Of the origin of the Saxons, whose aid the Britons are said to have sought after the departure of the Romans, nothing is distinctly known, except that they had, for some time previously, made themselves masters of the territory lying between the Elbe and the Rhine, pushing forwards their conquests or occupation of the country as far as the coasts of Zealand, part of the present kingdom of Holland. Their occupation of England was probably exceedingly gradual, the south and east having been early peopled with these strangers, so that the so-called Saxon conquest was really, therefore, rather the slow result of their increasing numbers than of such a development of military or naval genius as is seen in the later inroads of the Danes or of William the Norman. FOOTNOTES: [406] Lucan, Phars. iv. cf. Fest. Avienus, “Ora Maritima,” v. 80-130, and Plin. iv. c. 16. [407] Cæsar describes the ships of the Veneti, B. G. iii. 13. [408] Sueton. Claud. c. 18. Cod. Theodos. v. 13, 5. [409] Cæs. Bell. Gall. v. 12, 14. [410] Ibid. ii. 4. [411] Ibid. v. 22. [412] Ibid. v. 12. [413] Tacit. Agric. c. ii. [414] Cæs. Bell. Gall. iv. 19. [415] Cæs. Bell. Gall. vi. 13, 14. [416] Ibid. v. 10. [417] Ibid. v. 15. [418] Sussex was the chief seat of the iron manufacture of England till coal became abundant. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth seventy-three furnaces are said to have been at work, and the last, at Ashburnham, was only blown out in 1827. The railings round St. Paul’s Cathedral (temp. Queen Anne) are made of Sussex iron. [419] Virgil, Eclog. i. 67. [420] Tacit. Agric. Sueton. Cæs. c. 46, 47. [421] Cæs. Bell. Gall. iv. 18. [422] Ibid. v. 16. [423] Dio. xxxix. 51. [424] Cæs. Bell. Gall. iv. 18. [425] Cæs. Bell. Gall. iv. c. 21. [426] It would be out of place here to discuss the vexed question of the places, respectively, whence Cæsar started from France, and where he landed in England. We can only say that, having read the several memoirs on this subject, by Halley, d’Anville, Dr. Guest, Master of Caius Coll., Cambr., the Astronomer Royal, and Mr. Lewin, we are inclined to think that the essay by the last-named writer (London, 1859) is the most consistent with the language of Cæsar himself. In the following pages, therefore, his views have been generally adopted. [427] By the Passengers Act, which applies to all British possessions, except India and Hong Kong, the space allowed in passenger ships to each statute adult is not to be less than 15 clear superficial feet in the poop or in the upper passenger-deck, nor less than 18 clear superficial feet on the lower passenger-deck; and the height between decks is not to be less than 6 feet for the upper passenger-deck, nor less than 7 feet for the lower passenger-deck. Each person of twelve years and upwards, and two children between one and twelve years, count as an adult.