The administration of justice the great end of government, page 9. Polity of the Anglo-Saxons, 10. County courts, 12. Policy of the Norman conquerors, 13. Their scheme for the administration of justice, 14. Aula Regis, or King's Court, 15. Law proceedings become a mystery, 16. Division of the Aula Regis, 18. King's Bench, 18. Common Pleas, 19. Exchequer, 19. Court of Chivalry, or Honor Court, 19. Origin of the legal profession as it exists at present--Inns of Court, 20. Special Pleadings, 21. Serjeants, Barristers, and Attorneys, 22. Justices of the peace, 23. Appeals to Parliament, 24. Trial by jury, 25. Nisi prius trials, 27. Usurpations of the courts upon each other, 28. Court of Chancery, 30. Court of Admiralty, 31. Use of torture, 32. Suits for slander in the Court of Chivalry, 33. The courts the ready tools of executive usurpation, 34. Courts of Star Chamber and High Commission, 34. Sources and object of the present compilation, 35. Bearing of the following narratives on passing events, 35. CHAPTER I. ROGER LE BRABANCON. His ancestry, page 37. Made a judge, 37. Edward I. claims sovereignty over Scotland, 39. The family of Bruce, 40. Robert de Brus, 41. Contest for the Scottish throne, 43. Brabancon maintains Edward's claim, 44. Is rewarded with the office of chief justice, 47. CHAPTER II. ROBERT TRESILIAN. Appointed chief justice, 48. Ready for any dirty work, 49. Judicial opinion in favor of the arbitrary power of the King, 50. Preparations for judicial murders, 53. The barons march on London, 54. Tresilian appealed of high treason, 56. Found guilty, 57. Arrest and execution, 59. CHAPTER III. THOMAS BILLING. Lancastrians and Yorkists, 61. Fortescue and Markham, 61. Removal of Markham, 63. Billing a judge, 64. His infamous character, 64. His previous life, 64. Begins a Lancastrian, 65. The Yorkists having triumphed, becomes a Yorkist, 66. Made a judge, 67. Trial of Walker, 67. A court favorite, 68. Chief justice, 69. Trial of Sir Thomas Burdett, 69. Lancastrian revolution, 71. Billing changes, and keeps his place, 72. Yorkist revolution, 72. Billing changes again, and keeps his place, 73. Procures a pardon for Fortescue, 73. His law decisions, 74. Trial of the Duke of Clarence, 74. Billing's death, 75. CHAPTER IV. JOHN FITZJAMES. A friend of Wolsey's, 76. Who makes him attorney general, 77. Prosecution of Buckingham, 77. Made a judge, 77. Chief justice, 78. Turns against Wolsey after his fall, 78. Ecclesiastical pretensions of Henry VIII., 80. Trial of Fisher, 81. Trial of Sir Thomas More, 83. Trials of the supposed gallants of Anne Boleyn, 85. Fitzjames's opinion as to the mode of Anne Boleyn's execution, 85. His death, 85. CHAPTER V. THOMAS FLEMING.