were built and garrisoned for military purposes and for offensive and defensive operations of war. Towns grew up around these strongholds, English settlement was encouraged, and municipal charters were granted with distinctive provisions marking the different laws and privileges applicable to the new settlers and the WELSH inhabitants. Within these districts, the Norman-English laws were, for the most part, administered, but in many of the territories the WELSH were allowed to enjoy their ancient customs when the same did not conflict with the interests of their invaders.

The following charter, granted by King JOHN, shows the policy pursued by the English Kings:

CHARTER OF WILLIAM DE BRAOSE.

"John, by the Grace of God, etc. to William de Braose, and his heirs all lands etc. which he hath acquired, and which hereafter he shall be able to acquire over our enemies the WELSH to hold of us and our heirs save Kardigan and its dependencies which we retain. Dated at Caen 3rd June, 2 JOHN A.D. 1200 (Rot. Chart.)."

And we find that HENRY the First gave permission to Gilbert Fitzrichard de Clare to enter into Cardigan and Pembrokeshire in the following terms, "Thou wert continually seeking for a portion of the lands of the Britons from me, I will now give thee the land of Cadwgan son of Bleddyn go and now possess it."

This system of legalised pillage and authorized plunder ceased when EDWARD the First obtained the submission of WALES to the English power, for after the Statute of Rhuddlan no new Lordships Marchers were, or could be, created.

The Lords Marchers had greater power in the Marches of WALES than the feudal lords possessed in England, for the control of the English Monarchs was not so strongly maintained over them. The result was that the "custom of the march" developed, and they became semi-independent

magnates who were allowed to raise and maintain armies of their own and to make private war at will.

But throughout the Norman period the greater part of the Principality remained in the hands of WELSH princes, who ruled, according to their own customs and laws, over the territories which had not been seized by the marauding Barons of the Marches. Within these lands, the nominal political superiority of England was fitfully accepted, but practical independence was enjoyed by the WELSH chieftains in the internal government of their own provinces, and there the old national laws and customs were of full force and effect.

MAGNA CHARTA AND WALES.

A.D. 1215.-In the great Charter of Liberties, sealed by King JOHN on June 15, 1215, we find the first mention of WALES in the constitutional documents of our Realm. Although not a parliamentary statute, it has been printed at the commencement of the English Statutes, and requires notice inasmuch as the whole of the constitutional history of England has been described as being a commentary on this Charter. This Great Charter is the commencement of the formal history of English constitutional liberty. It secured from the astute sovereign who was forced to submit to it, a definite recognition of the old constitutional rights which he had constantly violated, and a pledge that he would not further evade them. In three of the clauses of this Charter, we find the evidence of the power and influence of Llywelyn the Great, who reigned in WALES from 1194 to 1240, the most important figure in WELSH mediæval history. He seized his opportunity when England was divided and weakened, and stemmed the English tide of conquest by destroying some of the most important of the NormanEnglish castles in WALES. He was, although married to King JOHN's daughter, allied to the English Barons in their struggle with that sovereign, with the result that three

clauses, numbered 56, 57, and 58 of the Great Charter, describe, protect, and preserve the privileges of the WELSH King, and restored to him the hostages and charters which had been obtained by the English sovereign as security for peace.

THE LEGISLATION OF EDWARD THE FIRST. THE

STATUTUM WALLIÆ.

In 1255, the sole ruler of WALES was Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, and from this year until 1282 a bitter and prolonged struggle took place between him and the English as to the retention of sovereignty in WALES. EDWARD (afterwards EDWARD the First) in 1254, had been granted by his father, HENRY the Third, the Earldom of Chester, and came to Gwynedd to view his lands and castles. By the Treaty of Shrewsbury made on September 25, 1267, Llywelyn was recognized Prince of WALES, and overlord of all the WELSH magnates, excepting Meredith ap Rees, the representative of the old line of princes of SOUTH WALES. The Perfeddwlad or Middle Country, comprising the four cantrevs of Rhos, Dyffryn Clwyd, Tegeingl and Rhuvoniog, forming the district lying between Chester and the Conway, Edward's old patrimony, were ceded to Llywelyn, and although the latter promised to surrender many of his conquests, he was allowed to remain in possession of great tracts of land in MID and SOUTH WALES. This treaty did not bring lasting peace to WALES and the Marches. In 1276, Eleanor de Montfort, betrothed to Llywelyn, while on her way from France to be married to him, was captured and detained as a prisoner by EDWARD the First. Llywelyn could only obtain her liberation by signing articles in which he agreed to do homage to EDWARD and to cede to him the Perfeddwlad. By these articles, the ancient rights of the WELSH people in this district were preserved, but when EDWARD took possession of it, he began by converting it into shire-ground and introducing Norman-English laws

instead of the WELSH laws and customs. EDWARD at the same time re-established the shire organizations of Caermarthen and Cardigan. The WELSH people under Llywelyn broke out again into rebellion, and Llywelyn died in battle on December 11, 1282, at Pont Orewyn, near Builth. On Llywelyn's death, his possessions passed to the English King, and two years afterwards, the important Statutum Wallia-the Statute of WALES-was enacted at Rhuddlan by EDWARD the First, on Sunday in Mid-Lent,' 1284. It is the first great Act for the Principality, settling the civil and legal administration of WALES for nearly three hundred years.

A.D. 1275.-In the year 1275, the Statute of Westminster the First (3 EDWARD I, c. 17) was significant of the growing power of the central administration, and the new policy to be pursued towards the Lordship Marchers. Theretofore there was no jurisdiction in the English Courts over WALES. The maxim was, Breve regis non currit in Walliam: "the King's Writ runneth not into WALES"; and the Lords Marchers had regal powers within their Lordships; but, by the Statute of Westminster the First, it was provided that English law should be of effect within the courts and lands of the Marches of WALES.

A.D. 1284.-The Statute of WALES (12 EDWARD I, c. 1), was drafted upon the report of a Commission appointed by EDWARD before Llywelyn was finally subdued. The Commission (dated at Westminster, December 4, 1820) was issued to Thomas (Becke) Bishop of St. Davids, Reginald de Grey, and Walter de Hopton, appointing them to examine upon oath "unsuspected persons both WELSH and English," in order to obtain information respecting the laws and usages by which the Kings, his predecessors, had been accustomed to govern and order the Prince of WALES and the WELSH Barons of WALES and their peers and others their inferiors, and all particulars connected with such laws and usages. These Commissioners were commanded to appoint certain * See "Political History of England," by Professor Tout, vol. iii. p. 133.

days and places for carrying on this inquiry, and to return and account to the King within three weeks of Easter. An order was also issued to all Justices, Sheriffs, Bailiffs, and other officers of the King in WALES, requiring them to cause to appear on the days appointed, all such witnesses as might be able to give information on the subject; and also requiring that they should attend upon, and render every assistance and advice to the said Commissioners, in order that all needful information might be obtained. This inquiry comprised fourteen interrogatories to be put to each of the witnesses. The Commissioners examined in all, 172 witnesses—that is, 19 in Chester; 53 in Rhuddlan ; 36 in the White Monastery (probably Oswestry); 22 in Montgomery, and 42 in Llanbadarn Vawr. The interrogatories and the answers of the witnesses may be found in the appendix to Wotton's Leges Wallica. A translation is given in the paper on the "Historical Account of the Statute of Rhuddlan," by the Rev. Thomas Price (Carnhuanauc). The majority of the witnesses undoubtedly furnished evidence showing, that within the area of the Commissioners' jurisdiction, the English judicial system was replacing WELSH usages and laws. The evidence is, however, neither convincing nor satisfactory. Many of the witnesses, like William Launtelyn, Knight, on being sworn and diligently examined, said that they knew nothing. "The frequent profession of absolute ignorance and some rather evasive replies suggest that the witnesses were either carefully selected, or else under the influence of fear or motives of self-interest gave replies which they thought would be satisfactory to the English authorities. The survival of WELSH Customs, as to which there is ample testimony even as late as Tudor times, tends to confirm one's suspicions, but on the other hand the commission's questions dealt chiefly with procedure and the rights of barons and landed proprietors; and it may be urged that the supersession of WELSH law in regard to that part of the corpus