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

About this Item

Title
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
Author
Fortescue, John, Sir, 1394?-1476?
Publication
London :: [Printed by Adam Islip?] for the Companie of Stationers,
M.DC.XVI [1616]
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.
Cite this Item
"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." In the digital collection Early English Books Online. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A01083.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 1, 2024.

Pages

¶ The Prince regardeth not the cases now rehearsed Chap. 47.

NO nor it booteth not, good Chancellour heerein much to tarrie, {quod} the Prince. For though in England, aswell o∣pen, as priuy theeues, are commonly put to death, yet cease they not there from stealing, as though they had no feare of so great a punishment. Howe much lesse then woulde they withholde their handes from theft,

Page [unnumbered]

if they foresawe once that the punishment were mi∣tigated? And God forbid, that hee, which once hath escaped miserable serui∣tude, should euer after tremble and quake at the threatnings of bondage, specially vnder the colour of ingratitude or vnkind∣nesse, seeing the kindes of ingratitude are so ma∣ny, that they can skante well bee numbred: and mans nature in the cause of libertie of freedome, more then in other causes, requireth fauour. Wherefore at this time, good Chauncellour, I be∣seech you hartily meddle no more with the exami∣nation of any such cases. But now explane & open vnto me, why the laws of England, being so good,

Page 110

so fruitfull, and so com∣modious, are not taught in the Vniuersities, as the Ciuill and Canon lawes are: and why in the same, none are commenced Ba∣chelers and Doctors, as in other faculties and scien∣ces it is accustomed.

PRinceps. Nec ex pedit Cācella∣rie, in hijs multū su∣dare: qa, licet in An¦glia ures clandesti∣ni & manifesti pas∣sim morte plectan∣tur, non cessant ipsi ibidē omnino prae∣dari, ac si paenā tan∣tam illi minime for∣midarent. Quanto tunc minus, se ab∣stinerent a crimine

Page [unnumbered]

si paenam praeuide∣rent mitiorem? Et absit, a seruitute se∣mel euasum, sem∣per deinde sub mi∣nis tremere seruitu∣tis, maxime ingra∣titudinis colore, cum ingratitudi∣num species, vix po terint, prae multitu∣dine, numerari, & humana natura, in libertatis causa fa∣uorem semper, ma∣gis, quam in causis alijs, deprecetur. Sed iam, Cancella∣rie, obnixe te im∣ploro, vt amodo a∣missa plurium ca∣suū huiusmodi exa∣minatione, mihi edi cas, quare leges An∣gliae, tam bonae, fru∣gi, & optabiles, in

Page 110

vniuersitatibus non docentur, vt Ciuiles similiter & Canonū leges: & quare in esdem, non datur Baccalariat{us} & Do∣ctoratus gradus, vt in alijs facultatibus & scientijs est dari consuetum.

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