; and they imported into this island the same
principles of independence, which they had inherited from their
ancestors. The chieftains, (for such they were, more than kings or
princes,) who commanded them in those military expeditions, still
possessed a very limited authority_; and as the Saxons exterminated,
rather than subdued the ancient inhabitants, they were, indeed,
transplanted into a new territory, _but preserved unaltered all their
civil and military institutions_. The language was pure Saxon; even
the names of places, which often remain while the tongue entirely
changes, were almost all affixed by the conquerors; the manners and
customs were wholly German; and the same picture of a fierce and bold
liberty, which is drawn by the masterly pen of Tacitus, will suit
those founders of the English government. _The king, so far from
being invested with arbitrary power, was only considered as the first
among the citizens; his authority depended more on his personal
qualities than on his station; he was even so far on a level with the
people, that a stated price was fixed for his head, and a legal fine
was levied upon his murderer, which though proportionate to his
station, and superior to that paid for the life of a subject, was a
sensible mark of his subordination to the community._"--_1 Hume_,
_Appendix_, 1.

Stuart says:

"The Saxons brought along with them into Britain their own customs,
language, and civil institutions. Free in Germany, they renounced not
their independence, when they had conquered. Proud from victory, and
with their swords in their hands, would they surrender their
liberties to a private man? Would temporary leaders, limited in their
powers, and unprovided in resources, ever think to usurp an authority
over warriors, who considered themselves as their equals, were
impatient of control, and attached with devoted zeal to their
privileges? Or, would they find leisure to form resolutions, or
opportunities to put them in practice, amidst the tumult and
confusion of those fierce and bloody wars, which their nations first
waged with the Britons, and then engaged in among themselves?
Sufficiently flattered in leading the armies of their countrymen, the
ambition of commanders could as little suggest such designs, as the
liberty of the people could submit to them. The conquerors of Britain
retain