If Paris is to be taken as a sample of the towns of France, before the twelfth century, they must have been in a deplorable condition of filth and wretchedness. The swine were accustomed to wallow in the streets of this metropolis, until a prince of the blood was thrown from his horse, in consequence of a sow running between the legs of the animal. To prevent the recurrence of such accidents, an order was issued to prohibit the swinish multitude from infesting the public thoroughfares of the city. But the monks of St. Antony remonstrated at this--the pigs of their monastery having had, from time immemorial, the privilege of frequenting, at liberty, every part of the towns, of feeding on such scraps and offal as they could find, and of reposing on the choice beds of mire which covered certain spots in the great highway. The monks were not to be resisted; and, at length, there was granted to the swine of their convent, the exclusive privilege of roaming about the Parisian streets without molestation, provided, only, that the said swine went forth on their peregrinations with bells tied about their necks. [1] Germania, xvi. [2] Hallam's Middle Ages, c. ix. p. 1. [3] Guizot, Civilisation of Europe, Lect. 7. [4] Arnold's History of Rome, vol. i. p. 7. [5] Anderson's History of Commerce. [6] Hallam. [7] Macpherson's Annals of Commerce. SECTION IV. ANGLO-SAXON BOROUGHS. The boroughs of our Anglo-Saxon fathers claim our notice. When the Romans conquered this island, they founded in different parts of the country their _civitates_, or cities. Twenty-eight of these are enumerated by Gildas, an historian of the sixth century, as existing in his time, which was about a hundred years after the Roman conquerors had relinquished their dominion in Britain. Beside these cities, the Romans formed a number of military stations, or strongholds. These cities and stations became Saxon towns, after the invasion of Britain by its new masters; the latter receiving the name of boroughs from the Latin burgus, which signifies a fortification. Other towns also sprang up in various directions, where local advantages invited a settlement of population; and long before the Norman conquest our island was thickly studded with townships of various sizes. It is very remarkable, that, with few exceptions, all the towns and villages of England appear to have existed from the Saxon times. Some of these towns, however, must have been extremely small, consisting of some few dwellings and other buildings, around the homestead of the Saxon lord, and not bearing any more resemblance to what they have since become, than some little hamlet bears to an important city.