ANCIENT HISTORY. 



thefe people came from thofe countries that make 

 part of Low Saxony. 



XVI. All thefe people are frequently con- 

 founded with each other in hiftory; and fre- 

 quently, alib, the fame people was divided into 

 diiFcrent governments, which had each a parti- 

 cular name. All this has produced a chaos very 

 difficult to be reduced into any order. The 

 greatcft fatisfaclion is, that ic is of very little im- 

 portance, to the prefcnt inhabitants of civilized 

 Europe, to know the particular hiftories of all 

 tlu-fc barbarians; and that it is of no confequencc 

 if we do ibmetimes err in thefe matters. But ic 

 is not a matter fo infignificant to know the hif- 

 tory of thofe who have made a confpicuous figure 

 in the world, who have cither founded or pof- 

 fcfled grand i bvereignties in Europe ; and efpe- 

 rully thofc who fucc ceded the emperors of the 

 Weft, and became pofiefied of the ruins of their 

 monarchy. It is with this view that we flu 11 

 here treat of the hiftory of the empire of the 

 Weft, from the death of Romulus Auguftulus 

 to the time of Charlemagne : and when, in the 

 hiftory of empires, kingdoms, and other modern 

 flates, we (hall have occafion to fpeak of their 

 :\ and antiquities, we (Lall endeavour to in- 

 vcftigate the kind of eftablifhment that thefe 

 .nin<i people ir.ftituted in each one of them 

 in particular. 



XVII. It 



