| I. |
| THE WAGER OF LAW. |
|
| CHAPTER I. |
| RESPONSIBILITY OF THE KINDRED. |
| PAGE |
| Crime originally an offence against individuals | 13 |
| Tribal organization—Responsibility of kindred | 14 |
| Compensation for injuries—The Wer-gild | 17 |
|
| CHAPTER II. |
| THE OATH AND ITS ACCESSORIES. |
| Perplexities as to evidence | 21 |
| Guarantees required for the oath | 25 |
|
| CHAPTER III. |
| CONJURATORS, OR PARTAKERS IN THE OATH. |
| The Wager of Law a prehistoric Aryan custom | 33 |
| It is adopted by the Church | 35 |
|
| CHAPTER IV. |
| SELECTION OF COMPURGATORS. |
| They are originally the kindred | 38 |
| Strangers admitted | 41 |
| Numbers required | 43 |
| Modes of selection | 47 |
|
| CHAPTER V. |
| CONDITIONS OF COMPURGATION. |
| Employed in default of testimony | 52 |
| Except in Wales | 54 |
| Dependent on importance of case | 56 |
| As an alternative for the Wager of Battle | 57 |
|
| CHAPTER VI. |
| FORMULAS AND PROCEDURE. |
| Forms of compurgatorial oath | 58 |
| Modes of administration | 60 |
| Qualified confidence reposed in Compurgation | 61 |
| Conjurators liable to penalties of perjury | 63 |
|
| CHAPTER VII. |
| DECLINE OF COMPURGATION. |
| Early efforts to limit or abolish it | 67 |
| The oath no longer a positive asseveration | 71 |
| Influence of revival of Roman law | 73 |
| Conservatism of Feudalism | 76 |
| Gradual disappearance of Compurgation in Continental Europe | 78 |
| Preserved in England until 1833 | 84 |
| Traces in the British colonies | 87 |
| Maintained in the Church and in the Inquisition | 88 |
|
| CHAPTER VIII. |
| ACCUSATORIAL CONJURATORS. |
| Employed by the Barbarians | 94 |
| Maintained until the sixteenth century | 98 |
|
| II. |
| THE WAGER OF BATTLE. |
|
| CHAPTER I. |
| Natural tendency to appeal to Heaven | 101 |
| Distinc
R_XIV-3" class="pginternal">CHAPTER XIV. |
| IRREGULAR ORDEALS. |
| Iron bands on murderers | 377 |
| Examples of miraculous interposition | 379 |
|
| CHAPTER XV. |
| CONDITIONS OF THE ORDEAL. |
| It is a regular judicial procedure | 383 |
| Compounding for ordeals | 383 |
| Ordeal for defeated accuser | 385 |
| Absence of testimony usually a prerequisite | 386 |
| Usually a means of defence | 389 |
| Used in failure of compurgation | 390 |
| Sometimes regarded as a punishment | 391 |
| Its use in extorting confessions | 394 |
| Practically amounts to torture | 395 |
| Influence of imagination | 396 |
| Champions in ordeals | 398 |
|
| CHAPTER XVI. |
| CONFIDENCE REPOSED IN THE ORDEAL. |
| Conflicting views as to its efficacy | 399 |
| Explanations of its unjust results | 401 |
| Regulations to enforce its impartial administration | 404 |
| Usually results in acquittal | 406 |
| Use of magic arts | 407 |
|
| CHAPTER XVII. |
| THE CHURCH AND THE ORDEAL. |
| Complex relations of the Church to the ordeal | 408 |
| Occasional opposition of the papacy | 409 |
| But it is sustained by the clergy | 409 |
| Its use in trials of heretics | 410 |
| Impressiveness of its ritual | 413 |
| Reasons of papal opposition | 414 |
| Advantages derived from it by the clergy | 415 |
| The popes at length accomplish its abolition | 417 |
|
| CHAPTER XVIII. |
| REPRESSIVE SECULAR LEGISLATION. |
| Forbidden in England in 1219 | 420 |
| Gradually falls into desuetude | 422 |
| Persistence of superstition | 427 |
|
| IV. |
| TORTURE. |
|
| CHAPTER I. |
| TORTURE IN EGYPT AND ASIA. |
| The ordeal and torture are substitutes for each other | 429 |
| Torture in Egypt—in Assyria—not used by Hebrews | 430 |
| Not used by Oriental Aryans | 431 |
| Not used in China—used in Japan | 431 |
|
| CHAPTER II. |
| GREECE AND ROME. |
| Usages of torture in Greece | 432 |
| Rome—freemen not liable under Republic |
|
