Note (return) — Chapter XII · - TWO CENTURIES OF SILENCE

To a man of western mode of thinking, the most astonishing thing is that this law was esoteric.6 The people knew of it only by its irresistible force, and by the constant pressure or the rare easing of its iron hand. Those who executed the law were drilled in its routine from childhood, and this routine became second nature. Only a few copies of the original instrument were known, and these were kept with a secrecy which to the people became a sacred mystery guarded by a long avenue of awe.