Sir Matthew Hale lived through the mementous seventeenth century struggles between the crown and Paliament that produced the English civil war, the execution of Charles I, the rule of Oliver Cromwell and the restoration of the Monarchy. It was a time of dramatic events that changed the political face of Britain and sowed the seeds for the future rise of democracy in its modern interpretation. At this vitally important time Hale played a significant role as an advocate, a Member of Parliament, a jurist and a judge. He was the pre-eminent lawyer of the day and his life bears witness to a pivotal interaction of history, politics and law. His place in history survives because of his understanding and exposition of the crucial bedrock function of the rule of law in the flexible and changing constitution of this country.
During the rule Cromwell and the army he helped retain the influence of the bench and he was also involved in the infamous witchcraft trial in Bury St Edmunds in 1665 as well as being prominent in the efforts to rebuild London after the Great Fire of 1666.
Contents:
Part I: Advocate
Chapter 1 – Early Years
•   Ancestry
•   University and Lincoln’s Inn
•   Rules of Conduct
Chapter 2 – Barrister-At-Law
•   The “Ship Money” Case
•   Swift Success
•   Prelude to Revolution
•   Treason Trials
Chapter 3 – The Rump Parliament
•   Pride’s Purge
•   Regicide
•   Trial of the Duke of Hamilton
•   “Puritan Parliament”
•   Love’s Plot
•   Trial of Major Richard Faulconer
Chapter 4 – The Hale Commission
•   Language of the Law
•   Law Reform
•   Humanitarianism
•   Hale’s Views
Part II: Judge
Chapter 5 – The Protectorate
•   Justice of the Common Pleas
•   Serjeant-at-Law
•   The Rump Parliament Dissolved
•   Barebones Parliament
Chapter 6 – Member of Parliament
•   Opposing Cromwell’s Authority
•   Royalist Rebellion
•   Cromwell Declines to be King
•   The Poor
•   A Free Convention
Chapter 7 – The Restoration
•   Active in Parliament
•   Lord Chief Baron
•   Trial of the Regicides
•   Cavalier Parliament
•   Rules for a Judge
•   Refusal to be Bribed
Chapter 8 – Further Thoughts on Law Reform
•   Hale’s “Amendment”
•   Passion for Change
•   Resistance
•   Proposals
Chapter 9 – Witchcraft
•   Amazing Tales
•   Spitting up Pins and Nails
•   Imposture
•   Violation of Justice
•   A Small Matter?
Chapter 10 – The Fire of London
•   Inferno
•   Court of Fire Judges
•   Confession
•   The Monument
Chapter 11 – Friendship
•   The Rev. Richard Baxter
•   Trial before Judge Jeffreys
Chapter 12 – Christian Faith
•   Treatment of Animals
•   Religion and Nature
•   Origin of Mankind by Natural Propagation
•   Quakers and Roman Catholics
•   Chief Justice of the King’s Bench
•   Roger North’s Censure
Chapter 13 – Retirement
•   Sickness
•   Death and Accolades
•   Descendants
Part III: Kale’s Legal Writings
Chapter 14 – The History of the Pleas of the Crown
•   Appraisal
•   Criminal Incapacity
•   Madness
•   Drunkenness
•   Capital Offences
•   Treason
•   Messenger and Beasley (The Apprentices’ Case)
•   Damaree’s Case
Chapter 15 – Homicide and Theft
•   Murder
•   Deodands
•   Larceny
•   Burglary
•   A Summary of Pleas of the Crown
Chapter 16 – A Victorian Critic
•   Andrew Amos
•   Ruins of Time
•   Arbitrary Approach
Chapter 17 – The Common Law
•   The Mists of Time
•   Sources Trial by Jury Equity
Chapter 18 – Law and Government
•   Conflict with Hobbes
•   The Original Institution, Power and Jurisdiction of Parliaments
•   Government in General, its Origin, Alteration and Trials
•   The Jurisdiction of the Lords’ House, or, Parliament Considered According to Ancient Records
Chapter 19 – Afterword
Select Bibliography
Index
Author Details:
John Hostettler is one of the best known of legal biographers and historians of his generation – his past subjects have inculded Thomas Wakley, Thomas Erskine, Fitzjames Stephen, Lord Halsbury, Sir Edward Coke
He is a solicitor (retired) and has served on the Bench as a magistrate and has held various other quasi-judicial appointments. He is a member of the Royal Society of Literature
