Note 195 — BOOK XII.

The Chronicle of Peter Durburg, a priest of the Teutonic order, may be consulted on the manners and religion of the ancient Prussians. This chronicle, whose purpose is to describe the conquests of the Teutonic knights, contains several historical dissertations, which appear to us to have great merit; the most curious are, Dissertatio de Diis Veterum Prussorum; Dissertatio de Sacerdotibus Veterum Prussorum; Dissertatio de Cultu Deorum, de Nuptiis, de Funeribus, de Locis Divino Cultui dicatis, &c. &c. A Latin dissertation, De Moribus Tartarorum, Lithuanorum, et Moschorum, may likewise be consulted. This work contains curious details upon the worship and manners of Lithuania and Samogitia, which bore a strong resemblance to the worship and manners of the Prussians. M. Kotzbue, in his history of the Teutonic knights, has thrown great light upon the origin of the legislation, and the customs and religion of the ancient inhabitants of Prussia.