or half-free,
and the slaves.

The class of the nobility was based largely upon ancient lineage, some
of whom could trace their ancestry to such a distance that they made
tenable the claim that they were descended from the gods. The position
of a noble was so important in the community that he found no
difficulty in making good his claim to pure blood and a title of
reverence, but this in no way gave him any especial political
privilege. It assured a consideration which put him in the way of
winning offices of preferment by his wealth and influence, but he must
submit to the decision of the people for his power rather than depend
upon the virtues of his ancestry. This is why, in a later period, the
formation of the new kingship left out the idea of nobility and placed
the right of government upon personal service. The second class
represented the rank and file of the German freemen, the long-haired
and free-necked men, who had never felt the yoke of bondage. Those
were the churls of society, but upon them fell the burden of service
and the power of leadership. Out of this rank came the honest yeomen
of England.

The third class represented those who held lands of the freemen as
serfs, and in the later period of feudal society they became attached
to the soil and were bought with the land and {286} sold with the land,
though not slaves in the common acceptation of the term. The fourth
class were those who were reduced to the personal service of others.
They were either captives taken in war or those who had lost their
freedom by gambling. This body was not large in the early society,
although it tended to increase as society developed.

It will be seen at once that in the primitive life of a people like the
one we are studying, there is a mingling of the political, religious,
and social elements of society. There are no careful lines of
distinction to be drawn as in present society, and more than
this--there was a tendency to consolidate and simplify all of the forms
of political and social life. There was a simplicity of forms and a
lack of conventional usage, with a complexity of functions.

_The Home and the Home Life_.--The family of the Germans, like the
family of all other Aryan races, was the social, political, and
religious unit of the larger organization. As compared with the
Oriental nations, the family was monogamic and noted for purity and
virtue. Add to this the idea of reverence for women t