"Agricolis labor actus in orbem,"


returns; for in the months of March and April only the soil is once
ploughed for oats, and again in the summer a third time, and in
winter for wheat. Almost all the people live upon the produce of
their herds, with oats, milk, cheese, and butter; eating flesh in
larger proportions than bread. They pay no attention to commerce,
shipping, or manufactures, and suffer no interruption but by
martial exercises. They anxiously study the defence of their
country and their liberty; for these they fight, for these they
undergo hardships, and for these willingly sacrifice their lives;
they esteem it a disgrace to die in bed, an honour to die in the
field of battle; using the poet's expressions, -


"Procul hinc avertite pacem,
Nobilitas cum pace perit."


Nor is it wonderful if it degenerates, for the ancestors of these
men, the AEneadae, rushed to arms in the cause of liberty. It is
remarkable that this people, though unarmed, dares attack an armed
foe; the infantry defy the cavalry, and by their activity and
courage generally prove victors. They resemble in disposition and
situation those conquerors whom the poet Lucan mentions:


- "Populi quos despicit Arctos,