Lecture Xxv.--Page 215

Peculiar character of the legislation of the Visigoths.

Different sorts of laws contained in the Forum judicum.

It was a doctrine as well as a code.

Principles of this doctrine on the origin and nature of power.

Absence of practical guarantees.

Preponderance of the clergy in the legislation of the Visigoths.

True character of the election of the Visigothic kings.

The Visigothic legislation characterized by a spirit of mildness and equity towards all classes of men, and especially towards the slaves.

Philosophical and moral merits of this legislation.

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