They
were content, even in this plenitude of power, to depart from some
articles of Henry I's charter, which they made the foundation of their
demands, particularly from the abolition of wardships, a matter of the
greatest importance; and they seem to have been sufficiently careful
not to diminish too far the power and revenue of the crown. If they
appear, therefore, to have carried other demands to too great a
height, it can be ascribed only to the faithless and tyrannical
character of the King himself, of which they had long had experience,
and which they foresaw would, if they provided no further security,
lead him soon to infringe their new liberties, and revoke his own
concessions. This alone gave birth to those other articles, seemingly
exorbitant, which were added as a rampart for the safeguard of the
Great Charter.
The barons obliged the King to agree that London should remain in
their hands, and the Tower be consigned to the custody of the Primate
till the 15th of August ensuing or till the execution of the several
articles of the Great Charter. The better to insure the same end, he
allowed them to choose five-and-twenty members from their own body as
conservators of the public liberties; and no bounds were set to the
authority of these men either in extent or duration.
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