No government seems to have regarded crimes of violence with severity, provided these had been committed on a foreign soil.

Murders for the sake of robbery or rape were indeed esteemed ignoble.

But a man who had killed an avowed enemy, or had shed blood in the heat of a quarrel, or had avenged his honor by the assassination of a sister convicted of light love, only established a reputation for bravery, which stood him in good stead.

He was likely to make a stout soldier, and he had done nothing socially discreditable.

On the contrary, if he had been useful in ridding the world of an outlaw some prince wished to kill, this murder made him a hero.