was foon made annual:-as a reward for long and faithful fervices they were foon granted for life;and as it was obferved that a foldier would in battle risk his life more willingly, if confident that his family would continue to enjoy his eftate, fiefs were allowed to defcend from father to fon. Thus the inftitution of permanent property was ingrafted upon that of military fervice, and each century made fome addition to the ftability of thefe tenures. In this manner the great vaffals of the crown acquired that land as unalienable property, which was originally a grant during pleasure; and with it they fecured proportionable authority and power, and a kind of fovereign jurifdiction both civil and criminal, within their own domains. The baron, exhibiting the show of royalty, and furrounded by the officers of his household and court of justice, refided in his principal caftle, which was a ftrong and well garrifoned fortrefs. There he frequently. feafted his retainers, with all the rude hospitality of the times, in his fpacious hall, amufed them with tilts and tournaments, attached them to his fervice by the ties of dependence and perfonal attention, and they were ready to draw their fwords and devote their lives to his fervice. He was often involved in fome hereditary or perfonal quarrel with his neighbouring chieftains, or formed a confederacy with them to decide fome conteft with a rival power. Sometimes they led their vaffals in hoftile array against the king himself, a circumftance which frequently happened in the reign of John, Gg 4 John, Henry III., and the civil wars of the houses of York and Lancaster. The rights which this inftitution conferred were important. The lord could levy money from his vaffals to fupply his neceffities; during the minority of the heir to an eftate, he could appropriate the rents of the lands, and difpofe of an heir, or heiress in marriage, as he pleafed. Every kingdom was broken into fuch baronies, and thefe baronies into inferior fiefs or knight's fees, In the reign of Stephen, king of England, not lefs than a thoufand caftles, with their dependenț domains, are faid to have covered the fouthern parts of Britain. The common people were kept in a state of villainage, or flavery, The peafant, or ferf, was confidered as the mere produce of thẹ farm, as much as the cattle, and had no more rights or privileges than the loweft flaves in the Weft Indies. Thefe circumftances gave the feudal government a ftrong tendency towards aristocracy, and reduced the authority of every monarch in Europe to fuch a degree, that he poffeffed little more than the empty title of the fovereign lord, and was frequently expofed to the infolence or the hoftility of his barons. His influence was derived from the royal demefnes, or crown lands, more than his general authority, In modern times it feems reasonable that the king fhould command the fervices of any of his fubjects fubjects for a juft caufe, more particularly in a case where the legal fucceffio.. to the crown is concerned; but the following anecdote will shew that this principle could have no influence upon the ftrict and proper interpretation of feudal obligations. Previously to the departure of St. Louis for the Crufade, he fummoned an affembly of his barons to attend him, and required them to fwear, that in cafe of his deceate during the expedition, they would be loyal and true to his fon. Joinville, his hiftorian, a feudatory of the Count of Champaigne, though he feit the greateft attachment to the king, refuted, on account of his vaffalage to the Count, to take the oath; his words were, "he afked me the queftion, but I would not take the oath, because I was not his man There were many lands which were allodial, or free, but they were in time abforbed in the feudal fyftem. The poffeffors foon found themselves in an inferior condition: the feudatories were united under one chieftain, and by their mutual attachment had the fame advantages over the proprietors of the other which a regular army enjoys over a difperfed multitude, and were enabled to commit with impunity all injuries against their defenceless neighbours. Every one, therefore, fought for fuch protection; and each allodial proprietor refigning his poffeffions into the hands of the king, or fome * Jl le me demanda, mais je ne vox faire point de ferement, car je neftoie pas fon home. powerful powerful baron, received them back on condition of the feudal services, which, though they laid him under a heavy burthen, at least ensured him protection, and the fecure occupation of his lands. The attachment of vaffals to their chieftain was ftill fupported by the caufe from which it arofe; the neceffity of mutual protection and the continued intercourfe of benefits and fervices between the lord and his vaffals. One of the moft ftriking points of difference between the feudal and the Roman law, was the rule with refpect to fucceffion to property. The latter allowed to the eldest fon no particular preference; whereas the feudal law allowed him feveral very important rights. In England, primogeniture obtained in military fiefs as early as the reign of the Conqueror: but with this qualification, that where the father had feveral fiefs, the first only belonged to the eldeft fon. In the reign of Henry II. the right of the eldeft prevailed abfolutely in military fiefs; and in that of Henry III. the fame abfolute right obtained in foccage lands. The eldeft fon, in the confideration of the law, was the reprefentative of the fee; and the reason seems to rife naturally out of the feudal conftitution, that among many fons, he should enjoy the estate who was firft old enough to defend it, and was firft able to execute the commands of his lord. However unjuft fuch a preference may be with respect to the divifion of property, it is eminently advantageous in preventing difputes as to the fucceffion to the crown. Such Such a state of fociety as this, exhibiting only the two extremes of defpotic power and fervitude, was replete with evils. It was as hoftile to the intellectual as to the moral improvement of the mind, During its prevalence, the arts and fciences were banished, mankind were funk in grofs ignorance, and the light of Chriftianity was obfcured in the thickeft clouds of fuperftition. The conftant exercife of unlimited power hardened the minds of the nobles, the yoke of vaffalage debafed the fpirit of the people, and the ampleft fcope was allowed for the predominance of the malignant paffions, and every kind of ferocity and violence. Accordingly a greater number of thofe atrocious actions which fill the mind with aftonifhment and horror, occur in the hiftory of the early feudal times, than in that of any period of equal extent in the annals of Europe. Such was the state of fociety from the feventh to the eleventh century. From that period may be dated the regular courfe of improvement in government, laws, and manners. We fhall foon notice the favourable effects of the Crufades and of Chivalry upon the feudal fyftem. In fucceeding times a variety of caufes began to operate, which foftened the rigour of the feudal fervice, and diminished the power of the barons. The payment of fines called fcutage money was accepted by the king, inftead of perfonal fervice in the field, for the mutual accommodation of himself and his vaffals; and his army was compofed of mercenaries, fup ported |