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.

SEd quomodo ī criminalibus le∣ges Angliae scrutā¦tur veritatem etiā ••imare per necessa¦rium est, vt et ī eis plenariè agnita ā∣barum legum for¦ma, quae earum ef∣ficacius latentem reuelat veritatem certius agnosca∣mus. Si reus quispi am de felonia aut proditione in An∣glia rettatus cri∣men suum coram iudicibus dedicat mox vicecomes co¦mitatus vbi facin{us} illud commissum est, venire faciet coram eisdem iu∣dicibus, viginti quatuor probos et legales hoēs de vi∣ceneto villae vbi il∣lud factū ē, q̄ reta∣to

illi nulla affini∣tate attingunt, et quorū quilibet cē∣tū solidat{us} hēat ter¦rae et reddit{us}, ad cer¦tificādū Iudices il∣los su{per} crimin̄ illi{us} veritate. Quib{us} cō¦parētib{us}, rettat{us} il∣le eos calūpniare potest eadē forma qua ī actionib{us} re∣alibus fieri debere su{per}i{us} discribit’. Et īsup re{us} ip̄e ī fauo¦rē vitae suae calūpni¦are potest triginta quī{que} hoīes, quos ip̄e maxime formi¦dat, q̄ ad ei{us} calūp¦niā cācellabūt’ ī pa¦nello, aut sign̄ tali¦b{us} notabūt’ qd’ (vt verb{is} leg{is} vtar) illi su{per} eū nō trāsi∣būt licet ip̄e nullā causā assignare sci¦at exceptionis seu

calūpniae suae. Quis tūc mori posset in iquè in Anglia pro crimine? cū tot iu¦uamina habere il∣le poterit ob fauo¦rē vitae suae? et nō nisi vicini eius, {pro}∣bi et fideles homi∣nes, versus quos ipse nullā hēt ma∣teriam exceptionis eū condēnare po∣terūt? mallem re∣uera vigīti facino rosos mortem pi∣etate euadere, quā iustū vnū iniuste condempari. Nec tamē reū quempiā sub hac forma, rea¦tus sui penam eua¦dere posse suspicā∣dum est, dum eius vita et mores ti∣mori de••ceps erūt eis qui eū sic pur∣garunt a crimine.

In hoc equidē pro¦cessu nihil est cru∣dele, nihil inhuma¦nū, nec ledi pote∣rit innocens ī cor∣pore aut membris suis quare nec for¦midabit ille calūp¦niam inimicorum eius quia non tor∣quebit’ iste ad ar∣bitrium ipsorum. Sub hac igitur lege viuere quietum et securum est. Iudi∣ca ergo, princeps optime, q̄ legum harum tibi electis∣sima foret, si tu priuatam spirares vitam.