Page:Select Essays in Anglo-American Legal History, Volume 1.djvu/162

 148 //. FROM THE llOO'S TO THE 1800'S the manorial lords, in continuance of the policy of the older j Statute of Merton, to " approve," i. e., bring under cultiva- ' tion, any part of the common wastes which then formed such a valuable preserve for the humbler members of the villages. The established rights of the " commoners " are, of course, theoretically safeguarded; but there is no provision for the growth of population ; and a lurid light is thrown on an otherwise obscure economic struggle, by the provision, that if hedges or dykes, erected in the course of approvement, are secretly destroyed, the adjoining townships are to be distrained, without proof of complicity, to make good the damage. y But Edward was not the man to reform his neighbour's household while he left his own in disorder ; and one of the most conspicuous features of the Statute of Westminster the Second is its elaborate provision against abuses by royal officials. Not only are the circuits of the judges carefully regulated, to prevent, on the one hand, oppressive multiplica- tion of public burdens by too frequent sessions, and on the other, delay and injustice arising from insufficient attend- ance, but the more glaring abuses of official power are treated with a frankness which must have convinced the culprits that the King, at least, had his eyes open to their misdeeds./. Sheriffs and bailiffs who start bogus prosecutions, with the i object of extorting money, are to suffer imprisonment. Petty officials of local tribunals, who connive with feudal landowners to withdraw suits from the circuit courts, in Order that they may oppress the poor in private, are to make fine to the King, and to pay threefold damages to the party injured. Whilst the duty of service on juries is asserted, the obvious danger of persecution and extortion, by the officials charged with the preparation of the lists, is carefully guarded against. A very significant clause requires the sheriffs to j give sealed receipts for all writs delivered to them for execu- tion. The fees of the hierarchy of royal officials, from the Marshal and the Chamberlain, down to the porters, cyrogra- phers, and clerks, are carefully regulated. And, finally, a most wholesome clause lays it down emphatically, that no. royal official may accept a share of, or purchase any interest