Their knowledge of the laws passed by the king was, of course,
derived only from oral information; and the good laws,"as some of
them were called, in contradistinction to others those which
the people at large esteemed to be good laws were doubtless
enforced by the juries, and the others, as a general thing,
disregarded. [15]
That such was the nature of judicial proceedings, and of the
power of juries, up to the time of Magna Carta, is further shown
by the following authorities.
"The sheriff's and bailiffs caused the free tenants of their
bailiwics to meet at their counties and hundreds; at which
justice was so done, that every one so judged his neighbor by
such judgment as a man could not elsewhere receive in the like
cases, until such times as the customs of the realm were put in
writing, and certainly published.
"And although a freeman commonly was not to serve (as a juror or
judge) without his assent, nevertheless it was assented unto that
free tenants should meet together in the counties and hundreds,
and lords courts, if they were not specially exempted to do such
suits, and there judged their neighbors.
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