The History of the Common Law of England [56]
Kind, are in LincolnsInn Library. Fourthly, The Tracts written or collected in the Time of this wise and excellent Prince, which seem to be of Two Kinds, viz. Such as were only the Tractates of private Men, and therefore had no greater Authority than private Collections, yet contain much of the Law then in Use, as Fleta the Mirror, Britton and Thornton; or else, 2dly, They were Sums or Abstracts of some particular Parts of the Law, as Novae Narrationes, Hengam Magna & Parva, Cadit assisa Summa, De Bastardia Summa; by all which, compared even with Bracton, there appears a Growth and a Perfecting of the Law into a greater Regularity and Order. And thus much shall serve for the several Periods or Growth of the Common Law until the Time of Edw. I inclusively, wherein having been somewhat prolix, I shall be the briefer in what follows, especially feeling that from this Time downwards, the Books and Reports printed give a full Account of the ensuing Progress of the Law. VIII. A Brief Continuation of the Progress of the Laws, from the Time of King Edward 2 inclusive, down to these Times Having in the former Chapter been somewhat large in Discoursing of the Progress of the Laws, and the incidental Additions they received in the several Reigns of King William 2, King Hen. I, King Stephen, King Hen. 2, King Richard I, King John, King Hen. 3 and King Edw. I. I shall now proceed to give a brief Account of the Progress thereof in the Time of Edw. 2 and the succeeding Reigns, down to these Times. Edward 2 succeeding his Father, tho' he was an unfortunate Prince, and by reason of the Troubles and Unevenness of his Reign, the very Law itself had many Interruptions, yet it held its Current in a great Measure according to that Frame and State that his Father had left it in. Besides the Records of judicial Proceedings in his Time, many whereof are still extant, there were some other Things that occur'd in his Reign which gave us some kind of Indication of the State and Condition of the Law during that Reign: As, First, The Statutes made in his Time and especially that of 17 E. 2. stiled De Prerogativa Regis, which tho' it be called a Statute, yet for the most part is but a Sum or Collection of certain of the King's Prerogatives that were known Law long before; as for Instance, The King's Wardship of Lands in Capite attracting the Wardship of Lands held of others; The King's Grant of a Manor not carrying an Advowson Appendant unless named; The King's Title to the Escheat of the Lands of the Normans, which was in Use from the first Defection of Normandy under King John; The King's Title to Wreck, Royal Fish, Treasure Trove and many others, which were ancient Prerogatives to the Crown. Secondly, The Reports of the Years and Terms of this King's Reign; these are not printed in any one entire Volume, or in any Series or Order of Time, only some broken Cases thereof in Fitzherbert's Abridgment, and in some other Books dispersedly; yet there are many entire Copies thereof abroad very excellently reported, wherein are many Resolutions agreeing with those of Edw. 1st's Time. The best Copy of these Reports that I know now extant, is that in Lincoln's-Inn Library, which gives a fair Specimen of the Learning of the Pleaders and Judges of that Time. King Edw. 3, succeeded his Father; his Reign was long, and under it the Law was improved to the greatest Height. The Judges and Pleaders were very learned: The Pleadings are somewhat more polished than those in the Time of Edw. I, yet they have neither Uncertainty, Prolixity, nor Obscurity. They were plain and skilful, and in the Rules of Law, especially in relation to Real Actions, and Titles of Inheritance, very learned and excellently polished, and exceeded those of the Time of Edw. I. So that at the latter End of this King's Reign the Law seemed to be near its Meridian. The Reports of this King's Time run from the Beginning to the End of his Reign, excepting some few Years between the 10th and 17th,