BADGES AND COSTUMES. 181 



next in rank wear one. ... To the lower orders, a sword is 

 strictly prohibited. 7 And since a practice so inconvenient 

 as that of carrying a superfluous sword, is not likely to have 

 been adopted gratuitously; it may be inferred that the 

 &quot; two-s worded man,&quot; as he is called, was originally one who, 

 in addition to his own sword, wore a sword taken from an 

 enemy: in which case what is now a badge was once a tro 

 phy. Even where both swords are not worn, it results 

 that as the vanquished man is made swordless, the victor s 

 sword marks him as master in contrast with the swordless 

 as slave. Hence, then, the fact that in various countries a 

 sword is a symbol of power. Hence the fact that of old the 

 investiture of princes was in many cases by the girding on of 

 a sword. Hence the use of a sword as an emblem of judicial 

 authority. Implying power and position, the sword 



is a mark of honour which, in common with all others, has 

 tended to spread downwards; as till lately in Japan, where 

 swordless men in underhand ways acquired the privilege of 

 wearing swords; and as in France, where, two centuries 

 ago, punishments for the unauthorized wearing of swords 

 were inflicted. 



Better than the sword does the spear illustrate this gene 

 sis of the badge from the trophy ; since, while the sword in 

 becoming a badge retains its original shape, the spear in 

 becoming a badge partially loses the aspect of a weapon. 

 In its imtransformed state, the spear is used to signify au 

 thority by various semi-civilized peoples. Among several 

 parties met by Mr. Ellis when travelling in Madagascar, he 

 noticed that &quot; the chief usually carried a spear or staff, or 

 both.&quot; &quot; ^o person is permitted to carry weapons of any 

 sort in the palace,&quot; of Uganda, says Speke; &quot; but the king 

 habitually bears a couple of spears &quot; : a duplication of 

 weapons again suggestive, like the two swords, of a trophy. 

 In Japan, nobles &quot; are entitled in virtue of their rank to 

 have a spear carried before them when moving about offi 

 cially.&quot; That the javelin was a symbol of authority among 

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