Rochester, you may be sure the Romans had a military station in the neighbourhood. The soldiers, in time of peace, were employed in making roads, bridges, fortifications, and other public works. People built handsome houses and towns, and cultivated the land, so that in a few years there was an appearance of civilization over England.

By this time also the doctrines of Christianity had made great progress throughout the Roman Empire, and about 150 years after Christ, they were introduced · into England, where they were willingly received by both the British and Roman inhabitants, so that in a few generations the religion of the conquered Britons was almost destroyed. Still later the people themselves disappeared, and there are now scarcely any traces left in England of the first dwellers on British ground. The few that remain refer to their religious observances. The Druids appear not to have made any buildings that could be called Temples, but they collected a number of enormous stones together and placed them in a circle, within which they performed their ceremonies. A very perfect circle of this kind is still standing near Keswick, several are seen in Wales and Cornwall, and the famous Stonehenge near Salisbury, of which some stones are twenty feet high, appears to have been the chief Cathedral of the Island.

We often find on the Downs, small mounds of turf, and on digging into them come generally to burnt bones and arrow heads, and other weapons, enclosed in a rude earthenware jar. These are the remains and relics of some brave British warrior, who was honored by being buried in a conspicuous place not likely to be disturbed.

The Romans continued to govern and cultivate England till about 400 years after Christ, when some events happened which completely changed the state of affairs all over Europe, and influenced its whole future destiny.

The country to the east of the Rhine and Danube, as far as the great plains of Tartary, was inhabited by tribes of very fierce Barbarians, who lived almost

entirely by hunting. As these people increased in numbers, they were obliged to seek fresh hunting grounds, and from time to time for nearly 1000 years, many tribes had wandered into France and the north of Italy to the great annoyance and alarm of the Romans. At the time we are speaking of, however, about 400 years after Christ, hordes of these Barbarians followed one another in quick succession, and were known by the names of Goths, Vandals, and Huns. They were quite irresistible from their numbers and courage, and settled themselves, after fighting a great deal with the Romans, all over the countries of Europe, and were to some extent the ancestors of the modern French, Germans, Dutch and Spaniards. They even penetrated as far as Rome, which they took and pillaged, but did not settle in sufficient numbers in Italy to completely destroy the old Roman civilization there. Every trace of it, however, was swept away in the rest of Europe. The fine buildings were destroyed, the towns pillaged, and their inhabitants, who had been living in ease and luxury, all killed or made slaves.

The leaders of these invaders divided the land among their principal followers; who, in their turn became little sovereigns on these estates, and were only bound to follow their chief when he went to battle.

Although these nations, after dividing the land, abandoned their wandering habits, they remained in almost their original state of barbarism for nearly five centuries, at the end of which period, an improvement in morals and manners began, which in the course of time, produced the civilization of modern Europe.

The Barbarians did not cross the British Channel when they settled themselves over the continent, but it was impossible for the Romans to spare any soldiers to govern and protect this distant Island, and they accordingly left it very quickly, so that in the year 409 a.d., Britain was again an independent country.

HOW SILK IS OBTAINED.

EVERYONE knows what silk is; but have you ever, asked yourselves whence it comes? Do you know

that this most curious of all the raw materials of manufacture is little better than the intestines of a caterpillar? and that the discovery was made in China, from which country it spread to Japan, to Siam, to Hindustan, to Persia, to Greece, to Italy, to France? And to all these countries, except France, which consumes all its own produce, we are indebted for our supplies; as, in our changeable and comparatively cold climate, we can rear no silkworms, any more than we can produce cotton, or coffee, or cinnamon. Now, let me transport you to Hoo-chow-foo, the City of the Lakes, and the capital of the principal silk country of China; which country, in the season of 1853-4, exported upwards of 58,000 bales of raw silk. To reach this city we have to pass through a most extraordinary part of the country—a district of lakes, extending in all directions for many miles, sometimes so narrow as to have the appearance of canals, and then again expanding into large sheets of water. Though a dreary-looking region as far as the low shores are concerned, the lakes are lively enough with the numerous white and brown sails of boats making for the mouths of the various canals, which form the highways to the large towns and cities in this part of China. A very fine canal leads to the city of Hoo-chow-foo, to which we are bound; on one side it has a substantial paved pathway, which is a highroad to foot passengers. The country round about is now exceedingly rich and fertile, and fine groves of mulberry trees in cultivation in the fields may be seen in all directions. It is the leaves and young shoots of mulberry trees which form the food of the silkworm. The natives here seem well-to-do in the world, having plenty of work without oppression, and enough to procure the necessaries and simple luxuries of life. Their joyous and contented songs may be heard pleasantly, as they labour amongst the mulberry plantations and rice fields. Robert Fortune, who has

published a narrative of scenes and adventures during a third visit to China, from 1853 to 1856, says, noticing the beautiful scenery in this district: "I determined to moor my boat to the banks of the river, and remain in the neighbourhood for a few days. As I was going up the road, in the direction of the temple, I met an old respectable-looking priest, carrying a kind of flute, or flageolet, in his hand, which he induced now and then to give out not unmusical sounds. His head was shaven after the manner of the priests of Buddha, but the three nails on his left hand were each about two inches in length, denoting that he did not earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, and that, in fact, he was one of the superiors in the order to which he belonged. This old gentleman met me in the most dignified manner, and did not express the least surprise at seeing a foreigner so far from home. He asked me to accompany him home to his temple, and when we arrived there he introduced me to his own quarters, and desired his servants to set tea and cakes before me. He then led me over all the halls and temples of the monastery, which, although very extensive, were in a most dilapidated condition. The halls and outhouses of the monastery seemed to be converted, for the time, into a place for feeding silkworms. Millions of these little animals were feeding in round sieves, placed one above another, in open framework made for this purpose. So great was the number of the worms, that every sieve and there must have been many hundreds of them was crammed quite full. In one large hall I observed the floor completely covered with worms. I shall never forget the peculiar sound which fell upon my ear as I opened the door of this hall. It was early in the morning. The worms had been just fed, and were at the time eagerly devouring the fresh leaves of the mulberry. Hundreds of thousands of little mouths were munching the leaves, and, in the stillness around, this sound was very striking and peculiar. The place, too, seemed so strange-a temple, a place of worship, with many huge idols, some from twenty to thirty feet in height, looking down upon the scene on the floor.

But to a Chinese there is nothing improper in converting a temple into a granary or a silkworm establishment for a short time, if it is required; and I suppose the gods of the place are supposed to look down with approbation on such scenes of peaceful industry. When, from the large number of worms, it is necessary to feed them on floors of rooms and halls, there is always a

-the silkworm.

d-the chrysalis to which it turns after weaving the cocoon. a and b-the moths that come from the chrysalis. c-the eggs.

layer of straw laid down to keep them off the damp ground. This mode of treatment is resorted to from necessity, and not from choice. The sieves of the establishment, used in the framework I have already noticed, are greatly preferred. Whether the worms are fed on sieves or on the floor, they are invariably