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which the unprofessional eye has not dared to ob-^ 

 trude; often displaying unmeaning and useless forms 

 eliciting only the contempt of men. The antiquarian 

 finds much that is curious and interesting, in the histo- 

 ry of courts of justice and their procedure, as well as 

 in the spirit of the laws of those times. The word 

 court, for instance, synonymous among us with events 

 and scenes of such familiar character, owes its name to 

 the enclosed space surrounding the tent first, and af- 

 terwards the castle of the Lord, when his retainers 

 met to settle their controversies. In early times the 

 Semnons held courts in a forest, consecrated by the 

 Augurs; and Under the shade of a venerated oak, the 

 Druids of ancient Britain administered justice. In 

 Germany it was the practice of the peasants to assem- 

 ble under a tree, and settle conflicting rights. "Upon a 

 high place under the beech, a judge ought to hold his 

 sittings." (Origenes du Droit Francais, Michelet.) 

 These sittings were accompanied with singular cere- 

 monies. One tribunal is said to have held its sessions 

 in a boat, two hundred feet from the shore: When 

 the judge pronounced sentence, he caused his right 

 foot to touch the water. Justice was also, often, ad- 

 ministered in caverns, and upon tombs ; still more fre- 

 quently upon a mountain. Thus we derive the terms, 

 "The mountain of right." "The rock of law and jus- 

 tice." In Upland, the jury to decide causes, placed 

 themselves upon twelve stones; often they sat in the 

 court of the church, sometimes in the porch of the mill ; 

 Under the Linden tree in summer, and within a mill or 

 barn in winter. The prayer of a certain petition was, 

 that a count would construct a mansion in such man- 

 ner that neither rain or sun would impede the public 



