CHAP. in peace; The same ignorance which renders barbarians incapable of conceiving or embracing the useful Its effects restraints of laws, exposes them naked and unarmed to the blind terrors of superstition. The German priests, improving this favourable temper of their countrymen, had assumed a jurisdiction, even in temporal concerns, which the magistrate could not venture to exercise; and the haughty warrior patiently submitted to the lash of correction, when it was inflicted, not by any human power, but by the immediate order of the god of war. The defects of civil policy were sometimes supplied by the interposition of ecclesiastical authority. The latter was constantly exerted to maintain silence and decency in the popular assemblies; and was sometimes extended to a more enlarged concern for the national welfare. A solemn procession was occasionally celebrated in the present countries of Mecklenburgh and Pomerania. The unknown symbol of the earth, covered with a thick veil, was placed on a carriage drawn by cows: and. in this manner the goddess, whose common residence was in the isle of Rugen, visited several adjacent tribes of her worshippers. During her progress, the sound of war was hushed, quarrels were suspended, arms laid aside, and the restless Germans had an opportunity of tasting the blessings of peace and harmony. The truce of God, so often and so ineffectually proclaimed • Tacit. Germania, c. 7. Tacit. Germania, c. 40. by the clergy of the eleventh century, was an CHAP. obvious imitation of this ancient custom." IX. But the influence of religion was far more in war. powerful to inflame, than to moderate, the fierce passions of the Germans. Interest and fanaticism often prompted its ministers to sanctify the most daring and the most unjust enterprises, by the approbation of heaven, and full assurances of success. The consecrated standards, long revered in the groves of superstition, were placed in the front of the battle; and the hostile army was devoted with dire execrations to the gods of war and of thunder. In the faith of soldiers (and such were the Germans) cowardice is the most unpardonable of sins. A brave man was the worthy favourite of their martial deities; the wretch who had lost his shield, was alike banished from the religious and the civil assemblies of his countrymen. Some tribes of the north seem to have embraced the doctrine of transmigration,' others imagined a gross paradise of immortal drunkenness. All agreed, that a life spent in arms, and a glorious death in battle, were the best preparations for a happy futurity, either in this or in another world. "See Dr. Robertson's History of Charles V, vol. i, note 10 * Tacit. Germ. c. 7. These standards were only the heads of wild beasts. ▾ See an instance of this custom, Tacit. Annal. xiii, 57. 2 Cæsar, Diodorus, and Lucan, seem to ascribe this doctrine to the Gauls; but M. Pelloutier (Histoire des Celtes, 1. iii, c. 18), labours to reduce their expressions to a more orthodox sense. 1 Concerning this gross but alluring doctrine of the Edda, see fable IX, in the curious version of that book, published by M. Mallet, in his Introduction to the History of Denmark. IX. CHAP. The immortality so vainly promised by the priests, was in some degree conferred by the The bards, bards. That singular order of men has most deservedly attracted the notice of all who have attempted to investigate the antiquities of the Celts, the Scandinavians, and the Germans. Their genius and character, as well as the reverence paid to that important office, have been sufficiently illustrated. But we cannot so easily express, or even conceive, the enthusiasm of arms and glory which they kindled in the breast of their audience. Among a polished people, a taste for poetry is rather an amusement of the fancy, than a passion of the soul. And yet, when in calm retirement we peruse the combats described by Homer or Tasso, we are insensibly seduced by the fiction, and feel a momentary glow of martial ardour. But how faint, how cold is the sensation which a peaceful mind can receive from solitary study! It was in the hour of battle, or in the feast of victory, that the bards celebrated the glory of heroes of ancient days, the ancestors of those warlike chieftians who listened with transport to their artless but animated strains. The view of arms and of danger heightened the effect of the military song; and the passions which it tended to excite, the desire of fame, and the contempt of death; were the habitual sentiments of a German mind." Such was the situation, and such were the See Tacit. Germ. c. 3. Diodor. Sicul. 1. v. Strabo, l. iv, p. 197. The classical reader may remember the rank of Demodocus in the Phæacian IX. which gress of mans. manners, of the ancient Germans. Their cli- CHAP. mate, their want of learning, of arts, and of, laws, their notions of honour, of gallantry, and Causes of religion, their sense of freedom, impatience checked of peace, and thirst of enterprise, all contributed the proto form a people of military heroes. And yet we the Gerfind, that during more than two hundred and fifty years that elapsed from the defeat of Varus to the reign of Decius, these formidable barbarians made few considerable attempts, and not any material impression, on the luxurious and enslaved provinces of the empire. Their progress was checked by their want of arms and discipline, and their fury was diverted by the intestine divisions of ancient Germany. arms 1. It has been observed, with ingenuity, and Want of not without truth, that the command of iron soon gives a nation the command of gold. But the rude tribes of Germany, alike destitute of both those valuable metals, were reduced slowly to acquire, by their unassisted strength, the possession of the one, as well as the other. The face of a German army displayed their poverty of iron. Swords, and the longer kind of lances, they could seldom use. Their framea (as they called them in their own language) were long spears, headed with a sharp but narrow iron Phæacian court, and the ardour infused by Tyrtæus into the fainting Spartans. Yet there is little probability that the Greeks and the Germans were the same people. Much learned trifling might be spared, if our antiquarians would condescend to reflect, that similar manuers will naturally be produced by similar situations. IX. CHAP. point, and which, as occasion required, they either darted from a distance, or pushed in close onset. With this spear, and with a shield, their cavalry was contented. A multitude of darts, scattered with incredible force, were an additional resource of the infantry. Their military dress, when they wore any, was nothing more than a loose mantle. A variety of colours was the only ornament of their wooden or osier shields. Few of the chiefs were distinguished by cuirasses, scarce any by helmets. Though the horses of Germany were neither beautiful, swift, nor practised in the skilful evolutions of the Roman manege, several of the nations obtained renown by their cavalry; but, in general, the principal strength of the Germans consisted in their infantry," which was drawn up in several deep columns, according to the distinction and of dis-of tribes and families. Impatient of fatigue or delay, these half-armed warriors rushed to battle with dissonant shouts, and disordered ranks; and sometimes, by the effort of native valour, prevailed over the constrained and more artificial bravery of the Roman mercenaries. But as the barbarians poured forth their whole souls on the first onset, they knew not how to rally, or to retire. A repulse was a sure defeat; and a defeat was most commonly total destruction. cipline. Missilia spargunt. Tacit. Germ. c. 6. Either that historian used a vague expression, or he meant that they were thrown at random. It was their principal distinction from the Sarmatians, who generally fought on horseback. |