The Saxons succeeding them, and driving away to Ireland, Cornwal, &c. these Britains were by Romans left here; for they used the best of them in their wars, (being their best soldiers) here was a mist of ignorance for 600 years.  They were so far from knowing arts, that they could not build a wall with stone.  They lived sluttishly in poor houses, where they eat a great deal of beef and mutton, and drank good ale in a brown mazard; and their very kings were but a sort of farmers.  After the Christian Religion was planted here, it gave a great shoot, and the kings and great men gave vast revenues to the Church, who were ignorant enough in those days.  The Normans then came and taught them civility and building; which though it was Gothick (as also their policy “Feudalis Lex”) yet they were magnificent.  For the Government, till the time of King Henry VIII. it was like a nest of boxes; for copyholders, (who, till then were villains) held of the lords of the Manor, who held of a superior lord, who perhaps held of another superior lord or duke, who held of the king.  Upon any occasion of justing or tournaments in those days, one of these great lords sounded his trumpets (the lords then kept trumpeters, even to King James) and summoned those that held under them.  Those again sounded their trumpets, and so downward to the copy-holders.  The Court of Wards was a great bridle in those days.  A great part of this North Division held of the honour of Trowbridge, where is a ruinated castle of the dukes of Lancaster.  No younger brothers then were by the custom and constitution of the realm to betake themselves to trades, but were churchmen or retainers, and servants to great men rid good horses (now and then took a purse) and their blood that was bred of the good tables of their masters, was upon every occasion freely let out in their quarrels; it was then too common among their masters to have feuds with one another, and their servants at market, or where they met (in that slashing age) did commonly bang one another’s bucklers.  Then an esquire, when he rode to town, was attended by eight or ten men in blue coats with badges.  The lords (then lords in deed as well as title) lived in their countries like petty kings, had “jura regalia” belonging to their seigniories, had their castles and boroughs, and sent burgesses to the Lower House; had gallows within their liberties, where they could try, condemn, draw and hang; never went to London but in parliament-time, or once a year to do their homage and duty to the king.  The lords of manours kept good houses in their countries, did eat in their great Gothick halls, at the high table; (in Scotland, still the architecture of a lord’s house is thus, viz. a great open hall, a kitchen and buttery, a parlour, over which a chamber for my lord and lady; all the rest lye in common, viz. the men-servants in the hall, the women in a common room) or oriele, the folk at the side-tables. (Oriele is an ear, but here it signifies