Note 48 — Chapter V · Trial by Ordeal.
Reading edition
I. Reeve’s History English Law, pp. 456, 457; Mirror of Justice, cap. III., sec. 23; Lea, “Superstition and Force,” (3 ed.) 256.
“The water ordeals, both hot and cold, were stigmatized as plebian, from an early period, as the red-hot iron and the duel were patrician.” Lea, 283.