he was above threescore,) and his gout, which obliged
him to be carried in a litter, he transported himself in person into
that remote island, attended by his two sons, his whole court, and
a formidable army. He immediately passed the walls of Hadrian and
Antoninus, and entered the enemy's country, with a design of completing
the long attempted conquest of Britain. He penetrated to the northern
extremity of the island, without meeting an enemy. But the concealed
ambuscades of the Caledonians, who hung unseen on the rear and flanks of
his army, the coldness of the climate and the severity of a winter march
across the hills and morasses of Scotland, are reported to have cost the
Romans above fifty thousand men. The Caledonians at length yielded to
the powerful and obstinate attack, sued for peace, and surrendered a
part of their arms, and a large tract of territory. But their apparent
submission lasted no longer than the present terror. As soon as the
Roman legions had retired, they resumed their hostile independence.
Their restless spirit provoked Severus to send a new army into
Caledonia, with the most bloody orders, not to subdue, but to extirpate
the natives. They were saved by the death of their haughty enemy.

This Caledonian war, neither marked by decisive events, nor attended
with any important consequences, would ill deserve our attention; but it
is supposed, not without a considerable degree of probability, that the
invasion of Severus is connected with the most shining period of the
British history or fable. Fingal, whose fame, with that of his heroes
and bards, has been revived in our language by a recent publication, is
said to have commanded the Caledonians in that memorable juncture, to
have eluded the power of Severus, and to have obtained a signal victory
on the banks of the Carun, in which the son of the King of the World,
Caracul, fled from his arms along the fields of his pride. Something of
a doubtful mist still hangs over these Highland traditions; nor can
it be entirely dispelled by the most ingenious researches of modern
criticism; but if we could, with safety, indulge the pleasing
supposition, that Fingal lived, and that Ossian sung, the striking
contrast of the situation and manners of the contending nations might
amuse a philosophic mind. The parallel would be little to the advantage
of the more civilized people, if we compared the unrelenting revenge
of Severus with the generous clemency of Fing