These two conditions were inseparable and binding on all householders, whatever suit or service they might owe to any lord, other than he who had surrendered his rights. by granting the commune.

There were, however, certain sections of the population whose position was very ambiguous; who dwelt within municipal jurisdiction, yet were outside the corporate association. These sections comprised the clergy and nobility, with their officers and servants, the ministeriales. As a rule the two former were not recognised as burgesses; but there were exceptions to this as regards the clergy, and nothing can be definitely affirmed on account of the variety of customs, and the different interpretations given to them by scholars.

The ministeriales were the cause of most of the émeutes which agitated the communes in the 12th and 13th centuries. If serving under bishops, abbots or chapters, they claimed the privileges of their immunity and acknowledged no other jurisdiction than that of the ecclesiastical courts. If attached to a temporal lord, they shielded themselves under his protection, and defied the communal magistracy. Such conditions entailing perpetual turmoil could not long endure, and when the towns bought up all peculiar jurisdictions within their limits, these troublesome neighbours fell into the commune, and in some localities the clergy with them. The newly founded boroughs would have nothing to do with them, and prohibited their admission to burgess rights.

Another group of men whose pretensions interfered with civic order were the merchant clerks-traders, who, adopting the tonsure and garb of ecclesiastics, and affiliating themselves to some religious brotherhood, claimed the “benefit of clergy," although exclusively engaged in secular affairs. This abuse was resented, and in every suit

brought before the Parliament of Paris it was condemned and the pretenders ordered to join the commune and pay their share of the common charges like the honest burgesses.

*

Similar

In the earlier period of the communes, and before the democratic revolution of the thirteenth century changed the composition of the town council, there existed a third burgess qualification-that of property. The charter of Laon, 1128, provided that whoever was received into the peace of the town, must, within the space of a year, build himself a house or buy vineyards, or bring with him a sufficient quantity of his moveable property to enable him to satisfy justice, if by chance it have any subject of complaint against him. The charter of Abbeville required the new comer to be a house-owner, and in the new borough of Freiburg in Breisgau the value of his property qualification could not be less than a mark. conditions were laid down in the charters of Altenburg, Eisenach, Frankfort, and Vienne. The reasons for this property qualification are obvious. A burgess ought to present some substantial guarantee of his ability to pay the local charges, and any fines he might incur in the course of litigation, as the charter of Laon expressly states. He who came into the town without a fortune was said to be useless to it, "inutilis ville," and for a like reason, lepers, incapables, insolvent debtors, and all persons likely to be a source of trouble and discord were excluded from the commune. Even a craftsman could not gain admission into his gild unless he wore a garment at least equal in value to any fine that might fall upon him. For it must always be borne in mind that the primary purpose of a borough or commune was that it should be a place of security for peaceful and industrious citizens

* See charter in Guizot's Civilisation, iii, 321.

against feudal violence without. Therefore it was walled and fortified, and the burgesses within it were a garrison of traders and artisans, every one of whom ought to be able to take up arms in its defence and contribute his share of the general expenditure.

It was the possession of landed property within the town and its suburbs that distinguished the burgesses styled "patricians," of whom we read so much in the history of the Hanse Towns, of Zurich, Berne, and indeed all the great cities. These were merchants of the higher sort, who, enriched by commerce beyond sea, invested their surplus wealth in lands and tenements, until, in some instances, they became the only owners of the soil, and were able to dominate the gilds and the civic council, and make themselves, as they were often called, the lords of the town. They are spoken of in the texts as "cives optimo jure" and "majores," while the craftsmen, whom they exploited and excluded from power, are called "minores," plebian burgesses, "men with blue nails." The oligarchy which they established provoked general revolutions in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries-first in France and next in Flanders and Germany. The shopkeepers and wage earners then obtained admission into the municipal council; but, although the change rendered the communes more democratic, it did not alter their essential character. This was effected by other causes. During the struggle with their feudal lords the French towns often sought the intervention of the sovereign, and regarded him as their patron and protector. This was prejudicial to their independence; for when the crown grew strong and the nobility succumbed to its authority, the communes, after a brief life of two hundred years, submitted also, and they fell under the control of royal bailiffs and provosts. But these officers were

S

jealously watched, lest they should grow too independent; and they were bound to observe the ancient customs and franchises on pain of being cited before the Parliament of Paris for any infraction of the same. The loss of their civic independence, therefore, did not materially impair the growth of the bourgeoisie in wealth and influence, but they possessed no political power until the famous meeting of the States General in 1789.

The Flemish communes survived their neighbours for more than a century, owing to the confederation formed by Ghent, Bruges and the leading towns, for the maintenance of their common liberties. It was this policy of confederation, combined with other causes, which also preserved the independence of the German towns. The German kingship, never vigorous, was greatly enfeebled by the imperial policy of the Hohenstaufen. About the same time the great Duchies became extinct, and the kingdom was then broken up into a crowd of petty principalities practically independent. Towns depending upon local lords then threw off their allegiance; the royal towns rid themselves of the crown bailiffs, and both established a free local government. The latter, including all the most important towns, then formed those renowned Associations or Leagues which elevated them into independent republics-freie Reich-Städte-Free Imperial Cities, which, in the height of their power, maintained fleets and armies, waged foreign war and concluded peace, without regard for their nominal sovereign; and which finally obtained recognition as one of the three Colleges or Estates of the Diet, centuries before the Tiers Etat obtained a similar recognition in France.

263

HINDU DOMESTIC AND RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS. BY J. ERNEST NEVINS, M.B.

THE Hindus are divided into nations using different languages and even different alphabets. Their customs have been modified in different parts of India by climate, Mahometan incursions, and Western civilisation, but still their social customs are those laid down by the great lawgiver, Manu, and the holy books. These customs, as seen to-day amongst the "Twice-Born" castes, will be shortly described. The customs amongst Mahometans, Parsees, and less important races in India, will not be alluded to.

The first ceremonies are those which precede the arrival of the Hindu baby in a world where all its life. will be regulated by ceremonial semi-religious rules. As soon as there are signs that a happy event may be expected, the expectant mother is put under a system of treatment guided by the presence of auspicious or inauspicious days, rather than by commonsense. On certain days in certain months she is given special food. She must carefully avoid doing anything unlucky, such as cutting anything during an eclipse of the sun or moon, for if she did so the child would be born mutilated.

She is also prepared by various religious ceremonies; friends are entertained in order that they may pray for good luck to mother and child, and also that they may give presents. The room is specially prepared by having a new mud floor put down, and various leaves and charms. to bring luck are put about, and all is ready for the great event. One great object of the prayers and charms is to