ber, the writ of error lies only to the House of Lords. The attendance of the chancellor and the lord treasurer is not now required.

There were formerly only twelve judges of the Courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer; but now, by the stat 11 Geo. 4 & 1 Will. IV. c. 70, intituled "An Act for the more effectual administration of justice in England and Wales," which is fully noticed in the next chapter, the number was increased from twelve to fifteen. This statute fixed the salaries of the judges-The puisne judges at 5,000l. a year each, and a retiring annuity of 3,500l. for life. The Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench, at 10,000l. The Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, at 8,000l. The Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer, at 7,000. These salaries are payable out of the consolidated fund (15)-formerly, the judges were paid out of the civil list,—and all fees and pecuniary profits, formerly received by these judges, are now to be paid into the Exchequer, and to form part of the consolidated fund.

The commissions of these judges, which in former days were often given them durante bene placito, now must always be made quamdiu se bene gesserint, (on which good behaviour it seems the parliament only can determine), and they continue in force, notwithstanding the demise of the king (16), which renders them quite independent of the heir apparent.

(15) 2 & 3 Will. IV. c. 116.

(16) 1 Geo. III. c. 23.

CHAPTER X.

SECTION I.

ON THE LAW THAT IS

OBSERVED IN ENGLAND, IN

REGARD TO CIVIL MATTERS.

The Administration of Justice.

Ir is a leading maxim of the laws of England, (and without it all laws are nugatory), that there is no right without a remedy, nor any legal power without a legal course to carry it into effect.

Justice is administered in England in civil matters under more defined principles than heretofore; its administration is, in a great measure, now governed by the Statute Law, which has recently effected very great improvements for the benefit of the people. Justice well administered, justice speedy, and justice cheap, appears to have been the object of the legislature; but the great changes that have been made are, as yet, but imperfectly understood by the people at large, although their liberties and rights are so much involved in them.

It becomes, therefore, of the first importance here to shew what is the Legal Constitution of the Country at this day. "It must needs be that offences will come.' There will always be the offenders and the offended; but it is the voice of reason, that no man ought to

decide on his own cause; and it is the language of the holy scriptures, that "if one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him." Every well-regulated government, therefore, has its courts of justice, in which persons duly qualified and authorized preside for the administration of justice. The institution is of DIVINE appointment, and its end is, that the people may be judged with just judgment (1).

In every court there must be at least three parties: the plaintiff, who complains of an injury done; the defendant, who is called upon to make satisfaction or reparation for the injury; and the judicial power, which is to examine into the fact, to determine the law arising upon it, to ascertain whether any and what injury has been done to the complainer, and, by its officers, to apply the remedy for obtaining the satisfaction or reparation awarded.

Previous to the Conquest, the administration of justice was characteristically local. The court of tithing, for the decision of petty suits between neighbours; the hundred or wapentake courts; the courts of the whole county, and the king's court, succeeded each other in regular gradation.

In the reign of Edward I., and probably before, the local jurisdiction was limited to demands below 40s.; the statute of Gloucester, (6 Edw. I.), enacts, that none shall have suits of trespass before justices, unless he swear that the goods taken were worth 40s. at least. This established a permanent limit between the superior and inferior jurisdiction.

(1) Deut. ch. 16, v. 13.

The change in the value of money, and the gradual depreciation of the coin, has greatly abridged the ancient local jurisdiction. Forty shillings of the reign of Edward I. would amount at the present day to at least 257.; and to the same extent has the jurisdiction of the superior courts, in amount, been extended.

Sir Matthew Hale considered that the limit to the jurisdiction of the inferior courts should be extended to 10%. He observes upon the statute of Gloucester, and says, "At that time 40s. was a considerable sum:— first, in respect of the intrinsical value of the coin; for then 20 pence made an ounce of silver, and at this day it is 5s., viz. 60 pence, and upon that single account, 40s. then, ariseth now to 67.; but, second, that was not all; for, as I may say, money was at that time dearer than it is now, because there was not so much; and hence it is that the prices of all things at this day are much dearer now than they were then, because money is much more plentiful now than it was then, as it will appear to any that look into the proclamations of prices and commodities, both in the beginning of iters and parliaments in the times of Edward I. and Edward II. Vide Rot. Parl. 8 Edw. II. n. 29, in schedula, a proclamation for the price of victuals, viz., a fat ox, fatted with corn, 24s.; a fat cow, 12s.; a fat hog, 40d.; a fat mutton unshorn, 20d.; a fat mutton shorn, 14d.; a fat hen, 1d.; 24 eggs, 1d.; which evidences a great advance of the price of things at this day, besides the advance of the extrinsical denomination of money."

The inconvenience has been since attempted to be obviated by the establishment of courts of conscience, (justly so called); the first of which appears to have

been established by the stat. 3 Jas. I. c. 15, recently repealed by stat. 5 & 6 Will. IV. c. 94, loc.

In the reign of King George I. a statute was passed to prohibit the practice of previous personal arrest in cases of demands under two pounds; since which time courts of conscience have greatly increased, in which such demands are summarily decided, and where a simple summons without arrest can only be made use of. There are now several courts open for the recovery of small debts, and very many salutary changes have been made for the purpose of dealing out speedy and cheap justice. Besides the court of conscience or county court, which is confined to three divisions of the hundred of Ossulston in Middlesex, and has a branch court at Brentford, extending through the hundreds of Gore, Elthorne, Spelthorne, and Isleworth, in Middlesex, and another branch court at Enfield, for the hundred of Edmonton, there is now the court of requests for the city of London, for demands under 107. (5 & 6 Will. IV. c. 94); the court of the sheriff of London; the court of the sheriff of Middlesex; and the Lord Mayor's court: in the three latter courts, if the demands exceed 57., the action may be removed into a superior court. The court of record for the town and borough of Southwark, for demands above forty shillings, and when the demand is under 20l. the action cannot be removed into a superior court without bail. is also in the same borough a court of record for the Clink liberty, and a court of requests for the town and borough and eastern half of the hundred of Brixton, for demands under 5l. (4 Geo. IV. c. 123). There is also the ancient court of the Marshalsea, the jurisdiction of which extends 12 miles round Whitehall, but

There