As the first of the Saxons kings were only military chiefs, and were followed by bands of independent war riors, who fought, not as his slaves, but for a fair par ticipation in the conquered booty ; those war-kings were not hereditary, but elective, though continued for life. The natural consequence, however, of such predatory nations settling in a conquered country, and enjoying the fruits of more peaceable pursuits, the consequence also of their bestowing, as they always did, a larger share of the territory on their war-king, for supporting his dignity, and of their attachment to the children of a popular leader, would be to render that crown heredi tary which before bad been elective. It is found accord ingly, that, contrary to the earlier usages of the Saxon tribes, the monarchy was hereditary in England, even during the heptareay ; ) et still the remembrance of ancient customs, and the consciousness preserved among freemen, that all power was derived from the people, made them blend a republican semblance of election with their consent to every in..w succession. The Wit tenagemot, or assembly of the wise or chief men, met on the death of every sovereign, and bestowed the crown upon his successor. The spirit of this ceremony was to declare, that although c ustom and utility had made the crown inherent in one family, yet that it was with the consent of the people, and by their ordination, that the sceptre was virtually conferred. The wholesome principle of direct succession could hardly be expect ed, in so rude a state of society, to be uniformly main tained. In the progress of civilization we observe, from the history of Europe, how gradually its sacredness came to be established. Certainly in Anglo-Saxon times it was not uniformly, although frequently, observed. A full-grown brother of the dying king was too powerful a competitor for a minor prince, to be kept from the succession ; and the very necessities of the state, in troublesome times, would have made it impolitic that he should have been debarred.
It was in this manner that Alfred was called to the throne, in violation of his nephew's hereditary right, if any right of inheritance could be said to be violated, when the existence of the monarchy was at stake, and when the voice of a perishing people cried out for such a deliverer.
The Anglo-Saxon sovereign could promulge and sanction laws; but those laws could not be valid with out the consent of the wittenagemot, or grand assembly of representatives. The exordium to some of Alfred's laws runs thus: " I Alfred king, gathered together, and have commanded to be written, many of those things that our forefathers held, which pleased me, and many of those things that liked me not I have thrown aside, with the advice of my witan." From si milar preambles to several systems of Saxon laws, it is also evident, that the sovereign could impose no taxes without the consent of those early parliaments; and that,'although he was empowered, in the times of dan ger, to put himself at the head of his troops, yet that he could not declare a war or conclude a peace without the advice of the legislature. It was the prerogative of
the Saxon kings to assemble and preside at the great council of the witan, to propose the subjects of their de liberation, and to execute their decrees. He had the power of exercising military discipline, of commuting capital into pecuniary punishments, vet not of remitting fines imposed by courts of justice ; for the object of punishment among this people, as we shall have shortly occasion to see, was rather to give compensation to the injured, than to impose terror by the example of punish ment; this privilege would have interfered with the rights of individuals. As he convoked the people to arms, so he commanded them in war. He nominated the aldermen, the shiregrieves, and the judges it and when the monarchy grew stronger, after the union of the seven kingdoms into one, even the highest digni ties of the church were conferred by majesty. This was one of the privileges of the crown to which Henry II. most frequently referred in his disputes with the church, during a subsequent dynasty, and for the sake of which he was probably, as well as for other whole some purposes, so anxious to give back the people of England their Saxon constitution ; a constitution which his Norman predecessors had frequently promised to the English, but which he alone had patriotism enough to wish restored. The Anglo-Saxon sovereign had also the privilege of coining, and of deputing the right of coinage. llis tribunal was the last court of appeal. The Jews were his property. He was to be prayed for, and voluntarily honoured. His word was to be taken without an oath. It was not in those days death, by the law, to conceive or imagine the death of the king; for it is one of the very curious circumstances in the laws of this people, that the life of every order of men, from a king to the common slave, was estimated at a certain value or weregeld, and the payment of this weregeld was the punishment awarded for taking it away. A re spect to monarchy was, however, shown in making the king's weregeld, or price of blood, high in proportion to his dignity ; and we do not find that he was in greater danger of regicides than where the crime is made ca pital.
The royal property consisted of lands in demesne, and of rents and services, which were reserved from the leases of those lands. The royal towns and villas which are mentioned in Anglo-Saxon history are very numerous ; among these we may notice \Vindesore, or Windsor, which is still a regal residence. His reve nues, besides the rents and produce of lands in demesne, were tolls in the markets and in the cities on sales ; du ties and services in the burghs; wites, or penalties and forfeitures, which the law attached to certain crimes and offences; heriots from his thanes or nobles,* and various payments and benefits arising from circum stances stated in the laws.