De laudibus legum Angliæ writen by Sir Iohn Fortescue L. Ch. Iustice, and after L. Chancellor to K. Henry VI. Hereto are ioind the two Summes of Sir Ralph de Hengham L. Ch. Iustice to K. Edward I. commonly calld Hengham magna, and Hengham parua. Neuer before publisht. Notes both on Fortescue and Hengham are added

¶ The Prince granteth the Lawes of England to be more commodious for the subiects, then the Ciuill Lawes in the case now disputed. Chap. 28.

CVi Princeps, ar∣duu ambigu∣umue, Cancellarie, non conspicio, qd morosum me titu∣bantemue redderet in electione rei, quā interrogas. Nam quis non sub lege, qua secu••am ducere posset vitam, viuere po••••ú•• eligeret quā sub legetali, sub qua inermem, inde••en∣sum{que} sesēper red∣deret sae••••••••ae omni∣um ••••••••corū eius? Vere tutus quisquā esse non poterit in corpore aut in bo∣nis, quem ••imicus eius (in omni causa) conuincere poterit, testib{us} d••obus etiā ignotis, {per}••p̄mmet electis & {pro}ductis.

Et licet quis mortē, per dicta eorum, su∣bire nō cogatur, pa∣rum tamē releuatur ipse qui mortem e∣uasit, contractione neruorum, & mem∣brorum suorū, at{que} corporis eius lan∣guore {per}petuo. Ta∣li reuera discrimini impellere potest in∣imici astutia omnē hominē qui sub le∣ge degit, quā tu iam dudum explicasti. Sed tale ma••ū ope∣rari nequiūt testes, qui depositiones su as faciūt, in p̄sentia duodecim fide dig∣norū viro••ū, facto vicinorum, de quo agitur, & circūstan∣tijs eius: qui & nos∣cunt eorundē testi∣um

mores, maxime si vicini ipsi fuerint, noscunt etiam, & si ipsi sint ctedulitate digni. Omnes eti∣am duodecim tales latere omnino non poterit, quicquid actum est, per, aut inter vicinos eo∣rum. Nosco nam∣que ego certius, quae iam aguntur hic in Barro, vbi sum modo conuer∣satus, quam quae in Anglia fiunt. Nec effugere posse puto notitiam probi viri ea, quae aguntur, li∣cet quodammodo occulte, prope do∣micilium eius. Sed tamen cur praedicta lex Angliae quae tam frugi & optabilis est

non est toti mundo communis, vehe∣menter admiror.

WHereunto the Prince answe∣red and saide: I sée no hard or strange matter, good Chancellour, that should make mee doubt∣full or dangerous in the election and choise of the thing that yee aske. For who would not ra∣ther choose to liue vn∣der that Lawe, where∣vnder hee might liue in securitie, then vnder that Lawe, which would set him naked and succour∣lesse against the crueltie of his enemies? Uere∣ly, no man can bee safe in bodie or goods, whom his aduersarie may con∣uince in euerie cause, with twoo vnknowne witnesses of his owne choosing and bringing foorth.

And though a man be not compelled by their say∣ings to die, yet is he little relieued, y^• hath escaped death, being shronke in al his sinnewes and lim••nes and cast into a perpetuall impotencie of his bodie, And truely into such dan∣ger may the craft of a spitefull person bring a∣ny manne, that liueth vnder the Lawe, which here while you speake of. But such mischiefe and inconuenience cannot bee wrought vy witnesses, y^t make their depositions in the presence of twelue credible men, neighbours to the deede, that is pre∣sently in question, and to the circumstances of the same: which also know the manners and con∣ditions of the same wit∣nesses,

especially if they bee nigh dwellers, and know also, whether they bee men worthy to bee credited or no. And fur∣ther all those twelue can not bee ignorant in those thinges, that were done by and among their neighbours. For I know more certainely the thinges that are donne heere in Berry, where I am nowe remaining, then those thinges that are done in Englande. Neither doe I thinke, that things can bee kept from the knowledge of a good and honest man, be∣ing done nigh to his house and almost vnder his nose, be they neuer so se∣cretly done. But yet I maruell much, why th•• foresaid law of England,

which is so good and com∣modious, is not common to all the whole world.