The Charterhouse

“ How happy if they could have annihilated all our charters, and yet have been beloved, nay, deified by the people, as friends and advocates of their charters! What masterly politicians, to have made themselves nobles for life, and yet have been thought very sorry, that the two houses were denied the privilege of choosing the council! ”

“ But many of them are matters of primary importance in the constitutional history of England. The Great Charter must not, however, be overrated as an expression of general constitutional rights; to a large extent it is a mere recapitulation of the claims of the baronage, and gives redress for their feudal grievances in the matters of aids, reliefs, wardships, &c., its object being the repression of arbitrary exactions by the king on his tenants-in-chief. ”

“ If there had been railways in the Middle Ages there would probably have been a railwaymen's guild; and it would have had a charter from the King, defining their rights. A charter is the expression of an idea still true and then almost universal: that authority is necessary for nothing so much as for the granting of liberties. ”

“ There he led a life of pleasure with some jovial companions until he was sharply reproved by his father for his conduct, when he laid aside his gay apparel and assumed the habit of a monk in the London Charterhouse. ”

“ As I struggle through Old Palace Yard I often wonder whether it is in the House of Commons or in the Chapter-house of the Abbey that Discord is so busily engaged, for the wind here, as in Chartres and at Kill-Cannon Corner at Lincoln, is always waiting outside, a truly Gothic draught! ”

“ The Great Charter came into being, truly the 'Magna Charta,' which throws not merely all earlier, but also the later charters into the shade.
It is a document which, more than any other, links together the different epochs of English history. With a renewal of the earliest maxims of German personal freedom it combines a settlement of the rights of the feudal Estates: on this [Pg 54] twofold basis has the proud edifice of the English constitution been erected. ”

“ Troublesome as these perpetual conflicts between the rival authorities were, it is to be observed that the liberty of the cloister and the privileges of the clergy, which were in dispute, were institutions which led to the emancipation of some Chartrain families formerly subject to the Counts. The ecclesiastical corporations, in fact, set an example in this matter of enfranchisement which the Counts were slow to follow. And it was probably due to this antagonism that the feudal lords of Chartres delayed for so long the grants of a communal charter to the town. ”

“ At Chartres, more than anywhere in France, the Middle Ages seem to have bequeathed to us the great heartbeat of their middle classes. Here we see about us the sturdy workers of the city, the guilds of its industrious burghers. True, the great rose windows of the transepts show us the royalty and chivalry of the kingdom, but somehow they seem decorative and not dominating as they do at Rheims. Nor are our friends of the guilds here present by any man’s let or by virtue of kingly condescension. ”

“ ANDROS
Here, sir, are my orders. [rattle of paper] [Pg 8]
TREAT
And here, sir, is a true copy of our charter. [rattle of paper]
ANDROS
My orders supersede your charter.
TREAT
Our charter is a royal grant, and cannot be superseded except for cause by due process of law.
ANDROS
I shall take possession under my orders. You can appeal to the Privy Council for redress.
TREAT
You can take possession only after every man in this fort is dead!
ANDROS
Do you still insist on this ridiculous show of force?
TREAT
I do! If you make a move to land your troops, we will open fire! ”

“ Here, then, we are face to face with a fundamental question of immense importance: Does the Great Charter really, as the orthodox traditional view so vehemently asserts, protect the rights of the whole mass of humble Englishmen equally with those of the proudest noble? ”

“ I had the honour to he one of ten or twelve members of the House of Commons who were assisting, in conjunction with many most meritorious, able individuals of the working classes, in drawing up that composition. When that was done, there did, as it appeared to me at least, arise another set of men, who said: 'You have drawn up a charter, and the charter is a very good charter, but we are the only men who know anything how it should be gained.' Now, on that, I say there may be two opinions ”

“ At Charter-House—which enjoys the advantage of the independent supervision of its distinguished governors—there is one classical master to every twenty boys; and French—not an extra—is as well cared for as it is at King’s College; whilst at Eton there is not one classical master to every forty boys. ”

“ And though many of the earls and barons had thereby loft their inheritances as well as the King, yet, the whole assembly agreed in this answer: “That they would freely grant the King what he desired, but upon condition, if he would grant them their long desired liberties.” The King, out of covetousness of this aid, has charters presently written and sealed, and sent to all the counties, and an oath in writing, for all men to swear to them, while Richard, the King’s brother, because they had hitherto been ill kept, cried out they were cozening charters. ”

“ Most of its provisions were old, and had been in other charters, such as that of Henry I. But the Great Charter is important because it was wrung from an unwilling king, and because it states very clearly and positively the rights of the people. It contains a great many clauses, of which the principal are: first, that the king could levy no taxes without the consent of the bishops and the barons; second, that no man could be imprisoned, dispossessed of his land, or otherwise punished, without a fair trial by his peers or equals. ”

“ The charters gave these people the right to settle on and own certain lands, to form certain kinds of government, and to do a variety of things which in England no one could do but the king and the parliament. ”

“ A charter is a mask; the lie lurks beneath it. A people which accepts a charter abdicates. The law is only the law when entire. No! no charter!”
It was winter; a couple of fagots were crackling in the fireplace. This was tempting, and Courfeyrac could not resist. He crumpled the poor Touquet Charter in his fist, and flung it in the fire. The paper flashed up. Combeferre watched the masterpiece of Louis XVIII. burn philosophically, and contented himself with saying:—
“The charter metamorphosed into flame.” ”

“ The first great document in the laws of the Thirteenth Century is, of course, Magna Charta, signed in 1215, the foundation of all the liberties of English speaking people ever since. Perhaps the highest possible tribute to the Great Charter is the fact that it has grown in the estimation of intelligent men, rather than lost significance. ”

“ Into the old buildings they had left came a great day-school, the Merchant Taylors', so there are still about 500 boys as well as the old pensioners in the London Charter House.
What a strange history the Charter House has! What changes it has seen! The convent with its silent monks, the great house with its state and royal visitors, the noisy school, the peaceful home of the old pensioners,—the Charter House bears traces of them all. For here are still the courts and cloisters and the chapel of the monks, and the stateroom of the great noble ”

“ On the other side stood the barons of the kingdom, attended by a vast multitude, representing all other classes of the population. So completely was the arrogance of the king subdued, so hopeless appeared all resistance, that, with scarcely a word of remonstrance, John gave his assent to the document which, as the foundation of the liberties of England, is known to us by the name of Magna Charta—the Great Charter. ”

“ Such, briefly, was the constitution of the famous mediæval guilds, such were their faults and excellences. The record of these Cathedral windows helps us to realise their importance in the history of Chartres, and also enables us to imagine the state and the character of the old town’s trade. In spite of the exactions and taxes levied by bishop and count, chapter, monastery and viscount, the merchants of Chartres flourished mightily in the thirteenth century, and the fairs of the town held during the four feasts of Our Lady rivalled in importance even those of Brie and Champagne. ”

“ The first charter, the charter of James 1st. is more like a treaty between independent sovereigns, than like a charter of grant of privileges from a sovereign to his subjects. Our ancestors were tempted by the prospect and promise of a government of their own, independent in religion, government, commerce, manufactures, and every thing else, excepting one or two articles of trifling importance. ”

“ Generally, also, throughout this period there is a tendency to substitute for arbitrary exactions and violence arrangements settled by charter and definite duties and rights. But it is only a tendency. The amelioration of life was only very gradual. Neither life nor property in the eleventh and twelfth century were, as a rule, what we should call secure. Take for an instance the behaviour of the sons of one Échambaud when they had a difference over the possession of some land with the Abbot of S. Père. ”

“ In the mean time, most of the barons were at London, where we left them, making holiday for the grant of Magna Charta, and pleasing themselves, that after so long oppression and Ægyptian bondage, the liberties of England were restored again in their days. They thought, likewise, that God had touch’d the King’s heart, and he was become a new man, and meant the good faith he had sworn, and flattered themselves that he would, from henceforward, inviolably observe their charters. ”

“ The Magna Charta of King John provides that no scutage or aid should be imposed, either on the land or towns, but by consent of the great council; and for more security it enumerates the persons entitled to a seat in that assembly, the prelates and immediate tenants of the crown, without any mention of the commons; an authority so full, certain, and explicit, that nothing but the zeal of party could ever have procured credit to any contrary hypothesis. ”

“ From the date of our charter to the time of the Stamp Act, and indeed since that time, (notwithstanding the misrepresentations of our charter constitution, as too popular and republican,) the council of this province have been generally on the side of the governor and the prerogative. For the truth of this, I appeal to our whole history and experience. The art and power of governors, and especially the negative, have been a stronger motive on the one hand, than the annual election of the two houses on the other. ”

“ Most of the hereditary enemies of Henry were dead; all foreign influences were banished; the right of the nation to sound and good government was recognised by the charter itself. The general acquiescence in the policy of the administration was shown by the grant of a fifteenth of all movable property to the king, which was made conditional on the confirmation of the charter, and the national union was proved by the long list of prelates and magnates who attested it. ”

“ In the evening, after supper, the King was in his cabinet, with Monseigneur and the Princesses, as at Versailles, when a messenger came from Saint Cloud, and asked to see the King in the name of the Duc de Chartres. ”

“ We who are below, the common people, understand that France claims to protect and defend the Virgin of Chartres, as her chief vassal, and that this ostentatious profusion of lilies and castles is intended not in honour of France, but as a demonstration of loyalty to Notre Dame, and an assertion of her rights as Queen Regent of Heaven against all comers, but particularly against Pierre, the rebel, who has the audacity to assert rival rights in the opposite transept. ”

“ We respect the Great Charter more than the laws of Solon. The Capitol and the Forum impress us with less awe than our own Westminster Hall and Westminster Abbey, the place where the great men of twenty generations have contended, the place where they sleep together! The list of warriors and statesmen by whom our constitution was founded or preserved, from De Montfort down to Fox, may well stand a comparison with the Fasti of Rome. ”

“ The parliament, understanding that the king intended to ask an aid of money, told him that he ought to be ashamed to demand such a thing, especially feeing that in the last exaction of that kind, to which the nobles of England consented with much difficulty, he gave them a charter that he would never burden nor injure them with the like again. He was likewise grievously reprehended, and no wonder, for calling in aliens, and foolishly squandering the wealth of the kingdom upon them; marrying them to his wards without their consent, and several other of his spendthrift and tyrannous practices. ”

“ JONES
Under the charter, eh?
PETER
Aye, so there's naught to do but what the masters say. [Pg 23]
JONES
Have you never heard of mutiny?
PETER
Mutiny? Nay, we be lawful men, bound together in the love of Jehovah; we'll not mutiny! We must abide by our charter.
JONES
The charter, aye.
PETER
So there's naught to do—
JONES
Hold—have you thought on this—the charter binds you under the King's grant in Virginia Plantation—
PETER
Aye. ”

“ H. Hallam, The Middle Ages, chapter 8, part 2. "The Great Charter, although drawn up in the form of a royal grant, was really a treaty between the king and his subjects. ... It is the collective people who really form the other high contracting party in the great capitulation,--the three estates of the realm, not, it is true, arranged in order according to their profession or rank, but not the less certainly combined in one national purpose, and securing by one bond the interests and rights of each other, severally and all together. ”