Boadicea

“ Boadicea in her girlhood must have been rather like Jane Hubbard.
She smoked contentedly. She had rolled her cigarette herself with one hand, a feat beyond the powers of all but the very greatest. She was pleasantly tired after walking eighty-five times round the promenade deck. Soon she would go to bed and fall asleep the moment her head touched the pillow. But meanwhile she lingered here, for she felt that Billie had something to confide in her.
"Jane," said Billie, "have you ever been in love?"
Jane Hubbard knocked the ash off her cigarette. ”

“ She was the daughter of Cadalla, King of the Brigantes; and, through her mother, Europeia, daughter of Evanus, King of Scotland, she claimed descent from the kings of Troy and the Ptolemies of Egypt.
Boadicea's career was a sad and a stormy one from first to last. At an early age she was compelled by her step-mother, the wicked, ambitious, Cartismandua, to marry Arviragus, son of that queen by her first husband, King Cymbeline. Arviragus was King of the Iceni, who possessed a great part of Essex, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire. ”

“ Boadicea, queen of a tribe of ancient Britons. Her husband having been killed by the Romans, she took the field in person. She was defeated and committed suicide.
Boaner ́ges (4 syl.) , a declamatory pet parson, who anathematizes all except his own "elect." "He preaches real rousing-up discourses, but sits down pleasantly to his tea, and makes hisself friendly."—Mrs. Oliphant, Salem Chapel.
A protestant Boanerges, visiting Birmingham,
sent an invitation to Dr. ”

“ Women, too, sprang up to defend the land against Roman invaders, and amongst them we get a mention of one of the first-named Queens in old British history. A glimpse of her conduct illumines for a moment these barbaric times.
Boadicea, the widowed Queen of Prasutagus, King of the Iceni tribe, inhabiting Norfolk, burned with indignation at the insults offered to herself and her daughters by the Roman governors. Her own fierce courage inspired her people, and she proudly led the tribes, over which she still held sway, against Colchester, the headquarters of the Romans in the east. ”

“ Paulinus, in the mean time suddenly returning, marched against the revolted Britons, who had an army of 100,000, or, according to Dion Cassius, 230,000 strong, under the conduct of Boadicea, and Venutius her general. The fine person of Boadicea, large, fair, and dignified, with her undaunted courage, persuaded the people that she must have all the qualities of a good general; and, eager for the engagement with Paulinus, whose army consisted of no more than 10,000 men, she expected to satiate her revenge, by the utter destruction of so inconsiderable an enemy. ”

“ The Iceni did their best to get ready to defend themselves, but many of their brave men had been slain and others were wounded and weary, so they could not hope again to win a victory over their strong foes. Before the battle, Queen Boadicea, with her fair hair waving in the wind, stood before her soldiers and spoke to them. She told them of the wrong which the Romans had done, and begged them to fight bravely for their country. ”

“ Horma, a wandering hag.
Scene: A Hall of hewn wood, on the island of Mona, in which Boadicea sits enthroned and attended. On her right, warriors, long-haired, [Pg 136] mustached and painted with woad. On the left, a band of Druids robed in white: among them Brude, whom she watches jealously from time to time. On the floor in front of her cringes Lamora, held by Cormo.
Boadicea. Britons, hear!
Ye know how my lord,
Caerleon's liege,
Swore feal to the Romans
His lorn wife and daughters—
When the wolf, Death,
Gnawed life from his heart. ”

“ On the other hand, Boadicea could only have inherited her good-temper from Chloe, who without doubt was the most good-tempered dame alive.
Now it is quite true that any one who cares to rise early enough in the morning may gather mushrooms, and plenty of them, too, but those who do so only now and again, and merely for amusement, little know the hard life of the professional gatherer, or the skill and judgment he has to cultivate in order to carry on his work with any success. ”

“ This baptism excited a good deal of comment in Seaton. It was said that Boadicea had taken a stick to her husband to assist his conversion, and that, at the beginning, poor Joe was no more a Catholic than Sganarelle the wood-cutter was a doctor; but, however that may have been, he certainly became afterward a most exemplary Catholic, as far as he went. And it is likely that He who sees through all outward forms, and scorns only the scorner, received these humble penitents with a welcome as fatherly as that accorded to any illustrious convert. ”

“ In this book he tries to prove that Bernard (Sapiens) , Alcuin, Boniface and Joannes Scotus Erigena were all Scots, and even Boadicea becomes a Scottish author. This criticism is not applicable to his works on antiquarian subjects, and his edition of Benedetto Accolti’s De bello a Christianis contra barbaros (1623) has great merits. ”

“ Probably the great quantity of coin found in this ditch, was thrown in by the Roman inhabitants of this city, for its preservation, at the approach of Boadicea, at the head of her army; but all the Roman citizens, without distinction of age or sex, being barbarously massacred by the justly enraged Britons, it was not discovered till this time. Besides the above mentioned antiquities, several things of a more modern date were discovered, as arrow heads, scales, seals, with the proprietors names upon them in Saxon characters ”

“ As for the places mentioned in Redwald's story, the well on Caldbec hill still has its terrors for the village folk, and the destruction of the ancient mining village at Penhurst by the Danes is remembered yet with strange tales of treasure found among its stone buildings. The Bures folk still speak of the White Lady of the Mere, and their belief that Boadicea lies under the great mound is by no means unlikely to be a tradition of her true resting place. ”

“ South of Phocis is Boeotia, which is a large hollow basin, enclosed on every side by mountains, which prevent the waters from flowing into the sea. Hence the atmosphere was damp and thick, to which circumstance the witty Athenians attributed the dullness of the inhabitants. Thebes was the chief city of Boeotia. South of Boeotia lies ATTICA, which is in the form of a triangle, having two of its sides washed by the sea and its base united to the land. Its soil is light and dry and is better adapted for the growth of fruit than of corn. ”

“ Owing to Bodiker’s persisting in taking a long rest in the shade of the bamboo, which appeared as impenetrable as the wall of China, and to the painfully slow process of wriggling through the dense canes, they emerged just in time to get a glimpse of a bare and rugged pile of rocks against the vermilion and orange glow of sunset.
While the boys were lighting a fire and pitching the tent in the dark, Bodiker grouched sourly that it was Plessons’ fault; he ought to have known this and known that. ”

“ The bodach (lit. a carle, an old man) is perhaps the commonest form of Baucan, so common that in some districts, e.g. the Lord Reay country (Dùthaich Mhic Aoi) , as the seven parishes nearest to Cape Wrath are called, they have no other name for apparitions or terrifying objects seen at night. It is the figure of a man, who is no “living wight,” seen at night, and as may readily be imagined, this kind of apparition is frequently seen when children are obstreperous, querulous, or crying without cause, as their manner is. ”

“ Veneda strode briskly along, occupied with his own thoughts. But strange though it may seem, he was not thinking of the scene he had just left, nor of the impending battle of the morrow; he was recalling a certain box and letter he had despatched to a London merchant a week previous, and reflecting that by the time the Society could discover his treachery, he would in all probability be on the high seas, far beyond the [Pg 43] reach of vengeance or defeat. There was only one thing; at any risk he must prevent the woman Juanita from suspecting his intentions. ”

“ The Baudas resemble our long-legged gnats, although their proboscis, with which they bore through a triple fold of strong linen, appears to me longer. Their head is blue; the back dun-coloured, and their legs are covered with white [165] specks, like small pearls. Another kind has shorter and stronger legs, a thicker body, of a brown-colour, with a red head and iris-hued posteriors.
The crew are quite wearied from sleepless nights, and rowing must be given up if the calm continues, although we find ourselves in a canal whose water propels us so little that we do not cast anchor. ”

“ Darest thou mistrust my bravest warrior?"
"What wise king will trust the idol of the king's army? Did Boabdil fall to-morrow by a chance javelin, in the field, whom would the nobles and the warriors place upon his throne? Doth it require an enchanter's lore to whisper to thy heart the answer in the name of 'Muza'?"
"Oh, wretched state! oh, miserable king!" exclaimed Boabdil, in a tone of great anguish. "I never had a father. I have now no people; a little while, and I shall have no country. Am I never to have a friend?" ”

“ Boague, and really Stephen's cream-pot brings out the flavour of the tea. It's a grand idea, I must give Mr. Sangster some the next time he is kept late at a meeting of the Presbytery or the Kirk-session. He comes home so tired sometimes. These are searching times, Mrs. Boague, we have all need to keep our loins girded and our lamps burning. But you know that yourself, Mrs. Boague. And a sweet quiet home you have here, and such fine healthy children. It must be sweet to live here in the great solitude of nature, and most imposing. ”

“ Why mention others, when Boeotia, in old times full of voices with her oracles, has now been quite deserted, as though by sources of |F| water, and a great drought of prophecy has possessed the land? Nowhere, except round Lebadeia, has Boeotia anything to give to those who wish to draw water from prophetic art ”

“ Boabdil, at the head of his chosen guard, the flower of the haughtier tribe of nobles who were jealous of the fame and blood of the tribe of Muza, and followed also by his gigantic Ethiopians, exposed his person to every peril, with the desperate valour of a man who feels his own stake is greatest in the field. ”

“ Naval adventurers were now invited from all parts to the town of Sagrez, and in 1418 Juan Gonsalez Zarco and Tristran Vaz set sail on an expedition of discovery, the circumstances of which give us a striking picture of the state of navigation ere it was remodelled by the genius of Henry.
Cape Bojador, so named from its extent, [46] runs about forty leagues to the westward, and for about six leagues off land there is a most violent current, which, dashing upon the shallows, makes a tempestuous sea. ”

“ The smoke from the larger fire rolled back with the wind, and Beatrice felt her eyes sting. Flakes of blackened grass and ashes rained upon the hill-top, and Rex moved uneasily and pawed at the dry sod. To him a prairie-fire was not beautiful—it was an enemy to run from. He twitched his reins from Beatrice's heedless fingers and decamped toward home, paying no attention whatever to the command of his mistress to stop. ”

“ In the middle of the afternoon, he arrived at his journey’s end.
He entered into the reception-room of Boa’s house, and found him sitting there. Boa welcomed him, and said to his wife, “Prepare food for our guest, Etoli!” And he said to Rat, “Stranger! eat! And then you will tell me what is the message you have brought.”
Rat ate and finished, and began to tell his message thus:—He said, “In our country we have nothing there but hunger. But there is there a tree, and this is its fruit. Whether it is fit to be eaten or not, you will tell us.” Boa replied, “That tree is Bojabi ”

“ With the quick sense of dignity common to the great, and yet more to the fallen, Boabdil felt, but resented not, the pride of the ecclesiastic. “Go, Christian,” said he, mildly, “the gates of the Alhambra are open, and Allah has bestowed the palace and the city upon your king: may his virtues atone the faults of Boabdil!” So saying, and waiting no answer, he rode on, without looking to the right or left. The Spaniards also pursued their way. The sun had fairly risen above the mountains, when Boabdil and his train beheld, from the eminence on which they were, the whole armament of Spain ”

“ Boethius has often been regarded as a last representative of Roman statesmanship and of classical civilization. His defense of Roman provincials against the greed of the Goths, his stand even unto death against Theodoric on behalf of the rights of the Roman senate and people, his preservation through translation of the learned treatises of expiring antiquity, [Pg 620] and the almost classical Latin style and numerous allusions to pagan mythology of The Consolation of Philosophy:—all these combine to support this view. ”

“ I must risk the charge of being called a Fatalist when I affirm that I honestly believe that everything in our lives, down to the most trifling circumstance, is mapped out for us beforehand by an all-wise Providence to bring about a certain pre-arranged result. If this is not so, why did I give up the sea?—why was I allowed to meet Juanita and the Albino?—and why was I brought to Batavia? Could it have been only chance that led me to rescue Veneda, and by so doing to work out my own ultimate—but there you must let me cry a halt ”