form of
a simple statute, or promise, to the effect that "The Great Charter, and
the Charter of the Forest, shall be firmly kept and maintained in all
points." They are to be found printed with the other statutes of the
realm. One of them, after having "again granted, renewed and confirmed"
the charters, requires as follows:

"That the Charters be delivered to every sheriff of England under the
king's seal, to be read four times in the year before the people in
the full county," (that is, at the county court,) "that is, to wit,
the next county (court) after the feast of Saint Michael, and the
next county (court) after Christmas, and at the next county (court)
after Easter, and at the next county (court) after the feast of Saint
John."--_28 Edward I._, ch. 1, (1300.)

Lingard says, "The Charter was ratified four times by Henry III.,
twice by Edward I., fifteen times by Edward III., seven times by
Richard II., six times by Henry IV., and once by Henry V.;" making
thirty-five times in all.--_3 Lingard_, 50, note, Philad. ed.

Coke says Magna Carta was confirmed thirty-two times.--Preface_ to_ 2
_Inst_., p. 6.

Lingard calls these "thirty-five successive ratifications" of the
charter, "a sufficient proof how much its provisions were abhorred
by the sovereign, and how highly they were prized by the nation."--_3
Lingard_, 50.

Mackintosh says, "For almost five centuries (that is, until 1688) it
(Magna Carta) was appealed to as the decisive authority on behalf of
the people, though commonly so far only as the necessities of each
case demanded."--_Mackintosh's Hist. of Eng._ ch. 3. _45 Lardner's
Cab. Cyc._, 221.

Coke, who has labored so hard to overthrow the most vital principles of
Magna Carta, and who, therefore, ought to be considered good authority
when he speaks in its favor,[108] says:

"It is called Magna Carta, not that it is great in quantity, for
there be many voluminous charters commonly passed, specially in these
later times, longer than this is; nor comparatively in respect that
it is greater than _Charta de Foresta_, but in respect of the great
importance and weightiness of the matter, as hereafter shall appear;
and likewise for the same cause _Charta de Foresta_; and both of them
are called _Magnae Chartae Libertatum Angliae_, (The Great Charters of
the Liberties of England.) ...

"And it is also called _Charta Libe