e of the
earliest ideas of mankind, as they are reflected in Ancient Law, and
to point out the relation of those ideas to modern thought. Much of
the inquiry attempted could not have been prosecuted with the
slightest hope of a useful result if there had not existed a body of
law, like that of the Romans, bearing in its earliest portions the
traces of the most remote antiquity and supplying from its later rules
the staple of the civil institutions by which modern society is even
now controlled. The necessity of taking the Roman law as a typical
system has compelled the author to draw from it what may appear a
disproportionate number of his illustrations; but it has not been his
intention to write a treatise on Roman jurisprudence, and he has as
much as possible avoided all discussions which might give that
appearance to his work. The space allotted in the third and fourth
chapters to certain philosophical theories of the Roman Jurisconsults
has been appropriated to them for two reasons. In the first place,
those theories appear to the author to have had a wider and more
permanent influence on the thought and action of the world than is
usually supposed. Secondly, they are believed to be the ultimate
source of most of the views which have been prevalent, till quite
recently, on the subjects treated of in this volume. It was impossible
for the author to proceed far with his undertaking without stating his
opinion on the origin, meaning, and value of those speculations.

H.S.M.

LONDON, _January 1861_.

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

I. ANCIENT CODES 1

II. LEGAL FICTIONS 13

III. LAW OF NATURE AND EQUITY 26

IV. THE MODERN HISTORY OF THE LAW OF NATURE 43

V. PRIMITIVE SOCIETY AND ANCIENT LAW 67

VI. THE EARLY HISTORY OF TESTAMENTARY SUCCESSION 101

VII. ANCIENT AND MODERN IDEAS RESPECTING WILLS
AND SUCCESSIONS 127

VIII. THE EARLY HISTORY OF PROPERTY 144

IX. THE EARLY HISTORY OF CONTRACT 179

X. THE EARLY HISTORY OF DELICT AND CRIME 216

INDEX 235

CHAPTER I

ANCIENT CODES

The mos