THE HESPERIAN STUDENT
AngleH, Saxons iinil Jutec In their extremity they in
vited tlm Jules to aid Ilium, promising to glvo III ui In
return llui llnml of Thnnct and rations mid pay. I !
Jutes agreed, and for several years fought side by side
with tho Britons. Tho Isle of Thmiet was particularly
agrcoallu to both partius. To tho .futOB because they
had no faith in tho Bri'ons' word, and to tho Britons be
cause thoy feared and trembled lest thoy had invited to
tliolr island a foe more loniblo than tho Plot or Scot
The settlement of the Juloa drew hither, others of thoir
kinsmon, until tho Britons refused to comply
with tho terms of ngreen.onl. The Teutons turned upon
them and after stubborn lighting inado the first Toil
tonic settlement in the lltllo county of Kent. The
Jutes were followed by the Angles and Suxions, and bo
foic tho end of tho sixth century tho Teutons claimed as
their own all tho land from llio German Ocean to tho
Severn, and from tho English Channel to tho Firth of
Forth.
Lotus now Inquire Into tho character of thu conquest'
Did the conquerors merely ovei run tho country, leav
ing tho inhabitants undisturbed, and only supplying tho
ruling power, or did thoy make England truly English,
leaving no trace of tho former inhabitants?
When the Euglisb undertook the conquest of tho
Island, tboy entered upon a fierce struggle. The Briton
was as stubborn and as determined us in Roman times.
The English wrested from him, bit by bit, tho land for
which every inch was heroically fought. Tho Britons
were aided In their resistance by tho nature of the coun
try. Vast lorcsts and swamps covered tho island, and in
llic&o, and in ihc numerous caves they took refuge, only
to bo driven from them by tho barbarians. Tho English,
savuge and ferocious by nature, were made more so by
the stubborn resistance oilcred. In their heathen creed,
death in battle admitted them directly to thoir heaven
and having little regard for their own lives, they had still
less for the lives of others, especially those of thoir cue
mies. Wearouotto suppose that tlio Colls in Britain
were entirely exterminated. But as tho Teutons ad.
vanccd, the Colts returned, and from the nature of the
conquest wo may reasonably conchulo that those who
were not expelled, were cither slain or reduced to sla
very. Stubba bays, "The same weak obstinacy which
failed to combine against Invasion refused to accept
tlio now dominion, and tho Saxons, merciless by nature,
were made moro so by tho sullen and treacherous ulti
tudo of tliolr vllctims. Tho Britons lledrom their homes ;
whom the sword spared, famine and pestilence devoured.
The few that remained, either refused or failed
altogether to civilize the conquerors."
After the English had established themselves on tho
island, the age became one of divarication; tho cities
went to ruin; Christianity became extinct, and all culture
with it; England became heathen and barbarous. The
Celtists have claimed Uhu ihu luwor clas3cs were Colts,
and that tho Anglo-Saxons formed only the landed aristoc
racy. Would not the mere settlement of predatory bands
without their homes or families, have resulted in their
adoption of the native institutions, (hose natives being
their superiors in civilization? Can anything pure be
produced frommixed materials? Could tlio Teutons
have retained their tribal organization go long and so
closely If it had been shattered at starting? Wlien tlio
English came, thoy camo not to conquer merely but to
sottlo, and thoy brought with thorn thoir families, thoir
cattle and slaves, without which thoy could not havo oc
cupied the land. In tho days of Bode, tho laud Connolly
occupied by tho Anglos on tho continent was without, an
inhabitant, testifying to tho truth of tho statement.
If there had been numerous Celts In the commmiili o
would thoy not havo had some inlluenco upon the lan
guage and religion, upon tlio laws and civilization of the
people v Yet wo carefully examine all records and sur
vivals, but And no such trace Contemporary tradition is
everwhere tlio same. Had Celts been numerous In Eng
lish settlements they must havo been known to tho Welsh
beyond tho bordor. But In tho one British record which
wo possess, that o( Glldas, no hint of such a thing is
given. To Jiim and his countrymen, England and tier in
habitants are utterly foreign. In tho English clironlclo
we find no Biitish names. Had tho Cells boon bo nu.
mcrous it is quite probable that there would have been
Celtic names in the history of tho joint population. In
tlio"IIiHtory of Gaul," by Gregory of Tours, we llnd al
most as many Roman names as Frank, but in tlio history
of England aftor tho conquest we find no British or
Roman names at all, although Britons of tho independent
districts are sometimes mentioned.
Wo havo tho same evidence in language. Would the
language of the ago havo been so purely Teutonic if (he
Celts had been numerous? Would they, with their in
tenso hatred of all things English, have immediately
adopted the language mid religion, laws and customs of
the conquerors? If Eng'and had been conquered Ilk tho
other'Roman provinces, the cuso would have been tho
veVy reverse When tho Teutons were conquered by tlio
Western Roman Empire thoy formed tlio ruling class, but
tho language did not change, French still remained a dia.
lectof tiicLntin: tho only chaugo was a largo infusion of
Teutonic words. Tho religion was tho same, tlio laws
wore tlio laws of the province. Now If England had
been conquered in a similar manner, would not the result
have been similar? How is it then that after the English
conquest the language remained, not Welsh but became
purely Teutonic? All tho Welsh words in tho English
vocabulary, such as basket, funnel, mop, etc., apply to the
smallest domestic matters, and can bo compared to tlm
words which Americans havo borrowed from the Indi
ans. While these words are so few In number, all the
terms of government and war, and nearly all the terms
of agriculture are exclusively Teutonic. Tho Celts,
under their Roman lords, had tilled the soil, and if thoy
had remained in largo numbers In English settlements
they would probably rgain havo formed the peasantry,
and must havo introduced a large number of words, since
tho English wore preeminently a warlike race. Tho con.
version of tho English, and later thu Norman conquest ,
paved tho way for a largo infusion of Latin and French
words, but, wo are told, as In French it it impossible to
compose asenteucs without a Romance word, while it is
perfectly possible to composo sentence after sentence
without a foreign word, so in Engiish it Is impossiblo to
compose a sentence without a Teutonic word, while it is
perfectly possiblo to compose senlcuco after sentence
without a foreign word. Thus it isJsoon how tho con
quest affected the different lauguages. Had tho Colts
been as numerous as the Celtists would have us believe,
would not English be today, not English but Wclsh,wilh
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