as happened when by their directions his Lordship sent out Warrants to Seize the five Lords of whom I shall speak in the Chapter of Tryals 11. Other uses are also made of him and some other of the Assistants in Parliament for when the Lords have any matter of importance to impart to the House of Commons then the Lord Chief Justice with the other Chief Justice or Lord Chief Baron or some other of the Judges but always one of them and no more is joyn'd with him in delivering the same but in matters of less importance two Masters of Chancery are imployed as will be shewn 12. When any Writs of Error or Writs of Habeas Corpus or Tryals of Peers or when any Pleas of the Crown or other cases Criminal Civil and sometimes Ecclesiastick or indeed any matters of Law are to be heard and determin'd in Parliament as also in the penning of new and altering explaining or repealing of former Statutes their assistances are required and more especially the Chief Justice 13. The number of Assistants Summon'd by Writ to appear in Parliament Cum caeteris de Consilio from the time of Henry the Third to the 21. of Henry the Eighth consisted of an uncertain number sometimes above fourty sometimes under but from the 21 of Henry the Eighth from which time the extant Pawns do give an exact account of them they never exceeded 27. and sometimes were not above 13. or 14. But in all Parliaments since Edw. the Firsts time some of them were Summon'd and very likely before For Mr. Prin though in his Breviary of Parliament Writs pag. 36. he tells us of Twenty four Parliaments from the 49. of Hen. the Third to the 49. of Edw. the Third and many more which he saith he omits of which Parliaments he saith there is no mention of Writs of Summons to any of the Kings Council Justices Officers or others in the Rolls of these Parliaments yet he kindly ascribes it to the negligence or slothfulness of Clerks in omitting the entries of their Writs This he saith but he had done much better for his own justification and others satisfaction being intrusted by his Majesty with the Records of the Tower if those Records which he cites both in his Breviary and many others montion'd by him in Sir Robert Cottons Abridgment now wanting might have been restored by him to their ancient Repositories there 14. As to the Lord Chief Justice and the Assistants Places in the Lords House none of them as I have said have their Places there by the Act of Precedency's but rather by custom and favour of which I shall speak more when I come to the actual Sitting of the Parliament as also of their Priviledges and Employments there 15. As to the Officers which are under the Lord Chief Justice his Jurisdiction none of them are imployed about the Summoning of a Parliament but many of them are imployed in other matters in time of Parliaments as in cases of Errors c. but more chiefly upon Tryals of Peers when only the chief Clerk of the Crown in the Kings Bench is the principal Manager of them as will be shewn 16. Regularly no Officer or Court either in Parliament or out of Parliament have greater Power or Jurisdiction or more publick affairs to manage except the Lord Chancellor in Chancery and yet in some cases above it For all appeals from the Chancery and other Courts are determin'd in this Court and no appeal from this Court but to the High Court of Parliament and all Records which are brought from other Courts into this are never return'd back into those Courts from whence they were brought and many others which might be instanc't 17. To conclude his Lordship or the other Lord Chief Justice or one of them are constantly appointed to be Speaker of the House of Lords Pro tempore when the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper is absent which is usually done by a particular Writ which I shall enter amongst emergent Writs Chap. 14. Thus having said as much as I think convenient concerning this Exemplar with some intermixtures of some of the Consimilars I proceed to give a short touch of each of the Consimilars more distinctly and first of the Master of the Rolls Of the Consimilar Writ to the Master of the Rolls 1. THE Office of Master of the Rolls is granted by Patent under several Titles viz. Clericus parvae Bugae Custos Rotulorum Magister Domus Conversorum and he Sits in the Rolls to hear Causes c. by vertue of a Commission to that purpose 2. But his Writ of Summons to a Parliament is directed as in this Pawn viz. Harbotello Grimston Baronetto Magistro Rotulorum Cancellariae suae and then the remaining part of his Consimilar as also the rest of the following Consimilar Writs agree in the same words with the Exemplar to the Lord Chief Justice as in Sect. the Eleventh 3. This Magister Rotulorum or Custos Rotulorum or Clericus parvae bugae is the same which we call in English Master of the Rolls anciently call'd Clerk of the Rolls but from Henry the Sevenths time when the Clergy did decline in their Temporal Imployments he was and is still call'd Master of the Rolls 4. In the absence of the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper he Sits as Judge in the Chancery and therefore by Sir Edward Coke is call'd his Assistant and at other times he Sits as Judge of Causes in the Chappel of that House which in Henry the Thirds time was imployed as a place of Charity to such Jews as should turn to the Christian Religion but those Jews being Banish't Edward the Third did dispose of it for the keeping of Records and joined it to the Office of Custos Rotulorum and of the Pettibag which Office of Pettibag seems to be a lesser Bag or place of Records 5. So that he hath three Titles viz. Clericus Pettibagae or Clerk of the Pettibag he being the chief of three Clerks more of that Office Secondly Magister Rotulorum or Master of the Rolls or Clerk or Preserver of such Records as do at any time pass the Great Seal and are sent to his Custody either in the Office of the Rolls called the Rolls Office or to the Pettibag Office where his under Clerks do attend on purpose to produce them as occasions require Thirdly His third Title is Master of the Chancery which Title is given to twelve Persons of which twelve he is te chief 5. Formerly and even to this day the greatest part of these Twelve were Constituted of Doctors of the Civil Law however Eleven of those are so constantly dispos'd of as that some of them do Sit in the Lords House in time of Parliament and at other times with the Lord Chancellor in the Court of Chancery upon hearing of Cases others with the Master of the Rolls when he Sits in the Chancery or at the Rolls where he hath a Jurisdiction to hear or
return of Writs concerning the House of Commons the method consists of much trouble and perplexity not only from the time of the executing the Writs but in undue returns as will be shewn in their proper place This Chapter concluding all the Patents and Writs of Summons and Returns which concern the Lords House by vertue of which the Persons so Summon'd by Writ do sit there now I must speak of such as sit there without Patent or Writ of Summons and first of the Masters of Chancery CHAP. XVI Of the Masters of Chancery THE Secretaries of State did bring up the Rear of the State Officers and now the Masters of Chancery do bring up the Rear of the Assistants and though I have spoke something of the Master of the Rolls partly as chief of the twelve Masters of Chancery yet there he was considered as Master of the Rolls or Records rather than one of the twelve Masters of Chancery whereof as I said he is the chief and these twelve are called Masters in Ordinary 2. For there are also other Masters in Chancery called Extraordinary which are of an uncertain number according to the businesses of the respective Counties wherein they are imployed 3. As for the twelve they usually are chosen out of Barresters of the Common Law or Doctors of the Civil Law and eleven of them do sit in the Chancery or in the Rolls as Assistants saith Sir Edward Coke to the Lord Chancellor and to the Master of the Rolls every day throughout each Term of the year and to them are committed Interlocutory Reports and stating of Accounts and sometimes by way of reference to them they are impowr'd with a final Determination of Causes there depending 4. These twelve have time out of mind sat in the Lords House yet have neither Writs nor Patents for many Ages past impowering them so to do but I conceive as the Master of the Rolls is as is said by that Institutor an Assistant to the Lord Chancellor the remaining eleven may fairly be said to be Assistants both to the Lord Chancellor and Master of the Rolls in all or most Matters depending in both or either Courts and so Virtute Officij they are inclusively capacitated by the Writs to the Lord Chancellor or Master of the Rolls to be Assistants to them in the Lords House as they are in Chancery without any particular VVrit or Patent to them 5. Anciently this Title was higher than what Sir Edw. Coke affords them for I find in an old Manuscript in the hands of Sir J. C. one of the Masters but I have not the opportunity of searching the Records therein mentioned Intitutled De Cancellario Angliae ejus Cojudicibus de authoritate eorum and then follows viz. In dicta Curia Cancellarij sunt ordinati duodecem Cojudices viz. Magistri sive Clerici de prima forma ad Robas which in the 13. Chap. I call the first Orb pro Arduis negotis Regis Regni Reipublicae expediendis which agree verbatim and 't is observable with the very words of all Writs of Summons to Parliaments eidem Cancellario omnino assistentes secum continuo consedentes which in a manner Intitles them to sit in the Lords House with him and many other matters are mentioned therein which I shall refer to my Annotations because I cannot now warrantably insert them but I find in other Books that anciently they had the care of inspecting all Writs of Summons to Parliaments committed to them which is now as I have shewn performed by the Clerks of the Pettibag 6. As to the Title of Maister from Magister and from Magus a Wiseman it is as ancient as most of our borrow'd words from the Latin and was still apply'd to Persons of Knowledge and other Abilities above the Degrees of Yeomandry Amongst the old Romans as may be read in Livy Pomponius Aurelius and others they had twelve great Officers to whom that Title was given viz. Magister Populi or Dictator Magister Equitum Magistri Census Magister in Auctionibus Magistri Epistolarum Magistri Memoriae Magistri Militum Magister Navis Magistri Officiorum Magistri Scriniorum Magister Curiae Magistri Aeris and many more of a lesser Rank for I speak not of Magistri Familiae or Privatae or as the word is vulgarly applied to its relative word Servant but as a Title applied to Persons of Eminency for their Integrity and Learning and of these there are also twelve sorts with us which are found in the Law Books whereof the first we meet with in the Statutes is the Master of the Mint in 2 H. 6. c. 14. 2. the Master of the Rolls in the first of H. 7. Cap. 20. for till then he was call'd Clerk of the Rolls or Custos Archivorum and chief Clerk of the Chancery of which there are twelve as I said since which six chief Clerks and a greater number of a lesser Form are there Constituted whereby they are distinguisht from the ancient Clerks now the 12. Masters of Chancery which may be accounted the Third sort in point of time mentioned in the Statutes the Fourth The Master of the Horse in the first of Edw. the Sixth the Fifth The Master of the Postern in 2 Edw. 6. the Sixth The Master of the Kings Houshold in the 32 H. 8. chang'd to the Lord Stuard of the Kings Houshold Charles Duke of Brandon being the first of that Title mentioned in any Statute the 7th The Master of the Court of Wards in the 33 of Hen. the 8. now of no use the Eighth The Master of the Musters after in the 33 Eliz. called Muster Master General the 9.10.11.12 viz. The Master of the Armory the Master of the Kings Jewels the Master of the Ordinance and Master of the Kings Wardrop are mentioned in the Statute of 39 Eliz. not but these Officers were before but the Statutes as I said do not take notice of them till the times that they are quoted in the said Statutes 7. Now as the old Romans had others which had the Titles of Magistri viz. Magistri Vniversitatis vel Societatis so we in imitation at Cambridge have the Title of Magister fixt at the head of every College in that University which is an argument of their Antiquity of which I shall speak more whereas Oxford hath but three which bear that Title 8. It is also applied to the Heads of Halls of Companies in London and other Cities and it hath been formerly applied to all the Members of the House of Commons who were not actually Knights or Esquires or of higher Degrees but in the House of Lords I do not find it used to any to whom Writs of Summons were sent to sit there except to some Priors and Deacons who were sometimes called Magistri in their Writs and others of Religious Orders call'd also in their Writs Magistri as also to Officers in Chancery viz. 49 Edw. 3. Magistro Thomae Yong Officiario
Marshal and Duke Thomas dying at Padua about the end of this Parliament Henry the Brother succeeded in the Dukedom and sat as Duke of Norfolk and Henry the Eldest Son of the said Duke Henry being then intituled Earl of Arundel did sit as Earl of Arundel and Lord Mowbray so as that Title of Earl Marshal is in Duke Henry and the Title of Mowbray in the Earl of Arundel and that Title of Earl Marshal only inpossibility to come again into Mowbray And this may be added that during Duke Thomas his Life James Earl of Suffolk by Deputation did execute that Office for reasons which I leave to other Writers SECT XIII Of the Lord Admiral of England Obs I THE Kings of England do constantly make Admirals of Squadrons of Ships but the Admiral which I am here to speak of is the highest of all intituled the Lord Admiral of England and may be well call'd Admirals from their seeing and knowing the mirabilia or Wonders of the Deep The Greeks call'd this Officer Thalassiarcha from Thalassa the Sea and Archos the Chief at Sea and from thence the Romans according to the Latin Idiom call'd him Thalassiarchus and of later days Admirallus which is no Latin word and in English Admiral 2. To him is committed the Government of the King of England's Navy and Power to decide all causes Maritim as well Civil as Criminal and of all things done on or beyond the Seas in any part of the World and many other Jurisdictions on the Coasts and in Ports Havens and Rivers and of such Wrecks and Prizes as are call'd by the Lawyers Lagon Jetson and Flotson that is Goods lying in the Sea floting on the Sea or cast by the Sea on the shore admitting some few exceptions and Royalties granted to other Lords of Mannors And these and all other Cases dependant on this Jurisdiction are determin'd in his Courts of Admiralty by such Rules of the Civil Law as do not invade the Common Laws of England 3. And of these Civil Laws which concern Sea assairs there are two most eminent Guiders to Civilians viz. Those made at Rhodes in the Mediterranean by the Grecians and augmented by the Romans call'd Lex Rhodia or the Rhodian Law The other made at Oleron an Island anciently belonging to England but lying on the borders of France by out King Richard the First both of which are still in great veneration 4. So as well for the Laws by which he governs the Maritim concerns as for his great Jurisdiction being as vast as the Ocean he may be said to have alterum Imperium extra intra Imperium and therefore this Honour and Care is intrusted to the hands of some one of the Blood Royal or some one or more joyntly of the most eminent of the Nobility 5. And in respect of this Power there is a constant Converse and Commerce with all parts of the World especially where the Civil Laws are practis'd and therefore it hath been the prudence of our former Kings even to this day to allot him a place in the Lords House as to the Marshal of England for both of their concerns are chiefly manag'd as I have shewn by the Civil Laws so as the Lord Marshal and Lord Admiral may be look'd on as the two Supporters to the learned Professors of those Laws as the other Lords are to the Professors of the Common Laws and possibly the greatest number of the Masters of Chancery of whom I shall speak in order who sit in the Lords House were originally contrived to be Doctors of the Civil Laws upon this ground That if there were at any time just occasion in that House to make use of any points in that Profession they might give their advices or opinions therein 6. This Dignity as I said was ever conferr'd upon some of the chief Nobility by vertue whereof they had their Writs of Summons and their Place in the Lords House and this long before the Act of Precedency for we find the Earl of Arundel in 13 Edw. 3. and the Earl of Northumberland in 7 R. 2. the Earl of Devon and Marquess of Dorset in the same Kings time and so the Earls of Salisbury Shrewsbury Worcester and Wiltshire and others of the like Degrees recited in the Clause Rolls needless to renumerate being Admirals were summon'd and in our extant Pawns in 36 H. 8. Johanni Dudley Vicecomiti Lisle Magno Admirallo and in 1 E. 6. Tho. Dom. Seymer Magno Admirallo and in 7 Edw. 6. Edv. Fenys Domino Clinton Magno Admirallo and in 1 2 3 4 Mariae Phil. Mar. Gulielmo Howard de Effingham Magno Admirallo and in 4 5 Phil. Mar. Edw. Fenys again and Charles Earl of Nottingham in Queen Elizabeth's time and George Duke of Buckingham in King James's time and King Charles the First 's time were still summon'd to Parliament with the Title of Admiral added to their hereditary Titles in their Writs and to this Parliament Jacobo Duci Ebor. Magno Admirallo c. And all these had their places in the Lords House according to the Act of Precedency as those before the Act was made This Office was conferr'd on the Duke of York for this Parliament Vid. Cap. 2. SECT XIV Of the Lord Steward of the King's House AS for the Orthography and Etymology and Antiquity of this Title Steward Obs I. I shall refer them to my Annotations However as it is sometimes writ with a T and sometimes a D it is under four Considerations the first as it represents a Royal Name and Family and therefore for distinction this is writ Stewart with a T and hath the superintendence chief interest and influence in all Parliaments since that Name was of that use in England 2. The other three are Titles official and written Steward with a D and as a further distinction from the first in Latin they are call'd Seneschalli and this the chief of the three is call'd Seneschallus Angliae or Lord High Steward of England of whom I shall give a full account in the Chapter of the Trials per Pares and shew how this great Officer is imploy'd either in or out of Parliaments 3. The last and least Degree of the 3 is call'd also Senescallus such as are the Stewards of Corporate Towns or Mannors which are not concern'd in the Summons or of use in Parliaments otherwise than as considerable Assistants in Elections of Members to serve in Parliaments But the Lord Steward of whom I now speak was call'd in H. the 8th time Magnus Magister Hospitij Regis or the Great Master of the Kings Houshold and ever since Magnus Senescallus Hospitij Regis or the Lord high Steward of the Kings House and he hath not only an eminent Employment Trust and Authority in ordering the Kings Houshold but an Authority above all Officers of that House except the Chappel Chamber and Stables but in all Parliaments is obliged to attend the Kings
used till after Christs time and then those who did not believe the Christian Religion were by the Christians called Infidels or Unbelievers but the word in Hebrew for Pagan was used after the building of Jerusalem by Melchizedeck before call'd King of Salem when those who did live in neighbouring Villages or more remote places and not coming to partake in the Devotions offer'd to God in Jerusalem were from Pagus a Village called Pagani or refusers of that Religion which the Hebrews did practice there and whoever afterwards were not of the Hebrew or Jewish Religion were called Pagans c. as Plautus calls all who were not Grecians Barbaros or Barbarians So that the Pagan Religion is to be esteem'd but as the Hebrew or Jewish Religion adulterated by the Progeny of Noah who growing numerous spread themselves into many parts of the World and by mixing with other Nations perverted their Primary Religion which they had from Noah and afterward more methodically dictated from their High Priest Melchizedeck into Paganism This mixt Religion was brought into this Island by Mesech the 6th Son of Japhet the Son of Noah who here call'd himself Samothes and after Samothes Magus Shanon Druis Bardus Longobardus and Celtes succeeded each other Seven in all who being Priests were also call'd Princes of this Island The Hebrews and Welsh who some say had most of their native Language from the Hebrew using the same word for Prince and Priest These Seven were men of great learning gain'd partly by tradition from Noah and partly by being contemporary with Sibylla Samia and Pythagoras from one they learned the Prophecies of Christs Incarnation and Sufferings from the other the high speculations of the Souls immortality and transmigration of which I shall speak more in my Annotations Of these and the Founders of this Religion and their Doctrines I shall give a more large account in my Annotations as well for the vindication of that discountenanced Book of Berosus publisht by Johannes Annius as to free this Island from the common imputation of a pitifull illiterate sort of People which either the laziness of later Writers though otherwise deserving inclin'd them to think it not worth their while to abstract the notions of what was true from what was meerly fabulous or the Maliciousness of others whose interest it was to suppress the Records of the Ancient Renown of this Island such as might have demonstrated their variety of knowledge in all kinds of Literature For the present I shall only select two of those 7 Wisemen of Brittain as most eminent in Philosophy Policy and Matters Divine viz. Druis and Bardus Druis is set forth in History to be Master of Pythagoras from whom t is also said that Timagoras brought the Greek Letters to Athens He took upon him to be Judge in Causes Ecclesiastical and Civil and performed all the Rites and Ceremonies of that Religion in Groves imitating the Idolatrous Jews which Groves chiefly consisted of Oaks as a Tree sacred to Jupiter and from thence say they he took his name Druis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying an Oak however he was Founder of the Sects called Druids in this Island The other was Bardus the Founder of the Sect of the Bards Learned also in Magick-Philosophy in the best sence as Studiers of Wisdom and Inquirers into the energy and activity of natural Agents and Politicks but they were more Famed for their skill in Poetry and Musick and thereby did cheerfully Sing Rime and so like Orpheus charm men into Civil Religion and Heroick Actions From these did spring as I said the two Sects of Druids and Bards which our Brittish-Welsh Roman and Saxon Histories do so often mention that there is no doubt concerning them The Bards continue even to this day in some parts of Wales of which I shall speak more but the Druids being afterwards more imployed in the Priestly Functions and growing numerous when the Romans were Possessors of this Island and had divided its Government into Three Provinces they also committed the charge of the Religious Duties within these 3 Provinces to Three of the chiefest Druids altering their Title from Druids into Archflamins and the lesser Druids into the Title of Flamins for so was the Ecclesiastical constitution among the Old Romans the chief of the Three Archflamins being there called Flamen Dialis or Jupiters Archflamin or High Priest and as those there were Subject to the Senate or Empire of Rome so now these here were Subject to the Emperors Kings or Governours of this Island not disputing their power to alter put in or out as they saw just cause These Archflamins and Flamins continued till some time after the coming of Christ but when they perceived that the Oracles of the Sibylls which they had so long adored were fulfill'd by the coming and passion of Christ and that all Oracles were ceased these Flamins Druids and Bards did give way to the Christian Institutions as will be shewn But to reduce this Section to the subject in hand it doth appear by our most Ancient Histories that these Druids and Bards were consulted with both in Peace and War both in the Brittish Romans and Saxons time even to the coming of Christ though the form of their Councils and mixing with the Laicks do not appear for reasons before alledged now I shall proceed to shew the Institution of Christianity instead of Paganism and then the Titles of such as did manage it in this Island and how they were still mixt in Civil Councils 3. The Religion which succeeded Paganism in this Island was the Christian which had its denomination from Christ who may be said to have been before his death in this Island Prophetically Personally and Nominally but least I should divert the Reader too much from the method intended in this Treatise I shall refer the discourse of those 3 points to my Annotations But concerning the introducing of Christianity into this Island of Brittain what is most credited in our Histories is that Joseph of Arimathea the same who beg'd the Body of Christ after his Crucifixion with 12 Disciples more are said to plant it here within Thirty Years after Christs Resurrection and Aristobulus being before his coming Ordained Bishop of Brittain was one of the 12 which were sent with Joseph to take care of his charge here and this is that Aristobulus mentioned by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans Cap. 16. Verse 10. who was the first Bishop we in these parts hear of being 5 years before any was made Bishop of Rome which brings me to the discourse of the several Titles of such as were the first Managers of Christian Religion 4. The first Titles which were given to the Managers of Christanity were to Christ himself who by St. Paul Matth. 21.4 is called the Prophet of Nazareth and by St. Paul Heb. 3.1 High Priest and Apostle and He by his Divine Authority did constitute 12 Apostles Matth. 10.1 and Luk. 6.13 by
determin Causes yet appealable to the Lord Chancellor 5. There are other Masters of Chancery call'd Extraordinary and six Clerks of eminent Quality and other Clerks imployed both in the Chancery and Rolls but these are not Summon'd to Parliaments of whom I shall speak more but in in those capacities which I have mention'd the Master of the Rolls as Master of the Rolls or chief Clerk of the Pettibag or both or chief Master of Chancery or in all three Capacities he is very Assisting to a Parliament especially in the business of Summons c. For as I have shewn in Cap. 2. whenever the Kings Warrant is sent to the Lord Chancellor to issue out Writs for a Parliament his Lordship either sends it or a like Warrant to the Master of the Rolls who as chief Clerk of the Pettibag causeth the other Clerks of the Office to ingross all the Writs both for the House of Lords and House of Commons so as they may be fit for the Great Seal and these being thus done and fairly abstracted and ingross't into a Roll which is call'd the Parliament Pawn and lies there as a Memorial and Record of what they have done and as a President for the future all the particular Writs mention'd or intimated in that Pawn being fitted are carried to the Lord Chancellor and being in his presence Seal'd they are immediately delivered to Messengers belonging to the Chancellor who do take care to dispose some to the Persons to be Summon'd for the Lords House and others to the respective Sheriffs of all Counties and Comitated Cities for Elections of such as are to sit in the House of Commons and so the Master of the Rolls and the Clerks of the Pettibag having done all their parts and the Messengers and Sheriffs theirs the same Writs which concern the Lords House are or ought to be return'd to the Clerk of the Lords House at the first Sitting and the Writs for Elections are to be return'd by the respective Sheriffs to the Clerk of the Chancery Crown Office and not to the Pettibag as hath and will be shewn for they come no more there till some time after Dissolution of a Parliament and then for ease of that Office and more safely preserving them they are order'd to be carried to the Rolls and from thence to the Tower all which will be more fully shewn which method I often repeat in this Treatise because I find it so much neglected As to the Imployment of the other Eleven Masters of the Chancery in time of Parliament I shall shew it in a distinct Chapter This Master of the Rolls doubtless hath been anciently Summon'd to Sit in the Lords House yet I find no Writs issued to him till the 36th of Henry the Eighth and then as Master of the Rolls not as chief Master of Chancery and after that he was Summon'd to all Parliaments except the 39th of Eliz. and first of King James and in this very Parliament a Writ was prepared for him but being Elected a Member of the House of Commons his attendance was not requir'd in the House of Lords for what reason I know not but he hath his place whenever he Sits there next to the Lord Chief Justice of England upon the second Woolsack as will be shewn in the Chapter of Places The Consimilar Writ to the Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas THE Patent which invests this Chief Justice to his Imployment in this Office is in haec verba Carolus c. Omnibus ad quos Patentes Litterae nostrae pervenerint salutem Sciatis quod Constituimus dilectum fidelem Orlandum Bridgman Militem Capital'Justitiarium nostrum de Banco suo Duran ' bene placito Teste c. Observations HIS Writ of Summons to Sit in Parliament is also Capitali Justitiario nostro de Banco mutato nomine in all other words agreeing with the Exemplar and here it may be again observed to prevent vulgar misunderstandings That the Lord Chief Justice of England is Chief Justice of the Kings Bench or upper Bench and this is Chief Justice of the Common Bench and sometimes one is call'd Chief Justice of the Pleas of the Crown as in the Latin words De placitis Coronae and this Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas or Communia Placita yet in the Latin Writ it is de Banco so as both Courts are call'd Bancks or Benches and both call'd also Courts of Pleas in respect of Pleas or Pleadings one properly concerns the King in matters Criminal the other concerns the Pleas or Pleadings of the Commonalty or Common People among themselves in matters Civil and one also is call'd the Upper Bench the other the Common Bench and therefore what ever the Patent or Writs are yet for an easier distinction I here intitle one the Chief Justice of the Kings Bench the other Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas 2. As for the names Bench or Banc Pleas or Placita I refer them to my Annotations 3. The Chief Justice hath three more Justices to assist him in this Court 4. That which makes the eminency of this Court is That only the learned Serjeants of the Coife of whom I shall speak in order being the next Degree to Judges do Plead in this Court yet not prohibited from Pleading in all other Courts but all other Graduans of Law have the liberty to Plead in all other Courts but not in this 5. The Pleas of this Court cannot be so well ascertain'd as that of the Kings Bench because the Pleas held by Common Persons or between Subject and Subject are devided into as many Branches as Actions and the Actions into as many Causes as there are variety of Contests in the Kingdom yet all these Actions Causes and Contests are included under three notions Real Personal and Mixt which are here tried as they happen according to the strict Rules of Law As for Personal and Mixt Actions they are tried in other Courts but Real Actions are only Pleadable here nor are any Fines of Concord which is observable levied in any Court but this so that as Sir Edward Coke saith the Motto of this Court may be Haec est finalis Concordia 6. Upon these and other considerations the necessity of requiring Assistances from the Justices of this Court may appear For as the Justices of the Kings Bench may acquaint the Lords with what concerns the King so the Justices of the Common Pleas may most properly acquaint them with what concerns the People whereby Laws for either may be corrected repeal'd or made de novo as shall be thought most expedient 7. The Justices of this Court are not concern'd in the managing of any Summons to a Parliament as the Lord Chancellor and Master of the Rolls are Of the Consimilar Writ to the Chief Baron of the Exchequer THE Title of this is different from the two Chief Justices for his Pattent is thus Carolus c. Omnibus ad quos Patentes Litterae nostrae pervenerint Sciatis