544 
England; 
three cities were diftinguiflied above the reft by their fu- 
perior privileges and importance. Each of thefe cities, 
as in all the other juri'fdidtions of the empire, formed a 
legal corporation, for the purpofe of regulating their do- 
tneftic policy ; and tire powers of municipal government 
were diftributed among^annual magiftrates, a feleft fe- 
nate, and the aflembly of the people, according to the old 
model of the Roman conftitution. The management of 
a common revenue, the cxercife of civil and criminal 
jurifd’idtion, and the habits of public counfel and com¬ 
mand, were inherent to thefe petty republics ; and when 
they aliened their independence, the youth of the city, 
and of the adjacent diftridls, vvould naturally range them- 
1 'elves under the ftandard of the magiftrate. But tlie 
cle(ire of obtaining the advantages, and of efcaping tlie 
burthens, of a political fociety, is a perpetual and inex- 
hauftible fource of difcord ; nor can it reafonably be pre- 
fumed, that the reftoration of Britifh freedom was ex¬ 
empt from tumult and faction. 
The jurifdiction of each city over the adjacent coun¬ 
try, was fupported by the patrimonial influence of the 
principal fenators; and the finaller towns, the villages, 
and the proprietors of land, confulted their own fafety 
by adhering to the (belter of thefe riling republics. The 
fphere of their attraction was proportioned to the refpec- 
tive-degrees of their wealth and populonfnefs ; but the 
hereditary lords of ample pofleflions, who were not op- 
prefled by the neighbourhood of any powerful city, afpired 
to the rank of independent princes, and boldly exercifed 
the rights of peace and war. The gardens and villas, 
which exhibited fome faint imitation of Roman elegance, 
would foon be converted into ftrong cattles, the refuge, 
in time of danger, of the adjacent country : the produce 
of the land was applied to purchafe arms and horfe's; to 
maintain a ,military force of flaves, of peafants, and of 
licentious followers; and the chieftain might aflume, 
within his own domain, the powers of a civil magiftrate. 
Several of thefe Britifh chiefs might be the genuine pof- 
terity of their ancient kings ; and many more would be 
tempted to adopt this honourable genealogy, and to vin¬ 
dicate-th^ir hereditary claims, fo long fufpended by the 
ufurpation of the Ciefars. Their lituation and their 
hopes vvould difpofe them to affeCt the drefs, the lan¬ 
guage, and the cuftoms, of their anceftors. If the princes 
of Britain relap led into barbarifm, while the cities ftu- 
dioufly preferved the laws and manners of Rome, the 
w hole ifland muft have been gradually divided by tlje 
diftinCtkm of two national parties ; again broken intoa thou- 
iand fnbdi vilions of war and fablion, by the various provo¬ 
cations of intereft and refentment. The public ftrength, 
inftead of being united againft a foreign enemy, was thus 
confumed in obfeure and inteftine quarrels; and the per- 
ional merit which had placed a fucCefsful leader at the 
head of his equals, might enable him to fubdue the free¬ 
dom of fome neighbouring cities ; and to claim a rank 
among the tyrants, who infefted Britain after the diflblu- 
tion of the Roman government. 
The Britilli church might at that time be compofed of 
thirty or forty bifhops, with an adequate proportion of 
the inferior clergy ; and the want of riches (for they feem 
to have been very poor) would compel them to deferve 
the public efteem, by a decent and exemplary behaviour. 
The intereft, as well as the temper, of the clergy was 
favourable to the peace and union of their diltraCted 
country ; thofe falutary lefTons might be frequently in¬ 
culcated in their popular difeourfes ; and the epifcopal 
fynods were the only councils that could pretend to the 
weight and authority of a national aflembly. In fuch 
councils, where the princes and magiftrates fat promif- 
cuoufty with the bifhops, and the important affairs of the 
ftate, as well as of the church, might be freely debated ; 
differences reconciled, alliances formed, contributions im- 
pofed, wife refolutions concerted, and fometimes exe¬ 
cuted; and there is reafon to believe, that, in moments 
of extreme danger, a pendragon , or didtator, was elected 
by the general content of the Britons. Tliefe paftoral 
cares, fo worthy of the epifcopal character, were in¬ 
terrupted, however, by zeal and fuperftition; and the 
Britifh clergy inceflantly laboured to eradicate the Pela¬ 
gian herefy, which they abhorred, as the peculiar dif- 
grace of their native country. See Pelagius. 
About forty years after the diflblutio'n of the Roman 
government, Vortigern appears to have obtained the fu- 
pretne command of the princes and cities of Britain. 
That unfortunate monarch has been almoft unanimoufly 
condemned for the weak and mifehievous policy of in¬ 
viting a formidable ftranger, to repel the vexatious in¬ 
roads of a domeftic foe. His ambaifadors are difpatched, 
by the graved hiftorians, to the coaft of Germany ; they 
addrefs a pathetic oration to the general aflembly of the 
Saxons, and thofe warlike people refolve to afliit with a 
a fleet and army the fuppliants of a diftant and unknown 
ifland. If Britain had, indeed, been unknown to the Sax¬ 
ons, the meafure of its calamities would have been lefs 
complete. But the flrength of the Roman government 
could not always guard the maritime province againft the 
pirates of Germany: the independent and divided dates 
were expofed to their attacks ; and the Saxons often join¬ 
ed the Scots and the Pitts, in a tacit, or exprefs, confe¬ 
deracy of rapine and deftruCtion. Vortigern could only 
balance the various perils, which afl'aulted on every fide 
his throne and his people ; and his policy may deferve 
either praife or excufe, if he preferred the alliance of 
thofe barbarians, whofe naval power rendered them the 
moft dangerous enemies, and the mod ferviceable allies. 
Hengift and Horfa, as they ranged along the eaftern colift, 
with three (hips, were engaged, by the promife of an am¬ 
ple ftipend, to embrace the defence of Britain ; and their 
intrepid valour foon delivered the country from the Ca¬ 
ledonian invaders. The Ifle of Thanet, a fecure and fer¬ 
tile diftriCt, was allotted for the relidence of thefe Ger¬ 
man auxiliaries, and they were fupplied, according to the 
treaty, with a plentiful allowance of clothing and provi- 
fions. This favourable reception encouraged five thou* 
fand frefh warriors to embark with their families in feven- 
teen veftels, and the infant power of Hengift was fortified 
by this ftrong and feafonable reinforcement. The crafty 
barbarian fuggefted to Vortigern the obvious advantage 
of fixing, in the neighbourhood of the Pitts, a colony of 
faithful allies : a third fleet of forty fhips, under the 
command of his fon and nephew, then failed from Ger¬ 
many, ravaged the Orkneys, and difembarked a new army 
on the coaft of Northumberland. It was eafy to forefee, 
but it was impofflble to prevent, the impending evils. 
The two nations were foon divided and exafperated by 
mutual jealoufies. The Saxons magnified all that they 
had done arid fuflfered in the caufe of an ungrateful peo¬ 
ple ; while the Britons regretted the liberal rewards 
which could not fatisfy the avarice of thofe afpiring mer¬ 
cenaries. The caufes of fear and hatred were thus 1 in¬ 
flamed into an irreconcileable quarrel. 
Hengift, who had in view the conqueft of Britain, ex¬ 
horted his countrymen to embrace the favourable oppor¬ 
tunity : he painted in lively colours the fertility of the 
foil, the wealth of the cities, the puftllanimous temper 
of the natives, and the convenient filuation of a fpacious 
ifland, acceflible on all Tides to the Saxon fleets. The 
fucce'five colonies which iffued, in the period of a century, 
from the mouths of the'Elbe, the Wefer, and the Rhine, 
were principally compofed of three tribes, or nations of 
Germany, the Jutes, the old Saxons, and the Angles. 
The Jutes, who fought under the peculiar banner of 
Hengift, aflumed the merit of leading thair countrymen 
in the paths of glory, and of ereCting the firft indepen¬ 
dent kingdom. The fame of the enterprife was attri¬ 
buted to the primitive Saxons; and the common laws 
and language of the conquerors are defended by the na¬ 
tional appellation of a people, which, at the end of four 
hundred years, produced the firft moriarchs of South Bri¬ 
tain. The Angles were diftinguiflted by their numbers 
and 
