From Dr Henry's Hiftory of Great Britain, vol. 4. lately published. [39. 612.]. Changes in the conftitution, &c. in the reign of Henry III. from 1216 to 1272. THE Great Charter, granted by King John towards the conclufion of the former period, contains a very diftinct and authentic plan of the English conftitution, as it ftood at that time; at least in fpeculation. As foon as this great charter was obtained, it became the idol of the people of England, who efteemed it the great fecurity of their most vaJuable rights and liberties. But it was not viewed with the fame favourable eyes by those who had the administration of government in their hands, who were very backward in executing its moft im portant articles. This produced frequent and earneft cries for the execution and confirmation of that famous charter; and thefe cries were effectual when the King and his minifters flood in particular need of the favour and affiftance of the people, who commonly paid for these confirmations by liberal grants of money. Accordingly, the Great Charter was confirmed, (with fome variations, occafioned by the change of circumstances), no lefs than feven times in the reign of Henry III. In the fecond year of this reign, A. D. 1217, the articles refpecting the royal forests were left out of the Great Charter, which was then confirmed, and formed into a feparate charter, called Charta de Forefta; and thefe two charters after this were always feparated.

Some changes were made in the ranks and orders of men in fociety, in the reign of Henry III. Thofe in the loweft rank were ftill in the fame wretched ftate of fervitude as formerly. Of this we have fufficient evidence in the Great Charters of that prince, in which thofe who had the cuftody of the eftates of minors are prohibited from destroying or wafting the men or cattle upon thefe eftates, placing both on the fame footing. According to Bracton the famous lawyer, who flourished in this reign, all the goods a flave acquired belonged to his master, who might take them from him whenever he pleafed. Slaves were ftill an article of commerce, even in the next reign. "In the fame year, 1283, (fay the Annals of Dunftaple), we fold our flave by birth, William Pyke, and all his family, and received one mark from the buyer." But there were different or

fervitude, in this, as well as in the preders of flaves, and different degrees of ceding period. The next rank in fociety confifted of farmers, mechanics,

and traders who were freemen, but were either not proprietors of land, or only of small parcels. The yeomanry and capital burgeffes in great towns, confidered themselves as of a rank fuperior to the former. The diftinction between the nobility and gentry began to be confpicuous in this reign. Anciently, all who held of the crown in capite were efteemed noble, and formed one order; but the great inequality of the power and wealth among the members of this order, laid the foundation of a divifion of them into the greater and small. er barons. This divifion became plain, when they began to be fummoned to parliament in different ways, the greater barons by a particular fummons directed to each of them, and the fmaller by a general fummons to those in each county. But even after this, they for fome time formed only one assembly, and mingled together as perfons of the fame rank, when they appeared in parliament. The divifion became more confpicuous after the establishment of the House of Commons, when the smaller barons and freeholders no longer mingled with the greater, and were no longer their peers, nor appeared in parliament each in his own right, but only as representatives.

"To

Nothing can be better afcertained, or more clearly defined, than the conftitution of the parliament of England when the great charter was granted by King John at the end of our last period. The members who compofed that affembly, the manner in which they were fummoned, with feveral other particulars, are thus defcribed in that charter. have a common council of the kingdom, to aflefs an aid, otherwife than in the three forefaid cafes, or to affefs a fcutage, we will caufe to be fummoned, the archbiflops, bishops, earls, and greater barons, perfonally, by our letters; and befides we will caufe to be fummoned in general by our sheriffs and bailiffs,` all thofe who hold of us in chief, to a certain day, at the distance of forty days at leaft, and to a certain place; and in all the letters of fummons, we will exprefs the caufe of the fummons; and the fummons being thus made, the bufinets fhall go on at the day appointed, according to the advice of those who shall be

prefent,

present, although all who had been fummoned have not come."

No change feems to have been made in the conftitution of the parliament of England in the former part of the reign of Henry III. as appears from the defcriptions given of thefe affemblies by Matthew Paris, the beft contemporary hiftorian. It would he tedious to introduce all these defcriptions, which (tho' they differ a little in words, fome of them being more general, others more particular) are all to the fame import. When the members are defcribed in general, it is commonly in fuch words as thefe:- Magnates Angliæ, tam laici quam Prelati, "The great men of England, both of the laity and clergy." The following is the most particular defcription of the members of a parliament (held at London, A. D. 1237) to be found in this hiftorian: "The King immediately fent his royal writs into all parts of England, fummoning all concerned in the kingdom of England, viz. all archbishops, bishops, abbots, inftalled priors, earls, barons, and all others without omiffion." By this laft expreffon, all others without omiffion, we are certainly to understand those who are thus defcribed in the great charter, all those who hold of us in chief; who were fummoned in general by the fheriffs. For all the members of this parliament are afterwards called magnates et nobiles, “great men and nobles," of whom, the hiftorian says, "an infinite multitude came to London." The members of a parliament which met at Weftminster, A. D. 1244, are thus defcribed :- "The Archbishop of York, and all the bishops, abbots, and priors, of England, by themfelves, or their procurators, and alfo all the earls, and almost all the barons, of England."

The great councils of the kingdom feem to have been conftituted according to the plan in the great charter, till the mad parliament, as it was called, which met at Oxford, June 11. A. D. 1258, made a violent change in this, as well as in every other part of the conftitution. That party of the barons, headed by Simon de Montfort Earl of Leicester, which had long 'opposed the court, came to this parliament armed, and attended by fuch numerous retinues, that they were completely mafters of the field, and compelled the King to confent to every thing they proposed. Twenty-four VOL. XLIII.

great men were invested with authority, - to name the King's council, the great officers of the crown, and the governors of the royal caftles, to regulate the King's household, - to manage his revenue,- to make laws, and, in a word, to do almoft whatever they pleased. One of the firft acts of these twenty-four dictators was a decree, that there should be three parliaments every year, one in February, one in June, and one in October. But thefe parliaments were to be conftituted in a very extraordinary manner, and were to confift only of the members of the King's council, fifteen in number, and twelve barons chosen to reprefent the whole community. Thefe twelve barons were accordingly chofen by the parliament at Oxford to reprefent the community in future parliaments; and the record of their election may be thus tranflated: "These are the twelve which are chofen by the barons to treat at the three parliaments in a year, with the King's council, for all the community of the land, on public bufinefs; the Bishop of London, the Earl of Winchefter, the Earl of Hereford, Philip Baffet, John de Baliol, John de Verdun, John de Gray, Roger de Sumery, Roger de Montalt, Hugh Defpenfer, Thomas de Grefley, Egidius de Argenton." Whether there were parliaments on this plan in October A. D. 1258, and in February and June in the year following, is uncertain; but it appears that there was one in Oct. A. D. 1259, by which the famous provifions of Oxford, made by the twenty-four barons, were con→ firmed; for to thefe provifions or decrees the following confirmation is fubjoined: "Thefe are the provifions and decrees made at Westminster after Michaelmas, by the King and his council, and the twelve chofen by the affent of the whole community of England, which were then at Westminster, in the year of the reign of Henry the fon of John the fortieth and third." The oftenfible reafon of this great innovation was, to relieve the community or body of thofe who had formerly been bound to come to parliaments from the expence and trouble of perfonal attendance; but the real object of it unquestionably was, to perpetuate the power of the Earl of Leicefter and his party.

The above plan of a parliament could. not fail to be unpopular, as it excluded all the fmall and many of the great baM

runs

quity to which few political arrangements can pretend.

rons from the public councils, under the fpecious pretence of relieving them from expence and trouble. It was therefore foon laid afide, and another of a more comprehenfive nature, and nearer to the ancient model, substituted in its place, by the fame party. After the Earl of Leicester and his partifans had obtained the victory in the battle of Lewes, May 14. A. D. 1264, and had got the King, Prince Edward, Richard King of the Romans, and his fon Henry, into their hands, they were at great pains to obtain the public approbation of their fchemes for establishing their own power on the ruins of the royal authority. With this view, they obliged the King to call a parliament, conftituted in a different manner from that prescribed in the great charter, or in their own former plan. To this famous parliament, which was to meet at London Jan. 20. A. D. 1265, only eleven bishops, five earls, and eighteen great barons, all of the predominant party, were fummoned by particular writs. But to fupply the places of the prelates, earls, and barons, of the royal party, who were not fummoned, particular writs were directed to fixtyfour abbots, thirty-feven priors, and five deans. This very remarkable circumftance was probably owing to the high degree of favour in which the Earl of Leicester ftood with the clergy, who confidered him as a faint and champion of the church. Writs were alfo fent to all the fheriffs in England, commanding them to caufe two of the most difcreet knights of each county to come to this parliament. Similar writs were directed to the citizens of feveral cities, and burgeffes of feveral burghs, requiring each city to fend two of its most discreet and honeft citizens, and each burgh two of its moft wife and upright burgeffes. Each of the cinque-ports was commanded to fend two of its barons. In what manner thefe knights, citizens, burgeffes, and barons of the cinque-ports, were chofen, we have no account, But as they appeared as the reprefentatives of those by whom they were fent, their expences were to be borne by their conftituents. We have no hint in any of our biftorians, that this parliament was divided into two houfes. With whatever, views this plan was formed, it was a near and happy approach to that fyftem which hath been established in England above five hundred years: A degree of anti

The conftitution, government, and laws of Scotland, as far as we are acquainted with them, appear to have been nearly the same with those of England in this period. Alexander II. and his nobles, warmly espoused the caufe of the English barons, who obtained the great charter from King John, and must therefore have been well acquainted with that famous inftrument. The two British nations at no time lived on a more friendly footing than in the reign of Henry III. owing, in fome measure, to the near relation that then fubfifted between the two royal families, Alexander II. having married the fifter, and his fon Alexander III. the daughter, of that prince. This gave occafion to a free and frequent intercourfe between the two courts and kingdoms, by which they became acquainted with each others laws and cuftoms. The parliament of Scotland was conftituted exactly according to the plan of the Englifh parliament in the great charter of King John. The laws afcribed to Alexander 11. are faid to have been made, — "with the counfel and confent of venerable fathers, bischops, abbats, earls, barons, and his gude fubjects." By thefe laft we are probably to understand the fmaller freeholders, who were fummoned in general by the sheriff of each county or ilire. There is fuch a fimilarity between many of the laws of England and Scotland in this period, as demonftrates, that the one muft have been copied from the other. Of this it will be fufficient to give two examples, out of many that might be given. By the eleventh chapter of the Foreft-charter of Henry III. it is granted, -"Whatfoever archbishop, bishop, earl, or baron, coming to us at our commandment, pailing by our foreft, it fhall be lawful for him to take and kill one or two of our deer, by view of our forefter, if he be prefent; or elfe he fhall caufe one to blow an horn for him, that he feem not to fteal our deer; and likewife they shall do returning from us, as it is aforefaid.” By the fourteenth chapter of the Foreftlaws of Scotland, it is enacted, bishops, earles, or barones, cummand to the King, at his command, and paffand be the foreft, may lefumlie take ane or twa beafts, at the ficht of the foreftar, gif he be prefent; otherwaies he may blaw his horne, that he appear nocht to

All

do

do the fame thefteouslie; and he may do fwa as faid is returnand hame agane." By the ftatute of Henry III. concerning the affize of bread and ale, a baker, for the third offence, is to be fet in the pillory, and a brewer is to be punished by the ducking-ftool. By the twenty-first chapter of the Borough-laws of Scotland, it is enacted," Gif ane baxter or ane browfter trefpaffe thrife, juftice fhall be done upon them; that is, the baxter fhall be put upon the pillorie, and the browfter upon the cock-ftule." Civil caufes ftill continued to be tried by juries in Scotland, as well as in Eng land; and thefe juries, in both countries, were liable to be tried, and feverely punished, for false or unjuft verdiets. Trials by fire and water ordeals were discountenanced and prohibited by both nations, about the fame time; but thofe by fingle combat were ftill frequent. In a word, the laws of both the British ftates were fo much the fame in this period, that a diftin&t delineation of thofe of the one may ferve to convey no very imperfect idea of thofe [36. 140, 142.] of the other.

Declaration of the States-General to the belligerent powers, upon notifying to them their acceffion to the treaty of armed neutrality. [92.].

THeir High Mightineffes the States

General of the United Provinces of the Low Countries, having had nothing more at heart fince the beginning of the present war, nor defiring nothing more, than to obferve the ftricteft and moft perfect neutrality with the belligerent powers, and at the fame time to obferve their effential and indispensable obligations, by granting a proper protection to the trade and navigation of their fubjects, and by maintaining and defending the rights and liberties of their neutral flag, have with a real fatisfaction feen, that the Empress of all the Ruffias, animated with fuch noble and generous fentiments as will tranfmit with honour her glorious reign to the lateft pofterity, had thought proper to declare to the belligerent powers, "That intending during the prefent war to obferve the most impartial neutrality, fhe had determined by all the most efficacious means to maintain the honour of the Ruffian flag, together with the fecurity of the trade and navigation of her fubjects, and not to

fuffer any belligerent power to hurt ei-' ther of thefe." [42. 212.]

The fentiments of their High Mightineffes are exactly conformable to the principles upon which that declaration of her Imperial Majefty is founded, and they do not hesitate to follow her example, and lay these principles before the belligerent powers, and to declare they will fupport and maintain them in conjunction with her Imperial Majefty, namely,

"1. That all neutral vessels may freely fail from port to port, and on the coafts of the powers at war.

2. That all effects belonging to the belligerent powers on board neutral vef. fels, fhall be free, except contraband goods.

3. That with regard to what are contraband goods, their High Mightineffes will hold to what are ftipulated in the treaties concluded between them and the belligerent powers; and particularly in the fixth article of the treaty of marine with Spain of the 15th of December 1650, the third article of the treaty of marine with England the 1ft of December 1674, and the 16th article of the treaty of trade, navigation, and marine, with France, of the 1ft of December 1739, for twenty-five years; which treaties their High Mightineffes look upon, in all their difpofitions and limitations relative to contraband merchandise, as entirely founded upon natural equity, and the right of nations.

4. That no place fhall be accounted blocked up, unless the men of war are fo ftationed as to prevent any veffel from entering without imminent danger.

5. That thefe principles fhall ferve to judge of the legality or illegality of prizes.'

As thefe principles form the univerfal rights of neutral powers, and are confirmed by treaties which can never be legally annulled, altered, or fufpended, but by a common and reciprocal act and confent of the contracting parties, their High Mightineffes flatter themselves that the belligerent powers will acknowledge the juftice of them, and pay fuch a deference thereto, as not in any fhape to hurt the trade of their High Mighti neffes, or to hinder their free enjoyment of thofe rights which are their undoubted claim as a neutral independent power.

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Maritime