15 Oct. 1807

Lords Delegates

After Ch. │ │ Advantages

Ch.│ │ Hale's Plan p.125

What is above, was written before the unlearned annotators perseverance had in a regular course of reading, carried him on to Chapt. XXI. p.125.

The case of a Writ of Error from the King's Bench into the Exchequer Chamber, and from thence into the House of Lords is there expressly taken into contemplation. The ultimately appellate jurisdiction of the Lords House being contested altogether and that not merely on the ground of expediency but on the ground of actual law (not that in the eye of a lawyer in general or of Lord Hale in particular there is ever any steady line of distinction between the two parts but either they are the same point[?] or each according to the exigence of the argument serves for the proof of the other) the Lords House judicatory being from whose Court soever appealed from a bad judicatory, bad consequently, and indeed worst of all if appealed to from (the best /but one[?]/ of all judicatories, viz.) the judicatory comprized of 8 out the 12 learned Judges, the best of all, except that which is enriched with the power as well as wisdom of all 12.

If having a judgment against him in the King's Bench, a man wishes to take his chance in another Court, then in a certain description of cases his Writ of Error has[?] from thence into the Exchequer Chamber, composed as above. In this same class of cases, Lord Hale admitts that the man may "bring it in parliament if he please. From the 4 learned Judges of the King's Bench to so many unlearned ones in parliament is bad enough, but from the 8 learned Judges in the Exchequer Chamber to the same unlearned ones is intolerable. A tier[?] must be set up, and it is thus. Bringing the writ of error into the Exchequer Chamber the man has made his election, i.e. whether he will ever bring it into the ultimately appellate judicatory or no: he has elected not to bring it into the Lord's House, and therefore he shan't - Why? - because he shan't.