"To shield the victim from thy ruthless hand.

66 'Fly then, curs'd Exile! to some desert coast, "There wail thine honours, and thine empire lost; "For now, secur'd by ev'ry power divine, "Britannia mistress of the world shall shine,

"With joy and victory for ever crown'd, "Alike for beauty, as for arms renown'd."

WILLIAM LIPSCOMB,

CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE.

SUBJECT.

On the State of the Aboriginal Britons previous to the Refinements introduced by the Romans.

THE ARGUMENT.

ADDRESS to the first Navigators of the South Seas.—Wild state of the country-contrasted with Italy as improved by culture.-Aboriginal Britons considered as individuals-the Man-the Woman-considered as to their national character-Their domestic state-promiscuous concubinage-ignorance of other countries-Description of a day in time of peace, including the most striking circumstances of their domestic œconomy-Their wars-fondness for war-internal dissensions and their consequences-manner of fighting -behaviour after a defeat-treatment of captives after a victory. Religion—the objects which give rise to natural religion.-Druid Grove-Magic rites, and human sacrificesBards-Doctrines-Transmigration and immortality of the soul, and its effects-Characteristics of liberty in the savage state of this island-its extinction in the early stages of our monarchy-its revival and influence in the present civilized state of manners, as producing public security, giving rise to public works, and calling forth the powers of the mind.

THE

ABORIGINAL BRITONS.

YE sons of Albion, who with venturous sails

In distant oceans caught Antarctic gales;

Dar'd with bold prow the boisterous main explore, Where never keel had plow'd the wave before;

Saw stars unnam'd illumine other skies,

Which ne'er had shone on European eyes;

View'd on the coast the wondering savage stand,

Unclad, and fresh from his Creator's hand;

While woods and tangling brakes, where wild he ran,
Bore a rough semblance of primeval man :—
A form like this, illustrious souls, of yore

Your own Britannia's sea-girt island wore :

Ere Danish lances blush'd with Ella's blood;
Or blue-ey'd Saxons sail'd on Medway's flood;
Or Dover's towering cliff from high descried
Cæsar's bold barks, which stemm'd a deep untried.

Through fleecy clouds the balmy spring-tide smil'd; But all its sweets were wasted on a wild ;

In vain mild Autumn shone with mellowing gleam;
No bending fruitage blush'd beneath its beam.
Rudely o'erspread with shadowy forests lay

Wide trackless wastes, that never saw the day:
Rich fruitful plains, now waving deep with corn,
Frown'd rough and shaggy with the tangled thorn:
Through joyless heaths, and valleys dark with woods,
Majestic rivers roll'd their useless floods:

Full oft the hunter check'd his ardent chace,
Dreading the latent bog and green morass :
While, like a blasting mildew, wide were spread
Blue thickening mists in stagnant marshes bred.