PRIVATE WRONGS.
BOOK III.
Ch. 26.

CHAPTER THE TWENTY SIXTH.
OF EXECUTION.

IF the regular judgment of the court, after the decifion of the fuit, be not fufpended, fuperfeded, or reverfed, by one or other of the methods mentioned in the two preceding chapters, the next and laft ftep is the execution of that judgment; or, putting the fentence of the law in force. This is performed in different manners, according to the nature of the action upon which it is founded, and of the judgment which is had or recovered.

IF the plaintiff recovers in an action real or mixed, wherein the feifin or poffeffion of land is awarded to him, the writ of execution fhall be an habere facias feifinam, or writ of feifin, of a freehold; or an habere facias poffeffionem, or writ of poffeffion ^a, of a chattel intereft ^b. Thefe are writs directed to the fheriff of the county, commanding him to give actual poffeffion to the plaintiff of the land of recovered: in the execution of which, the fheriff may take with him the poffe comitatus, or power of the county; and may juftify breaking open doors, if the poffeffion be not quietly delivered. But, if it be peaceably yielded up, the delivery of a twig, a turf, or the ring of the door, in the name of feifin, is fufficient execution of the writ. Upon a prefentation to a benefice recovered in a quare impedit, or affife

.{FS}
^a Append. N^o. II. §. 4
^b Finch. L. 470.
.{FE}
of
.P 413
PRIVATE WRONGS.
BOOK III.
Ch. 26.
of darrein prefentment, the execution is by a writ de clerico admittendo; directed, not to the fheriff, but to the bifhop or his metropolitan, requiring them to admit and inftitute the clerk of the plaintiff.

IN other actions where the judgment is, that fomething in fpecial be done or rendered by the defendant, then, in order to compel him fo to do, and to fee the judgment executed, a fpecial writ of execution iffues to the fheriff according to the nature of the cafe. As upon an affife or quod permittal profternere for a nufance, where one part of the judgment is quod amoveatur, a writ goes to the fheriff to abate it at the charge of the party, which likewife iffues even is cafe of an indictment ^c. Upon a replevin the writ of execution is that de retorno habendo ^d; and, if the diftrefs be eloigned, the defendant fhall have a capias in withernam ^e, but on the plaintiff's tendering the damages and fubmitting to a fine the procefs in withernam fhall be ftayed ^f. In detinue, after judgment, the plaintiff fhall have a diftringas, to compel the defendant to deliver the goods, by repeated diftreffes of his chattels ^g; or elfe a fcire facias againft any third perfon in whofe hands they may happen to be, to fhew caufe why they fhould not be delivered: and, if the defendant ftill continues obftinate, the fheriff fhall fummon an inqueft to afcertain the plaintiff's damages, which fhall be levied (like other damages) by feifure of the perfon or goods of the defendant. So that, after all, in replevin and detinue, (the only actions for recovering fpecific poffeffion of perfonal chattels) if the wrongdoer be very perverfe, he cannot be compelled to a reftitution of the identical thing taken or detained; but he ftill has his election, to deliver the goods, or their value ^h: in imperfection in the law, that refults from the nature of perfonal property, which is eafily concealed or conveyed out of the reach of juftice, and not, like land and other real property, always amefnable to the magiftrate.

.{FS}
^c Comb. 10.
^d See pag. 150.
^e See pag. 148.
^f 2 Leon. 174.
^g 1 Roll. Abr. 737. Raftal. Entr. 215.
^h Keilw. 64.
.{FE}
EXECU-
.P 414
PRIVATE WRONGS.
BOOK III.
Ch. 26.
EXECUTIONS in actions where money only is recovered, as a debt or damages, (and not any fpecific chattel) are of five forts : either againft the body of the defendant; or againft his goods and chattels; or againft his goods and the profits of his lands; or againft his goods and the poffeffion of his land; or againft all three, his body, lands, and goods.

1. THE firft of thefe fpecies of execution, is by writ of capias ad fatisfaciendum ⁱ; which diftinguifhes it from the former capias, ad refpondendum, which lies to compel an appearance at the beginning of a fuit. And, properly fpeaking, this cannot be fued out againft any but fuch as were liable to be taken upon the former capias ^k. The intent of it is, to imprifon the body of the debtor till fatisfaction be made for the debt, cofts, and damages: it therefore doth not lie againft any privileged perfons, peers or members of parliament, nor againft executors or adminiftrators, nor againft fuch other perfons as could not be originally held to bail. And fir Edward Coke alfo gives us a fungular inftance ^l, where a defendant in 14 Edw. III. was discharged from a capias becaufe he was of fo advanced an age, quod poenam imprifonamenti fubire non poteft. If an action be brought againft an hufband and wife for the debt of the wife, when fole, and the plaintiff recovers judgment, the capias fhall iffue to take both the hufband and wife in execution^m: but, if the action was originally brought againft herfell, when fole, and pending the fuit fhe marries, the capias fhall be awarded againft her only, and not againft her hufband ⁿ. Yet, if judgment be recovered againft an hufband and wife for the contract, nay even for the perfonal mifbehaviour ^o, of the wife during her coverture, the capias fhall iffue againft the hufband only: which is one of the greateft privileges of Englifh wives.

.{FS}
ⁱ Append. N^o. III. §. 7.
^k 3 Rep. 12.
^l 1 Inft. 289.
^m Moor. 704.
ⁿ Cro. Jac. 323.
^o Cro. Car. 513.
.{FE}
THE
.P 415
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BOOK III.
Ch. 26.
THE writ of capias ad fatisfaciendum is an execution of the higheft nature, in as much as it deprives a man of his liberty, till he makes the fatisfaction awarded; and therefore, when a man is once taken in execution upon this writ, no other procefs can be fued out againft his lands or goods. Only, by ftatute 21 Jac. I. c. 24. if the defendant dies, while charged in execution upon this writ, the plaintiff may, after his death, fue out new executions againft his lands, goods, or chattels. The writ is directed to the fheriff, commanding him to take the body of the defendant and have him at Weftminfter, on a day therein named, to make the plaintiff fatisfaction for his demand. And if he does not then make fatisfaction, he muft remain in cuftody till he does. This writ may be fued out as may all other executory procefs, for cofts, againft a plaintiff as well as a defendant, when judgment is had againft him.

WHEN a defendant is once in cuftody upon this procefs, he is to be kept in arcta et falva cuftodia: and, if he be afterwards feen at large, it is an efcape; and the plaintiff may have an action thereupon againft the fheriff for his whole debt. For though, upon arrefts and what is called mefne procefs, being fuch as intervenes between the commencement and end of a fuit ^p, the fheriff, till the ftatute 8 & 9 W. III. c. 27. might have indulged the defendant as he pleafed, fo as he produced him in court to anfwer the plaintiff at the return of the writ: yet, upon a taking in execution, he could never give any indulgence; for, in that cafe, confinement is the whole of the debtor's punifhment, and of the fatisfaction made to the creditor. Efcapes are either voluntary, or negligent. Voluntary are fuch as are by the exprefs confent of the keeper, after which he never can retake his prifoner again ^q, (though the plaintiff may retake him at any time ^r) but the fheriff muft anfwer for the debt. Negligent efcapes are where the prifoner efcapes without his keeper's knowlege or confent; and then upon frefh purfuit the defendant may be re-

.{FS}
^p See pag. 279.
^q 3 Rep. 52. 1 Sid. 330.
^r Stat. 8 & 9 W. III. c. 27.
.{FE}
taken,
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PRIVATE WRONGS.
BOOK III.
Ch. 26.
taken, and the fheriff fhall be excufed, if he has him again before any action brought againft himfelf for the efcapt^s. A refcue of a prifoner in execution, either going to gaol or in gaol, or a breach of prifon, will nor excufe the fheriff from being guilty of and anfwering for the efcape; for he ought to have fufficient force to keep him, feeing he may command the power of the county ^t. But by ftatute 32 Geo. II. c. 28. if a defendant, charged in execution for any debt lefs than 100 l, will furrender all his effects to his creditors, (except his apparel, bedding, and tools of his trade, not amounting in the whole to the value of 10 l.) and will make oath of his punctual compliance with the ftatute, the prifoner may be difcharged, unlefs the creditor infifts on detaining him; in which cafe he fhall allow him 2 s. 4 d. per week, to be paid on the firft day of every week, and on failure of regular payment the prifoner fhall be difcharged. Yet the creditor may at any future time have execution againft the lands and goods of the defendant, though never more againft his perfon. And, on the other hand, the creditors may, as in cafe of bankruptcy, compel (under pain of tranfportation for feven years) fuch debtor charged in execution for any debt under 100 l, t0 make a difcovery and furrender of all his effects for their benefit; whereupon he is alfo entitled to the like difcharge of his perfon.

IF a capias ad fatisfaciendum is fued out, and a non eft inventus is returned thereon, the plaintiff may fue out a procefs againft the bail, if any were given: who, we may remember, ftipulated in this triple alternative; that the defendant fhould, if condemned in the fuit, fatisfy the plaintiff his debt and cofts; or, that he fhould furrender himfelf a prifoner; or, that they would pay it for him: as therefore the two former branches of the alternative are neither of them complied with, the latter muft immediately take place ^u. In order to which a writ of fcire facias may be fued out againft the bail, commanding them to fhew caufe why the plaintiff fhould not have execution againft them

.{FS}
^s F. N. B. 130.
^t Cro. Jac. 419.
^u Lutw. 1269–1273.
.{FE}
for
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PRIVATE WRONGS.
BOOK III.
Ch. 26.
for his debt and damages: and on fuch writ, if they fhew no fufficient caufe, or the defendant does not furrender himfelf on the day of the return, or of fhewing caufe (for afterwards is not fufficient) the plaintiff may have judgment againft the bail, and take out a writ of capias ad fatisfaciendum, or other procefs of execution againft them.

2. THE next fpecies of execution is againft the goods and chattels of the defendant; and is called a writ of fieri facias^w, from the words in it where the fheriff is commanded, quod fieri faciat de bonis, that he caufe to be made of the goods and chattels of the defendant the fum or debt recovered. This lies as well againft privileged perfons, peers, &c, as other common perfons; and againft executors or adminiftrators with regard to the goods of the deceafed. The fheriff may not break open any outer doors ^x, to execute either this, or the former, writ: but muft enter peaceably; and may then break open any inner door, belonging to the defendant, in order to take the goods ^y. And he may fell the goods and chattels (even an eftate for years, which is a chattel real ^z) of the defendant, till he has raifed enough to fatisfy the judgment and cofts: firft paying the landlord of the premifes, upon which the goods are found, the arrears of rent the due, not exceeding one year's rent in the whole ^a. If part only of the debt be levied on a fieri facias, the plaintiff may have a capias ad fatisfaciendum for the refidue ^b.

3. A THIRD fpecies of execution is by writ of levari facias; which affects a man's goods and the profits of his lands, by commanding the fheriff to levy the plaintiff's debt on the lands and goods of the defendant; whereby the fheriff may feife all his goods, and receive the rents and profits of his lands, till fatisfaction be made to the plaintiff ^c. Little ufe is now made of this

.{FS}
^w Append. N^o. III. §. 7.
^x 5 Rep. 92.
^y Palm. 54.
^z 8 Rep. 171.
^a Stat. 8 Ann. c. 14.
^b 1 Roll. Abr. 904. Cro. Eliz. 344.
^c Finch. L. 471.
.{FE}

VOL. III.

E e e

writ

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Ch. 26.

writ; the remedy by elegit, which takes poffeffion of the lands themfelves, being much more effectual. But of this fpecies is a writ of execution proper only to ecclefiaftics ; which is given when the fheriff, upon a common writ of execution fued, returns that the defendant is a beneficed clerk, not having any lay fee. In this café a writ goes to the bifhop of the diocefe, in the nature of a levari or fieri facias ^d, to levy the debt and damages de bonis ecclefiafticis, which are not to be touched by lay hands : and thereupon the bifhop fends out a fequeftration of the profits of the clerk's benefice, directed to the churchwardens, to collect the fame and pay them to the plaintiff, till the full fum be raifed ^e.

4. THE fourth fpecies of execution is by the writ of elegit ; which is a judicial writ given by the ftatute Weftm. 2. 13 Edw. I. c. 18. either upon a judgment for a debt, or damages ; or upon the forfeiture of a recognizance taken in the king's court. By the common law a man could only have fatisfaction of goods, chattels, and the prefent profits of lands, by the two laft mentioned writs of fieri facias, or levari facias ; but not the poffeffion of the lands themfelves : which was a natural confequence of the feodal principles, which prohibited the alienation, and of courfe the incumbring of the fief with the debts of the owner. And, when the reftriction of alienation began to wear away, the confequence ftill continued ; and no creditor could taken the poffeffion of lands, but only levy the growing profits : fo that, if the defendant aliened his lands, the plaintiff was oufted of his remedy. The ftatute therefore granted this writ, (called an elegit, becaufe it is in the choice or one of the former) by which the defendant's goods and chattels are not fold, but only appraifed ; and all of them (except oxen and beafts of the plough) are delivered to the plaintiff, at fuch reafonable appraifement and price, in part of fatisfaction of his debt. If the goods are
.{FS}
^d Pegiftr. orig. 300. judic. 22. 2 Inft. 4.
^e 2 Burn. eccl. law. 329.
.{FE}
not
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PRIVATE WRONGS.
BOOK III.
Ch. 26.

not fufficient, then the moiety or one half of his freehold lands, whether held in his own name, or by any other in truft for him ^f, are alfo to be delivered to the plaintiff; to hold, till out of the rents and profits thereof the debt be levied, or till the defendant's intereft be expired ; as, till the death of the defendant, if he be tenant for life or in tail. During this period the plaintiff is called tenant by elegit, of whom we fpoke in a former part of thefe commentaries ^g. We there obferved that till this ftatute , by the antient common law, lands were not liable to be charged with, or feifed for, debts ; becaufe by this means the connection between lord and tenant might be deftroyed, fraudulent alienations might be made, and the fervices be transferred to be performed by a ftranger ; provided he tenant incurred a large debt, fufficient to cover the land. And therefore, even by this ftatute , only one half was, and now is, fubject to execution ; that out of the remainder fufficient might be left for the lord to diftrein upon for his fervices. And, upon the fame feodal principle, copyhold lands are at this day not liable to be taken in execution upon a judgment ^h. But, in café of a debt to the king, it appears by magna carta, c. 8. that it was allowed by the common law for him to take poffeffion of the lands till the debt was paid. for, he, being the grand fuperior and ultimate proprietor of all landed eftates, might feife the lands into his own hands, if any thing was owing from the vafal; and could not be faid to be defrauded of his fervices, when the oufter of the vafal proceeded from his own command. This execution, or feifing of lands by elegit, is of fo high a nature, that after it the body of the defendant cannot be taken: but if execution can only be had of the goods, becaufe there are no lands, and fuch goods are not fufficient to pay the debt, a capias ad fatisfaciendum may then be had after the elegit ; for fuch elegit is in this café no more in effect than a fieri facias ⁱ. So that body and goods may be taken in execution, or land and goods ; but not body and land too,
.{FS}
^f Stat. 29. Car. II. c. 3.
^g Book II. ch. 10.
^h 1 Roll. Abr. 888.
^.{FE} Hob. 58.
.{.{FE}}
E e e 2
upon
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Ch. 26.

upon any judgment between fubject and fubject in the courfe of the common law. but

5. UPON fome profecutions given by ftatute ; as in the café of recognizances or debts acknowleged on ftatutes merchant, or ftatutes ftaple ; (purfuant to the ftatutes 13 Edw. I. de mercaribus, and 27. Edw. III. c. 9.) upon forfeiture of thefe, the body lands, and goods, may all be taken at once in execution, to compel the payment of the debt. The procefs hereon is ufually called an extent or extendi facias, becaufe the fheriff is to caufe the lands, & c, to be appraifed to their full extended value, before he delivers them to the plaintiff, that it may be certainly known how foon the debt will be fatisfied. ^k. And by ftatute 33 Hen. VIII. c. 39. all obligations made to the king fhall have the fame force, and of confequence the fame remedy to recover them, as a ftatute ftaple : though indeed, before this ftatute , the king was intitled to fue out execution againft the body, lands, and goods of his accountant or debtor ¹. And his debt fhall, in fuing out execution, be preferred to that of every other creditor, who hath not obtained judgment before the king commenced his fuit ^m. The king's judgment alfo affects all lands, which the king's debtor hath at or after the time of contracting his debt, or which any of his officers mentioned in the ftatute 13 Eliz. c. 4. hath at or after the time of his entering on the office : fo that, if fuch officer of the crown alienes for a valuable confideration, the land fhall be liable to the king's debt, even in the hands of a bona fide purchafer ; though the money for which he is accountable was received by the vendor many years after the alienation ⁿ. Whereas judgments between fubject and fubject related, even at common law, no farther back than the firft day of the term in which they were recovered, in refpect of the lands of the debtor ; and did not bind his goods and chattels, but from the date of the writ of execution. And now, by the ftatute of frauds, 29 Car. II. c. 3. the judgment fhall not bind the land in the hands of a
.{FS}
^k F. N. B. 131.
^l 3 Rep. 12.
^m Stat. 33. Hen. VIII. c. 29.
ⁿ 10 Rep. 55, 56.
.{FE}
bona
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Ch. 26.

bona fide purchafer, but only from the time of actually figning the fame ; nor the goods in the hands of a ftranger, or a purchafer ^o, but only from the actual delivery of the writ to the fheriff.

THESE are the methods which the law of England has pointed out for the execution of judgments : and when the plaintiff's demand is fatisfied, either by the voluntary payment of the defendant, or by this compulfory procefs, or otherwife, fatisfaction ought to be entered on the record, that the defend-ant may not be liable to be hereafter harraffed a fecond time on the fame account. But all thefe writs of execution muft be fued out within a year and a day after the judgment is entered ; otherwife the court concludes prima facie that the judgment is fatisfied and extinct : yet however it will grant a writ of fcire facias in purfuance of ftatute Weftm. 2. 13 Edw. I. c. 45. for the defendant to fhew caufe why the judgment fhould not be revived, and execution had againft him ; to which the defendant may plead fuch mater as he has to allege, in order to fhew why procefs of execution fhould not be iffued : or the plaintiff may ftill bring an action of debt, founded on this dormant judgment, which was the only method of revival allowed by the common law ^p.

IN this manner are the feveral remedies given by the Englifh law for all forts of injuries, either real or perfonal, adminiftred by the feveral courts of juftice, and their refpective officers. In the courfe therefore of the prefent volume we have, firft, feen and confidered the nature of remedies, by the mere act of the parties, or mere operation of law, without any fuit in courts. We have next taken a view of remedies by fuit or action in courts : and therein have contemplated, firft, the nature and fpecies of courts, inftituted for the redrefs of injuries in general ; and then have fhewn in what particular courts application muft be made for the redrefs of particular injuries, or the doctrine of jurifdictions and
.{FS}
^o Skin. 257.
^p Co. Litt. 290.
.{FE}
cognizance.
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cognizance. We afterwards proceeded to confider the nature and diftribution of wrongs and injuries, affecting every fpecies of perfonal and real rights, with the refpective remedies by fuit, which the law of the land has afforded for every poffible injury. And, laftly, we have deduced and pointed out the method and progrefs of obtaining fuch remedies in the courts of juftice : proceeding from the firft general complaint or original writ; through all the ftages of procefs, to compel the defendant's appearance ; and of pleading, or formal allegation on the one fide, and excufe or denial on the other ; with the examination of the validity of fuch complaint or excufe, upon demurrer, or the truth of the facts alleged and denied, upon iffue joined, and it's feveral trials ; to the judgment or fentence of the law, with refpect to the nature and amount of the redrefs to be fpecifically given : till, after confidering the fufpenfion of that judgment by writs in the nature of appeals, we arrived at it's final execution ; which puts the party in fpecific poffeffion of his right by the intervention of minifterial officers, or elfe gives him an ample fatisfaction, either by equivalent damages, or by the confinement of his body, who is guilty of the injury complained of.

THIS care and circumfpection in the law, --- in providing that no man's right fhall be affected by any legal proceeding without giving him previous notice, and yet that the debtor fhall not be receiving fuch notice take occafion to efcape from juftice ; in requiring that every complaint be accurately and precifely afcertained in writing, and be as pointedly and exactly anfwered ; in clearly ftating the queftion either of law or of fact ; in deliberately refolving the former after full argumentative difcuffion, and indifputably fixing the latter by a diligent and impartial trial ; in correcting fuch errors as may have arifen in either of thofe modes of decifion, from accident, miftake, or furprize ; and in finally enforcing the judgment, when nothing can be alleged to impeach it; -- this anxiety to maintain and reftore to every individual the enjoyment of his civil rights, without intrenching upon thofe of any other individual in the nation, this parental folicitude
which
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Ch. 26.

which pervades our whole legal conftitution, is the genuine off-fpring of that fpirit of equal liberty which is the fingular felicity of Englifhmen. At the fame time it muft be owned to have given an handle, in fome degree, to thofe complaints, of delay in the practice of the law, which are not wholly without foundation, but are greatly exaggerated beyond the truth. There may be, it is true, in this, as in all other departments of knowlege, a few unworthy profeffos : who ftudy the fcience of chicane and fophiftry rather than of truth and juftice ; and who, to gratify the fpleen, the difhonefty, and wilfulnefs of their clients, may endeavour to fcreen the guilty, by an unwarrantable ufe of thofe means which were intended to protect the innocent. But the frequent difappointments and the conftant difcountenance, that they meet with in the courts of juftice, have confined thefe men (to the honour of this age be it fpoken) both in number and reputation to indeed a very defpicable compafs.

YET fome delays there certainly are, and muft unavoidably be, in the conduct of a fuit, however defirous the parties and their agents may be to come to a fpeedy determination. Thefe arife from the fame original caufes as were mentioned in examining a former complaint ^q ; from liberty, property, civility, commerce, and an extent of populous territory : which whenever we are willing to exchange for tyranny, poverty, barbarifm, idlenefs, and a barren defart, we may then enjoy the fame difpatch of caufes that is fo highly extolled in fome foreign countries. But common fenfe and a little experience will convince us, that more time and circumfpection are requifite in caufes, where the fuitors have valuable and permanent rights to lofe, than where their property is trivial and precarious ; and what the law gives them to-day may be feifed by their prince tomorrow. In Turkey, fays Montefquieu ^r, where little regard is fhewn to the lives or fortunes of the fubject, all caufes are quickly decided : the bafha, on a fummary hearing, orders which party he pleafes to be baftinadoed, and then fends them about their bufinefs. But in free ftates the trouble, expenfe, and delays of
.{FS}
^q See pag. 327.
^r Sp. L. b. 6. ch. 2.
.{FE}
judicial
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Ch. 26.

judicial proceedings are the price that every fubject pays for his liberty : and in all governments, he adds, he formalities of law increafe, in proportion to the value which is fet on the honour, the fortune, the liberty, and life of he fubject.

FROM thefe principles it might reafonably follow, that the Englifh courts fhould be more fubject to delays than thofe of other nations ; as they fet a greater value on life, on liberty, and on property. But it is our peculiar felicity to enjoy the advantage, and by to be exempted from a proportionable fhare of the burthen. For the courfe of the civil law, to which moft other nations conform their practice, is much more tedious than ours ; for proof of which I need only appeal to the fuitors of thofe courts in England, where the practice of the Roman law is allowed in it's full extent. And particularly in France, not only our Fortefcue' accufes (of his own knowlege) their courts of moft unexampled delays in adminiftring juftice ; but even a writer of their own ^t has not fcrupled to teftify, that there were in his time more caufes there depending than in all Europe befides, and fome of them an hundred years old. But (not to enlarge upon the prodigious improvements which have been made in the celerity of juftice by the difufe of real actions, by the ftatutes of amendments and jeofails ^v, and by other more modern regulations, which it now might be indelicate to mention, but which pofterity will never forget) the time and attendance afforded by the judges in our Englifh courts are alfo greater than thofe of many other countries. In the Roman calendar there were in the whole year but twenty eight judicial or triverbial ^u days allowed to the praetor for hearing caufes ^w : whereas with us, one fourth of the year is term time, in which three courts conftantly fit for the difpatch of matters of law ; befides the very clofe attendance of the court of chancery for determining fuits
.{FS}
^s de Laud. LL. c. 53.
^t Bodin. de Republ. l. 6. c. 6.
^v See pag. 406.
^u Otherwife called dies fafti, in quibus licebat praetori fari tria verba, do, dico, addico. (Calv. Lex. 285.)
^w Spelman of the terms. §. 4. c. 2.
.{FE}
in
.P 425
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Ch. 26.

in equity, and the numerous courts of affife and nifi prius that fit in vacation for he trial of matters of fact. Indeed there is no other country in the known world, that hath an inftitution fo commodious and fo adapted to the difpatch of caufes, as our trials by jury in thofe courts for the decifion of facts : in no other nation under heaven does juftice make her progrefs twice in each year into every part of the kingdom, to decide upon the fpot by the voice of the people themfelves the difputes of the remoteft provinces.

AND here this part of our commentaries, which regularly treats only of redrefs at the common law, would naturally draw to a conclufion. But, as the proceedings in the courts of equity are very different from thofe at common law, and as thofe courts are of a very general and extenfive jurifdiction, it is in fome meafure a branch of the tafk I have undertaken, to give the ftudent fome general idea of the forms of practice adopted by thofe courts. Thefe will therefore be the fubject of the enfuing chapter.

VOL. III.
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