grove. No person enters it without being bound with a chain, as an
acknowledgment of his inferior nature, and the power of the deity residing
there. If he accidentally fall, it is not lawful for him to be lifted or
to rise up; they roll themselves out along the ground. The whole of their
superstition has this import: that from this spot the nation derives its
origin; that here is the residence of the Deity, the Governor of all, and
that everything else is subject and subordinate to him. These opinions
receive additional authority from the power of the Semnones, who inhabit a
hundred cantons, and, from the great body they compose, consider
themselves as the head of the Suevi.

40. The Langobardi, [210] on the other hand, are ennobled by, the
smallness of their numbers; since though surrounded by many powerful
nations, they derive security, not from obsequiousness, but from their
martial enterprise. The neighboring Reudigni, [211] and the Avions, [212]
Angli, [213] Varini, Eudoses, Suardones, and Nuithones, [214] are defended
by rivers or forests. Nothing remarkable occurs in any of these; except
that they unite in the worship of Hertha, [215] or Mother Earth; and
suppose her to interfere in the affairs of men, and to visit the different
nations. In an island [216] of the ocean stands a sacred and unviolated
grove, in which is a consecrated chariot, covered with a veil, which the
priest alone is permitted to touch. He becomes conscious of the entrance
of the goddess into this secret recess; and with profound veneration
attends the vehicle, which is drawn by yoked cows. At this season, [217]
all is joy; and every place which the goddess deigns to visit is a scene
of festivity. No wars are undertaken; arms are untouched; and every
hostile weapon is shut up. Peace abroad and at home are then only known;
then only loved; till at length the same priest reconducts the goddess,
satiated with mortal intercourse, to her temple. [218] The chariot, with
its curtain, and, if we may believe it, the goddess herself, then undergo