rites of Christian burial to some Saxon gentlemen who had perished in a brawl brought on by an attempt at theft; and the intervention of the king himself seems to have been necessary to prevent the execution of their decree. The burhgeréfa may perhaps be said to have had some of the rights of the Aedile and Praetor urbanus under the old, or those of the duumvir under the later, provincial constitution of Rome. Still he seems to have been in some degree subject to the supervision of the ealdorman. I have sometimes thought that he might be compared in part with the Burggraf, in part with the Vogt of the German towns under the Empire; but unfortunately we know too little of our ancient municipal constitution to enable us to carry out this enquiry. We have no means now of ascertaining the duration of his office, the nature of his appointment, or the actual extent of his powers. ----- Footnote 438: Cod. Dipl. No. 950. Footnote 439: Ibid. No. 1289. Footnote 440: Ibid. No. 981. Footnote 441: Chron. Sax. an. 906. Footnote 442: Leg. Eádg. ii. § 5. Footnote 443: Æðelst. i. § 1. Thorpe, i. 194. Footnote 444: See Note 439 ----- PORTGERÉFA.—The Portgeréfa is in many respects similar to the Burhgeréfa: but as it appears that _Port_ is applied rather to a commercial than a fortified town, there are differences between the two offices. In some degree these will have depended upon the comparative power, freedom and organization of the citizens themselves, and I can readily believe that the portreeves of London were much more important personages than the burhreeves of Oxford or Bath. In the smaller towns, it is probable that the court of the portreeve was a sort of pie-powder court; but in the larger, it must have had cognizance of offences against the customs laws, the laws affecting the mint, and the general police of the district. As a general rule I imagine the portgeréfa to have been an elective officer: perhaps in the large and important towns he required at least the assent of the king. In London he holds the place of the sheriff, and the king’s writs are directed to the earl, the bishop and the portreeve[445]. There are two cities in which we hear of portreeves, viz. London and Canterbury: in the former we have Swétman[446], Ælfsige[447], Ulf[448], Leófstán[449], and the great officer of the royal household, Esgár the steallere[450], which alone would be sufficient evidence of the importance attached to the post. In Canterbury we read of Æðelred[451], Leofstán[452], and Gódric[453], occupying the same station. Again we have Ælfsige portgeréfa in Bodmin[454], and Leófcild portgeréfa in Bath[455]. It is worthy of remark that the two, Ælfsige and Leófstán, served the office together in London, and that Ulf also occurs as sheriff of Middlesex. In the smaller towns especially it must have been a principal part of the portreeve’s duty to witness all transactions by bargain and sale[456]. A portion of