[Sidenote:  The English nation, like the American, grew out of the union of small states.] In those days there was no such thing as a Kingdom of England; there were only these groups of tribes living side by side.  Each tribe had its leader, whose title was ealdorman or “elder man.” [1] After a while, as some tribes increased in size and power, their ealdormen took the title of kings.  The little kingdoms coincided sometimes with a single shire, sometimes with two or more shires.  Thus there was a kingdom of Kent, and the North and South Folk were combined in a kingdom of East Anglia.  In course of time numbers of shires combined into larger kingdoms, such as Northumbria, Mercia, and the West Saxons; and finally the king of the West Saxons became king of all England, and the several shires became subordinate parts or “shares” of the kingdom.  In England, therefore, the shires are older than the nation.  The shires were not made by dividing the nation, but the nation was made by uniting the shires.  The English nation, like the American, grew out of the union of little states that had once been independent of one another, but had many interests in common.  For not less than three hundred years after all England had been united under one king, these shires retained their self-government almost as completely as the several states of the American Union.[2] A few words about their government will not be wasted, for they will help to throw light upon some things that still form a part of our political and social life.

[Footnote 1:  The pronunciation, was probably something like yawl-dor-man.]

[Footnote 2:  Chalmers, Local Government, p. 90.]

[Sidenote:  Shire-mote, ealdorman, and sheriff.] The shire was governed by the shire-mote (i.e. “meeting"), which was a representative body.  Lords of lands, including abbots and priors, attended it, as well as the reeve and four selected men from each township.  There were thus the germs of both the kind of representation that is seen in the House of Lords and the much more perfect kind that is seen in the House of Commons.  After a while, as cities and boroughs grew in importance, they sent representative burghers to the shire-mote.  There were two presiding officers; one was the ealdorman, who was now appointed by the king; the other was the shire-reeve (i.e. “sheriff"), who was still elected by the people and generally held office for life.

[Sidenote:  The county court.] This shire-mote was both a legislative body and a court of justice.  It not only made laws for the shire, but it tried civil and criminal causes.  After the Norman Conquest some changes occurred.  The shire now began to be called by the French name “county,” because of its analogy to the small pieces of territory on the Continent that were governed by “counts.” [3] The shire-mote became known as the county court, but cases coming before it were tried by the king’s