Page:The statutes of Wales (1908).djvu/129

Rh not belong to the King, and that the laws of Wales were, under the statutes 12 1 (Statutum Walliæ) and 27  8, c. 26, s. 31, still in force in that country. The jury returned a verdict for the Crown. A rule for a new trial was subsequently obtained by the defendant on the ground of misdirection by the Judge in directing the jury that the ancient laws of did not apply to this case, but Bramwell, B., in making the rule absolute, left this point to be dealt with by the Judge at the new trial, without commenting thereon. The case came on for the new trial before Channell, B., at the Chester Summer Assizes in 1862. To prove the laws of Howel Dda, the defendant called Mr. Black, the former assistant-keeper of the Public Records, who produced an extract examined by him from the Cottonian Manuscript in the British Museum, containing the Venedotian Code, which in his opinion was of the date of the latter part of the twelfth century. He also produced a certified copy and translation of certain entries on the original roll, preserved among the Chancery Rolls, relating to Wales (9 1, A.D. 1279 and 1280); the entries consisting of a certificate and apprise under a commission issued by  1, with instructions thereto annexed; a writ of aid for those Commissioners; and a writ addressed to Llywelyn Prince of  respecting the result of the inquiry instituted by the King.

On objection taken, Baron Channell was of opinion that the return to the Commission of 1, apart from the references to be found in text-writers, showed that there had been laws enacted, administered, or compiled by Howel Dda; but after consulting Crompton, J., he ruled (observing, however, that the point was not free from difficulty) that the Cottonian MSS. was not admissible in evidence as proof of what those laws were. The particular law of Howel Dda, relied upon in support of the defendant's case, not being proved, the question of its present existence and validity was not raised. The jury, upon the direction of the Judge,