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BOOK THE FIRST.

SCREAMS round th' Arch Druid's brow the seamew-white

As Menai's foam; and toward the mystic ring
Where Augurs stand, the future questioning,
Slowly the cormorant aims her heavy flight,
Portending ruin to each baleful rite,

That, in the lapse of ages, hath crept o'er
Diluvian truths, and patriarchal lore.

WORDSWORTH.

VOL. I.

B

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BOOK THE FIRST.

SCREAMS round th' Arch Druid's brow the seamew-white

As Menai's foam; and toward the mystic ring
Where Augurs stand, the future questioning,
Slowly the cormorant aims her heavy flight,
Portending ruin to each baleful rite,

That, in the lapse of ages, hath crept o'er
Diluvian truths, and patriarchal lore.

WORDSWORTH.

VOL. I.

B

been almost wrested from her conquerors, having been recently crushed by the intrepidity of the Roman general Suetonius Paulinus.

The native spirit of liberty was, however, rather checked than extinguished by this dire blow, and began to revive under the encouragement which it received from the dissensions existing between the general and the procurator of the province. These dissensions at last prevailed to such a degree, that Nero dispatched his freedman, Polycletus, to take cognizance of the matter; expecting that the pomp and ostentatious equipage of this court favourite would not only overawe the Roman disputants, but also strike terror into the indomitable islanders. In this expectation, the emperor was disappointed, for the measure produced a precisely contrary effect. The freeborn Britons cared not to conceal their contempt for the manumitted slave; and the terror which the victorious arms of Suetonius had inspired, was much diminished, when they beheld him submit to the haughty dictation of Polycletus. Nor were the manners of Suetonius calculated to conciliate, or sooth the wounded feelings of the half-conquered in* Taciti Annales, lib. XIV. s. 39.

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