INTRODUCTION. Xlll 



bulary we shall see evidence of the continuous advance of 

 a civilized race from the confines of India to these islands, 

 and nothing indicative of a great rush from the North of 

 wild hordes bent upon robbery and destruction, as it has 

 been usually represented to have been. The gradual dry- 

 ing of the Caspian Sea left the interior of Asia more and 

 more barren, the knowledge of the useful metals facilitated 

 the conquest of the savages of the West, and it is likely 

 that predatory bands of Huns and Turks and allied no- 

 madic nations accelerated the movement by rendering the 

 labours of agriculture less remunerative. Thus the migra- 

 tion, being one that proceeded from constantly acting 

 causes, extended over many centuries. Let us lay aside 

 all prepossessions, and inquire what light is thrown by 

 the following vocabulary upon the real state of the Ger- 

 manic tribes at that period. 



In these mere names of plants, setting aside all other 

 sources of information, we discover that these people 

 came from their home in the East with a knowledge of 

 letters, and the useful metals, and with nearly all the 

 domestic animals ; that they cultivated oats, barley, wheat, 

 rye, and beans ; built houses of timber, and thatched 

 them ; and, what is important, as showing that their 

 pasture and arable land was intermixed, and acknow- 

 ledged as private property, they hedged their fields and 

 fenced their gardens. Caesar denies this ; but the frontier 

 tribes, with whom he was acquainted, were living under 

 certain peculiar Mark laws, and were, in fact, little else 



b 



