SERFDOM. 487 



and barons went on fighting one another, they had pressing 

 need for the services of all vassals of whatever grades, and 

 strong motives for maintaining their absolute subjection; 

 but as fast as these nobles were subordinated to the monarch, 

 this motive weakened. Instead of being fixed to a tract of 

 land which he cultivated solely for his lord s benefit, the 

 serf became the owner of this tract, paying to his lord tribute 

 of work and produce, or finally of money. 



The case of England comes next. We may assume that 

 the groups of invading Anglo-Saxons (or Old English as 

 Freeman will have it) who, partly slaying and partly enslav 

 ing the Celtic inhabitants, settled themselves here and there, 

 were severally headed by chiefs. We may assume, further, 

 that these rude warriors, either individually or else as village- 

 communities, continued to yield their chiefs allegiance of a 

 kind like that above shown to be common now among un 

 civilized peoples. And we may conclude, as not improb 

 able, that such headed groups, beginning as occupants of 

 &quot; marks,&quot; became the germs of the manorial groups which 

 are found to have been in existence at later periods. Be it or 

 be it not that there persisted in England some influence of 

 the Eoman organization, there became visible, in times of 

 consolidation under kings, a parallel set of relations. Just 

 as the owner of a Roman estate was responsible to the govern 

 ment for taxes due from the attached coloni, but took from 

 them the amounts along with other proceeds of their work; 

 so the lord of the manor in early England was responsible 

 to the sheriff for sums due from the manor to the king, and 

 obtained these partly from his own demesne lands cultivated 

 by serfs, and partly from other tenants less directly depend 

 ent on him, but nevertheless liable to the king, through their 

 lord. As elsewhere so here, gradations of servitude co 

 existed. Erom early Anglo-Saxon times had persisted slaves 

 probably descendants of conquered Celts who were chat 

 tels bought and sold, &quot; had no wergild, no credibility, no 



legal rights,&quot; though thev were severally allowed to accumu- 

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