ugh
the destination of a prince may often be followed in appointing his
successor, they can as little be regarded as wholly testamentary. The
states by their suffrage may sometimes establish a sovereign; but they
more frequently recognize the person whom they find established: a few
great men take the lead; the people, overawed and influenced, acquiesce
in the government; and the reigning prince, provided he be of the royal
family, passes undisputedly for the legal sovereign.

It is confessed that our knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon history and
antiquities is too imperfect to afford us means of determining with
certainty all the prerogatives of the crown and privileges of the
people, or of giving an exact delineation of that government. It is
probable, also, that the constitution might be somewhat different hi the
different kingdoms of the Heptarchy, and that it changed considerably
during the course of six centuries, which elapsed from the first
invasion of the Saxons till the Norman conquest.[*] But most of these
differences and changes, with their causes and effects, are unknown to
us; it only appears that, at all times and in all the kingdoms, there
was a national council, called a wittenagemot, or assembly of the wise
men, (for that is the import of the term,) whose consent was requisite
for enacting laws, and for ratifying the chief acts of public
administration.

[* We know of one change, not inconsiderable, in
the Saxon constitution. The Saxon Annals (p. 49) inform us,
that it was, in early times, the prerogative of the king to
name the dukes, earls, aldermen, and sheriffs of the
counties. Asser, a contemporary writer, informs us that
Alfred deposed all the ignorant aldermen, and appointed men
of more capacity in their place: yet the laws of Edward the
Confessor (sect. 35) say expressly that the heretoghs, or
dukes, and the sheriffs were chosen by the freeholders in
the folk-mote, a county court, which was assembled once a
year, and where all the freeholders swore allegiance to the
king.]

The preambles to all the laws of Ethelbert, Ina, Alfred, Edward the
Elder, Athelstan, Edmond, Edgar, Ethelred, and Edward the Confessor;
even those to the laws of Canute though a kind of conqueror, put this
matter beyond controversy, and carry proofs every where of a limited
and legal government. But who were the constituent members of this
wittenagemot has not been