LEGAL ANTIQUITIES A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS UPON ANCIENT LAWS AND CUSTOMS BY EDW. J. WHITE Editor Third Edition “Tiedeman, on Real Property,” Author of “Mines and Mining Remedies,” “Personal Injuries On Railroads,” “The Law in Shakespeare,” Etc. PUBLISHED BY THE F. H. THOMAS LAW BOOK CO. ST. LOUIS, MO. 1913 Copyright, 1913 by EDWARD J. WHITE NIXON-JONES PRINTING CO. ST. LOUIS, MO. TO THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER, WHOSE FAITH IN HUMANITY MADE HER ALWAYS CHARITABLE FOR THE FRAILTIES OF THE PAST AND HOPEFUL FOR THE FUTURE; WHOSE TENDER DEVOTION, SACRIFICES AND ENCOURAGEMENT ARE THE DEAREST RECOLLECTIONS OF MY LIFE, THESE PAGES ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Marriage Laws and Customs. CHAPTER II. Witchcraft and Sorcery. CHAPTER III. Recall of Judges. CHAPTER IV. Trial by Battle. CHAPTER V. Trial by Ordeal. CHAPTER VI. _Peine Forte et Dure._ CHAPTER VII. Wager of Law. CHAPTER VIII. Benefit of Clergy. CHAPTER IX. Privilege of Sanctuary. CHAPTER X. Ancient Punishments. CHAPTER XI. Wills, Quaint and Curious. INTRODUCTION. In this age of ours, distinguished principally for the variety of the inventions and the fast and furious pace at which we move; when the motto of the Captains of Industry, being paraphrased, is simply, that “Motion means Money”; when the politicians vie with each other in their attempts to cater to every passing popular fantasy and the great mass of the citizenship is too much engrossed in the commercial life of the day, to study or analyze the history of our institutions, but the demand of the times is for continuous change, in keeping with the moving spirit of the age, it is advisable that we should occasionally stop and consider the lessons of the past, lest we forget some of the valuable information of antiquity. There was perhaps never a time, in the history of our country, when the general feeling of individual unrest has brought about such disrespect for our existing institutions.