Mr. Hubert Hall (_Eng. Hist. Rev._, IX. 344) takes a different view, however, considering that a reduction of scutages to the old rate of the reign of Henry II. was impossible; he speaks of “the astounding and futile concession in c. 44 of the charter of 1217.” The clause is surely neither astounding nor futile if we regard it as a promise by Henry III. that he would not exact more than 20s. per knight’s fee _without consent_, and if we further note that it was the practice of his reign to ask such consent from the _Commune Concilium_ for scutages even of a lower rate. A levy of 10s., for example, was granted by a Council in 1221. See Stubbs, _Const. Hist._, II. 33. ----- A modern statesman, with any knowledge of the value of constitutional principles, would have gladly seized the occasion of the revision of the terms of the Charter, to assert and define the functions and rights of the Great Council with precision and with emphasis. He would not lightly have thrown away the acknowledgment implied in chapters 12 and 14 of 1215—in the germ, at least—of the right of a national council to exercise a legal control over the levying of taxes. The magnates on both sides in 1217 were content, however, to abandon to their fate all abstract principles of constitutional development, provided they could protect their lands and purses from an immediate increase of taxation. Far-reaching problems of the composition and privileges of Parliament were unhesitatingly surrendered, as soon as another method of defence against arbitrary increase of scutage was suggested. The barons were selling, not indeed their birthright, but their best means of gaining new rights from the Crown, for “a mess of pottage.” Such considerations, however, must not be pressed too far. It should not be forgotten that no one seriously thought in 1217, any more than in 1216, of dispensing with future meetings of the feudal tenants in _Commune Concilium_. Great Councils indeed continued to meet with increasing frequency throughout the reign of Henry III., and the consent of the magnates therein assembled was habitually asked to scutages even at a lower rate than that which had been normal in Henry II.’s reign. Sometimes such consent was given unconditionally; sometimes in return for a new confirmation of the cherished Charters; sometimes, even, it was met by an absolute refusal—the first distinct instance of which seems to have occurred in January, 1242.[254] ----- Footnote 254: Prothero, _S. de Montfort_, 67. -----