400 POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS. 



small parties, might suffice; but for insuring the general 

 safety, combined action of the whole horde or tribe was ne 

 cessary ; and to secure this combined action must have been 

 the primary motive for a political gathering. Moreover, 

 certain constitutional traits of early assemblies among the 

 civilized, point to councils of war as having initiated theio. 

 If we ask what must happen when the predominant men of 

 a tribe debate military measures in presence of the rest, the 

 reply is that in the absence of a developed political organiza 

 tion, the assent of the rest to any decision must be obtained 

 before it can be acted upon ; and the like must at first happen 

 when many tribes are united. As Gibbon says of the diet of 

 the Tartars, formed of chiefs of tribes and their martial 

 trains, &quot; the monarch who reviews the strength, must consult 

 the inclination, of an armed people.&quot; Even if, under such 

 conditions, the ruling few could impose their will on the 

 many, armed like themselves, it would be impolitic to do so ; 

 since success in war would be endangered by dissension. 

 Hence would arise the usage of putting to the surrounding 

 warriors, the question whether they agreed to the course 

 which the council of chiefs had decided upon. There would 

 grow up a form such as that which had become established 

 for governmental purposes at large among the early Eomans, 

 whose king or general, asked the assembled burgesses or 

 &quot; spear-men,&quot; whether they approved of the proposal made ; 

 or like that ascribed by Tacitus to the primitive Germans, 

 who, now with murmurs and now with brandishing of spears, 

 rejected or accepted the suggestions of their leaders. More 

 over, there would naturally come just that restricted expres 

 sion of popular opinion which we are told of. The Roman 

 burgesses were allowed to answer only &quot;yes&quot; or &quot;no&quot; to any 

 question put to them; and this is exactly the simple answer 

 which the chief and head warriors would require from the 

 rest of the warriors when war or peace were the alternatives. 

 A kindred restriction existed among the Spartans. In addi 

 tion to the senate and co-ordinate kings, there was &quot;an 



