Let us walk through the streets of an Anglo-Saxon town of the largest class, and look at the different orders of the population. The greater number of persons we meet with are the Saxon ceorls, or churls. The Domesday-hook speaks of some who belonged to the class of ceorls as "_liberi homines_." Some of these are freemen: others, though they have personal rights, and are under the full protection of the laws, are notwithstanding bound to the soil on which they live and labour. They form a peculiar class of vassals, being under certain obligations to their lord, yet having a property in the land they till. These churls constitute the commonalty of the country, in distinction from the nobles, or eorls. The weregild, or compensation for murder, so common among the Germanic nations, who overthrew the Roman empire, and forming an index of the social position of different classes of the community, values the life of a ceorl at two hundred shillings, and that of an eorl at twelve hundred. These churls are labourers, artisans, and traders, of various descriptions; they wear a woollen tunic, descending to the knee, with a collar round their necks. The legs of some are naked; but most wear shoes. Certain of these passers-by wear bandages, or cross garters, commonly red or blue, above their ancles, and round the calf. From the shoulders of the better sort, you may also notice short cloaks, about the same length as the tunics. Their long hair, profuse beard, fair complexion, and light eyes, evince their Teutonic origin; while their countenance and bearing seem to proclaim that they belong to an intelligent and freeborn race. Yonder goes a Saxon eorl, alderman, or thane. He is of gentle blood, and has a place in the witenagemote, or national assembly: persons of his class are lords of townships, and are assessors in judgment with the bishop and the sheriff, in the well-known county courts, which form the palladium of Saxon justice. Just by him there walks one of the inferior nobility, or lesser thanes. The dress of these parties distinguishes them from the common multitude. The same in form, it is costlier in material and ornament. The tunic is of rich cloth, and embroidered on the border; the mantle is of silk, and lined with fur, with a large brooch fastening it round the neck. The women who are passing through the street wear a long garment with loose sleeves, over a kirtle, and their head-dress is made of a piece of serge, or silk, wrapped round the head and neck. The clergy rank with the nobility; indeed, they form the highest order. Their office invests them with a dignity, which men in general revere. Even the _world thane_, as the nobleman is called, looks with respect upon the mass thane, or common priest, and treats him as an equal; while the greatest eorl gives precedence to the bishop. Men of this class may be easily recognised by the ecclesiastical garb.