CHAP. IX.: A just application of the Law of the Burgundians and of that of the Visigoths in relation to the division of Lands.

IT is to be considered that those divisions of land were not made with a tyrannical spirit; but with a view of relieving the reciprocal wants of two nations that were to inhabit the same country.

The law of the Burgundians ordains that a Burgundian shall be received in an hospitable manner by a Roman. This is agreeable to the manners of the Germans, who, according to Tacitus, De morib. German. ^†906 were the most hospitable people in the world.

By the law of the Burgundians, it is ordained, that the Burgundians shall have two-thirds of the lands, and one third of the bondmen. In this it considered the genius of two nations, and conformed to the manner in which they procured their subsistence. As the Burgundians dealt chiefly in cattle, they wanted a great deal of land and few bondmen, and the Romans from their application to agriculture had need of less land and of a greater number of bondmen. The woods were equally divided, because their wants in this respect were the same.

We find in the code And in that of the Visigoths. ^†907 of the Burgundians, that each Barbarian was placed near a Roman. The division therefore was not general; but the Romans who gave the division, were equal in numbers to the Burgundians who received it. The Roman was injured the least possible. The Burgundians as a martial people, fond of hunting and of a pastoral life, did not refuse to accept of the fallow grounds; while the Romans kept such lands as were properest for