Superstition and Force Essays on the Wager of Law, the Wager of Battle, the Ordeal, Torture

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      Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).

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SUPERSTITION AND FORCE.

Essays on
The Wager of Law—The Wager of Battle—The Ordeal—Torture.

by

HENRY CHARLES LEA, LL.D.


Plurima est et in omni jure civili, et in pontificum libris, et in XII.
tabulis, antiquitatis effigies.—CICERO, _de Oratore I._ 43.


Fourth Edition, Revised.






Philadelphia:
Lea Brothers & Co.
1892.

Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1892, by
Henry C. Lea,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress. All rights reserved.

Collins Printing House.




PREFACE.


The history of jurisprudence is the history of civilization. The
labors of the lawgiver embody not only the manners and customs of his
time, but also its innermost thoughts and beliefs, laid bare for our
examination with a frankness that admits of no concealment. These
afford the surest outlines for a trustworthy picture of the past, of
which the details are supplied by the records of the chronicler.

It is from these sources that I have attempted, in the present work, a
brief investigation into the group of laws and customs through which
our forefathers sought to discover hidden truth when disputed between
man and man. Not only do these throw light upon the progress of human
development from primitive savagism to civilized enlightenment, but
they bring into view some of the strangest mysteries of the human mind.

In this edition I have endeavored to indicate, more clearly than
before, the source, in prehistoric antiquity, of some of the
superstitions which are only even now slowly dying out among us, and
which ever and anon reassert themselves under the thin varnish of our
modern rationalism.

In a greatly condensed form the first three essays originally appeared
in the North American Review.

  June, 1878.

       *       *       *       *       *

Although in the revision of this volume for a fourth edition there has
not been found much to alter, considerable additions have been made
which render the survey of the subject more complete. In revising the
essays on the Wager of Battle and the Ordeal I have had the advantage
of the labors of two recent writers, Dr. Patetta, whose “Le Ordalie” is
an extended and philosophical investigation into the whole topic of the
Judgments of God, and George Neilson, Esq., whose “Trial by Combat” is
a complete account, from the original sources, of the history of the
judicial duel in Great Britain. Mr. Neilson has also had the courtesy
to communicate to me the results of his further studies of the subject.
I therefore indulge the hope that the present edition will be found
more worthy of the favor with which the work has been received.

  PHILADELPHIA, October, 1892.




  CONTENTS.


  I.

  THE WAGER OF LAW.


  CHAPTER I.

  RESPONSIBILITY OF THE KINDRED.

                                                                    PAGE

  Crime originally an offence against individuals                     13
  Tribal organization—Responsibility of kindred                       14
  Compensation for injuries—The _Wer-gild_                            17


  CHAPTER II.

  THE OATH AND ITS ACCESSORIES.

  Perplexities as to evidence                                         21
  Guarantees required for the oath                                    25


  CHAPTER III.

  CONJURATORS, OR PARTAKERS IN THE OATH.

  The Wager of Law a prehistoric Aryan custom                         33
  It is adopted by the Church                                         35


  CHAPTER IV.

  SELECTION OF COMPURGATORS.

  They are originally the kindred                                     38
  Strangers admitted                                                  41
  Numbers required                                                    43
  Modes of selection                                                  47


  CHAPTER V.

  CONDITIONS OF COMPURGATION.

  Employed in default of testimony                                    52
  Except in Wales                                                     54
  Dependent on importance of case                                     56
  As an alternative for the Wager of Battle