St. Germaine

Ah, you gotta love the phrasology of old writers:

The student starts off by saying that no such thing is in the law of England, but is rather a “general maxim” to guard against the probable possibility “that every man by a nude parole and by a bare averment should avoid an obligation.” I.e., somebody’s word or mere statement of fact is not sufficient to absolve them from an obligation—something of more “authority” is needed.

Okay, that wasn't actually an ancient writer (it was actually RW on St. German), but I tell you it must have been hard to be released on "nude parole." One can only imagine what a strange legal system it was when you could get out of jail so long as someone came to court in the buff to plead for you (bare averment) and you promised not to wear any clothes while outside the walls of the slammer. Let's just hope you didn't get paroled in the cold midwinter, King Wenceslas.