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Rh in a higher mood, corresponding closely with one he makes on the religious belief of the Jews. He appears to have been struck by the purity, if not the sublimity, of the Teutonic creed. "The Germans," he says, "believe that the gods cannot be confined within walls, nor, by reason of the vastness of their nature, be represented under the similitude of any human figure." But although they built not temples nor carved images, they were not without certain places dedicated to national worship. Their shrines were sacred spots in the depth of forests, and the gloom of the shrine symbolised a grave and gloomy ritual. To these sacred recesses they gave the names of their deities, and approached them with awe as the habitation of the unseen powers whom they worshipped. Of these sanctuaries the roof was the sky, the columns were the trees; and the historian, among other contrasts between the Roman and the Teuton of his time, may have had in view the gilded roofs, the marble pillars, and the numerous statues he saw in the Pantheon of Agrippa or the fane of Jupiter in the Capitol.

There were kings in many of the German tribes, but their power was not unlimited or arbitrary. The king was expected to expose his person in battle, as well as to command the army. There were two houses of Parliament. The chiefs deliberated about minor matters, the whole tribe about more important ones. The assemblies for debate, except in cases of sudden emergency, were held on certain fixed days, either at new or full moon. Like assemblies of more recent date, the Germans wasted a good deal of time before they applied in earnest to business. A century has not elapsed since members of our House of Commmons