Feudalism. 137 



cases where persons are accused of trespass by no man save the 

 lord, and here the steward himself undertakes the prosecution 

 in addition to inflicting the fines. The bailiff hands him a list 

 of the cases written in a roll, to which he constantly refers for 

 information. This branch of his official duties satisfactorily 

 performed, there remains the plea of the Crown in court baron. 

 The prisoners are brought before the steward by the bailiff, 

 and charged. A jury, composed of the good folk of the vill, 

 is impanelled ; and the faces of the assembly assume a graver 

 aspect in keeping with the more serious business in hand. 

 The charge being made, the prisoner is called upon for his 

 defence, and offered the right to challenge the jurors. He 

 either confesses his guilt at once, or submits to the decision of 

 his neighbours, " the good folk of the vill." Many a trembling 

 wretch is standing there, in abject dread of hearing the stern 

 command of his judge, " Take him away, and let him have a 

 priest," which is tantamount to a sentence of death. 



It will be seen that the justices, stewards, bailiffs, sheriffs, 

 hundredors and representatives of halmotes had to be well 

 versed in the intricacies of their various offices before they 

 could become efficient in the administration of justice. The 

 manner of pleading was not the same in any of the courts, 

 whether of justices of the bench, justices in eyre, counties, 

 hundreds, or franchises. A special and lifelong training could 

 alone render a man familiar with the rolls and pleas of previous 

 sittings. The times of their convocation varied according to 

 the custom of the county. Every new steward was compelled 

 to warn the bailiffs of the hundred or manor by letter when 

 he was about to make his circuit ; and there were, besides 

 these, numerous other formalities to be observed before the 

 business of jurisdiction could be legally performed. No wonder, 

 then, that by the beginning of the sixteenth century there 

 was a comparatively large supply of literature eagerly sought 

 after by youths of the rising generation who were destined to 

 occupy one or other of the judgment-seats in the various tri- 

 bunals enumerated above. 



There is no reason to suppose that seignorial was more 

 distasteful to the masses than regal jurisdiction. During the 



