nt, be levied upon men who had arms in their hands, and who could
repel any act of oppression by which they were all immediately affected.
We accordingly find, that Henry, in the course of his reign, while he
gave frequent occasions for complaint with regard to his violations of
the Great Charter, never attempted, by his own will, to levy any aids
or scutages, though he was often reduced to great necessities, and was
refused supply by his people.

* Rymer, vol. i. p. 215.

So much easier was it for him to transgress the law, when individuals
alone were affected, than even to exert his acknowledged prerogatives,
where the interest of the whole body was concerned.

This charter was again confirmed by the king in the ensuing year, with
the addition of some articles to prevent the oppressions by sheriffs;
and also with an additional charter of forests, a circumstance of great
moment in those ages, when hunting was so much the occupation of the
nobility, and when the king comprehended so considerable a part of the
kingdom within his forests, which he governed by peculiar and arbitrary
laws. All the forests, which had been enclosed since the reign of Henry
II., were disafforested, and new perambulations were appointed for that
purpose; offences in the forests were declared to be no longer capital,
but punishable by fine, imprisonment, and more gentle penalties; and all
the proprietors of land recovered the power of cutting and using their
own wood at their pleasure.

Thus these famous charters were brought nearly to the shape in which
they have ever since stood; and they were, during many generations, the
peculiar favorites of the English nation, and esteemed the most sacred
rampart to national liberty and independence. As they secured the rights
of all orders of men, they were anxiously defended by all, and became
the basis, in a manner, of the English monarchy, and a kind of original
contract which both limited the authority of the king and insured the
conditional allegiance of his subjects. Though often violated, they
were still claimed by the nobility and people; and as no precedents
were supposed valid that infringed them, they rather acquired than lost
authority, from the frequent attempts made against them in several ages
by regal and arbitrary power.

While Pembroke, by renewing and confirming the Great Charter, gave so
much satisfaction and security to the nation in general, he also applied
himself successf