The whole principle of Teutonic legislation is, and always was, that the law is made by the constitution of the king, and the consent of the people[[584]]: and we have seen one way in which that consent was obtained, viz. by sending the capitula down into the provinces or shires, and taking the wed in the shiremoot. The passage in the text seems to presuppose an interchange of oaths and pledges between the king and witan themselves; and even those who had no standing of their own in the folcmót or scírgemót, were required to be bound by personal consent. The lord was just as much commanded to take oath and pledge of his several dependents (the hired men, familiares, or people of his household), as the sheriff was required to take them of the free shire-thanes[[585]]. Of course this excludes all idea of representation in our modern sense of the word, because with us, promulgation by the Parliament is sufficient, and the constituent is bound without any further ceremony by the act of him whom he has sent in his own place. But the Teutons certainly did not elect their representatives as we elect ours, with full power to judge, decide for, and bind us, and therefore it was right and necessary that the laws when made should be duly ratified and accepted by all the people.
Although the dignified clergy, the ealdormen and geréfan, and the þegnas both in counties and boroughs, appear to have constituted the witena gemót properly so called, there is still reason to suppose that the people themselves, or some of them, were very often present. In fact a system gradually framed as I suppose that of our forefathers to have been, and indebted very greatly to accident for its form, must have possessed a very considerable elasticity. The people who were in the neighbourhood, who happened to be collected in arms during a sitting of the witan, or who thought it worth while to attend their meeting, were very probably allowed to do so, and to exercise at least a right of conclamation[[586]],—a right which must daily become rarer, as the freemen gradually disappeared, and the number of landowners, dependent upon and represented by lords, as rapidly increased. In conclusion a few passages may be cited, which seem to render it probable that the people, when on the spot, did take some part in the business, as I have already mentioned with respect to the Frankish levies in the Campus Madius[Madius] of Charlemagne. But it must also be borne in mind that such a case ought to be looked upon as accidental, rather than necessary, and that a meeting of the witan did not require the formality of an acceptance by the people on the spot, to render its acts obligatory. It was enough that the thanes of the gemót should pass, and the thanes of the scír accept the law. Indeed it could not be otherwise; for as the heads of all the more important social aggregations of the free, and the lords whose men were represented by them even in courts of justice, were the members of the gemót, their decisions must have been, strictly considered, the real decisions of the populus, or franchise-bearing people.
Beda, relating the discussion which took place respecting the celebration of Easter, and which was held in the presence of Oswiu and Alhfrið of Northumberland, and Wilfrið’s successful defence of the Roman custom, adds: “When the king had said these words, all who sat or stood around assented: and abandoning the less perfect institution, they hastened to adopt what they recognized as a better one[[587]].” Again the deposition of Sigeberht is stated to have taken place in an assembly of the proceres and populus, the princes and people of the whole realm[[588]]. A doubtful charter of Ini, A.D. 725, is said to be consented to “cum praesentia populationis[[589]],” by which words are meant either the witan or the people of Wessex. In 804 Æðelríc’s title-deeds were confirmed before a gemót at Clofesho: the charter recites that archbishop Æðelheard gave judgment, with the witness of king Cóenwulf and his optimates, before all the synod or meeting: whence it is clear that others were present besides the optimates or witan strictly so called[[590]]. On the 28th of May 924 a gemót was held at Winchester, “tota populi generalitate,” as the charter witnesses[[591]], and in 931 another at Worðig, “tota plebis generalitate[[592]].” Æðelstán in 938 declares that certain lands had been forfeited for theft, by the just judgment of all the people, and the Seniores and Primates; and that the original charters were cancelled by a decree of all the people[[593]].
But whether expressions of this kind were intended to denote the actual presence of the people on the spot; or whether populus is used in a strict and technical sense—that sense which is confined to those who enjoy the full franchise, those who form part of the πολιτευμα,—or finally whether the assembly of the witan making laws is considered to represent in our modern form an assembly of the whole people,—it is clear that the power of self-government is recognized in the latter.
In order to facilitate reference to the important facts with which this chapter deals, I have added to it a list of witena gemóts, with here and there a few remarks upon the business transacted in them. They do not nearly exhaust the number that must have been held, but still they form a respectable body of evidence; and we may perhaps be justly surprised, not that so little, but that so much has survived. We need not lament that the present forms and powers of our parliament are not those which existed a thousand years ago, as long as we recognize in them only the matured development of an old and useful principle. We shall not appeal to Anglosaxon custom to justify the various points of the Charter; but we may still be proud to find in their practice the germ of institutions which we have, throughout all vicissitudes, been taught to cherish as the most valuable safeguards of our peace as well as our freedom. Truly there are few nations whose parliamentary history has so ample a foundation as our own.
THE WITENA GEMÓTS OF THE SAXONS.
ÆÐELBERT OF KENT, A.D. 596-605.—The promulgation of the laws of Æðelberht took place during the life of Augustine. This fixes their date between 596, when he arrived in England, and 605, when he died. Beda tells us that these laws were enacted by the advice of the witan, “cum consilio sapientium[[594]].” We may therefore conclude that a gemót was held in Kent for the purpose: and from the contents of the laws themselves, it is obvious that the Roman clergy filled an important place therein. They had probably stepped into the position of the Pagan priesthood, and improved it.
EÁDUUINI OF NORTHUMBERLAND, A.D. 627.—The first witena gemót of which we have any detailed record was holden in 627, near the city of York, wherein no less important business was discussed than the desertion of Paganism and reception of Christianity, by the people of Northumberland. From Beda[[595]] we learn that this step was not ventured without the gravest deliberation; and that Eáduuini had taken good care to sound the most influential of his nobles, before he called a public meeting to decide upon the question. Indeed the parts in this great drama appear to have been arranged beforehand. The interesting account given by Beda[[596]] is to this effect. Eáduuini had determined to embrace Christianity, but still he was not contented, or would not venture, to do this alone. He wished to extend the blessings of the new faith to his subjects; perhaps also to avoid the difficulties which might result from his conversion, while the rest of the people remained pagans. To the exhortations of the missionary Paulinus he rejoined, “suscipere quidem se fidem quam docebat, et velle, et debere ... verum adhuc cum amicis, principibus et consiliariis suis, sese de hoc collaturum esse dicebat; ut si illi eadem cum illo sentire vellent, omnes pariter in fonte vitae Christo consecrarentur. Et annuente Paulino, fecit ut dixerat. Habito enim cum sapientibus consilio, sciscitabatur singillatim ab omnibus, qualis sibi doctrina haec eatenus inaudita, et novus divinitatis qui praedicabatur cultus videretur.” The chief of his priests, Cóefi, immediately commenced an attack upon the ancient religion, and was followed by other nobles, one of whose speeches, the earliest specimen of English parliamentary eloquence, is yet on record[[597]]. “His similia et caeteri maiores natu ac regis consiliarii, divinitus admoniti, prosequebantur.” Paulinus was now invited to expound at greater length the doctrines which he recommended. At the close of his address Cóefi declared himself a convert, and proposed the destruction of the ancient fanes. Eáduuini now professed himself a Christian, and in turn demanded whose duty it was to profane the pagan altars. This Cóefi at once assumed to himself, and taking the most conspicuous means to demonstrate to the people (who, the historian says, thought him mad,) his apostasy from the old creed, hurled his lance into the sacred enclosure, and commanded its immediate destruction. The scene of this daring act was Godmundingahám, not far from the British Delgovitia, and now Godmundham or Goodmanham. The king then as speedily as possible, “citato opere,” built a wooden basilica in the city of York, in which he was solemnly baptized on the twelfth of April, being Easter-day. And thus, says the historian, Eáduuini became a Christian, “cum cunctis gentis suae nobilibus ac plebe perplurima[[598]].”
WULFHARI OF MERCIA, A.D. 657.—In this year a witena gemót was probably held for the endowment and consecration of Saxwulf’s monastery at Peterborough. This the king is stated to have done by the advice, and with the consent, of all the witan of his kingdom, both clerical and lay[[599]]. The charter in the Saxon Chronicle is a late forgery, but throws no well-grounded doubt upon the fact.