Page:A History and Defence of Magna Charta.djvu/13

Rh nothing ſhall be exacted from them, but their free ſervice, which they, by right, owe to the crown. This, by ſome learned writers, as it was confirmed to the people by the common council of the kingdom, is called the firſt of the Normans.

the death of the conqueror, who bequeathed the crown to his ſecond ſon Rufus, the whole nation felt, in the ſevereſt manner, what heavy burthens the feudal laws by arbitrary conſtructions could impoſe upon the ſubject; and how the rights of the King and liberties of the people were infringed by the power of the nobility.

was from the reign of I. that we ought to derive the firſt regular ſettlement of the Anglo-Norman conſtitution; though the commons, till long after this time, were greatly overbalanced in power and property by the clergy and nobles, who, while they interpoſed between the crown and the people, incroached upon the rights of the latter ſo much, that deſpotiſm itſelf could not be more oppreſſive, and the commonalty ſuffered all the evils of ſlavery under the appearance of freedom.