Very early in the history of the nation, it is an admitted fact that all classes and both sexes indulged freely in potations, so much so, that as far back as the middle of the eighth century systematic attempts were made to legislate against drunkenness. Charlemagne, whose character has been variously judged by different historians, and who was undoubtedly a Henry the Eighth in his conjugal relations, in the matter of drink presented an example worthy of imitation. If not a total abstainer, he was at least an extremely temperate drinker, and both in that respect as well as by imperial edicts he endeavoured to reform the drinking habits of his subjects. He forbade suitors or witnesses to appear in court intoxicated, earls to sit in judgment unless perfectly sober, and priests to offer drink to penitents.[184] If any one of his soldiers was found drunk in camp, he was restricted to water as a beverage until he admitted the heinousness of his offence and publicly implored forgiveness.[185] But these edicts were of no avail. They, along with others, which were directed not only against the common people, but also against princes, rulers, and their following, were enacted again and again in later times; as, for example, that of the Emperor Frederick III. at a Reichstag in Worms, 1495, which ordered “all electors, princes, prelates, counts, knights, and gentlemen to discountenance and severely punish drunkenness;” and that of Karl IV., which stated in the preamble that the vice is greatly on the increase, that it leads to blasphemy, murder, and manslaughter, and that such vices and crimes have rendered the Germans, “whose manliness was so famous in olden times, despised and contemned of all foreign nations.”