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Show A Fropojition, touching the Compiltng,And Amendment,_ R.efp. For the Comparifon; with Forraine L~we.r~it is in vaine,~o fpeak ofit; For men w._ll never agree~h_o_ut Jt. Our Lawyers, v~ll maintain ' for our Municzpall .L a.w es; Ctvzlzans, schollars, 'lravazl- lers will be of the other OptnH n. But Certain it is, that our Lawes, as they !l<?W fiand, are fubjeet to great Incertainties, and variety of Opmwn, Ddayes, and Evafions; Whereof enfueth. . . 1. That the Multiplicity, and length ofSuttes, .ts great. 2. That the Contentious Perfon :~ is armed, and the Honefr Subject, Wearied=» and Opprdfed. . ,. 3· That the judge, is more Abfolute; Who,1n doubtiull Cafe~, hath a greater firoak,and Liberty. ' 4• That the chancery Ceurts, are more filled, the Remedy o . Law, being of~en obfcure, and doubtfull. . 5· That the 1gnorant Lawy_er,ilirowdeth h1s Ignorance of Law, in that, doubts are fo frequent, a 1d mar.y. 6. That Mens Ajfora~tces, of their Lards, and Eflatu, by Patents, Deedes, Wills, are often fubj ect to(, (m, and hollow; And man~ the like lnconvenie~dc~ . ... 1 It ts a good Rule~ and ~.HeC:+t n · t' o r t '.at ~]1 Lawes, Sec1Jndum Magh & Milun, do parttcipa ~ o' ! tl ·ert:'J .. t ie-s,) That. followeth: Mark, whether the D oubt , t h .1 t .-,r,fe, .tr~ ~ onl y, In Cafes of Ordinary Experience) Or, which 'a pen not ~very day? If in the firfi Only impute ·t "o fnilty, of M.m, ioreGght-, that cannot re:ch by'Law,ro all Cafes: u ifin the La .er; be ~nn <'a, there is a faul~ in the Law. Ofr is, T fay no more, but, th t~ (fo give every Man his Due,) Had it not been, for Sr. Edw. rd Co()l{cs Reports" (which,though they may have Errors, and fome peremptorys a~d Extr~judi~ialt~dolu tions,_more the are.warranted: Yet they contatne :> 1nfintte good Decijions, and R11lt11gs over, vf c.zfes.) The Law by this Time, had been, almofi, like a Ship, without ballafi; F~r that the CafesJ ofModern Experience, ate fled from thofe, that are adjudged, and ruled;in Former time. But the Neceffity, of this IVorfze> is yet greater, in the Statute_ Law. For Firft, there are a number)of Enfnaring,PenaU Lawes,which lay upon t~e sub jell; And if, in bad times, they iliould be a waked, and put m Execution, would grinde them to powder. There is a learned Civilian, that expoundeth, the Cur(e of the Prophet: Fluet foper eo1 Laqueos, ofMultitude, of Penal! Lawes: Which are worfe, then ihowres of Bayle, or Tempell, upon Cattle; for they fall upon Men. There are fome Penal/ Lawes, fit to be retained, but their Penalty too great, And it is ever a Rule, that any over great Penalty, ( beudes the Acerbity of it,) deads the Execution of the Law. There is a further Inconvenience,of Penal/ Lawu, obfolete, and out ofVfe; For that it brings a Gangrene, Neglell, and Habite ?ifo· bedtencs) of ihe LttweJ of England; hed-ie-n-ce_,_u_p_o_n_o-th_e_r w holefome Lawes, tha_t_a_re_fi_t -to-be-c-on- t i-n-u· cd, in Prallife, and Execution: ~o that our Lar.ve1, endure the Tor-ment of lUezentiM. . 7 he living die in the Armes of the dead. Lafily, there is, fuch an Accumulati~n, _of Statute,, concerning one m~trer ;_ And they fo croife, and I~tncate, as the Certainty ot" Law, ts lofr In the f.Ieape; As your Majefly, had Experience Jafi day,upon the Point: Whether the Incend1ary ofNew-marftet th~uld have the benefit, of his clergy. , Obj. r. That it is a great Innovation; And Innovations) are dan- , geroM, beyond forefight. Rejp.All Purgings,and Medecines, either in the Civile~ or Naturali Body) are Innovations. So as that Argume~tt is a Common pl~ce a.: gainfi all Noble Reformtttions .But the troth is,t'hat this work,ought not to be termed, or held, for any Innovation, in the fufpected fenfe. Fort hofe are the Innovations, which are quarrelled and fpoken againfr1 that concern the Confdences Eitates and Fortunes, of particular perfons: But this ofG~neral Ordinance, pricketh not particulars, but palfeth Sine Strcpitt~. BeG des it is on ~h.e favourable part: For it cafeth, it prdleth not : And'Iafi .. ly,tt ts, rather, m.atter, of order, and explanation, then of Altera .. tion. Neither is this, 'without Prefidcnt, in former Govern- · ~~ } ' The Ronuns,by their Decemvir1, did make their Twelve Tables; But that was, indeed, a new Ena{Jing,or Con.ftituting,of Lawes,Not a Regiflring, or Recompiling: And they were made, out of the .Lawu, of the Grcecians, not out of their ownCuflomes. In Athens, they had Sexvir :> which were fran ding Commijfionerr, to watch, and todifcern, whatLawe.r, waxed unproper for . the Time; And what new Law, did, in ~my branch, crofie a' former Law3 and fo, Ex officio, propounded their R.epeale3. J King Lewis, the 1 1 tA. of France,had it in his intention, to have made, one perfite, and uniform, Law, out of the Civil Law Roman, and the Povincial!Cuflomes) of France. ]uflinian, the Emperour, by Commiffions, diret1:ed, to divers perfons, Learned in the Lawes, reduced the Roman Lawes, fr0m Va.ftnefl of Volume, and a Labyrinth o£ incertaiotit;s, Unto that courfe, of the Civil! Law, which is now in ufe. I lind, here at home, of late years, That King Henry the 8ch. in the Twenty fev~nth of his Raign, was authorized,by Parliament) to nominate Thuty two Commiffioner,, part Ecclejiaflicall, partTemporall, to purge' the Canon J.,aw, and to make it agrecrable, to the Law o ~od, and the Law, of the Realm; And the fame was revived, In the Fourth year) of Edward the 6th. though neither rook e1fecr. · For the Lawe.r of Lycurgur, Solon, Ninos, and others,. of . ancient time, they are not the worfe, becaufe Grammer'Schollars fp~ak of them. But things too ancient, wax Children, with us a~ gam. N·n 2 Edgar -~-----.: |
