were among the first that entered into the West India trade, and in the cod fishery of Newfoundland. Since canal navigation has been so extensively established, its internal trade has in some measure decreased, as the goods of Liverpool and London now find their way into the country by other channels. Its foreign commerce, however, is in a more flourishing state, the principal branch of which is with the West Indies. Its vessels carry out materials for building, clothing, and provisions; and bring in return the productions of the islands, such as cotton, rum, and sugar, &c. with which they supply all South Wales and the West of England. Large quantities of glass, particularly glass bottles, are exported to Ireland and America, nearly half of them being filled with cyder, beer, or Bristol water. This city has also an extensive trade with the Mediterranean, Africa, and Newfoundland.

All persons are free to trade in this city, and its freedom can be purchased for a very moderate sum. It gives the title of earl to the family of Hervey. Here the unfortunate Thomas Chatterton was born, his father having been sexton of St. Mary Redcliffe, and in this church lies buried Sir William Penn, the father of the celebrated Quaker.

According to William of Worcester, Bristol was built by Brennus, a prince of the Britons, 380 years before the Christian era, and in allusion to this the two statues over St. John's gate are said to be emblematical of Brennus and Belinus, who reigned conjointly. It is certain that Bristol was a place of importance at an early period: it is mentioned by Gildas among the fortified cities of Britain, as early as A. D. 430; and by Nennius in 620, in his enumeration of the twenty-eight cities of Britain. Robert, the illegitimate son of Henry I., first enclosed it with a wall, and in 1130 rebuilt and improved the castle, which was long considered a place of considerable strength. Excluding the outworks, it was 450 feet in length, and 300 in breadth. In 1655 Oliver Cromwell razed it to the ground, and some few vestiges of it which remain, are now incorporated with other buildings in Castlestreet. Here is a considerable weekly cattlemarket on Thursday; and the markets on Wednesday and Saturday, for butchers' meat, poultry, fruits, and vegetables, are supplied in great plenty and variety. Fairs, 1st of March in Templestreet, and the 1st of September in St. James's church-yard; each of which continues ten days; for horned cattle, horses, leather, &c.

BRISTOL, a maritime county of the United States, in Massachusetts; bounded on the north by Norfolk, on the south-west by the State of Rhode Island, on the south and south-east by Buzzard's bay, and on the north-east by Plymouth county. It is forty-two miles in length, and thirty-two in breadth; and is divided into fifteen townships, viz. Taunton, Norton, Easton, Mansfield, Attleborough, Swanzy, Somerset, Dighton, Raynham, Berkley, Freetown, Weltport, Dartmouth, New Bedford, and Rehoboth, This county contains valuable mines of iron ore,

which are worked to a large amount. Copper ore has also been discovered here. The chief town is Taunton.

BRISTOL, a maritime county of the state of Rhode Island, seven miles in length, and three in breadth. It is bounded on the east by Mount Hope, or Bristol-bay, on the west by Warwickbay, on the north by the state of Massachusetts, and on the south by part of Narraganset bay. It is divided into three townships, viz. Bristol, Warren, and Barrington.

BRISTOL, a post town, and the capital of the preceding county, is situated on the main, twelve miles N. N. E. of Newport. This town was bombarded by captain Wallace, commanding a small British squadron, in October, 1775, and laid under contribution; no lives were lost on the occasion, except the minister of the congregational church, who left his house at the commencement of the bombardment, and perished in the fields. Several of the houses were destroyed; but they have been since rebuilt. It is now flourishing, and carries on a considerable trade. It is four miles south of Warren, fourteen south-east by east of Providence, and 300 from Philadelphia.

BRISTOL, OF BRISTOL, NEW, the capital of the county of Bucks, in Pennsylvania, is situated on the Delaware, about twenty miles north of Philadelphia. It is an agreeable handsome place; and the resort of much company in summer. It was incorporated by Sir William Keith, in 1720; and governed by a burgess and common council men, until the revolution.

BRISTOL BAY, a considerable bay of the North Pacific Ocean, on the west coast of North America, discovered by Captain Cook. It is formed by the peninsula of Alaska on the south, and by Cape Newnham on the north. Long. 157° 0' W., lat. 58° 20' N.

BRISTOL CHANNEL is that arm of the Irish Sea which extends between the southern shore of Wales, and the western peninsula of England, terminating in the mouth of the river Severn. It stretches from east to west, therefore, about ninety miles; from the north-west point of Devonshire to the south shore of Pembroke, it is about fifty miles; and from Somersetshire to Glamorganshire, about fifteen miles broad. It is remarkable for its high and often violent tides.

BRISTOL RIVER, a river which empties itself into the above bay. It appeared to Captain Cook to be about a mile broad at its mouth, and abounds with salmon. Long. 201° 55′ E., lat. 58° 27' N.

BRISTOL STONES are found in St. Vincent's rock, above the hot well of Bristol: they are sixcornered, and very beautiful and transparent; but they are not so plentiful now as in Camden's days, when he says whole bushels might have been easily gathered.

BRIT', n. s.

The name of a fish.

The pilchards were wont to pursue the brit, upon which they feed, into the havens. Carew.

BRIT, a river of England, which runs into the sea, two miles south of Bridport, in the county of Dorset.

and fenny ground; while peat, calcareous earth, and rock, divide the upper lands of the country. In the south, midland, and eastern counties is the most productive soil. Above one-third of the whole soil of England and Wales has been supposed to be under tillage; another third to be pasture and meadow; and the remainder marshes, wood, water, or waste land. In Scotland and its islands not above one-fourth of the surface is cultivated. The great mountain ranges are a prominent feature of Britain. In the south is what may be called the Devonian range, extending from the Land's-end through Cornwall, Devonshire, and part of Somersetshire: its greatest height is about 1800 feet above the level of the sea. A ridge of considerable height runs from the sea-coast of Dorsetshire, north-east into Suffolk, with two lateral branches extending from the plain of Salisbury; the one into Sussex, where it forms the South Downs, and the other to the eastern shore of Kent. The Cambrian range traverses Wales from south to north, and contains Plinlimmon, whose altitude is 2463 feet; Cader Idris, in Merionethshire, 2914; and Snowdon, in Caernarvonshire, 3571 feet. A midland range, sometimes styled the Apennines of England, commences in Derbyshire, and terminates at Geltsdale forest in Cumberland, having a branch shooting off on the north of Westmoreland, towards the Irish sea. Of this range in Westmoreland, Wharnside 2475 feet, Bonyfell 3084, and Ingleborough 2380; in Yorkshire, Crossfell 3390, Bowfell 3440, and Helvellin 3225; and in Cumberland, Grasmere 2865, Saddleback 3048, Skiddaw 3175, and Scafell 3240, are the principal elevations. Other hills and mountainous tracts of inferior note occur; such as the Chiltern hills, between Tring in Hertfordshire, and Henley in Oxfordshire; the Malvern-hills in Gloucester, Hereford, and Worcester shires; the Cotswold and Stroudwater hills in Gloucestershire; the Wrekin in Shropshire; the Morelands of Staffordshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Northumberland. The border Cheviot, or Tiviothills run in a westerly direction, and form a continuous chain with those in the south-west region of Scotland, many of them are of considerable elevation. In Roxburghshire, Cheviottop is 2682, and Millenwood-fell 2000 feet; in Dumfrieshire, Hartfell 3300, and Black Larg 2800 feet; and in Kirkcudbrightshire, Cairnsmuir nearly 4000 feet. A long chain, commencing at Dumbarton, stretches in a northeasterly direction to the neighbourhood of Brechin, and is broken by the Forth and the Tay into three divisions, denominated the Lennox, the Ochil, and the Sidlaw-hills. The Grampian range, including the Mons Grampius of Tacitus, extends from Loch-Lomond, in Dumbartonshire, to Stone-haven, in the county of Mearns, having a branch shooting off from it into the shires of Inverness and Banff. In this chain Ben-Lomond rises to the height of 3260 feet; Ben-Ledi 3009; Ben-More 3903; Ben-Lawers 4015; Ben-Voirlich 3300; Bengloe 3725; Shechallien 3564; Loch-na-garaidh, and Binn-na-muichduidh, constantly covered with snow, are not less than 4000 feet high. Some of the other most remarkable mountains of Scotland are BenVOL. IV.

Cruachan, in Argyllshire, 3390 feet; Ben Wyves, in Rossshire, 3720 feet in height, and Ben-Nevis, in Invernessshire, the loftiest mountain in Great Britain, 4370 feet.

as

The climate of Great Britain, though remarkably changeable, is, in that circumstance, well as some others, a common feature of the island. Its instability has been attributed to the manner in which its circumjacent seas affect the dry winds rushing from the continent, as the various winds of the ocean, its tides, &c. may occur. The larger mountain ranges, running from north to south, also affect the eastern and western sides of the island in a particular way. The latter being generally more humid and mild; the former drier, but of lower temperature. From the east dense fogs and penetrating winds prevail at particular seasons; but the most prevalent winds throughout the island are from the west. In London the wind blows from that quarter, on an average, during the year, 215 days, and 116 from the east; from the south 18, and from the north 16 days. The extremes of heat and cold, experienced in parallel latitudes of Asia and America, are of rare occurrence here, and always of short duration; a happy mediocrity, to be attributed not merely to the natural position, but to the complete cultivation of the country. July and August are, on an average, its warmest, and December and January its coldest months of the year.

Its rivers and canals are important general features of Great Britain. The most remarkable of the former are, in England, the Thames, Severn, Humber, Mersey, Trent, and Ouse. In Scotland, the Forth, Clyde, Tay, Tweed, Don, and Dee. To particularise its canals would exceed the bounds of a general sketch; they have been the work, we can only observe, of but little more than half a century; the first that were constructed on any considerable scale being those of the duke of Bridgewater, planned in 1757: they now connect all the great towns and rivers of the empire, particularly in England; here, passing over the valley in tiers of arches, there penetrating mountains and rocks, by tunnels that want a name in relation to the earth, for subterranean they are not in many cases; and in other instances climbing the outside of hills in inclined planes, raised by mechanical power. See CANAL NAVIGATION.

Great Britain is by nature pointed out as the head of those islands and dependencies which form her European empire-and England as the head of Great Britain. Here, therefore, has long been the seat of government; and its metropolis is the grand emporium of the internal and external commerce, as well as of the arts and literature, of the country. On a statistical view of Europe, Great Britain ranks but as the seventh power in superficial extent of country. sia, Sweden (including Norway), Austria, France, Turkey, and Spain, being all her superiors in that respect. According to popu'ation she ranks as the fourth power, Russia, France and Austria being her only superiors. In respect to public revenue she ranks as the first of the powers, as well, of course, as in the contributive proportion of each individual to the

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burdens of the state. In this last particular every individual contributes nearly double the sum, upon an average, that the inhabitants of any other nation does-more than five times as much as the Swede, the Italian, and Turk, and about ten times as much as the inhabitants of Switzerland.

More particular statistics of this most interesting of all islands, we presume, to the reader, belong, as we conceive, to the respective countries of which it is composed. To the articles ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, and WALES, therefore, we refer for them. Ireland also, though now united under one sovereignty, and represented in one parliament, is still to be regarded as a distinct country, having, as well as the other great divisions of the empire, many geographical and civil peculiarities. See IRELAND.

The civil and ecclesiastical history of this empire, we regard as divisible into two comprehensive periods, the history of Britain, and of Great Britain. The former comprehending that of the early Britons, and the general affairs of the island, until the settlement of its Saxon conquerors here under Egbert. Then the histories of England, England and Wales, and Scotland, as well as Ireland, are distinct; and we shall treat of them distinctly in their alphabetical places, until the union of the English and Scottish crowns under James I. Now begins the history of Great Britain, and from this period it will also be convenient to treat the entire general history of the empire, under that head to the present time. This article, therefore, is devoted to the first of these periods.

HISTORY OF BRITAIN. 1. Of the early Britons, or Britain before the Roman invasion.-All history has its infancy of fables; wholly to disregard which, is, perhaps, as unphilosophical as to slight every account of the infancy of celebrated men, because such accounts also frequently abound in the marvellous. Milton traces, in the romantic details of British history, 'many footsteps and reliques of something here; and Mr. Turner, one of our ablest modern historians, insists that sufficient attention has not been paid to them by his predecessors. Hume, we know, contends that they ought entirely to be disregarded. We shall advert to a few of the most interesting particulars, and leave the question of their credibility to the reader.

The Argonautica of the Greeks, ascribed to their celebrated Orpheus, contains the earliest historical allusion to these islands. Who the eal writer of this poem was, is a question equally obscure with the geographical details into which he enters; but Suidas contends that he was an Orpheus the younger, called also Onomacritus, who lived 560 years before Christ. He describes a voyage undertaken by certain Thessalian heroes to Colchis, on the east of the Euxine, whence they pass to the Palus Matis, or sea of Azoph, thence up the lands to the Northern Ocean; and, circumnavigating Europe,

return home.

He mentions the island Iernida, which is presumed to be Ireland, and which the Argonauts pass with considerable fear in their voyage from the North Sea. Camden thinks that the island

next mentioned under the name of Пevrneooɑv' or Piceis Obsitam, was Britain, which some writers contend cannot be the fact, because, after they had left Iernida, they were tossed by a furious tempest for twelve days before Lynceus discerned Пleurneoσav. We do not see the force of this objection. It is perhaps extraordinary, but not impossible, that they should have touched on the shores of Ireland first; but by no means impossible that they should have been tossed about in the Irish or British Channels twelve days. It is remarkable, that, in opposition to the mythologists, the author makes this island in the Atlantic to have been the residence of Ceres, and the place from which Proserpine was carried off by Pluto. With equal peculiarity he makes another island in the same sea, which he calls λύκαιον χέρσον ; and which Camden thought to be the same as the former, though three days sail from the habitation of Circe.

Herodotus, who flourished about 450 years before Christ, says, 'I have nothing certain to relate concerning the western boundaries of Europe. I know as little of the islands called Cassiterides, except from the tin which is thence imported among us; and though I have diligently enquired, yet have I never seen any man, who, by his own experience, could inform me of the nature of that sea which bounds the extremities of Europe; however, it is certain that amber and tin come from its remotest parts. Europe,' he adds, has not been fully discovered by any man; and we have no account whether it be bounded on the north and east side by the sea.'

The first classical writer who expressly mentions the British isles, is the author of De Mundo, a work that has been ascribed to Aristotle. He professes to give a kind of physiological account of the universe, and a concise survey of the geography of the earth. If it was written by Aristotle, which the Scaligers and other learned men dispute, it will show how confined was the geographical knowledge of that age: if of later date, it will prove how slowly that knowledge advanced. This writer speaks of a sea, that comes towards the Gallic Gulf, and thence to the columns of Hercules. In this sea,' he says, are two islands, called Boeravica, Aλẞiov Kai Iέpvn (Britannia, Albion, and Ierne), larger than those we named above. They are directly above the Celts.' He further describes the northern

parts of Europe as inhabited by the Scythians, and the western by the Celts.

Polybius, who flourished about 200 years before Christ, promises in his third book to write a treatise respecting the ẞperavicov vnowv, the British islands, and the making of tin; but this tract unfortunately, if ever written, is lost. Strabo, and other Greek writers, now constantly mention these islands; and there can be no doubt that they are intended by the Cassiterides of the classical authors. The Phoenicians, according to Strabo, were long accustomed to visit the Cassiterides from Spain, for the sake of a profitable traffic in tin, lead, and skins. So jealous were they, we are told, of that monopoly of this commerce which they at one time enjoyed, that when the Romans followed a Phonician ship bound hither, for the purpose of dis

covering the market, the master ran the vessel aground, and destroyed it, rather than let them trace his course; and he was indemnified by his countrymen out of the public treasury. Through this channel, however, the Greeks generally, and finally the Romans, became well acquainted with the existence of Britain, and what was its then staple commodity-tin. The period of the Roman invasion of the island, under Julius Cæsar, unites it with the regular stream of ancient history.

As Britons, however, we may be permitted to confess a lingering over its earliest details. Much of them, as already admitted, is doubtless fabulous; but industry and erudition have, of late, elucidated many of the once rejected legends: ancient British learning has been cultivated with patriotic zeal, ancient documents have been brought to light; what is probable has been separated from what is hopelessly obscure; and having given, as above, the bald story of our early history that has come down to us through the Greek and Roman writers, we shall now for a brief space engage the reader's attention to those contributions of our native historians, that supply, as we presume, an equally authentic, and much more interesting narrative. In the Welsh Triads, which have been recently published, we have a test of the accuracy of Geoffry of Monmouth's Chronicle, the only source of information, on early British history, to which the investigator could at one time apply. These write the word Britain, Prydyn or Prydain, a name which they state it to have derived from Prydyn, the son of Aedd, who brought it under rule.' The Cymry, or Cimbri, are said to have been the first people who came over; the Brython, Britons, or Britones, were the next considerable colony. Geoffry of Monmouth appears only to have translated the old Welsh Chronicle into Latin, with some embellishments. His name, among the Welsh, is Griffith ap Arthur; but there is evidence, certainly, that the main incidents contained in his book, have a foundation in truth. Two copies of this Chronicle, in Welsh, have been lately published from respectable manuscripts, collated with two more, by Mr. Owen; which purport to be transcripts of the work as edited by Walter de Mapes, archdeacon of Oxford, in the reign of Henry I. The ground-work of the narratives thus supplied is the same, and especially as it regards the origin of the British; which is in them all attributed to one Brutus, a Trojan, and his companions. Brutus is said to be the son of Silvius, the son of Ascanius, the son of Æneas. These Trojans, after meeting with many reverses, and having passed through various scenes of adventure in Greece, Italy, and Gaul, which are very circumstantially related, at length found their way to Britain; about the time that Samuel the prophet governed Israel.

Geoffry peoples the island at this time with giants: some original inhabitants there probably were; but for whom, or what they were, as well as for the Trojan origin of this Brutus, we have only the authority of Geoffry's imagination. It is remarkable, however, that, according to Ammianus Marcellinus, some of the Gauls had a

tradition that they were descendants of the Trojans, which he thus relates: Aiunt quidam, paucos, post excidium Trojæ, fugitantes Græcos undique dispersos, loca hæc occupâsse tunc vacua.'-'It is said, that a few (Trojans), after the destruction of Troy, in making their escape from those Greeks who were dispersed abroad, took possession of these countries, which at that time were uninhabited.' Nennius says, that Brutus built a city in Gaul, which he called after the name of Turnus, one of his soldiers. Mr. Roberts, Early History of the Cymry, p. 57, thus comments on this circumstance. There can scarcely be a doubt but that Nennius had here the district of the Turones, that is, Touraine, in view. Now, Touraine comprehends the confluence of the Liger, or Loire, from the vicinity whereof the colony of the Loegrians came to Britain. This tradition may, therefore, be safely considered as that of the Loegrians in particular; though, in process of time, and from the ignorance of historians, who confounded it with the other, a confusion to which the similarity of the names, Hysichion and Prydain, to Ascanius and Brutus (if any such persons as the two last ever existed) would contribute, it came to be considered as the national tradition. The Loegrians then, having a tradition that they came originally from Phrygia, and the Cymry, that they came from Thrace: the expression of the Triad, that both were of the same original stock, was countenanced by the traditions of both.'

The Triads speak of three colonies, as coming over from the continent in some remote age: The first is the Cymry, or Cymbrians; these came over the German Ocean, which they call Môr Tawch, or the hazy ocean, from the land of Hâv, or Deffrobani, where Constantinople now stands :' a remark, probably, of some ancient copyist. These came under the command of Hu Gadarn, who is styled the pillar of his nation, for it was he who conducted the Cymry to Britain. It is said of him, that he aimed not at obtaining territory by war and contention, but in the way of equity and peace. The Cymry are styled one of the three benevolent tribes, of which the second was; The Lloegrwys, the Loegrians, or Ligurois, who came from the land of Gwasgwyn, and were sprung from the primordial race of the Cymry. The third was

The Brython, or Britons, who came from the land of Llydaw (Letavia, Armorica, or Bas Bretagne), and were also sprung from the primordial race of the Cymry. These were denominated the three peaceable tribes, inasmuch as they came by mutual consent and permission; and the three were of one language and of one speech.'

'Three tribes came under protection to the isle of Britain; they settled, with the leave and by permission of the Cymry, without weapon or assault: the first, was the tribe of the Celyddon, or the Caledonians, in the north; the second, was that of the Gwydhyl, or Gwydhelians, and these are now in Alban; that is, in the highlands of Scotland: the third, was that of the men of Galedin, who came in their boats (llongau moelion, or ships without sails), to the Isle of Wight,