THE DECLINE AND FALL

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chap, more lively sense of liis existence. In the dull

IX * . .

__intervals of peace, these barbarians were immo-derately addicted to deep gaming and excessivedrinking; both of which, by different means,the one by inflaming their passions, the other byextinguishing their reason, alike relieved themfrom the pain of thinking. They gloried in pass-ing whole days and nights at table; and theblood of friends and relations often stained theirnumerous and drunken assemblies/ Their debtsof honour (for in that light they have transmit-ted to us those of play) they discharged with themost romantic fidelity. The desperate gamester,who had staked his person and liberty on a lastthrow of the dice, patiently submitted to the de-cision of fortune, and suffered himself to bebound, chastised, and sold into remote slavery,by his weaker but more lucky antagonist. 1Their taste Strong beer, a liquor extracted with very lit-liqum's'!' 18 tie art from wheat or barley, and corrupted (asit is strongly expressed by Tacitus ) into a cer-tain semblance of wine, was sufficient for thegross purposes of German debauchery. Butthose who had tasted the rich wines of Italy ,and afterwards of Gaul, sighed for that more de-licious species of intoxication. They attemptednot, however (as has since been executed withso much success), to naturalize the vine on thebanks of the Rhine and Danube ; nor did they

h Tacit. Germ. 22, 23.

* Id, 21. The Germans might borrow the arts of play from theRomans, but the passion is wonderfully inherent in the humanspecies.