Editorial note — Part II. Essays Of Representative Government In England, From The Conquest Till The Reign Of The Tudors. (continued 5)

[Footnote 36: These grievances were eleven in number, viz: 1. That the king's purveyors took all kinds of provisions without giving any security for the payment; 2. That additional duties had been imposed on wine, on cloth, and on other foreign imports; 3. That by the debasement of the coin, the value of all commodities had been advanced; 4. That the stewards and marshals of the king's household held pleas, which did not fall under their cognizance; 5. And exercised their authority beyond the verge, that is, a circuit of twelve leagues round the king's person; 6. That no clerks were appointed, as they had been under the last monarch, to receive the petitions of the Commons in Parliament; 7. That the officers appointed to take articles for the king's use in fairs and markets, took more than they ought, and made a profit of the surplus; 8. That in civil suits, men were prevented from obtaining their right by writs under the privy seal; 9. That felons eluded the punishment of their crimes by the ease with which charters of pardon were obtained; 10. That the constables of the castles held common pleas at their gates without any authority; and 11. That the escheators ousted men of their inheritances, though they had appealed to the king's courts. Rot. Parl. i. 441.]