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In the first of these there is no mention whatever of the count, and in the second "Gisulfus Scabinus" acts with his associate scabini "per jussionem Comiti."

When the count went up to the general yearly placitum of the king, as the representative of the civitas, according to the laws of Charlemagne he was to be accompanied by a certain number of the scabini; and these seem to have accompanied him not solely in the character of legal advisers, but also in a certain measure as representatives of the cities in which lay their jurisdiction: they are by no means what the exaggeration of Sismondi calls "des magistrats populaires ... qui representaient la bourgeoisie"; but they certainly stood for the interests of the people, in a greater degree than any of the ruling powers we have as yet considered.

These officers were the scabini, whose position we are now investigating. All of the best authorities agree that no authentic allusion to the office in Italy is to be found prior to the establishment of Frankish rule. The word scavinus or scabinus sometimes occurs, but in every case the document containing it has been proved spurious on other grounds.

In fact, the king and his ministers, in the interests of impartial justice, kept constant watch on the acts and judgments of the scabini, and a law of Lothar I. tells us that "quicumque de Scabinis deprehensus fuerit propter munera, aut propter amicitam injuste judicare" should be sent up to the king to render an account of the manner in which he had fulfilled the duties of his office.

In 933 a solemn treaty of peace was signed at Rialto between Istria and Venice by the Marquis of Istria, the bishops of Pola and Cittanova, two "locopositi," two "scabini," and twelve other trustees from Pola, Capodistria, Muggia, and Pirano, there convened. A fresh treaty was made in 977 with Capodistria, giving Venice special advantages, and these negotiations were carried on without reference to the Imperial authority, the nominal feudal lord. Walking thus warily, avoiding offence to the Emperor of Germany, Venice took 200 years of continuous political action to acquire the Istrian cities. By 1145 Venice had obtained for herself liberty of commerce in most of the Istrian towns and complete exemption from any kind of taxation; she had established at Pola and Capodistria a representative, to look after the punctual execution of treaties, and to protect Venetians from injustice, and had also made the Istrian cities pay her a tribute, either in money or products, obtaining also assistance for her navy from them whenever it was fighting beyond Zara and Ancona. The importance attached by Venice to these concessions is proved by the triumph which was given to the squadron of Morosini and Gradonico when returning victorious from Istrian waters. It was then that the doge assumed the title of "dux totius Istriæ," but the dates of the dedition of the several cities are much later. The re-organisation of the communes took place between 1150 and 1180. The podest

Such a check was found, in regard to the central authority, in the missi regii, and in reference to the general public, in the scabini or city judges.

In a capitulary of Charlemagne of the year 809 it is decreed: "ut Scabini boni et veraces cum Comite et populo elegantur et constituantur": and more specific directions are given by Lothar I. in the year 873, in case of a scabinus found to be an unjust judge. He says: "ut Missi Nostri ubicumque malos scabinos invenerint ejiciant, et totius populi consensu in loco eorum bonos eligant."

At the end of the voyage the Vogt and the scabini. abdicated their functions and addressed the. What we have judged right, was for the sake of justice. This is why we beg you all, in the name of honest justice, to forget all the animosity one may nourish against another, and to swear on bread and salt that he will not think of it in a bad spirit.

In describing the method by which the scabini gained their office, I am in some doubt as to the proper terms to be employed. I have just made use of the word "election," but cannot let it stand without some qualification. It was not an election in the strict sense of the word as we now understand it, but it was as near an approach to a popular choice as was possible in the age in which it existed.