one who received it at the next allotment. 2. In an age of constant
warfare, feudalism protected all classes better than if they had stood
apart, and it often enabled the King to raise a powerful and
well-armed force in the easiest and quickest manner. 3. It cultivated
two important virtues,--fidelity on the part of the vassal, protection
on that of the lord. It had something of the spirit of the Golden
Rule in it. Its corner stone was the faithfulness of man to man.
Society had outgrown the outward forms of feudalism, which like every
system had its drawbacks, but it would seem as though it could never
wholly outgrow the feudal principle.

88. Political Divisions; the Sheriff.

Politically the kingdom was divided into townships, hundreds
(districts furnishing a hundred warriors, or supporting a hundred
families), and shires or counties, the shire having been originally,
in some cases, the section settled by an independent tribe, as Sussex,
Essex, etc.

In each shire the King had an officer, called a shire reeve or
sherrif,[1] who represented him, collected the taxes due the Crown,
and saw to the execution of the laws. In like manner, the town and
the hundred had a headman of its own choosing to see to matters of
general interest.

[1] Reeve: a man in authority, or having charge of something

89. The Courts.

As the nation had its assembly of wise men acting as a high court, so