Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 1.djvu/327

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 303 who, in their inaccessible morasses, defied the Roman CHAP. arms'*; of the Cherusci, proud of the fame of Arminius; of the Catti, formidable by their firm and intrepid in- fantry ; and of several other tribes of inferior power and renown*^. The love of liberty was the ruling pas- sion of these Germans; the enjoyment of it their best treasure; the word that expressed that enjoyment, the most pleasing to their ear. They deserved, they as- sumed, they maintained the honourable epithet of Franks or freemen ; which concealed, though it did not extinguish, the peculiar names of the several states of the confederacy"*.. Tacit consent, and mutual advan- tage, dictated the first laws of the union; it was gra- dually cemented by habit and experience. The league of the Franks may admit of some comparison with the Helvetic body; in which every canton, retaining its independent sovereignty, consults with its brethren in the common cause, without acknowledging the au- thority of any supreme head, or representative assem- bly®. But the principle of the two confederacies was extremely different. A peace of two hundred years has rewarded the wise and honest policy of the Swiss. An inconstant spirit, the thirst of rapine, and a disregard to the most solemn treaties, disgraced the character of the Franks. The Romans had long experienced the daring valour They in- of the people of Lower Germany. The union of their ^^^® ^^^^' strength threatened Gaul with a more formidable inva- sion, and required the presence of Gallienus, the heir and colleague of imperial power ^ Whilst that prince, and his infant son Saloninus, displayed, in the court of Treves, the majesty of the empire, its armies were ably conducted by their general Posthumus, who, though he afterwards betrayed the family of Valerian, was ever faithful to the great interest of the monarchy. The •* Plin. Hist. Nat. xvi. 1. The panegyrists frequently allude to the mo- rasses of the Franks. <= Tacit. Germ. c. 30. 37. <J In a subsequent period, most of those old names are occasionally men- tioned. See some vestiges of them in Cluver. Germ. Antiq. 1. iii. f Zosimus, 1. i. p. 27.
 * Simler de Republica Helvet. cum notis Fuselin.