They exhibit the Laws, framed in rude ages, for protecting the lives and property of, and preserving peace and good brotherhood among, the burghal communities. They throw light on the manners and customs of the inhabitants in early times, and enable us to mark the progress made from age to age in their social, municipal, and political life. And they show us the bondage under which these were held by Lord and Priest, and the obstacles they had to surmount in order to free themselves from feudal and ecclesiastical thraldom.
