n and several of his successors the
system became only too often an instrument of gross injustice and crass
despotism; but at its best, and in its origin, it was based on the twin
foundations of protection on the one hand and duty on the other. I will
venture to quote a high authority in this connexion, namely Bishop
Stubbs.

The Feudal System, with all its tyranny and all its faults and
shortcomings, was based on the requirements of mutual help and
service, and was maintained by the obligations of honour and
fealty. Regular subordination, mutual obligation, social unity,
were the pillars of the fabric. The whole state was one: the king
represented the unity of the nation. The great barons held their
estates from him, the minor nobles of the great barons, the gentry
of these vassals, the poorer freemen of the gentry, the serfs
themselves were not without rights and protectors as well as duties
and service. Each gradation, and every man in each, owed service,
fixed definite service, to the next above him, and expected and
received protection and security in return. Each was bound by
fealty to his immediate superior, and the oath of the one implies
the pledged honour and troth of the other[24].

This system indeed was very far from perfect, but it certainly was an
attempt to bind the nation together in one social unit, to provide a
measure of protection for all, and to demand duties from all. It sought
to lay equal stress on rights and duties. In this respect--and I am
still thinking of the system at its best--it was far ahead of modern
19th century Industrialism, a system which might be described with but
little exaggeration as laying sole emphasis on rights for one class and
duties for the other.

But the supreme attempt which so far has been made to promote unity
between classes has approached the problem from a far loftier
standpoint; not industrial, nor military, but religious. And this
attempt has been on a larger scale and on firmer foundations than any of
the others, for it has sought to unite men in spite of their
differences. It has tried, that is, to get below the varieties of race
or family or occupation, and create a unity which, because it transcends
them all, may hope to last. As a fact this attempt has so far surpassed
all others, and has met with the greatest measure of success. And lest I
should be suspected of prejudice I will