Superstition and Force: Essays on the Wager of Law; The Wager of Battle; The Ordeal; Torture

The history of jurisprudence is the history of civilization. The labors of the lawgiver embody not only the manners and customs of his time, but also its innermost thoughts and beliefs, laid bare for our examination with a frankness that admits of no concealment. These afford the surest outlines for a trustworthy picture of the past, of which the details are supplied by the records of the chronicler. The history of civilization and the acts done out of superstition includes judicial combat ...