written during the reign of Henry I.; it contains the sum and
substance of all the legal enactments made by the Conqueror
independent of his confirmation of the earlier laws." It is as
follows: "Statuimus etiam ut OMNIS LIBER HOMO feodere et sacramento
affirmet, quod intra et extra Angliam Willelmo regi fideles esse
volunt, terras et honorem illius omni fidelitate cum eo servare et
eum contra inimicos defendere."

It will be perceived that Mr. Hallam reads LIBER HOMO as "vassal."
Mr. FREEMAN reads them as "FREEMAN," while the older authority, Sir
Martin Wright, says: "I have translated the words LIBERI HOMINES,
'owners of land,' because the sense agrees best with the tenor of
the law."

The views of writers of so much eminence as Sir Martin Wright, Sir
William Blackstone, Mr. Henry Hallam, and Mr. FREEMAN, are entitled
to the greatest respect and consideration, and it is with much
diffidence I venture to differ from them. The three older writers
appear to have had before them the LII of William I., the latter
the alleged charter found in the "Textus Roffensis;" but as they
are almost identical in expression, I treat the latter as a copy of
the former, and I do not think it bears out the interpretation
sought to be put upon it--that it altered either the feudalism of
England, or the relation of the vassal to his lord; and it must be
borne in mind that not only did William derive his title to the
crown from Edward the Confessor, but he preserved the apparent
continuity, and re-enacted the laws of his predecessor. Wilkins'
"Laws of the ANGLO-SAXONs and Normans," republished in 1840 by the
Record Commissioners, gives the following introduction: