de jure nobu facere". This perſonal ſervice in proceſs of time degenerated into pecuniary commutations or aids, and at laſt the military part of the feodal ſyſtem was aboliſhed at the reſtoration, by ſtatute 12 Car. II. c. 24.
In the mean time we are not to imagine that the kingdom was left wholly without defence, in caſe of domeſtic inſurrections, or the proſpect of foreign invaſions. Beſides thoſe, who by their military tenures were bound to perform forty days ſervice in the field, the ſtatute of Wincheſter[1] obliged every man, according to his eſtate and degree, to provide a determinate quantity of ſuch arms as were then in uſe, in order to keep the peace: and conſtables were appointed in all hundreds to ſee that ſuch arms were provided. Theſe weapons were changed, by the ſtatute 4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 2. into others of more modern ſervice; but both this and the former proviſion were repealed in the reign of James I[2]. While theſe continued in force, it was uſual from time to time for our princes to iſſue commiſſons of array, and ſend into every county officers in whom they could confide, to muſter and array (or ſet in military order) the inhabitants of every diſtrict: and the form of the commiſſion of array was ſettled in parliament in the 5 Hen. IV[3]. But at the ſame time it was provided[4], that no man ſhould be compelled to go out of the kingdom at any rate, nor out of his ſhire but in caſes of urgent neceſſity; nor ſhould provide ſoldiers unleſs by conſent of parliament. About the reign of king Henry the eighth, and his children, lord lieutenants began to be introduced, as ſtanding repreſentatives of the crown, to keep the counties in military order; for we find them mentioned as known officers in the ſtatute 4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 3. though they had not been then long in uſe, for Camden ſpeaks of them[5], in the time of queen Elizabeth, as extraordinary magiſtrates conſtituted only in times of difficulty and danger.
