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are frequently acquired by those numerous bands of sheperds inhabiting the vast country of Tartary, have rendered the influence of the chief proportionably extensive, and have bestowed upon him an almost unlimited power, which commonly remains. in the same family, and is transmitted from father to son like a private inheritance *.

The ancient German nations, described by Caesar and Tacitus, may be ranked in a middle situation between these extremes; having probably had more wealth than the Hottentots, or most of the wild Arabs, and less than the greater part of the Tartars. While they remained in their own country, they were not altogether strangers to the cultivation of the ground; but they all led a wandering life, and seem to have had no idea of property in land; a sufficient proof that they drew their subsistence chiefly from their cattle, and regarded agriculture as only a secondary employment. Their

"judged to be the fittest for that employ. Yet, notwith"standing the despotic power which is lodged in this person, "all grievances and disputes are accommodated in as ami"cable a manner as possible, by calling to his assistance one 66 person or two out of each tent ; and as the offended is con"sidered as a brother, the sentence is always given on the fa"vourable side; and even in the most enormous crimes, rarely any other punishment is inflicted than banishment.” Shaw's Travels, chap. 4. p. 310.

* See Kolben's History of the Cape of Good Hope.Histoire general des voyages.Montesquieu, Esprit de Loix, liv. 18. chap. 19.

chiefs appear to have been either hereditary, or elected from those families who had been longest in the possession of opulent fortunes; but their military expeditions were frequently conducted by such ininferior leaders, as happened to offer their service, and could persuade their companions to follow them. In time of peace, justice was administered by the respective chiefs, or leading men, of the different villages *.

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*"Reges ex nobilitate; duces ex virtute sumunt. Nec "regibus infinita aut libera potestas; et duces exemplo potius quam imperio, si prompti, si conspicui: si ante aciem agant, “admiratione praesunt." Tacitus de mor. German. §. 7. "De minoribus rebus principes consultant, de majoribus om

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nes. Ita tamen, ut ea quoque, quorum penes plebem ar"bitrium est, apud principes pertractentur.-Ut turbae pla"cuit, considunt armati. Silentium per sacerdotes, quibus "tum et coercendi jus est, imperatur. Mox rex vel princi

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pes prout aetas cuique, prout nobilitas, prout decus bello66 rum, prout facundia est, audiuntur, auctoritate suadendi "magis quam jubendi potestate." Ibid. §. 11. " Licet apud "concilium accusare quoque, et discrimen capitis intendere. "Distinctio poenarum ex delicto: proditores et transfugas "arboribus suspendunt. Ignavos, et imbelles, et corpore in"fames, coeno ac palude, injecta insuper crate, mergunt.Eliguntur in iisdem consiliis et principes, qui jura per pa"gos vicosque reddunt. Centeni singulis ex plebe comites, "consilium simul et auctoritas adsunt." Ibid §. 12.

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"Quum bellum civitas aut inlatum defendit, aut infert; "magistratus, qui ei bello praesint, ut vitae necisque habeant. potestatem, deliguntur. In pace, nullus est communis ma"gistratus; sed principes regionum atque pagorum inter suos "jus dicunt, controversiasque minuunt-ubi quis ex princi

But when those barbarians had sallied forth from their native forests, and invaded the provinces of the Roman empire, they were soon led to a great improvement in their circumstances. The countries which they conquered had been cultivated and civilized under the Roman dominion; and the inhabitants, though generally in a declining state, were still acquainted with husbandry and a variety of arts. It was to be expected, therefore, that, while the Gothic invaders, during a long course of bloody wars, defaced the monuments of ancient literature, and wherever they came planted their own barbarous customs, they should, on the other hand, suddenly catch a degree of knowledge from the conquered people; and make a quicker progress in agriculture, and some of the coarser handicrafts connected with it, than they could have done in the natural course of things, had they been left to their own experience and observation. By their repeated victories, different heads of families, or barons, were enabled to seize great landed estates. They also acquired many captives in war, whom they reduced into servitude, and by whom they were put into a condition for managing their extensive possessions.

"pibus in concilio dixit se ducem fore; qui sequi velint, pro"fiteantur; consurgunt ii, qui et causam et hominem pro"bant, suumque auxilium pollicentur; atque ab multitudine "conlaudantur: qui ex iis secuti non sunt, in desertorum ac

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proditorum numero ducuntur; omniumque iis rerum postea "fides derogatur." Caesar, de bell. Gall. 6. §. 23.

After the settlement of those nations was completed, the members of every large family came to be composed of two sorts of people; the slaves, acquired for the most part by conquest; and the free men, descended from a common ancestor, and maintained out of his estate. The former were

employed chiefly in cultivating their masters grounds: the latter supported the interest and dignity of their leader, and in their turn were protected by him.

The authority of the baron was extremely absolute over all the members of his family; because they entirely depended upon him for subsistence. He obliged his slaves to labour at pleasure, and allowed them such recompence only as he thought proper. His kindred were under the necessity of following his banner in all his military expeditions. He exercised over both a supreme jurisdiction, in punishing their offences, as well as in deciding their differences; and he subjected them to such regulations as he judged convenient, for removing disorders, or preventing future disputes.

These barons, though in a great measure independent, were early united in a larger society, under circumstances which gave rise to a very peculiar set of institutions. The effect of that union, whence proceeded the system of feudal government in Europe, will fall to be considered in a subsequent part of this discourse.

CHAP. IV.

THE AUTHORITY OF A SOVEREIGN, AND OF SUBORDINATE OFFICERS, OVER A SOCIETY COMPOSED OF DIFFERENT TRIBES OR VILLAGES.

SECTION I.

The constitution of government arising from the union of different tribes or villages.

THE improvement of agriculture, as it increases the quantity of provisions, and renders particular tribes more numerous and flourishing, so it obliges them at length to send out colonies to a distance, who occupy new seats wherever they can find a convenient situation, and are formed into separate villages, after the model of those with which they are acquainted. Thus, in proportion as a country is better cultivated, it comes to be inhabited by a greater number of distinct societies, whether derived from the same or from a different original, agreeing in their manners, and resembling each other in their institutions and customs.

These different communities being frequently at war, and being exposed to continual invasions from their neighbours, are in many cases determined, by the consideration of their mutual interest, to unite against their common enemies, and to form a va

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