time, it had not been determined which offences were replevisable, and which were not, whether by the common writ de homine replegiando, or ex officio by the sheriff. It is very remarkable, that the abuses arising from this unlimited power of replevy, dreadful as they were, and destructive to the peace of society, were not corrected or taken notice of by the legislature, until the commons of the kingdom had obtained a share in it by their representatives; but the house of commons had scarce begun to exist, when these formidable abuses were corrected by the statute of Westminster. It is highly probable, that the mischief had been severely felt by the people, although no remedy had been provided for it by the Norman kings or barons. [1] "The iniquity of the times was so great, as it even forced the subjects to forego that, which was in account a great liberty, to stop the cause of a growing mischief." The preamble to the statutes made by the first parliament of Edward the First, assigns the reason of calling it[2], "because the people had been otherwise entreated than they ought to be, the peace less kept, the laws
