Stat. Eborum. Mag. Rot. Stat. membr. 32.
De conjunctis infeofatis. Mag. Rot. Stat. membr. 34.
De Escaetoribus. Mag. Rot. Stat. membr. 35. Dorso, & Rot.
Claus. 29 E. I. membr. 14. Dorso.
Stat. de Lincolne. Mag. Rot. Stat. membr. 32.
Stat. de Priscis. Rot. Mag. Stat. membr. 33. In Schedula de libertatibus perquirendis, vel Rot. Claus. 27 E. I. membr. 24.
Stat. de Acton Burnel. Rot. Mag. Stat. membr. 46. Dorso, &Rot. Claus. II. E. I. membr. 2.
Juramentum Vicecomit. Rot. Mag. Stat. membr. 34. Dorso, &Rot. Claus. 5 E. 2. membr. 23.
Articuli Stat. Gloucestriae. Rot. Claus. 2 E. 2. Pars. 2. membr. 8.
De Pistoribus & Braciatoribus. 2 Pars, Claus. vel Pat. 2 R 2. membr. 29.
De asportatis Religiosor. Mag. Rot. Stat. membr. 33.
Westm. 4. De Vicecomitibus & Viridi caera. Rot. Mag. Stat. membr. 33. In Dorso.
Confirmationes Chartarum. Mag. Rot. Stat. membr. 28.
De Terris Templariorum. Mag. Rot. Stat. membr. 31. in Dorso, & Claus. 17 E. 2. membr. 4.
Litera patens super prisis bonorum Cleri. Rot. Mag. Stat. membr. 33. In Dorso.
De Forma mittendi extractas ad Scaccar. Rot. Mag. Stat. membr. 36. & membr. 30. In Dorso.
Statutum de Scaccar. Mag. Rot. Stat.
Statutum de Rutland. Rot Claus. 12 E. 1.
Ordinatio Forestae. Mag. Rot. Stat. membr. 30. & Rot. Claus.
17 E. 2. Pars 2. membr. 3.
According to a strict Inquiry made about 30 years since, these were all the old Statutes of the Times of Hen. 3. Edw. I. and Edw. 2. that were then to be found of Record; what other Statutes have been found since, I know not.
The Ordinance called Butler's, for the Heir to punish Waste in the Life of the Ancestor, tho' it be of Record in the Parliament Book of Edw. I yet it never was a Statute, nor never so received, but only some Constitution of the King's Council or Lords in Parliament, and which never obtain'd the Strength or Force of an Act of Parliament.
Now those Statutes that ensue, tho' most of 'em are unquestionable Acts of Parliament, yet are not of Record that Iknow of, but only their Memorials preserved in ancient Printed and Manuscript Books of Statutes; yet they are at this Day for the most part generally accepted and taken as Acts of Parliament, tho' some of 'em are now antiquated and of little Use, viz.
The Statutes of Merton, Marlbridge, Westm. I. Explanatio Statuti Gloucestriae, De Champertio, De visu Frankplegii, De pane & Cervisia, Articuli Inquisitionis super Stat. de Winton, Circumspecte agatis, De districtione Scaccarii, De Conspirationibus, De vocatis ad Warrant. Statut. de Carliol, De Prerogativa Regis, De modo faciendi Homag. De Wardis & Releivis Dies Communes in Banco. Stat. de Bigamis, Dies Communes in Banco in casu consimili. Stat. Hiberniae, De quo Warranto, De Essoin calumpniand. Judicium collistrigii, De Frangentibus Prisonar'. De malefactoribus in Parcis, De Consultationibus, De Officio Coronatoris, De Protectionibus, Sententia lata super Chartas, Modus levandi Fines. Statut. de Gavelet, De Militibus, De Vasto, De anno Bissextili, De appellatis, De Extenta Manerii, Compositio Mensearum vel Computatio Mensarum. Stat. de Quo Warranto, Ordinatio de Inquisitionibus, Ordinatio de Foresta, De admensura Terre, De dimissione Denarior. Statut. de Quo Warranto novum, Ne Rector prosternat arbores in Caemeterio, Consuetudines & Assisa de Foresta, Compositio de Ponderibus, De Tallagio, De visu Terrae & servitio Regis, Compositio ulnarum & particarum, De Terris amortizandis, Dictum de Kenelworth, &c.
From whence we may collect these Two observations, viz.
First, That altho' the Record itself be not extant, yet general Statutes made within Time of Memory, namely, since IRichardi Primi, do not lose their Strength, if any authentical Memorials thereof are in Books, and seconded with a general receiv'd Tradition attesting and approving the same.
Secondly, That many Records, even of Acts of Parliament, have in long Process of Time been lost, and possibly the Things themselves forgotten at this Day, which yet in or near the Times wherein they were made, might cause many of those authoritative Alterations in some Things touching the Proceedings and Decisions in Law: The Original Cause of which Change being otherwise at this Day hid and unknown to us; and indeed, Histories (and Annals) give us an Account of the Suffrages of many Parliaments, whereof we at this Time have none, or few Footsteps extant in Records or Acts of Parliament. The Instance of the great Parliament at Oxford, about 40th of Henry 3. may, among many others of like Nature, be a concurrent Evidence of this: For tho' we have Mention made in our Histories of many Constitutions made in the said Parliament at Oxford, and which occasioned much Trouble in the Kingdom, yet we have no Monuments of Record concerning that Parliament, or what those Constitutions were.
And thus much shall serve touching those Old Statutes or Leges Scriptae, or Acts of Parliament made in the Times of those three Kings, Henry 3. Edw. I. and Edw. 2. Those that follow in the Times of Edw. 3. and the succeeding Kings, are drawn down in a continued Series of Time, and are extant of Record in the Parliament Rolls, and in the Statute Rolls, without any remarkable Omission, and therefore I shall say nothing of them.
