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fight against them, for the sole purpose of testing who was the bravest. He to whom the call had been made could not refuse it without losing his honor. Livy, speaking of the funerals that Scipio Africanus held for his father and his uncle, who had perished in the Spanish Wars, says that a great number of persons of distinction went to Carthage to honor the festival with duels. "They fought," says this historian (book 28), "not like gladiators, by force or for money, but of their own free will and for free. Some had been sent by the kings of the country to give proof of the valor of their nation. Others declared that they came to fight to honor Scipio. Others were people who wanted to signal their bravery, or who had accepted a challenge. There were also those who, having been unable to end a lawsuit through the way of justice, or not having wanted to, came to fight, after having agreed with their adversary that the victor would win his case." The Author remarks here that the peoples of Europe still preserve many remnants of their ancient barbarism today, and that in certain respects they have even increased the ferocity of their ancestors. It is surprising that he forgot to mention the famous Burgundian Law on duels, called the Gombette Law, which is spoken of at some length in the book by the Abbé du Bos on the beginnings of the French Monarchy.

There is here a curious detail regarding the customs of the ancient barbarians of Europe, drawn from several authors. We learn from Nicolaus of Damascus, for example, that it was a dishonor among the Spaniards to be fat; and that, for this purpose, there was a certain common measure for men's belts; so that it was shameful to need a longer one. Among the Celts, it was the same custom, according to Strabo, and large bellies were fined; they believed this punished intemperance, too long a sleep, idleness, and rest.

However, all these barbarians loved the table very much, according to Caesar and Tacitus, and the Germans especially. The Author describes here their feasts and their way of drinking, which the English appear to have retained, and which I have seen them practice. The jug of wine or beer was placed on the table. He who drank saluted his neighbor and handed him the jug, and the latter did the same regarding another who was sitting beside him. Thus, the guests could only drink when the jug or the cup, which made the round of the table, reached them, and when it was presented to them, they could not refuse it. As they drank from the same cup one after the other, the first said to his neighbor: I drink to you, that is to say, I drink first so that you may drink after me. The Greeks said original: "πινω σοι" I drink to you, and the Latins, original: "propino tibi" I drink to your health. They added: I wish that this drink be as healthy for you as for me. This is the origin of the custom we have retained of drinking to the health of one another. By this, notice was given that there was neither poison nor witchcraft in the cup. It was an affront to present a drink to someone without having tasted the liquid one offered him. These customs were among the Greeks and Romans, as among the barbarians. Regarding healths and salutations, they do not appear to have always been in use among the Greeks and Romans, since Plutarch remarks, as a particular thing, that the Persians saluted one another in their meals. According to Aelian, the Persians loved the table and wine very much. However, the Germans surpassed

all others in this. original: "Diem noctemque continuare potando, nulli probrum" To continue drinking day and night was a disgrace to no one, says Tacitus, in Germany, chapter 22. A very singular diversion of the barbarians was that when the guests had sung and danced in their feasts, the young people stripped naked, sword in hand, and fenced against one another. Sometimes they wounded and killed themselves. Sometimes someone pretended to be killed, and his body was carried away. There are several testimonies of ancient authors on this. What is even more singular is that among the Thracians, who received any stranger very politely in their homes, they believed themselves obliged at the end of the meal, if he were a brave warrior, to furnish him the occasion to signal his bravery; for this purpose, they obligingly offered to fight against him.

Athenaeus reports (book 4, chapter 14) that some of the Thracians played at their feasts a certain game that was called the hangman's game. A rope was attached in a high place, under which a stone was placed. He who was to be the actor climbed onto the stone, armed with a scythe. Then he put the rope around his own neck, and the stone was pulled away. If he who remained suspended did not have the skill to cut the rope instantly with his scythe, he was strangled and perished amidst the laughter of the spectators. Such was the ferocity of these barbarians, for whom the death of a man was an amusing spectacle. The same Author reports another very senseless custom; which is that to delight the spectators, they made a kind of collection of gold and silver, which they distributed immediately to their friends: then they lay down on their shield and let their throats be cut.

The Germans, according to Tacitus (Germany 24), loved games of chance very much. They play, he says, in cold blood at these games, without

having drunk. After having lost their money, they gamble themselves, that is to say, they put their person and their liberty at stake. Then the loser let himself be bound and sold as a slave to foreign merchants. However, the Germans rightly regarded liberty as the most precious of all goods. How did they risk it on a roll of the dice? The fury of gambling must have been extreme among them.

The Scythian peoples cultivated music. However, Atheas, King of the Scythians, who lived in the time of Philip, King of Macedonia, having heard a Greek play the flute who passed for very skillful, the King said he would rather hear the neighing of his horse. This Prince perhaps wished, by speaking thus, to censure the soft and effeminate music of the Greeks. For music and instruments were very fashionable among the Scythians and among all the barbarians. The music of the Greeks came originally from Thrace. It was from this country that Orpheus, Musaeus, Thamyris, and Eumolpus had come. Most musical instruments came from Scythia.

Mr. Pelloutier cites a crowd of testimonies from ancient authors regarding the character and customs of the Gauls, the Germans, and other barbarians. All this is curious, and one sees that we still hold something of the character of our ancestors. But Mr. Pelloutier judiciously remarks that everything the ancients wrote on the customs of these peoples should only be understood of the majority. "When one speaks of the character of a people," he says, "it is always understood that one must except not only those who correct through reflection the defects of temperament common to certain nations, but also those who have received from Nature inclinations..."

Vocabulary: Celts, Scipio Africanus, Spanish Wars, Gladiators, Gombette Law, Abbé du Bos, French Monarchy, Nicolaus of Damascus, Spaniards, Strabo, Caesar, Tacitus, Germans, Greeks, Romans, Athenaeus, Thracians, hangman's game, Atheas, Philip of Macedon, Orpheus, Musaeus, Thamyris, Eumolpus, Mr. Pelloutier, Gauls