“The duchess shall not marry without consent of the estates of her provinces.  All offices in her gift shall be conferred on natives only.  No man shall fill two offices.  No office shall be farmed.  The ’Great Council and Supreme Court of Holland’ is re-established.  Causes shall be brought before it on appeal from the ordinary courts.  It shall have no original jurisdiction of matters within the cognizance of the provincial and municipal tribunals.  The estates and cities are guaranteed in their right not to be summoned to justice beyond the limits of their territory.  The cities, in common with all the provinces of the Netherlands, may hold diets as often ten and at such places as they choose.  No new taxes shall be imposed but by consent of the provincial estates.  Neither the duchess nor her descendants shall begin either an offensive or defensive war without consent of the estates.  In case a war be illegally undertaken, the estates are not bound to contribute to its maintenance.  In all public and legal documents, the Netherland language shall be employed.  The commands of the duchess shall be invalid, if conflicting with the privileges of a city.

“The seat of the Supreme Council is transferred from Mechlin to the Hague.  No money shall be coined, nor its value raised or lowered, but by consent of the estates.  Cities are not to be compelled to contribute to requests which they have not voted.  The sovereign shall come in person before the estates, to make his request for supplies.”

Here was good work.  The land was rescued at a blow from the helpless condition to which it had been reduced.  This summary annihilation of all the despotic arrangements of Charles was enough to raise him from his tomb.  The law, the sword, the purse, were all taken from the hand of the sovereign and placed within the control of parliament.  Such sweeping reforms, if maintained, would restore health to the body politic.  They gave, moreover, an earnest of what was one day to arrive.  Certainly, for the fifteenth century, the “Great Privilege” was a reasonably liberal constitution.  Where else upon earth, at that day, was there half so much liberty as was thus guaranteed?  The congress of the Netherlands, according to their Magna Charta, had power to levy all taxes, to regulate commerce and manufactures, to declare war, to coin money, to raise armies and navies.  The executive was required to ask for money in person, could appoint only natives to office, recognized the right of disobedience in his subjects, if his commands should conflict with law, and acknowledged himself bound by decisions of courts of justice.  The cities appointed their own magistrates, held diets at their own pleasure, made their local by-laws and saw to their execution.  Original cognizance of legal matters belonged to the municipal courts, appellate jurisdiction to the supreme tribunal, in which the judges were appointed by the sovereign.  The liberty of the citizen against arbitrary imprisonment was amply provided for.  The ‘jus de non evocando’, the habeas corpus of Holland, was re-established.