XXVIII.15 A reflection

, par Stewart

I am not saying that one cannot find some text, in the changes that were made in the law code of the barbarians, in the provisions that were appended to it, and in the corpus of the capitularies, where, in fact, the proof of combat is not a sequel to proof by negation. Particular circumstances could have, over the course of several centuries, caused certain particular laws to be established. I am speaking of the general spirit of the laws of the Germans, of their nature and their origin ; I am speaking of the ancient practices of these peoples, indicated or established by those laws ; and that is the only question here.