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Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England
Book the Third - Appendix II
APPENDIX

No. II.
Proceedings on an Action of Trefpafs in EJECTMENT,
by Original, in the
King's Bench.


§. 1. The Original Writ.

GEORGE the fecond by the grace of God of Great Britain, France, and Ireland king, defender of the faith, and fo forth; to the fheriff of Berkfhire, greeting. If Richard Smith fhall give you fecurity of profecuting his claim, then put by gage and fafe pledges William Stiles, late of Newbury, gentleman, fo that he be before us on the morrow of All-Souls, wherefoever we fhall then be in England, to fhew wherefore with force and arms he entered into on meffuage, with the appurtenances, in Sutton, which John Rogers, efquire, hath demifed to the aforefaid Richard, for a term which is not yet expired, and ejected him from his faid farm, and other enormities to him did, to the great damage of the faid Richard, and againft our peace. And have you there the names of the pledges, and this writ. Witnefs ourfelf at Weftminfter, the twelfth day of October, in the twenty ninth year of our reign.

Pledges of profecution—John Doe, Richard Roe.
The within named William Stiles is attached by pledges—John den., Richard Fen.

§. 2. Copy of the Declaration againft the cafual Ejector; who gives Notice thereupon to the Tenant in Poffeffion.

Michaelmas, the 29th of king George the fecond.

Berks, to wit.} William Stiles, late of Newbury in the faid county, gentleman, was attached to anfwer to Richard Smith, of a plea, wherefore with force and arms he entered into one meffuage, with the appurtenances, in Sutton in the county aforefaid, which John Rogers efquire demifed to the faid Richard Smith for a term which is not yet expired, and ejected him from his faid farm, and other wrongs to him did, to the great damage of the faid Richard, and againft the peace
of
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of the lord the king, &c. And whereupon the faid Richard by Robert Martin his attorney complains, that whereas the faid John Rogers on the firft day of October in the twenty ninth year of the reign of the lord the king that now is, at Sutton aforefaid, had demifed to the fame Richard the tenement aforefaid, with the appurtenances, to the faid Richard and his affigns, from the feaft of faint Michael the archangel then laft paft, to the end and term of five years from thence next following and fully to be complete and ended, by virtue of which demife the faid Richard entered into the faid tenements, with the appurtenances, and was thereof poffeffed; and, the faid Richard being fo poffeffed thereof, the faid William afterwards, that is to fay, on the faid firft day of October in the faid twenty ninth year, with force and arms, that is to fay, with fwords, ftaves, and knives, entered into the faid tenement, with the appurtenances, which the faid John Rogers demifed to the faid Richard in form aforefaid for the term aforefaid which is not yet expired, and ejected the faid Richard out of his faid farm, and other wrongs to him did, to the great damage of the faid Richard, and againft the peace of the faid lord the king; whereby the faid Richard faith, that he is injured and damaged to the value of twenty pounds. And thereupon he brings fuit, &c.

Martin, for the plaintiff. Peters, for the defendant.
Pledges of profecution—John Doe., Richard Roe.

Mr. George Saunders,
I am informed that you are in poffeffion of, or claim title to, the premifes mentioned in this declaration of ejectment, or to fome part thereof; and I, being fued in this action as a cafual ejector, and having no claim or title to the fame, do advife you to appear next Hilary term in his majefty's court of king's bench at Weftminfter, by fome attorney of that court, and then and there, by a rule to be made of the fame court, to caufe yourfelf to be made defendant in my ftead; otherwife I fhall fuffer judgment to be entered againft me, and you will be turned out of poffeffion.

Your loving friend,
5 January, 1756.
William Stiles.

§. 3. The
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§. 3. The Rule of Court.
Hilary Term, in the twenty ninth Year of King GEORGE the fecond.
Berks, to wit.} It is ordered by the court, by the affent of both parties, and their attorneys, that George Saunders, gentleman, may be made defendant, in the place of the now defendant William Stiles, and fhall immediately appear to the plaintiff's action, and fhall receive a declaration in a plea of trefpafs and ejectment of the tenements in queftion, and fhall immediately plead thereto, not guilty: and, upon the trial of the iffue, fhall confefs leafe, entry, and oufter, and infift upon his title only. And if, upon trial of the iffue, the faid George do not confefs leafe, entry, and oufter, and b reafon thereof the pl cannot profecute his writ, then the taxation of cofts upon fuch nonprof, fhall ceafe, and the faid George fhall pay fuch cofts to the plaintiff, as by the court of our lord the king here fhall be taxed and adjudged for fuch his default in nonperformance of this rule; and judgment fhall be entered againft the faid William Stiles, now the cafual ejector, by default. And it is further ordered, that, if upon the trial of the faid iffue a verdict fhall be given for the defendant, or if the plaintiff fhall not profecute his writ, upon any other caufe, than for the not confeffing leafe, entry, and oufter as aforefaid, then the leffor of the plaintiff fhall pay cofts, if the plaintiff himfelf doth not pay them.

By the Court.

Martin, for the plaintiff.
Newman, for the defendant.

§. 4. The Record.

Pleas before the lord the king at Weftminfter, of the term of faint Hilary, in the twenty ninth year of the reign of the lord GEORGE the fecond by the grace of God of Great Britain, France, and Ireland king, defender of the faith, &c.

Berks, to wit.} George Saunders, late of Sutton in the county aforefaid, gentleman, was attached to anfwer Richard Smith, of a plea, wherefore with force and arms he entered into one meffuage, with the appurtenances, in Sutton, which John Rogers, efquire, hath demifed to the faid Richard for a term which is not yet expired, and ejected him from his faid farm, and other wrongs to him did, to the great damage of the

VOL. III.
faid
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faid Richard, and againft the peace of the lord the king that now is. And whereupon the faid Richard, by Robert Martin his attorney complains, that whereas the faid John Rogers on the firft day of October in the twenty ninth year of the reign of the lord the king that now is, at Sutton aforefaid, had demifed to the fame Richard the tenement aforefaid, with the appurtenances, to have and to hold the faid tenement, with the appurtenances, to the faid Richard and his affigns, from the feaft of faint Michael the archangel then laft paft, to the end and term of five years from thence next following and fully to be complete and ended; by virtue of which demife the faid Richard entered into the faid tenement, with the appurtenances, and was thereof poffeffed: and, the faid Richard being fo poffeffed thereof, the faid George afterwards, that is too fay, on the firft day of October in the faid twenty ninth year, with force and arms, that is to fay, with fwords, ftaves, and knives, entered into the faid tenement, with the appurtenances, which the faid John Rogers demifed to the faid Richard in form aforefaid for the term aforefaid which is not yet expired, and ejected the fair Richard out of his faid farm, and other wrongs to him did, to the great damage of the faid Richard, and againft the peace of the faid lord the king; whereby the faid Richard faith that he is injured and endamaged to the value of twenty pounds: and thereupon he brings fuit, [and good proof.] And the aforefaid George Saunders, by Charles Newman his attorney, comes and defends the force and injury, when [and where it fhall behove him;] and faith that he is in no wife guilty of the trefpafs and ejectment aforefaid, as the faid Richard above complains againft him; and thereof he puts himfelf upon the country: and the faid Richard doth likewife the fame: Therefore let a jury come thereupon before the lord the king, on the octave of the purification of the bluffed virgin Mary, wherefoever he fhall then be in England; who neither [are of kin to the faid Richard, nor to the faid George;] to recognize [whether the faid George be guilty of the trefpafs and ejectment aforefaid:] becaufe as well [the faid George, as the faid Richard, between whom the difference is, have put themfelves on the faid jury.] The fame day is there given to the parties aforefaid. Afterwards the procefs therein , being continued between the faid parties of the plea aforefaid by the jury, is put between them in refpite, before the lord the king, until the day of Eafter in fifteen days, wherefoever the faid lord the king fhall then be in England; unlefs the juftices of the lord the king affigned to take affifes in the county aforefaid, fhall have come before that time, to wit, on Monday the eighth of March, at Reading in the faid county, by the form of the ftatute [in that cafe provided,] by reafon of the default of the jurors, [fummoned to appear as aforefaid.] At which day before the lord the king, at Weftminfter, come the parties aforefaid by their attorneys aforefaid; and the aforefaid juftices of affife, before whom [the jury aforefaid came,]
fent
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fent here their record before them had in thefe words, to wit: Afterwards, at the day and place within contained, before Heneage Legge, efquire, one of the barons of the exchequer of the lord the king, and fir John Eardley Wilmot, knight, one of the juftices of the faid lord the king, affigned to hold pleas before the king himfelf, juftices of the faid lord the king, affigned to take affifes in the county of Berks by the form of the ftatute [in that cafe provided,] come as well the within named Richard Smith, as the within written George Saunders, by their attorneys within contained; and the jurors of the jury whereof mention is within made being called, certain of them, to wit, Charles Holloway, John Hooke, Peter Graham, Henry Cox, William Brown, and Francis Oakley, come, and are fworn upon that jury: and becaufe the reft of the jurors of the fame jury did not appear, therefore others of the byftanders being chofen by the fheriff, at the requeft of the faid Richard Smith, and by the command of the juftices aforefaid, are appointed a-new, whofe names are affixed to the panel within written, according to the form of the ftatute in fuch cafe made and provided; which faid jurors fo appointed a-new, to wit, Roger Bacon, Thomas Small, Charles Pye, Edward Hawkins, Samuel Roberts and Daniel Parker, being likewife called, come; and, together with the other jurors aforefaid before impaneled and fworn, being elected, tried, and fworn, to fpeak the truth of the matter within contained, upon their oath fay, that the aforefaid George Saunders is guilty of the trefpafs and ejectment within-written, in manner and form as the aforefaid Richard Smith within complains againft him; and affefs the damages of the faid Richard Smith, on occafion of that trefpafs and ejectment, befides his cofts and charges which he hath been put unto about his fuit in that behalf, to twelve pence: and, for thofe cofts and charges, to forty fhillings. Whereupon the faid Richard Smith, by his attorney aforefaid, prayeth judgment againft the faid George Saunders, in and upon the verdict aforefaid by the jurors aforefaid given in the form aforefaid: and the faid George Saunders, by his attorney aforefaid, faid that the court here ought not to proceed to give judgment upon the faid verdict, and prayeth that judgment againft him the faid George Saunders, in and upon the verdict aforefaid by the jurors aforefaid given in the form aforefaid, may be ftayed, by reafon that the faid verdict is infufficient and erroneous, and that the fame verdict may be quafhed, and that the iffue aforefaid may be tried a-new by other jurors to be afrefh impaneled. And, becaufe the court of the lord the king here is not yet advifed of giving their judgment of and upon the premifes, therefore day thereof is given as well to the faid Richard Smith as the faid George Saunders, before the lord the king, until the morrow of the Afcenfion of our lord, wherefoever the faid lord the king fhall then be in England, to hear their judgment of and upon the premifes, for that the court of the lord the king is not yet advifed thereof.
** 2
At
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At which day before the lord the king, at Weftminfter, come the parties aforefaid by their attorneys aforefaid: upon which, the record and matters aforefaid having been feen, and by the court of the lord the king now here fully underftood, and al and fingular the premifes having been examined, and mature deliberation being had thereupon, for that it feems to the court of the lord the king now here that the verdict aforefaid is in no wife infufficient or erroneous, and that the fame ought not to be quafhed, and that no new trial ought to be had of the iffue aforefaid, Therefore it is confidered, that the faid Richard do recover againft the faid George his term yet to come, of and in the faid tenements, with the appurtenances, and the faid damages affeffed by the faid jury in form aforefaid, and alfo twenty feven pounds fix fhillings and eight pence for his cofts and charges aforefaid, by the court of the lord the king here awarded to the faid Richard, with his affent, by way of increafe; which faid damages in the whole amount to twenty nine pounds, feven fhillings, and eight pence. And let the faid George be taken, [until he maketh fine to the lord the king.] And hereupon the faid Richard by his attorney aforefaid prayeth a writ of the lord the king, to be directed to the fheriff of the county aforefaid, to caufe him to have poffeffion of his term aforefaid yet to come, of and in the tenements aforefaid, with the appurtenances: and it is granted unto him, returnable before the lord the king on the morrow of the holy Trinity, wherefoever he fhall then be in England. At which day before the lord the king, at Weftminfter, cometh the faid Richard by his attorney aforefaid; and the fheriff, that is to fay, fir Thomas Reeve, knight, now fendeth, that he by virtue of the writ aforefaid to him directed, on the ninth day of June laft paft, did caufe the faid Richard to have his poffeffion of his term aforefaid yet to come, of and in the tenements aforefaid, with the appurtenances, as he was commanded.

No. III.
APPENDIX.
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