CHAP. XXVIII.

To whom the Prince-I see no difficulty at all in the case, my good Chancellor, to make me hesitate, or waver as to the choice I am to make; particularly in the manner you require and propose. For, who would not rather live under a law which renders life secure and happy, than where the law is found insufficient for protection, and leaves a man defenceless, under a series of insults and barbarities from one's enemies? That man cannot in any wise be safe either in his life or property, whom his adversary (in many cases which may happen) will have it in his power to convict out of the mouth of two witnesses, such as are unknown, produced in court and pitched upon by the prosecutor. And, though in consequence of their evidence, he be not punished with death, yet an acquittal will not leave him in a much better condition after the question has been put, which cannot but affect the party with a contraction of his sinews and limbs, attended with constant disorders and want of health. A man, who lives under such a government, as you describe, lives exposed to frequent hazards of this sort: enemies are designing and desperately wicked. Witnesses cannot well bring about such a wicked device, when, what evidence they give in, must be in open Court, in the presence and hearing of a jury, of twelve men, persons of good character, neighbours where the fact was committed, apprised of the circumstances in question, and well acquainted with the lives and conversations of the witnesses, especially as

they be near neighbours, and cannot but know whether they be worthy of credit, or not: it cannot be a secret to every one of the Jury what is done by, or amongst their neighbours. I know of myself more certainly what is a doing at this time in Berry, where I reside, than what is doing in England: neither do I think it possible that such things can well escape the observation and knowledge of an honest man, as happen so near to his habitation, even though transacted with some kind of secrecy. But, since these things are so, I admire very much, that the law of England, which in this respect is so commodious and desirable, should not obtain all the world over.

a

The institution of the Jury, possesses a decided advantage over every other judicial method of investigating facts, principally on account of its publicity, and of the participation in the administration of justice, into which the country at large are thereby admitted: the Civil Law, was not, however, so inferior to our own, as Fortescue represents, in the calculation of probabilities for the ascertainment of truth: the following passage from the Digest, containing some observations of the Emperor Adrian, on the subject of evidence, will be sufficient to shew, that numerical testimony had not that influence upon judicial determinations, which Fortescue would insinuate. "Quæ argumenta ad quem modum probandæ cuique rei sufficiant, nullo certo modo satis definiri potest: sicut non semper, ita sæpe sine publicis monumentis cujusque rei veritas deprehenditur ; alias numerus testium, alias dignitas et auctoritas, alias veluti consentiens fama confirmat rei, de quâ quæritur fidem. Hoc ergo solum tibi rescribere possum summatim: non utique ad unam probationis speciem cognitionem statim alligari debere, sed ex sententiâ animi tui te æstimare oportere, quid aut credas, aut parum probatum tibi opinaris."

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CHAP. XXIX.

Chancellor. WAT the time your highness was obliged to quit England, you were very young, consequently the natural disposition and qualities of your native country could not be known to you; had the case been otherwise, upon a comparison of the advantages and properties of other countries with those of your own, you would not be surprized at those things which now agitate and disturb you. England is a country so fertile, that, comparing it acre for acre, it gives place to no one other country: it almost produces things spontaneous, without man's labour or toil. The fields, the plains, groves, woodlands, all sorts of lands spring and prosper there so quick, they are so luxuriant, that even uncultivated spots of land, often bring in more profit to the occupant, than those which are manured and tilled; though those too are very fruitful in plentiful crops of corn. The feeding lands are likewise enclosed with hedge-rows and ditches, planted with trees, which fence the herds and flocks from bleak winds, and sultry heats, and are for the most part so well watered, that they do not want the attendance of the hind, either day or night. There are neither wolves, bears, nor lions in England; the sheep lie out a nights without their shepherds, penned up in folds, and the lands are improving at the same time: whence it comes to pass, that the

4

2:

a There is evidence both of wolves and bears having existed in this Country. (Camden's Brit. Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Caledonia. Archæol. Antiq. Soc. Vol. III. p. 3. Vol. X. p. 162.

Dugdale's

inhabitants are seldom fatigued with hard labour, they lead a life more spiritual and refined: so did the Patriarchs of old, who chose rather to keep flocks and herds, than to disturb their peace of mind, with the more laborious employments of tillage and the like: from hence it is, that the common people of England are better inclined and qualified to discern into such causes, which require a nice examination, than those who dwell upon their farms, and are constantly employed in husbandry affairs, whereby they contract a rusticity of understanding.

Dugdale's Warwickshire, p. 298. Pennant's Zoology, p. 163.) And notwithstanding the account given by Fortescue, of the prolific nature of the English soil, we meet with repeated instances of famines, attended with dreadful consequences, from the time of the Conqueror, to that of Henry VI: indeed, in the same reign in which Fortescue wrote, wheat was selling from 2s. 6d. to 3s. 4d. the bushel, and the poor people were obliged to make themselves bread of fern and oats. (Strutt's Antiq. Vol. II. "on the Husbandry of the English." Respecting the Nature and Extent of the ancient Woodlands, Evelyn's Sylva, Lib. iii. c. 6. For other circumstances respecting the ancient Condition of the Country, see Tracts on the Vineyard Controversy; and for general Descriptions, Pref. to Harrington's Oceana. Sir W. Temple on Gardening.)

The fleeces of this Country, are noticed by many old authors: thus an ancient writer, addressing himself to England, says, "Licet maris augustata littoribus brevi terræ spatio distendaris, tibi tamen ubertatis tam famosæ per orbem benedixerunt omnium littora nationum de tuis ovium velleribus calefacta." Several causes conspired to give a pre-eminence to pasturage over agriculture. The dealing in grain was subjected to many impolitic restrictions, arising from mistaken views upon the subject of population; and from absurd apprehensions of the consequences of forestalling; an offence, which in the legislative rhetoric of the time of Edward I, was denounced as rendering a man "totius communitatis et patriæ publicus inimicus." The settling also of Flemings in this Country, and the protection afforded by several Statutes, tended to increase the importance of our woollen manufactures. But another cause of more effectual operation remains to be noticed, for before the time when Fortescue's book was written, an alteration in the habits of the aristocracy had commenced, and they began to be induced, from a motive of increasing their revenues, to dismiss their numerous adherents,

and

England is so thick-spread and filled with rich and landed men, that there is scarce a small village in which you may not find a knight, an esquire, or some substantial householder, commonly called, a Frankleyne; all men of considerable estates: there are others who are called Freeholders, and many Yeomen of estates sufficient to make a substantial Jury, within the description before observed. There are several of those Yeomen in England who are able to dispend by the year a hundred pounds, and more: Juries are very often made up of such, and, in causes of consequence, they consist of knights, esquires, and others, whose particular estates, in the whole, amount to upwards of three hundred pounds a year. Wherefore it is not to

and to let their lands in large tracts, to persons who would pay considerable rents: which practice speedily introduced an extensive system of pasturage. (See Brodie's British Empire, Vol. I. p. 19, 29. A Proclamation, A. D. 1521. cited by Stow. Rossi. Hist. p. 39, 88, 114. Rous died at an advanced age, A. D. 1491.) A system that finally occasioned a striking alteration in the appearance of the country. It is with reference to this circumstance, that Sir T. More, speaking of the sheep, says, that they had become, "tam edaces, tamque indomiti, ut homines devorent ipsos, agros, domos, oppida vastent ac depopulentur." (Sir T. More's Preface to his Utopia. Strype's Memorials, Vol. I. p. 392. Vol. II. p. 141. And see Latimer's Account of the Circumstances of his own Family, first Sermon Preached before King Edward.) The progress of this change in the occupations of the people, was in vain attempted to be restrained by the Legislature, and was pregnant with many consequences of great importance, both as they regarded the manners of the nation, and the spirit of the Government. (See the Observations respecting the Statute for the Conservation of Farm Houses, in Bacon's Henry VII. Bacon's Speech in D'Ewes's Journal, p. 551. Observations at the Close of Tirringham's Case, 4 Rep. 3 Inst. 204, and the Statute of 25 Henry VIII. limiting the size of Flocks of Sheep, and the Preamble, which mentions the Extent of the Grievance then felt. With reference to the Effects of the System of Pasturage and Inclosure, upon the Progress of Towns, see 12 Ric. II. e. 5; 7 Hen. IV. c. 17; 2 Hen. V. c. 4; 4 Hen. V. c. 4.)

Fortescue calculates the value of property by "skuta," which were gold coins of the value of 3s. 4d. (Fleetwood Chr.

Pret.