Note 303 — Chapter IX · The State.

A passage in the laws of Childeric ad an. 550, somewhat unintelligible indeed, seems to point to this, where, in reference to the “duodecim juratores,” it is said, “Propterea non est sacramentum in Francis, quando illi legem composuerunt, non erant Christiani.” Pertz. Leg., vol. 2, p. 6, c. 4. The only meaning I can make out of it is, “For this cause there is no oath amongst the Franks—no provision for compurgation in their code—when they made their laws they were not Christians.” The passage has rather a colloquial form, like the Welsh Triads or the Irish laws, so often framed in question and answer; pointing to an age in which the law was not written but committed to memory.