The Birth of the Land Laws. i8i 



contents. The keepers of our Public Record Office, long 

 familiarised with these parchments, will glance cursorily at 

 the words " Sciant presentes et futuvi^'' with which the eccle- 

 siastic who acted as scribe generally commenced his task, and 

 then look on for the customary abbreviations, such as An., 

 reg., regs., Hen., sec, p., conq., vismo oct., die Jov., pxm., a., 

 f., ss., P. et J., which gives him information of the day, year, 

 reign, and century in which it was drawn up. But if, as often 

 occurs in the case of the smaller charters used in the convey- 

 ance of private lands, there be no date, the expert compares 

 the curious handwriting with that of other charters, carefully 

 noting the Anglo-Norman words used, and the nationality of 

 the numerals, until he is soon in a position to venture a 

 shrewd guess, not only of the decade, but very year of the 

 particular century in which the document in question was 

 written. He will also easily translate " hen. t. ten." into the 

 familiar legal phase of " to have and to hold," or "Huj.'s test," 

 into its English equivalent of "In witness whereof, etc." 



As this History progresses proofs will be forthcoming from 

 time to time of the importance gradually attained by English 

 Commerce. To a trading people, as Blackstone points out, the 

 writ of Elegit was a signal benefit. It is one more advantage 

 derived from the wise rule of Edward I. It provided for an 

 execution, not only upon goods and chattels, but upon lands ; 

 the latter of which were further charged in a Statute Mer- 

 chant for debts contracted in trade. 



