The name is absent

326         THE SAXONS IN ENGLAND. [book i.

households rejoice in a sort of self-supporting, self-
sufficient autonomy, and the means of internal com-
munication are imperfect,—land and its produce are
the only wealth ; land is the only means whereby
to live. But the Saxon peasant knew his position :
it was a hard one, but he bore it : he worked early
and late, but he worked cheerfully, and amidst all
his toils there is no evidence of his ever having
shot at hjs landlord from behind a stone wall or a
hedge.

327

CHAPTER XII.

HEATHENDOM.

An account of the Saxons which should entirely ex-
clude the peculiarities of their heathendom, would
be deficient in an important degree. Religion and
law are too nearly allied, particularly in early pe-
riods, for us to neglect either, in the consideration
of national institutions. The immediate dependence
of one upon the other we may not be able to show
in satisfactory detail ; but we may be assured that
the judicial forms are always in near connexion
with the cult, and that this is especially the case at
times when the judicial and priestly functions are
in the hands of the same class.

The Saxons were not without a system of reli-
gion, long before they heard of Christianity, nor
should we be justified in asserting that religion to
have been without moral influence upon the indi-
vidual man in his family and social relations. Who
shall dare to say that the high-thoughted barbarian
did not derive comfort in affliction, or support in
difficulty, from the belief that the gods watched
over him,—that he (fid not bend in gratitude for the
blessings they conferred,—that he was not guided
and directed in the daily business of life by the con-

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