precedence to the bishop. Men of this class may be easily recognised by the ecclesiastical garb.

We arrive at the house of a Saxon nobleman. Before us is the great hall, with a projecting porch, supported by pillars and arches. Folds of drapery are discerned through the opening, and lamps are seen suspended from the ceiling. On the one side of the hall is the chapel, with a curtain in front, withdrawn, and a lamp hanging near the door. On the roof of the building is a globe, surmounted by a cross. On the other side are various buildings appropriated to the domestics. The noble thane is now sitting in the open hall, surrounded by his family, and attended by a number of servants, armed with shields and spears; yet are they there for no warlike purpose, for he is engaged in acts of charity, giving alms to the poor, who throng around him in suppliant attitudes, and gratefully receive his generous offerings.

We now reach the county court, where the thanes are assembled to sit in judgment. Oaths of allegiance are here administered to freemen; inquiries are made into breaches of the peace, criminals are tried, and civil claims determined. The following is the record of a suit in the reign of Canute :

It is made known by this writing, that in the shiregemot, county court, held at Agelnothes-stane, (Aylston, Herefordshire,) in the reign of Canute, there sat Athextan the bishop, and Raing

the alderman, and Edwin his son, and Leofwin, Wulfig's son, and Thurkil the white; and Tofig came there on the king's business : and there was Bryning the sheriff, and Athelweard of Frome, and Leofwin of Frome, and Goodrie of Stoke, and all the thanes of Herefordshire. Then came to the mote Edwin, son of Euneawne, and sued his mother for some lands, called Weolintun and Cyrdeslea. Then the bishop asked, who would answer for his mother. Then answered Thurkil the white, and said that he would, if he knew the facts, which he did not. Then were seen in the mote three thanes that belonged to Feligly, (Fawley, five miles from Aylston,) Leofwin of Frome, Egelwig the red, and Thinsig Stægthmans; and they went to her, and inquired what she had to say about the lands which her son claimed. She said that she had no land which belonged to him, and fell into a noble passion against her son, and calling for Leofleda her kinswoman, the wife of Thurkil, thus spake to her before them :'This is Leofleda, my kinswoman, to whom I give my lands, money, clothes, and whatever I possess after my life.' And this said, she spake thus to the thanes, 'Behave like thanes, and declare my message to all the good men in the mote, and tell them to whom I have given my lands, and all my possessions, and nothing to my son;' and bade them be witnesses of this. And thus they did; rode to the mote, and told all the good men what she

had enjoined them. Then Thurkil the white addressed the mote, and requested all the thanes to let his wife have the lands which her kinswoman had given her; and thus they did; and Thurkil rode to the church of St. Ethelbert, with the leave and witness of all the people, and had this inserted in a book in the church."

It need scarcely be observed that the document shows "the crude state of legal process and inquiry" at the time to which it relates, and "in the practical jurisprudence of our Saxon ancestors, even at the beginning of the eleventh century, we perceive no advance of civility and skill from the state of their own savage progenitors on the banks of the Elbe."* It is important to remark that the county court is the great constitutional judicature in all questions of civil right, and, unless justice be there denied, no appeal can be made to the royal tribunal.

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Among the Anglo-Saxons the practice of compurgation" obtains in criminal cases; the accused has the privilege of clearing his character, and establishing his innocence, by his own oath, supported by the oaths of a certain number of persons who can pledge themselves to the truth of his testimony.†

* Hallam.

Trial by jury has often been described as an Anglo-Saxon practice, for which we are indebted to the wisdom of Alfred. Without going into this disputed point we would refer the reader to an article in the Penny Cyclopædia, (Jury,) where he will find it discussed, and from which we quote the following extract :

Where he fails to obtain these compurgators he appeals to the ordeal, by the issue of which his cause is decided.

In walking through the Anglo-Saxon town we perceive some indications of trade. Artificers are at work; among whom the tanner, the blacksmith, and the carpenter are most distinguished and useful. But let us hasten to the market. Some encouragement is afforded to commerce by the laws of the country; by which it is enacted, that every merchant who has made three voyages over the sea, with a ship and cargo of his own, shall be elevated to the rank of a thane, or nobleman. That the principle of commerce is understood appears from the following conversation which we overhear between a merchant and his neighbour :

Merchant." I say that I am useful to the king, and to aldermen, and to the rich, and to all people. I ascend my ship with my mer chandise, and sail over the sea-like places, and sell my things, and buy dear things, which are not produced in this land, and I bring them to you here with great danger over the sea and sometimes I suffer shipwreck with the loss of all things, scarcely escaping myself.

Neighbour." What do you bring us?

"The trial by twelve compurgators, which was of canonical origin and was known to the Anglo-Saxons, and also to many foreign nations, resembled the trial by jury only in the number of persons sworn and no conclusion can be drawn from this circumstance, as twelve was not only a common number throughout Europe for canonical and other purgations, but was the favourite number in every branch of the polity and jurisprudence of the Gothic nations."

Merchant."Skins, silks, costly gems, and gold; various garments, pigments, wine, oil, ivory, orichalcus, (perhaps brass,) copper, and tin, silver, glass, and such like.

Neighbour." Will you sell your things here as you bought them there?

Merchant." I will not, because what would my labour benefit me? I will sell them here dearer than I bought them there, that I may get some profit to feed me, my wife, and children."

But commercial dealings in this market are sadly fettered. Witness the following enactments: "If any of the people of Kent buy anything in the city of London, he must have two or three honest men, or the king's ports' reeve present at the bargain."- -"Let none exchange one thing for another, except in the presence of the sheriff, the mass priest, the lord of the manor, or some other person of undoubted veracity. If they do otherwise they shall pay a fine of thirty shillings, besides forfeiting the goods so exchanged to the lord of the manor." These restrictions, which apply

to the sale of all articles above the value of twenty pence, are evidently intended for the security of the revenue, to which a certain tax is paid on everything which is purchased at a price above that sum. We may add, that the market is held once a week. Sunday was once, in most towns, the market-day—and still is, in some-to suit the convenience of the people who then have leisure, and are congregated together