The EUROPEAN LEGISLATURES. 35 



codes of the Barbarians, or other ancient works, as evidence of 

 his opinion ; and he confirms it, by attempting to mow its fif 

 nefs to explain circumftances in the hiflory of the Franks. I 

 mail, with due refpect, Hate a different opinion, confider the evi- 

 dence that ftands againft it, and fupport it by evidence which 

 appears to me conclufive in its favour. 



IF the Germans were diftributed into clans, as the terms co- 

 gnationes, gentes^familia, et propinquitates, ufed by CMS AR and TA- 

 CITUS as defcriptive of their arrangements, clearly import, and 

 as the laws in their codes, with refpect to family feuds, prove, I 

 think we may be certain, that no fuperior clafs of men, feparated 

 in blood from other freemen, was recognifed among them. A 

 clan always efteems itfelf of the blood of its chief. He is no 

 more than the elder branch of a family, from which the mean- 

 eft of his followers, as well as himfelf, are vain of deriving 

 their defcent. He owes their attachment to this prejudice ; 

 and he knows too well the value of it, and how much his influ- 

 ence depends on the ftrength of it, to attempt weakening it, by 

 laying claim to a diftinction from fuperiority of blood, till 

 combinations with his equals, or the progrefs of laws, infpire 

 him with different views. 



AMONG the Germans, no doubt, as well as every where elfe, 

 the virtues and eminence of the parents reflected luftre on their 

 progeny. And this, I conceive, is all that we ought to under- 

 ftand by the nobility of race, which is fo often mentioned as 

 belonging to individuals * ', though we believe, that the perfonal 

 honour of being admitted among the domeftic companions 



e 2 of 



* THE ranks among the Ifraelites, before the captivity, illuftrate this opinion. The 

 whole freemen of every tribe held that they were defcended of the fame blood ; but each 

 confiderable branch of a tribe had a head, and each tribe a prince or chief; and thefe 

 elders, as they were called, being ufually chofen from particular families, formed numbers 

 of diftinguifhed races in the nation. 



IT may alfo be obferved, that, in rude times, men are determined, in their marriages, 

 more by the perfonal attractions of women than by thofe of wealth, rank, and interelr, 

 which dictate fo powerfully in cultivated ages. Hence, as in early times, women of the 

 higheft perfonal endowments will ufually fall to the lot of men who have attained di- 



ftinftioij : 



