ed to a seafaring life, served on board the fleet; which, being withdrawn at the same time as the legions, the island was completely stripped of its strength, both naval and military, when it was abandoned by the Romans.

The principal error of the Romans, and the grand source of all the misfortunes which afterwards befel the Britons was, that the former had never completed the conquest of the whole island. This evidently appears to have been the design of Agricola. If Domitian had permitted its accomplishment, beneficial consequences must have resulted. In that case there would have been no need of walls to prevent incursions from the north. After the complete conquest and civilization of the whole island, a much less military force would have been necessary; and, when at last the inroads of the northern nations obliged the Romans to withdraw their legions from the island, in order to concentrate the forces for the protection of their continental dominions, the Britons of the north, and of the south, would have been left all in the same manners, social habits, political institutions and interests, and without any hostile power on the island. In such circumstances, after having chosen a form of government for themselves, they would undoubtedly have ha sufficient strength to repel any foreign invasion, which, in that age, was likely to have been brought against them. It seems, indeed, that the Romans did not think the northern parts worth the trouble of conquering. By that fatal neglect, they rendered their conquest insecure; imposed on the country the expense of a numerous military establishment; and lost numbers of their soldiers in defending a precarious frontier.

In that helpless state of dereliction, in which the Britons were left when abandoned by the Romans, they could only rely on their own exertions for their defence, and they soon found themselves totally inadequate to the task. All the warlike inhabitants had been carried out of the country; and the greatest part of those left, consisted of the old and infirm, the luxurious and the profligate. In this deplorable situation, without order or discipline, harrassed by the incessant attacks of the Picts and Caledonians from the north, they were impelled,

by despair, to have recourse to the worst of all expedients, that of calling in one barbarous nation to protect them against another.

The Britons being left to themselves, although not destitute of courage in the field, were incapable of political union, and the Scots and Picts, taking advantage of the departure of the Roman legions, attacked the frontier; demolished many parts of the great wall; sacked the cities in its vicinity; destroyed the crops on the adjacent grounds; and, by repeated incursions, spread general desolation on the borders. It was in this emergency, that Vortigern, who had been elected king of the Britons, unable to resist his enemies, and mistrustful of his own subjects, called in to his assistance the Saxons, a warlike nation of Germany. They were composed of various tribes, and were equally noted for their ravages by land, and their piracies by sea. Their neglect of agriculture, as well as the other arts of peace, rendered them unable to provide for an increasing population, and impelled them to frequent migrations, which gradually brought them down to the sea coast, and induced them to undertake maritime expeditions. A view of their manners is given by Tacitus, in his description of the German nations, among whom they were included. Their natural characteristics were, the love of freedom and of arms. Their political system was extremely simple; their chiefs or kings had, in time of peace, a very limited authority; but in time of war, they were invested with ample powers. All public affairs were discussed in their general assemblies. Among the Saxons, when a young man had attained to the proper age for military service, he was introduced into the national assembly, where he received his arms, and was admitted a member. As they seldom resided above a year in the same place, the quantity of land to be cultivated; the division of its produce; the expeditions that were to be undertaken; and the direction of the next removal, were all regulated in this great council of the nation. To this they always came armed; for, among them, the name of citizen and soldier were synonimous.

Such are the outlines of the political constitution of the

Saxons, and the rest of the Germans. To their great national councils may be traced the parliaments, and other essential features of succeeding European systems; some of which are swallowed up in the gulph of despotism; others refined and improved into national liberty; but all of them successively modified, in conformity to the change of circumstances. The religion of the Saxons was a gross system of idolatry. Their princes pretended to be the descendants of their god Wodin, a famous chieftain, deified for his martial exploits. In Germany, as well as in Greece, imaginary gods were made engines of power in the hands of artful men.

The Saxons defeated the Picts and Caledonians; but, observing the weakness and disunion of the Britons, they soon conceived the hope of establishing themselves in a country, which agriculture and civilization had rendered much superior to their own. In this view, they concluded a treaty with the northern invaders, and turned their arms against the Britons. The Saxons being at that time a fierce, cruel, and rapacious people, spread desolation wherever they came; and converted the best cultivated districts into a dreary waste. All the cities and towns from the eastern to the western sea, with all the churches and public edifices, were consumed; and all who made any resistance were indiscriminately put to the sword. The desolation was so general, that the conquerors could not, at last, find provisions for their support.

The Britons having been constrained by necessity to take up arms were often victorious. It is no improbable conjecture, that if they had avoided intestine quarrels, and cordially united in the common cause, they might, eventually, have preserved their country. Experience itself could not teach them this salutary lesson. Whenever they obtained the least respite from foreign aggression, they relapsed into civil wars, which exhausted their strength, and diverted their attention from the means of providing for their future security.

During these times of desolation and distress, some of the Britons retired to Armorica, now Bretagne, a province of France. A large body also took refuge in Cornwall and Devonshire, where they for some time maintained a sort of pre

carious independency. But the last refuge of the Britons, and the most conspicuous seat of their independence, was that part of the island now called Wales. In that mountainous region, the relics of the British nation, in a great measure, relapsed into barbarism, and continued for some ages in that state. They were divided into petty principalities, in which their princes had a great, but ill defined power. The estates of the gentry were encumbered with numerous services. The common people were but little regarded, and industry was totally discouraged. The same impolitic conduct, which rendered them incapable of resisting the Saxons, continued when the contest was over. Sometimes their petty principalities were united under one sovereign; sometimes they were not only divided and independent of one another, but very frequently engaged in mutual hostilities. Their intestine quarrels always prevented them from pursuing any common interest; and private resentments domineered over every public consideration. Reiterated scenes of anarchy, and confirmed habits of rapine, rendered them inattentive to the arts of peace. Small villages, composed of mean huts, intermixed with a number of little churches, chapels, monasteries, and hermitages, were scattered over the country; but no new towns were built, and the old ones were suffered to fall into ruins. Predatory war became the great, and almost the only object of their pursuit. Thus, they lived without any respite from war, and without any regular political constitution or legislative system; sometimes conforming to their old customs, and sometimes directed by their clergy. At length Howel the Good, having united the different principalities, and obtained the sovereignty of all Wales, composed a complete code of laws, which were promulgated A. D. 943. The sequel of their history presents little else than a succession of the same scenes of depredation and restless hostility; until Edward I. annexed Wales to the English dominions, and thus effected the civilization of its inhabitants.

The seven

We now return to the affairs of the Saxons. kingdoms of the Heptarchy were not established at once, nor in consequence of any preconcerted plan; but at different pe

riods, extending from A. D. 457, till A. D. 627, and by the operation of various contingencies. Their names were Kent, Sussex, Wessex, Essex, Northumberland, East Anglia, and Mercia.

One hundred and seventy years elapsed, from the arrival of Hengist, to the complete establishment of the seven kingdoms; a length of time which sufficiently shews how difficult the expulsion of the Britons was found. During these calamitous times, war was the only subject of attention; scenes of desolation were widely spread, and the miseries of the inhabitants darken the pages of the histories of that age. All Europe, during this gloomy period, displayed a similar view: a dismal chasm, unenlightened by the rays of science, every where appears. No traces of literature, nor any marks of civilization appear, until the introduction of Christianity. Before that important event, no arts (except those of absolute necessity) had made any ad- · vancement. From this epoch, science and literature began to dawn among the Saxons. The rational and benevolent precepts of the gospel are found, by experience, to be eminently conducive to the improvement and happiness of society.

The different kingdoms which composed the Saxon Heptarchy, were involved in frequent wars; and their public affairs often ill managed. Egbert, king of the West Saxons, observing their debilitated and unsettled state, projected the design of their conquest, or at least of their coalition, under his own paramount government. He ascended the throne of the West Saxon kingdom, A. D. 800, and immediately began to meditate his grand design. His military operations commenced by the reduction of West Wales, which was followed by that of Mercia. The reduction of the kingdom of Northumberland, A. D. 827, ten years after that of Mercia, completed the extinction of the Heptarchy, after it had subsisted about 200 years. In the course of this period 96 kings reigned in England.

The Northumberland and Mercian kingdoms, both remained under the tributary government of their own princes, who reigned as vassals to Egbert. He summoned a general assembly at Winchester, and declared that the kingdom should