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APPENDIX I.

The Anglo-Saxon Government andManners.

First Saxon government — Succession of the Kings —»The Wittenaqcmot — The aristocracy — T'r-tseveral orders of men — Courts of Justice —»Criminal law — Rules of proof — Mihtanyforce — Tub lie revenue — Value of Money —■Manners.

HE government of the Germans, and that ofall the northern nations, who established them-selves on the ruins of Rome , was always extremelyfree ; and thole fierce people , accustomed to in-dependence and inured to arms, were more guidedbv persuasion than authorttv , in the submiriionwhich they paid to their princes. The militarydespotism, which had taken place in the Romanempire, and which, previously to the irruption ofthose conquerors , had funk the genius of men ,and destroyed every noble principle of science andvirtue, was unable to resist the vigorous efforts ofa free people ; and Europe , as from a new epoch ,rekindled her ancient spirit, and shook off thebase servitude to arbitrary will and authority,under which she had so long laboured. Thefree constitutions then established, however im-paired by the encroachments of succeeding princes,

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■Appendix

I.