188 



bodies remained unburied, were condemned to wander a 

 hundred years on the banks of the Styx. 



Thus may we account for the Roman coins found at Bray ; 

 but how shall we account for those dug up at Fermanagh, or 

 discovered at Dungiven, Ballintoy, and the neighbourhood of 

 the Giants' Causeway ? 



Though the Romans never had any permanent station in 

 Ireland, they were well acquainted with its geographical po- 

 sition, its passages, and its harbours, as we learn from the 

 unquestionable testimony of Tacitus ; and though this and 

 other testimonies were wanting, it might be fairly presumed 

 that the Roman fleets which encompassed Great Britain, 

 sailed beyond the Orkneys, and boasted that they had ar- 

 rived at the Ultima Thide, could not be ignorant of Ireland 

 and its coasts, though not induced by the spirit of commerce 

 or adventure. The mariners would sometimes be tempted to 

 land, if not to repair their shattered vessels, to procure wood, 

 water, and provisions. 



Tacitus informs us that Agricola obtained information 

 concerning the state of Ireland, from one of its chiefs, who, 

 for disatFection or rebellion, had been driven into exile, and 

 sought refuge from the Roman commander. It is to be la- 

 mented that our native Irish historians, as far as the writer 

 has been able to ascertain, are completely dark on this sub- 

 ject. Though an eminent Irish scholar, profoundly versed 

 in our ancient MSS.,can produce one passage — but it is the 

 only one he ever met with — which seems to countenance 

 the idea that the Romans had subjected any sept of the 

 Irish to their yoke. He states that in discussing the means 

 by which Conor Mac Nesa, King of Ulster, and cotemporary 

 with Christ, discovered the crucifixion of the Saviour, a 

 writer, in an old Irish MS., in the library of T.C.D., says 

 that " he learned it from the Druid Bachrach, or from Altus 

 the Consul, who came from Octavin to ask the tribute from 

 the Gaels." 



