Let us examine the formula used in other laws generally admitted to be laws. (1) “The Laws of King Edward.” “Edward’s Ordinances,” “King Edward commands all his reeves,” etc.[138] There is not a word here about the Witan, archbishop, bishop, etc., yet they are admitted as laws. Athelstan’s secular ordinances passed at the council of Greatanlea,[139] had been enacted by the same Witan which enacted the King’s Ordinance to his reeves as regards tithes. If one is a “Royal message” or “Circular letter,” so are the secular Ordinances. But the latter are admitted to be laws, so therefore are the former. To carp about the words “council” and “synod,” shows ignorance of the Latin translation of Witenagemót, viz., _concilium_, _conventus_, _synodus_, etc. “Although synods,” says Kemble, “might more properly be confined to ecclesiastical conventions, _the Saxons do not appear to have made any distinction_, probably because ecclesiastical and secular regulations were made by the same body, and at the same time. “But it is very probable that the Frankish system of separate houses for the clergy and laity prevailed here also, and that merely ecclesiastical affairs were decided by the king and clergy alone. There are some Acts in which the signatures are those of clergymen only; others in which the clerical signatures are followed by those of the laity; and in one remarkable case of this kind, the king signs at the head of each list, as if he had in fact affixed his mark successively in the two houses as president of each. This is in Codex Diplomaticus, No. 116.”[140] THE LETTER OF THE KENTISH MEN TO KING ATHELSTAN. Dr. Lingard makes the following remark on the thankful acknowledgment which the Kentish men sent the King on the promulgation of his Ordinance dated A.D. 627. “The meaning is evident; in consequence of the King’s admonition, they promised to pay tithes.”[141] Mr. Freeman makes some very important observations on the above letter. “As the other kingdoms merged in Wessex, the Witan of the other kingdoms became entitled to seats in the Gemót of Wessex, now become the common Gemót of the Empire. But Gemót of the other kingdoms seem to have gone on as local bodies, dealing with local affairs, and perhaps giving a formal assent to the resolutions of the central body. The letter of the Kentish men to Athelstan reads like an act of acceptance on the part of a local Gemót, of resolutions passed by the general body.”[142] Mr. Freeman then opposes Dr. Lingard’s theory and also Lord Selborne’s, “for the resolutions of the general body” were those of “the common Gemót of the Empire.” He therefore sides with Selden, Kemble, Stubbs, etc., that the Ordinance passed at Greatanlea was a general law. But I shall quote the most conclusive evidence to show that the Ordinances passed at Greatanlea were legal enactments, viz., “That they would all hold the frith (peace) as King Athelstan and his Witan had counselled at Greatanlea.”[143]