assembly and that the government was to a great extent, at least, democratic.

At about the middle of the fifth century of the Christian era, bands of Germanic wanderers commenced to cross over to England. They went at first for plunder, but a little later they began to enter England by families and tribes for the purpose of finding homes. They brought with them their governmental institutions, and we find in England the freemen of each town holding a tungemot, or town meeting, in which important business was carried on and by-laws (town laws) made for the government of the town. Every freeman had a right to attend this town meeting; it was therefore a primary assembly. In town meeting the principal officers of the town were elected by the people, though when the power of the great lords grew, the officers of the lord took the place of the older elective officers. The principal officers were the reeve, or headman, the tithingman, or constable, and the beadle, or messenger.

The Manor. As early as the beginning of the tenth century, most of the towns had fallen under the control of the great lords, and the lord's steward and bailiff had supplanted the old elective reeve and beadle. The Norman Conquest, in 1066, completed the work of destroying the old free towns. Feudalism was then fully established, and feudalism had no place for such an institution as the old English town. Generally what had been the town was now thought of as a lord's possession and became known as a manor, a French term meaning dwelling-place. Most of the officers of the manor were representatives of the lord, but not every sign of self-government was lost. The idea of town meeting was still kept alive by the court

leet and court-baron; these two assemblies, however, had little real influence.

The English Parish. The parish is a much older institution than the manor. After the Anglo-Saxons had been converted to Christianity, the need of some unit for church administration arose. This unit was naturally the same in area as the old township, though at times two or more townships were included in a parish.

Church business was carried on in an assembly known as a vestry meeting, so called since it was held in the room where vestments were kept. The vestry meeting gained the power of voting the taxes for the support of the church, and became concerned with certain civil affairs. All taxpayers might speak and vote in vestry meeting. In the parish, local self-government was kept alive after it had to a great extent disappeared in the manor.

Our forefathers

The Shire and the County in England. settled in England not merely as groups of families, or clans, but also as groups of clans or tribes. Just as the clans became the makers of townships, so the tribes formed governmental bodies called shires.

The name "shire" was first applied to the people of a tribe as is indicated in such shire names as Essex (East Saxons), Sussex, etc. Each shire had a representative assembly known as the shire-mote. To this shire-mote came the lords, the "reeve and four best men" from each township, and when boroughs and cities grew they also sent representatives. The shire-mote was chiefly a judicial body though it possessed some legislative power. The leading man of each shire was known as an "ealdorman." The shires in time grew into kingdoms, several shires uniting

made larger kingdoms, and at last the king of the West Saxons became king of all England. The shire continued to have local government after England became a kingdom. There were now two ealdormen appointed by the king in each shire, and a shire reefe (sheriff) elected by the people. The Norman Conquest deeply affected the shire, as it did all other old English institutions; its name was changed to county, because it was similar to a local division in France over which a count presided. The shire-mote became a county court in which the king's justice tried

There were no longer any ealdormen, and the sheriff was appointed by the king and was responsible to him. The sheriff was the king's chief officer in the county; to him was given the duty of seeing that taxes were collected, and of summoning jurors and seeing that the judgments of the court were enforced. Another important officer was the coroner (crowner), originally appointed by the king, but since the time of Edward I elected. His duties were to hold a court of inquiry over any sudden calamity such as unexpected death, loss of property by fire, etc. In time, the coroner's duty was limited to holding courts of inquiry over sudden deaths. Edward III commenced the practice of appointing justices of the peace. Originally there were six of these officers in each county. They were appointed at first to check highway robbery, but their power gradually increased until their courts took the place of the old county court. Sessions of the court were held four times a year, hence called Courts of Quarterly Sessions.

Note.- English local institutions have been greatly changed since the seventeenth century. Some of these changes were taking place at the time of English colonization of America; especially is this true of the vestry meeting, which was losing its democratic character.

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

1. Why should Americans be interested in the study of English governmental institutions?

2. Describe the origin of the English town and shire.

3. Show what changes took place in the town and shire, as a result of the Norman Conquest?

QUESTIONS SUGGESTED BY THE TEXT

1. If local government is of so much importance, why is it so often neglected by the people?

2. In what sense is the word "parish" now used in the United States?

3. Can we expect that the Republic of Cuba will be governed as well as though its inhabitants were of Anglo-Saxon origin?

4. China has recently been declared a republic. What difficulties stand in the way of its success?

CHAPTER III

RURAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Town and County Government in America

Beginnings of the New England Town.- The earliest colonists came to New England, not as individuals, but as members of churches, often led by their pastors. Usually one of their first acts was to erect a church building at some convenient point. They were generally Congregationalists, who believed that each church should be independent and self-governing. Near the church was, as a rule, a strip of land owned by the whole community, the beginning of the New England common.1 These little communities were bound together not only by the ties of the church, but also by the necessity of defence against hostile Indians and the not far distant French. On some hill they erected a blockhouse, or fort, to which they might retreat in time of danger. The character of the soil was a further bond of union. New England does not tempt persons to have large farms; much labor on a small area of land is necessary in order to make a living from the soil. Among the colonists there were social distinctions, but no sharp divisions into social classes.

The settlers being at first left pretty much alone by the English government, managed civil and religious affairs to

1. Outside of New England such lands would now be called parks, but the name "common" still persists in New England.