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as　consisting。　Many　palpable　facts　in　the　composition　of　the






community　are　constantly　inconsistent　with　the　actual　descent　of






the　villagers　from　any　one　ancestor。　Accordingly；　private






property　in　land　has　grown　up；　though　its　outlines　are　not　always






clear；　the　periodical　re…division　of　the　domain　has　become　a　mere






tradition；　or　is　only　practised　among　the　ruder　portions　of　the






race；　and　the　results　of　the　theoretical　kinship　are　pretty　much






confined　to　the　duty　of　submitting　to　common　rules　of　cultivation






and　pasturage；　of　abstaining　from　sale　or　alienation　without　the






consent　of　the　co…villagers；　and　（according　to　some　opinions）　of






refraining　from　imposing　a　rack…rent　upon　members　of　the　same






brotherhood。　Thus；　the　Indian　Village…Community　is　a　body　of　men






held　together　by　the　land　which　they　occupy：　the　idea　of　common






blood　and　descent　has　all　but　died　out。　A　few　steps　more　in　the






same　course　of　development　　and　these　the　English　law　is






actually　hastening　　will　diffuse　the　familiar　ideas　of　our　own






country　and　time　throughout　India；　the　Village…Community　will






disappear；　and　landed　property；in　the　full　English　sense；　will






come　into　existence。　Mr　Freeman　tells　us　that　Uffington；






Gillingham；　and　Tooting　were　in　all　probability　English






village…communities　originally　settled　by　the　Uffingas；






Gillingas；　and　Totingas；　three　Teutonic　joint…families。　But






assuredly　all　men　who　live　in　Tooting　do　not　consider　themselves






brothers；　they　barely　acknowledge　duties　imposed　on　them　by　their






mutual　vicinity；　their　only　real　tie　is　through　their　common






country。






　　　　The　'natural　communism'　of　the　primitive　cultivating　groups






has　sometimes　been　described　of　late　years；　and　more　particularly






by　Russian　writers；　as　an　anticipation　of　the　most　advanced　and






trenchant　democratic　theories。　No　account　of　the　matter　could　in






my　judgment　be　more　misleading。　If　such　terms　as　'aristocratic'






and　'democratic'　are　to　be　used　at　all；　I　think　it　would　be　a






more　plausible　statement　that　the　transformation　and　occasional






destruction　of　the　village…communities　were　caused；　over　much　of






the　world；　by　the　successful　assault　of　a　democracy　on　an






aristocracy。　The　secret　of　the　comparatively　slight　departure　of






the　Russian　village…communities　from　what　may　be　believed　to　have






been　the　primitive　type；　appears　to　me　to　lie　in　the　ancient






Russian　practice　of　colonisation；　by　which　swarms　were　constantly






thrown　off　from　the　older　villages　to　settle　somewhere　in　the






enormous　wastes；　but　the　Indian　communities；　placed　in　a　region






of　which　the　population　has　from　time　immemorial　been　far　denser






than　in　the　North；　bear　many　marks　of　past　contests　between　the






ancient　brotherhood　of　kinsmen　and　a　class　of　dependants　outside






it　struggling　for　a　share　in　the　land；　or　for　the　right　to　use　it






on　easy　terms。　I　am　aware　that　there　is　some　grotesqueness　at






first　sight　in　a　comparison　of　Indian　villagers；　in　their






obscurity　and　ignorance；　and　often　in　their　squalid　misery；　to






the　citizens　of　Athens　or　Rome；　yet　no　tradition　concerning　the






origin　of　the　Latin　and　Hellenic　states　seems　more　trustworthy






than　that　which　represents　them　as　formed　by　the　coalescence　of






two　or　more　village…communities；　and　indeed；　even　in　their　most






glorious　forms；　they　appear　to　me　throughout　their　early　history






to　belong　essentially　to　that　type。　It　has　often　occurred　to　me






that　Indian　functionaries；　in　their　vehement　controversies　about






the　respective　rights　of　the　various　classes　which　make　up　the






village…community；　are　unconsciously　striving　to　adjust；　by　a






beneficent　arbitration；　the　claims　and　counter…claims　of　the






Eupatrids　and　the　Demos；　of　the　Populus　and　the　Plebs。　There　is






even　reason　to　think　that　one　well…known　result　of　long　civil






contention　in　the　great　states　of　antiquity　has　shown　itself






every　now　and　then　in　the　village…communities；　and　that　all






classes　have　had　to　submit　to　that　sort　of　authority　which






assumed　its　most　innocent　shape　in　the　office　of　the　Roman






Dictator；　its　more　odious　in　the　usurpation　of　the　Greek　Tyrant。






The　founders　of　a　part　of　one　modern　European　aristocracy；　the






Danish；　are　known　to　have　been　originally　peasants　who　fortified






their　houses　during　deadly　village　struggles　and　then　used　their






advantage。






　　　　Such　commencements　of　nobility　as　that　to　which　I　have　just






referred；　appear；　however；　to　have　been　exceptional　in　the






Western　world；　and　other　causes　must　be　assigned　for　that　great






transformation　of　the　Village…Community　which　has　been　carried






out　everywhere　in　England；　a　little　less　completely　in　Germany；






much　less　in　Russia　and　in　all　Eastern　Europe。　I　have　attempted






in　another　work　（'Village…Communities　in　the　East　and　West；'　pp。






131　et　seq。）　to　give　an　abridged　account　of　all　that　is　known　or






has　been　conjectured　on　the　subject　of　that　'Feudalisation　of






Europe'　which　has　had　the　effect　of　converting　the　Mark　into　the






Manor；　the　Village…Community　into　the　Fief；　and　I　shall　presently






say　much　on　the　new　light　which　the　ancient　laws　of　Ireland　have






thrown　on　the　early　stages　of　the　process。　At　present　I　will　only






observe　that；　when　completed；　its　effect　was　to　make　the　Land　the






exclusive　bond　of　union　between　men。　The　Manor　or　Fief　was　a






social　group　wholly　based　upon　the　possession　of　land；　and　the






vast　body　of　feudal　rules　which　clustered　round　this　central　fact






are　coloured　by　it　throughout。　That　the　Land　is　the　foundation　of






the　feudal　system　has；　of　course；　been　long　and　fully　recognised；






but　I　doubt　whether　the　place　of　the　fact　in　history　has　been






sufficiently　understood。　It　marks　a　phase　in　a　course　of　change






continued　through　long　ages　and　in　spheres　much　larger　than　that






of　landed　property。　At　this　point　the　notion　of　common　kinship






has　been　entirely　lost。　The　link　between　Lord　and　Vassal　produced






by　Commendation　is　of　quite　a　different　kind　from　that　produced






by　Consanguinity。　When　the　relation　which　it　created　had　lasted






some　time；　there　would　have　been　no　deadlier　insult　to　the　lord






than　to　attribute　to　him　a　common　origin　with　the　great　bulk　of






his　tenants。　Language　still　retains　a　tinge　of　the　hatred　and






contempt　with　which　the　higher　members　of　the　feudal　groups






regarded　the　lower；　and　the　words　of　abuse　traceable　to　this






aversion　are　almost　as　strong　as　those　traceable　to　differences






of　religious　belief。　There　is；　in　fact；　little　to　choose　between






villain；　churl；　miscreant；　and　boor。






　　　　The　break…up　of　the　feudal　group；　far　advanced　in　most






European　countries；　and　complete　in　France　and　England；　has






brought　us　to　the　state　of　society　in　which　we　live。　To　write　its






course　and　causes　would　be　to　re…write　most　of　modern　history；






economical　as　well　as　political。　It　is　not；　however；　difficult　to






see　that　without　the　ruin　of　the　smaller　social　groups；　and　the






decay　of　the　authority　which；　whether　popularly　or　autocratically






governed；　they　possessed　over　the　men　composing　them；　we　should






never　have　had　several　great　conceptions　which　lie　at　the　base　of






our　stock　of　thought。　Without　this　collapse；　we　should　never　have






had　the　conception　of　land　as　an　exchangeable　commodity；






differing　only　from　others　in　the　limitation　of　the　supply；　and






hence；　without　it；　some　famous　chapters　of　the　science　of






Political　economy　would　not　have　been　written。　Without　it；　we






should　not　have　had　the　great　increase　in　modern　times　of　the






authority　of　the　State…one　of　many　names　for　the　more　extensive






community　held　together　by　common　country。　Consequently；　we






should　not　have　had　those　theories　which　are　the　foundation　of






the　most　recent　systems　of　jurisprudence　　the　theory　of






Sovereignty；　or　（in　other　words）　of　a　portion　in　each　community






possessing　unlimited　coercive　force　over　the　rest　　and　the






theory　of　Law　as　exclusively　the　command　of　a　sovereign　One　or






Number。　We　should；　again；　not　have　had　the　fact　which　answers　to






these　theories　　the　ever…increasing　activity　of　Legislatures；






and；　in　all　probability；　that　famous　test　of　the　value　of






legislation；　which　its　author　turned　into　a　test　of　the　soundness






of　morals；　would　never　have　been　devised　　the　greatest






happiness　of　the　greatest　number。






　　　　In　saying　that　the　now　abundant　phenomena　of　primitive






ownership　open　to　our　observation　strongly　suggest　that　the






earliest　cultivating　groups　were　formed　of　kinsmen；　that　these






gradually　became　bodies　of　men　held　together　by　the　land　which






they　cultivated；　and　that　Property　in　Land　（as　we　now　understand






it）　grew　out　of　the　dissolution　of　these　latter　assemblages；　I






would　not　for　a　moment　be　understood　to　assert　that　this　series






o