thane and the Norman vavassour commingled in the baron. Baron is the

same as vir, which is translated into Spanish by varon, and which

signifies, par excellence, "Man." As early as 1075, the barons made

themselves felt by the king--and by what a king! By William the

Conqueror. In 1086 they laid the foundation of feudality, and its basis

was the "Doomsday Book." Under John Lackland came conflict. The French

peerage took the high hand with Great Britain, and demanded that the

king of England should appear at their bar. Great was the indignation of

the English barons. At the coronation of Philip Augustus, the King of

England, as Duke of Normandy, carried the first square banner, and the

Duke of Guyenne the second. Against this king, a vassal of the

foreigner, the War of the Barons burst forth. The barons imposed on the

weak-minded King John Magna Charta, from which sprang the House of

Lords. The pope took part with the king, and excommunicated the lords.

The date was 1215, and the pope was Innocent III., who wrote the "Veni,

Sancte Spiritus," and who sent to John Lackland the four cardinal

virtues in the shape of four gold rings. The Lords persisted. The duel

continued through many generations. Pembroke struggled. 1248 was the

year of "the provisions of Oxford." Twenty-four barons limited the

king's powers, discussed him, and called a knight from each county to

take part in the widened breach. Here was the dawn of the Commons. Later

on, the Lords added two citizens from each city, and two burgesses from

each borough. It arose from this, that up to the time of Elizabeth the

peers were judges of the validity of elections to the House of Commons.

From their jurisdiction sprang the proverb that the members returned

ought to be without the three P's--sine Prece, sine Pretio, sine

Poculo. This did not obviate rotten boroughs. In 1293, the Court of

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The Man Who Laughs