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William Morris: An Appreciation by James Morton, of Darvel, Ayrshire, as Read Before the XL Club, Glasgow, March 4th, 1901
Excerpt from William An Appreciation by James Morton, of Darvel, Ayrshire, as Read Before the XL Club, Glasgow, March 4th, 1901
The causes were many and varied which led to the dissolution of Feudalism in Europe, and though from this distance we can see its faults and limitations, there is no gainsaying the fact that, under that system of government, there lived for several centuries a people as con tented, as able, and, in many respects, as noble, as any of which history bears record. Its fun damental theory was an unbroken chain of service from the serf up to the Kaiser, and of protection from the Kaiser down to the serf. There was no system of exchange such as we know it, for in its true conception the serf and all he had belonged to the feudal lord, while he in his turn, with all his serfs, was at the call of the king, to fight and work as he pleased. Much strife there doubtless was, and bloody times enough, but that there was all through those centuries a freedom and a certain bold and wholesome pleasure in life, we have every evi dence. Chaucer of theperiod,and our own Scott.
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Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
The causes were many and varied which led to the dissolution of Feudalism in Europe, and though from this distance we can see its faults and limitations, there is no gainsaying the fact that, under that system of government, there lived for several centuries a people as con tented, as able, and, in many respects, as noble, as any of which history bears record. Its fun damental theory was an unbroken chain of service from the serf up to the Kaiser, and of protection from the Kaiser down to the serf. There was no system of exchange such as we know it, for in its true conception the serf and all he had belonged to the feudal lord, while he in his turn, with all his serfs, was at the call of the king, to fight and work as he pleased. Much strife there doubtless was, and bloody times enough, but that there was all through those centuries a freedom and a certain bold and wholesome pleasure in life, we have every evi dence. Chaucer of theperiod,and our own Scott.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
50 pages, Paperback
Published July 12, 2017
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