, ch. 1, (1300.) v
Lingard says, "The Charter was ratified four times by Henry III.,
twice by Edward I., fifteen times by Edward III., seven times by
Richard II., six times by Henry IV., and once by Henry V.;"
making thirty-five times in all. 3 Lingard, 50, note, Philad.
ed.
Coke says Magna Carta was confirmed thirty-two times. Preface
to 2 Inst., p. 6.
Lingard calls these "thirty-five successive ratifications" of the
charter, "a sufficient proof how much its provisions were
abhorred by the sovereign, and how highly they were prized by the
nation." 3 Lingard, 50.
Mackintosh says, "For almost five centuries (that is, until 1688)
it (Magna Carta) was appealed to as the decisive authority on
behalf of the people, though commonly so far only as the
necessities of each case demanded." Mackintosh's Hist. of Eng.
ch. 3. 45 Lardner's Cab. Cyc., 221.
Coke, who has labored so hard to overthrow the most vital
principles of Magna Carta, and who, therefore, ought to be
considered good authority when he speaks in its favor, [3] says:
"It is called Magna Carta, not that it is great in quantity, for
there be many voluminous charters commonly passed, specially in
these later times, longer than this is; nor comparatively in
respect that it is greater than Charta de Foresta, but in respect
of the great importance and weightiness of the matter, as
hereafter shall appear; and likewise for the same cause Charta de
Foresta; and both of them are called Magnae Char- tae Libertatum
Angliae, (The Great Charters of the Liberties of England.
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