Paul's death. It is a little
book; but it is a very precious one: and I think it is a great
mercy of God that, while so many famous old books have been lost,
this little book should have been preserved: for this Roman
gentleman had travelled among our forefathers; and when he returned
he wrote this book to shame his countrymen at Rome. In it he calls
us 'Germans;' but that was the Roman fashion. By Germans they meant
not only the people who now live in Germany, but the English and the
Danes, and the Swedes, and the Franks, who afterwards conquered
France. In fact he meant our own forefathers. And he said to the
Romans,--
'Look at these wild Germans. You despise them because they go half-
naked, and cannot read or write, and live in mud cottages; while you
go in silk and gold, and have all sorts of learning, and live in
great cities, palaces, and temples, in worldly pomp and glory. But
I tell you,' he said, 'that these wild Germans are better men than
you; for, while you are living in sin, in cheating and falsehood, in
covetousness, adultery, murder, and every horrible iniquity, they
are honest, chaste, truthful; they honour their fathers and mothers;
they are obedient and loyal to their kings and their laws; they shew
hospitality to strangers; they do not commit adultery, steal, bear
false witness, covet their neighbours' goods.
Pages:
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335