wn people. And herein were we in grave error, for we
needed all our strength, not to fight each other, but to fight our
common foes. Now it is our turn to pay the penalty for this, and it
shall be a heavy one.

"The insurgents, few in number as they were, and not powerful, bribed
the Saxon chieftains, who would else have lived peaceably enough among
us, by promises of plunder if they would join with them. And the
chieftains were the more readily persuaded to this, since it was a
righteous thing to uphold the old gods, and if there was reward for
doing it, in the way of booty, so much the better. The Romans who set
them on were pleased; the gods were pleased; the chieftains were
pleased. So here you have it, friends, the prime cause of our undoing.
It is our own people, of our blood and our speech, who, rebelling
against law and order, are stirring these Saxons against us. It is they
who have razed Augustan temples, destroyed holy relics, and slain
Augustan priests--they, and not the Saxons. I say again: when Britain
passes from our hands, it will not be by Saxon means, but primarily by
Roman treachery. And Saxons, profiting by our internal strife and their
own position, will reap the benefits."

He ceased; and his words hung in the silence of the room. They looked at
him, grave bearded men; and the truth of what he said was in their
faces.

"You speak as though we were in fault," said an old man, querulously,
far down the room. "Our fathers, not we, have done these things."

"Our fathers were Romans, and we are Romans, and their mistakes are our
heritage," said Pomponius, sternly.

"Let us have care that we leave no such heritage to those who shall call
us fathers."

"Britain is not out of our hands yet," said Aurelius. "And it is for us
to keep her there.--How?"

Again there fell a silence. Out of it a musing voice spoke.

"No troops in Britain; Gaul, our nearest help, beset by Huns.... But
Gaul is our only hope. We must ask AEtius for a legion as we did two
years ago."

A shrug went around the assembly. Plainly it said: "There is no other
thing to do."

"If we could but agree to act together in this!" said the old man. Men
called him Paulus Atropus, and bore with his senility for sake of what
he had been. "It would seem that in this matter there can be no room for
argument; we all must think alike for once. But should we not wait to
hear from those of our colleagues who are absent, before we move?"

"Wh