214 



ENFORCEMENT OF THE STATUTES OF LABOURERS 



to an important extent the work of the special machinery 

 devised for the enforcement of the legislation. So ap- 

 parent is this whole aspect of the execution of the statutes 

 that one is surprised at the remark of the chief justice of 

 common pleas : Lestatut fuit fait par cause de seriiant pris 

 deuant Instices de laborers en pays ef nemy deuant nous.^ 

 Not only have the records proved valuable as showing 

 changes in the interpretation of the law by the courts that 

 had escaped the notice of the reporters, but also as contain- 

 ing a veritable store-house of details illustrating the relations 

 between masters and servants and thus throwing light on 

 the homeliest incidents of every-day life. 



' Case 29, list in app. 



