Note 1016 — Chapter I

Gardiner, Student's History of England, p. 69; Gneist, as cited above, p. 376. Cp. Gardiner's Introduction to the Study of English History, p. 91: "Even the House of Commons, which was pushing its way to a share of power, was comparatively an aristocratic body. The labouring population in town and country had no share in its exaltation. Even the citizens, the merchants and tradesmen of the towns, looked down upon those beneath them without trust or affection." Magna Carta itself was a protection only for "freemen."