AT THE CONQUEST. 105 



This does not, however, make Britain so 

 populous as Appian and Diodorus Siculus re- 

 present Gaul to be. These authors exhibit Gaul, 

 as from four and a half to five times as populous 

 as it is at present, while the above calculation, 

 shews ancient Britain, to have been not quite 

 twice as populous as modern Britain was in 1801. 

 It is not, however, pretended, that the data 

 which we are in possession of, are sufficient to 

 enable us to come to any definite conclusion, 

 respecting the actual numbers of the ancient 

 Britons : but such as we have, are in favour of 

 the supposition that they were great, and cer- 

 tainly do not warrant the conclusion, that they 

 were few in number, and savages. 



The small number of remains of buildings, 

 prior to the Roman invasion, does not militate 

 against what has been advanced respecting the 

 population. Durable buildings are not erected 

 (except for public purposes) by a people spread 

 over the land, as small proprietors. The Gauls, 

 like the Britons, have left few remains of that 

 kind. The great population of China, is now 

 established by undeniable evidence, yet we are 

 told, there are no buildings in China likely to 

 last for many centuries. And should conquest 

 introduce a different system into China, and no 

 records of its present internal economy and great 



