a yeoman his liberty, and a slave his life. The severity of these laws was considerably abated in practice by his successors, and under Edward the Confessor they were almost entirely neglected: it was this which made the revival of them, under William the Conqueror, to be felt as a greater hardship, which certainly was not lessened by his adding to their penalties —the loss of an eye as a punishment for killing a stag. The reservation of controul in the crown over the officers of the forest, is the origin of the office of chief justice in eyre of the present day. Both the Williams were fond of the chase, which led them to oppress their subjects most inordinately. Henry commenced his reign by promising relief, which he never granted; on the contrary, it is evident, from the charter of his successor, that his extending the abuses of the forest laws occasioned great discontent. During the reign of Henry II. a milder system prevailed; and in Richard I.’s time the severe punishments enacted by the forest laws, were usually redeemed by a fine. John had stretched the forest law to the utmost, and was compelled to submit to an explicit declaration of the rights of the crown in this as well as in other respects; for that purpose a commission issued to ascertain boundaries, &c. The regulations then made were repeated in the reign of Henry III. and confirmed by Edward I. The Ordinatio Forestæ made in the 34th of this reign, contained many beneficial regulations. This statute is recited in the first of Edward III. from the latter of which, it appears, that at very distant times the law had provided for persons charged with offences of the forest a particular remedy, similar to the writ of Habeas Corpus, so deservedly considered as one great bulwark of our liberties; a statute was likewise made in this reign, for keeping the perambulations of Edward I. In the reign of Richard I. the officers of the forest appear to have attempted to influence the juries, an offence for which a remedy was provided in the 7th year of his reign: here the regulations of the forest appear to have remained for several years.
(To be continued.)
coursing.
All the meetings in the south differ from the Malton meeting, in running for the prize cup. In the south, each member subscribes to it, and, if present, starts a dog, which are drawn by lots to run against each other, two and two. The next day the winners of the preceding day run against each other, till all the dogs are run off; and lastly, the two winners of the whole start for the cup. An interest is thus kept alive through the whole meeting. The best dog is fairly ascertained, and not more than a brace of dogs are started at once, which renders the course a proper trial: this cannot be the case when five or six greyhounds are running together after one unfortunate hare.
No. I. Vol. I. I
