give the least intimation that any one of his collections of laws was
called [Old English: dom bec].

We know, indeed, that Alfred compiled a code of laws for his subjects;
but whether any part of them has been preserved, or how much of them
is embodied in subsequent codes, cannot now be determined. Asser
mentions that he frequently reprimanded the judges for wrong
judgments; and Spelman, that he wrote "a book against unjust
magistrates," but any complete body of laws, if such was ever framed
by Alfred, is now lost; and that attributed to him in Wilkin's _Leges
Anglo-Saxon_, is held in suspicion by most writers.

For these reasons, and considering that Sir William Blackstone's
knowledge of English history was rather superficial, I incline to the
belief, that the [Old English: dom bec] referred to in the laws of
Edward the Elder, was some collection of laws made _prior_ to the time
of Alfred: this might clearly be the case, as Sharon Turner informs
us that the Saxon laws were committed to writing as early as the
commencement of the 7th century.

The opinions of your learned correspondents on this disputed point may
be of much interest to many of your readers, and to none more than to

George Munford.

East Winch.

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MINOR QUERIES.