roceedings of the twenty-four barons were
sufficient to open the eyes of the nation, and to prove their
intention of reducing for ever both the king and the people under the
arbitrary power of a very narrow aristocracy, which must at last have
terminated either in anarchy, or in a violent usurpation and tyranny.
They pretended that they had not yet digested all the regulations
necessary for the reformation of the state and for the redress of
grievances; and 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
officers 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 honour of the church, the service of the
king, and the advantage of the kingdom [a]. 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 [b]. Earl Warrenne was the last person in the kingdom that
could be brought to give the confederated barons this mark of
submission.
[FN [a] Chron T. Wykes, p. 52. [b] Ann. Burt. p. 411.]

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 a