ependent and divided states were exposed
to their attacks; and the Saxons might sometimes join the Scots and the
Picts, in a tacit, or express, confederacy of rapine and destruction.
Vortigern could only balance the various perils, which assaulted on
every side his throne and his people; and his policy may deserve either
praise or excuse, if he preferred the alliance of _those_ Barbarians,
whose naval power rendered them the most dangerous enemies and the most
serviceable allies. Hengist and Horsa, as they ranged along the Eastern
coast with three ships, were engaged, by the promise of an ample
stipend, to embrace the defence of Britain; and their intrepid valor
soon delivered the country from the Caledonian invaders. The Isle of
Thanet, a secure and fertile district, was allotted for the residence
of these German auxiliaries, and they were supplied, according to the
treaty, with a plentiful allowance of clothing and provisions. This
favorable reception encouraged five thousand warriors to embark with
their families in seventeen vessels, and the infant power of Hengist
was fortified by this strong and seasonable reenforcement. The crafty
Barbarian suggested to Vortigern the obvious advantage of fixing, in the
neighborhood of the Picts, a colony of faithful allies: a third fleet
of forty ships, under the command of his son and nephew, sailed from
Germany, ravaged the Orkneys, and disembarked a new army on the coast
of Northumberland, or Lothian, at the opposite extremity of the devoted
land. It was easy to foresee, but it was impossible to prevent, the
impending evils. The two nations were soon divided and exasperated
by mutual jealousies. The Saxons magnified all that they had done
and suffered in the cause of an ungrateful people; while the Britons
regretted the liberal rewards which could not satisfy the avarice of
those haughty mercenaries. The causes of fear and hatred were inflamed
into an irreconcilable quarrel. The Saxons flew to arms; and if they
perpetrated a treacherous massacre during the security of a feast, they
destroyed the reciprocal confidence which sustains the intercourse of
peace and war.

Hengist, who boldly aspired to the conquest of Britain, exhorted his
countrymen to embrace the glorious opportunity: he painted in lively
colors the fertility of the soil, the wealth of the cities, the
pusillanimous temper of the natives, and the convenient situation of a
spacious solitary island, accessible on all