HISTORY OF LONDON. LONDON UNDER THE BRITONS AND ROMANS. THE origin both of nations and cities is generally involved in obscurity or enveloped with fables. It is therefore not surprising that London does not form an exception to the general rule. Some of our early chroniclers have referred the foundation of the British metropolis to Brutus, a name so well known in the history of the Romans; but there can be no doubt that either this must be a mistake, or an attempt to make its connexion with the Romans of older date than it really is. The existence of a city or fortified town on the site of modern London before the invasion of the Romans is certain. Cæsar, although he does not mention it as a city, yet refers to the Trinobantes as inhabitants of this locality; and which, according to some antiquarian etymologists, literally signifies Town in the Valley. And certainly, the exact position of London could not be more accurately described; for the vale of London is one of the most extensive in the British dominions, taken at its least dimensions from Brentwood to Windsor one way, and from Hampstead to the Surrey hills in another. Or, according to the enlarged view of geology, the chalk basin in which London lies is comprehended in an acute triangle; one of its longest sides extending from Hungerford in Berkshire, to the northern coast of B Norfolk, and the other from Hungerford to Deal in Kent; its shorter side taking in the whole coast from near Cromer in Norfolk, to Deal, with the exception of the Isle of Thanet. The locality, therefore, is peculiar; and being also but a short distance from the estuary of a noble river, it seems adapted by nature as the site on which some mighty city should be founded, if not of one which was to become the mistress of the seas, and the emporium of the world. Neither should it be called supposition, if it should be believed that the selection of this very spot was made by some master-mind among the Britons, who, by a kind of second-sight, could look into the annals of futurity, and perceive the future greatness to which the city of the valley was destined. Cæsar is the first writer by whom any authentic particulars of the ancient Britons is given. He effected a landing on the island, after a severe struggle, somewhere between Walmer Castle and Sandwich, in the autumn of the year 53 B.C. From this period until about the year 402 A.D. the island, with occasional interruptions, was more or less under the government of the Romans. The account which Cæsar gives of our heathen forefathers is too interesting to be passed over in silence. One extract or two from his Commentaries will not be thought a digression. "The inland part of Britain," says this authentic and graphic author, "is inhabited by those who, according to the existing tradition, were the aborigines of the island; the sea-coast, by those who, for the sake of plunder, or in order to make war, had crossed over from among the Belgæ, (the modern French,) and in almost every case retain the names of their native states from which they emigrated to this island, in which they made war and settled, and began to till the land. The population is very great and the buildings very numerous, closely resembling those of the Gauls: the quantity of cattle is considerable. For money they use copper, or rings of iron of a certain weight. Tin is produced there in the midland districts, and iron near the sea-coast, but the quantity of this is small; the copper which they use is imported. There is timber of every kind which is found in Gaul, excepting beech and fir. They deem it unlawful to eat the hare, the hen, and the goose; these animals, however, they breed for amusement. The country has a more temperate climate than Gaul, the cold being less intense. Of all the natives, those who inhabit Cantium (Kent) are by far the most civilized, and do not differ much in their customs from the Gauls. The inland people, for the most part, do not sow corn, but live on milk and flesh, and have their clothing of skins. All the Britons, however, stain themselves with woad, which makes them of a blue tinge, and gives them a more fearful appearance in battle they also wear their hair long, and shave every part of the body except the head and the upper lip. Every ten or twelve of them have their wives in common, especially brothers with brothers, and parents with children; but if any children are born, they are accounted the children of those by whom first each virgin was espoused." ; ; Druidism flourished amongst the Britons in all its horrors and is even considered as having originated in Britain. The Druids were regarded as the ministers of religion, having the charge of all sacrifices. They also, conformably with the practice of ancient nations, acted as judges, the laws, both civil and religious, being of the most severe kind. One Druid presided over the rest, on whose death another was appointed in his room. The Druids were exempted from military service, and |