Liuie Sigonius against Plutarche and Xiphilinus the interpreter and abridger of Dio against his authour Dio reporteth a prodigious miracle which Xiphilinus altereth setting a new face vpon it and discrediting his authour Goe to the Grammarians you shall find seuen great Masters at variance about this one word Anticomarita Goe to the Philosophers there is great dissention and a diametrical repugnance of opinions amongest them there you shall see the Parepatetikes against the Academikes the Epicures against the Stoikes the Cyrenaikes against the Cynikes the Nominalles against the Reals the Carpentarians against the Ramistes Goe to the Schoole of the Phisitions you shall haue the like disagreement Galen against Hipocrates Auenroes against Galen Auicenna against Auenroes Paracelsus against them all and Erastus against him Will any man nowe condemne Historie Grammer Philosophie and Phisicke If not then it is euident that an Art or Science is not to bee reprooued because the writers thereof doe in opinion or argument disagree No more is the Law to be dispraised but rather to be liked for the varietie of opinions in it For as by the collision or beating together of Flint and Iron fire doth appeare So the truth is disclosed and made manifest by the conflict of reasons A man shall more easilie and discreetely iudge of thinges saith Aristotle If he haue hearde the reasons on both sides contending like aduersaries But if some men be more contentious in points of Law then others that is the fault of the men but not of the art The knowledge of the Law saith Cicero is not Litigious but the ignorance thereof And if a man should deferre his studie of any art or science vntill the writers thereof did fully and vnitedly consent It woulde bee as vaine a thing as if a man shoulde purpose his iourney from London to Yorke but shoulde make a vowe not to begin his iourney vntill all the clockes in London shoulde strike together Now that I haue remoued out of the way all such obiections as might be occasion of impediment and interruption to the student I thinke it not beside the purpose to prescribe and commend vnto him some speciall writers of the Law in the reading of which he may with aduantage and ouerplus bestowe his paines He that frameth himselfe to the studie of the Ciuil law may very profitably imploy his paines in reading of the Code Nouellaes and Pandectes which are necessarie for the profession Of the auncient writers I thinke these are most conuenient to be read Bartolus Baldus Paulus de castro Philippus Decius Alciatus Zasius Of the latter writers Budaeus Duarenus Cuiacius Hotomannus Donellus and amonge these yea aboue these him whom I lately named Albericus Gentilis who by his great industrie hath quickned the dead bodie the Ciuil Law written by the auncient Ciuilians and hath in his learned labours expressed the iudgement of a great state-man the soundnes of a deepe Philosopher and the skill of a cunning Ciuilian Learning in him hath shewed all her force and he is therefore admirable because he is absolute The common Lawe is for the most part contained in the bookes called the Annals of the Law or yere Bookes all which are to be read if the student will attaine to any depthe in the Law In them he shall see notable arguments well worthy of paines and consideration The two late reporters are Ma. Plowden and Sir Iames Dyer who by a seuerall and distinct kind of discourse haue both laboured to profit posteritie Some humors doe more fancie Plowden for his fulnes of argument and plaine kinde of proofe others doe more like Dyer for his strictnes and breuity Plowden may be compared to Demosthenes and Dyer to Phocion both excellent men of whome Plutarche reporteth that such things as were learnedly wittily copiouslie and with admiration dilated and deliuered at large by Demosthenes were shutte vp in fewe wordes compendiouslie recited and with admiration handled of Phocion There be certaine auncient writers of the Law namely Bracton Britton and Glanuille whom as it is not vnprofitable to reade so to relye vpon them is dangerous for most of that which they doe giue foorth for Law is nowe antiquated and abolished their bookes are monumenta adorandae rubiginis which bee of more reuerence then aucthoritie Ma. Fortescue in his writing sheweth a sharpe iudgement and in this is exquisite and artificiall that where hee endeuoreth to bee plaine he spareth not to be profound For he writ to a King who desired to haue intricate things plainly opened Ma. Littleton layde a sure foundation of the Law and by his owne booke hath deserued more praise theÌ„ many writers of note and name by their ample volumes out of the great bookes of the Lawe hee gathered the most speciall cases which were either generally agreed vpon or by the Court awarded to be Law or else in all ages receiued for positiue rules For very few there be throughout his whole treatise which may not be signed with one of these three markes his booke doubtlesse is of such singularity that Littleton is not now the name of a Lawyer but of the Law it selfe M. Fitzherbert must needes be commended for great paines and for well contriuing that which was confusedly mingled together in many yeere Bookes but he was more beholden to nature then to art and whilest he labâ—red to be iudiciall he had no precise care of methodicall pointes but as hee was in conceit slowe so hee was in conclusion sure and in the treatises which bee of his owne penning hee sheweth great iudgement sound reason much reading perfect experience and in the whole conueyance of his discourses giueth sufficient proofe that hee sought rather to decide then to deuise doubtful questions Mast Brooke is more polite and by popular and familiar reasons hath gained singuler credite and in the facilitie and compendious forme of abridginge Cases hee carieth away the garland But where Ma. Fitzherbert is better vnderstood he profiteth more and his Abridgement hath more sinewes though the other hath more vaines but I am â—oath to make them countermates and therefore leaue the iudgement thereof to others In Ma Parkins his booke be many commendable thinges deliuered by a readie conceit and pleasant methode many excellent cases which sauour of great reading and good experience his Treatise is to young Students acceptable and preciouse to whâ—m his verie faultes and errours be delightfull but it might bee wished that hee had written with lesse sharpenesse of witte so hee had discoursed with more depth of Iudgement For hee breaketh the force of weightie pointes with the shiuers of nice diuersities yet many thinges are to be allowed 〈◊〉 him many to be praised so that the readeâ— be carefull in his choice wherein he was too carelesse In Mast Stamforde there is force and weight and no common kinde of stile in matter none hath gone beyonde him in methode none hath ouertaken him in the order
which is common both to it and to fee simple the difference in quadam certitudine limitata by which it is distinguished from fee simple for that is non limitata sine certitudine and by this definition a man may know what a fee simple is and by the definition of fee simple what fee taile is so that the rules of arte are well obserued which are that Rectum est iudex sui obliqui and opposita iuxta se posita magis illucescunt Though the diuision or tenure of estate taile doth in the Table precedent consist of two members or two differences yet the especiall taile is deuided into more partes and that manner of deuiding is not contrary to the rules of methode for it is too much curiositie to exact in euery diuision two onely opposed essentiall differences and two distinct kindes There be three causes wherefore a diuision cannot be made by two differences First because of noe kind of thing both the essential differences cannot certainly bee knowen but the one of them wee doe expresse by a negatiue Secondly because that difference which wee set downe in the affirmatiue is not alway the true difference Thirdly because the diuerse nature of diuerse immediate kindes of one thing wil not alwaies permit a twofold diuision for though the diuision of Animal in hominem brutum bee bimembris and according to rigorous exaction yet sithe there be many kindes of brutish creatures some that swimme some that flye some that goe some that creepe and the particulars of these kindes doe differ in the quintessence of their nature surely to comprehend all these distinct thinges vnder two differences is not to be required because it is either impossible or a thing of exceeding difficultie But when things are to be handled by way of disputation as the arguing of cases which is of great vse in the lawe another methode and course must be vsed then hath bene taken in the framing of this Analysis for there the principall case must be fully set downe the points of â—awe orderly distinguished the reasons on the one part must be first set downe with answeres annexed vnto them then the reasons on the other part with answeres likewise in their due places and lastly the conclusion of the whole controuersie debated whether it were by iudgement adiournement or by the concord of the parties or by other speciall meane and for better direction herein I am desirous to profit others if I could I haue set downe an homely paterne according to the plaines of my conceit in the disposing and ordering of a case famous in our yeare bookes and of great weight and vse being the Prior of Mertons case being very often at large argued namely in the eightenth ninetenth twentith and twentie one yeares of the raigne of King Edward the fourth at seuerall times and was likewise touched the second yeare of Richard the third and all the contents of the arguments vpon this case deliuered as many as did concerne the principall points then in question for by matters are to be reposed in a seuerall place by themselues I haue brought into the compasse of a fewe lines if you respect the large leafes wherein they are handled Le case enter le Prior de Merton plaintife le Prior de Bingham defendant EN le 3. an de H. le 3. vn fine fuit leuie parenter le Prior de Merton pl. et le Prior de Bingham deforceant sur vn briefe de couent que fuit en ceux parolls cest le finall concorde pareÌ„ter le Prior de Merton querentem et le Prior de Bingham deforceantem de 5. Markes et v. sÌ„ rent cuÌ„ pertinentiis en S. et R. sur que vn brief de couenant fuit sumÌ„on enter eux que fuit que lauantdit Prior de Bingham acknowledge et grante pur luy et ses successors que touts iours apres ils payer chescun an al esglise de Merton pur les tenemeÌ„ts queux il tient del dit prior et pur les tenemeÌ„ts queux W. de W. ascun foits tient del dit Prior en les villages auantdits cinque markes et v. sÌ„ a deux termes dans pur touts suites et seruices et que il ferroit a le chiefe seignÌ„or del fee pur lauantdit Prior de M. et ses successors touts seruices queux apperteignont a les dits tenemeÌ„ts et pur cest graunt le dit Prior de M. grant pur luy et ses successors que ils violent garrantÌ„ al auantdit Prior de Bingham et ses successors touts lauantdits tenements pur les auantdits seruices contra omnes gentes sur que vient en le courte vn I. Prior de Merton et prya scire faci enuers W. Prior de Bingham dauer execution darrerages del dit rent que fueroÌ„t due en les ans darrein passe et il auoit et fuit returne c. a quel iour le Prior de Bingham vient eins et dit que le fine prooue le rente grant a le predecessors del pl. destre vn rent seruice on aâ—â—une auter rent issuant hors de terre et nemy vn annuitie per que entant que il auoit acknowledge que cest rent fuit execute il doit auer vn Assise ou Distres et nemy vn brief que est en nature de briefe dannuitie et sur cest ils demurront Les quaestions de ley 1. Si le fine fuit bien leuie 2. Si le rent soit vn annuitie 1. Negat Que le fine ne fuit bien leuie Littleton Fines he sont bon eâ—â—eant leuies de choses queux ne sont in rerum natura al temps del fine leuie et le rent de que cest fine fuit â—euâ—e ne fuit in esse al temps peâ— que c. Brian Ceo ne besoigne Car si ieo auoy in Islington 20. li. rent issuant de terres de twentie homes per seuerall grauntes si ieo graunt per fine a vous 20. li. rent hors de lour terres ou tenements in Islington vous naueres 20. li. rent queur ieo auoy in Islington mes vous aueres vn nouell rent mes est diuersitie ou le chose de que le fine est destre leuie gist en demesne et ou nemy Car lou gist en demesne la doit estre in esse al temps del fine leuie come si ies leuie fine de mon terre en dale lou ieo nauera ascun terre en dale cest fine est voide mes de chose que poit issuer hors de terre vn fine poit estre leuie coment que ne soit in rerum natura come de rent ou common in dale ou en fait il nauoit ascun common ou rent in dale al temps c. mes sil auoit common in grosse en 〈◊〉 le ville et graunt a
which we call aequum bonum which in plaine termes is nothing else but perfect reason should be comprehēded and deliuered in certaine generall preceptes and Plato alleageth this for a reason because it is necessarie that there should be Regia disciplina a princely science for he suteth it with that name which may by a generall censure order and dispose of all things without regard of euery particular circumstance For the certaine knowledge of matters it is good that the law should be bounded by certaine rules limits For a mā could not certainly know what were his owne and what an other mans vnles the Law should as it were by finger point shew vnto him what when and howe it were his and therefore true is that saying of Cicero Omnia incerta sunt cum a iure discessum est If you depart from Law there is no certain state of any thing And his opinion is in an other place that our inheritance rather cōmeth to vs by the law then by our auncestors for though they doe giue is or leaue it vnto vs yet it is the law which doth settle it in vs and doth preserue the possession thereof free and inviolate vnto vs. Wherefore it is to good purpose that the Law should be definite in it selfe and should consist of certaine conclusions which should be as the listes and periodes of the science by the contemplation of which a man may be instructed and sufficiently furnished for particuler causes and euents For the particuler case lyeth as it were embowelled and is implicatiuely contayned in the generall learning and there is nothing in the Law which may not be reduced vnto some vniuersall theoreme which may easily be conceyued and remembred because it is generall And though the professors of the Law doe make-particuler arguments of speciall causes and do admire examples or cases to the illustrating of that which they do principally handle yet the Law it selfe is comprised within certaine rules Neyther ought it to trouble vs that the Law bookes are so huge large and that there is such an ocean of reportes and such a perplexed confusion of opinions because the science it selfe is short and easie to one that is diligent according to that saying Industriae omnia serua fiunt All thinges are seruants to diligence or come at her commaund and artes ar not to be estemed by the greatnes or smalnes of the books but by the goodnes of their rules And though the lawes which do vind mens liues maners ought to be vnderstood of all that their prescript being knowen men may decline frō that which is for biddē follow that which is commaunded yet that may be done either by their own means or by the meanes of others if a mans braine be no fit mould for the Law let an other mans mouth be his teacher Hence commeth the name of Counsailor because in doubtful causes he may resolue giue counsel Whereby appeareth aswell the necessity as the excellent vse of the calling for what can be more conuenient or of better oportunitie then that a man of experience should shew the way to one that is ignorant It is therfore expediēt that there should be lawes written that such lawes should not be altered without vrgent occasion for it is a fonde part to striue against the course stream of lawes customes receiued A great question it hath bin heretofore whether common weales were better gouerned by written Lawes or by the present voluntary conceit of the Magistrate This matter because religion it selfe hath committed ciuil duties to the wisdome and ordering of man ought to be measured by the examples of wise gouernors by popular sense What good cōmon weal hath there euer bin without written Lawes which haue bin vsed by the Egyptians Cretensians Athenians Romanes Iewes The writing or the engrauing of lawes in Tables is a principall cause of the certainty of the same without certainty it should be of smal credit for what authority or force should it haue if it did alwaies change like the Moone or like Vertumnus but when causes ar decided by the opinion wil of the Magistrate the power of gouermēt may be in the hands of such as be vnskilful or wicked so either for want of skil or conscience Iustice may faile of her course How often might the pretēce shew of iustice beguile vs how often might iustice be peruerted by fauor or malice But if Lawes were not generall should not sometimes restrain Magistrates gouernors great inconueniēce would ensue euen as great as happened in Athens by the violent domination of the 30. tirants who when they had cancelled disadnulled the Lawes did exercise a common butchery and slaughter of good men Wherfore as in dangerous tempestes the ship is not rashly cōmitted to the winds but there is neede of a skilful Pylot by cunning carefulnes to gouern so the wauering passionate mind of the Magistrate must be ballassed and weighed downe by Law least his own priuate affections do driue him from doing Iustice as from the hauen Aristotle affirmeth that God ruleth that common weale which is gouerned by a written Law because the Lawes are the champions and defenders of conuenient libertie then which there is nothing more pleasant in this life for what thing can be more happy then to be free from the feare of iniury safely to inioy the societie of men and therefore he would not haue the gouerment of the common weale to be committed to any one man though very vertuous without the regiment and direction of Lawes Neither let any man say that I do sinisterly iudge of the natures dispositions of men in that I accompt no man of so approued and speciall vertue and fidelity that the mannaging of common affaires may be offered vnto him to order them at his will and pleasure without the appointment warrant of lawes surely I could wish that euery gouernor were a Numa But yet I would haue the law to be ioyned with the Magistrate in the act of gouerment Neither do I fancy or figure in my minde any happier common weale then such as may accord with the tenor and progresse of humaine affaires If a man should imagine that the aucthoritie of gouerment were in the handes of the Stoikes such as would neither be moued by hatre nor fauour though they in other respects were very vnfit to gouerne how shall their humors be satisfied who had rather be gouerned by written lawes then by vpright Magistrates for such is the madnes and frowardnes of some that they wil not be contented with the equitie and faithfull dealing of the Iudges but will still contend by the rigor and dint of law and will trie all extremitie being often times more at iarres at oddes with the Iudges then with the aduerse partie here the aucthority of Iudges will be weak vnlesse the
of his writing hee is smoothe but yet sharpe pleasant but yet graue famous both for Iudgement in matters of his profession and for his great skill in forraigne learning And surely his methode may bee a Law to the writers of the Law which shall succeede him Ma. Rastall for his long and laborious trauaile in collecting matters of weight and moment which lay dispersed and reducing them to a conuenient forme hath deserued neuer to be forgotten And I know not whether I may more iustly commende him for his greatnesse of knowledge or for the largenes of his books and labours or for his speciall care of doing things exactly In Ma Theloall his Digest of writs diligence and desire to profit is eminent He endeuored to be like M. Stamford but he is so farre distant from the delightfull progresse of his stile and methode that he may seeme to haue liued in some other age a long time before Ma. Stamford But as his strength was lesse so his labour was equal For in handling one title of the Law he hath dealt so painefully that no point can be named concerning that Title which he hath not discussed nay to giue him right hath not fully discussed Ma. Lambards paines learning and Law appeare by his bookes which are conducted by so curious methode and beawtified by such flowers of learning that he may wel be forted amoÌ„gst them to whom the Law is most beholden His stile runneth like a teÌ„perate streame his excellent knowledge and vse of antiquities argueth no small reading and a singuler conceit He hath bin so vniuersally beneficiall to the whole Realme that whosoeuer despiseth his workes bewraieth himselfe M. Crompton hath taken great paines in this studie and his bookes are in euery mans handes which prooueth their generall allowance his cases are verie profitable and apt for the title to which they are applyed and so compendiously collected that a man may by them in few houres gaine great knowledge Certaine Rules to be obserued of the Student in the reading of his bookes The fourth Chapter NO actions haue good successe which be rashly and ex abrupto vndertaken wythout direction for where aduise faileth there fortune is blind and not in other cases and it is farre greater trauaile to atchiue any matter of difficultie by selfe labour then by the prescription and instruction of others Wherefore it shall not be inconuenient to propose certaine rules by which the Student may hold an euen course in the study of the Law In the vnderstanding of the Law the Student must not vary or depart from the proper sense signification of the words vnles therby some absurditie inconuenieÌ„ce or vniustice may appeare for otherwise the propertie of wordes is strictly to be maintained reteyned Therfore let him be diligent to search out the proper sense of wordes for as Celsus saith Scire leges non est verba earum tenere sed vim et proprietatem To know the Law is not to know the wordes of the law but the force and property of the wordes for wordes are as it were seruants to things because they were first inuented for the plain perfect discription of things for though nature do make soundes yet industrie doth coyne words without which our vnderstanding might be contemplatiue but not practicall for without them the vnderstanding is in maner bound or maimed because without freenes of speech and plentie of wordes it can not display it selfe nor extend his force to the opening discouerie of any mean matter And as art maketh the mind to speak so the mind or vnderstanding maketh art to write Certaine it is that without words a mans meaning may not be certainly knowen Of wordes some be artificiall some inartificiall Inartificiall are those which the common or vulgar sort of men do vse for the deliuerie declaration of theyr intentions and meanings seruing not for the illustrating of artes and sciences but only for mutual conference betwixt man man Artificiall are these which the inuentors of artes haue deuised for acquainting the mind with the rules mysteries of their arts because words fitly accomodatly vsed are the verie images and representations of thinges which do lead the vnderstanding as it were by the hand to the apprehension perfect knowledge of the thinges them selues wherefore in this respect diligence must be vsed of the Student 2 Where the Law is obscure that sence must be taken which is least preiudiciall for euery perfect speech of man consisteth of two thinges of wordes and of meaning and when both the wordes meaning are plaine and manifest he that doubteth of any thing is rather foolish then curious But when the wordes be directly repugnant to the meaning the whole proposition or assertion is meerely voide Obscuritie in writing or speaking is when the sense can not be gathered 1. by that which of the most part of men is vsually done 2. nor by that which was vsually done by him that vttered the wordes 3. nor by the custome of the countrie 4. nor by the common vse of speech 5. nor by the prâ—misses nor by the â—â—quel And therefore if a man will hyre workmen and will couenant wyth them that he will giue them as much as other men of the same village or parish if some giue by day iii. pence some vi pence some ii pence the couenantor in this case shall giue but ii pence because in obscuris quod minimum est sequimur Otherwise it had bin if it had bin plainly expressely said as much as any other man of the said village or parish So if a man promise vpon good consideration to giue to euery of the Canons of a Cathedrall church a quarter of Wheat euery yere and the number of the Canons be augmented yet the graunt is restrained to that number which was at the time of the grant Yet the Law doth sometime construe deuises by mediocritie As if a man deuise to one two cuppes for his table without expressing the mettall whereof they shall be made they shall neither be of gold as the best mettall nor pewter as the baser mettall but of Siluer as a mettall betwixt both But that is because euery deuise ought to be interpreted for the benefit of the deuisee yet as neere the meaning as farre from the preiudice of the deuisor as may be Therefore in deuises not words but meaning is followed a transposing of the wordes may be vsed if the meaning require confused thinges must be distinguished generalitie restrained seuered things must be conioyned implied things must be explicated But in bargaines contractes we must not respect so much that which was meant as that which is spoken because bargaines do properly consist in facto therefore in matters of contract a mans will is rather gathered by his wordes then by his meaning for propositum in mente retentum nihil operatur and as the wordes do
consideration then to deale warily where there is great danger to any partie that a man may not rashly determin of a mans credit bloud or life sith these things be of that qualitie that being once lost they cā neuer be repaired But to know whether things be fauorable or odious the things are not to be cōsidered in thēselues but theffects which proceed of thē as dower is fauored in respect of the widowhood desolatenes of the woman whose husband is deceassed 6 It must likewise be obserued that when a thing is forbidden all things that follow therof are likewise forbidden as on the contrary part when a thing is granted all things are implicatiuely graunted with it whereby we may attaine to the thing graunted and if the beginning of things be forbidden the end also is forbidden according to the rule Qui meditatur principiū meditatur etiā finem and things are principally forbidden for the end to which they are directed But here a distinction is to be vsed for where the consequēt is of it self auaileable and doth not necessarily depend vpon the power and vertue of the antecedent it may be of force though the antecedent be forbidden for then it is without the cause of the prohibition but if it depend essentially vpon the antecedent it is otherwise For the better vnderstanding of this rule it is good to be seene what may properly be sayd a principall thing and what an accessorie That is principall which is of greatest moment an accessorie thing is that which by consequence goeth with the principall If the Queene graunt vnto one Cognitionem causae her highnes graunteth vnto him the hearing of the parties and the examination of witnesses So the margarites or pretious stones that be in gold or siluer do yeeld vnto it and do passe with it because they are but the ornaments thereof and were applied to the decking and beawtifying of it An accessorie briefely may be taken to be that which is adioyned to a thing and is lesse then the thing to which it is annexed either in substance or in valew or in respect both of substance and valew 7 The validitie of an act must be especially fauored vnlesse there be a manifest nullitie in the proceeding Therefore whensoeuer the nullitie of an act shall appeare by the proceeding of the parties which is sayd to be euident and notorious and excluding all cauill it is to be held as voyd but if the nullitie proposed do not so appeare but requireth a deeper search because many times error is obiected that the Sute may be protracted there consideration must bee vsed But in doubtfull causes interpretation must bee so made that the acte may rather stand then fall But the obiection of error is alway to be fauored when the error assigned doth concerne the figure solemnitie of iudgement And therefore he that will dispute of the validitie of an award or iudgement ought to be warie and carefull that he put the axe to the roote and that he first examin the iurisdiction and power of the Iudge because that being the basis and foundation of the iudgement if that fall the rest cannot stand It is therefore to be cōsidered whether he were a competēt Iudge by reason of the cause of the parties of the time and the place For by reason of the sute or cause a Iudge may be incompetent as if the cause belong to a meere iurisdiction and the Iudge be only a Magistrate in a certaine corporation or if the cause be ciuill and the Iudge who taketh connusans of it be Iudge of Gaole deliuerie or if the Iudge be secular and the cause Ecclesiasticall or if the Iudge haue some other limited iurisdiction and he taketh connusans of a cause not cōprehended within the lists bounds of his commission he may be incompetent also by reason of the place as if he iudge of causes without his territorie or circuite or els within his territorie but yet in a place exempted he may be incompetent by reason of the time as if he did iudge before he had his commission or after his commission expired or if his iurisdiction were suspended as at festiuall times which wee call dies non iuridicos or at such a time when a greater Iudge was present or if the Iudge were called to a higher place or if he were forbidden to exercise his power And also the person qualitie of the partie is to be considered because some by reason of a legall impedimēt are vncapeable of the aduantidge of lawe as these that are outlawed excommunicate and out of the Queenes protection And there can be no fast roote or sure ground of their proceedings for such are to be denied audience because their offence default ought not to find patronage Likewise there may be a default in the party making an Attorney as if he could not make an Attorney in that cause or else by reason of the Attorney himselfe as if he be vncapeable of such an office as being not lawfulby aucthorised But if a iurisdiction be giuen and graunted to one it is to be intended to be giuen him accumulatiue non priuatiue rather to enlarge then to diminish his power And though a Iudge of the Gaole deliuery being appointed and ordained by commission to the hearing of causes criminall may not principally inquire of causes ciuill and pecuniarie because it is a Iurisdiction limitted yet incidently and as it were by the way for the better examining of capitall crimes hee may take notice of such things But if the processe and iudgement bee framed against one who is not onely not subiect to his iurisdiction but is also free from the iurisdiction of euery man liuing as if the partie be dead concerning whome no acte can be conceiued or vpheld the Iudgement is voide Thus haue I shewed to the Student in so generall manner as the order of this treatise doth require and likewise so particularly as to his vnderstanding may be playne and manifest what course hee ought to take in examining the cases reasons opinions arguments proceedings and iudgements whereof he shall finde great store and aboundance in his bookes Now I will by fauour discend to describe and delineate vnto him briefely for it is a matter which may be handled plainely and in fewe wordes what course hee ought to obserue in the exercise of his studie Of the exercise and conference which the Student of the lawe ought to vse The fifth Chapter EVery art and knowledge produceth effects and like a good weapon is vnsheathed vsed in time conuenient otherwise it would be quickly ouercast and eaten with rust But there is nothing that with so much brightnes and glory illustrateth our knowledge as the orderly and iudiciall applying and accommodating of that which we haue read For as a man knoweth by his bookes so he is known by his practise and by that which he