Page:Northern Antiquities 1.djvu/201

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Zealand we see one of this kind[1]; which is formed of stones of a prodigious magnitude. Men would even now be afraid to undertake such a work, notwithstanding all the assistance of the mechanic powers which in those times they wanted. What redoubles the astonishment is, that stones of that size are rarely to be seen throughout the island, and that they must have been brought from a great distance. What labour, time and sweat then must have been bestowed upon these vast rude monuments, which are unhappily more durable than those of the fine arts? But men in all ages have been persuaded, that they could not pay greater honour to the Deity, than by making for him (if I may so express it) a kind of strong bulwarks; in executing prodigies of labour; in consecrating to him immense riches. The sacrifice of whatever is vicious in our passions, which he only requires of us for our own happiness, is always the last thing that is thought of to offer to him, because it is perhaps what is after all the most difficult. At Ephesus they displayed their devotion, by laying out upon one single temple all the treasures of Greece and Asia. The Goths, whose bodily strength was all their riches,

  1. Vide Olai Wormii Monum. Danic.