The EUROPEAN LEGISLATURES. n 



P A R T "I. 



SECTION I. Of the Government of the German Nations while in their 

 original Territories. 



THE German nations, when defcribed by CJESAR and TA- 

 CITUS, exhibited the fame difpofition for emigration and 

 conqueft, which afterwards, in the times of ALARIC and CLOVIS, 

 gained them poflemon of the Roman provinces. We may, 

 therefore, look into the ftrufture of fociety, which thefe great 

 authors defcribe, for the caufes of this reftlefs fpirit j and we 

 may likewife infer, from the permanency of a temper fo cha- 

 radleriftic of national manners, that, during this long interval, 

 the political circumftances of the Germans had continued near- 

 ly unchanged. Having, therefore, recourfe to the lively picture 

 which CJESAR and TACITUS have left us, a little attention to 

 the general circumftances of the Germanic nations will enable 

 us to perceive in it, with fufficient precifion, the forms of their 

 conftitution, and the nature of their government. 



THE Germans lived in a country interfered with woods, 

 rivers and mountains. However much, therefore, they were in- 

 clined to indulge in the indolence of the paftoral life, their coun- 

 try did not permit them to refide, like Tartars, in moveable ha- 

 bitations. Hence they fojourned in annual huts, and cultivated 

 a little fpot of ground for a crop, in aid of the produce of their 

 cattle. Hence, too, they found it every where neceflary to have 

 ftrong holds, to which they carried their property in time of 

 danger. Thefe holds or pagi, as the Greeks and Romans called 

 them, were the natural refort of the tribes in their neighbour- 

 hood, and feem to have been every where the firft embryos of 

 the towns and little ftates with which ancient Europe fo much 

 abounded. The pagus was ufually fituate on an eminence, on 



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