The History of the Origins of Representative Government in Europe

Lecture 3

LECTURE 3 Subject ofthe lecture. ~ A knowledge ofthe state ofpersons necessary to theproper study ofinstitutions. ~ Essential difference between antiquity and modern societies, as regards the classification ofsocial conditions . ~ State ofpersons among the Anglo-Saxons. ~ Thanes and Ceorls. ~ Centralandlocalinstitutions. ~ Predominance ofthe latter among theAnglo-Saxons. ~ Its cause. INmy preceding lecture, I gave a general outline of the decay of the Roman empire, and of the progress of the barbarian invasions; and I enumerated the principal events in the history ofthe Anglo-Saxons in England. I now come to their institutions, which form the subject ofmy present lecture. When we are about to speak of the institutions of a country at any given period, we must first understand what was the state ofpersons in that country at that period; for words are very deceptive. History, when speaking ofthe English nation or the Spanish nation, comprises under that name all the individuals who inhabit the country; but when we examine into the real state of the case, we quickly discover that the facts which history applies to an entire country , actually belong only to a very small section ofits inhabitants. It is the work ofcivilization to raise up, from time to time, a greater number ofmen to take an active part in the great events which agitate the society ofwhich they are members . As civilization advances, it reaches new classes of individuals, and gives them a place in history. The different conditions of society thus tend, not to confusion, but to arrangement, under different forms and in different degrees, in that superior region ofsociety by which history is made. The first question to be solved, then, is that ofthe state ofpersons; we must preciselyunderstand which are those classes that reallyfigure in history. Then will occur this other question: What are the institutions in accordance with which that political nation acts, which alone furnishes subject-matter for history?1 1. Guizot's ideas on the relation between the social and the political order had a profound impact on Tocqueville. Guizot emphasized the role of "the habits of the heart"-mores, customs, and 28 LECTURE 3 When we address the first question to antiquity, we find, as in Modern Europe, one great classification: freemen and slaves. But there is this difference that, in antiquity, slavery continued stationary and immutable. Its unchangeableness in this particular, was one ofthe principal characteristics ofancient civilization . Individuals were emancipated; but the great mass of slaves remained in bondage, everlastingly condemned to the same social nonentity. In Modern Europe, social conditions have been in a state ofperpetual fluctuation; numerous masses of men have fallen into slavery, while others have emerged therefrom ; and this alternation ofliberty and servitude is a novel and important fact in the history ofcivilization. What was the condition of persons among the Anglo-Saxons? Here, as elsewhere, we at first perceive the two great divisions offreemen and slaves. The freemen, who are the only active elements in history, were divided into two classes, thanes and ceorls. The thanes were the proprietors ofthe soil, which was entirely at their disposal: hence the origin of freehold tenure. The ceorls were men personally free, but possessing no landed property. The thanes were subdivided into two classes; king's thanes, and inferior thanes. This distinction is not merely a historical fact; the laws recognize these two divisions. The composition for the life ofa king's thane was twelve hundred shillings, while for that ofan inferior thane it was only six hundred. Here, as in other states which came into existence at this epoch, punishment was made proportionate, not only to the gravity ofthe offence, but also to the rank ofthe person injured. By the substitution of an indemnity for retaliation, a step was taken by these peoples towards social justice. Early ideas ofjustice inflict evil for evil, injury for injury; but the highest point of its perfection is that decision of society which, embodying supreme reason and power, judges the actions of men accused of crimes, and acquits or condemns them in the name ofthe EternalJustice. In the sixth century, society did not inflict punishment; life, like everything else, had its price; and this price was shared between the family of the dead man, the king, and the judge. The penalty ofcrime was as yet only the price paid for the renunciation of the right of revenge which belonged to every free man. Individuals who were injured, either in the possession of their goods, or in the life oftheir relatives, received a...