423 425 resta. During these reigns the pope gained a great ascendancy; the trial by ordeal was abolished; and the great barons of parliament were separated from the less. Edward L. confirmed the charters, limited the ecclesiastical courts, and obliged the ordinary to pay the debts of the deceased; defined the jurisdiction of courts, abolished arbitrary taxes, gave up his interference by mandate, settled the form of fines, established a repository for records, established watch and ward, passed the stat. quia emptores, instituted the writ of elegit, &c. provided for the recovery of advowsons, passed the statutes of mortmain, established estates tail, reduced Wales to subjection, and brought the administration of justice to a state of perfection. In the reigns of Edw. II. and III. the election of magistrates was taken from the people; 427 and in that of the latter, parliament 426 got its present form, treasons were ascertained, law proceedings changed into Latin, manufactures encouraged, statute staple introduced, administrators appointed for intestates effects, statutes of praemunire passed, and vicarages endowed. The civil wars afterwards prevented improvement, 428 yet to them we owe common recoveries and uses. Under Hen. VII. for the purpose of prosecutions on penal statutes, the court of star-chamber was new modelled; the statute of fines was passed; benefit of clergy allowed only once to lay persons; and the writ of capias given in ac. tions on the case. Under Hen. VIII. the religion was reformed, the power of the pope destroyed, and the nomination of bishops vested in the crown. The statutes of wills and uses were pass ed; further attacks made upon estates tail; recognizances in the nature of statute 429 430 the power of the court of star-chamber increased, and the high commission court established. Progress of the power of the commons. Under James I. the commons began to feel their strength and exert it; im⚫provements were made by the abolition of sanctuaries, extension of the bankrupt laws, limitation of suits, and regulation of informations. Compulsive loans, arbitrary imprisonments, and martial law, clouded the reign of Charles I.; 431 432 - 433 and notwithstanding the petition of right, there still remained as grievances, the forest laws, the starchamber and high commission court, and the disuse of parliaments, arbitrary levies, &c. These were remedied before the rebellion, but the people had lost all confidence in the king. After the restoration, the military tenures were abolished, the habeas corpus act passed, as also the statute of frauds, of distribution, and of jeofails, &c. and the constitution had arrived at its full vigour. 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 END OF THE EPITOME TO VOL. IV. INDEX. The large Numerals denote the Volumes, the Ciphers the Pages of the Commentaries, and the smull Numerals the Pages of the Appendix. Act of parliament, when binding on the Age, action suspended by. III. 300 crown. I. 261 Action at law. III. 116 chose in. II. 397 ex contractu. III. 117 feodal. III. 117 , property in. II. 396 . Actual right of possession. II. 196 Adherence to the king's enemies. IV. -,of consent to marriage. I. 436 IV. 22 persous, how reckoned. I. 463. Aggregate corporation. I. 469 Agistment. II. 452 Agnus Dei, &c. IV. 115 Aids, feodal. II. 63. 86. IV. 418, 419 Alderney, island of. I. 107. Alfred, his dome-book. I. 64. IV. 411 fine for. II. 71. IV. 418 Alien priories. I. 386. IV. 113 duty. I. 316. 372. 374 local. I. 370 natural. I. 369 oath of. I. 367. IV. 274 refusing it. IV. 116 Allodial property. II. 47. 60 Admittendum clericum, writ ad. III. Allodium. II. 105 250 Ad quod damnum. writ of. II. 271 Advocatus fisci. III. 27 441 Affectum, challenge propter. III. 363. IV. 352 Affcerors of amercements. IV. 379 Affinity. I. 434 Afirmance of judgments. III. 411 Allowance of franchise. III. 263 pardons. IV. 401, 402 Alluvion. II. 261 action for. III. 159 American colonics. I. 108 Ancestors, how numerous. II. 203 Animals, Annulum et baculum, investiture per. I. Areopagus, court of. III. 365. IV. 169. Arbitrary consecrations of tithes. I, 113. Assignees of bankrupt. II. 480 II. 26 Assignment of bankrupts effects. II. 485 112 Assurances, common. II. 294 Avowry. III. 150 attaint. IV. 336 convict. IV. 336 Auter vie, tenant, pur. II. 120 Ayle, writ of. III. 186 B. Bachelor, knight. I. 404 covenant for farther. II. xi. Backing warrants. IV. 291 Bail above. III. 290 below. III. 291 common. III. 287 justifying or perfecting. III. 291 -, taking insufficient. IV. 297 sheriff. III. 290 Bailable or not, who. IV. 297, 8, 9 Bailiffs. I. 345. 427 of hundreds. I. 116. 345 Bailment. II. 396. 451 action against. III. Bail-piece. III. 291. xx. Attorney-general. III. 27 Ballot for jurors. III. 358 —, information by. III. Banishment. I. 137. IV. 377. 401 261.427. IV. 308 warrant of, to confess judg- ment. III. 397 Bank. I. 328 misbehaviour of its officers. IV. |