"I suppose so. Oh yes, I want you to go on. But it is dreadful."
"Well, the captives were laid on the altar, as I read, 'and the priests cut their throats with their knives of flint. When the quivering victim had ceased to bleed, the body was taken up by the young warriors and cast into the Deep Moor, where it immediately sunk in the bog. Landolf had not recovered from the shock—for he had never seen a human sacrifice before, having gone while yet a boy into the country of the Christians—when his attention was fettered by another dreadful drama.
"'Some of the young men fetched a long and broad hurdle, woven of fir branches, laid it down before the altar, and went away; but came back again presently with a man and a woman, who had been accused and convicted of breaking the marriage vow. An accuser stepped forth, and repeated the charge before the Billing. The Billing then asked the accused whether the charge was true? and admonished them to confess the truth, since never yet had a free Saxon told a lie. And when the guilty people had owned their guilt, first their relations came forward and spat in their faces; then the man's weapons were taken from him, his hands and feet and the woman's were tied together: and so tied they were thrown into the Deep Moor, the hurdle covered over them, and this and the underlying bodies, by their nearest relations first of all, were trodden down into the deep morass. So came the marriage-breakers to a shameful end and received the reward of their sin.
"'Hermann told Landolf afterwards that there were three crimes which they punished on this disgraceful wise—marriage-breaking, lying, and cowardice; because such people were not held worthy to die the honourable death of a warrior, and be slain with weapons. Landolf answered "O Billing! you are terrible people! yet even as heathen you hate the sins that you know. What would you be, if you were once Christians, and the Lord Jesus gave you His light!"
"'And as I write down these words from the old chronicle, I could cast my eyes to the ground for shame and weep tears of blood over the deep, shameful apostasy of the German Christianity of the present day. Christ gives us His light now; we are Christians now; but where have purity, truth, and courage hid themselves? Are there ten in a hundred German Christians that keep a pure life, true lips, and a brave heart? I do not think it. Open and secret impurity, coarse and polished falsehood, disgraceful cowardliness, fear of men and men-pleasing, have infested the whole German Christian nation, and will soon bring down the judgment of God; for "the bruise is incurable, and the wound is grievous." Great and small, men and women, old and young, all are tainted with the plague. Our heathen forefathers were better and cleaner in these things than we Christians—they will condemn us at the last judgment, and we shall have to stand abashed before them. And you that read this, if you prize the name of a German—if, as you should, you prize a thousand times more the name of a Christian—ask your conscience whether it has not been uneasy under the foregoing narration; and if it has, then repent, you degenerate German, you hypocritical Christian; repent in sackcloth and ashes, and on your knees implore your God, the living Saviour: "Jesus, my Lord, thou holy God, give me a pure nature, a lip of faithfulness, and a bold heart, through the faith that is in Thee."
"'And now I must go on to tell what more befell that same day, in which the devilish nature of heathenism among our forefathers was shown as frightfully as in their murderous sacrifices. Far behindhand as our ancestors at that time were in all civilisation, they nevertheless already understood the art of preparing intoxicating drinks. For this purpose they used especially the wild oats which grew all over, and the darnel grass, of which a strong, intoxicating beer was brewed; and to make it yet more stupefying, they added a certain marsh plant. And scarce ever was there a sacrifice that was not concluded with a drinking-bout. So it fell out at this time. Many writers tell, how among the old Germans it was even made a boast to spend eight or even fourteen days, one after another, in such carousals. On the occasion of which we are speaking, indeed, they lasted only over the rest of that day and through the night; for the next day the intent was to go on to the stone-houses. But what horror must Landolf have felt even in that short time! When all of them had got drunk, a quarrel sprang up; and as each man had his weapons with him, his war-axe especially, the quarrel came to duels between man and man; and soon blood was flowing from most of the people, and several corpses lay here and there. The bodies were burned, their ashes buried, and a round hillock of earth thrown up over them; for, as it was thought, they had fallen in honourable fight, as it became men to do. And when Landolf, full of astonishment, asked the Billing, who of all the crowd was the only one that had remained sober, whether they did not then punish people for murder? the Billing in wonder retorted by the question, where the murderers were? There had been nothing but an open, honest fight, which was to the honour of those concerned in it.
"'Yet another abomination Landolf saw on this occasion, which, however, was in a remarkable manner mixed up with truth and noblemindedness. I mean that while this drinking-bout was going on, a number of men, young and old, amused themselves with gaming, of which they were passionately fond. To be sure they had no cards, neither dice. But they had little longish, square cornered, wooden sticks, shaved white, and with certain marks painted on the upper side. Each man took a certain number of these in both hands, shook them, and threw them up in the air. When they fell on the ground, they were carefully looked at to see how many of them lay with the painted side up, and how many with the unpainted; and whoever then had the most sticks with the painted side up, he had won. Upon each throw they set some of their cattle, a hog, a cow, or an ox, or a horse; perhaps at last a specially prized drinking vessel, made out of a ure-ox horn; even finally, what they held to be most valuable of all, their weapons; and at last Landolf saw a young man, who had lost all he had, cast his freedom upon the last throw; and when this too was lost, he saw how frankly and without grumbling he gave himself up to be the slave of his fellow-player; so fast the German, even amid the bewilderments of sin, held to truth and the inviolable keeping of his word once given. Liberty was truly his most valuable and precious possession, for which at any other time he was ready to die, arms in hand. And yet he yielded this treasure quietly up, when he had lost it at play, rather than break his word and his faith; if he were the stronger, he did not defend himself; he did not take to flight, though he might have a hundred opportunities—the free man who gloried in his freedom, became a slave, that he might keep faith. This was how Landolf found things among the heathen; he wept bitter tears over it; but he never desponded: so much the firmer grew his resolution to preach the Gospel to this people, and make the true God known to them. For the thought always rose in him, what might come of a people whom God had so nobly endowed, among whom even in the abominations of idolatry there shone forth such traits of pureness of manners and nobleness of thought, were they but once renewed and born again by the glorious Christian faith.
"'But if Landolf were to come to light again in these days, when we are Christians, what would he say of us? Outward culture truly he would find—the face of the earth would indeed have changed. But if he came into the inns, where drinking and gaming are going on, into the so-called Maybeers, into the assemblies for eating and drinking, and playing at weddings, and housewarmings, and christenings; or into the private drinking and gaming parties in people's houses, the gaming hells at the watering-places, the drinking carousals of students, the companies of the noble, the so-called entertainments with which everything must be celebrated in Germany—how confounded would he be, to find that the drinking and gaming devil is still the ruling devil in Germany! but, on the other hand, faith and truth are extinguished. It is true what the old song says—"Most are Christians only in name. God's true seed are thinly scattered, those who love and honour Christ and do His pleasure!" Well, God mend it!'"
Meredith shut up his book.
"Ditto," said Maggie thoughtfully, "is it so bad here?"