subjects, but he held under the FOLC-GEMOT, and was subject to
conditions. The consolidation of the sovereignty, the extension of
laws of forfeiture, the assumption by the kings of the rights of
the popular assemblies, all tended to the formation of a second set
of titles, and BOC-LAND became an object of ambition. The same
individual appears to have held land by both titles, and to have
had greater powers over the latter than over the former.

Many of those who have written on the subject seem to me to have
failed to grasp either the OBJECT or the GENIUS of FEUDALISM. It
was the device of conquerors to maintain their possessions, and is
not to be found among nations, the original occupiers of the land,
nor in the conquests of states which maintained standing armies.
The invading hosts elected their chieftain, they and he had only a
life use of the conquests. Upon the death of one leader another was
elected, so upon the death of the allottee of a piece of land it
reverted to the state. The GENIUS of FEUDALISM was life ownership
and non-partition. Hence the oath of fealty was a personal
obligation, and investiture was needful before the new feudee took
possession. The state, as represented by the king or chieftain,
while allowing the claim of the family, exercised its right to
select the individual. All the lands were considered BENEFICIA, a
word which now means a charge upon land, to compensate for duties
rendered to the state. Under this system, the feudatory was a
commander, his residence a barrack, his tenants soldiers; it was
his duty to keep down the aborigines, and to prevent invasion. He
could neither sell, give, nor bequeath his land. He received the
surplus revenue as payment for personal service, and thus enjoyed
his BENEFICE. Judged in this way, I think the feudal system existed
before the Norman Conquest. Slavery and serfdom undoubtedly