shires or counties into trithings, or laths, or rapes (a); and without doubt he has the merit of the still further subdivision of trithings into hundreds, and of each hundred into decennaries, tithings, or districts, consisting of about ten families (b).

The lowest orders of the people among the Anglo-Saxons were complete slaves, either by birth or by forfeiture of their freedom by crimes or breach of faith, and were incapable of any office of trust or honour; but the introduction of Christianity led to frequent manumissions, and established another class of people called frilazin, and persons so made free were considered to be in a middle state only, between slaves and free

men.

Those who were freemen from their birth were called ceorls, and constituted a middle class between the nobility and such labourers and mechanics as were slaves, or descended from slaves; and being generally devoted to agriculture, a ceorl was the usual name for a husbandman or farmer; but the acquisition of five or more hydes of land, the attainment of priest's orders, or making three voyages beyond sea in his own ship and with his own cargo (c), advanced a ceorl to the dignity of a thane; and his degree of nobility was considered to be higher than the next description of thane I shall notice.

(a) Ib. 317. Spelm. Vita Elfrida, p. 74. St. Amand, Hist. Essay, p. 68. These intermediate divisions between Shires and Hundreds still subsist in England, the first (i. e. Trithings,) in the county of York, where, (as is observed by Mr. Just. Blackstone in his commentaries,) by an easy corruption, they are denominated Ridings; the second (i. e. Lathes,) in the county of Kent; and the latter (i. e. Rapes,) in the county of Sussex.

(b) The subdivision of the kingdom by our Anglo-Saxon ancestors,

and the general character of English jurisprudence at that period, bear a strong affinity to the polity and integral communities of the Scandinavian nations. The Hærad appears to have been the primary division of their land, analogous to the AngloSaxon Hundred; and this district was usually subdivided into quarters, and occasionally into tithings. See Edinburgh Review of February, 1822, p. 293.

(c) 3rd vol. Henry's Hist. of G. B. p. 325. St. Amand, p. 73.

A ceorl who had a propensity to arms, often became the attendant of some warlike earl, and was called his huscarle ; and by obtaining a reward from his patron, in land or warlike habiliments, was likewise considered as a thane, and this was the lowest degree of nobility. The higher class of thanes were denominated kings' thanes, and appear to have been of three different degrees.

The thanes were the only nobility among the Anglo-Saxons, but the princes or members of the royal families were of a still superior rank.

With respect to the Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence, it should be premised that the kings were considered as the chief judges in their respective territories, and frequently administered justice in person. Alfred the Great, we are told, sometimes employed both day and night in hearing causes on appeal, with the aid of learned men, acting as assessors, and forming a supreme court of justice. But after the establishment of monarchy, it was found to be necessary to appoint a Chief Justiciary, to preside in the King's Court in his absence; and the first institution of that office is supposed to have been at the time of the incursion of the Danes.

The supreme tribunal of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors was the WITTENA-GEMOT (a); which was not only a court of civil and criminal jurisdiction, but all the affairs of state, political and ecclesiastical, were there debated and regulated (b).

The ordinary assembly of the members of this court appears to have been at the festivals of Easter, Whitsuntide, and Christmas, it being the prerogative of the king to appoint the time and place of their meetings; but on very solemn and important occasions, all the constituent members were summoned, who being numerous, and the persons interested

ry's Hist. of G. B. 372. Turn. Hist. of the Angl.-Sax. 220, 261.

(a) Wittena-gemot or assembly of wise men. Wilk. L. Sax. p. 14, 72, 76-9, 102, &c. Spelm. Gloss. in voc. Hist. Eliens. c. 10. 3 vol. Henp. 369.

(b) 3 vol. Henry's Hist. of G. B.

in their debates being still more so, the wittena-gemot was frequently held in the open air, on some extensive plain (a), and on the banks of a river near a large town, for the benefit of water and provisions (b); and often under a large tree, for the convenience of shade and shelter (c).

The next court in point of importance of Anglo-Saxon institution was the SHIRE-GEMOT, which was for the trial of both criminal and civil causes; and here transmissions of real property were recorded, and ecclesiastical affairs transacted (d). The shire-gemot was held in each county twice in every year, viz. in the Spring and Autumn; and was attended by the bishop and clergy of the diocese, the alderman (e) of the

(a) 1 Tyrr. Hist. Engl. Introd. civ. cv. Camd. Brit. Isle of Man. Spelm. Gloss. voc. Mallobergium. Eadmer. 9 & Seld. Spicileg. 197. Lamb, Preamb. Kent. 441-3, tit. Eareth. Mr. Watkins in his 2nd vol. on Cop. [p. 10.] notices that the Welch and Irish, and other ancient nations, held also their courts of justice in the open air, and generally on the slope of a hill; and adds, " In"deed so prevalent was this custom

p. 373. For the names of the places where the Wittena-gemots met, see Hody's Hist. of Convocations, referred to ib.

(c) Edda. Fab. viii. North Antiq. vol. ii. p. 53 n. (A.) 1 Tyrr. Hist. Engl. 160. Transl. Mall. vol. ii. p. 56. And see 2 Watk. on Cop. p. 9 to 16. Kennet's Paroc. Antiq. Glos. v. Franciplegium.

(d) Vide Turner's Hist. of AngloSax. p. 192, 261. There is a remarkable affinity to the Anglo-Saxon Shire-govesment in the constitution of the Norman Isles. See the excellent article in the Edinb. Review of Feb. 1822, already referred

to.

(e) The earldorman [or alderman] or, as he was called in the Danish times, the earl, of a shire or county, was a person of the highest dignity and greatest power among the AngloSaxons, and this magisterial office was generally enjoyed by the thanes of the largest estates and most ancient families. 3rd vol. Henry's Hist. of G. B. p. 342.

shire, the shiregerieve (a) law-men, magistrates, and thanes (b). The court, after a discourse from the bishop on their relative duties as Christians, and from the alderman or one of his assessors, on the laws of the land, and the duties of good subjects and citizens, proceeded to try, first, the causes of the church, next, the pleas of the crown, and lastly, the controversies of private parties (c). The decision on evidence of facts appears to have been by the votes of the whole assembly, collected by the law-men; who, when any question of law arose, answered it by the dome-boc or law-book (d).

The shire-gemot often continued for several days, without finishing the whole of its business: so that another court called a county court was directed to be held by the shiregerieve, from four weeks to four weeks, to determine the causes left undecided at the shire-gemot (e).

(a) The shiregerieve was an officer appointed in every shire, inferior in dignity to the alderman, and who acted as his assessor and chief minister when present, and supplied his place when absent. 3rd vol. Henry's Hist. of G. B. p. 344.

(b) It seems to have been the royal prerogative, both before and after the establishment of monarchy, to appoint the aldermen, shiregerieves, domesmen, and other civil and military officers, but this power was at length vested in the Wittena-gemot. 3rd vol. Henry's Hist. of G. B. p. 361; or in the shire-gemot, see ib. p. 343.

(c) 3rd vol. Henry's Hist of G. B. 348.

(d) It appears that independent of the wittena-gemot and shire-gemot courts, a special general placitum, or plea of land, was frequently held in different parts of England, as might best suit the parties in the

cause.

Turner in his Hist. of the Anglo-Sax. (p. 193, &c. 264,) has selected several cases of the kind from ancient documents; one in which a general placitum was held first at London, and in a few days after at Northampton, and subsequently, on the death of one of the parties, at Walmesford, in eight hundreds; and another in which a great placitum of the citizens and hundreds❜ was held at Cambridge.

A great gemot or general placitum was sometimes convened from eight hundreds and sometimes from three. 3 Gale 469, 473, cited Turn. Hist. of Anglo-Sax. 262; who also notices, that by the laws of Canute it was ordered that there should be two shire-gemots, and three burgh-gemots, every year, and that the bishop and earldorman should attend then, for which is cited, Wilk. p. 136.

(e) These subordinate county courts appear sometimes to have been

It was originally the province of this subordinate or county court, to hold also an inquest or view of frank-pledge (a), to see that every person above twelve years of age was in some tything or decennary, and had taken the oath of allegiance, and found security to the king for his good demeanor.

Dr. Sullivan, in his lectures on the laws of England (b) observes that," since the time of King Edgar, at least, this court "has been divided into two, the criminal matters, both ecclesi"astical and civil, and also the view of frank-pledge, were dis

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patched in one court called the tourn, that is, the circuit, from the bishop and sheriff's going circuit through the coun“try; and the civil business was dispatched in another, called "the county court. The law was, that the sheriff and bishop "should twice in the year (c) go their circuit or tourn, namely, "in the month following Easter, and the month following "Michaelmas; and should hold their court in every hundred "of the county; but the view of frank-pledge was to be taken "only once a-year, namely, the tourn after Easter. But for "the more ready dispatching civil causes, the county court was held once a month, that is in twenty-eight days, reckoning a month by four weeks, and not by the calendar."

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There would appear to have been several courts of judicature established on the subdivision of shires or counties, possessing a similar jurisdiction to the shire-gemot, but which were nevertheless subordinate to it, each court in its order of superiority having an appellant jurisdiction.

The one which was next in point of importance to the shire-gemot, I apprehend, was the trithing court, in which the trithing-man or lathgerieve, who was the next magistrate below the alderman, and above the hundredary, presided;