BRITAIN. 



Tf \pf aJ3 to tliii ertimate, tlie accounts belonging to the 

 other p<irt* «f Uridut, Liverpool, Sec. the account mud be 

 cimrmouf. 



rfom the ftates of North America nrc chiefly imported 

 t.bacco, rice, iiidijjo, timbtr, hemp, fiax, iron, pitch, tar, 

 and lumber; from the Well Indi>.-s, fiigar, rum, cotton, 

 coffee, ginger, pepper, guiiincum, farfapai ilia, maiichineal, 

 mahogany, gums, Sec. ; from Africa, gold-dull, ivory, gums, 

 &c. ; from the Eall Indies and Ciiina, tea, rice, fpiccs, 

 drugs, coloiiis, filk, cotton, faltpctre, fliawis, and other 

 priidiKls of the loom ; from our remaining fcttlements in 

 North America, furs, timber, pot-afli, iron ; and from the 

 vanous Hates of ICurope, nunierou* articles of utility and of 

 luxury. Pinkerton's Geog. vol. i. p. lOO. 



For other particulars relating ti> Great Britain, fee Con- 

 stitution, DtDT, Fund, Parliament, Revenue, &c. 

 &e. See aifo Kncland, Scotland, and Wales. 



Britain, in Hijhry. It will be niotl fuitable to the plan 

 of tins work, to divide the hillory of Fiigldnd into feveral 

 branches, each of which may he confulted under the pro- 

 per heads. Thefc divilionf; will be, — the hillory of the idand 

 anterior to the SaKon invalion, whicli will be the fubjetl of 

 the prefcnt article ; — the hillory of the Saxon ortarchy from 

 the invalion of the Saxon tribt-j to the period of the Norman 

 conqucll, \vh:eh will be introduced underthe word Saxons ; 

 — the hillory of England from the Norman conquefl to the 

 acccirion of James 1., for which fee the article England; 

 — and the hillory from that period to the preient times, 

 which will be inferted under the fame head. Scotland, 

 Ireland, and Walks, will he fepnrate I'ubjefts of hillory ; 

 and their traiifac^ions, fo long as they continued independ- 

 ent natiors, may be fought for under their refpeftive names. 

 So much as ii necelTary to be known of the hilloi-y of the 

 other BritilTi illes, will be found under the articles of He- 

 brides, 7/7. o/" Man, Orknivs, and Sh etland. Thefe 

 different topics will comprifc all that is material in the hif- 

 tory of the Dritifn ides. 



It would give us very little trouble to ftate the biftory of 

 Britain anterior to the Saxon invafion, if we could adojyt the 

 account fo popular among our anceftors, and give the fidions 

 of Jeffery of Monmouth a place in our authentic annals. But 

 Jeffery's hillory, though fupported by the belief of mod of 

 the men of Icarnnig in the lixteenth century, by many in the 

 fcventeenth, and by fome in the laft, cannot for a moment 

 be fufFcred to rank in our ellimation as true hiftory. We 

 need not combat the tale by a profound dilquilition : it has 

 the merit of difcrediling itfelf by its abfurdities and impro- 

 babilities ; and we might difmifs it into oblivion without ano- 

 ther fentence, but that the public may be curious to know 

 what fort of fidion it was, which was capable of interelling 

 our anceftors fo much, and of feducing fo many learned men 

 to patronize and defend it. 



After fettling Eneas in Italy, man7ing him to Lavinia, 

 and killing Turnus. in cxadt conformity to Virgil, Jeffery 

 gives him one Sylvius for a grandfon, whofe friends, the 

 magi of the day, oblige with a prophecy, that his wife was 

 pregnant with a fon, who would deilroy both his father and 

 aiothcr, and after travelling over many countries in banifh- 

 ment, would at laft arrive at the higliell pitch of glory. 



This lucklefs lad was Brute, who killed his mother in his 

 birth, and, at 15 years of age, completed the prtdiiftion by 

 dellroying his father. Being expelled Italy by his kinlmen 

 for the parricide, he went to Greece, and found the Trojans 

 kept in flavery by one Pandralus, whom the author compli- 

 ments with the title of king of the Grecian?, but whom no 

 Greek hillorian has ever acknowledged. Brute affembled 

 the Trojans from all parts, and feut a letter to this Pandra- 

 lus, affuring him that the Trojans would rather live after the 



6 



manner of wild beads on flelh and herbs witli liberty, than 

 enjoy the greateft luxury under his flavery. 



Pandi-afus was furprifcd at this mefTage ; but he was ig- 

 norant that he had to do with a hero whom hishiftorian had 

 determined to make an infallible conqueror. It was, there- 

 fore, ill vain he befieged a town called Sparalinum, the fitu- 

 ation of which only Jeffery knew, but with which he has 

 forgotten to acquaint us ; for though he outnumbered the 

 Trojans fo much that their brave commander dreaded a 

 pitched battle, yet Brute contrives a ftratagcm to enter their 

 camp at night, deceive the watch, and kill them all in their 

 flcep. He accompliriies all this as cafily as he conceived it. 

 Pandrafus is taken prifoncr ; his army annihilated. A con- 

 fultation is held to confider what is to be done with the cap- 

 tive ; and at it is a rule with Jeffery' to detail the very words 

 of every converfation, the fpetches are again recited at full 

 length ; and Pandrafus is liberated on condition of giving 

 Brute his daughter Ignoge for wife, with plenty of gold, 

 filver, fhips, corn, wine, and oil, and aHo permiffion to re- 

 niove to fome other country. 



With his new wife and 324 fliips, and after many fwoons 

 on the part of Ignoge, and many kilFes on the part of Brute, 

 " which he ccafcd not till file grew weary of crying, and fell 

 adcep," he ftt fail, and two days afterwards came to an un- 

 inhabited ifland, in which was a convenient temple of Diana, 

 and a ftatue of the goddefs, that kindly gave ani'wers to all 

 who conl'ulted her. In fix very pretty lines, which Milton 

 thinks too good for the age of the tranflator, he allcs her 

 whither they were to go, though a reaionable man would 

 have formed foir.e notion of that before he had fet out, and 

 not have trulled to the vague chance of a defertcd illand and 

 a prieftlels oracle. 



After repeating the words exaftly nine times, and walking 

 four times round the altar, and laying himfelf before it upon 

 the ilcin of a white hart, he fell afleep. About the third 

 hour of the night (for Jeffery is very particular in circum- 

 (lance, though the incident is p'accd shout 2000 vears be- 

 fore him), about the third hour of the night, " the ufual 

 hour for deep fieeps," apparitions, and vifions, the goddefs 

 in perfon appeared to the Trojan, and in eight lines as har- 

 monious as his own, informs him, that beyond Gaul there 

 was an ifland in the weft, formerly occupied by giants, but 

 then deferted, where he ftiould found another Troy, and a 

 race of kings, by whom all the world fliould be fubdued. 



With this anfwer, but without being made much wiferby 

 it, for Brute knew as much about Paiadife as about Gaul, 

 they put to fea again in a weftward courfe, and in 30 days 

 came to Africa, being ignorant as yet whither tofteer. At 

 laft they reached the ftreights of Gibraltar, after great danger 

 from pirates, where their Ihip had nearly been overturned by 

 thofe fea-monfters called Syrens. However, they made a 

 Ihift to efcape, and contrive by advancing ftill to the weft, 

 for no retrogade courfe is mtntioned, to get into the Tyr- 

 rhenian fea, though, unfortunately for accurate geography, 

 this fea, inftead of being near Spain, or beyond it, is in the 

 direft contrary courfe, becaufe it wafhes the lower part of 

 Italy. But be this as it may, here they pick up fome Tro- 

 jans, whofc general was Corincus. This was a very modeft 

 man, but withal fo courageous, " that if he encountered 

 with any giant, he would immediately overthrow him, as if 

 he had been a child." 



From this Tyrrhenian fea they reached the Loire, as fud- 

 denly as if Jeffery had fuppofcd they were clofe together. In 

 vain all the kings and princes of Gaul united againft the in- 

 vaders ; for they, whom fome pirates had greatly endan- 

 gered, and fome Syrens had nearly drowned, now defeat all 

 the confederated Gauls, burn their cities, lay walle their 

 fields, and make " difmal {laughter among the people, being 



unwilling 



