To the king belonged the right of calling out the national levies, the _posse comitatus_, for purposes of attack or defence; the privilege of recommending grave causes at least to the consideration of the tribunals; the reception of a certain share of the fines legally inflicted on evil-doers, and of voluntary gifts from the free men; and as a natural and rapid consequence, the levy of taxes and the appointment of fiscal officers. Consonant with his dignity were the ceremonies of his recognition by the people, and the outward marks of distinction which he bore: immediately upon his election he was raised upon a shield and exhibited to the multitude, who greeted him with acclamations[275]. Even in heathen times it is probable that some religious ceremony accompanied the solemn rite of election and installation: the Christian priesthood soon caused the ceremony of anointing the new king, perhaps as head of the church, to be looked upon as a necessary part of his inauguration. To him were appropriated the waggon and oxen[276]; in this he visited the several portions of his kingdom, traversed the roads, and proclaimed his peace upon them; and I am inclined to think, solemnly ascertained and defined the national boundaries[277],—a duty symbolical in some degree, of his guardianship of the private boundaries. Among all the tribes there appear to have been some outward marks of royalty, occasionally or constantly borne: the Merwingian kings were distinguished by their long and flowing hair[278], the Goths by a fillet or cap; among the Saxons the cynehelm, or cynebeáh, a circle of gold, was in use, and worn round the head. In the Ðing or popular council he bore a wand or staff: in wartime he was preceded by a banner or flag. The most precious however of all the royal rights, and a very jewel in the crown, was the power to entertain a _comitatus_ or collection of household retainers, a subject to be discussed in a subsequent chapter. ----- Footnote 275: “Levatus in regem: tó cyninge áhafen,” continued to be the words in use, long after the custom of really chairing the king had in all probability ceased to be observed. Footnote 276: The Merwingian kings continued to use this: perhaps not the Carolings. Among the Anglosaxons I find no trace of it. Footnote 277: This duty of riding through the land, called by Grimm the “landes bereisung” (Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer, p. 237), is probably alluded to by Beda in his account of Eádwine. Hist. Eccl. ii. 16. Footnote 278: θεμιτὸν γὰρ τοῖς βασιλεῦσι τῶν Φράγγων οὐπώποτε κείρεσθαι, ἀλλ’ ἀκειρεκόμαι τέ εἰσιν ἐκ παίδων ἀεὶ, καὶ παρηώρηνται αὐτοῖς ἅπαντες εὖ μάλα ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων οἱ πλόκαμοι ... τοῦτο δὲ ὅσπερ τι γνώρισμα καὶ γέρας ἐξαίρετον τῷ βασιλείῳ γένει ἀνεῖσθαι νεμόμισται. Agathias. bk. 1. 4. -----