29 quotes
It is the glory of English Law, that its roots are sunk deep into the soil of national history; that it is the slow product of the age long growth of the national life.
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
The man who has been wounded by a chance arrow must not shoot at sight the first man he happens to meet.
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
Is it surprising that modern English land law should resemble a chaos rather than a system?
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
Whatever else the Norman Conquest may or may not have done, it made the old haphazard state of legal affairs forever impossible.
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
The feudal warranty is, doubtless derived from the ancient duty of the feudal lord to protect his liege man 'with fire and sword against all deadly'. It was of the essence of the feudal bond, that the vassal should be under his lord's protection.
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
The process of specialization tends, almost inevitably, to narrow the sources from which the rules of any science are drawn; and English law is no exception from this rule.
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
The progress of the nation in wealth and refinement, however, naturally brought with it an increase in the number of crimes, as the old definition of offences became inadequate.
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
Only when a disputed point has long caused bloodshed and disturbance, or when a successful invader (military or theological) insists on a change, is it necessary to draw up a code.
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
The thegn who deems an unjust doom is to lose his thegnship. It is a principle which can be widely applied
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
In the Laws of Cnut, it was formally laid down that no one is to bother the King with his complaints, so long as he can get Justice in the Hundred.
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
It was not long before English Law took the one step needed to produce the modern scheme of legal remedies. And when it did, it used the Writ of Trespass as the starting point.
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
It is true, that a Law of Contract based on causae will always be an arbitrary and inelastic law; but it is a kind of law with which some great nations are satisfied at the present day.
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
In the year 1871, Mr. Gladstone's Government introduced and passed the first Trade Union Act, by far the most important victory, up to that time achieved by the champions of labour organizations.
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
What is technically called the 'fungibility' of money, is its chief value as an article of commerce; and this fact could not long remain recognized, even by such a conservative class as legal officials.
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
This again, led judges and lawyers to insist on the importance of possession, or seisin, as evidence and presumptions of title, and thus to give to the seisin of land that unique importance in English land law which it has ever been held.
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
We regard an action of Contract as an action to prevent or compensate for a breach of a promise; an action of Tort as an action to to punish or compensate for a wrong, such as assault or defamation, which has not any necessary connection with a promise.
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
But the fact that the word "chattel" has survived as the inclusive legal term for all movable goods, points, not merely to the great importance of cattle in primitive times, but to the importance of the notion of sale or barter in generating the institution of property.
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
The 'inquests' which resulted in the compilation of the Domesday Book made a vivid and unfavorable impression on the country. A similar effect was produced by the inquests of 1166 and 1170, before alluded to. Even to this day, the word 'inquisitorial' bears the burden of historical unpopularity.
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
Every man, noble and simple alike, should hold his land as a pledge of god behaviour. His duties, to King, lord, and neighbour, should be settled once and for all; and, if he failed in them, he should be turned out of his home and left to starve. It was a drastic scheme; but a conqueror holding a conquered country by the force of the sword cannot afford to be squeamish.
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)
Legal business has, from the beginning of time, been profitable - to those who have conducted it; because it is concerned with things that touch men's passions very deeply, and because men are willing to pay, and pay highly, for wisdom and skill in the conduct of it. The real merits of the Norman lawyers were, not altruism, but ability, energy, and enthusiasm for their work.
A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)