1822.] 
quence of the determinations of several 
of their late diets. A lighter bondage, 
however, could not be found than 
that of the Germans, being to the lord 
of the soil an actual onus and incum- 
brance, rather than an advantage; on 
the other hand, affording so many real 
advantages to the bondman, that many 
of that class have, at various periods, 
been actually compelled to accede to 
emancipation, a circumstance for 
which foreign writers have so often 
found themselves puzzled to account. 
The conditions of such emancipation 
were the following—all the property in 
possession of the bondman, and the 
privileges allowed by his lord, were 
valued and placed on one side of the 
account; the bounden services on the 
other ; and, on that ground, the respec- 
tive pretensions of the parties were 
ealculated. ‘The bondman, for his 
part, received an equivalent in a stipu- 
lated number of acres of land, as a 
free property ; and, with respect to his 
person, became entirely exonerated 
from all services, and independant. 
These bond-mep, as well as unfreien, 
thatis, another class who were not 
free, of whom I shall afterwards speak, 
were in very different relations from 
the Roman slaves. Though, in an- 
cient times, they had neither the pre- 
rogative of a freeman, nor any landed 
property, they were neither scourged 
nor fettered, as was the case with the 
Roman; whence Tacitus did not call 
them slaves, but coloni. 
In those countries where the Saxons 
or Franks had their settlements, sla- 
very was unknown; every member of 
these nations was free in the widest 
sense of the word, and only were 
deemed unfree:—1. Those who had 
been made prisoners in war; 2. Those 
who, by their passion for gaming, had 
been led away so far as to deliver to 
the winner their own person as their 
last property; or 3. Those who had 
lost their ‘liberty as punishment for 
their crimes. These only were unfree, 
and the actual difference from the 
hondmen was, that the latter were true 
gleba adseripti. 
In those parts of Germany which 
were inhabited by the Saxons or 
Vranks, there were in general only 
Sriegeborne (free-born); the unfree be- 
ing an exception to the rule. The 
former of these were proprietors of 
Jands ; but lands were at that time not 
considered as private, but as publie 
_ property,—being divided every year 
Breymann on Agricultural Labourers. 
133 
among privilezed families, which both 
Cesar and Tacitus confirm. 
They cultivated as much of these 
lands as were necessary for their sus- 
tenance, and a small part of them they 
gave to their unfree ; for which donation 
they reserved on account of services, 
fruits, and other advantages. When 
the harvest was over, all these lands 
became again-publie property; and in 
the following year a new division took 
place. 
These annual divisions lasted till 
the end of the eighth century; when 
the increased population (the migra- 
tions having ceased), and a better re- 
culated system of the social relations, 
put an end to the alteration of their 
domiciles, Thence commenced fixed 
settlements, accompanied by an ar- 
rangement between the proprietors 
and the unfree ; the former demising 
to the latter a part of his land, ata 
fixed rent, and for certain stipulated 
services. These agreements were 
either for a term or fordife. Every 
farm or peasant’s yard (bauerhof) was 
called mansus, and the residence of the 
landlord saal (hall). The minor free 
proprietors. united with the unfree, 
forming together great and small vil- 
lages. The Christian religion having 
been established in Saxony by Charle- 
magne, the convents contributed to 
the cultivation of the earth, by the 
numbers of the unfree which they ad- 
mitted on the established conditions. 
About this time, Saxony was under 
the dominion of the Franconian empe- 
rers, who divided the country among 
such of their followers as were of the 
court and household. ‘These took the 
name of leudes, acting under the au- 
thority of a major domus or lord. 
These leudes belonged to a superior 
class of the unfree, and held the lands 
they possessed on military tenure. 
They had under them an inferior class 
of the unfree, who cultivated their 
lands. ‘The deudes, in fine, formed that 
order of men called the ministerialen 
(ministerials), who performed the he- 
reditary services of the empire and 
the court. 
The ambition of these officers of the 
major domus having increased their 
authority to its utmost height, the 
Franconian territory was, at length, 
divided by its sovereigns into gauen, 
or districts of several miles in extent; 
10 each of which a major domus was 
appointed governor,—a consequence 
of the arrier ban in Saxony, uae 
the 
