346 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The growth of this temporary council of war, in which the king, 

 acting as general, summons to give their advice the leaders of his 

 forces, into the permanent consultative body in which the king, in his 

 capacity of ruler, presides over the deliberations of the same men on 

 public affairs at large, is exemplified in various parts of the world. 

 The consultative body is everywhere composed of minor chiefs, or 

 heads of clans, or feudal lords, in whom the military and civil rule of 

 local groups is habitually joined w^ith wide possessions ; and the exam- 

 ples frequently exhibit this composition on both a small and a large 

 scale both locally and generally. A rude and early form of the 

 arrangement is shown in Africa. Among the Caffres " every chief 

 chooses from among his most wealthy subjects five or six, w^ho act as 

 counselors to him. . . . The great council of the king is composed of 

 the chiefs of particular kraals." A Bechuana tribe " generally includes 

 a number of towms or villages, each having its distinct head, under 

 whom there are a number of subordinate chiefs," w^ho " all acknowl- 

 edge the supremacy of the principal one. His power, though very 

 great and in some instances despotic, is, nevertheless, controlled by 

 the minor chiefs, w^ho, in their piclios or pitshos^ their parliament or 

 j)ublic meetings, use the greatest plainness of speech in exposing w^hat 

 they consider culpable or lax in his government." Of the Wanyam- 

 w^ezi. Burton says that the Sultan is " surrounded by a council, varying 

 from two to a score of chiefs and elders. . . . His authority is circum- 

 scribed by a rude balance of power ; the chiefs around him can prob- 

 ably bring as many warriors into the field as he can." Similarly in 

 Ashantee. *' The caboceers and captains . . . claim to be heard on 

 all questions relating to w^ar and foreign politics. Such matters are 

 considered in a general assembly, and the king sometimes finds it pru- 

 dent to yield to the views and ui'gent representations of the majority." 

 From the ancient American states, too, instances may be cited. In 

 Mexico " general assemblies w^ere presided over by the king every 

 eighty days. They came to these meetings from all parts of the coun- 

 try " ; and then we read further that the highest rank of nobility, the 

 Teuctli, " took precedence of all others in the senate, both in the order 

 of sitting and voting," showing what was the composition of the sen- 

 ate. It w^as so, too, with the Central Americans of Vera Paz : " Though 

 the supreme rule w^as exercised by a king, there were inferior lords as 

 his coadjutors, who mostly w^ere titled lords and vassals ; they formed 

 the royal council, . . . and joined the king in his palace as often as 

 they were called upon." Turning to Europe, mention may first be 

 made of ancient Poland. Originally formed of independent tribes, 

 "each governed by its own hniaz, or judge, whom age or reputed wis- 

 dom had raised to that dignity," and each led in war by a temporary 

 voivod or captain, these tribes had, in the course of that compounding 

 and recompounding which w^ars produced, differentiated into classes 

 of nobles and serfs, over whom was an elected king. Of the organi- 



