HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

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plunder the country which sought their aid, for the space of one hundred andfifty years, and possess it in quiet for twice that space of time after the period ofmarauding was past. Such artifices were occasionally necessary in the ages ofsuperstition, to encourage the people to undertakings not otherwise, perhaps, per-fectly congenial to their tempers ; but the soothsayers, on this occasion, wererather singularly fortunate. The Saxons took special care the first part of theprediction should not be falsified, and Providence seemed to have abetted thecause of augury, by permitting the latter part of it to be no less correct.

The force with which Hengist and Horsa, the Saxon chiefs, set forward onthis expedition, amounted to no more tl.an three long vessels, or ships, as theyare stiled in the indefinite language of history, which were by the Saxonstermed chiules. The leaders not only stood extremely high in the opinion oftheir countrymen, on account of their personal prowess, and distinguishedcharacter for gallantry, but had the recommendation of high birth, being theimmediate descendants of Woden *, who was worshipped among the Saxonsas a divinity. The troops which followed these illustrious adventurers are notbelieved to have exceeded fifteen hundred men ; and to suppose they amountedeven to that number, is no inconsiderable compliment to the consequence anddimensions of their marine, which could have been by no means insignificant, ortrifling, if they are admitted to have transported five hundred men each, as theymust have done, with their arms and accoutrements, independent of the crewssolely occupied as mariners in the employment of navigating them. It were need-less to enter into any detail of the operations by land. Suffice it to say, that Hen-gist, finding his followers too few in number to be capable of conquering Britain,as the result of having first routed its enemies, made use of the favourable im-pression which a complete victory over the Scots and Piets made in the mind ofVortigern, to propose the introduction of a farther reinforcement, which he re-presented would enable him to subdue, almost without a contest, whatever ene-mies should be daring enough to disturb the peace of Britain. The plausibletale and representation was listened to with avidity by the credulous Vorti-gern, and the offer accepted with no inconsiderable degree of pleasure. Afleet of seventeen vessels, equally large with those which had preceded them inthe cause of plunder, arrived in as short a space of time as the equipment of

* Hengist and Horsa were the sons of Witigifil, the great grandson to Woden, from whom all thekings of the Saxons, with infinitely less right, pretended to deduce their descent.

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