Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 1.djvu/448

 424 THE DECLINE AND FALL CHAP, had already given orders for his death. But the crafty ' Menapian foresaw and prevented the severity of the emperor. By his HberaUty he had attached to his for- tunes the fleet which he commanded, and secured the barbarians in his interest. From the port of Boulogne he sailed over to Britain, persuaded the legion, and the auxiliaries which guarded that island, to embrace his party, and boldly assuming, with the imperial pur- ple, the title of Augustus, defied the justice and the arms of his injured sovereign *". Importance When Britain was thus dismembered from the em- pire, its importance was sensibly felt, and its loss sincerely lamented. The Romans celebrated, and per- haps magnified, the extent of that noble island, pro- vided on every side with convenient harbours; the temperature of the climate, and the fertility of the soil, alike adapted for the production of corn or of vines ; the valuable minerals with which it abounded ; its rich pastures covered with innumerable flocks, and its woods free from wild beasts or venomous serpents. Above all, they regretted the large amount of the revenue of Britain; whilst they confessed, that such a province well deserved to become the seat of an independent Power of monarchy^. During the space of seVen years, it was arausius, pQggessed by Carausius; and fortune continued pro- pitious to a rebellion, supported with courage and abihty. The British emperor defended the frontiers of his dominions against the Caledonians of the north, invited from the continent a great number of skilful artists, and displayed, on a variety of coins that are still extant, his taste and opulence. Born on the con- fines of the Franks, he courted the friendship of that formidable people, by the flattering imitation of their dress and manners. The bravest of their youth he ^ Panegyr. Vet. v. 11. vii. 9. The orator Eumenius wished to exalt the glory of the hero (Constantius) with the importance of the conquest. Not- withstanding our laudable partiality for our native country, it is difficult to conceive that, in the beginning of the fourth century, England deserved all these commendations. A century and a half before, it hardly paid its own establishment. See Appian in Prooem.
 * ^ Panegyr. v. 12. Britain at this time was secure, and slightly guarded.