m and traditions of the ancient inhabitants
were there preserved. In these distant retreats, at the foot of Snowdon,
in the valley of St. David's, beneath the trees of Caerleon, popular
singers accompany on their harps the old national poems; perhaps they
even begin to chaunt those tales telling of the exploits of a hero
destined to the highest renown in literature, King Arthur.

But in the heart of the country the national tongue had been for a long
time constantly losing ground; the Britons had learnt Latin, many of
them; they now forget it by degrees, as they had previously forgotten
Celtic, and learn instead the language of their new masters. It was one
of their national gifts, a precious and fatal one; they were swift to
learn.

In France the result of the Germanic conquest was totally different; the
Celtic language reappeared there no more than in England. It has only
survived in the extreme west.[39] But in France the Germanic idiom did
not overpower the Latin; the latter persisted, so much so that the
French tongue has remained a Romance language. This is owing to two
great causes. Firstly, the Germans came to France in much smaller
numbers than to England, and those that remained had been long in
contact with the Romans; secondly, the romanising of Gaul had been more
complete. Of all the provinces of the Empire, Gaul, the birthplace of
Cornelius Gallus, Trogus Pompeius, Domitius Afer, Petronius, Ausonius,
Sidonius Apollinaris, prided itself on speaking the purest Latin, and on
producing the best poets. Whether we take material monuments or literary
ones, the difference is the same in the two countries. In England
theatres, towers, temples, all marks of Latin civilisation, had been
erected, but not so numerous, massive, or strong that the invaders were
unable to destroy them. At the present time only shapeless remnants
exist above ground. In France, the barbarians came, plundered, burnt,
razed to the ground all they possibly could; but the work of destruction
was too great, the multitude of temples and palaces was more than their
strength was equal to, and the torch fell from their tired hands.
Whereas in England excavations are made in order to discover the
remains of ancient Latin civilisation, in France we need only raise our
eyes to behold them. Could the grave give up a Roman of the time of the
Caesars, he would still at this day be able to worship his divine
emperors in the temples of Nimes and Vienne; pa