Note 11 — A DISCOURSE concerning the LAWS and GOVERNMENT of ENGLAND.
Reading edition
It is perhaps impossible to ascertain the æra of this invaluable institution. It loses itself in a distant antiquity. The Saxon laws mention it as a known invention. See LL. Ethelr. c. 4. Senat. Consult. de Mont. Wal. c. 3. ap. Wilkins. See also Nicolson, Præfat. ad Leg. Anglo-Sax. Spelm. Gloss. and Coke’s 1st Institute. Olaus Wormius traces it to a remote age among the Danes; and Stiernhook among the Swedes. Monument. Dan. lib. 1. c. 10. De Jure Sueon. et Goth. vetusto. c. 4.