## William Blackstone

## Commentaries on the Laws of England

### BOOK 3, APPENDIX

#### No. II. - Proceedings on an Action of Trespass in Ejectment, by Original, in the King's Bench

##### § 1. The Original Writ.

GEORGE the second by the grace of God of Great Britain, France, and Ireland king, defender of the faith, and so forth; to the sheriff of Berkshire, greeting. If Richard Smith shall give you security of prosecuting his claim, then put by gage and safe pledges William Stiles, late of Newbury, gentleman, so that he be before us on the morrow of All-Souls, wheresoever we shall then be in England, to show wherefore with force and arms he entered into on messuage, with the appurtenances, in Sutton, which John Rogers, esquire, has demised to the aforesaid Richard, for a term which is not yet expired, and ejected him from his said farm, and other enormities to him did, to the great damage of the said Richard, and against our peace. And have you there the names of the pledges, and this writ. Witness ourself at Westminster, the twelfth day of October, in the twenty-ninth year of our reign.

Pledges of Prosecution, : John Doe. Richard Roe. | The within named William Stiles is attached by pledges, : John Den, Richard Fen.

##### § 2. Copy of the Declaration Against the Casual Ejector; Who Gives Notice Thereupon to the Tenant in Possession.

Michaelmas, the 29th of king George the second.

Berks,
to wit. } William Stiles, late of Newbury in the said county, gentleman, was attached to answer to Richard Smith, of a plea, wherefore with force and arms he entered into one messuage, with the appurtenances, in Sutton in the county aforesaid, which John Rogers esquire demised to the said Richard Smith for a term which is not yet expired, and ejected him from his said farm, and other wrongs to him did, to the great damage of the said Richard, and against the peace of the lord the king, etc. And whereupon the said Richard by Robert Martin his attorney complains, that whereas the said John Rogers on the first day of October in the twenty-ninth year of the reign of the lord the king that now is, at Sutton aforesaid, had demised to the same Richard the tenement aforesaid, with the appurtenances, to the said Richard and his assigns, from the feast of saint Michael the archangel then last past, to the end and term of five years from thence next following and fully to be complete and ended, by virtue of which demise the said Richard entered into the said tenements, with the appurtenances, and was thereof possessed; and, the said Richard being so possessed thereof, the said William afterwards, that is to say, on the said first day of October in the said twenty-ninth year, with force and arms, that is to say, with swords, staves, and knives, entered into the said tenement, with the appurtenances, which the said John Rogers demised to the said Richard in form aforesaid for the term aforesaid which is not yet expired, and ejected the said Richard out of his said farm, and other wrongs to him did, to the great damage of the said Richard, and against the peace of the said lord the king; whereby the said Richard says, that he is injured and damaged to the value of twenty pounds. And thereupon he brings suit, etc.

Martin, for the plaintiff. Peters, for the defendant. : Pledges of prosecution, : John Doe. Richard Roe.

Mr. George Saunders,

I am informed that you are in possession of, or claim title to, the premises mentioned in this declaration of ejectment, or to some part thereof; and I, being sued in this action as a casual ejector, and having no claim or title to the same, do advise you to appear next Hilary term in his majesty's court of king's bench at Westminster, by some attorney of that court, and then and there, by a rule to be made of the same court, to cause yourself to be made defendant in my stead; otherwise I shall suffer judgment to be entered against me, and you will be turned out of possession.

Your loving friend,
5 January, 1756.
William Stiles.

##### § 3. The Rule of Court.

Hilary Term, in the twenty-ninth Year of King George the second.

Berks,
to wit. } It is ordered by the court, by the assent of both parties, and their attorneys, that George Saunders, gentleman, may be made defendant, in the place of the now defendant William Stiles, and shall immediately appear to the plaintiff's action, and shall receive a declaration in a plea of trespass and ejectment of the tenements in question, and shall immediately plead thereto, not guilty: and, upon the trial of the issue, shall confess lease, entry, and ouster, and insist upon his title only. And if, upon trial of the issue, the said George do not confess lease, entry, and ouster, and b reason thereof the pl cannot prosecute his writ, then the taxation of costs upon such nonpros. shall cease, and the said George shall pay such costs to the plaintiff, as by the court of our lord the king here shall be taxed and adjudged for such his default in nonperformance of this rule; and judgment shall be entered against the said William Stiles, now the casual ejector, by default. And it is further ordered, that, if upon the trial of the said issue a verdict shall be given for the defendant, or if the plaintiff shall not prosecute his writ, upon any other cause, than for the not confessing lease, entry, and ouster as aforesaid, then the lessor of the plaintiff shall pay costs, if the plaintiff himself does not pay them.

By the Court.
Martin, for the plaintiff.
Newman, for the defendant.

##### § 4. The Record.

Pleas before the lord the king at Westminster, of the term of saint Hilary, in the twenty-ninth year of the reign of the lord George the second by the grace of God of Great Britain, France, and Ireland king, defender of the faith, etc.

Berks,
to wit. } George Saunders, late of Sutton in the county aforesaid, gentleman, was attached to

  answer Richard Smith, of a plea, wherefore with force and arms he entered into one messuage, with the appurtenances, in Sutton, which John Rogers, esquire, has demised to the said Richard for a term which is not yet expired, and ejected him from his said farm, and other wrongs to him did, to the great damage of the said Richard, and against the peace of the lord the king that now is. And whereupon the said Richard, by Robert Martin his attorney complains, that whereas the said John Rogers on the first day of October in the twenty-ninth year of the reign of the lord the king that now is, at Sutton aforesaid, had demised to the same Richard the tenement aforesaid, with the appurtenances, to have and to hold the said tenement, with the appurtenances, to the said Richard and his assigns, from the feast of saint Michael the archangel then last past, to the end and term of five years from thence next following and fully to be complete and ended; by virtue of which demise the said Richard entered into the said tenement, with the appurtenances, and was thereof possessed: and, the said Richard being so possessed thereof, the said George afterwards, that is too say, on the first day of October in the said twenty-ninth year, with force and arms, that is to say, with swords, staves, and knives, entered into the said tenement, with the appurtenances, which the said John Rogers demised to the said Richard in form aforesaid for the term aforesaid which is not yet expired, and ejected the fair Richard out of his said farm, and other wrongs to him did, to the great damage of the said Richard, and against the peace of the said lord the king; whereby the said Richard says that he is injured and endamaged to the value of twenty pounds: and thereupon he brings suit, [and good proof.] And the aforesaid George Saunders, by Charles Newman his attorney, comes and defends the force and injury, when [and where it shall behoove him;] and says that he is in no wise guilty of the trespass and ejectment aforesaid, as the said Richard above complains against him; and thereof he puts himself upon the country: and the said Richard does likewise the same: Therefore let a jury come thereupon before the lord the king, on the octave of the purification of the blessed virgin Mary, wheresoever he shall then be in England; who neither [are of kin to the said Richard, nor to the said George;] to recognize [whether the said George be guilty of the trespass and ejectment aforesaid:] because as well [the said George, as the said Richard, between whom the difference is, have put themselves on the said jury.] The same day is there given to the parties aforesaid. Afterwards the process therein, being continued between the said parties of the plea aforesaid by the jury, is put between them in respite, before the lord the king, until the day of Easter in fifteen days, wheresoever the said lord the king shall then be in England; unless the justices of the lord the king assigned to take assizes in the county aforesaid, shall have come before that time, to wit, on Monday the eighth of March, at Reading in the said county, by the form of the statute [in that case provided,] by reason of the default of the jurors, [summoned to appear as aforesaid.] At which day before the lord the king, at Westminster, come the parties aforesaid by their attorneys aforesaid; and the aforesaid justices of assize, before whom [the jury aforesaid came,] sent here their record before them had in these words, to wit: Afterwards , at the day and place within contained, before Heneage Legge, esquire, one of the barons of the exchequer of the lord the king, and Sir John Eardley Wilmot, knight, one of the justices of the said lord the king, assigned to hold pleas before the king himself, justices of the said lord the king, assigned to take assizes in the county of Berks by the form of the statute [in that case provided,] come as well the within named Richard Smith, as the within written George Saunders, by their attorneys within contained; and the jurors of the jury whereof mention is within made being called, certain of them, to wit, Charles Holloway, John Hooke, Peter Graham, Henry Cox, William Brown, and Francis Oakley, come, and are sworn upon that jury: and because the rest of the jurors of the same jury did not appear, therefore others of the bystanders being chosen by the sheriff, at the request of the said Richard Smith, and by the command of the justices aforesaid, are appointed a-new, whose names are affixed to the panel within written, according to the form of the statute in such case made and provided; which said jurors so appointed a-new, to wit, Roger Bacon, Thomas Small, Charles Pye, Edward Hawkins, Samuel Roberts and Daniel Parker, being likewise called, come; and, together with the other jurors aforesaid before impaneled and sworn, being elected, tried, and sworn, to speak the truth of the matter within contained, upon their oath say, that the aforesaid George Saunders is guilty of the trespass and ejectment within-written, in manner and form as the aforesaid Richard Smith within complains against him; and assess the damages of the said Richard Smith, on occasion of that trespass and ejectment, besides his costs and charges which he has been put unto about his suit in that behalf, to twelve pence: and, for those costs and charges, to forty shillings. Whereupon the said Richard Smith, by his attorney aforesaid, prays judgment against the said George Saunders, in and upon the verdict aforesaid by the jurors aforesaid given in the form aforesaid: and the said George Saunders, by his attorney aforesaid, said that the court here ought not to proceed to give judgment upon the said verdict, and prays that judgment against him the said George Saunders, in and upon the verdict aforesaid by the jurors aforesaid given in the form aforesaid, may be stayed, by reason that the said verdict is insufficient and erroneous, and that the same verdict may be quashed, and that the issue aforesaid may be tried a-new by other jurors to be afresh impaneled. And, because the court of the lord the king here is not yet advised of giving their judgment of and upon the premises, therefore day thereof is given as well to the said Richard Smith as the said George Saunders, before the lord the king, until the morrow of the Ascension of our lord, wheresoever the said lord the king shall then be in England, to hear their judgment of and upon the premises, for that the court of the lord the king is not yet advised thereof.

  At which day before the lord the king, at Westminster, come the parties aforesaid by their attorneys aforesaid: upon which, the record and matters aforesaid having been seen, and by the court of the lord the king now here fully understood, and al and singular the premises having been examined, and mature deliberation being had thereupon, for that it seems to the court of the lord the king now here that the verdict aforesaid is in no wise insufficient or erroneous, and that the same ought not to be quashed, and that no new trial ought to be had of the issue aforesaid, Therefore it is considered , that the said Richard do recover against the said George his term yet to come, of and in the said tenements, with the appurtenances, and the said damages assessed by the said jury in form aforesaid, and also twenty-seven pounds six shillings and eight pence for his costs and charges aforesaid, by the court of the lord the king here awarded to the said Richard, with his assent, by way of increase; which said damages in the whole amount to twenty-nine pounds, seven shillings, and eight pence. And let the said George be taken, [until he makes fine to the lord the king.] And hereupon the said Richard by his attorney aforesaid prays a writ of the lord the king, to be directed to the sheriff of the county aforesaid, to cause him to have possession of his term aforesaid yet to come, of and in the tenements aforesaid, with the appurtenances: and it is granted unto him, returnable before the lord the king on the morrow of the holy Trinity, wheresoever he shall then be in England. At which day before the lord the king, at Westminster, comes the said Richard by his attorney aforesaid; and the sheriff, that is to say, Sir Thomas Reeve, knight, now sends, that he by virtue of the writ aforesaid to him directed, on the ninth day of June last past, did cause the said Richard to have his possession of his term aforesaid yet to come, of and in the tenements aforesaid, with the appurtenances, as he was commanded.

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