And hence it was, That in those elder Times, the Profits of those County Courts for which the Sheriff answered in his Farm, de Proficuis Comitatus; also Fines were levied there, and post Fines, and Fines Pro licentia concordandi, and great Fines there answered; Fines Pro lnquisitionibus habendi, Fines for Misdeameanors, tho' called Amerciaments, arose to great Sums, as will appear to any who shall peruse the ancient Viscontiels.
But, as I said before, the Business of Inferior Courts grew gradually less and less, and consequently their Profits and Business of any Moment came to the Great Courts, where they were dispatch'd with greater Justice and Equality. Besides, the greater Courts observing what Partiality and Brocage was used in the inferior Courts, gave a pretty quick Ear to Writs of false Judgment, which was the Appeal the Law allowed from erroneous Judgments in the County Courts; and this, by Degrees, wasted the Credit and Business of those inferior Courts.
3dly, That the Distinction between the King's-Bench and Common-Bench, as to the Point of Communia Placita, was not yet, nor for some Time after, settled; and hence it is, that frequently in the Time of King John, we shall find that Common Pleas were held in B. R. yea, in Mich. & Hill. 13 Johannis, a Fine is levied coram iPso Rege, between Gilbert Fitz Roger and Helwise his Wife, Plaintiffs, and Robert Barpyard Tenant of certain Lands in Kirby, &c.
And again, whereas there was frequently a Liberty granted anciently by the Kings of England, and allowed, Quod non implacitetur nisi coram Rege, I find inter Placita de diversis Terminis secundo Johannis, That upon a Suit between Henry de Rochala, and the Abbot of Leicester before the Justices de Banco, the Abbot pleaded the Charter of King Richard I. Quod idem Abbas pro nullo respondeat nisi coram ipso Rege vel Capitali Justitiario suo; and it is ruled against the Abbot, Quia omnia Placita quae coram Justic. de Banco tenentur, coram Domino Regi vel ejus Capitali Justitiario teneri intelliguntur. But this Point was afterwards settled by the Statute of Magna Charta, Quod Communia Placita non sequantur Curiam nostram.
4thly. That the four Terms were then held according as was used in After-times with little Variance, and had the same Denominations they still retain.
5thly. That there were oftentimes considerable Sums of Money, or Horses, or other Things given to obtain Justice; sometimes 'tis said to be, Pro habenda Inquisitione ut supra, and inter Placita incertitemporis Regis Johannis. The Men of Yarmouth against the Men of Hastings and Winchelsea, Afferunt Domino Regi tres Palsridos, & *** Asturias Narenses ad Inquisitionem habendam Per Legales, &c. and frequently the same was done, and often accounted for in the Pipe-Rolls, under the Name of Oblata; and to remedy this Abuse, was the Provision made in King John's and King Hen. 3d's Charters, Nulli Vendemus Justitiam ivel Rectum. But yet Fines upon Originals being certain, having continued to this Day, notwithstanding that Provision; but those enormous Oblata before mentioned, are thereby remedied and taken away.
6thly, That in all the Time of King John, the Purgation Per Ignem & Aquam, or the Trial by Ordeal, continued as appears by frequent Entries upon the Rolls; but it seems to have ended with this King, for I do not find it in Use in any Time after:
Perchance the Barbarousness of the Trial, and Persuasions of the Clergy, prevailed at length to antiquate it, for many Canons had been made against it.
7thly, In this King's Time, the Descent of Socage as well as Knight's Service Lands to the eldest Son prevailed in all Places, unless there was a special Custom, that the Lands were partible inter Masculos;. and therefore, Mich. secundo Johannis, in a rationabili Parte Bonorum, by Gilbert Beville against William Beville his elder Brother for Lands in Gunthorpe, the Defendant pleaded, Quod Nunquam Parita Vel Partibilia fuere; and because the Defendant could not prove it, Judgment was given for the Demandant: And by Degrees it prevail'd so, that whereas at this Time the Averment came on the Part of the Heir at Law, that the Land nunquam Parita Vel Partibilis extetit; in a little Time after the Averment was turn'd on the other Hand, viz. That tho' the Land was Socage, yet unless he did aver and prove that it was Partita & Partibilis, he failed in his Demand.
Thirdly, The third Instance of the Progress of King John's Reign, in Relation to the Common Law, was his settling the same in Ireland, which he made his more immediate and particular Business: But hereof we shall add a particular Chapter by itself, when we have shewn you what Proceedings and Progress was made therein in the Time of Edw. I. The many and great Troubles that fell upon King John and the whole Kingdom, especially towards the latter End of his Reign, did much hinder the good Effect of settling the Laws of England, and consequently the Peace thereof, which might have been bottom'd, especially upon the Great Charter. But this Unfortunate Prince and Kingdom were so entangled with intestine Wars, and with the Invasion of the French, who assisted the English Barons against their King, and by the Advantages and Usurpations that the Pope and Clergy made by those Distempers, that all ended in a Confusion with the King's Death.
I come therefore to the long and troublesome Reign of Hen. 3who was about nine Years old at his Father's Death; he being born in Festo sancti, Remigii 1207, and King John died in Festo sancti Lucae, 1216, and the young King was crown'd the 28th of October, being then in the tenth Year of his Age, and was under the Tutelage of William Earl-Marshal.
