from the vassal in cases of distress happening to furnish a certain number for the service of the his lord, now became an unavoidable tax. An sovereign; and in those from the nobility to thei aid formerly was demanded when the superior's vassals, the like service was required. Even the eldest daughter was married, when his eldest son commons who had grants from the crown fur was knighted, or when he himself was taken pri- nished a certain proportion of knights. The soner in battle. These were the only legal causes force of the nation was called into action by of making a demand of this kind: but in the grants in capite, or from the sovereign and no subsequent times of degeneracy, the most fri- bility. A numerous and powerful army was in volous pretences were made use of by the prince stantly assembled, and at once ready for action to oppress the lords, and by the lords to oppress Of this army the king was the general, the no their vassals; demanding subsidies at pleasure, bility the officers, and the vassals soldiers; the which their inferiors were always obliged to com- whole being exactly arranged, and capable o ply with. Lastly, the escheat, which in former entering upon any expedition withou the least times, took place only in cases of cowardice, delay. Thus a remedy was found in some mea treachery, or some other heinous crime, was now sure for the weakness of the feudal sovereigns inflicted on the most trifling occasions. If the but though the knight's tenure could accomplish vassal happened to be too long in attending the this, it could not bring back the former affection court of his superior to take the oath of fealty; and cordiality, which had subsisted between the if he committed any action which could in the various ranks of people. On the contrary, by least be construed an infringement of the oath; uniting them more firmly to one another by legali if he neglected to give his lord warning of any ties, it rendered matters rather worse. But the op misfortune which he might suppose was about to pression originating from the operation of the befal him; revealed any thing concerning him; feudal incidents, still continued with unremitting made love to his sister or daughter, &c.; or violence. The grants of knight's tenure wer even if he should grant a tenure of land to ano- attended with the same oaths of homage and ther person in form different from that in which fealty; the same incidents of relief, wardship he held his own; all these, nay others still more marriage, aid, and escheat, with the feudal tenures ridiculous, were judged sufficient reasons for the The princes promised to abate somewhat of thei superior to seize on the estate of the vassal, and rigor in demanding the feudal perquisites, bu involve him and his family in ruin. Notwith- did not keep their word. Laws were occa standing these oppressions, however, the vassal sionally promulgated, and for some time had a was still obliged to submit to his lord; to own effect; but palliatives soon became ineffectual him as his superior; and even, in appearance, to and a new state of weakness began to commence pay him the same respect as formerly, when the The two remarkable eras in the feudal history greatest unanimity and cordial affection subsisted are, the time before the invention of knight-ser between them. Still he was obliged to perform vice (See KNIGHT), and that during which i the same military service; because failure in that continued. Fiefs were in a state of fluctuation respect would have subjected him to a forfeiture from the destruction of the Roman empire till of lands according to the original agreement. A the ninth century; but they were rendered per vast difference, however, now took place in the petual in France about A. D. 877, and were valor and activity which inspired the army. The generally become so in every country of Europe vassals, forced into the field with desponding about the beginning of the tenth. Du Cange hearts, were indifferent as to the success of the voce Militia, gives us an example of a knight-fee cause in which they were engaged, and fre- in A. D. 880. By the year 987, when Hugh quently obstructed instead of forwarding the ope- Capet was raised to the throne of France, knigh rations of the field. Hence the sovereign found service was become general all over Europe, and himself embarrassed; and, though nominally at was introduced into England after having made the head of a martial and powerful people, was its appearance in other countries. Dr. Stuar frequently unable to effect any thing by reason of informs us, that it appears from the records of the mutual hatred and dissension which every Malcolm IV. in 1153, that knight-service was where prevailed. known in Scotland, and that it was a novelty at that time. He thinks it even probable that it was known in the time of David I. In England. however, there have been several doubts and enquiries among the learned concerning the introduction of the feudal laws. Many are of opinion that they were first introduced by William the Conqueror; and, consequently, that they were entirely unknown to the Anglo-Saxons: but others think, that they existed among the latter in the same form under which they were continued by the Normans. Dr. Stuart is of opinion that the Saxons who settled in England could not be strangers to fiefs. He supposes the conformity of manners, which undoubtedly prevailed between the Saxons and other barbarians, a sufficient proof that the hereditary grant of land, as well as the fluctuating state of feudal tenures which preceded it, was known to the former. Thus the feudal states of Europe became unnaturally weak: a remedy was necessary; and it is remarkable, that the same remedy was applied all over the continent. This was, the making fiefs hereditary, which till now had only been granted for a long term of years; and, in return, burdening the lands with a certain number of soldiers, which were not to be refused upon any pretence whatever. Hence was derived the tenure of knight-service. A certain portion of land, burdened with the service of one soldier or knight, was called a knight's fee; and thus an estate, furnishing any number of soldiers, was said to contain as many knight's fees; so that now the manors, baronies, &c., became powerful according to the number of soldiers they were bound to furnish. In the grants from the crown, the nobility were obliged to Collateral proofs are derived from the spirit and an exact account o all the landed property of tre of the Anglo-Saxon laws, but especially the kingdom. Hence it is to be concluded, not the grants of hereditary estates on condition that William introduced fiefs into England, as military service. The condition of fiefs under some have imagined, but that he brought them the Anglo-Saxons was very different from what it to their ultimate state of perfection by the introw afterwards. In their times we find no men- duction of knight-service. This is evident from made of those oppressions of which so much the laws enacted during his reign. In these it tre has already been taken; and this may is not only mentioned that knight-service was eny be accounted for from the alteration of acted, but that it was done expressly with the con2 feudal spirit in different ages. During the sent of the common council of the nation; which the that a warm and generous affection sub- at that time was equivalent to an act of parliabetween the feudal superiors and vassals, ment. The invention of knight-service proved cidents were marks of generosity on the generally agreeable; for, as only a few of the OP part and gratitude on the other; but as soon Anglo Saxon fiefs were hereditary, the advancearance had taken place, by reason of the ment of the rest to perpetuity, under the tenure of sted disposition which the introduction of knight-service, must have been accounted an acmy produced, the same incidents became quisition of some importance; as not only augsures of the most flagrant oppression. This menting the grandeur and dignity of the sovereign, Bremarkably the case in the time of William but securing the independence of the subject, and Conqueror; and, during the reign of king improving his property. In the happy state of , matters were come to such a crisis, that the feudal association, there was indeed no nepeople every where complained loudly, and cessity for the knight's fee; but when the disanded the restoration of the laws of Edward cordance and oppression so often mentioned Confessor. What the laws of Edward the began to take place, it became then necessary to fessor were,' says Mr. Hume, which the point out particularly every duty of the vassal, sh every reign, during a century and a half, as well as of the lord; and this was fully done red so passionately to have restored, is much by the invention of knight-service. The nobles ted by antiquarians; and our ignorance of possessed duchies, baronies, and earldoms; seems one of the greatest defects of the which extensive possessions were divided into as Farish history. Dr. Stuart has offered an ex- many fees, each of them to furnish a knight for pation, in a conjecture, that by the laws or the service of the king, or of the superior: so that Ss of the Confessor, that condition of every feudal state could command a numerous Ety was expressed which had been enjoyed army and militia to support and defend it in case ng the fortunate state of the feudal associ- of any emergency. The knights were also bound The cordiality, equality, and indepen- to assemble in complete armour whenever the which then prevailed among all ranks in superior thought proper to call, and to hold By continued to be remembered in less pros- themselves in readiness whenever the king or rss times, and occasioned an ardent desire superior found it convenient to take the field; he revival of those laws and usages which were so that thus the militia might be marched at the esources of so much happiness. Besides the shortest notice to defend or support the honor of distinction between the state of fiefs under the nation. The knights were usually armed with Anglo-Saxons and under the Normans, they a helmet, sword, lance, and shield; and each e no less distinguished by the introduction of was obliged to keep a horse. This last requisite t-service. Hitherto the refinement of the was owing to the contempt into which the infansh had been obstructed by the invasion of try had fallen, through the prevalence of tournaDanes, and the insular situation of the king- ments and luxuries of various kinds, though it ; but after the Norman conquest the fiefs was by means of the infantry that the barbarians made perpetual. Still, however, the knight's had originally distinguished themselves in their and knight-service were altogether unknown. wars with the Romans, and become able to cope diam, the sixth duke of Normandy, was well with these celebrated warriors. All proprietors painted with every thing relating to fiefs; of fees or tenants by knight-service fought on that duchy had experienced all the variety foot: the cavalry were distinguished by the name dental to them from the time of its being of battle; and the success of every encounter was ted to Rollo by Charles the Simple, A. D. supposed to depend on them alone. They only to 1066, when William conquered England. were completely armed; the infantry, being furthis event a number of forfeitures took place nished by the villages under the jurisdiction of ong those who had followed the fortune of the barons, had at first only bows and slings; old II. Their estates were to be disposed though afterwards they were found worthy of the pleasure of the conqueror; and it was much greater attention. While the feudal assoal to suppose that he would follow the ciation remained in perfection, the superior could ethod practised in his own country. Hence at any time command the military service of his engin of knight-service in England. A grant vassals; but in the subsequent degeneracy this land, to any person whatever, was estimated service could neither be depended upon when a certain number of knights' fees; and each wanted, nor was it of the same advantage when these required the service of a knight. The obtained as formerly. The invention of knightits of lands were even renewed to the old te- service tended in a great degree to remedy this s under this tenure; so that by degrees the inconvenience. Those who were possessed of le military people in the kingdom acquiesced knight's fees were now obliged to remain forty it. To accomplish this, Domesday Book is days in the field at their own expense; and this posed to have been compiled, which contained without exception, from the great crown vassals to the smallest feudatories; but, if longer service was required, the prince was obliged to pay his troops. In those times, however, when the fate of nations was frequently decided by a single battle, a continuance in the field for forty days was sufficient for ordinary occasions Thus matters seemed once more to be restored nearly to their former state. It was now, as much as ever, the interest of the nation to act with unanimity in its defence, not only against foreign enemies, but against the tyranny of the prince over his subjects, or of one part of the subjects over the other. New inconveniencies, however, soon began to take place, owing to the gradual improvements in life and the refinement of manners. From the first institution of military service, a fine had been accepted instead of actual appear ance in the field. In the times of barbarity, however, when men accounted rapine and bloodshed their only glory, there were but few who made an offer of this compensation; but as wealth and luxury increased, and the manners of the people became softer, a general unwillingness of following the army into the field became also prevalent. A new tenure, called escuage, was therefore introduced; by which the vassal was only obliged to pay his superior a sum of money annually instead of attending him into the field. See ESCUAGE, and KNIGHT-SERVICE. Hence originated taxes and their misapplication; for, as the king was lord paramount of the whole kingdom, it thence happened that the whole escuage money collected throughout the nation centered in him. The princes, then, instead of recruiting their armies, frequently filled their coffers with the money, or dissipated it otherwise, hiring mercenaries to defend their territories when threatened with danger. These being composed of the dregs of the people, and disbanded at the end of every campaign, filled all Europe with a disorderly banditti, who frequently proved very dangerous to society. To avoid such inconveniencies, standing armies were introduced, and taxations began to be raised in every European kingdom. New inconveniencies, however, arose. The sovereigns in most of these kingdoms having acquired the right of taxation, as well as the command of the military power, became completely despotic but in England the sovereign was deprived of this right by Magna Charta, which was extorted from him (See ENGLAND), so that though allowed to command his armies, he could only pay them by the voluntary contributions of the people, or their submitting to such taxations as were virtually imposed by themselves. : The author of A View of Society in Europe, (book I. chap. ii. sect. 1). has traced the remote sources of the feudal laws in an elegant and concise manner. Tacitus informs us, he observes, that the individuals of each of the German nations cultivated by turns a tract of land proportionable to their number, for the use of the whole; after which each individual received such an allotment of the cultivated tract as his dignity required. These nations had not altered their political principles at the time they overran the Roman empire; and hence the provinces of it were then divided after the same manner. The most considerable allotment was bestowed on the king, as the most dignified person in the community, and this allotment was styled his domain; while the shares of citizens and warriors, which were likewise in proportion to the merit or dignity of each, constituted what was called allodiality. But, as it often happened that all the land was not exhausted by these partitions, what remained was considered as the property of the community; and in the barbaric codes was called the lands of the fisc. In such German nations as had thus obtained a settlement, it was necessary that there should be a more close connexion betwixt the sovereign and the chiefs, as well as between the chiefs and people, than in others. This was effected by means of the lands of the fisc; for of these the sovereign took possession, dealing them out to the chiefs under the burden of appearing in arms whenever he should please to call; while the chiefs in like manner dealt out lands to those called their retainers, who were also obliged to supply them with military assistance in cases of necessity. Hence a political system was founded, which had a prodigious effect on society in all those countries where it prevailed. The intention and tendency of this system was to render the nation independent both at home and abroad; for, while the people were all armed in their common defence, individuals were also properly guarded against the attacks of despotism. The power of the chiefs, who formed a regular nobility, was a counterpoise to that of the sovereign; while the number of the retainers and vassals, constituting the greatness and power of the nobility, was a proper barrier against aris tocratical oppression; for a chief who oppressed his vassals evidently acted against his own intercst. The feudal system, it has been well observed by another writer, was originally grounded on the universal principles of self-defence, and the necessity of relinquishing a portion of our individual rights for the public security. Every freeman, therefore, under this system, upon receiving a portion of the lands which were divided, bound himself to appear in arms against the enemies of the community. This military service was the condition upon which he received and held his lands; and, as they were exempted from every other burden, that tenure, among a warlike people, was deemed both easy and honorable. The king, or general, who led them to conquest, had the largest portion allotted to him; and he parcelled it out among those who entered into an obligation to bear arms in his defence. His chief officers imitated his example, in distributing portions of lands among their dependents, upon the same condition. Thus a feudal kingdom resembled a military establishment rather than a civil institution. The names of a soldier and a freeman were synonymous. Every proprietor of land, girt with a sword, was ready to march at the summons of his superior, and to take the field against the common enemy. The feudal government, however, though admirably calculated for defence against the assaults of any foreign power, was defective in its provisions for the interior order of society. The bond of political union was extremely feeble; and the sources of anarchy were raumerable. The powerful vassals of the crown soon extorted a confirmation for life of those grants of land which, being at first purely gratuitous, had been bestowed only during pleasure. They then succeeded in having them converted into hereditary possessions; and at length in rendering them unalienable. The crown vassals, after having secured the possession of their lands and dignities, were led by the feudal institutions to new, and still more dangerous encroachments on the prerogatives of the sovereign. They obtuned the power of supreme jurisdiction, both civil and criminal, within their own territories; the right of coining money; together with the privilege of carrying on war against their private enemies in their own name, and by their own authority. Subordination was almost lost, and persons of superior rank aspired at independence. Hence a kingdom, considerable in name and extent, was broken into as many separate principalities as it contained powerful barons. A thousand causes of jealousy and discord sprang pamong them, and gave rise to as many wars. Every country in Europe, wasted or kept in connual alarm during these endless contests, was filed with castles and places of strength, erected for the security of the inhabitants, not against oreign force, but against internal hostilities. Indeed an almost universal anarchy prevailed. The guilty escaped punishment, and the innocent could not find protection. Such was the state of Europe with respect to the interior administrabon of government from the seventh to the eventh century. This system likewise prevented rations from acting with vigor in their external perations. Besides, the feudal anarchy had a fatal influence on the character and improvement of the human mind. Without the protection of a regular government, and the certainty of persal security, it cannot be expected that men make any progress in the arts and sciences, aim at attaining refinement in taste or manners. less than a century after the barbarous naas settled in their new conquests, almost all the effects of the knowledge and civility which he Romans had spread through Europe disappeared. The human mind, neglected, uncultivated, and depressed, sunk into the most profound ignorance. The inhabitants of Europe during this period were not only strangers to the which embellish a polished age, but destie of the virtues which abound among people continue in a simple state. The ablest modern picture of the advantages disadvantages of the feudal system is found Periaps in Mr. Hallam's work on the Middle He thus exhibits both sides of the subject. The utility of any form of polity may be ested, by its effect upon national greatness security, upon civil liberty and private ts, upon the tranquillity and order of society, the increase and diffusion of wealth, or the general tone of moral sentiment and ary. The feudal constitution was certainly, as has been observed already, little adapted for defence of a mighty kingdom, far less for themes of conquest. But, as it prevailed alike several adjacent countries, none had any thing to fear from the military superiority of its neigh bours. It was this inefficiency of the feudal militia, perhaps, that saved Europe during the middle ages from the danger of universal monarchy. In times, when princes had little notion of confederacies for mutual protection, it is hard to say, what might not have been the successes of an Otho the Great, a Frederic Barbarossa, or a Philip Augustus, if they could have wielded the whole force of their subjects whenever their ambition required. If an empire equally exten sive with that of Charlemagne, and supported by military despotism, had been formed about the twelfth or thirteenth centuries, the seeds of commerce and liberty, just then beginning to shoot, would have perished; and Europe, reduced to a barbarous servitude, might have fallen before the free barbarians of Tartary. If we look at the feudal polity as a scheme of civil freedom, it bears a noble countenance. To the feudal law it is owing, that the very names of right and privilege were not swept away, as in Asia, by the desolating hand c power. The tyranny which, on every favorable moment, was breaking through all barriers, would have rioted without control, if, when the people were poor and disunited, the nobility had not been brave and free. So far as the sphere of feudality extended, it diffused the spirit of liberty, and the notions of private right. Every one, I think, will acknowledge this, who considers the limitations of the services of vassalage, so cautiously marked in those law-books which are the records of customs, the reciprocity of obligation between the lord and his tenant, the consent required in every measure of a legislative or general nature, the security, above all, which every vassal found in the administration of justice by his peers, and even (we may in this sense say) in the trial by combat. The bulk of the people, it is true, were degraded by servitude; but this had no connexion with the feudal tenures. 'The peace and good order of society were not promoted by this system. Though private wars did not originate in the feudal customs, it is impossible to doubt that they were perpetuated by so convenient an institution, which indeed owed its universal establishment to no other cause. And as predominant habits of warfare are totally ineconcileable with those of industry, not merely by the immediate works of destruction which render its efforts unavailing, but through that contempt of peaceful occupations which they produce, the feudal system must have been intrinsically adverse to the accumulation of wealth, and the improvement of those arts, which mitigate the evils, or abridge the labors of mankind. But as a school of moral discipline, the feudal institutions were perhaps most to be valued. Society had sunk, for several centuries after the dissolution of the Roman empire, into a condition of utter depravity; where, if any vices could be selected as more eminently characteristic than others, they were falsehood, treachery, and ingratitude. In slowly purging off the lees of this extreme corruption, the feudal spirit exerted its ameliorating influence. Violation of faith stood first in the catalogue of crimes, most repugnant to the very essence of a feudal tenure, most severely and promptly avenged, most branded The feudal law-books by general infamy. breathe throughout a spirit of honorable obligation. The feudal course of jurisdiction promoted, what trial by peers is peculiarly calculated to promote, a keener feeling and readier perception of moral as well as of legal distinctions. And as the judgment and sympathy of mankind are seldom mistaken in these great points of veracity and justice, except through the temporary success of crimes, or the want of a definite standard of right, they gradually recovered themselves, when law precluded the one, and supplied the other. In the reciprocal services of lord and vassal, there was ample scope for every magnanimous and disinterested energy. The heart of man, when placed in circumstances which have a tendency to excite them, will seldom be deficient in such sentiments. No occasions could be more favorable, than the protection of a faithful supporter, or the defence of a beneficent suzerain, against such powerful aggression, as left little prospect except of sharing in his ruip. 'From these feelings, engendered by the feudal relation, has sprung up the peculiar sentiment of personal reverence and attachment towards a sovereign, which we denominate loyalty; alike distinguishable from the stupid devotion of eastern slaves, and from the abstract respect with which free citizens regard their chief magistrate. Men who had been used to swear fealty, to profess subjection, to follow, at home and in the field, a feudal superior and his family, easily transferred the same allegiance to the monarch. It was a very powerful feeling, which could make the bravest men put up with slights and ill treatment at the hands of their sovereign; or call forth all the energies of disinterested exertion for one whom they never saw, and in whose character there was nothing to esteem. In ages when the rights of the community were unfelt, this sentiment was one great preservative of society; and, though collateral or even subservient to more enlarged principles, it is still indispensable to the tranquillity and permanence of every monarchy. In a moral view, loyalty has scarcely perhaps less tendency to refine and elevate the heart than patriotism itself; and holds a middle place in the scale of human motives, as they ascend from the grosser inducements of self-interest, to the furtherance of general happiness, and conformity to the purposes of Infinite Wisdom.' into the hous of Symount, and modir of Symoundis After life's fitful fever he sleeps well. The white hand of a lady fever thee! It hath been noted by the ancients, that southern winds, blowing much, without rain, do cause a feverous disposition of the year; but with rain not. Bacon's Natural History. O Rome, thy head Is drowned in sleep, and all thy body fev'ry. Those patients that have inured themselves to a set course of me icinal evacuations, if they intermit their springs and falls, fall into feverous distempers. ing All feverous kinds, Bp. Hall. Convulsions, epilepsies, fierce catarrhs. Milton. Dryden. Is not in pleasure, but in rest from pain. Id. More fevers and surfeits are got by people's drinkwhen they are hot than by any one thing I know. To other climates beasts and birds retire, Locke. Creech. When an animal that gives suck turns feverish, that is, its juices more alkaline, the milk turns from its native genuine whiteness to yellow. Arbuthnot on Aliments. A feverish disorder disabled me. Swift to Pope. Common feverfew is the sort used in medicine, and Miller. is found wild in many parts of England. A light feveret, or an old quartan ague, is not a sufficient excuse for non-appearance. Ayliffe. Sincere the unaltered bliss her charms impart, Sedate the enlivening ardours they inspire; She bids no transient rapture thrill the heart, She wakes no feverish gust of fierce desire. Beattie. FEVER. See MEDICINE, Index. The ancients deified the diseases as well as the passions and Virgil places them in the affections of men. See FEBRIS. entrance into hell, En. vi. 273. FEVERSHAM, or FAVERSHAM, a markettown of Kent,, seated on a branch of the river Thames, which is navigable for hoys. It was a royal demesne A. D. 811, and called, in Kenulf's charter the King's Little Town. It was inhabited by the Britons long before the invasion by Cæsar. In 903 king Athelstan held a great council here. King Stephen erected a stately abbey, in 1147, whose abbots sat in parliament; and. he was buried in it, with Maud, his queen, and Eustace his son. Two mean gatehouses are all that now remain of it. The town was first incorporated by the title of the Barons of Feversham, afterwards by Henry VIII., with that of the mayor, jurats, and commonalty. The mayor holds a court of session twice a year, a And Jhesus roos up fro the synagoge and entride which all offenders committed within the limit FEVER, n. s. & v. a. FEVER-WEAKENED Sax. Feren; French, fievre, fiebure; Latin, A disease chafebris. racterised by an increase of heat, an accelerated pulse, a foul tongue, and an impaired state of several Jfunctions of the body.' -Hooper. See MEDICINE. Feveret is a diminutive of fever; a slight fever. plant, a species of matricaria. Feverfew, a |