An Island Story | Page 9

very foolish of a great emperor to be angry with his general
because he did his work well. He ought rather to have been glad.
The people of Britain soon showed him how foolish he had been, for
they once more rebelled against Roman rule.
Later on another great emperor who was called Hadrian reigned, and he
himself came to Britain. He found the wild people of the north very
troublesome, so he built a wall across Britain from the Tyne to the
Solway. He did not try to drive these wild people so far north as
Agricola had done. The wall which Hadrian built is still called by his
name, and is still to be seen to this day; so you can imagine what a very
strong wall it was and what a fierce people they were who lived beyond
it.
Hadrian was wise as Agricola had been. He taught the Britons many
things which were good and useful to know. But very soon after he left
the island, the people rebelled again.
And so it went on until, at last, nearly five hundred years after the first
coming of Julius C¾sar, the Romans gave up and left Britain altogether.

That was about the year 410 A.D. The wonder is that they had stayed
so long, for the Britons had certainly given them a great deal of trouble.
But after all, although the Britons always fought against the Romans,
they had learned many things from them.
Before the Romans came, the Britons had been very ignorant and wild.
In many parts of the country they wore no clothes at all. Instead, they
stained their bodies blue with a dye called woad. Their houses were
only little round huts, with a hole in the middle of the roof which let
some light in and the smoke of the fire out. There were no schools, and
little boys and girls were taught nothing except how to fish and hunt,
and how to fight and kill people in battle.
There were hardly any roads and there were no churches.
The ancient Britons were heathen. They worshiped the oak-tree and the
mistletoe.
The British priests were called Druids. It is said that they received their
name from Druis, who was a very wise king of Albion in far-off times.
The Druids were the wisest people in the land. When any one was in
doubt or difficulty he would go to them for advice. They were very
solemn and grand old men with long white beards and beautiful robes.
There were no churches, as I said, but the people worshiped in dark
hollows in the woods and in open spaces surrounded by great oak-trees.
Some of the teaching of the Druids was very beautiful, but some of it
was very dreadful, and they even killed human beings in their
sacrifices.
But the Romans taught the Britons many things. They taught them how
to build better houses and how to make good roads, how to read and
write, and much more that was good and useful. And presently priests
came from Rome, bringing tidings of a new and beautiful religion.
They came to tell the people of Britain how the Son of God came to
earth to teach men not to hate and kill each other, but to love each other,

and above all to love their enemies.
It is difficult to understand what a wonderful story this must have
seemed to the wild island people. For they were a people who were
born and who lived and died among wars and hatred. Yet many of them
believed and followed this new religion. Gradually the Druids
disappeared, and the priests of Christ took their place.
Although the religion of Christ came from Rome, the Romans
themselves were nearly all pagans. And one of the last Roman
emperors who tried to rule Britain hated the Christians very much. He
forbade the worship of God and Christ, and killed and tortured those
who disobeyed his orders.
But the people who had once become Christian would not again
become heathen. They chose rather to die. A person who dies for his
religion is called a martyr.
In the next chapter is the story of the first Christian martyr in Britain.

CHAPTER 7
THE STORY OF ST. ALBAN
THE first Christian martyr in Britain was called Alban. He lived in the
town called Verulamium. He was a Briton, but he was one of those
who had learned many things from the Romans. When he was a boy he
had even traveled to Rome, and had seen the beautiful city from which
these conquerors took their name. And all that he had seen and learned
had helped him to grow up a noble, generous man.
Alban had a great deal of