Chapter the fourth.
Of the PUBLIC COURTS of COMMON LAW and EQUITY.
WE are next to confider the ſeveral ſpecies and diſtinctions of courts of juſtice, which are acknowleged and uſed in this kingdom. And theſe are either ſuch as are of public and general juriſdiction throughout the whole realm; or ſuch as are only of a private and ſpecial juriſdiction in ſome particular parts of it. Of the former there are four ſorts; the univerſally eſtabliſhed courts of common law and equity; the eccleſiaſtical courts; the courts military; and courts maritime. And firſt of ſuch public courts as are courts of common law or equity.
The policy of our antient conſtitution, as regulated and eſtablifhed by the great Alfred, was to bring juſtice home to every man's door, by conſtituting as many courts of judicature as there are manors and townſhips in the kingdom; wherein injuries were redreſſed in an eaſy and expeditious manner, by the ſuffrage of neighbours and friends. Theſe little courts however communicated with others of a larger juriſdiction, and thoſe with others of a ſtill greater power; aſcending gradually from the loweſt to the ſupreme courts, which were reſpectively conſtituted to correct the errors of the inferior ones, and to determine ſuch cauſes as by reaſon of their weight and difficulty demanded a more ſolemn diſcuſſion. The courſe of juſtice flowing in large ſtreams
