ijgli QUINtUS TO M. TULLIUS CICEB.O, IJ 



pleafures in Gaul, while I am looking forward anxiouf- 

 ly for the return of a meflsnger from the Emperor, 

 that I may prepare the troops for marching to ths 

 fhore, and the reception of hoftages for the preferva- 

 tion of fidelity, before our re-embarkation and return 

 to the continent. 



Few are the obje£ls, my dear brother, in this favage 

 idand, that can contribute to the amufement of a po- 

 lite fcholar, but many to excite the attention and con- 

 templation of a philofopher. Here you behold rude Na- 

 ture in her primitive and awfully interefling forms and 

 varieties, and mankind, as it were, in its cradJe, begin- 

 ning only to iifp the feeble accents of the focial lan- 

 guage that will call hereafter for laws and iov police to. 

 unite them happily with the miftrefs and paLronefs o£ 

 nations. 



To thefe objecfls, therefore, I have turned the whole 

 of my attention during my feparation from Crefar; 

 having had the choice of my own quarters, and witii a 

 ftrong guard, and with gifts to obviate the danger of 

 devious excurfions, enquired diligently into the nature 

 of the foil, and fituation, and manners, of the country. 

 Nor have I been negleftful of examining the reli^iuri 

 and language of the people, which diiFer iefs than jgv. 

 would imagine from thcfe of our anccftors, as related 

 in the Sybilline Tables, and yet to be traced in the 

 language and manners of Magna Grxcia, and the other 

 extreme provinces of Italy. 



The temples of the Britains are raifed in the depths 

 of woods, conftructed in a circular form, with obiiifcs 

 of itone, over which are imports of the fame material, 

 and all of huge dimenfions, untouched by the chiflel. 



One of thefe I faw, while it was ere£ling by the rude 

 and unfkilful hands of the natives, as a peace^oiTering 

 to their Giianus, or Apollo, to mediate the good ofHces 

 of Caefar. 



The huge ftones of which it was compofed lay fcat- 

 tcred by the hand of Nature on the plain ; thcfe, with 



Vol. V. i e 



