Evening star., 1915-06-27

E, nounced erroneous. The belief that it
contains guarantees of liberty for all
| classes of the people is the result of
reading back to 1215 political and legal
| ideas of a much later age and of the
| mistranslation of the technical. feudal
, Latin in which the instrument was
written. The rights and privileges
specified in the charter were. it is true.
granted to the free men of England
snt free man is very misleading
translation of the Latin Iiber homo
In the usage of 1915 liber homo bore
restricted and technical meaning.
and was in all probability SYNONYMOUS
with free holder-that is. person who
held land by what was technically
called free tenure Since at least
fire-sixths of the people of England In
1913 We're below the level of free holder
it is clear that free man should not
be understood in its modern demo-
cratic sense. The vast majority of
EnGlishmen could not claim the rights
and privileges set forth and enumer
ated in the charter"
That the feuda lism of England was
Norman it is only necessary to recall
that para asraph in the second book of
Blackstone which reads:
But this fendal policy, which thus by
Europe not to have been received in
this part of island. least not universaly
and as part Of the iionai constitution till
the reign of William the Norman. Not hut that
it is reasonable believe from abundant
traces in our history and laws that even in
the times of the SaxonS who We're a swarm
from what Sir William Temple calls the
northern hive. something similar to this WAS
IN ss M h e, rar no, t,. 50 nor hsnd
by the Normans. For the Saxons were firmly
settled in this island at least early as the
after that feuds arrived at their full vigor and
maturity; even on the continent of Europe.
This Introduction. however, of the feudal
,enures into England by King William does not
seem to have been effected Immediately after
and p"wer Of the tonausror ef but ,o have been
gradually established by the Norman harons aud
others in su.h forfeited lands as they received
from the gift of the tonqueror, and afterw: rdS
universally consented by the great council
of the nation, long after his title estab-
lished
The ancient English tenures is sub
ject which few persons read on today.
Bracton, who wrote during the reign
of Henry III. said: "Tenements are of
two kinds. frank tenement and villen-
age. And of frank tenements some are
held freely in consideration of homage
and knight service: others in free SOC
age, with the service of fealty only
OF villenages some are pure and others
privileged. He that holds in pure vii
jenage shall do whatever is command
ed him and always be bound to an un-
certain service. The other kind of vii
lenage is called villien -socage and
these villien socmen do villien services,
but Ncuch as are certain and determin-
ed"
There was tenure in chivalry or by
knight service. tenure in grand SER
jeanty and petit serjeanty, tenure in
scutage or escuage, tenure in frankal-
moign, tenure in copyhold, etc.
If free man in the England of the
thirteenth century meant the holder
of a freehold they were, no doubt, in
small minority of the people and as
rule were a very proud and consciously
superior class. Britton says that IAN
estate in freehold is the possession of
the soil by freeman" st. Germyn
says: THE posse ssion of the land is
called in the law of England the frank
tenement or freehold" And Blackstone
saws: such estate, therefore, and no
other as requires actual possession of
the land is, legally speaking, freehold:
which actual possession can, by the
course of the common law, be only Civ
en- by the ceremony called livery of
seisin.' which is the same as the feudal
investiture.
In spite of the fact that many schol-
ars nedy the democratic intent of
Magma Charta. all commentators on
that document, notably. Sir Frederick