Cod. Dipl. No. 1019. Footnote 579: I conclude this from the Prologue to Ælfred’s Laws. Footnote 580: The Franks and the church were familiar with such officers, who under the name of _Missi_ were dispatched into the provinces for special purposes. Perhaps the Ælfheáh and Brihtnóð mentioned in the Judicia Civitatis were the Missi who were to be employed on this commission. ----- We have also a very remarkable document addressed to the same king, apparently upon receipt of the acts of the council at Feversham, by the men of Kent, denoting their acceptance of the same. They commence by saying:—“Dearest! Thy bishops of Kent, and all the thanes of Kentshire, earls and churls[581], return thanks to thee their dearest lord, for what thou hast been pleased to ordain respecting our peace, and to enquire and consult concerning our advantage, since great was the need thereof for us all, both rich and poor. And this we have taken in hand, with all the diligence we could, by the aid of those witan [_sapientes_] whom thou didst send unto us,” etc[582]. ----- Footnote 581: Mr. Hallam, in his Supplemental Notes, p. 229, remarks upon this important document: “It is moreover an objection to considering this a formal enactment by the witan of the shire, that it runs in the names of ‘thaini, comites et villani.’ Can it be maintained that the ceorls ever formed an integrant element of the legislature in the kingdom of Kent? It may be alleged that their name was inserted, though they had not been formally consenting parties, as we find in some parliamentary grants of money much later. But this would be an arbitrary conjecture, and the terms ‘omnes thaini,’ etc. are very large.”