? 4 WHAT BELGICr TRIBES
Mentz or Moguhtiaeum, compTäkends the country of thé
Nemetes, Tribocéi,* ail'd who^âte thé-Gélcnafaii'^elgie
tribes mentioned b y Tacitus. | The-vènly tribe' Mdëd#tos thit*;
number by Strabo are the yMéfviiy who inhabited thé-“parts
of Belgica Prima bordering on Germania-ihfèÉWî®i
- i t is wery obleÄblb tlÄt tbey Rnmans, in distributing“ the
countries of Northern Gauï into provinces, termed respectively
Germania Superior and Inferior! and . Belgica ! Prima and :Se-
cunda, appear to have rebbgnised'thé difference of-> population
abövérnerticed.* The two Germanics? on thé' ièft bank
Rhine cooeprehendêdS almost precisely the" districts Scuffed.1
by the tribes, of undoubtedly German origin; Théëèwffbêi:
are thus separated by a distinct line from the nËôre “pdpulou^
and extensive nations, who inhabited- the heart of Bbl^fet^ând
to whom ail theprincipal Beigic eities beloi^edv^ ?TysieBel^ip|
Germans are stilLfurtherfîs^pMaÉéd fern th o s^ ^ ilg jc tribuis',
who appear to have sént coloniesr âerè^ithe^bbânnelf înd to
havu constituted a part Of the populatiüdkèbï’Sblitb*^Britain.
* The division of ffie genuineBelgicfrom the Gcmian tfflies, which Tlmvetrm||
collected from the Roman writer^agreës neady-^ith the opinion t^ ram ipm n ; ira
which coincidence I was not aware, until I had completed thesenjraaerationun the
text,
Tichcepflin reckons the-Ehniones^ T u n ^ i, Nervii, Condiusi, Pasmani, Menapii,
and Treveri as the “ advenas Germanise populos/qui ante Cæsâris tèmp'ora in Galliàm
transierant.” He adds, “ Mediomatrici, Rhemi, Suessiones, Bellóvaei, Verömandui,
Ambiani, Atrebates, aliique plures ex priscis Galliae indigen is fuérant. ”—Alsati a
Illustrata, Period. Celt. s. 118, ug
M. Raoux, in a late memoir, which obtained' the prize offered -by the Royal
Academy of Science and Belles-Lettres of Bruxelles, in 1825; häs'investigated the
history of the different Belgic tribes- He concludes that those tribes were of German
origin who occupied the districts between the Rhine and the Marne, Liège, Brabant,
the two-Handers, and the provinces of Namur and Hainault, whilethe Belgic tribes
nearer to the Marne, the Seine, and the Somme, viz. die Rhemi, Suessiones, Vero-
mandui, Bellovaci, Ambiani, Caleti, Atrebates, and Moriui, were proper Belgse,
havingjio affinity to the Germans. But Schoepflin and M. Raoux appear to havé
admitted the Treveri into The list of German tribes on no sufficient grounds. I must
refer to what has been said upon this point above, where my reasons have been stated
for believing them to have bèen Belgic Gauls, and-I shall have occasion jfofr âoii.iè
farther remarks on this subject in a following section. ' In other respects, these
writers appear to be.nearly correct. M. Raoux thinks the boundaries of the ancient
Belgic Germans to have been nearly those of the Flemish and Dutch languages ; and
that the Relgie Gauls occupied Thë cóuntry of the present Walloons.—Mémoire
en réponse J, la question propôsée par ijACadémie de Sc. et de Belles-Lett. de
Bruxelles.
HAD' A IgsiRMA# ORIGIN. 7 5
Tbe original. Belgse» wera distinguishable from the Germans
in*Malay, respects. They ^ap.Vmbre.settled abodes, and cities
weft known by name, and what isfu?greater distinction, they
had. wbk tbdG^||s?,a|e\cbmbi©n religion, and submitted to the
Bruidical hierafehy. I shall? hereafter adduce sufficient proof,
that they bad, a language-, cbgnafie toitiat of the Gauls, and
unlike the, German.. At present I shall only venture on this
assertion in reference* to- one; of the Belgic tribes.* The Treveri
Reserved their, - native r.laiagu'alge/i which.they; spoke in tf e
time of. St. Jerom. That father of .the, church asserts that
nearly fb^sameiilangnagaihvas. spoken by the Galatians, in
*. ^ i a ^ m o r ; The Galatians; a s ^ | | shall fkdy?came origi-
nallj^from th e lf ^ te 'p a r ts of CelticGaul.' Their language
was dertahjfy not German.’
is»prbBah|e>tbat imCmsar’s'time some n£the*most war-
like the'/Belgic^dnfederatiohXwereloffstber'numberbf
Emigrants from Germany, -who- had lately takemtheir place
among the'inhabitants of Belgica; and had, perhaps;, assumed
the name of Belgians. The greater provvesp -and valour'> of
these .tribes/^eHderedvtheme^onspicUnus ,auao$g- the" nations
enr<alIiedfa-n thefl;ea!gte'for coManon-warfare and mutual defence-.'
•They)were not thg|great numberybutjt became a f a tt e r of
boast and affectation, <^as’Tacitus informs'us, to be'considered
as belonging to that party. Evenjhe Treveri affected it; and
perhaps -some families or clahs?among them may have crossed
2*e ‘R^ ne’ but the; great mass of the nation were Gauls.
After this survey of the principal nations Cf Galil, I shall
proceed; to enumerate the various colonies'sent-out by'the
Gauls.“into different'countries; and,«subsequently,T shall attempt
to investigate the relations of the Belgai and the Celts.
S e c t io n V .—O f the Settlements o f the Celtic Nations beyond
the Limits o f Gaul,- 'F irst, o f the Celtic Colonies in Italy.
The Gaul's, as we have* seen, inhabited*'extensive districts
beyond the boundaries of the country which' bore their name;
and was considered as their proper abode. It is not clear
that all these settlements were colonies from Gaul, but in