ORDERS and RULES to be Humbly Proposed To His Majesty, To be by him Established for restraining the great Expense and length of Suits, and for rectifying some of the Proceed in the High Court of Chancery, and other Courts of Equity, with Reasons for the same.  Composed by Walter Williams of the Middle Temple Barister at Law, 1st of May, 1700. 
BY our Magna Charta, (upon which we much value ourselves) cap. 29th. it is ordained that Justice or Right should not be sold, or denied, or delayed by the King to any Man. But if by the subtle contriveance of the Officers and Clerks in Couts of Equity the proceed are extended to an Extravagant & unnecessary length, & thereby the charge of prosecuting or defending men's Rights is ●…vagantly increased, and the determination of Causes is unnecessarily and unreasonably delayed, I take ●o be a selling of Justice and Right at too dear a rate, and it is manifest to all that have had any expe●…e of Chancery Suits, that the charge and delay in proceed there are grown to be such, that 〈◊〉 Causes of great wrong and oppression the Remedy is worse than the disease, and most Men of small 〈◊〉 indifferent Estates that come thither for Relief often meet with ruin by the very charge of the pro●…dings, therefore for preventing the like for the future, the following Orders and Rules are proposed 〈◊〉 fit to be Established in Chancery and other Courts of Equity, whereby both the expense and delay ●…ll be considerably lessened, and yet Officers and Clerks sufficiently rewarded for their labour.  
First, That there shall be no Copy or Abstract of any Bill sent with or annexed to the Dedimus, or commission to take an Answer, Plea or Demurrer.  
For such a Copy or Abstract is needless, the Defendant being obliged to take a Copy of the Bill to know what is thereby charged against him, and to be advised by Counsel what to do before he takes a Dedimus, therefore it is superfluous and needless to have another Copy or Abstract of the same Bill annexed to the Dedimus.  
2dly. That all matters alleged in a Bill, and not directly and fully Answered, by the first or second ●…swer, shall be taken for confessed, and admitted by the Defendant to be true as in the Bill alleged.  
For hitherto every Defendant that hath a mind to delay the Plaintiff is admitted to put in four insufficient Answers before what is not Answered thereby is to be taken for truth, and the Proceed in such a Case is very tedious and chargeable, for upon the first insufficient Answer there must be Exceptions drawn and filled, and then a Motion to refer those Exceptions to a Master, and an Order drawn up and passed upon that Motion, and after that a Summons, or two, or three, or more to attend the Master, and perhaps three or four attendances before him with Counsel and Solicitors on both sides before he'll make his Report, and after that if the Report be that the Answer is insufficient the Defendant may put exceptions to that Report, and those exceptions must be argued in Court, and if overruled, then there must be a Subpoena, or a Rule given for a better Answer, and process of contempt till the second Answer, and when that is come in and proves insufficient there must be another Motion for a Reference to a Master upon that Answer, and the ●…e Dance over again as on the first Answer, and so, if the third Answer prove insufficient, and he like if the fourth prove insufficient, and when that is found insufficient the Defendant is to be ●…mmitted to the Prison of the Fleet if he can be catched and examined on Interogatories, and then what is not Answered by any of those four Answers, nor by the examination on the Interogatories, shall be taken for truth, all which proceeding after the first or second Answer is needless, for with good heed taken all matters aleadg'd in a Bill may be Answered to by the first Answer, or at least by the second as well as by ever so many more.  
3dly. That a Commission or Commissions for Examining such Witnesses as live in England or W●… both for Plaintiff and Defendant, shall be taken out and Executed in the next Lent or Autumn Vacat●… after Issue joined: and returned before the end of the Term next following, and that no Commission fo●… Examining such Witnesses be afterwards granted in that Cause upon any pretence whatsoever, and th●… there be no Commission for Examining Witnesses into Scotland, Ireland, or other parts beyond the Sea●… till the Names of such Witnesses are left with the Clerk of the other side, with the parties Affidavit praying such Commission, that he believes them to be material Witnesses, with his Reasons for such his belief.  
For the practice hath been, and I believe is so yet, that a Defendant that affects dalay often lies still while the Plaintiff Examines his Witnesses, and after the Plaintiff hath done Examining then comes the Defendant and prays a Commission, as a thing of Right, to Examine his Witnesses in doing of which he spins out the time as long as he can, whenas both sides with ordinary diligence may Examine all such Witnesses as live in England or Wales in a Lent or Autumn Vacation and for that Commissions to Examine Witnesses are often sent beyond Sea merely for delay which ought to be prevented as much as may be, nothing but such an Affidavit as above mentioned can prevent it.  
4thly. That no Man be obliged to take Copies of any Interrogatories with the Copies of the Depositions unless he will.  
For the Interrogatories are for the most part needless after the Witnesses are Examined, and both Plaintiff and Defendant keep Copies of their own Interrogatories, and to force them to take and pay for Copies of what they have by them, is very unreasonable, and Copies of Depositions come sometimes to three, or four, or ten Pounds of a side.  
5thly That there be 15 lines written in every Sheet, in all Copies of Bills, Answers, Pleas, Demurrers, Interrogatories and Depositions, and of Records and other proceed in Chancery and other Courts of Equity, and as many words in every Line as will make 18 Syllables at the least.  

L: Clarendon's Order.  For, though by the established Rules of the Court of Chancery, there ought to be 15 Lines at the least in every Sheet of Copies; written fairly, orderly and unwastfully, and though the Clerks do for the most part write 15 Lines in a Sheet, they writ their Letters and Words so stragglingly, disorderly and wastefully, and so far asunder, that there is seldom above 5 or 6 words in a Line, or 13 words in a Line, so that by that Irregular way of writing Copies of late used there is almost double of what ought to be Exacted from the Subject in that particular, and therefore the words and syllables in each line, as well as the lines in each Sheet, aught to be ascertained. But now to Justify that wasteful way of writing but 5 or 6 words in a Line, they say they are obliged to it by a Clause in the Act of Parliament. 5. and 6. Will. & Mariae cap 15, which Enacts, that all Records, Writs, Plead, and other Proceed in Courts of Law and Equity, and all Deeds, Instruements, and other Write by that Act charged with the duty shall be Engrossed and written in such manner as they have been usually accustomed to be written or were written at the time of making the Act, and because at that time they usueally wrote but 5 or 6 words in a Line, they think they ought never to write any more, but I Conceive that the Statute intended no such thing, and that there ought to be no such Construction put upon any Act of Parliament as might Establish iniquity by a Law if it will bear any other Construction, and it may very well be under stood that the intent of the makers of that Clause intended it should extend only to Original Records, Writs, Plead and other Write, and not to Copies of them, because Copies are not mentioned, and morecover if Copies had been mentioned, or can be intended to be within the meaning of the Act, I think it ought to be intended to mean and extend to such manner of Writing of Copies as was usually and Lawful, and not usual and Extorting, as all lose disorderly and wasteful writing of Copies was then  
6thly. That all Causes shall be heard in order and in course as they shall be at first ordered and set down for hearing, and that no Cause be preferred or postponed in the paper of Causes by any Register or other without special order of the Court, on pain that such Register or other that shall so do, shall be displaced for ever.  
For great inconvenincies, charge and trouble do happen to Suitors by the Registers Removing Causes backwards and forwards in the paper of Causes at their pleasure, as if this Day at the Rising of the Court a Man's Cause stands in the Paper the 3d or 4th. from the Cause last heard, so that he removed a dozen or twenty Causes off by the Register without any order of Court for so doing, & by such means the Cause may not come to be heard in a Week or a Month after, and in such Cases the Counsel expect refreshing Fees, and for all that, it's ten to one if they have not forgot their instructions by that time the Cause comes to be heard, and so a good Cause may be lost, and the party and his Family ruined and undone.  
7thly. That at the making or pronouncing every special Order that is not a mere order 〈…〉 the Register shall write down in a Book for that purpose the very words of the Court, and immediately read the same in Court with an audible voice before any other matter be proceeded upon, that if there be any mistake it may be then rectified, & that in drawing the Order he incert the very words pronounced by the Court and no other in the ordering part, upon pain of being displaced for ever.  
For the charge and trouble hath oftentimes been very great by reason of the Registers wilful or or negligent mistake, the party grieved in such Cases, being forced again to have recourse to the Court to have the Order settled, which, by this means, may be prevented.  
8thly. That there shall be no Recital of any Allegation of Counsel, or of the Bill or Answer, or other inducements in any Order whatsoever, either Interlocutory or Decretal.  
For those Recitals are not material in any Order, only to make it so much the longer which it doth oftentimes to a very great Degree, and makes the charge of an Order for the most part four or five, or ten times more than otherwise it would be.  
9thly. That after an Order is made, on hearing Counsel on both sides, such Order shall not be moved against or discharged, nor any Order made contrary thereto, unless for new matter arising after such Order made, or upon an Appeal.  
For some Spirits are so Restless, and others so purseproud, that when an Order is made that is not to their liking though ever so Reasonable, they well be moving again and again against it, and so one Order begets another, ' add infinitum, which as I have heard occasioned a Merry Fellow once to move for a gelt Order, meaning an Order that would get no more Orders.  
10thly. That every one that obtains a Decree or Dismission of a Bill, or an Order for allowing or overruling any Plea or Demurrer shall have his full cost with lawful Interest for all Money or other due detained for the time of the deteiner.  
For it hath been usual in Chancery (though not at Common Law) that where the party hath a probable Cause of Suit, as they call it, and a Decree be made against him, he shall pay no cost to the other side, which I conceive unreasonable, though in ever so doubtful a Case, for by that means one Man shall make experiments at another Man's Charge, but it is fit that he that the Court shall adjudge to be in the wrong shall in all Suits suffer, rather than he that is in the right, and by the Statute 15 H. 6. cap. 4. which Enacts, that no Subpoena should be granted until securety be given to satisfy the party grieved, his damages and expenses, if the matter be not made good that is contained in the Bill, though the Chancery regard not that Statute, it was intended, that in Case of false suggestions, Costs should be paid to the party grieved thereby, and the greiveance is the same to be forced into Chauncury upon a matter that will not hold water as upon a false suggestion. Also, if a Man be forced to come into Chancery for a just demand, there is as much good Conscience for his having his necessary Costs & Charges as is for his having the thing demanded, yet oftentimes in Chancery, after one hath been forced to spend as much as the thing sued for amounts to, and hath got a Decree for it, yet the Court hath denied him his Cost of Suit, so that he had as good never have Sued as to have recovered. And if a Man recovers a due in Chansery, I think he ought in good Conscience to have lawful Interest for the time of the deteiner of the due, for he, from whom the due is detained, cannot borrow Money to supply his occasions pending the Suit without paying Interest for it.  
11thly. That there shall be no rehearing after one Calendar Month after the first hearing, nor without paying to the other party or his Clerk or Solicitor Tenn Pounds six days before the Day of rehearing towards seeing Counsel and defraying other incident Charges.  
For when a Decree is made, it is to be presumed a just Decree till the contrary appear, & therefore it is but reasonable the Rehearing should be at the Charge of them that desire it, and that the time for Re-hearing be limited to prevent a long affected delay, Rehearing being often desired, when nothing but delay can be expected thereby.  
12thly. That upon Bills of Review, the Depositions taken, and the Deeds proved and confessed in the Originial Cause may be made use of to make out the Justice or Injustice of the Decree to be reviewed.  
For it is Reasonable it should be so, for without that an unjust Decree cannot be made appear to be so, and so was the practice heretofore, if we believe rolls Abridgement, 1st. part, page 382. Nu. 4. but of late, if a Decree be made without any proof to warrant it, or contrary to the proofs, there is no help by Bill of Review according to the late practice, for it is said, it is not to be presumed that the Chancery would make a Decree contrary to the proofs in the Cause, but it may happen that through the Knavery or negligence of a Solicitor or Counsel, a material Deed or deposition may be omitted at the hearing of a Cause, and the Decree may be Enrolled before the Client finds it out, and if it be not to be made use of on the Bill of Review, the party may be without Remedy, for upon an Appeal to the Lords, nothing hath been of late admitted to be made use of there that was not made use of at the hearing, when the Decree Appealed from was made, so that if the Deeds and depositions in a Cause be not to be the measure of Equity on a Bill of Review, a Corrupt Solicitor or Counsel hath a great opportunity irrecoverably to betray his Client's Cause, which I hope none will say aught to be allowed.  
13thly. That all Counsel in Chancery and other Courts of Equity shall be heard to make their Motions in Order and course as they are at the Bar, and that all of them (the King's Council excepted) shall take their places according to their Degree and Seniority.  
For it is the right of the Profession to have it so, and at the Common Pleas Bar the Sergeants at Law do take their Places and are heard their motions according to their Seniority, and so do the Counsel in the Courts of Great Sessions in Wales, but the manner in Chancery hath been hitherto for the Court to call to and cull out the Counsel as the Court likes their Faces, which begets an opinion in the People, that one Counsel may obtain that for his Client which another can't, w●… ought not to be.  
It is objected by some, That the King cannot prescribe Rules for the Chancery without an Act of Parliament. But in Answer to that, it is to be noted that in the Lord hobart's Reports pag. 36. it is affirmed, that all Kingdoms in their Constitution are furnished with the power of Justice both according to the Rule of Law, and according to Equity, both which being in the King as Sovereign were after settled in the several Courts. But that part of Equity being opposite to regular Law, and in a manner an Arbitrary disposition, is still Administered by the King himself and his Chancellor in his name from the beginning, as a special trust committed to the King, and not by him to be committed to any other, and though out of discretion they entertain some forms, yet they may justly leave them in special Cases, and that this power of Judging according to Equity was lodged in the King by Act of Parliament before the Conquest & confirmed to him since, appears by Lambert's Book de Priscis Anglorum legibus, pa. 62, 63. Archeion 58. 1st R. 2. Rot. Parl. Nu. 87. not in Print, which, who list may look into.  
The Writ of Subpoena, which is the groundwork & foundation of proceeding in Equity, was invented by John of Waltham Master of the Rolls in the beginning of R. 2. as appears Rot. Parl. 3 H. 5. Nu. 49. and it was used and continued since without any Act of Parliament for it, and the Lord Chancellor Bacon and the Lord Chancellor Clarendon, etc. made Orders and Rules for the Court of Chancery without any Act of Parliament, and if a Chancellor can make Orders and Rules at his own pleasure, why should not the King that makes the Chancellor make him observe such Rules as he thinks just and reasonable to prevent oppression and extortion.  
In the Rolls Chapel among the Rolls of the 14. of K. J. 1. part 6. N. 25. is the enrolment of an Order made by the King himself for the Court of Chancery to give Relief in Equity after a Judgement at Law, which the Judges of the Common Law Courts then opposed, and that Order hath been observed hitherto, and if the King can make an Order as to the Jurisdiction of the Chancery, why not for amendment of the proceed to prevent delay and Extortion? and if he can make one Order, why not a hundred if there be occasion.