134 THE SAXONS IN ENGLAND. [book i.
to float upon his shoulders or winds about his
head1.
His proper measure and value, by which his
social position is ascertained and defended, is the
wergyld, or price of a man. JHis life, his limbs,
the injuries which may be done to himself, his de-
pendants and his property, are all duly assessed ;
and though not rated so highly as the noble, yet he
stands above the stranger, the serf or the freedman.
In like manner his land, though not entirely exempt
from charges and payments for public purposes,
is far less burthened than the land of the unfree.
Moreover he possesses rights in the commons,
woods and waters, which the unfree, were assuredly
not permitted to exercise.
The great and essential distinction, however,
which he never entirely loses under any circum-
stances, is that he aids in governing himself, that
is in making, applying and executing the laws by
which the free and the unfree are alike governed ;
that he yields, in short, a voluntary obedience>to
the law, for the sake of living under a law, in an
orderly and peaceful community.
In the state of things which we are now consi-
1 There were differences in this respect among the different races,
and in some, the long hair may have been confined to the noble fami-
lies. Among the Saxons, however, it seems that it was also used by the
free : gif freo wɪf, Iocbore, lyswæs hwæt gedo, if a free woman, that
wears long hair, do any wrong. Lex √E'8elb. § 73. To cut a free-
man’s hair was to dishonour him. Lex Ælfr. § 35. See also Grimm,
Deut. Rechtsalt. pp. 240, 283. Eumenius speaks of the Franks as
“prolixo crine rutilantes.” Paneg. Constant, c. 18.
CH. V.]
THE FREEMAN. THE NOBLE.
135
dering, the noble belongs to the class of freemen ;
out of it he springs, in all its rights and privileges
he shares, to all its duties he is liable, but in a
different degree. He possesses however certain
advantages which the freeman does not. Like the
latter he is a holder of real estate ; he owns land in
the district, but his lot is probably larger, and is
moreover free from various burthens which press
upon his less fortunate neighbour. He must also
take part in the Ding, placitum, or general meeting,
but he and his class have the leading and directing
of the public business, and ultimately the execution
of the general will1. The people at large may elect,
but he alone can be elected, to the offices of priest,
judge or king. Upon his life and dignity a higher
price is laid than upon those of the mere freeman.
He is the unity in the mass, the representative of
the general sovereignty, both at home and abroad.
The tendency of his power is continually to in-
crease, while that of the mere freeman is continu-
ally to diminish, falling in the scale in exact pro-
portion as that of the noble class rises.
The distinctive name of the noble is Eorl2.
’ “Deminoribus rebus principes consultant; de majoribus omnes.
Ita taɪnen ut ea quoque quorum penes plebem arbitrium est, apud prin-
cipes pertractentur.” Tac. Germ. xi. Something similar to this pro-
bably prevailed in the Dorian constitution, and in the old Ionian before
the establishment of the great democracy. The mass of the people
might accept or reject, but hardly, I think, debate the propositions of
the nobles. After all the πpoi3□υλoι seem necessary in all states. See
Arist. Polit, iv. § 15.
In the Rigsmal, Jarl is the progenitor of all the noble races, as
Karl is of the free.