a part
of his dress which, Sir Walter said, was too remarkable to be
overlooked. 'It was a brass ring resembling a dog's collar, but
without any opening, and soldered fast round his neck, so loose as to
form no impediment to his breathing, yet so tight as to be incapable
of being removed except by the use of the file. On this singular
gorget was engraved in Saxon characters--"Gurth, the son of Beowald,
the born thrall of Cedric the Saxon."'

For two or three centuries after the Conquest, there is no doubt that
the peasantry were liable to be bought and sold as slaves. Even in
Magna Charta, there is a prohibition that a guardian shall not 'waste
the men or cattle' in the estate of the ward: there is here no
consideration for the men who might be 'wasted;' it is all for the
property of the ward, which is not to be injured through the cupidity
or carelessness of his guardian. Sir Frederic Eden, the historian of
the poor-law, adduces many instances in which slaves had been
sold--thus in 1283, a slave and his family were sold by the Abbey of
Dunstable for 13s. 4d.

The distinguishing feature of Britain at the present day is, that she
is in advance of all the other nations of Europe in uniting order with
freedom. Our ancestors may be said to have led us on to this proud
position, by the gradual emancipation of the peasantry from slavery.
We soon find, in the contests with European powers, the great
distinction between the Briton even of the humblest rank and the
Frenchman or German. The great victories gained by the English over
the French--Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt--have been supposed almost
fabulous, from the inequality of the contending forces--the small
number on the victorious side, the vast host conquered by it. But we
cease to wonder when we examine the different qualities of the
combatants. At Agincourt, the English army, which was completely
victorious, amounted to only 9000 men; while that of France, which was
routed, amounted to 50,000: at Poitiers, the disproportion was nearly
as great: and at Crecy, the conquered force more than doubled that of
the conquerors. We have not lately seen, nor are we likely to see,
contests with such results in European warfare. But we see it in
Oriental conflicts; and the late battles of our troops with the
Afghans and Sikhs were somewhat of the same character, from the
immense superiority of European over Asiatic discipline. The reason of
the superiority of the English over