"There is but little doubt, Berenice, that we despise these people
too much, still less that we treat them harshly and cruelly. Were
I propraetor of Britain, I would rule them differently. I am but the
commander of a legion, and my duty is but to rule my men. I would
punish, and punish sternly, all attempts at rising; but I would
give them no causes for discontent. We treat them as if their spirit
were altogether broken, as if they and their possessions were but
our chattels, as if they possessed no rights, not even the right to
live. Some day we shall find our mistake, and when the time comes
the awakening will be a rude one. It is partly because I see dimly
the storm gathering in the distance that I long to be home again.
As long as your mother lived this seemed a home to me, now I desire
rest and quiet. I have done my share of fighting, I have won honour
enough, and I may look before long to be a general; but I have
had enough of it, and long for my quiet villa in the Alban hills,
with an occasional visit to Rome, where you can take part in its
gaieties, and I can have the use of the libraries stored with the
learning of the world. So do not think harshly of Beric, my child;
he may see the distant storm more plainly than I do. I am sure that
he cares for us, and if he is glad at the news that we are going,
it is because he wishes us away and in safety before the trouble
comes.

"Nero has come to the imperial throne, and the men he is sending
hither are of a widely different stamp from the lieutenants of
Claudius. The latter knew that the Britons can fight, and that, wild
and untutored as they are, it needed all the skill and courage of
Ostorius and Vespasian to reduce them to order. The newcomers regard
them as slaves to be trampled upon, robbed, and ill used as they
choose. I am sure they will find their mistake. As long as they