So that now we must come to speak of those times, and of thofe people, who fucceeded the Romans in the government of Britain; and they were the Saxons *. V. Of the SAXON, TEUTONIC, or German tongue. No fooner had the Romans quitted this island, than the Britons, who had fo long been difufed to arms, and indeed had no occafion for them, while they continued under the protection of the Romans, who were, as we obferved, no fooner withdrawn, than the Britons were overwhelmed with an inundation of Picts and Scots, who came pouring down upon them from the Northern parts of the kingdom, and brought defolation and deftruction with them wherever they roved in this deplorable fituation, exhaufted of their best forces, which had been drawn off by the Romans in their diftant colonies, actuated by their own fears, fenfible of their own inability to defend themselves against fuch a torrent of calamity, and induced by the counfels of Vortigern, their prince, who it seems was both wicked and unwarlike, they fent a deputation to the Saxons, a nation of Germany, (not claming any relationship with those people; which we might naturally fuppofe they would have done, had there ever subsisted any such alliance between Saxony and Britain; but it seems they only defired them) to come over to their affiftance +. *From this time we must bid adieu to all the refined language of Greece and Rome; we must now no longer be delighted with the powers of eloquence; but instead of the noble, open, and fonorous language of thofe people, we must now hear of nothing but the harsh, difcordant, guttural utterance of the different Teutonic dialects; instead of the smooth and eafy vowels of the Southern climates, our ears must now be tortured and tormented with the rude, rough, rugged confonants of all the Northern regions; and in this uneafy state did our language continue, till the times of the Reformation; when our princes and nobility began once more to ftudy Greek, under thofe two able mafters, Sir John Cheke, and Roger Afcham, who florifhed under Edward VI. Q. Elizabeth, and the Lady Jane Grey; which is generally known by the period of the Revival of learning and letters; for about that time was the noble art of Printing invented, in 1440; i. e. from the departure of the Romans about a thoufand years. + Verftegan, 118, fays, "heer by the way it may be noted, that it was but fomewhat more than twentie yeares, before the coming of the Saxons into Britain, that the Frankes, beeing a people alfo of Germanie, bordering neighbours vnto the Saxons, and fpeaking in effect one fame language with them, did, vnder Faramund, their leader and elected king, enter into the countrey of the Gaules; where they feated themfelues, and became in fyne the occafion that the whole countrey, after their name of Frankes, was called Frankenryc, that is to fay, the kingdome or poffeffion of the Frankes, and fince by abbreuiation, France:"-now here it is very remarkable, and what perhaps would have greatly furprised this good old Anglo-Saxon very much, to have heard it affirmed, that the names of France, and Franks, and French, are Greek: for, in the fame manner as the name of Saxons was given to thofe people, on account of the weapons they wore; fo likewife the French feem to have acquired their name from a fimilar circumftance; as may be feen under the article FRANKS, in the Work itfelf:-as to this arrival of the Saxons, it must be obferved here, that notwithstanding the filence of all modern hiftorians, this was very far from being the first time, that any of that nation had landed on this ifland; for our early writers tell us, that there had been great intercourfe between the Picts, Scots, and Saxons, in their feveral incurfions and depredations, fo high as in the time of Dioclefian; about the year 285 after Christ; and of Valentinian I. in 366 after Chrift, or about 80 years before the reign of Vortigern; and again in the time of Honorius, when Stilico gave them many defeats: i. e. 395 after Chrift; or in all, about 165 before the prefent period of their being invited over:-as to the people themselves, it is allowed that the Saxons were natives of Scythia, and migrated from thence, about Mount Taurus, to the Cimbrica Cherfonefus: the period of their migration is faid to be about the time of Woden, i. e. 2910 years before Chrift: under what appellation they were known, from that period to the time of Ptolemy, is uncertain; but Cafaubon tells us, that "Ptolemæus, qui primus, aut inter primos, illos memorat; in Cimbricâ Cherfonefo (quæ nunc Dania) et Balthici maris oris conflituit:"-but Ptolemæus lived about 140 after Chrift; which makes a period of above 3000 years from Woden to Ptolemy. dz Accordingly, he might have received from the Londoners, his reception was very far from being an amicable one; for he himself tells us, (lib. iv. 23) that as foon as "cum primis navibus Britanniam attigit, in omnibus collibus expofitas hoftium copias armatas confpexit:"-he faw on all the hills armed troops of enemies, drawn up in readiness to receive him; and his reception was a warm one in the military sense; for he himself acknowledges it was "pugnatum ab utrifque acriter;" ftoutly fought on both fides: his landing however, after fome difficulty, was made good; though not for any long continuance *. Cæfar was obliged to pay Britain a fecond vifit, the year following; and then indeed he penetrated fomething farther into their territories; but even yet he could not advance to any great distance from the coaft; Verulam, or St. Albans, feems to have been the fartheft of his progrefs Weftward +: nay, the Romans knew very little more than the outskirts of this ifland, for feveral years after Cæfar had been affaffinated; and did not so much as actually and experimentally know that Britain was an island, till the time of Agricola, who was the first Roman that ever failed intirely round it; which was performed by him in the 84th year after Chrift: i, e. above 130 after Cæfar's firft landing. Having thus far established the Romans on this ifland, it is fufficient: for our prefent purpose, thus to have fhewn, how we came at first acquainted with the Roman power in Britain :-it would not be confiftent with the bounds of a Preface, to speak more fully of their affairs, during their connexions with this ifland, which were carried on with a great variety of fuccefs, for the space of about five hundred years after Cæfar's first invasion; viz. to the time of the emperor Valentinian; when the affairs of the Roman empire became fo entangled, and were reduced to fo miferable a state, by the irruption now of Attila, king of the Huns, Goths, and Vandals, that the Senate were obliged to recall Gallio, and all the Roman forces from Britain; which event happened about 447 years after Chrift; a period long enough to have eftablished the Roman language, though not the Roman difcipline, among the inhabitants of this island. Sheringham, p. 14, obferves from Tacitus, that "antiquos Britannos in bello Gallis ferociores fuiffe; quod et Cæfar expertus eft, ab iifdem in primo congreffu fuo victus: quam cladem, ipfe licèt Cæfar filentio præterit, atque alii minuant, Lucanus clare innuit his verbis, Territa quæfitis oftendit terga Britannis; And to th' invaded Britons turn'd his back :" he expected to have found a few undifciplined favages; he met with foldiers both brave and numerous : -by the very particular manner in which Cæfar (lib. iv. 24, and 33) defcribes the method, in which the Britons attacked him with their effeda, or chariots armed with feithes, any one might fuppofe, as the commentators in the Variorum edition have fuppofed, that thofe chariots were either of British or Gaulish invention: "fi Servio credimus (fays D. Voff.) in Belgio inventa funt effeda :"—if by inventa he meant only were found in ufe, it might pafs; but if he meant found out, or invented, they were fo far from it, that Rollin, in his Antient Hiftory, vol. ii. 14, in fpeaking of Ninus, (who lived 2120 years before Chrift,) fays," after he had finifhed the building of Nineveh, he refumed his expedition against the Bactrians; his army, according to the relation of Ctefias, confifted of a million seven hundred thousand foot, and two hundred thoufand horfe; and about fixteen thousand chariots armed with fcythes "-if fuch a prodigious army is not rather too large for thofe very early ages of the world. "Cæfarem bis in Britanniam tra + Strabo, et Euftathius ad Dionyfium," fays Shering. p. 14, jeciffe, et brevi infecto negotio receffiffe, neque longiùs in infulam penetraffe, narrant: dede, quoi, διαβας εκει επανήλθε δια ταχέων, εδεν μεγα διαπραξαμενος, εδε προέλθων επι τὸ πολυ τῆς κησε. So So that now we must come to speak of thofe times, and of thofe people, who fucceeded the Romans in the government of Britain; and they were the Saxons *. V. Of the SAXON, TEUTONIC, or German tongue. No fooner had the Romans quitted this island, than the Britons, who had fo long been difufed to arms, and indeed had no occafion for them, while they continued under the protection of the Romans, who were, as we observed, no fooner withdrawn, than the Britons were overwhelmed with an inundation of Picts and Scots, who came pouring down upon them from the Northern parts of the kingdom, and brought defolation and deftruction with them wherever they roved in this deplorable fituation, exhaufted of their best forces, which had been drawn off by the Romans in their diftant colonies, actuated by their own fears, fenfible of their own inability to defend themselves against fuch a torrent of calamity, and induced by the counfels of Vortigern, their prince, who it seems was both wicked and unwarlike, they fent a deputation to the Saxons, a nation of Germany, (not claming any relationship with those people; which we might naturally fuppofe they would have done, had there ever fubfifted any fuch alliance between Saxony and Britain; but it feems they only defired them) to come over to their affiftance +. * From this time we must bid adieu to all the refined language of Greece and Rome; we must now no longer be delighted with the powers of eloquence; but instead of the noble, open, and fonorous language of those people, we muft now hear of nothing but the harsh, difcordant, guttural utterance of the different Teutonic dialects; instead of the smooth and eafy vowels of the Southern climates, our ears must now be tortured and tormented with the rude, rough, rugged confonants of all the Northern regions; and in this uneafy ftate did our language continue, till the times of the Reformation; when our princes and nobility began once more to ftudy Greek, under those two able mafters, ir Joha Cheke, and Roger Afcham, who florifhed under Edward VI. Q. Elizabeth, and the Lady Jane Grey; which is generally known by the period of the Revival of learning and letters; for about that time was the noble art of Printing invented, in 1440; i. e. from the departure of the Romans about a thoufand years. + Verftegan, 118, fays, "heer by the way it may be noted, that it was but fomewhat more than twentie yeares, before the coming of the Saxons into Britain, that the Frankes, beeing a people alfo of Germanie, bordering neighbours vnto the Saxons, and fpeaking in effect one fame language with them, did, vnder Faramund, their leader and elected king, enter into the countrey of the Gaules; where they feated themfelues, and became in fyne the occafion that the whole countrey, after their name of Frankes, was called Frankenryc, that is to fay, the kingdome or poffeffion of the Frankes, and fince by abbreuiation, France:"-now here it is very remarkable, and what perhaps would have greatly furprised this good old Anglo-Saxon very much, to have heard it affirmed, that the names of France, and Franks, and French, are Greek: for, in the fame manner as the name of Saxons was given to thofe people, on account of the weapons they wore; fo likewife the French feem to have acquired their name from a fimilar circumftance; as may be feen under the article FRANKS, in the Work itfelf:-as to this arrival of the Saxons, it must be observed here, that notwithstanding the filence of all modern hiftorians, this was very far from being the first time, that any of that nation had landed on this ifland; for our early writers tell us, that there had been great intercourfe between the Picts, Scots, and Saxons, in their feveral incurfions and depredations, fo high as in the time of Dioclefian; about the year 285 after Christ; and of Valentinian I. in 366 after Chrift, or about 80 years before the reign of Vortigern; and again in the time of Honorius, when Stilico gave them many defeats: i. e. 395 after Chrift; or in all, about 165 before the prefent period of their being invited over:-as to the people themfelves, it is allowed that the Saxons were natives of Scythia, and migrated from thence, about Mount Taurus, to the Cimbrica Cherfonefus: the period of their migration is faid to be about the time of Woden, i. e. 2910 years before Chrift: under what appellation they were known, from that period to the time of Ptolemy, is uncertain; but Cafaubon tells us, that "Ptolemæus, qui primus, aut inter primos, illos memorat; in Cimbricâ Cherfonefo (quæ nunc Dania) et Balthici maris oris conflituit:"-but Ptolemæus lived about 140 after Chrift; which makes a period of above 3000 years from Woden to Ptolemy. dz Accordingly, Accordingly, about the year 450 after Chrift, and in the fourth of king Vortigern, the Saxons to the number of fixteen hundred men, according to fome writers, came over to Britain but Verftegan and others tell us, that their forces amounted to the number of nyne thousand men, who, under the command of two brethren, Hengift and Horfa, landed at Ippedsfleet, now Ebbesfleet, or Weobesfleet, in the ifle of Thanet, in Kent *. Let us now attend to these new adventurers, if they may really be termed new, who it seems were called Saxons, only from the Seaxes, or weapons they wore ; which will likewife be found to be another Greek appellation in the *There are two or three things in this article, that deferve a more full confideration; viz. the number of troops and hips; the names of their leaders; and the place of their landing-with respect to their numbers, fome authors mention only fixteen hundred, which, confidering that they were called over to repell the fury of an enemy, who attacked the Britons for the fake of plunder; and confequently could expect no more, than what they could win by their fwords; the number of fixteen hundred feems to be by much too fmall for fuch a purpose: Verftegan, Baker, and others, therefore, have with greater probability made their numbers amount to nyne thowfand; but then, both they, and Milton, 131, make use of only three long gallies, cyula, or kyules (i. e. keels) to transport nine thousand men ;-great and long indeed muft they have been to contain three thousand men each :-but if 9,000 men came over in three keeles, then 120,000 more must have come over with Occa and Ebia, who fhortly after arrived with forty pinnaces: fuch credit is due to these exaggerated accounts!-Now as to the names of their leaders, Hengift and Horfa: (who are fuppofed to be defcended from Woden, in the third degree:-but to fhew the abfurdity of fuch a fuppofition, it will be fufficient to obferve, that Weden is faid to have florifhed about 2910 years before Chrift; to which must be added, 450 for the time of these two heroes; confequently they are diftant from their fuppofed progenitor 3360 years; and therefore their three intermediate ancestors must have each of them been 1120 years old)-it appears fomething remarkable, that the Saxons should have had two names for the fame animal, when sometimes we find, that they had not even one name for many other things; but here we are told, that Hengift, or rather Heng ft, is Saxon for a horfe; and that Horfa fignifies the fame thing; this might lead us to fuppofe, that Hengst, and Horfa, were only fynonymous terms for one and the fame perfon; but the antient annals of the Saxons put this out of doubt; for they write thus," Hengift and Horfa, in the year 455, fought against Vortigern (Vortimer rather, according to Speed) at Egelfthrip, now Aylesford, in Kent, where Horfa was flain, leaving his name to Horfted, the place of his burial :" Sammes, 472-however, whether these two names belong to one and the fame perfon, or whether they are different appellations for these two different chieftains, though fignifying the fame thing, is a point not material enough to detain us; but our British ancestors have given us another convincing proof of their knowledge in the Greek tongue, in a tranflation, of their own, refpecting the name or names of these two Saxon leaders; and that is in the appellation they gave to the place where they landed:-Verstegan, 117, tells us, that "the first anceters of English men came out of Germanie into Britaine, and aryued at Ippedsfleet, now called Ebsfleet, in the isle of Tanet, in Kent:"-Baker, in his Chronicle, p. 3, writes it Wippedsfleet; which is no more than prefixing the digamma before a vowel; many inftances of which may be found in our language; thus, what the Greeks wrote 'Telos, or Fulos, we write wet; what the Greeks wrote Alos, or Farlos, the Latins wrote ventus, and we write wind, &c. &c.: thus likewife the place where Hengft or Hengift landed, was from that circumstance denominated Ippedsfleet, or Wippedsfleet, contracted to Ebsfleet; to account for which, the authors on whom Milton, and Sammes, 472, rely for intelligence in this point, have been fo obliging as to kill us another Saxon chief, in order to fix his name to this place, near to which in a battle one Wipped, a Saxon earl, loft his life:"-now it would have been worth while, if either they, or Verftegan, or Baker, or any of our Saxon etymologifts, had inquired into the reason, why it received that appellation; instead of so conveniently killing that gentleman: the reafon then feems rather to have been this; our ancestors understanding Greek, gave the name of Ippedsfleet to this place, where Hengst their deliverer landed, because I was Greek for a Horfe; by a happy allufion to his name. According to the good old jingle of the learned Engelhufius, as quoted by Blount, in his Glossary; Quippe brevis gladius apud illos Saxa vocatur; Unde fibi Saxo nomen traxiffe putatur. For, a fhort fword by them Seax was named ; "Aventinus fub Neronis tempore Saxoniæ gentes appellat; Saxonum enim et Saxoniæ nomen in Septentrionalium gentium annalibus longe ante illa tempora occurrit; inter Græcos et Latinos fcriptores licet nemo ante Ptolemæum eorum meminit: Saxones enim fub Cæfaris ævo Cimbrorum nomine potiffimùm noti funt:" Shering. p. 30. Work Work itself; tho' Camden, and Milton, 129, tell us, that the "Saxons are thought by good writers to be defcended of the Saca, a kind of Scythian in the North of Afia; thence called Sacafons, contracted to Saxons, or fons of Saca, who with a flood of other Northern (Afiatic) nations, came into Europe, and using piracy from Denmark all along thofe feas, poffeffed all that coaft of Germany, and the Netherlands, which took thence the name of Old Saxony." Probable as this opinion may at first fight appear, it does not feem to be the true one; for, "to examine the lykelyhood of this," fays Verftegan, 18, "wee are to note, that the Saxons did neuer wryte, or call themfelues Saxons, but anciently Seaxen; and the fyllable en, at the end of woords, doth ferue instead of s, to fignify the plural number; as in brethren, children, oxen :"-and then in p. 21 and 2, he endeavours to fhew, that they were the Aborigines, or natives of Germany; which is only confeffing his ignorance of their origin; but however he admits, that they received a different appellation from their neighbours in the Cimbrica Cherfonefus, and, for the fake of distinction, were called Saxons from the weapons they wore: only here again, as we obferved above, the appellation is Greek; as will be found in the Work itself. To prove now the short-lived tranquillity of human affairs, when they rely for protection on foreign arms, and call over foreigners to defend them, the Saxons from being protectors, very foon became invaders, and presently sent over for five thousand more of their countrymen; and then entering into an alliance with the Picts and Scots, thofe very people whom they came over on purpose to drive out, turned their fwords against the Britons, thofe very people whom they had been invited over to defend !-To folve this intricacy, Verftegan seems to hint, that "the Britons were grown into great auerfion from their kyng, and no Lefs hatred vnto the Saxons; feeing that kyng Vortiger, a British kyng, had married Rowena, a Saxon lady, and neice to one of their generals, and had left his lawful wyf *”. This indeed would have been provocation enough to have juftified a revolt in the Britons, and for them to have joined the Picts and Scots against the Saxons; or at least an inducement fufficiently ftrong to have prompted the Saxons to have adhered to the interest of their host, united to them now the more firmly by the bonds of wedlock; and confequently to have fupported his cause against that of his rebellious subjects: on the contrary, the good old gentleman himself tells us, p. 130, that "on May day, both Vortiger and Hengift met on Salisburie plaine, either of them accompagned with his chiefeft lordes and followers; and there kyng Hingiftus prepared for them a feaft; and after the Britans were wel whitled with wyne, he fell to taunting and girding at them; wherevpon blowes infued; and the British nobillitie there prefent, beeing in all three hundreth, were all of them flaine; as VVilliam of Malmefburie reporteth; tho' others make the number more. Whatever truth there may be in this narration, the conduct of the Saxons appears rather perfidious, and feems to wear the face of treachery: perhaps the Saxons at this entertainment might have despised the weakness both of prince and nobles; and confequently might have looked on this as a proper opportunity * Nennius, William of Malmesbury, Henry of Huntingdon, Geoffry of Monmouth, Speed, and Sammes, with much greater probability, call Rowena the daughter of Hengift: and Shering. 14, adds yet another reafon for this revolt; viz. "quòd debitum militibus ftipendium non perfolverant." for |