It

gratified their favourite passions. The evil grew so intolerable, that it became necessary to employ supernatural means for suppressing it. A bishop of Aquitaine, A. D. 1032, pretended that an angel had appeared to him, and brought him a writing from heaven, enjoining men to cease from their hostilities, and to be reconciled to each other. was during a season of public calamity that he published this revelation, The minds of men were disposed to receive pious impressions, and willing to perform any thing in order to avert the wrath of heaven. A general peace and cessation from hostilities took place, and continued for seven years; and a resolution was formed, that no man should in times to come attack or molest his adversaries during the seasons set apart for celebrating the great festivals of the church, or from the evening of Thursday in each week, to the morning of Monday in the week ensuing, the intervening days being considered as particularly holy, our Lord's Passion having happened on one of these days, and his Resurrection on another. A change in the dispositions of men so sudden, and which produced a resolution so unexpected, was considered as miraculous; and the respite from hostilities which followed upon it, was called The Truce of God. Glaber. Rodulphus Histor. lib. v. ap. Bonquet, vol. x. p. 59. This, from being a regulation or concert in one kingdom, became a general law in Christendom, was confirmed by the authority of several Popes, and the violators were subjected to the penalty of excommunication. Corpus Jur. Canon. Decretal, lib. i.

tit. 34. c. 1. Du Cange Glossar, voc. Treuga. An act of the council of Toulujes in Roussillon, A. D. 1041, containing all the stipulations required by the truce of God, is published by Dom de Vic & Dom Vaisette, Hist. de Languedoc, tom. ii. Preuves, p. 206. A cessation from hostilities during three complete days in every week, allowed such a considerable space for the passions of the antagonists to cool, and for the people to enjoy a respite from the calamities of war, as well as to take measures for their own security, that if this truce of God had been exactly observed, it must have gone far towards putting an end to private wars. This, however, seems not to have been the case; the nobles, disregarding the truce, prosecuted their quarrels without interruption as formerly. Qua nimirum tempestate, universæ provinciæ adeo devastationis continuæ importunitate inquietantur, ut ne ipsa, pro observatione divinæ pacis, professa sacramenta custodiantur. Abbas Uspergensis, apud Datt, de pace imperii publica, p. 13. No. 35. The violent spirit of the nobility could not be restrained by any engagements. The complaints of this were frequent; and bishops, in order to compel them to renew their vows and promises of ceasing from their private wars, were obliged to enjoin their clergy to suspend the performance of divine service and the exercise of any religious function within the parishes of such as were refractory and obstinate. Hist. de Langued, par D. D. de Vic & Vaisette, tom. ii. Preuves, p. 118.-5. The people, eager to obtain relief from their sufferings, called in a

second time revelation to their aid. Towards the end of the twelfth century, a carpenter in Guienne gave out, that Jesus Christ, together with the blessed Virgin, had appeared to him, and having commanded him to exhort mankind to peace, had given him, as a proof of his mission, an image of the Virgin holding her son in her arms, with this inscription, Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world, give us peace. This low fanatic addressed himself to an ignorant age, prone to credit what was marvellous. He was received as an inspired messenger of God. Many prelates and barons assembled at Puy, and took an oath, not only to make peace with all their enemies, but to attack such as refused to lay down their arms, and to be reconciled to their enemies. They formed an association for this purpose, and assumed the honourable name of the Brotherhood of God, Robertus de Monte Michaele, ap. M. de Lauriere Pref. tom. i. Ordon. p. 29. But the influence of this superstitious terror or devotion was not of long continuance.-6. The civil magistrate was obliged to exert his authority in order to check a custom which threatened the dissolution of government. Philip Augustus, as some imagine, or St. Louis, as is more probable, published an ordonance, A. D. 1245, prohibiting any person to commence hostilities against the friends and vassals of his adversary, until forty days after the commission of the crime or offence which gave rise to the quarrel; declaring, that if any man presumed to transgress this statute, he should be considered as guilty of a breach of the public peace,

and be tried and punished by the judge ordinary as a traitor. Ordon. tom. i. p. 56. This was called The Royal Truce, and afforded time for the violence of resentment to subside, as well as leisure for the good offices of such as were willing to compose the différence. The happy effects of this regulation seem to have been considerable, if we may judge from the solicitude of succeeding monarchs to enforce it.-7. In order to restrain the exercise of private war still farther, Philip the Fair, towards the close of the same century, A. D. 1296, published an ordonance commanding all private hostilities to cease, while he was engaged in war against the enemies of the state. Ordon. tom. i. p. 328. 390. This regulation, which seems to be almost essential to the existence and preservation of society, was often renewed by his successors, and being enforced by the regal authority, proved a considerable, check to the destructive contests of the nobles. Both these regulations, introduced first in France, were adopted by the other nations of Europe.-8.. The evil, however, was so inveterate, that it did not yield to all these remedies. No sooner was public peace esta+ blished in any kingdom, than the barons renewed their private hostilities. They not only strug gled to maintain this pernicious right, but to secure the exercise of it without any restraint. Upon the death of Philip the Fair, the nobles of dif ferent provinces in France formed associations, and presented remonstrances to his successor, demanding the repeal of several laws, by which he had abridged the privileges of their order. Ainong

these, the right of private war is always mentioned as one of the most valuable; and they claim that the restraint imposed by the truce of God, the royal truce, as well as that arising from the ordonance of the year 1296, should be taken off. In some instances, the two sons of Philip, who mounted the throne successively, eluded their demands; in others, they were obliged to make concessions. Ordon. tom. i. p. 551. 557. 561. 573. The ordonances to which I here refer are of such length that I cannot insert them, but they are extremely curious, and may be peculiarly instructive to an English reader, as they throw considerable light on that period of English history, in which the attempts to circumscribe the regal prerogative were carried on, not by the people struggling for liberty, but by the nobles contending for power. It is not necessary to produce any evidence of the continuance and frequency of private wars under the successors of Philip the Fair.-9. A practice somewhat similar to the royal truce was introduced, in order to strengthen and extend it. Bonds of assurance, or mutual security, were demanded from the parties at variance, by which they obliged themselves to abstain from all hostilities, either during a time mentioned in the bond, or for ever; and became subject to heavy penalties, if they violated this obligation. These bonds were sometimes granted voluntarily, but more frequently exacted by the authority of the civil magistrate. Upon a petition from the party who felt himself weakest, the magistrate summoned his adversary to appear in court, and obliged him