CHAPTER VII. THE NOBLE BY SERVICE. I have called the right to entertain a _Comitatus_, or body of household retainers, a very jewel in the crown: it was so because it formed, in process of time, the foundation of all the extended powers which became the attributes of royalty, and finally succeeded in establishing, upon the downfall of the old _dynasts_ or nobles by birth, a new order of nobles by service, whose root was in the crown itself. A close investigation of its gradual rise, progress and ultimate development, will show that the natural basis of the Comitatus is in the superior wealth and large possessions of the prince. In all ages of the world, and under all conditions of society, one profound problem has presented itself for solution; viz. how to reconcile the established divisions of property with the necessities of increasing population. Experience teaches us that under almost any circumstances of social being, a body of men possessed of sufficient food and clothing have been found to increase and multiply with a rapidity far too great to be balanced by the number of natural or violent deaths: and it follows therefore that in every nation which has established a settled number of households upon several estates, each capable of supporting but one household in comfort, the means of providing for a surplus population must very soon become an object of general difficulty. If the paternal estate be reserved for the support of one son, if the paternal weapons descend to him, to be used in the feuds of his house or the service of the state, what is to become of the other sons who are excluded from the benefits of the succession? In a few instances we may imagine natural affection to have induced a painful, and ultimately unsuccessful, struggle to keep the family together: here and there cases may have occurred in which a community was fortunate enough from its position, to possess the means of creating new estates to suit the new demand: and conquest, or the forcible partition of a neighbouring territory, may have supplied a provision for the new generation. Tacitus indeed tells us[290] that “numerum liberorum finire aut quemquam ex agnatis necare, flagitium habetur:” yet tradition contradicts this, and speaks of the exposure of children immediately after birth, leaving it to the will of the father to save the life of the child or not[291]. And similarly the tales of the North record the solemn and voluntary expatriation of a certain proportion of the people, designated by lot, at certain intervals of time[292]. However, in the natural course of things, he who cannot find subsistence at home must seek it abroad; if the family estate will not supply him with support, he must strive to obtain it from the bounty or necessities of others: for emigration has its own heavy charges, and for this he would require assistance; and in a period such as we are describing, trade and