Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 1.djvu/22

 arrest of his ambassador; and lamented the blood that had been shed.

To this harangue the Britons artfully replied that they had imprisoned Comius in order to preserve him from the fury of the people, and with this excuse Cæsar either was or affected to be content. He granted the peace they came to solicit, and demanded hostages, which were promised, for the futurefuture. [sic]

It is not to be supposed that an all-powerful, and, in this instance, a patriotic priesthood like the Druids would patiently permit their influence to be annihilated, and the institutions they had established with so much care destroyed by a mere handful of invaders, who had barely obtained a landing-place on the coast of the island. In the deepest recesses of the gloomy forests which they inhabited, fearful rites were doubtless celebrated. Human victims poured forth their blood on Odin's altar; oracles were delivered, and omens seen, calculated to rouse the courage of the vanquished Britons, and excite them once more to take arms against the enemy, whose position became anything but a secure one.

A storm dispersed the eighteen galleys which were to transport the cavalry of Cæsar, and drove them back upon the coast of Gaul. This was not the only misfortune the Romans endured. That same night the moon was at its full; it was the season of the equinox, and the tide rose to an unusual height, filling the vessels which Cæsar had drawn out of the reach of danger, as he imagined, on the sands. The larger ships, which had served him as a means of transport, were driven from their anchors, and many of them wrecked.

Although perfectly aware of the perils which menaced their invaders, the Britons appear to have proceeded with the utmost caution. Whilst a league was secretly being formed to crush them, their chiefs appeared, daily in their camp, professing unbroken friendship.

The Britons, who had secretly collected their forces, fell suddenly upon the seventh legion, which had been sent to a distance to forage. The plan was well contrived to defeat the enemy in detail. Many of their leaders remained in the neighbourhood of the camp, in order to lull suspicion, whilst their confederates surprised the Romans, who—having laid aside their arms—were soon surrounded, and must have been cut off but for the timely arrival of Cæsar, who, warned by his outposts that a cloud of dust thicker than usual had been seen at a distance, guessed immediately what had occurred. With a portion of his army he fell upon the assailants, and, after a desperate struggle, disengaged the threatened legion, and returned with it to the camp in safety. The lesson was a sharp one, and the rains soon afterwards setting in, the invader did not attempt to renew the battle.

The islanders, meanwhile, had not been idle: messengers had been dispatched in every direction, calling on the various nations to take arms; the Druids preached war to the death; and a sufficient force was soon assembled to attack the Romans in their camp. Discipline, however, again prevailed against the courage of the barbarians, as Tacitus contemptuously calls them; although he admits at the same time their bravery, and adds that it was a fortunate thing for Cæsar that the country was so divided into petty states, and that the jealousies of their respective rulers prevented the unity of action which alone could ensure success. Had the Britons been united, they might have bid defiance to the legions of Rome.

Once more the islanders demanded peace, which Cæsar granted them; in fact, he was scarcely in a position to do otherwise, for he already meditated a retreat. He embarked his army suddenly in the night, and retired to Gaul, taking the hostages he had received with him.

Although the senate at Rome ordered a thanksgiving of twenty days for the triumph of the Roman arms, the first expedition against the island cannot be regarded in any other light than a failure. For the second invasion preparations were made commensurate with the importance of the task proposed.

Cæsar having assembled 800 vessels, on board of which were five legions, and 2,000 horsemen of the noblest families in Gaul, set sail, and landed without opposition once more at Ryde. This time there was no enemy to oppose him; for the Britons, terrified at the appearance of this immense armament, had retreated to their natural fastnesses, the forests.

Leaving ten cohorts and 300 horsemen to guard the camp and fleet, under the orders of Quintus Atrius, Cæsar set forward in search of the enemy, whom he discovered, after a march of twelve miles, on the banks of a river, where they had drawn up their chariots and horsemen. Profiting by their elevated position, they accepted, or rather engaged, the combat.

The shock must have been terrible, for we find that it was near night when the battle ended. The Britons, as usual after a defeat, retreated once more to their woods, where it was impossible for the legions of Rome to follow, or the cavalry to act against them.

On the following morning, just as the victorious leader was about to re-commence his march, news arrived from the camp that a violent tempest had seriously damaged the fleet. Many of his vessels were wrecked, and others rendered unfit for service.

Like a prudent general, Cæsar at once returned to the camp, to assure himself of the extent of the injury done to his fleet, and found it more considerable than he imagined. Forty vessels were lost; the rest could be repaired, though not without great labour and time. Every artificer in his army was set to work; others were sent for from the continent; and instructions written to Labienus in Gaul to construct new galleys to replace those which were lost.

The next step was worthy of the genius and reputation of Cæsar. After having repaired his ships, he caused his legions to draw them out of reach of the tide, high up on the shore, and enclosed the whole of them in a fortified camp;—an immense work, when we consider that it was executed in an enemy's country, and the scanty means at his command for such an undertaking.

The gigantic task performed, he set forth once more in search of the confederate Britons.

It would fill a volume to detail, step by step, the progress of the Romans; to describe battle after battle, and treaties which were no sooner made than broken. The success of the invaders increased.

The kingdom of Cassibelan was overrun, and that heroic monarch compelled to submit and sue for peace, through the Comius who had formerly been his captive.

Cæsar, wishing to pass the winter in Gaul, where he feared a rebellion against his authority, granted the request, and