of independence impatient of the bonds of law,—the characteristic features of the feudal age and the moral ef fects of the feudal system. Again, the baron lives apart from the world. His occupations are war and the chase. The circle of his pursuits and pleasures, in time of peace, is peculiarly limited. He is one of a small society, his own family, who are above, or foreign to, all around them, and who are habitually driven back upon themselves for happiness. Hence the growth, in modern times, of that spirit of domesticity, which was unknown to the ancients, who lived abroad, in the forum or elsewhere, and whose dwellings, as we see them in restored Pompeii, were totally destitute of the most ordinary conveniences of domestic life. Hence, also, a much more powerful developement of the spirit of hereditary succession and of the love of family than in other forms of social institutions. Hence, also, in part, the dignity and influence of the female sex in modern times, produced by the combined influence of the Christian religion, which has taught the equality of the sexes,—and of the feudal system, which, through the isolation of families, rendered man more dependant upon woman, and less upon exterior society, for that fellowship of taste, feelings, and opinions, so indispensable to the enjoyment of human existence.

Secondly, as to the cultivators of the soil. Certain it is that, in all parts of Europe, a mutual attachment grew up between the members of the baronial family and the vassals on the barony; for each had the power of performing good offices for the other; and the services of the vassals, and the bounty and protection of the lord, could not fail to exert a favorable influence on the mind of each party. At the same time, the dependance of the vassal and serf was so unnatural, the power of the lord was so despotic, and so liable to abuse, that the system could not fail to be eminently odious to the cultivators of the soil, far more so than any other form of absolute government. The Scottish clansmen are the kinsmen of the chief, bearing his name, and hay

observers, who beheld mankind grouping themselves into the little isolated associations of lord and liegemen, looked upon that as the final dissolution of society, which in truth was the first stage in a systematic reconstruction of it.

Previously, it will be remembered, men lived collectively, either stationed in towns and cities under the influence of Roman institutions, or assembled in the wandering and predatory bands of the Barbarians. By the operation of the feudal system this state of things was reversed. The population, as among the Germans, became scattered over the country in isolated habitations; and the government of society passed from the cities to the country. The lord established his residence in some elevated spot, capable of defence, where he constructed his baronial castle, and took up his abode with his wife, his children, and his domestics. Around the base of his stronghold were grouped the dwellings of his feudal vassals, and of the tenants or serfs, who cultivated the soil, In the midst of their habitatations rose the village church. And thus, in the baron with his castle, in the vassals and cultivators gathered under its wing, and in the village church with its priest, we have the original form of a purely feudal society. In order to appreciate the influence of this institution upon the civilization of Europe, let us consider it under its different aspects, as well within each separate society, as in the relations of each to others of the same description.

First, as to the interior of the baronial castle. The baron is in the full enjoyment of that sentiment of personal independence, which the Barbarians held so dear. His rights, his power, are his own exclusively and individually; his consequence does not depend upon his relation to other men, like that of a Roman senator, but is inherent in his person as the possessor of his fief, and the lord of his vassal. Hence the developement, among the feudal barons, of a spirit of power allied to cruelty, of pride degenerating into harshness, of self. reliance and contempt of danger prone to acts of violence,

of independence impatient of the bonds of law, the characteristic features of the feudal age and the moral effects of the feudal system. Again, the baron lives apart from the world. His occupations are war and the chase. The circle of his pursuits and pleasures, in time of peace, is peculiarly limited. He is one of a small society, his own family, who are above, or foreign to, all around them, and who are habitually driven back upon themselves for happiness. Hence the growth, in modern times, of that spirit of domesticity, which was unknown to the ancients, who lived abroad, in the forum or elsewhere, and whose dwellings, as we see them in restored Pompeii, were totally destitute of the most ordinary conveniences of domestic life. Hence, also, a much more powerful developement of the spirit of hereditary succession and of the love of family than in other forms of social institutions. Hence, also, in part, the dignity and influence of the female sex in modern times, produced by the combined influence of the Christian religion, which has taught the equality of the sexes, and of the feudal system, which, through the isolation of families, rendered man more dependant upon woman, and less upon exterior society, for that fellowship of taste, feelings, and opinions, so indispensable to the enjoyment of human existence.

Secondly, as to the cultivators of the soil. Certain it is that, in all parts of Europe, a mutual attachment grew up between the members of the baronial family and the vassals on the barony; for each had the power of performing good offices for the other; and the services of the vassals, and the bounty and protection of the lord, could not fail to exert a favorable influence on the mind of each party. At the same time, the dependance of the vassal and serf was so unnatural, the power of the lord was so despotic, and so liable to abuse, that the system could not fail to be eminently odious to the cultivators of the soil, far more so than any other form of absolute government. The Scottish clansmen are the kinsmen of the chief, bearing his name, and hay

observers, who beheld mankind grouping themselves into the little isolated associations of lord and liegemen, looked upon that as the final dissolution of society, which in truth was the first stage in a systematic reconstruction of it.

Previously, it will be remembered, men lived collectively, either stationed in towns and cities under the influence of Roman institutions, or assembled in the wandering and predatory bands of the Barbarians. By the operation of the feudal system this state of things was reversed. The population, as among the Germans, became scattered over the country in isolated habitations; and the government of society passed from the cities to the country. The lord established his residence in some elevated spot, capable of defence, where he constructed his baronial castle, and took up his abode with his wife, his children, and his domestics. Around the base of his stronghold were grouped the dwellings of his feudal vassals, and of the tenants or serfs, who cultivated the soil. In the midst of their habitatations rose the village church. And thus, in the baron with his castle, in the vassals and cultivators gathered under its wing, and in the village church with its priest, we have the original form of a purely feudal society. In order to appreciate the influence of this institution upon the civilization of Europe, let us consider it under its different aspects, as well within each separate society, as in the relations of each to others of the same description.

First, as to the interior of the baronial castle. The baron is in the full enjoyment of that sentiment of personal independence, which the Barbarians held so dear. His rights, his power, are his own exclusively and individually; his consequence does not depend upon his relation to other men, like that of a Roman senator, but is inherent in his person as the possessor of his fief, and the lord of his vassal. Hence the developement, among the feudal barons, of a spirit of power allied to cruelty, of pride degenerating into harshness, of self. reliance and contempt of danger prone to acts of violence,

of independence impatient of the bonds of law, - the characteristic features of the feudal age and the moral effects of the feudal system. Again, the baron lives apart from the world. His occupations are war and the chase. The circle of his pursuits and pleasures, in time of peace, is peculiarly limited. He is one of a small society, his own family, who are above, or foreign to, all around them, and who are habitually driven back upon themselves for happiness. Hence the growth, in modern times, of that spirit of domesticity, which was unknown to the ancients, who lived abroad, in the forum or elsewhere, and whose dwellings, as we see them in restored Pompeii, were totally destitute of the most ordinary conveniences of domestic life. Hence, also, a much more powerful developement of the spirit of hereditary succession and of the love of family than in other forms of social institutions. Hence, also, in part, the dignity and influence of the female sex in modern times, produced by the combined influence of the Christian religion, which has taught the equality of the sexes, and of the feudal system, which, through the isolation of families, rendered man more dependant upon woman, and less upon exterior society, for that fellowship of taste, feelings, and opinions, so indispensable to the enjoyment of human existence. Secondly, as to the cultivators of the soil. Certain it is that, in all parts of Europe, a mutual attachment grew up between the members of the baronial family and the vassals on the barony; for each had the power of performing good offices for the other; and the services of the vassals, and the bounty and protection of the lord, could not fail to exert a favorable influence on the mind of each party. the same time, the dependance of the vassal and serf was so unnatural, the power of the lord was so despotic, and so liable to abuse, that the system could not fail to be eminently odious to the cultivators of the soil, far more so than any other form of absolute government. The Scottish clansmen are the kinsmen of the chief, bearing his name, and hay

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