WILLIAM DURAND, of Saint Pourcain, called the Resolute Doctor, was one of the most distinguished men of his day, for his knowledge of scholastic science generally, and for his ability in expounding the principles of civil polity in particular. He is the author of "De Origine Jurisdictictionum sive de Jurisdictione Ecclesiastica et de Legibus."* He died in 1332. WILLIAM OCCAM, a native of the county of Surrey, studied under Duns Scotus, and entertained very bold and original opinions on political subjects, for the age in which he flourished. His celebrated work "De Potestate Ecclesiastica et Seculare," (1326), brought upon him the active hostility of the Roman pontiff, and he was obliged to retire into France for some time. Occam maintained the supremacy of the secular, over the ecclesiastical power, and enveighed, with no small degree of bitterness, against the vices and corruptions of the Roman See. The chief position of his treatise is, that from the very nature of religious truth, and from the necessary means which must be employed to bring it home to the lives and consciences of men, it must be subordinate to the ruling and active authority of every community which adopts it, as a national faith. JOHN BURIDAN, was a disciple of Occam's, and a native of Bethune, in France. He was Rector of the University of Paris, where he delivered an important course of lectures on the Politics of Aristotle. These have been published under the title of "Quæstiones in 8th libros Politicorum Aristotelis," Paris, 1500. Buridan is considered one of the most enlightened and sound political reasoners of his day. * Paris, 1506, CHAPTER XI. ON THE CAPITULARIES AND ORDINANCES OF THE KINGS THE various matters brought under the reader's attention in this chapter, may all properly come under the denomination of political writings, which, though not in the form of regular treatises, contain, notwithstanding, important principles of polity, both general and particular. They are such materials as are in constant requisition by all political writers, even of the present day, and which served the purposes, to bygone generations, of keeping alive discussion and interest in public matters, when the art of printing was unknown. Among the sixty-five Capitularies of Charlemagne, one of those which are the most closely allied to political economy, is the famous Capitulary de Villis, in which he attempted to give his general views upon the administration of his kingdom. It is composed of seventy paragraphs, arranged without any view to method or system. They embody formal instruction of a rich proprietor to his steward or bailiff. The Prince requests that all his servants should serve him with probity, and in return, they should experience the kindest treatment. He wishes the corvée not to be imposed upon them; they are not to be subjected to severe labour; and if they labour during the night, they are to be remunerated accordingly for the sacrifice of their extra time. The same Capitulary contains a curious enumeration of the different kinds of trades and handicraftsmen the Prince wished to encourage in his own domains. Blacksmiths, Tailors, Joiners, Carpenters, and Weavers, are mentioned. It is also ordered that every slave who wished to have a personal interview with the monarch, relative to the manner which his master treated him, was to have free access, and by no means to be refused admittance. We recognise in other Capitularies, many matters of great importance. One in particular attempts to fix a maximun price for various articles. "The very pious Lord, our King, has decided that no man, whether ecclesiastic or layman, shall be permitted, either in seasons of abundance or scarcity, to sell articles of food for more than the price recently fixed by bushel; namely, &c." Then again we have a regulation respecting the poor, "As to mendicants who wander over the kingdom, we wish that each of our fidéles would support his poor, either in his own benifice, or in the interior of his own house, and not permit them to wander elsewhere. And if we find any such mendicants, and if they refuse to labour with their own hands, then they shall not be entitled to receive any favour whatever." The Emperor was severe upon those clergy who exacted usury. He also fixes himself the rate at which their money, whether good or bad is to be raised; on pain of being sent to labour at the forts. These measures seem rather tyrannical, but they were compensated by others of a more enlightened and humane character; such are rules favourable to the comfort and protection of slaves; to the labouring peasants; and to the poor, whom he ordained to be supported, and attended upon when sick. The ecclesiastical portion of the Capitularies is very voluminous; and it teaches us, of what great importance the clergy were at that period; and how rulers looked up to them for direction in the government of their kingdoms. There are few of the capitularies which have a direct reference to fiscal imports of any kind. Those which may be considered as coming under the head of commerce, display very enlightened views, compared to what we can perceive among the Roman Emperors. The slaves of his kingdom were treated with great philanthropy and tenderness. No master or owner was permitted to separate man and wife; and the capitulary which contains this ordinance, quotes the passage in the New Testament, "Quos deus conjunxit, homo non separet?" It was forbidden to sell or buy a slave except in the presence of the emperor's delegate. All private sales were not only null and void, but the parties were liable to punishment. The capitularies contain many maxims of a purely moral and religious character; such, for example as the following. "It has pleased us to ordain that every one shall endeavour, in his own person, to keep himself fully in the holy service of God." Again, "Let every one fully consent that our deputies (Misi Dominici) rigidly exercise justice, and not permit the custom of perjury, for it is necessary to banish from a christian people so odious a crime." The entire collection of the capitularies presents to the mind a disordered assemblage of heterogeneous matters on religious, political, military, social, and judicial topics, without anything like a fixed order or method. They display no logical arrangement or connection, but are intermixed in the most irregular and capricious manner. The chief cause of this unquestionably was, that they were the product of a temporary system of legislation, and were purely stop-gaps to some of the principal social and political irregularities of the hour. Many authors have contended, that the real origin of jurisprudence, can be traced no further than to the time of Charlemagne; because, before this period, the nations of Europe were not in a state of civilization, to have any written system on general or particular right. It is to this memorable epoch of the reign of Charlemagne, that we owe all these general principles of law connected with treaties, alliances, navigation, commerce, and the laws of nations generally. We come now to a most important part of the political and social history of our own country, namely, the establishment of its various charters of liberty. These have, among numerous writers, excited no small degree of discussion, both as to their history, and their character. As the main points in these discussions belong properly to the antiquary we shall avoid them, and confine our subsequent remarks and statements to general and indisputable matters. These |