A learned commendation of the politique lawes of Englande vvherin by moste pitthy reasons & euident demonstrations they are plainelye proued farre to excell aswell the ciuile lawes of the Empiere, as also all other lawes of the world, with a large discourse of the difference betwene the. ii. gouernements of kingdomes: whereof the one is onely regall, and the other consisteth of regall and polityque administration conioyned. written in latine aboue an hundred yeares past, by the learned and right honorable maister Fortescue knight ... And newly translated into Englishe by Robert Mulcaster.

¶Here are set ••urth the inconueniences proceding of the law, which no otherwise then by wit∣nesses admitteth trials. Cap. 21. (Book 21)

BY the Ciuile lawes y^e party which in y^e issue holdethe the affirmatiue must brīg furth witnessez which he himselfe at hys own pleasure shall name But the negatiue cannot be proued directli, though indirectly it may: For the hability of him is thought to be very smal & weake, and his witte much lesse, which among al the men that he knoweth is not a∣ble to fynde ii. so voide of conscience & trueth, which for dreade, loue or profit will not bee readye to gainesaye all truthe.

Suche then maye he pro∣duce for witnesses on hys syde.

And if the other partye would obiect any thinge against them, or their sai∣enges, it chanceth not e∣uer y^t they & their condici∣ons & doinges are knowē to y^e contrarie partye: so y^t by reason of theire foule lifes & vicious behauiour such witnesses might bee reprooued. And while their saienges cōteine the affirmatiue, it shalbe ve∣ry harde to reproue them by circūstances or any o∣ther indirect meanz. who then shalbe hable to liue in suertie of his goodes or of himselfe vnder suche a law, y^e ministreth such aid to euery busy body y^t lus∣teth to trouble another? And what ii. wicked men are so vnwarie & vncircū∣spect, which touching the deede wherof they shalbe examined in iudgement,

will not beefore they are called furth for witnesses secreatly imagine and de¦uise a fourme & fassiō ther¦of, & frame thereunto all circumstances euen suche as must needes haue ben so, if y^e thing had ben true in dede? For y^e children of this world (saith y^e lorde) are wiser then y^e children of light. So y^e most wic∣ked Iesabel brought furth ii. witnesses of y^e children of Beliall in iudgement agaīst Nabot, wherby he lost his life, & king Achab her husbande obtayned the possession of y^e vyne∣yarde. So the most chaste matrone Susāna should haue dyed for aduoutrye by the wytnes of twoe olde dotardes being iud∣ges, if the lorde hadde not meruelouslye deliuered

her by a wonderfull feate of prudence, which of na∣ture the yong child hadde not being yet vnder age. And though y^e same child by theire altering & doub∣ling in their depositions did cōuict them to be false wretches, yet whoe (saue only the lord) could haue knowen that in their sai∣enges they woulde thus haue disagreed? Seeinge there was no lawe y^e did moue thē to haue in remē¦brance what kind of tree it was, wherunder y^e fact was supposed to be done. For the witnesses of eue∣rye wicked deede are not thought to consider al cir¦cūstaunces apperteining to y^e same, beīg such as do nothīg help to y^e aggraua¦tiō & detectiō of y^e faulte.

But while those wycked iudges willinglye swea∣ring did alter touching y^e kindes of the trees, theire owne wordes proued thē to be false verlets. Wher¦fore thei worthely suffred the same punishemēt thē∣selues. You also most gra¦tious prīce do know how y^t lately maister I. Fring after y^t he had continued three yeares in the order of pristehoode was com∣pelled by the deposition of twoe wicked persones whiche witnessed that he had before he was made prieste betrouthed hym∣selfe to a certeine yonge woman, to forsake the ho¦lye order of priestehoode, and to marrye the same womanne. Wythe whome when hee hadde lyued fourtene yeares,

and hadde beegotten .vii▪ children of her, at y^e laste beeinge conuicted of trea¦son conspired againste your highnes, hee con∣fessed before all the peo∣ple euen at the very point of deathe that those wit∣nesses were hiered, and that theire depositions were false. And thus ma∣nye tymes are iudgemētz peruerted by the meane of false witnesses, yea & that vnder the verye best Iudges as vnto you it is not vnhearde, nor to the worlde vnknowen, while this wickednes (the more is the pitie) is often com∣mitted.

PEr leges ciuiles pars, quae in litis contestatione af∣firmatiuā dicit, te∣stes {pro}ducere de∣bet, quos ipsemet ad libitū suū no∣minabit. Negatiua autē {pro}bari nō po∣test, vz directè, li∣cet possit {per} obli∣quū. Exilis quippe credit’ esse potētiae minoris quo{que} in∣dustriae, qui de om¦nibus quos noscit hoīb{us}, duos repire nequit ita cōsciē∣tia & veritate va∣cuos, vt timore, a∣more, vel comod’ oī velint cōtraire verit’. Hos potest tūc ipse ī testim̄ {pro} ducere ī causa sua

et 〈◊〉〈◊〉 contra eos pars altera dicere velit, vel cōtra eo¦rum dicta, nō sē{per} cōtinget, eos eorū quo{que} mores aut facta, apud cōtra∣dicere volentē ag¦nosci, vt ex eorū feditate et viciis testes illi possīt re∣{pro}bari. Et dū eorū dicta affirmatiuā cōtineāt, nō facile poterūt illa, {per} cir∣cūstātias aut obli∣qua alia im {pro}bari. Quis tūc poterit suorū aut sui ipsi{us}, sub lege tali viue∣re securus, dū cui∣libet sibi inimicari volēti lex tale pre¦stat subsidiū? Et qui iniqui duo tā īcauti sūt, qd’ fac∣ti de quo ipsi exa∣minabūt’ ī iudicio

nō antequā in tes∣tes {pro}ducātur, oc∣culte fingāt imagi¦nē et figuram, cō∣ponāt quo{que} eidē omnes circumstā∣tias, quales sibi af¦fuissent, si illud in veritate cōstitisset Prudētiores nā{que} vt dicit dominus sunt filij huius mū¦di, quam filij lucis Sic Iesabel scelera tissima, testes duos filios belial, cōtra Nabot in iuditio produxit, quô ipse vitam perdidit, et Achab rex eius vi¦neam possidebat. Sic duorum senū etiam Iudicum te¦stimonio, mortua fuisset pro adulte riovxor castissima Susanna, si non

eā miraculose libe¦rasset dn̄s inexco∣gitabili prudētia, quam a natura nō habuit puer iuni∣or nōdū etate {pro}∣uectus. Et si ipsos deposition̄ sua va∣ria cōuicerat puer ille esse falsarios, quis nisi solū dn̄s nouisse poterat e∣os in dictis suis ta∣liter variaturos? dū non de arboris natura sub qua im¦putatū facinus fie bat, lex aliqua eos artabat reminisci. Quia testes scele∣ris cuius{que}, cōside∣rare nō putāt’ oīa vmbracula & ce∣tera vicina illi fac∣to, q̄ ad aggrauati onē vel detection̄ criminis illius mi∣nime operantur,

Sed dū de arborū specieb{us}, iudices il¦li nequā vltro de∣ponētes variabāt▪ eorum dicta ipsos veritatis fuisse pre¦uaricatores demō¦strabāt, quô et tali¦onis penā merito incurrerūt. Nosti et tu princeps di∣uine qualiteriam tarde, magister Io¦hānes Fringe, qui postquā annis tri∣b{us} sacerdotali fūc¦tus est officio, duo¦bus iniquorū de∣positione, qui eū ātea iuuēculā quā¦dā affidasse testati sūt, sacrū presbite∣rat{us} ordinē relīq̄re cōpuls{us} est, et ma¦trimoniū cū femi∣na illa cōsumare. Cū qua, postquā annis .xiiij. morat{us}

sobolem septimā suscitauerat, de∣mum de crimine laese maiestatis in tuam celsitudinē coniurato conuic¦tus, subornatos fu¦isse testes illos, et falsum dixisse tes∣timonium, in mor¦tis suae articulo co¦ram omni popu∣lo fassus est. Qua∣liter et sepe per∣uerti iudicia, falso¦rum testium me∣dio, etiam sub op∣timis iudicibus, nō est tibi inauditum nec incognitum mundo, dum sce∣lus illud (proh∣dolor) creberime committatur.