The name of the king of Britain at this period was Vortigern.  At the time when the Anglo-Saxons arrived, he and his government were nearly overwhelmed with the pressure of difficulty and danger arising from the incursions of the Picts and Scots; and Vortigern, instead of being aroused to redoubled vigilance and energy by the imminence of the danger, as Alfred afterward was in similar circumstances, sank down, as weak minds always do, in despair, and gave himself up to dissipation and vice—­endeavoring, like depraved seamen on a wreck, to drown his mental distress in animal sensations of pleasure.  Such men are ready to seek relief or rescue from their danger from any quarter and at any price.  Vortigern, instead of looking upon the Anglo-Saxon intruders as new enemies, conceived the idea of appealing to them for succor.  He offered to convey to them a large tract of territory in the part of the island where they had landed, on condition of their aiding him in his contests with his other foes.

Hengist and Horsa acceded to this proposal.  They marched their followers into battle, and defeated Vortigern’s enemies.  They sent across the sea to their native land, and invited new adventurers to join them.  Vortigern was greatly pleased with the success of his expedient.  The Picts and Scots were driven back to their fastnesses in the remote mountains of the north, and the Britons once more possessed their land in peace, by means of the protection and the aid which their new confederates afforded them.

In the mean time the Anglo-Saxons were establishing and strengthening themselves very rapidly in the part of the island which Vortigern had assigned them—­which was, as the reader will understand from what has already been said in respect to the place of their landing, the southeastern part—­a region which now constitutes the county of Kent.  In addition, too, to the natural increase of their power from the increase of their numbers and their military force, Hengist contrived, if the story is true, to swell his own personal influence by means of a matrimonial alliance which he had the adroitness to effect.  He had a daughter named Rowena.  She was very beautiful and accomplished.  Hengist sent for her to come to England.  When she had arrived he made a sumptuous entertainment for King Vortigern, inviting also to it, of course, many other distinguished guests.  In the midst of the feast, when the king was in the state of high excitement produced on such temperaments by wine and convivial pleasure, Rowena came in to offer him more wine.  Vortigern was powerfully struck, as Hengist had anticipated, with her grace and beauty.  Learning that she was Hengist’s daughter, he demanded her hand.  Hengist at first declined, but, after sufficiently stimulating the monarch’s eagerness by his pretended opposition, he yielded, and the king became the general’s son-in-law.  This is the story which some of the old chroniclers tell.  Modern historians are divided in respect to believing it.  Some think it is fact, others fable.