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.

About this Item

Title
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.
Author
Fortescue, John, Sir, 1394?-1476?
Publication
[Imprinted at London :: In Fletestrete within Temple Barre, at the signe of the hand and starre, by Rychard Tottill,
1567]
Rights/Permissions

To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.

Subject terms
Law -- England -- Early works to 1800.
Link to this Item
http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A01080.0001.001
Cite this Item
"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." In the digital collection Early English Books Online. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A01080.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed October 31, 2024.

Pages

Page [unnumbered]

WHereunto the prince aunswered and sayde. I see no harde or straunge mater, good Chaūcelour that shoulde make mee doubtefull or daungerous in the election and choy∣se of the thynge that yee aske. For whoe woulde not rather choose to lyue vnder that lawe, where∣vnder hee myghte lyue in securitye, then vnder that lawe, whych woul∣de sette hym naked and succourlesse agaynste the crueltye of hys enemyes. Verelye no manne can bee saufe in body or good∣des, whom his aduersa∣rye maye conuince in eue¦rye cause withe twoo vn∣knowen wytnesses of his owne choosynge & bryn∣gynge fourthe.

Page 64

And thoughe a manne be not compelled by theire sayenges to dye, yet is he lyttell relieued that hath escaped deathe, beeynge shronke in all his syn∣news and lymmes, & cast intoo a perpetuall impo∣tencye of his bodye. And truelye into suche daun∣ger maye the crafte of a spytefull person bringe a∣nye manne that lyuethe vnder the lawe, whyche herewhile you spake of. But suche mischiefe and inconuenience cannot be wroughte by witnesses that make theire deposi∣tions in the presence of twelue credyble menne neyghbours to the deede that is presentlye in que∣stion, and to the circum∣staunces of the same:

Page [unnumbered]

which also know the ma¦ners and condicions of ye same witnesses, specially if they bee nigh dwellers and knowe also whether they bee menne worthye to bee credited or no. And further all those xii. cānot bee ignoraunt in those thinges that were doone by & among theire neigh∣bours. For I know more certeinelye the thinges that are doone heare in Barro where I am now remayninge, then those thinges that are done in England. Neither doe I thynke that thinges can be kepte from the know∣ledge of a good & honest man being done nighe to his house, and almost vn∣der his nose, bee they ne∣uer so secretlye doone.

Page 65

But yet I maruail much why the foresaide lawe of Englande, whiche is so good and commodious, is not commen to all the whole worlde.

Do you have questions about this content? Need to report a problem? Please contact us.