They have, therefore, no cloak for their sin, no excuse or palliating plea for their atrocities. To them belongs the pre-eminence of turpitude and infamy, and they may be said to stand at the head of those monsters who have been a disgrace to christianity, to humanity, and to their country. _Slaves_ and _horses_ appear to have been the principal, if not the only articles exported from this country during the Anglo-Saxon ages. Corn constituted then no article of our exports, though it had done so formerly, in a considerable degree, while Britain formed a part of the Roman Empire. Agriculture must therefore have miserably declined here since the arrival of the Saxons, and the country had no reason to congratulate itself on its change of masters. After the introduction of Christianity the monks are said to have been, by much the best husbandmen, and also the best, if not the only gardeners in the country. They were certainly the most enlightened class of the community, and the little knowledge and learning which the country then possessed were chiefly, if not entirely, confined within the solemn precincts of the monasteries. Of our _imports_ in those days, _books_, _relics_, _pictures_, and _images of saints_, _clerical vestments_, and _church ornaments_, are said to have been the chief articles; which gives but a very miserable idea of the state of the country, and its commerce, in the mean time.—They were however, not the only articles, for it appears that _wines_ also were imported from France and Spain, _cloths_ from Germany and Flanders, _furs_, _deer-skins_, (and probably, _bear-skins_,) _ropes_, _whale oil_, &c. from Scandinavian and even a portion of all the different commodities then known in any part of Europe is supposed to have been at that period imported to this country. Yet the balance of trade is said to have been much in our favour—that is, we got much more by the sale of our _Slaves_ and _horses_, in which our exports consisted, than what we lost or laid out in the purchase of all the various articles which we imported, many of which, at the same time, must have been pretty expensive. This seems to imply, that those _Slaves_ and _horses_, with which foreign markets were supplied from hence, must have been very numerous, as well as very beneficial and lucrative to our English merchants. During some part of this period the shipping of England seems to have been pretty numerous; but what portion of it belonged to the port of Lynn does not appear. The royal navy too, was at times on a respectable footing, particularly in the reigns of Alfred and Canute, as well as in those of Edgar, surnamed the peaceable, and Ethelred: the latter is said to have possessed near 800 sail of men of war, {274} but they were all what would now be called small vessels. The military force of the kingdom consisted generally of about 50,000, though on extraordinary occasions it considerably exceeded that number.