III.] POOR MAN'S FRIEND. 47 



in fact, not crime of the heart, not crime of the per- 

 petrator, but the crime of his all-controlling necessi 

 ties. To what degree the main body of the people, 

 in England, are now poor and miserable ; how deplo- 

 rably wretched they now are ; this we know but too 

 well ; and now, we will see what was their state be- 

 fore this vaunted " REFORMATION." I shall be very 

 particular to cite my authorities here. I will infer 

 nothing ; I will give no " estimate ;" but refer to au- 

 thorities, such as no man can call in question, such 

 as no man can deny to be proofs more complete than 

 if founded on oaths of credible witnesses, taken 

 before a judge and jury. I shall begin with the 

 account which FORTESCUE gives of the state and 

 manner of living of the English, in the reign of 

 Henry VI.; that is, in the 15th century, when the 

 Catholic Church was in the height of its glory. FOR- 

 TESCUE was Lord Chief Justice of England for nearly 

 twenty years ; he was appointed Lord High Chan- 

 cellor by Henry VI. Being in exile, in France, in 

 consequence of the wars between the Houses of 

 York and Lancaster, and the King's son, Prince 

 Edward, being also in exile with him, the Chancel- 

 ler wrote a series of Letters, addressed to the Prince, 

 to explain to him the nature and effects of the Laws 

 of England, and to induce him to study them and 

 uphold them. This work, which was written in 

 Latin, is called De Laudibus Legum Anglice ; or, 

 PRAISE OF THE LAWS OF ENGLAND. This book was. 

 many years ago, translated into English, and it is a 

 book of Law-Authority, quoted frequently in our 

 courts of this day. No man can doubt the truth of 

 facts related in such a work. It was a work written . 

 by a famous lawyer for a prince ; it was intended to 

 be read by other contemporary lawyers, and also by 

 all lawyers in future. The passage that I am about to 

 quote, relating to the state of the English, was purely 

 incidental; it was not intended to answer any tem- 

 porary purpose. It must have been a true account. 

 The Chancellor, after speaking generally of the 

 nature of the laws of England, and of the difference 

 18 



