THE USE OF THE LAW.

THE use of the law consisteth principally in these two things: the one, to secure men's persons from death and violence: the other, to dispose the property of their goods and lands.'

For safety of persons, the law provideth that any man standing in fear of another may take his oath before a justice of peace, that he standeth in fear of his life; and the justice shall compel the other to be bound with sureties to keep the peace.

If any man beat, wound, or maim another, [or give out false words that may touch his name,] the law giveth [an2 action of the case, for the slander of his name; and] an action of battery, and an appeal of maim, by which recompense shall be recovered to the value of the hurt and damage.

If any man kill another with malice, the law giveth an appeal to the wife of the dead, if he had any, or to the next of kin that is heir in default of a wife; by which appeal the offender convicted is to suffer death and to lose all his lands and goods. If the wife or heir will not sue, or be compounded withal, yet the King is to punish the offence by indictment or presentment of a lawful inquest, and trial of the offender before competent judges: whereupon being found guilty, he is to suffer death and lose his lands and goods.

If one man kill another upon a sudden quarrel, this is manslaughter; for which the offender must die, except he can read; and if he can read, yet must he lose his goods and be burnt in the hand, but lose no lands.

If a man kill another in his own defence, he shall not lose his life nor his lands; but he doth lose his goods, except the party slain did first assault him, to kill or trouble him by the highway side, or in his own house; and then he shall lose nothing.

1 The printed edition has "three things," the "third" being their good names from shame and infamy.'

for preservation of

The parts in brackets are omitted in Sloane MS.; and the form of the sentence, in which the damages seem grammatically attributable only to the action of battery, &c., inclines me to think that these are additions,

If a man kill himself, all his goods and leases are forfeited, but not his lands.

If a man kill another by misfortune, as shooting an arrow at a butt or mark, or casting a stone over a house, or the like, he is to lose all his goods and leases, but not life or lands.

If a horse, or beast, or cart, or any other thing do kill a man, the horse, beast, cart, or other thing whose motion is used to the death, is forfeited to the crown, and is called a deodand and and usually granted and allowed by the King to some Bishop his Almoner, as goods are of those that kill themselves.

The cutting out of a man's tongue or putting out his eyes maliciously is felony; for which the offender is to suffer death and lose his lands and goods.

But for that all punishment is for example's sake, it is good to see the means whereby offenders are drawn to their punish

ment.

And first for matter of the peace:

The ancient laws of England planted here by the Conqueror (from whom, and not above, we derive our laws, he having subdued all the former laws)', were, that there should be officers of two sorts in all the parts of this realm to preserve the peace: the one constabularii pacis, the other conservatores pacis. The constable's office was, to arrest the parties that he had seen breaking the peace or ready to break the peace, or was truly informed by others, or their confession, had freshly broken the peace which persons he might imprison in the stocks or in his own house, as their quality required, until they had been bound with sureties by obligation to the King to keep the peace; which obligation was to be sealed and delivered to the constable to the use of the King; and that the constable was to send this obligation to the King's Exchequer or Chancery, from whence process should be awarded to levy the debt, if the peace were broken.

But the constable could not arrest any, nor make any put in bond upon complaint of threatening, except he had seen them break the peace, or had come freshly after the peace was broken.

The printed text omits the parenthetic sentence.

Also, these constables did keep watch about the town for the apprehension of rogues and vagabonds, night-walkers, evesdroppers, scolds, and such like, and such as did go armed. And the constables raise and follow hue and cry against murderers, manslayers, thieves, and robbers.

Of this office of constable there were high constables and petty constables; high constables, two of every hundred; petty constables, one in every village. They were in ancient time all appointed by the sheriff of the shire yearly, in the court called the Sheriff's Turn, and there they received their oath. But at this day they are appointed and sworn either in the Law-day of that precinct wherein they serve, or else the high constables in the sessions of the peace.

The Sheriff's Turn is a court very ancient, incident to his office, and began upon this occasion.

At the first the Conqueror taking upon him to do justice in his own person, found that he could not attend to it, and hereupon erected his Court called the King's Bench, appointing men studied in the knowledge of his laws to execute justice as substitutes to him in his name; which men are to be named Justiciarii ad placita coram Rege tenenda assignati: one of them being Capitalis Justiciarius called to his place by the King's writ; the rest in number as pleaseth the king, (of late but three Justiciarii,) holding by patent.

In this court every man above twelve years old was to take his oath of allegiance to the King were he Norman or Saxon: also, if he were a freeman and not bond, he was to put in pledges for his allegiance to the King: if he were bond, then his lord was to answer for him. In this court constables were appointed and sworn; breakers of the peace punished by fine and imprisonment; the parties beaten or hurt recompensed upon complaints with damages; all appeals of murder, maim, or robbery, decided; contempts against the crown, public annoyances against the people, treasons and felonies, heard and determined; and all other matters of wrongs for lands or goods between party and party.3

The printed text has: "it was erected by the Conqueror and called the King's Bench."

2" bound in MSS.; but I take the meaning to be bondsman, and have adopted the modern spelling.

3 The Sloane MS. in this place shows the hand of a corrector who was aware the Sheriff's Turn was not a substitute for the King's Bench, by making sundry clumsy additions to the text as it stands in Harl. MS.

But the King seeing the realm grow daily more populous and that this one court could not dispatch all, did first ordain that his marshal should keep a court for controversies arising within the verge, which is within twelve miles of the chief tunnel1 of the court.

But this Court did but ease the King's Bench in matters only concerning debts, covenants, and such like, of those of the King's household only, never dealing in breaches of the peace or concerning the crown by any other persons, or any pleas of lands. Insomuch as the King, for farther ease, having divided this kingdom into counties, and committing the charge of every county to a count, comes, or earl, did direct that those earls, within their limits, should look to the matters of the peace, and take charge of the constables, and reform public annoyances, and swear the people to the crown, and take pledges of the freemen for their allegiance. For which purpose the count did once every year keep a court, at which all the people of the county except women, clergy, children under twelve, and aged above sixty, did appear to give or renew their pledges of allegiance. And that court was called Visus franci plegii, a View of the Pledges of Freemen, or, Turna Comitatus.

At which meeting or court there fell, by occasion of so great assemblies, much bloodshed, scarcity of victuals, mutinies, and the like mischiefs which are incident to the congregations of people; by which the King was moved to allow a subdivision of every county into hundreds, and every hundred to have a court, whereunto the people of that hundred should be assembled twice a year for survey of pledges, and use of that justice that was exercised in the former grand court for the county: and the count or earl appointed a bailiff under him to keep these hundred courts.

But in the end, the Kings of this realm found it necessary to have all execution of justice immediately from themselves, by such as should be more bound than earls were to that service and readily subject to correction for their negligence or abuse, and therefore took to themselves the appointing of sheriff's yearly in every county, calling them vicecomites, and to them directed such writs and precepts for executing justice in the county as fell out needful to have dispatched, committing to the sheriff custodiam comitatus; by which the carls were spared of their

1.6 tenell" is the word used in 2 stat. 13 Rich. II. c. 3, and the translation in Ruffhead's Statutes is "lodging."

So as now

toil and labour, and it was laid upon the sheriffs. the sheriff doth all the King's business in the county; that is to say, he is judge of this grand court for the county, and it is now called the Sheriff's Turn; and also of all hundred courts not given away from the crown.

He hath another court, called the County court belonging to his office, wherein men may sue monthly for debts or damages under forty shillings, and may have writs to replevy their cattle distrained and impounded by others, and there try the cause of the distress; and by a writ called justicies, a man may sue for any sum; and in this court the sheriff, by the King's writ called an exigent, doth proclaim men sued in courts above to render their bodies, or else they be outlawed.

The sheriff doth serve all the King's writs of process, be they summons or attachments, to compel men to appear to answer the law; and all writs of execution of the law according to judgments of superior courts, for taking of men's goods, lands, or bodies, as the case requireth.

Of these hundred courts there is a jurisdiction known and certain; and that is, first, to deal in such things as the sheriff in his Turn might do. And they be in common speech called Law-days or Lects, to be kept twice a year. But the content, precinct, and limit of the court is uncertain, for that all hundreds be not equal nor guided by any certain rule of content, but long since allotted out and by use to this day well known in their bounds, some containing in them divers villages, some fewer.

The hundred courts were most of them granted to religious men, noblemen, and others of great place. And also many men of good quality have obtained by charter, and some by usage, within manors of their own, the liberty of keeping Law-days, and to use there the justice appertaining to a Law-day.

Whosoever is lord of the hundred courts is to appoint the two high constables of the hundred, and also is to appoint in every village a petty constable, with a tithing man to attend in his absence, and to be at his command when he is present, in all services of his office, for his assistance.

There have been by use and statute law, besides surveying pledges of freemen, and giving the oath of allegiance, and making constables, many additions of power and authority given to the stewards of Lects and Law-days to be put in ure in

This is not in the printed text, and does not seem well fitted in.