No. XIII. 16 & 17 Car. II. c. 8. In what cases execution shall not be stayed by writ of error, but upon recognizance entered according to 3 Jac. I. c. 8. Proviso touching judgment in dower and ejectione firma. Towhat actions this Act shall not extend. leged, whereunto the plaintiff might have demurred and shewn the same for cause; nor for want of the averment of hoc paratus est verificare; or for hoc paratus est verificare per recordum; or for not alleging prout patet per recordum; or for that there is no right venue, so as the cause were tried by a jury of the proper county or place where the action is laid (1); nor any judgment after verdict, confession by cognovit actionem, or relicta verificatione, shall be reversed for want of misericordia or capiatur; or by reason that a capiatur is entered for a misericordia, or a misericordia is entered where a capiatur ought to have been entered; nor for that ideo consessum est per curiam is entered for ideo consideratum est per curiam; nor for that the increase of costs after a verdict in any action, or upon a nonsuit in replevin, are not entered to be at the request of the party for whom the judgment is given; nor by reason that the costs in any judgment whatsoever are not entered to be by consent of the plaintiff; but that all such omissions, variances, defects, and all other matters of like nature, not being against the right of the matter of the suit, nor whereby the issue or trial are altered, shall be amended (2), by the justices or other judges of the courts where such judgments are or shall be given, or whereunto the record is or shall be removed by writ of error. II. Provided always, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That this Act, or any thing therein contained, shall not extend to any writ, declaration, or suit of appeal of felony or murder, nor to any indictment or presentment of felony, murder, treason, or other matter, nor to any process upon any of them; nor to any writ, bill, action, or information upon any penal statute, other than concerning customs and subsidies of tonnage and poundage; any thing in this Act contained to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding. III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the twentieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred sixty and four, no execution shall be stayed in any of the aforesaid courts by writ of error or supersedeas thereupon, after verdict and judgment thereupon, in any action personal whatsoever, unless a recognizance, with condition according to the statute made in the third year of the reign of our late Sovereign Lord King James, shall be first acknowledged in the court where such judgment shall be given; And further that in writs of error to be brought upon any judgment after verdict in any writ of dower, or in any action of ejectione firma, no execution shall be thereupon or thereby stayed, unless the plaintiff or plaintiffs in such writ of error shall be bound unto the plaintiff in such writ of dower, or action of ejectione firma, in such reasonable sum as the court to which such writ of error shall be directed shall think fit, with condition, That if the judgment shall be affirmed in the said writ of error, or that the said writ of error be discontinued in default of the plaintiff or plaintiffs therein, or that the said plaintiff or plaintiffs be nonsuit in such writs of error, that then the said plaintiff or plaintiffs shall pay such costs, damages, and sum and sums of money, as shall be awarded upon or after such judgment affirmed, discontinance or nonsuit had. IV. And to the end that the same sum and sums and damages may be ascertained, it is further enacted, That the court wherein such execution ought to be granted upon such affirmation, discontinuance or nonsuit, shall issue a writ to enquire as well of the mean profits as of the damages by any waste committed after the first judgment in dower or in ejectione firma; and upon the return thereof, judgment shall be given, and execution awarded for such mesne profits and damages, and also for costs of suit. V. Provided, That this Act, nor any thing therein contained, shall not extend to any writ of error to be brought by any executor or adminis (1) The Act cures a trial in a wrong county, as well as a wrong venue in the right county; Craft v. Boite, 1 Saund. 246.; Mayor of London v. Cole, 7 T. R. 583.; and other cases cited in Williams's note to 1 Saund. 247. (2) An actual amendment is never made; but the benefit of the Act is attained by overlooking the exception, B. N. P. 325. No. XIII. 16 & 17 Car. II. c. 8. trator; nor unto any action popular, nor unto any other action which is or hereafter shall be brought upon any penal law or statute (except actions of debt for not setting forth of tithes;) nor to any indictment, presentment, inquisition, information, or appeal; any thing hereinbefore expressed to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding. VI. Provided always, That this Act shall continue in force for three The continuyears, and to the end of the next Session of Parliament after the expira- ance of this tion of the said three years, and no longer. [Made perpetual by 22 and Act. 23 Car. 2. c. 4] ་ [ No. XIV. ] 4 & 5 William and Mary, c. 21.-An Act for delivering Declarations to Prisoners. WH WHEREAS by the course of practice in the respective courts of 4 & 5 William record at Westminster, after the plaintiff or plaintiffs, in any & Mary, c. 21. writ issued out of any of the said courts, have been at great charge to arrest the defendant or defendants upon such writ, and the defendant or defendants for want of sufficient bail, are often committed to gaol, and unless the plaintiff or plaintiffs shali, before the end of two terms, next after such arrest, cause such defendant or defendants, by writ of habeas corpus, to be removed, to be charged in the said respective courts with declarations of the cause of such action or actions, such prisoner or prisoners are, upon a common bail or appearance by attorney, discharged from their imprisonment, to the great prejudice of the plaintiffs: For remedy whereof, II. Be it enacted by the King's and Queen's most Excellent Majesties, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That if now, or at any time after the five and twentieth day of March, one thousand six hundred ninety and three, any defendant or defendants be taken or charged in custody at the suit of any person or persons, upon any writ or writs out of any of the said courts at Westminster, and imprisoned, or detained in prison, for want of sureties for their appearance to the same, the plaintiff or plaintiffs, in such writ or writs, shall and may, by virtue of this Act, before the end of the next term, after such writ or process shall be returnable, declare against such prisoner or prisoners in the respective court or courts out of which the writ or writs shall issue, whereupon the said prisoner or prisoners shall be taken and imprisoned or charged in eastody, and shall or may cause a true copy thereof to be delivered to such prisoner or prisoners, or to the gaoler or keeper of the prison, or gaoler in whose custody such prisoner shall be or remain: To which declaration or declarations the said prisoner or prisoners shall appear and plead; and if such prisoner or prisoners shall not appear and plead to the same, the plaintiff or plaintiffs in such cases shall have judgment in such manner as if the prisoner or prisoners had appeared in the said respective courts, and refused to answer or plead to such declaration. III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in all declarations against any prisoner or prisoners detained in prison by virtue of any writ or process issued or to be issued out of the Court of King's Bench, it shall be alleged in custody of what sheriff, bailiff, or steward of any franchise, or other person having the return and execution of writs, such prisoner or prisoners shall be at the time of such declaration by virtue of the process of the said court at the suit of the plaintiffs: Which allegation shall be as good and effectual, to all intents and purposes, as if such prisoner or prisoners were in the custody of the marshal of the Marshalsea of our Sovereign Lord and Lady, the King and Queen. Prisoner in custody how charged. In the King's Bench decla: ation must be in custodia of such a sheriff, &c. P 10 Anne, c. 18. If a bargain and sale be pleaded, a copy thereof, proved on oath, shall be of the same effect as the original. Where any fee farm rents,sold pursuant to 22 Car. 2. c. 6., and 22 and 23 Car. 2. c. 24, are described in any deed, &c. as they were in the indentures of bargain and sale by the trustees, such descriptions shall serve. [ No. XV.] 8 and 9 William III. c. 11.*-An Act for the better preventing frivolous and vexatious Suits. [No. XVI. ] 4 Anne, c. 16.+-An Act for the Amendment of the Law, and the better Advancement of Justice. [No. XVII. ] 10 Anne, c. 18.-An Act to give further Time for inrolling such Leases granted from the Crown, as have not been inrolled within the respective times therein limited; and for making the pleading of Deeds of Bargain and Sale inrolled, and of Fee Farm Rents, more easy. ' III. AND for supplying a failure in pleading, or deriving the title to lands, tenements, or hereditaments, conveyed by deeds of bargain and sale, indented and inrolled according to the statute made in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Henry the Eighth, for inrolment of bargains and sales, where the original indentures of bargain and sale, to be shewed forth or produced, are wanting, which often happens, especially where divers lands, tenements, or hereditaments, are comprized in the same indenture, and afterwards derived to different persons; Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That where in any declaration, avowry, bar, replication, or other pleading whatsoever, any such indenture of bargain and sale inrolled, shall be pleaded with a profert in curia, or offer to produce the same, the person or persons so pleading, shall and may produce and shew forth, and be suffered and allowed to produce and shew forth, by the authority of this Act, to answer such profert as well against her Majesty, her heirs and successors, as against any other person or persons, a copy of the inrolment of such bargain and sale; and such copy examined with the inrolment, and signed by the proper officer, having the custody of such inrolment, and proved upon oath to be a true copy, so examined and signed, shall be of the same force, and effect, to the intents and constructions of law, as the said indentures of bargain and sale were and should be of, if the same were in such case produced and shewn forth. IV. And for as much as the fee farm rents, and other rents purchased under an Act of Parliament made in the twenty-second year of the reign of King Charles the second, intituled, "An Act for the advancing the sale of fee farm rents, and other rents," and one other Act made in the twenty-second and twenty-third year of the same reign, 'intituled, An Act for vesting certain fee farm rents, and other small rents, in trustees," cannot always be so fully and particularly described, as may be requisite for conveying or pleading the same:" For the better deriving and pleading the title to such rents, from the trustees appointed for selling thereof, pursuant to either of the said Acts, and clearing all doubts relating to the naming or describing thereof; Be it enacted and declared by the authority aforesaid, That where any rent or rents, intended by the said Acts, or either of them, to be sold, and sold pursuant thereto, is, are, or shall be named or This Act, which contains the provision as to assigning breaches in actions upon bonds, will be inserted post., Class XII. See this Act, with Notes, Part II. Class I. No. XXIII. An intention was there intimated of repeating the title of the Act at this place, and introducing such observations as might appear to be material with respect to any alterations in the proceedings of courts of law. In attempting to fulfil that undertaking, I have been induced to enter into the general question of the propriety and expediency of departing from the existing jurisprudence of the country, with more particularity than the immediate subject may seem to require. The discussion will be found in the Appendix, No. 2. described in any deeds, fines, recoveries, or other assurances, or in any declaration, bar, avowry, replication, or other pleading whatsoever, by such or the like names or descriptions, as the same were named or described by in the indentures of bargain and sale made by the trustees for sale thereof, pursuant to the said Acts, or either of them, such names or descriptions may serve, and are and shall be sufficient for the conveying, deriving, or pleading the title to such rent or rents from or under the said trustees, and shall be at all times deemed, judged, and allowed so to be, in all courts of law, or elsewhere. V. Provided always, That nothing in this Act contained, shall extend to give or allow any benefit or advantage in pleading or deriving title to any rent which hath not been paid or levied within twenty years next before the time of such pleading or deriving title to the same. [ No. XVIII.] 5 George I. c. 13.-An Act for the Amendment of Writs of Error; and for the further preventing the arresting or reversing of Judgments after Verdict. 1. WHE WHEREAS great delay of justice hath of late years been occasioned by defective writs of error, which as the law now stands are not amendable: For remedy thereof, Be it enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That all writs of error, wherein there shall be any variance from the original record, or other defect, may and shall be amended and made agreeable to such record, by the respective courts where such writ or writs of error shall be made returnable; and that where any verdict hath been or shall be given in any action, suit, bill, plaint, or demand, in any of his Majesty's courts of record at Westminster, or in any other court of record within England or Wales, the judgment thereupon shall not be staid or reversed for any defect or fault, either in form or substance, in any bill, writ original or judicial, or for any variance in such writs from the declaration or other proceedings. II. Provided nevertheless, That nothing in this Act contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to any appeal of felony or murder, or to any process upon any indictment, presentment or information of or for any offence or misdemeanor whatsoever. [No. XIX. ] 4 George II. c. 26.-An Act that all Proceedings in Courts of Justice within that Part of Great Britain called England, and in the Court of Exchequer in Scotland, shall be in the English Language. WHEREAS many and great mischiefs do frequently happen to the subjects of this kingdom, from the proceedings in courts of justice being in an unknown language, those who are summoned and impleaded having no knowledge or understanding of what is alleged for or against them in the pleadings of their lawyers and attornies, who use a character not legible to any but persons practising the law :' To remedy these great mischiefs, and to protect the lives and fortunes of the subjects of that part of Great Britain called England, more effectually than heretofore, from the peril of being ensnared or brought in danger by forms and proceedings in courts of justice, in an unknown language, Be it enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons of Great Britain in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That from and after the twenty-fifth day of March, One thousand seven hundred and thirty-three, all writs, process and returns thereof, and proceedings thereon, and all pleadings, rules, No. XVII. 10 Anne, c. 18. Not to extend to rent which has not been paid in twenty years. 5 George I. c. 13. Writs of error varying from record may be amended. And after verdict no judg ment stayed or reversed for defect, in any bill, writ, &c. Not to extend to appeals of felony, &c. 4 George II. c. 26. No. XIX. 4 George II. c. 26. All proceed ing in courts in England, or Exchequer in Scotland, to be in English, and in words at length. Penalty 50%. s. 5. Mistranslation before25 March 1733, may be amended before or after judgment. Not to extend to the certify ing proceedings in Court of Admiralty. Statutes for reforming delays by jeofails, to be extended to the English forms. orders, indictments, informations, inquisitions, presentments, verdicts, Prohibitions, certificates, and all patents, charters, pardons, commissions, records, judgments, statutes, recognizances, bonds, rolls, entries, fines and recoveries, and all proceedings relating thereunto, and all proceedings of courts leet, courts baron and customary courts, and all copies thereof, and all proceedings whatsoever in any courts of justice within that part of Great Britain called England, and in the Court of Exchequer in Scotland, and which concern the law and administration of justice, shall be in the English tongue and language only, and not in Latin or French, or any other tongue or language whatsoever, and shall be written in such a common legible hand and character, as the Acts of Parliament are usually ingrossed in, and the lines and words of the same to be written at least as close as the said Acts usually are, and not in any hand commonly called Court Hand, and in words at length, and not abbreviated; any law, custom, or usage heretofore to the contrary thereof notwithstanding; And all and every person or persons offending against this Act, shall for every such offence forfeit and pay the sum of fifty pounds to any person who shall sue for the same, by action of debt, bill, plaint, or information in any of his Majesty's Courts of Record in Westminster Hall, or Court of Exchequer in Scotland respectively, wherein no essoin, protection, or wager of law, or more than one imparlance shall be allowed. II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That mistranslation, variation in form by reason of translation, mispelling or mistake in clerkship, or pleadings or proceedings begun or to be begun before the said twenty-fifth day of March, One thousand seven hundred and thirty-three, being part in Latin and part in English, shall be no error, nor make void any proceedings by reason thereof; but that all manner of mistranslation, errors in form, mispellings, mistakes in clerkship, may at any time be amended, whether in paper or on record or otherwise, before or after judgment, upon payment of reasonable costs only. III. Provided always, That nothing in this Act, nor any thing herein contained, shall extend to certifying beyond the seas any case or proceedings in the court of admiralty; but that in such cases the commissions and proceedings may be certified in Latin as formerly they have been. IV. And whereas several good and profitable laws have been enacted, to the intent that the parties in all manner of actions and demands might not be delayed and hindered from obtaining the effect of their suits, after issue tried and judgment given, by reason of any subtle, ignorant or defective pleadings, nor for any defect in form, commonly called jeofails;' It is hereby enacted and declared, That all and every statute and statutes for the reformation and amending the delays arising from any jeofails whatsoever, shall and may extend to all and every form and forms, and to all proceedings in courts of justice (except in criminal cases) when the forms and proceedings are in English; and that all and every error and mistake whatsoever, which would or might be amended and remedied by any statute of jeofails, if the proceedings had been in Latin, all such errors and mistakes of the same and like nature, when the forms are in English, shall be deemed and are hereby declared to be amended and remedied by the statutes now in force for the amendment of any jeofails; and this clause shall be taken and construed in all courts of justice in the most ample and beneficial manner, for the ease and benefit of the parties, and to prevent frivolous and vexatious delays. [No. XX. ] 6 George II. c. 6.-An Act for obviating a Doubt which may arise upon an Act made in the fourth Year of his present Majesty's Reign, intituled, “ An Act that all Proceedings in that Part of Great Britain called England, and in the Court of Exchequer in |