11 Hen. VII. c. 24. revived by 23 Hen. VIII. c. 3. a more moderate puniſhment was inflicted upon attainted jurors; viz. perpetual infamy, and, if the cauſe of action were above 40 l. value, a forfeiture of 20 l. apiece by the jurors; or, if under 40 l, then 5 l. apiece; to be divided between the king and the party injured. So that a man may now bring an attaint either upon the ſtatute or at common law, at his election[1]; and in both of them may reverfſe the former judgment. But the practice of ſetting aſide verdicts upon motion, and granting new trials, has ſo ſuperſeded the uſe of both ſorts of attaints, that I have not obſerved any inſtance of an attaint in our books, later than the ſixteenth century[2]. By the old Gothic conſtitution indeed no certificate of a judge was allowed, in matters of evidence, to countervail the oath of the jury: but their verdict, however erroneous, was abſolutely final and concluſive. Teſtes ſunt de judice et de actis ejus; judex vero de ipſis viciſſim t eſtari non poteſt, vere an falſo jurent: qualicunque enim eorum aſſertioni ſtandum eſt et judicandum." Yet they had a proceeding from whence our attaint may be derived. If, upon a lawful trial before a ſuperior tribunal, they were found to have given a falſe verdict, they were fined, and rendered infamous for the future. "Si tamen evidenti argumento falſum juraſſe convincantur (id quod ſuperius judicium cognoſcere debet) mulctantur in bonis, de caetero perjuri et inteſtabiles."
II. An audita quereta is where a defendant, againſl whom judgment is recovered, and who is therefore in danger of execution, or perhaps actually in execution, may be relieved upon good matter of discharge, which has happened ſince the judgment: as if the plaintiff hath given him a general releaſe; or if the defendant hath paid the debt to the plaintiff, without entring ſatisfaction on the record. In theſe and the like cafes, wherein the defendant hath good matter to plead, but hath had no opportunity of pleading it, (either at the beginning of the
g 3 Inſt. 164. h 1593. M. 35 & 36 Eliz. Cro Eliz. 309. i Stiernhook de jure Goth. l. 1. c. 4.
