THE SAXONS AND ANGLES.

13. The Saxons began to be conspicuous about the close of the second
century. They were then settled beyond the Elbe, in modern Holstein;
having for their neighbours the ANGLI, or ANGLES, inhabiting Sleswick.
These nations were early distinguished as pirates, and their
plundering expeditions kept the shores of western Europe in constant
alarm. Being invited by the Britons to assist in repelling the
invasions of the Picts, they subdued the southern part of the island,
which has ever since retained the name of England, from its conquerors
the An'gli. When the Franks penetrated into Gaul, the Saxons passed
the Elbe, and seizing on the vacated territory, gave the name of
Saxony to ancient France.

THE HUNS.

14. The Huns were the most ferocious and sanguinary of the barbarians.
They seem to have been originally Kalmuck or Mongolian Tartars, and,
during the period of their supremacy, seem never to have laid aside
the savage customs which they brought from their native deserts. 15.
After having expelled the Goths from the banks of the Danube, they
fell upon the eastern empire, and compelled the court of
Constantinople to pay them tribute. They then, under the guidance of
Attila, invaded Italy, and after devastating the peninsula, captured
and plundered Rome. After the death of Attila, the Huns were broken up
into a number of petty states, which maintained their independence
until the close of the eighth century, when they were subdued by
Charlemagne.

THE BURGUNDIANS.

16. The Burgundians were originally inhabitants of the countries
situated between the Oder and the Vistula. They followed nearly the
track of the Visigoths, and at the beginning of the fifth century had
established themselves on the Upper Rhine and in Switzerland. On the
dissolution of the empire, they seized on that part of Gaul, which
from them retains the name of Burgundy.

THE LOMBARDS, THE GEPIDAE, AND THE AVARS.

17. The Lombards, more properly called Longo-bardi, from the length of
their beards, are supposed by some to have been a branch of the
Sue'vi, and by others to have migrated from Scandina'via. They joined
with the Avars, a fierce Asiatic people, in attacking the Gep'idae,
then in possession of that part of Dacia lying on the left bank of the
Danube, but who are supposed to have come thither from some more
northern country. The Avars and Lombards triumphed, but the former
soon turned their arms against their al