Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 02.pdf/414

 Sensible Laws.

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SENSIBLE LAWS. IN an article entitled " What I call Sensi ble Legislation," a Scotch writer in an English magazine recalls some of the quaint old Scottish laws, and in a humorous way comments on the vast amount of commonsense contained therein. From this inter esting paper we make a few extracts which seem to deserve a place in the columns of the "Green Bag." Let me ask any woman of experience who is a housekeeper (says the author), whether it would not be convenient if she could know the best and worst of her expen diture, — if there were no rise and fall of prices to plunge her into a weekly struggle with the pence-table. Our contemned an cestors did not allow women to be put upon in this way. In the reign of James IV. of Scotland, the magistrates of towns were enjoined " to set prices upon bread, ale, and all other necessarie things, wrought and bought." James V. appointed a commis sioner " for setting prices on craftsmen's work and stuff, victual and salt." Then the law told every man what price he was to set upon all goods in his shop; now the tradesman is left to make for himself complex calculations, and to discover, through much trouble, what he ought to charge in order to insure an honest living. Queen Mary decreed that prices should be set also on tame and wild fowl. "The black cock," says her Majesty, per statute, " is to be sax pennies, and the tame hen eight pennies." It is well known what care a father takes to keep his children from uncontrolled ram bling on the public highways. The wise spirit of our ancestors perceived this, and James IV. enacted " that no man, spirit ual or temporal, pass forth the realm with out license, or being abroad, do anything against their license." They were ordered to be good boys; and were kept out of the temptation of strange pie-men and pastry

cooks by the further provision of the statute, which goes on to say : " And that they have out no money, under pain of proscription and rebellion, and be demeaned as traitors." King James VI. enjoined that "youth going out of the kingdom should abide in the true religion; " and he goes on to order " that such as send their sons abroad, have a special care that their stay may be where the true religion is professed, spe cially where they want pedagogues; at least where the Inquisition is not; and in case any of these sons haunt the exercise of con trary religion, those that have the charge of them may be straiten'd to find caution, to furnish them no more money except their reasonable expences to bring them home." In that way truth was properly protected. There is no doubt that a necessity exists in our own day for a judicious supervision of the press. A free press soon becomes ir reverent, and takes a pride in setting up the present over the past, and talking dreamily about the future. Our ancestors were saved from all trouble on this score, by the care of their rulers. Their reading was selected for them by their government, as a child's books are chosen carefully by a judicious father. Queen Mary ordained " that no printer presume, attempt, or take upon hand, to print any books, ballads, songs, blasphemations, rhymes, or tragedies, either in Latin or English tongue, in any times to come, until the time the same be seen, viewed, and examined, by some wise and discreat per sons deputed thereto; and thereafter a license had and obtained from Our Sover eign Lady, for imprinting of such books, under the pain of confiscation of all the printer's goods, and banishing him of the realm forever." I believe it is, in the present day, a com mon thing to ridicule the cockney sportsmen who discharge their guns, through inexpertness, into unoffending bodies of donkeys,