The  Dooms  of  the  three  kings  which  we  have  thus
briefly  described  are  fair  specimens  of  the  eeirly  royal
laws,  and  disclowe  a  remarkable  poverty  of  legislation.
They  were  followed  by  others  vAiich  we  must  no  linger  over
although  they  grow  broader  in  thdkdr  soope  and  more  intelli-
gent in  tiiss  their  details.  Chief  among  them  are  the  Dooms
of  Athelstan,  of  Gnut  or  Canute,  and  of  Edward  the  Confes-
sor, to  which  we  shall  often  find  it  useful  to  refer  with-
out any  special  study  of  each.  For  it  is  certain  that
the  great  bulk  of  the  Saxon  law  existed  outside  of  the
royal  decrees,  was  independent  of  them,  and  rested  upon
the  authority  and  consent  of  the  people  themselves.   That
law  must  be  found  in  the  customs  of  the  race,  more  or  less
mixed  with  those  of  the  conquered  people  but  holding  an
observable  mastery  over  them;  custon  s  redolent  of  their
Germanic  ancestry  and  held  fast  in  the  memory  of  the  freemen.
582


These  custoras  are  so  inwove  with  the  status  of  the  Seixon
and  his  judicial  procedure  as  to  require  our  further  in-
vestigation along  those   lines.
