Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/62

 50 contra inimicos et alienigenas defendere." The terms of this law (as ir Martin Wright has oberved ) are plainly feodal: for, firt, it requires the oath of fealty, which made in the ene of the feudits every man that took it a tenant or vaal; and, econdly, the tenants obliged themelves to defend their lord's territories and titles againt all enemies foreign and dometic. But what puts the matter out of dipute is another law of the ame collection, which exacts the performance of the military feodal ervices, as ordained by the general council. "Omnes comites, et barones, et milites, et ervientes, et univeri liberi homines totius regni notri praedicti, habeant et teneant e emper bene in armis et in equis, ut decet et oportet: et int emper prompti et bene parati ad ervitium uum integrum nobis explendum et peragendum cum opus fuerit; ecundum quod nobis debent de feodis et tenementis uis de jure facere; et icut illis tatuimus per commune concilium totius regni notri praedicti."

new polity therefore eems not to have been impoed by the conqueror, but nationally and freely adopted hy the general aembly of the whole realm, in the ame manner as other nations of Europe had before adopted it, upon the ame principle of elf-ecurity. And, in particular, they had the recent example of the French nation before their eyes; which had gradually urrendered up all it's allodial or free lands into the king's hands, who retored them to the owners as a beneficium or feud, to be held to them and uch of their heirs as they previouly nominated to the king: and thus by degrees all the allodial etates of France were converted into feuds, and the freemen became the vaals of the crown. The only difference between this change of tenures in France, and that in England, was, that the former was effected gradually, by the conent of private perons; the latter was done at once, all over England, by the common conent of the nation. Rh