11RITTOX. 



imiTTON, JOUN. 



wbil* Nero was only adopted into the family of the Onun. Little 

 solicitous M to the revelation of her foul deeds, *ue rejoici that her 

 own providence and the goda had permitted the aarriral of her step- 

 on, and he declared that aha would accompany him to the camp, 

 and demand from the soldiers hi* deration to the throne, without 

 fearing the futile argument* which might be urged against her by 

 the nnwarlike soldier Burrhus, or the wordy rhetorician Seneca, the 

 two guardian* of Nero'* youth. 



Britannicu* waa near the completion of hii fourteenth year, and 

 Nero, who waa wall acquainted with the riolenoa of Agrippina, bad 

 recently discovered how much popularity the young prince retained. 

 Among other sport* of the ' Saturnalia ' wa* one named ' Kcgnnm,' in 

 which the player* threw dice for the kinship of the evening. Nero, 

 who on one occasion happened to be the uccecaful carter, issued hii 

 ordera to each of the company to do aome inoffensive trifle; but 

 when it came to the torn of Britannicus, Nero commanded him to 

 stand up and ting a aong. Itritannicua calmly obeyed, and began a 

 aong which implied that he had fallen from hi* patrimony and from 

 sovereignty ; linea which the keen-tightednem of the commentators 

 of Kimitu hare determined to belong to the 'Andromache' of that 

 poet. The licence of the aeason and the time of night made the 

 conrtien lea* on their guard than usual, and a aentiment of pity was 

 evidently excited among them. This incident, combined with the 

 threats of Agrippina, determined Nero to remove Britannicus by 

 poison, and he employed Locusta (whose name is rendered familiar to 

 us by Juvenal) to assist his purpose. 



The poison fint administered was ineffectual ; but Nero, impatient 

 of delay, threatened LocnsU with punishment (and, as Suetonius 

 adds, beat bar with his own hand), till she furnished him with a 

 potion which she affirmed should be "SB rapid in deadly effect as the 

 sword itself; " it waa prepared by the bedside of the emperor under 

 hi* own inspection. 



According to an old custom, the youths of the imperial family, with 

 other noble children, ate their meals in the presence of their elder 

 relation*. Britannicus, when assisting at one of these banquets, was 

 attended M usual by a tester, and some artifice became requisite to 

 prevent any violation of the court fiuhion, and at the same time to 

 avoid the suspicion which must have been created by the death of 

 both the prince and this officer. An unpoisoncd drink, already tasted, 

 was therefore handed to Britannicus, and when he complained that it 

 waa too hot, the poison was poured into it with cold water. The 

 moment alter he had swallowed the draught, he lost tho use of his 

 limbs, his breath, and utterance. All present were in consternation, 

 and aome quitted the room ; but those who were better acquainted 

 with the habits of the palace sat still and watched the emperor's 

 countenance. With a careless air, he pronounced the prince's disease 

 to be an attack of epilepsy, with which, he said, Britanuicus had been 

 afflicted from infancy, and that he would speedily recover. The 

 involuntary terror displayed by Agrippina and Octavia proved their 

 ignorance of the crime : the former was a veteran in dissimulation ; 

 the latter, though still of tender years, bad been taught to repress all 

 outward signs of grief or of affection. After a short pause, the festivity 

 waa renewed. 



Britennicoi was buried on the very evening of hu death, the funeral 

 arrangement*, which were but slender, having been provided before- 

 hand. The pile was constructed in the Campus Murtius, under a 

 terrific storm of rain. 



Suetonius adds to the other causes of hatred which Nero cherished 

 against Britannicus, that he was jealous of the superior excellence of 

 hii voice; and that Titut, who was educated by the same tutors, 

 happening to sit next him at the fatal banquet, tasted the poisoned 

 cup, and for a long time felt the consequence*. A metopoacopist (a 

 diviner by marks on the forehead), introduced by Narcissus in order 

 to inspect the forehead of the prince, predicted that Britannicus would 

 never mount the throne, which however would certainly be ascended 

 by Titus. Titus, after his accession, called to mind this circumstance, 

 and as a testimony to his early friendship for Britannicus, erected a 

 golden statue to his memory on the Palatine Hill, and had a second 

 (equestrian) status carved in ivory, which waa exhibited in the Cir- 

 centian processions. The potion, says Suetonius, medicated by 

 LoemU, was first tried upon a kid, which survived five hours. This 

 proofs* being far too slow to utisfy Nero, a mixture of greater 

 strength was prepared, which killed a pig immediately. The funeral 

 of Britannicus is placed on the day after hi* death by Suetonius, and 

 Dion (IxL) records that hi* face, being discoloured by the poison, was 

 covered with plaster by the order of Nero, but that the torrent of 

 rain which fell during the ceremony washed off the plaster and 

 revealed the crime. 



The disastrous history of Britannicus has furnished tho ground plan 

 to a tragedy by Racine, which the French consider among the ' chefs- 

 d'oravre ' of their drama, but which to our teate abounds in the chief 

 fault* of their theatre. 



(Tacit, Annul., xii. xiii. ; .Suetonius, Nero; Dion Cam., IxL) 



UK1TTON. Wa have, under I'.HACTOM, enumerated all the principal 

 writings of those early Kngluh lawyers and masters of jurisprudence, 

 who are miant when we hear of " the ancient text-writers of our law." 

 la rtapeet of the time in which they lived, it may be said to extend 

 from towards the close of the 12th to the middle of the 16th century. 



It is remarkable that so much obscurity should rent on the per<ona 

 history of those writer*, who were men of eminent abilities, treating 

 of their subject with great precision and learning, and writing, it may 

 be said, even with elegance. 



We have seen that there is doubt who Bracton waa. There is still 

 more doubt respecting Britton, whose existence as an individual 

 person has even been questioned. Selden who on such points is a high 

 authority, in his note* upon Flete, contends that ' liritton ' is nothing 

 more than a sophistication of ' Bracton,' and that to the same hand to 

 which we owe the treatise in Latin before mentioned, we owe also the 

 French treatise known by the name of ' Britton.' This was Selden' s 

 later opinion ; for in an earlier work he has spoken of them as two 

 distinct writers. John le Breton, bishop of Hereford, who died in the 

 third year of K.I ward I., baa been supposed to be tho author (Tanner, 

 ' Bibliotheca,' p. 119). Others attribute it to a John Breton, who was 

 a judge in the first year of Edward II. There seems no reason to 

 doubt that the work was composed in the reign of Edward I. 



Britton treat) of almost every point in the practice of the common 

 law, in 12C chapter*. 



The high esteem in which the work was held, is evidenced by the 

 numerous manuscripts of it which still exist in our great libraries. 

 In the British Museum are several of great value. 



It was first printed in 1540 by Redman, who had meditated doing 

 so before ; for he telU us in tho preface that " be had of long time a 

 fervent zeal and inward affection to imprint the fountain (as who 

 saith) or well of the same learnings, from whence those old judges in 

 the time of King Edward the First and since, have sucked their reason* 

 and grounded their learnings." A century later, namely in 1640, 

 there was another edition published by Wingate, a lawyer. These are 

 the only editions which have appeared in England. Britton is 

 contained in the edition of the early writers on English law, by 

 M. Houard, a French lawyer, in six quarto volumes, a noble under- 

 taking, intended to promote in France the study of comparative 

 jurisprudence. 



There still remains however the very necessary work to be performed 

 of a collation of the existing manuscripts. This is a work which 

 ought to be done for every writing of value in any department of 

 literature which was published by the early printers, who seldom did 

 more than follow some particular manuscript which happened to have 

 fallen into their hands, and which might not always happen to be the 

 purest and the best It was in contemplation to prepare such an 

 edition, and a specimen of the intended work may be seen in ' Cooper 

 on the Public Records,' Svo. 1332, vol ii. p. 403~-412 ; the text being 

 taken from what is perhaps the best manuscript (Horleian, 324), and 

 the margin presenting the various readings found in many other 

 manuscript* ; but the work fell to the ground on the suspension of 

 the Record Commission. 



In 1762, a translation of Britton, as far as the 25th chapter, wa* 

 published by Mr. Robert Kelham ; but the work did not receive 

 much encouragement He translated the remaining portions, but the 

 manuscript remained in his bonds till 1807, when being then the 

 senior member of Lincoln's Inn, and eighty-nine years of age, he 

 presented it to the library of that society, where it now remain*. 



BRITTON, JOHN, wa* born the 7th of July 1771, at Kington- 

 St-Michoel, near Chippenham, Wiltshire, where his father was a small 

 farmer nnd kept a village shop. HU parent* dying early, he was 

 received as a servant by on uncle in London, who after a while 

 apprenticed him to a wine-merchant After he bad served six years, 

 his health gave way, and his master agreed to cancel his indenture*. 

 Young Britton had in the village schools received a little rudimentary 

 instruction, and during his apprenticeship had become extremely fond 

 of reading, but his reading was desultory and aimless. On reaching 

 manhood he was still uneducated, and his mind quite unformed. At 

 the close of his apprenticeship ho found himself without connection*, 

 and without any definite pursuit For some years he had to struggle 

 hard with poverty, and was driven to a variety of shift* to earn a 

 livelihood. Among other things, he engaged himself for a time to 

 recite and sing at a kind of dioramic exhibition with tho soumling 

 title of Eidophusikon. During this unsettled course of life he formed 

 the acquaintance of various persons connected with the humbler 

 walks of literature, and he was induced to embark in a small way on 

 authorship himself, by compiling aome common street song-book*, 

 Ac., and at length adventured on writing an 'Account of the 

 Surprising Adventures of 1'izarro.' Some short notices which he 

 prepared for the 'Sporting Magazine' brought him acquainted with 

 Mr. \V hnble, its publisher, and to the connection thug formed 

 Mr. Britton owed his introduction into the career which he so long 

 and honourably pursued. 



Mr. Wheble, whilst residing at Salisbury, had issued the prospectus 

 of a work to be called the ' Beauties of Wiluhirv, 1 but after having 

 received some subscriptions for it, found himself unable to carry it on. 

 But now, learning .that Britton was a native of Wiltshire, Wheble 

 proposed to him to compile the work he had announced. It is hardly 

 possible to conceive of such a proposal being made to a person less 

 qualified by previous pun-nils or attainments, but among Uritton's 

 acquaintance* was a young man named Bravley of about his own age, 

 but somewhat better taught; they had assisted each other in th>ir 

 studies, and were prepared to enter upon a sort of literary partner-hip. 



