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II.

The Jutes.

the league of the Francs, abandoned it, 'to share the easier warfare and ampler booty of the Saxons. At last this successful people diffused themselves into the interior of Germany so victoriously, that the vast tracts of country embraced by the Elbe, the Sala, and the Rhine, became subjected to their powers, in addition to their ancient territory from the Elbe to the Eyder. An old Belgic chronicle in rhyme, makes Neder Sassen, Lower Saxony, to have been confined by the Scheld and the Meuse 5; but this is a larger extent than others admit.

4

But those allies of the Saxons with whom the history of Britain is most connected, were the Jutes and Angles. The Jutes inhabited Jutland, or rather that part of it which was formerly called South Jutland 6, but which is now known as the duchy of Sleswick. The little band first introduced into England by Hengist and Horsa were Jutes. Their name has been written with all the caprices of orthography.7

That continental Saxony at last extended to the Rhine is affirmed by Adam of Bremen, p. 3.; and see the later writers. Chrytæus, 72.; et Proem. Krantz Saxon, p. 5. Spener Notit. 2 vol. 400-413. Eginhart, the secretary of Charlemagne, says, p. 7., that in his time, Saxony Germaniæ pars non modica est.

The Saxon poet commemorates the Saxons to have retained this region in the time of Charlemagne :

5

Saxonum populus quidam quos claudit ab austro
Albia sejunctum positos Aquilonis ad axem,

Hos Northalbingos patrio sermone vocamus.

Ap. Du Chesne, Hist. Fran. Script. 2. p. 160.

Oude bocken hoor ick gewagen,

Dat all t'land beneden Nyemagen,
Wilen neder Sassen hiet,

Alsoo als die stroom verschiet
Van der Maze ende van den Rhyn,
Die Schelt was dat westende syn.

Schilt. Thes. 706.

I have heard that old books say,
That all the land beneath Nyemagen
Whilom was called Nether Saxony,

Also that the stream

Of the Maes and the Rhine confined it:

The Scheld was its western end.

6 Chrytæus, Saxon. 65. Pont. Chor. Dann. 655.

7 As Geatum, Giotæ, Jutæ, Gutæ, Geatani, Jotuni, Jetæ, Juitæ, Vitæ, &c. The Vetus Chronicon Holsatiæ, p. 54., says the Danes and Jutes are Jews of the tribe of Dan! and Munster as wisely calls the Helvetii, Hill-vitæ, or Jutes of the

CHAP.
V.

Angles.

The Angles have been derived from different parts of the north of Germany. Engern, in Westphalia, was a favourite position, because it seemed to suit the The geography of Tacitus. Angloen, in Pomerania, had good pretensions, from the similarity of its name; and part of the duchies of Mecklenburgh and Lunenburg was chosen out of respect to Ptolemy; but the assertion of Bede and Alfred, which Camden has adopted, has, from its truth, prevailed over all. In the days of Tacitus and Ptolemy, the Angli may have been in Westphalia or Mecklenburg, or elsewhere; but at the era of the Saxon invasion they were resident in the district of Anglen, in the duchy of Sleswick.8

The duchy of Sleswick extends from the river Levesou, north of Kiel, to the Tobesket, on which stands Colding; but that particular position, which an ancient Saxon author calls Old England, extends from the city of Sleswick to Flensberg. Sleswick was the capital of Anglen, and was distinguished, in the eleventh century, for its population and wealth."

s Bede's words are: "De illa patria, quæ Angulus dicitur et ab eo tempore usque hodie, manere desertus inter provincias Jutarum et Saxonum perhibetur,” lib. i. c. 15. His royal translator's expressions are similar: "Is tha land betwyh Geatum and Seaxum. Is sæd of thære tide the hi thanon gewiton oth to dæge tha hit west wunige," p. 483. Alfred, in his Orosius, alluding to the Danish countries on the Baltic, says, "on thæm landum eardodon Engle ær hi hider on land coman." Camden, in his introduction, attributes to the Angles the German cities Engelheim, where Charlemagne was born, Ingolstad, Engleburg, Engelrute; and Angleria, in Italy.

9 Pontanus, Geographia, 655, 656. It is our Ethelwerd who gives us the ancient site of the Angles most exactly. Anglia vetus sita est inter Saxones et Giotos, habens oppidum capitale quod sermone Saxonico Sleswic nuncupatur, secundum vero Danos, Haithabay, p. 833. Some, who admit this situation, will not allow that the Angli were German emigrants. Schilter's Glos. p. 49. Wormius derives them from the Jutes. Literat. Runica, p. 29. This is a mere supposition.

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As Tacitus notices Angli in Germany, but does not specifically mention Jutes, a speculative reasoner might with greater probability, make the Angli the parents of the Jutes. That they were kindred nations is clear from the identity of their language. Our Kentish Jutes have always talked as good English as our Mercian, and Norfolk, and Yorkshire Angles. Jutes, Angles, and Saxons seem to have been coeval twigs of the same Teutonic branch of the great Scythian or Gothic tree. Some dialectic differences of pronunciation may be traced, but no real diversity of language.

BOOK
II.

A.D.

368.

The Sax

ons attack Britain:

CHAP. VI.

Sequel of their History to the Period of the ANGLO-SAXON
Invasion.

WHILE the Saxons were in this state of progressive greatness, in the fourth century, the prosperity and contiguity of Britain invited their frequent visits; and their attacks were favoured by the incursions of other enemies, who are called by the historians Picti, Scoti, and Attacotti.

In a similar combination of hostilities, Nectaridus, the commander of the Saxon shore, was slain, and the general of the island, Fullo-faudes, perished in an ambush. Several officers were sent by the Roman emperors to succeed them; but their exertions being inadequate to the necessity, Theodosius, an experienced and successful leader, was appointed by Valentinian in their room. The Picts and the cooperating tribes attacked from the north, while the Saxons and their allies assaulted the maritime coasts. Theodosius, from Richborough, marched towards London, and dividing his army into battalions, correspondent to the positions of the enemies, he attacked the robbers incumbered with their plunder. The bands that were carrying away the manacled inhabitants and their cattle, he destroyed, and regained the spoil; of this he distributed a small share among are defeated his wearied soldiers; the residue he restored to its and entered the city, wondering at its sudden deliverance, with the glories of an ovation.

by Theodosius.

owners,

Lessoned by experience, and instructed by the confessions of the captives and deserters, he combated

this mixture of enemies, with well-combined artifice and unexpected attacks. To recall those who in the confusion, from fear or from cowardice, had abandoned their ranks or their allegiance, he proclaimed an amnesty1; and to complete the benefit he had begun, he prosecuted the war with vigour in the north of Britain. He prevented by judicious movements the meditated attack; and hence the Orkneys became the scene of his triumphs. The Saxons, strong in their numbers and intrepidity, sustained several naval encounters before they yielded to his genius.2 They ceased at last to molest the tranquillity of Britain, and the addition of a deserved surname, Saxonicus, proclaimed the services of Theodosius.3 He added the province of Valentia to Roman Britain, restored the deserted garrisons, and coerced the unruly borderers by judicious stations and a vigilant defence.1

СНАР.

VI.

370.

Defeated

mans on the

continent.

The Saxon confederation might be defeated, but was not subdued. Such was its power, that they by the Rowere now bold enough to defy the Roman armies by land, and invaded the regions on the Rhine with a formidable force. The imperial general was unable to repulse them; a reinforcement encouraged him. The Saxons declined a battle, and sued for an amicable accommodation. It was granted. A number of the youth fit for war was given to the Romans to augment their armies; the rest were to retire unmolested. The Romans were not ashamed to confess their dread of the invaders by a perfidious violation

1 Am. Marcel. lib. xxvii. c. 8. p. 283.

2 Claud. 4 Cons. Hon. 31. "Maduerunt Saxone fuso Orcades." Saxo consumptus bellis navalibus, Pacatus Paneg. Theod. p. 97.

3 Pacat. 98. "Quum ipse Saxonicus."- The British government have wisely done equal justice to the defenders of their country. We have Earl St. Vincent, Lord Viscount Duncan Baron of Camperdown, and Baron Nelson of the Nile, and Earl of Trafalgar.

Am. Marc. p. 406. Claudian, de 3 Consul. Hon. states his successes against the Picts and Scots, p. 44.

BOOK
II.

of the treaty. They attacked the retreating Saxons from an ambush; and, after a brave resistance, the unguarded barbarians were slain or made prisoners.5 It is to the disgrace of literature, that the national historian of the day has presumed, while he records, to apologise for the ignominious fraud.

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Such an action might dishonourably gain a temporary advantage, but it could only exasperate the Saxon nation. The loss was soon repaired in the natural progress of population, and before many years elapsed, they renewed their depredations, and defeated Maximus. At the close of the fourth century they exercised the activity and resources of Stilicho. The unequal struggle is commemorated by the encomiastical poet, whose genius gilds, with a departing ray, the darkening hemisphere of Rome.7 After his death the Saxons commenced new eruptions. They supported the Armorici in their rebellion, awed Gothic Euric, began to war with the Francs 10, and, extending the theatre of their spoil, made Belgium, Gaul, Italy, and Germany tremble at their presence. At length, Charlemagne, having prosecuted against them one of the most obstinate and destructive wars which history has recorded, their predominance was abased, and their spirit of aggression destroyed. The celebrity and power of the Saxons on the continent then ceased. They dwindled to a secondary rank, and have ever since acted a secondary part in the events of German his

11

5 Am. Mar. 416.— Orosius, vii. c. 12. and Cassiodorus, 2 vol. 636. also mention the incident.

6 S. Ambrose, quoted 1 Mascou, 371.

* Claudian, de Laud. Stil. lib. ii. p. 140. Elz. edit.

8 Jerom, in Mascou, 410.

Sid. Apoll. Paneg. Avit. v. 369.

10 2 Mascou, 39. Gregory of Tours, lib. ii. c. 19., mentions the capture of the Saxon islands by the Francs; and lib. iv. c. 10. what he calls their rebellion; and Chlotarius' successes against them, ib. et c. 14.; and their ravages in France, c. 37. p. 35.

See this war in Eginhart's Vita Carol. Magn. and in the Poeta Saxon. Antiq. Annal. de gestis Caroli M. ap. Duchesne, ii. p. 136.

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