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On the Origin of the German Towns, and of the German Nobility *.

T feemed to be referved for Henry I. to re-establish in some degree the authority of the crown, which had fuffered a great decline. To preferve the connection of Bavaria with the empire he made an inconfiderable facrifice, in granting to the dukes of that country the authority over the bifhops ot it, which was before confidered as a part of the royal 'power. Whether this was defigned merely as a perfonal prerogative conferred on the duke, who was then in power, or intended for all the fucceeding dukes of Bavaria, is a queftion which is ftill difputed, particularly by the Bavarian and Salzburg writers. The union which had been formed between Lorraine and Germany, in the years 923 and 935, was now restored, by more than one treaty with the king of France, to its former ftate.

But we are principally indebted to this reign for the change which took place in the interior parts of Germany by the foundation of towns; for before this period, excepting the caftles on the mountains, the feats of the nobility, and convents, which happened to be furrounded with walls, there were only lonely farms and villages. A few people might poffibly have erected fome houfes in the ne ghbourhood of a caftle or church, but all thefe places were open and defenceless.

The mournful experience, that fo few were able, in fuch fituations, to make effectual provifions against the increafing diftrefs occafioned by the incufions of foreign nations, first fuggefted the idea to Henry, that it would be more conducive to the public fecurity if there were towns fur

rounded with walls, with towers, and gates; and not only large enough to tants, but capable of affording proteccontain a greater number of inhabition to their effects, and those of their neighbours who might take refuge there in times of necessity.

'Any other motives than those of neceffity would have availed but little to divest the people of their averfion to live in towns; but the experience of other advantages which this inftitution produced, foon taught them to change their opinion; and of courfe therefore the towns con tinually increased.

But how was it poffible to ac complish that innovation at first? The method which Henry adopted was, that every ninth man should remove from the country, and fettle in the towns, and that all public meetings fhould be held there; a plan which certainly merits the higheft approbation. We have no particular account of any other regulation which might have been made, to encourage the population of the towns, and promote their trade; much less are we acquainted with the number and fituation of the particular towns then founded.

owed their origin to buildings which 'It is probable that many of them happened to be already in the neighbourhood of epifcopal churches and cloifters, or elfe adjoining caftles which were furrounded by extenfive walls, The divifion of the streets muft naturally have depended upon accident, by one houfe by degrees being added to another. Even where the towns were built entirely from the ground, one cannot be furprized that there was fo little regularity ob

From Putter's Political conftitution of the German Empire.

ferved,

ferved, and fo little application of that refined policy which we imagine to be requifite in a town at prefent; partly as this hiftory relates to an age of the groffelt ignorance, and partly because there was only the fhort period of nine years, during which Henry had made a truce with the Thuringians, allotted for the purpofe. In fuch circumftances, it is rather a wonder that fo much was performed, and that a nation which was before fo exceedingly averfe to this mode of living, could fo foon be prevailed upon to refide in towns. But the greatest proof of this having really been the cafe was, that, after the dangers which they were expofed to from the Thuringians were over, their number continually increased.

With refpect to the manner of life of the inhabitants of thefe towns, and among other things the particular diftinction of rank which prevailed, we must not form our ideas of them from the state of our towns at prefent, whofe origin certainly cannot be deprived from fo early a period. Every one of the original inhabitants knew what rank he was of, and whether he was free or not. In the first generation, it is probable that the people feldom married perfons of any other rank than their own. At that time the mere abode in a town was not a fufficient reafon for conftituting a particular rank or order of men; and this is the caufe that even in the prefent day there are noble families in many ancient cities, who have preferved their rank almoft from time immemorial.

It was not till feveral generations afterwards that the inhabitants of cities, whofe ancestors were freemen, no longer fcrupled to intermarry with perfons whofe wealth and perfonal accomplishments made them willingly forget that their ancestors perhaps were originally flaves, or came first into the town in the capacity of meal fervants.

In the fame manner, likewife, the averfion which the people in general had to merchandife and mechanical employments was by degrees deftroyed. Thofe indeed who continued to keep up their houses in the old ftyle in the country, foon laid claim to precedency, because they ftill complied with the customs of their ancestors, by principally occupying themselves in the chafe and war, and trading only in the produce of their lands and cattle. Thefe likewife were the only perfons who were appointed to the offices of the court, and performed the feudal duties, which the inhabitants of the towns were wholly excluded from. At laft people were required to produce proof of the noble descent both of their paternal and maternal ances tors, in religious foundations, and at tournaments. Hence we may conceive how the few people of the country, whofe liberty and birth otherwife entitled them to no fuperiority over the inhabitants of towns, who were originally 'equally free, in a few centuries confidered themfelves of a diftinct rank from the burghers, and endeavoured to emulate the rank of thofe independent families which had hitherto constituted the real nobility of Germany: though an effential difference has been always preferved between this order of high nobility, and thofe free fa. milies which conftitute at prefent what is called the inferior nobility. On the other fide, the burghers, by virtue of the freedom which they originally inherited from their ancestors, or elfe by obtaining their burgherfhip, or freedom of the town, remained as effentially diftinct from the order of peasants, who were still eitherin a ftate of flavery, or elie groaned under the grievous hardships of villanage, and impofts on their property. This was the origin of the four diftinct ranks of people ftill exifting in Germany. The high nobility, con

fifting

fifting of princes, counts, and barons; the inferior nobility, who had anciently no other pretenfion to fuperiority than their mere enjoyment of freedom; the order of burghers; and, laftly, the peasants.

The contemporary writer, to whom we are indebted for the account of the towns founded by Henry, fpeaking of the manner adopted to people them, by means of taking every ninth man from the country, makes ufe of an expreffion, which fomé interpret as if the firft inhabitants of the German towns had been only peasants: but he exprefsly fays, mili

tes agrarias, which, according to the language of the fucceeding times, must be tranflated" country knights," or warriors who lived on their eftates. The addition of the word agrarius was probably intended to diftinguith fuch knights or freeholders from thofe who were obliged to perform military fervice as vaffais in the field, or elfe garrifon duty in the caftles, or the of ficers of the court as minifters, juft as at prefent the country gentlemen, landjunkers, are diftinguished from thofe noblemen who are in offices at court, or in the army.'

Extract from an Account of fome Extraordinary Structures on the Topsof Hills in the Highlands; with Remarks on the Progrefs of the Arts among the ancient Inhabitants of Scotland., By Alexander Frafer Tytler, Efq; Advocate, F. R. S. Edinburgh, and Profeffor of Civil Hiftory in the University of Edinburgh *.

[This Paper begins with a fhort account of the different opinions with regard to the vitrified Forts in general, and then goes on to the defcription of Craig-Phadrick near Inverness, which the author had moft minutely furveyed.]

CR

RAIG-PHADRICK is a small conical hill, which forms the eaftern extremity of that ridge of mountains which bounds Loch-Nefs upon the north-weft fide. It is fituate about a mile to the north of Invernefs, and commands an extenfive profpect of both fides of the Murray frith, to the distance of above forty miles. It is acceffible on two different quarters; on the weft by a narrow but level ridge, which joins it to the chain of hills upon Loch-Nefs; and on the fouth-eaft, by an eafy af cent from the high ground above the town of Inverness. When feen from the oppofite heights, it appears pretty much of a conical figure; the top cut off, forming a level furface, bounded at each end by a fmall rifing or

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• From the Second Volume of the Edinburgh Philofophical Transaction.

of

of its being an operation of art. I examined the fides of it, where it is cut into the rock, to fee if there were any marks of a tool. A labourer, who attended me with a mattock, or quarryman's pick, declared his opinion, that, in many places, there were marks of an inftrument fimilar to what he had in his hand; but the rock being compofed of many rounded pebbles, and when broken prefenting a furface, in which the beds of thofe pebbles have often an appearance like what is made by the stroke of a tool, I lay little weight upon that circumftance. The form alone of this road, as I have already faid, was fufficiently convincing to me of its being an operation of art.

From the nature of the ftone itself, of which this hill is formed, and from that compound appearance of water-worn pebbles, fticking in a cementing mafs, it has been conjectured, that thefe pebbles, together with the bed in which they are lodged, had been forced up from the bottom of the fea, by internal fire ftruggling for a vent, which it afterwards obtained at the fummit. With regard to the nature of the stone of this hill, I fhall here obferve only, that this compound appearance in the rock at Craig-Phadrick, affords no more prefumption of this particular hill being forced up by fire from the bottom of the fea, than it does of all the furrounding hills for many miles having the fame origin. The greateft part of the hills which bound Loch-Nefs, both on the north and fouth, are compofed of the fame materials, or at leaft contain large ftrata of the stone I have mentioned. Yet none of thofe hills that I have feen, or on enquiry have ever heard of, exhibit the fmalleft appearance of the effects of fire; though, being infinitely higher than Craig-Phadrick, and confequently demanding a much greater force to raile them up, had the fire been the agent, its effects on them would probably Vol. XII. No. 68.

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have been much more confpicuous than on a hill incomparably smaller.

That the materials which compofe the hill of Craig-Phadrick, as well as all other hills, of which the ftone is of a fimilar nature, have originally been under water, I have not the fmalleft doubt. The compound appearance of the rock, which is evidently a mafs of water-worn pebbles, of various fize, nature, and colour, fticking in a bed of clay, leaves no room to doubt of it: origin. But whether thofe hills, which confist of fuch compound materials, have been forcibly raifed up from the bottom of the water, by fome convulfion of nature, or formed by a gradual alluvio, or depofition of materials under a mafs of water which has now deferted them, (as fand-banks are formed in the fea) is what we have no grounds for determining with certainty, and few to found even a probable conjec ture: Snce, with regard to this particular hill, there never has been a fection made across any part of it, from which the component ftrata might be perceived, or the difpofition in which they le. All that I am at prefent concerned to fhew, is, that; from the fuperficial or external ap pearance of this hill, there is no rea fon for fuppofing that it ever containe ed inteftine fire.

The ftone, of which the whole of this hill, and most of the neighbouring hills are compofed, is a mixed mafs of round water-worn pieces of different coloured granite, greyish or fpeckled quartz, and the common white quartz. This compound ftone, which is well known to miners, has, from its appearance, been termed plum-pudding ftone. Those who have entertained the notion of Craig-Phadrick's being an extinguished volcano, have maintained, that this compound ftone is of the nature of the volcanic tufas. This, however, will be acknowledged to be a mistake, by all who have examined and compared

the

the two fubftances. The volcanic ceous and unvitrifiable ftone; others

tufas are all compofed of materials which have undergone a change by fire; the plum-pudding ftone has undergone no fuch change. Sir WilJian Hamilton defcribes tufa to be a foft ftone, compofed of pumice, afhes, and burnt matter, its colour often tin ged with grey, green, and yellow. It is formed, fays he, by water making up these materials into a fort of clay, which afterwards hardens. The plum pudding stone, on the contrary, contains no burnt materials. Its component parts, fo far from being already burnt, when expofed to fire, undergo a total change, and the whole ftone fuffers an imperfect vitrification. Upon the whole furface of this hili, and anidst all the detached fragments, both of the natural ftone and of the vitrified matter, there is not, fo far as I could obferve, any thing that bears the appearance of a pumice ftone. The burnt matter, indeed, is often full of small holes or honey-combed; but it ftill retains a glaffy appearance, and a confiderable weight, both which eircumftances fufficiently diftinguish it from pumice. Bafaltes are, I believe, conftantly found, in fome form or another, upon all volcanic hills; but neither on the rock of CraigPhadrick, nor on any of the neighbouring bills, is there, fo far as I could obferve, the smallett appearance of that kind.

The vitrified matter on the fum mit of this rock is, therefore, the only circunftance which pofitively vindicates the effect of fre; and this I fhali now proceed to examine.

The Society have already had before them fpecimens of this burnt or vitrified matter. I fhall, therefore, fuppofe, that they are fufficiently ac quainted with its appearance. It will be recollected, that in no.e of the fpecimens which were produced, was there any thing like a total fufion of the materials. Some parts of the mafs seemed to be portions of argilla

of ftones of which a part had been in fufion, while the reft remained in its natural ftate. Thefe circumftances, of themfelves, are fufficient to distinguifh this fubftance from volcanic lava, which is an uniform homogeneous mafs, of which every part has been in a ftate of fufion. Neither has this vitrified fubftance the appearance of thofe fcoria thrown up from volcanos, which are probably the fcum of the lava, or fuch parts of the materia's as either never were fufible, or have lost their fufibility and principle of inflammability: For the burnt fubftance on the top of Craig-Pliadrick is rather a mixture of fufible with unfustble fubftances; many parts appearing to have been in the most perfect sufron, while others have remained in their natural state.

But the circumftance which, in my apprehenfion, evinces, in the most fatisfactory manner, that thofe appearances of the effect of fire on the fummit of this hill, are not the operation of nature, but of art, is the regular order and difpofition of those materials, the form of the ground, and the various traces of skill and contrivance which are yet plainly difcernible, though confiderably defaced, either by external violence, or by the obliterating haud of time. To proceed regularly in examining thofe appearances of artificial contrivance, I reurn to that winding road I before mentioned, which is evidently cut through the rock for the purpufe of ga:ning an eafy afcent from the level ridge to the fummit, which would otherwife have been impracticable.

In mounting up by this road, and towards the middle of the afcent, there appears a fmall platform overhanging the road, upon the right hand, and inclining, by a very gentle declivity, to the edge of the rock. Upon this platform, and on the very edge and extremity of it, are placed four enormous ftones, which have

been

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