g them
than among any of the feudally governed nations of Europe. One evidence
of this was, that at the Things the best speaker, no matter what his
rank, had a better chance of swaying the people than the King himself;
while, in other countries, might to a large extent was right, and no one
dared to open his mouth against him who chanced to be in power.

But King Harald Haarfager's power lay not merely in his personal
appearance and indomitable will. He was also a good speaker, and, like
all good speakers in a wrong cause, was an able sophist. But he had men
to deal with who were accustomed to think and reason closely, as must
ever be more or less the case with a self-governed people. There were
acute men there, men who had the laws of the land "by heart", in the
most literal sense of those words,--for there were no books to consult
and no precedents to cite in those days; and his hearers weighed with
jealous care each word he said.

The King began by complimenting the men of the district for their
spirit, and their resolution to defend the laws of the realm; and he
enlarged a little on these laws and on the wisdom of his own father,
Halfdan the Black, and the men of his time, who had made and modified
many of them. Then he went on to say that with time the circumstances
of nations altered, and that, with these alterations, there arose a
necessity for the alteration and modification of old laws as well as for
the making of new ones. He deprecated the idea that he wished, as had
been said of him, to trample the laws under his feet, and rule the
country according to his own will and pleasure. Nothing was further
from his intention or his desire. His wish was to amend the laws,
especially those of them that touched on the relative position of King
and people.

Up to this point the people heard him with respectful attention, and
hundreds of those who were more addicted to fighting than to reasoning,
especially among the younger men, began to think that after all, Harald
entertained exceedingly just opinions, and appeared to possess a spirit
of candour and fair play which did not seem to justify the outcry that
had been raised against him. Even these, however, remembered that it
was not very long since a small king of one of the northern glens had
been summoned by Harold to submit to his views of government, and, on
his declining to do so, had been burnt, with all his family and
followers, in his own house, contr