6.9. 9. Of the ancient French Laws.
In the ancient French laws we find the true spirit of monarchy. In
cases relating to pecuniary mulcts, the common people are less severely
punished than the nobility.
[25]
But in criminal
[26]
cases it is quite the reverse; the nobleman loses his honour and his voice in court, while
the peasant, who has no honour to lose, undergoes a corporal punishment.
Footnotes
[25]
Suppose, for instance, to prevent the execution of a decree, the
common people paid a fine of forty sous, and the nobility of sixty
livres. — "Somme Rurale," ii, p. 198, ed. Goth. 1512; and Beaumanoir, 61,
p. 309.
[26]
See the "Council of Peter Defontaines," 13, especially art. 22.
