Litchfield enquirer., 1862-10-02
LEI TERs ii FROM i5 EuRopEaFsioii..1 ;siii.-

LETTERS FROM EuRopa1e:lRso: sili~ T. :. 1 We give the following, as the frat of ssrie
 of Letter., written by friend, travelling in Eu rope, prssuming they will be fopnd IS intsres
 ing and entertaining to our readers in thsir. pe rusal as they have been to us.
 Nine days in Wslesl Of what in them
 either did or saw. I write, and without apology pis6x s'shert, bi.'ezoai paragraph. For shi. VI are, ts lasgs extent, indebted to 1s,k entities .MsWelch Sketches" published in London, i, the ysas 1853; and b History of Wales, D, l the Rev. MT. Warrington. Hoping, or, if you please, affirming that 1t ii tolerably reliable, we proceed.
 "The Athenians asserted that their f.at iprs fathers spr&ng. from the soil of 'Attica. And whether thay. did or not, the claim was simple snd straight forward, and once admitted. saved . world of trQnble."'' Ihe Wsleh, lals wine, are disposed to. trace; and Of numerous opinions the most populsF is, that by the successive move. ments of the Asiatic tribes westward, the Isle of Britain, tiH then Hninhabitsd, was finally reach ed and that the'tribe thus first aettling' here, was of those called the " Cimbric." There is another theory, also we'll sustained, that the Gael preceded the Cimbri, and were afterwards driven by them into the. Highlands af Scotland, and the near Islands of Ireland, Man, and. the .Hsb. rides.
 Now of the history of these Cimbri; for. whether they were preceded by the gsel or not, all admit that they came and occupied the Eng fish and Welch part of Great Britain.
 The earliest authentic history we have i. of one ,Dyenwal Aoelsnud, who lived B. c. Al, and is styled in the Triads, "one of the three national pillars of the Isle of Britain" because " he reduced to a system the law,, customs, max inns and privileges appertaining to areopntrY and nation,"' Among his laws he says "There are three things which strengthen the tranquil ty of the neighboring country privileges, common form of government, and the science of wisdom, under the mutual protection of the neighboring country, emanating from union and national right" This alone would give a favor able idea of the civilization of ,he Cimbri in this most distant period. Between the date of this king, and the conquest of Britain by the Romans, but little reliable is known though, it would appear, that the inhabitants were divided into petty tribes anong, themselves, with to each tribe separate chieftan that when sbe Ro-. mans made their incursion, they joined together to resist them but, as we know, were finally obliged to yield to the persevering power of Casar, B. c. Gall, excepting those who pre- ferred to live among, or now prepared to banish tPesmssIges , so, the .naunsainous deales Of Cam. bria. And here, perhaps, the separate Welch history may be said to have commenced; for, although, in the n,cre thaa, four hundred years :that the Roman power remained domiuant in Britain, Wales became in great part subdusd, and several fortresses built within it's bounds; still, the more difficult regions of the mountain ous country remained ever in the possession of the rowing Welchmen, who .maRy times dsso|s- ted the Roman frontier, the sameas the Piets and Scots did from the northern Grampian hills. Of the numerous contests that continued be- tween these tga distinct races; of the hrayery' cruelty, or success of the Saxons; we can but sllude, in passing on to that hero of British be- ross, the great and chivalErous Arthur,
 Aythur Was q son of the prince of the Silu- sian Britons, whose country is now part of South Wales. His father had been chosen the head of a. confederacy of British chiefs, against the sa1ons. Upon his dsath, ,; Arthur was! by common voice elected his successor, and was crowned at Carleon. A, p. ST. AFthurfeught the sa1ons u4asr Cedric, twelve times. On the last battle, near Bath; he gained decided vic tory, SO as to be able to deelare his own terms of peace. There were three fair ladies in king Arthur's court so the Triads say. Alas that
 ladies fair are often incqnstant. In this case it might have: been against her will, but We read, " One wife was carried of by Aelva, king of Somersetshire, to Glastonbury. Arthur collect cd his friends from Cornwall and Dsvonshire to the rescue. To avert bloodshed, the clergy in terposed their counsels were respectfully lis tened to and followed: Melva restored, and Ar thur received the abducted queen and 90 pleas ed were both kings with the result, that they literally rewarded the monks of Glastonbury for their opportune intsrfsEsnce." Some time after thi. fortui.ous restorstion,' Aelrod, only son oi Arthurs sister Anna, 'lstt ss regent, alone with, won the affections of The queen. and passed with her-most wrongfully we protsst-a luck less night; he then joined himself, with the fac ton he controlled, to the Saxons, and against his uncle. In battle that followed, Arthur was killed, A. D. 542.
 E With Artbar,s death the British power yield
 ed more and more rapidly to the saxops until il
 became wholly. confined to the mountainous country of Wales, apd the neighboTing regior that lies between the We and the Severn. Dur ing the centuries that followed, thia district wa divided into six principalites under one kins
 who held the chief aathorissz: aPEut in the yea s4s, Roderic the Crest succeeded to the sove
 reignty, and he divided the kingdom into thre lparts, North and South Wales,;:a and Penrys
 These, during his life, were ruled by prince under him at his death they went to his son
 separstsly. Internal war between the new king
 doms naturally followed, until the year 24o, xhe1
 they were: again united; As the title would i'm
 ply, this king became renowned, not as q soldie, but as lawsiyer. During his reign, he devots