Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 8.djvu/460

 358 THE CASTLE, AXD ' THE PKO VISIONS OF OXFORD. the four knights for the counties were then for the first time expressly nominated to attend. The affairs of the nation had now taken a serious aspect, for this was the last council the King held before the Barons wrested from him at Runnvmede the Great Charter of Rights upon which modern liberties are founded. There does not appear, indeed, any precedent for this innovation, but it is nevertheless un- doubtedl}^ clear, that the counties now possessed, whether in themselves, or by the writs of the sheriff, we know not, the first opportunity of returning freeholders to represent them in parliament. And we ma}" from hence perceive how gradual was the introduction of changes in the mode of representa- tion ; no alteration being planned with the particular object of enlarging or amending it, but every improvement taking its origin spontaneously, and flowing out of the current of circumstances. John visited Oxford in nine different years of his reign, and passed here forty-five da3's of his life after he became king ; which for so restless and wandering a monarch, was a considerable length of time, and shows that he must have been well satisfied with the accommodations his castle at Oxford afforded. If the oflicial documents have hitherto contained but meagre notices respecting one of the objects of enquiry, when we enter on the reign of Henry the Third there is no longer cause to regret the absence of information. For we have now an increased class of records to refer to, and the Close Rolls and the Liberate Rolls, but more especially the latter, supply most interesting and curious particulars about the royal buildings in England, the expense of their erection and reparation, the names of the different engineers who planned them, and of the artists who decorated their interiors. The Close Rolls, down to the tenth of Henry the Third, have been printed ; the Liberate, or Payment Rolls, are reserved to moulder awa}" without the security of a transcript being made for the instruction of those who may succeed us, and who may too late discover in a few scattered extracts the importance of historical matter, which the present generation of inquirers look at with a degree of apathy difficult to understand. There are three valuable rolls of this description (2, 3, 5) belonging to the reign of King John, and forty-five to that of Henry the Third. During