The true _Angles_ were the descendants of the _Angli_ of Tacitus. Who these were will be investigated in §§ 47-54. § 16. _The Saxons of Beda._--The Saxons of Beda reached from the country of the Old Saxons[29] on the Lippe, in Westphalia, to that of the Nordalbingian[30] Saxons between the Elbe and Eyder; and nearly, but not quite, coincided with the present countries of Hanover, Oldenburg, Westphalia, and part of Holstein. This we may call the _Saxon_, or (as reasons will be given for considering that it nearly coincided with the country of the Angles) the _Anglo-Saxon_ area. § 17. _River-system and sea-board of the Anglo-Saxon area._--As the invasion of England took place by sea, we must expect to find in the invaders a maritime population. This leads to the consideration of the physical character of that part of Germany which they occupied. And here comes a remarkable and unexpected fact. The line of coast between the Rhine and Elbe, the line which in reasoning _a priori_, we should fix upon as the most likely tract for the bold seamen who wrested so large an island as Great Britain from its original occupants (changing it from _Britain_ to _England_), to have proceeded from, is _not_ the country of the Anglo-Saxons. On the contrary, it is the country of a similar but different section of the Germanic population, a section which has not received the attention from the English historian which it deserves. The country in question is the area of-- § 18. _The Frisians._--At the present moment the language of the Dutch province of Friesland is materially different from that of the other parts of the kingdom of Holland. In other words it is not Dutch. Neither is it German--although, of course, it resembles both languages. On the other hand, it is more like the English than any other language or dialect in Germany is. It is a language of considerable antiquity, and although at present it is spoken by the country-people only, it possesses a considerable literature. There is the _Middle_ Frisian of Gysbert Japicx,[17] and the _Old_ Frisian of the Frisian Laws.[18] The older the specimen of the Frisian language the more closely does it show its affinity to the English; hence the earliest Frisian and the Anglo-Saxon are exceedingly alike. Nevertheless they differ. § 19. The Frisian was once spoken over a far greater area than at present. It was the original language of almost all Holland. It was the language of East Friesland to a late period. It was, probably, the language of the ancient Chauci. At the present time (besides Friesland) it survives in Heligoland, in the islands between the Ems and Weser, in part of Sleswick, and in a few localities in Oldenburg and Westphalia.