at they must still retain their power, till that great purpose
were thoroughly effected: in other words, that they must be perpetual
governors, and must continue to reform, till they were pleased to
abdicate their authority. They formed an association among themselves,
and swore that they would stand by each other with their lives and
fortunes; they displaced all the chief officers of the crown, the
justiciary, the chancellor, the treasurer; and advanced either
themselves or their own creatures in their place: even the offices of
the king's household were disposed of at their pleasure: the government
of all the castles was put into hands in whom they found reason to
confide: and the whole power of the state being thus transferred to
them, they ventured to impose an oath, by which all the subjects were
obliged to swear, under the penalty of being declared public enemies,
that they would obey and execute all the regulations, both known and
unknown, of the twenty-four barons: and all this, for the greater
glory of God, the honor of the church, the service of the king, and the
advantage of the kingdom.[*]

* Chron. T. Wykes, p. 52.

No one dared to withstand this tyrannical authority: Prince Edward
himself, the king's eldest son, a youth of eighteen, who began to give
indications of that great and manly spirit which appeared throughout the
whole course of his life, was, after making some opposition, constrained
to take that oath, which really deposed his father and his family from
sovereign authority.[*] Earl Warrenne was the last person in the kingdom
that could be brought to give the confederated barons this mark of
submission.

But the twenty-four barons, not content with the usurpation of the royal
power, introduced an innovation in the constitution of parliament, which
was of the utmost importance. They ordained, that this assembly should
choose a committee of twelve persons, who should, in the intervals of
the sessions, possess the authority of the whole parliament, and should
attend, on a summons, the person of the king, in all his motions. But so
powerful were these barons, that this regulation was also submitted to;
the whole government was overthrown or fixed on new foundations; and the
monarchy was totally subverted, without its being possible for the king
to strike a single stroke in defence of the constitution against the
newly-erected oligarchy.

{1259.} The report that the king of the Romans intended