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

BUt to the intēt the state of Iustices as well as the Serieants at Law, may be known to your grace, as I can, I will describe vnto you their forme & office. In the comon bench there are customable v. Iusti∣ces or six at y^e most. And i•• the Kings bench iiij. or fiue. And as oft as the place of any of them by death or otherwise, is voide, the King v∣seth to choose one of the Serieaunts at Lawe, and him by his Letters Patents, to ordaine a Iustice, in the place of the Iudge so seasing, And then the Lord Chancellour of Eng∣land

shall enter into the Court, where the Iustice is so lacking, bringing with him those letters pa∣tents, & sitting in the mid∣dest of the Iustices causeth the Serieant so elect to bee brought in, to whom in the open Court he notifi∣eth the Kings pleasure touching the office of the Iustice then voide & cau∣seth the foresaid letters to be openly reade. Which done, the Master of the Rolles shall reade before the same elect person, the oath y^t he shal take, which when he hath sworne vp∣on the holy Gospell of God, the Lord Chancellor shall deliuer vnto him the Kings letters aforesaid, And the Lord Chiefe Iustice of the Courte shall assigne vnto him a

place in the same, where he shall then place him, & that place shall hee after∣ward kéepe. Yet you must know, most noble Prince, that this Iustice shall then among other thinges, sweare, that he shall indif∣ferently minister Iustice to all men, as well foes as friends, that shall haue a∣ny suite or plea before him, And this shall he not forbeare to do though the king by his letters, or by expresse word of mouth, would command the con∣trary. He shal also sweare y^t frō y^e time forward, hee shal not receiue or take a∣ny fee, or pēsiō, or liuery of any man but of the King only, nor any gift, reward or bribe of any man ha∣uing suite or Plea be∣fore him, sauing meate &

drink, which shal be of no great value. You shall al∣so knowe, that a Iustice, thus made, shall not be at the charges of any dinner or solemnity, or any other costes at the time when he taketh vpon him his Of∣fice and dignitie, Forso∣much as this is no degree in the facultie of the Law, but an office onely and a roome of authoritie, to cōtinue during the kings pleasure, Howbeit the ha∣bite of his raiment, he shal from time to time for¦warde, in some pointes change, but not all the ensignements thereof. For beeing a Serieaunt at Lawe, hee was cloa∣thed in a long roabe priest like, with a Furred Cape about his shoulders, and therevpon a Hood•• with

two Labels such as Doc∣tours of the Lawes vse to weare in certaine U∣niuersities, with the a∣boue described Quoyfe. But being once made a Iustice, in steede of his Hoode, hee shall weare a Cloake cloased vp∣pon his right shoulder, all the other Orna∣ments of a Serieaunt still remaining: sauing that a Iustice shall weare no partiae couloured Ve∣sture as a Serieaunt may, And his Cape is Fur∣red with none other then Meneuer, where∣as the Sereiaunts Cape is euer Furred with white Lambe. And this Habite I woulde wish your Grace to bring into highe estimation,

when it shall be in your power, for the worship of the state of the Law, & the honour of your Realme. Furthermore, I would ye should know, that the Iustices of Englande sit not in the kings courts a∣boue iij houres in a day, that is to say, from viij. of the clock in the forenoone til xj. complete, For in the afternoones, those courtes are not holdē or kept. But the Suters then resort to the perusing of their writ∣tings, & elsewhere consul∣ting with the Serieants at law, & other their Coū∣saylors▪ Wherefore the Iustices, after they haue taken their refection, doe passe & bestow all the resi∣due of the day in the study of the lawes, in reading of holy Scripture, and vsing

other kind of contempla∣tion at their pleasure, So that their life may seeme more contemplatiue then actiue. And thus doe they lead a quiet life, dischar∣ged of all worldly cares and troubles: And it hath neuer beene knowne, that any of them hath beene corrupt with gifts or bribes. Whereupon we haue seene this kinde of grace following, that skant any of them dieth without issue, which vn∣to iust men is a token of the great and peculiar blessing of God, And in mine opinion it is to bee iudged for no small point of the bountifull good∣nesse of God, that out of the generation of Iudges there haue hitherto sprung vp moe States and Peeers

of the Realme, then out of any other state of men: which by their owne wit & pollicy haue aspired vn∣to great wealth, nobilitie & honour. Yea though the state of Merchants sur∣mount the nūber of Iud∣ges by many thousands, being men of such singu∣lar wealth, that among them comonly there bee such, as one of them in riches passeth all the Iu∣stices of the Realme. For this cānot be ascribed vn∣to Fortune, which is no∣thing, But it is to bee at∣tributed (as I take it) on∣ly to the blessing of God. Forsomuch as by his pro∣phet he saith, that the ge∣neration of righteous men shalbe blessed. And y^e pro∣phet in an other place, spe∣king of iust men, saith,

that their children shal be in blessing. Wherefore, O most magnificēt Prince, be you in loue with Iustice, which thus enricheth, ex∣alteth to honor & aduāceth to perpetuity the children of thē that haue her in ve∣neration. And be you a ze¦lous louer of the Law, the very welspring of iustice, that by you it may be said y^t it is writtē of the righte∣ous, And their seede shall remaine for euer.