UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 AN 
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ENGLISH GOVERNMENT, 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS IN BRITAIN, 
 
 TO 
 
 THE REVOLUTION 
 
 IN 
 
 1688: 
 
 TO WHICH ARE SUBJOINED, 
 
 SOME DISSERTATIONS CONNECTED WITH THE HISTORY 
 OF THE GOVERNMENT, 
 
 PROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
 FOURTH EDITION. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN MILLAR, ESQ. 
 
 Professor of Law in the University of Glasgow. 
 
 IN FOUR VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR J. MAWMAN, No. 39, LUDGATE STREET. 
 
 1818. 
 
 *i* 15 ,- • ; •:..!
 
 •ARXABD AND FABLEY, 
 Skmnrr-Urtit, London.
 
 sy.i 
 
 TO THE 
 
 RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 CHARLES JAMES FOX. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 1 SHALL, perhaps, be thought guilty 
 of presumption, in wishing to draw 
 your attention to the following pub- 
 lication. The truth is, it appears to 
 me scarcely possible for any man to 
 write a constitutional history of Eng- 
 land, without having Mr. Fox almost 
 constantly in his thoughts. 
 
 In delineating the progress of the 
 English government, I have endea- 
 voured to avoid those fond preposses- 
 
 a 2
 
 IV DEDICATION. 
 
 sions which Englishmen are apt to 
 entertain upon the subject, as well as 
 the prejudices peculiar to the two great 
 parties, which the nature of our limited 
 monarchy has produced. How far I 
 have succeeded in this, must be left to 
 the judgment of the public. But, 
 whatever indulgence may be shown to 
 this work, the ambition of its author 
 will not be gratified ; unless he can 
 procure, in some degree, the approba- 
 tion of a mind superior to prejudice ; 
 equally capable of speculation, and of 
 active exertion ; no less conversant in 
 elegant literature, than accustomed to 
 animate the great scenes of national 
 business ; possessed of the penetration 
 to discover the genuine principles of the 
 constitution, and of the virtue to make 
 them an invariable rule of conduct.
 
 DEDICATION. V 
 
 Impressed with the highest esteem 
 for such a character, permit me to de- 
 clare the satisfaction I feel from your 
 steady perseverance in a system, which, 
 by tending to secure the natural rights 
 of mankind, has led to a reputation 
 the most exalted, and the most grate- 
 ful to a generous mind. 
 
 I have the honour to be, 
 
 S I R, 
 
 Your most obedient 
 
 Humble servant, 
 
 JOHN MILLAR. 
 
 College, Glasgow, 
 4th Dec. 1/SG.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. Page 1 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT, FROM THE SET- 
 TLEMENT OF THE SAXONS IN BRITAIN TO THE 
 REIGN OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 
 
 CHAP. I. Preliminary Account of the State of 
 Britain under the Dominion of the Romans. 9 
 
 CHAP. II. Character and Manners of the Saxons.S9 
 
 CHAP. III. Settlement of the Saxons in Britain. 62 
 
 CHAP. IV. Similarity in the Situation of the 
 Anglo-Saxons, and of the other Barbarians 
 who settled in the Provinces of the Western 
 Empire. How far the State of all those Na- 
 tions differed from that of every other People, 
 ancient or modern. ------------- 84 
 
 CHAP. V. The State of Property, and the dif- 
 ferent Ranks and Orders of Men, produced by 
 the Settlement of the Saxons in Britain. - - -127 
 
 Sect. 1. Of the chief Regulations attending the 
 Establishment of Christianity in the RomanEm- 
 pire, and in the modern Kingdoms of Europe. 140
 
 Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 Sect. 2. The Establishment of Christianity in 
 Britain, under the Roman Dominion, and in 
 the early Government of the Anglo-Saxons. - 159 
 
 CHAP. VI. Institution of Tythings, Hundreds, 
 
 and Counties. - — - - _.-_ 170 
 
 CHAP. VII. Of the Wittenagemote. 200 
 
 CHAP. VII I. State of the Sovereign in the pri- 
 mitive Anglo-Saxon Government. - - — - 230 
 
 CHAP. IX. Of the principal Events from the 
 Reign of Egbert to the Norman Conquest. - 256 
 
 CHAP. X. Variations in the State of Tythings, 
 Hundreds, and Shires. 290 
 
 CHAP. XI. Changes produced in the Condition 
 of the Vassals, and of the Peasants. -302 
 
 CHAP. XII. The Influence of these Changes up- 
 on the Jurisdiction and Authority of the feudal 
 Lords. 327 
 
 CHAP. XIII. Of Ecclesiastical Courts. 343 
 
 CHAP. XIV. Alterations in the State of the 
 Wittenagemote. ------------- - 358 
 
 Conclusion of the Saxon Period. - - - - 373
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 1 HE great series of events in the history of 
 England may be divided into three parts : the 
 first, extending from the settlement of the 
 Saxons in Britain to the Norman conquest; 
 the second, from the reign of William the 
 Conqueror to the accession of the house of 
 Stuart ; the third, from the reign of James 
 the First to the present time. The important 
 changes exhibited in the state of the country, 
 and in the situation of its inhabitants, appear,- 
 like a sort of natural boundaries, to mark out 
 these different periods, and to recommend 
 them as objects of distinct and separate exa- 
 mination. 
 
 The first period contains the conquest of 
 England by the northern barbarians, the divi- 
 sion of the country under the different chiefs 
 by whom that people were conducted, the 
 subsequent union of those principalities under 
 one sovereign, and the course of public trans- 
 actions under the Saxon and Danish mo- 
 narchs. 
 
 vol. I. b
 
 2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The reign of William the Conqueror, while 
 it put an end to the ancient line of kings, 
 introduced into England a multitude of fo- 
 reigners, who obtained extensive landed pos- 
 sessions, and spread with great rapidity the 
 manners and customs of a nation more civi- 
 lized and improved than the English. The 
 inhabitants were thus excited to a quicker 
 advancement in the common arts of life, at 
 the same time that the nation, by acquiring 
 continental connexions, was involved in more 
 extensive military operations. 
 
 By the union of the crowns of England 
 and Scotland, upon the accession of the house 
 of Stuart, the animosities and dissensions, 
 with all their troublesome consequences, which 
 had so long subsisted between the two coun- 
 tries, were effectually suppressed. By the im- 
 provement of manufactures, and the introduc- 
 tion of a considerable foreign trade, England 
 began, in a short time, to establish her mari- 
 time power, and to assume a higher rank in 
 the scale of Europe. 
 
 The same periods are also distinguished by 
 remarkable variations in the form of govern- 
 ment.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 Upon the settlement of the Saxons in Bri- 
 tain, we behold a number of rude families or 
 tribes feebly united together, and little accus- 
 tomed either to subordination among them- 
 selves, or to the authority of a monarch. Dur- 
 ing the reigns of the Anglo-Saxon princes, we 
 discover the effects produced by the gradual 
 acquisition of property ; in consequence of 
 which some individuals were advanced to the 
 possession of great estates, and others, who 
 had been less fortunate, were obliged to shel- 
 ter themselves under the protection of their 
 more opulent neighbours. Political power, the 
 usual attendant of property, was thus gra- 
 dually accumulated in the hands of a few great 
 leaders, or nobles ; and the government be- 
 came more and more aristocratical. 
 
 When the advances of the country in im- 
 provement had opened a wider intercourse, 
 and produced a more intimate union, between 
 the different parts of the kingdom, the accu- 
 mulated property in the hands of the king 
 became the source of greater influence than 
 the divided property possessed by the nobles. 
 The prerogatives of the former, in a course 
 of time, were therefore gradually augmented ; 
 
 b 2
 
 4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and the privileges of the latter suffered a pro- 
 portionable diminution. From the reign of 
 William the Conqueror in England, we may 
 date the first exaltation of the crown, which, 
 under his successors of the Plantagenet and 
 Tudor families, continued to rise in splendor 
 and authority. 
 
 About the commencement of the reign of 
 James the First, great alterations began to 
 appear in the political state of the nation. 
 Commerce and manufactures, by diffusing a 
 spirit of liberty among the great body of the 
 people, by changing the system of national 
 defence, and by increasing the necessary ex- 
 pences of government, gave rise to those dis- 
 putes, which, after various turns of fortune, 
 were at last happily terminated by the esta- 
 blishment of a popular government. 
 
 With reference to that distribution of pro- 
 perty, in the early part of our history, which 
 goes under the name of the feudal system, the 
 constitution established hi the first of these 
 periods, may be called the feudal aristocracy ; 
 that in the second, the feudal monarchy ; and 
 that which took place in the third, may be 
 called the commercial government.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 Similar periods to those which have now 
 been pointed out in the English history, may 
 also be distinguished in the history of all those 
 kingdoms on the continent of Europe, which 
 were established upon the ruins of the Roman 
 Empire, and in which the people have since 
 become opulent and polished. Thus the reign 
 of Hugh Capet in France, and of Otho the 
 Great in Germany, correspond to that of Wil- 
 liam the Conqueror in England ; as those of 
 Lewis XIII. and Ferdinand II. in the two 
 former countries, were analogous to that of 
 James the First, in the latter. 
 
 In the following treatise, it is proposed to 
 take a separate view of these periods of the 
 English history, and to examine the chief dif- 
 ferences of the political system in each of them. 
 As the government which we enjoy at present 
 has not been formed at once, but has grown to 
 maturity in a course of ages, it is necessary, 
 in order to have a full view of the circum- 
 stances from which it has proceeded, that we 
 should survey with attention the successive 
 changes through which it has passed. In a 
 disquisition of this nature, it is hoped that, by 
 considering events in the order in which they
 
 6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 happened, the causes of every change will be 
 more easily unfolded, and may be pointed out 
 with greater simplicity. As the subject, how- 
 ever, is of great extent, I shall endeavour to 
 avoid prolixity, either from quoting authorities 
 and adducing proofs in matters sufficiently 
 evident, or trom intermix! tig any detail of facts 
 not intimately connected with the history of 
 our constitution. 
 
 With respect to the Saxon period, which 
 comes first in order, many writers appear to 
 have looked upon it as too remote, and as 
 affording a prospect too barren and rude, to 
 deserve any particular examination. But it 
 ought to be considered, that the foundations 
 of our present constitution were laid in that 
 early period ; and that, without examining the 
 principles upon which it is founded, we can- 
 not form a just opinion concerning the nature 
 of the superstructure. To trace the origin of 
 a system so singular in its nature may, at the 
 same time, be regarded as an object of rational 
 curiosity. The British government is the only 
 one in the annals of mankind that has aimed 
 at the diffusion of liberty through a multitude 
 of people, spread over a wide extent of terri- 
 
 l
 
 INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 tory. The ancient republics of Greece and 
 Rome comprehended little more than the 
 police of a single city ; and in these a great 
 proportion of the people, so far from being 
 admitted to a share in the government, were, 
 by the institution of domestic slavery, excluded 
 from the common rights of men. The modern 
 republics of Italy, not to mention the very un- 
 equal privileges which they bestow upon dif- 
 ferent individuals, are inconsiderable in their 
 extent. The same observation is applicable 
 to the government of the Swiss cantons. In 
 the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands, 
 the government can hardly be considered as 
 more extensive ; for, notwithstanding the con- 
 federacy by which they are connected, every 
 particular province, and even every single town 
 of any consequence, belonging to each, having 
 the exclusive power of making or consenting 
 to its own regulations, forms in reality an in- 
 dependent political system. By what fortunate 
 concurrence of events has a more extensive 
 plan of civil freedom been established in this 
 island ? Was it by accident, or by design, or 
 from the influence of peculiar situation, that 
 our Saxon forefathers, originally distinguished
 
 8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 as the most ferocious of all those barbarians 
 who invaded the Roman provinces, have been 
 enabled to embrace more comprehensive no- 
 tions of liberty, and to sow the seeds of those 
 political institutions which have been produc- 
 tive of such prosperity and happiness to a 
 great and populous empire ? To these ques- 
 tions it is hoped that, in the sequel, a satis** 
 factory answer will be given.
 
 AN 
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW 
 
 ENGLISH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT, FROM THE 
 SETTLEMENT OP THE SAXONS IN BRITAIN TO 
 THE REIGN OP WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Preliminary Account of the State of Britain 
 under the Dominion of the Romans. 
 
 X HE downfal of the Roman State, and the 
 formation of those kingdoms which were built 
 upon the ruins of it, may be regarded as one 
 of the greatest revolutions in the history of 
 mankind. A vast unwieldy empire, which 
 had for ages languished under a gloomy des- 
 potism, was then broken into a number of 
 independent states, animated with all the
 
 10 STATE OF BRITAIN 
 
 vigour, but subjected to all the violence and 
 disorder, natural to a rising and unsettled con- 
 stitution. The arts and literature which had 
 grown up in the ancient world were, in a great 
 measure, overthrown ; and a new system of 
 political institutions, together with a total 
 change of manners, customs, and ways of 
 thinking, spread itself over the greatest part 
 of Europe. 
 
 The plan of government, which the Ro- 
 mans adopted throughout the greatest part of 
 their dominions, was uniform and simple. 
 After that people had enlarged their city, as far 
 as was convenient, by incorporating some of 
 the neighbouring tribes, and had joined to it 
 the possession of a considerable adjacent terri- 
 tory, they divided their future acquisitions 
 into distinct provinces ; in each of which they 
 placed a governor, invested with almost unli- 
 mited authority. It cannot escape observation, 
 that the Roman patriotism, even in the boasted 
 times of the commonwealth, was far from be- 
 ing directed by a liberal spirit : it proceeded 
 from narrow and partial considerations ; and 
 the same people who discovered so much for- 
 titude and zeal in establishing and maintaining
 
 UNDER THE ROMANS. 11 
 
 the freedom of their capital, made no scruple 
 in subjecting the rest of their dominions to an 
 arbitrary and dcspotical government. The 
 governor of every province had usually the 
 command of the forces ; and was invested with 
 the supreme executive and judicial powers, 
 together with the privilege of appointing the 
 greatest part of the inferior officers, to whom 
 the distribution of justice, or the care of the 
 police, was intrusted. The oppressive taxes to 
 which the inhabitants of the provinces were 
 subjected, and the still greater oppression which 
 they suffered from the arbitrary and illegal 
 exactions of their magistrates are sufficiently 
 known. The tribunals of Rome were at too 
 great a distance to take a strict account of her 
 provincial officers ; and the leading men in the 
 Republic, who expected, in their turns, to en- 
 rich themselves by the plunder of the provinces, 
 were seldom disposed to enter very heartily 
 into measures for restraining such enormities. 
 The riches amassed by the offender afforded 
 him., at the same time, the means of prevent- 
 ing any troublesome inquiry into his behavi- 
 our; and in proportion to the extent of his guilt, 
 was commonly the degree of security which
 
 12 STATE OF BRITAIN 
 
 he afterwards enjoyed. Cicero affirms, that 
 in the small government of Cilicia, after sav- 
 ing to the public the amount of a full million 
 sterling, which the former governors had ap- 
 plied to their private use, he had, at the end 
 of the year, about twenty thousand pounds of 
 clear gain. 
 
 But while Rome was thus extending con- 
 quest and slavery over the world, she commu- 
 nicated to the conquered nations her know- 
 ledge, and her refinements in the arts of life. 
 The great military establishment maintained 
 in every province, in order to keep the inhabi- 
 tants in subjection; the large body of civil offi- 
 cers necessary in the various departments of 
 public administration; the numerous colonies, 
 composed of Roman citizens, who settled in 
 every part of the empire, and carried along 
 with them the Roman institutions and cus- 
 toms ; and, above all, the frequent resort of 
 the chief provincial inhabitants to the capital 
 of the empire, a natural consequence of their 
 dependence; these circumstances produced an 
 universal imitation of Roman manners, and 
 throughout the dominions of Rome contribut- 
 ed to spread her language, arts, and literature.
 
 UNDER THE ROMANS. IS 
 
 These advantages compensated in some mea- 
 sure, and were sometimes more than sufficient 
 to counterbalance, the loss of independence. 
 Wherever the Roman dominion was estab- 
 lished, the ruder parts of the world were civi- 
 lized. 
 
 Among all the countries subdued bj the 
 Romans, none was in a more uncultivated 
 state than Britain ; and it is probable that no 
 country derived greater advantages from her 
 subjection. A great part of the inhabitants, 
 before they were incorporated in the Roman 
 empire, seem to have been strangers to agri- 
 culture, and to have been maintained chiefly 
 by their herds of cattle. They were divided 
 into small independent tribes, under their seve- 
 ral chiefs, as commonly happens in that early 
 state of mankind ; and these little societies 
 being much addicted to plunder, and for that 
 reason frequently engaged in hostilities, a re- 
 gard to mutual defence had occasionally pro- 
 duced alliances among some of them, from 
 which a variety of petty princes, or kings, had 
 arisen in different parts of the country. 
 
 The Roman administration of Britain does 
 not appear to have been distinguished from
 
 14 STATE OF BRITAIN 
 
 that of other provinces at a distance from 
 the seat of government. After the reduction of 
 all that part of the island accounted worth the 
 trouble of acquiring, the first great object was, 
 to ascertain and preserve the conquest by a 
 permanent military force. For this purpose 
 the inhabitants were completely disarmed; 
 and a standing army, composed, according to 
 the lowest account, of three legions, amount- 
 ing to upwards of thirty-six thousand foot and 
 six thousand horse, was introduced, and regu- 
 larly maintained*. These troops were distri- 
 buted over the province, and placed in sta- 
 tions where their service could be most useful, 
 either by overawing the natives, or by repel- 
 ling the invasions of the unconquered tribes in 
 the North. When not engaged in war, they 
 were employed, according to the usual prac- 
 tice of the Romans, in public works ; in build- 
 ing and repairing these two northern walls, 
 which at different times were intended as the 
 boundary of the province; in constructing 
 forts ; in clearing the country of its forests 
 
 * Horseley Brit. Rom. VVhitaker Hist. Manchester, v. i. 
 b. i. ch 6.
 
 UNDER THE ROMANS. 15 
 
 and marshes ; and in opening a communica- 
 tion between different parts of it, by an un- 
 interrupted chain of high roads. 
 
 There are said to have been, in the whole 
 province, about a hundred and fifty Roman 
 stations ; which were connected with inferior 
 fortresses, erected at convenient distances, and 
 garrisoned with regular troops*. Each of 
 these garrisons occasioned a resort of the 
 neighbouring inhabitants, and probably gave 
 rise to a sort of village or town, in which a 
 promiscuous settlement was formed by Roman 
 families and those of the natives. The effect 
 of such an intercourse in the communication 
 of manners and customs, may easily be con- 
 ceived. In particular, as the military people 
 were often rewarded by the public with landed 
 possessions, their example could not fail to 
 spread the knowledge and practice of agricul- 
 ture, while their industry in the management 
 of their estates contributed to beautify and 
 improve the face of the country. 
 
 The connexion with Britain, which the sol- 
 diers of the British army acquired by living 
 
 * Whitaker Hist. Manchester, vi.b. i. ch. 8.
 
 16 STATE OP BRITAIN. 
 
 in the country, was even seldom broke off 
 when they were dismissed from the service. 
 Though drawn originally from different parts 
 of the empire, yet having formed an attach- 
 ment to the place in which they had so long 
 resided, they were commonly disposed, in their 
 old age, and when they had merited their dis- 
 mission, to pass the remainder of their days in 
 the province. The offspring of these people be- 
 came natural inhabitants : and Britain in this 
 manner was continually receiving fresh sup- 
 plies of Romans, who compensated for such of 
 the natives as, in the course of recruiting the 
 armies, were naturalized into other provinces. 
 After establishing a sufficient military force 
 to maintain her authority, the attention of 
 Rome was directed to the suppression of in- 
 ternal disorder among her subjects, by the re- 
 gular distribution of justice. The jealousy en- 
 tertained by the first emperors had suggested" 
 an important regulation for limiting the dan- 
 gerous power of their provincial governors. 
 From the time of Augustus, the provinces near 
 the seat of the empire, as they enjoyed the 
 prospect of tranquillity, were distinguished 
 from such as were situated at a distance, and
 
 • UNDER THE ROMANS. 17 
 
 on that account more exposed to disturbance. 
 In the former, the governor was merely a civil 
 officer, and had no direction of the forces ; 
 but in the latter, it was thought necessary that 
 his authority should be rendered more effectual, 
 by raising him to the head of the military, as 
 well as the civil department*. 
 
 The president or governor of Britain was in 
 the latter situation ; having the command of 
 the army, together with the supreme jurisdic- 
 tion, and the appointment of inferior magis- 
 trates. In the courts held by all these officers, 
 the laws of Rome were considered as the stan- 
 dard of every decision. Wherever the Romans 
 extended their dominion, it was their constant 
 aim to introduce their own jurisprudence; 
 a system which was calculated to establish 
 good order and tranquillity among the con- 
 quered people, as well as to promote the in- 
 terest of the conquerors. The introduction of 
 that system into Britain was more immedi- 
 ately necessary, to prevent those private wars, 
 and to restrain those acts of violence and in- 
 justice, to which the inhabitants were so much 
 
 * Dio. Cass. 53.— Hein. ad. lib. i. dig. tit. 16. 18. 
 VOL. I. C
 
 18 STATE OF BRITAIN 
 
 addicted. It is not likely, however, that an 
 innovation of such importance was accom- 
 plished all at once. In the public administra- 
 tion of the province, the Roman magistrates 
 assumed an absolute authority ; but, in mat- 
 ters of private property, the British chiefs and 
 petty princes appear, for some time after the 
 conquest, to have retained their ancient juris- 
 diction, and to have determined the differences 
 of their own tenants and dependants. But 
 this jurisdiction became gradually more cir- 
 cumscribed, and seems at last to have been en- 
 tirely annihilated. The continual migration of 
 foreigners into the province, brought along 
 with them the fashions acquired in other parts 
 of the empire ; while the multiplication and 
 enlargement of the British towns, which, for 
 the most part, were governed according to the 
 policy of Rome, extended the influence of the 
 Roman judges. The province of Britain is 
 said to have contained about an hundred and 
 forty towns, nine of which were of the rank 
 of colonies ; and the customs, as well as the 
 notions of order and justice, which prevailed 
 in those places of common resort, were easily 
 propagated over the surrounding country. The
 
 UNDER THE ROMANS. 19 
 
 long continuance of the provincial govern- 
 ment, and the progress of the natives in civili- 
 zation, disposed them to neglect their original 
 magistrates, and to court the favour of the 
 ruling powers, by an immediate appeal to 
 their protection. 
 
 To procure a revenue, not only sufficient 
 for defraying the expences of the civil and 
 military establishments, but also capable of 
 affording annual remittances to the emperor, 
 was a third, and perhaps the principal object 
 of his administration. The Britons were sub- 
 jected to taxes of the same nature with those 
 which were levied from the other provinces*. 
 The proprietors of arable land paid an annual 
 quit rent, supposed to be equal to a tenth part 
 of the fruits ; and the possessors of pasture 
 ground were also loaded with a duty, propor- 
 tioned to the number of their cattle f. The 
 customs and excise, in this part of the Roman 
 dominions, are said to have been remarkably 
 heavy J ; but the impositions which excited 
 
 * See an account of the taxes throughout the Roman da-» 
 minions, in Burman. de Vect. Rom. 
 
 t This tax upon cattle was called Scriptura. 
 X Strabo, lib. iv. 
 
 c 2
 
 20 STATE OF BRITAIN 
 
 most complaint were, a poll-tax, and a duty 
 upon funerals. These being levied at a fixed 
 rate, without any regard to the poverty or 
 riches of the people, and having no immediate 
 dependence on the prosperity of trade and ma- 
 nufactures, were most easily increased at plea- 
 sure, and therefore seem to have been the 
 usual expedients for raising supplies, when 
 every other taxation had been found ineffec- 
 tual*. 
 
 The charge of collecting the revenue was 
 committed to an imperial procurator, who had 
 the superintendance of all the inferior officers 
 employed in this branch of administration ; and 
 in Britain, as well as in the other provinces, 
 the principal taxes were let to farmers for the 
 payment of a yearly rent. From this mode of 
 collection, so liable to abuse, and from the na- 
 ture of the government in other respects, it 
 may seem unnecessary to remark, that the Bri- 
 tons were exposed to grievous extortions. If 
 the countries near the seat of the empire, and 
 within the observation of the sovereign, were 
 abandoned to the arbitrary measures of the 
 
 * See the terms in which Boadicea is made to complain 
 of the two last-mentioned taxes. Xiphilinus in Nerone.
 
 UNDER THE ROMAICS. 21 
 
 provincial officers, it cannot be supposed that 
 those at a distance were in a better situa- 
 tion. Tacitus mentions, in terms of the high- 
 est indignation, the unfeeling rapacity of the 
 Roman officers in Britain ; which, at an early 
 period, excited a general revolt of the inhabi- 
 tants*. 
 
 It is well known, that the cities and pro- 
 vinces, under the Roman dominion were often 
 reduced, by the demands of government, to 
 such distress, as obliged them to borrow mo- 
 ney at exorbitant interest: and that, by taking 
 advantage of their necessities, the monied men 
 of those times were enabled to employ their 
 fortunes in a very profitable manner. In this 
 trade, though prohibited by law, and however 
 infamous in its own nature, the best citizens of 
 Rome (such is the force of example) were not 
 ashamed to engage. Seneca the philosopher, 
 whose philosophy, it seems, was not incom- 
 patible with the love of money, lent the Bri- 
 tons, at one time, above three hundred and 
 twenty-two thousand pound s-f*. 
 
 * Tacit. Agric. ch. 15. 
 
 + XiXux.? jau^a^a?, quadrigenties sestertium ; viz. 
 £322,916. 13. 3. Xiphilinus in Nerone.
 
 22 STATE OF BRITAIN 
 
 Were it possible to ascertain the extent of 
 the revenue drawn from the province of Bri- 
 tain, we might thence be enabled to form a 
 notion of the opulence and improvement at- 
 tained by the inhabitants. Dr. Henry, who 
 has made a very full collection of the facts 
 mentioned by ancient authors concerning the 
 provincial government of this Island, supposes 
 that its annual revenue amounted to no less 
 than two millions sterling*. But this is a 
 mere conjecture, unsupported by any autho- 
 rity ; and it should seem that no accounts 
 
 * This supposition is built upon a calculation of Lipsius, 
 who makes the revenue of Gaul amount to j£2,42 1,875. 
 This calculation is only supported by. a passage of Cicero, 
 quoted by Strabo, which mentions the revenue of Egypt, 
 in the time of Auletes, the father of Cleopatra, as amount- 
 ing to that sum ; and by a passage in Velleius Paterculus, 
 asserting that Egypt in taxes yieldednearl?/ as much as Gaul. 
 But the evidence arising from this is too slight, when op- 
 posed to the authority of Suetonius, and that of Eutropius ; 
 who say, that Ca?sar drew from Gaul only quadringenties, 
 J£322,2I6. 13. 4. Supposing, however, the fact to be 
 ascertained, that the revenue of Gaul was about two mil- 
 lions and a half, is there sufficient ground to infer from 
 this that the revenue of Britain was, at least, two millions ? 
 — Lipsius de Magn. Rom. — Henry's Hist. v. i.
 
 UNDER THE ROMANS. 23 
 
 have been transmitted by historians, from 
 which the point can be determined. 
 
 The improvements made by the Britons in 
 agriculture were such, as to produce a regular 
 exportation of corn, for supplying the armies 
 in other parts of the empire. Their houses 
 were built in the same style of architecture ; 
 and many of them were adorned with statues 
 and public structures, in the same taste of 
 magnificence which prevailed in Italy. In 
 this branch of labour, their mechanics were 
 even so numerous, and had such reputation, as 
 to be employed upon the neighbouring conti- 
 nent. In weaving cloth they appear also to 
 have made considerable proficiency. We are 
 informed, in particular, that linen and wool- 
 len manufactures were established at Win- 
 chester*. 
 
 The foreign trade of Britain, arising from 
 her valuable tin mines, and for which the island 
 was, at a very remote period, frequented by the 
 Phenicians, and other commercial nations of 
 antiquity, is universally known. When this 
 branch of commerce, together with those of 
 
 * Henry's Hist. v. i.
 
 24 STATE OF BRITAIN 
 
 lead, wool, hides, and some other native pro- 
 ductions, came to be secured of a regular mai> 
 ket, under the eye and protection of the 
 Roman magistrate, they were undoubtedly 
 pushed to a considerable extent. 
 
 In taste and literature, the advances made 
 by the Britons were no less conspicuous than in 
 the common improvements of life. Even in 
 the time of Agricola, " the youth of distin-* 
 " guished families," according to the great 
 historian of that age, " were instructed in the 
 " liberal arts : insomuch that those who but 
 " lately were ignorant of the language, began 
 " to acquire a relish for the eloquence of 
 " Rome. They became fond of appearing in 
 " the dress of the Romans, and by degrees 
 " were led to imitate their vices, their luxury, 
 " and effeminacy, as well as their elegance 
 " and magnificence*." 
 
 The fashion of travelling for education, and 
 of residing in Rome, and in other learned and 
 polite cities of the empire, was early introduced 
 among the Britons ; who, in a noted passage 
 of Juvenal, are mentioned as being indebted 
 
 * Tacit. Agric. c. 21.
 
 UNDER THE ROMANS. 25 
 
 to the Gauls for their eminent proficiency in 
 pleading at the bar*. In Britain, as well as 
 in other provinces, the utmost attention was 
 given by government, to propagate the know- 
 ledge not only of the Latin and Greek lan- 
 guages, butof all those branches of science that 
 enjoyed any reputation ; and for this purpose» 
 academies and schools, with public encourage- 
 ment, are said to have been erected in the 
 principal towns. From these different sources 
 the Roman learning, in all its parts, was com- 
 municated to this island ; where it flourished 
 for some time, and was afterwards subjected 
 to a similar decay as in all the other provinces 
 of the empire. 
 
 The successive changes which happened in 
 the political situation of the Roman empire 
 produced alterations in the administration of 
 all the provinces, as well as of Britain in par- 
 ticular. The despotical government of Rome, 
 as it had been at first established, so it was 
 afterwards entirely supported by a military 
 force. In its original, therefore, it contained 
 
 * Gallia causidicos docuit facunda Britannos. — Juv. 
 Sat. 15.
 
 26 STATE OF BRITAIN 
 
 the seeds of its destruction. As, by his tyran- 
 nical behaviour, the reigning emperor became 
 naturally the object of detestation and resent- 
 ment to his subjects, he was exposed to the 
 continual hazard of insurrection, from the 
 disgust or caprice of that army which he kept 
 on foot for maintaining his authority, it was, 
 at the same time, impossible that he should 
 command in person the different armies neces- 
 sary for the defence of the whole empire, or 
 that he should prevent the general of every 
 separate army from acquiring influence and 
 popularity with the troops under his direction. 
 The greatest and most veteran of those armies 
 were unavoidably employed on the frontiers, 
 where their service was most needed, and 
 where their courage and activity were most 
 exercised ; and their leaders being too far re- 
 moved from the chief magistrate to meet with 
 anj r disturbance in forming their ambitious 
 plans, were frequently in a condition to ^ren- 
 der themselves independent, or to open a di- 
 rect passage to the throne. 
 
 But the independence of the opulent and 
 leading men, in the distant provinces, was in- 
 creased by another circumstance of still greater
 
 UNDER THE ROMANS. 27 
 
 importance. The first emperors, who possess- 
 ed the extensive and rich countries lately sub- 
 dued by the Roman arms, enjoyed an immense 
 revenue, and their influence must have been 
 proportionally great; butthe oppressive nature 
 of their government, and the unbounded li- 
 cence which they gave to the plunder of their 
 subjects, could not fail to discourage industry, 
 and of course to reduce the people to poverty 
 and beggary. The extent of the Roman em- 
 pire had, in the mean time, become so great, 
 that the expence of maintaining forces on a 
 distant frontier, with a view of making any 
 farther conquest, seemed to overbalance the 
 advantages which it might be supposed to 
 produce. Adrian, a prince no less distinguished 
 for activity than wisdom, was induced to con- 
 tract his dominions, and to abandon a part of 
 what had been already acquired, that he might 
 be able to preserve the remainder in greater 
 security. Thus, while the old channels of 
 public revenue were drained, no new sources 
 could be provided to supply the deficiency. 
 In this situation the emperor felt a gradual 
 decline of his authority ; and as he became less 
 able to protect the inhabitants of the provinces,
 
 28 STATE OF BRITAIN 
 
 or to punish their disobedience, they were 
 more disposed to shake off their allegiance, and 
 emboldened to follow the fortunes of any ad- 
 venturer who found himself in a condition to 
 disturb the public tranquillity. 
 
 For preventing these disorders, it was 
 thought a prudent measure to associate dif- 
 ferent leaders in the supreme power. The 
 first traces of this practice may be discovered 
 about the time of Trajan and the Antonines ; 
 who partly, as it should seem, from affection, 
 and partly from political motives, adopted in 
 their own life-time a Ccesar, or successor to 
 the crown. The same plan was farther ex- 
 tended by Dioclesian ; who divided the sove- 
 reignty between two emperors and two Caesars; 
 and who seems to have thought that, to pre- 
 serve the empire from falling in pieces, it was 
 requisite to submit to the manifest inconve- 
 niences arising from the jealousy and bad 
 agreement of so many independent heads. 
 The emperor Constan tine rendered this division 
 more permanent, by erecting a great Eastern 
 capital, which became the rival, and even su- 
 perior, in opulence and dignity, to that of the 
 west.
 
 UNDER THE ROMANS. 29 
 
 In conformity to such views of dividing the 
 sovereignty among those leaders who might 
 otherwise be disposed to tear the empire asun- 
 der, subdivisions were made in those territories 
 which had formerly composed a single pro- 
 vince ; and in each subdivision a chief officer 
 was appointed, whose authority might serve 
 to limit and circumscribe that of him who had 
 the government of the whole. Thus the same 
 prince who founded Constantinople, having 
 disbanded the whole praetorian guards, whose 
 power had long been so formidable, distributed 
 the whole empire into four great prefectures, 
 corresponding to the four joint sovereigns 
 already established. Each prefecture he di- 
 vided into certain large territories, called juris- 
 dictions, under their several governors; and 
 each jurisdiction he parcelled out into smaller 
 districts, under the denomination of provinces, 
 which were committed to the care of deputy- 
 governors. 
 
 Britain, which originally formed a single 
 province, but which, by the emperor Severus, 
 had been divided into two, was, according to 
 this arrangement, multiplied into five pro- 
 vinces : and the vicar or governor of the whole,
 
 SO iTATE OF BRITAIN 
 
 enjoyed a paramount authority to that of its 
 five deputy-governors. 
 
 The direction of the civil, and that of the 
 military establishment, were, for the same rea- 
 son, separated, and placed in different hands. 
 After the dismission of the praetorian guard, 
 and of its commander, two military officers 
 were appointed, the one of which had the 
 command of the infantry, and the other of the 
 cavalry, throughout the empire; and under 
 them the number of generals, in particular 
 districts, appears to have been considerably 
 increased. The Roman forces in this Island 
 came, in the latter periods of its provincial 
 government, to be under the direction of three 
 independent officers ; the duke of Britain, who 
 commanded on the northern frontier; the 
 count of Britain, who conducted the troops in 
 the interior parts of the country ; and the count 
 of the Saxon shore, employed in superintending 
 the defence of the southern and eastern coasts, 
 which, from about the beginning of the third 
 century, had been exposed to frequent incur- 
 sions from the Saxons. 
 
 All these precautions, however, by which 
 the Roman emperors endeavoured to maintain
 
 UNDER THE ROMANS. 31 
 
 subordination and dependance in the different 
 parts of their dominions, were ineffectual in 
 opposition to the prevailing current of the 
 times. The same unhappy system which 
 tended to loosen the bands of government, 
 contributed also to render the military esta- 
 blishment unfit for defence against a foreign 
 enemy. As all power and distinction were 
 ultimately derived from the army, it was the 
 interest of every general to court the favour of 
 the troops under his command, not only by en- 
 riching them with donations and emoluments, 
 but by treating them with every kind of indul- 
 gence. The natural consequence of such a 
 situation was the procuring to the soldiers an 
 exemption from the laborious duties of their 
 profession. Feeling their own consequence, the 
 military people set no bounds to their licentious 
 demands, and were rendered inactive and effe- 
 minated, in the same proportion as they became 
 haughty and insolent. The heavy armour, 
 which in former times had been used with so 
 much advantage, was therefore laid aside, as 
 too cumbersome and fatiguing . an( j the an- 
 cient military discipline, the great cause of all 
 their victories, was at length entirely neglected.
 
 32 STATE OF BRITAIN 
 
 It was thus that the Romans, being deprived 
 of that superiority which they had formerly 
 possessed, in their encounters with rude and 
 ignorant nations, found themselves unable to 
 resist the fierce courage of those neighbouring 
 barbarians, who, about the fifth century, were 
 invited to attack them by the prospect of plun- 
 der and of new settlements. 
 
 In this declining state of the Roman empire, 
 the revenue of the provinces, by suffering a 
 gradual diminution, became at length insuffi- 
 cient for the support of their civil and military 
 establishments ; and when ever any country had 
 been reduced to such a degree of poverty as to 
 be no longer able to repay the trouble and 
 expence of maintaining it, good policy seemed 
 to require that it should be abandoned. To 
 such an unfruitful condition the distant pro- 
 vinces, and Britain more especially, appear to 
 have been fast approaching, in the reign of 
 Arcadius and Honorius, when a deluge of bar- 
 barians, pressing on all sides, threatened the 
 state with sudden destruction, and made it ne- 
 cessary to withdraw the forces from this Island, 
 in order to defend the richer and more import- 
 ant parts of the empire.
 
 UNDER THE ROMANS. 33 
 
 The situation of Britain, when thus deserted 
 by the Romans, was no less new and singular, 
 than it was alarming and unhappy. When 
 mankind are formed into political societies, 
 and have acquired property, they are usually 
 provided with one set of regulations for repel- 
 ling the attacks of their enemies, and with 
 another for securing internal tranquillity. But 
 the Britons, upon this extraordinary emer- 
 gency, were left equally destitute of both. 
 From the distrustful jealousy of Rome, they 
 had been removed from all concern in military 
 transactions, at least in their own country, and 
 made to depend for their safety upon an army 
 composed entirely of foreigners. In such a 
 state they had remained for more than three 
 centuries, enjoying the protection of their 
 masters, without any call to exert themselves 
 in their own defence, and cultivating those 
 arts which tend to soften the manners, while 
 they inspire an aversion from the dangers and 
 hardships of a martial life. Thus the Britons, 
 in their advances towards civility, lost the cou- 
 rage and ferocity of barbarians, without ac- 
 quiring the skill and address of a polished 
 nation ; and they ceased to be warriors by 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 STATE OF BRITAIN 
 
 nature, without being rendered soldiers by 
 discipline and education. 
 
 But the departure of the Romans from Bri- 
 tain was no less fatal to all the institutions of 
 civil government. The governors and other 
 officers, who directed the administration of 
 public affairs, the farmers engaged in the difc 
 ferent departments of the revenue, the magis- 
 trates of Roman appointment, who determined 
 both civil and criminal causes, and who had 
 now acquired a complete jurisdiction over the 
 whole province, had no longer occasion to re- 
 main in a country which was totally aban- 
 doned by its master, and in which, by the re- 
 moval of the army, they had lost the means 
 of maintaining their authority. The courts 
 of justice, therefore, were dissolved ; the taxes 
 were abolished ; and all order and subordina- 
 tion were destroyed. Even private indivi- 
 duals, of Roman extraction, who had acquired 
 estates in Britain, endeavoured to dispose of 
 their fortunes; and by leaving the Island, 
 avoided the storm that appeared to be gather- 
 ing around* them. 
 
 The disasters which followed were of such 
 a nature as might be expected from the anar-
 
 UNDER THE ROMANS. 35 
 
 chy and confusion which prevailed in the 
 country. The Scots and Picts, who, in the 
 northern part of the Island, had remained un- 
 conquered, and retained their primitive bar- 
 barous manners, took advantage of this favour- 
 able opportunity, to invade and plunder their 
 more opulent neighbours. They met with 
 little resistance from the Britons, who, giving 
 way to their fears, and conscious of their infe- 
 riority, seemed to place their only refuge in 
 the protection of their ancient rulers. The 
 abject manner in which they, at different 
 times, solicited that protection ; the behaviour 
 of their ambassadors, who in the presence of 
 the emperor rent their garments, and putting 
 ashes upon their heads, endeavoured to excite 
 commiseration by tears and lamentations; the 
 letter which they wrote to iEtius, the praefect 
 of Gaul, inscribed the groans of the Brito?is 9 
 and in which they say, the barbarians drive us 
 into the sea, the sea throws us back upon the bar" 
 barians, and we have only the hard choice left 
 us, of perishing by the sword, or by the waves ; 
 these particulars, which are handed down by 
 historians, exhibit the shocking picture of a 
 people totally destitute of spirit, and unable 
 
 d 2
 
 36 STATE OF BRITAIN 
 
 to collect resolution even from despair. Upon 
 two occasions they obtained from Rome the 
 aid of a military force, by which their ene- 
 mies were surprised, and repulsed with great 
 slaughter ; but the relief which this afforded 
 was merely temporary, and they received a 
 peremptory declaration, that, from the embar- 
 rassed condition of the empire, no future sup- 
 plies of this kind could be spared*. 
 
 The consternation of the Britons, in this 
 helpless condition, may easily be conceived, 
 though in the rude annals of that period it is, 
 perhaps, painted with some degree of exagge- 
 ration. Time and necessity, however, sug- 
 gested the means of guarding against the evils 
 to which they were exposed. The proprie- 
 tors of land possessed a natural influence over 
 the people whom they maintained upon their 
 estates; and this was the source of a jurisdic- 
 tion, which, during the subsistence of the Ro- 
 man dominion, had been in great measure 
 extinguished, but which, upon the dissolution 
 of the Roman courts, was of course revived 
 and rendered independent. The same influ- 
 
 * Gildae Hist. — Bedac Hist. Eccles.
 
 UNDER THE ROMANS. 37 
 
 dice enabled these persons to call out their 
 tenants to war, and to assume the direction of 
 their conduct during a military enterprise. 
 By these two branches of authority, a very 
 simple form of government was gradually in- 
 troduced. The whole country was broken into 
 separate districts, according to the extent of 
 territory in the possession of individuals; and 
 fell under the civil and military power of so 
 many chiefs, the most opulent of whom ap- 
 pear to have been dignified with the title of 
 princes. By the efforts of these leaders, it is 
 likely that private robbery and violence were, 
 in some degree, restrained, and the people 
 were encouraged to return to their tillage and 
 ordinary employments, from the neglect of 
 which, it is said, a famine had been produced. 
 But their great object was to oppose the north- 
 ern invaders. For this purpose they elected 
 a general of their united forces, upon whom, 
 after the example of the Romans, they be- 
 stowed the appellation of the duke of Britain, 
 The same person presided in the assemblies 
 held by the chiefs, in which the great affairs 
 of the nation appear to have been determined. 
 After . the government had remained for 
 
 0* S£?£?Q/3
 
 38 STATK OF BRITAIN, &C. 
 
 some time in this channel, Voltigern one or 
 the most opulent of their princes, was pro- 
 moted to that high dignity ; and upon a new 
 alarm of an invasion from the Scots and Picts, 
 he is said to have called a national council, in 
 which it was agreed to solicit the assistance of 
 the Saxons. As this measure was fatal in its 
 consequences, it has been universally decried, 
 and stigmatised as the height of imprudence ; 
 but we ought to consider that it proceeded 
 from the same system of policy which has 
 been practised and approved in all ages, that 
 of courting the alliance of one nation, in order 
 to form a balance against the formidable power 
 of another ; arid the censures which, in this 
 instance, have been so liberally bestowed 
 upon the Britons, are a plain proof how ready 
 we are to judge of actions, from the good or 
 bad success which attends them, or how diffi- 
 cult it is to establish any general rules of con- 
 duct that will not appear grossly defective in 
 a multitude of the particular cases to which 
 they may be applied.
 
 ( 39) 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Character and Manners of the Saxons. 
 
 OF those barbarians who passed under the, 
 denomination of Saxons, and who, at the 
 time when they were invited to assist the 
 Britons, inhabited the northern parts of Ger- 
 many, it is of little moment to ascertain the 
 origin, or to trace the several places in which 
 they had previously resided. The Germans, 
 who subdued the western provinces of the 
 Roman empire, have been supposed to possess 
 a singular character among the rude inhabi- 
 tants of the world, and to be distinguished by 
 their eminent qualities and virtues. Such an 
 opinion may be ascribed to the elegant descrip- 
 tion of that people by the masterly pen of 
 Tacitus ; to the great revolutions which they 
 achieved in Europe ; and, above all, to that 
 national vanity which is more extravagant than 
 the vanity of individuals, because the multi- 
 tude of persons who are influenced by the same 
 weakness keep one another in countenance. 
 But there is reason to believe that the ancient 
 inhabitants of Germany exhibited the same
 
 40 CHARACTER AND MANNERS 
 
 dispositions and manners, and adopted simi- 
 lar institutions and customs, to those which 
 may be discovered in such barbarians, of every 
 age or country, as have been placed in similar 
 circumstances. 
 
 Deriving their chief subsistence from the 
 pasturing of cattle, they generally possessed 
 considerable wealth in herds and flocks ; but 
 as they were little acquainted with tillage, they 
 seem to have had no idea of property in land. 
 Like the early nations described in the Sacred 
 History, they were accustomed frequently to 
 change their abode. Regarding chiefly the 
 interest of their cattle, they often found it 
 convenient to wander from one place to an- 
 other, according as they were invited by the 
 prospect of new pastures ; and in their mi- 
 grations, they were under no restraint, either 
 from the cares of husbandry, or from the na- 
 ture of their possessions. 
 
 But while the management of their cattle 
 constituted the ordinary employment of these 
 people, they were also frequently engaged in 
 war. In common with all other barbarous 
 nations, they were much addicted to theft and 
 rapine. The right of property must be long
 
 OF THE SAXONS. 41 
 
 established, before the violations of it can be 
 regarded as heinous offences; and it is neces- 
 sary that men should be habituated to an ex- 
 tensive intercourse of society, before they are 
 presented with sufficient inducements to sacri- 
 fice the immediate profits of fraud and vio- 
 lence, to the distant but superior advantages, 
 derived from their living together upon good 
 terms, and maintaining an amicable corre- 
 spondence. The ancient Germans inhabit- 
 ing a country almost entirely overgrown with 
 wood, or covered with marshes, were often re- 
 duced to great scarcity of provisions; and were 
 therefore strongly instigated, by hunger and 
 misery to prey upon one another. Example, 
 in such a case, found no difficuly to excuse or 
 vindicate what custom had rendered universal^ 
 The rude inhabitants of the earth appear, in 
 all ages and countries, to have been divided in- 
 to separate tribes and villages ; a consequence 
 of their hostile dispositions. When, from ac- 
 cidental circumstances, a family of such people 
 had been planted, at so great a distance from 
 their friends and acquaintance as to pre- 
 vent all correspondence with them, its mem- 
 bers, from inclination, as well as from a re-*
 
 42 CHARACTER AND MANNERS 
 
 gard to mutual defence, were usually dis- 
 posed to live together, and to avoid much inter- 
 course with neighbours by whom they were 
 likely to be treated as enemies. If their mul- 
 tiplication rendered them too numerous to be 
 all maintained under the same roof, they na- 
 turally subdivided themselves into different 
 families, who erected their huts beside one an- 
 other ; and if at length their village had been 
 so enlarged as to produce a difficulty in finding 
 subsistence, they were led, by degrees, to re- 
 move that inconvenience, by sending out little 
 colonies, with which, notwithstanding their 
 distance, they frequently preserved an alliance 
 and connection. The German tribes became 
 larger and more extensive, according as, by the 
 increase of their cattle, they were enabled to 
 live in greater affluence. In that part of Ger- 
 many which was known to the Romans, there 
 have been enumerated about forty different 
 tribes or nations, many of which appear to 
 have enjoyed considerable opulenceand power. 
 But concerning the number or extent of the 
 villages belonging to each of these, little or no 
 account can be given. ' 
 The political regulations established among 
 
 1
 
 OF THE SAXONS. 43 
 
 the ancient Germans were few and simple, and 
 such as their situation could hardly fail to sug- 
 gest. Every society, whether great or small, 
 that had occasion to act in a separate military 
 capacity, required a separate leader : for which 
 reason, as every family was under the direction 
 of the father, so every village had its own 
 chief; and at the head of the whole tribe or 
 nation there was a great chief or king. How 
 far the king or the inferior chiefs, enjoyed 
 their dignity by election, or by hereditary de- 
 scent, it may be difficult to determine; but 
 their authority was far from being absolute. 
 It was the business of every chief to compose 
 the differences, and, probably, to command the 
 forces, of that village over which he presided. 
 The king too seems to have acted with their 
 advice in the ordinary administration of public 
 affairs; but in matters of great moment, such 
 as the making of laws, or the trial of capital 
 offences, he was obliged to procure the con- 
 currence of a great council, composed of all 
 the heads of families*. 
 
 * " In pace, nullus est communis magistratus ; sed prin» 
 u cipes regionum atque pagorum inter suos jus dicunt, con* 
 " troversiasque minuunt. Ubi quis ex principibus in con-
 
 44 CHARACTER AND MANNERS 
 
 The general character of these barbarians 
 was such as might be expected from their 
 manner of life. It consisted not of many fea- 
 tures, but they were distinctly and strongly 
 marked. As in the carnivorous brute animals, 
 obliged very often to fight for their food, and 
 exposed to continual strife and contention in 
 the pursuit of mere necessaries, their passions, 
 
 " cilio dixit se ducem fore — qui sequi velint profiteantur; 
 " consurgunt ii qui et causam et hominem probant, suum- 
 " que auxilium pollicentur, atque ab multitudine conlau- 
 " dantur : qui ex iis secuti non sunt, in desertorum acprodi- 
 " torum numero ducuntur, oraniumque iis rerum postea 
 
 « fides derogatur." Caesar de Bel. Gal. 6. § 23. " Re- 
 
 u ges ex nobilitate, duces ex virtute suniunt. Nee regibui 
 a infinita aut libera potestas ; et duces exemplo potius quam 
 " imperio, si prornpti, si conspicui, si ante aciem agunt,ad~ 
 
 " miratione praesunt." " De minoribus rebus principes 
 
 i( consultant, de majoribus omnes : ita tamen, ut ea quoque, 
 " quorum penes plebem arbitrium est, apud principes per- 
 
 " tractentur." " Ut turbae placuit, considunt arniati. 
 
 " Silentium per sacerdotes, quibus turn et coercendi jus est, 
 " imppratur. Mox rex, vel principes, prout astas cuique, 
 " prout nobilitas, prout decus bellorum prout facundia est, 
 •* audiuntur, auctoritate suadendi magis quam jubendi po* 
 
 " testate." " Licet apud concilium accusare quoque, et 
 
 il discrimen capitis intendere." M Eliguntur in iisdem 
 
 " conciliis et principes, qui jura per pagos vicosque red- 
 « dunt." Tacit, de Mor. German, c. 7. 11. 12.
 
 OF THE SAXONS. 45 
 
 though excited by few objects, were strong and 
 violent. Their situation, at the same time, 
 occasioned a wonderful similarity in the dis- 
 positions and habits of individuals. In every 
 polished nation, the labour and application 
 of the people is usually so divided, as to pro- 
 duce an endless variety of characters in those 
 who follow different trades and professions, j 
 The soldier, the clergyman, the lawyer, the 
 physician, the taylor, the farmer, the smith, the 
 shopkeeper ; all those who earn a livelihood by 
 the exercise of separate employments, whether 
 liberal or mechanical, are led, by the different 
 objects in which they are conversant, to con- 
 tract something peculiar in their behaviour and 
 turn of thinking. But the ancient inhabitants"" 
 of Germany had made too little progress in arts, 
 to require that a single person should bestow his 
 whole attention upon any one branch of labour, 
 in order to acquire the usual degree of skill and 
 proficiency in it. Every man therefore was ac- 
 customed to exercise indiscriminately the few 
 employments with which they were acquaint- 
 ed. Every family built its own cottage, fa- 
 shioned its own tools and utensils, managed its 
 own cattle, and took precautions for its own
 
 46 CHARACTER AND MANNERS 
 
 support and defence. Thus the whole peo- 
 ple, being employed nearly in the same man- 
 ner, and having no pursuits but such as were 
 suggested by their most immediate wants, 
 were trained up in an uniform sort of disci- 
 pline, and acquired that uniformity of man- 
 ners and customs, which is commonly observ- 
 ed in persons of the same trade or profession. 
 Even the nations inhabiting the most distant 
 regions of that extensive country appear to 
 have been no otherwise discriminated than by 
 the different shades of barbarism and ferocity 
 which the climate or situation, more or less 
 favourable to improvement, might easily be 
 \ supposed to produce. 
 
 Among people who are constantly exposed 
 to the attacks of their neighbours, and who 
 are almost continually employed in war, cou- 
 rage and other military qualities are naturally 
 intitled to hold the first rank. There is an 
 active and a passive courage, which may be 
 distinguished from each other, as they seem to 
 depend upon different principles, and are not 
 always to be found in the same persons. The 
 former is displayed inthe voluntary encounter- 
 ing of danger, the latter in bearing pain and
 
 OP THE SAXONS. 47 
 
 distress with firmness and constancy. Valour 
 which demands a sudden and violent effort of 
 resolution, may be regarded as a masculine 
 quality ; while fortitude, which, in many cases, 
 is the fruit of calmer but more continued ex- 
 ertion, is often conspicuous in the weaker sex. 
 In order that, with our eyes open, we may 
 expose our lives to imminent danger, we must 
 be excited by a strong desire of procuring 
 esteem and applause, either from others, or 
 from the reflection of our own minds. Efforts 
 of this kind, it is evident, are most likely to be 
 made in those countries where, from long prac- 
 tice, and frequent emulation in fighting, mar- 
 tial exploits have come to be universally admir- 
 ed, and looked upon by every one as the infal- 
 lible road to honour and distinction. Forti- 
 tude under pain and distress may, on the con- 
 trary, be promoted by the opposite circum- 
 stances, by the want of sensibility, or by a con- 
 viction that our sufferings are beheld with un- 
 concern and indifference. To complain or 
 repine, in the midst of affliction, is an attempt 
 to procure relief, or at least compassion, from 
 others ; and when we find that our complaints 
 are disregarded, or treated with scorn and deri-
 
 48 CHARACTER AND MANNERS 
 
 sion, we are led to exert our utmost resolution 
 iu order to smother and restrain them. 
 
 The savages, who live by hunting and fish- 
 ing, are placed in a situation more favourable 
 to fortitude than to valour. Exposed by their 
 manner of life to innumerable hardships and 
 calamities, they are too much loaded by the 
 pressure of their own wants and sufferings, to 
 \ feel very sensibly those of their neighbours. 
 They disdain, therefore, to solicit that sympa- 
 thy, which they know by experience will not 
 be afforded them ; and having, from their daily 
 occurrences, been long inured to pain, they 
 learn to bear it with astonishing firmness, and 
 even to endure every species of torture without 
 complaining. As, on the other hand, they 
 live in very small societies, and, in order to 
 find subsistence, are obliged to remove their 
 different villages to a great distance from one 
 another, they are not apt to be engaged in 
 frequent or extensive military enterprises, nor 
 to attain any degree of refinement in the me- 
 thods of conducting their hostilities. The 
 punctilios of military honour are unknown to 
 them. They scruple not to take any unfair 
 advantage in fighting, and can seldom be
 
 OF THE SAXONS. 49 
 
 brought to expose themselves in the open 
 field. The unrelenting and blood-thirsty In- 
 dian of America is accustomed to lie concealed 
 for weeks, that he may have a convenient op- 
 portunity of shooting his enemy, and may then 
 with safety enter his cabin, to rob and murder 
 the family. 
 
 Nations who subsist by pasturing cattle, as 
 they live in larger societies, and are supplied 
 with food in greater abundance, are more at 
 leisure, and have greater incitements to culti- 
 vate their social dispositions. But their mag- 
 nanimity, in bearing pain and affliction with 
 apparent unconcern, is naturally diminished 
 by their advancement in humanity ; and ac- 
 cording as individuals discover that their dis- 
 tresses meet with greater attention from their 
 companions and acquaintance, they are more 
 encouraged to display their sufferings, and to 
 seek the tender consolation of pity, by giving 
 way to the expression of sorrow and uneasiness. 
 They are also likely to acquire a much higher 
 degree of the military spirit. The wandering 
 life of shepherds is the occasion of bringing 
 frequently into the same neighbourhood a 
 variety of stranger tribes ; among whom any 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 CHARACTER AND MANNERS 
 
 accidental jealousy, or interference of interest, 
 is apt to kindle animosity, and to produce 
 quarrels and hostilities. In the frequent wars 
 that arise from such a situation, and which are 
 carried on with the ardour and ferocity natural 
 to barbarians, the victors, having no fixed resi- 
 dence, are at full liberty to prosecute their 
 success without interruption ; and as, in every 
 migration, such people are obliged to carry 
 along with them their wives, and children, 
 and servants, together with their herds and 
 flocks, and even their furniture and utensils, a 
 decisive battle never fails to reduce one tribe 
 completely under the power of another. With 
 the same ease with which the conquerors may 
 pursue their victory, they can incorporate with 
 themselves the vanquished party, and make 
 use of their assistance in any future enterprise. 
 Thus by repeated successes, and by a gradual 
 accumulation of forces, a single tribe may, in 
 a short time, become so powerful, as to meet 
 with no enemy in a condition to cope with 
 them, and be excited with great rapidity to 
 overrun and subdue a vast extent of country. 
 History is accordingly filled with the rapid 
 and extensive conquests made by nations in
 
 OF THE SAXONS. 51 
 
 this early state of society ; of which, in parti- 
 cular, there occur many celebrated examples 
 among the Arabs and Tartars. 
 
 Such was the condition of the ancient Ger- 
 mans; of whom it is remarked by the historian, 
 that they were less distinguished by their pa- 
 tience of labour, or by their capacity to bear 
 the extremities of heat and cold, of hunger and 
 of thirst, than by their active courage, and their 
 ardent love of military reputation*. " They 
 " are more easily persuaded/' says Taciais, 
 " to march against an enemy, and to expose 
 " themselves in the field, than to plough the 
 " earth, and to wait the returns of the sea- 
 " son. They account it unmanlv to acquire 
 " with sweat what may be procured with 
 " blood. When they engage in battle, it is a 
 " disgrace for the chief to be surpassed in va- 
 " lour ; it is a disgrace for his followers not to 
 " equal the bravery of their chief; it is perpe- 
 " tual infamy to escape with safety, after the 
 " fall of their leader. To defend and protect 
 " his person, to devolve upon him the glory 
 
 * Laboris atque operum non eadem patientia ; minime- 
 que sitim aestumque tolerare, frigora atque inediam ccelo 
 solove assueverunt. Tacit, de Mor. German; c. 4; 
 
 E 2
 
 52 CHARACTER AND MANNERS 
 
 " of all their brave actions, is the principal 
 " point of honour. The chiefs fight for vic- 
 " tory, their followers for the reputation and 
 " dignity of the chief*/' 
 
 The same circumstances which gave rise to 
 frequent hostilities between the members of 
 different tribes, produced a strong attachment 
 between the individuals belonging to each of 
 those little societies. United by a sense of 
 t\eir common danger, and by their common 
 anjnosity, against all their neighbours, they 
 wen frequently required by their situation to 
 defer d and relieve one another, and even to 
 hazard their lives for their mutual safety. 
 Living in t. small circle of acquaintance, and 
 having scarcely any intercourse with the rest 
 of mankind, they naturally contracted such 
 prejudices and prepossessions as tended to flat- 
 ter their own vanity, and to increase their 
 partial regard for that village or tribe of which 
 they were members. But however warmly 
 attached to their kindred and friends, it could 
 not be expected that, in their ordinary beha- 
 viour, they would exhibit much delicacy or 
 
 * Tacit, de M or. German, c. 14.
 
 OF THE SAXONS. 53 
 
 refinement of manners. They were too little 
 acquainted with the dictates of prudence and 
 sober reflection, to be capable of restraining 
 the irregular sallies of passion ; and too little 
 conversant in the arts of polished society, to 
 acquire a facility of yielding up their own opi- 
 nions, and of sacrificing their own inclinations 
 and humours, to those of their companions. 
 The head of every family, unaccustomed to 
 bear opp^ ition or controul, demanded an 
 implicit submission and obedience from all 
 its members. When he met with great pro- 
 vocation, it was not unusual for him to take 
 away the life of a servant ; and this was re- 
 garded as an exercise of domestic authority, 
 for which he could not be subjected to any 
 punishment*. Even the feelings of natural 
 affection did not prevent the children from 
 being, in like manner, subjected to the arbi- 
 trary power of the father, and from experienc- 
 ing, on many occasions, the unhappy effects 
 of his casual displeasure. Neither does the 
 condition of the mother appear to have been 
 
 * " Occidere solent, non disciplina et severitate, sed 
 impetu et ira, ut inimicum, nisi quod impune." Tacit, de 
 Mor. German, c. 25.
 
 54 CHARACTER AND MANNERS 
 
 superior to that of her children: the little 
 attention which, in a rude age, is usually be- 
 stowed upon the pleasures of sex, and the infe- 
 riority of the women in strength, courage and 
 military accomplishments, deprived them of 
 that rank and consequence which they enjoyed 
 in a civilized nation. There is great reason 
 to believe that the husband commonly bought 
 his wife from her father, or other male rela- 
 tions, and that he considered her in the light of 
 a servant or slave. If she was guilty of adul- 
 tery (a crime which, from the general simpli- 
 city of manners, was probably not very fre- 
 quent, but which, by introducing a connexion 
 with a stranger, was highly prejudicial to the 
 interest of the family) the punishment inflicted 
 by the husband, was that of stripping her 
 naked, turning her out of doors, and whipping 
 her through the village*. 
 
 In the intercourse of different families, and 
 in their common amusements, their behaviour 
 
 * Tacit, de Mor. German, c. 18, 19. The conformity 
 of the German manners with those of other barbarous na- 
 tions, in relation to the condition of women and children, 
 1 have endeavoured to illustrate, in a treatise entitled, An 
 Enquiry into the Origin of Ranks.
 
 OF THE SAXONS. 55 
 
 was suited to the spirit and disposition of a 
 martial, but rude and ignorant people. Their 
 military life, which was incompatible with in- 
 dustry, prevented the growth of avarice, the 
 usual attendant of constant labour and appli- 
 cation in every lucrative profession. Their 
 employments were such as united them by a 
 common tie, instead of suggesting the idea of 
 a separate interest, or engaging them in that 
 struggle for riches, by which the pursuits of 
 every man are, in some measure, opposed to 
 those of his neighbour. Their herds and flocks, 
 in which their wealth principally consisted, 
 being under the management and direction of 
 a whole village or tribe, were considered, in 
 some sort, as the joint property of all ; so far 
 at least, as to render individuals willing, on all 
 occasions, to relieve their mutual wants, by 
 sharing their goods with one another. Hence 
 that hospitality and generosity which is so 
 conspicuous among shepherd nations in all 
 parts of the world. " No nation," says the 
 author above quoted*, "is more hospitable than 
 " the Germans. They make no difference, in 
 
 * Tacit, de Mor. Germ. § 21. 
 2
 
 56 CHARACTER AND MANNERS 
 
 6 this respect, between a stranger and an ac- 
 ' quaintance. When a person has been libe- 
 ' rally entertained in one house, he is con- 
 ' ducted to another, where he is received with 
 ' the same hearty welcome. If a guest, at 
 ' his departure, should ask a present from his 
 ' entertainers, it is seldom refused ; and they 
 ' will ask any thing of him with the same 
 * freedom. They are fond of making pre- 
 ' sents, which are scarcely understood to lay 
 ' the receiver under any obligation/' 
 
 Their military operations, no doubt, required 
 a violent, though an irregular and transient 
 exertion ; but upon the conclusion of an ex- 
 pedition they were completely at liberty to in- 
 dulge themselves in rest and idleness. From 
 these opposite situations, they contracted op- 
 posite habits, and became equally restless and 
 slothful. When not engaged in the field, the 
 warriors disdained to assist in domestic offices, 
 they even seldom exercised themselves in hunt- 
 ing ; but, leaving the care of their cattle, and 
 of their household, to the women and children, 
 or to the old and infirm, they were accustomed 
 to pass their time in listless indolence, having 
 little other enjoyment but what they derived
 
 OF THE SAXONS. 57 
 
 from food or from sleep*. That from such dis- 
 positions they found great delight in convivial 
 entertainments, and were given to great ex- 
 cesses in eating and drinking, may easily be 
 supposed. By the pleasures of intoxication, 
 they sought to dissipate the gloom of that lan- 
 guor and weariness with which they were op- 
 pressed, and to enliven the barren prospect 
 which the ordinary course of their thoughts 
 and sentiments was capable of presenting to 
 them. For the same reason they were addicted 
 to games of hazard ; insomuch that persons 
 who had lost their whole fortune at play would 
 afterwards, it is said, venture to stake their li- 
 berty ; and having still been unlucky, would 
 voluntarily become the slaves of the winnerf*. 
 
 * " Quoties bellanon ineunt, non multum venationibus, 
 " plus per otium transigunt, dediti somno, ciboque. Fortis- 
 " siraus quisque ac bellicosissimus nihil agens, delegata do- 
 " mus et penatium et agrorum cura foeminis senibusque, 
 " et infirmissimo cuique ex familia, ipsi hebent mira di- 
 " versitate naturae, cum iidem homines sic ament inertium 
 " et oderint quietem." Tacit, de Mor. Germ. c. 15. 
 
 " Diem noctemque continuare potando nulli pro- 
 
 brum." Ibid. c. 22. 
 
 + Aleam (quod mirere) sobrii inter seria exercent, tanta 
 lucrandi perdendique temeritate, ut cum omnia defecerunt.
 
 58 CHARACTER AND MANNERS 
 
 The practice of gaming must have been car- 
 ried to a high pitch, when fashion, even among 
 such barbarians, had made it a point of ho- 
 nour to discharge a game-debt of that extra- 
 ordinary nature. It is observable, that in coun- 
 tries where men have exhausted the enjoy- 
 ments arising from the possession of great 
 riches, they are apt to feel the same want of 
 exercise and occupation, as in that simple age 
 when they have not yet contracted those habits 
 of industry by which wealth is acquired; and 
 they are forced to make use of the same ex- 
 pedient to deliver them from that tadium vita, 
 which is the most oppressive of all misfor- 
 tunes. The opposite extremes of society ap- 
 pear in this respect to coincide ; and exces- 
 sive gaming is therefore the vice, not only of 
 the most opulent and luxurious nations, but 
 of the most rude and barbarous. 
 
 Among all the German nations, the Saxons, 
 who appear to have been scattered over the pe- 
 
 extremo ac novissirao jactu delibertate et de corpore con- 
 tendant. Victus voluntariam servitutem adit. Quamvis 
 junior, quamvis robustior, adligari se ac venire patitur. 
 Ea est in re prava pervicacia : ipsi fidem vocant. Tac. de 
 Mor. Germ. c. 24.
 
 OF THE SAXONS. 59 
 
 ninsulaof Jutland, and along the neighbouring 
 shores of the Baltic Sea, were the most fierce 
 and barbarous, as they were most completely 
 removed from that civility and improvement 
 which every where attended the progress of 
 the Roman arms. Their maritime situation, 
 at the same time, had produced an early ac- 
 quaintance with navigation, and had even 
 qualified them to undertake piratical expe- 
 ditions to several countries at a distance. 
 They had, accordingly, long infested the coasts 
 of Britain and Gaul ; insomuch that in the 
 former country it was found necessary to ap- 
 point a military officer, with a regular force, to 
 guard against their depredations. 
 
 Making allowance, however, for such dif- 
 ferences as might arise from this peculiarity of 
 situation, their character and manners were 
 similar to those of the other inhabitants of 
 Germany, and, in general, to those of the 
 wandering tribes of shepherds in every age or 
 country. 
 
 Upon the whole, when we examine the ac- 
 counts delivered by the best historians, con- 
 cerning the ancient inhabitants of Germany, 
 as well as the Saxons in particular, we find
 
 60 CHARACTER AND MANNERS 
 
 nothing, either in their public or private in- 
 stitutions, or in their habits and ways of think- 
 ing, which we can reasonably suppose to have 
 occasioned any peculiarity in the government 
 established by the latter people in Britain. 
 Whatever peculiarity therefore is observable 
 in the Anglo-Saxon government, it must have 
 arisen from causes posterior to the migration 
 of that people into Britain ; from the nature 
 of the country in which they settled ; from 
 the manner in which their settlements were 
 formed ; or from other more recent events 
 and circumstances. 
 
 Some writers fondly imagine, that the} r can 
 discover, in the political state of the Saxons, 
 while they remained in their native forests, 
 the seeds of that constitution which grew up 
 in England during the government of the 
 Anglo-Saxon princes. With respect to those 
 innate principles of liberty which have been 
 ascribed to this people, it must be observed, 
 that in proportion as mankind recede from 
 civilized manners, and approach to the infancy 
 of society, they are less accustomed to au- 
 thority, and discover greater aversion to every 
 sort of restraint or controul. In this sense the
 
 OF THE SAXONS. 6\ 
 
 Saxons may be said to have possessed a stronger 
 relish for freedom than many of the other Ger- 
 man tribes; as the present Indians of America, 
 who are mere hunters and fishers, discover a 
 still freer spirit than appeared among the 
 Saxons. But as this love of liberty proceeds j 
 from the mere want of the common means of 
 improvement, and from no original peculiarity 
 of character, it is not likely to be retained by 
 such barbarians, after they have opportunities 
 of improving their condition, by acquiring 
 property, and by extending the connexions of 
 society. When the Saxons in Britain became^/ 
 as opulent as the German or Scythian tribes, 
 who settled in other provinces of the Roman 
 empire, there is no reason to believe that in 
 consequence of their primitive poverty and 
 barbarism, they were with more difficulty re- 
 duced into a state of subordination, and sub- 
 mission to civil authority. The ancestors of ^ 
 almost every civilized people may be traced 
 back to the most rude and savage state, in 
 which they have an equal title to be distin- 
 guished, as men impatient of all restraint, and 
 unacquainted with the commands of a su- 
 perior. _J
 
 62 SETTLEMENT OF THE 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Settlement of the Saxons in Britain. 
 
 1 HE Saxons accepted with joy and alacrity 
 the proposals made to them by the Britons ; 
 and it appears to have been stipulated, that 
 they should immediately send a body of troops 
 into Britain, to be employed in the defence 
 of the country, and to receive a stated hire 
 during the continuance of their services *. 
 In consequence of this agreement, Hengist 
 and Horsa, two brothers, and persons of 
 distinction among the Saxons, with about 
 sixteen hundred followers, landed in the isle of 
 Thanet, in the year 449 ; and having defeated 
 the Picts and Scots, confined them in a short 
 time, within their ancient boundaries. The 
 Saxon troops immediately after, were station- 
 ed by Voltigern partly upon the confines of 
 
 * Stillingfleet Orig. Brit. Bede says, that the Saxons 
 
 first took occasion to quarrel with the Britons, by demand- 
 ing an increase of their allowance^ to which he gives the 
 name ofannona. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c. 15.
 
 SAXONS IN BRITAIN. 63 
 
 the northern wall, and partly upon the Kentish 
 coast, the two places that had been usually 
 secured with garrisons under the late dominion 
 of the Romans. In such a situation these auxi- 
 liaries, who formed the principal strength of 
 the country, could hardly fail to perceive their 
 own importance, and to entertain the design 
 of extorting a permanent settlement from the 
 inhabitants. With this view, Hengist is said 
 to have persuaded the Britons to hire an ad- 
 ditional number of his countrymen, as the 
 only effectual means for securing themselves 
 from the future incursions of the enemy ; and, 
 upon an application for that purpose, was 
 joined by a new body of Saxons, amounting 
 to five thousand men. By this reinforcement 
 he found himself superior to the disjointed 
 and unwarlike forces of the country. Having 
 therefore secretly concluded a treaty of peace 
 with the Picts and Scots, and pretending that 
 the articles of the original agreement, with 
 relation to the pay of his troops, had not been 
 observed, he ventured to throw off the mask, 
 and openly to make war upon the Britons. 
 His example was followed by other adventurers, 
 among the same people, who, at the head of
 
 64 SETTLEMENT OF THE 
 
 different parties, allured by the hope of plun- 
 der, and of a new settlement, invaded the 
 coasts of Britain, and endeavoured to penetrate 
 into the country. Their attempts were crown- 
 ed with success, and the most valuable part of 
 the island was at length reduced under their 
 dominion. This great event, however, was 
 not accomplished without a violent struggle, 
 nor in less than a hundred and seventy years ; 
 during which time many battles were fought, 
 with various fortune. It is remarkable that, 
 notwithstanding their fears and pusillanimity, 
 when first abandoned by the Romans, the Bri- 
 tons, in the course of their Jong-continued 
 contest with the Saxons, defended themselves 
 with more obstinate resolution, than, upon the 
 downfall of the Roman empire, was discovered 
 by any of the other provinces, though support- 
 ed by the armies of Rome. The want of any 
 foreign assistance was, in all probability, the 
 cause of this vigorous and spirited behaviour ; 
 as it called forth the exertion of their powers, 
 and produced in them a degree of courage and 
 discipline, which the provinces enjoying the 
 protection of the Roman government were not 
 under the same necessity of acquiring.
 
 SAXONS IN BRITAIN. 65 
 
 We have no full account of the circum- 
 stances attending the settlement of the Saxons 
 in Britain ; but we may form an idea of the 
 manner in which it was completed, from the 
 general situation of the people, from the im- 
 perfect relations of this event by our early his- 
 torians, and from the more distinct infor- 
 mation that has been transmitted concerning 
 the settlement of other German nations, in 
 some of the Roman provinces upon the conti- 
 nent of Europe. 
 
 The followers of any particular leader having 
 gained a victory, became the masters of a cer- 
 tain territory, and enriched themselves with 
 the spoil of their enemies. Willing to secure 
 what they had obtained, they were led after- 
 wards to offer terms of accommodation to the 
 vanquished ; with whom they appear, on some 
 occasions, to have made a formal division of 
 their land and other possessions. But even in 
 those cases, where no express treaty of this na- 
 ture had been formed, the same effects were 
 produced, from the mere situation of the com- 
 batants ; and upon the conclusion of a war, the 
 parties were understood to have the property 
 of the respective districts which they had been 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 SETTLEMENT OF THE 
 
 able to occupy or to retain. Such of the Bri- 
 tons as had been made captives in war were 
 doubtless, in conformity to the general practice 
 of the ancient Germans, reduced into a state of 
 servitude ; but those who had escaped this mis- 
 fortune resided in the neighbourhood of the 
 Saxons, and often maintained a friendly inter- 
 course with them. 
 
 The ambition, however, and avidity of these 
 barbarians, incited them, at a future period, to 
 renew their former hostilities ; and these were 
 generally followed by new victories, and by a 
 farther extension of conquest. In this man- 
 ner, after a long course of time, the country 
 was completely subdued by these invaders ; and 
 the ancient inhabitants were, according to ac- 
 cidental circumstances, partly degraded into a 
 state of slavery, and partly, by particular trea- 
 ties, and by long habits of communication, in- 
 corporated with the conquerors. 
 
 From the declamatory represesentations of 
 some early annalists, the greater part of his- 
 torians have been led to suppose, that such of 
 the Britons as escaped captivity were either put 
 to death by their barbarous enemies, or, dis- 
 daining submission, and expecting no mercy,
 
 SAXONS IN BRITAIN. 67 
 
 retired into Wales, or withdrew into the coun- 
 try of Armorica in France, to which, from 
 them, the name of Bretagne has been given. 
 An acuteand industrious antiquary , Mr. Whit- 
 aker, has lately shown, I think in a satisfac- 
 tory manner, that this extraordinary suppo- 
 sition is without any solid foundation. That 
 many of the Britons were at that period sub- 
 jected to great hardships, and, in order to save 
 themselves from the fury of their enemies, were 
 even obliged to quit their native country, may 
 be easily believed ; but that the Saxons were 
 animated with such uncommon barbarity, as 
 would lead them, in direct opposition to their 
 own interest, to root out the ancient in- 
 habitants, must appear highly improbable. Of 
 the total extirpation of any people, by the most 
 furious conquerors, the records of well au- 
 thenticated history afford not many examples. 
 It is known, at the same time, that no such 
 cruelty was exhibited by any of the German 
 nations who conquered the other provinces of 
 the Roman empire ; and it must be admitted, 
 that the situation of all those nations was very 
 much the same with that of the Saxons, as also 
 that they were a people in all respects of 
 
 f 2
 
 68 SETTLEMENT OF THE 
 
 similar manners and customs. There is even 
 complete evidence that, in some parts of the 
 Island, the Britons were so far from being 
 extirpated, that they were permitted to retain 
 a certain proportion of the landed property; 
 and it is remarkable, that this proportion, being 
 a third part of the whole, was the same with 
 that retained by the ancient inhabitants in 
 some of those provinces, upon the continent 
 of Europe, which were conquered by the 
 other German tribes. Though, in other cases, 
 the vestiges of such early transactions have not 
 been preserved, it is highly probable that a 
 similar division of the land was made, either 
 by express contract, or by tacit agreement. 
 There can be no reason to believe that the 
 same Saxons would, in one part of the Island, 
 exhibit such moderation and humanity to the 
 vanquished people, and in another, such un- 
 precedented ferocity and barbarity. 
 
 It is further to be observed, that the language 
 which grew up in Britain after the settlement 
 of the Saxons, and in which a large proportion 
 of the British and the Latin tongues were in- 
 corporated with the Saxon, affords a sufficient 
 proof that the inhabitants were compounded
 
 SAXONS IN BRITAIN. 69 
 
 of the different nations by whom these lan- 
 guages were spoken. 
 
 When the Saxons invaded Britain, they 
 were entirely a pastoral people ; but as they 
 came into a country which had been long 
 cultivated, they could scarcely fail to acquire 
 very rapidly a considerable knowledge of agri- 
 culture. Having obtained a quantity of land 
 that was formerly employed in tillage, and 
 having procured a proportionable number of 
 servants, already acquainted with the various 
 branches of husbandry, it may easily be ima- 
 gined that they would avail themselves of this 
 favourable situation, for the prosecution of an 
 employment so conducive to their comfortable 
 subsistence. 
 
 In consequence of a general attention to 
 agriculture, they must have been induced to 
 quit the wandering life ; since, in order to prac- 
 tise the employment of a farmer with any 
 advantage, a continued residence upon the 
 same spot is necessary. In the occupancy and 
 appropriation of landed estates, those persons 
 who had been most connected in war were 
 most likely to become neighbours ; and every 
 little knot of kindred and friends were com-
 
 70 SETTLEMENT OF THE 
 
 monly led to build their houses together, that 
 they might be in readiness to assist one another 
 in their labour, and to unite in defending their 
 possessions. The villages of German shepherds 
 were thus converted into villages of husband- 
 men, which, in proportion to the progress of 
 their arms, and to their advances in improve- 
 ment, were gradually enlarged and spread over 
 the country. It should seem that, upon the 
 first settlement of the Saxons, the whole people 
 were distributed into little societies of this 
 kind ; and no individual was so opulent, that 
 he could expect to live in security, without 
 maintaining an alliance and intimate commu- 
 nication with others. This custom of resort- 
 ing to villages, introduced by necessity, in times 
 of extreme barbarism and disorder, is even at 
 present retained by many of the farmers in 
 England ; although from a total change of 
 manners and circumstances, it is evident that 
 a separate residence, upon their different farms, 
 would often be much more convenient. 
 
 While the Saxons, by their intercourse with 
 a more civilized people, were thus excited to a 
 considerable improvement of their circum- 
 stances, the Britons were, from an opposite
 
 SAXONS IN BRITAIN. 71 
 
 situation, degraded in the same proportion, 
 and continued to sink in ignorance and bar- 
 barism. Engaged in a desperate conflict, in 
 which every thing dear to them was at stake, 
 and having to cope with an enemy little prac- 
 tised in the refinements of humanity, they 
 were obliged, in their own defence, to retali- 
 ate those injuries which they were daily 
 receiving ; and by the frequent exercise of 
 depredation, they became inured to rapine 
 and injustice. The destructive wars, in the 
 mean time, which were incessantly kindled, 
 and which raged with so much violence in 
 every quarter of the country, were fatal to the 
 greater part of its improvements. The nu- 
 merous towns which had' been raised under the 
 protection and security of the Roman govern- 
 ment, and which now became the usual refuge 
 of the weaker party, were often sacked by the 
 victorious enemy, and after being gradually 
 depopulated, were at length either laid in 
 ruins, or left in the state of insignificant vil- 
 lages. In those times of universal terror and 
 confusion, the ancient schools and seminaries 
 of learning were abandoned, and every person 
 who cultivated the arts subservient to luxury 
 
 3
 
 72 SETTLEMENT OF THE 
 
 and refinement, was forced to desert such use- 
 less occupations, and betake himself to em- 
 ployments more immediately requisite for pre- 
 servation and subsistence. In the course of two 
 centuries, within which the conquest of the 
 more accessible and valuable parts of Britain 
 wascompleted, the monuments of Roman opu- 
 lence and grandeur were entirely erased ; and 
 the Britons who remained in the country, and 
 who retained their liberty, adopted the same 
 manner of life with their Saxon neighbours, 
 from whom they were no longer distinguish- 
 able, either by the places of their residence, 
 or by their usages and political institutions. 
 
 Those conquerors of Britain who received 
 the general appellation of Saxons, had issued 
 from different parts of the German coast, at 
 some distance from one another, and belonged 
 to different tribes or nations: they have been di- 
 vided, by historians, into three great branches, 
 the Angles, the Jutes, and the Saxons, pro- 
 perly so called. As the leaders of the seve- 
 ral parties belonging to any of these divisions 
 possessed a separate influence over their own 
 adherents, and prosecuted their enterprises in 
 different parts of the country, so they naturally
 
 SAXONS IN BRITAIN. 73 
 
 rejected all ideas of subordination, and endea- 
 voured to acquire a regal authority ; the result 
 of which was, that, after various turns of for- 
 tune, no less than seven independent states, 
 each under its own particular monarch, were 
 at length established. 
 
 The followers of Hengist and Horsa, com- 
 posed of Jutes, acquired a settlement in the 
 east corner of the Island, and established their 
 dominion in what is now the county of Kent. 
 Different parties of the proper Saxons occu- 
 pied a much larger territory, and laid the foun- 
 dations of three different kingdoms. Those 
 who, from their situation, were called the 
 Southern Saxons, established themselves in 
 the counties of Sussex and Surrey ; the West 
 Saxons extended their authority over the 
 counties to the westward, along the Southern 
 coast; and the East Saxons took possession of 
 Essex, Middlesex, and a considerable part of 
 Hertfordshire. The Angles were still more 
 numerous, and the territories which they occu- 
 pied were much more extensive. By them was 
 formed the kingdom of the East Angles, in 
 the counties of Cambridge, Norfolk, and Suf- 
 folk ; that of Northumberland, extending over
 
 r 
 
 74 SETTLEMENT OF THE 
 
 all the country which these barbarians had sub- 
 dued, from the Humber to the Frith of Forth ; 
 and that of Mercia, comprehending the inland 
 counties, which were in a manner included 
 by the other kingdoms of the Heptarchy. 
 
 In the western part of the Island, from the 
 Land's-End to the Frith of Clyde, the ancient 
 inhabitants were still able to maintain their 
 independence ; and in this large tract of coun- 
 try were erected four British principalities or 
 kingdoms ; those of Cornwall, of South Wales, 
 of North Wales, and of Cumberland. To the 
 North of the Friths of Forth and Clyde the 
 Picts and Scots retained their ancient posses- 
 sions. 
 
 The changes produced in the manners and 
 customs of the Saxons, by their settlement in 
 Britain, were such as might be expected, from 
 the great change of situation which the people 
 experienced, in passing from the state of shep- 
 herds to that of husbandmen. As in fol- 
 lowing the employment of the latter, they ne- 
 cessarily quitted the wandering life, and took 
 up a fixed residence, they were enabled to 
 acquire property in land ; with which it is pro- 
 bable they were formerly unacquainted. The
 
 SAXONS IN BRITAIN. 75 
 
 introduction of landed property among man- 
 kind has uniformly proceeded from the ad- 
 vancement of agriculture, by which they were 
 led to cultivate the same ground for many years 
 successive ly ; and upon the principle that every 
 man has a right to enjoy the fruit of his own 
 labour, became entitled, first, to the immediate 
 crops they had raised, and afterwards to the fu- 
 ture possession of the ground itself, in order that 
 they might obtain the benefit of the improve- 
 ment which theirlong cultivation had produced. 
 In this appropriation, of so great importance to 
 society, the Saxons in Britain were undoubtedly 
 stimulated, and instructed, from the cultivated 
 state of the country, as well as from the exam- 
 ple of the people whom they had subdued. 
 
 This alteration in their circumstances had 
 necessarily a mighty influence upon the con- 
 duct of their military operations. As a great 
 part of their property was now incapable of 
 being transported, the inhabitants of each 
 village were induced to fortify, in some degree, 
 the place of their abode, for the preservation 
 of their most valuable effects ; and therefore, in 
 going out to meet an enemy, instead of carry- 
 ing along with them their cattle, and other
 
 76 SETTLEMENT OF THE 
 
 moveables, and being accompanied by their 
 wives and children, as well as by the aged and 
 infirm (the usual practice in the pastoral life) 
 none but the actual warriors had occasion to 
 take the field. The immediate plunder, there- 
 fore, arising from a victory, was rendered more 
 inconsiderable ; and even this the victors were 
 commonly obliged to secure at home, before 
 they could conveniently undertake a new en- 
 terprise. Thus, after the settlement of the 
 Saxons in Britain, they were less in a condition 
 to carry on wars at a great distance ; and they 
 appear to have laid aside, for the most part, 
 their foreign piratical expeditions. 
 
 The permanent residence of the people 
 tended likewise to open a regular communica- 
 tion between different villages ; the inhabitants 
 .of which, by remaining constantly in the same 
 neighbourhood, were led by degrees to con- 
 tract a more intimate acquaintance. From 
 the acquisition of landed possessions, which by 
 their nature are less capable than moveables of 
 being defended by the vigilance and personal 
 prowess of the possessor, the necessity of the 
 public interposition, and of public regulations 
 for the security of property, must have been
 
 SAXONS IN BRITAIN. 7f 
 
 more universally felt. From these causes, it 
 is natural to suppose that the connections of 
 society were gradually multiplied, and that the 
 ideas of justice, as well as of policy and go- 
 vernment, which had been entertained by the 
 primitive Saxons, were considerably extended 
 and improved. 
 
 The introduction of landed property contri- 
 buted, on the other hand, to increase the in- 
 fluence and authority of individuals, by en- 
 abling them to maintain upon their estates a 
 greater number of dependents than can be 
 supported by persons whose possessions are 
 merely moveable. The heads or leaders of 
 particular families were thus raised to greater 
 consideration ; and, in the respective commu- 
 nities of which they were members, obtained 
 more completely the exclusive direction and 
 management of public affairs. The influence 
 of the great leader, or prince, by whom they 
 were conducted in their common expeditions, 
 was proportioned, in like manner, to his pri- 
 vate estate, and extended little farther than to 
 his own tenants ; for which reason, in the seve- 
 ral kingdoms of the Heptarchy, the sovereign 
 possessed a very limited authority, and the
 
 78 SETTLEMENT OE THE 
 
 principal powers of government were lodged 
 in a ff'ittenagemote, or national council, com- 
 posed of the independent proprietors, or lead- 
 ing men in the state. 
 
 Although the monarchs of these differs 
 kingdoms claimed an independent soveie* 
 yet, in their struggles with the Britons 
 often procured assistance from one anol.'. 
 and were combined against the ancient inha- 
 bitants of the country, their common enemies. 
 The direction of their forces was, on those 
 occasions, committed to some particular mo- 
 narch, who, in conducting their joint measures, 
 was frequently under the necessity of calling 
 a Wittenagemote, or great council, from all 
 the confederated kingdoms. Thus the idea of 
 a permanent union among all the kingdoms 
 of the Heptarchy, and of a leader, or chief 
 magistrate, at the head of that large commu- 
 nity, together with a set of regulations extend- 
 ing to all its members, was gradually sug- 
 gested : according to the opulence or abilities 
 of the different Saxon princes, they were, by 
 turns, promoted to that supreme dignity; 
 which became, of course, the great object of 
 their ambition, and the source of thoye violent
 
 SAXONS IN BRITAIN. 79 
 
 animosities which, for a period of about two 
 hundred years, continually subsisted among 
 them. The most powerful of the states be- 
 longing to this confederacy were those of Wes- 
 sex, Mercia, and Northumberland, to which 
 the rest were gradually reduced into a kind of 
 subordination ; till at length, about the year 
 827, the several kingdoms of the Heptarchy 
 were subdued by Egbert, the king of the West 
 Saxpns, who transmitted to his posterity the 
 sovereignty of those extensive dominions. The 
 same prince extended his authority over all the 
 Britons on the south side of the Bristol chan- 
 nel, and became master of a considerable part 
 of Wales, and of the Cumbrian kingdom. 
 From this time the distinctions among the dif- 
 ferent Saxon states were in a great measure 
 abolished, and the several territories, united 
 under Egbert, received the general name of 
 England ; as the people, from the union of the 
 two principal nations, and in contradistinction 
 to their countrymen in Germany, were called 
 the Anglo-Saxons. 
 
 Several circumstances appear to have con- 
 tributed to the accomplishment of this great 
 revolution. With the bravery and military
 
 80 SETTLEMENT OF THE 
 
 accomplishments usual among the chiefs and 
 princes of that age, Egbert, who had been edu- 
 cated in the court of Charles the great, is said 
 to have united an uncommon degree of poli- 
 tical knowledge and abilities. His own king- 
 dom, situated along the southern coast of Bri- 
 tain, was probably the most improved, if not 
 the most extensive, of those which had been 
 erected by the Anglo-Saxons. In almost all 
 the other kingdoms of the Heptarchy, a failure 
 of the lineal heirs of the crown had given rise, 
 among the principal nobility, to a con test about 
 the succession; Northumberland, in particular, 
 was weakened by intestine disorders, and in no 
 condition to resist a foreign power ; so that, 
 by the conquest of Mercia, the only other in- 
 dependent state, the king of AVessex was left 
 without a competitor, and found no difficulty 
 in establishing an universal sovereignty.* 
 
 * It must not however be supposed that the power of all 
 the kings of the Heptarchy was at this period entirely de- 
 stroyed; they retained a subordinate authority, founded 
 upon their great property. The princes of Northumberland 
 aud Mercia still retained the title of king; and in the reign 
 of Alfred we find them still claiming independence. — See 
 William of Malmsbury.
 
 SAXONS IN BRITAIN. 81 
 
 There can be no doubt that the reduction of 
 all these different kingdoms into one monarchy 
 contributed to improve the police of the coun- 
 try, and to civilize the manners of the people. 
 The scene of anarchy and violence which was 
 constantly exhibited during the conquest of 
 Britain by the Saxons was incompatible with 
 any attention to the arts of civil life, and in a 
 great measure extinguished the remains of Ro- 
 man improvement. The beginning of the 
 seventh century, which falls about the conclu- 
 sion of that period, may, therefore, be regarded 
 as the aera, of greatest darkness and barbarism 
 in the modern history of Britain. The ad- 
 vances, however, that were made, even after 
 this period had elapsed, were very slow and 
 gradual. So long as the country was divided 
 into a number of petty states, independent of 
 each other, and therefore often engaged in 
 mutual hostilities, the persons and property of 
 individuals were not secured in such a manner 
 as to encourage the exercise of useful employ- 
 ments. 
 
 It appears, indeed, that the monarchs in se- 
 veral of those kingdoms were anxious to pre- 
 vent disorders among their subjects, and, with 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 SETTLEMENT OF THE 
 
 the assistance of their national councils, made 
 a variety of statutes, by which the punishment 
 of particular crimes was denned with great 
 exactness. Such were the laws or Ethelbert, 
 and some of his successors, in the kingdom of 
 Kent ; those of Ina, the king of the West 
 Saxons ; and Offa, of the Mercians*. These 
 regulations, however, were probably of little 
 avail, from the numerous independent states 
 into which the country was divided ; because 
 an offender might easily escape from justice, 
 by taking sanctify in the territories of a rival 
 or hostile nation ; but when the different king- 
 doms of the Heptarchy were united under one 
 sovereign, private wars were more effectually 
 discouraged, justice was somewhat better ad- 
 ministered, and the laws established through- 
 out the Anglo-Saxon dominions were reduced 
 to greater uniformity. We are not, however, 
 to imagine that, from this period, the same re- 
 gulations in all respects, were extended over 
 the whole English monarchy. The system of 
 private law, being formed in good measure by 
 
 * See the Collections of the two former, in WilkinsLeg. 
 Anglo-Sax. — The laws of king Offa have not been pre- 
 served.
 
 SAXONS IN BRITAIN. 83 
 
 longusage, was necessarily differentin different 
 districts ; and the customs which prevailed in 
 the more considerable had obtained a currency 
 in the smaller states of the Heptarchy. Thus 
 we find that the law of the West Saxons was 
 extended over all the states on the south side 
 of the Thames*, while the law of the Mercians 
 was introduced into several territories adjacent 
 to that kingdom^. In a subsequent period a 
 third set of regulations, probably a good deal 
 different from the two former, was adopted in 
 the northern and eastern parts of the country. 
 
 * Called Westsaxenlaga. 
 
 t Called Mercenlaga. The inhabitants were denominat- 
 ed, from the kind of law which they observed. See Ran. 
 Higden Polychron. — In France the Pays de Droit ecrit and 
 the Pays des Coutumes, were distinguished from a similar 
 circumstance. 
 
 g2
 
 84 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Similarity in the Situation of the Anglo-Saxons, 
 and of the other barbarians who settled in the 
 Provinces of the Western Empire. — How far 
 the State of all those Nations differed from that 
 of every other People, ancient or modern. 
 
 DURING the same century in which the 
 Anglo-Saxons began their settlements in 
 England, the other provinces of the western 
 empire were invaded by a multitude of rude 
 nations, from Germany and the more easterly 
 parts of the world. Allured by the prospect of 
 booty, these barbarians had long made acci- 
 dental incursions upon the frontier provinces ; 
 and having, by repeated successes, discovered 
 the weakness of the Roman state, they atlength 
 endeavoured to gain more solid advantages, by 
 settling in the countries which they had sub- 
 dued. The Roman emperors were not only 
 obliged to submit to these encroachments, but 
 were even forced, in many cases, to enter into 
 an alliance with those invaders, to employ them
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 85 
 
 as auxiliaries in the armies of Rome, and to 
 bestow upon them landed possessions, upon 
 condition of their defending the country. But 
 these were merely temporary expedients, which 
 in the end contributed to increase the power 
 of the barbarians. Different swarms of these 
 people advancing in succession, and pushing 
 each other forward in quest of new possessions, 
 continued to penetrate into the Roman domi- 
 nions, and at last entirely overran and dismem- 
 bered the western provinces. The Franks, 
 the Burgundians, and the Wisigoths settled in 
 Gaul. Another branch of the Wisigoths esta- 
 blished their dominion in Spain. Africa be- 
 came a prey to the Vandals. Italy, for a long 
 time the centre of Roman wealth, and of Ro- 
 man luxury, invited, in a particular manner, 
 the attacks of poverty and barbarism; and after 
 it had suffered from the successive inroads of 
 many different nations, a great part of the 
 country was subjected to the Ostrogoths, and 
 in a subsequent period, to the Lombards. 
 
 As the original manners and customs of all 
 these nations were extremely analogous to 
 those of the Saxons in England, and as their 
 conquest and settlement in the western empire.
 
 86 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS. 
 
 were completed nearly in the same manner, it 
 was to be expected that they would fall under 
 a similar government. It has happened, ac- 
 cordingly, that their political institutions are 
 manifestly formed upon the same plan, and 
 present, to the most careless observer, the same 
 aspect and leading features, from which, as in 
 the children of a family, their common origin 
 may clearly be discovered. They differ, no 
 less remarkably, from all the other systems of 
 policy that have been recorded in ancient or 
 modern history. It may be worth while to 
 examine, more particularly, the causes of the 
 uniformity, so observable among all those na- 
 tions, and of the peculiarities, by which they 
 are so much distinguished from the other in- 
 habitants of the world. In this view, there 
 occur five different circumstances that seem to 
 merit attention. 
 
 1. The settlement of the barbarous nations, 
 upon the western continent of Europe, as well 
 as in England, was effected by the gradual sub- 
 jection of a more civilized people, with whom 
 the conquerors were at length completely in- 
 corporate. 
 
 The rude and ignorant tribes who subdued
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 87 
 
 the Roman provinces, were too little connected 
 with one another, and too little accustomed to 
 subordination, to unite in prosecuting any re- 
 gular plan of conquest ; but, according as they 
 were excited by provocation, or met with any 
 encouragement, they made occasional inroads, 
 with different degrees of success ; and when 
 they had overrun a particular district, they 
 commonly chose to remain in the country, and 
 frequently concluded a treaty of peace with 
 the ancient inhabitants. 
 
 Having, on those occasions, become masters 
 of a large territory, which had been long oc- 
 cupied in tillage, and having, by repeated vic- 
 tories, obtained a number of captives, whom 
 they reduced into slavery, they found it an easy 
 matter to employ their slaves in cultivating 
 the land which they had procured. In this 
 situation they soon made such progress in agri- 
 culture, as determined them to relinquish their 
 wandering lite, and apply themselves to the 
 acquisition of separate landed estates. By their 
 intercourse, at the same time, with such of the 
 old inhabitants as retained their freedom, they 
 necessarily acquired a variety of knowledge, 
 and became acquainted with many of the com-
 
 88 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS 
 
 mon arts of life to which they had formerly 
 been strangers. 
 
 It was not to be expected, however, that 
 these barbarians would long remain at rest ; 
 or that they should have any difficulty in find- 
 ing pretences for quarrelling with a people 
 whom they meant to strip of their possessions. 
 In a course of time, therefore, new animosities 
 broke out, which were followed by repeated 
 military enterprises, attended with similar cir- 
 cumstances; till at last, by successive exten- 
 sions of territory, and after several centuries 
 had elapsed, the whole of the western empire 
 was dismembered, and reduced under the 
 power of these invaders. 
 
 The events by which this great revolution 
 was accomplished, could not tail toprodace 
 very opposite effects, upon the ancient inhabi- 
 tants of the country, anJ upon the new settlers. 
 The former, while, in consequence of the vio- 
 lenceand disorder which pi evaded, and of their 
 intercourse with the barbarians, they sunkvery 
 rapidly into poverty and barbarism, commu- 
 nicated in their turn to the latter a few great 
 lines of that cultivation, which had not been 
 entirely effaced among themselves. In the end,
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 89 
 
 those two sets of people were entirely blended 
 together; and their union produced such a 
 compound system of manners and customs, as 
 might be expected to result, from the declining 
 state of the one, and the rising state of the 
 other. 
 
 The destruction of the Roman provinces 
 struck out, in this manner, a sudden spark of 
 improvement, which animated their victorious 
 enemies, and quickly pervaded the new states 
 that were founded upon the ruins of the western 
 empire. In the earliest accounts of the mo- 
 dern kingdoms of Europe, we find the people, 
 though evidently retaining very deep marks of 
 their primitive rudeness, yet certainly much 
 advanced beyond the simple state of the an- 
 cient Germans. Their husbandry, no doubt, 
 continued for ages in a very low and imperfect 
 condition, insomuch that extensive territories 
 were often permitted to lie waste and desolate : 
 yet such as it was, it procured the necessaries 
 of life in greater plenty, and produced of course 
 a more universal attention to its conveniences. 
 Their permanent residence in one place gavq 
 room and encouragement to the exercise of 
 different employments, from which, during
 
 90 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS 
 
 their former migrations, they were in a great 
 measure excluded. Their houses wt re built of 
 more lasting materials, and rendered more com- 
 modious, than the moveable huts in which 
 they formerly sheltered themselves. Particular 
 persons, having acquired very great landed 
 estates, were enabled, by the remaining skill of 
 Roman artificers, to erect such fortresses as 
 were sufficient to defend them from the sud- 
 den incursions of an enemy ; and lived, in suit- 
 able magnificence, at the head of their tenants 
 and domestics. The numerous, and opulent 
 towns, which had been scattered over the do- 
 minions of Rome, though they suffered greatly 
 in the general wreck of the empire, were not, 
 however, universally destroyed or deserted ; 
 and such of them as remained, were frequently 
 occupied and inhabited by the leaders of the 
 conquering tribes. In these, and even through- 
 out the whole of the country, that policy, 
 which had become familiar to the old inhabi- 
 tants, was, in many respects, continued ; and 
 in the early codes of laws, collected by the 
 princes of the barbarous nations who settled in 
 the western empire, we often discover a close 
 imitation of the Roman jurisprudence. 
 
 3
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 91 
 
 In these particulars, the situation of the 
 modern states of Europe appears to have been 
 a good deal different from that of every other 
 nation, of whom any accounts have been trans- 
 mitted to us. In many parts of the world, the 
 rude inhabitants have continued unconnected 
 with any other people more improved than 
 themselves ; and have therefore advanced very 
 slowly in the knowledge of arts, as well as in 
 the progress of the social life. From the re- 
 motest period of antiquity, the Arabs and Tar- 
 tars have remained, for the most part, in a 
 pastoral state ; and are still almost entirely 
 ignorant of husbandry. The Indians of iime- 
 rica still derive their principal subsistence from 
 hunting and fishing ; and are in a great mea- 
 sure strangers to the invention of taming and 
 rearing cattle. In early ages men are desti- 
 tute of sagacity and reflection, to make use of 
 those discoveries which fortune may throw in 
 their way; and their 'improvement is much 
 retarded by those habits of sloth which, being 
 fostered by the primitive manner of life, are 
 not to be overcome without extraordinary in- 
 citements to labour and application. 
 
 Among the instances, preserved in history,
 
 92 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS 
 
 of nations who have acquired a connexion 
 with others, by means of a conquest, we meet 
 with none that are similar to those exhibited 
 in Europe, during the period which we are 
 now considering. The conquest in Asia by 
 Alexander and his successors, was that of one 
 opulent and civilized people over another ; and 
 produced no farther alteration in the Greek 
 states, but that of inspiring them with a taste 
 of Asiatic luxury and extravagance. 
 
 The first military efforts of the Romans 
 were employed in subduing the small neigh- 
 bouring states of Italy, whom they found in 
 the same barbarous condition with themselves; 
 and they had become a great nation, firmly 
 established in their manners and political sys- 
 tem, before they directed their forces against 
 the refined and cultivated parts of the world. 
 Besides, the Roman virtue disdained, foralong 
 time, to imitate the talents and accomplish- 
 ments of the people whom they had subdued. 
 China, and some other of the great Asiatic 
 kingdoms, have been frequently overrun and 
 conquered by several hordes of Tartars, ac- 
 cidentally combined under a great leader: but 
 the conquest, in these cases, was not carried on
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 93 
 
 slowly and gradually, as in the provinces of 
 the western empire : it was completed by one 
 or two great and rapid victories ; so as, on the 
 one hand, to prevent the learning and civili- 
 zation of the vanquished people from being 
 destroyed by a long-continued course of war 
 and devastation ; and on the other, to pre- 
 vent the conquerors, by long neighbourhood 
 and acquaintance, from being incorporated 
 with the former inhabitants, in one common 
 system of manners, customs, and institutions. 
 The final success, therefore, of the victorious 
 army, produced no farther revolution, than by 
 suddenly advancing their general, together, 
 perhaps, with some of his principal officers, 
 to the head of a great and civilized empire ; 
 of which the native country of the conquerors 
 became only a tributary province. 
 
 The same observation is applicable to the 
 dominion acquired by Mahomed, and some of 
 his immediate successors ; which was not esta- 
 blished by a gradual settlement of Arabian 
 tribes, in the rich countries of Asia ; but by 
 a rapid conquest, that gave rise to no intimate 
 coalition of the victors with those who sub- 
 mitted to the Mahometan yoke. No other
 
 94 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS 
 
 change, therefore, was produced in the state 
 of the conquered nations, than what arose 
 from subjecting them to a new religion, and to 
 a new set of monarchs ; while the wandering 
 Arabs, the original followers of Mahomed, 
 remained, for the most part, in their priirr- 
 tive state of barbarism. The conquest of ihe 
 Saracens, and of the eastern empire, by the 
 Turks, had a greater resemblance to the pro- 
 gressive inroads of those who conquered the 
 western provinces ; but it was far from prov* 
 ing equally destructive to the former civiliza- 
 tion of the conquered people, or from reducing 
 them to the level of their barbarous conquerors. 
 
 2. The German or Gothic nations, who 
 settled in the western part of Europe, were 
 enabled, in a short time, to form kingdoms of 
 greater extent, than are usually to be found 
 among people equally rude and barbarous. 
 
 Of all the arts which contribute to improve 
 or to embellish society, that of government re- 
 quires the most enlarged experience and ob- 
 servation ; for which reason, its progress to- 
 wards perfection is proportionably gradual 
 and slow. In that simple age, in which labour 
 is not yet divided among separate artificers,
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 95 
 
 and in which the exchange of commodities is 
 in a great measure unknown, individuals, who 
 reside at a distance from one another, have no 
 occasion to maintain an intimate correspon- 
 dence, and are not apt to entertain the idea 
 of establishing a political connexion. The 
 inhabitants of a large country are then usually 
 parcelled out into separate families or tribes, 
 the members of w r hich have been led, by 
 necessity, to contract habits of living together, 
 and been reduced under the authority of that 
 leader who is capable of protecting them. 
 These little communities are naturally inde- 
 pendent, as well as jealous of one another ; 
 and though, from the dread of a common 
 enemv, they are sometimes obliged to com- 
 bine in a league for mutual defence, yet such 
 combinations ' are generally too casual and 
 fluctuating to be the foundation of a compre- 
 hensive and permanent union. 
 
 But those barbarians who conquered the 
 western empire were quickly induced, and 
 enabled, to form extensive associations ; partly, 
 from the circumstances attending the con- 
 quest ; and partly from the state of the coun- 
 try in which they formed their settlements.
 
 96 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS 
 
 With respect to the circumstances attending 
 their conquest, it is to be observed, that theh? 
 tribes were far from being large or numerous, 
 and that they overran and subdued a very 
 large tract of country ; in consequence of 
 which, the members of the same tribe were 
 enabled to occupy great landed estates, and 
 came to be settled at a proportionable dis- 
 tance from one another. Individuals who had 
 belonged to a small communit}', and who had 
 been accustomed to fight under the same 
 leader, were thus dispersed over an extensive 
 territory ; and, notwithstanding this change 
 in their situation, were naturally disposed to 
 retain their former connexions and habits. 
 The notion of uniting under a single chief, 
 which had been established among the mem- 
 bers of a wandering tribe of shepherds, con- 
 tinued, therefore, to operate upon the same 
 people, after they had acquired ample posses- 
 sions, and had reduced multitudes under their 
 dominion. 
 
 The extent of the kingdoms, erected by 
 those barbarous nations, was likewise affected 
 by the state of each Roman province, in which 
 their settlements were made.
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 97 
 
 As every Roman province constituted a part 
 of the whole empire ; so it formed a distinct 
 society, influenced by national views, and di- 
 rected by a separate interest. Among the in- 
 habitants of the same province, united by 
 their local situation, by the ties of friendship 
 and acquaintance, and even by that common 
 system of oppression to which they were sub- 
 ject, a regular intercourse was constantly main- 
 tained. Those who lived in villages, or in the 
 open country, carried on a variety of transac- 
 tions with the several towns in the neighbour- 
 hood, where they found a market for their 
 goods, and were supplied with those conveni- 
 ences which they required. _ The inhabitants 
 of these towns, and of the whole province, 
 were, at the same time, closely connected with 
 the capital, where the governor resided in a 
 kind of regal pomp and magnificence, and di- 
 rected the various wheels and springs of ad- 
 ministration. Here the public money, ac- 
 cumulated from different parts, was again dis- 
 tributed through the various channels of go- 
 vernment ; and thither men of all descriptions, 
 the poor and the rich, the idle and the indus- 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS. 
 
 trious were attracted from every quarter, by 
 the views of profit, or pleasure, or of ambition. 
 
 The changes which at different periods were 
 made in , the political constitution of Rome, 
 produced no great alteration, as has been al- 
 ready observed, either in the extent or condi- 
 tion of her provincial governments. The an- 
 cient boundaries of the provinces appear to 
 have been generally retained under the later 
 emperors ; though, in order to secure the pub- 
 lic tranquillity, they were often subdivided 
 into particular districts, which were put under 
 the direction of subordinate officers. The con- 
 nexions, therefore, between the several parts of 
 the several province, were gradually strength- 
 ened from the length of time during which 
 they had subsisted. 
 
 As, by the conquest of those countries, the 
 ancient inhabitants were not extirpated, it is 
 natural to suppose that their former habits of 
 intercourse were not obliterated and forgotten ; 
 but, on the contrary, were in some degree 
 communicated to the conquerors. They who 
 had lived under the same government were 
 still disposed to admit the authority of a single
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 99 
 
 person, and to remain in that state of union 
 and subordination to which they had been 
 accustomed. Particular chiefs having occu- 
 pied the remaining towns belonging to a Ro- 
 man province, were of course rendered masters 
 of the adjacent territory ; and he who had set 
 himself at the head of the most powerful dis- 
 trict, was in a fair way of becoming sovereign 
 of the whole. 
 
 It may also be worthy of notice, that as the 
 conquering tribes adopted a number of the 
 Roman institutions, their principal conductor 
 was frequently in a condition to avail himself 
 of that authority, however declining, which 
 the Roman government continued to main- 
 tain : and by assuming, or obtaining, the dig- 
 nity which had belonged to the chief magis- 
 trate of a province, was enabled with greater 
 facility to extend his dominion over the terri- 
 tories which had formerly acknowledged the 
 jurisdiction of that officer. Thus we find 
 that Clovis who conquered a great part of 
 Gaul, was near the end of this reign, invested 
 with the title of consul, and probably with that 
 of pro-consul, by the emperor Anastasius ; and 
 that the posterity of Clovis were at the pains 
 
 h 2
 
 100 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS 
 
 to procure from the emperor Justinian, a 
 resignation of all the rights of the empire over 
 that nominal branch of his dominions*. 
 
 In like manner Theodoric, the king of the 
 Ostrogoths, who had been invested, in the 
 eastern empire, with the title of patrician and 
 consul, and who had obtained for himself and 
 his followers a settlement in Thrace, was af- 
 terwards commissioned by the emperor Zeno 
 to conquer Italy, and take possession of the 
 country^. 
 
 From these causes, countries at a great dis- 
 tance from one another were forced into a sort 
 of political union : and the boundaries of a 
 modern kingdom came, in most cases, to be 
 nearly of the same extent with those of an an- 
 cient Roman province. 
 
 As Italy, which comprehended the num- 
 berless villas, and highly-cultivated pleasure 
 grounds, belonging to the opulent citizens of 
 Rome, was the object of more attention than 
 those parts of the empire which lay at a greater 
 distance, it was early subjected to a more ac- 
 
 * Hist, de l'Etablissement de la Mon. Fran, par l'Abb* 
 Dn Bos. liv. 4. ch. 18. liv. 5. ch 7. 
 i Ibid. liv. 4, cb. 3.
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 101 
 
 curate police, and divided into smaller districts. 
 It was distributed by Augustus, into eleven 
 regions; and in the time of the emperor Adrian 
 that country, together with Sicily, Sardinia, 
 and Corsica, included no less than seventeen 
 divisions. The smallness of the districts into 
 which it was thus broken by the Roman go- 
 vernment, had, no doubt, an influence upon 
 the new arrangements which it underwent 
 from the invasion of the barbarians ; and made 
 it fall more easily into a number of petty states, 
 under the several dukes, or nobles, w T ho as- 
 sumed an independent authority. 
 
 In England, though the most part of the 
 territories which had composed the ancient 
 Roman province were at last united in one 
 kingdom, yet this union was effected more 
 slowly, and with greater difficulty, than in 
 many of the other European countries. The 
 settlement of the Anglo-Saxons was produced 
 in a different manner from that of the other 
 German nations who settled upon the conti- 
 nent of Europe. As the expeditions of the 
 latter ware carried on, for the most part, by 
 land, it was usual for the whole of a tribe or 
 nation to advance in a body, and after they
 
 102 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS 
 
 had defeated the Roman armies, to spread 
 themselves over the extensive territory which 
 fell under their dominion. The original con- 
 nexions, therefore, among the individuals of 
 the conquering nation, co-operated with the 
 circumstance of their settling in the same pro- 
 vince, to facilitate their reduction, either by 
 conquest or confederacy, under one supreme 
 leader. The naval incursions of the Anglo- 
 Saxons were, on the other hand, made by 
 small detached parties, collected occasionally 
 by any single adventurer, who, for the sake of 
 a precarious settlement, was willing to relin- 
 quish his kindred and acquaintance. The fol- 
 lowers of every separate leader were therefore 
 too inconsiderable to occupy great landed pos- 
 sessions ; and as they invaded England at dif- 
 ferent times, and in different places, with 
 scarce any previous concert, and with little 
 attachment to one another, they discovered 
 so much the stronger disposition to remain in 
 separate states, and to preserve their primitive 
 independence. From these circumstances, we 
 may account for the division of England into 
 so many independent kingdoms ; which were 
 not reduced under one monarch till between
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 103 
 
 three and four centuries after the first settle- 
 ment of those invaders. 
 
 3. The great extent of the kingdoms that 
 were formed upon the ruins of the western 
 empire, together with the rudeness of the 
 people by whom they were established, appears 
 to have occasioned that system of feudal te- 
 nures, which is commonly regarded as the 
 most distinguishing peculiarity in the policy 
 of modern Europe. 
 
 The disposition to theft and rapine, so pre- 
 valent among rude nations, makes it necessary 
 that the members of every family should have 
 a watchful eye upon the conduct of all their 
 neighbours, and should be constantly upon 
 their guard to preserve their persons from out- 
 rage, and their property from depredation. 
 The first efforts of civil government are in- 
 tended to supersede this necessity, by punish- 
 ing such offences, and enabling the individuals 
 of the same community to live together in 
 peace and tranquillity. But these efforts, it is 
 evident, are likely to be more offectual in a 
 small state than in a large one; and the public 
 magistrate finds it much more difficult to ex- 
 tend and support his authority over a multitude
 
 104 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS 
 
 of individuals, dispersed through a wide coun- 
 try, than over a small number, confined to a 
 narrow district. It is for this reason that go- 
 vernment has commonly been sooner estab- 
 lished, as well as better modelled, in commu- 
 nities of a moderate size, than in those which 
 comprehend the inhabitants of an extensive 
 region. 
 
 In proportion to the great number of peo- 
 ple, and the great extent of territory, in each 
 of the modern European kingdoms, the ad- 
 vances of authority in the public were slow, 
 and its capacity of restraining violence and 
 disorder was limited. The different families 
 of a kingdom, though they acknowledged the 
 same sovereign, and were directed by him in 
 iheir foreign military enterprizes, were not, 
 upon ordinary occasions, in a situation to feel 
 much dependence upon him. Acquiring great 
 landed possessions, and residing at a distance 
 from the capital, as well as in places of difficult 
 access, they were often in a condition to set 
 the whole power of the crown at defiance; 
 and disdaining to submit their quarrels to the 
 determination of the civil magistrate, they 
 assumed a privilege of revenging with their
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 105 
 
 own hands the injuries or indignities which 
 they pretended to have suffered. When not 
 employed, therefore, in expeditions against a 
 public enemy, they were commonly engaged 
 in private hostilities among themselves ; from 
 the frequent repetition of which there arose 
 animosities and feuds, that were only to be 
 extinguished svith the life of the combatants, 
 and that, in many cases, were even rendered 
 hereditary. In such a state of arnachy and 
 confusion, the strong were permitted to op- 
 press the weak ; and those who had most 
 power of hurting their neighbours, were the 
 most completely secured from the punishment 
 due to their offences. 
 
 As the individuals of a nation were thus des- 
 titute of protection from government, they 
 were under the necessity of defending them- 
 selves, or of seeking protection from one ano- 
 ther ; and the little societies composed of near 
 relations, or formed accidentally by neigbour- 
 hood and acquaintance, were obliged to unite, 
 in the most intimate manner, to repel the at- 
 tacks of their numerous enemies. The poor 
 were forced to shelter themselves under the 
 influence and power of the rich; and the latter
 
 106 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS 
 
 found it convenient to employ a great part of 
 their wealth, in order to obtain the constant 
 aid and support of the former. The head of 
 every family was commonly surrounded by as 
 great a number of kindred and dependents as 
 he was capable of maintaining ; these were 
 accustomed to follow him in war, and in time 
 of peace to share in the rural sports to which 
 he was addicted ; it was their duty to espouse 
 his quarrel on every occasion, as it was incum- 
 bent on him to defend them from injuries. 
 In a family so small, that all its members could 
 be maintained about the same house, a mutual 
 obligation of this kind was naturally under- 
 stood from the situation of the parties ; but in 
 larger societies it was rendered more clear and 
 definite by an express agreement. A man of 
 great opulence distributed part of his demesne 
 among his retainers, upon condition of their 
 performing military services ; as, on the other 
 hand, the small proprietors in his neighbour- 
 hood, being incapable of maintaining their 
 independence, were glad to purchase his pro- 
 tection, by agreeing to hold their land upon 
 the same terms. Hence the origin of vassal- 
 age in Europe, the nature of which will be
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 107 
 
 more particularly explained hereafter. Every 
 considerable proprietor of land had thus a num- 
 ber of military servants, who, instead of payi 
 enjoyed a part of his estate, as the reward of 
 their services. By this distribution and ar- 
 rangement of landed possessions, the most 
 natural remedy was provided for the evils aris- 
 ing from the weakness of government. Men 
 of inferior station, who singly were incapable 
 of defending their persons or their property, 
 obtained more security , as well as consideration, 
 under their respective superiors ; and the inha- 
 bitants of a large territory, being combined in 
 societies, who had each of them a common 
 interest, were in a better condition to resist the 
 general tide of violence and oppression. 
 
 From these observations we may discover 
 how far the connexions between the superior 
 and vassal, and the various parts of what is 
 called the feudal system, are peculiar to the 
 modern states of Europe, or belong to them in 
 common with other nations. 
 
 In Greece and Rome, or in any of the small 
 states of antiquity, there are few or no traces 
 to be discovered of the feudal institutions. 
 Erom the inconsiderable number of people
 
 108 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS 
 
 collected in each of those ancient states, and 
 from the narrowness of the territory which 
 they inhabited, the government was enabled, 
 at an early period, to extend its protection to 
 all the citizens, so as to free them from the 
 necessity of providing for their own safety, by 
 associatingthemselves under particular military 
 leaders. If any sort of vassalage, therefore, 
 had been introduced in the infancy of those 
 nations, it appears to have been abolished 
 before they were possessed of historical records. 
 In many rude nations of greater extent, 
 both in ancient and modern times, we may 
 discern, on the contrary, the outlines of the 
 feudal policy. This, if we can trust the rela- 
 tions given by travellers, is particularly the 
 case at present in several of the kingdoms in 
 Asia, and upon the southern coast of Africa. 
 In these kingdoms, the number of barbarians 
 collected under one sovereign has probably 
 rendered the government so feeble, as to re- 
 quire a number of subordinate associations, for 
 the protection of individuals ; but the coalition 
 of different families being neither so extensive, 
 nor produced in the same rapid manner, as in 
 the modern states of Europe, the regulations
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 109 
 
 to which it has given occasion are neither so 
 numerous and accurate, nor have they been 
 reduced into so regular a system. 
 
 4. The custom of duelling, and the peculiar 
 notions of honour, which have so long pre- 
 vailed in the modern nations of Europe, appear 
 to have arisen from the same circumstances 
 that produced the feudal institutions. 
 
 The political establishment, in all those 
 nations, was, for a long time, incapable of pre- 
 venting the unlimited exercise of private hosti- 
 lities; and every family, being exposed to inva- 
 sion from all its neighbours, was obliged to be 
 constantly in a posture of defence. In these 
 circumstances, the military spirit of the people 
 was not only raised to a high pitch, but it re- 
 ceived a peculiar direction, and was attended 
 with peculiar habits and opinions. 
 
 In a war between two great nations, when 
 large and well disciplined armies are brought 
 into the field, there is little room for individuals 
 to acquire distinction by their exploits ; and it 
 is only expected of them, that, like the parts 
 of a complex machine, they should perform, 
 with steadiness and regularity, the several 
 movements for which they are destined ; nei-
 
 110 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS 
 
 ther are those who belong to the opposite ar- 
 mies likely to entertain much personal ani- 
 mosity, the national quarrel being lost in that 
 promiscuous multitude among whom it is di- 
 vided. But in the private wars that took place 
 between the several families of modern Europe 
 the case was very different ; for the number 
 engaged upon either side was commonly so 
 small, and they had so little of military disci- 
 pline, that every single person might act a dis- 
 tinguished part, and in the time of action was 
 left in some measure to pursue the dictates of 
 his own bravery or prudence ; so that a battle 
 consisted of little more than the random com- 
 bats of such particular warriors as were led by 
 inclination or accident to oppose one another. 
 The natural consequence of such a situation 
 was to produce a keen emulation between the 
 individuals of the same party, as well as a 
 stated opposition, and often a violent animo- 
 sity, between those of different parties. In a 
 long course of hostilities, the same persons 
 were often led to encounter each other ; and 
 having fought (perhaps on different occasions) 
 with various success, were at length excited by 
 a mutual challenge to a comparative trial of 
 
 2
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. Ill 
 
 their strength, courage, or skill. By repeated 
 struggles of this nature a continual jealousy 
 was kept up between the members of different 
 families, who in prosecuting their quarrels 
 became no less eager to support their military 
 character, and to avenge any insult or indig- 
 nity, than to defend their possessions. 
 
 The private wars between different families, 
 which gave rise to mutual emulation and jea- 
 lousy, as well as to violent animosity and re- 
 sentment, continued in Europe for many cen- 
 turies, notwithstanding that some improve- 
 ments were made by the people in the common 
 arts and modes of living. To assassinate those 
 from whom great provocation had been re- 
 ceived was, among the primitive conquerors 
 of the Roman empire, a method of revenge 
 pursued without scruple, and beheld without 
 censure. By degrees, however, the love of 
 military glory prevailed over the gratification 
 of resentment, and those who aimed at main- 
 taining the rank of gentlemen became ashamed 
 of taking an unfair advantage of an enemy, 
 which might imply a confession of inferiority 
 in prowess ; but thought it incumbent upon 
 them, whatever was the quarrel, to invite him
 
 112 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS 
 
 to an open contest, in which the superiority 
 might be decided upon equal terms. Thus the 
 practice of duelling, the most refined species 
 of private vengeance, was rendered more and 
 more fashionable; and in every country of 
 Europe, according to its progress from barba- 
 rism, assassination became less frequent, and 
 was held in greater detestation. In Spain and 
 Portugal, the least improved of those countries, ' 
 it never has been completely extirpated^ and 
 the inhabitants have not yet attained that re- 
 finement of the feudal manners, which the rest 
 of Europe, from a still higher pitch of improve- 
 ment, are now seeking to lay aside. 
 
 So far was the government from restraining 
 the custom of duelling, that the efforts of the 
 civil magistrate tended rather to encourage it. 
 Those who had sustained an affront thought it 
 dishonourable to apply for redress to a court 
 of justice ; but when a dispute had arisen in 
 matters of property, and had become the sub- 
 ject of a law-suit, it frequently happened, that 
 in the course of the debate the parties, by their 
 proud and insolent behaviour, affronted each 
 other; which made them withdraw their cause 
 from the court, in order to determine it by the
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 113 
 
 sword ; the judge was unable to prevent this 
 determination, but he endeavoured to diminish 
 the bad consequences that might arise from it. 
 By regulating the forms of the encounter, and 
 superintending the ceremonies with which it 
 was conducted, he availed himself of the punc- 
 tilios of honour, which fashion had established, 
 and restrained the friends of either party from 
 interfering in the quarrel. Hence the judicial 
 combat, which has been erroneously considered 
 by some as the origin of duelling, but which 
 undoubtedly tended to support and extend 
 the practice, by giving it the sanction of pub- 
 lic authority. It has, accordingly, been ob- 
 served, that as, in a judicial controversy, the 
 most common provocation consisted in the 
 parties contradicting each other in point of 
 fact ; so giving the lie has become that sort of 
 offence, on account of which custom has ren- 
 dered it most indispensably necessary to re- 
 quire satisfaction by fighting. 
 
 The institutions of chivalry, and the jousts 
 and tournaments, were the natural appendages 
 of the custom of duelling, or rather of that 
 state of manners which gave rise to it. 
 
 In the battles of the feudal ages, men of 
 
 vol. i. x
 
 114 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS 
 
 opulence and rank enjoyed many advantages 
 over the common people, by their fighting on 
 horseback, by the superior weapons and armour 
 which they made use of, and above all, by that 
 skill and dexterity which they had leisure to 
 acquire. To improve these advantages was 
 the great object of the gentry, who from their 
 early years devoted themselves to the profession 
 of arms, and generally became attached to 
 some person of experience and reputation, by 
 whom they were trained up and instructed, 
 not only in the several branches of the mili- 
 tary exercise, but in all those qualifications 
 that were thought suitable to their condition* 
 To encourage these laudable pursuits, a mark 
 of distinction was bestowed upon such as had 
 gone through a complete course of military 
 education, and they were admitted, with pe- 
 culiar ceremonies, to the honoui of knight- 
 hood ; from which their proficiency in the art 
 of war, and in the virtues and accomplishments 
 connected with that employment, were under- 
 stood to be publicly ascertained and acknow- 
 ledged. 
 
 Among the multitude of knights belonging 
 to every country, who became professed can-
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 115 
 
 dictates for fame, and upon that account rivals 
 to one another, military sports, that afforded 
 an opportunity of displaying those talents upon 
 which the character of every gentleman chiefly 
 depended, were of course the favourite enter- 
 tainments. As these became the ordinary 
 pastime among private persons, so they were 
 exhibited, on particular occasions, by princes 
 and men of high rank, with great pomp and 
 solemnity. The tournaments were the greater 
 and more public exhibitions, the jousts were 
 those of an inferior and private nature ; to 
 both of which all who enjoyed the dignity of 
 knighthood were made welcome : they were 
 also invited to that round table, at which the 
 master of the ceremony entertained his com- 
 pany, and of which the figure is said to have 
 been contrived on purpose to avoid any dispute 
 concerning the precedence of his guests. 
 
 These public spectacles were begun in 
 France under the kings of the second race ; 
 and were thence, by imitation, introduced 
 into the other countries of Europe. They are 
 said to have been first known in England, 
 during the reign of Stephen, and to have been 
 
 i2
 
 116 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS. 
 
 rendered common in that of Richard the 
 first. 
 
 There can be no doubt that these institu- 
 tions and practices, by which badges of dis- 
 tinction were given to military eminence, and 
 by which numbers of individuals were brought 
 to contend for the prize of skill and valour, 
 would contribute to swell and diffuse the idea 
 of personal dignity by which they were already 
 elated, and to inflame that mutual jealousy by 
 which they were set in opposition to one an- 
 other. The same opinions and sentiments ac- 
 quired additional force from those extraordi- 
 nary enterprises in which the people of dif- 
 ferent European countries were accidentally 
 combined against a common enemy ; as in the 
 , wars between the Moors and Christians, and 
 in the expeditions undertaken by the latter for 
 the purpose of rescuing the holy sepulchre 
 from the hands of infidels. The competition 
 arising on those occasions among the numer- 
 ous warriors collected in the same army, was 
 daily productive of new refinements upon the 
 military spirit of the times, and contributed to 
 multiply and establish the forms and cere-
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 117 
 
 monies which, in every dispute of honour, 
 were held indispensably necessary. 
 
 From these causes the custom of duelling 
 has become so deeply rooted as, notwithstand- 
 ing a total change of manners and circum- 
 stances, to maintain its ground in most of the 
 countries of Europe ; and the effect of later 
 improvements has only been to soften and ren- 
 der more harmless a relict of ancient barbarity, 
 which they could not destroy. In England, 
 where the lower ranks of men enjoy a degree 
 of consideration little known in other coun- 
 tries, the military spirit of the gentry has even 
 descended to the common people, as appears 
 from the custom of boxing peculiar to the Eng- 
 lish, by which they decide their quarrels ac- 
 cording to such punctilios of honour as are dic- 
 tated by the pure and genuine principles of 
 chivalry. 
 
 In other ages and countries there is perhaps 
 no instance of any people whose situation could 
 lead them to entertain the same notions of 
 military dignity which have been displa} r ed by 
 the modern inhabitants of Europe. The inde- 
 pendent families or tribes of shepherds, in Tar- 
 tary or in other parts of the world, have seldom
 
 118 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS 
 
 occasion to reside so long in the same neigh- 
 bourhood as to create a stated opposition and 
 jealousy between their different members. 
 The nations of husbandmen, upon the sou- 
 thern coast of Africa, and in several parts of 
 Asia, who have in some degree adopted the 
 feudal policy, are too little advanced in civili- 
 zation to admit of any refinement in their 
 methods of executing revenge. In those an- 
 cient states that were most addicted to war, 
 as in Rome and Sparta, the people were early 
 brought under the authority of government, 
 so as effectually to prevent the exercise of pri- 
 vate hostilities. A Roman or a Spartan, 
 therefore, was never under the necessity of sup- 
 porting his military dignity, in opposition to 
 his own countrymen ; but was constantly em- 
 ployed in maintaining the glory of his country, 
 in opposition to that of its enemies. The 
 prejudices and habit;* acquired in such a situ- 
 ation were all of a patriotic nature. The 
 pride or vanity of individuals was exerted in 
 acts of public spirit, not in private animosities 
 and disputes. 
 
 M. Voltaire imagines that the practice of 
 duelling, in modern Europe, lias arisen from
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 119 
 
 the custom among the inhabitants, of wearing 
 a sword, as an ordinary part of dress ; but the 
 ancient Greeks, as we learn from Thucydides, 
 were, at an early period, accustomed to go 
 armed ; and there is ground to believe that the 
 same custom has prevailed in all barbarous 
 countries, where the people found themselves 
 continually exposed to danger. The con- 
 tinuance of this practice in Europe longer than 
 in other countries appears to be the effect, not 
 the cause of duelling ; or rather it is the effect 
 of that peculiar direction given to the mili- 
 tary spirit, of which duelling is the natural 
 attendant. 
 
 5. The same situation produced the ro- 
 mantic love and gallantry by which the age of 
 chivalry was no less distinguished than by its 
 peculiar notions of military honour. 
 
 The appetite of the sexes, which in the 
 greater part of animals, nature has, for wise 
 purposes connected with exquisite pleasure, 
 is in the human species productive of senti- 
 ments and affections, which are of great con- 
 sequence to the general intercourse of society, 
 as well as to the happiness of individuals. 
 These two sources of enjoyment, though in
 
 120 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS. 
 
 reality inseparable, and though the latter is 
 ultimately derived from the former, are not 
 always increased and refined by the same cir- 
 cumstances. The mere animal instinct seems 
 to be strengthened by every circumstance that 
 gives occasion to habits of indulgence ; but the 
 peculiar passions that nature has grafted on this 
 enjoyment appear on the contrary to be raised 
 to the higest pitch, by the difficulty attending 
 their gratification ; which as it fixes the imagi- 
 nation upon the same object, has a tendency to 
 exalt its value, and to debase that of every 
 other in proportion. 
 
 In the ages of poverty and barbarism, man- 
 kind are commonly too much occupied in pur- 
 suit of mere necessaries, to pay much regard 
 to the intercourse of the sexes ; and their simple 
 desires with relation to this point being easily 
 gratified as soon as they arise, are not likely 
 to settle with much predilection or preference 
 upon any particular person. 
 
 The first great improvements that are made 
 in any country, with respect to the means of 
 subsistence, being calculated to multiply the 
 comforts and conveniences of life, enable the 
 inhabitants to extend the circle of their plea-
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 121 
 
 sures, and to refine upon every enjoyment 
 which their situation affords : the pleasures of 
 sex become therefore, an object of greater at- 
 tention, and being carried to a higher degree 
 of refinement, are productive of more variety 
 in the taste and inclination of different per- 
 sons ; by which they are often disappointed in 
 the attainment of their wishes, and their pas- 
 sions are proportionably inflamed. The intro- 
 duction of property, which, being accumu- 
 lated in different proportions, becomes the 
 foundation of corresponding distinctions of 
 rank, is at the same time the source of ad- 
 ditional restraints upon the free commerce of 
 the sexes. By the innumerable pretensions to 
 dignity and importance, derived from the 
 vanity of opulence, or the pride of family, in- 
 dividuals have often to surmount a variety of 
 obstacles in order to gratify their passions; and 
 in contracting what is accounted an unsuitable 
 alliance, they are commonly checked and con- 
 trouled, not only by the watchful interposition 
 or their relations, but still more by the rules 
 of propriety and decorum, which custom, in 
 conformity to the state of society, has univer- 
 sally established.
 
 122 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS 
 
 The effect of great wealth and luxury, in a 
 polished nation, is on the other hand to create 
 an immoderate pursuit of sensual pleasure, and 
 to produce habits of excessive indulgence in 
 such gratifications. In such a situation parti- 
 cular attachments are apt to be lost in the 
 general propensity ; and the correspondence of 
 the sexes becomes, in a great measure, subser- 
 vient to voluptuousness, or to the purposes 
 merely of elegant amusement. 
 
 The passion of love, therefore, is likely to 
 attain the highest degree of refinement in a 
 state of society equally removed from the ex- 
 tremes of barbarism and of luxury. 
 
 The nations formed in the western part of 
 Europe, upon the downfal of the Roman 
 empire, appear to have continued for many 
 centuries in that condition. They were pos- 
 sessed of such opulence, and of such improve- 
 ments in society, as to stamp some value upon 
 the pleasures of sex, without creating much 
 incitement to debauchery. Their distinctions 
 of rank, arising from the very unequal distri- 
 bution of property, and the mutual apprehen- 
 sion and jealousy which a long course of pri- 
 vate hostilities had introduced among different
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 123 
 
 families, occasioned, at the same time, in their 
 whole correspondence, a degree of caution and 
 distrust unknown in other ages and countries. 
 The women of every family, as well as the 
 men, were taught to over-rate their own dig- 
 nity, and to look upon it as disgraceful to give 
 any encouragement to a lover, whose rank 
 and worth did not entitle him to a preference, 
 in the opinion of the world, and in that of her 
 own prejudiced relations. 
 
 As no man in that age was allowed to claim 
 any merit, unless he had acquired a military 
 reputation, the warrior who had been inspired 
 with' a youthful inclination could not expect 
 any marks of regard, far less a return of affec- 
 tion, without signalizing his fortitude and 
 prowess, by encountering a variety of hard- 
 ships and dangers. Before he had in this man- 
 ner deserved the favour of his mistress, it was 
 held inconsistent with her character to divulge 
 any impression she had received to his advan- 
 tage ; and the laws of delicacy required that 
 she should behave to him on all occasions with 
 distance and reserve, if not with insolence and 
 scorn. By the delays, the disappointments, the 
 uncertainty of success, to which he was thu*
 
 124 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS 
 
 -exposed, his thoughts were long engrossed by 
 that favourite object ; and the ardours of a 
 natural appetite were at length exalted into a 
 violent passion. 
 
 The romantic love, peculiar to the ages of 
 chivalry, was readily united with the high 
 sentiments of military honour, and they seem 
 to have mutually promoted each other. An 
 accomplished character in those times required 
 not only the most undaunted courage and re- 
 solution, supported by great generosity, and a 
 contempt of every sordid interest, but also the 
 most respectful regard and reverence for the 
 ladies, together with a sincere and faithful pas- 
 sion for some individual. Persons possessed of 
 these accomplishments, or who desired the 
 reputation of possessing them, devoted them- 
 selves to the particular profession of protecting 
 the feeble, of relieving the distressed, of humb- 
 ling and restraining the insolent oppressor. 
 Not content with ordinary occasions of acquir- 
 ing distinction, there were some who thought 
 it necessary to travel from place to place, with 
 the avowed ^purpose of redressing grievances, 
 and of punishing the injuries to which, from 
 the disorderly state of the country, the unwar-
 
 AND OTHER BARBARIANS. 125 
 
 ]ike and defenceless, but especially the female 
 sex, were daily subjected. 
 
 It happened indeed in those times, as it na- 
 turally happens wherever mankind have been 
 directed by fashion to admire any particular 
 sort of excellence, that the desire of imitating 
 the great and gallant actions of heroes and 
 lovers, was often disfigured and rendered ridi- 
 culous by affectation, and became productive 
 of artificial and fantastic manners. The 
 knight-errant, who found no real abuses to 
 combat, endeavoured to procure distinction by 
 adventures of no utility, and which had no 
 other merit but the danger attending them ; 
 as he who had never felt a real passion, tor- 
 tured his mind with one merely imaginary, 
 complained of rigours that he had never met 
 with, and entered the lists to maintain that 
 superior beauty and merit which he had never 
 beheld. 
 
 It is unnecessary to remark, that these institu- 
 tions and customs, and the circumstances from 
 which they proceeded, were peculiarly unfa- 
 vourable to trade and manufactures. The 
 Saxons in England, as well as the other nations 
 who settled about the same time upon the
 
 126 SIMILARITY OF ANGLO-SAXONS, &C. 
 
 western continent of Europe, though immedi- 
 ately after their settlement they had been ex- 
 cited to a considerable improvement in agri- 
 culture, and in some of the common arts of 
 life, remained afterwards for ages in that hos- 
 tile and turbulent state which gave little room 
 or encouragement for the exercise of peaceable 
 occupations. The manners introduced into 
 those countries in early times being thus con- 
 firmed by long usage, have become propor- 
 tionably permanent, and notwithstanding the 
 changes of a subsequent period, have left in- 
 numerable traces of their former existence.
 
 127 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 The State of Property, and the different Hanks 
 and Orders of Men, produced by the Settle- 
 ment of the Saxons in Britain. » 
 
 X HE distribution of property among any 
 people is the principal circumstance that 
 contributes to reduce them under civil go- 
 vernment, and to determine the form of their 
 political constitution. The poor are naturally 
 dependant upon the rich, from whom they de- 
 rive subsistence ; and, according to the acci- 
 dental differences of wealth possessed by indi- 
 viduals, a subordination of ranks is gradually 
 introduced, and different degrees of power and 
 authority are assumed without opposition, by 
 particular persons, or bestowed upon them by 
 the general voice of the society. 
 
 The progress of the Saxon arms in Britain 
 produced an appropriation of land and move- 
 ables, by all the free members of the com- 
 munity. Every warrior considered himself as 
 entitled to a share of the spoil acquired by the 
 conquest ; and obtained a number of captives, 
 2
 
 128 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 and a landed territory, proportioned to his va- 
 lour and activity, or to the services which he 
 had performed. It is probable that the several 
 conquering parties were seldom at the trouble 
 of making a formal division of their acquisi- 
 tions, but commonly permitted each individual 
 to enjoy the booty which he had seized in war, 
 and to become master of such a quantity of 
 land, as by means of his captives, and the other 
 members of his family, he was enabled to oc- 
 cupy and to manage. Such of the ancient in- 
 habitants, on the other hand, as remained in 
 the country, and had preserved their liberty, 
 were in all probability understood to retain the 
 property, of those estates of which they had 
 been able to maintain the possession. 
 
 There is good reason to believe that* for 
 some time after the settlement of those barba- 
 rians in England, the landed estates acquired 
 by individuals were generally of small extent. 
 The Saxons were among the poorest and the 
 rudest of the, German nations who invaded the 
 Roman empire; and Britain was, on the other 
 hand, one of the least cultivated of all its pro- 
 vinces ; at the same time that the progress of 
 the conquerors in the appropriation of land
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 129 
 
 (which from these causes must have been pro- 
 portionably slow and gradual) was further ob- 
 structed by the vigorous opposition of the 
 natives, who seem to have disputed every inch 
 of ground with their enemies. 
 
 We accordingly find that, from the begin- 
 ning of the Anglo-Saxon government, the land 
 was divided into hides, each comprehending 
 what could be cultivated by a single plough. 
 This, among a simple people, becomes a na- 
 tural boundary to the possession of those who 
 live in the same house, and are jointly at the 
 expence of procuring that useful but compli- 
 cated instrument of husbandry. The general 
 estimation of the Anglo-Saxon lands, accord- 
 ing to this inaccurate measure, points out suf- 
 ficiently the original circumstance which re- 
 gulated the extent of the greater part of 
 estates. When, by the progress of cultiva- 
 tion, and by future successes in war, the 
 landed property of individuals was increased, 
 the ancient standard of computation remained ; 
 and the largest estates, by comparing them 
 with the smallest, were rated according to the 
 number of hides which they contained*. 
 * See Spelm. Gloss, v. Hyda, 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 ISO STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 While the estates possessed by the Anglo- 
 Saxons were small, they were cultivated under 
 the immediate inspection of the owner, his 
 kindred or servants, who lived in his own 
 house, and were fed at his table. But when 
 the territory acquired by any person became 
 too extensive, and the members of his family 
 became too numerous, to render this mode of 
 living any longer convenient, a part of his 
 land was parcelled out into different farms, 
 and committed to the management of parti- 
 cular bondmen, from whom, at the end of 
 the year, he required an account of the pro- 
 duce. A part of any great estate came like- 
 wise to be occupied by the kindred and free 
 retainers of the proprietor, to whom, in return 
 for that military service which they undertook 
 to perform, he assigned portions of land for a 
 maintenance. 
 
 Hence the distinction between the in-land 
 of the Saxons, and the out-land : the former 
 was what lay next the mansion-house of the 
 owner, and was retained in his own hands ; 
 the latter, what lay at a greater distance, and 
 was in the possession and management either 
 of his retainers or servants*. 
 * See Spelman on Feuds and Tenures by Knight-service, c. 5.
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 131 
 
 The out-land of every opulent person came 
 thus to be possessed by two different sorts of 
 people ; the bond-men, who laboured their 
 farms for the benefit of their master, and those 
 freemen (most commonly his kindred) who 
 had become bound to follow him in war, and 
 upon that condition were entitled to draw the 
 full produce of their possessions. The former 
 have been called villeins, the latter vassals. 
 
 Considering the right of the latter to the 
 lands which they possessed, in contradistinc- 
 tion to that of the person from whom they de- 
 rived their possession, the landed estates of 
 the Anglo-Saxons have been divided into allo- 
 dial and feudal. The allodial estates were 
 those of every independent proprietor. Over 
 these the owner enjoyed a full dominion ; and 
 he had a right to alienate or dispose of them 
 at pleasure. Upon the death of a proprietor, 
 they descended to his heirs, according to cer- 
 tain rules of succession which custom had in- 
 troduced ; and they were not burdened with 
 service of any kind in favour of a superior. 
 
 The feudal estates were those possessed by 
 vassals upon condition of military or other ser- 
 
 K 2
 
 132 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 vices : these were held originally during the 
 pleasure of the superior, though it appears that 
 custom had early secured the possession of the 
 vassal for a limited time. When he had 
 ploughed and sowed his ground, it was thought 
 equitable that he should be allowed to reap 
 the crop arising from his labour and expence. 
 Thus a year came soon to be acknowledged as 
 the shortest period, upon the conclusion of 
 which he might be deprived of his possession. 
 Even after this period it was not likely that a 
 superior would think of putting away his re- 
 lations and ancient retainers, with whose per- 
 sonal attachment he was well acquainted, and 
 of whose valour and fidelity he had probably 
 been a witness. The possessions, therefore, of 
 the greater part of the vassals, though not con- 
 firmed by any positive bargain, with respect to 
 the term of their continuance, were in fact 
 usually retained for life ; and even upon the 
 death of the possessor were frequently enjoy- 
 ed by his posterity, whom, out of affection to 
 the ancestor, the superior commonly preferred 
 to a stranger, or to any distant relation. 
 When the lands of a vassal had, by a positive
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 133 
 
 bargain, been only secured to him for life, or 
 for a limited period, they were called benefices*. 
 
 The differences which I have mentioned in 
 the condition of estates, gave rise, most pro- 
 bably, to the celebrated distinction of hoc-land 
 and folc-land. The former, comprehending 
 the estates of the nobler sort, was allodial, and 
 being held in absolute property, was conveyed 
 by a deed in writing ; the latter was the land 
 possessed by people of inferior condition, who 
 having no right of property, but holding their 
 possessions merely as tenants, for payment of 
 rents or services, did not obtain any written 
 title for ascertaining their rights-)-. 
 
 It may be remarked that boc-land might 
 belong either to the king or to a subject, and 
 that it implied no obligation to feudal services, 
 in the latter case, more than in the former. It 
 is true that subjects who enjoyed boc-land were 
 bound to defend the kingdom from enemies 
 by sea or land, and to build or repair bridges 
 and castlesj : but these were services which 
 they owed to the public as citizens, not to the 
 
 * V. Feud. Consuet. lib. i. tit. i. % 1. 2. 
 
 t Spelm.on Feuds and Tenures by Knight-servicejChap.5. 
 
 $ Expedition, Burghbote, and Brigbote.
 
 134 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 king as vassals. These duties were imposed 
 by a general law of the kingdom, and were 
 laid upon the possessors offolc-land as well as 
 of boc-land, upon the clergy as well as laity, in 
 short, upon all the free members of the com- 
 munity*. 
 
 Such was the original state of property in 
 the Anglo-Saxon government ; from the con- 
 sideration of which, together with the early 
 circumstances and manners of the nation, the 
 inhabitants, exclusive of the sovereign, may 
 be distinguished into three different ranks or 
 orders. 
 
 1. The first and most conspicuous was that 
 of the military people. It is probable that for 
 some time after the settlement of the Saxons 
 in England, this comprehended all the free 
 men of the nation. The general character of 
 those adventurers, and the views with which 
 they invaded Britain, were such as disposed 
 every man, who had the direction of his own 
 conduct, to become a soldier, and to engage in 
 every enterprize by which either plunder or 
 reputation might be procured. These war- 
 
 * See Spelraan on Feuds and Tenures by Knight-service 
 chap. 8. 9. 10. 11.
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 135 
 
 riors, who in general were denominated thanes, 
 came soon to be arranged into two classes; 
 the one consisting of those heads of families 
 who had acquired allodial property ; the other 
 of such retainers as held lands, by a military 
 tenure, either of the king, or of any other al- 
 lodial proprietor. Both these classes of peo- 
 ple were accounted gentlemen, and were un- 
 derstood to be of the same rank, in as much 
 as they exercised the honourable profession of 
 arms ; though in point of influence and power 
 there was the greatest disparity, the vassals 
 being almost entirely dependent upon their 
 superior. The soldiers of this lower class ap- 
 pear to have received the appellation of less, 
 or inferior thanes*. 
 
 2. The peasants composed a second order, 
 greatly inferior in rank to the thanes of either 
 class. They appear to have consisted chiefly 
 of such persons as had been reduced into cap- 
 tivity during the long wars between the Bri- 
 tons and the Saxons, and had afterwards been 
 entrusted by their masters with the manage- 
 ment of particular farms ; they were called 
 ceorls, carles, or churles. Some of them, no 
 
 * Spelman, i the treatise above qu oted.
 
 136 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 doubt, were kept in the house of their master, 
 and employed in cultivating the land in his 
 own possession; but the greater number were 
 usually sent to a distance, and placed, as it 
 happened to be convenient, upon different 
 parts of his estate. The former being under 
 his eye, and acting on all occasions from his 
 orders, remained for a long time in their pri- 
 mitive servile condition; the latter, on the 
 contrary, being withdrawn from his immediate 
 inspection, had necessarily more trust and con- 
 fidence reposed in them, and were thence 
 enabled, with some degree of rapidity, to ime 
 prove their circumstances. From their dis- 
 tance, the master was obliged to relinquish all 
 thoughts of compelling them to labour, by 
 means of personal chastisement ; and as, from 
 the nature of their employment, he could 
 hardly judge of their diligence, otherwise than 
 by their success, he soon found it expedient to 
 bribe their industry, by giving them a reward 
 in proportion to the crop which they pro- 
 duced. They were thus allowed to acquire 
 property ; and their condition became similar^ 
 an every respect, to that of the adscripti glebed 
 among the ancient Romans, to that of the pre-
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 137 
 
 sent colliers and salters in Scotland, or of 
 the bondmen employed in the mines in se- 
 veral parts of Europe. In this situation some 
 of them, by industry and frugality, found 
 means to accumulate so much wealth, as en- 
 abled them to stock their own farms, and be- 
 come bound to pay a certain yearly rent to 
 the master. 
 
 It must be acknowledged, the writers up*v 
 Saxon antiquities have generally supposed that 
 the ceorls were never in a servile condition ; 
 that from the beginning they were free tenants, 
 forming a distinct class of people, and holding 
 an intermediate rank between the villeins or 
 bondmen, and those who followed the mili- 
 tary profession. But this supposition, so far 
 as I know, is made without any shadow of 
 proof: it probably took its rise from observing 
 that the free tenants, towards the end of the 
 Anglo-Saxon goverment, were very nume- 
 rous, without attending to the circumstances 
 from which they obtained their freedom. It 
 is not likely, however, that in so rude and 
 warlike an age any set of men, who had not 
 been debased by servitude, and restrained by 
 their condition, would attach themselves
 
 138 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 wholly to agriculture, and be either unfit for 
 war, or unwilling to engage in it. If the ceorls 
 had not been originally in some degree of 
 bondage, they would undoubtedly have been 
 warriors ; and we accordingly find that when, 
 from the circumstances above mentioned, they 
 had afterwards acquired considerable privi- 
 leges, they were advanced to the rank and 
 employment of thanes. 
 
 Though the peasants were chiefly employed 
 in agriculture, they were sometimes engaged 
 in other branches of labour, as a collateral pro- 
 fession. From the poverty and rudeness of 
 the country, for some time after the settlement 
 of the Saxons in Britain, it may easily be ima- 
 gined that little encouragement was given to 
 mechanical arts, and that artificers and trades- 
 men were not of sufficient consequence to be- 
 come a separate order in the community. 
 Some mechanics, even in that simple age, 
 were doubtless necessary to procure the ordi- 
 nary accommodations of life, but the demand 
 for their work was too narrow to occupy the 
 sole attention of any individual. Such of the 
 bondmen as had attained a peculiar dexterity 
 in performing any branch of manual labour,
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 139 
 
 were naturally employed by the master in the 
 exercise of it, and thus were led, by degrees, 
 to make some proficiency in particular occu- 
 pations. But they were not hindered by these 
 employments from cultivating the ground; 
 and they obtained a maintenance in the same 
 manner with the other peasants, either by liv- 
 ing in the house of their master, or by the pos- 
 session of separate farms upon his estate. As 
 these mechanical employments were account- 
 ed more un warlike and contemptible than the 
 exercise of husbandry, there was yet less pro- 
 bability that any freeman would be willing 
 to engage in them. 
 
 3. A third order of men, who in this period 
 of the English history became more and more 
 distinguished, was that of the clergy. The 
 numerous body of church-men introduced by 
 the Christian religion, especially in the western 
 part of Europe, the extensive power and autho- 
 rity which they gradually acquired, together 
 with the peculiar views and motives by which 
 they were actuated, amidst the disorder and 
 barbarism of the feudal times, are circum- 
 stances of so much magnitude, as to deserve 
 particular attention in tracing any modern
 
 140 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 system of European policy. A few remarks, 
 however, concerning the nature and origin of 
 ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and the primitive 
 government of the Christian church, will be 
 sufficient, upon a subject that has been so of- 
 ten and so fully examined. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 OF THE CHIEF REGULATIONS ATTENDING 
 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CHRISTIANITY 
 IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE, AND IN THE 
 MODERN KINGDOMS OF EUROPE. 
 
 After the Christian religion had been 
 extended over a great part of the Roman 
 dominions, it was at last, in the reign of Con- 
 stantine, taken under the protection of govern- 
 ment, and obtained the sanction of public 
 authority. The uniformity of circumstances 
 attending the introduction of this new religion, 
 produced throughout the whole empire an 
 uniform set of ecclesiastical regulations. 
 
 In every province, religious teachers had 
 taken up their residence wherever they met 
 with encouragement; and the country was, 
 by degrees, divided into small districts, or pa-
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 141 
 
 rishes, in each of which a particular clergyman 
 had gained an establishment. 
 
 As the inhabitants of a parish were accus- 
 tomed to assemble at stated times for public 
 worship, and were by that means united in a 
 religious society, so the zeal with which they 
 were animated in support of their religion dis- 
 posed them to inspect the conduct and theolo- 
 gical opinions of all their members. For the 
 regulation of these, and of all their common 
 affairs, the heads of families, belonging to 
 every congregation, frequently held meetings, 
 in which their pastor was naturally allowed to 
 preside, and gradually obtained the chief di- 
 rection of their measures. Even in secular 
 matters the people were disposed to be guided 
 by his judgment; and when a controversy had 
 arisen between individuals, he was esteemed 
 the most proper person to compose the differ- 
 ence; which was therefore most commonly 
 referred by the parties to his determination. 
 
 The advancement of Christianity opened a 
 communication between the professors of this 
 religion belonging to different parishes, who in 
 like manner were accustomed to deliberate 
 upon their common religious concerns. Some
 
 142 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 particular clergyman became the ordinary pre- 
 sident in those cases ; and upon that account 
 acquiring superior consideration and rank, was 
 at length exalted to the superintendant, or bii- 
 shop, of a large district or diocese. When 
 these diocesan meetings were greatly multi- 
 plied, the attendance of the laity being found 
 inconvenient, and appearing to them of less 
 consequence, was gradually neglected, so that 
 the business came to remain entirely in the 
 hands of the clergy. 
 
 The minister of every parish was at first 
 maintained by the occasional bounty of those 
 who reaped the benefit of his instructions ; 
 and such was the attachment of the primitive 
 Christians to their teachers, and to one an- 
 other, that they cheerfully made contributions 
 not only for that purpose, but also for the 
 maintenance of their poor. In the declining 
 state of Rome, when the decay of knowledge, 
 by infusing a strong leaven of superstition, had 
 corrupted the purity of the Christian religion, 
 the clergy found means to obtain a more inde- 
 pendent revenue by persuading persons upon 
 their death-bed to make donations to the 
 church in order to atone for their offences.
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 143 
 
 In the reign of the emperor Constantine, when 
 Christianity became the established religion of 
 the empire, testamentary bequests in favour of 
 societies, which had formerly been prohibited 
 by the Roman law, came to be permitted 
 without controul; and from this time the 
 fashion of leaving legacies to the church for 
 pious uses became so universal, that the clergy 
 were enabled to accumulate large estates, both 
 in moveables and land. 
 
 The management of these estates, as of all 
 other matters concerning religion, naturally 
 devolved upon the clergy of every diocese, 
 who assumed a discretionary power of distri- 
 buting the produce in such a manner as they 
 thought most expedient, or most conformable 
 to the purpose of the donors. As the bishop, 
 however, acquired more influence in ecclesi- 
 astical meetings, he was in a capacity of 
 appropriating to his own use a greater share of 
 that revenue which fell under their disposal. 
 His dignity became more conspicuous ; and 
 for supporting it a suitable estate was deemed 
 necessary. His cathedral was enlarged and 
 rendered more magnificent, a more pompous 
 form of worship was introduced into it, and a 
 
 2
 
 144 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 number of clergymen were appointed to assist 
 in the religious services, or other branches of 
 duty, that were supposed to belong to his de- 
 partment. 
 
 The rise of a bishop over the clergy of his 
 diocese may be compared to that of a rude 
 chief over the members of his tribe; as in both 
 cases a superiority of station, derived from 
 personal qualities, put it in the power of a 
 single person to acquire superior wealth, and 
 thence to become the permanent head or 
 leader of a society : but the original pre-emi- 
 nence of the chief arose from his military ta- 
 lents, that of the bishop, from the veneration 
 paid to the sanctity of his character and pro- 
 fession. This makes the only difference in the 
 nature of their advancement. 
 
 "While those who had the direction of reli- 
 gious matters were thus advancing in opulence 
 and power, there arose a new set of fanatics, 
 who divided the esteem and admiration of the 
 people, and were at length admitted into the 
 clerical profession, 
 
 The erroneous notions entertained in the 
 dark ages, concerning the Supreme Being; 
 the supposition that he is actuated by anger
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 145 
 
 and resentment, in a literal sense, against those 
 who transgress his laws, and that these passions 
 are to be gratified by the mere suffering of his 
 creatures; suggested to persons impressed with 
 a strong feeling of their own guilt, and tor- 
 tured upon that account with sorrow and re- 
 morse, the idea of submitting to voluntary 
 penances, in order to appease an offended 
 Deity, and to avert that future punishment 
 which they were conscious of having deserved. 
 From views of this kind, particular persons 
 became disposed to retire from the world, and 
 to deny themselves almost all the comforts 
 and enjoyments of life : societies were after- 
 wards formed, the members of which expressly 
 bound themselves not only to submit to actual 
 punishments, but to renounce all those plea- 
 sures and gratifications to which mankind have 
 the greatest propensity, and for this purpose 
 came under thevows of poverty, of chastity, 
 and of obedience to the rules of their commu- 
 nity. As Christianity took a firmer hold of 
 the mind than any of the religions which had 
 been formerly established, this perversion of its 
 doctrines was attended with consequences pro- 
 portionably more extensive. v 
 
 VOL. I. l
 
 146 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 These misguided votaries to mortification 
 being originally poor, were supported either 
 by alms or by their manual labour; but 
 their exemplary lives, and the austerities 
 which they practised, having excited uni- 
 versal admiration, enabled them to follow 
 the example of the secular clergy, by pro- 
 curing donations from the people; and hence, 
 notwithstanding the poverty still professed 
 by individuals, their societies acquired the 
 possession of great riches. The members of 
 these communities were by degrees admit- 
 ted into holy orders ; and became no less in- 
 strumental in promoting the influence of the 
 church, than in communicating religious in- 
 struction. 
 
 As the affairs of a diocese had fallen under 
 the chief direction of a bishop, those of a mo- 
 nastery were conducted by an abbot, who pre- 
 sided in the meetings of the society, and who, 
 by obtaining authority in consequence of that 
 distinction, was at length permitted to assume 
 the distribution and disposal of their property. 
 
 Although the authority and jurisdiction of 
 the church in this early period of Christianity, 
 and the subordination among different ranks of 
 
 3
 
 *THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 14? 
 
 churchmen, proceeded in good measure from 
 the nature of the business committed to their 
 care, and the influence derived from their pro- 
 fession, yet the general fabric of ecclesiastical 
 government was likewise a good deal affected 
 by the political circumstances of the Roman 
 empire. The person exalted to the head of a 
 diocese, was very often the minister of the most 
 considerable town of that district, who from 
 the greater weight and importance of his flock 
 enjoyed a proportionable consideration among 
 his brethren of the clergy. As by the civil 
 policy of the empire many of those districts 
 were united in what, according to the later 
 division of the country, was called a province, 
 the clergy of this larger territory were led fre- 
 quently to hold provincial synods, in which 
 the bishop of the capital city, acquiring respect 
 from his residence near the seat of govern- 
 ment, became the regular president, and was 
 thence exalted to the dignity and title of a 
 metropolitan or archbishop. In the yet more ex- 
 tensive divisions of the empire, which were 
 called jurisdictions, the clergy were induced, 
 upon some occasions, to deliberate ; and in 
 those greater meetings the right of presiding 
 
 L 2
 
 148 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 was claimed by the bishop, who resided in the 
 same city with the governor of each respective 
 jurisdiction. Hence there arose a still superior 
 rank in the church, that of an exarch or patri- 
 arch, who obtained certain prerogatives over 
 the clergy of that great division. Of all the 
 patriarchs in Christendom those of Rome and 
 Constantinople, the two great capitals of the 
 empire, became soon the most distinguished, 
 the former of which enjoyed a pre-eminence 
 over all the clergy in the western, the latter 
 over those in the eastern provinces. 
 
 Upon the conquest of the western empire 
 by the barbarous nations, the ancient inhabi- 
 tants, who had for a long time been declining 
 in arts and knowledge, experienced at once a 
 violent change of situation, and were suddenly 
 plunged into the darkness and barbarism of 
 their conquerors. As those conquerors, how- 
 ever, embraced the Christian religion, they 
 submitted implicitly to the discipline of the 
 church, and to all the forms of ecclesiastical 
 government which they had found established. 
 The Roman clergy, therefore, remained upon 
 their former footing, and were far from losing 
 any of their former privileges ; they even en-
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 149 
 
 deavoured, amidst the general destruction of 
 science, to preserve a degree of that literature 
 which, in order to propagate and defend the 
 tenets of their religion, they had been under 
 the necessity of acquiring, and which was the 
 great support of their influence and popularity. 
 With this view, and for the instruction of the 
 people, more especially of those that were to 
 be admitted into holy orders, they erected 
 schools in their cathedrals and monasteries, 
 and thence laid the foundation of those com- 
 munities, possessed of ecclesiastical powers and 
 privileges, which have received the exclusive 
 appellation of colleges. 
 
 From these two circumstances, from the 
 gross ignorance and the consequent superstition 
 of the people, and from the comparative know- 
 ledge and abilities of the clergy, the latter 
 were enabled to reap the utmost advantage 
 from their situation, and to acquire an almost 
 unlimited ascendency over the former. Hence 
 the doctrines of the church concerning her in- 
 fluence in the remission of sins, and concern- 
 ing the distribution of rewards and punish- 
 ments in a future state, came to be modelled 
 in such a manner as was plainly calculated to
 
 150 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 promote her temporal interest. From this 
 period, therefore, the donations of land to the 
 church were greatly increased, and the bishops, 
 abbots, and other dignified clergymen, who 
 reaped the chief advantage from these bene- 
 factions, became possessed of estates, which 
 enabled them in some degree to rival the 
 greater thanes of the country. From the 
 same causes the contributions made by every 
 congregation for the support of their minister, 
 were gradually augmented. To augment 
 these contributions, and to render them per- 
 manent, the church employed the utmost ad- 
 dress and influence of all her members. What 
 was at first a voluntary offering came after- 
 wards, by the force of custom, to be regarded 
 as a duty. Having gradually raised this taxa- 
 tion higher and higher, the clergy, after the 
 example of the Jewish priests, demanded at 
 length a tenth part of the annual produce of 
 land, as due to them by divine appointment. 
 Not contented with this, they in some places 
 insisted upon the same proportion of the an- 
 nual industry ; and it came to be maintained, 
 that they had even a right to the tenth part of 
 the alms given to beggars, as well as of the
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 151 
 
 hire earned by common prostitutes in the exer- 
 cise of their profession*. To enforce the ob- 
 ligation of submitting to these monstrous ex- 
 actions, was for a long time, it is said, the great 
 aim of those discourses which resounded from 
 every pulpit, and of the pious exhortations de- 
 livered by each ghostly tather in private. The 
 right of levying tythes^ which was first estab- 
 lished in France, and which afterwards made 
 its way through all the western parts of Chris- 
 tendom, created to the church a revenue of no 
 less value than what she derived from her 
 landed possessions*!*. The tythes of every 
 parish were collected by its own minister, but 
 a large proportion of those duties came to be 
 demanded from the inferior clergy by the 
 bishop of the diocese. 
 
 When the provinces of the western empire 
 were broken into a number of independent 
 kingdoms, it might have been expected that 
 the church establishment in those countries 
 would experience a similar revolution, and that 
 the clergy of every separate kingdom, being 
 
 * F. Paul's History of Benefices. 
 + The Council of Mascon, in 585, excommunicated all 
 those who refused to pay tythes. Ibid.
 
 152 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 detached from those of every other, would 
 form a separate ecclesiastical system. It is not 
 difficult, however, to discover the circum- 
 stances which prevented such a separation ; 
 and which, notwithstanding the various oppo- 
 sitions of civil government, united the church 
 of all the western countries of Europe in one 
 great ecclesiastical monarchy. 
 
 The patriarchs of Rome and Constantinople, 
 of whom the one, as has been already observed, 
 became the head of the western, and the other 
 of the eastern part of Christendom, were in a 
 different situation with respect to the establish- 
 ment of their power and dignity. The patri- 
 arch of Constantinople, from his connexion 
 with the principal seat of government, appears 
 for some time to have been exalted above his 
 western rival, and to have enjoyed superior au- 
 thority. But after he had attained a certain 
 pitch of exaltation, the very circumstance 
 which had hitherto promoted his advancement, 
 tended immediately to stop the progress of it ; 
 for no sooner did he become an. object of jea- 
 lousy to the civil power, than the vicinity of 
 the imperial residence contributed the more 
 effectually to thwart and controul every pro-*
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 153 
 
 ject for the extension of his privileges. The 
 Roman pontiff, on the other hand, when he 
 had risen to such opulence and dignity as 
 might have excited the envy and disgust of 
 the civil magistrate, was, by the dissolution of 
 the western empire, freed from the trouble- 
 some inspection of monarchs, who probably 
 would have checked the growth of his power; 
 and being placed in the situation of an inde- 
 pendent prince, was at full liberty to put in 
 practice every politic measure which might 
 either enlarge his temporal dominions, or ex- 
 tend his authority over that numerous body 
 of clergy who already owned his supremacy. 
 
 It may further explain the history of the 
 western church to observe, that while the 
 bishop of Rome was thus in a condition to 
 avail himself of that superiority which he had 
 acquired, the circumstances of the clergy were 
 such as made it their interest to unite in one 
 body, and to court his protection. The cha- 
 racter of churchmen was, from the nature of 
 their profession, a good deal different from that 
 of the laity, and incited them to very opposite 
 pursuits. The former, in a military and rude 
 age, were generally drawn from the inferior
 
 154 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 ranks of life; at the same time that, from the 
 prevalence of superstition, they possessed great 
 influence over the minds of the people, and 
 were daily advancing their claims to power 
 and emoluments. By the ancient nobility, 
 therefore, or leading men of every country, and 
 still more by the sovereign, the haughtiness, 
 the insolence, and the rapacity of these upstarts, 
 was often beheld with indignation and resent- 
 ment, and produced continual jealousies and 
 disputes between those different orders ; the 
 latter endeavouring to maintain and to extend 
 a set of immunities and privileges, which the 
 former were no less eager to restrain. In such 
 a contest the ecclesiastics of any particular king- 
 dom were as much inferior to their adversaries 
 in direct force, as they were usually superior in 
 skill and dexterity ; and their situation natu- 
 rally pointed out the expedient of soliciting as* 
 sistance from their brethren in the neighbour- 
 ing kingdoms. That assistance they very sel- 
 dom failed to procure. The controversy of 
 every individual was regarded as the common 
 cause of the whole order. By adhering to one 
 another, however disjoined in point of civil 
 government, they became sufficiently power-
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 155 
 
 ful, not only to avoid oppression, but even to 
 defend their usurpations ; and by combining, 
 like the soldiers of an army, under one leader, 
 their forces were directed to the best advantage. 
 
 The opportunities which this great leader 
 enjoyed, of augmenting his revenue, and of 
 increasing his power, may easily be conceived. 
 In the multitude of disputes which occurred 
 between the clergy and laity in the different 
 nations of Europe, the former, in order to 
 obtain his protection, were obliged to sub- 
 mit to various taxes, and to the extension of 
 his prerogatives. Hence the payment of the 
 first fruits, and such other impositions upon 
 the livings of churchmen, were established in 
 favour of the holy see. 
 
 In like manner, during the wars that were 
 carried on between the different potentates of 
 Europe, the contending parties, rinding that 
 the countenance and approbation of the Ro- 
 man pontiff would give great weight and po- 
 pularity to their cause, were sometimes under 
 the necessity of purchasing his favour, by rati- 
 fying his titles, and permitting the exercise of 
 his claims over their subjects. From the same 
 circumstances, the temporal dominions of the
 
 156 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 pope in Italy were greatly enlarged, and his 
 authority, as an independent sovereign, was 
 recognised. Upon the conquest of Normandy 
 by the king of France, his holiness, who had 
 thrown his whole influence into the scale of 
 that monarch, was rewarded with a great pro- 
 portion of the conquered territory ; and, at the 
 same time, was enabled to assume the privilege 
 of conferring the imperial dignity upon the 
 conqueror. , 
 
 The disputes among the clergy themselves, 
 more especially between the secular and regu- 
 lar clergy, were another source of the papal ag- 
 grandizement. Every society of monks was 
 subject originally to the bishop within whose 
 diocese their monastery was situated ; but as 
 they advanced in riches and popularity, they 
 were led to assert their independence; and in 
 supporting their pretensions, having to struggle 
 with the whole body of secular clergy, they 
 were induced to court the head of the church, 
 by such obedience and compliances as were 
 likely to gain him over to their interest. 
 
 In the eastern church, where these causes 
 did not operate in the same degree, neither 
 the authority of the clergy, nor that of the
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OP THE SAXONS. 157 
 
 patriarch of Constantinople, rose to the same 
 height. The payment of tythes, though it 
 was there warmly asserted by churchmen, as 
 well as in the west, was never enforced by pub- 
 lic authority ; nor was the head of the church 
 in that part of the world in a condition to 
 establish such an extensive revenue as had been 
 acquired by the Roman pontiff. 
 
 It may be observed, on the other hand, that 
 the same circumstances which produced an 
 independent ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Chris- 
 tendom, have been productive of similar effects 
 in other religions, and in different parts of the 
 world. Among illiterate nations, the clergy, 
 by explaining the will of the Deity, or by di- 
 recting mysterious rites and ceremonies, are 
 naturally raised to great importance ; and if 
 many such nations profess a common religion, 
 and maintain an intercourse with one another, 
 their spiritual guides, by extending their ideas 
 of a common interest beyond the bounds of a 
 single kingdom, are easily reduced under one 
 great ecclesiastical leader. Hence an inde- 
 pendent system of church government is likely 
 to arise. 
 
 This was formerly the situation of the Celtic
 
 158 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 nations, who inhabited a great part of Europe : 
 they were under the influence of a common 
 religion, the ministers of which are said to have 
 possessed a jurisdiction superior to that of the 
 civil magistrate. These druids were, at the 
 same time, united in one society, independent 
 of the different political states to which they 
 belonged ; and were under the direction of a 
 chief druidy who resided in Britain, and whose 
 authority extended over the laity as well as the 
 clergy, in all the nations of Celtic original. 
 
 The authority of the grand Lama or high- 
 priest of the Tartars, which is acknowledged 
 by many tribes or nations totally independent 
 of one another, had, in all probability, the same 
 foundation. This ecclesiastical monarch, who 
 resides in the country called Little Thibet, is 
 also a temporal prince. The numerous clergy, 
 in the different parts of Tartary, who acknow- 
 ledge his supremacy, are said to be distinguished 
 into different ranks or orders, somewhat analo- 
 gous to those which take place in Christen- 
 dom ; and the ordinary priests, or lamas, are 
 subjected to the authority of bishops, whose 
 jurisdiction is subordinate to that of the sove- 
 reign pontiff. Without pretending to ascer-
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 159 
 
 tain, with any degree of accuracy, the church- 
 history either of the Celtic or Tartar nations, 
 we cannot avoid remarking the general ana- 
 logy that appears in the origin and constitution 
 of all these different Hierarchies. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CHRISTIANITY IN 
 BRITAIN, UNDER THE ROMAN DOMINION, 
 AND IN THE EARLY GOVERNMENT OF 
 THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 
 
 Christianity made its way into Britain, 
 in the same gradual manner as into all the 
 other parts of the Roman empire. It is sup- 
 posed to have obtained a permanent footing 
 in the country, under the government of 
 Marcus Aurelius, at which time a bishop of 
 Rome is said, upon the application of Lucius, 
 a British king, to have sent over, to this island, 
 several learned men, to preach and propagate 
 the gospel. But whatever degree of credit 
 may be due to this account, it is certain that 
 in the reign of the emperor Constantine, this 
 religion was taken under the protection of
 
 \ 
 160 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 government, in Britain, as well as in all the 
 other provinces of Rome ; and that it contU 
 nued in this situation until the island was 
 abandoned by the Romans. During this pe- 
 riod, the Christian church had received the 
 same form as in all the other parts of the em- 
 pire. Particular clergymen had obtained a 
 settlement in small districts or parishes, accord- 
 ing to the number and situation of the inha- 
 bitants*. Many of these districts were united 
 under the inspection of a bishop, the minister 
 of a cathedral church ; and a metropolitan, or 
 archbishop, was exalted over the whole clergy 
 of a province. But though it is probable that 
 this ecclesiastical establishment was modelled 
 according to the situation of the great towns, 
 and the chief divisions introduced by the civil 
 government of the country ; yet neither the 
 number of the British prelates, nor the churches 
 in which they were settled, appear to be 
 known with any degree of certainty-)-. Men- 
 
 * Gildas.— Also Whitaker, Hist, of Manchester. 
 
 + According to the monkish tradition, there were twenty- 
 eight bishops in Britain, during the Roman government 
 of that island. These corresponded to the twenty-eight
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 161 
 
 tion is made of three archbishops, who, it 
 should seem, corresponded to three of the pro- 
 vinces, in the late arrangement which the 
 Romans made of their British territories. The 
 first resided in London; the second in York ; 
 and the third, whose jurisdiction extended over 
 Wales, appears, at different times, to have had 
 a different place of residence*. That the 
 Hierarchy had early acquired a settled condi- 
 tion in Britain, and that its bishops held some 
 rank among those of other churches, is evi- 
 dent from their sending representatives to the 
 council of Aries, called in the year 314, and 
 to other remarkable councils, that were after- 
 wards convened in different parts of Christen- 
 dom-f*. 
 
 The arrival of the Saxons in this island was 
 productive of great disorder in the religious, as 
 well as in the civil establishment. In those 
 parts of the country which fell under the do- 
 minion of the Saxons, the Christian churches 
 
 considerable cities in the province. See Ranulph. Higden. 
 lib. i. — This number of British cities is mentioned by Gil- 
 das, Bede, and others ; and their names are transmitted by 
 
 Nonnius. 
 * Ranulph. Higden. lib i. +Stillingfleet, Orig. Britan. 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 162 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 were frequently demolished ; the public woiv 
 ship was interrupted ; and the clergy, in many 
 cases could neither be provided with a main- 
 tenance from the public, nor continue the re- 
 gular exercise of their jurisdiction. The altars 
 of Thor, and Woden, were often substituted 
 for those of Jesus Christ; and the life and im- 
 mortality which had been brought to light by 
 the gospel, were obscured and eclipsed by the 
 fictions of Hela's dreary abode, and Valhalla's 
 happy mansions, where heroes drink ale and 
 mead from the sculls of enemies whom they 
 have slain in battle. , 
 
 Wherever the ancient inhabitants were able 
 to preserve their independence, their ecclesi- 
 astical policy remained without any alteration. 
 This was particularly the case in the whole 
 western part of the island, from the southmost 
 point of Cornwall to the Frith of Clyde; not 
 to mention the country to the northward, 
 which the arms of the Saxons had not pene- 
 trated. In the territories where that people 
 had formed their settlements, there is ground 
 to believe that, after the tumult and violence 
 attending the conquest had subsided, the two 
 nations frequently maintained an amicable
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 163 
 
 correspondence, were in some measure united 
 in one society, and enjoyed the free exercise 
 of their religion*. As their long neighbour- 
 hood produced, by degrees, a communication 
 of civil institutions and customs, it was like- 
 wise, in all probability, attended with some 
 approximation of religious opinions and ob- 
 servances ; and in this particular, it can hardly 
 be doubted that the regular and well-establish- 
 ed system of Christianity, to say nothing of its 
 genuine merit in other respects, would have 
 great advantage over the unformed and loosely 
 connected superstition of the barbarians. In 
 the ardour of making proselytes, and in the 
 capacity of propagating their tenets, the pro* 
 fessors of the former must have greatly sur* 
 passed those of the latter ; and it was natural 
 
 * This was so much the case, that among the East An- 
 gles, according to the testimony of Bede, the Christian 
 worship, and the Saxon idolatrous rites, were performed in 
 one and the same church ; such good neighbourhood was 
 maintained between the two religions. " Atque in eodem 
 fano et altare haberet ad sacrificium Christi et Arulam ad 
 victimas daemoniorum. Quod videlicit fanum, ex ejusdera 
 provincial Alduulf, qui nostra aetate fuit, usque ad suum 
 tern pus perdurasse, et se in pueritia vidisse testabatur." 
 Bed. Hist. Eccl. lib. ii. ch. 15. 
 
 M %
 
 164 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 to expect that the Saxons in England would 
 at length follow the example of all the rude 
 nations, who had settled in the provinces upon 
 the continent, by adopting the religion of the 
 conquered people. 
 
 What laid the foundation for a general and 
 rapid conversion of the Saxons, was an event, 
 which happened about an hundred and fifty 
 years after their settlement in Britain. Ethel- 
 bert, the sovereign of Kent, having married 
 Bertha, the daughter of a king of the Franks ; 
 this princess, already a Christian, made open 
 profession of her religion, and brought over a 
 French bishop to reside at the Kentish court. 
 This incident suggested to the Roman pontiff, 
 Gregory the Great, a man of unbounded ambi- 
 tion, the idea of converting the Anglo-Saxons 
 to Christianity, and, at the same time, of esta- 
 blishing his authority over the British clergy, 
 who had hitherto neither acknowledged the 
 papal jurisdiction, nor yielded an exact con- 
 formity to the tenets and observances of the 
 Roman Church. For these two purposes, he 
 gave a commission to Augustine, one of the 
 monks of a convent at Rome, with about forty 
 assistants, to preach and propagate the gospel
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 165 
 
 in Britain*. By the industry of these, and of 
 succeeding missionaries, the Christian religion, 
 was, in the course of about half a century, 
 established universally in all the kingdoms of 
 the Heptarchy. The Authority of the church 
 of Rome wenUiand in hand with Christianity ; 
 and though the British clergy struggled for a 
 considerable time to maintain their indepen- 
 dence, and their peculiar doctrines, they were 
 at length borne down by the prevailing system, 
 and reduced into a subordinate branch of the 
 Roman Hierarchy -f. 
 
 The conversion of the Anglo-Saxons has 
 been commonly regarded as an entirely new 
 plantation of the gospel, in the territories 
 which fell under the dominion of that people ; 
 and it seems to be imagined, that when Au- 
 gustine entered upon his mission, there were 
 no traces of Christianity remaining in those 
 parts of the country. This opinion appears 
 to have arisen, partly from the supposition, 
 that the settlement of the Anglo-Saxons was 
 
 * Bed. Hist. Ecclesiast. lib. i. c. 23, 25. 
 t Bed. Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. seq. — Stillingfleet, Origin. 
 Brit. — Henry's Hist, of Great Britain.
 
 166 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 accompanied with a total expulsion of the an- 
 cient inhabitants, and partly from a disposition 
 in subsequent ecclesiastical writers to under- 
 value that system of church-discipline and 
 faith which had obtained in Britain, before it 
 was fully subjected to the papal jurisdiction. 
 
 With respect to the general extirpation of 
 the Britons, it seems to be a perfect chimera. 
 Neither is there any reason to believe that they 
 underwent any persecution from the Saxons 
 upon account of their religion. The rude 
 polytheism, professed by those conquerors, 
 does not seem to have taken a firm hold of 
 their minds, or to have inspired much animo- 
 sity against foreign deities or modes of wor- 
 ship ; and if, during the immediate conquest 
 of the country, the British clergy were some- 
 times plundered or massacred, this, in all pro- 
 bability, proceeded from no peculiar enmity 
 to their religion, but from the ferocity natural 
 to barbarians, who, in the heat of a military 
 enterprize, could not be expected to shew 
 much regard to the distinction of characters or 
 professions. The effect of these disorders, 
 however, was only partial and temporary. It 
 appears that, even in those parts of the country
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 167 
 
 where the Saxons had remained the longest, 
 the ancient church buildings were far from 
 being entirely destroyed; for we learn from 
 Bede, that, upon the arrival of Augustine in 
 Kent, he first preached in a church, which 
 had been erected by the Romans in honour of 
 St. Martin, and that soon after, when the 
 monarch of that kingdom had been baptized, 
 orders were given to build or repair churches, 
 for the accommodation of the Christian mis- 
 sionaries*. 
 
 Upon the full restoration of Christianity in 
 those parts of the country where it had been 
 corrupted by the mix ture of Saxon superstition, 
 the religious establishments, which had been 
 introduced under the dominion of the Romans, 
 and which had always been preserved in the 
 un conquered parts of the island, were com- 
 pletely revived ; with this difference, that the 
 British churches, in the degree of their sub- 
 mission to the papal authority, were brought 
 into a greater conformity with the churches 
 upon the continent. It is probable that the 
 ancient parochial divisions had not been en- 
 tirely lost ; more especially in those districts, 
 *Hist. Eccles. l.i. c. 26.
 
 168 STATE OF PROPERTY PRODUCED BY 
 
 which the Anglo-Saxons had but recently sub- 
 dued when they embraced the religion of the 
 former inhabitants*. 
 
 The number of bishops, it is natural to sup- 
 pose, and the extent of their jurisdiction, were 
 likewise directed, in some measure, by the ante- 
 cedent arrangements in the provincial govern- 
 ment of Britain ; though, from the changes 
 produced in the state of the country, many 
 variations were, doubtless become necessary. 
 Of the three archbishops, who had formerly 
 acquired a pre-eminence over the whole of the 
 British clergy, one appears to have been sunk 
 by the disjunction of Wales from the English 
 monarchy ; so that there came to be only two 
 metropolitans under the Saxon establishment. 
 The archbishop of the northern department 
 resided, as formerly, at York ; but the seat of 
 the other, from the residence of Augustine, 
 who obtained the chief ecclesiastical dignity, 
 was transferred from London to Canterbury-}* . 
 
 The revenue for maintaining the clergy 
 was the same in Britain as in all the churches 
 
 * Whitaker, Hist, of Manchester; and the authorities 
 quoted by him. 
 t Kanulph. Higden. lib. i.
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SAXONS. 169 
 
 acknowledging the jurisdiction of the Roman 
 pontiff. It consisted, partly of contributions 
 levied in every parish ; and partly of landed 
 estates, which the superstition of the people 
 had led them to bequeath for pious uses : but 
 the former of these funds remained longer 
 than in the more southern parts of Europe, 
 before it was converted into a regular tax, and 
 exalted to a tenth of the whole yearly produce.
 
 170 INSTITUTION OF TYTHINGS, 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Institution of Tythings, Hundreds, and Counties. 
 
 IN every nation it must be a great object 
 to provide for defence against the invasion 
 of neighbouring states ; but in a rude age, the 
 provisions requisite for this purpose are few 
 and simple. The great body of the people are 
 soldiers, willing and ready to take the field 
 whenever their service is necessary. From 
 the mutual depredations frequent among a 
 rude people, they become inured to hardships, 
 and familiar with danger ; and having little 
 employment at home, they are glad to em- 
 brace every opportunity of acquiring military 
 reputation, or of enriching themselves with 
 the spoil of their enemies. Every person, 
 therefore, as soon as he is capable of using 
 arms, is accustomed to the use of them, and 
 acquainted with the simple manner of fighting 
 practised among his countrymen; so that, 
 as the chief magistrate finds no difficulty in 
 raising troops upon any occasion, he is put to 
 little or no trouble in training and preparing
 
 HUNDREDS, AND COUNTIES. 171 
 
 them for those military operations in which 
 they are to be engaged. 
 
 The appointment of certain leaders in par- 
 ticular districts, to collect the forces upon any 
 emergency, and to command them in time of 
 battle, seems to be all that is wanted, in such a 
 situation, for putting a whole kingdom in a 
 complete posture of defence. A few regu- 
 lations of this nature, arising obviously from 
 the circumstances of a barbarous people, 
 were, at an early period, established among 
 the Saxons in England, as well as among their 
 neighbours upon the continent. 
 
 Every feudal superior was the military 
 leader of his own dependents ; but upon the 
 settlement of the Saxons in Britain, the landed 
 estates acquired by the greater part of indivi- 
 duals were at first so small as to render the 
 number of their vassals inconsiderable ; and 
 the allodial or independent proprietors were 
 therefore under the necessity, amidst the dis- 
 order that prevailed in those times, of asso^ 
 ciating for mutual protection and security. 
 Different families, connected by the ties of 
 consanguinity, or otherwise, found it expedient 
 as well as agreeable to settle in the same neigh-
 
 172 INSTITUTION OF TYTHINGS, 
 
 bourhood, that they might on all occasions 
 be in a condition to assist one another. Thus 
 the inhabitants came to be distributed into 
 villages of greater or less extent, according to 
 circumstances; and the members of every 
 village, accustomed from* their infancy to live 
 together, and finding themselves united by a 
 common interest, were led to acquire the 
 strongest habits of intimacy and attachment. 
 These little societies received the appellation 
 of vills, towns or free-bourgs. 
 
 As these villages were formed upon the plan 
 of defence, and were frequently employed in 
 the exercise of hostilities, there naturally arose 
 in each of them a leader, who by having the 
 privilege of conducting their military enter- 
 prises, obtained also a degree of authority in 
 the management of civil affairs. To this per- 
 son the name of head-borough or borsholder (a 
 word supposed by some to be contracted from 
 borough's elder) was commonly given. 
 
 According to the early policy of the Anglo- 
 Saxons, each of their villages was divided into 
 ten wards, or petty districts ; and hence they 
 were called ty things or decennaries, as their 
 leader was denominated a decanus or tything-
 
 HUNDREDS, AND COUNTIES. 175 
 
 man. This regulation appears to have been 
 extended over all the kingdoms upon the 
 neighbouring continent ; and in all probabi- 
 lity it originated from the influence of eccle- 
 siastical institutions*. 
 
 As, upon the first establishment of Chris- 
 tianity under the Roman dominion, the form 
 of church government was in some respects 
 modelled by the political constitution of the 
 empire; so the civil government, in the modern 
 states of Europe, was afterwards regulated in 
 many particulars according to the system of 
 ecclesiastical policy. When the western pro- 
 vinces of the Roman empire were conquered 
 by the barbarous nations and erected into se- 
 parate kingdoms, the conquerors, who soon 
 embraced the Christian religion, and felt the • 
 highest respect for its teachers, were disposed 
 in many cases to improve their own political 
 institutions, by an imitation of that regularity 
 
 * The term free-burg is sometimes applied not to the 
 whole tything or village, but to each of those wards into 
 which it was divided. [See the laws ascribed to William 
 the Conqueror. Wilkins, c. 32.] But more frequently a free- 
 burg and tything are understood to be synonymous. See 
 the Glossaries of Spelman and Du Cange, v. Friborga.
 
 174 INSTITUTION OF TYTHINGS, 
 
 and subordination which was observed in the 
 order and discipline of the church. 
 
 In the distribution of persons, or of things, 
 which fell under the regulation of the Christian 
 clergy, it appears that, in conformity to the 
 customs of the Jewish nation, a decimal ar- 
 rangement was more frequently employed 
 than any other. By the Mosaic institution the 
 people were placed under rulers of thousands, 
 of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. A Jewish 
 synagogue, corresponding to a modern parish, 
 appears at a subsequent period to have been 
 put under the direction of ten elders, of whom 
 one became the chief ruler of that ecclesiasti- 
 cal division*. A tenth part of the annual pro- 
 duce was appropriated for the support of the 
 Levites, as the same proportion of ecclesias- 
 tical livings was claimed by the high-priest. 
 
 * Dr. Lightfoot's Harmony of the Four Evangelists, 
 part 3. on Luke, chap. 4. ver. 15. — Lewis's Antiquities of 
 the Hebrew Republic, b. 3. ch. 21. — Goodwin's Moses and 
 Aaron, b. 2. ch. 2. — also Vitringa Archisynagogus illus- 
 tratus. — This author agrees with Dr. Lightfoot, in sup- 
 posing that the decern otiosi, mentioned as requisite in every 
 synagogue, were officers employed in the business of that 
 society ; though he differs as to the particular employ- 
 ments that were allotted to them.
 
 HUNDREDS, AND COUNTIES. 175 
 
 Hence we find that in modern Europe, the 
 members of a cathedral church, as well as 
 those of a monastery, were divided into ten 
 branches, each of which was put under a di- 
 rector, and the tenth of these persons, or de- 
 canus, was intrusted with a superintendence of 
 all the rest*. Hence too the modern institu- 
 tion of tythes, and the pretensions of the 
 Roman pontiff, the Christian high -priest, to 
 the tenth of all the revenues of theclergy-f*. 
 
 When the western part of Europe, upon the 
 dissolution of the Roman government, had 
 been reduced into a state of barbarism, by 
 which the inhabitants were necessarily divided 
 into separate villages or small towns, each of 
 
 * Burn's Ercles. Law. — Rennet's Parocb. Antiq. 
 
 t Though the distribution of persons and things accord- 
 ing to tens, appears to have been immediately borrowed by 
 the Christian clergy from the Jews, we find among many 
 other nations a tendency to follow the same arrangement. 
 Those natural instruments of notation, which every man 
 carries about with him, the fingers, have probably been the 
 original cause of the common arithmetical progression by 
 tens, and of the general propensity to be governed by this 
 number in the classification of objects. — The land-tax upon 
 the ancient Roman provinces is said to have been a tenth 
 ©f the produce.
 
 176 INSTITUTION OF TtTJllNGS, 
 
 those little communities was naturally formed 
 into one congregation, and annexed to a single 
 church. The same people who joined in pub- 
 lic worship were also combined in their mili- 
 tary expeditions ; and the same arrangement, 
 under different rulers, that had been adopted 
 in the former capacity, was easily communi- 
 cated to them in the latter. This division of 
 a village, with the corresponding territory be- 
 longing to its inhabitants, into ten little wards 
 or districts, probably arose in those European 
 kingdoms which had first attained a regular 
 form, and was afterwards extended to the 
 Saxons in England, and to the inhabitants of 
 other countries, who remained longer in a 
 state of anarchy and confusion. 
 
 But while the members of every Anglo- 
 Saxon town or village were thus intimately 
 united, a connexion of the same sort was 
 gradually introduced between the inhabitants 
 of a larger territory. Those who belonged to 
 different towns or villages in the same neigh- 
 bourhood had frequently occasion to assist one 
 another against a common enemy; and in 
 consequence of many joint expeditions, direct- 
 ed by a sense of mutual interest, were induced to
 
 HUNDREDS, AND COUNTIES. 177 
 
 form a regular association, under a permanent 
 military officer. 
 
 The extent of these associations was at first 
 perhaps arbitrary and variable, but was at 
 length settled in an uniform manner, accord- 
 ing to the system of ecclesiastical policy which 
 prevailed both in England and in other Euro- 
 pean kingdoms. Upon the principle which has 
 been formerly mentioned, every ten churches 
 of a diocese were united under an eccle- 
 siastical inspector, who in England, in contra- 
 distinction to a similar officer belonging to a 
 cathedral or monastery, was called a rural 
 dean*. In like manner every ten villages or 
 tythings, which were of the same extent with 
 parishes, formed a military district, which ob- 
 tained the appellation of a hundred, and its 
 commanding officer that of a centenarius or 
 hundrederf. 
 
 The connections of society being still farther 
 extended, the members of different hundreds 
 
 * Rennet's Paroch. Antiq. Burn's Eccles. Law. v. 
 
 Dean and Chapter. 
 
 t Hundredus autem Latine, says Ralph Higden, sive 
 Cantredus, Wallice et Hibernice continet centum villas. 
 [Polychronicon, lib. i.] 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 INSTITUTION OF TYTHINGS, 
 
 were also associated for their common defence, 
 and fell under the direction of a greater officer, 
 called the heretoch, a title which, in the Saxon 
 language, is synonymous with that of duke, 
 and which appears to have been originally given 
 to some of those leaders in the Heptarchy, 
 who afterwards assumed the title of kings. 
 The districts belonging to these heretochs, 
 which were greater or less according to acci- 
 dents, and had been varied on different occa- 
 sions, were gradually ascertained and esta- 
 blished, so as at length to correspond entirely 
 with the territories that were placed under the 
 ecclesiastical jurisdiction of theseveral bishops. 
 These districts were called shires; and the 
 officer who presided over them seems, at a 
 later period of the Anglo-Saxon government, 
 to have changed his title for that of alder -man 
 or earl. It is a common opinion, however, 
 that the heretoch and the alder-man were 
 different persons, intrusted with different de- 
 partments; and that the former was the chief 
 military, as the latter was the chief civil officer 
 of the shire. 
 
 In some parts of the country a smaller num- 
 ber of hundreds were associated, so as to com- 
 
 1
 
 HUNDREDS, AND COUNTIES. 179 
 
 pose an intermediate district, called lathe, rape, 
 or trything; and several of these districts were 
 united in forming a shire. But this arrange- 
 ment, peculiar to some shires, and depending 
 upon the same principles with the divisions 
 already mentioned, is of little consequence in 
 our present view of the subject. 
 
 Such were the military institutions of the 
 Anglo-Saxons ; which appear to have arisen 
 almost imperceptibly from the rude state of 
 the country, from the natural divisions of the 
 people, and from their progressive attempts in 
 forming more extensive and permanent asso- 
 ciations. 
 
 From the great deficiency of Saxon records, 
 there are, concerning these institutions, many 
 particulars, which remain in obscurity, and 
 which have given rise to various disputes and 
 conjectures. The earliest historians, who have 
 said any thing upon this subject, appear, for the 
 most part, to have lived at a period when these 
 institutions had undergone manv variations, 
 and in several respects had fallen into disuse. 
 They were, at the same time, ignorant anna- 
 lists of a barbarous age ; and their accounts, 
 which appear to have been chiefly derived 
 
 it 2
 
 180 INSTITUTION OF TYTHINGS, 
 
 from tradition, are short and unsatisfactory. 
 It seems to have been' uniformly imagined by 
 these authors, that the institutions above men- 
 tioned were peculiar to the government of the 
 An^o-Saxons ; and that they were introduced 
 by the singular policy of king Alfred, to whom 
 the admiration of English* writers- has com- 
 monly ascribed every important regulation 
 during theJSaxon period. But it is, now ge- 
 nerally known, that the establishment of tyth- 
 ings, hundreds, and shires, was prior, in Eng- 
 land, to the time of Alfred ; -and that it was 
 not peculiar to this country, but was probably 
 extended over all the barbarous nations who 
 settled in the provinces of the western empire. 
 
 "With respect to the establishment of ty th- 
 ings and hundreds, it has been the general 
 "opinion that the former consisted of ten fami- 
 lies, and that the latter, of course, were com- 
 posed of an hundred families. That such was 
 the exact number of families comprehended in 
 each of these divisions, the respective names 
 affixed to them appear to have been thought 
 sufficient evidence. 
 
 But when we examine this opinion, after all 
 the pains that have been taken by late writers
 
 HUNDREDS, AND COUNTIES. 181 
 
 to render it plausible, it seems to be attended 
 with insuperable difficulties. To divide the 
 whole people into military parties of ten and 
 of an hundred families, without any regard to 
 their places of residence, would mark a degree 
 of art and contrivance hardly to be expected 
 in a barbarous age : not to mention that it 
 would be a most absurd regulation, as it would 
 frequently separate near relations, and place 
 them under the command of different officers, 
 instead of uniting them under one common 
 leader, with whom they had acquired a natu- 
 ral connexion; for as the accidental collections 
 of kindred and acquaintance, who lived in 
 the same village or neighbourhood, could not 
 be regularly composed of ten families, nor of 
 any given number, they must of necessity have 
 been split and jumbled with strangers, to make 
 up the several tythings into which the people 
 were thus artificially divided. If such a regu- 
 lation ever had place in England, we must 
 suppose that it was introduced by a political 
 projector, neglecting, for the sake of a finical 
 regularity, to avail himself of the usual sources 
 of authority in a rude nation, and by a legisla- 
 tor invested with such absolute power, as might
 
 182 INSTITUTION OF TYTHINGS, 
 
 render him capable of enforcing measures dia- 
 metrically opposite to the natural course of 
 things ; a supposition which is neither appli- 
 cable to the character nor to the condition of 
 the early nionarchs of Britain. 
 
 As the institution of ty things, together with 
 that of hundreds, and of shires or counties, was 
 not limited to England, but had place in most, 
 if not all of the feudal countries, there is good 
 reason to believe that it was not derived from 
 artificial or distant views of policy, suggested 
 to any particular prince; but that it proceeded 
 from a concurrence of circumstances in the 
 European kingdoms, by which it was recom- 
 mended to the great body of the people. 
 
 That a ty thing was originally the same thing 
 with a village, and that it did not comprehend 
 any precise number of persons or families, may 
 be concluded from this, that in the ancient 
 law-language of England the words vill, toiwt, 
 decennary , and ti/thing, have all the same sig- 
 nification*. If a tything have the same mean- 
 ing with a vill or town, it is surely impossible 
 that it can signify a collection of ten families 
 only, without relation to the place of their 
 * Blackstone's Comment. Vol. 1. Introd. § 4.
 
 HUNDREDS, AND COUNTIES. 183 
 
 residence. Should we, on the other hand, 
 suppose that a tything was regularly composed 
 of so many families, the members of the same 
 tything must frequently have resided in dif- 
 ferent towns or villages ; in which case it would 
 sometimes be necessary, in describing or point- 
 ing out those persons, to mention the town 
 which they inhabited, as distinct from the tyth- 
 ing to which they belonged ; and these two 
 terms, therefore, so far from being synonymous, 
 would come, upon such occasions, to be used 
 in direct opposition to each other. 
 
 But what puts this matter in a yet more 
 conspicuous point of view, is an early regula- 
 tion mentioned by the English lawyers, that 
 every tything should have a church, with cele- 
 bration of divine service, sacraments, and bu- 
 rials*. If the limits of a tything, and of a 
 town or village, were the same, such a regu- 
 lation would naturally be established. Its 
 establishment, on the other hand, affords com- 
 plete evidence that a parish and a tything were 
 of the same extent. But how is it possible to 
 conceive that a parish comprehended only ten 
 families? According to this doctrine every 
 * Blackstone's Comment. Vol. I. Introd. § 4.
 
 184 INSTITUTION OF TYTHINGS, 
 
 eleventh house must have been a church, and 
 the clergy must have composed the eleventh 
 part of the whole people. 
 
 To obviate this objection, it is held by some 
 authors that a family is not to be understood 
 in a literal sense, but as comprehending all the 
 vassals and tenants of a proprietor, who in some 
 cases were pretty numerous. Admitting, how- 
 ever, this explanation in its fullest extent, it 
 will only vary* instead of removing the diffi- 
 culty. It would still be in vain to ex pect that 
 a village or town should al ways contain exactly 
 ten of these enlarged families, or even any 
 number of tens ; so that it would often be re- 
 quisite to patch up a tything from the rem- 
 nants of different towns or villages ; and it 
 would follow that these outcasts did not belong 
 to the church in their neighbourhood, but, 
 however dispersed over the country, and inter- 
 mixed with other parishes, were united in one 
 congregation, and were provided with a sepa- 
 rate church and minister of their own. 
 
 The establishment of tythings, hundreds, 
 and shires, was primarily intended for the mu- 
 tual defence of the inhabitants, but it was like- 
 wise rendered subservient to other very salutary
 
 HUNDREDS, AND COUNTIES. 185 
 
 purposes. When the people had been assem- 
 bled in those meetings to engage in a military 
 enterprise, or upon the conclusion of it to di- 
 vide their booty, they had occasion to hear 
 complaints of the injuries and disorders com- 
 mitted among themselves. Every feudal supe- 
 rior was the natural judge of his own tenants 
 and vassals; but when a dispute had arisen be- 
 tween different allodial proprietors of the same 
 tything. there wasno single person possessed of 
 sufficient authority to terminate the difference. 
 The parties being independent of each other 
 in point of property, and therefore masters of 
 their own conduct, were under no necessity, 
 in a matter of that kind, of submitting to the 
 orders of any individual. They acted in the 
 same manner with respect to the exercise of 
 their civil rights, as with relation to peace and 
 war. In both cases they considered themselves 
 as free men, subject to no restraints, but such 
 as arose from the nature of their confederacy, 
 or were imposed by their common consent. 
 
 The same motives, however, which induced 
 a village or tything to enter into joint mea- 
 sures for their defence against a foreign enemy, 
 determined them also to take precautions for
 
 186 INSTITUTION OF TYTHINGS, 
 
 composing animosities and differences among 
 their own members. Roused by the danger of 
 a quarrel which might be fatal to their union, 
 and which might render them an easy prey 
 to trfeir neigbours, they readily interposed 
 with all their influence to reconcile the parties, 
 and to enforce their observance of the rules 
 of justice. A judicial power was thus gradu- 
 ally assumed by every ty thing over the allodial 
 or independent proprietors of which it was 
 composed. The hundred, in like manner, 
 came to exercise a power of determining the 
 differences between the members of the several 
 tythings, within the bounds of that larger 
 district ; as t\ie meetings of the shire estab- 
 lished a similar jurisdiction over the different 
 hundreds comprehended in that extensive ter- 
 ritory. These courts took cognizance of every 
 cause, whether* civil or criminal ; and as they 
 enjoyed the sole jurisdiction, in the first in- 
 stance, within the respective boundaries of 
 each, they became naturally subordinate one 
 to another ; so that from the decision of the 
 tything there lay an appeal to the hundred, and 
 the sentences of this latter tribunal were re- 
 viewed in the greater meetings of the shire.
 
 HUNDREDS, AND COUNTIES. 187 
 
 These courts were held originally by all the 
 
 allodial proprietors of each particular district, 
 
 and the same persons had the same right of 
 
 presiding in their judicial procedure, as when 
 
 their meetings were called to deliberate upon 
 
 military affairs. 
 
 It is probable that every kind of law-suit was 
 
 at first determined in full assembly, and by a 
 plurality of voices ; but in the larger meetings 
 of the hundred, and of the shire, it should seem 
 that when the authority of those tribunals had 
 been confirmed by custom, and their duty had 
 become somewhat burdensome by the increase 
 of business, convenience introduced a practice 
 of selectinga certain numberof their members, 
 to assist their president in the determination of 
 each particular cause. Hence the origin of 
 juries, the precise date of whose establishment 
 is uncertain, because it probably arose from no 
 general or public regulation, but from the 
 gradual and almost imperceptible changes, au- 
 thorized by common usage in the several dis- 
 tricts of the kingdom. The number of jury- 
 men was for some time different upon dif- 
 ferent occasions ; till the advantages of an uni- 
 form practice produced a general rule, which
 
 188 INSTITUTION OF TYTHINGS, 
 
 determined that no Jess than twelve persons 
 should be called in all ordinary causes*. 
 
 * The custom of choosing twelve men for distributing 
 justice, is frequently mentioned in the An^lo-Saxon laws. 
 Thus, in a law of king Ethelred, it is said, " Et ut habe- 
 " antur conventus in quolibet wapentachio, etexeantseni- 
 u ores duodecim thani,etprefectuscum iis, et jurent super 
 " sanctuarium quod iis in manus datur, quod nolent ulliim 
 " innocentem accusare, nee aliquem noxium celare." — 
 [Wilkins, p. 117] In another law, ascribed to the same 
 king, commonly called the senalus consultum de monticulis 
 Wallias^ it is enacted, for the mutual benefit of the English 
 and Welch, that controversies between them should be de- 
 termined by twelve law-men, the half of whom shall be 
 Englishmen, the other half Welchmen. [Wilkins, p. 125.] 
 
 These twelve persons correspond, it should seem, to the 
 Racimburgi and the Scabini, who under the first and second 
 races of the kings in France assisted in the decisions of the 
 count and of the centenarius. 
 
 It has been supposed by some authors that neither of 
 these were upon the footing cf modern jurymen, chosen 
 out of the free men of a district for each cause, but that 
 both were permanent assessors of the magistrate and mem- 
 bers of the coHrt. See Brady's complete Hist, of Eng. — 
 Hickes's Diss. Epistol. 
 
 But that either these twelve men, or the Racimburgi or 
 Scabini, were permanent members of the court, appears 
 improbable, for the following reasons : I. Because these 
 twelve men were chosen among the thanes; and it is not 
 likely that the same persons of that rank, would subject
 
 HUNDREDS, AND COUNTIES. 189 
 
 Concerning the institution of tythings, there 
 is one regulation, connected with the admi- 
 nistration of justice, that has been much taken 
 notice of by historians, and has excited the 
 admiration of all political writers ; the mem- 
 bers of every ty thing are said to have been re- 
 sponse ble for the conduct of one another ; and 
 the society, or their leader, might be prose- 
 cuted and compelled to make reparation for 
 an injury committed by any individual. 
 
 If we look upon a ty thing as regularly com- 
 posed of ten families, this branch of its police 
 will appear in the highest degree artificial and 
 singular ; but if we consider that society as of 
 
 themselves to the drudgery of being constant assessors to 
 the magistrate. 2. The number olliacintbiirgi or Scabini 
 appears to have been varied, according to the importance 
 of the causes which they decided. This supposes a new 
 election in each cause. 3. If there was a regular bench of 
 assessors to the chief magistrate of a county, it is wonderful 
 that no traces of that institution should be found at pre- 
 sent, more especially in Scotland, where the county-courts 
 have been continued upon the ancient footing. 
 
 Accordingly Horn, an author who lived in the time"of 
 Edward I. says expressly, in his Mirroir de Justices, that 
 king Alfred put to death a number of his judges for de- 
 ciding causes without a jury.
 
 190 INSTITUTION OF TfTHINGS, 
 
 the same extent with a town or village, we 
 shall find that such a regulation is conformable 
 to the general usage of barbarous nations, and 
 is founded upon their common notions of 
 justice. 
 
 Among barbarians in all parts of the world 
 persons who belong to the same family* are un- 
 derstood to enjoy a community of goods, and 
 to be all jointly subjected to the same obli- 
 gations. In those early ages when men are 
 in a great measure strangers to commerce, or 
 the alienation of commodities, the right of 
 property is hardly distinguished from the privi- 
 lege of using of possessing ; and these persons 
 who have acquired the joint possession of any 
 subject are apt to be regarded as the joint pro- 
 prietors of it. At the same time, when a debt 
 is contracted by one of several persons who 
 have a perfect community of goods, it must of 
 necessity be discharged from the common 
 funds ; and the obligation of every individual 
 becomes therefore a burden upon the whole 
 society. 
 
 After a family has been enlarged, and sub- 
 divided into different branches, their posses- 
 sions are not upon this account entirely sepa-
 
 HUNDREDS AND COUNTIES. 191 
 
 rated, nor their notions of common property 
 altogether effaced. Though the different fa- 
 milies, who are thus formed into a tribe or 
 village, reside in different houses, their neigh- 
 bourhood allows them still to maintain a pro- 
 miscuous intercourse ; and their situation dis- 
 poses them to act in concert with each other 
 in all their important employments and pur- 
 suits. As, in their expeditions of war and 
 hunting, they go out in a body, so, according 
 to the primitive state of agriculture, they la- 
 bour in the field, and gather in the harvest in 
 common ; and what has been acquired by their 
 united exertions, before it is divided among 
 them by consent, is naturally conceived to be 
 the joint property of all. 
 
 It is no hardship, that persons connected in 
 so intimate a manner should be liable for the 
 obligations of one another ; and when an in- 
 dividual has become bound to a stranger, who 
 cannot easily know for whose benefit the debt 
 was incurred, it seems reasonable that the 
 creditors should be allowed to demand pay- 
 ment from the community, who alone have 
 access to distinguish the rights of their par- 
 ticular members.
 
 192 INSTITUTION OF TYTHINGS, 
 
 But the greater part of the debts contracted 
 in a barbarous age arise from injuries and hos- 
 tilities : for which it is usual to make atone- 
 ment by pecuniary compositions : and as in 
 such cases it commonly happens, either that 
 the offence was originally committed by a 
 whole village, or, if it arose from a single in- 
 dividual, that the quarrel was afterwards adopt- 
 ed and prosecuted by the other members of 
 the community, this appears a sufficient reason 
 for subjecting them to a share of the punish- 
 ment. 
 
 Thus, by the general custom of rude nations, 
 the vengeance of the injured party for murder 
 and other atrocious crimes is not confined to 
 the guilty person,but it is extended to his family, 
 and even to the whole villlage or tribe of which 
 he is a member. The prosecution of claims, 
 founded upon this general custom, makes a 
 considerable part of the history of mankind in 
 the early periods of society. Traces of this 
 primitive law of nations may be discovered 
 even in some civilized countries ; where, upon 
 account of enormous offences, the criminal, to- 
 gether with his innocent children, and other
 
 HUNDREDS, AND COUNTIES. 193 
 
 relations, have been condemned to one com- 
 mon punishment*. 
 
 Among the Jews, when a person was found 
 murdered in the neighbourhood of a city, and 
 the murderer was unknown, it seems to have 
 been thought that the punishment might with 
 justice be extended to all the inhabitants ; who 
 are, upon that account, directed to perform an 
 expiatory sacrifice. " And all the elders of 
 " the city that is next unto the slain man, shall 
 " wash their hands over the heifer that is be- 
 " headed in the valley. And they shall an- 
 " swer and say, Our hands have not shed this 
 " blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Be mer- 
 " ciful, O Lord, unto thy people Israel, whom 
 " thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent 
 " blood unto thy people Israel's charge. And 
 " the blood shall be forgiven them-f-/' 
 
 When it is customary to demand satis- 
 faction from a whole village for the highest 
 personal injuries committed by an individual, 
 it cannot appear surprising that the same privi- 
 
 * See instances of this quoted by the acute author of 
 The Historical Law Tracts. 
 fDeuteron. chap. xxi. 
 VOL. I. O
 
 194 INSTITUTION OF TYTHINGS, 
 
 lege should be claimed upon account of the 
 ordinary violations of property. 
 
 1 am assured, from the most respectable au- 
 thority, that, in the villages l>elonging to the 
 Highlands of Scotland, a rule of this kind has 
 been immemorially established. The stealing 
 of cattle was formerly the only species of theft 
 from which the inhabitants of that country 
 could suffer any great prejudice ; and when 
 stolen cattle could be traced within the district 
 of any particular village, the inhabitants were 
 liable to repair the damage, unless they could 
 point out the track of the cattle, passing again 
 without their territories. This law, which 
 was founded merely upon long usage, remain- 
 ed in force at least as far down as the begin- 
 ning of the present century*. 
 
 It was a custom, we are told, among the 
 ancient Irish, " that the head of every sept, and 
 " the chief of every kindred, or family, should 
 " be answerable and bound to bring forth 
 " every one of that sept, and kindred under it, 
 " at all times, to be justified, when he should 
 
 * It does not seem to be supposed by historians, that 
 the Saxon regulations concerning ty things were extended 
 to a country so inaccessible as the Highlands of Scotland.
 
 HUNDREDS, AND COUNTIES. 195 
 
 " be required, or charged with any treason, 
 " felony, or other heinous crime*." The 
 Irish law, in this as well as in other particulars? 
 was probably analogous to that of the other 
 Celtic nations. 
 
 From the code of Gentoo laws published in 
 1776, it appears that a similar regulation has 
 been introduced among the ancient inhabitants 
 of Indostan. If the footsteps of a thief have 
 been traced, or if stolen goods are found, with- 
 in a certain distance from any town, the thief 
 is presumed to be concealed in it. — And when- 
 ever a robbery or theft is committed in the 
 neighbourhood of any town or city, the head- 
 'person of that town or city is bound to make 
 up the lossf. 
 
 Upon some parts of the coast of Guinea, the 
 villages or towns, it should seem, are liable for 
 the obligations of every sort contracted by any 
 of their members ; for we are informed, that 
 when a person in that country neglects to pay 
 a debt, the creditor is under no necessity of 
 arresting the real debtor, but, in the district, 
 where he resides, has the liberty of seizing, at 
 
 * Spencer's View of the State of Ireland. 
 f Code of Gentoo laws, cb. 17. sect. 4. 6. 
 
 O 
 
 o
 
 196 INSTITUTION OF TYTHINGS, 
 
 pleasure, such a quantity of goods as will sa" 
 tisfy the demand, leaving the sufferers to in- 
 demnify themselves in the best manner they 
 can *. 
 
 About the middle of the thirteenth century, 
 it appears that the states of Germany had very 
 generally adopted a similar practice ; which is 
 mentioned by historians as a proof of uncom- 
 mon rudeness and barbarism -f* . 
 
 * Hist. Gen. des Voyages. Mod. Univ. Hist. 
 
 T The following passage is quoted from PfefePs Abrege 
 Chron. de l'Histoire d'Alleraagne. " Je ne puis passer 
 sous silence une autre nouveaute, qui prouve, on ne peut 
 pas mieux, et le malheur de ces terns, et la barbarie des 
 mceurs du siecle ; c'est le droit d? Ot age. [Jus obstagiorum] 
 Rien de plus bizarre que ce droit. Un Souabe, un bour- 
 geois d'Ulra, les6 par un Liegeois, ne se donnoit pas la peine 
 de poursuivre sa partie, devant la justice ordinaire; il se 
 contentoit de mettre la main sur le premier Liegeois qui] 
 pouvoit rencontrer, et le constituoit prisonnier a Ulm, c'est 
 la qu'il faisoit juger sa cause, et COtage n'etoit point rel&che 
 que la sentence ne fut executee. L'histoire et les archives 
 nous fournissent mille exemples de ces proems singuliers: et 
 Lehmann rapporte que les citoyens de Spire ont fait decla- 
 rer par des lettres patentee, qu'ils n'etoient point gujets de 
 leur Eveque, etque par consequent Ton ne pouvoit les arres- 
 ter legitimement pour les causes que regardoient les sujets 
 fie ce prince.
 
 HUNDREDS, AND COUNTIES. 197 
 
 The inhabitant! of the same foreign country 
 happening at any one time, to reside in Lon- 
 don were formerly viewed in the same light ; 
 and any one of them might be prosecuted for 
 the debts contracted by his countrymen. In 
 a treaty between Edward the Second and Al- 
 phouso king of the two Castiles, it is agreed, 
 that the merchants of Bilboa, and the other 
 towns of Biscay, shall not for the future be 
 arrested, nor have their goods distrained, for 
 the debts of any Spaniard, for whom they 
 have not become personally bound*. The 
 small number of Spanish merchants residing 
 in London, and the distance of their native 
 country, made them appear as much connected 
 as if they had been members of a single rude 
 village or tribe. 
 
 This noted regulation concerning the Saxon 
 ty things. is therefore to be regarded as the re- 
 mains of extreme simplicity and barbarism, 
 rather than the effect of uncommon refine- 
 ment or policy ; and in this view, it may be 
 observed tnat,in consequence of some improve- 
 ment in the manners of the people, the origi- 
 nal obligation imposed upon every ty thing, to 
 
 * Anderson's History of Commerce.
 
 198 INSTITUTION OF TYTH1NGS, 
 
 repair the injuries committed by any of its 
 members, was, in a period subsequent to that 
 which we are at present examining, subjected 
 to certain limitations. By a law which has 
 been ascribed to William the conqueror, but 
 which is probably of an earlier date, we find it 
 enacted, that, if a crime is committed by any 
 member of a decennary, who escapes from jus- 
 tice, his tythingman, with two others of the 
 same tything, together with the respective 
 tythingmen, and two others, out of the three 
 neighbouring tythings, shall assemble to exa- 
 mine the state of the fact, and if the tything 
 to which the criminal belongs is purged by the 
 oath of these twelve persons, it shall be freed 
 from the obligation to pay the damage*. The 
 progress of government, by enlarging the gene- 
 ral intercourse of society, contributed to dimi- 
 nish the peculiar connexion among the inha- 
 bitants of the same village, and made it appear 
 an intolerable hardship, that they should, with- 
 out distinction, be accountable for the mis- 
 deeds of one another. 
 
 * See the laws collected by Roger de Hoveden, and 
 gaid by this author r«> have been made by William the 
 conqueror in the4«': i ar of his reign, with the advice of 
 his barons, nobles, v ise men, &c.
 
 HUNDREDS, AND COUNTIES. 199 
 
 Beside the two branches of business which 
 I have mentioned, the defence of the county 
 and the decision of law-suits, that were can- 
 vassed in the Saxon ty things, hundreds, and 
 shires, those meetings were accustomed to 
 deliberate upon matters of still greater import- 
 ance. They received complaints concerning 
 s «ch abuses in administration, or grievances 
 as had occurred within their several districts^ 
 and by introducing new regulations endea- 
 voured to apply a proper remedy. Thus the 
 heads of families or independent proprietors of 
 every village, or tything, exercised a legislative 
 power within their own liberties, but were lia- 
 ble to be controuled, in this respect, by the 
 meetings of the hundred, which enjoyed the 
 same power in a large territory; and both of 
 these were subordinate to the meetings of the 
 shire, which possessed a legislative authority 
 over all the hundreds of that extensive division. 
 How the meetings of the shire were liable to 
 be controuled by a still greater assembly, I 
 shall now proceed to inquire.
 
 200 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Of the Wittenagemote. 
 
 JpY the gradual extension of intercourse 
 between the different families or tribes of the 
 Anglo-Saxons, and by the advancement oi 
 their political union, the inhabitants of larger 
 territories were led to assemble for the regu- 
 lation of their public concerns. As the free- 
 men or allodial proprietors of a tything, of a 
 hundred, and of a shire, determined the com- 
 mon affairs of their several districts, and were 
 convened for that purpose by the ty thingman, 
 the hundreder, and the alder-man ; so the union 
 of people belonging to different shires pro- 
 duced a greater assembly, consisting of all the 
 allodial proprietors of a kingdom, and sum- 
 moned by the king, the great military leader, 
 and chief magistrate of the community. This 
 national council received the appellation of the 
 mickle-mote, or Wittenagemote. 
 
 During the continuance of the Heptarchy, 
 each of the Saxon kingdoms had its own Wit- 
 tenagemote ; and there can be no doubt that 
 
 3
 
 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 201 
 
 those national councils, though sometimes 
 they might act in concert, were independent 
 of one another. But when all the dominions 
 of the Anglo-Saxons were reduced under one 
 sovereign, the Wittenagemotes of each parti- 
 cular kingdom were dissolved, and there was 
 formed a greater assembly of the same nature, 
 whose authority extended over the whole 
 English nation. The circumstances attending 
 this important revolution are lost in obscurity; 
 and we have no means of discovering with 
 certainty, whether it was produced by the 
 mere influence of custom, or by an express 
 regulation. It is probable that when Egbert 
 had subdued the different states of the Hep- 
 tarchy, the members of every separate Wit- 
 tenagemote were invited to that great council 
 of the monarchy which was then established ; 
 and that, in consequence of this, they would 
 scarcely think it worth while to continue their 
 attendance in those inferior meetings with 
 which they had formerly been connected. 
 
 Of the particular class or description of 
 persons who composed the Saxon Wittenage- 
 motes, either in the respective kingdoms of 
 the Heptarchy, or in the monarchy which
 
 202 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 
 
 was formed from the union of these, the his- 
 torians of that period have given us little or no 
 direct information. But, from a variety of 
 circumstances, it appears highly probable that 
 those ancient assemblies were composed of all 
 the members of the community who enjoyed 
 landed estates in full property ; that is, of all 
 those who had the appellation of the Greater 
 Thanes. 
 
 1. From the state of the country after the 
 Saxon conquest, these persons, being indepen- 
 dent with 1 espect to their possessions, were 
 masters of their own conduct, and were under 
 no necessity of adopting public measures to 
 which they had not consented, or upon which 
 they had not at least had an opportunity of 
 deliberating and giving their suffrage. With- 
 out their advice and concurrence, therefore, 
 the king could seldom adventure to transact 
 any important national business; and from the 
 frequent practice of consulting them, they 
 were gradually formed into a regular assembly, 
 and became an established branch of the con- 
 stitution. The rest of the inhabitants were 
 either vassals whose benefices, if not held pre- 
 cariously, were secured to them only for a
 
 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 203 
 
 limited period ; or peasants, whose condition 
 was yet more dependent and servile. That 
 the king should find it necessary or expedient 
 to summon either of these classes of people to 
 his great council, cannot easily be conceived. 
 Tneir support and assistance might be expect- 
 ed, of course, in the execution of every measure 
 which had been approved by their superiors; 
 and therefore the voice of the allodial proprie- 
 tors of land might, on every public emer- 
 gency, be regarded as the voice of the nation. 
 2. The usual designations given, by ancient 
 authors, to those who sat in the Saxon Witte- 
 nagemote, seem perfectly to coincide with this 
 idea of its constituent members. The persons 
 present in that assembly, when they happen to 
 be particularly specified, are commonly said to 
 be the bishops and abbots, together with the 
 aldermen, the chiefs, the nobles, or the leading 
 men of the kingdom*. These expressions 
 are peculiarly applicable to the allodial pro- 
 prietors of land. It is to be observed, that in 
 
 * Principes, optimates, magnates, proceres, &c. See 
 Spelman on Parliaments — Dr Brady, Answer to Petyt — 
 and the series of great councils before the conquest. Tyr- 
 rell's Bibliotheca Politica, Dial. 6.
 
 204 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 
 
 those times there was no such personal wealth 
 as could create any authority : neither was 
 there any distinction between what is now 
 called a nobleman and a gentleman ; but every 
 individual, possessed of landed property, was a 
 sort of leader, and maintained a degree of in- 
 fluence and rank corresponding to his fortune. 
 The dignified clergy were distinguished by 
 their profession, as the aldermen, or governors 
 of shires, were by their office ; for which rea- 
 son, in speaking of the persons who composed 
 the Wittenagemote, those two classes of men 
 are frequently mentioned in particular, while 
 the other proprietors of land are only pointed 
 out by a general appellation expressive of their 
 condition. 
 
 3. The same conclusion receives an addi- 
 tional support from the obvious analogy be- 
 tween the Wittenagemote, and the inferior 
 meetings of the ty things, hundreds, and shires. 
 These inferior meetings were plainly of the 
 same nature with the great national council. 
 •The former deliberated upon the public affairs 
 of the several districts to which they belonged: 
 the latter, upon the public affairs of the whole 
 nation. Both of these appear to have arisen
 
 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 205 
 
 from the same circumstances; and probably 
 the one was introduced in imitation of the 
 other. It was because the chief magistrate of 
 every inferior district had not, of himself, suf- 
 ficient authority to execute public measures, 
 that he was accustomed to call meetings of 
 those inhabitants whose concurrence he 
 thought was expedient ; and it was upon the 
 same account that the king was accustomed 
 to assemble the great national council. There 
 is great reason to believe, therefore, that all 
 these meetings were constituted in the same 
 manner; and, as it seems to be universally 
 agreed, that the court of every ty thing, hun- 
 dred, and shire, was composed of the respec- 
 tive proprietors of land in those districts, it 
 can haidly be doubted that the constituent 
 members of the Wittenagemote were the peo- 
 ple of a similar description throughout the 
 whole kingdom. 
 
 Lastly ; The probability of this opinion is 
 farther increased, when we examine the state 
 of the national councils, which existed about 
 the same time in the other European king- 
 doms. In all those kingdoms, the sovereign 
 was under the necessity of transacting the more
 
 206 OF THE WlTTENAGfcMOTE. 
 
 important parts of the public business with 
 the concurrence of a great proportion of his 
 subjects; and the councils which he convened 
 for this purpose appear, in every country, to 
 have been composed of that part of the peo- 
 ple who enjoyed a degree of influence over 
 the rest of the community. Thus in France, 
 the country of modern Europe in which the 
 greatest number of particulars concerning the 
 primitive government has been transmitted 
 to us, the supreme concerns of the kingdom 
 fell under the deliberations of the assemblies 
 of the field of March ; so called from the time 
 of their principal meetings. From the ac- 
 counts delivered by some of the French 
 writers, these councils appear to have been 
 composed of all the free men of the nation. 
 According to others, they consisted of the 
 leading men or nobility*. These accounts are, 
 at bottom, not very different. In the early 
 periods of the French monarchy, no person 
 could be denominated free, unless he had the 
 independent property of land ; and every 
 
 * See Observations sur l'Hist. de France par M. 1'Abbe 
 Mably — and Memoires Histoiiques du Gouvernement de 
 France, par M. le Compie de Boulainvilliers.
 
 OF THE WITTEtf AGEM0TE. 207 
 
 landed proprietor was, in reality, a sort of 
 chief or nobleman*. 
 
 In consequence of the disputes between the 
 king and the people, that took place in Eng- 
 land after the accession of the house of Stuart, 
 there arose two political parties ; the followers 
 of which have maintained very opposite opi- 
 nions concerning the constituent members of 
 the Anglo-Saxon Wittenagemote. The sup- 
 porters of the prerogative in order to shew that 
 the primitive government of England was an 
 absolute monarchy, and that the privileges en- 
 joyed by the people have all flowed from the 
 voluntary grants and concessions of the sove- 
 reign were led to assert that the original mem- 
 bers of the Wittenagemote were persons under 
 the king's immediate influence and direction; 
 from which it was concluded, that, so far from 
 being intended to controul the exercise of his 
 power, this council was called of his own free 
 
 * Hinc haud a?gre colligere est, unde nostri appellarent 
 parliamenta proceruru totius regni conventus. — Du Cange 
 v. Parliamentura. The Salic laws are said to have been 
 made with the consent of the proceres or the optimates. — 
 And even charters from the crown usually bear, that they 
 were granted cum consensu fidelium nostrum, — or in nostra 
 et procerum presentia. Mably, ibid.
 
 208 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 
 
 choice, for the purpose merely of giving advice, 
 and might of consequence be laid aside at 
 pleasure. Hence it was contended, that beside 
 the bishops and abbots, and the aldermen, both 
 of which were supposed to be in the nomina- 
 tion of the crown, the other members of the 
 Wittenagemote, who received the appellation 
 of zdtes or wise men, were the lawyers or 
 judges of the kingdom, who sat in the privy 
 council, and were likewise in the appointment 
 of the sovereign*. 
 
 Those writers, on the contrary, who defend- 
 ed the rights of the people, appear, from their 
 eagerness in combating this opinion, to have 
 been betrayed into the opposite extreme. In 
 their endeavours to prove the independent au- 
 thority of the ancient national council, they 
 were induced to believe, that, from the be- 
 ginning, it had been modelled upon the same 
 plan as at present ; and that it was originally 
 composed of the nobility, the knights of shires, 
 and the representatives of boroughs -f. 
 
 * Hume's Hist, of England, Appendix to Anglo-Saxon 
 period. 
 
 +Sir Robert Atlcjns' Power, Jurisdiction, and Privi- 
 leges of Parliament, — Petyt. Rights of the Commons as-
 
 OP THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 209 
 
 It requires no great sagacity or attention, at 
 this day, to discover that both of these opi- 
 nions are equally without foundation. They 
 may be regarded as the delusions of preposses- 
 sion and prejudice, propagated by political 
 zeal, and nourished with the fondness and cre- 
 dulity of party attachment. Nothing can be 
 more improbable, or even ridiculous, than to 
 suppose that the lawyers or judges of England 
 were, immediately after the settlement of the 
 Anglo-Saxons, a body of men so considerable 
 as to compose the principal part of the Wit- 
 tenagemote, and, from a title peculiar to them- 
 selves, to fix the general denomination of that 
 great assembly. In a very rude age, the busi- 
 ness of pleading causes, is never the object of 
 a separate profession ; and the deciding of 
 law-suits does not form a characteristical dis- 
 tinction in the chiefs or leading men, who are 
 occasionally employ ed in that manner. We may 
 as well suppose that, in the period of English 
 history now under consideration, the Anglo- 
 Saxon wites, or wisemen, were the physicians, 
 
 serted— Jani Anglorum facies nova. — Argument urn Anti- 
 normanicum. — Tyrrell Bibliotheca Politica. — Ly ttleton'* 
 Hist. 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 310 OF THE WITTENAGEJfOTE. 
 
 the surgeons, and apothecaries, or the mathe- 
 maticians, the chemists, and astronomers of 
 the country, as that they were the retainers of 
 the law. We have surely no reason to believe 
 that the latter were, by their employment, 
 more distinguished from the rest of the com- 
 munity than the former. 
 
 Besides, if the w'de$ are understood to be 
 judges and lawyers, it will follow, that the 
 ancient national assembly was often composed 
 of that class of men exclusive of all others ; for, 
 in ancient records, it is frequently said, that 
 laws were made, or public business was trans- 
 acted, in a council of all the mtes of the king- 
 dom. But it is universally admitted, that the 
 bishops and abbots, as well as the aldermen 
 or governors of shires, were members of the 
 Wittenagemote ; from which it is a natural in- 
 ference, that these two sets of people were 
 comprehended under the general appellation 
 of wites. 
 
 This may easily be explained. The term 
 wite signifies, primarily, a man of valour, or 
 military prowess ; and hence a man of high 
 rank, a nobleman*. It has been used, in a 
 
 * Somner's Sax. Diet. v. Wita.
 
 OP THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 211 
 
 secondary sense, to denote a wise man, fiom 
 the usual connexion, especially in a rude age, 
 between military skill and experience or know- 
 ledge ; in the same manner as an old man, or 
 grey-headed man, is, according to the idiom of 
 many languages, employed to signify a ruler 
 or governor. As far as any conclusion, there- 
 fore, can be drawn from the appellation of 
 Wittenagemote, or council of the wites, it is 
 likely that this national assembly compre- 
 hended neither judges nor lawyers, considered 
 in that capacity, but that it was composed of 
 all the leading men, or proprietors of landed 
 estates ; in which number the dignified clergy, 
 and the governors of shires, if not particu- 
 larly distinguished, were always understood 
 to be included*. 
 
 The other opinion is not more consistent 
 with the state of the country, and the condi- 
 tion of its inhabitants. It supposes that in 
 England, soon after the settlement of the 
 Anglo-Saxons, the lower ranks of men were so 
 
 * By a law of king Ina, it is enacted, that if any person 
 fought in the house of an alderman, or of any illustrious 
 ivite, he should pay a fine of sixty shillings. See Wilkin'f 
 Anglo- Sax on ica, Leges Ina?, c. 6. 
 
 p 2
 
 212 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 
 
 independent of their superiors, as to form a 
 separate branch of the community, invested 
 with extensive political privileges. This opi- 
 nion supposes, in particular, that the mercan- 
 tile part of the inhabitants were become a dis- 
 tinct order of the people, and had risen to such 
 opulence and authority as entitled them to 
 claim a share in the conduct of national mea- 
 sures. There is not, however, the least sha- 
 dow of probability in this supposition. What- 
 ever improvements in trade and manufactures 
 had been made in Britain, while it remained 
 under the provincial government of Rome, 
 these were almost entirely destroyed, by the 
 convulsions which attended the Saxon con- 
 quest, and the subjection of a great part of the 
 island to the dominion of a barbarous people. 
 The arts which remained in the country after 
 this great revolution, were reduced to such as 
 procure the mere necessaries, or a few of the 
 more simple conveniencies, of life ; and these 
 arts were hardly the objects of a separate pro- 
 fession, but were practised occasionally by the 
 inferior and servile part of the inhabitants. 
 How is it possible to conceive, in such a state 
 of manufactures, that the trading interest
 
 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 213 
 
 would be enabled to assume the privilege of 
 sending representatives to the great council of 
 the nation ? Even in those European states, 
 whose advancement in arts was much earlier 
 than that of the Anglo-Saxons, the formation 
 of the trading towns into corporations was long 
 posterior to the period we are now examining; 
 yet this event must have preceded their acting 
 in a political capacity, and consequently, their 
 being represented in the national assembly. 
 
 But, independent of this consideration, 
 which can hardly fail to produce conviction in 
 such as are well acquainted with the early his- 
 tory of modern Europe ; the fact in question 
 may be determined in a manner still more de- 
 cisive and satisfactory. If the representatives 
 of boroughs, and the knights of shires, were 
 constituent members of the ancient Wittenage- 
 mote, it is inconceivable that no traces of their 
 existence should have been preserved in the 
 annals of the Saxon princes. From the nu- 
 merous meetings of that assembly, which are 
 mentioned in many authentic records, and of 
 which accounts are given by historians, who 
 lived either in that period, or not long after it, 
 a variety of expressions must have occurred, by
 
 214 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 
 
 which the fact might be fully ascertained. 
 Had it been a common practice for the towns 
 and shires to choose representatives in the na- 
 tional assembly, is it possible to believe that 
 this practice Would never once have been al- 
 luded to upon any occasion whatever ; or that 
 when mentiou is made so frequently, of the bi- 
 shops and other dignified clergy, of the alder- 
 men, of the wites, or leading men, who sat in 
 this meeting, another part of its members, con- 
 sisting of a class of people totally different from 
 the former, would in no case, either from acci- 
 dent or design, have been pointed out in clear 
 and unequivocal terms? It cannot be disputed, 
 however, that, notwithstanding the most dili- 
 gent search into our ancient histories and re- 
 cords, by men of great industry and learning, 
 and cag: r to prove their hypothesis, not a single 
 unambiguous expression, to that effect, has 
 ever been found ; and this observation is not 
 limited to the time of the Heptarchy, but may 
 be extended from the settlement of the Anglo- 
 Saxons to the Norman conquest. 
 
 The attempts to prove that there were re- 
 presentatives of boroughs and shires in the 
 Wittenagemote consist, for the most part, in
 
 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 215 
 
 giving a forced interpretation to certain vague 
 And general phrases, which happen to be em- 
 ployed by ancient authors, concerning the 
 members of that assembly. The word alder- 
 man, for example, denoting a rider, may be 
 extended to the ruler, or chief magistrate, of 
 a town, as well as of a shire ; and therefore it 
 is contended, that when the aldermen are 
 mentioned in old records, as a constituent part 
 of the national council, we are to understand 
 the representatives of boroughs, as well as the 
 governors of shires. It is, in like manner, as* 
 serted that, by chiefs, or leading men, and by 
 wites, or wise men, the persons chosen to 
 represent the commons are as properly de- 
 scribed, as the nobility, or proprietors of 
 land*. 
 
 According to this reasoning, the representa- 
 tives of the commons, in every shape, and of 
 every description, as they exist at present, 
 though not separately mentioned, are included 
 in almost every designation, applied to th« 
 ancient members of the Wittenagemote. How 
 
 * Tyrrell's Brbliotheca Politica, Dial 0.— It seems to bt 
 the opinion of this author, however, that the existence' of 
 <he knights of shires, in the Saxon Wittenagemote, is more 
 doubtful than that of th« representatives of boroughs
 
 216 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 
 
 far this mode of argument may be extended 
 it is difficult tosa^. The aldermen and the 
 zmtes have, each of them, the capacity of lord 
 Peter's bread, containing the quintessence of 
 beef, mutton, veal, venison, partridge, plum- 
 pudding, and custard. 
 
 In the accounts given by ancient authors of 
 those that were called to the national council, 
 mention is made, in some cases, not only of 
 the bishops, abbots, aldermen, and chiefs, but 
 also of the people ; and the persons present are 
 sometimes distinguished by the appellation of 
 a great multitude*. 
 
 * Thus in the record of a Wittenageraote held by Ethel- 
 bert in 605, it is said,*" Convocato igitur communi concilio 
 " tarn cleri quam populi." 
 
 A general council is said to have been held by Ethel- 
 wolf, in 855, Prcesenlibus et subscribentibus Archiepiscopis 
 et Episcopis Anglia wiiversis, nee non Beorredo rege Mer- 
 cias, Edfhundo East-Anglorum rege, Abbalum et Abbatissa~ 
 rum, Ducum, Comitum, Procerumque totius terrce, atiorum- 
 que fidtlium injinita muHitudine, qui omnes regium chiro- 
 grap/ium laudaxerunt, dignitates vero sua nomina subscrip- 
 terunt. 
 
 Canute, in the fifth year of his reign, is said to have held 
 a great council of his archbishops, dukes, earls, abbots, cum 
 quumplurimus gregariis mililibus, ac cum populi multtludine 
 copiosa. 
 
 In some other instances, expressions of a similar nature 
 occur ; such as vulgi consensus, and populo audientc et vidente.
 
 OP THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 217 
 
 But it cannot escape observation, that if 
 this proves any thing, it will prove too much: 
 it will prove that all the inhabitants, even those 
 of the lowest rank, instead of sending repre- 
 sentatives, were personally allowed to vote in 
 the national council. By the appellation of 
 the people, it appears that, on some occasions, 
 the lay-nobles are understood, in opposition 
 to the dignified clergy ; and on others, the or- 
 dinary proprietors of land, in opposition to 
 those of distinguished opulence. There is, at 
 the same time, good reason to believe, that the 
 multitude, said to have been present at some 
 of those meetings, was partly composed of 
 mere spectators, who might possibly, by their 
 acclamations, testify their approbation of the 
 measures proposed. 
 
 [See the authors above quoted — as also Gurdon's History 
 of the Parliament.] In many of these expressions a dis- 
 tinction is clearly pointed out between the members of the 
 meeting and the inferior people that were merely specta- 
 tors. It ought also to be remembered, that the greatest 
 number of those general phrases, quoted for proving that 
 the commons were represented in the Wittenagemote, are 
 used only by writers after the Norman conquest; who, in 
 translating Saxon laws, or in speaking of Saxon usages, 
 maj be supposed to accommodate their language to the 
 ideas prevalent in their own times.
 
 218 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 
 
 There is produced an instance of a Witte- 
 nagemote, held by one of the kings of Mercia, 
 in the year 8 1 1 , in wJ lich a royal charter is said 
 to have been signed before " the Mercian 
 " chiefs, bishops, leaders, aldermen, procura* 
 u tors, and relations of the sovereign, together 
 " with Cuthred the king of Kent, and Suthred 
 ** the king of the East Saxons, and all those 
 " who were present in the national council*." 
 As the members of the Wittenagemote had 
 immemorially the privilege of appointing any 
 person to act for them in their absence, it has 
 been supposed, with great probabilit} 7 , that 
 the procurators here mentioned were the 
 proxies of absent nobles. In support of this 
 conjecture, it is observed, that they are placed 
 next in order to the nobles, and immediately 
 before the king's relations-f . 
 
 * Merciorum Optimates, Episcopos, Principes, Comites, 
 Procuratores, meosque propinquos, nee non Cuthredum 
 regem Centuariorum, atque Sulhredum regem Orient. 
 Saxon, cum omnibus qui testes nostris synodulibus concilia' 
 bulis aderant. [Annals of Winchelcomb.] 
 
 + (J union's History of the Parliament. — In a charter of 
 Athelstan, the procurators are also mentioned. But this 
 charier was not granted in the Wittenagemote. [Ibid.]
 
 OP THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 219 
 
 But although there is no ground for believ- 
 ing that the representatives of the commons 
 were ever admitted into the Wittenagemote, 
 there can be as little room to doubt that, when 
 the different Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were first 
 united under one monarch, it composed a very 
 numerous assembly. As, upon the settlement 
 of the Saxons in Britain, few persons were in 
 a condition to occupy large estates, the num- 
 ber of allodial proprietors was proportionably 
 increased. It is probable that the estates of 
 the greater part of individuals extended to no 
 more than a hide of land, or what could be 
 cultivated by a single plough, and that this 
 property constituted the primitive qualifica- 
 tion for voting in the several Wittenagemotes 
 of the Heptarchy. We hear of no particular 
 limitation in this respect, either in the reign 
 of Egbert, or in any preceding period. 
 
 It has been imagined by some authors, that 
 the privilege of sitting in the Wittenagemote 
 was originally confined to such as possessed 
 forty hides of land ; a property of great 
 extent, which few individuals, it is natural 
 to suppose, could have an opportunity of 
 acquiring ; whence it seems to be inferred* 
 
 3
 
 220 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 
 
 that a small part only of the landed gentry 
 were admitted into the councils of the sove- 
 reign*. This opinion is founded upon a pas- 
 sage in the register of Ely, which mentions a 
 distinction in point of rank, enjoyed by such 
 of the nobles as possessed estates amounting 
 to forty hides of land. But this passage re- 
 fers to the state of the kingdom in the reign 
 of Edward the Confessor, when property had 
 been subjected to the most important revolu- 
 tions, and government had widely deviated 
 from its original institution. No inference 
 can thence be drawn, concerning the primi- 
 tive constitution of the national council ; 
 which must have arisen from the state of the 
 inhabitants at the time when it was framed. 
 How far the authority above mentioned is 
 sufficient to justify that conclusion, with 
 respect to the later periods of the Anglo-Saxon 
 government, will fall to be afterwards exa- 
 mined. It is therefore highly probable that 
 the Wittenagemote of the Anglo-Saxons was 
 originally so constituted, as to admit a great 
 
 * Dugdale's preface to his Baronage. Hume's Hist, of 
 England, Appendix to Anglo-Saxon period.
 
 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 221 
 
 proportion of the people into a share of its 
 deliberations ; and it merits attention, that 
 «ven such of the inhabitants as were excluded 
 from this assembly, were either the slaves, or 
 the tenants and vassals of those who. sat in it. 
 The former were thus placed under the pro- 
 tection of the latter. Men of inferior rank, 
 though not formally represented in the na- 
 tional council, enjoyed, therefore, a degree of 
 security from the influence of their master or 
 superior, who had an interest to defend them 
 from every injustice but his own, and whose 
 jealousy was ever watchful to guard them from 
 any oppression of the sovereign. 
 
 The powers exercised by the Saxon Witten- 
 a gemote were such as might be expected 
 from the independent situation, and the opu- 
 lence of its members. It possessed a similar 
 authority over the whole kingdom, to that of 
 any ty thing, hundred, or shire, over its own 
 subordinate division. In general the Witten- 
 agemote seems to have taken under its cog- 
 nizance all those branches of government, 
 which were of sufficient importance to merit 
 its attention, and which, at the same time, 
 could be directed, in consistency with the de-
 
 222 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 
 
 lays arising from the deliberations of a nume- 
 rous assembly. 
 
 1. It exercised, first of all, the power of pro- 
 viding for the defence of the kingdom, and of 
 determining the public military operations*, 
 This was, in all probability, the primary ob- 
 ject in calling that assembly ; and for which, 
 according to the most ancient custom, it was 
 regularly held twice in the year; in the spring, 
 when the seed-time was over, to resolve upon 
 such expeditions as were thought expedient ; 
 and, in the autumn, before the harvest began, 
 to divide the plunder. A people so rude as 
 the early Saxons had little other business of 
 importance but what consisted in the sowing 
 and reaping of their grain ; and were gene- 
 rally disposed to employ the greatest part of 
 the summer, either in private rapine, or in 
 hostilities against a foreign enemy. In the 
 other kingdoms of Europe, the same seasons 
 were observed for the meetings of the national 
 council. We are informed that, in France, 
 the vernal meetings were originally in the be- 
 
 * Selden's Notes on Gov. of England, collected by Nath. 
 Bacon, part i. chap. 20. and the authorities referred to.
 
 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 223 
 
 ginning of March ; but that afterwards, from 
 greater attention, it should seem, to the cares 
 of husbandry, they were delayed till the first 
 of May*. 
 
 It may here be worth while to remark, that 
 the power of declaring peace and war, which 
 belonged indisputably to the Saxon Wittenage- 
 mote, affords complete evidence that its mem- 
 bers were allodial proprietors of land ; for, 
 upon the supposition of their being the vassals 
 of the crown, they must have been bound, 
 when called upon, to attend the sovereign in 
 war, and consequently their consent would 
 not have been requisite in undertaking any 
 military enterprise. 
 
 The same authority, by which military en- 
 terprises were determined, made likewise a 
 provision for carrying them into execution. 
 As from the circumstances of a rude nation, 
 every man was in a condition -to furnish a 
 number of soldiers proportioned to the extent 
 of his property ; it was a general law in the 
 Saxon government, that the proprietors of 
 land should be rated, for military service, ac- 
 
 * This change is said to have been made about the 
 beginning of the second race of the French kings.
 
 524 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTB. 
 
 cording to the number of hides which they 
 possessed ; and if any person refused to con- 
 tribute his proportion, he was liable to for- 
 feit his possessions, and to be deprived of the 
 public protection. 
 
 The erecting and repairing forts and castles, 
 as a defence against the sudden incursions of 
 an enemy, and the maintaining a free com- 
 munication, by roads and bridges, between the 
 different parts of the kingdom, were objects 
 of police which, in the same view, attracted 
 the notice of the Wittenagemote, and for 
 which individuals were assessed in proportion 
 to their wealth. The magnificent works of 
 this nature, which were executed by the Ro- 
 mans, in all the provinces of their empire, con- 
 tributed much to facilitate the progress of 
 their arms, and to establish their dominion 
 over the conquered people. From their ex- 
 ample, it is likely that the Saxons, in Britain, 
 as well as the other nations, who settled upon 
 the continent of Europe, were incited to im- 
 provements of this nature which they would 
 not otherwise have thought of. 
 
 2. When the members of the Wittenage- 
 mote had been assembled, and when they had
 
 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 225 
 
 settled every point relating to their martial 
 operations, their attention was frequently turn- 
 ed to other objects of national concern. What- 
 ever inconveniences had been felt from the 
 manner of conducting public business, what- 
 ever abuses had been committed in the ad- 
 ministration of government ; these were can- 
 vassed; and regulations were made for pre- 
 venting the like evils for the future. It is 
 not disputed that the Wittenagemote exer- 
 cised a legislative power over the whole king- 
 dom ; and, of consequence, the power of re- 
 pealing and altering the regulations introduced 
 by the meetings of any particular tything, 
 hundred, or shire*. The imposition of taxes, 
 the most important appendage of legislation, 
 was likewise undoubtedly assumed by this 
 great assembly, so far as taxes existed in that 
 early period ; but these were in a great mea- 
 sure unknown; the ordinary expence of go- 
 vernment being defrayed out of the private 
 estate of the king, and from the various emolu- 
 ments annexed to the regal dignity. 
 
 * See the preface to most of the collections of Saxon 
 laws published by Wilkins. 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 
 
 3. To this legislative power was added that 
 of directing and controlling the exercise of 
 the royal prerogative. Thus the demesnes of 
 the crown were considered as not entirely the 
 private estate of the king; but as in some mea- 
 sure the property of the public, which fell to 
 be managed and disposed of under the public 
 inspection. The alienation, therefore, of 
 crown lands, though proceeding in the name 
 of the king, was not effectual without the 
 concurrence of the wites; and hence royal 
 charters were frequently granted in the Witten- 
 agemote, and subscribed by a number of its 
 members*. 
 
 The coining of money, in order to save the 
 trouble of weighing and assaying the metals 
 which pass in exchange, was a privilege early 
 assumed by the king in the respective king- 
 doms of Europe; and even by the nobles or 
 great proprietors of land in the territories under 
 their jurisdiction. In the exercise of this 
 privilege, great frauds had been committed on 
 
 * Of this privilege of the Wittenagemote there occurs 
 a remarkable instance in the reign of Egbert, in 836. 
 Spelm. Concil. t. i. p. 340.
 
 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 227 
 
 many occasions, by debasing the coin below 
 its usual standard ; for preventing which abuses 
 the Wittenagernote, in England, appears to 
 have superintended the behaviour both of the 
 king and of the nobles, and to have regulated 
 the coinage throughout the whole kingdom*. 
 
 The members of this great council had no 
 less authority in the government of the church 
 than in that of the state. That they were 
 early accustomed to take cognizance of the 
 established religion, appears from what is re- 
 lated of Edwin king of Northumberland, who 
 being solicited to embrace Christianity, is said 
 to have answered, that in a matter of such 
 importance he would be determined by the 
 advice of his wites and princes. In the Wit- 
 tenagernote, all ecclesiastical laws were made ; 
 the king's nomination of bishops and other 
 dignified clergy was confirmed ; and their 
 number, as well as the extent of their livings, 
 was regulated. 
 
 The same national council gave sanction to 
 the establishment of monasteries, and of the 
 revenues with which they were endowed-j-. 
 
 * Wilkins, Leges Athelstani. 
 
 t Seidell's Notes collected by N. Bacon, part 1. ch. 20. 
 and the authorities to which this author refers. 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 
 
 Not contented with directing the exercise 
 of the executive power, the nobles -and wites 
 assumed, in extraordinary cases, the privilege 
 of calling the sovereign to account for the 
 abuses of his administration. Of this a re- 
 markable instance occurs in the reign of Sege- 
 bert, a king of the Western Saxons ; who, for 
 his tyrannical behaviour, and after he had 
 treated with contempt the remonstrances of 
 his people, was, by a general assembly of the 
 nation, expelled the kingdom ; and another 
 prince of the royal blood was elected in his 
 place. This event is said to have happened 
 in the year 755*. 
 
 Lastly, when the members of the Witten- 
 agemote had met to deliberate upon public 
 business, they were accustomed also to hear 
 complaints concerning such great quarrels and 
 acts of injustice, as could not be effectually re- 
 dressed by inferior judicatories, and to endea- 
 vour by their superior authority, either to re- 
 concile the parties, or to decide their diffe- 
 rences. By frequent interpositions of this na- 
 ture, that great council was at length formed 
 into a regular court of justice ; and became 
 
 * Saxon Chronicle.
 
 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 229 
 
 the supreme tribunal of the kingdom ; in 
 which appeals from the courts of each par- 
 ticular shire, as well as original actions be- 
 tween the inhabitants of different shires, were 
 finally determined.
 
 230 STATE OF THE SOVEREIGN IN THE 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 State of the Sovereign in the primitive Anglo* 
 Saxon Government. 
 
 1. HE different parties of the Saxons, who 
 invaded Britain, were each of them under the 
 conduct of some adventurer, whose fortunes 
 they had followed, either from personal attach- 
 ment, or from a confidence in his abilities. 
 After they had settled in the country, the 
 same person continued to have the command 
 of their forces, and became also the chief civil 
 officer of the community. The longer he 
 had remained in that high station, his posses- 
 sion of it was rendered more secure by the con- 
 tinuance of the same circumstances which had 
 originally produced his elevation. His mili- 
 tary talents, deriving lustre and importance 
 from the distinguished point of view in which 
 they were beheld, excited the admiration and 
 respect of his followers ; while the dangers 
 with which they were surrounded, and a sense 
 of their common interest, united them in
 
 ANGLO-SAXON GOVERNMENT. 231 
 
 fighting under his banner. By every new ex- 
 pedition they became the more accustomed 
 to submit to his direction ; and the oftener 
 they had found it necessary to solicit his pro- 
 tection and assistance, under those calamities 
 to which they were exposed, they felt more 
 sensibly the ad vantages derived from his favour 
 as well as the inconveniences arising from his 
 displeasure. 
 
 In the early history of the Anglo-Saxons, 
 the leader of every separate tribe or party, is 
 accordingly represented as possessing a perma- 
 nent office, with the title of herotoch or duke, 
 in place of which that of king was afterwards 
 assumed. 
 
 The king was in possession of a landed 
 estate, acquired in the same manner with that 
 of every inferior leader, by whose assistance 
 the conquest had been made. As the booty 
 arising from any successful enterprise, was di- 
 vided among the free people or heads of fa- 
 milies concerned in the adventure, and, as on 
 those occasions, each individual obtained a 
 portion, both of land and moveables, suited to 
 his rank and abilities ; it may easily be con- 
 ceived that the property accumulated, in a 
 
 1
 
 232 STATE OF THE SOVEREIGN IN THE 
 
 course of time, by the sovereign, would be 
 much greater than that of any one of his 
 subjects. His estate was naturally distributed 
 among his dependents, according to the same 
 plan which was adopted by every other landed 
 proprietor. A part of it was bestowed upon 
 his kindred or free retainers, under the con- 
 dition of military service ; and the remainder 
 was cultivated by his villeins, or bondmen, 
 for supporting the expence of his household. 
 Over these two classes of people, he exercised 
 the rights of a superior, and of a master. 
 Throughout the rest of the kingdom, exclu- 
 sive of his own particular estate, his authority 
 was much more limited. Every allodial pro- 
 prietor, unaccustomed to subjection, and sup- 
 ported by his own retainers, was more or less 
 in a condition to maintain his independence; 
 and those who had acquired considerable pro- 
 perty, beholding with jealousy the superior 
 dignity and pretensions of the king, were com- 
 monly ready to combine against him, either 
 in resenting or opposing, whatever they deem- 
 ed an infringement of their liberties. 
 
 The powers with which the sovereign came 
 to be invested, either in the different states of
 
 ANGLO-SAXON GOVERNMENT. 233 
 
 the Heptarchy, or in the subsequent monar- 
 chy which arose from the union of those king- 
 doms, were such as, in order to prevent confu- 
 sion and promote the dispatch of public busi- 
 ness, were tacitly devolved upon him, or as, 
 from the nature of his situation, he had found 
 encouragement to assume, and had, without 
 opposition, been permitted to exercise. The 
 dignity and office of the king, though higher 
 in degree, were perfectly similar to those of the 
 tythingman, the hundreder, and the earl ; and 
 he possessed nearly the same powers over the 
 whole kingdom, which those inferior officers 
 enjoyed in their own particular districts. 
 
 1. By having the command of the forces in 
 the time of battle, the original source of his 
 greatness, he was led to direct their movements 
 on other occasions ; to take preparatory steps 
 for bringing them into the field ; to suggest 
 particular enterprises, to plan the measures for 
 conducting them, to execute treaties with fo- 
 reign states, and in general to superintend the 
 defence of the kingdom, and the whole course 
 of its military operations. 
 
 2. In consequence of his being at the head 
 of the military department, the king was led
 
 234 STATE OP THE SOVEREIGN IN THE 
 
 also to exert his authority in suppressing inter- 
 nal disorders, in quelling tumults and insurrec- 
 tions, in restraining private rapine and violence, 
 in seizing offenders, and preventing their es- 
 cape from justice ; in a word, he obtained the 
 province of maintaining the ordinary police 
 of the country, and the security of its inha- 
 bitants. 
 
 3. As from these two branches of power, 
 he became the prime mover and proposer of 
 public measures, and as, in matters of great 
 moment, the concurrence of the Wittenage- 
 mote was necessary ; he acquired, of course, 
 the exclusive privilege of calling that assembly, 
 and of presiding in all its deliberations. The 
 influence which he thence obtained, with re- 
 gard to its determinations, may easily be ima- 
 gined. The president of every numerous 
 assembly has many opportunities of moulding 
 the business that comes before it, into such a 
 shape as will promote his own designs ; more 
 especially, if by the permanent enjoyment of 
 that office, he has leisure to form a regular 
 plan of management ; and if, by having a dis- 
 cretionary power of calling the particular meet- 
 ings, he ma) regulate his motions according as
 
 ANGLO-SAXON GOVERNMENT. 235 
 
 the assembly happens,in different conjunctures, 
 to be attended by different members. But 
 while, by these favourable circumstances, the 
 sovereign was capable of advancing his politi- 
 cal interest, he enjoyed the additional advan- 
 tage of superior opulence and dignity ; which 
 put him in a condition to intimidate, as well 
 as to over-reach opposition. To a prince, 
 therefore, possessed of much prudcne -, and of 
 popular talents, it was not difficult, in ordinary 
 cases, to procure the consent of the Witten- 
 agemote to those measures which he thought 
 proper to suggest ; and the resolutions of that 
 assembly, while they appeared to limit and 
 controul the power of the crown, were at 
 bottom, very often directed by the monarch, 
 and rendered subservient to his will. 
 
 4. As the Wittenagemote enacted laws, 
 distributed justice in the last resort, and regu- 
 lated the administration of public affairs; so the 
 duty of enforcing the decrees and regulations 
 of that assembly, and, in general, the executive 
 part of the government, were naturally de- 
 volved upon the king. That great officer, who 
 conducted the military force of the kingdom, 
 could hardly fail to assume the province of
 
 236 STATE OF THE SOVEREIGN IN THE 
 
 causing the punishments decreed against of- 
 fenders to be regularly inflicted, and of com- 
 pelling every individual to fulfil the decisions 
 of the law. The same person was led to pro- 
 cure information with respect to the commis- 
 sion of heinous crimes, and to direct that they 
 should be prosecuted before the proper tribu- 
 nals. In these employments, the sovereign 
 acted as the head and representative of the 
 community. In the same capacity, he ob- 
 tained the nomination of many inferior officers 
 in church and state ; the privilege of coining 
 money, and of superintending weights and 
 measures; together with the exercise of all 
 those powers, which from their nature, could 
 not be conveniently devolved upon a popular 
 assembly. 
 
 These prerogatives, which from the natural 
 course of things, and probably without any 
 formal or express regulation, were gradually 
 annexed to the crown, became the source of 
 such perquisites and emoluments, as more than 
 compensated the trouble with which they 
 were attended. The chief executive officer, 
 who prosecuted a crime in the name of the 
 public, had a plausible pretence, upon the same 
 2
 
 ANGLO-SAXON GOVERNMENT. 237 
 
 account, for levying the fine or forfeiture aris- 
 ing from the conviction of the criminal. Be- 
 sides, in government, as well as in religion, 
 the bulk of men are commonly so engrossed 
 by the image or picture, as to forget the ori- 
 ginal, and to bestow upon the representative 
 the sentiments due to the object it represents. 
 Thus the sovereign, who appeared to direct, 
 and put in motion, all the wheels and springs 
 of government, who enforced the laws, who 
 vindicated offences, and took upon himself the 
 whole burden of providing for the public 
 safety, was apt to be considered as exercising, 
 in his own right, those powers with which the 
 community had invested him. Those laws 
 which he enforced were conceived to be more 
 immediately calculated for his own benefit : 
 those officers whom he appointed were looked 
 upon as the servants of the crown ; and those 
 crimes, which he prosecuted and punished, 
 were regarded as crimes committed against 
 him in particular, for which he was, therefore, 
 entitled of himself, to demand reparation. 
 
 The public revenue of the Anglo-Saxons, 
 therefore, by which the rank of the sovereign 
 was maintained, and out of which the various
 
 238 STATE OF THE SOVEREIGN IN THE 
 
 expences of government were defrayed, con- 
 sisted almost entirely of two branches; the 
 original demesnes of the king, acquired in the 
 same manner with the private estate of each 
 allodial proprietor ; and the various forfeitures 
 and fines, whether of land or moveables, 
 which, from time to time accrued, or were 
 transmitted to him, as the head of the com- 
 munity. From this latter source he derived 
 a continual accumulation of wealth. The 
 disorder and violence, that prevailed so uni- 
 versally, gave occasion to the forfeiture of 
 many rich individuals ; and the king was 
 commonly disposed to neglect no opportunity 
 of seizing and improving such favourable con- 
 junctures. In the greater part of crimes, as it 
 frequently happens in the infancy of govern- 
 ment, the criminal was not punished in a man- 
 ner adequate to the purposes of public justice, 
 but was admitted to atone for his offence, by 
 making a pecuniary composition with the suf- 
 ferer. In those cases, the king exacted a com- 
 position as well as the private party ; and the 
 profits arising to the crown, from the innumer- 
 able fines and amerciaments, to which this 
 gave occasion, were one great cause of the
 
 ANGLO-SAXON GOVERNMENT. 239 
 
 long continuance of that imperfect mode of 
 punishing offences. 
 
 In this early stage of the constitution, the 
 revenue above mentioned was sufficient for all 
 the charges of public administration ; which 
 were then inconsiderable. There was no mer- 
 cenary army to be paid by the king. The 
 judges were either willing to determine dif- 
 ferences among individuals, and to take cog- 
 nizance of crimes, without any consideration 
 for their trouble ; or they obtained a compen- 
 sation by exacting fees from the parties who 
 came before them. Taxes therefore were 
 almost entirely unknown. Their introduction 
 belongs to the history of a more advanced pe- 
 riod of society. 
 
 But even this primitive revenue of the crown 
 appears to have laid a foundation for the Wit- 
 tenagemote to interfere in the disposal of it ; 
 since the estate, acquired by the king, in the 
 character of the chief executive officer, and as 
 representing the community, was, in a proper 
 sense, the estate of the public. This conclu- 
 sion was not, indeed, applicable to the whole, 
 though it undoubtedly was to a considerable 
 part of the royal demesnes. But it was not
 
 240 STATE OF THE SOVEREIGN INTHE 
 
 the genius of that age to make nice distinctions; 
 and the interposition of the national council, 
 in the management of some branches of the 
 crown revenue, might easily be extended to 
 others that were placed in different circum- 
 stances. 
 
 We find that, not only in England, but in 
 the other states upon the continent of Europe, 
 the arrangements which took place in the ma- 
 nagement of the king's household, and private 
 estate, had necessarily great influence upon 
 the government of the kingdom. According 
 as the sovereign advanced in opulence and 
 dignity, he was led to employ a greater num- 
 ber of servants in the several branches of his 
 domestic economy ; and the same persons, 
 who enjoyed the chief confidence of their 
 master in that private capacity, became, in 
 course of time, his ministers in conducting the 
 business of the nation. In all the European 
 feudal kingdoms, the management of the 
 king's household was anciently divided into 
 five principal departments, and fell under the 
 inspection of so many great officers. 
 
 1. The first of these was the steward, or 
 master of the household, called, upon the
 
 ANCLO-SAXON GOVERNMENT. 241 
 
 continent, the major domo, the mayor of the 
 palace, or seneschall ; who had originally the 
 care of the king's table. Upon him was na- 
 turally devolved the business of gathering in 
 the rents of the crown lands : for, as those 
 rents were all payable in kind, and were in- 
 tended for immediate consumption, it was 
 most convenient, that they should be delivered 
 into the hands of that person by whom they 
 were afterwards to be laid out for the support 
 of the king's family. 
 
 We may easily believe that, from the na- 
 ture of his office, the master of the household 
 was in a condition to acquire much influence 
 over all the tenants and vassals of the crown. 
 He was the person with whom they were 
 obliged to settle their accounts ; and who, from 
 his minute acquaintance with their circum- 
 stances, was the most capable of giving his 
 master information concerning them. He 
 was, therefore, the person most likely to be 
 employed in adjusting their differences with 
 one another ; and in consequence of his being 
 the deputy judge upon the royal demesne, he 
 came, at a subsequent period, to be entrusted 
 
 vol. r. R
 
 242 STATE Of THE SOVEREIGN IN THK 
 
 by the crown, with a similar power over the 
 whole kingdom*. 
 
 2. As the collection and management of 
 the victuals, with which the king's table was 
 supplied, fell under the direction of the stew- 
 ard ; so the care of the liquors was committed 
 to j . separate officer, the cup-bearer, or butler. 
 In all the Gothic nations, persons of wealth 
 and distinction lived in great splendour, and 
 were much addicted to drinking ; for which 
 reason, it is not surprising that the accommo- 
 dation of the sovereign, in this respect, was 
 
 * Spelman, v. major domo. This author supposes three 
 different orders of major domo in the household of the Go- 
 thic monarchs. The first, who had the care of the king's 
 table : the second, who presided over the whole household : 
 and the third, who was employed under the king as chief 
 executive officer of the kingdom. It seems evident, how- 
 ever, that these officers were originally derived from one, 
 who, as he became great, appointed deputies to discharge 
 the inferior branches of duty incumbent upon him. 
 
 In England the steward, in the king's household, is men- 
 tioned under the name of Oeconomus as early as the year 
 749. [See discourse on this office by Mr. Thynn in 
 Hear ne's Coll. of Antiquities.] But he does not seem to 
 have acquired great power, as a minister of the crown, till 
 the Norman conquest. [See same collection.]
 
 ANGLO-SAXON GOVERNMENT. 243 
 
 exalted into a separate employment, and be- 
 came an object of suitable importance. 
 
 3. The care of the chambers was committed 
 to a third officer, the chamberlain; whose busi- 
 ness it was to superintend the lodging of his 
 master's family. As this officer was entrusted 
 with whatever required to be locked up in the 
 house, for the future service of the household, 
 he seems, upon this account, to have become 
 the keeper of the wardrobe, and, at a subse- 
 quent period, when the crown rents were 
 paid in money, the king's treasurer or super- 
 intendant of the finances*. 
 
 4. Another of the king's principal servants 
 obtained the inspection of the stable, and was 
 denominated the comes stabnli, or constable. 
 When, by the keeping of many horses, this 
 department was rendered extensive, it appears 
 to have been divided into two branches ; the 
 one belonging to the chief groom, or constable; 
 and the other to the ?nareschal, or smith. It 
 is difficult to mark the period when this divi- 
 
 * It is probable that the butler [pincerna] was, for a long 
 time, not separated from the steward ; and in the early hisp- 
 tory of England neither he nor the chamberlain seem to 
 hare been much distinguished. 
 
 R %
 
 244 STATE OF THE SOVEREIGN IN THE 
 
 sion was completed : nor is it an easy matter 
 to ascertain the relative degrees of importance 
 and rank which might then be annexed to 
 these two kindred employments. 
 
 When the use of cavalry in war became 
 frequent, we may easily suppose, that the per- 
 sons, who had been accustomed to rear and 
 manage the king's horses, would stand forth, 
 as claiming superior distinction, and as having 
 a peculiar title to be consulted. They were 
 thus employed, under the sovereign, in con- 
 ducting that important part of the troops ; 
 and, by an easy transition, acquired a juris- 
 diction in such controversies, as were either of 
 a military nature, or had arisen in the army 
 while it remained in the field*. 
 
 5. The writing of the king's letters, and 
 the executing of the charters, or other deeds, 
 that issued from the crown, became also the 
 subject of a distinct occupation, that of the 
 secretary. In those times, w r hen the clergy 
 had acquired great influence, and when a pro- 
 
 * This officer was known to the Anglo-Saxons under the 
 name of Stallarius. Spelm. Gloss, v. Constabularius. The 
 mareschal seems to have been considered as the deputy of 
 the constable.
 
 ANGLO-SAXON GOVERNMENT. 245 
 
 ficiency in the art of writing supposed an un- 
 common degree of literary education, the only 
 person likely to be qualified for this employ- 
 ment was the chaplain; who might be con- 
 sidered as, in some degree, the keeper of the 
 king's conscience ; and who, from the nature 
 of those religious offices which he performed, 
 could seldom fail to acquire the confidence of 
 his master. 
 
 When signatures were introduced, for as- 
 certaining the authenticity of writings, the 
 office of keeping the king's seal, and of ap- 
 pending it to his deeds, was committed to 
 the same person who had been employed in 
 writing them. 
 
 As in determining law-suits, it was found 
 expedient, in many cases, to take down the 
 sentence of the judge in writing, the secretary 
 was naturally employed for this purpose ; and 
 became keeper of the records of the king's 
 court. From this branch of his duty, he got 
 the appellation of chancellor ; which is said to 
 have originally denoted a scribe,, or notary ; 
 being derived from cancella, the place under 
 the Roman government, allotted to persons
 
 246 STATE OF THE SOVEREIGN IN THE 
 
 of that profession for carrying on their busi- 
 ness*. 
 
 As this arrangement in the domestic ad- 
 ministration of the sovereign, supposes con- 
 siderable wealth and magnificence, it was 
 probably of a later origin in England than 
 in several of the kingdoms upon the conti- 
 nent. It is reasonable to suppose that the 
 whole of the king's household was at first 
 committed to one principal servant ; whose 
 business having been, by little and little, aug- 
 mented and rendered more burthensome, was 
 at length divided into these five different de- 
 partments. A similar plan of administration, 
 in a more limited sphere, was adopted by 
 every great landed proprietor ; who naturally 
 multiplied his chief domestics, in proportion 
 to the extent of his wealth ; and often fol- 
 lowed the example of the king, by dividing 
 the affairs of his household into the same num- 
 ber of branches-f . 
 
 * This officer is clearly distinguishable in the Anglo- 
 Saxon government. Spelm. v. Cancellarius. 
 
 + Pasquier in speaking of these great officers of the 
 household observes, that they were gradually established in
 
 ANGLO-SAXON GOVERNMENT. 247 
 
 The longer these great officers had been 
 established, they rose to higher degrees of con- 
 sideration ; and their authority was farther 
 extended, from the superintendence of the 
 king's household, to the direction and manage- 
 ment of the kingdom. As, for the most part, 
 they were originally chosen by the sovereign, 
 upon account of their superior wealth, or 
 abilities, which rendered them capable of sup- 
 porting his dignity in the execution of the 
 business committed to them ; so the trust and 
 confidence which he reposed in them, to- 
 gether with the share of public administration 
 which they enjoyed, afforded them numberless 
 opportunities of augmenting their private for- 
 tunes, and of increasing their influence. In 
 proportion to their advances in wealth and 
 
 the families of the great lords and gentlemen. " Parquoy 
 <; estoient dessus tous, cinq estats plus estimez, le chance- 
 <e lier, grand chambellan, grand maistre, grand eschaiigon, 
 "que nos anciens appelloient grand bouteeller, et con- 
 " nestable. Nous estant par cecy nionstree, une grand 
 " ceconomie : car aussi n'y a il maison qui vueille tant soit 
 " peu paroitre, en laquelle ces cinq estats ne se trouvent 
 " estre necessaires, encore que ce ne soit avec tiltres de 
 " telle splendeur." Recherches de la France, liv. ii, ch^p. 
 19.
 
 248 STATE OF THE SOVEREIGN IN THE 
 
 power, they were in a condition to render 
 their offices more permanent. They were 
 originally nominated by the king during plea- 
 sure; but that superiority, which had been the 
 inducement to their first promotion, became 
 commonly more and more conspicuous during 
 the continuance of their employments. It 
 was, therefore, seldom found convenient to 
 displace them : and, even after their decease, 
 the heir of that estate, which they had ac- 
 quired, was naturally regarded as the person 
 best qualified, and who had a preferable claim 
 to inherit their dignity. By long usage, these 
 offices were thus rendered hereditary in parti- 
 cular families. To this observation, however, 
 the office of chancellor, in most European 
 countries, is an exception. As the chancel- 
 lor was unavoidably a clergyman, who held 
 his rank in the church, and the estate con- 
 nected with it, only during life, he had com- 
 monly neither any opportunity of securing the 
 office to his family, nor any desire of annex- 
 ing it to his ecclesiastical dignity. 
 
 Of the influence established by the great 
 officers of the king's household, the political 
 c8nstitution of Germany affords a remarkable 
 
 1
 
 ANGLO-SAXON GOVERNMENT. 249 
 
 instance. When the dominions of that em- 
 pire, by the conquest of large territories, in 
 Italy, and in the southern part of France, 
 had been so enlarged as to comprehend three 
 distinct kingdoms, the emperor was induced, 
 in that situation, to appoint three different 
 secretaries*. The officers of his household 
 were, upon this account, increased to the 
 number of seven. In the progress of the Ger- 
 man government, the power of these great 
 officers advanced, as that of the emperor 
 declined ; and after the imperial dignity had 
 become entirely elective, they assumed the 
 privilege of proposing, to the national assembly, 
 the successor to the crown ; from which they 
 at length proceeded to claim the sole right 
 of electing him. Hence the origin of that 
 precise number of persons who composed the 
 primitive German electors. 
 
 The steward was originally the officer of 
 the greatest importance in the king's household ; 
 
 * The first was the secretary for Germany, properly so 
 called ; the second for Italy, and the third for Aries. It 
 is remarkable that these chancellors, having become secular 
 princes, their offices have been attached to their ecclesias- 
 tical dignity.
 
 250 STATE OF THE SOVEREIGN IN THE 
 
 because the supplying of his majesty's table 
 with provisions was regarded as the chief con- 
 cern of the family. We accordingly find 
 that, in several countries of Europe, the person 
 who enjoyed this hereditary office, attained a 
 degree of rank and opulence which rendered 
 him formidable to the sovereign. In France, 
 the mayors of the palace, after having for a 
 long time possessed the real power and au- 
 thority of the crown, were at length embold- 
 ened to throw off the mask, and openly to 
 mount the throne. 
 
 When the use of cavalry in war had be- 
 come very extensive, and when that part of 
 the feudal armies had the principal share in 
 deciding the fate of battles, the constable, or 
 marishal, was frequently in a condition to dis- 
 pute the superiority with the steward or mayor 
 of the palace. Thus, in Germany, when the 
 throne happened to be vacant, the Elector 
 Palatine, the mayor of the palace, was an- 
 ciently appointed, for preventing the bad 
 consequences of an inter-regnum, to be the 
 vicar of the empire. But in a subsequent 
 period, this high dignity was claimed by the 
 elector of Saxony, the constable ; and, after 
 3
 
 ANGLO-SAXON GOVERNMENT. 251 
 
 violent disputes, and various determinations 
 of the diet, was at last divided between those 
 powerful competitors. 
 
 In the ages of greater civility and im- 
 provement, when, from the complicated con- 
 nexions of society, its laws became numerous 
 and of difficult interpretation, and when, from 
 the anxiety of individuals to ascertain their 
 rights, the charters and writings proceeding 
 from the crown were multiplied in proportion, 
 the secretary, or chancellor, to whom the 
 king committed that branch of business, was 
 invested with powers of the greatest conse- 
 quence, and therefore was exalted to the 
 highest rank. 
 
 In those opulent and polished nations which 
 have long been reduced under an equal and 
 regular government ; in which the impartial 
 distribution of justice is looked upon as almost 
 a matter of course ; and in which the sove- 
 reign is accustomed to govern by influence, 
 more than by the exertion of his prerogative ; 
 in such nations, the person w T ho presides over 
 the public treasury, who may be regarded as 
 the substitute of the chamberlain, becomes 
 the great channel through which the revenue
 
 252 STATE OF THE SOVEREIGN IJ* THE 
 
 of the state is conveyed, and by which the 
 authority of the crown is maintained. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to remark, that this 
 distribution of the business in the king's 
 household, into five departments, reaches far 
 below the simple period of the Anglo-Saxon 
 government which we are now considering. 
 But, on the other hand, it merits attention, 
 that when the exaltation of the sovereign had 
 multiplied the occupations belonging to these 
 different branches, it became expedient, in 
 some of them, to appoint a variety of de- 
 puties ; many of whom, in particular king- 
 doms, rose by degrees to such consideration 
 and rank, as to appear no longer in a subor- 
 dinate station, and even to make the origin of 
 their appointment be forgotten. This circum- 
 stance must not be overlooked in perusing the 
 enumeration, given by many historians, of the 
 principal officers in the court, or household, 
 of particular princes. 
 
 From the foregoing imperfect sketch of the 
 powers of the sovereign, as well as of the con- 
 stitution and privileges of the Wittenagemote, 
 we may be enabled, notwithstanding the dark- 
 ness of our ancient history, to form an idea of
 
 ANGLO-SAXON GOVERNMENT. 255 
 
 the original English constitution. How remote 
 this was from an absolute monarchy, must be 
 apparent to every one, who considers that the 
 privilege of legislation, together with that of 
 determining peace and war, and even that of 
 controuling the executive power, was lodged 
 in the national assembly. Neither can this 
 government be deemed in a high degree 
 aristocratical : since the national council was 
 composed, not of a small junto of nobles, but 
 of all the landed proprietors, comprehending 
 a great proportion of the whole people. It 
 seems, in fact, to be that sort of political 
 system which is likely to be established in all 
 rude and extensive countries ; before a few in- 
 dividuals have accumulated so much wealth 
 as enables them to domineer over their infe- 
 riors ; and before the king, in consequence of 
 his high station and prerogatives, has had lei- 
 sure to acquire a revenue sufficient to over- 
 throw and bear down any opposition that can 
 be apprehended from the most opulent of his 
 subjects. It cannot, however, escape obser- 
 vation, that although the powers committed 
 to the monarch by the early Saxon constitution 
 were small, they were not accurately de-
 
 254 STATE OF THE SOVEREIGN IN THE 
 
 fined, and that in the exercise of them, he en- 
 joyed, upon this account, a good deal of lati- 
 tude. Accurate limitations of power, and a 
 regular system of subordination, the fruit of 
 experience and foresight, cannot be expected 
 to characterize the institutions of a simple peo- 
 ple, who are usually guided by their feelings 
 more than by reflection, and who attend more 
 to the immediate effects of any measure, than 
 to its remote consequences. As the Anglo-» 
 Saxon princes were entrusted with every 
 branch of public administration, in which 
 the Wittenagemote did not think proper to 
 interfere ; their conduct was directed, in a 
 great measure, by particular conjunctures, and 
 by the different unforeseen events which ac- 
 cidentally required their interposition. We 
 need not be surprised, therefore, if in pe- 
 rusing the history of that period, while we 
 discover strong marks of the weakness of the 
 crown, we should also meet with some extra- 
 ordinary exertions of the prerogative, and 
 should at the same time observe, that these 
 were suffered to pass without censure, or 
 even without notice. It is a common source 
 of mistake, among political writers, to con-
 
 ANGLO-SAXON GOVERNMENT. 855 
 
 sider these extraordinary exertions as proofs 
 of the ordinary state of the government ; and 
 to adduce as an illustration of the general 
 practice, what is only the random and casual 
 exercise of a power, not yet brought to a re- 
 gular standard. We shall now examine the 
 changes produced in the English constitution 
 from the reign of Egbert to the Norman con- 
 quest.
 
 256 PRINCIPAL EVENTS FROM EGBERT 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Of the principal Events from theReign of Egbert 
 to the Norman Conquest. 
 
 W^HILE England, by the union of the 
 different states of the Heptarchy, was emerg- 
 ing from barbarism, and laying the foundation 
 of a great and powerful kingdom, a new 
 enemy involved her in a series of fresh cala- 
 mities ; and contributed to retard the progress 
 of her improvements. The inhabitants of the 
 northern part of Germany, who retained 
 their ancient manners, and were still much 
 addicted to piracy, continued to infest the 
 coasts of Britain and France, and of such other 
 European countries as, by some advancement 
 in cultivation, presented an inviting prospect 
 of plunder. About the reign of Egbert, se- 
 veral bands of those pirates, known by the 
 general name of Danes, landed in England ; 
 and, after committing great ravages, were ge- 
 nerally successful in carrying off their booty. 
 Upon the death of that prince, whose vigour
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 257 
 
 had kept them under some restraint, their in- 
 cursions became bolder and more frequent; 
 they made their attacks in larger parties ; and, 
 having been often victorious over the forces 
 that could be assembled against them, they 
 were at length encouraged to form settlements 
 in different parts of the country. From the 
 time when the kingdoms of the heptarchy 
 were united, to that of the Norman conquest; 
 a period extending to about two hundred and 
 fifty years, and comprehending a series of nine- 
 teen monarchs ; the English were, with little 
 interruption, engaged in a course of hostilities 
 with those invaders ; and subjected to perpetual 
 inquietude and disorder. In the reign of 
 Alfred, the grandson of Egbert, the Danish 
 arms had been so successful, and their acqui- 
 sitions had become so extensive, as to threaten 
 an entire conquest of the kingdom. 
 
 The history of that prince exhibits a pattern 
 of the hero and statesman, equal to whatever 
 is recorded of ancient patriotism, and even to 
 whatever correct fiction has been able to sug- 
 gest, in order to excite admiration and esteem. 
 During the reign of Ethered, his elder brother, 
 by whom he was unjustly deprived of the 
 
 vol. i. s
 
 258 PRINCIPAL EVENTS PROM EGBERT 
 
 patrimony left him by his father, he discover- 
 ed neither any marks of resentment for the 
 private injury he had sustained, nor of what 
 prevailed so universally among the princes of 
 that age, an ambition to possess the crown ; 
 but with uniform alacrity seconded all the 
 public measures of the king ; and, while yet 
 at an early period of life, displayed uncommon 
 valour and talents, in opposing the enemies of 
 his country. When he afterwards succeeded 
 to the throne, his magnanimity and firmness 
 were put to a severe trial in the school of ad- 
 versity. Though he had been victorious over 
 the Danes in many conflicts ; yet the swarms 
 of those invaders multiplied so fast ; and from 
 every quarter pushed their depredations with 
 such rapidity, that the English, throughout 
 the greater part of the kingdom, became quite 
 disheartened and submitted to the conquerors. 
 His ancient subjects, the western Saxons, alone 
 retained their fidelity, and supported the inte- 
 rest of their monarch : but these were incapa- 
 ble of resisting the torrent which broke in 
 upon them, from the accumulated force of 
 their enemies. After many fruitless efforts, 
 and upon a sudden report of a new invasion
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 259 
 
 by a powerful body of Danes, that spread uni- 
 versal consternation, the king found himself 
 almost entirely abandoned : and, being able 
 no longer to keep the field, was obliged to dis- 
 band his remaining adherents, and to provide 
 for his present safety ; he was even under the 
 necessity of concealing himself by various arti- 
 fices, and in mean disguises. The distresses 
 to which he was exposed, and the private ad- 
 ventures which he met with, in that situation, 
 appear not unworthy of notice ; as they relate 
 to a person of such eminence ; and as the fate 
 of England depended upon his surmounting 
 the difficulties in which he was involved. In 
 the garb of a common soldier he remained for 
 some time unknown, in the house of one of 
 his own herdsmen : upon which occasion, his- 
 torians have mentioned a little incident, which 
 exhibits a ludicrous picture of royalty placed 
 in awkward circumstances without being de- 
 graded by them. While the king was one 
 day sitting by the fireside, and trimming his 
 bow and arrows, the woman of the house, 
 who had no suspicion of the quality of her 
 guest, happened to be toasting bread ; and, 
 having occasion to go about some other affairs, 
 
 s 2
 
 260 PRINCIPAL EVENT* FROM EGBERT 
 
 she found, at her return, that the cakes were 
 burned ; with which being greatly provoked, 
 she heartily scolded his majesty, telling him, 
 that though he neglected to turn her cakes, he 
 was always very ready to eat them. 
 
 Meanwhile the royal demesnes became a 
 prey to the Danish forces; who being no longer 
 restrained by the apprehension of an enemy, 
 gave a loose to their cruelty and rapacity. 
 Alfred, reduced in this manner, to the condi- 
 tion of an outlaw in his own dominions, and 
 having collected a few faithful followers, wan- 
 dered for some time from place to place, find- 
 ing shelter from the woods and marshes, which 
 covered a great part of the country, and which 
 were of difficult access even to the natives 
 themselves. But his principal retreat was in 
 the middle of an extensive morass, form d by 
 the rivers Thone and Parret in Somersetshire; 
 which was almost entirely surrounded with 
 water; and which afforded great plenty oi 
 fallow deer, and other wild animals fit for 
 subsistence. Ini this place the king took up 
 his residence ; and erecting some fortifications, 
 remained for near the space of a twelvemonth. 
 
 Here he had leisure to reflect upon the uncer-
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 26l 
 
 tainty of human grandeur ; to weigh the real 
 value of all human enjoyments ; and to revolve 
 in his mind those benevolent and patriotic 
 plans, by the execution of which he came af- 
 terwards to be revered by his countrymen, 
 and has excited the admiration of mankind. 
 From this retreat he made many secret excur- 
 sions in order to procure information or plun- 
 der, and to revive the drooping courage and 
 spirits of his companions. 
 
 At length the earl of Devonshire, having 
 suddenly attacked and routed a large party of 
 the Danes, presented to Alfred a favourable 
 opportunity of appearing once more in the 
 open field, and of animating his subjects to 
 hazard another attempt for the recovery of the 
 kingdom. Amid all the difficulties and 
 dangers to which this monarch was exposed, 
 he appears to have uniformly discovered a 
 mind cool and deliberate, resolute with cau- 
 tion, fruitful in expedients, and dexterous in 
 executing such measures as the singular and 
 desperate posture of his affairs made it ad vise- 
 able to adopt. On this occasion he is said to 
 have employed a stratagem, suited to the state 
 of discipline in the armies of that age, and
 
 562 PRINCIPAL EVENTS FROM EGBERT 
 
 which recals the memory of those military 
 adventures related in the early periods of anti- 
 quity. In the disguise of a minstrel and for- 
 tune-teller, attended only by one companion, 
 he visited the Danish camp ; and supported 
 the character with so much address, as to af- 
 ford universal entertainment, and to pass 
 through every quarter, not excepting even the 
 general's tent, without incurring the least sus- 
 picion. Having thus procured every possible 
 information, and having, by means of a previ- 
 ous intercourse with his nobles, suddenly col- 
 lected a great body of his subjects, he found 
 himself at the head of a powerful army exult- 
 ing in the recovery of their monarch, and eager 
 to be revenged of their oppressors. With this 
 force he fell unexpectedly upon the enemy ; 
 and entirely defeated them. His victory was 
 60 complete, that the Danes were incapable of 
 any further opposition ; and in a little time 
 after were entirely subdued. Some part of 
 them were driven out of the kingdom; the 
 rest were under the necessity of submitting to 
 such terms as he thought proper to impose. 
 
 The moderation and clemency of this prince, 
 and the prudence which he displayed in 7 the
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 263 
 
 improvement of these advantages, were no less 
 Conspicuous, than the vigour and abilities by 
 which they were obtained. The Danes who 
 submitted to him were sent to reside in East 
 Anglia, Northumberland, and some of the 
 neighbouring parts of the kingdom, where 
 many of their countrymen had long been set- 
 tled ; and they were admitted to the enjoyment 
 of the same privileges with his other subjects. 
 By the zealous interposition of Alfred, they 
 were also happily persuaded to embrace the 
 Christian religion ; a circumstance necessary to 
 remove their prejudices against the ancient 
 inhabitants, and to unite those different tribes 
 of people in one community. 
 
 Upon the restoration of peace, the first at- 
 tention of the monarch was employed in pro- 
 viding a fleet, sufficient to oppose any new 
 invasion of the Danish pirates ; in erecting 
 fortifications upon the coasts more immedi- 
 ately exposed to their depredations; in making 
 regulations for assembling the inhabitants upon 
 any sudden emergency ; in rebuilding the 
 towns that had been destroyed ; and in repair- 
 ing the waste and desolation which the coun-
 
 264 PRINCIPAL EVENTS FROM EGBERT 
 
 try had suffered from a long course of rapine 
 and violence. 
 
 To compile and publish a code of statutes, 
 is, in a rude nation, a measure of the highest 
 utility, for instructing an ignorant people in 
 those rules by which they are to be governed ; 
 and accordingly we find that this has been the 
 great object of almost all the distinguished 
 princes of an early period. It appeal's that 
 Alfred bestowed much labour and time upon 
 a work of this nature ; of which the greatest 
 part is now lost. It is probable, that, from the 
 various feudal institutions and customs, which 
 had prevailed either in England, or upon the 
 neighbouring continent, he selected such as 
 were accounted the most beneficial, and most 
 adapted to the peculiar circumstances of his 
 timeand country; and that, having established 
 these regulations by the authority of his great 
 council, he endeavoured, in the most effectual 
 manner, to produce a degree of uniformity in 
 law and government, throughout the whole 
 of the kingdom. We are not, however, to 
 imagine, that all differences in the customs of 
 different parts of the country were thus en-
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 265 
 
 tirely abolished. On the contrary, we find 
 that, in consequence of the new settlements 
 in the northern part of the kingdom, a multi- 
 tude of Danish customs had been introduced; 
 and that the people were now distinguished 
 into three great branches, according to the 
 varieties in the system of private law, esta- 
 blished among the Western Saxons, the Mer- 
 cians, and the Danes. 
 
 But the promulgation of good laws is, for 
 the most part, and especially in a country re- 
 mote from civilization, a matter of less diffi- 
 culty and importance than the vigorous and 
 impartial execution of them. When a regu- 
 lation is made, the beneficial objects, which it 
 is intended to promote, are commonly surveyed 
 in that distant and dispassionate view which 
 admits the full exertion of patriotic affections; 
 but when it conies to be enforced by the pu- 
 nishment of transgressors, it then frequently 
 assumes a different aspect; and the interest of 
 the public is likely to be obscured and counter- 
 acted by the private connexions, and by the 
 partiality and prejudice of individuals: not to 
 mention that the splendor and eclat, which 
 accompany the temporary interpositions of the
 
 266 PRINCIPAL EVENTS FROM EGBERT 
 
 legislature, do not descend to the unremitting 
 and laborious attention, to the painful and in- 
 vidious task, of those inferior magistrates who 
 render the law effectual. It was here that the 
 genuine virtue of Alfred appeared most conspi- 
 cuous. From the lcjng course of depredation 
 to which England had been exposed, that 
 country was become a scene of the utmost 
 license and disorder ; exhibiting, on the one 
 hand, a people fierce and barbarous in their 
 manners, accustomed to live by robbery and 
 violence ; and on the other, a set of nobles, in 
 reality the leaders of different pillaging parties, 
 abusing that authority and jurisdiction with 
 which they were invested, by protecting their 
 adherents from punishment, and by oppressing 
 those who had fallen under their displeasure. 
 Yet such was the attention of this monarch to 
 the inferior departments of government, so 
 great was his vigilance in examining the con- 
 duct of judges, and his rigour in punishing 
 them for malversation in office, that, in a 
 short time, these evils were in a great measure 
 removed, and an equal and regular adminis- 
 tration of justice was introduced. In one year 
 of his reign no fewer than forty-four magis-
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 267 
 
 trates, it is said, were put to death, for misbe- 
 haviour in their judicial capacity ; a proof that 
 corruption and licentiousness had risen to an. 
 amazing pitch. There can be little doubt, 
 that in the accounts transmitted by historians, 
 the accuracy and regularity of the police, 
 established by Alfred, has been greatly exag- 
 gerated ; but even these exaggerations, the 
 usual effects of wonder and admiration, may 
 serve to convince us, that he made great im- 
 provements upon the former system. We are 
 informed that, in order to try the success of 
 his institutions, he caused golden bracelets to 
 be hung up near the highway ; and that no 
 person, such was the terror of the magistrate, 
 adventured to touch them. 
 
 By the establishment of good order and 
 tranquillity, the people were encouraged to 
 follow those peaceable occupations which had 
 been totally interrupted by the preceding dis- 
 orders. The king was indefatigable in his 
 efforts to promote manufactures, and to excite 
 the industry of his subjects ; by employing 
 artificers in great public works ; by inviting 
 foreigners to settle in the country; and by re- 
 warding the inventors of new arts. He con-
 
 268 PRINCIPAL EVENTS FROM EGBERT 
 
 tributed, in a particular manner, to the exten- 
 sion of foreign commerce, by protecting it 
 with his fleet, and by bestowing marks of his 
 favour upon such as became eminent for their 
 skill in navigation. 
 
 He was no less attentive to the encourage- 
 ment of literature, not only by his patronage, 
 but also by his example. His ardour, in this 
 respect, was the more remarkable, as it sur- 
 mounted the disadvantages he lay under from 
 the neglect of his early education; for, among 
 the anecdotes which have come down to us 
 concerning the private life of Alfred, it is re- 
 lated, that he was twelve years of age before he 
 had been taught to read; and that he first felt 
 a desire of being instructed, in this particular, 
 from the recital of certain piecesof poetry, with 
 which the queen his mother was much de- 
 lighted. Prompted, however, by a strong in- 
 clination for literary pursuits, he soon became, 
 not only a proficient in the Latin language, and 
 in such branches of learning as were respected 
 in that age, but even a writer of eminence, 
 both in prose and in verse. As a poet, he 
 seems to have employed himself chiefly in 
 translating, or composing, fables, or apologues. 
 
 1
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 269 
 
 These compositions are usually the first at- 
 tempts, in a rude nation, to illustrate, by sim- 
 ple and familiar examples, the proverbs, or 
 maxims for the conduct of life, which observa- 
 tion and experience have suggested, and which, 
 as containing important information to an 
 illiterate people, are frequently repeated, and 
 appealed to, in ordinary conversation. The 
 labours of this eminent statesman appear, in 
 that particular, to have coincided with those of 
 the first great teacher of morality among the 
 Greeks. It is probable that those two cele- 
 brated personages were directed in the choice 
 of their subject by a similarity of character ; 
 and it may perhaps be suspected, that both of 
 them were more remarkable for their philoso- 
 phy and public spirit, than for their poetry. 
 
 Historians have mentioned the bodily ac- 
 complishments of Alfred, as corresponding to 
 the extraordinary endowments of his mind. 
 He was distinguished by the strength and ac- 
 tivity, as well as by the dignity and graceful- 
 ness of his person ; and while his dexterity and 
 address, in martial exercises, excited universal 
 applause, he gained the hearts of his subjects 
 by an affable and engaging deportment.
 
 270 PRINCIPAL EVENTS FROM EGBERT 
 
 After all, though the history of this monarch 
 may be accounted sufficiently authentic, to 
 afford a solid conviction of his exalted merit ; 
 some allowance, no doubt, must be made for 
 the colouring produced by that admiration 
 which was due to his character, and which 
 has been heightened by the remoteness of the 
 period in which he lived. We need not be 
 surprised, therefore, to meet with errors and 
 prejudices, concerning his public transactions; 
 and in particular, to find that he was supposed 
 to be the author of several regulations, which 
 he only revived, or brought to greater perfec- 
 tion than they had formerly attained. The 
 great changes which he produced in the state 
 of his country, by bringing it from anarchy 
 and confusion into a degree of order and regu- 
 larity, led his countrymen, in subsequent ages, 
 to fix their attention upon him, as the person 
 from whom they had derived the entire model 
 of their constitution. He is thus held, by 
 many historians, to have first divided the king- 
 dom into tythings, hundreds, and shires, and 
 to have introduced a peculiar system of policy 
 connected with those divisions ; though it seems 
 now to be clearly proved, that these regulations 
 .3
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 271 
 
 existed in England before his time, and that 
 they extended to other European kingdoms. 
 The institution of juries has, in like manner, 
 been ascribed to this monarch ; though there 
 is good reason to believe that it arose from the 
 general situation of the Gothic nations ; and 
 that it had a very early establishment in all of 
 them. Alfred, in a word, has become the 
 English Lycurgus ; and his interposition is the 
 great engine which politicians have employed 
 for explaining the origin of such particulars, 
 in the English government, as have excited 
 uncommon attention, and are too remote, in 
 their beginnings, to fall within the limits of 
 authentic history. 
 
 For near eighty years after the death of that 
 prince, England appears to have been success- 
 fully defended against every foreign invasion ; 
 though she experienced a variety of disturb- 
 ances, occasioned by the domestic quarrels and 
 insurrections of the Danes and other inhabi- 
 tants of the country. During this period we 
 may distinguish the reigns of Edward the elder, 
 the son of Alfred, of Athelstan, and of Edgar, 
 as remarkably vigorous ; and as filled with ex- 
 ploits, which, if they make no very splendid
 
 272 PRINCIPAL EVENTS FROM EGBERT 
 
 figure in the general scale of historical events, 
 were, however, of considerable consequence 
 to the peace and internal tranquillity of the 
 kingdom. 
 
 Those princes are said to have adopted a 
 measure, which, in that early age, appears ex- 
 tremely singular. They are said to have kept 
 in pay a regular body of troops, collected from 
 their Danish subjects ; whose military charac- 
 ter, it seems, was superior to that of the other 
 inhabitants. Though the bulk of the people 
 were not unfit for war, and, by their ordinary 
 employments, were not hindered from taking 
 the field upon very short preparation ; yet the 
 numerous piratical invasions to which they 
 were exposed, and by which they were held 
 in continual warfare, suggested the same sort 
 of military establishment that has been found 
 convenient in all civilized nations. The Danish 
 families were employed, in preference to the 
 English, from the same policy, which, in later 
 times, made the inhabitants of Switzerland 
 be engaged in the service of many European 
 princes. As those mercenaries, however, were 
 quartered about the country, and were pro- 
 bably not much under the controul of the
 
 TO THE NORMAN" CONQUEST. 27$ 
 
 civil magistrate, they were guilty of many 
 irregularities, and rendered themselves uni- 
 versally odious. They possessed all the power, 
 and discovered, we may suppose, all the inso- 
 lence of a standing army ; unrestrained by the 
 watchfulness of a regular government, or by 
 the influence of civilized manners. Hence the 
 appellation of a lurdane, or lord-done, which 
 was bestowed upon them, came to be used as 
 a term of reproach ; and signified an idler and 
 oppressor. Their situation led them, at the 
 same time, to seek distinction, by the superior 
 elegance of their dress and behaviour ; and we 
 are told, that they were accustomed frequently 
 to change their cloaths, to comb their hair 
 once a day, and to bathe or wash themselves 
 every Sunday. By these effeminate arts they 
 became the favourites of the women ; and were so 
 successful in their gallantries, as to debauch the 
 wives and daughters of many noble families*. 
 In the reign of Ethelred, a weak and pusil- 
 
 # "Habebant etiam ex consuetudine patiae unoquoque 
 " die comam pectere, sabbatis balneare, saepe etiam vesti- 
 " turam mutare, et forraam corporis multis talibus frivolis 
 '$ adjuvare ; imde et matronarum castitati insideabantur, et 
 " filias etiam nobilium concubinarum nomine detinebant." 
 Chron. Joan, Wailingford. 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274 PRINCIPAL EVENTS FROM EGBERT 
 
 lanimous prince, England was again infested 
 by more numerous swarms of the Northern pi- 
 rates ; and at length was invaded by a formid- 
 able army under Sweyn, the king of Den- 
 mark, and Olave the king of Norway. Ethel- 
 red, unable to resist these united forces, had 
 recourse to the ineffectual and ruinous expe- 
 dient of purchasing peace by the offer of a pe- 
 cuniary composition ; and when those princes 
 had returned to their own country, he excited 
 his English subjects, to gratify their resent- 
 ment against the Danes, by taking advantage 
 of their security, and putting them to death in 
 cold blood. The extent of this massacre, so 
 disgraceful to the monarch, and to the nation, 
 cannot easily be ascertained. The greater 
 part of the historians consider it as extending 
 to the whole of the Danish race at that time 
 to be found in England ; but the improbabi- 
 lity of this, together with the authority of one 
 ancient author, makes it reasonable to suppose, 
 with Mr. Hume, that the slaughter was, for 
 the most part, limited to those mercenaries 
 against whom the rage of the populace was 
 more immediately directed. 
 
 To revenge an act of so much perfidy and
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 275 
 
 cruelty, Sweyn, without loss of time, made 
 another descent into Britain ; and after destroy- 
 ing many of the towns, and desolating a great 
 part of the country, he seems to have medi- 
 tated an entire conquest of the kingdom. He 
 did not live to complete his designs ; but these 
 were prosecuted by his son Canute ; who met 
 with little opposition ; and in a short time ad- 
 ded the English monarchy to that of Denmark 
 which he possessed by inheritance. This 
 prince, by his abilities, by the prudence and 
 lenity of his administration, and by the extent 
 of his dominions, was justly entitled to the 
 appellation of great, which he has received 
 from posterity. In England, after the first 
 effects of the conquest were over, he endea- 
 voured to procure the good-will of his subjects, 
 by reducing the English and Danish inhabi- 
 tants under the same laws, and by abolishing 
 all distinctions between them. He published 
 a collection of laws, which has been preserved. 
 After this monarch, two of his sons reigned 
 successively in England; but, as they died 
 without issue, the crown was restored to a 
 prince of the Saxon line, known by the name 
 of Edward the Confessor. 
 
 t 2
 
 276 PRINCIPAL EVENTS FROM EGBERT 
 
 The conquest of England by the Danes ap- 
 pears to have been productive of no other po- 
 litical consequences, besides the interruption 
 given to improvements, by the bloody and 
 destructive wars by which it was attended. 
 When Britain was deserted by the Romans, 
 and fell under the Anglo-Saxon government, 
 the country, which had made considerable 
 progress in arts and civilization, was, of a 
 sudden, reduced into a state of barbarism, and 
 underwent a total revolution of its political 
 system. By the Danish conquest, one set of 
 barbarians were subjected to another, of kin- 
 dred origin and manners ; so that the sceptre 
 was placed in different hands, without any 
 alteration in the maxims by which it was 
 swayed, or the authority by which it was 
 maintained. 
 
 From the beginning to the end of the pe- 
 riod, which is the immediate subject of this 
 review, the circumstances of the kingdom were 
 such, as contributed to render the government 
 more and more aristocratical. 
 
 It has been already observed, that the 
 landed estates, originally occupied by the 
 Saxon conquerors of England, were of mode-
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 277 
 
 rate extent ; for which reason there came to 
 be a great number of allodial or independent 
 ' proprietors. This was what might be expected, 
 from the very limited power and opulence of 
 the several heads of families who settled in the 
 country, and from their want of the knowledge 
 and experience requisite for the management 
 of extensive possessions. During the conti- 
 nuance of their settlement, however, and the 
 consequent improvement of their circum- 
 stances, the industry and abilities, or the good 
 fortune, of individuals, were attended with 
 gradual accumulations of wealth, and with 
 proportional differences in the distribution of 
 landed property. 
 
 From the reign of Egbert, when England 
 became an extensive kingdom, the sovereign 
 was necessarily removed to a distance from a 
 great part of his subjects ; who, for that reason, 
 were equally beyond the reach of his pro- 
 tection, and of his authority. For putting a 
 stop to those predatory incursions, by which 
 the inhabitants of different districts were fre- 
 quently harassing and injuring one another, 
 the forces employed by the crown could sel- 
 dom be brought to act, either with sufficient
 
 278 PRINCIPAL EVENTS FROM EGBERT 
 
 quickness to relieve the sufferer, or with suffix 
 cient perseverance to chastise the offender. It 
 was necessary, therefore, when the property of 
 any person was invaded, or threatened with 
 invasion, by a superior power, that the owner 
 should not, in many cases, depend upon the 
 interposition of the sovereign or public magis- 
 trate, but should endeavour to procure the 
 immediate assistance of some of his neighbours. 
 As the reciprocal acts of hostility, which were 
 frequently committed, gave rise to hereditary 
 feuds among particular families ; so they occa- 
 sioned, among other families in the same neigh- 
 bourhood, a variety of combinations and alli- 
 ances for mutual defence and security. When 
 the parties, who thus formed a defensive alli- 
 ance, had been exposed to the same difficulties, 
 and expected to derive an equal benefit from 
 their agreement, they were led to unite upon 
 equal terms, and remained in a state of inde- 
 pendence. Of the societies formed in this 
 manner, we have many instances, both in 
 England, and in the other countries of Europe*. 
 
 * They have been called sodalitia fraternkates. Dr. 
 Hickes, Diss. Epist. p. 21.
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 279 
 
 But it happened more frequently that small 
 proprietors being exposed to continual op- 
 pression, and to every sort of injustice, from 
 persons of greater opulence, were obliged to so- 
 licit the aid of one powerful neighbour, in or- 
 der to shelter them from the attacks of another. 
 In such a situation they could not pretend to 
 form an alliance upon the footing of equality ; 
 but were commonly reduced to the necessity 
 of purchasing protection by the offer of sub- 
 mission and services. As they were to obtain, 
 from their protector, the same advantages 
 which he bestowed upon his ancient military 
 servants, it was reasonable that they should, in 
 like manner, acknowledge his jurisdiction, and 
 contribute to the advancement of his power 
 and authority. Thus, in some cases, by a 
 formal agreement, in others, perhaps, by a 
 long and uniform submission to the feudal ser- 
 vices, many renounced that allodial property 
 which they were no longer able to maintain ; 
 and, from the prospect of living in greater 
 security, allowed themselves to be degraded 
 into the state of military retainers or vassals. 
 
 From a similarity of circumstances, these 
 transactions were often repeated in different
 
 280 PRINCIPAL EVENTS FROM EGBERT 
 
 parts of the country, and were gradually ex- 
 tended over the whole kingdom. The more 
 the demesnes of particular barons had been 
 increased by such voluntary resignations, the 
 remaining proprietors of small estates were the 
 less able to retain their independence; and 
 found it the more expedient to provide for 
 their own safety, by incorporating themselves 
 in some great feudal dependency. The allo- 
 dial proprietors were, in this manner, conti- 
 nually diminishing ; the landed property of 
 England was daily accumulated in fewer 
 hands ; and the districts possessed by parti- 
 cular barons, who profited by the reduction 
 of their neighbours into a state of subordina- 
 tion, were proportionably enlarged. 
 
 By these changes, the nobility, it is evident, 
 must have obtained more weight in the scale 
 of government While the landed estates of 
 individuals were so small as barely to supply 
 the necessaries of life, the owners were too in- 
 considerable to procure influence over others, 
 and too numerous to prosecute an uniform plan 
 for the advancement of their common interest. 
 But in proportion as particular persons had 
 acquired extensive possessions, they were ena-
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 281 
 
 bled to maintain a train of dependants and 
 followers, directed on all occasions by the will 
 of their feudal superior, and inured, by long 
 habits, to scruple at nothing, in order to gratify 
 his ambition, or to exalt his dignity. From 
 the smallness of their number, these great pro- 
 prietors might, at the same time, be combined 
 with more facility, in opposing the exertions 
 of the prerogative. 
 
 The sovereign, we may suppose, was not an 
 idle spectator of these alterations in the con- 
 dition of his subjects. As every opulent baron 
 obliged his poorer neighbours to become his 
 vassals, the king also exerted himself in the 
 protection of such as resided near the royal de- 
 mesnes, and acquired over them the rights of 
 a feudal superior. But the accessions acquired 
 in this manner, to the revenue of the crown, 
 and to the number of crown vassals, were pro- 
 bably not sufficient to counterbalance the vast 
 accumulation of landed property under the 
 lords of particular districts. We find accord- 
 ingly, that about the reign of Edward the 
 Confessor, a Godwin, earl of Wessex,a Leofric, 
 duke of Mercia, a Si ward, duke of Northum- 
 berland, with a few more barons, had become 
 so powerful, as to be the objects of constant
 
 282 PRINCIPAL EVENTS FROM EGBERT 
 
 alarm aud jealousy to the crown, and in a great 
 measure masters of the government. 
 
 The authority of the Anglo-Saxon princes 
 was, on the other hand, weakened, in many 
 cases, and prevented from acquiring stability 
 by the defects of their title to the sove- 
 reignity. 
 
 The rules of succession to the crown appear, 
 in all countries, to have been founded upon 
 the same principles which govern the inheri- 
 tance of private estates. According to the 
 primitive notions of mankind, it was held, 
 that, upon the death of any person, his estate 
 should belong to his nearest relations, who, by 
 being members of the same family, appeared 
 to have the most intimate connexion with the 
 family goods of which they had formerly been 
 a sort of joint possessors with the deceased. 
 But in that state of the world, in which every 
 family required a military leader to provide 
 for their defence, the person invested with this 
 office was by degrees permitted to assume the 
 management, and at length to acquire the 
 property, of that family-estate which was com- 
 mitted to his protection. Hence the right of 
 primogeniture in succession ; w T hich, in oppo- 
 sition to the feelings of natural justice, has
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 283 
 
 been introduced from considerations of ex- 
 pediency. The eldest of the sons, being com- 
 monly the first who acquired experience and 
 reputation in war, was, upon the death of the 
 parent, admitted to be the leader and heir of 
 the family ; and when a general practice in 
 his favour had once been established from the 
 ordinary course of things, it was maintained by 
 the force of custom, even in singular cases, 
 where he had not the same superiority. In 
 the succession to a monarchy there occurred 
 a double reason for introducing this right of 
 primogeniture ; as the monarch was not only 
 the leader and representative of the nation, but 
 also the heir of that private estate, which had 
 been the original source, and was the principal 
 support of his dignity. But in kingdoms of 
 great extent, and which had made but small 
 progress in the arts of government, the indi- 
 visible succession of the crown was often 
 maintained with greater difficulty than oc- 
 curred in the transmission of private estates ; 
 because the several districts of an extensive 
 monarchy, being at a great distance, and 
 feebly united, were apt, upon the death of a 
 monarch, to fall asunder, and to embrace the
 
 384 PRINCIPAL EVENTS FROM EGBERT 
 
 party of those different members of the royal 
 family, who might be tempted to aim at the 
 sovereignty. 
 
 The rules of succession to the crown of 
 England appear, in the period now under ex- 
 amination, to have been gradually advancing 
 towards a regular standard ; but were far from 
 having yet attained a perfect uniformity. 
 Among the nineteen princes who reigned from 
 the union of the Heptarchy to the Norman 
 conquest, we meet with no fewer than eight, 
 who, according to the notions of the present 
 age, must be regarded as usurpers ; and several 
 of these obtained the crown by titles, which, 
 though considered as in some degree irregular, 
 had not, in that rude age, been entirely ex- 
 ploded. 
 
 Instead of the eldest son inheriting the estate 
 of a family, it is common, in early ages, that 
 the children should be altogether supplanted 
 by the brothers and other collateral relations ; 
 who, by having arrived at a greater maturity, 
 and possessing superior prowess, are enabled to 
 put themselves at the head of their kindred. 
 Thus in many of the hordes, or petty nations, 
 upon the coast of Guinea, the children are said 
 
 3
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 285 
 
 to inherit nothing from their father but his 
 arms ; his other effects are carried off by the 
 older relations of the family. In the succession 
 of the ancient kings of Numidia, though a 
 country far advanced beyond the state of pri- 
 mitive barbarism, the brother, as we are in- 
 formed by Livy, was preferred to the children 
 of the preceding monarch. A similar prac- 
 tice may be discovered in several parts of the 
 eastern world. It obtains at present in the 
 Ladrone island ; as it formerly regulated the 
 transmission of the crown in the kingdom of 
 Siam, and in some dynasties of the Chinese 
 empire. Of this preference of the brothers, 
 or other relations to the direct descendants, 
 there are many traces in the early history of 
 modern Europe; and among the Anglo-Saxon 
 kings, even after the reign of Egbert, we meet 
 with four instances of it; in the person of Al- 
 fred the Great, of Edred, of Ethelred, and of 
 Edwy ; the three first of whom succeeded to 
 a brother ; the last to an uncle ; and all of 
 them, in prejudice to the children of the pre- 
 decessor. To these may be added, Edgar, 
 surnamed the Peaceable, by whom Edwy his 
 brother was dethroned.
 
 286 PRINCIPAL EVENTS FROM EGBERT 
 
 According to the manners of a rude people, 
 there is frequently little difference, with regard 
 to the right of succession, between the children 
 produced by a concubine and those who are 
 born in marriage. It is the circumstance of 
 living in the father's house, and having a sort 
 of joint possession of the family estate, that 
 is apprehended chiefly to bestow upon the 
 children a title to the inheritance ; and, in a 
 country so destitute of refinement or delicacy, 
 that the wife is indifferent about the fidelity of 
 her husband, or is of so little consequence that 
 her jealousy is not regarded, his bastards are 
 likely to be often brought up under his own eye, 
 and to receive a promiscuous maintenance 
 with his legitimate offspring. This observa- 
 tion may be illustrated from the history of 
 early nations, both ancient and modern, and 
 in all quarters of the world. It is remarkable 
 that, among the Israelites, in the time of their 
 judges, the lawful children of Gilead had, ap- 
 parently, no other way of preventing Jeph- 
 thah, their bastard brother, from succeeding 
 to the father's estate, than by driving him out 
 of the family*. 
 
 * See Judges, chap. ix.
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 287 
 
 The strictness of morals introduced by Chris- 
 tianity, contributed in Europe to diminish the 
 privileges of bastard children. It does not, 
 however, appear that, even so late as the time 
 of the Norman conquest, they were under- 
 stood, in any European country, to be totally 
 disqualified from inheriting estates. In Eng- 
 land, not to mention the instances that might 
 be collected among the kings of the Hep- 
 tarchy, we find that Athelstan, the natural son 
 of Edward the Elder, was permitted to mount 
 the throne, in preference to the lawful children 
 of his father. 
 
 The accession of Canute was merely the 
 effect of conquest ; though that prince endea- 
 voured to support his claim by means of a 
 stipulation, real or pretended, with the former 
 king. Upon the restoration of the Saxon line, 
 the nobles had acquired so much power as 
 enabled them to dispose of the vacant throne. 
 To their favour Edward the Confessor, who 
 usurped the right of the lineal heir, was prin- 
 cipally indebted for the crown ; and the ad- 
 vancement of Harold had confessedly no other 
 foundation. 
 
 By these numerous deviations from the re- 
 
 1
 
 288 PRINCIPAL EVENTS FROM EGBERT 
 
 gular course of succession, the monarch was 
 prevented from acquiring that accumulation 
 of hereditary influence, which is the effect of 
 an uninterrupted and long-continued lineal 
 descent; at the same time that those princes 
 who obtained the crown in an irregular man- 
 ner were, upon that account, subjected to dif- 
 ficulties, from which they were obliged to ex- 
 tricate themselves by courting the nobility, 
 and by making such concessions as tended to 
 alter the balance of the constitution. 
 
 From a singular incident, in the reign of the 
 first Edmund, and which occasioned the death 
 of that prince, we may easily discover that the 
 Anglo-Saxon kings depended, in. a great mea- 
 sure, upon the arbitrary assistance of their fol- 
 lowers, for maintaining the dignity and au- 
 thority of the crown ; and were far from being 
 provided with proper resources for securing a 
 decent respect and obedience to their com- 
 mands. " As Edmund, one day, was solem- 
 " nizing a festival in the county of Glocester, 
 " he remarked that Leolf, a notorious robber, 
 " whom he had sentenced to banishment, had 
 " yet the boldness to enter the hall where he 
 " dined, and to sit at table with his attendants.
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 289 
 
 " Enraged at this insolence, he ordered him 
 " to leave the room ; but on his refusing to 
 " obey, the king, whose temper, naturally cho- 
 " leric, was inflamed by this additional insult, 
 " leaped on him himself, and seized him by 
 " the hair ; but the ruffian, pushed to ex- 
 " tremity, drew his dagger, and gave the 
 " king a wound, of which he immediately 
 " expired*/' 
 
 * Hume's History of England. 
 
 VOL, I.
 
 290 VARIATIONS IN THE STATE OP 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Variations in the State of Tythings, Hundred*, 
 and Shires. 
 
 JL HE resignations of land, made by allodial 
 proprietors in order to procure the patron- 
 age and protection of a feudal superior, were 
 moulded in a particular manner, and received 
 a peculiar direction, from the institutions for- 
 merly mentioned, of tythings, hundreds, and 
 shires ; as on the other hand, the state of these 
 institutions underwent a great alteration from 
 the progress of those resignations. 
 
 A ty thing was composed of a number of 
 heads of families, who possessing allodial pro- 
 perty of small extent, and therefore having 
 few dependents, found it convenient to live 
 together in the same village or neighbourhood, 
 ior their mutual defence and security. The 
 bulk of the free people, or allodial proprietors, 
 appear to have been originally incorporated in 
 the different tythings, throughout the king- 
 dom ; though it is probable at the same time,
 
 TYTHINGS, HUNDREDS, AND SHIRES. 291 
 
 that there were particular thanes, or military 
 leaders, who, from their superior wealth and 
 power, had no occasion to join in any ty thing; 
 and who lived, in a state of greater independ- 
 ence and dignity, at the head of their own 
 bondmen, or tenants and vassals. Beside the 
 villages, therefore, which were composed of the 
 freemen, and which had the denomination 
 of ty things, there were others, composed of the 
 dependents of a feudal superior, placed under 
 his immediate jurisdiction and authority*. 
 
 The primitive borsholder, or tythingman, 
 was elected by the freemen of the tythingover 
 which he presided ; and at first was probably 
 but little superior to them in opulence. By 
 degrees, however, the rank which he enjoyed, 
 
 * See the laws ascribed to Edward the Confessor, pub- 
 lished by Lambard and Wilkins. L. 21. is translated as 
 follows : " Archiepiscopi, episcopi, comites, barones, et 
 u omines qui habuerint sacham et socam, thol, theam, et infang- 
 " thefe, etiam milites suos, et proprios servientes, scilicet 
 (i dapijeros, pincernas, camerarios, pistores et cocos, sub 
 '* suo friborgo habeant. Et itam isti suos armigeros, vel 
 " alios sibi servientes fub suo friborgo. Quod si cui foris- 
 " facerentet clamor vicinorum de eis assurgeret, ipse tine- 
 "rent eos rectitudini in curia sua; illi dico qui haberent 
 rt sacham et socam, thol et theam, et infangthefe." 
 
 u 2
 
 292 VARIATIONS IN THE STATE OP 
 
 together with the influence, and the perqui- 
 sites which he derived from thence, enabled 
 him to increase his fortune, and to extend his 
 authority over the different members of the 
 community. Upon his decease therefore, the 
 person who inherited his estate, obtaining a 
 great part of the weight and consideration of 
 the predecessor, was naturally promoted to the 
 same office ; which after being continued for 
 many generations in the same family, and be- 
 stowing upon the representative of it succes- 
 sive accumulations of property, was at last re- 
 garden as no longer elective, but as a perma- 
 nent hereditary dignity. The borsholder came 
 thus, in his own right, to demand military 
 service from the members of the ancient ty th- 
 ing ; and to claim the privilege of being their 
 judge both in civil and criminal matters. The 
 ty thing, in short, was converted into a barony ; 
 and that voluntary combination of the inhabi- 
 tants, intended for their mutual defence and 
 security, was now lost in the more intimate 
 connexion between a superior and his vassals. 
 As the president of a tything advanced in 
 the acquisition of this hereditary dignity, and 
 found that his authority depended less upon
 
 TYTHINGS, HUNDREDS, AND SHIRES. 293 
 
 the consent of his original constituents, he 
 became less attentive, we may suppose, to the 
 inferior duties of his office ; and the police of 
 the village, in matters of small moment, was 
 at length committed to a deputy. The re- 
 mains of this inferior officer seem to be still 
 preserved, in the annual election of a person 
 to preside in each of the towns or parishes of 
 England ; who in some cases retains the old 
 appellation of headborough or tythingman ; 
 but who, from the branches of business that 
 have since devolved upon him, is more com- 
 monly called the petty constable. 
 
 Similar causes produced a' change of the 
 same sort in the condition of the centenarius. 
 This magistrate, like the tythingman, was 
 originally chosen by the freemen of the district 
 over which he presided ; but as the richest man 
 of the district was most likely to carry the 
 election, so the longer any individual had re- 
 mained in the office, he became, from the 
 many opportunities it afforded of increasing 
 his riches, the more secure of holding it for 
 the future ; and for the same reason, the heir 
 of his private fortune, to whom he communi- 
 cated his family interest, had likewise the pro-
 
 294 VARIATIONS IN THE STATE OF 
 
 bability of obtaining the same dignity in pre- 
 ference to every competitor. Thus the leader 
 of the hundred was, through length of time, 
 converted into an hereditary officer ; and, 
 from the superiority of his original office, was 
 enabled to establish a permanent authority 
 over the several tythingmen of his district. 
 When these last had become the hereditary 
 leaders of ty things, they were frequently re- 
 duced, therefore, into a state of feudal subor- 
 dination to the hundreder. In other cases, 
 the influence of this greater magistrate was ex- 
 erted in bringing particular tythings under his 
 immediate protection, and in checking and 
 supplanting the tythingmen, who might other- 
 wise have acquired a feudal authority in these 
 little societies. 
 
 When the centenarius became a person of 
 too much consequence to execute the inferior 
 branches of business connected with his de- 
 partment, a deputy was appointed for that 
 purpose ; whence the office of the high con- 
 stable, elected annually in those districts, ap- 
 pears to have been derived. 
 
 With respect to the alderman or chief ma- 
 gistrate of a shire, it has been disputed whe-
 
 TYTHINGS, HUNDREDS, AND SHIRES. 295 
 
 therhe was originally nominated by the king, 
 or elected by the freemen of the territory over 
 which he presided. From what has been al- 
 ready observed, the latter of these opinions is 
 much more probable than the former. Con- 
 sidering how little power was usually possessed 
 by the sovereign in the infancy of govern- 
 ment, not only among the Saxons, but in all 
 the modern states of Europe ; and considering 
 that he had neither the nomination of the 
 borsholder, nor of the centenarius ; it is not 
 likely, that he would assume the appointment 
 of those who presided over the greater divisions 
 of the kingdom. 
 
 It is universally admitted, that the Anglo- 
 Saxon officers, who, in the early periods ol the 
 Heptarchy, received the appellation of Here- 
 tochs, were elected by the people whom they 
 were appointed to command. These ITere- 
 tochs were the leaders of considerable bodies of 
 the Saxons, who upon the settlement of their 
 followers, became the governors of provinces ; 
 and of consequence they were in realit y the 
 same sort of magistrates with those who, upon 
 the more accurate division of the county into 
 shires, were better known by the name of
 
 296 VARIATIONS IN THE STATE OF 
 
 aldermen or earls. It is therefore highly pro- 
 bable, that the first aldermen were appointed 
 in the same manner with their predecessors 
 the Heretochs. By degrees, however, the 
 chief magistrate of a shire was intrusted with 
 the collection and management of several 
 branches of the crown revenue within the 
 bounds of his district ; and for the execution 
 of this part of his duty he became, of course, 
 accountable to the king. This afforded the 
 sovereign a pretence for interfering in the ap- 
 pointment; and, from the effect which his 
 interference could hardly fail to produce, ap- 
 pears to have given him a negative upon the 
 election *. How long the aldermen were ap- 
 pointed in this manner, it is not easy to disco- 
 ver ; but from the same circumstances which 
 had operated in the case of the tythingman, 
 and the hundreder; from the necessity of 
 appointing the most opulent thane of a shire, 
 who alone was able to command respect from 
 
 * In the reign of Alfred, the earldoms were all held dur- 
 ing the pleasure of the king. Asser. de gest. Alfredi. In 
 the reign of Edward the Confessor they had a third part of 
 all fines, forfeitures, and other profits of the shire, for their 
 labour. Brady's Complete Hist, of England.
 
 TYTHINGS, HUNDREDS, AND SHIRES. 297 
 
 the inhabitants ; and from the accumulation 
 of property, and of interest, arising from the 
 possession of that high station ; the office was 
 frequently continued in the same families ; and 
 was, in the end, annexed to them as a perma- 
 nent dignity. We accordingly find, that, in 
 the latter part of the Anglo-Saxon line, the 
 aldermen, or earls, as they were then more 
 commonly called, had in general become here- 
 ditary. In France it appears that the same 
 change in the state of the counts and dukes was, 
 in like manner, completed before the accession 
 of Hugh Capet ; which corresponds to the 
 English period of the Norman conquest. 
 
 We may easily conceive that the hereditary 
 governor of a shire, who had, in his own right, 
 the privilege of assembling and commanding 
 the forces, as well as of holding the chief tri- 
 bunal for distributing justice, in that extensive 
 territory, was possessed of great influence and 
 authority ; and that many allodial proprietors 
 w T ould find they had no better means of se- 
 curing themselves from insult and depredation 
 than by courting his protection. Even the 
 leaders of hundreds, who had acquired a feudal 
 superiority over their own districts, but who
 
 298 VARIATIONS IN THE STATE OF 
 
 had been placed in a situation subordinate to 
 the earl, were sometimes induced, by motives 
 of interest, to become his immediate vassals, 
 and to promise the same service and submis- 
 sion to him, which they exacted from their 
 own military retainers. In particular tythings, 
 more immediately situated within the sphere 
 of his influence, the powerful protection of the 
 earl superseded that of their own ty thingmen, 
 and, by a natural consequence, rendered the 
 inhabitants more desirous of yielding homage 
 and fealty to that superior magistrate, than to 
 their own proper officers. In such cases the 
 authority of the smaller magistrates was lost 
 and swallowed up in that of the greater. 
 
 The advancement of the earl gave occasion 
 to the appointment of an inferior officer, the 
 sheriff ; upon whom was devolved the real 
 business connected with the office. This offi- 
 cer was originally chosen by the free inha- 
 bitants, or allodial proprietors of the shire ; 
 though the extensive department committed 
 to his care, and the great privileges with 
 which he was invested, had the same ten- 
 dency, as in the case of the chief governors, 
 to vary the mode of his appointment, and, in
 
 TYTHINGS, HUNDREDS, AND SHIRES. 299 
 
 the course of time, to bestow upon him an in- 
 dependent authority. 
 
 It was in this manner that allodial was g;e- I 
 nerally converted into feudal property, and 
 that an enlarged system of military dependen- 
 cies was at length established. The necessity 
 of defence produced the primitive associations 
 of ty things, hundreds, and shires, composed of 
 allodial proprietors, with their respective bond- 
 men or vassals. But, from the disorders of 
 society, these combinations were too loose and 
 feeble, to answer the purposes for which they 
 were intended. To protect and rescue the 
 individuals in each of these communities, it 
 was requisite that their leader should be in- 
 vested with greater authority than had origi- 
 nally been bestowed upon him ; and that his 
 associates or followers should become his per- 
 manent military servants. Ty things, hun- 
 dreds, and even a considerable part of shires, 
 were thus changed into fiefs ; and the tything- 
 man, the hundreder, and the earl, became the 
 feudal superiors over such districts as found it 
 expedient to court their protection. A subor- 
 dination, too, was introduced among the 
 leaders of those districts ; and the tythingmen 
 
 2
 
 300 VARIATIONS IN THE STATE OF 
 
 of a hundred became frequently the vassals of 
 the hundreder ; as many of the hundreders 
 belonging to a shire became vassals of that 
 greater baron, the earl. 
 
 As these changes were produced very slowly 
 and graduall} 7 , it is not surprising that they 
 should be overlooked by cotemporary annalists. 
 The meetings of the ty thing, the hundred, 
 and the shire, appear to have retained the same 
 names, and to have transacted the same sort 
 of business, long after the two former were 
 entirely, and the last in a great measure, 
 converted into the courts of a barony. The 
 alteration, in reality, consisted merely in a 
 different shade of authorit}' acquired by the 
 leader or chief magistrate of those divisions. 
 
 It seems worthy of notice, that this conver- 
 sion of allodial associations into feudal depen- 
 dencies, while it promoted the aristocracy, 
 was calculated to improve the police of the 
 country. When the tythingman, the hun- 
 dreder, and the earl were exalted to the rank 
 of hereditary barons, they were more capable 
 than formerly of maintaining good order in 
 their several districts ; and, as every feudal su- 
 perior was responsible to the public for the
 
 TYTHINGS, HUNDREDS, AND SHIRES. 301 
 
 conduct of his vassals and retainers, he had an 
 interest to exert his authority in preventing 
 rapine and violence. Unhappily, indeed, they 
 were often too powerful to submit to this part 
 of their duty; and, instead of repairing the 
 injuries done by their dependants, were fre- 
 quently disposed to screen them from the 
 punishment due to their offences.
 
 302 CHANGES IN THE CONDITION OF 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 Changes produced in the Condition of the Vassals, 
 and of the Peasants. 
 
 1 HE members of every feudal dependency 
 consisted of the military retainers or vassals, 
 and of the peasants, or churles; both of 
 whom, in the latter part of the Anglo-Saxon 
 government, experienced a great alteration in 
 their circumstances. 
 
 In that state of society which determined 
 allodial proprietors to shelter themselves under 
 the protection of a feudal superior, and by 
 which the number of military retainers was 
 therefore gradually augmented, the privileges 
 belonging to this order of men were naturally 
 increased ; and their condition was rendered 
 more secure and comfortable. The original 
 vassals of any person were the members of his 
 own family, who, from natural affection, and 
 from ancient habits, were strongly attached to 
 his interest, and upon whom, from a reciprocal 
 regard, as well as from the consideration of
 
 THE VASSALS AND PEASANTS. 303 
 
 expediency, when they became too numerous 
 to live in his own house, he voluntarily be- 
 stowed the possession of lands for their main- 
 tenance. As the superior had no reason to 
 suspect that these men would ever be deficient 
 in fidelity, or seek to withdraw their allegi- 
 ance ; so they entertained no apprehension that, 
 while they were willing to fulfil their duty, 
 they should ever be dispossessed of their lands. 
 The intimate connexion between the parties, 
 and the simplicity of their manners, made 
 them place a mutual confidence in each other, 
 and prevented their being apprehensive of any 
 future disputes : so that neither the superior 
 required any specification of the services to be 
 performed, nor the vassal, any express stipula- 
 tion, with respect to the duration or terms of 
 his possession. Thus the original vassals, 
 though, in fact, their land was commonly per- 
 mitted to remain with them and their poste- 
 rity, were properly no more than tenants at 
 will, and therefore entirely dependent upon 
 the superior. 
 
 But when persons originally independent 
 had, with a view to certain advantages, allowed 
 themselves to fall into a feudal subordination,
 
 304 CHANGES IN THE CONDITION OF 
 
 or had agreed to exalt an equal or a stranger to 
 the rank of a superior, it could hardly be ex- 
 pected that these new vassals would be willing 
 to hold their lands in so precarious a manner. 
 Cautious of yielding an} r greater submission 
 than their circumstances required, or suspicious 
 of neglect or oppression from the person whom 
 they had chosen for their protector, they na- 
 turally insisted, that the precise conditions of 
 their tenure should be expressly ascertained ; 
 while the superior, distrusting the fidelity and 
 attachment of men over whom he had no 
 natural authority, and who submitted to him, 
 perhaps, with reluctance, and from the mere 
 pressure of temporary difficulties, was no less 
 anxious to specify the nature of their service, 
 and to secure the performance of it, by sub- 
 jecting them, in case of negligence or disobe- 
 dience, to severe penalties and forfeitures. 
 From a variety of conjectures, individuals 
 might belaid under the necessity of submitting 
 to harder conditions, upon some occasions than 
 upon others ; but, in general, when a feudal 
 tenure was constituted by the consent of any 
 allodial proprietor, it seems to have been ex- 
 pressly provided, that the fief should not only
 
 THE VASSAtS AND PEASANTS. 505' 
 
 remain with the vassal during life, but should 
 descend, either to his heirs male, or to such of 
 his heirs as were specified in the grant. 
 
 By the establishment of those hereditary 
 fiefs, the vassal, instead of being a precarious 
 tenant, became, in effect, the proprietor of the 
 feudal estate, and the interest of the superior 
 was reduced to a reversion in default of the 
 vassal's heirs, together with a right of levying, 
 in particular cases, a variety of perquisites or 
 casual emoluments. Of these casual emolu- 
 ments or incidents, as they are called, which 
 might still accrue to the superior from the 
 estate of his vassal, after it was made trans- 
 missible to heirs, the feudal writers have com- 
 monly enumerated seven different sorts. 
 
 1. Though fiefs had been rendered heredi- 
 tary, yet, as every person who enjoyed them 
 was liable for the feudal services, it was neces- 
 sary that an heir, before he obtained the inves- 
 titure, should solemnly undertake the perform- 
 ance of them, and come under an oath of fide- 
 lity to the superior. Upon the death of any 
 vassal, therefore, the superior laid hold of the 
 lands, and detained them in his possession, un- 
 til the heir should claim a renewal of the 
 
 vol. i. x
 
 306 CHANGES IN THE CONDITION OF 
 
 feudal engagement. This privilege gave rise 
 to what is called the incident of non-entry. 
 
 2. When the feudal tenures were precari- 
 ous, the sons of the vassals frequently endea- 
 voured, by a present, to procure the favour of 
 the superior, and to obtain the continuance 
 of their ancestor's possession. Even after 
 fiefs became hereditary, it still was found ex- 
 pedient to secure, by means of a bribe, what, 
 though a matter of right, was not easily ex- 
 torted by force; and the original afbitrary 
 donation was converted into a regular duty, 
 under the name of relief. 
 
 3. If the heir of a former vassal was inca- 
 pable of performing the feudal service, he had 
 no right to claim the possession of the fief. 
 While he was under age, therefore, the lands 
 were possessed by the superior ; who, at the 
 same time, from a regard to his own interest, 
 if not from affection to the family of his old 
 vassal, was induced to assume the guardian- 
 ship and protection of the minor, his future 
 military servant. Hence the complex bur- 
 then, and privilege, which went under the 
 name of wardship. 
 
 4. During the disorders which prevailed 
 
 2
 
 THE VASSALS AND PEASANTS. 307 
 
 under the feudal governments, it was of great 
 consequence that the military vassals should 
 not contract an alliance with the enemy of 
 their liege lord ; which might have a tendency 
 to corrupt their fidelity. When fiefs therefore 
 were secured upon a permanent footing, a 
 provision was made against an event of this 
 dangerous nature ; and the vassals who married 
 without the superior's consent, or who even 
 refused to marry according to his desire, be- 
 came liable to a pecuniary composition or pe- 
 nalty. Such was the incident of marriage ; a 
 perquisite suited to the rude and barbarous 
 manners which occasioned its establishment. 
 
 5. Besides the ordinary revenue which the 
 superior drew from his estate, he was accus- 
 tomed, upon extraordinary emergencies, to 
 apply to his vassals, and to request from them 
 a contribution in order to relieve him from 
 his immediate embarrassment. While they 
 held their lands precariously, a request of this 
 nature was equal to a command ; since the 
 superior might at pleasure seize upon the 
 whole estate of his tenants. But when the 
 vassals had obtained a more permanent right, 
 it became necessary to settle the particular 
 
 x 2
 
 308 CHANGES IN THE CONDITION OF 
 
 occasions upon which those contributions 
 were to be made, as well as the extent of the 
 sum that might be demanded ; and in this 
 manner, aids or benevolences came to be enu- 
 merated among the duties payable to a supe- 
 rior. Three cases are mentioned, in which, 
 over all the feudal kingdoms, these contribu- 
 tions might be exacted ; to redeem the supe- 
 rior from captivity ; to portion his eldest 
 daughter, at her marriage ; and to defray the 
 expence of making his eldest son a knight. 
 
 6. Though a fief had been rendered here- 
 ditary ; yet, upon the total failure of heirs, it 
 necessarily returned to the superior. The vas- 
 sal might also forfeit his right to the lands, by 
 his neglect to perform the feudal service, or 
 by any violation of his duty. This forfeiture, 
 or termination of the fief, was called an escheat. 
 
 7. From the primitive state of the feudal 
 tenures, the vassal had no title to alienate his 
 fief, which he possessed as the wages merely of 
 his military service. But when fiefs, by being 
 transmissible to heirs, began to assume the 
 appearance of property ; when the general 
 advancement of arts had rendered land more 
 frequently an object of commerce ; and when,
 
 THE VASSALS AND PEASANTS. 309 
 
 upon the suppression of the former disorders, 
 the military service of the vassal was rendered 
 of less importance, it became customary, by 
 the payment of a sum of money., to compound 
 with the superior for the privilege of selling 
 the feudal estate. This produced the perqui- 
 site of superiority, called the, fine of alienation. 
 
 These feudal incidents may be considered 
 as the remains of that absolute property of the 
 fief, which the superior had formerly enjoyed ; 
 but which, with reservation of such casual 
 emoluments, was now conveyed to the vassal. 
 
 After this new species of military retainers 
 had become numerous, and had spread them- 
 selves over the country, it is natural to sup- 
 pose that their privileges would, by the force 
 of example, be communicated to the ancient 
 vassals. The ancient feudal tenants, who, from 
 the more extended connexions of the superior, 
 had probably become less the objects of his 
 peculiar attention, and were not always treated 
 with those marks of distinction to which they 
 supposed themselves entitled, beheld with envy 
 and jealousy the stability and security enjoyed 
 by his new vassals ; and were solicitous to hold 
 their lands under the same permanent tenure.
 
 310 CHANGES IN THE CONDITION OF 
 
 A concession of this nature, by which the old 
 and faithful followers of a chief were placed 
 upon a footing of equality with strangers, 
 could seldom be decently withheld from them ; 
 and in cases where he stood in immediate need 
 of their assistance, was likely to be easily ob- 
 tained. As these privileges were slowly and 
 gradually introduced, and as they were often 
 accelerated or retarded by the situation of 
 particular baronies, not to mention a variety 
 of accidental circumstances, it is impossible 
 to mark the precise period at which their 
 establishment was completed ; though it is 
 probable that, before the Norman conquest, 
 they were extended to the greater part, if not 
 the whole, of the ancient vassals. 
 
 While the incidents due to the superior 
 were thus ascertained with accuracy, the in- 
 terest of the vassals made it no less necessary, 
 that the extent and duration of their military 
 service should be exactly determined. In Bri- 
 tain, and probably in several kingdoms upon 
 the continent, it was limited accordingly to 
 forty days for each year ; a period that might 
 appear fully sufficient for those desultory en- 
 terprises which the superior had occasion to
 
 THE VASSALS AND PEASANTS. 311 
 
 undertake. If ever he chose, after the expi- 
 ration of this period, to retain his vassals in 
 the field, he was under the necessity of pro- 
 curing their consent, and was obliged to bear 
 the charges of their maintenance. 
 
 The effect of these changes in the state of 
 the military tenures could not fail to be dis- 
 cernible in the administration and government 
 of every feudal dependency. Though it still 
 was, no doubt, the interest of the vassals to. 
 avoid all contention with the superior, and to 
 merit his favour by their fidelity and alacrity 
 in the discharge of their duty, yet they were 
 not under the same necessity of paying an 
 implicit obedience to his commands. To 
 whatever inconveniencies they might be sub- 
 jected from the manner of levying the feudal 
 incidents, yet, while they punctually performed 
 their services, they could not, without gross 
 injustice, be deprived of their possessions ; and 
 they had a right to follow their own inclina- 
 tion in the management of their private con- 
 cerns. Sensible of this alteration in their cir- 
 cumstances, the superior was induced to be 
 more cautious of disobliging them, to pay more 
 deference to their opinions, to listen and give
 
 312 CHANGES IN THE CONDITION OF 
 
 way to their remonstrances, and, in public 
 measures of importance, to act with their ad- 
 vice and concurrence. Thus, while the influ- 
 ence and power of the great lords was gradu- 
 ally extended by the multiplication of their 
 vassals, their authority over each particular 
 vassal was necessarily reduced ; and they were 
 obliged to exercise it with greater moderation, 
 as well as to endeavour, by the arts of popu- 
 larity, and even, sometimes, by pecuniary 
 rewards and advantages, to gain the effectual 
 support of their followers. 
 
 The improvements made in agriculture, 
 produced alterations, of no less importance, 
 in the state of the peasants or churles. The 
 peasants, as has been formerly observed, were 
 originally bondmen or slaves. But as from 
 the nature of their employment, and from 
 their living at such a distance as to be beyond 
 the reach of the master's inspection, it was 
 found expedient to excite their industry by 
 bestowing upon them successive gratuities and 
 privileges; many of them were enabled, at an 
 early period, to acquire considerable property; 
 and some of them were advanced to the con- 
 dition of tenants, intrusted by the master with
 
 THE VASSALS AND PEASANTS. 313 
 
 a discretionary management of their farms. 
 In the natural course of things, these tenants 
 were afterwards raised to a still better situation. 
 When in consequence of some experience in" 
 husbandry, they were about to undertake an 
 expensive melioration of their farms, common 
 prudence required that they should be secure 
 of the possession, for such a period as might 
 afford them a reasonable prospect of a return 
 for their labour and expence. By offering an 
 advanced rent to the master, they sometimes 
 prevailed on him to make an agreement of 
 that nature, and to grant them a lease for a 
 certain number of years. From the improv- 
 ing circumstances of the tenant, he sometimes 
 obtained, not only a right of holding the es- 
 tate for life, but of transmitting it to heirs; 
 and there appear to have been some occasions, 
 though it is probable these were not very 
 common, on which, by the payment of a full 
 price, he was enabled to make an entire pur- 
 chase of the lands. 
 
 Those churles who had acquired a landed 
 estate transmissible to heirs, to be held for pay- 
 ment of a yearly rent, were denominated soc-
 
 314 CHANGES IN THE CONDITION OF 
 
 cage vassals. From their employment and 
 character, they were of an inferior rank to 
 the military vassals ; but they had the same 
 permanent right to their estates. They were 
 also liable to the same incidents of superiority ; 
 excepting those of wardship and marriage ; the 
 former, because the superior was disposed to 
 pay no attention to the education of such of 
 his dependants as were employed merely in 
 agriculture ; the latter because the alliances 
 which they contracted were deemed of little 
 consequence to him. 
 
 The churles who made a full purchase of 
 a landed estate should have become allodial 
 proprietors, and have acquired the rank and 
 privileges of nobility ; but the influence of an- 
 cient usage prevented so sudden and violent a 
 change in the rank of individuals; and as the 
 proprietor who sold his lands, was unwilling 
 entirely to resign his dignity, so the purchaser 
 had not the presumption to deprive him of it. 
 To retain a faint shadow of the ancient con- 
 nexion, the latter became bound, as an ac- 
 knowledgment of the superiority, to pay to 
 tbe former an elusory annual duty, if ever it
 
 THE VASSALS AND PEASANTS. 315 
 
 should be demanded*. We find that, by a 
 statute in the reign of king Athelstan, a churle 
 who had purchased an estate consisting of five 
 hides of land, with certain appendages, usually 
 possessed by gentlemen of that fortune, was 
 declared to have a right to all the privileges of 
 a thane ; by which those of a lesser tha?ie, or 
 military vassal, were probably understood-f*. 
 
 From this law, which demonstrates that the 
 encouragement of agriculture was become an 
 object of public attention, it may be inferred, 
 that though in some cases the churles were 
 enabled to acquire landed property, they had 
 not been understood, upon that account, to 
 obtain of course the privileges of the military 
 people ; since these were not conferred upon 
 them without a special interposition of the le- 
 gislature; nor even by that statute, except upon 
 such as had accumulated a very considerable 
 estate. Such was the original inferiority of 
 the peasants, and so strong were the habits 
 connected with their primitive condition, that 
 
 * This tenure has been frequently confounded with 
 the ordinary soccage ; but sometimes is distinguished by 
 the name of blanch. 
 
 t Judicia civitatis Lundoniae. Wilkins. Leg. Sax. p. 70.
 
 316 CHANGES IN THE CONDITION OF 
 
 though they had been raised to independent 
 circumstances, it was with some difficulty 
 they were permitted to hold the rank of gen- 
 tlemen, and procured the treatment suitable 
 to men of that superior class. 
 
 The freedom acquired by a great proportion 
 of the peasants, together with the advances in 
 husbandry from which it proceeded, gave rise 
 to an immediate improvement in arts and 
 manufactures. The first artificers were vil- 
 leins, or servants of the greater thanes ; who 
 happening to discover some ingenuity in the 
 common mechanical arts, were employed by 
 the master in those branches of manufacture, 
 which he found requisite for his accommo- 
 dation . The possession of their farms, accord- 
 ing to the rude manner in which agriculture 
 was then practised, did not hinder them from 
 exercising this collateral employment. When 
 these people began to be emancipated from 
 their ancient bondage, they were at liberty to 
 work, not only for their former master, but 
 for every person who chose to employ them ; 
 and by working for hire, they drew a regular 
 profit for their labour. A competition was 
 then introduced among different workmen,
 
 THE VASSALS AND PEASANTS. 317 
 
 which contributed to promote their industry 
 and skill ; at the same time that the improve- 
 ments which have been mentioned in the con- 
 dition of the lower class of people, by increas- 
 ing their opulence, produced an increase of de- 
 mand for the ordinary conveniencies of life ; 
 and therefore afforded greater encouragement 
 to the occupations by which those conveni- 
 encies were supplied. Particular branches of 
 manufacture, or of labour, coming in this 
 manner to be more in request, occasioned more 
 constant employment to individuals ; who, at 
 length, found it their interest to abandon 
 every other occupation, and to depend, for 
 their livelihood, upon that single branch in 
 which they had attained a peculiar profici- 
 ency. 
 
 A variety of trades and mechanical profes- 
 sions were thus introduced ; and the artificers 
 and labourers composed a separate order of 
 men in the community. As these grew up 
 and were multiplied, they became the chief 
 part of the inhabitants in those villages where, 
 they resided ; which were gradually enlarged 
 into towns, of more or less extent according 
 as their situation, or other circumstances, 
 proved more favourable to manufactures.
 
 318 CHANGES IN THE CONDITION OP 
 
 It is unnecessary to observe that the sepa- 
 ration of trades and professions, among the 
 different inhabitants, occasioned of course, a 
 degree of traffic or exchange of commodities. 
 When the artisans, as well as the farmers, 
 confined themselves to a single employment, 
 they were able, by their own labour, to produce 
 only one sort of commodity ; and if they want- 
 ed any thing of a different sort, they had com- 
 monly no other method of procuring it, than 
 by an exchange with the person who had pro- 
 duced it. This exchange was at first limited, 
 we may suppose, to the inhabitants of the 
 same town or village ; but according as dif- 
 ferent places began to excel in manufacturing 
 goods of different kinds, it was extended to 
 neighbouring towns, or to the more distant 
 parts of the country. Upon the opening of 
 such intercourse between places at a distance, 
 the inhabitants found it, in some cases, incon- 
 venient to go themselves to purchase the goods 
 which they wanted, and had occasion there- 
 fore to employ some of their neighbours for 
 that purpose; from which there arose, by de- 
 grees, a common carrier, upon whom this 
 branch of business was frequently devolved. 
 As this person acquired a little stock, he ad-
 
 THE VASSALS AND PEASANTS. 319 
 
 ventured sometimes at his own risk, to buy 
 commodities in one place, with a view of 
 selling them in another; and his employment 
 was at length improved into that of a pedlar 
 or travelling merchant. 
 
 Although these tradesmen and mechanics 
 were no longer in a servile condition, they had 
 still much dependence upon the original mas- 
 ter, or feudal superior, of that village or town 
 in which they resided. He defended them 
 from the attacks of the military people around 
 them ; to which, from the turbulence and 
 disorder of the times, they were greatly ex- 
 posed; and which, from their linwarlike dis- 
 positions, they were of themselves but ill quali- 
 fied to resist. He also encouraged and pro- 
 moted their trade, by permitting them to 
 hold fairs and markets, or stated seasons of 
 rendezvous, between the merchants and Cus- 
 tomers of different places ; by supplying them 
 with warehouses, and with measures and 
 weights, for the sale of their goods ; and by 
 such other kinds of assistance as, from the rude 
 state of the country, and in the infancy of 
 commerce, their circumstances made them
 
 320 CHANGES IN THE CONDITION OF 
 
 stand in need of. In return for these advan- 
 tages, he levied from them such tolls and 
 duties as they were able to bear ; and of con- 
 sequence augmented his revenue in proportion 
 to the increase of their wealth. 
 
 According as the patron and protector of 
 these manufacturing and trading towns was 
 possessed of greater influence and power, their 
 trade was likely to be the more prosperous and 
 flourishing. Some of those towns, having 
 sprung from the peasantry of the crown-de- 
 mesnes, were under the immediate patronage 
 of the sovereign ; others, being situated upon 
 the estates of the greater thanes, were under 
 the protection of those nobles. The former, 
 it is evident, enjoyed a great superiority over 
 the latter. The protection of no particular 
 nobleman could reach beyond the limits of 
 his own estate; but that of the sovereign ex- 
 tended, in some measure, over the whole of 
 the kingdom : not to mention that the king, 
 by residing occasionally in the towns of which 
 he was the immediate protector, and which 
 he was naturally desirous of encouraging, pro- 
 duced a resort of the nobility and gentry to
 
 THE VASSALS AND PEASANTS. 321 
 
 those places ; and, by the expensive living in- 
 cident to a court, created an additional con- 
 sumption of their commodities. 
 
 The extent of the trade of England, before 
 the Norman conquest, cannot, at this distance 
 of time, be ascertained with any degree of pre- 
 cision ; but there is reason to believe that it 
 was not very considerable. Of this we need 
 require no further evidence than the small size 
 of the principal towns in the reign of William 
 the conqueror *. It appears, however, that, 
 for more than a century before that period, 
 the commerce and manufactures of the coun- 
 try had been making advances which attracted 
 the notice of the legislature. By a law of king 
 Athelstan it is enacted, that a merchant who, 
 upon his own account, had made three trading 
 voyages to a foreign country, should acquire 
 the privileges of a thane f. Such extensive 
 trade, it was probably thought at that time, 
 
 * With regard to this point, see Doomsday-book — and 
 Dr. Brady on Boroughs. 
 
 + " Et si mercator tatnen sit, qui ter trans altum mare 
 " per facultates proprias abeat, ille postea jure thani sit 
 " dignus." — [Judicia civitatis Lundoniae. Wilkins, Leg, 
 Sax. p. 71.] 
 
 VOL. I. Y
 
 322 CHANGES IN THE CONDITION QP 
 
 could be attempted only by a person of un- 
 common spirit, and in affluent circumstances ; 
 whose elevation, while it served as an incite- 
 ment to commercial enterprize, might be re- 
 garded as no disparagement to the military 
 people. In other statutes which have been 
 preserved, of the same, and of subsequent 
 princes, we meet with some of those funda- 
 mental regulations, which commonly have 
 place in every country, upon the first efforts to 
 introduce a regular commerce; such as the 
 establishment of certain formalities in com- 
 pleting mercantile transactions * ; and the ap- 
 pointment of a mint in the principal towns -f ; 
 together with that of a common standard of 
 money, and of weights or measures J. 
 
 By the addition of artificers and tradesmen 
 to the different orders formerly mentioned, 
 the whole people of England came now to be 
 distinguished into four great classes ; which, 
 from their differences in rank or employment, 
 in characters and habits of living, were sepa- 
 rated and kept at a distance from one another. 
 
 * Wilkins, Leg. Sax. p. 80, 81. 
 + Ibid. p. 59. 
 $ Ibid. p. 78.
 
 THE VASSALS AND PEASANTS. 323 
 
 Those who exercised the honourable profession 
 of arms, whether in the station of greater or 
 lesser thanes, of superiors or vassals, thought 
 it inconsistent with their dignity to engage in 
 any lucrative occupation ; and disdained to 
 contract alliances with farmers or manufac- 
 turers*. The two latter orders of men, 
 though nearly of the same rank, were by their 
 situation prevented from living together, and 
 led to acquire very different manners, and 
 ways of thinking. The solitary and robust 
 employment of the farmer was not apt to form 
 a similar style of behaviour and accomplish- 
 ments to that which was produced by the 
 sedentary town-life of the manufacturer ; and 
 in a country where improvements had not been 
 carried so far as to create an intimate corres- 
 pondence among all the members of society, 
 those two sets of men were not likely to ex- 
 change their professions. The children of the 
 
 * After the Norman conquest, we find that the superior 
 lord was prohibited by statute to marry his female ward to 
 a villein or a burgess. It is probable that the rank of the 
 two last-mentioned orders of men had risen considerably, 
 before this prohibition was thought necessary. 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 CHANGES IN THE CONDITION OF 
 
 farmers, as well as those of the tradesmen and 
 mechanics were commonly disposed to follow 
 that way of life with which they had been 
 early acquainted. They were even bred up in 
 most cases, to their father's employment, be- 
 fore they could well have an opportunity of 
 comparing it with any other. Not only were 
 those two orders of men, in general, confined 
 to their respective professions, but the me- 
 chanics, employed in the several branches of 
 manufacture, frequently transmitted their oc- 
 cupations to their posterity ; and continued 
 them, for many generations, in the same fami- 
 lies. The clergy, who formed a numerous and 
 powerful body, were no less distinguished from 
 the three other classes, by their peculiar edu- 
 cation, by their separate views of interest, and 
 by their professional character and manners. 
 The celibacy, indeed, of the clergy, which, 
 however, was introduced in England after the 
 period that we are examining, prevented this 
 order of men from being so entirely separated 
 from the rest of the inhabitants, as might other- 
 wise have been expected. When church- 
 men were prohibited from having posterity
 
 THE VASSALS AND PEASANTS. 325 
 
 of their own, it was nesessary that their pro- 
 fession should be supplied from the other ranks 
 of the society. 
 
 From the natural course of things, it should 
 seem, that in every country where religion has 
 had so much influence as to introduce a great 
 body of ecclesiastics, the people, upon the first 
 advances made in agriculture, and in manu- 
 factures, are usually distributed into the same 
 number of classes or orders. This distribution 
 is, accordingly, to be found, not only in all 
 the European nations, formed upon the ruins 
 of the Roman empire; but in other ages, and. 
 in very distant parts of the globe. The ancient 
 inhabitants of Egypt are said to have been di- 
 vided into the clergy, the military people, the 
 husbandmen, and the artificers ; and these 
 four descriptions of men were, by a public re- 
 gulation, or more probably by the influence of 
 custom, derived from the early situation of the 
 country, kept invariably distinct from one an- 
 other. The establishment of the four great 
 castes, in the country of Indostan, is precisely 
 of the same nature. This division of the peo- 
 ple, which goes back into the remotest anti- 
 quity, has been ascribed, by historians and po-
 
 326 CHANGES IN THE CONDITION, &C. 
 
 litical writers, to the positive institution of 
 Brama, the early, and perhaps fabulous legis- 
 lator of that country ; but, in all probability, 
 it arose from the natural separation of the 
 principal professions or employments in the 
 state ; as it has been since retained by that ex- 
 cessive indolence, to which the inhabitants of 
 those warm and fertile regions are addicted, 
 and which has hitherto checked their improve- 
 ments, by producing an aversion to every 
 species of innovation.
 
 327 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 The Influence of these Changes upon the Juris- 
 diction and Authority of the feudal Lords. 
 
 1 HE advancement of the Anglo-Saxon 
 vassals and peasants to greater security and 
 freedom, and the separation of the trading 
 people from the class of husbandmen, could 
 not fail to limit the authority of the superior, 
 and more especially to affect the state of his 
 jurisdiction. When his military retainers held 
 their benefices precariously, and when the 
 other members of his barony were either bond- 
 men, or merely tenants at will, he found him- 
 self under no restraint, in deciding their differ- 
 ences, and in punishing their offences ; but 
 after the former had obtained hereditary fiefs, 
 and a great proportion of the latter had been 
 exalted to the rank of soccage-vassals, he was 
 obliged to relax his claim to their obedience, 
 and to distribute justice among them with 
 greater moderation and circumspection. 
 The retainers of every feudal superior were 
 2
 
 328 INFLUENCE OF CHANGES UPON THE 
 
 bound, not only to the performance of military 
 or other services, but also to assist him in main- 
 taining good order and tranquillity within his 
 barony ; and therefore, when any of them 
 complained of injustice from another, or was 
 accused of a crime, the baron found it ex- 
 pedient, instead of deciding by virtue of his 
 own authority, to call a number of his other 
 vassals, and to proceed with their advice and 
 concurrence in trying their cause. This ex- 
 pedient was the most equitable for the person 
 concerned in the trial, as well as the best cal- 
 culated for giving weight to the decision. The 
 assessors of the judges were the pares curice, 
 men of the same rank with one another, and 
 with the parties ; they were chosen occasion- 
 ally, and varied in each cause, to avoid bur- 
 dening any individual more than his just pro- 
 portion ; and they were commonly selected 
 from the neighbourhood of the place where 
 the accusation or dispute had taken its rise, 
 that, from their own private knowledge, they 
 might be enabled to form a better judgment 
 of the facts in question. 
 
 Thus the trial by an inquest or jury, which 
 had formerly taken place in the tribunals of
 
 JURISDICTION OF FEUDAL LORDS. 329 
 
 the shire, and of the hundred, was introduced 
 into those of a feudal barony. The causes, 
 however, of this institution, in the former and 
 in the latter, were somewhat different. A 
 jury was found convenient, in the courts of 
 the shire, and of the hundred, to supersede the 
 attendance of all their members ; and might 
 be regarded as a sort of committee, in place of 
 a full and regular meeting. In the courts of 
 the baron, its interpositions become necessary, 
 in place of the decisions formerly given by the 
 judge himself, in order to supply his deficience 
 in authority over vassals whose fiefs had been 
 secured to them by a permanent right. A 
 jury was therefore an institution less popular 
 than that which had formerly obtained in the 
 county or the hundred courts, but more so, 
 than the mode of jurisdiction originally dis- 
 played in the courts of the baron. It is rea- 
 sonable, at the same time, to suppose, that, 
 when allodial proprietors had been changed 
 into vassals, the custom of jury-trials in the 
 courts of the former, would facilitate the in- 
 troduction of a similar practice in the judicial 
 establishments of the latter. 
 
 That this form of trial obtained universally
 
 330 INFLUENCE OF CHANGES UPON THE 
 
 in all the feudal governments, as well as in 
 that of England, there can be no reason to 
 doubt. In France, in Germany, and in other 
 European countries, where we have any ac- 
 counts of the constitution and procedure of 
 the feudal courts, it appears that law-suits of 
 every sort, concerning the freemen or vassals 
 of a barony, were determined by the pares 
 curice ; and that the judge took little more 
 upon him, than to regulate the method of 
 proceeding, or to declare the verdict of the 
 jury. 
 
 The number of jurymen was originally 
 varied in each cause, according as the opu- 
 lence and power of the parties, or the magni- 
 tude of the dispute, rendered it more or less 
 difficult to enforce the decision. So little, 
 after all, was the authority of the court, that, 
 in many cases, the party aggrieved by the 
 verdict assumed the privilege of challenging 
 the jurymen to single combat*. From the 
 progress of regular government, and in conse- 
 quence of the disposition among mankind to 
 be governed by general rules, a certain number 
 of jurymen became customary in ordinary 
 * Spirit of Laws.
 
 JURISDICTION OF FEUDAL LORDS. 331 
 
 causes ; and at last was universally established. 
 From accidendal circumstances, of little im- 
 portance, a different number has been estab- 
 lished in different countries ; as that of twelve 
 in England and fifteen in Scotland. 
 
 With respect to the time when trials by 
 jury were first introduced into the court of 
 every feudal barony, we are left in the same 
 obscurity, as concerning their previous intro- 
 duction among the allodial proprietors, in the 
 courts of the hundred and of the county. But 
 considering the circumstances from which 
 the superior was induced to adopt this mode 
 of procedure, there is ground to believe that 
 it arose from the establishment of hereditary 
 fiefs, and became gradually more universal, 
 accordino- as the number of the feudal tenants, 
 who had obtained a perpetual right to their 
 possessions, was increased. 
 
 In this view, it seems probable that the 
 practice of juries, in the baron-courts, was 
 not very common in England till near the end 
 of the Anglo-Saxon government. In the 
 opinion of some antiquaries, the first vestige 
 of a jury-trial, in the English history, is pos- 
 terior to the Norman invasion; a mistake
 
 332 INFLUENCE OF CHANGES UPON THE 
 
 which appears to have arisen from the sup- 
 position, that before this period hereditary 
 fiefs were unknown in England. 
 
 Though the fact seems now to be admitted, 
 that jury-trials were established in the baron 
 courts of every feudal kingdom, yet the 
 origin of that institution has been the subject 
 of much doubt and controversy. Some au- 
 thors have thought that jurymen were origi- 
 nally compurgators, called by a defendant, to 
 swear that they believed him innocent of the 
 facts with which he was charged. In the 
 church courts, a person accused of a crime 
 was understood to be guilty, unless he could 
 clear himself by what was called the oath of 
 purgation ; and in some cases, unless his own 
 oath was confirmed by that of a number of 
 other persons acquainted with his behaviour. 
 The injustice of this general presumption of 
 guilt, the very opposite of what should be en- 
 tertained in every court of justice, was the less 
 observable, as the consequence of it was 
 merely to draw upon the guilty person a spi- 
 ritual admonition, or censure, for the good of 
 his soul. From the influence of ecclesiastical 
 procedure, the same rule, however, was after-
 
 JURISDICTION OF FEUDAL LORDS. 333 
 
 wards adopted in the temporal courts : where 
 it came to be much more oppressive. 
 
 But the province of compurgators, in those 
 courts, and that of jurymen, were so totally 
 different, as to make it scarcely possible to 
 conceive that the latter could arise out of the 
 former. Compurgators were merely wit- 
 nesses ; jurymen were in reality, judges. The 
 former were called to confirm the oath of the 
 party, by swearing, according to their belief, 
 that he had told the truth : the latter were ap- 
 pointed to try, by witnesses, and by all other 
 means of proof, whether he was innocent or 
 guilty. Compurgators, for this reason, were 
 called by the party himself: the jury, on the 
 contrary, were named by the magistrate. 
 
 In consequence of the different departments, 
 occupied by these two descriptions of men, it 
 should seem that, in most of the feudal go- 
 vernments, they existed at one and the same 
 time ; and that juries were accustomed to as- 
 certain the truth of facts, by the defendant's 
 oath of purgation, together with that of his 
 compurgators. We can have no doubt that 
 this was formerly the practice; since it is,
 
 334 INFLUENCE OP CHANGES UPON THE 
 
 even at present, retained by the English, in 
 what is called the wager of law. 
 
 There are two particulars in which we dis- 
 cover a resemblance between the procedure of 
 compurgators and of jurymen : whence, in all 
 probability, the opinion abovementioned has 
 arisen. Both of them were obliged to swear, 
 that they would tell the truth ; and both were 
 subjected to confinement until they had given 
 their declaration. But these regulations con- 
 cerning jurymen afford no proof that they 
 were ever considered in the light of compur- 
 gators. According to the simple idea of our 
 forefathers, guilt or innocence was regarded as 
 a mere matter of fact ; and it was thought, 
 that no man, who knew the real circum- 
 stances of a case, could beat a loss to determine 
 whether the culprit ought to be condemned 
 or acquitted. It was, at the same time, sus- 
 pected, that individuals drawn occasionally 
 from the common mass of the people, to give 
 judgment in a law-suit, might be exposed to 
 improper influence; for which reason pre- 
 cautions were taken to prevent their having 
 the least intercourse with the parties or their 
 connexions.
 
 JURISDICTION OF FEUDAL LORDS. 335 
 
 As to the unanimity required in the Eng- 
 lish juries, a circumstance in which they agree 
 with the ancient compurgators, it has not been 
 universally established in the feudal govern- 
 ments. President Montesquieu, who, at the 
 same time, accounts for it, from a point of ho- 
 nour observed by the pares curice in their judi- 
 cial decisions, that they should agree with one 
 another in pronouncing a verdict; because 
 they were obliged to fight either of the parties 
 who might give them the lie. 
 
 The same form of procedure which took 
 place in the administration of justice, among 
 the vassals of a barony, was gradually extended 
 to the courts held in the trading towns. Not- 
 withstanding the freedom acquired by the 
 mercantile people, they still submitted to the 
 jurisdiction of that person to whom they were 
 indebted for protection, and were reduced by 
 him under a system of government, similar to 
 that which he established among his vassals. 
 In as much as they held lands, for which they 
 paid him a certain rent, they were in reality 
 a species of feudal tenants. 
 
 The ancient jurisdiction of the greater 
 thanes, or feudal superiors, came thus to be
 
 336 INFLUENCE OF CHANGES UPON THE 
 
 exercised in two different courts. The one, in 
 which causes were determined with the assist- 
 ance of a jury, took cognizance of the military 
 and soccage vassals, together with the inhabi- 
 tants of the trading towns, under the protec- 
 tion of the superior. The other, which pro- 
 ceeded without that formality, was held for 
 the trial of such members of the barony as 
 were still in a state of greater dependance. 
 The former is that which, according to some 
 authors, was properly called the court-leet ; 
 being the court of the Liti, or free people. 
 The latter, in which the superior retained his 
 ancient authority, received by way of distinc- 
 tion, it is said, the general appellation of the 
 court baron*. 
 
 It is worthy of notice, that the king, con- 
 sidered as a feudal superior was in the same 
 circumstances with the greater thanes ; and 
 that, by the gradual multiplication of his vas- 
 sals, his authority over them underwent a 
 
 * Bacon's discourse on the Government of England, col- 
 lected from the MS. notes of Mr. Seldon, chap. 33. Also 
 The Mirror. 
 
 " Liti ac Litones idem ac Lassi et Liberti censentur." 
 Muratori Ant. Med. jfEvi. torn. i. desert. 15.
 
 JURISDICTION OP FEUDAL LORDS. 337 
 
 similar limitation. The same regulations, 
 therefore concerning the distribution of jus- 
 tice by the intervention of juries, with the 
 same distinction in this respect between his 
 vassals and bondmen, were introduced into 
 the baron courts of the king, as into those of 
 the nobility, or such of his subjects as retained 
 their allodial property. 
 
 The improvements which I have mentioned, 
 in the state of the feudal courts, could not 
 fail to produce a more equal and impartial dis- 
 tribution of justice ; and this circumstance to- 
 gether with the general advancement of civil 
 society, contributed to increase the business of 
 those tribunals. From the greater diffusion of 
 property among the people of inferior con- 
 dition, law-suits became somewhat more 
 numerous ; and from their being frequently 
 decided by men of the same rank with the 
 parties, were likely to procure a fuller and 
 more deliberate hearing. As the exercise of 
 jurisdiction was thus rendered more tedious 
 and burdensome, the great lords, as well as 
 the king, who had been accustomed to pre- 
 side in the trial both of civil and criminal 
 causes, within their several baronies, were less 
 
 vol. i. z
 
 S3S INFLUENCE OF CHANGES UPON THE 
 
 disposed to give the necessary attendance ; 
 and by appointing deputy judges, endeavoured 
 to relieve themselves from a great part of the 
 labour. The same circumstances which gave 
 rise to these inferior officers, contributed af- 
 terwards to enlarge their powers ; and from 
 the negligence of their constituents, who 
 seldom interfered in controuling their deci- 
 sions, and at last entirely abandoned the em- 
 ployment of judging, they became the ordi- 
 nary magistrates in the several demesnes or 
 territories committed to their direction. 
 
 The transference of jurisdiction, from the 
 primitive judges to their deputies, laid a foun- 
 dation for one of the most important altera- 
 tions in the system of judicial policy. The 
 executive and judiciary powers, with which 
 every feudal baron was originally invested, 
 were in this manner separated from each 
 other ; and the exercise of the latter became 
 the sole occupation of particular persons ; who, 
 upon that account, were likely to give greater 
 application, as well as to acquire more experi- 
 ence and knowledge in the determination of 
 law-suits. The judges of a barony, though 
 nominated by the baron, had necessarily their 
 
 2
 
 JURISDICTION OF FEUDAL LORDS. 336 
 
 own views of right and wrong ; and having a 
 character to support, might be supposed, in 
 some cases, to conduct themselves without re- 
 gard to the interest of their constituents. It 
 happened likewise from the natural course of 
 things, that as the most opulent vassals were 
 found the best qualified for maintaining the 
 dignity of a judge, the same persons were fre- 
 quently enabled to secure the office during 
 life, and even sometimes to render it heredi- 
 tary. In either case the judge became in a 
 great measure independent of the feudal lord 
 from whom his authority had been derived. 
 It must be acknowledged, however that long 
 after the period which we are now examining, 
 the king's judges continued under a precarious 
 appointment. 
 
 A distinguished political author has pointed 
 Out the separation of the judicial power from 
 the king's prerogative, as one of the great 
 sources of the liberty enjoyed by the subjects 
 of Britain. To those who speculate upon the 
 conduct of human affairs, it is amusing to dis- 
 cover, that this important regulation was nei- 
 ther introduced from any foresight of its be- 
 neficial consequences, nor extorted from the 
 
 z 2
 
 540 INFLUENCE OF CHANGES UFON THE 
 
 monarch by any party that were jealous of 
 his power ; but was merely the suggestion of 
 indolence ; and was adopted by the king, in 
 common with other feudal superiors, to relieve 
 them from a degree of labour and attention 
 which they did not chuse to bestow. It was, 
 in reality, a consequence of the general pro- 
 gress of society, by which employments of 
 every sort, both liberal and mechanical, have 
 been distributed among different individuals, 
 and have become the object of separate pro- 
 fessions and trades. 
 
 As soon as the business of a judge became 
 the sole employment of particular persons, it 
 was necessary that they should obtain a main- 
 tenance in return for their labour. This was 
 acquired without any difficulty, from the very 
 exercise of their profession : as the superior by 
 whom they were appointed, empowered them 
 to exact a fee or perquisite from every party 
 whose cause they had occasion to determine. 
 These exactions, which came to be fixed, in 
 every step of judicial procedure, according to 
 the degree of trouble it was understood to pro- 
 duce, were not only sufficient for maintaining 
 the judge, but afforded also an emolument to
 
 JURISDICTION OF FEUDAL LORDS. 341 
 
 the superior, who demanded from his deputy 
 a strict account of the fees he had levied. To 
 prevent any embezzlement in this respect, a 
 clerk was appointed to sit in court along with 
 the judge, and to keep a record of judicial 
 proceedings. Such was probably the first in- 
 tention, not only in England, but in all the 
 feudal countries, of recording the decisions of 
 a judge; though the practice was afterwards 
 made subservient to other purposes of the 
 highest utility. 
 
 Of the fees, or perquisites, drawn by the 
 judges under the appointment of the crown, 
 the sovereign acquired a considerable propor- 
 tion, which formed an additional branch of 
 the public revenue. 
 
 From this method of maintaining judges, 
 they had obviously an interest to increase their 
 perquisites by encouraging law-suits, and 
 multiplying the forms of judicial procedure. 
 Hence there occurred a new reason for the 
 interposition of juries in the court of a barony; 
 that they might prevent the unreasonable de- 
 lay of justice. It may, at the same time, per- 
 haps be admitted, that the interested activity 
 and vigilance of the magistrate was, in that
 
 342 INFLUENCE OF CHANGES, &C. 
 
 early and rude age, more beneficial in pre- 
 venting disorder and violence, than it was 
 hurtful, either by promoting litigiousness, or 
 by introducing tedious and absurd formalities 
 into the system of judicial discussion.
 
 OF ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. 343 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Of Ecclesiastical Courts. 
 
 W HILEthe nobles were gradually extending 
 their power, and reducing that of the sovereign, 
 the ecclesiastical order was advancing, with 
 hasty strides, to the establishment of an au- 
 thority independent of either. The barbarism 
 and superstition that succeeded the downfal 
 of the Roman empire, and the system of ec- 
 clesiastical government erected in the western 
 part of Europe, had a uniform tendency, as 
 has been already observed, to increase the 
 wealth and influence of the church. Were we 
 to consider merely the progress of superstition, 
 we should expect that the usurpations of the 
 clergy would be most rapid in those European 
 countries, which were at the greatest distance 
 from the incitements to cultivation, and in 
 which the ignorance and simplicity of the in- 
 habitants disposed them to follow more im- 
 plicitly the direction of their spiritual guides. 
 But the fact was otherwise. The kingdoms
 
 344 OF ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. 
 
 in the neighbourhood of the pope's residence, 
 and of his temporal dominions, were nearer 
 the centre of that artful policy, which, by tak- 
 ing advantage of conjunctures, exalted no less 
 the power and privileges of the church than 
 the dignity and authority of her leader. Thus 
 the right of levying the tythes, that enormous 
 imposition for the support of the clergy, and 
 which marks the prodigious extent of eccle- 
 siastical influence, was introduced in France, 
 and over a great part of Italy, as early at 
 least as the time of Charlemagne; which cor* 
 responds to that of Egbert among the Anglo- 
 Saxons ; and the same tax was afterwards ex- 
 tended, by degrees, to the other countries of 
 Europe. It appears to have been finally es- 
 tablished in England, during the reigns of 
 Alfred and of Athelstan; patriotic princes, 
 who, doubtless, found themselves under the 
 necessity of giving way to the current of the 
 times, by submitting to such an oppressive 
 exaction. 
 
 The increasing opulence of the clergy, as 
 it was an effect of the blind zeal, and the ge- 
 neral debasement of the people, so it was ac- 
 companied by a corresponding perversion of
 
 OF ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. 345 
 
 religious opinions, and by an increase of su- 
 perstitious observances. The real virtues of so- 
 ciety, whose intrinsic value recommends them 
 to our observance, and which frequently ap- 
 pear to cost us nothing, came to be little es- 
 teemed, in comparison of penances and mor- 
 tifications; from which nature is disposed to 
 shrink ; and which are submitted to, for no 
 other purpose, but that of appeasing the wrath 
 of an offended deity. These last were ac- 
 counted highly meritorious in persons of every 
 description : but were thought more especially 
 suitable to the profession and character of 
 churchmen ; upon whom it was incumbent 
 to set an example to others. The monks, in 
 particular, who, by their original institution, 
 had no other means of distinction, were in- 
 cited to procure admiration by the austerity of 
 their lives, and by the severe and painful dis- 
 cipline which they underwent. As they ad- 
 vanced in reputation and popularity, they ac- 
 quired more numerous and wealthy establish- 
 ments; their influence in religious matters 
 became proportionably extensive ; and they 
 not only rose to great consideration in the go- 
 vernment of the church, but frequently, too,
 
 346 OF ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. 
 
 interfered in that of the state. From the con- 
 tinent of Europe, the same practices, and ways 
 of thinking, were communicated to Britain ; 
 where, about the middle of the tenth century, 
 we find St. Dunstan, at the head of the regular 
 clergy, possessed of such power and credit, as 
 enabled him to controul the administration of 
 government, and even to dispose of the crown. 
 Among the several branches of mortification 
 imposed by the monastic rules, that of celibacy, 
 or a total abstinence from the intercourse of 
 the sexes, was deemed the most important ; 
 whether on account of the difficulties which 
 must be surmounted in counteracting the 
 most violent propensities of nature ; or on ac- 
 count of that variation of temperature in the 
 human frame, which, however irresistible 
 those propensities may be at certain seasons, 
 yet, on other occasions, renders the indul- 
 gence, or even the expression of them, an ob- 
 ject of aversion and disgust. This, therefore, 
 became now the usual topic of declamation 
 to the English monks ; who, finding the se- 
 cular clergy to be their great rivals in the 
 public esteem, and being impatient of that 
 superior authority which they possessed, in-
 
 OF ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. 347 
 
 veighed against their married life, as incon- 
 sistent with the purity of a Christian pastor; 
 representing their wives in the light of con- 
 cubines or prostitutes, and their children as 
 bastards. Though the doctrine inculcated by 
 these fanatical zealots was not carried into 
 execution until a subsequent period, it appears, 
 even at this time, to have been approved and 
 supported by the general voice of the people. 
 From the situation of the Christian clergy, 
 and from the influence and authority which 
 they enjoyed, they were led early to assume 
 the cognizance of judicial business, and to 
 form a number of tribunals for the exercise of 
 their jurisdiction. Even before the time of 
 Constantine, when they received no protection 
 or countenance from the civil government, 
 they were accustomed to enquire into the faith 
 and manners of Christians, and, after repeated 
 admonitions, to excommunicate those indivi- 
 duals who persisted in opinions, or practices, 
 which the church had condemned. This juris- 
 diction was at first exercised by the clergy- 
 man, together with the most respectable among 
 the laity of each particular church; but when 
 the zeal of the latter, from the greater exten-
 
 348 OF ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. 
 
 sion of the gospel, had begun to slacken, they 
 became weary of interfering in such matters ; 
 and as they gradually lost their privilege by 
 disuse, the business remained entirely in the 
 hands of the former. When a number of 
 churches were afterwards united in one dio- 
 cese, the clergy of that latter district, under 
 the authority of the bishop, exercised a juris- 
 diction of a like nature over the whole of the 
 inhabitants. In the meetings that were called, 
 however, for this purpose, after the intro- 
 duction of wealth had produced very different 
 degrees of rank among churchmen, the paro- 
 chial, or inferior clergy, were by degrees over- 
 looked, or endeavoured to excuse themselves 
 from attendance ; and the care of maintaining 
 ecclesiastical discipline, throughout the dio- 
 cese, was appropriated to the bishop and clergy 
 of his cathedral church. This diocesan court, 
 which, from a perfect uniformity of circum- 
 stances, was formed upon the same plan in 
 every diocese of the kingdom, was every where 
 liable to the review of a similar court, in a 
 still more extensive district, convened by the 
 archbishop ; and from the decrees of this last, 
 at a period when the papal authority had
 
 OF ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. 349 
 
 arrived at its height, there lay an appeal to 
 the Roman pontiff. 
 
 Together with this judicial authority, which 
 was properly of a spiritual nature, the Christian 
 clergy came also to be invested with a tem- 
 poral jurisdiction. After the Christian religion 
 was taken under the protection of the Roman 
 government, and after the fashion of making 
 donations to the church, for pious uses, had 
 become prevalent, the dignified clergy, both 
 secular and regular, as has been formerly men- 
 tioned, were enabled to acquire great landed 
 estates. These, upon the settlement of the 
 Gothic nations in the western part of Europe, 
 were gradually reduced under the same feudal 
 policy that obtained in the landed property of 
 the lay-barons ; and a great proportion of the 
 lands of every bishop, or abbot, was commonly 
 distributed among his villeins or vassals; over 
 whom he exercised the jurisdiction and au- 
 thority of a temporal lord and superior. The 
 estate, or benefice, which from the piety of 
 well-disposed persons, or from whatever cause, 
 had been mortified to the church, and had 
 come into the hands of some particular church-
 
 350 OF ECCLESIASTICAL COUflTS* 
 
 man, was afterwards, in like manner as hap- 
 pened to the other fiefs of the kingdom, in- 
 creased by the voluntary submission of neigh- 
 bouring small proprietors ; who, in order to 
 purchase his protection, resigned their allodial 
 property, and became his vassals. As the 
 dignified ecclesiastics were not only possessed 
 of a degree of influence corresponding to the 
 extent of their benefices, but were supported 
 by the spiritual arm of the church, they were 
 often better qualified than many of the nobles, 
 to secure their dependants from oppression ; 
 and of consequence the opportunities of aug- 
 menting their wealth, by an artful interpo- 
 sition in behalf of the inferior people, were 
 proportionably more frequent. 
 
 In those circumstances, a bishop came to 
 be invested with a civil as well as an eccle- 
 siastical jurisdiction ; the one extending to the 
 people who lived upon his own estate; the 
 other to all the inhabitants of his diocese. By 
 virtue of the former, he punished the crimes, 
 and determined the pecuniary differences of 
 his tenants and vassals. In consequence of the 
 latter, he enquired into the opinions and be-
 
 OF ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS 351 
 
 haviour of such as were under his direction in 
 religious matters ; and censured them, either 
 for heresy or immorality. 
 
 It required no great penetration to discover, 
 that this temporal jurisdiction of the bishop 
 might be extended, under cover of the spi- 
 ritual jurisdiction. Every crime ; every trans- 
 gression of a rule of justice, whether of a 
 public or private nature, may be considered 
 as a sin, or as an offence in the sight of God : 
 and in that view it might, consistently with 
 the system of church-discipline, become an 
 object of ecclesiastical censure. Whatever, 
 therefore, could be the ground of an action 
 before the civil magistrate, might be brought, 
 at the same time, under the cognizance of 
 the spiritual judge. The professed purpose of 
 the former was, indeed, very different from 
 that of the latter, who pretended to act merely 
 with the view of promoting the good of the 
 party in a future world. But when the church 
 had acquired great authority over the people, 
 it was not difficult for the ecclesiastical judge 
 to frame his sentences in such a manner as to 
 affect also the interest of men in the present 
 life. In making atonement for a sin, the
 
 352 OF ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. 
 
 offender might be ordained to indemnify the 
 injured person, or even to submit to a public 
 punishment. 
 
 This extension of ecclesiastical jurisdiction 
 was made with greater or less rapidity, in 
 different parts of Christendom, and with re- 
 gard to persons or causes of different descrip- 
 tions. It began with regard to the clergy 
 themselves. 
 
 To maintain the dignity and credit of the 
 church, it was necessary that she should pay 
 the utmost attention to the behaviour of her 
 own members, and be careful to avoid scan- 
 dal, by censuring their offences with impar- 
 tiality and rigour. She found, at the same 
 time, the least difficulty in compelling church- 
 men to obey her decrees ; for, as soon as the 
 Christian Church had come to be established 
 by law, the excommunication of a clergyman 
 must have inferred a forfeiture of his benefice ; 
 since a person, who had been cast out of the 
 society of Christians, could not consistently be 
 permitted to hold any ecclesiastical dignity or 
 employment. From the severe discipline, 
 which the church exercised over her own 
 members, it became customary to exhibit com- 
 1
 
 OF ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. 353 
 
 plaints against them before the ecclesiastical, 
 rather than before the civil judge, and to pro- 
 secute them in the church court, either for 
 private debts, or for public offences. 
 
 After this practice had become general, it 
 was regarded by churchmen as a matter of 
 privilege. The peculiar functions and cha- 
 racter of a clergyman required a peculiar de- 
 licacy, it was pretended, in judging of his 
 conduct, which could not with propriety fall 
 under the cognizance of the civil magistrate, 
 and of which the clergy themselves were the 
 only competent judges. In the progress of 
 church power, this exemption from the juris- 
 diction of temporal courts was gradually esta- 
 blished through the greater part of Christen- 
 dom. It was introduced in the diocese of 
 Rome by a law of Alaric, which provided 
 that the clergy of that district should only be 
 prosecuted, in the first instance, before their 
 own bishop ; but from his decision an appeal 
 was admitted to the civil magistrate. In 
 the Eastern empire, the inferior clergy ob- 
 tained a similar privilege, in civil actions, by 
 a law of the emperor Justinian ; though, in 
 criminal causes, not properly ecclesiastical, 
 
 VOL. I. A A
 
 354 OF FXCLESIASTTCAL COURTS. 
 
 they might still be prosecuted either in the 
 spiritual or temporal court. The higher orders 
 of churchmen, however, together with nuns, 
 were, by the regulation of this emperor, per- 
 mitted, in all cases, to decline the jurisdiction 
 of laic judges*. 
 
 When the exemption of the clergy from 
 the jurisdiction of the civil magistrate, which, 
 with the exception of a few causes, became 
 universal in the Western part of Europe, had 
 been completely established, the church was, 
 in reality, independent of the state; since, 
 whatever regulations were enacted by the le- 
 gislature of any country, they might, with 
 safety, be disregarded by churchmen, who 
 could not be punished for the violation of any 
 law, unless they thought proper to enforce it 
 by their own courts^ 
 
 The power of the church, in the adminis- 
 tration of justice to her own members, was 
 followed by a similar jurisdiction over the 
 laity, in those law-suits by which her own 
 
 *V. Nov. 83.— 123.— 79. Also Gianone, Hist, of 
 Naples. 
 
 t There were certain great crimes, such as high treason, 
 and sacrilege, to which this exemption did not extend.
 
 OF ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. 555 
 
 interest might, in any degree, be affected, or 
 which appeared, however indirectly, to have 
 an influence upon any ecclesiastical matter. 
 But, in England, this encroachment upon the 
 province of the civil magistrate was posterior 
 to the Norman conquest; and therefore does 
 not fall under our present consideration. 
 During the government of the Anglo-Saxon 
 princes, the clergy did not claim a separate 
 cognizance in the temporal causes of the laity ; 
 but they laid the foundation of such a claim, 
 in a future period, by assuming a privilege of 
 assisting the ordinary magistrates in the deter- 
 mination of such causes. The extent of a dio- 
 cese being the same with that of a shire, the 
 bishop sat along with the earl or sheriff, as 
 a judge, in the county courts; and the rural 
 dean, whose ecclesiastical district coincided 
 with the hundred, appears, in like manner, to 
 have been associated with the centenarius, in 
 the determination of such differences as arose 
 among the people of that division. It is not 
 improbable that the union of the civil and 
 ecclesiastical powers was carried still lower, 
 and that the parson of a parish was accustomed 
 to judge along with the tythingman, in the 
 
 a a 2
 
 356 OF ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. 
 
 court of the decennary ; this is what might be 
 expected from the correspondence between the 
 limits of a parish and a ty thing, and from the 
 analogous practice in the superior courts ; 
 though the accounts transmitted by early his- 
 torians are too vague and general to afford 
 any positive evidence of the fact. 
 
 This arrangement of the Saxon tribunals 
 was a natural consequence of the influence 
 possessed by the spiritual and the temporal go- 
 vernors, in the territories over which they pre- 
 sided. It seems, at the same time, to have 
 been esteemed a wise regulation ; in as much 
 as by uniting the opinion of those two officers, 
 in the distribution of justice, it was likely that 
 the decisions would be tempered in such a 
 manner, as might correspond to the interest, 
 and the views, of every set of men in the com- 
 munity. The experience and foresight of 
 that age was too limited to discover the incon- 
 veniency of confounding the plain and accu- 
 rate rules of justice with the intricate subtle- 
 ties of casuistry, which naturally introduce 
 themselves into the judgments of a spiritual 
 director : not to mention the danger of com- 
 mitting a share of the judicial power, in those
 
 OF ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. 357 
 
 times of ignorance, to a set of men, who, by 
 their superior education, were likely to be an 
 over-match for the civil magistrate, and who, 
 by their situation, having acquired a separate 
 interest, were led to seek their own aggrandize- 
 ment at the expense of the great body of the 
 people.
 
 558 ALTERATIONS IN THE STATE 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 Alterations in the State of the Wittenagemote. 
 
 1 PIE progressive changes in the state of 
 property, and in the constitution and circum- 
 stances of the people, of which an account 
 has been given, must have contributed, in 
 many particulars, to alter the constitution and 
 procedure of the Wittenagemote. As this 
 national counsel was composed of all the 
 allodial proprietors of land, whose estates, 
 according to the primitive distribution of pro- 
 perty, were generally of small extent, there 
 can be no doubt that, upon the union of the 
 different kingdoms of the Heptarchy, it formed 
 a very numerous, and in some degree, a 
 tumultuary meeting. The measures which 
 came under its deliberation were proposed, it 
 should seem, by such of its members as were 
 distinguished by their influence orabilities; and 
 its determinations were signified, not by col- 
 lecting exactly the number of suffrages, but 
 by a promiscuous acclamation, in which the
 
 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 359 
 
 by-standers, it is not unlikely, were accus- 
 tomed frequently to join with those who had 
 the right of voting. This, in all probability, 
 is what is meant by the early historians, when 
 they speak of the people being present in the 
 ancient Wittenagemote, and of their assisting, 
 and giving their consent, in forming the re- 
 solutions of that assembly. 
 
 It cannot escape observation, that this early 
 constitution of the national council, while it 
 contained a mixture of democracy and aristo- 
 cracy, was, in some respects, favourable also 
 to the interests of the crown. In so numerous 
 and disorderly an assembly, there was great 
 room for address, in managing parties, and in 
 conducting the subjects of public deliberation; 
 so that the king, the chief executive officer, 
 had many opportunities of promoting the suc- 
 cess of a favourite plan, as well as of parrying, 
 and removing out of sight, those measures 
 which were disagreeable to him. 
 
 The frequent resignations of land which, 
 during the progress of the Saxon government, 
 were made by the small allodial proprietors, in 
 order to shelter themselves under the protection 
 of a feudal superior, necessarily withdrew those
 
 360 ALTERATIONS IN" THE STATE 
 
 individuals from the Wittenagemote ; and re- 
 duced them under thejurisdiction and authority 
 of that particular thane whom they had chosen 
 for their protector. As they became his mi- 
 litary servants, they were bound, on every 
 occasion, to espouse his quarrel, and to follow 
 his banner. They were bound, at the same 
 time, to attend his baron-court, and to assist 
 in deciding causes, as well as in making regu- 
 lations, with regard to his vassals. In con- 
 sistency with that subordinate station, they 
 could not be permitted to sit in the same 
 council with their liege lord, to deliberate 
 with him upon public affairs; but, on the 
 contrary, were understood to be represented 
 in the Wittenagemote by the person who had 
 undertaken to protect them, and to whom 
 they owed submission and obedience. 
 
 Thus, according as the vassals of the nobility, 
 throughout the kingdom, were multiplied, the 
 constituent members of the Wittenagemote 
 became less numerous ; and the right of sit- 
 ting in that assembly was more and more 
 limited, to a few opulent barons, who had 
 acquired the property of extensive districts,
 
 OP THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 36l 
 
 and reduced the inhabitants under their do- 
 minion. 
 
 This change of circumstances was no less 
 unfavourable to the king, on the one hand, 
 than it was, on the other, to the great body 
 of the people. For although the vassals of the 
 crown were, by the gradual resignations of 
 allodial property, increased in the same, or 
 even in a greater proportion than those of 
 particular noblemen, the sovereign was not 
 thence enabled to preserve his former weight in 
 the determination of public measures. The 
 more the national council had been reduced to 
 a small junto of nobles, it was the more diffi- 
 cult to impose upon them, or by any stra- 
 tagem to divert them from prosecuting their 
 own views of interest or ambition. By the 
 accidental combination of different leaders, 
 they sometimes collected a force which no- 
 thing could resist ; and were in a condition, 
 not only to defend their own privileges, but 
 even to invade the prerogative. It was often 
 
 vin for the sovereign, in such a situation, to 
 appeal to the sword from the decisions of the 
 Wittenagemote. Those haughty and am- 
 bitious subjects were generally prepared for
 
 362 ALTERATIONS IN THE STATE 
 
 such a determination ; and, as they came into 
 the assembly, supported by their vassals, armed 
 and ready to take the field, they got frequently 
 the start of his majesty. To give way, there- 
 fore, to their demands, and to wait for some 
 future opportunity of recovering what had 
 been yielded, was in many cases unavoidable. 
 
 In that early period of the Anglo-Saxon 
 state, when the allodial proprietors were nu- 
 merous, and when their estates were generally 
 small, they were understood to be all of the 
 same rank and condition. Although some 
 persons might be distinguished above others, 
 by their abilities, or military reputation, the 
 superiority derived from thence, being acci- 
 dental and temporary, was not productive of 
 any permanent authority or privileges. But 
 when, from the causes which had been men- 
 tioned, a few great lords had become masters 
 of an extensive landed property, their exalta- 
 tion in power and dignity was a necessary con- 
 sequence. Those individuals on the contrary, 
 who remained in the possession of small 
 estates, though by any fortunate concurrence 
 of events they had been enabled to retain their 
 independence, were degraded in proportion to
 
 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 363 
 
 their poverty. They could maintain but few 
 retainers to support their influence. Hardly 
 in a condition to defend themselves, and afraid 
 of every contest which might endanger their 
 property, and their personal safety, they were 
 deterred from claiming political consideration, 
 and from interfering in public business. It 
 was their interest to live upon good terms with 
 their neighbours, and, by their peaceable and 
 inoffensive behaviour, to shun every ground of 
 jealousy and resentment. If they came into 
 the Wittenagemote, their voice was but little* 
 heard; or if they ventured to differ from 
 others of greater opulence, it was likely to 
 be treated with neglect, or with derision. 
 They had but small encouragement, therefore, 
 to attend the meetings of that assembly; where, 
 at the same time that they incurred an expence 
 not suited to their fortunes, they were subjected 
 to continual mortification, and were incapable 
 of procuring respect. In these circumstances, 
 it is probable that the allodial proprietors, 
 whose estates were inconsiderable, appeared 
 but seldom in the Wittenagemote ; and that, 
 unless upon extraordinary occasions, when 
 great unanimity was of the highest importance,
 
 364 ALTERATIONS IN THE STATE 
 
 their absence was either dispensed with, or in 
 a great measure overlooked. 
 
 It was to be expected that this very unequal 
 distribution of property, as it produced a real 
 difference in the consideration and import- 
 ance of individuals, would come at length to 
 be accompanied with corresponding marks of 
 distinction ; and that so much wealth as ena- 
 bled the possessor to live according to a cer- 
 tain standard of magnificence, might become 
 the foundation of suitable dignity. Thus, in 
 the latter part of the Anglo-Saxon govern- 
 ment, such of the nobles as enjoyed an estate, 
 extending to forty hides of land, were distin- 
 guished in rank and condition from those who 
 possessed an inferior property. This appears 
 from a passage in the register of Ely, in which 
 mention is made of a person who, " though he 
 " was a nobleman, could not be numbered 
 " among the proceres, because his estate did not 
 " amount to forty hides of land*." 
 
 * Ilabuit enira (speaking of the abbot of Ely) fratrem 
 Gudmundum vocabulo, cui filiam praepotentis viri inmatri- 
 monium conjungi paraverat.- Sed quoniam ille quadraginta 
 hidarum terras dominium minime obtineret, licet nobilis 
 esset, inter proceres tunc numerari not potuit; eum puella 
 repudiavit. Historiu Elienais, lib. ii. cap* 40.
 
 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 365 
 
 From this passage, political writers have 
 been led to advance two conjectures, to which 
 it gives no countenance whatever. They 
 consider the rank or privileges attached to 
 the possession of forty hides of land, as having 
 existed from the original settlement of the 
 Anglo-Saxons ; although the writer of that 
 passage speaks only, and that, by the by, of 
 what was established in the reign of Edward 
 the Confessor. They also maintain, that per- 
 sons whose estates were below forty hides of 
 land, were entirely excluded from the right of 
 sitting in the Wittenagemote. But the pas- 
 sage referred to makes no mention of the right 
 of sitting in the Wittenagemote, nor gives the 
 least hint concerning it ; but only points out 
 the extent of property which entitled a person 
 to be ranked among the proceres. There is no 
 reason to believe, either from this, or from any 
 other ancient author, that even in the latter 
 part of the Anglo-Saxon government, the pro- 
 prietors of such great estates were the only 
 members of the national assembly ; though it 
 is, no doubt, highly probable, that they would 
 be more apt, than persons of a lower station, to 
 give a punctual attendance upon its meetings. 
 
 3
 
 S66 ALTERATIONS IN THE STATE 
 
 The superior dignity, however, enjoyed, in 
 the reign of Edward the Confessor, by such of 
 the nobility as were possessed of a certain ex- 
 tent of property, is the more worthy of atten- 
 tion, as it became still more remarkable after 
 the Norman conquest, and laid the foundation 
 of that noted distinction between the greater 
 or smaller barons, which was productive of 
 important changes in the constitution. 
 
 As the Wittenagemote was diminished by 
 the reduction of many allodial proprietors into 
 a state of vassalage ; it may be questioned 
 whether it did not, on the other hand, receive 
 a gradual supply of new members, by the ad- 
 vancement of the churles, who, in consequence 
 of the law of king Athelstan, were, upon the 
 acquisition of five hides of land, admitted to 
 the privileges of a thane. Concerning this 
 point the following observations will occur. 
 1st. That though many of the peasants appear, 
 in the latter periods of the Anglo-Saxon go- 
 vernment to have become free, and even 
 opulent, it is probable that they held their 
 possessions upon the footing of vassalage, rather 
 than of allodial property ; in consequence of 
 which, they could only be ranked, from the 
 
 1
 
 OF THE WITTEtfAGEMOTE. 367 
 
 law above-mentioned, among the lesser thanes, 
 who had no right of sitting in the Witte- 
 nagemote : c 2d\y, Supposing that any of these 
 churles acquired allodial estates, and that they 
 were strictly entitled to a voice in the Witte- 
 nagemote; yet, about the time when this 
 privilege was bestowed, a much greater pro- 
 perty than five hides of land, the quantity spe- 
 cified in the law of king Athclstan, was re- 
 quired for giving the proprietor any weight or 
 consideration in that assembly, or for making 
 his attendance upon it a desirable object. 
 This was a privilege, therefore, which they 
 would be more apt to decline from its incon- 
 veniences, than to exercise, or to boast of, on 
 account of its advantages. 
 
 It may also be a question, whether those 
 merchants who performed three voyages into 
 a foreign country, and who, by another law 
 of the same prince, are said to have obtained 
 the rights of a thane, were admitted into the 
 Wittenagemote. But, as these mercantile 
 adventurers were not required to possess any 
 estate, real or personal, it is not reasonable 
 suppose that they could be allowed to partici- 
 pate, with the ancient nobility, in the deli be-
 
 368 ALTERATIONS IN THE STATE 
 
 rations of the supreme national council. It 
 has already been observed, that by the privi- 
 leges of a thane, bestowed as an encourage- 
 ment to a certain degree of enterprizein trade, 
 were probably understood those of a lesser 
 tha?ie 9 or vassal ; who, though not a member 
 of the Wittenagemote, was of a condition 
 greatly superior to that of the original pea- 
 sants and mechanics. 
 
 As it does not appear that individuals 
 among the merchants had, independent of 
 any landed estate, the privilege of sitting in the 
 Wittenagemote ; so there is no evidence that, 
 collectively, the trading interest were, even 
 in the latter part of the Anglo-Saxon history, 
 entitled to send representatives to that as- 
 sembly. Of this we may be satisfied from the 
 particulars, relative to the constitution of the 
 national council, which have been formerly 
 mentioned. The facts which were then ad- 
 duced, in order to shew that in the Saxon 
 Wittenagemote there were no representatives, 
 either from towns, or from the small pro- 
 prietors of land, appear conclusive with regard 
 to the whole period of the English govern- 
 ment before the Norman conquest. If the
 
 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 369 
 
 original constitution of that assembly admitted 
 of no representatives from either of those two 
 classes of men, it must be supposed, that the 
 subsequent introduction of them, more espe- 
 cially if it had happened near the end of 
 the Saxon period, when historical events are 
 better ascertained, would have excited the 
 attention of some historian or other, and have 
 been thought worthy of transmission to future 
 ages. But upon this point, of so much im- 
 portance in the political system, and so un- 
 likely to pass without notice, the later as well 
 as the early Saxon historians are entirely silent. 
 The advancement of arts and manufactures, 
 towards the end of the Saxon line, was, in- 
 deed so considerable, as to have enlarged par- 
 ticular towns, and to have exempted the inha- 
 bitants from those precarious duties and ser- 
 vices to which they had anciently been sub- 
 jected. They were permitted to form societies, 
 or gilds, for the benefit of their trade; which 
 appear to have at length suggested the practice 
 of incorporating the whole of a town with par- 
 ticular privileges and regulations*. By a series 
 of progressive improvements, the trading peo- 
 
 * Madox firma burgi. 
 VOL. I. B B
 
 370 ALTERATIONS IN THE STATE 
 
 pie were thus gradually prepared and qualified 
 for that political consideration which they af- 
 terwards acquired by the establishment of re- 
 presentatives in the national council. But the 
 acquisition of this important privilege was the 
 work of a later period, when they rose to a 
 higher pitch of opulence and independence. 
 
 The original meetings of the Wittenage- 
 mote in England, as well as those of the na- 
 tional council, in most of the kingdoms upon 
 the neighbouring continent, appear, as was 
 formerly observed, to have been held regularly 
 at two seasons of the year; at the end of 
 spring, for deliberating upon the military ope- 
 rations of the summer, and at the beginning of 
 autumn, for dividing the fruit of those depre- 
 dations. The same times of meeting were, 
 for similar reasons, observed, in the courts be- 
 longing to the several shires and baronies of 
 the kingdom. But as, in England, from her 
 insular situation, military enterprises against 
 a foreign enemy were less regular than upon 
 the continent of Europe, those meetings fell 
 soon into disuse ; and as, on certain great fes- 
 tivals, the king was accustomed to appear, 
 with great pomp and solemnity, among his
 
 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 371 
 
 nobles; it was found convenient, on those oc- 
 casions, to call the Wittenagemote. Hence 
 the meetings of that council came to be held 
 uniformly at three different seasons ; at Christ- 
 mas, at Easter, and at Whitsuntide. 
 
 The increase of the national business, par- 
 ticularly with respect to the distribution of 
 justice, a consequence of the grad ual progress of 
 authority in the public, made it necessary that 
 the Wittenagemote should be held more fre- 
 quently than in former times ; and therefore, 
 in any extraordinary exigence, which arose 
 between the different festivals above-mention- 
 ed, a particular meeting of that council was 
 called by the king. Thus there came to be 
 two sorts of Wittenagemote ; the one held by 
 custom, and at three stated periods ; the other 
 called occasionally, by a special summons from 
 the king*. Both were composed of the same 
 persons, if they chose to attend ; but com- 
 monly a much less regular attendance was 
 given in the latter than in the former. At the 
 occasional meetings of the great council, such 
 of the nobility as lived at a distance were seldom 
 
 * The former were called courts de more, being founded 
 upon immemorial custom. 
 
 B B 2
 
 372 ALTERATIONS IN THE STATE 
 
 at the trouble of appearing; and the business, 
 of course, devolved upon those members who 
 happened to be in the king's retinue, and who 
 might be said to compose his privy-council. 
 
 For this reason, the occasional meetings of 
 the Wittenagemote usually confined them- 
 selves to matters of less importance than were 
 discussed in the old customary meetings. The 
 chief employment of the former was the hear- 
 ing of appeals from inferior courts : but legis- 
 lation, and other weighty transactions, were 
 generally reserved to the latter. 
 
 If, however, it was found necessary, in the 
 interval between the three great festivals, to 
 deliberate upon public business of importance, 
 the king issued an extraordinary summons to 
 his nobles; in which he expressly required 
 their attendance, and specified the cause of 
 their meeting*. 
 
 It may here be proper to remark, that the 
 smaller occasional meetings of the Wittenage- 
 mote appear to have suggested the idea of the 
 aula regis ; a separate court, which, after the 
 Norman conquest, was formed out of parlia- 
 ment for the sole purpose of deciding law-suits. 
 
 * Gurdon's History of the High Court of Parliament. 
 
 3
 
 OP THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 373 
 
 As the occurrences which demanded the im- 
 mediate interposition of the Wittenagemote 
 could not be foreseen, the king was led to de- 
 termine the particular cases in which the de- 
 liberation of that assembly was requisite; and 
 in the exercise of this prerogative, he was ori- 
 ginally under no restraint. The powers exer- 
 cised by the crown seem, at first, to have been 
 all discretionary; and to have remained with- 
 out limitation, until experience had shewn the 
 danger of their being abused. 
 
 We shall afterwards have occasion to ob- 
 serve, that, under the princes of the Norman 
 and Plantagenet race, the ancient and regular 
 meetings of the national council were more 
 and more disregarded, and at length entirely 
 disused ; in consequence of which the whole 
 parliamentary business came to be transacted 
 in extraordinary meetings, which were called 
 at the pleasure of the sovereign. The at- 
 tempts to limit this important branch of the 
 royal prerogative will be the subject of future 
 discussion. 
 
 Conclusion of the Saxon Period. 
 
 SUCH appear to be the outlines of the 
 English government under the administration
 
 574 ALTERATIONS IN THE STATE 
 
 of the Anglo-Saxon princes. To the subjects 
 of Britain, who consider the nature of their 
 present constitution, and compare it with that 
 of most of the nations upon the neighbouring 
 continent, it seems natural to indulge a pre- 
 possession, that circumstances peculiarly for- 
 tunate must have concurred in laying the 
 foundation of so excei-ent a fabric. It seems 
 natural to imagine, that the government of the 
 Anglo-Saxons must have contained a propor- 
 tion of liberty as much greater than that of 
 the neighbouring nations, as our constitution 
 is at present more free than the other Euro- 
 pean governments. 
 
 When we examine, at the same time, the 
 state of our country, in that remote age ; the 
 uniform jurisdiction and authority possessed 
 by every allodial proprietor ; the division of 
 the country into various districts, subordinate 
 one to anDther; the perfect correspondence 
 between the civil and ecclesiastical divisions ; 
 the similarity in the powers exercised by the 
 meetings of the tything, the hundred, and the 
 shire, in their respective territories, and those 
 of the Wittenagemote over the whole king- 
 dom ; the analogy between the office of the 
 tythingman, the hundreder, and the earl, in
 
 OF THE WITTENAGEMOTE. 3?5 
 
 their inferior departments, and that of the 
 sovereign in his more exalted station ; when, 
 I say, we examine these, and other particu- 
 lars relating to the Anglo-Saxon government, 
 in which we may discover so much order and 
 regularity, such a variety of regulations, nicely 
 adjusted to one another, and calculated for 
 the most beneficial purposes ; it is natural to 
 suppose, that the whole has originated in 
 much contrivance and foresight ; and is *the 
 result of deep-laid schemes of policy. 
 
 In both of these conclusions, however, we 
 should undoubtedly be mistaken. When we 
 look round and examine the state of the 
 other European kingdoms about the same pe- 
 riod ; and when we observe, in each of them, 
 the close and minute resemblance of its poli- 
 tical s} r stem to that of England, how little 
 soever the apparent intercourse of the inha- 
 bitants ; we feel ourselves under the necessity 
 of abandoning our former supposition, and 
 of acknowledging that the regulations esta- 
 blished in all of these countries proceeded 
 from no artificial or complicated plans of le- 
 gislation ; but were such as occurred succes- 
 sively to the people, for the supply of their 
 immediate wants, and the removal of inci-
 
 376 ALTERATIONS IN THE STATE, &C. 
 
 dental inconveniencies ; in a word, every 
 where, a kind of natural growth, produced 
 by the peculiar situation and circumstances 
 of the society. 
 
 Neither was the Anglo Saxon government 
 calculated, in any peculiar manner, to secure 
 the liberty and the natural rights of mankind. 
 The sovereign, indeed, in the long period 
 during which this government subsisted, and 
 through all the successive alterations which it 
 underwent, was at no time invested with abso- 
 lute power. The supreme authority in the 
 state was originally possessed by a numerous 
 body of landed proprietors ; but the rest of the 
 community were either slaves, or tenants at 
 the will of their master. The number of those 
 who enjoyed a share in the government was 
 afterwards greatly diminished : at the same 
 time that, upon this advancement of the aris- 
 tocracy, the lower part of the inhabitants be- 
 came somewhat more free and independent 
 The increase of political power in men of a 
 superior class was thus compensated by some 
 little extension of privileges in the great body 
 of the people. 
 
 END of vol. i. 
 
 117 IS 
 
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