CHAP. XXI.
Should it upon any of these occasions happen, that the party himself should answer in Court, and whilst he was present, a future day should have been appointed him; if, at that day, he neither come nor send an Attorney, let his land be taken into the King’s hands, and let him be debarred the power of replevying it. And he shall be summoned to appear and hear the judgment at an appointed day—and thus, whether he appear or not, he shall lose the Seisin, on account of his default; because he cannot afterwards deny the summons, unless by the King’s Writ, which he should forthwith produce, and by which he may save his default. But although on any of the days appointed for his appearance, the Tenant should answer in Court, if he lawfully depart, he may recur to his three Essoins, unless he has precluded himself by an agreement to waive them. If, on the first day, the party should essoin himself, but, on the second, should neither appear nor essoin himself, let the Sheriff be commanded to attach the Essoiner, as a defaulter, and for this purpose let the foregoing Writ be directed to him.
CHAP. XXII.
But it should be observed, that when a party to a suit has Essoined himself, the Essoiner may also avail himself of a reasonable Essoin. For if any one desirous of casting a reasonable Essoin, should commission a person for this purpose, and the Essoiner meets with some reasonable impediment in the way, by which he is prevented being present at the appointed day, he shall be awaited until the fourth day, as his Principal would have been; and if within that period he appear, his Essoin shall be received, on whatever day he should come; and he may thus save the days which are past for the same causes for which his principal[67] could.
CHAP. XXIII.
The principal Essoiner is also at liberty, if so disposed, to essoin himself by another Essoiner. In this case the second Essoiner must state to the Court, that the Tenant, having a just cause of Essoin, had been detained, so that he could not appear at the day appointed, neither to lose nor gain, and that, therefore, he had appointed a certain other person to essoin him; and that the Essoiner himself had met with such an impediment, which had prevented his appearance on that day:—and this he is prepared to prove according to the practice of the Court. By these means, such Essoiner shall be received, and a day shall be granted to the Tenant, through the medium of such Essoiner, upon his undertaking to produce his Warrantor on such a given day, when the Tenant ought to guarantee his principal Essoiner, and to prove his Essoin in the usual manner. In the same manner, the first Essoiner is to guarantee the second, unless on the first day he himself has proved his Essoins, upon the requisition of the adverse party.