rivileges were preserved, and who distributed the
taxes. He shared with the duke in the administration of justice. There
was a militia for the defense of the people's rights, commanded by a
_tysatski_. Every ward of the city had a _starost_, charged with
preserving the peace. It is said that a written constitution,
partaking of the nature of the Magna Charta, was granted to Novgorod
by Iaroslaf the Great. The duke's rights and privileges, his duties
and his revenues, were carefully set down. He was entitled to the
tribute of some of the volosts,--cantons or counties,--and to certain
fines; he could gather in his harvests at stated times, and was not
permitted to hunt in the forest except in the autumn. He could neither
execute nor annul a judgment without the approval of the possadnik,
and he was expressly forbidden to carry a lawsuit beyond Novgorod.
Every duke, before he entered upon his office, was compelled to take
an oath to this constitution.

The members of the vetche were elected by a unanimous vote, instead of
by a majority. This gave rise to frequent, and sometimes very serious
disorder, because if a minority did not approve of the candidate, they
were apt to be ill-treated. There were occasions when two rival
vetches were elected, and when this happened in the two parts of the
city divided by the river Volkhof, the bridge between them was often
the scene of a free fight. Owing to the extensive trade connections,
the merchants trading with western Europe by way of the Baltic sought
to promote friendly relations with the dukes of the west, who had (p. 053)
it in their power to promote or obstruct their trade; but the
merchants dealing with Asia, and those who connected with
Constantinople had other interests to consider and to guard. Thus
there were often three parties, each concerned with its own interests,
and forgetting that their prosperity was first and chiefly dependent
upon the power of the republic, they rendered it an easy prey for an
ambitious duke. The people, however, boasted of their patriotism, and
during the early period they were strong enough to defy the duke. On
some occasions, he and his drujina were expelled, or, as they
expressed it, "the people made him a reverence, and showed him a way
to leave." Sometimes, too, it happened that the duke was made a
prisoner, and confined in the Archbishop's palace. When Sviatopolk was
Grand Duke of Kief (1093-1113), he wished to force one of his sons
up