85 



in the west, we may trace a perceptible difference, a gra- 

 dual advance, in the merits of the succeeding race, over 

 that which went before, both in energy of character, and 

 in the arts: of the Danes over the Saxons; of the Nor- 

 mans over the Danes. The Danes passed through a long 

 probation of hardy expedients and stern necessity, in their 

 native woods: they brooded over the gloomy and o-ioan- 

 tic conceptions, Avhich elevated the savage mind: they 

 formed their spirits in unison with the sublime and rugoed 

 scenery around them; which gave birth an^ nutriment to 

 wild and lofty ideas, and served to ennoble and render in- 

 teresting savage independence: they worshipped deities, 

 which their own free and heroic imaginations created. The 

 Normans command respect and admiration, more than the 

 Danes and Saxons: they were a band of soldiers, who 

 never fled before an enemy: they spread their warlike 

 hosts through Italy, Sicily and England: they Avere every 

 where feared, and looked upon as a superior race oif men : 

 their friendship was coveted, their enmity was deprecated. 

 As there was a gradation in prowess, personal gallantry, 

 warlike exploits and military fame, from the Saxons to the 

 Danes, from the Danes to the Normans; there Avas a si- 

 milai' and proportionable difference and gradation, in their 

 mental attainments, in the refinements of sentiment, in the 

 knowledge of all the arts of life, and a relish for elegance 

 and magnificence. We are told, by the historians of the 

 dark ages, that the Saxons produced the most horrible 

 desolations, wherever they came. This ^vas, partly, owing 



to. 



