103 



witchcraft ; many for holding opisions deemed heretical. To 

 exterminate these and Paganism, armies have been collected 

 and whole provinces depopulated. 



In a word, such was the situation of Europe from the fall 

 of the Roman empire til! about the opening of the eleventh 

 century, that to use the words of a profound antiquarian, 

 " we shall probably not be able to discover a period of its 

 " history, in which there is to be found greater licence, less 

 " order, and consequently less happiness."* He adds, that 

 Ave must not suppose, that these disorders ceased after this 

 period, but they were gradually diminished after a lapse of 

 some centuries. -j- 



Sthly. To repress these disorders, and partly for ambitious 

 purposes standing armies have for some centuries past been 

 maintained by most European sovereigns. Through them 

 their power at present knows no limits but those which 

 decency and the spirit of the times prescribe. A victorious 

 despot may set even these aside, and trample with impunity 

 not only on the laws of his country, but on those of na- 

 ture and nations. 



Of 



* Ward's Enquiry ioto the foundation and history of the Laws of Nations in Europe, 

 Vol. 1 p. 136. 

 t Ibid. p. 241. 



