very word and gesture at the
dinner-table was regulated, and this rule was maintained by severe
punishments. The soldiers who roamed about together in troops from all
parts of Germany, made laws for themselves, by which they kept the
strictest discipline, each being accuser and judge of the other. Upon a
sea voyage the passengers selected from amongst themselves a
magistrate, judge, and police-officer, who declared the law, imposed
fines, and awarded even bodily punishment; and if at the conclusion of
the journey any individual wished to free himself from this control, he
had to take an oath that he would not revenge himself for any annoyance
or injury he might have suffered under the ship's law; and it was the
same with pilgrimages to the Holy Land, especially where it was
question of any dangerous enterprise. For instance, when, in the year
1535, five-and-twenty men from Amberg undertook to explore the cavern
of the "awful" mountains, their first act at the entrance to the
caverns was to choose two leaders, and take an oath of obedience to
stand by one another in life or death.

The same feature is to be found amongst the artists of the middle ages:
thus did the life of individuals first find its full expression, in
association with others.

One peculiar charm which we find in the national character of those
early ages, is the union of a strong love of freedom with a spirit of
obedience. To this characteristic of the old times may be added
another. All, from the emperor to the wandering beggar, from their
birth to their death, from morning till night, were fenced in by
customs, forms, and ceremonies. A wonderful creative genius produced
endless pictures and symbols, by which everything on earth was
idealized. By these means was expressed the way in which the people
understood their relations with God, and the right direction of all
human energy; there were also many mysterious rituals which served as
means of defence against the supposed influence of unearthly powers.
Even in law mimic and figurative proceedings were laid down. Whoever
sought revenge before a court of justice for the murder of a relative,
had everything as to garments and gestures, the very words of the
accusation, and even their complaints, prescribed to them. Every
transfer of property, every investiture and contract, had its
significant forms and precise words, on which its legality depended.
The knights were summoned to the lists by the herald;