enforce them as above suggested, their decisions will usually be obeyed
in practice. There is and will be plenty of scope for the action of such
tribunals. A nation may hate war, may recognise its perils and the
inevitable losses involved, but may feel that an unwarrantable claim is
being made against it which it is bound to resist. It may, however, be
perfectly willing to submit the point to any tribunal which even
purports to be impartial, and abide by its decision. In this way some
systems of law have grown up. They began by regulating procedure. Each
of two parties claimed something as his property, was ready to fight to
maintain his right; but such contests might result in injustice, and
were certainly injurious to the peace of the State. In early Roman Law
each party who claimed the object in dispute touched it with his spear,
showing his readiness to fight for it; then some respected citizen--_vir
pietate gravis_--stepped in, and each party, without fear that his
refraining from fighting would expose him to future encroachments on his
rights, could agree to abide by his decision. As time goes on, what was
merely the casual intervention of an arbitrator becomes an habitual
rule, and eventually the fixed law of the land. Custom develops by
general consent into law. Trial by combat may become obsolete in
practice even long before it becomes illegal. There are many cases in
which a man (or a nation) dare not give way, though he knows that it
will cost him more to fight the case. A rough Lancashire manufacturer
was once advised against fighting a difficult case on the ground that
the result was uncertain, and the costs would in any event be very
heavy, more than the value of the matter in dispute. He said afterwards
to his solicitor with some force, "If I give in in this, that ---- will
come into my kitchen, kick me, and ask what business I have there. No,
I'll fight him now." He brought his action and won, and found the
prediction as to costs was only too fully borne out, even though
judgment in the Court of Appeal was finally given in his favour. The man
who says he will not fight in any circumstances invites injuries, though
the man who fights when he could honourably avoid it is pretty sure to
rue his decision.

Where two high-spirited persons are engaged in a dispute, and each is
ready to maintain his cause with the sword, the intervention of a third
may save both from the disasters of a battle. The words of the D