tives acquired a settlement in Gaul, by their own valor, or
the liberality of the Merovingian kings. The Western angle of Armorica
acquired the new appellations of _Cornwall_, and the _Lesser Britain_;
and the vacant lands of the Osismii were filled by a strange people,
who, under the authority of their counts and bishops, preserved the laws
and language of their ancestors. To the feeble descendants of Clovis
and Charlemagne, the Britons of Armorica refused the customary tribute,
subdued the neighboring dioceses of Vannes, Rennes, and Nantes, and
formed a powerful, though vassal, state, which has been united to the
crown of France.

Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.--Part V.

In a century of perpetual, or at least implacable, war, much courage,
and some skill, must have been exerted for the defence of Britain. Yet
if the memory of its champions is almost buried in oblivion, we need
not repine; since every age, however destitute of science or virtue,
sufficiently abounds with acts of blood and military renown. The tomb
of Vortimer, the son of Vortigern, was erected on the margin of the
sea-shore, as a landmark formidable to the Saxons, whom he had thrice
vanquished in the fields of Kent. Ambrosius Aurelian was descended from
a noble family of Romans; his modesty was equal to his valor, and his
valor, till the last fatal action, was crowned with splendid success.
But every British name is effaced by the illustrious name of _Arthur_,
the hereditary prince of the Silures, in South Wales, and the elective
king or general of the nation. According to the most rational account,
he defeated, in twelve successive battles, the Angles of the North, and
the Saxons of the West; but the declining age of the hero was imbittered
by popular ingratitude and domestic misfortunes. The events of his life
are less interesting than the singular revolutions of his fame. During
a period of five hundred years the tradition of his exploits was
preserved, and rudely embellished, by the obscure bards of Wales and
Armorica, who were odious to the Saxons, and unknown to the rest of
mankind. The pride and curiosity of the Norman conquerors prompted them
to inquire into the ancient history of Britain: they listened with fond
credulity to the tale of Arthur, and eagerly applauded the merit of
a prince who had triumphed over the Saxons, their common enemies. His
romance, transcribed in the Latin of Jeffrey of Monmouth, and afterwards
translated int