by the encroachments of succeeding princes, still preserve an air of
independence and legal administration, which distinguish the European
nations; and if that part of the globe maintain sentiments of liberty,
honour, equity and valour, superior to the rest of mankind, it owes
these advantages chiefly to the seeds implanted by those generous
barbarians.

[MN First Saxon government.]
The Saxons, who subdued Britain, as they enjoyed great liberty in
their own country, obstinately retained that invaluable possession in
their new settlement; 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 properly 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 pencil 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.

[MN Succession of the kings.]
It is easy to imagine, that an independent people, so little
restrained by law and cultivated by science, would not be very strict
in maintaining a regular succession of their princes. Though they
paid great regard to the royal family, and ascribed to it an
undisputed superiority, they either had no rule, or none that was
steadily observed, in filling the vacant throne; and present
convenience, in that emergency, was more attended to than general
principles. We are not, however, to suppose that the crown was
considered as altogether elective; and that a regular pl