The clergy of the province of Canterbury, of the generality, a.s.semble in St. Paul's cathedral, in London, and from thence adjourn to the chapter-house, or Westminster.

In this province there are two houses, the upper and the lower; the former consists of 22 bishops, of whom the archbishop is president; the latter consists of all the deans, archdeacons, the proctors of every chapter, and two proctors for the clergy of each diocese; in all 166.

The archbishop of York may hold a convocation of his clergy at the same time; but neither the one nor the other has been suffered to enter upon business for many years, though they are always regularly summoned to meet with every parliament, being looked upon as an essential part of the const.i.tution.

_Of the Parliament_.] Every parliament is summoned by the King's writs to meet forty-eight days before they a.s.semble. A writ is directed to every particular lord, spiritual and temporal, commanding him to appear at a certain time and place, to treat and advise of certain weighty affairs relating both to church and state.

Writs also are sent to the sheriff of every county to summon those who have a right to vote for representatives, to elect two knights for each county, two citizens for each city, and one or two burgesses for each borough.

Every candidate for a county ought to be possessed of an estate of 600l. per annum; and every candidate for a city, or corporation, of 300l. per annum.

The Lord Chancellor, or keeper for the time being, is always Speaker in the House of Peers; but the Commons elect their Speaker, who must be approved by the King.

No Roman Catholic can sit in either house; nor any member vote till he has taken the oaths to the government.

_The ancient_ STATE _of_ ENGLAND.

Having thus given our young readers a transient idea of the present state of South-Britain; we shall now proceed to give a succinct account of the ancient state of England, which, in regard to its const.i.tution, was originally a monarchy, under the primitive Britons; after that, a province, subordinate to the Romans; then an heptarchical government under the Saxons; then again a kingdom in subjection to the Danes; next after them, under the power and dominion of the Normans; but at present, (after all the before-mentioned revolutions,) a monarchy again under the English; of all which we shall treat, as briefly as possible, in their proper order.

The whole island was anciently called Albion, which seems to have been softened from the word Alpion; because the word Alp, in some of the original western languages, generally signifies high lands, or hills, as this isle appears to those who approach it from the Continent. It was likewise called Olbion, which, in the Greek language, signifies happy; but of those times there is no certainty in history, more than that it had the denomination, and was very little known by the rest of the world.

As the name of Britain, however, excepting that of Albion, or Olbion, just before mentioned, has been liable to as many derivations as the origin of the Britons; we shall content ourselves (for brevity's sake) with the following extract from Camden, who has given (in our humble opinion at least) the best and most natural derivation of the term.

"The ancient Britons (says he) painted their naked bodies and small shields with woad of an azure-blue colour, which by them was called Brith; on this account the inhabitants received the common appellation from the strangers who came into the island to traffic from the coasts of Gaul, or Germany; to which the Greeks, by adding the word tania, or country, formed the word Britannia, or the country of the painted men, and the Romans afterwards called it Britannia."

Here it may be observed, that the Romans were extremely fond of giving their own terminations to many uncivilized countries, and of forming easy and pleasant sounds out of the harshest and most offensive, to such elegant tongues and ears as their own.

_Their_ GOVERNMENT.

Their government, like that of the ancient Gauls, consisted of several small nations, under divers petty Princes, apparently the original governments of the world, deduced from the natural force and right of paternal dominion; such were the hords [sic] among the Goths, the clans in Scotland, and the septs in Ireland: but whether these small British princ.i.p.alities descended by succession, or were elected according to merit, is uncertain.

Their language and customs were, for the most part, the same with those of the Gauls before the Roman conquests in that province; but they were entirely governed in their religion and laws by their Druids, Bards, and Eubates.

Their Druids were held in such high veneration by the people, that their authority was almost absolute. No public affairs were transacted without their approbation; nor could any malefactor (though his crimes were ever so heinous) be put to death without their consent.

Their Bardi, or Bards, were priests of an inferior order of their Druids; their princ.i.p.al business being to celebrate the praises of their heroes in verses and songs, which were set to music and sung to their harps.

Their Eubates were a third sort of priests, who applied themselves to the study of philosophy.

Each order of these priests led very simple and innocent lives, and resided either in woods, caverns, or hollow trees. Their food consisted of acorns, berries, or other mast; and their drink was nothing but water. By this abstemious course of life, however, they procured an universal esteem, not only for their superior knowledge, but their generous contempt of all those enjoyments of life which all others so highly valued, and so industriously pursued.

_The most remarkable_ TENETS _of their_ DRUIDS.

1. Every thing derives its origin from heaven.

2. Great care is to be taken in the education of children.

3. Souls are immortal.

4. The souls of men after death go into other bodies.

5. If ever the world should happen to be destroyed, it will be either by fire or water.

6. All commerce with strangers should be prohibited.

7. He who comes last to the a.s.sembly of the states ought to be punished with death.

8. Children should be brought up apart from their parents, till they are fourteen years of age.

9. There is another world; and they who kill themselves to accompany their friends thither will live with them there.

10. All masters of families are kings in their own houses; and have a power of life and death over their wives, children, and slaves.

_Their_ ANCIENT STATES.

STATES. COUNTIES.

1. _Danmonii_, _Cornwall_ and _Devon_.

2. _Durotriges_, _Dorset_.

3. _Belgae_, _Somerset_, _Wilts_, and the north part of _Hants_.

4. _Attrebatii_, _Berks_.

5. _Regni_, _Surrey_, _Suss.e.x_, and the south part of _Hants_.

6. _Cantii_, _Kent_.

7. _Trin.o.bantes_, _Middles.e.x_, _Hertfordshire_, & _Ess.e.x_.

8. _Iceni_, _Suffolk_, _Norfolk_, _Cambridge_, and _Huntingdon_.

9. _Catieuchlani_, _Bucks_ and _Bedford_.

10. _Dobuni_, _Gloucester_ and _Oxford_.

11. _Silures_, _Hereford_, _Monmouth_, _Radnor_, _Brecon_, & _Glamorgan_.

12. _Dimetae_, _Carmarthen_, _Pembroke_, and _Cardigan_.

13. _Ordovices_, _Flint_, _Denbigh_, _Merioneth_, _Montgomery_, & _Carnarvon_.

14. _Cornavii_, _Chester_, _Salop_, _Stafford_, _Warwick_, and _Worcester_.

15. _Coritani_, _Lincoln_, _Nottingham_, _Derby_, _Leicester_, _Rutland_, and _Northampton_.

16. _Brigantes_, _York_, _Lancaster_, _Westmoreland_, _c.u.mberland_, & _Durham_.

17. _Ottadini_, _Northumberland_.

_Their general_ CHARACTER.

They were a great and glorious people, fond of liberty and property; but peculiarly remarkable for their rigid virtue, and their readiness to die with pleasure for the good of their country. They long lived in a perfect state of peace and tranquility till the year of the world 3950, at which time its monarchy, by the boundless envy and ambition of Julius Caesar, (when Rome was in the meridian of all her glory) was totally subverted, and Britannia became a province subordinatte [sic] to the Romans.

_The_ ROMAN GOVERNMENT.

Caesar, at his first landing on the island, found it not under a sole monarchy, but divided into divers provinces, or petty kingdoms.

Soon after having defeated Ca.s.sibelan, and taken several British provinces, he left the island, and the Romans entirely abandoned it for ninety years and upwards.

However, in the year of our Lord 42, Claudius Caesar, the 5th Emperor of Rome, sent his General Plautius, with great force, into Britain, and following him soon after in person, subdued a great part of the island, by which means he procured the t.i.tle of Britannicus.

In the year 50, London is supposed to have been built by the Romans.

In this year Ostorius, the Roman general, defeated Caractacus, the chief of the British Princes, and having taken him prisoner, carried him to Rome.

The Christian religion, about this time, was first planted in Britain.

In the year 61, the Britons, under the conduct of Boadicea, a British Queen, destroyed 70,000 Romans.

The next year Suetonius, the Roman general, defeated the Britons, and killed 80,000 of them upon the spot; whereupon Boadicea poisoned herself.

In the year 63, the gospel was first preached in Britain by Joseph of Arimathea, and eleven of St. Philip's disciples.

_The_ PERSECUTIONS _against the_ CHRISTIANS _consequent thereupon_.