Author: G. A. Henty
Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7037] [Yes,
we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This
file was first posted on February 26, 2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** Start of the project gutenberg
EBOOK Beric the Briton ***
This eBook was produced by Martin Robb MartinRobb@ieee.org
Beric the Briton
A Story of the Roman Invasion
by G. A. Henty
My dear lads,
My series of stories dealing with the wars of England
would be altogether incomplete did it not include
the period when the Romans were the masters of the
country. The valour with which the natives of
this island defended themselves was acknowledged by
the Roman historians, and it was only the superior
discipline of the invaders that enabled them finally
to triumph over the bravery and the superior physical
strength of the Britons. The Roman conquest for
the time was undoubtedly of immense advantage to the
people—who had previously wasted their
energies in perpetual tribal wars— as it
introduced among them the civilization of Rome.
In the end, however, it proved disastrous to the islanders,
who lost all their military virtues. Having been
defended from the savages of the north by the soldiers
of Rome, the Britons were, when the legions were recalled,
unable to offer any effectual resistance to the Saxons,
who, coming under the guise of friendship, speedily
became their masters, imposing a yoke infinitely more
burdensome than that of Rome, and erasing almost every
sign of the civilization that had been engrafted upon
them. How far the British population disappeared
under the subsequent invasion and the still more oppressive
yoke of the Danes is uncertain; but as the invaders
would naturally desire to retain the people to cultivate
the land for them, it is probable that the great mass
of the Britons were not exterminated. It is at
any rate pleasant to believe that with the Saxon, Danish,
and Norman blood in our veins, there is still a large
admixture of that of the valiant warriors who fought
so bravely against Caesar, and who rose under Boadicea
in a desperate effort to shake off the oppressive
rule of Rome.
Yours truly,
G. A. Henty
“It is a fair sight.”
“It may be a fair sight in a Roman’s eyes,
Beric, but nought could be fouler to those of a Briton.
To me every one of those blocks of brick and stone
weighs down and helps to hold in bondage this land
of ours; while that temple they have dared to rear
to their gods, in celebration of their having conquered
Britain, is an insult and a lie. We are not conquered
yet, as they will some day know to their cost.
We are silent, we wait, but we do not admit that we
are conquered.”
