liberty they now enjoy, either in their constitution, or in the spirit of their government? For although the Gothic form of government has been almost every where altered or abolished, have we not retained, in most things, the opinions, the customs, the manners which that government had a tendency to produce? Is not this, in fact, the principal source of that courage, of that aversion to slavery, of that empire of honour which characterize in general the European nations; and of that moderation, of that easiness of access, and peculiar attention to the rights of humanity, which so happily distinguish our sovereigns from the inaccessible and superb tyrants of Asia? The immense extent of the Roman empire had rendered its constitution so despotic and military, many of its emperors were such ferocious monsters, its senate was become so mean-spirited and vile, that all elevation of sentiment, every thing that was noble and manly, seems to have been for ever banished from their hearts and minds; insomuch that if all Europe had received the yoke of Rome in this her state of debasement, this fine part of the world, reduced to the inglorious condition of the rest, could not have avoided falling into that kind of barbarity, which is of all others the most incurable; as, by making as many slaves as there are men, it degrades them so low as not to leave them even a thought or desire of bettering their condition. But nature had long prepared a remedy for such great evils, in that unsubmitting, unconquerable spirit, with which she had inspired the people of the north; and thus she made amends to the human race, for all the calamities which, in other respects, the inroads of these nations, and the overthrow of the Roman empire produced.

"The great prerogative of Scandinavia (says the admirable author of the Spirit of Laws), and what ought to recommend its inhabitants beyond every people upon earth, is, that they afforded the great resource to the liberty of Europe, that is, to almost all the liberty that is among men. The Goth Jornandes (adds he) calls the north of Europe the forge of mankind. I should rather call it, the forge of those instruments which broke the fetters manufactured in the south. It was there those valiant nations were bred, who left their native climes to destroy tyrants and slaves, and to teach men that nature having made them equal, no reason could be assigned for their becoming dependent, but their mutual happiness."

If these considerations be of any weight, I shall easily be excused for having treated at so much length the antiquities of the north. The judicious public will see and decide whether I have conceived a just idea of my subject, or whether, from an illusion too common with authors, I have not ascribed to it more importance than it deserves. I should not be without some apprehensions of this kind, if that were always true which is commonly said, that we grow fond of our labours in proportion as they are difficult. Many tedious and unentertaining volumes I have been obliged to peruse: I have had more than one language to learn; my materials were widely scattered, ill digested, and often little known. It was not easy to collect them, or to accommodate them to my purpose. These are all circumstances ill calculated, it must be owned, to give me much assurance. But I have likewise met with very considerable assistances; several learned men have treated particular points of the antiquities of the north with that deep erudition which characterizes the studies of the last I cannot mention, without acknowledgment and praise, Bartholinus, Wormius, Stephanius, . Arngrim Jonas, Torfæus, &c.

Is it necessary that I should take notice, before I conclude, that I am about to delineate a nation in its infancy, and that the greatest part of the other Europeans were neither less savage, nor less uncivilized, during the same period? I shall give sufficient proofs of this in other places, being persuaded that there is among nations an emulation of glory, which often degenerates into jealousy, and puts them upon assuming a pre-eminence upon the most chimerical advantages; that there glows in their bosoms a patriotic zeal, which is often so blind and ill informed, as to take alarm at the most slender and indifferent declarations made in favour of others.

60

NORTHERN ANTIQUITIES.

CHAPTER I.

OF THE FIRST INHABITANTS OF DENMARK, AND PARTI

CULARLY OF THE CIMBRI.

It is useless to inquire at what period of time Denmark began to be inhabited. Such a research would doubtless lead us up to an age when all Europe was plunged in ignorance and barbarity. These two words include in them almost all we know of the history of the first ages. It is very probable, that the first Danes were like all the other Teutonic nations, a colony of Scythians *, who spread themselves at different times over the countries which lay towards the west. The resemblance of name might induce us to believe that it was from among the Cimmerian Scythians (whom the ancients placed to the north of the Euxine Sea) that the first colonies were sent into Denmark; and that from this people they inherited the name of Cimbri, which they bore so long before they assumed that of Danes. But this resemblance of name, which many historians produce as a solid proof, is liable to so many different explanations, that it is better to acknowledge once for all, that this subject is as incapable of certainty, as it is unworthy of research.

Whatever was the origin of the Cimbri, they for a long time before the birth of Christ inhabited the country, which received from them the name of the Cimbrica Chersonesus, or Cimbric Peninsula, and probably comprehended Jutland, Sleswic, and Holstein, and perhaps some of the neighbouring provinces. The ancients considered this people as a branch of the Germans, and never distinguished the one from the other in the descriptions they have left us of the manners

See the note page 55.

and customs of that nation. The historical monuments of the north give us still less information about them, and go no farther back than the arrival of Odin; the epoch of which I am inclined to place, with the celebrated Torfæus, about seventy years before the birth of Christ. All that passed in Denmark before that period would be entirely unknown to us, if the famous expedition of the Cimbri into Italy had not drawn upon them the attention of a people who enjoyed the advantage of having historians. It is a single gleam, which for a moment throws light upon the ages of obscurity; short and transient as it is, let us nevertheless catch it, in order to discover, if possible, a feature or two of the character of this people.

The history of Rome informs us, that in the consulship of Cæcilius Metellus and Papirius Carbo, about one hundred and eleven years before the Chistian erat, the republic was agitated by intestine divisions which already began to threaten its liberty, when the intrigues of the several factions were all at once suspended by the sudden news of an irruption of barbarians. More than three hundred thousand men, known by the names of Cimbri and Teutones, who chiefly issued from the Cimbric Chersonese and the neighbouring islands, had forsaken their country to go in search of a more favourable climate, of plunder and glory. They attacked and subdued at once whatever people they found in their passage, and as they met with no resistance, resolved to push their conquests farther. The Gauls where overwhelmed with this torrent, whose course was for a long time marked by the most horrible desolation. Terror every where went before them, and when it was reported at Rome, that they were disposed to pass into Italy, the consternation there became general. The senate despatched Papirius Carbo with an army to guard the passage of the Alps, deeming it a sufficient degree of good fortune, if they could but preserve Italy from these formidable guests. But as they took a different route, and stopped some time on the banks of the Danube, the Romans resumed courage, and condemning their former fears, sent in a menacing tone to the Cimbri, to bid them take care not to

* See Plutarch in Mario.-Oros. 1. 5.-Vel. Patercul. 1. 2.-T. Liv. epit. 1. 68. Flor. 1. 3. chap. 30. Anno Urb. Cond. 640.

disturb the Norici their allies. At the same time the Cimbri, being informed that a Roman army approached them, and respecting the character of the Republic, sent ambassadors to the Consul Papirius, "to excuse themselves, forasmuch as having come from the remote parts of the north, they could not possibly know that the Norici were the allies of the Romans: " adding, "that they only knew it to be a received law among all nations, that the conqueror hath a right to whatever he can acquire; and that the Romans themselves had no other pretensions to most of the countries they had subdued, than what was founded on the sword. That they had, however, a great veneration for the Roman people on account of their virtue and bravery; in consideration of which, although they knew not what it was to fear, they consented to leave the Norici in peace, and to employ their valour in some other quarter, where they could do it without incurring the displeasure of the commonwealth." Satisfied with so moderate an answer, the consul suffered them quietly to remove; but when the Cimbri were retired into Dalmatia, and expected nothing less than hostilities from the Romans, a party of these commanded by Carbo surprised them by night asleep and unarmed. These brave warriors full of indignation flew to their arms, and defended themselves with so much intrepidity, that they wrested the victory out of their enemies' hands, and forced them to seek their safety by flight. But although the Romans almost all escaped the vengeance of their enemies, this defeat was not the less fatal to the republic; for the splendour and reputation which it added to the arms of the Cimbri, drew on all sides under their banners such nations as were either impatient of the Roman yoke, or jealous of their encroachments; particularly the Tigurini and Ambrones, two people originally of Helvetia. With these new auxiliaries, they overwhelmed Gaul a second time, and advancing to the foot of the Pyrenees, endeavoured to establish themselves in Spain; but meeting with a vigorous repulse from the Celtiberians, and tired of so many unprofitable invasions, they sent a new embassy to the Romans, to offer them their services, upon condition they would give them lands to cultivate. The Senate, too prudent to enter into any kind of accommodation with such dangerous enemies, and already divided among themselves about the distribution of