This collection of essays by Henry Charles Lea examines old legal customs used to find truth in disputes: the wager of law, the wager of battle, the ordeal, and torture. Through the history of jurisprudence it illuminates past societies and beliefs, making it rewarding for listeners interested in the development of law and civilization.
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SUPERSTITION AND FORCE.
ESSAYS ON
THE WAGER OF LAW—THE WAGER OF BATTLE—THE ORDEAL—
TORTURE.
BY
HENRY CHARLES LEA, LL.D.
Plurima est et in omni jure civili, et in pontificum libris, et in XII. tabulis, antiquitatis effigies.—
CƗŕŧǡLj, de Oratore I. 43.
FOURTH EDITION, REVISED.
PHILADELPHIA:
LEA BROTHERS & CO.
1892.
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1892, by
HENRY C. LEA,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress. All rights reserved.
COLLINS PRINTING HOUSE.
PREFACE.
The history of jurisprudence is the history of civilization. The labors of the lawgiver embody not only the manners and customs of his time, but also its innermost thoughts and beliefs, laid bare for our examination with a frankness that admits of no concealment. These afford the surest outlines for a trustworthy picture of the past, of which the details are supplied by the records of the chronicler.
It is from these sources that I have attempted, in the present work, a brief investigation into the group of laws and customs through which our forefathers sought to discover hidden truth when disputed between man and man. Not only do these throw light upon the
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