justice was administered by certain officers
called bailiffs_; and in England we have several counties in which
justice hath been, and still is, in small suits, administered to the
inhabitants by the officer whom we now call _sheriff_, or _viscount_;
(one of which names descends from the Saxons, the other from the
Normans.) And, though the sheriff is not called _bailiff_, yet it was
probable that was one of his names also, because the county is often
called _balliva_; as in the return of a writ, where the person is not
arrested, the sheriff saith, _infra-nominatus_, _A.B. non est inventus
in balliva mea_, &c.; (the within named A.B. is not found in my
bailiwick, &c.) And in the statute of Magna Carta, ch. 28, and 14 Ed. 3,
ch. 9, the word _bailiff_ seems to comprise as well sheriffs, as
bailiffs of hundreds.

"_Bailies_, in Scotland, are magistrates of burghs, possessed of certain
jurisdictions, having the same power within their territory as sheriffs
in the county....

"As England is divided into counties, so every county is divided into
hundreds; within which, in ancient times, the people had justice
administered to them by the several officers of every hundred, which
were the _bailiffs_. And it appears by Bracton, (_lib. 3, tract_. 2, ch.
34,) that _bailiffs_ of hundreds might anciently hold plea of appeal and
approvers; but since that time the hundred courts, except certain
franchises, are swallowed in the county courts; and now the _bailiff's_
name and office is grown into contempt, they being generally officers to
serve writs, &c., within their liberties; though, in other respects, the
name is still in good esteem, for the chief magistrates in divers towns
are called _bailiffs_; and sometimes the persons to whom the king's
castles are committed are termed _bailiffs_, as the _bailiff_ of Dover
Castle, &c.

"Of the ordinary _bailiffs_ there are several sorts, viz., _bailiffs_ of
liberties; sheriffs' _bailiffs_; _bailiffs_ of lords of manors;
_bailiffs_ of husbandry, &c....

"_Bailiffs_ of liberties or franchises are to be sworn to take
distresses, truly impanel jurors, make returns by indenture between them
and sheriffs, &c....

"_Bailiffs of courts baron_ summon those courts, and execute the process
thereof....

"Besides these, there are also _bailiffs of the forest_ ..."--_Jacob's
Law Dict. Tomlin's do._

"BAILIWICK, _balliva_,--is not only taken for the county, but signifies
generally that liberty whic