Page:A History and Defence of Magna Charta.djvu/8

Saxons; who ſoon after became their tyrants, and formed ſeven Saxon kingdoms upon the ruins of the conquered country. In conſequence of this, the antient inhabitants were exterminated; or forced to ſeek an aſylum in the inacceſſible mountains. Their laws, manners, and language were aboliſhed, and thoſe of the Saxons were eſtabliſhed in their ſtead. To the characters of conquerors theſe people were ambitious to add that of legiſlators: and there is very good reaſon to believe that many of the laws which remain in force even at this day, are the ſame which were brought from the northern parts of Germany by the Saxon invaders. Though the title of King was not uſed amongſt them, their chiefs aſſumed it, ſoon after their arrival in this iſland. In Saxony their governors were appointed by an aſſembly general of the nation, which was called Witennagemot, which, in the Saxon language, ſignifies the meeting of the wiſe men, and which regulated all the important affairs of the ſtate. When the Saxon conqueſts in England were divided into ſeven kingdoms, the monarchs being under a neceſſity of retaining great numbers of their own countrymen among their ſubjects, were cautious of exerciſing a deſpotic power, and therefore continued to hold the Witennagemot wherever the common intereſt of the people was concerned. From

hence