Germany. 
ar 
Marriages. 
erals. 
Fondness 
for gaming. 
Slaves, &c 
250 
regarded by the Persians ; and perhaps may be regard- 
ed as an additional proof of the opinion, that the Goths, 
and consequently the Germans, originated in Persia. 
Another kind of divination, to which they had recourse 
in wars of doubtful issue, was to oblige a captive of the 
enemy to fight with one of their ci ig : the event 
of the war was supposed to be foretold by the issue of 
this single combat. ; f 
The ancient Germans in general did not practise po- 
lygamy ; and even when their princes married more 
wives than one, it was done only for the sake of multi- . 
plying their alliances. There was no law prohibiting 
divorces, but the force of example and customs render- 
ed them extremely rare. The adultress was whipped 
through the village ; and neither wealth nor beauty 
could save her from this punishment, or procure her 
a second husband. The Germans treated their wo- 
men very differently from other barbarous and ancient 
nations; regarding them with esteem and confidence ; 
consulting them on every occasion of importance, and 
believing that they were inspired by the gods with a 
larger portion of sanctity and wisdom than had been 
bestowed upon the men. The funerals of the Germans 
were remarkable for their plainness, and freedom from 
pomp and show; only the bodies of illustrious men 
were burnt with certain kinds of wood. The funeral 
pile was not, as amorig the Romans, covered with gar- 
ments and rich perfumes. The arms of the deceased, 
and sometimes his horse, were committed to the flames. 
A mound of earth was reared for his tomb: they then 
deposited the ashes in urns. The passion of the an- 
cient Germans for play was extremely powerful. In 
their sober moments they applied to dice, as to a seri- 
ous and important concern, and with such resolved and 
blind eagerness to gain or lose, that when every thing 
else was gone, they risked their liberty and persons on 
the last throw. The loser, though more powerful or 
more noble than the winner, submitted to voluntar 
slavery, and suffered himself to be bound and sold. 
Still, hiwetee: notwithstanding the strong and general 
prevalence of the spirit of gaming, some shame was at- 
tached to it, which induced the winner, as speedily as 
possible, to dispose of the slave he had acquired in this 
way, by commerce, in order to wipe off the scandal of 
the transaction. The slaves of the Germans were much 
better treated, and of a higher class than the slaves of 
the Romans; each had his own dwelling; he was in- 
deed bound to give his master, from the fruits of his 
own labour, a certain portion of grain, and a certain 
number of cattle; but when he had given these, his 
labour was his own. As soon as the ancient Germans 
rose from sleep, which they seldom did till broad day- 
light, they first bathed, generally in warm water ; they 
then sat down to their meal, each on a distinct seat, and 
at a separate table. Their drink was a liquor extracted 
with very little art, from wheat or barley, and ferment- 
ed toa spirit. Those bordering on the Rhine, pur- 
chased wine: their food was simple, consisting of wild 
apples, venison, or coagulated milk, They were tem- 
perate in what they ate, but quite the reverse in what 
they drank, 
Such were the ancient Germans ; and their manners 
are not only interesting, as exhibiting the state of a 
people before they emerged from barbarism ; but the 
contemplation of them is instructive in more than 
ene respect. In the first place, we may clearly trace 
among the Germans that respect for the fondle sex, 
which ‘so decidedly and honourably distinguishes the 
GERMANY 
modern nations of Europe; from the Greeks and Ro- 
mans. Inthe second place, even amidst the forests of 
Germany, as has been frequently remarked, the 
of civil Jiberty—of that enlightened liberty which Bri- 
tain enjoys—may be traced ; and lastly, among the same 
people, evidently existed many institutions remarkably 
similar to the institutions of Cuivaury, as has already 
been shewn under that article. ; 
II. Before proceeding to a sketch of the principal re- 
volutions of the Germanic empire, it may be proper to 
premise a very brief and rapid view of the more pro- 
minent and important points in the history of Germany — 
before that empire was fe 
The invasion of Italy 
their defeat by Marius, A.M. 3909; the invasion of 
by the Cimbri and Teutones; Hist 
Gaul by the borderers of the Rhine, under Arioristus, et 
and their defeat by Julius Cesar, A.M. 3950, are al- 
most the only events of consequence in the history of 
Germany, before the Christian era, of which we have 
any certain account. When Cesar had completed the 
conquest of Gaul, he divided it into the Celtic, the 
Aguitanic, and the Belgic provinces; in the last, all 
the German provinces on the left side of the Rhine 
were comprised. In the reign of Augustus, a further 
division took place, and the country lying between 
the Meuse, the Scheldt, and the 
rated from Belgic Gaul, and formed into a province, 
called Germania cis-Rhonanas. In A.M, 3995, the fa- 
mous Arminius, at the head of the Cherusci, massacred 
three Roman legions under Varus, between the Lippe 
and the Ems. In the third century of the Christian 
gra, the German tribes formed different associations for 
their common defence against the Romans. Of these 
hine, was sepa~ | 
the most remarkable were the Saxons, comprising those ciation 
who dwelt on each side of the Elbe; the Alemanni, 
formed by the nations between the Rhine, the Mayne; 
and the Lech; the Francici, by the nations between 
the Rhine, the Mayne, and the Weser, and the Thurin- 
gians, by the nations between the Mayne, the Danube, 
and the Hartz. Charlemagne was the first who united 
Germany under one tre. 
Hesse and Thuringia were incorporated by a similarity 
of religion and rota The Alemanni still con- 
tinued the faithful confederates of the Franes. The 
hereditary dukes of Bavaria, having repeatedly revolt- 
ed against the emperor, their power was shared among 
the counts of the empire. The north of 
the Rhine, and beyond the Elbe, was still ile and 
pagan; but after a war of thirty-three years, the Saxons. 
were subdued and converted. Beyond the Elbe, the 
Slavi occupied modern Prussia, Poland, and Bohemia ; 
the first “union of the last of these countries with the 
Germanic body, took place under Charlemagne. Soon 
after the reign of this monarch, his empire was divided; 
and one of his grandsons, Lewis the German, obtained 
for his share all ¢ 
and the three cantons ef Mentz, Spire, and Worms, 
These were called Francia Orientalis, and afterwards 
the kingdom of Germany. Till the reign of Charles | 
Bald, the Teutonic or German was the language 
the court. In his time, the Romanic, afterwards called 
the French language, came into use. 
The name of Oriental m 
France, may be traced in Franconia; the people of 
Germany from the Rhine to thé Oder, - 
The three king- 
pS a el ia ai a, a: 
from 
j 
doms were reunited in Charles the Fat; but when 4. 1 
he was deposed by his subjects, they were again sepa~ 
rated. From the confines of the kingdoms of France. 
and Germany, two new ki s arose; viz. Lorraine 
and Burgundy ; the former comprehended part of Ger- 
