The Count of the Saxon Shore; or The Villa in Vectis.<br />A Tale of the Departure of the Romans fro, Church and Putnam [summer beach reads TXT] 📗

his eulogium on the Duke of Wellington, in the House of Commons, November, 1852. 50. In one of Æsop’s fables, a trumpeter, taken prisoner, begs for his life, pleading that he has never struck a blow in battle; but is told that he has done much worse in encouraging others to fight by his martial music. 51. A tribe that occupied a region included in what is now known as Russian Poland. 52. Serena was wife to Stilicho, and, as has been said before, niece to the Emperor Theodosius. 53. The Imperial standard (see page 21). 54. Business to-morrow. 55. The Forest of Anderida occupied a great part of Hampshire and nearly the whole of Sussex, except a strip of land along the coast. It must have measured a hundred miles from east to west. 56. The Black Forest, part of which was known to the Romans. 57. July 21st. 58. This is the translation of a passage from the first book of an unfinished poem by Claudian, entitled De Raptu Proserpinæ, “The Carrying off Proserpine.” It is an amplification of the legend that Pluto, god of the region of the dead, carried off Proserpine, daughter of Ceres, to be his wife and queen, while she was gathering flowers in the fields of Enna in Sicily. The passage translated occurs in the first book, and describes the tapestry with which Proserpine is busy, as a gift to her absent mother. The poem breaks off in the third book, while relating the search which the mother makes for her lost daughter. 59. This was actually done about this time, and with the result foreshadowed in the conversation given above. 60. Carausius had held, towards the end of the third century, the same command as that of the Count of the Saxon Shore, had rebelled against the Emperor, made himself master of Britain and all the Western Seas, and had then proclaimed himself Augustus. The Emperor Diocletian made several attempts to reduce him, but, finding that this could not be done, acknowledged him as a partner in the Empire. Six years later Carausius was murdered by one of his lieutenants, Allectus, who doubtless hoped thus to bring himself into favour at Rome. 61. Mantelet: a shield of wood, metal, or rope, for the protection of sappers, &c. 62. A skeleton has been found in the well of the Brading Villa. 63. The battle of Badon Hill, fought in 451, seems to be a well authenticated historical fact. King Arthur defeated the Saxons after a fierce conflict which lasted for two days. Badon Hill is near Bath.