of the Pope. This illufion, the effect of a weak or a diffempered mind, he communicated to the King of Bretaigne; who, probably from interested motives, took advantage of this incident to act on the weakness of this prince, and on the credulity of his nation; which, in common with every other people in the fame ftage of refinement, always paid a high veneration to men, who, acting under the impulfe of a warm and enthufiaftic fpirit, fancied themselves indued with the power of revealing future events. Having confulted the prophetic books of the two Merlins*, which were deemed facred as the pages of the Roman Sybils, Alan told him, they predicted the ruin of the British empire, until the time that the bones of King Cadwalader fhould be brought back from Rome. He then advifed him to act up to the patriotic defign, and to follow the impulfe of his vifion. Thus confirmed in the delufion, Cadwalader proceeded to Rome; and agreeably to the interefted views of the Roman pontiffs, was kindly received by Pope Sergius. After he had fubmitted to have his head fhaven, and to be initiated into the order of White Monks, Cadwalader lived eight years as a religious reclufe t; exemplary in the piety of those days, but in a fituation unworthy of a prince; as it fecluded him from the practice of active virtue, and of confequence from promoting the interests of his people; for which great end alone princes are delegated to rule mankind.' Upon the character of Gryffydth ap Cynan, Mr. Warrington has the following remarks: In fuch a country as North Wales, where. fo many caufes con. spired to render its government unftable, and the enjoyment of it often fatal to the fovereign, that the late prince fhould have been able to extend his reign to fifty years, is an extraordinary inftance of good fortune, and a proof of his poffeffing confiderable abilities. The love of freedom, which diftinguished the early part of his life, infufed the fame fpirit among his fubjects, which led them to difdain the ignominious yoke impofed on them by a foreign power. His valour, and abilities, aiding their returning virtue, delivered his country from the vaffalage of England; and, in general, by his conduct with Henry, or by the vigour of his government, he preferved his dominions free from the invafions of the English, and from civil commotions. The recital of thefe virtues, which form the fhining features of his character, is no more than a juft eulogium on his memory. But other impreffions appear on the reverfe of the medal, expreffive of a conduct which is neither amiable nor great. A juft policy required him to unite in the common caufe, as to one central point, the jarring interefts which prevailed in the other principalities; and the importance of his fituation and character, obliged him to confider himself as the great fpring, which was to give life and vigour, and efficacy to the exertions of the whole. He ought to have known that the conquet of Wales was a leading principle in There were two of that name, Silvefter and Ambrofe; the first was born in Scotland, and the latter, called Merdhin by the Britons, at Caerfrydhin in South Wales. Humfrey Lhuyd, p. 79. Wynne, Hift. Wales, p. 10, 11. B 2 the the politics of England, that the princes of that country would never ceafe to exert every effort of fagacity and power, until their ambition had been fatiated by the conqueft, or the entire destruction of the Welth. Impreffed with ideas fuch as thefe, he ought to have regarded ever offer of friendfhip, made by the English monarch, as a delufive fnare to his honour: and at every gift, he ought to have exclaimed in the natural language of diftruft, Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. But influenced by a perfonal regard to Henry, or by mo tives of a bafer nature, he was led to prefer a selfish and solitary peace with the English, to the more generous and manly conduct of haring in the common danger, and of attempting to preferve the general freedom of his country, by uniting its ftrength. He was prevented, indeed, by his tedious captivity in Chefter, from taking an active part, in impeding the conquefts which the English were making in South Wales; nor is it juft to fuppofe, that in that early period of his life, he could be cold or uninterested in the fatal fcene that was acting before him. The fame plea, however, cannot justify another part of his conduct. Inftead of giving fecurity to Powis, a barrier of fuch importance to his kingdom, he left the princes of that country, on its being invaded by Henry, to abide their fate; refafing, under a cold pretence, to afford them protection or relief. Thefe traits of his character, with a defire of facrificing to the jealoufy of the English king an orphan prince, who had fought his pro tection, and whose birth and talents might have rendered him the inftrument of his country's fafety, evince, that the conduct of Gryffydh ap Cynan was not entirely directed by the principles of honour, or humanity, or of a folid and extenfive policy.' The ftruggle between King John and Llewellyn ap Jorwerth, would be a casious extract; but we have not room. We fhall, therefore, only add Mr. W.'s account of the humiliating fubmiffion of Llewellyn ap Gryffydh to Edward III. • The barons of Snowdun, with other chieftains of the moft confiderable families in Wales, accompanying their prince to London, brought large retinues with them, as was the cuftom of their country, and were lodged in Iflington, and the adjacent villages. Many caufes confpired to make their fituation difagreeable. Thefe places did not afford a fufficiency of milk for fuch numerous trains: they liked neither the wine, nor the beer of London. Though entertained with plenty, they were not pleased with their new manner of living, which faited neither their tafte, nor, perhaps, their conftitutions. They were Aill more displeased with the crowd of people who attended them, whenever they came out of their quarters; eying them with the utmost contempt as favages, and laughing at their foreign garb, and unufual appearance. To be made the fubject of derifion, and to be pointed at by the finger of fcorn, in their various journeys through England, at the will of an arbitrary lord, could not be pleafing to a people, proud and irafcible, who, though vanquifhed, were still alive to injury or infult, to a fenfe of their own valour, and to the fond idea of their native independence. They Carte's Hift. Eng. vol. ii. p. 191, from MS. No. 39, inter MSS. Thomas Moftyn, baronetti, p. 375. privately privately entered into an affociation to revolt on the first opportunity; refolving to die in their own country as freemen, rather than come any more as vaffals into England, to be the fport of a haughty and contemptuous nation. As foon as they returned home, they diffused this fpirit throughout Wales, and it became the common cause of the country. This incident, of no great moment in itself, acting with other caufes, produced in time a change in affairs, of the highest importance to Wales.. It was now manifeft that Edward intended, on the death of Llewelyn, to unite to the English crown the country he had lately fubdued. A popular delufion ftood in the way of his views. An idea had been fondly kept up in the imaginations of the Welth, that the celebrated Arthur was ftill alive, that he was one day to return, and restore to the remnant of the Britons the empire of their fathers. To fet afide this idle fancy, cherished by the vulgar, and which might have been fatal at this juncture, Edward, and Eleanor his queen, early in the year, undertook a journey to Glaftonbury, Under colour of where the remains of that hero lay interred *. doing honour to this British king, and affording his bones a more magnificent interment, Edward ordered the body of Arthur to be taken out of its coffin, and, with the remains of Gueniver his queen, to be expofed to public view. They were then repofited near the high altar, with an infcription on the coffin, fignifying, that these were the remains of Arthur; and that they had been viewed by the King and Queen of England, in prefence of the Earl of Savoy, the elect Bishop of Norwich, with feveral other noblemen and clergy t. It is eafy to difcern the policy of this prince in the smaller traits of his character. During the king's ftay at Glaftonbury a parliament was held in that place; at which meeting Llewelyn was fummoned to appear, with the probable defign, that he and his retinue, having feen the late ceremony exhibited, might not carry into their country the leaft hope of advantage, from fo whimfical a fancy. To this fummons, however, the Prince of Wales did not think proper to pay obedience 1. It is eafy to conceive that Edward, alive to his interefts, and jealous of his power, would be eager to check the contumacy of a vaffal in Llewelyn's fituation. With this defign, attended by his queen, he repaired to Worcester; where he fent an order to the Welsh prince to appear, and account for his late conduct. The rigour of this fummons was foftened by an invitation to a royal feaft which was to be held in that city; with an affurance, too, that he fhould be treated with honour, and that the lovely Eleanor de Montford fhould be the reward of his obedience §. There was a decifion * Malmsbury de Antiq. Glafton. Ecclefiæ, p. 306. Gales Scrip tores. + Carte's. Hift. England, vol. ii. p. 187, from Regift. Glastonbury, penes Dom. Weymouth, p. 93. Annales Waverleienfis, p. 233. Guthrie's Hift. England, vol. i. p. 889. Stowe's Chron. p. 200. Carte's Hift. Eng. vol. ii. p. 187, from Register Glastonbury Welsh Chron. p. 348. penes Dom. Weymouth, p. 93. B 3 in ་ in this mandate, which love would not fuffer him to evade, nor prudence to difobey, and which foon brought Llewelyn to the English court; where falling at the feet of Edward, and yielding himself up to his mercy, that prince ordered him to rife, and, in confideration of his dutiful demeanor, was pleafed to pardon his delinquency; at the fame time declaring, that if he again prefumed to rebel, he fhould be punished with the utmost feverity. Relying on the honour of a great monarch, and duped by his artifice, we fee Llewelyn, the brave defcendant of a line of independent princes, become amenable to ufurped power t Having now fucceeded in his views, and, as he thought, rendered Llewelyn docile in the duties of vaffalage, Edward gave him back the hoftages he had lately taken, and alfo delivered up Eleanor de Montford, with the estate which had been the property of her father. The marriage was celebrated on the thirteenth of October, the expence of which was defrayed by Edward; and, as a mark of his favour, the ceremony was graced by the prefence of the King himself and his Queen §. On this occafion, Llewelyn engaged, befides other conceffions, to appear twice in the year before the English parliament. On the very day that the marriage was to be folemnized, and just as Llewelyn and his intended bride were going to mafs, the King commanded that prince to engage in a covenant, never to protect any perfon whatever contrary to his pleasure. rigid fentiments of duty, put to fo fevere a trial, were too weak to fubdue in the bofom of the Welth prince the feelings of nature. Alive to the tender paffion of love, and no doubt in fear for his liberty or life, the firmnefs of the gallant Llewelyn funk under their influence. In this fituation, the enamoured prince figned a covenant,, which loofened every tie of confidence, and which might in future give up to the refentment of Edward, the most faithful adherent to his intereftsq. The It is only from a motive of perfonal diflike that we are able to account for the infult which was offered to Llewelyn, in detaining the lady fo long in the English court, and impeding the views of honourable love. In this part of Edward's character, we fee no traces of heroism; no refemblance of the courteous manners, which diftinguished the better period of the feudal age. As foon as the ceremony was finished, Llewelyn, with his amiable wife, returned into Wales, to foothe the afperity of adverse fortune in the enjoyment of private felicity.' In the courfe of the hiftory are many interefting articles, for which we must refer to the work; fuch as, an account of the private life and marners of the ancient Welth; a fummary of the laws of Howel Dha; the fituation and privileges of the Lords Marchers, &c. An Index to the work fhould have been added. Hemy de Knyghton de Event. Angl. p. 2462. + Welsh Chron. p. 348. Rymer, vol. ii. p. 125. Henry Henry de Knyghton de Event. de Knyghton de Event. Angl. p. 2462. Welin Chron. p. 348. (7) ART. II. Dr. Gillies's Hiftory of Ancient Greece, concluded: See our laft Month's Review. OF F the hiftory of the Peloponnefian war, Dr. Gillies has given a judicious abridgment, following the feries of great events, rather than the exact chronological order of Thucydides. In the course of this narrative, he vindicates the character of Pericles, and maintains, on the authority of Thucydides, that he did not increase his patrimony from the public exchequer ; and that the cenfures first cast on him by the comic Poets of the times, afterwards copied by Plutarch, and fince tranfcribed by modern compilers, are mere afperfions. The narration of this war, and of the difturbances and troubles which fucceeded, is clofed with a view of the ftate of literature at that period, in the course of which the Author gives the following character of the two hiftorians, Herodotus and Thucydides : In a work no lefs fplendid than important, the father of prophane history had deduced the tranfactions between the Greeks and Barbarians, from the earliest accounts till the conclufion of the Perfian war; a work including the hiftory of many centuries, and comprehending the greatest kingdoms and empires of the ancient world. This extenfive fubject was handled with order and dignity. The episodes were ingeniously interwoven with the principal action. The various parts of the narrative were so skilfully combined, that they mutually reflected light on each other. Geography, manners, religion, laws, and arts, entered into the plan of his work; and it is remarkable that the earliest of hiftorians agrees more nearly, as to the dengn and form of his undertaking, with the enlightened writers of the prefent century, than any historical author in the long feries of intervening ages. Of His language was the picture of his mind; natural, flowing, perfuafive; lofty on great occafions, affecting in fcenes of diftrefs, perfpicuous in narration, animated in defcription. Yet this admired writer has fometimes inferted reports romantic and incredible. many, indeed, of the fables of Herodotus, as ignorance conceited of its knowledge long affected to call them, fubfequent experience has proved the reality; modern difcoveries and voyages feem purpofely directed to vindicate the fame of a writer, whom Cicero dignifies with the appellation of Prince of Hiftorians. Of other wondrous tales which he relates, his own difcernment fhewed him the futility. Whatever is contrary to the analogy of nature he rejects with fcorn. He speaks with contempt of the Egepodes, and of the one-eyed Arimafpi, and of other ridiculous and abfurd fictions, which have been adopted, however, by fome credulous writers even in the eighteenth century. But Herodotus thought himself bound in duty to relate what he had heard,, not always to believe what he related. Having travelled into Egypt and the Eaft, he recounts, with fidelity, the reports current in thofe remote countries. And his mind being opened and enlarged by an extensive view of men and manners, he had learned to let bounds to his disbelief, as well as to his credulity, |