that billeting soldiers in private houses was an in- Billeting. fringement of the Liberty of the subject (pp. 232, sq.) the Army. Impressment, (a) for the army, was forbidden as Impressment for early as 1327, when a Statute was passed against compulsory service. This was confirmed in 1352, 1403, and finally in 1641, when it was enacted that 66 by the law of this realm none of His Majesty's subjects ought to be impressed, or compelled to go out of his country, to serve as a soldier in the wars, except in case of necessity by the coming in of strange enemies into the kingdom, or except they be otherwise bound by the tenure of their lands or possessions." During the American War, Parliament sanctioned 1779 (19 George III., c. 10) the impressment of all" idle and disorderly persons." the Navy. (b) For the Navy, which is a prerogative of the Impressment for Crown, has often been sanctioned and regulated by Parliament, e.g., 1378 (2 Richard II.), 1555 (2 & 3 Philip and Mary), 1562 (5 Elizabeth), 1696 (7 & 8 William III., c. 21), 1703, 1705, 1740 (13 Geo. II., cc. 17, 28), and even as lately as 1810 and 1836. It was regarded as a necessary means of obtaining sufficient sailors to man the vessels, and, in time of war, led to great oppression and hardships. Liability to impressment for the Navy only extended to seafaring men, though no very distinct rule was laid down as to what brought a man within that category. Chief Dates in the History of the Army. Chief dates in Huscarls, or body-guard, introduced by Canute, the history of the circ. 1020. The Militia win the Battle of the Standard, 1138. The Militia win the Battle of Alnwick, 1174. The Assize of Arms, 1181. The Statute of Winchester, 1285. Yeomen of the Guard created by Henry VII., 1485. The Navy. Pre-Norman. Temp. Alfred. Martial law forbidden, 1628. First Standing Army (Parliamentary), 1645. A Standing Army, maintained without the consent of Parliament, declared illegal by the Bill of Rights, 1689. The First Mutiny Act, 1689 (renewed annually The direct power over the Auxiliary Forces resumed by the Crown, 1871. The Army Discipline Act, 1879. The Navy was first organised by Alfred the Great to defend the coasts against the Danes. In 882, he collected some ships and defeated the Danes with a fleet chiefly manned by Frisian sailors; in 897 he collected a fresh supply of ships, of which we are told, that "some had sixty oars, some more, they were both swifter and steadier, and even higher than the others; they were neither on the Frisian shape, nor on the Danish, but as he himself thought that they might useful be." The fleet was maintained in some efficiency by Athelstan, Temp. Edgar. and by Edgar, who is said to have possessed ships varying (according to the different accounts of the Chroniclers) from 3000 to thirty. In Edgar's reign occurs a grant of three hundreds to the Bishop of Worcester, taxed with the duty of providing one Temp. Ethelred. ship for the National service. In 1008, Ethelred, who is said to have maintained a larger fleet than any of his predecessors, ordained that every 300 hides of land should furnish a ship (p. 181). Ethelred's plans for destroying the Danish fleet were, however, frustrated by the treachery of Edric Streona; and, that England's Navy had made in reality but little progress, is proved by the fact that, in 1066, the country was invaded by two armies of Danes and Normans, both of which landed without meeting with any opposition on the sea. By William I., however, a large fleet Temp. William I. was kept up, the ships being provided by the great feudal landowners; the Cinque Ports also had to furnish a certain number of ships and mariners (p. 215), and for long formed a large proportion of the English Navy. 1181. The growing importance attached to the Navy is shown in the Assize of Arms1, 1181, the twelfth Assize of Arms, Article of which forbids the sale of any ship, or ship's timber, for the purpose of being taken out of England. This provision was confirmed by the Statute of Winchester, 1285, which forbids the destruction of oaks, and large trees. Temp. Richard I., the Navy had attained some degree of organisation, Temp. and regulations were framed for the maintenance of discipline in the fleet. By John a fleet of hired Temp John. vessels was maintained, but under the strong hand Statute of Winchester, Richard I. of Edward I. the Navy was thoroughly re-organised; Temp. EdwardI. an Admiral of the fleet was appointed, and with him were associated various commanders, the crews being filled up by impressment. The result of this organisation appeared in the victory of Victory of Sluys, Sluys, 1340, and in the Siege of Calais. Edward 1340. III. also established the Admiralty Court. 8 Under the Lancastrian Kings, and more especi ally the fostering care of the warlike Henry V., the Temp. Henry V. Navy grew rapidly in size and organisation. It is not, however, until 1512, that the Navy can be Temp. 8 The Admiralty Court is held by some writers not to have existed before Richard II.'s reign. Henry VIII. 1540. 1559. 1563. 1651. said to have existed in its modern form of a distinct service, and that it lost its character of a force raised locally, as from the Cinque Ports. From Navigation Acts. this time a series of Navigation Acts began to be passed. In 1540 the rates of freight were regulated, and in 1559 another Act was passed on the same subject; in 1563 (5 Elizabeth, c. 5) English ships were declared to have a monopoly of the Coasting trade. In 1651, a Navigation Act was passed by the Long Parliament, and subsequently confirmed with some alterations in 1660 (12 Car. II., c. 18). Its aim was to deprive the Dutch of the carrying trade of Europe, and to restrict trading to English ships; and it forbade goods to be brought to England except by the ships of the country where the said goods were manufactured, or by English ships.1 This Act remained in force until the repeal of the Navigation Laws, 1849. In 1661, an Act was passed for the regulation of the Navy, and in 1749 the Articles of the Navy were promulgated. 1660. Navigation 1822, 1825, 1833. The Navigation Laws were amended and altered 1822, 1825, 1833, and abolished 1849. In 1854 was passed the Merchant Shipping Act, throwing open the Coasting trade, with the provision that the owners of English vessels must be English; in Navy Discipline 1866 was passed the Navy Discipline Act. Merchant Shipping Act, 1854. Act, 1866. 1 There had been considerable jealousy between the English and the Dutch for some time past, and Grotius, in his Mare Liberum, disputed the claim of England to rule the narrow seas; England's right was upheld by Selden in his Mare Clausum, published, 1635. APPENDIX A. A SUMMARY OF SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT CHARTERS, ASSIZES, AND STATUTES RELATING TO CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY. CHARTER OF LIBERTIES, issued by Henry I. at his coronation at London, August, 1100. Consists of fourteen Articles, on which Magna Carta (p. 304) is mainly founded. 1. The Church to be free; and all evil customs to be abolished. (See Magna Carta, Article 1.) 2. Reliefs to be just and lawful, both to the King's barons, and to his barons' men. (M. C., 2.) 3. Barons, or other of the King's men, to give their daughters in marriage to whom they please, except to an enemy of the King. Widows not to be given in marriage against their will. (M. C., 8.) 4. The guardian of the land and children of a deceased baron to be the wife, or some other of the relatives who should be more justly; and the tenants-in-chief to act similarly towards the children and wives of their men. 5. The common mintage not existing in the time of Edward the Confessor henceforward forbidden. Any coiner or other person found with false money to be brought to justice (pp. 174, sq.) 6. All pleas and debts owed to William II. are remitted, "except the King's just ferms, and those which had been agreed upon for the inheritances of others, or for those things which more justly belonged to others." 7. Testamentary disposition not to be interfered with; the property of an intestate to be divided "by his wife, or children, or relatives, or lawful men, as shall seem to them best." (M. C., 27.) 8. Fines for forfeiture to be according to the measure of the forfeiture, not as in William's time. Fines for treason and felony to be just. (M. C., 20.) 9. Murders committed before the King's coronation are pardoned; those committed since to be punished according to the law of Edward the Confessor. 10. The King retains the forests, as his father had them, with the common consent of his barons (pp. 177, sq.) II. Holders of land by knight-service have their demesne arable land free from taxes, but they must in return equip themselves well |