There was also a considerable amount of new legislatiofl with the object of protecting the minor subjects of the crown, and the system of trial by jurors was advanced to the detriment of the absurd old practices of trial by ordeal and trial by wager of battle.
He denounced the trial by ordeal of fire and water, the belief in witchcraft, and the ascription of tempests to magic,maintained the Carolingian opposition to image-worship, but carried his logic farther and opposed the adoration of the saints.
But though his eclectic system failed, the spirit of toleration which originated it produced in other ways many important results, and, indeed, may be said to have done more to establish Akbar's power on a secure basis than all his economic and social reforms. He conciliated the Hindus by giving them freedom of worship; while at the same time he strictly prohibited certain barbarous Brahmanical practices, such as trial by ordeal and the burning of widows against their will.
