Wingatealso；SheppardquotesPrisot，FinchandWingate；Halecitesnobody；thecourtinWoolston’scaseciteHale；WoodcitesWoolston’scase；BlackstonethatandHale；andLordMansfield，likeHale，venturesitonhisownauthority。Intheearlieragesofthelaw，asintheyear-books，forinstance，wedonotexpectmuchrecurrencetoauthoritiesbythejudges，becauseinthosedaystherewerefewornonesuchmadepublic。Butinlattertimeswetakenojudge’swordforwhatthelawis，furtherthanheiswarrantedbytheauthoritiesheappealsto。Hisdecisionmaybindtheunfortunateindividualwhohappenstobetheparticularsubjectofit；butitcannotalterthelaw。Thoughthecommonlawmaybetermed”LexnonScripta，”yetthesameHaletellsus”whenIcallthosepartsofourlawsLegesnonScriptae，Idonotmeanasifthoselawswereonlyoral，orcommunicatedfromtheformeragestothelattermerelybyword。Forallthoselawshavetheirseveralmonumentsinwriting，wherebytheyaretransferredfromoneagetoanother，andwithoutwhichtheywouldsoonloseallkindofcertainty。Theyareforthemostpartextantinrecordsofpleas，proceedings，andjudgments，inbooksofreportsandjudicialdecisions，intractatesoflearnedmen’sargumentsandopinions，preservedfromancienttimesandstillextantinwriting。”
Hale’sH。c。d。22。Authoritiesforwhatiscommonlawmaythereforebeaswellcited，asforanypartoftheLexScripta，andthereisnobetterinstanceofthenecessityofholdingthejudgesandwriterstoadeclarationoftheirauthoritiesthanthepresent；wherewedetectthemendeavoringtomakelawwheretheyfoundnone，andtosubmitusatonestroketoawholesystem，noparticleofwhichhasitsfoundationinthecommonlaw。ForweknowthatthecommonlawisthatsystemoflawwhichwasintroducedbytheSaxonsontheirsettlementinEngland，andalteredfromtimetotimebyproperlegislativeauthorityfromthattimetothedateofMagnaCharta，whichterminatestheperiodofthecommonlaw，orlexnonscripta，andcommencesthatofthestatutelaw，orLexScripta。Thissettlementtookplaceaboutthemiddleofthefifthcentury。ButChristianitywasnotintroducedtilltheseventhcentury；theconversionofthefirstchristiankingoftheHeptarchyhavingtakenplaceabouttheyear598，andthatofthelastabout686。Here，then，wasaspaceoftwohundredyears，duringwhichthecommonlawwasinexistence，andChristianitynopartofit。Ifiteverwasadopted，therefore，intothecommonlaw，itmusthavebeenbetweentheintroductionofChristianityandthedateoftheMagnaCharta。
ButofthelawsofthisperiodwehaveatolerablecollectionbyLambardandWilkins，probablynotperfect，butneitherverydefective；andifanyonechoosestobuildadoctrineonanylawofthatperiod，supposedtohavebeenlost，itisincumbentonhimtoproveittohaveexisted，andwhatwereitscontents。Theseweresofaralterationsofthecommonlaw，andbecamethemselvesapartofit。ButnoneoftheseadoptChristianityasapartofthecommonlaw。If，therefore，fromthesettlementoftheSaxonstotheintroductionofChristianityamongthem，thatsystemofreligioncouldnotbeapartofthecommonlaw，becausetheywerenotyetChristians，andif，havingtheirlawsfromthatperiodtothecloseofthecommonlaw，weareallabletofindamongthemnosuchactofadoption，wemaysafelyaffirmthoughcontradictedbyallthejudgesandwritersonearththatChristianityneitheris，noreverwasapartofthecommonlaw。Anothercogentproofofthistruthisdrawnfromthesilenceofcertainwritersonthecommonlaw。Bractongivesusaverycompleteandscientifictreatiseofthewholebodyofthecommonlaw。HewrotethisaboutthecloseofthereignofHenryIII。，averyfewyearsafterthedateoftheMagnaCharta。Weconsiderthisbookasthemorevaluable，asitwaswrittenaboutforegivesustheformerinitsultimatestate。Bracton，too，wasanecclesiastic，andwouldcertainlynothavefailedtoinformusoftheadoptionofChristianityasapartofthecommonlaw，hadanysuchadoptionevertakenplace。Butnowordofhis，whichintimatesanythinglikeit，haseverbeencited。FletaandBritton，whowroteinthesucceedingreignofEdwardI。，areequallysilent。SoalsoisGlanvil，anearlierwriterthananyofthem，viz。：temp。H。2，
buthissubjectperhapsmightnothaveledhimtomentionit。
JusticeFortescueAland，whopossessedmoreSaxonlearningthanallthejudgesandwritersbeforementionedputtogether，placesthissubjectonmorelimitedground。SpeakingofthelawsoftheSaxonkings，hesays，”thetencommandmentsweremadepartoftheirlaws，andconsequentlywere_once_partofthelawofEngland；sothattobreakanyofthetencommandmentswasthenesteemedabreachofthecommonlaw，ofEngland；andwhyitisnotsonow，perhapsitmaybedifficulttogiveagoodreason。”PrefacetoFortescueAland’sreports，xvii。Hadheproposedtostatewithmoreminutenesshowmuchofthescriptureshadbeenmadeapartofthecommonlaw，hemighthaveaddedthatinthelawsofAlfred，wherehefoundthetencommandments，twoorthreeotherchaptersofExodusarecopiedalmostverbatim。Buttheadoptionofapartprovesratherarejectionoftherest，asmunicipallaw。WemightaswellsaythattheNewtoniansystemofphilosophyisapartofthecommonlaw，asthattheChristianreligionis。ThetruthisthatChristianityandNewtonianismbeingreasonandverityitself，intheopinionofallbutinfidelsandCartesians，theyareprotectedunderthewingsofthecommonlawfromthedominionofothersects，butnoterectedintodominionoverthem。AneminentSpanishphysicianaffirmedthatthelancethadslainmorementhanthesword。DoctorSangrado，onthecontrary，affirmedthatwithplentifulbleedings，anddraughtsofwarmwater，everydiseasewastobecured。Thecommonlawprotectsbothopinions，butenactsneitherintolaw。Seepost。879。