102 STATE OF BRITAIN 



ficed. (See the Earl of Selkirk on Emigration.) 

 In the early times of the Roman Republic, Italy 

 itself appears to have been divided into a great 

 number of small states, all of them extremely 

 populous. So that the whole of this extensive 

 range of country, Italy, Gaul, and Britain, was 

 very populous, and became so from the same 

 causes. Why then should it be said, that while 

 Gaul and Italy were very populous, the Britons 

 were few in number, and scattered over the face 

 of the country. The Roman writers calling them 

 barbarians seems scarcely sufficient to account 

 for it. And yet to what other cause can we 

 attribute it ? 



Perhaps a part of the description of the coun- 

 try by Caesar may have contributed to form the 

 erroneous impressions which exist on this sub- 

 ject. He says, ' a town among the Britons is 

 nothing more than a thick wood, fortified with a 

 ditch and rampart to serve as a place of retreat 

 against the incursions of their enemies.' But 

 this proves nothing against the populousness of 

 the country ; for he himself, had before said, that 

 the island was well peopled and full of houses. 

 What Caesar calls a town, seems to have been 

 merely a place of temporary security to retire to, 

 in the event of a neighbouring tribe making an 

 incursion into their territory. 



