------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transcriber’s Note: This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_. Superscripted characters are denoted with a carat (‘^’), and if more than one character is raised, they are enclosed with ‘{ }’. Footnotes have been moved to follow the paragraphs in which they are referenced. Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation. MAGNA CARTA A COMMENTARY ON THE GREAT CHARTER OF KING JOHN PUBLISHED BY JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS, GLASGOW =Publishers to the University.= --- MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD., LONDON. _New York_, _The Macmillan Co._ _London_, _Simpkin, Hamilton and Co._ _Cambridge_, _Macmillan and Bowes_. _Edinburgh_, _Douglas and Foulis_. _Sydney_, _Angus and Robertson_. MCMV. MAGNA CARTA A COMMENTARY ON THE GREAT CHARTER OF KING JOHN WITH AN HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION BY WILLIAM SHARP McKECHNIE M.A., LL.B., D.PHIL. LECTURER ON CONSTITUTIONAL LAW AND HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW AUTHOR OF ‘THE STATE AND THE INDIVIDUAL; AN INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCIENCE’ GLASGOW JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS PUBLISHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY 1905 GLASGOW: PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO. LTD. TO THE MEMORY OF MY FATHER WILLIAM McKECHNIE, M.D. BORN 1ST APRIL, 1814 DIED 2ND SEPTEMBER, 1887 PREFACE