William was ſo far from founding his title to the crown upon a right of conqueſt, that he took every method in his power to eſtabliſh the opinion of his being heir to King Edward, from the particular appointment of that monarch, and when he was crowned, ſome time afterwards, the people’s conſent was obtained before he aſcended the throne, and he even made a compact to inſure the liberties of his ſubjects, by ſwearing the ſame coronation oath which had uſually been taken by the Saxon monarchs. Though he violated this engagement afterwards, and greatly oppreſſed and impoveriſhed the people, yet the conſtitution, as an eminent writer obſerves, was not an abſolute monarchy, but an engraftment of the feudal tenures and other Norman cuſtoms upon the antient Saxon laws of Edward the Confeſſor, which King William not only ſwore to maintain, but confirmed afterwards in parliament.
Though it muſt be allowed, that theſe laws were greatly altered, and produced a conſiderable change in power and property, yet they were agreed to, by the whole legiſlature, and the liberty of the ſubject was, in ſome reſpects, preſerved; The freemen, ſays one of the ſtatutes enacted in this reign, ſhall hold and enjoy their land and poſſeſſions, free from all unjuſt exaction and tallage; and
