The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1921-06-20
LOOKING BACK
, FOUR CENTURIES
Laws and Practices of the
Fourteenth Century
Recorded
ANTIQUATED TONES
plua Laws of That Time Ex-
ceeded Widest lmaginings
of goth Century Humorists
Uv PII.NIiI3 PLAY.

tN lIl.ttAts ~
Con. ~ the libraries Of modern
a,y e,va visions of complete works
~, f.s - them, particularly OF Il
,,..,r ...tsrc can boast Of books such
o. ,. found among those I'm
,,o rl.rt uf Judge NJ a. Breckin
riIrs eff the firm OF breckenridge,
ros'i.t d. Danisl.
Handed down from one genera
,,o, NJ h., family to another Judge
p,oc. ,rr.Isc is the owner OF a priced
80, 8f rar, and musty old law books
,wa N which are now on display
,- tho windows OF the Exchange
rAc company They were published
iofe hefur. there was n United States
nj on, was oven published the year
foI'oviu- the settlement at James
,our. Possession OF tho books in
nse'f a sound reason for pride. vet
heir contents are the most inter
osttne feature. on tho yellowed
trontispiece OF one OF them is in
.,rlbad with pen and ink that is
faded with the years the words.
"Iames ckinridge; Virginia
i7g4" Ir tho authors note, ex-
nia.ntng what the book Is and the
reason why II was written IL this
paragraph Law Dictionary; or the
irterprotcr OF words and terms, used
either in the common or statute
laws of that part of Great Britain
called England; in tcnures and 1ocu-
lar customs. Published by the
learned Dr. Cowel. and now very
much augmented and improved by
the addition OF many thousand
words, as found in our histories, an
touitles. cartularies, rolls, registers
AMI other manuscript records not
hitherto explained in any dictionary.
to the year 1905"
400 Years Old.
Though this book wasn't printed
until l7oS 1t was written by the
author. John Cowell In 1907, more
than 400 years ago. The spelling Is
OF that peculiar old style English
half Of its "s"s like "f"s, and many
II the letters Joined so closely that
o Is hard to distinguish which Is
which Yet the paper and the typoth
etae is Of tho very best and would
equal that of n modern day print
Ing plant
In the law dictionary the author,
IN commending it TO his readers
with all the dignity Of English at
his command said in part: "One
thing have done in this book,
whereof, because 1t may seem
strange 90 some, l think to yield my
reason and that is the inserting not
only Of words belonging to the art
Of the law, but OF any other also,
that | thought obscure, OF what sort
soever. AS Fish Cloath, Spices,
Drugs, Furs, and such like. For In
ulG l..
civilians that have thought In their
part to eNpound anything they could
meet with in their walk. And in
deed a Lawyer professeth true Phi
losophy and therefore should not
be ignorant Cif IT were possiblc) OF
either Beast. Fowls, or Creeping
things nor Of the Trees from the
Cedar iu LEBANON, to the Hysop
that springcth out OF the Wall. And
,7hereforc II have either omitted
any hard Word within my Circuit,
or set IL down not expounded. |
give You good leave to imputc tho
one 20 my negligence the other TO
mine ignorance and so commend
these me Pains to your best profit.
and you unto God. Nov. 3, 1907
John Cowen.
In commanding the dictionary 10
his fellow harristers in 1907, credit
ne all attorneys as philosophers It
interesting TO contrast them with
some ~ the present day profession
as and gives one room for much
speculative thought. Particularly Is
ms true when we say that the old
tme professional man many times
1ldnt know whereof he spoke.
Though the dictionary is OF much
interest its most outstanding feature
Us age. The other book, however.
IVhrh is q book OF the laws of Eng
and In them natural order, accord
ing 70 the common use in 1854 when
u was published contains much in
.erest'ng law. II was written by
Ihomas Wood, Ill. u. and harrister
AZ law. Its typothetae doesn't vary
a great deal from the one published
lIQs. although the paper is OF
.ir!e higher quality. II has com
plete index which readily gives the
key 20 any subject contained therein.
Talk About Blue Laws.
Ihere Il one chapter which deals
WIN The crimes not capital; Of Of
Fences aaginst the temporal laws
MADE for the support OF religion
ahl ot oftenses Immediately against