These judges of the circuit,
however, never obtained an ordinary jurisdiction, but continued,
on every occasion, to derive their authority from two special
commissions: that of oyer and terminer, by which they were
appointed to hear and determine all treasons, felonies and
misdemeanors, within certain districts; and that of gaol
delivery, by which they were directed to try every prisoner
confined in the gaols of the several towns falling under their
inspection." Millar's Hist. View of Eng. Gov., vol. 2, ch. 7,
p. 282.
The following extract from Gilbert shows to what lengths of
usurpation the kings would sometimes go, in their attempts to get
the judicial power out of the hands of the people, and entrust it
to instruments of their own choosing:
"From the time of the Saxons," (that is, from the commencement
of the reign of William the Conqueror,) "till the reign of Edward
the first, (1272 to 1307,) the several county courts and sheriffs
courts did decline in their interest and authority.
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