If the Tenant, being summoned, should, on the first day, cast the Essoin _de infirmitate veniendi_,[57] it is in the election of his Adversary, being present, either to require from the Essoiner a lawful proof of the truth of the Essoin in question, on that very day,[58] or that he should find pledges, or bind himself solemnly, that at the day appointed he will have his Warrantor of the Essoin; and he may thus Essoin himself three times successively. If, on the third day,[59] he neither appear nor essoin himself, then let it be ordered, that he be forthcoming in proper person on another day; or that he send a fit Attorney in his place, to gain or lose for him. Thus, whoever on the appointed day may appear in the place of the Tenant, offering to undertake his defence, whether authorised by his Letters, or without them, is immaterial, if it be known, that he be allied to the absent Tenant, he shall be received for him in Court, either to gain or lose.[60] It may be asked, what will be the consequence if the Tenant appear at the fourth day, after having cast three Essoins, and warrant all the Essoins? In that case, he shall prove the truth of each Essoin[61] by his own oath and that of another; and, on the same day, he shall answer to the suit. If, on the fourth day, he neither appear nor send an Attorney, let the Tenement be taken into the King’s hands, a Writ being issued by the Court for that purpose, directed to the Sheriff of the County, in which such Tenement is situated, which Writ is in the following words: [Footnote 57: Or _de via Curiæ_, as it is termed in the Norman code. This Essoin was cast, when the party on his way to Court had fallen suddenly sick, and was thereby prevented attending. (Le grand Custum. de Norm. c. 39.)] [Footnote 58: “_Or on another_,” according to the Cotton. Bodl. and Dr. Milles’s MSS.] [Footnote 59: “_Fourth_,” according to Dr. Milles’s MS. and so it undoubtedly ought to be, as the context evinces.] [Footnote 60: Vide Infra, L. 11. c. 5.] [Footnote 61: It should seem, from Bracton and Fleta, that such persons only as were inferior in dignity to Barons, were required to prove the truth of their Essoins by their own oaths. (Bracton 351. b. Fleta L. 6. c. 10. s. 15.) By the 19th c. of Marlbridge, even these persons were relieved from the obligation. (2 Inst. 136.)] CHAP. XIII.