4 The Rise of the

many valuable and contrasted charac-teristics been early fused into a whole,it would be difficult to shew a racemore richly endowed by Nature fordominion and progress than the Belgo-Germanic people.

Physically the two races resembledeach other. Both were of vast stature.The gigantic Gaul derided the Romansoldiers as a band of pigmies. TheGerman excited astonishment by hishuge body and muscular limbs. Bothwere fair, with fierce blue eyes, butthe Celt had yellow hair floating overhis shoulders, and the German longlocks of fiery red, which he even dyedwith woad to heighten the favouritecolour, and wore twisted into a war-knot upon the top of his head. Herethe German’s love of finery ceased. Asimple tunic fastened at his throat witha thorn, while his other garments de-fined and gave full play to his limbs,completed his costume. The Gaul, onthe contrary, was so fond of dress thatthe Romans divided his race respec-tively into long-haired, breeched, andgowned Gaul (Gallia comata, braccata,togata). He was fond of brilliant andparti-coloured clothes, a taste whichsurvives in the Highlander’s costume.He covered his neck and arms withgolden chains. The simple and fero-cious German wore no decoration savehis iron ring, from which his firsthomicide relieved him. The Gaul wasirascible, furious in his wrath, but lessformidable in a sustained conflict witha powerful foe. “ All the Gauls are ofvery high stature,” says a soldier whofought under Julian (Amm. Marcel,xv. 12. 1). “ They are white, golden-haired, terrible in the fierceness of theireyes, greedy of quarrels, bragging andinsolent. A band of strangers couldnot resist one of them in a brawl,assisted by his strong blue-eyed wife,especially when she begins, gnashingher teeth, her neck swollen, brandish-ing her vast and snowy arms, andkicking with her heels at the sametime, to deliver her fisticuffs, like boltsfrom the twisted strings of a catapult.The voices of many are threateningand formidable. They are quick toanger, but quickly appeased. All are

Dutch Republic .

clean in their persons; nor among themis ever seen any man or woman, «'iselsewhere, squalid in ragged garments.At all ages they are apt for militaryservice. The old man goes forth to thefight with equal strength of breast,with limbs as hardened by cold andassiduous labour, and as contemptuousof all dangers, as the young. Not oneof them, as in Italy is often the case,was ever known to cut off his thumbsto avoid the service of Mars.”

The polity of each race differedwidely from that of the other. Thegovernment of both may be said tohave been republican, but the Gallictribes were aristocracies, in which theinfluence of clanship was a predomi-nant feature; while the German sys-tem, although nominally regal, was inreality democratic. In Gaul were twoorders, the nobility and the priest-hood, while the people, says Caesar,were all slaves. The knights or nobleswere all trained to arms. Each wentforth to battle, followed by his depen-dents, while a chief of all the clanswas appointed to take command duringthe war. The prince or chief governorwas elected annually, but only by thenobles. The people had no rights atall, and were glad to assign themselvesas slaves to any noble who was strongenough to protect them. In peace theDruids exercised the main functions ofgovernment. They decided all con-troversies, civil and criminal. To rebeagainst their decrees was punished byexclusion from the sacrifices—a mostterrible excommunication, throughwhich the criminal was cut off fromall intercourse with his fellow crea-tures.

With the Germans the sovereigntyresided in the great assembly of thepeople. There were slaves, indeed,but in small number, consisting eitherof prisoners of war or of those unfor-tunates who had forfeited their libertyin games of chance. Their chieftains,although called by the Romans princesand kings, were, in reality, generalschosen by universal suffrage. Electedin the great assembly to preside inwar, they were raised on the shouldersof martial freemen, amid wild battle