edged the
sovereignty of Attila, and who never entertained, during his
lifetime, the thought of a revolt, the Gepidae and the Ostrogoths were
distinguished by their numbers, their bravery, and the personal merits
of their chiefs. The renowned Ardaric, king of the Gepidae, was the
faithful and sagacious counsellor of the monarch, who esteemed his
intrepid genius, whilst he loved the mild and discreet virtues of the
noble Walamir, king of the Ostrogoths. The crowd of vulgar kings, the
leaders of so many martial tribes, who served under the standard of
Attila, were ranged in the submissive order of guards and domestics
round the person of their master. They watched his nod; they trembled at
his frown; and at the first signal of his will, they executed, without
murmur or hesitation, his stern and absolute commands. In time of peace,
the dependent princes, with their national troops, attended the royal
camp in regular succession; but when Attila collected his military
force, he was able to bring into the field an army of five, or,
according to another account, of seven hundred thousand Barbarians. [15]

[Footnote 13: Fortissimarum gentium dominus, qui inaudita ante se
potentia colus Scythica et Germanica regna possedit. Jornandes, c.
49, p. 684. Priscus, p. 64, 65. M. de Guignes, by his knowledge of the
Chinese, has acquired (tom. ii. p. 295-301) an adequate idea of the
empire of Attila.]

[Footnote 14: See Hist. des Huns, tom. ii. p. 296. The Geougen believed
that the Huns could excite, at pleasure, storms of wind and rain. This
phenomenon was produced by the stone Gezi; to whose magic power the
loss of a battle was ascribed by the Mahometan Tartars of the fourteenth
century. See Cherefeddin Ali, Hist. de Timur Bec, tom. i. p. 82, 83.]

[Footnote 15: Jornandes, c. 35, p. 661, c. 37, p. 667. See Tillemont,
Hist. dea Empereurs, tom. vi. p. 129, 138. Corneille has represented the
pride of Attila to his subject kings, and his tragedy opens with these
two ridiculous lines:--

Ils ne sont pas venus, nos deux rois! qu'on leur die
Qu'ils se font trop attendre, et qu'Attila s'ennuie.

The two kings of the Gepidae and the Ostrogoths are profound politicians
and sentimental lovers, and the whole piece exhibits the defects without
the genius, of the poet.]

The ambassadors of the Huns might awaken the attention of Theodosius,
by reminding him that they were his neighbors both in Europe and Asia;
since they touched the