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Show A fropofition;a to11ching tiJe Cot11piling_ ;· _ _ Ed the saxon King, collected, the Lawes of this Kingdome, and gave;ga;hem the Strength, of a Faggot bound, which formerly were dif perfed. . .. The statuJes, of King Edward, the Fufr, were fundament~ll ? But I doubt I err, in producing fo many Examples; For) as Ctcero faith to C.Pfar,. fo may.I fay, to your Majefly: Nil Vulgare te Dignum Videri poffit. obj. 3. In this purging, of the courfe, of the Common Lawer, and statutes much good may be taken away. Refp In ;11 Purging (orne good Humourr, may pafs away; But that, is.largely recompenfed, by Lightning, the Body, of much bad. . b . · h obj. 4. Labour were better befiowed, tn rmgtng t e C om'!lon Lawes of England to a Text Law, as the Statutes are; And fettmg, both ~f them do~n, in Method, and by Titles. . Rejp. It is too long a Bufineffe, to debate? whethe~ Lex Scr1p_ta, aut non scripta, A Text Law, or Cuflomes w~ll reg1frred, With received, and approved Grou'!dr, and .Max1me.r> and ACts~ and R.efolutions Judiciall, from Time to Ttme, duely entred., ~t)d reponed · Be the better Form , of Declaring, and Authonzmg, Lt!Wes: 1~ was the principall Reafon, or Oracle, of Lycurgm ; That none of his Lawes, fhouid be written. Cnjiomu,are L11wes written in' Living Tables: And fome Traditi01u, the church doth not dif;uthorize. In all Sciences.., they are the foundefi, that keep clofe to P~trticul11rs; And fure I am, there are more Doubts, that rife upon our statutes, which are a Text Law, then upon the Common Law, which is no Text Lar:Q. But, howfoever that.Q!.le· fiion be determined, I dare not advife to cafr the Law, to~o a new Mould. The work, which I propound.otendeth to proy?mg, and Grafdng, the Law ; And not, to Pl~w up and rlant~ng 1t again: for fuch a Remove, I fhould hold, tndeed, for a penllous Innovation. d obj. 5. It will turn the Judger, CounfellorsofLaw, and St11 ents of Law, tofcqoole again; And maketh~m, ~o f~ek, what they fball hold, and advife for Law; And, tt wtll .Impofe, a new cbarge,u pon all Lawyers, to furnHh themfelves, With new Bool{es of Law. . h L b 1 Rejp. FortheFormerofthofe, touchmgt e new a Gu.r; t is true, it would follow, if the Law, were new m<;mlded, mto a Text Law· For then Men muft be new to begin: And that=> is one of;he Reafons: for which, I difal1ow that Co~rfe. · But in the way that I fuall now propound, the ent1re Body, an~ subflance of Law ' iball remain ; On ely difcharged, of I dJe, an Unprofitable, o~ Hurtfull, Matter·: and Illufrrat~d, by .Order, and other Helps, towards the better Underftandtng of It, a~d I] udgement the,reu pqn,. For ------- and Amendment oft he LaweJ of England~ For. the La~ter, touching the n ew chttrge {) it is not worth the fpeak1ng of, In a matter, of fo high importance· lt mou ht have been ufed,oftbe NenP Tranjlation) of the Bible a~d fuch lf5k. Wor/zes.Book_es mull: follow Sciences, and not Scienc:s~Boo/zeJ. 1 e The ~ork it Self; And the Way to Reduce, And Recornpile, the Lawes of England. T~ IS Work, is to be done, (to ufe fome few words which IS the Language of IJ{}ion, and EjfefJ,) in this manner.' lt conGfieth of two parts: The Digeji:, or Recompiling, of the Common Lawes: And that oftheStaf1ttes. In the firfi of thefe, Three Things are to be done. I. The Compll~ng of a Book_e, De AntiquitlltihtU Jltrh'. . 2. The Red11cmg, or PerfeBing, of the Cnur:fe, or Corpt, of the Common Lawu. 3. ~he Com poling, of certain Introdutlive,and Auxiliary Book_es touchtng the Study, of the ~wcs. · ' For the fir~ o[ thefe.All Auncient Records, in your Tower, or elfe where, Contatntog Acts of Parliament, Lords Pdtents, Commi.Jlionsi and Judgements, and the like, are to be Searched Peru fed and Weigbed. And out of thefe, are to be felected thofe that ~re of rnofr Worth, and Weight; And in order of Time not of Titles (for the J?Ore Conforntity? with the Teare-Bflo/zes ;) td be fet Down: and Regtfired? 1_{-arely~ In h.eec ~erba; But fummed with Jndgement, not omitting any matenall part : Thefe are to be ufed for ReverendPrejidents, but not for Binding Authorities. ~ For the Second, which is the Maine; There is tQ be made· a perfect Courfe, of the Law, in Ser~e Temporh_, orTeare·Book_es, (As ~~call ther.n,) fi·om Edward the Fufr, to thts Day; In the Collipzlzng, ofthts Courfe, of Law, or Tetfre.Book_er, The points follow-mg, are to be obferved. . Firlt, all Cafes, which are, at this DJy, clearely, no L•w; bu.i conltantly ruled , to the contrary, are to be left out : They do but fill the Yolumu, an? fea~on the Wits of Students, in a contrary fenfe of Law. And fo hkewtfe,all Ctifes,wherein that is folemnly and long debated, whereof there is now no Quefiion at ~H,are t~ be entred, as }ud.2,ements only, and Refolutions; But without the· Argununt~, which are now become but frivolous: Yet for the Obfervatton,ofthe deeper fort of Lawyer.r,that they may fee,bow : the Law hath alte~ed, out of which they may pick fometimes good ufe; l doadvtfe; That upon tlle firfr in time, ofthofeobfo. lete Cafes, there were a..Memo1·andumfet 5 That, at that time, ·the . . L~w |