lations: with respect to the others previous to 1 Edward III. it agrees in general with the second edition of Ferrers's translation; and Cay, in the preface to his edition of the Statutes, conjectures that the whole of the translation in this edition was made by Ferrers. No translation of the Statuta Wallia, 12 Edward I. is given either by Ferrers, or in any subsequent edition: several other statutes also have been always printed without translations.

"The Great Boke of Statutes," commences with 1 Edward III. and ends with S4 Henry VIII. It is entirely in English. It appears to have been published at different times, in separate parts; and it seems not unlikely that the earliest part may have been published previous to the English edition printed by Berthelet in 1543, from which it differs in some particulars: of such difference one instance is the insertion of Cap. 7, of 2 Richard II. stat. 1, respecting Pope Urban, which is omitted in Berthelet 1543, and subsequent edi. tions; from whence it seems probable that this part was published before the severe prohibitions, by the Acts of Heury VII. against acknowledging the Papal power.

Upon the whole it is ascertained, that no complete collection has ever been printed containing all the matters, which at different times, and by different editors, have been published as statures. The earliest editions of entire statutes were printed at the latter end of the fifteenth century, and began with the statutes of Edward III. in their original language; the statutes of Henry III. Edward I. and Edward II. were not printed entire until the beginning of the sixteenth century, and then in small collections by themselves in their original language: and none of these printed copies quote any record or manuscript as an authority for the text which they exhibit. Later editions of the statutes, which combine the period previous to Edward III. with that of Edward III. and subsequent kings, omit the original text of the statutes previous to Henry VII.; giving translations only of those statutes, and the subsequent statutes in English; and the most modern editions which, in some instances, insert the original text of the statutes previous to Richard III. from the Statute Roll and ancient manuscripts, omit the translation of many parts of them; and in other instances give a translation without the text, and also init

many Acts in the period subsequent to Henry VII. Further it is to be observed, that the several printed editions differ materially from each other in the text of the statutes previous to Henry VIII. The copy of the statute of Gloucester, 6 Edward I. in the editions printed by Tottell in 1556 and 1587, and by Lord Coke in his Second Institute, varies most materially, not only from that in the earlier printed editions by Pynson in 1508 and 1514, and by Berthelet in 1531, but also from that in the edition by Marshe in 1556, the same year in which the first edition by Tottell was printed. The copy of this statute, printed by Hawkins from the Statute Roll in the Tower, varies as well from those printed by Totteli and Lord Coke, as from those by Pynson, Berthelet, and Marshe. This instance is mentioned, as the statute of Gloucester is the earliest now existing on any Statute Roll. Many other instances occur, even in cases where the necessity of correctne-s was most peculiarly requisite: such are the ancient statutes relating to the assize of bread, the composition of weights and measures, and the ineasuring of land: in all these the calculations m the several printed copies vary from each other, and are all incorrect, some in one particular, some in another. It may be noted, moreover, that many verbal variations occur between the several editions which appear essentially to agree with each other. Thus the copies in Tottell 1556, 1587, and the Second Institute, though generally accordant,

are

not precisely so: and the same observation applies to the editions by Pynson, Berthelet, and Marshe. These verbal variations may be said to be innumerable, and, though for the most part minute, they are occasionally im portant. After the commencement of the reign of Edward III. a greater degree of correctness and uniformity prevail; but, so late as the reign of Henry VII. some instances of material variation continue to be met with. The Acts of Richard III. were printed in French, first by Caxton, and afterwards in Pynson's edition of the Statutes from the commencement of the reign of Edward III. In the editions by Berthelet, Barker, and others, these Acts of Rich. III. printed in English, agreeing in substance with the French text: but in the edi. tions by Pulton, and subsequent editors, there are essential variances in the translation, not only from the sense of the French text, but also from the former X x.2

English

English editions: and even of the statutes of Henry VII., though always printed in English, the copies in the editions by Pulton, and subsequent editors, differ in several instances from those in the earlier printed collections.

It is moreover ascertained, that no one complete printed translation of all the statutes previous to Henry VII. exists: Some which are omitted from Berthelet, 1543, and the other early editions, ineluding that called Rastall's 1618, are inserted in Pulton 1618, and in editions since published on the contrary, several parts of the statutes from 1 Edward III. to 1 Henry VII., translations of which are inserted in Berthelet, Rastall, and other editions, are omitted, and merely abridgments thereof given, in Pulton and subsequent editions. All the statutes therefore which have been hitherto translated, can be found only by uniting Pulton 1618, and Rastall 1618, together with Rastall's English collection, and the English editions by Berthelet, Middleton, and Barker. Many errors and inconsistencies occur in all the translations, resulting either from misinterpretation, or from improper omissions or insertions; and there are many ancient statutes of which no translation has ever yet been printed.

Of the Charters prefixed to this Collection of the Statutes. -A Series of the Charters of the Liberties of England is prefixed to this collection of the statutes: namely, Charters of Liberties; 1 Henry 1. A.D. 1101: 1 Stephen A.D. 1136: of Stephen and Henry II. without date; Charter for free Elections in Churches: 16 John A.D. 1211: Articles or Heads of Magna Carta; 17 John A.D. 1215: Magna Carta; 17 John A.D. 1215: 1 Henry III. A.D. 1216; A.D. 1217: 9 Henry III. A.D. 1224-5: 36 Henry III. A.D. 1251-2: Carta de Foresta; 2 Henry III. A.D. 1217: 9 Henry III. A. D. 1224-5 and Charters confirming Magna Carta and Carta de Foresta: 21 Henry III. A.D. 1236-7: 49 Henry II. A.D. 1264 5: 25 Edward I. A. D. 1297: 28 Edward I. A. D. 1300: 29 Edward I. A.D. 1300 1.

Magna Carta and Carta de Foresta, granted in the 9th year of King Henry III. have, in every collection of statutes which contained the statutes previous to 1 Edward III. been printed as the first in order. In all editions previous to Hawkins's, they were printed as from Charters of Inspeximus of 28 Edward I.: by Ilawkins and subsequent editors they

were printed from the Charter of Inspeximus, entered on the Statute Roll of 25 Edward I.: but in no edition hitherto have they been printed immediately from any charter of 9 Henry III.; and it is not known that any Statute Roll of that date ever existed. In the present cullection these charters are inserted accor ding to their place in the above series, and are printed from charters under the great seal: they are also printed again amongst the statutes 25 Edward I. from the entry on the Statute Roll of that year, being the earliest parliamentary record upon which they have been found.

For the purpose of examining all the charters, and authentic copies and entries thereof, and also of searching for ancient copies and entries of statutes, and instruments not now to be found on the Statute Roll, two sub-commissioners were employed during the summer of 1806, in making a progress through England and Ireland, to every place where it appeared from the returns to the Record Committee of 1800, or from other intelligence, that any such charters, copies, or entries, were preserved: and searches have been made successively at every cathedral in England which was known to possess any such charters, copies, or entries; and also at the univer sities of Oxford and Cambridge; at Trinity College, Dublin; at the Courts of Exchequer, and other public offices in Dublin; and wherever else information could be obtained on the subject. The results, so far as relates to the charters, may be thus briefly stated.

In Rochester cathedral is preserved the Textus Roffensis: this is a chartulary, or collection of charters and instruments, compiled by Ernulf, who was bishop of Rochester from A.D. 1115, to A.D. 1125. In this chartulary is an entry of the Charter of Liberties, granted in the first year of King Henry 1. A.D. 1101.

In Exeter cathedral is preserved an original charter, granted in the first year of King Stephen, A.D. 1156. De ti bertatibus Ecclesie Anglie et Regni.'

In Canterbury cathedral are several chartularies, or registers, of very ancient date. In these are entered the charter of King Stephen, of which an original is in Exeter cathedral; and the charter of King John, granted in the sixteenth year of his reign, for free elections of prelates, &c. in churches and monasteries.

In Lincoln cathedral, an original of the Great Charter of Liberties, granted by

King John in the seventeenth year of his reign, is preserved in a perfect state. This charter appears to be of superior authority to either of the two charters of the same date, preserved in the British Museum. From the contemporary indorsements of the word Lincolnia, on two folds of the charter, this may be presumed to be the charter transmitted by the hands of Hugh, the then Bishop of Lincoln, who is one of the bishops named in the introductory clause; and it is observable, that several words and sentences are inserted in the body of this charter, which in both the charters preserved in the British Museum, are added, by way of notes for amendment, at the bottom of the instrument.

In Durham cathedral, several charters of the liberties of England are preserved with great care; namely, Magna Carta, 12 November, 1 Henry III.-Carta de Foresta, 2 Henry III.-Magna Carta and Carta de Foresta, 9 Henry III. The Carta de Foresta, 2 Henry III. is the earliest Charter of the Forest; the original, and all authentic records of which were supposed by Blackstone to be lost. It is remarkable, that in this original is inserted a clause which occurs in an entry of this charter on a roll, formerly belonging to the Abbey of Hales Owen, in Shropshire, communicated to Black stone by Lord Lyttleton; and which is not inserted in the Carta de Foresta, • Henry III.

A charter of the date of the 12th of November, 1lienry III. was transmitted to Ireland; and an entry thereof is preserved in the Red Book of the Exchequer at Dublin.

In several other cathedrals are chartularies, registers, or collections, of ancient date, containing entries of the great charters and charters of the forest. The most valuable of these are at York, Gloucester, and Christ-Church, Dublin.

The Magna Carta of 9 Henry III. under seal, from which Blackstone printed a copy in his edition of The Charters, and which he suggests was the charter designed for the use of the knights or military tenants of Wiltshire, is still preserved by the family of the Talbots, of Lalock Abbey, in that county.

In the Bodleian library at Oxford are Magna Carta, A.D. 1217; and the Charters of Confirmation 21 Henry III.; and 29 Edward I.

In the British Museum is the original of Articuli Magne Carte, under the seal of King John, from which Black

stone printed the copy in his edition of the Charters. Two of the Great Charters of King John, one of 36th Henry III. and the Charter of Confirmation granted by King Edward I. at Ghent, in the 25th year of his reign, are also preserved in the same repository.

On the Statute Roll of 25 Edward I. are entered Charters of Inspeximus of that date, reciting and confirming Magna Carta and Carta de Foresta of 9 Henry III. Entries of similar charters, dated 28 Edward 1. are made on the Charter Rolls of that year;-the only difference between these several Charters of Inspeximus is, that those of the 25th year are tested by the King's son, and those of the 28th by the King himself. Original charters of Inspeximus of these respective dates, agreeing with the entries on the statute and charter rolls, are still in existence. Of these charters, one of 25 Edward I. confirming Magna Carta, is in the town-clerk's office, London. Others of 28 Edward I. confirming Magna Carta, are in the same repository, as also in Durham cathedral, Westminster colle giate church, Oriel college, Oxford, and in the town-clerk's office, at Appleby, in Westmoreland. Others of the same date, confirming Carta de Foresta, are in Durham cathedral, and Oriel college, Oxford.

From these materials, and others previously obtained, transcripts and colla tions were made and accurately examined by the sub-commissioners. The text of the several charters inserted in the present collection is printed from these transcripts; an attentive and strict collation of the printed text with the trapscript, has been made by one of the subcommissioners, who himself assisted in making the transcript, and in examining it with the original; and, where an engraved copy has been made of any char、 ter, the printed text has also been collated with such engraved copy.

Of the Original Language of the Charters and Statutes,―The language of the charters and statutes, from the period of the earliest charter now given, 1 Henry T. to the beginning of the reign of Henry VII. is Latin or French. From that time it has been uniformly English. The petitions, or bills, on which the statutes were founded, began to be generally in English early in the reign of Henry VI.

All the charters of liberties, and of the forest, from 1 Henry I. to 29 Edward I. (with the exception after mentioned,) are in Latin; but translations of some of

them

them into French, are found in various collections. In D'Achery's Spicilegium, there is a French translation, as it is called by Blackstone, of the charter of King John; for it is doubtful whether that charter was ever promulgated in French in this kingdom. Some early manuscripts contain French translations of the two charters of 9 Henry III. and of the charters of Inspeximus and Coufirmation, in 25 and 28 Edward I. though these latter appear on the Statute and Charter Rolls in Latin. The charter, dated 5 November, 25 Edward I. is in French; as is also the duplicate of that charter, dated 10 October, and entered on the Statute Roll 25 Edward I.

The statutes of Henry III. are almost entirely in Latin. Some legislative matters, not in the printed collections, are entered on the Patent Rolls in French.

The statutes of Edward I. are indiseriminately in Latin or French; though the former language is most prevalent. But the statute of Gloucester, 6 Edward I. which on the Statute Roll is in French, appears in many contemporary manuscripts in Latin. In several manuscripts, particularly register A. in the Chapter-house at Westminster, this statute is given at length both in Latin and French. On the other hand, the Statute of Westminster the second, 13 Edward I. which is in Latin on the Roll, appears in many manuscripts in French; and chapter 34 of this latter statute, as to violence against women, which on the roll appears in French, is given, like the rest of the statute, in Latin, in several manuscripts. The French chapter, 49, as to champerty by justices, is omitted in the Tower Roll, and in many other copies, which give the statutes in Latin, but is found in the copies which give the statute in French.

The statutes of Edward II. are, like · those of Edward I. indiscriminately in Latin or French; but the latter language · prevails more than in the statutes of Edward I.

The statutes of Edward III. are more generally in French than those of any preceding king: yet some few are in Latin. The statutes of Richard II. are almost universally in French; those of the sixth and eighth years are in Latin. The statutes of Henry IV. with the exception of chapter 15 of the statute 2 Henry IV. which is in Latin, are entirely in French; as are those of Henry V. with the exception of the short statutes 5 and 7 Henry V. which appear in Latin.

The earliest instance recorded of the

use of the English language in any parlamentary proceeding, is in 36 Edward III. The style of the roll of that year is in French as usual, but it is expressly stated that the causes of summoning the parliament were declared "en Englois;" and the like circumstance is noted in 37 and 38 Edward III. in the fifth year of Richard II. The chancellor is stated to have made ' un bone collucion en Engleys' (introductory, as was then sometimes the usage, to the commencement of business), though be made use of the cominoa French form for opening the parliament. A petition from the "Folk of the Mercerye of London", in the tenth year of the same reign, is in English; and it ap pears also, that in the 17th year the Earl of Arundel asked pardon of the Duke of Lancaster by the award of the king and lords, in their presence in parliament, in a form of English words. The cession and renunciation of the crown by Richard H. is stated to have been read before the estates of the realm and the people in Westminster Hall, first in Latin and af terwards in English, but it is entered on the Parliament Roll only in Latin. And the challenge of the crown by Henry IV. with his thanks after the allowance of his title, in the same assembly, are recorded in English; which is termed his maternal tongue. So also is the speech of Sir William Thirnyng, the Chief Jus tice of the Common Pleas, to the late King Richard, announcing to him the sentence of his deposition, and the yield ing up, on the part of the people, of their fealty and allegiance. In the sixth year of the reign of Henry IV. an English answer is given in a petition of the Commons, touching a proposed resumption of certain grants of the crown, to the intent the king might the better live of his own. The English language afterwards appears occasionally, through the reigns of Henry IV. and V.

In the first and second and subsequent years of Henry VI. the petitions or bills, and in many cases the answers also, on which the statutes were afterwards framed, are found frequently in English; but the statutes are entered on the roll in French or Latin. From the 23d year of Henry VI. these petitions or bills are almost universally in English, as is also sometimes the form of the royal assent: but the statute continued to be inrolled in French or Latin. Sometimes Latin and French are used in the same statute, as in 8 Henry VI.; 27 Henry VI.; and S9 Henry VI. The last statute wholly in Latin on Record is SS Henry VI.; the

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