30.4. 4. The same Subject continued.
Csar says
[7]
that "when any of the
princes declared to the assembly that he intended to set out upon an
expedition and asked them to follow him, those who approved the leader
and the enterprise stood up and offered their assistance. Upon which
they were commended by the multitude. But, if they did not fulfil their
engagements, they lost the public esteem, and were looked upon as
deserters and traitors."
What Csar says in this place, and what we have extracted in the
preceding chapter from Tacitus, are the substance of the history of our
princes of the first race.
We must not therefore be surprised that our kings should have new
armies to raise upon every expedition, new troops to encourage, new
people to engage; that to acquire much they were obliged to incur great
expenses; that they should be constant gainers by the division of lands
and spoils, and yet give these lands and spoils incessantly away: that
their demesne should continually increase and diminish; that a father
upon settling a kingdom on one of his children
[8]
should always give him
a treasure with it: that the king's treasure should be considered as
necessary to the monarchy; and that one king could not give part of it
to foreigners, even in portion with his daughter, without the consent of
the other kings.
[9]
The monarchy moved by springs, which they were
continually obliged to wind up.
Footnotes
[7]
"De Bello Gall.," lib. vi, 22.
[8]
See the "Life of Dagobert."
[9]
See Gregory of Tours, book vi, on the marriage of the daughter of
Chilperic. Childebert sends ambassadors to tell him that he should not
give the cities of his father's kingdom to his daughter, nor his
treasures, nor his bondmen, nor horses, nor horsemen, nor teams of oxen,
&c.
