It is a natural inference that, as the royal treasury was enriched by these imposts, the sovereign would hardly attempt to check the annual harvest of iniquity by which his revenue was increased.

Still, although the moral sense is shocked by a system which makes the ruler's interest identical with the wickedness of his people, and holds out a comparative immunity in evil-doing for the rich, it was better that crime should be punished by money rather than not be punished at all.

A severe tax, which the noble reluctantly paid and which the penniless culprit commuted by personal slavery, was sufficiently unjust as well as absurd, yet it served to mitigate the horrors with which tumult, rapine, and murder enveloped those early days.

Gradually, as the light of reason broke upon the dark ages, the most noxious features of the system were removed, while the general sentiment of reverence for law remained.
ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: A country disinherited by nature of its rights A pleasantry called voluntary contributions or benevolences Annual harvest of iniquity by which his revenue was increased Batavian legion was the imperial body guard Beating the Netherlanders into Christianity Bishop is a consecrated pirate Brethren, parents, and children, having wives in common For women to lament, for men to remember Gaul derided the Roman soldiers as a band of pigmies Great science of political equilibrium Holland, England, and America, are all links of one chain Long succession of so many illustrious obscure Others go to battle, says the historian, these go to war Revocable benefices or feuds Taxation upon sin The Gaul was singularly unchaste MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, PG EDITION, VOLUME 2.
THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY, D.C.L., LL.D.
1855 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.,.