Quote#Freedom
Thus the period we are studying is remarkable for achieving, not…
Quote byEdward Jenks · 1861–1939
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912), Chapter VIII, Methods Of Alienation, p. 122.
English (original)
Thus the period we are studying is remarkable for achieving, not merely the right of free alienation of land, but also the right of alienation by secret conveyance. The latter achievement we may sometimes regret; but it was, probably, necessary for the complete emancipation of land from its its ancient tribal and feudal bonds.
— Edward Jenks
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The man who has been wounded by a chance arrow must not shoot at sight the first man he happens to meet.
It is the glory of English Law, that its roots are sunk deep into the soil of national history; that it is the slow product of the age long growth of the national life.
Whatever else the Norman Conquest may or may not have done, it made the old haphazard state of legal affairs forever impossible.