------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transcriber’s Note: This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_. Superscripted characters are indicated with the ‘^’ (e.g. Serg^t). Footnotes, which were numbered consecutively on each page, have been re-sequenced to be unique within the text. They have been repositioned to follow the paragraph where they are referenced. Depending on your font, the Tironian shorthand 'et', used in Anglo-Saxon passages and which resembles '7', may not display properly. Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation. THE SAXONS IN ENGLAND. A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH COMMONWEALTH TILL THE PERIOD OF THE NORMAN CONQUEST. BY JOHN MITCHELL KEMBLE, M.A., F.C.P.S., MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AT MUNICH, AND OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AT BERLIN, FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF HISTORY IN STOCKHOLM, AND OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF HISTORY IN COPENHAGEN, ETC. ETC. ETC. ----------------------- “Nobilis et strenua, iuxtaque dotem naturae sagacissima gens Saxonum, ab antiquis etiam scriptoribus memorata.” ----------------------- A NEW EDITION, REVISED BY WALTER DE GRAY BIRCH, F.R.S.L., _Senior Assistant of the Department of Manuscripts in the British Museum, Honorary Librarian of the Royal Society of Literature, Honorary Secretary of the British Archæological Association, etc._ VOLUME I. LONDON: BERNARD QUARITCH, 15 PICCADILLY. 1876. [Illustration: PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. ] TO THE QUEEN’S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY, THIS HISTORY OF THE PRINCIPLES WHICH HAVE GIVEN HER EMPIRE ITS PREEMINENCE AMONG THE NATIONS OF EUROPE, IS, WITH HER GRACIOUS PERMISSION, INSCRIBED BY THE MOST HUMBLE AND DEVOTED OF HER SERVANTS. PREFACE. --------------