.3S2 L A W. 
to deitrov the intricate nicety of ufes, though the nar- 
rownefs and pedantry of the_ courts of common law pre¬ 
vented this ftatute from having its full beneficial effect. 
And thence the courts of equity affirmed a jurifdiction, 
dictated by common juftice and common fenfe, which, 
however arbitrarily exercifed, or productive of jealoufies 
in its infancy, has at length been matured into a molt ele¬ 
gant fyftem of rational jurifprudence ; the principles of 
which (not withftanding they may differ in forms) are now 
equally adopted by the courts of both law and equity. 
From the ftatute of ufes, and another ftatute of the fame 
antiquity, (which protected eftates for years from being 
deftrcyed by the reveriioner,) a remarkable alteration took 
place in the mode of conveyancing; the ancient affurance 
by feoffment and livery upon the land being now very 
feldom practifed, fincethe more eafy and more private in¬ 
vention of transferring property by fecret conveyances to 
lifes, and long terms of years being now continually cre¬ 
ated in mortgages and family-fettlements, which may be 
moulded to a thoufand ufeful purpofes by the ingenuity 
of an able artift. 
The farther attacks in this reign upon the immunity of 
eftates tail, which reduced them little more than the con¬ 
ditional fees at the common law before the pafling of the 
ftatute de donis, the eftablifhment of recognizances in the 
nature of a ftatute-ftaple for facilitating the raifing of 
money upon landed fecurity, and the introduction of the 
bankrupt-laws, as well for the punifttment of the fraudu¬ 
lent as the relief of the unfortunate trader; all thefe 
were capital alterations of our legal polity, and highly 
convenient to that character which theEnglifh began now 
to re-afi'ume, of a great commercial people. The incor¬ 
poration of Wales wdth England, and the more uniform 
adminiftration of juftice, by deftroying fome counties pa¬ 
latine, and abridging the unreafonable privileges of fuch 
as remained, added dignity and ftrength to the monarchy ; 
and, together with the numerous improvements before 
obferved upon, and the redrefs of many grievances and 
oppreftions which had been introduced by his father, will 
ever make the adminiftration of Henry VIII. a very dif- 
tinguifhed era in the annals of juridical hiltory. 
It nnift, however, be remarked, that (particularly in 
bis later years) the royal prerogative was then drained to 
a very tyrannical and oppreftive height; and, what was 
the worft circumftance, its encroachments were eftabliftied 
by law, under the fanClion of thofe pufillanimous parlia¬ 
ments, one of which, to its eternal difgrace, paffed a fta¬ 
tute whereby it was enaCled that the king’s proclamations 
fhould have the force of aCIs of parliament; and others 
concurred in the creation of that amazing heap of wild 
and new-fangled treafons which were (lightly touched 
upon in a former chapter. Happily for the nation, this 
arbitrary reign was fucceeded by the minority of an ami¬ 
able prince, during the fhort funfhine of which great part 
of thefe extravagant laws were repealed. And, to do juf¬ 
tice to the fliorter reign of queen Mary, many falulary 
and popular laws, in civil matters, were made under her 
adminiftration ; perhaps the better to reconcile the peo¬ 
ple to the bloody meafures which fhe was induced to pur- 
l’ue for the re-eftablifhment of religious flavery, the well- 
concerted fchemes for effecting which were (through the 
providence of God) defeated by the feafonable acceflion 
of queen Elizabeth. 
The religious liberties of the nation being by that hap¬ 
py event eftabliftied (we trull) on an eternal bafts, 
(though obliged in their infancy to be guarded againft 
papifts and other non-conformifts by laws of too fangui- 
nary a nature.) the foreft-laws having fallen into dilufe, 
and the adminiftration of civil rights in the courts of juf¬ 
tice being carried on in a regular courfe, according to the 
wife inftitutions of king Edward I. without any material 
innovations, all the principal grievances intrbduced by 
the Norman conqueft feem to have been gradually ftiaken 
off, and our Saxon conftitution reftored, with confiderable 
improvements, except only in the continuation of the mi¬ 
litary tenures, and a few other points, which ftill armed 
the crown with a very oppreftive and dangerous preroga¬ 
tive. It is alfo to be remarked, that the ipirit of enrich¬ 
ing the clergy, and endowing religious houfes, had through 
the former abufe of it gone over to fitch a contrary ex¬ 
treme, and the princes of the houfe of Tudor and their 
favourites had fallen with fueh avidity upon the fpoils of- 
the church, that a decent and honourable maintenance 
was wanting to many of the biftiops and clergy. This 
produced the reftraining ftatutes, to prevent the aliena¬ 
tions of lands and tithes belonging to the church and uni- 
verftties. The number of indigent perfons being alfo 
greatly increafed by withdrawing the alms of the monas¬ 
teries, a plan was formed in the reign of queen Elizabeth ; 
more humane and beneficial than even feeding and cloth¬ 
ing millions, by affording them the means (with proper 
induitry) to feed and to clothe themfelves. And, the 
farther any fubfequent plans for maintaining the poor 
have departed from this inllitution, the more impractica¬ 
ble, and even pernicious, their viiionary attempts have 
proved. 
However, confidering the reign of queen Elizabeth in 
a great and political view, we have no reafon to regret 
many fubfequent alterations in the Englifii conftitution: 
for, though in general fhe was a wife and excellent prin- 
cefs, and loved her people ; though in her time trade fiou- 
riftied, riches increafed, the laws were duly adminiftered, 
the nation was refpeCled abroad, and the people happy at 
home ; yet the increafe of the power of the liar-chamber, 
and the ereftion of the high-commifiion court in matters 
ecciefiaftical, were the work of her reign. She alfo kept 
her parliaments at a very awful diftance ; and in many 
particulars fhe at times would carry the prerogative as 
high as her moft arbitrary predeceffors. It is true, file 
very feldom exerted this prerogative fo as to opprefs indi¬ 
viduals; but ftill file had it to exert; and therefore the 
felicity of her reign depended more on her want of op¬ 
portunity and inclination, than want of power, to play the 
tyrant. This is a high encomium on her merit; but at 
the fame time it is fufficient to fliovv, that thefe were not 
thofe golden days of genuine liberty that we formerly 
were taught to believe; for furely the true liberty of the 
fubjeiff confifts not fo much in the gracious behaviour as 
in the limited power of the fovereign. 
The great revolutions that had happened in manners 
and in property had paved the way, by imperceptible yet 
fure degrees, for as great a revolution in government; 
yet, while that revolution was eftedling, the crown be¬ 
came more arbitrary than ever, by the progrefs of thofe 
very means which afterwards reduced its power. It is 
obvious to every obferver that, till the clofe of the Lan- 
caftrian civil wars, the property and power of the nation 
were chiefly divided between the king, the nobility, and 
•the clergy. The commons were generally in a ftate of 
great ignorance; their perfonal wealth, before the exten- 
fion of trade, was comparatively frnall; and the nature of 
their landed property was-fuch as kept them in continual 
dependence upon their feudal lord, being ufually fome 
powerful baron, fome opulent abbey, or fometimes the 
king himfelf. Though a notion of general liberty had 
ftrongly pervaded and animated the whole conftitution, 
yet the particular liberty, the natural equality, and per¬ 
sonal independence, of individuals, were little regarded 
or thought of; nay even to affert them was treated as the 
height of fedition and rebellion. Our anceftors heard 
with deteftation and horror thofe fentiments rudely deli¬ 
vered, and puftied to moft abfurd extremes, by the vio¬ 
lence of a Cade and a Tyler, which have fince been ap¬ 
plauded, with a zeal almoft rifing to idolatry, when foft- 
ened and recommended by the eloquence, the modera¬ 
tion, and the arguments, of a Sidney, a Locke, and a 
Milton. 
But, when learning, by the invention of printing, and 
the progrefs of religious reformation, began to be univer¬ 
sally difi’eminated; when trade and navigation were fud- 
denly 
