Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/103

§. 3. training it where it was too lax and luxuriant, hath occaioned another ubordinate diviion of remedial acts of parliament into enlarging and retraining tatutes. To intance again in the cae of treaon. Clipping the current coin of the kingdom was an offence not ufficiently guarded againt by the common law: therefore it was thought expedient by tatute 5 Eliz. c. 11. to make it high treaon, which it was not at the common law: o that this was an enlarging tatute. At common law alo piritual corporations might leae out their etates for any term of years, till prevented by the tatute 13 Eliz. before-mentioned: this was therefore a retraining tatute.

the rules to be oberved with regard to the contruction of tatutes are principally thee which follow.

1.&ensp; are three points to be conidered in the contruction of all remedial tatutes; the old law, the michief, and the remedy: that is, how the common law tood at the making of the act; what the michief was, for which the common law did not provide; and what remedy the parliament hath provided to cure this michief. And it is the buines of the judges o to contrue the act, as to uppres the michief and advance the remedy. Let us intance again in the ame retraining tatute of the 13 Eliz. By the common law eccleiatical corporations might let as long leaes as they thought proper: the michief was, that they let long and unreaonable leaes, to the impoverishment of their ucceors: the remedy applied by the tatute was by making void all leaes by eccleiatical bodies for longer terms than three lives or twenty one years. Now in the contruction of this tatute it is held, that leaes, though for a longer term, if made by a bihop, are not void during the bihop’s life; or, if made by a dean and chapter, they are not void during the life of the dean: for the act was made for the benefit and protection of the ucceor. The michief is therefore ufficiently uppreed by vacating them after the death of the grantors; but the leaes, du- ring