and accepted by him, were, that he should send to the continent double the number of hostages at first de manded, and that he should acknowledge subjection to the Romans. The Romans were pleased with the name of this new and remote conquest, and the senate decreed a suppli cation of twenty days in consequence of their general's success.

Having, therefore, in this manner rather discovered than subdued the southern parts of the island, Cæsar returned into Gaul with his forces, and left the Britons to enjoy their customs, religion, and laws. But the inhabitants, thus relieved from the terror of his arms, neglected the performance of their stipulations ; and only two of their states sent over hostages according to the treaty. Cæsar, it is likely, was not much displeased at the omission, as it furnished him with a pretext of visit ing the island once more, and completing a conquest which he had only begun. Accordingly, the ensuing spring he set sail for Bri tain with eight hundred ships ; and, arriving at the place of his former descent, he landed without opposition. The islanders, being apprised of his invasion, had as sembled an army, and marched down to the sea-side to oppose him ; but, seeing the number of his forces, and the whole sea, as it were, covered with his shipping, they were struck with consternation, and retired to their places of security.

The Romans, however, pursued them to their retreats, until at last common danger in duced these poor barbarians to forget their former dissensions, and to unite their whole strength for the mutual defence of their liberty and possessions. Cas sibelaunus was chosen to conduct the common cause ; and for some time he harassed the Romans in their march, and revived the desponding hopes of his coun trymen. But no opposition that undisciplined strength could make was able to repress the vigour and intrepidity of Cæsar. He discomfited the Britons in every action ; he advanced into the country, passed the Thames in the face of the enemy, took and burned the capital city of Cassibelaunus, established his ally Man dubratius as sovereign ofthe Trinobantes ; and, having obliged the inhabitants to make new submissions, he again returned with his army into Gaul, having made himself rather the nominal than the real possessor of the island.

Whatever the stipulated tribute might have been, it is more than probable, as there was no authority left to exact it, that it was but indifferently paid. LTpon the accession of Augustus, that emperor had formed a de sign of visiting Britain, but was diverted from it by an unexpected revolt of the Pannonians. Some years after he resumed his design ; but, being met in his way by the British ambassadors, who promised the accustomed tribute, and made the usual submissions, he desisted from his intention. The year following, finding them remiss in their supplies, and untrue to their former professions, he once more prepared for the invasion of the country ; but a well-timed ambassy again averted his indignation, and the submissions he received seemed to satisfy his resentment : upon his death-bed he appeared sensible of the overgrown extent of the Roman empire, and re commended it to his successors never to enlarge their territories.

Tiberius followed the maxims of Augustus, and, wisely judging the empire already too extensive, made no attempt upon Britain. Some Roman soldiers having been wrecked on the British coast, the inhabitants not only assisted them with the greatest humanity, but sent them in safety back to their general. In consequence of these friendly dispositions, a constant intercourse of good offices subsisted between the two nations ; the principal British nobility resorted to Rome, and many received their education there. From that time the Britons began to improve in all the arts which contribute to the advancement of human nature. The first art which a savage people is gene rally taught by politer neighbours, is that of war. The Britons thenceforward, though not wholly addicted to the Roman method of fighting, nevertheless adopted se veral of their improvements, as well in their arms as in their arrangement in the field.

Their ferocity to strangers, for which they had been always remarkable, was mitigated ; and they began to permit an intercourse of commerce, even in the internal parts of the country. They still, however, continued to live as herdsmen and hunters ; a manifest proof that the country was yet but thinly inhabited. A nation of hunters can never be populous, as their subsistence is necessarily diffused over a large tract of country, while the husbandman converts every part of nature to human use, and flourishes most by the vicinity of those whom he is to support. The wild extravagances of Caligula, by which he threatened Britain with an invasion, served rather to expose him to ridicule, than the island to danger. The Britons, therefore, for almost a century, enjoyed their liberty unmolested, till at length the Romans, in the reign of Claudius, began to think seriously of reducing them under their dominion.

The expedition for this purpose was conducted in the beginning by Plautius and other commanders, with that success which usually attended the Roman arms. a. d. Claudius himself, finding affairs sufficiently 43. prepared for his reception, made a journey thi ther, and received the submission of such states as living by commerce, were willing to purchase tranquillity at the expense of freedom. It is true, that many of the inland provinces preferred their native simplicity to im ported elegance, and, rather than bow their necks to th£ Roman yoke, offered their bosoms to the sword. But the southern coast, with all the adjacent inland country, was seized by the conquerors, who secured the posses sion by fortifying camps, building fortresses, and plant ing colonies. The other parts of the country either thought themselves in no danger, or continued patient spectators of the approaching devastation.

Caractacus was the first who seemed willing, by a vigorous effort, to rescue his country, and repel its insult ing and rapacious conquerors. The venality and cor ruption of the Roman prætors and officers, who were appointed to levy the contributions in Britain, served to excite the indignation of the natives, and give spirit to his attempts. This rude soldier, though with inferior forces, continued, for about the space of nine years, to oppose and harass the Romans ; so that at length Osto rius Scapula was sent over to command their armies. He was more successful than his predecessors. He ad vanced the Roman conquests over Britain, pierced the country ofthe Silures, a warlike nation along the a. d. banks of the Severn, and at length came up with 5 1 . Caractacus, who had taken possession of a very advan tageous post upon an inaccessible mountain, washed by a deep and rapid stream.

The unfortunate British general, when he saw the enemy approaching, drew up his army, composed of different tribes, and, going from rank to rank, exhorted them to strike the last blow for liberty, safety, and life. To these exhortations his sol diers replied with shouts of determined valour. But what could undisciplined bravery avail against the attack of an army skilled in all the arts of war, and inspired by a long train of conquests ? The Britons were, after an obstinate resistance, totally routed ; and a few days after Caractacus himself was delivered up to the conquerors by Cartismandua, queen of the Brigantes, with whom he had taken refuge. The capture of this general was received with such joy at Rome, that Claudius commanded that he should be brought from Britain, in order to be exhibited as a spectacle to the Roman people.

Accordingly, on the day appointed for that purpose, the emperor, ascending his throne, ordered the captives, and Caractacus among the number, to be brought into his presence. The vassals of the British king, with the spoils taken in war, were first brought forward ; these were followed by his family, who, with abject lamentations, were seen to implore for mercy. Last of all came Caractacus, with an undaunted air and a dignified aspect. He appeared no way dejected at the amazing concourse of spectators that were gathered upon this occasion, but, casting his eyes on the splendours that surrounded him, " Alas !?' cried he, " how is it possible that a people possessed of such magnificence at home, could envy me an humble cottage in Britain?" When brought into the emperor's presence, he is said to have addressed him in the following manner : " Had my moderation been equal to my birth and fortune, I had arrived in this city not as a captive but as a friend.

But my present misfortunes redound as much to your honour as to my disgrace ; and the obstinacy of my opposition serves to increase the splendour of your victory. Had I surrendered myself in the beginning of the contest, neither my disgrace nor your glory would have attracted the attention of the world, and my fate would have been buried in general oblivion. I am now at your mercy ; but, if my life be spared, I shall remain an eternal monument of your clemency and moderation." The emperor was affected with the British hero's misfortunes, and won by his address. He ordered him to be unchained upon the spot, with the rest ofthe captives ; and the first use they made of their liberty was to go and prostrate themselves before the empress Agr;ppina, who, as some suppose, had been an inter cessor so: their freedom.

Notwithstanding these misfortunes, the Britons were not subdued, and this island was regarded by the am bitious Romans as a field in which military honour might still be acquired. The Britons made one expir ing effort to recover their liberty in the time of Nero, taking advantage of the absence of Paulinus, the a. d. Roman general, who was employed in subduing 60. the Isle of Anglesey. That small island, separated from Britain by a narrow channel, still continued the chief seat of the Druidical superstition, and constantly afford ed a retreat to their defeated forces. It was thought necessary therefore to subdue that place, in order to ex tirpate a religion that disdained submission to foreign laws or leaders ; and Paulinus, the greatest general of his age, undertook the task. The Britons endeavoured to obstruct his landing on that last retreat of their su perstitions and liberties, both by the force of their arms and the terrors of their religion.

The priests and is landers were drawn up in order of battle upon the shore, to oppose his landing. The women, dressed like Furies, with disheveled hair, and torches in their hands, poured forth the most terrible execrations. Such a sight at first confounded the Romans, and fixed them motion less on the spot ; so that they received the first assault without opposition. But Paulinus, exhorting his troops to despise the menaces of an absurd superstition, im pelled them to the attack, drove the Britons off the field, burned the Druids in the same fires they had prepared for their captive enemies, and destroyed all their consecrated groves and altars. In the mean time the Britons, taking advantage of his absence, resolved, by a general insurrection, to free themselves from that state of abject servitude to which they were reduced by the Romans.

They had many motives to aggravate their resentment ; the greatness of their taxes, which were levied with unremitting severity; the cruel insolence of their conquerors, who reproached that very poverty which they had caused ; but particularly the cruel treatment of Boadicea, queen of the Iceni, drove them at last into open rebellion. Prasatagus, king of the Iceni, at his death, had bequeathed one-half of his dominions to the Romans, and the other to his daughters ; thus hoping, by the sacrifice of a part, to secure the rest in his family; but it had a different effect; for the Roman procurator immediately took possession ofthe whole ; and when Boadicea, the widow of the deceased, attempted to remonstrate, he ordered her to be scourged like a slave, and violated the chastity of her daughters.

These outrages were sufficient to produce a revolt through the whole island. The Iceni, being the most deeply interested in the quarrel, were the first to take arms ; all the other states soon followed the example : and Boadicea, a woman of great beauty and masculine spirit, was appointed to head the common forces, which amounted to two hundred and thirty thousand fighting men. These, exasperated by their wrongs, attacked several of the Roman settlements and colonies with success. Paulinus hastened to relieve London, which was already a flourishing colony; but found on his arrival that it would be requisite, for the general safety, to abandon that place to the merciless fury of the enemy. London was therefore soon reduced to ashes ; such of the inhabitants as remained in it were massacred ; and the Romans, with all other strangers, to the number of seventy thousand, were cruelly put to the sword.

Flushed with these successes, the Britons no longer sought to avoid the enemy, but boldly came to the place where Paulinus awaited their arrival, post ed in a very advantageous manner with a body of ten thousand men. The battle was obstinate and bloody. Boadicea herself appeared in a chariot with her two daughters, and harangued her army with masculine firmness ; but the irregular and undisciplined bravery of her troops was unable to resist the cool intrepidity ofthe Romans. They were routed with great slaughter; eighty thousand perished in the field, and an infinite number were made prisoners ; while Boadicea herself, fearing to fall into the hands of the enraged victor, put an end to her life by poison. Nero soon after recalled Paulinus from a government, where, by suffering and inflicting so many severities, he was judged improper to compose the angry and alarmed minds of the natives.

After an interval, Cerealis received the command from Vespasian, and, by his bravery, propagated the terror of the Roman arms. Julius Frontinus succeeded Ce realis, both in authority and reputation. The general who finally established the dominion of the Romans in this island, was Julius Agricola, who governed it during the reigns of Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian, and dis tinguished himself as well by his courage as humanity. Agricola, who is considered as one of the greatest characters in history, formed a regular plan for sub duing and civilising the island, and thus rendering the acquisition useful to the conquerors. As the northern part of the country was least tractable, he carried his victorious arms thither, and defeated the undisciplined enemy in every encounter. He pierced into the former ly inaccessible forests and mountains of Caledonia; he drove onward all those fierce and intractable spirits who preferred famine to slavery, and who, rather than submit, chose to remain in perpetual hostility.

Nor was it without opposition that he thus made his way into a country rude and impervious by nature. He was op posed by Galgacus at the head of a numerous army, a. d. whom he defeated in a decisive action, in which 84. considerable numbers were slain. Being thus successful, he did not think proper to pursue the enemy into their retreats ; but, embarking a body of troops on board his fleet, he ordered the commander to surround the whole coast of Britain, which had not been discovered to be an island till the preceding year. This armament, pursuant to his orders, steered to the north ward, and there subdued the Orkneys ; then making the tour of the whole island, it arrived in the port of Sand wich, without having met with the least disaster. During these military enterprises, Agricola was ever attentive to the arts of peace.