A TREATISE ON THE JURISDICTION AND Practice of the Admiralty Division. Third Edition. 1903. Price £1: 5s. cloth. A DIGEST OF THE LAW RELATING TO THE Easement of Light. Fourth Edition. 1904. Price 7s. 6d. cloth. ENGLISH PRIZE CASES, being Reports of Prize Cases from 1745 to 1859. 1905. Price £2: 10s. net, half-bound. THE MEASURE OF DAMAGES in ACTIONS OF Maritime Collisions, with Notes of American Cases and Epitomes of the Law of Scotland, France and Germany. 1909. Price 10s. 6d. net cloth. THE GROWTH OF ENGLISH LAW. BEING STUDIES IN THE EVOLUTION OF LAW AND PROCEDURE IN ENGLAND. BY EDWARD STANLEY ROSCOE, BARRISTER-AT-LAW, Admiralty Registrar of the High Court. LONDON: STEVENS AND SONS, LIMITED, BOSTON, U.S.A.: LITTLE, BROWN & CO. TORONTO, CANADA: THE CARSWELL CO., LIMITED. PREFACE. THE object of the following pages is to describe some phases in the growth of English law and procedure, and to indicate influences which have affected their development. The field is so immense that if one reviews particular epochs and events in connection with this subject in anything like detail a book may appear inconsecutive, because it is impossible to present a complete narrative in a reasonable space. On the other hand, in order to appreciate any important phase of legal history it must be considered at some length, and especially in relation to contemporaneous political and social movements. It is from this latter point of view more particularly that the several subjects discussed in this book are regarded. There is yet another thing to be said, however regrettable, it is natural that those whose interest in law is professional should give but little attention to the manner in which jurisprudence and procedure have in the past changed and grown, or to the personal influence of jurists and judges, for they are fully occupied with its daily action. Those again who are engrossed either in the study of |