length, after an obstinate struggle, he
yielded to the power of the empire, Civilis secured himself and his
country by an honorable treaty. The Batavians still continued to occupy
the islands of the Rhine, the allies, not the servants, of the Roman
monarchy.

II. The strength of ancient Germany appears formidable, when we consider
the effects that might have been produced by its united effort. The wide
extent of country might very possibly contain a million of warriors, as
all who were of age to bear arms were of a temper to use them. But
this fierce multitude, incapable of concerting or executing any plan
of national greatness, was agitated by various and often hostile
intentions. Germany was divided into more than forty independent states;
and, even in each state, the union of the several tribes was extremely
loose and precarious. The barbarians were easily provoked; they knew not
how to forgive an injury, much less an insult; their resentments were
bloody and implacable. The casual disputes that so frequently happened
in their tumultuous parties of hunting or drinking, were sufficient
to inflame the minds of whole nations; the private feuds of any
considerable chieftains diffused itself among their followers and
allies. To chastise the insolent, or to plunder the defenceless, were
alike causes of war. The most formidable states of Germany affected
to encompass their territories with a wide frontier of solitude and
devastation. The awful distance preserved by their neighbors attested
the terror of their arms, and in some measure defended them from the
danger of unexpected incursions.

"The Bructeri * (it is Tacitus who now speaks) were totally exterminated
by the neighboring tribes, provoked by their insolence, allured by
the hopes of spoil, and perhaps inspired by the tutelar deities of the
empire. Above sixty thousand barbarians were destroyed; not by the Roman
arms, but in our sight, and for our entertainment. May the nations,
enemies of Rome, ever preserve this enmity to each other! We have now
attained the utmost verge of prosperity, and have nothing left to demand
of fortune, except the discord of the barbarians."--These sentiments,
less worthy of the humanity than of the patriotism of Tacitus, express
the invariable maxims of the policy of his countrymen. They deemed it a
much safer expedient to divide than to combat the barbarians, from whose
defeat they could derive neither honor nor advantage. The money and