From the necessity for punishing offences at a distance from the usual place of meeting of the king's court, the country was divided by Henry II. into six circuits, which were visited two or three times in the year by justices appointed by the king to try all causes in his name. Another important change was effected by Henry-the offer to the complainant or defendant in a civil action of the choice of a trial by a special kind of jury of sixteen, instead of that by the barbarous Norman Wager of Battle. In this reign a payment of money was first substituted for personal military service, (A.D. 1159). In the reign of John, the rigours of the Feudal System and of the Forest Laws led to the successful demand on the part of the prelates and barons for Magna Charta and the Charter of Forests. Of the first of these celebrated enactments, the most important conditions were:that the Church should retain all her liberties inviolate;-that no aids should be levied from the tenants of the crown without their previous consent, (a clause omitted in the reign of Henry III. and only restored by Edward I.);-that the king should not sell or refuse right to any man;—that no freeman should be imprisoned or lose his land but by the lawful judgment of his peers, nor be amerced beyond measure for his faults, saving always to the freeholder his freehold, and to the husbandman his implements of husbandry;-that every freeman should have liberty to quit the kingdom, unless in time of war; and that every liberty which the king granted to his tenants should be observed by the king's tenants to their tenants. Till the reign of John, the superior courts of law had followed the person of the king, and accompanied him in his progresses. It was now enacted that "Common Pleas," i.e., pleas between subjects, should "no longer follow the royal court, but be held in some certain place." As the Justices in Eyre appointed by Henry II. made their circuits at uncertain times, it was ordered that they should visit each county four times in the year.

The concessions granted by John in the Great Charter were, with a few exceptions, ratified by his successor, Henry III. In the reign of the latter prince the important step was also taken, in the parliament convened by Leicester, of summoning citizens to the Great Council,-a plan, however, which, on the fall of Leicester, was, for a time, abandoned.

Two other changes during the reign of Henry III. deserve mention. To him we owe the abolition of the trial by ordeal, which, though it had been prohibited by the popes before the Conquest, had been still retained by the northern nations. In the letter to the justices in which it was forbidden, Henry gives as the reason, that it had been declared by the law of the Church to be an invention of Satan against the commandment, "thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." To this prince, also, was owing an important change in criminal trials,-the extension to the accused of the privilege granted to the suitors in civil causes by Henry II., namely, that of having the question of fact as to their innocence decided by a jury of their countrymen, instead of the trial by Wager of Battle. The offer

The reign of Edward I. is important in the constitutional history of the country. In A.D. 1297, he was forced to sign the "Confirmation of the Charters"; to the former enactments of which was added the clause, that "no talliage or aid should henceforth be levied without the consent of the knights, citizens and burgesses, assembled in parliament." By this celebrated enactment it was provided that Magna Charta and the Charter of Forests should be made public by the sheriffs and magistrates,-that all judgments contrary to them should be void,-that the bishops should read them publicly twice in the year, and should pronounce sentence of excommunication against all who should violate any article contained in them. It was afterwards enacted that three knights of each county should be empowered to punish every offence against them. At the same time the boundaries of the royal forests were fixed.

By the Statute of Winchester, A.D. 1284), the ancient custom of establishing watch and ward from sunset to sunrise was revived-the hundred was made responsible for all robberies committed in it, and the underwood was ordered to be cleared on each side of the highroads. Certain knights in each shire, called Conservators of the Peace, were appointed to see the statute enforced, and when, in the course of the next reign, their powers were extended, their title was changed to that of Justices of the Peace.

As land held by corporate bodies was free from alienation, and from many of the contributions by which the revenues of the feudal lords were maintained, it was the policy of the prince and the nobles to discourage the acquisition of it by such bodies. Accordingly, an act known as the Statute of Mortmain was passed during this reign, (A.D. 1279), restricting the alienation of land to religious houses or other corporate bodies.

Until this period, every owner of a fee could acquire manorial rights by granting portions of the land on condition of military service. By the Statute Quia Emptores, (A.D. 1290), sub-infeudation was prohibited. The origin of all existing manors must, therefore, be traced to a period earlier than the eighteenth of Edward I.

Another statute of this reign deserves mention,-the Statute De Donis,-which, by allowing land to be entailed, tended greatly to increase the power of the aristocracy, (A.D. 1284).

As it is to the reign of Edward I. that we must refer the permanent establishment of the representative system, it may be well to say here a few words as to the successive changes which the Great Council underwent before it assumed its present form of Lords and Commons. Under the first Norman kings it consisted only of those who held their lands immediately from the crown. The presence of the more wealthy only of these vassals

Principal Events.

THE only surviving son of the Black Prince, succeeds to the throne at the age of eleven, a council of fifteen being appointed during his minority.

1381. An insurrection on account of a poll tax levied to carry on the wars with France and Scotland, headed by Wat Tyler and Jack Straw, which is quelled by the courage and address of the young king.

1382. Richard marries Anne of Bohemia. 1385. A fruitless expedition into Scotland. 1386. The king is deprived of the royal power by Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, who appoints a Commission of fourteen to carry on the government.

1388. Sir Simon Burley, Chief Justice Tressilian and the judges who declare the late Commission to be illegal, are impeached by five Lords Appellant before the parliament, known as the "Merciless Parliament," and are executed.

1389. Richard obtains possession of the govern. ment, and removes from office the Duke of Gloucester, who dies, some years later, at Calais.

1393. A fresh statute against Provisors, called that of Præmunire, is passed.

1396. Richard makes peace with France, and marries Isabel, daughter of Charles VI.

Observations.

THE rising spirit of liberty in Europe, which had led to effort the commons in Flanders and in France to extend their rights, England. Though many of their demands were just, the co surgents in this reign was marked by great violence. The of Sudbury, and many persons of rank were murdered by them Richard, only fifteen years old, granted them a conference at the Lord Mayor, and Richard, by assuming the office of lea the interview, Wat Tyler, while threatening the king, was ki

insurgents from further violence The promise of vigour this occasion was not realized during the rest of his reign; De Vere (Earl of Oxford), and De la Pole (Earl of Suffe popularity caused by his extravagance and exactions. S Gloucester to flee to Flanders, (A.D. 1388), where he di and De Vere, who was created Duke of Ireland, was fo

The hostilities with Scotland during this reign arose of the powerful nobles who lived on each side of the bord side were the Percies of Alnwick, the head of which named Hotspur. To him was opposed the Earl of Earl of Northumberland. Henry, his eldest son, w Otterburn, or Chevy Chase (1388), in which, th Hotspur was made prisoner by the Scots.

Among the chief causes of the difficulties of this. ambition of the families of the Dukes of Lancaste

obtained by the latter was short-lived, and the e

the companion in arms of the Black Prince, ca. memory. The charge that Gloucester was mur

Richard rests on insufficient evidence.

The efforts of the Duke of Lancaster w towards the acquisition of the throne of Cas Constantia. By #st wife, Blanche, daug1

gbroke, Duke o by his third w fort from the aster died, an his inherita :shire. He ead of 60,0 Maven, and s summoned, t nd the unfor

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was generally enforced, while the attendance of the lesser barons or knights was, except on rare occasions, dispensed with. But here, in course of time, a change was introduced, which led to the representation of the counties, and ultimately to the separation of the two Houses. When at times the presence of the lesser tenants of the crown was thought advisable to give sanction to changes in the laws or to the votes of supplies, the step was adopted of ordering them to send up a certain number from each county, who should act as representatives of the rest, and bind by their votes the whole body. As, by the writs issued for their election, they were ordered to be chosen by all who owed suit and service in the county courts, and as these consisted not only of the immediate tenants of the crown, but of the free tenants of inferior lords, the knights of the shire became, in fact, the representatives of all the land-owners in the country.

There remained still one class not represented, namely, the inhabitants of the cities. We have seen that, by the feudal system, the barons and knights were bound, as the condition of their tenure, to attend the king in war. This personal attendance was exchanged, in time, for payments in money. One object in calling parliament together was to agree upon the amount of these payments, called Scutages. It was now felt that the cities, some of which had risen to considerable importance, should contribute their share towards the defence of the nation. It was in accordance with national usage, that the sum to be levied should be fixed by representatives of the class by whom the tax was to be paid. To agree, therefore, upon the amount of the payments, called Talliages, to be levied upon them, Edward I., in the twenty-third year of his reign, summoned members from one hundred and ten cities. The new members, who at first sat separately, voted more than the barons and knights of the shire; and so successful was the experiment, that the number of deputies from the boroughs was increased.

We have thus traced the introduction into the Great Council of the three bodies who now constitute the Houses of Lords and Commons, but a further change has to be noticed before they assumed their present form. Although the knights of the shire, being of the same rank with the barons, sat at first with them, they voted their aids separately. As they had, however, in common with the deputies from the boroughs, a representative character, it was not unnatural that they should, in the course of time, become associated with the latter. This union at length took place, though when it was effected is doubtful. The important results traceable to the union of the knights of the shire with the borough representatives will be best understood from the subsequent events of English history. The feeble reign of Edward II. proved favourable to the increase of popular rights. Few supplies were granted to the crown. A measure passed in 1311, abolished altogether the new customs imposed by Edward I. One important constitutional enactment of this reign deserves mention. In a renewal of the Great Charter, a provision was added, that a parliament should be held, at least, once every year." At this time commenced, also, the Year Books," in which reports of the cases adjudged in the courts of law were recorded.

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In consequence of his frequent wars, Edward III., notwithstanding the vigour of his character, was frequently forced to make concessions favourable to the liberties of the nation. In the preambles of the statutes in this reign, express mention is made of the concurrence of the Commons in their enactment. We have already traced the increased power of this body in their impeachment of the ministers of the crown, (A.D. 1376). In 1311, the assent of the king was required to a provision, that he should appoint the great officers of state with the advice of his council. It was also enacted, that, at the commencement of each session, he should resume their offices into his own hand, when the ministers should be answerable for any charges against them. Although Edward made a secret protest, and even obtained a repeal of this statute, yet such steps were not without effect in keeping alive the spirit of freedom. We must mention, also, the statute passed in the "Blessed Parliament," (A.D. 1351), limiting the cases, before vague and uncertain, to which the penalty of High Treason was attached, and prohibiting its extension to any other case without the sanction of parliament.

The second instance of parliamentary impeachment occurs in the reign of Richard II. The deposition indeed of this prince, as well as that of his predecessor, Edward II., was formally effected by parliament. But the power of this body to bring about these changes was, probably, owing to the presence among the barons of those great nobles who were able to overawe the crown, rather than to any clearly recognised principles of constitutional right. During the reign of Richard II. was passed the Statute of Præmunire-the most stringent of the enactments intended to check the practice by which the Popes claimed the right to present to certain ecclesiastical benefices in England.

ARCHITECTURE. During the period of the Plantagenets architecture greatly increased in beauty. The semi-circular Norman arch was now replaced by the pointed arch. The Early English style, in which this feature first became prevalent, is considered to have been introduced in the reign of Richard I., (A.D. 1189), and it continued to be employed to the end of that of Edward I., a period of about a century: a fine specimen of this style is Salisbury cathedral. It then gave way to a style called the Decorated, which continued from the beginning of the reign of Edward II. till the close of that of Edward III., (A.D. 1377). To this period,--the most beautiful, perhaps, of Christian architecture, is to be ascribed the erection of the Lantern and Lady-chapel of Ely, the Chapter-houses of York and Wells, and the Choir of Lincoln cathedral. In the reign of Richard II., the Decorated was succeeded by the Perpendicular, or Later English, which continued in considerable purity till the reign of Henry VII. Of the Early Perpendicular, the Nave of Winchester and the Choir of York cathedrals may be mentioned as examples; while the Chapel of Henry VII. at Westminster is a specimen of the later Perpendicular, ANNALS. In addition to the annals already named which extend into this period, we may mention those of Matthew of Westminster to A.D. 1377, Walsingham, (1273—1425), William of Worcester, (1324-1491), and Wethamstead, (1441-1460); the Annals of Dunstable; the Chronicles of Otterbourne, and Lanercost; and the histories of Froissart, Rous, W. Hemingford, T. Wikes, H. Knighton, and Robert of Avesbury.