CONSULTATIVE BODIES. 405 



an &quot; ordinance of 1228, respecting the heretics of Languedoc, 

 is rendered with the advice of our great men and prud- 

 hommes ; &quot; and one &quot;of 12 i6, concerning levies and re 

 demptions in Anjou and Maine,&quot; says that &quot; having called 

 around us, at Orleans, the barons and groat men of the said 

 counties, and having held attentive counsel with them,&quot; &c. 



To meet the probable criticism that no notice has been 

 taken of the ecclesiastics usually included in the consultative 

 body, it is needful to point out that due recognition of them 

 does not involve any essential change in the account above 

 given. Though modern usages lead us to think of the priest- 

 class as distinct from the warrior-class, yet it was not origi 

 nally distinct. With the truth that habitually in militant 

 societies, the king is at once commander- in-chief and high 

 priest, carrying out in both capacities the dictates of his deity, 

 we may join the truth that the subordinate priest is usually a 

 direct or indirect aider of the wars thus supposed to be 

 divinely prompted. In illustration of the one truth may be 

 cited the fact that before going to war, Radama, king of 

 Madagascar, &quot; acting as priest as well as general, sacrificed a 

 cock and a heifer, and offered a prayer at the tomb of Andria- 

 Masina, his most renowned ancestor.&quot; And in illustration of 

 the other truth may be cited the lact that among the Hebrews, 

 whose priests accompanied the army to battle, we read of 

 Samuel, a priest from childhood upwards, as conveying to 

 Saul God s command to &quot;smite Amalek,&quot; and as having 

 himself hewed Agag in pieces. More or less active partici 

 pation in war by priests we everywhere find in savage and 

 semi-civilized societies ; as among the Dakotas, Mundrucus, 

 Abipones, Khonds, whose priests decide on the time for war, 

 or give the signal for attack ; as among the Tahitians, whose 

 priests &quot; bore arms, and marched with the warriors to battle ; &quot; 

 as among the Mexicans, whose priests, the habitual instiga 

 tors of wars, accompanied their idols in front of the army, and 

 u sacrificed the first taken prisoners at once ; &quot; as among the 

 ancient Egyptians, of whom we read that &quot;the priest of a 



