procession he made some strange speeches. The King had called them rebels. "I say we are honest men; I and my brother delegates are all united and acting in the cause of humanity; and while life animates the heart of Dick Parker, he will be true to the cause." In answer to the charge of peculating the money contributed by the seamen to the delegates, he said: "That is false; I owe my washerwoman eighteenpence, and I have not even money to pay her; whereupon a disrespectful tar exclaimed, "Why then, you're a precious admiral indeed!"

BREAK-UP OF THE MUTINY; SEIZURE AND SENTENCE OF THE PRESIDENT.

The charm was broken. There arose a dearth of water and fresh provisions; the tyranny and the curses of Parker were like the scourges of Rehoboam; the fact of his treacherous concealment of the pardon leaked out and spread like wildfire. The terror increased to madness when it was known that the merchants of London would never admit a mutineer into their service. On the 9th, a lieutenant of the Leopard unmasked the battery on her main deck; sailors ran aloft and loosed the top-sails; her cables were cut, and away she floated up the Thames to Gravesend amid a rain of fire. A terrific struggle took place on board between the loyalists and rebels, during which a lieutenant received a mortal wound. The Repulse followed on the same day, ran aground, and lay for an hour and a half under the fire of the whole fleet; she escaped after terrible mutilation. When she had almost reached Gravesend, some of the mutineers formed a plot to blow her up, but this was discovered in time, and the disaffected were thrown in irons.

On that morning Parker gave the signal to put out to sea. The fore top-sail of the Sandwich was loosed, a gun was fired, every ship answered; but not one obeyed, for in spite of their mutiny the crews remembered still that they were Britons. The cries of the famishing and thirsty women and children were pitiful. A vote of want of confidence was passed against the rebel president, whose charm was at last broken; the crews were broken up into parties of "Republicans" and "Loyalists"; flags of truce passed constantly from the Nore to the Sheerness; but

the mutineers, although otherwise casting themselves upon the royal clemency, gallantly refused to surrender the ringleaders, and insisted on a general pardon. Utter despair had roused the crews to madness, and on the evening of Monday the 12th of June, the union flag rose and fell by turns on every ship; signals of distress were displayed, and during all that night and morning horrid scenes of violence and bloodshed occurred among the crews, in one case the struggling parties firing at each other, the guns being placed in opposite parts of the ship. Two men-one of whom was a Scotsman with the heroic name of William Wallace-committed suicide in order to escape the ignominy of a public execution; and, according to the custom of the time, they were buried in a crossroad, "with a stake in their inside." It was expected that Parker would attempt to escape, and a proclamation offered a reward of £500 for his apprehension.

By Wednesday afternoon almost every vessel had hoisted the white flag in token of surrender; and on the following day (15th June) the dishonoured Sandwich herself floated into port within gunshot of the Sheerness battery. The flag of her true admiral was at once hoisted; Dick Parker, whilom "president" and "admiral,” was fast pinioned and landed at the Commissioner's Stairs, amid the hisses of the crowd. Altogether some 300 prisoners were made by the military in the surrendered ships, but of these only twenty-three underwent the punishment of death. Parker, the arch-rebel, was lodged for a few hours in the "black hole" under the chapel of Sheerness garrison, was then conveyed to Maidstone, and after a three days' trial by court-martial on board the Neptune, during which he made an able and cool defence of his conduct, was sentenced to be hanged by the neck till he was dead. A gift of five pounds sent to him by his brother was received with the pleasant remark that he would "have roast goose before he died." At half-past nine, on the last day of the leafy month of June, his body hung lifeless on the yard-arm of the Sandwich; and in the short space of seven minutes, so bright was the atmosphere, the Admiralty learned by telegraphic signals that the most notorious and dangerous of English mutineers was dead.

M. M.

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. HEN the eleventh century was drawing to a close the Feudal System was fully developed on the Continent; and though it is not necessary to do more than refer to it, we must briefly consider the relations of the barons and their vassals, to arrive at the state of things which led to the demands for Magna Charta. William, with his Norman knights, had conquered the independent Saxons, and accordingly found it very necessary to maintain their feudal

organization, and to exercise a certain authority upon the serfs who were within their jurisdiction. The castle dominated the village, and the baron reigned over the "villeins," or tillers of the soil.

In the castle he had built dwelt the Norman baron with his family; and here he passed his time when not out upon any warlike expedition. The people surrounding the castle were kept in a state of vassalage and degradation, and looked back with regret to the mild and beneficent laws of Edward

the Confessor, in whose days they were an independent and prosperous community. This spirit of independence had not been crushed by the Norman Conquest; and when William, in 1070, was recalled to England by urgent messages in consequence of the disaffection of the people, he promulgated a Charter, or body of laws, "being the same which his predecessor and cousin observed before him," to conciliate his subjects.

This instrument, the confirmation of the laws of Edward the Confessor, formed the first stepping-stone to the Great Charter wrung from John Lackland in the pastures of Runymede.

But after a time each individual baron sought to enrich himself by robbery and spoliation. The barons thus became more and more isolated in their "fiefs"; and the Norman kings took every advantage of these circumstances to aggrandize themselves at the expense of the individual baron,when practicable.

Encroachments by royalty soon became distasteful to these paramount lords, and they found it desirable to band themselves together to resist the too great power wielded by the king; and in these conditions they at one time found factious assistance in Stephen the usurper, and in others who aspired to wield the British sceptre and to wear the English crown. We find from history that William II., Henry I., and Stephen all and each had to obtain the goodwill and assistance of the great feudal lords, who were able to enforce their demands respecting their privileges and liberties.

Again, if we peruse the history of England during the reign of Richard I., we shall see how the various factions arose in England while the regency of John was continued. His never-ceasing intrigue gave rise to many such divisions, and even before that time the regency appointed by Richard had been the cause of strife. A struggle for power arose between Pudsey, the Chief Justiciary, Bishop of Durham, and Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, so another regency was decided upon, the three additional justiciaries being Hugh Bardolf, William Briwere, and Longchamp. The lastnamed soon assumed chief authority; and when after a time Prince John gave himself all the airs of an heirapparent, his adherents and those of Longchamp came into collision; and a disadvantageous treaty was concluded, by which John gained virtual possession of several royal castles, to be delivered finally to him should Richard die. The Regent was soon obliged to yield altogether, and he then fled from England. But the barons had had a taste of the sweets of power, and fancied themselves entitled to a share in the government; while "Longbeard" " stirred up the populace to a dangerous pitch.

Things were so when John mounted the throne. The conflict between the races had in a great measure died out. The barons and the king's adherents were the opposing factions. John was not a sovereign to forego any of his privileges or rights, unless absolutely forced to do so; and the barons, believing that they too had certain privileges, wished to compel the recognition of them. John's barons would not assist him against France, and he was universally detested for his conduct and crimes. To add to his unpopularity he managed to quarrel with the Pope, and one consequence of this was the interdict, which filled England with "lamentation, and mourning, and woe."

THE EARLIER CHARTERS.

It may be accepted as a fact, that the charter by which William of Normandy agreed to follow the laws of Edward the Confessor, was the first one granted by the Normans. Henry I. also granted a charter, in which he promised to redress all the grievances of the former reigns, and one clause distinctly renews the laws of the Confessor, "with those emendations with which my father amended them with the advice of the barons." This charter of Henry I. was a very important one, although the various enactments were never carefully observed by the King. Its provisions were as follows, and it served as a basis for the Great Charter wrung from the pusillanimous John.

When Henry I. came to the throne, his first act on the very day of his accession was to inform his subjects that they would surely derive great benefits from his rule. This was very politic on his part, as his weak claim to the throne required something to support it, and by uniting the interests of the people with his own, he secured the kingdom. His charter ran thus :

(1) To the Church: That on the death of an archbishop, bishop, or abbot, he would neither sell, nor let to farm, nor accept anything from the possessions of the Church nor its tenants during the vacancy of the see or benefice.

(2) He granted to all his barons and vassals in chief the remission of various exactions to which they had been subjected, and declared that they should equally relieve their tenants. The king's license for his vassals' weddings was still retained, but without fee, and should not be refused unless the intended husband were an enemy. Widows were not to be married without their free consent. Mothers of children had the wardship and custody of them and their lands.

The right of a vassal to bequeath property by will was admitted, and fines for offences were not to be levied as the king

might desire, but according to the nature of the offence.

(3) Generally to the nation the King granted the laws of Edward the Confessor, as altered by William I. He agreed to levy no "moneyage" which had not been paid in the Saxon king's time, and vendors and coiners of light money were to be severely punished. All military tenants were exempted from land taxes and burthens; all fines due and pecuniary mulcts for murder before his accession were remitted. Henry also ordered the fullest reparation to be made for all his brother's former injustice.

Such were the chief provisions of the charter of Henry I., which gave general satisfaction, except in the matter of the preservation of the hunting forests, which the King determined to retain for his own use and indulgence. The marriage of Henry with Matilda of Scotland crowned the edifice of concession.

But the barons did not approve of these concessions of the King and of the clauses directed against their irresponsibility. When Robert of Normandy landed to claim the English crown they held aloof; but the people thronged to the King's standard, and presented so formidable an array that the Normans feared to attack. When peace had been concluded, Henry revenged himself on his barons, and despoiled many of them, seizing all their possessions. By these and other means Henry gained the goodwill of the people, while he crushed the feudal barons and raised up another class of knights upon whom the ancient barons looked in scorn.

Stephen and Henry II. confirmed the "Scholar's" charter, and we find that the usurper particularly favoured the Church, to which he owed his exaltation; but Henry II., while transacting all the chief business of the nation with the help of a legislative council, took care to retain his own authority. The Constitutions of Clarendon (sixteen in all) were the outcome of the controversy between Becket and the King respecting the treatment of offending clerics, and the latter made great complaint of the extortions of the Ecclesiastical Courts. The Constitutions "concern questions of advowson and presentation to churches in the King's gift, the trial of clerks, the security to be taken of the excommunicated, the trial of laymen for spiritual offences, the excommunication of tenants in chief, the license of the clergy to go abroad, ecclesiastical appeals, which were not to go farther than the archbishop without the consent of the king, questions of title to ecclesiastical estates, baronial duties of prelates, the election to bishoprics, the right of the king to the goods of felons deposited under the protection of the Church." These provisions led to the exile of Becket. The

Assize of Clarendon, which has been regarded as a re-enactment of the "Constitutions," was afterwards arranged.

The Assize contained twenty-two articles respecting the presentment of criminals and the mode of trial by jury. "Twelve lawful men from each hundred, and four from each township, were sworn to present those who were known as criminals within their district for trial by ordeal." Another article enacted that 66 no stranger might abide in any place save a borough, and only there for a single night, unless sureties were given for his good behaviour."

The Assize of Northampton, issued in 1176, was intended as a code of instructions for the itinerant justices, as the Assize of Clarendon had been. It referred to the infliction of punishments on felons and rebels, and the demolishment of certain forfeited strongholds. The country was divided into six circuits for the purpose.

These various charters or enactments were all very important, not only to the English constitution, but as the beginning of the legal forms and usages now so beneficial. Judicial and financial progress was steadily made, for Henry II. was certainly a legislator of much talent, and one of the greatest politicians of the time.

KING JOHN AND THE BARONS.

We have already briefly noticed the steps by which John made himself so thoroughly obnoxious to the English people, who had, during the preceding reign, acknowledged the law of the land. All classes, from the barons downwards, had become accustomed to regard the law, instead of the dictates of the King, who was so long absent; and thus a respect for the constitutional enactments superseded the doctrine of might. Normans and English were already becoming an united people when John ascended the British throne.

'is

Lord Chatham once said that the "Bible of the English Constitution" might be summed up in Magna Charta, the Petition of Right, and the Bill of Rights, and it is with the first of these three chapters that we have now to do. "The Great Charter," says Stubbs in his Constitutional History, the first great public act of the nation after it has realized its own identity, the consummation of the work for which, unconsciously, kings, prelates, and lawyers have been labouring for a century. . . . It is in one view the summing up of a period of national life; in another, the starting-point of a new and not less eventful period than that which it closes."

John's manners and scandalous irregularities in every way had completely disgusted the English people; and when he surrendered

himself as the vassal of the Pope, public opinion condemned him, although he was certainly supported by some of the barons. The King was a vassal, and when the barons failed to gain their demands from him, they appealed to the Pope, on the ground that had it not been for their influence, the King would never have consented to become Innocent's vassal. They refused to go abroad when summoned by the King, for he had made himself so thoroughly despicable and despotic that they declined his authority.

The northern barons openly defied the King; and these were the families who had, as already remarked, been raised up to baronial dignity by Henry. They were not all Normans; many were English, and men who had close sympathies with their adherents, not feudal lords who cared only for their own aggrandizement. They had been trained under the eye of Glanville and Richard de Lucy, and had been uniformly faithful to the King against the greater feudatories. . . . They were the forefathers of the great north-country party which fought the battle of the constitution during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries." *

John had ascended the English throne monarch of a mighty empire. Within a few years he had been stripped of all his foreign possessions, and Normandy was lost, and then he was obliged to turn all his attention to his limited realm. So with the barons, who " gradually came to regard England as their country, and Englishmen as their countrymen. The two races, so long hostile, soon found they had common interests and common enemies. The greatgrandsons of those who had fought under William, and the great-grandsons of those who had fought under Harold, began to draw near each other in friendship, and the first pledge of reconciliation was the Great Charter." +

CONFERENCE OF THE BARONS.

While John was sailing to Jersey, the barons, under the presidency of Fitz Peter the Justiciary, met at St. Alban's on the 4th of August, 1213. This meeting had for its object an inquiry into the amount due to the plundered spiritual lords, and was attended by representatives from the townships as well as by the prelates. The discussion of the compensation, however, was not the only one introduced; indeed, it was only the ostensible cause of the council or conference. FitzPeter and Archbishop Langton took a speedy occasion to put before the assembly the results of the misrule to which they had been subjected.

The resolutions at which the conference arrived were soon put forth by the Justiciary as a royal proclamation, by which the charter of Henry I. was ordered to be obeyed; and pronounced capital punishment upon those who should exceed their duty, "whether sheriffs, foresters, or officers of the king." Here we have Henry's charter brought forward as the basis of English liberties; and the composition of the council, containing as it did the representatives of the people, seems to point to that occasion as the first recorded instance of a national assembly. If any ignorance existed in the minds of individuals as to the specific conditions of Henry's charter, Langton quickly supplied the information.

On the 25th of August another council was summoned at St. Paul's in London; and on this occasion the charter of Henry I. was actually produced, and comments were made upon it. The enthusiasm of the barons was aroused, and an oath was administered to them by which they agreed to die, if neces sary, in defence of their liberties. John had meantime arrived in England; and hearing what had occurred at St. Alban's, he swore to punish the "traitors." He advanced to Northampton with his usual headlong impetuosity; but there the Archbishop overtook him, and begged him to reconsider his determination, and to proceed in a more judicial fashion. This was in September 1213.

In October the Justiciary laid the claims of the barons before the King; and soon afterwards was taken ill and died. "Now," exclaimed John, "I am for the first time king and lord of England,"-a most ungracious speech; for had it not been for Fitz Peter, the violence of the people would have broken out against the King, who was only shielded by his trusty justiciary. The Pope finally was appealed to, and he supported John his vassal, and nothing of any great importance succeeded during the remainder of the year 1213, except the foreshadowing of parliament by the assembling by the King's writ of the council at Oxford. In 1214, John went abroad. The barons assembled at Bury St. Edmunds under pretext of pilgrimage; and there they entered into a league, and made a solemn oath that if the King would not relieve their grievances, they would withdraw their fealty and allegiance, and make war upon him until by sealed charter he should confirm the privileges they sought,*-the laws and liberties of the people.