justices in eyre, or circuit judges, who went about from county to county to preside over the judicial work.  The office of ealdorman became extinct.  The sheriff was no longer elected by the people for life, but appointed by the king for the term of one year.  This kept him strictly responsible to the king.  It was the sheriff’s duty to see that the county’s share of the national taxes was duly collected and paid over to the national treasury.  The sheriff also summoned juries and enforced the judgments of the courts, and if he met with resistance in so doing he was authorized to call out a force of men, known as the posse comitatus (i.e. power of the county), and overcome all opposition.  Another county officer was the coroner, or crowner_,[4] so called because originally (in Alfred’s time) he was appointed by the king, and was especially the crown officer in the county.  Since the time of Edward I., however, coroners have been elected by the people.  Originally coroners held small courts of inquiry upon cases of wreckage, destructive fires, or sudden death, but in course of time their jurisdiction became confined to the last-named class of cases.  If a death occurred under circumstances in any way mysterious or likely to awaken suspicion, it was the business of the coroner, assisted by not less than twelve jurors (i. e, “sworn men"), to hold an inquest for the purpose of ascertaining the cause of death.  The coroner could compel the attendance of witnesses and order a medical examination of the body, and if there were sufficient evidence to charge any person with murder or manslaughter, the coroner could have such person arrested and committed for trial.

[Footnote 3:  Originally comites, or “companions” of the king.] [Footnote 4:  This form of the word, sometimes supposed to be a vulgarism, is as correct as the other.  See Skeat, Etym.  Dict., s.v.]

[Sidenote:  Justices of the peace.] [Sidenote:  The Quarter sessions.] [Sidenote:  The lord-lieutenant.] Another important county officer was the justice of the peace.  Originally six were appointed by the crown in each county, but in later times any number might be appointed.  The office was created by a series of statutes in the reign of Edward III., in order to put a stop to the brigandage which still flourished in England; it was a common practice for robbers to seize persons and hold them for ransom.[5] By the last of these statutes, in 1362, the justices of the peace in each county were to hold a court four times in the year.  The powers of this court, which came to be known as the Quarter Sessions, were from time to time increased by act of parliament, until it quite supplanted the old county court.  In modern times the Quarter Sessions has become an administrative body quite as much as a court.  The justices, who receive no salary, hold office for life, or during good behaviour.  They appoint the chief constable of the county, who appoints the police.  They also take part in the supervision of highways and bridges, asylums and prisons.  Since the reign of Henry VIII., the English county has had an officer known as the lord-lieutenant, who was once leader of the county militia, but whose functions to-day are those of keeper of the records and principal justice of the peace.