134 
the immediate direction of the counts. 
Every frecborn was bound to take up 
arms for his prince; and, if possessed 
of more than four mansi, to equip and 
victual for war, all the unfree in his 
service. Ultimately, during the con- 
tinual wars, this regulation became so 
heavy a burden upon the freeborn, that 
many of them svught and found shel- 
ter from such oppression, in the pro- 
tection of the ministerials or counts, 
then forming the lower rank of the no- 
bility; and also of the predominant 
church; whence great accession of 
men and property came into the power 
of the mightier—the church. The 
condition of the original unfree has 
been already described ; in addition, it 
depended entirely on the discretion 
and the interest of the landlord, either 
to employ an unfree on the land al- 
lotted to him, or elsewhere. Those 
however, who cultivated the ground 
for the immediate account of the land- 
lords; obtained the confidence and 
rank of administrators, under the 
name of villicus or major, and were 
considered as pachter or meyer tenan- 
try, under the term mancipium. Many 
of them became afierwards hereditary 
administrators. 
In consequence probably of the 
above-stated advantages many relin- 
quished the class of the free, and join- 
ed that of the unfree, whence there 
remained but a small number of free 
proprietors, chiefly the counts and the 
lower nobility, with very few inferior 
proprietors of land, forming a parti- 
cular class styled freisassen or free- 
holders. This class did not enjoy all 
the privileges of nobility, nor did all of 
them possess unfree labourers. 
At this period, the condition of the 
unfree, for the most part the property 
of selfish and tyrannical majores domus 
and ministerials, at no rate enviable, 
became daily worse, as the wants of 
their lords increased. In the twelfth 
century, from various fortunate causes, 
their situation became gradually 
amended; and, upon the regulations 
adopted at that era, the present condi- 
tion of the German peasantry has been 
formed. Among the chief causes of 
this improvement, may be adduced,— 
the universal propagation of the Chris- 
tian religion,—the influence of the Ro- 
man Jaw,—the Crusades,—the out- 
lawry of Henry the Lion,—the in- 
creasing number of towns, together 
with the constant drain of the wars, 
rendering country labourers scarce,— 
Breymann on Agricultural Labourers. 
[Sept. IE 
the desire of emancipation in the un- 
free, and its encouragement, often the 
interest of princes,—desertion. 
The want of a sufficient number of 
men, produced to the peasantry the 
signal advantage of the hereditary usu- 
fruct,—which, from the circumstances 
of the times, was soon followed by the 
right of succession in the tenant; ren- 
dering the consequence unayoidable, 
that, together with the hereditary 
usufruct, the accustomed rent was 
sunk in a quit-rent, and the peasant 
became, in the English phrase, a co- 
pyhold proprietor. Inthe meantime, 
taxes increased, and the freeborn or 
nobles, casting the burden of them 
upon their cofont or peasants, these 
last became of particular importance 
to the prince, who, in consequence, 
sided with and protected them, in their 
disputes with the nobles. ‘The nobles 
finally submitted; and towards the 
end of the sixteenth century, more 
particularly in the dukedom of Bruns- 
wick, an agreement was entered into 
between the parties, essentially fayour- 
able to the peasants, and more or less 
suitable to the different German pro- 
vinces, 
The present condition of the Ger- 
man meyer, tenant, or bauer, is the fol- 
lowing:—He_ possesses entire per- 
sonal freedom ; he can withdraw from 
his class by the sale of the mansus ; 
and, by purchase of the estate of a 
Jandlord, can acquire that right and 
title. ‘he accustomed rent of a man- 
sus can never be raised: should the 
taxes press too heavily upon it, they are 
in part removed by a judicial process. 
Failure of crops, war, or other misfor- 
tunes, entitle the bauer to farther re- 
missions. Should a mansus become 
apert, either by extinction of the fa- 
mily or dereliction, the landlord can 
neither appropriate nor sell, but is 
obliged to enfeoff gratis another te- 
nant. 
Such great advantages vested in 
the lower and middle classes of the 
German people, contrasted with the 
increasing luxury and expense of the 
nobles, have given rise to the well | 
known proverb, “that the peasant 
will become a noble, and the noble a 
peasant.” 
‘The sufficient means of sustenance 
in Germany produced riches, and, as 
these require a superior culture of the 
mental faculties, every village obtain- 
eda school. Morality was promoted, 
poverty disappeared, and it became 
an 
