ginally
a confederation of provinces united solely for purposes of defence. Each
province was divided into several counties, which were constituted in
the main alike. Every inhabitant--if we except the class of slaves,
which was soon abolished--was either a landowner or a tenant. The
tenants were freemen who owned no land of their own, and hence rented
the land of others. All landowners possessed the same rights, though
among them were certain men of high birth, who through their large
inheritances were much more influential than the rest. Matters
concerning the inhabitants of one county only were regulated by the
county assemblies, to which all landowners in the county, and none
others, were admitted. These assemblies were called and presided over by
the county magistrate, elected by general vote at some previous
assembly. All law cases arising in the county were tried before the
assembly, judgment being passed, with consent of the assembly, by the
county magistrate, who was expected to know and expound the traditional
law of his county. Questions concerning the inhabitants of more than one
county were regulated by the provincial assemblies, composed of all
landowners in the province, and presided over by the provincial
magistrate, elected by all the landowners in his province. The power of
the provincial magistrate in the province was similar to that of the
county magistrate in the county; and to his judgment, with consent of
the assembly, lay an appeal from every decision of the county
magistrates. Above all the provinces was a king, elected originally by
the provincial assembly of Upland, though in order to gain the
allegiance of the other provinces he was bound to appear before their
individual assemblies and be confirmed by them. His duty was expressed
in the old formula, "landom rada, rike styre, lag styrke, och frid
halla," which meant nothing more than that he was to protect the
provinces from one another and from foreign powers. In order to defray
the expense of strengthening the kingdom, he was entitled to certain
definite taxes from every landowner, and half as much from every tenant,
in the land. These taxes he collected through his courtiers, who in the
early days were men of a very inferior class,--mere servants of the
king. They lived on the crown estates, which we find in the very
earliest times scattered through the land. Besides his right to collect
taxes, the king, as general peacemaker, was chief-jus