AN ANSWER to this Quodlibetical Question, Whether the Bishops make a fundamental and essential part of the English Parliament? Collected out of some Memorials in a larger Treatise, for the information of some, the confirmation of others, and the satisfaction of all. 4to. London, 1661. [N. 8. 41.]

EPISCOPAL INHERITANCE; or, a Reply to the Examination of a printed Abstract of the Answers to Nine Reasons of the House of Commons against the Votes of Bishops in Parliament. 4to. Oxford, 1641.

[N. 8. 39.] REEVES (John) Thoughts on the English Government, addressed to the quiet Good Sense of the People of England, in a Series of Letters. 8vo. London, 1795. [Hh. 3. 41.] MADOX (Thomas) Firma Burgi, or an Historical Essay concerning the Cities, Towns, and Boroughs of England. folio, London, 1726.

[D. 5. 7.] FREEDOM OF ELECTIONS to Parliament, a fundamental Law and Liberty of the English Subject; and some Presidents, shewing the Power of the House of Commons to inflict Punishments on those who have been guilty of Misdemeanours either in Elections or Returns. 4to. London, 1690. [M. 15. 32.]

2. Municipal or Common Law of England.

i. History of English Law.

DUGDALE (Sir William) Origines Juridiciales, or Historical Memorials of the English Laws, Courts of Justice, &c.; also a Chronicle of the Lord Chancellors, Keepers of the Great Seal, Lord Treasurers, &c. folio, London, 1671. [B. 2. 9.]

HALE (Sir Matthew) History of the Common Law. With Notes, References, and some Account of the Life of the Author. By Charles Runnington, Barrister-at-Law. 8vo. London, 1789. [E. 21. 14.]

*REEVES (John) A History of the English Law from the Time of the Saxons to the end of the Reign of Philip and Mary. 4 vols. 8vo. London, 1814.

BLACKSTONE (William) Tracts, chiefly relating to the Antiquities and Laws of England. 4to. Oxford, 1771. [O. 5. 38.]

ii. Antient Laws of England, anterior to Magna Charta, and Treatises thereon.

APXAIONOMIA: sive De Priscis Anglorum Legibus Libri, sermone Anglico vetustate antiquissimo aliquot abhinc sæculis conscripti, Gulielmo Lambardo interprete. Saxonice et Latine. 4to. Londini, 1568. [E. 1. 4.]

-Exemplar aliud. folio, Cantabrigiæ, 1644. [P. 2. 5.] Leges Anglo-Saxonicæ Ecclesiastice et Civiles. Accedunt Leges Edwardi Latine, Guilelmi Conquestoris Gallo-Normanice, et Henrici I.

Latine. Subjungitur Domini Henr. Spelmanni Codex Legum, Veterum Statutorum Regni Angliæ, quæ ab ingressu Gulielmi I. usque ad annum nonum Henr. III. edita sunt. Toti Operi præmittitur Dissertatio. Epistolaris admodum Reverendi Domini Gulielmi Nicholsoni Episcopi Derrensis de Jure Feudali Veterum Saxonum. Cum Codd. MSS. contulit, Notas, Versionem, et Glossarium addidit David WILKINS. folio, Londini, 1721. [E. 4. 7.]

Tractatus de Legibus et Consuetudinibus regni Angliæ, tempore Regis Henrici Secundi compositus, Justicia gubernacula tenente Ranulpho de GLANVILLA. 4to. Londini, 1604. [K. 8. 39.]

FLETA: seu Commentarius Juris Anglicani. Subjungitur etiam Joannis Seldeni ad Fletam Dissertatio Historica. 4to. Londoni, 1647.

[F. 14. 33.]

3. Statute Laws, and other Records of the Realm.

i. Collections of Statutes and Abridgments thereof.

THE STATUTES AT LARGE, conteyning all Acts which have beene extant from Magna Charta, untill the 16th yeere of King James. 2 vols. folio, 1618. [F. 13. 8,9.]

THE STATUTES OF THE REALM, printed by command of King George III. from Original Records and Authentic Manuscripts. From Magna Charta to the end of the reign of Queen Anne. With an Alphabetical Index. [By John RAITHBY, Esq.] 11 vols. folio, London, 1810-24. [Ff. 1. 39-48.]

THE STATUTES AT LARGE from Magna Charta, Anno 9 Hen. III. to Ann. 10 Geo. III. 11 vols. folio, London, 1687-1770. [P. 1. 1-11.] The Statutes at Large, Ann. 11 Geo. III. to Ann. 43 Geo. III. 11 vols. 4to. London, 1770-1803. [P. 1. 12–22.]

THE STATUTES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM of Great Britain and Ireland. With Notes, References, and an Index. By Thomas Edlyne Tomlins and John Raithby, Esquires, Barristers-at-Law. 41 Geo. III., 44 to 51 Geo. III., 52 to 57, 59 and 60 Geo. III., 1 to 7 Geo. IV. 21 Parts. 4to. London, 1801-1821. [K. 21. 1,4-24.]

[Continued.]

Sundry Acts of Parliament, 36 Geo. III. to 46 Geo. III. folio, London, 1797-1806. [Hh. 1. 1.]

THE GREAT ABRIDGEMENT of all the Statutes of Englande, with the Abredgements of the Statutes made in the xxxiii yere of the reygne of oure mooste dreade Souvereygne Lorde Kyngs Henry the Eyght. 8vo. London, m. d. rlii. [H. 7. 43.]

A KALENDER, or Table, comprehending the Effect of all the Statutes that have been made; beginning with Magna Charta, enacted Anno 9 H. III. and proceeding, one by one, until the end of the Session of Parliament holden Anno 3 R. Jacobi. [By F. PULTON.] folio, London, 1606. [H. 5. 5.] WINGATE (Edmund) An Exact Abridgement of all the Statutes in force and use from the beginning of Magna Charta until 1641. With a Continuation, under their proper titles, of all Acts in force until the year 1675, alphabetically digested. 8vo. London, 1675. [I. 8. 30.]

TYRWHITT (R. P.) and TYNDALE (T. W.) A Digest of the Public General Statutes from Magna Carta, A. D. 1224-5 to 1 and 2 Geo. IV. A. D. 1821. With a Supplement to 6 Geo. IV. 1825; and an Analytical Index, and an Appendix of Schedules and Forms. 3 vols. 4to. London, 1822-26. [H. 22. 3-5.]

BARRINGTON (Hon. Daines) Observations on the more ancient Statutes, from Magna Charta to the twenty-first of James I. Cap. XXVII. With an Appendix, being a Proposal for New Modelling the Statutes. 4to. London, 1769. [E. 24. 9.]

MAGNA CHARTA, translated by Edward CooKE. To which is added, Observations from Lord Chief Justice Coke's Comments upon it. 12mo. London, 1680. [F. 17. 44.]

ii. Records of the Kingdom of England.

AYLOFFE (Sir Joseph) A Calendar of Ancient Charters, and of the Scotch and Welch Rolls, in the Tower of London. To which is prefixed, an Introduction, giving an Account of the State of the Public Records from the Conquest to the present Time. 4to. London, 1774. [Q. 2. 17.] REPORT from the Select Committee, appointed to inquire into the State of the Public Records of the Kingdom; with an Analysis of the Principal Matters in the various Records, &c. preserved in the several Public Repositories. folio, London, 1800. [Ff. 1. 23.]

COMMISSIONS and Annual Abstracts of Reports of the Commissioners on the Public Records of the Kingdom, with a Statement of the Measures executed or in Progress under the Authority thereof, 1807-1812. folio, London, 1812. [Ff. 1. 24.]

COMMISSIONS and Annual Abstracts of Reports of the Commissioners on the Public Records of the Kingdom, &c. 1800-1812. (Two Copies.) folio, London, 1812. [Ff. 1. 25,26.]

REPORTS from the Commissioners, appointed by his Majesty to execute the Measures recommended by a Select Committee of the House of Commons, respecting the Public Records of the Kingdom, &c. 18001819.* 2 vols. folio. [Ff. 1. 27,28.]

*Domesday Book; seu Liber Censualis Wilhelmi Primi, Regis Angliæ, inter Archivos Regni in Domo Capitulari Westmonasterii asservatus. [Editus ab Abrahamo FARLEY.] 2 vols. folio, Londini, 1783. LIBRI CENSUALIS, vocati Domesday Book, Wilhelmi Primi Regis Angliæ, Indices. Accessit Dissertatio Generalis de Ratione hujusce Libri. [Auctore Henrico ELLIS, S. R. S. et S. A.] folio, Londini, 1816.

[Ff. 1. 33.] Dissertatio Generalis de Ratione Libri Censualis, vocati Domesday Book. [Auctore Henrico Ellis.] folio, Londini, 1816. [Ff. 1. 32.]

Domesday Book, one of the most antient records in England, is the register made by command of William the Conqueror, from which judgment was to be given upon the value, tenure, and services of the lands therein described. The exact time of the Conqueror's undertaking this survey is differently stated by historians, who have de

* The accounts of the several Records which are given in this and the following pages, are abridged from the Reports, &c. contained in this magnificent publication.

signated it by different appellations, which it is not necessary to enumerate. From the memorial of the completion of the survey, at the end of the second volume, it is evident that it was finished in the year 1086 and from an attentive comparison and consideration of several passages contained in the Record, that date is not only confirmed, but there is also reason to believe that, by the multiplication of subordinate inquests, the work must have been completed in a short time and that, from a transcript or abridgement of the returns or breviates from the different counties, the great register was afterwards formed, which has ever since been known by the name of DOMESDAY.

The original manuscript of this invaluable record, which is carefully preserved in the Record Office at the Chapter House, Westminster, is in two volumes. It is written on vellum, of singular fineness and beauty, partly with red, but chiefly with black ink ; and, notwithstanding the long series of years that have elapsed since it was finished, it is still legible with great ease. The first is a large folio, written on three hundred and eighty-two pages of vellum, in a small but plain character, and in double columns on each page. It contains a survey of most of the counties of England, with the exception of Northumberland, Westmoreland, Durham, and part of Lancashire, which were never surveyed. The second volume is a small folio, written on four hundred and fifty double pages of vellum, in single columns, and in a character somewhat larger than that of the preceding volume. It contains the counties of Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk. Part of the county of Rutland is included in Northamptonshire, and part of Lancashire in the counties of York and Chester. The order pursued in each county is this:-The king's name and lands are first set down, and then those of the church, which are succeeded by the names and lands of the nobles according to their rank, who held of the king in capite.

For the adjusting of this survey certain commissioners, called the King's Justiciaries, were appointed, who (it appears) associated to them some principal person in each county: and these inquisitors, upon the oaths of the sheriffs, the lords of each manor, the presbyters of each church, the reeves of every hundred, the bailiffs and six villans of every village, were to inquire into the name of the place, the person who held it in the time of King Edward the Confessor; who was the present possessor; how many hides (an uncertain measure) of land the manor contained; how many carrucates or plough-lands (that is, as much arable as could be managed with one plough and the beasts belonging thereto in one year), were in demesne; how many homagers, villans, cotarii, servi, freemen, and tenants in socage there were; what quantity of wood, meadow, and pasture; how many mills and fish-ponds; how much was added or taken away; what was the gross value in King Edward's time, and how much each free-man or soc-man had or has. All this was to be trebly estimated :-first, as the estate was held in the time of the Confessor, then as it was bestowed by King William; and, thirdly, as its value stood at the formation of the survey. The jurors, moreover, were to state whether any advance could be made in the value. The inquisitions having been taken, were sent by the Justiciaries to Winchester, and there classed and methodised, and entered in a register such as we now view it.

By the completion of the Domesday Survey, the Conqueror acquired an exact knowledge of the possessions of the Crown. It afforded him the names of the landholders, who (as may be expected from the very numerous forfeitures that were caused by the prodigious slaughter of the English nobility at the battle of Hastings, and by the subsequent fruitless insurrections of those who survived,) were chiefly the soldiers and ministerial dependents of William the Norman. The churches and monasteries, however, continued to retain their ancient patrimony; in some instances, with considerable additions from the Conqueror himself. Further, the Domesday Survey enabled him to fix the proportion of Danegeld (the tribute, imposed by the Danes upon the Saxons, of twelve pence on every hide of land through the realm of England) on the property of each Jandholder. This odious tax, from the payment of which the Confessor had absolved the English, was revived at an early period of William's reign, and had become subject to numercus exemptions in favour of the clergy and religious houses, as well as of the great lords and barons, &c. who held by military service, and also in favour of persons who claimed to be exempt from it under especial grants from the King. Thus the produce of the tax was greatly diminished.

Independently of the immediate uses of this survey to the Conqueror, it is to this day a record of no small importance to the historian and to the antiquary, for the light it throws on the different classes of persons into which the English people were divided—the different denominations of lands, their culture, and measurementthe different denominations of money, and the persons and places that enjoyed the liberty of coinage-territorial jurisdictions and franchises-tenures and services-criminal and civil jurisdictions— ecclesiastical and historical matters therein noticed, besides many curious illustrations of antient manners.

But the historian and antiquary are not the only persons interested in this venerable document: it has always been considered as the highest authority in the courts of law, and has been preserved from the time of William the Conqueror until now with the most scrupulous attention. Appeals to the decision of this survey occur so early as the reigns of Henry 1. and King John: in subsequent reigns, the pleadings in ancient demesne are extremely numerous, and the proof of ancient demesne still rests with the Domesday Survey. Other cases, in which its evidence is yet appealed to in our courts of law, are, in proving the antiquity of mills, and in setting up prescriptions in non decimando (that is, to be discharged absolutely from the payment of tithes). By the statute 9 Edw. II., called Articuli Cleri, it was determined that prohibition should not lie upon demand of tithe for a new mill. The mill, therefore, which is found in Domesday, must be presumed older than the ninth year of Edward the Second, and is of course discharged, by its evidence, from tithe. Again, as most of the religious houses were exempted generally from paying tithes of lands in their own hands, from the paucity of dates in early documents, the Domesday Survey is very frequently the only evidence which can be adduced that the lands claiming a discharge were actually vested in such monastery or religious house.