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50 his giving Toutates the first place in the lines quoted to you as no mere accident. The most important evidence, however, is to be found in Caesar's words, which I take the liberty of bringing under your notice again: 'With regard to Mars,' he says, 'it is usual for the Gauls, as soon as they have resolved to engage in battle, to vow beforehand to him all the spoils they may take in the war; so they sacrifice to him all the animals captured, and they bring all the rest of the booty together to one spot. In many of their cities, heaps of these things may be seen piled up in their sacred places. Nor does it often happen that anybody so far disregards the traditional custom as to dare either to hide any of the booty at home or to carry any away that has been set aside: in case such a crime is committed, the offender is tortured and most severely punished.' The meaning of these words is quite clear: the god's aid and sympathy, nay his active co-operation, were to be engaged by giving him the spoils which his worshippers took from their enemies, and he who failed to give the god his due was held to bring the divine displeasure on the state, which the criminal thereby rendered liable to defeat and ravage: in other words, he became guilty of the most heinous crime possible against the community.

Plenty of parallels may, doubtless, be found among other ancient nations, but I will only call your attention to the familiar case of the Jahveh of the Hebrews as fully described in the Book of Joshua. We read in the 7th chapter that Joshua, in his distress at finding his men defeated in their attack on a small town called Ai, was addressed by the Lord in the following words: 'Israel hath sinned; yea, they have even transgressed my