2S HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

c h a r 0 ancient inhabitants, which had before been funkI. into a fatal lethargy. Hengist, however, not-withstanding their opposition, still maintained hisground in Britain ; and in order to divide theforces and attention of the natives , he called overa new tribe of Saxons, tinder the command ofhis brother Octa, and of Ebilfa, the son of Octa;and he settled them in Northumberland. He him-self remained in the southern parts of the island,and laid the foundation of the kingdom of Kent,comprehending - the county of that name , Mid-dlesex, Elfex, and part of Surrey. He fixed hisroyal feat at Canterbury; where he governedabout forty years , and he died in or near theyear 488; leaving his new-acquired dominions tohis posterity.

The success of Hengist excited the avidity ofthe other northern Germans ; and at differenttimes , and under different leaders, they stockedover in multitudes to the invasion of this island.These conquerors were chiefly composed of threetribes, the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes ", who allpassed under the common appellation, sometimesof Saxons, sometimes of Angles; and speakingthe same language, and being governed by thesame institutions, they were naturally led, from

3 * Bede, lib. 1. cap. 15. Ethelwerd, p. 8 ZZ- edit.Camdeni. Chron. Sax. pag. 12. Ann. Beverl. p. 78. Theinhabitants of Kent and the Isle of "Wight were Jutes. Essex,Middlesex, Surrey, Sussex, and all the southern countiesto Cornwal, were peopled by Saxons: Mercia and otherparts of the kingdom were inhabited by Angles.