The chief objection to the Angles of England being derived from the little district of Anglen, in Sleswick, lies in the fact of there being mention of Angli in another part of Germany.
[§ 24]. This exposition of the elements of uncertainty will be followed by an enumeration of—
1. Those portions of the Germanic populations, which from their geographical position, are the likeliest, à priori, to have helped to people England.
2. Those portions of the Germanic population, which although not supposed to have contributed in any notable degree to the population of Britain, had such continental relations to the Angles and Saxons, as to help in fixing their localities.
These two scenes of facts, give us what may be called our preliminary apparatus criticus.
[§ 25]. Between the northern limits of the Celtic populations of Gaul and the southern boundary of the Scandinavians of Jutland, we find the area which is most likely to have given origin to the Germans of England. This is best considered under two heads.
a. That of the proper seaboard, or the coast from the Rhine to the Eyder.
b. That of the rivers, i.e., the communications between the ocean and the inland country.
This double division is sufficient, since it is not likely that Britain was peopled by any tribes which were not either maritime, or the occupants of a river.
On the other hand, it is necessary, since although the à priori view is in favour of the coast having supplied the British immigration, the chances of its having proceeded from the interior by the way of the large rivers Rhine, Weser, and Elbe, must also be taken into consideration.