lence and crime; and the atrocious act was committed
amid the revels over which Nero was presiding as master.

_CHAPTER III._

EARLY CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS IN BRITAIN.

[Illustration]

EARLY CELEBRATIONS IN BRITAIN.

It is recorded that there were "saints in Caesar's household," and we
have also the best authority for saying there were converts among
Roman soldiers. Cornelius, a Roman centurion, "was a just man and one
that feared God," and other Roman converts are referred to in
Scripture as having been found among the officers of the Roman Empire.
And although it is not known who first preached the Gospel in Britain,
it seems almost certain that Christianity entered with the Roman
invasion in A.D. 43. As in Palestine some of the earlier converts
served Christ secretly "for fear of the Jews," so, in all probability,
did they in Britain for fear of the Romans. We know that some
confessed Christ and closed their earthly career with the crown of
martyrdom. It is also certain that very early in the Christian era
Christmas was celebrated in Britain, mingling in its festivities some
of the winter-festival customs of the ancient Britons and the Roman
invaders, for traces of those celebrations are still seen in some of
the Christmas customs of modern times. Moreover, it is known that
Christians were tolerated in Britain by some of the Roman governors
before the days of Constantine. It was in the time of the fourth Roman
Emperor, Claudius, that part of Britain was first really conquered.
Claudius himself came over in the year 43, and his generals afterwards
went on with the war, conquering one after another of the British
chiefs, Caradoc, whom the Romans called Caractacus, holding out the
longest and the most bravely. This intrepid King of the Silurians, who
lived in South Wales and the neighbouring parts, withstood the Romans
for several years, but was at last defeated at a great battle,
supposed to have taken place in Shropshire, where there is a hill
still called Caer Caradoc. Caradoc and his family were taken prisoners
and led before the Emperor at Rome, when he made a remarkable speech
which has been preserved for us by Tacitus. When he saw the splendid
city of Rome, he wondered that an Emperor who lived in such splendour
should have meddled with his humble home in Britain; and in his
address before the Emperor Claudius, who received him seated on his
throne with the Empress Agrippina by his side, Caradoc