Since Indian character expresses itself in the most pronounced, self-willed independence, the power of the authorities was more of a persuasive than of a constraining or commanding nature. This will appear still better when we speak of the warrior class; and it may be appropriate to remember that no man felt himself bound by decrees of a popular assembly, by edicts of chiefs and their counsellors, or by treaties concluded by these with alien tribes or governments. The law exercised by the gens was more powerful than all these temporary rulings, and, in fact, was the real motive power in the Indian community.