whom he may defpoil by force, he will not fail to do fo. In France, therefore, fays he, it is not their poverty, but their want of heart, that keeps men from rifing. In the twentieth and laft chapter, he demonftrates the expediency of the King's bestowing no gifts but by letters patent under his Great Seal, by and with the advice of his Privy Council; which, as he judiciously obferves, would not only prevent improper and exceffive gifts, but also fave the King the trouble of denying, or at least his being exposed to unfeemly and importunate folicitations.

It has been justly obferved of this treatife of Sir John Fortefcue's, that take it all together, it will appear to be a work which affords as full evidence of the learning, wifdom, uprightness, and public spirit of its author, as any that is extant, either in our's or in any modern language. And which, as it is illuftrated with the learned judge Fortefcue's () notes, may certainly be of very great ufe to all who are inclined to study the original and true foundation of our laws and conftitution.

No account is tranfmitted down to us of the remaining part of Sir John Fortefcue's life, which was probably spent in an ho nourable retirement in the country, free from the cares, and remote from the dangers of a Court. Neither is any exact account preferved of his death. We are only told, in general, that he was near ninety years of age when he died; which the circumftances of his life render very probable. His remains were interred in the parish church of Ebburton, or Ebrighton, in Gloucestershire, where he had purchased an eftate. His fon and heir, Martin Fortefcue, Efq; efpoufed the daughter of Richard Denfell, of Filleigh, by whom he had two fons; and in her right was feated at Filleigh in Devonshire,

It is truly faid by Lord Fortefcue of our Chancellor, that all good men and lovers of the English conftitution fpeak of him with honour; and that he ftill lives, in the opinion of all true Englishmen, in as high esteem and reputation, as any Judge that ever fat in Weftminster-Hall. He was a man acquainted with all forts of learning, befides his knowledge in the law; in which he was exceeded by none, as will appear by the many judgments he gave when on the bench, in the year book of Henry VI. His character in hiftory is that of pious, loyal, and learned and he had the honour to be called the chief Counfellor of the King. He was a great Courtier, and yet a great lover of his country." We are told by Bale, upon the credit of Robert Record, a very fenfible and learned man, and one well acquainted with the perfonal hiftory of English scholars and ftatefmen, as well as with the civil hiftory of the English nation,

() Mr. John Fortefcue Aland, editor of this treatife of Chancellor Fortefcue's, was made one of the

Judges of the Court of King's Bench, and afterwards created Lord Forter. cue, of the kingdom of Ireland,

tion, that Sir John Fortefcue, through the whole courfe of his life, was a great lover of polite literature. And his writings plainly fhew that he was a man of general learning, and of great reading for thofe times; for we find him quoting Arifto ile, Tully, Quintilian, Boetius, St. Auftin, Aquinas, Ægidius, Romanus, Parifienfis, and many other good authors; but he was far from drawing all his knowledge from books; he gathered much from his own experience, and was very communi cative with respect to the fruits of it. Sir Edward Coke, who often mentions Sir John Fortefcue, and always with applause, tells us, that befides his profound knowledge in the law, he was alfo an excellent Antiquary. And the fame great lawyer affures us, that there are fome particular chapters in our author's treatife De Laudibus Legum Anglia, which are fo excellent, that they deserve to be written in letters of gold.

It has been juftly faid of Sir John Fortescue, that as adverfity could not break, fo profperity could not corrupt him. When King Henry the Sixth, in the thirty-fourth year of his reign, made another Sheriff for the county of Lincoln, than the ftatute warranted, the two chief Juftices, Sir John Fortescue, and Sir John Prifot, declared publickly for themselves and their brethren, that the KING therein did an ERROR. And that true Patriot, and moft judicious hiftorian, Sir Walter Raleigh, speaking of our author, ftiles him, That notable Bulwark of our Laws. And, indeed, he had just reafon to do fo; for no author has taken more pains than Sir John Fortefcue, to fecure the laws against the ambition of Princes, as well as the paffions and vices of pri

vate men.

It appears that Sir John Fortefcue wrote many other pieces befides those we have already mentioned; fome of which are probably loft, but others have been carefully preferved in libraries, and are ftill extant under the following titles, though they have never been printed:

1. Opufculum de natura Legis Naturæ, et de ejus cenfura in Succeffione Regnorum Supremorum. THAT IS," A thort Treatife of the

nature of the Law of Nature, and its influence in the fuccef"fion of independent Sovereignties."Mr. Waterhouse, in his commentary on Fortefcue, mentions this work under the character of an excellent Treatife; a book of worth and weight, purpofely penned to fet forth to the Prince the just measure of government, according to the law of nature and nations. 2. A Defence of the House of Lancaster.

3. Genealogy of the House of Lancaster. 4. Of the Title of the Houfe of York. 5. Genealogie Regum Scotia.

6. A Dialogue between Understanding and Faith.

7. A Prayer Book, which favoureth much of the times we live in,

It has been justly obferved, that it would be a great benefit to the learned world, if all Sir John Fortefcue's manufcripts were printed; for he was a man of general knowledge, great obfervation, and one who has given many useful notices, in relation to the dark parts of our hiftory and antiquities.

In the parish church of Ebrighton, in Gloucefterfhire, where our author was buried, there was a monument erected for him in the chancel; probably foon after his interment, by the appearance of its antiquity and workmanship; and on this old tomb lies his effigies, at full length, in free-ftone, in his robes. On the ends and fides are the Fortefcue's Arms; and over this tomb a table of marble was fastened, in 1677, at the expence of Colonel Robert Fortefcue, of Weare and Filleigh, our author's direct heir, with an inscription in Latin, of which the following is the tranflation :

ΤΟ

The happy and immortal Memory,
Of that most Famous Man,
SIR JOHN FORTESCUE;

An ancient Knight, Chief Justice of England,
And in procefs of time under Henry VI.
And Prince Edward, High Chancellor ;
Of the King, the moft prudent Counsellor;
In the Laws of England, profoundly learned;
And of thofe Laws alfo
A Champion,
Invincible;

Whofe earthly Remains in expectation of
A joyful Refurrection,

Are here depofited;

This Marble Monument
Is erected,
MDCLXXVII.

By the direction, and at the expence of
ROBERT FORTESCUÊ, Efq;
The direct heir of this Family, lately deceased.

Of him, who juftice could the best explain,
This little URN doth all that's left contain.
His country's living Law, that Law's great light,
The fcourge of wrong, and the defence of right.
His birth diftinguish'd, merit gave him ftate,
Learning, applaufe, but virtue made him great.
Through darkness now a carbuncle he shines,
Nor wisdom's rays the gloomy grave confines;
To latest times fhall FORTESCUE be known,
And in the LAWS just PRAISE be read his own.

THE

The Life of Sir THOMAS LYTTLETON, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas.

T

HOMAS LYTTLETON was the eldest son of Thomas Weftcote, of the county of Devon, Efq; by. Elizabeth, daughter and fole heirefs of Thomas Luttleton, or Lyttleton, of Frankley in Worcestershire. He took his mother's furname, Lyttleton, in confequence of an agreement which his father made previous to his marriage (w). He was educated at one of the Universities, and afterwards re moved to the Inner Temple, and applied himself with great diligence to the ftudy of the law. And he here greatly diftinguished himself in his profeffion, by his learned lectures on the ftatute of Westminster, de donis conditionalibus, concerning conditional gifts. He was afterwards made by King Henry Vl. Steward or Judge of the Court of the Palace, or Marshalfea of the King's Houfhold; and on the 13th of May, 1455, in the thirty-third year of that reign, King's Serjeant; and in this capacity rode the northern circuit, as Judge of the affize.

When Edward the Fourth was raiféd to the Throne, our author was Sheriff of Worcestershire, and receiving a pardon from that Prince, was continued in his poft of King's Serjeant, and alfo in that of Juftice of affize for the fame circuit. And in the fixth year of that reign, 1466, he was appointed one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, and rode the Northamptonshire circuit; and as a mark of Royal favour, obtained a writ directed to the Commiffioners of the Cuftoms for the ports of London, Bristol, and Kingston upon Hull, for the annual payment of 110 marks to fupport his dignity, with 106 fhillings and eleven-pence half-penny, to furnish him with a furred

6.

2 M

(w) Elizabeth Lyttleton being fair, and of a noble spirit, and having large poffeffions and inheritance from her ancestors de Lyttleton, and from her mother, the daughter and heiress of Richard de Quatermains, and other her ancestors, refolved to continue the honour of her name. And therefore prudently, whilft it was in her own power, provided by Weftcote's affent before marriage, that her issue inheritable should be called by the name of Lyttleton.Coke's

robe,

Pref. to the first part of his Inftitutes, 2d Edit,

There is a tradition, that the three brothers of our Judge, whofe names were Nicholas, Edmund, and Guy, wrote their paternal name, Weftcote; which their mother once taking exception at, and asking them, whether they thought themselves better than their eldest brother? they replied, "He altered his name to inherit a fair eftate; which, if they might share with him, they could do the fame,"

robe, and fix fhillings and fix-pence more, for another robe called Linura.

On the 18th of April, 1475, a creation being made of Knights of the honourable Order of the Bath, our Judge was amongft the number. That Order was likewife conferred at the fame time upon the King's eldelt fon Edward, Prince of Wales ; on the Duke of York; the Duke of Suffolk; the Earl of Shrewfbury; the Earl of Wiltshire; Lord Nevil; Vaugham Brian, Chief Juftice of England; and eighteen others. And in the poffeffion of his new dignity, we will leave our Judge for a short fpace, in order to take a view of a remarkable national tranfaction at this period.

King Edward IV. having now reftored the peace of his Kingdom, and being firmly feated on the Throne, had formed a defign of revenging himself on the French, for the trouble they had given him; and accordingly a fair occafion was offered for this, by the breaking out of a war between Lewis XI. and Charles, Duke of Burgundy. About the middle, therefore, of this year, 1475, King Edward went over to Calais, with a confiderable army, attended by a fleet of five hundred fail (x). The English, at firft, talked of nothing less than the conqueft of France; but when Edward, upon taking the field, found that his allies did not afford him that affiftance which he expected, he was the more easily prevailed on to enter into a nego tiation with Lewis, who made very liberal offers and conceffions; and discovered by many acts fuch a terror at the English name, as might, it has been observed, ferve instead of many victories (y). Accordingly the treaty of Amiens was concluded,

( x ) It is justly obferved by the judicious Dr. Campbell, in his very valuable Naval History, that This fuf<ficiently fhews the great maritime • ftrength of England in thefe times, • when the King, after fuch an un• fettled ftate, & so many revolutions as had lately happened, was able, in a year's space, to undertake fuch • an expedition as this, and with fo 'great a force.'

(y) When Edward fent a Herald to the French King, to demand the Crown of France, and to carry him a defiance in case of refufal, Lewis anfwered him in a very mild and gentle manner, gave the Herald three hundred crowns and thirty ells of crimson velvet, and promised him a thousand crowns more when a peace fhould be concluded. He afterwards fent an Herald to the English camp; and giving him directions to apply to the Lords Stanley and Howard, who, he understood, were friends to peace,

he defired the good offices of those Noblemen, in promoting an accommodation with their master. Lewis feemed very anxious to gain not only Edward's friendship, but also that of the English nation, and of all the confiderable perfons in the English Court. He bestowed penfions, to the amount of fixteen thousand crowns a year, on several of Edward's favourites. And as the Englifh and French armies remained fome time in the neighbourhood of each other, after the conclufion of the treaty, Lewis even courted the friendship of the common foldiers. He caufed the gates of Amiens to be thrown open for the admission of the English, and all the inn-keepers of the place to treat the men at his expence; and he even fent three hundred waggon loads of wine to Edward's camp, as a prefent to the army.