APPENDIX E TRANSLATION OF LATIN WRITS AND LAW FRENCH YEAR-BOOK CASES1 No. 6. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. Writ | wife give you security, etc., then cause of Trespass in the Royal Court. The I etc., prepared to show why, when the king to the Sheriff of Lincoln, greeting. said I was in the service of the said I If A gives you security for pursuing his and I at T, he with malice aforecomplaint, then cause B, by pledge thought put poison secretly and and good sureties, to be in the presence treacherously into the food of the of our justices at Westminster on the said I, by reason of which the said I was octave of St. Michael's day (Or, thus, afterwards seized with serious illness To be in our presence on the octave of so that her life was despaired of, and St. Michael's day wherever we may other enormities etc., to the grievous then be in England), prepared to show damage of the said I and I, as is alleged. why he with force and arms there And you are to have there, etc. made an assault on the said A at N, and beat, wounded, and maltreated him, so that his life was despaired of, and inflicted other enormities on him, to the grievous damage of the said A and against our peace. And you are to have there the names of the sureties and this writ. Witness, etc. No. 7. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. Writ of a Broken Sewer. [Etc. as above], prepared to show why with force and arms he broke the banks of a certain sewer at R, so that the water, running off from the sewer by the said breach, inundated the lands and meadows of the said A, adjacent to the said sewer; by reason of which the said A totally lost the profit of his said lands and meadows, and inflicted other enormities, etc., to the damage of A in one hundred pounds and against our peace, etc. No. 46. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. Writ of Assault made and Threats Uttered. [Etc. as above], prepared to show why with force and arms he made an assault on the said Agnes at B, and maltreated her, etc., and threatened the said Agnes to tear down her houses, until finally the said Agnes gave a bond to the said I and R for twenty shillings, in order to save her said houses, and other enormities, etc. Witness in the said year etc. No. 51. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. Writ of Imprisonment. [Etc. as above] why with force and arms he made an assault on the said A at N, and beat, wounded, imprisoned, and maltreated him, and other enormities, etc. No. 52. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. Writ of Imprisonment until he made a bond and certain obligatory writing. [Etc. as No. 22. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. [Same above], cause B etc. Why with force as No. 6.] No. 26. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. Writ of Poison put in Food. If I and I his and arms he took the said A at N, and imprisoned and maltreated him, and led him thus imprisoned thence to T, and there detained him in prison, until 1 [These translations are not intended to enable competent students to dispense with the reading of the originals. Nor are they provided in the belief that it is anything less than a disgrace for an educated lawyer to be incompetent to read and use law-Latin. They are meant merely to serve as a vocabulary to assist in the perusal of the originals, and to stimulate self-improvement in the two languages.] the said A gave to the said B a bond for | provided. And you are to have there eleven shillings, in consideration of get- this writ, etc. ting his liberty, and also signed a writing obliging him, under twenty pounds penalty, not to sue the said B by reason of the said imprisonment. No. 66. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. Writ of an Heir Married. If Reginald Ireys etc., then cause W. and R. to be in the presence of our Justices etc., why with force and arms they seized Joanna, daughter and heir of Reginald, who was at I, and married and carried her off, and inflicted other enormities etc. (Or, Seized, carried off, and married her.)] No. 67. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. Writ of an Heir Seized in Socage. If A makes etc., then cause etc. N to be etc., prepared to show why, although the custody of the land and heir of C belongs to the said A until the lawful majority of the said heir, because the said Cheld his land in socage and the said A is next of kin to the heir of the said C and the said A has long been in full and peaceable seisin of the said custody, the said N took and carried off by force and arms at N the son and heir of the said C then being under age and in custody of the said A, and inflicted other enormities on him, to the grievous damage of the said A and against our peace. No. 78. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. Writ of Trespass done to a Woman. If A and his wife B etc., cause C etc., why he made an assault on the said B at N etc., and took and carried off goods and chattels of the said A, there found, to the value of etc., and other enormities etc., to the grievous damage of the said A and B etc. No. 128. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. Writ of a Close Broken and Servants Beaten. [Etc. as above] why with force and arms they broke the close of A at N, and cut down his trees there freshly growing, and fished there in his fishponds, and took and carried off thence the said fish and trees and other goods and chattels there found to the value of ten pounds, and made an assault there on C his man-servant (or, maidservant; Or, tenant; Or, man-serf; Or, woman-serf; Or, if there were several, say, on his men and his servants), and beat and wounded and maltreated him (Or, her; Or, them), by reason of which the said A lost for a long time the service of his said man-servant (Or, etc.), and inflicted other enormities on him, to his grievous damage etc. No. 129. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. Writ of a Close Broken and Tenants and Servants Threatened, [Etc. as above] prepared to show why with force and arms he broke the close and house of the said W. at B, and there uttered such threats to his tenants and servants of their life and the mutilation of their limbs and there treated them with such insults and violence, that the said tenants then and there abandoned their tenancies of the said Walter and the said servants departed from his service, so that the said Walter for a long time lost the service of the said servants and the rents and services of the said tenants, and other enormities, etc. No. 258. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. Writ of a Close Broken. The king to the sheriff, greeting. Inasmuch as A has IBID. Writ of a Wife Carried off with given us surety that he will pursue his the Husband's Goods. If A etc., then complaint, by R of the county of attach B, so as to have him before us Lincoln and K of the county of York, etc., to answer the said A, why with cause by a pledge etc., why with force force and arms he seized C, wife of the and arms he broke the close of the said said A, at N, and took her off, with A at N, and took and carried off two goods and chattels of the said A, and hundred conies, there found, of the still detains her from him, and other value of forty shillings, against our enormities, etc., to the grievous dam- peace. And then T etc. And let it age of the said A and against our peace be indorsed by I, and the said I has and against the form of statute herein | taken sureties for pursuing the suit. IBID. the King etc. [Etc. as above] why etc. he trampled and destroyed the wheat and herbage of the said A to the value of so much lately growing at N. (Or thus, by means of certain animals eat up, trampled, and destroyed the wheat of the said A, lately growing at N, to the value of so much, and other enormities, etc.) No. 271. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. Assise of Novel Disseisin. The King to the sheriff, greeting. Command A to restore to B, justly and without delay, so much land with its appurtenances in K, of which the said A unjustly and without process of law has disseised the said B since the first crossing of our lord King Henry son of John into Gascony, as is alleged. And if he does it not, etc. Witness, etc. No. 272. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. Writ of Ejectment from a Tenancy. The King to the sheriff of Cumberland, greeting. If A makes you etc., then cause B etc., to be before our justices etc., why with force and arms he entered the manor of I, which C demised to the said A for a term not yet expired, and took and carried off goods and chattels of the said A, found in the said manor, to the value of so much, and ejected the said A from his said tenancy, and inflicted on him other enormities, to his grievous damage etc. And you are to have etc. No. 287. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. Of a Wild-cat thrown into a Dovecote. [Etc. as above] why with force and arms he broke the close of the said A at N, and there threw a certain wild-cat into his dovecote, by reason of which the said A for a long time lost the flock of his said dovecote, and inflicted other enormities on him, to his grievous damage etc. No. 293. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. [Etc. as above], why with force and arms he took and dragged off at Ha certain boat of the said A, there found, to the value of ten pounds, and took and carried off goods and chattels, being in the said boat, to the value of twenty pounds, etc. No. 323. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. ASsise of Nuisance. The King to the sheriff, greeting. A has complained to us that B has unjustly etc. dug a certain pool in C in your county, to the nuisance of his freehold in L in the county of H, since the first crossing etc. [and so do you cause] lawful men of the neighborhood to view the said pond and their names to be recorded. And do you summon etc. whom you will join with yourself at a certain day and place within the said counties, whom the said etc. prepared thence etc. No. 362. YEAR BOOK, 6 H. VII, fol. 2, pl. 2. Trespass of assault against four, and of beating and wounding. And one of them justifies the beating and the blows by reason of the assault of the plaintiff himself and [justifies] the harm which he had done by the plaintiff's own assault, and the defendant's own defence. And the plaintiff says it was the defendant's own assault, without such a cause. And they were at issue: And the others plead not guilty. And the jurors discussed it, and it was said on the part of the Court, that if the plea of him who justified is found against him, then he shall be charged with the entire damage, and they are not to inquire whether he wounded him or anything of that sort, because that is confessed by the justification. But as to the others [the jury] is to inquire what they really did, because they might make an assault and yet not wound him. And then, if it be found that such only was the case, damages for the assault will be given against those three in common, but for the wounding and cutting, against him who justified. No. 495. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. [Etc. as usual] why with force and arms they broke the close of the said prior at L, and with certain animals there eat up, trampled, and destroyed the wheat in the sheaves and the hay in the stacks, there found, to the value of a hundred shillings, and other enormities. No. 497. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. [Etc. as usual] why he knowingly kept at B certain dogs accustomed to bite sheep, which dogs so grievously bit a hundred sheep of the said John there found, that sixty sheep of the said sheep to the value of a hundred shillings died and the remaining sheep were much lessened in value, and other enormities inflicted on him, to the grievous damage of the said John, as he alleges. And you are to have there the names of the sureties and this writ. No. 553. WILLIAM RASTELL, "Entrees." The said R. J. and W. M. by J. N. their attorney come and deny the force and wrong etc., and as to the coming with force and arms, not guilty, etc., and as to the rest of the above supposed transaction the said R. J. and W. M. say that the said H. on the said feast-day and year at the said W. made an assault on the said R. J. and W. M. and would have beaten, wounded, and maltreated them, by reason of which the said R. and W. then and there defended themselves against the said H., and say that the damage, if any then and there occurred to the said H., was due to his own assault and in defence of the said R. and W. And this they are ready to verify. No. 565. WHEAL v. W. R. Plaintiff alleged that defendant imprisoned his wife for a certain period etc., to wit, one hour. Lovel (apprentice, for the defendant). No action lies; for, he says, the defendant met a woman on the highway, and she told him that her husband was taken to prison for a Scotchman etc., and the woman made such gestures and he thought that she was wild like a lunatic, and the defendant, to avoid the very serious mischief which might ensue to himself, took her and put her in his house for the space of an hour; which was the said imprisonment. FAIRFAX, J. This plea is no plea; for by this plea you would have the jury try what your own notion was, or whether you thought that she was wild like a lunatic; and that cannot be allowed. But if you would have any benefit from it, you must allege that she was in fact wild, for example, so that she would have killed you or done other mischief such as set fire to a house, or other thing. . . . And this the defendant did; so that the plaintiff replied that it was defendant's own wrong, without such cause. In No. 586. BUTLER v. AUSTEN. battery, wounding in defence of a person's possession cannot be justified. Butler brings action for battery and wounding of his servant, by reason of which he lost his service; defendant pleads that he was possessed of a close in S. and the said servant entered it, and so he justifies the battery and wounding in defence of his possession. And per CURIAM it was adjudged that wounding is not justifiable for preserving possession, as is held in Y. B. 21 H. VI, 26. But one may lay hands gently on the person; DODDRIDGE, J., in Y. B. 9 Ed. IV, said that battery was justifiable for that purpose. COKE, C. J. A man may justify wounding in defence of his person. No. 615. HUGH G. v. WILLIAM T. FULTHORPE, J. Suppose that you put your horse in a close, and in the close is a mire-hole; if your horse is in the mire-hole and has been there a long time, so that he is on the point of dying from hunger, and if I pull him out of the mire-hole, and lead him with me to my house and there give him provender and afterwards deliver your horse back to you, - here is no tort in me. NEWTON, C. J. Fulthorpe is right. And suppose you put a child to a nurse to take care of and I find it on the point of being killed by a dog or a horse, and I take possession of it to save it, and afterwards deliver it to you, here is no tort in me. No. 839.. YEAR Book, 11 H. IV, fol. 45, pl. 21. Two masters of a grammar school bring a writ of trespass against another master, and allege that whereas the appointment of a grammar school at Gloucester, from a time to which the memory does not run back, belongs to the prior of Lanton near Gloucester, and the said prior had appointed the said plaintiffs to have the management of the said schools and to instruct the children etc. there, the defendant had started a school in the same town, by plea etc., in which you yourself remeans whereof the plaintiffs, who had ceived the orders of our justices at been used to get for each child by the Westminster on the octave of St. quarter 40d. or 12s., now do not get Michael's day, because the said R has but 12d.; to their damage, etc. Hor- not been found nor has he any goods ton made complete denial. Tillesley. in your bailiwick by which he can be His writ is worth nothing. Skrene. It attached. And you are to have etc. is a good action on the case, and the plaintiff here shows sufficiently that No. 1033. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. they are damaged, wherefore etc. Writ of Levari Facias. The King to HANKFORD, J. Damage may exist the sheriff of S, greeting. Inasmuch without wrong. If for example I have as I, son of C, ought to have paid to a mill, and my neighbor starts another M of B 29 pounds, to wit, on the feast mill, by which the profit of my mill is of St. Michael, in the tenth year of diminished, I have no action against the reign of our Lord Edward late king him. Yet it is a damage to me. of England our grandfather, 100 shilWhich THIRNING, J., agreed to, and lings, and on the feast of Easter then said that the instruction of children next following, 8 pounds, as appears to Was a spiritual [i. e. ecclesiastical] us by inspection in the rolls of the affair. And if a man hires a master Chancery of our said grandfather, and in his own house to instruct his chil- he has not yet paid them, as is alleged, dren, it will be a damage to the com- We command you to cause to be levied mon schoolmaster of the town, yet the said money from the lands and I think he would have no action at all. chattels of the said I in your bailiwick .. HILL, J. There lacks in this case without delay, so that you are to have ground to maintain the action, for the it in our Chancery on the morrow of the plaintiff has no vested estate or Nativity of St. John Baptist next franchise, but merely pursues a trade coming, wherever etc., to be there paid for the time being. And although to the said M. And this you are by no another person, who is as learned in means to fail to do. And you are to his attainments as the plaintiffs, has have there this writ. Witness, etc. come here to instruct the children, it is a virtuous and charitable thing, and a convenience to the people, so that he cannot by our law be punished for this. . . . And the opinion of the Court was that the writ does not lie at all, wherefore it was held that they should take nothing [by their writ]. No. 1092. AYRES v. SEDGWICK, Palmer 142. CHAMBERLAINE, J. The action does not lie. . . . When one makes a [false] oath in court on a point asked of him, he shall not be punished by such an action. And he cites Chamberlaine's Case, 7-8 Eliz. in banc, where it was held by the Court, No. 1027. REGISTRUM BREVIUM. that if a witness makes false oath for Writ of Capias. The King to the the matter and point in issue to which sheriff, greeting. We command you to he is sworn, there no action on the case cause R to be pursued from county to lies; because he is punishable for that county, until he is outlawed according by the statute [against perjuries], which to the law and custom of our kingdom | would be defeated if an action on the of England, unless he is found. And case should lie. Otherwise, if he utters if he is found, then you are to seize him slanderous words, in his oath, which and cause him to be safely guarded, so are not on the issue or point to which that you have his body before our he is to give evidence; there an action justices at Westminster on the octave lies. of St. Hilary's day, to answer I in a |