Superstition and Force Essays on the Wager of Law, the Wager of Battle, the Ordeal, Torture
CHAPTER VII.
DECLINE OF COMPURGATION.
Early efforts to limit or abolish it 67 The oath no longer a positive asseveration 71 Influence of revival of Roman law 73 Conservatism of Feudalism 76 Gradual disappearance of Compurgation in Continental Europe 78 Preserved in England until 1833 84 Traces in the British colonies 87 Maintained in the Church and in the Inquisition 88