It is evident what fruitless labor it must be to search,
in those barbarous and illiterate ages, for the annals of a people, when
their first leaders, known in any true history, were believed by them to
be the fourth in descent from a fabulous deity, or from a man exalted by
ignorance into that character. The dark industry of antiquaries, led by
imaginary analogies of names, or by uncertain traditions, would in
vain attempt to pierce into that deep obscurity which covers the remote
history of those nations.
These two brothers, observing the other provinces of Germany to be
occupied by a warlike and necessitous people, and the rich provinces of
Gaul already conquered or overrun by other German tribes, found it
easy to persuade their countrymen to embrace the sole enterprise
which promised a favorable opportunity of displaying their valor and
gratifying their avidity. They embarked their troops in three vessels
and about the year 449 or 450,[*] earned over one thousand six hundred
men, who landed in the Isle of Thanet, and immediately marched to the
defence of the Britons against the northern invaders. The Scots and
Picts were unable to resist the valor of these auxiliaries; and the
Britons, applauding their own wisdom in calling over the Saxons, hoped
thenceforth to enjoy peace and security under the powerful protection of
that warlike people.
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