Page:History of Manchester (1771), Volume 1, by John Whitaker.djvu/279

 • -• a>8 ' THEHIST6RV Book* government. The* power of the father, being amefnable to no fuperior authority, rtiuft have been the prerogative' of the fovereign } and the obedience of the fon, being challenged by no fuperior jurifdi&ion, muft have been the fubmititori of a fubje£t And the remoter defendants of the lame pair muft have been all equally born beneath the contfoul of the fame government. The eftabliftiment of the primogeniture provided for the defcent of the power, and inftituted monarchy imme- diately fucceeded to natural Such therefore was the firft polity of the firft nations which hiftory holds up to our view; And fuch was particularly the original polity of all the tribes of the Britons. The various nations that had planted the whole compafs of our ifland were all diftin& communities governed by diftinft kings Many of thefe fovereigns were allowed by the Romans to continue in poffeffion of their entient thrones, and to enjoy the full extent of their antient authority. They were confidered as the allies of the Romans, and their dominions were not re- duced into provinces. Such was Pirafutagus the monarch of the Tceni Such was Venutius the king of the Jugantes*. . And iuch was Cartifmandua the fovereign of the Brigantes $. But this indulgence was merely the refult of temporary policy. De- tached for the prefent from the general intertft of the nation, thefe monarchs became the unconcerned fpe&ators of the Ro- man progrefs. Having contributed to enlarge the power of their enemies by the defertioh of their friends, thefe fovereigns all fell in fucceflion after them, juftly facrificed to that defer- tion, and equally reduced by that authority. But even in this condition of the ifland, beneath all the ri- gour of the provincial regimen, the fovereigns of the tribes were ftill allowed to remain in general. This antiquarian- ifm has never fuppofed before. The reverfe of this has been univerfally believed by the critics tf. But the faft is fuffi* ciently authenticated* Cogi-dunus or Cogi-dubnus appears undeniably from, his name to have been originally the cogi or king of the Dobuni, and