The business of the wittenagemot was to elect the sovereign, to assist at his coronation, to co-operate with him in making laws, in concluding peace, and decreeing war and warlike preparations, and levies by sea and land. They heard and decided on the impeachments of state criminals, examined into the state of the churches and monasteries, and made and confirmed grants of land. That they sometimes resisted the royal acts, and were not the passive registrars of the king's edicts, ap pears from their refusing to confirm a gift of land by Baldred, king of Kent, because he did not please them. They appear also frequently in the Saxon remains, to have acted with judicial authority, and to have been in that capacity the supreme court of judicature in the kingdom.
How far they interfered with the taxation of the country, cannot (it is confessed by our best antiquarians) be precisely ascertained. Yet there are general grounds to suppose, that whatever the Danish conquerors might impose, in the way of arbitrary taxation, it was not the privilege of the Saxon kings to tax their subjects with out the consent of the wittenagemot. Under the Saxon line, we know that taxes were extorted by their invaders the Danes, and that bribes were offered to those barba rians to depart, which were levied by the joint authority of the king and his parliament; but after those visitants had departed, the king continued to reap the fruits of such taxes, when the pretext of invasion had ceased. " We now pay in the 12th century," says Henry of Huntingdon, " that to our kings from custom, which was paid to the Danes from unspeakable terror." 6. Next, though far inferior in dignity to the wittena gemot,* was the shiregemot, or county meeting. It. was held twice a-year, and conducted like a modern assize. The eolderman, the eorl, or heretog, (for so he was variously denominated) was the president of this court, and the judges or domes'men, with the help of certain lahmen, or lawmen, formed the bench. This eolderman, or head of the shire, though in rank inferior to the ethelings, or princes of the blood, was in power and authority subordinate only to majesty, and in fact his representative within the district. He had great civil powers in administering justice, and as a military leader he commanded the forces of the shire. To draw weapons, or to light in the assembly where he presided, incurred a high penalty. In early times this officer was appointed by the crown: at another period he seems to have been elective, and though it required the rank of thane to possess the office, it was attainable by a ceorle who could obtain nobility. But an authority so lucrative and powerful, became a monopoly in the hands of the wealthier families, as aristocracy prevailed.
But, as eoldermen and eorls in those days, though chosen from the highest nobility, were frequently una ble to write or read, an officer who possessed these ac complishments, was chosen in every shire to be their assessor, (who was called the shiregrieve,) and in their absence to supply their place. Even at this rude period,
the profession of lawyer or barrister had grown into a distinct profession. Some of these professional speak ers of the alderman's court, (in Latin denominated rhetores or causidici) after having been examined in their knowledge of law, were appointed assessors to the colderman and his shiregrieve: in latter times to the number of twelve. But we must not confound these twelve assessors with the twelve juratores, or jurymen, whose office and origin was so different.
At these shiregemots the dignified clergy also assist ed as judges. At their meetings, both the civil and criminal causes of the laity and clergy were decided, after pleading and hearing evidence, by a plurality of voices in the whole assembly.
Such a mass of business as the litigations of a whole county would present, could not, it is evident, be trans acted before a court which sat but a few days. To re medy this defect, the subordinate court of the hundred was held every month, over which a president, called the hundredary, held judgment. The people attended this court with arms in their hands, not to decide quar rels, or resist lawful authority, but for the sake of mili tary discipline; from whence it was called the wapon tak.
The lowest magistrate in their system of police, called the bo•se-holder, or tithing-man :—the magis trate over ten families, which constituted a society, called indifferently the freeburgh, the tithing, or decen nary. Every freeman who wished to enjoy the protec tion of the laws, became a member of the tithing where he lived; and each tithing, forming a little common wealth within itself, chose its magistrate or borse holder.t At the tithing-court, disputes and grievances were heard and settled. The arms of every member were inspected, and testimonials of character were given to those who had occasion to remove their habitation; for as every tithing was responsible for the conduct of its members, nobody could enter a new community without a character. This wise institution seems to have possessed all the benefits of feudal clanship, with out its disadvantages. The neighbours of every spot were fraternized by its ties and regulations. They fought in one band in the day of battle, and generally ate at one table in the time of peace. If a member was wronged, the tithing redressed him : if he was sick or poor, they relieved him. The greatest infamy and ca lamity was to be ejected from such a community; and all safety and reputation lay within the pale of its pro tection. For the perfect structure of this system of police, the Anglo-Saxons were indebted to the great Alfred; but there is reason to believe that Alfred did not invent, but only reinstated, this wholesome institu tion. Its advantages were found to be so great, that the priests and nobility voluntarily associated in fraternities of the same nature. In all the towns and boroughs a similar establishment of meetings and magistracy pre served the administration of justice.