Delinquent is to stand in the Church Porch upon some Sunday bare head and feet in a white Sheet and a white Rod in his Hand there bewailing himself and beging every one that passes by to pray for him then to enter the Church falling down and kissing the ground then in the middle of the Church placed in a higher place in the sight of all the People and over against the Minister who declares the foulness of his crime odious to God and scandalous to the Congregation that God can no way be satisfied but by applying Christs sufferings nor the Congregation but by an humble acknowledging of his sin and testifying his sincere repentance and sorrow not in words only but with tears and promising there in the sight of God and his Holy Angels that by Gods assistance and by Prayer Meditation and daily works of Piety he will endeavor hereafter more carefully to watch against the temptations of the world the allurements of the flesh and the snares of the Devil which being done and the Priest in Christs name pronouncing the remission of sins the penitent humbly beseeches the Congregation to pardon him that great scandal against them and receive him into their holy Communion and to account him again a Member of their Church and in testimony hereof out of their Christian Charity to vouchsafe to say with him aloud the Lords Prayer And this way of the Church of England appears by divers Writers to be the antient way used by the Primitive Churches Note that it is ordained by the Canons of the Church of England that in case the crime be not notorious and publick the forenamed penance may at the parties request be commuted into a pecuniary Mulct for the poor of the Parish or some Pious uses provided that for the Reformation of the Delinquent that way appear to be the more probable way for some men will be thereby reclaimed who by publication of their offence would become more impudent and hardned when they perceive their reputation to be lost There remains one more punishment or Ecclesiastical censure which toucheth the body and that is denyal of Christian burial which is inflicted not in poenam mortuorum but in terrorem viventium who naturally desire that after their death their bodies may be decently interred And Christian burial is wont to be denyed by the Church of England to persons dying excommunicate to perjured persons to such as are hanged for Felony or that wilfully kill themselves and to Apostates Hereticks and Extortioners To these forenamed Censures and Punishments both Laity and Clergy are subject but besides these there are punishments whereunto the Clergy only are lyable as first Suspensio ab Officio when a Minister for a time is declared unfit to execute the Office of a Minister Then Suspensio a Beneficio when a Minister for a time is deprived of the profits of his Benefice and these two Censures are wont to be for smaller crimes Thirdly Deprivatio a Beneficio when for a greater crime a Minister is wholly and for ever deprived of his Living And fourthly Deprivatio ab Officio when a Minister is wholly and for ever deprived of his Orders and this is called Depositio or Degradatio and is commonly for some heynous crime meriting death and is performed by the Bishop in a solemn manner pulling off from the Criminal his Vestments and other Ensignes of his Order and this in the presence of the Civil Magistrate to whom he is then delivered to be punished as a Lay man for the like offence And herein Bishops are to take special care to behave themselves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not as lording over Gods Heritage not as absolute Masters over Servants to gain by their punishments but as Fathers over Children for their amendment and as being Ministers in Spiritual affairs to use their power for the good of Christians and to conduct that power by moderation Of the Parliament of England and therein of the Person summoning the manner of the summons the persons summoned their priviledges the place and manner of Sitting the passing of Bills in either House the passing of Acts of Parliament of Adjourning Proroguing and Dissolving of Parliaments A Brief Account of the Ecclesiastical Government having been given next follows the Civil Government towards which the first great wheel that moves is the Parliament of England Before the Conquest the Great Council of the King consisting only of the Great men of the Kingdom was called Magnatum Conventus or else Praelatorum Procerumque Concilium and by the Saxons in their own Tongue Micel Gemot the Great Assembly after the Conquest it was called by the French word Parlementum from Parler to talk together still consisting only of the Great men of the Nation until the Reign of H. 3. The Commons also were called to sit in Parliament for the first Writs sent forth to summon them bears date 49. H. 3. about 400 years agoe None but the King hath authority to summon a Parliament In the Kings absence out of the Realm the Custos Regni in the Kings name doth summon a Parliament and during the Kings minority within the Realm the Protector Regni doth the same No Parliament can begin without the Kings Presence either in Person or by Representation by Commissioners When the King of England is with his Parliament in time of peace he is then said to be in the height of his Royal Dignity as well as when he is at the head of his Army in time of War There is then scarce any thing that the King cannot do his power cannot be confined for Causes or Persons within any bounds He can with the concurrence of his Lords and Commons legitimate one that is born illegitimate bastardize one that is born legitimate that is to say one begotten in Adultery the Husband being then within the four Seas He can make an Infant of full age make an Alien or Forreigner an Englishman can attaint a man of Treason when he is dead when he is no more a man c. A Parliament is summoned in manner following About 40 days before the Parliament doth assemble the King issues out his Writ cum Advisamento Concilii sui and the Warrant is per ipsum Regem Concilium The Kings Writ which is a short Letter or Epistle is directed and sent to every particular person of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal commanding the Lords Spiritual in Fide Dilectione and the Lords Temporal per Fidem Allegiantiam to appear at a certain time and place to Treat and give their Advice in some certain important affairs concerning the Church and State c. Other Writs are sent to the High Sheriff of each County to summon the people to elect two Knights for each County two Citizens for each City and one or two Burgesses for each Burrough according to Statute Charter or Customs In these Elections antiently all the people had their Votes and most Votes carried it
Sheriff of each County hath a double function first Ministerial to execute all Processes and Precepts of the Courts of Law and to make returns of the same Secondly Judicial whereby he hath authority to hold two several Courts of distinct nature the one called the Sheriffs Turn which he holdeth in several places of the County enquiring of all Criminal Offences against the Common-Law not prohibited by any Statute The other called the County Court wherein he hears and determines civil Causes of the County under 40 s. which antiently was a considerable summe so that by the great fall of the moneys now the Sheriffs authority in that part is much diminished He is said to be the life of Justice of the Law and of the County for no suit begins and no process is served but by him then no Execution of the Law but by him lastly he is the chief Conservator of the Peace in the whole County Every County being subdivided into Hundreds so called at first either for containing an hundred houses or 100 men bound to find Armes or Wapentakes so called from touching a weapon when they swore Allegiance as the manner at this day is in Sweden at their solemn weddings for the chief witnesses to lay all their hands upon a Lance or Pike every such Wapentake oâ— Hundred hath commonly a Bayliff a very antient Officer but now of small Authority also Officers called High Constables first ordained by the Statute of Winchester 13 Edw. 1. for conservation of Peace and view of Armour they disperse Warrants and Orders of the Justices of Peace to each Pety Constable There are also in every County two Officers called Coroners whose Office is to enquire by a Jury of Neighbours how and by whom any person came by a violent death and to enter the same upon Record which is matter Criminal and a plea of the Crown and thence they are called Crowners or Coroners These are chosen by the Free holders of the County by vertue of a Writ out of the Chancery They were antiently men of estates Birth and Honour and therefore in the Reign of Edward III. a Merchant being chosen a Coroner was removed quia communis Mercator fuit whereas he ought to have been a Gentleman which have no Trades man is reckoned to be by our Laws Every County also hath an Officer called Clerk of the Mercat whose Office is to keep a Standard of all Weights and Measures exactly according with the Kings Standard kept in the Exchequer and to see that none others be used in the same County to Seal all Weights and Measures made exactly by the Standard in his custody and to burn such as are otherwise He hath a Court and may keep and hold Plea therein Of the Civil Government of Cities EVery City of England by their Charters or Priviledges granted by several Kings is a little Common-wealth apart governed not as the Cities of France by a Nobleman or Gentleman placed there by the King but wholly by themselves they choose amongst themselves their own Governor in Cities a Mayor is chosen commonly out of 12 Aldermen In some other Coâ—porations a Bailiff is chosen out of a certain number of Burgesses They are not taxed but by their own Officers of their own Corporation every trade having some of their own alwayes of the Council to see that nothing be enacted contrary to their profit Every City by Charter from the King hath haute moyenne basse Justice a jurisdiction amongst themselves to judge in all matters criminal and civil onely with this restraint that all civil causes may be removed from their Courts to the Higher Courts at Westminster The Mayor of the City is the Kings Lieftenant and with the Aldermâ—n and Common Council as it were King Lords and Commons in Parliament can make Laws called By-Laws for the Government of the City He is for his time which is but for one year as it were a Judge to determine matters and to mitigate the Rigour of the Law The next in Government of Cities are two principal Officers called though improperly the Sheriffs who are Judges in civil causes within this City and to see all execution done whether penal or capital and should rather be called Stat-reeves or Port-reeves i. e. Urbis vel Portus Praefecti In Cities the people are generally made more industrious by Manufactures and less idleness suffered then in other places so that in some Cities children of six or seven years old are made to gain their own expences In the City of Norwich it hath of late yeares been computed and found that yearly children from 6 to 10 years of age have gained 12 thousand pounds more then what they spend and that chiefly by knitting fine Jersey Stockings The Government of Burroughs and other Towns corporate is much after the same manner In some there is a Mayor in others one or two Bailiffs who have equal power with a Mayor and Sheriffs and during their Offices they are Justices of the Peace within their Liberties and have there the same power that other Justices of the Peace have in the County For the better Government of Villages the Lord of the place hath ordinarily power to hold a Court-Baron so called because antiently such Lords were called Barons as they are still in many parts of France or else Court Baron i. e. Court of Freeholders as the Barons of Germany are called Frey herren so the Barons of the Cinque Ports in England are but the Freeholders of the Cinque Ports And this Court may be held every 3 weeks Also for the Government of Villages there is a Pety Constable chosen every year by every one that is Lord of the place this Officer is to keep the Peace in case of quarrels to search any house for Robbers Murdrers or others that have any way broken the peace to raise the Hue and Cry after Robbers fled away to seize upon them and keep them in the Stocks or other Prison till they can bring them before some Justice of Peace to whom the Constables are subservient upon all occasiions either to bring crrminals before them or to carry them by their command to the common Prison Every little Village almost hath an Epitome of Monarchical Government of Civil and Ecclesiastical policy within it self which if duly maintained would render the whole Kingdome happy First for the civil Government there is the Lord of the Soyl who from the Crown immediately or mediately holds Dominium soli and is said to have in him the Royalty as if he were a little King and hath a kind of Jurisdiction over the Inhabitants of the Village hath his Court-Leetâ— or Court-Baron to which they owe suit and service and where may be tryed smaller matters happening within the Mannour Escheats upon Felonies or other accidents Custody of Infants and Lunaticks power of passing Estates and admitting of Tenants Reliefs Hariots Hunting Hawking Fishing c. under the Lord is the Constable or
THE SECOND PART OF THE PRESENT STATE OF England Together with DIVERS REFLECTIONS UPON The Antient State thereof By EDWARD CHAMBERLAYNE Dr of Laws and Fellow of the Royal Society The SECOND EDITION Corrected and newly Augmented In Magnis voluisse sat est In the SAVOY Printed by T. N. for John Martyn Printer to the Royal Society and are to be sold at the Sign of the Bell in St. Pauls Church-Yard 1671. ORNATISSIMO CONSULTISSIMOQUE VIRO D. JOS. WILLIAMSON ARMIG E SOCIETATE REGIA LONDINENSI IN REGNI COMITIIS SENATORI REGIAE MAJESTATI AB ARCHIVIS STATUS ET INTIMIORI CONCILIO A SECRETIS HOC QUALE-QUALE ENGHIRIDIUM L. M. D. C. Q. E. C. TO THE READER IN a former small Treatise intituled The Present State of England the Author having given a succinct Account of the Government in general as it is Monarchical and therein of the King Queen Princes and Princesses of the Blood of the Great Officers of the Crown of the Kings Queens and Duke of Yorks Courts of the Three States of England Clergy Nobility and Commons and of divers other remarkables In this Second Part of the Present State of England he hath endeavored to describe with the like brevity the Particular Government of England Ecclesiastical Civil and Military The several Courts of Justice the Offices and Officers belonging thereunto and for the sake of Foreigners to exhibite a particular Description of the Famous City of London of the Two Renowned Universities c. In erecting such a spacious and various Edifice the Spectator at first view will hardly conceive how much pains was bestowed in digging the Foundation in raising Scaffolds in finding conveying and fiting Materials in contriving the Architecture in removing the Rubbish c. Other Builders consult onely their own Brains and the Dead that is Books whereunto access may be had at all hours but in this Work the Living and the choicest among them were to be advised with whereof some were far distant others seldom at leisure some unwilling to communicate their Knowledge others not at all affable However if the Reader reaping in few hours the Fruits of many Moneths labor shall receive any content the Author will not onely be satisfied for this but encouraged for another like Enterprise THE CONTENTS A. ADmiral 176 Admiralty 179 Archbishops 16 Archdeacon 29 Arches Court 39 249 Audience Court 40 B. Becons 161 Benchers 111 Bishops Function 17 Bishops Jurisdiction 17 Bishop making 21 Bishops Consecration 24 Bishops Translation 26 Britains Burse 202 C. Castles 161 Chancellours 40 Chancery Court 131 Chancery Officers 138 Civilians Colledge 249 Civilians a List 251 Christmas at Inns of Court 241 Church-Wardens 31 Clerk of the Market 150 High Commission Court 38 Common Pleas 112 Common Pleas Officers 114 Company of Traders 213 Constables High 149 Constables Petty 152 Convocation 34 Coroners 149 Court of Archdeacons 35 Court of Delegates 39 257 Court of Kings Bench 109 Court of Lords 106 Cursitors 142 Custom-house 226 D. Dean and Chapter 27 Deans Rural 29 Doctors Commons 249 E. Ecclesiastical Government 15 Ecclesiastical Persons ib. Ecclesiastical Censures 20 Ecclesiastical Causes 41 Ecclesiastical Laws 42 Ecclesiastical Tryals ib. Ecclesiastical Punishments 43 Exchange Royal 202 Exchequer 118 Exchequer Officers 120 Exchequer lower 124 Excommunications 43 G. Garrisons 156 Government of Cities 150 Government Civil 49 Government of Counties 145 Government Ecclesiastical 15 Government Military 154 Government of Villages 152 Grammar School 275 H. Heralds Colledge 266 House of Commons 71 House of Lords ib. I. Innes of Court 234 Innes of Chancery 233 Inner Barristers 237 Judges 246 L. Lancaster Dutchy 130 Laws of Rhodes 180 London Bridge 224 London burnt 197 London Character 188 London City ib. London Colledges 232 London Government 206 London rebuilt 201 London Tower 215 London Tythes 207 Lord Mayor 209 Lords Lieutenants 298 M. Master of the Ordnance 216 Merchants 205 Military Government 154 Militia Maritime 162 Militia standing 158 Mint 217 Mooting 240 N. Navy Charges 187 Navy Office 183 O. Officers of Common Pleas 114 Officers of Exchequer 120 Officers of Kings Bench 111 Ordination of Deacons 32 Ordination of Priests 33 P. Parliament 49 Parliament men 73 St. Pauls London 193 Paper Office 14 Patrons of Churches 30 Peculiar Court 40 Penance 46 Post Office 227 Prebendary 28 Prerogative Court 40 256 Privy Council 2 Privy Council Clerks 12 Privy Councellors 6 Privy Seal Clerks 14 Physitians Colledge 258 Physitians a List 260 R. Reader at the Innes of Court 238 Records in the Tower 217 Rectors Office 30 River New 204 Rool'd Oleron 180 Royol Soveraign 166 S. Secretaries of State 116 Signet Clerks 12 Sexton or Clerk 32 Sheriffs of Counties 147 Ships a List 169 Sergeants at Law 243 Sergeants Inne ibid. Sergeants making 245 Southwark 280 T. Thames 203 Trade of London 205 Tower Lieutenant 222 V. Vice Admiral 176 Vicar General 257 Universities 281 Utter Baristers 237 W. Wardrobe Office 230 Westminster 277 Angliae Notitia OR THE PRESENT STATE OF ENGLAND The Second Part. Of the Government of England in particular and First of the Kings most Honourable Privy Council THe Government of England in particular is either Ecclesiastical Civil or Military wherein the King is supreme Governour in all Causes and over all Persons from him is derived all Authority and Jurisdiction He is quasi Intellectus Agens Forma formarum vel potius Mundi Anglici Deus And the Primum Mobile thereof from whence all the Inferiour Orbes derive their Motion is that Noble Honourable and Reverend Assembly called Concilium secretum Privatum vel Continuum Regis Concilium which is a Court of such Antiquity and Honour that it may be said to be higher then the highest Court of England as the Parliament is usually called for our Parliaments are not only much younger but also may truly be said to be the Productions of the Kings Privy Council as appears by the words of the Writ for summoning of a Parliament This is the highest watch Tower of the Nation wherein the King with all his good Centinels and Watchmen about him takes a careful survey of all his Dominions and sometimes of all the Domininons of the World as any of them have any Relation to his where he Consults and Contrives how to protect his numberless Subjects not onley from Injuries amongst themselves but from the wrongs and violences of all other Nations where he doth consult and watch for the publick good Honour Defence Profit and Peace of all his people Before the later end of Henry the Third Quod provisum fuit per Regem Concilium suum Privatum sigilloque Regis confirmatum proculdubio legis vigorem habuit saith Spelman The Primitive and ordinary way of Government in England was by the King and and his Privy Council and all our Kings have acted much by it determining Controversies of great importance soemtimes touching Lands and Rights between party and party whereof there are very many Precedents and the Judges of
Bench so called because anciently the King sometimes there sate in person on a high Bench and his Judges on a low Bench at his Feet to whom the Judicature belongs in the absence of the King In this Court are handled the Pleas of the Crown all things that concern loss of life or member of any Subject for then the King is concerned because the Life and Limbs of the Subject belong only to the King so that the Pleas here are between the King and the Subject Here are also handled all Treasons Felonies Breach of Peace Oppression Misgovernment c. This Court moreover hath power to examine and correct all Errors in facto in jure of all the Judges and Justices of England in their Judgements and Proceedings and this not only in Pleas of the Crown but in all Pleas Real Personal and mixt except only in the Exchequer In this High Court sit commonly Four Grave Reverend Judges whereof the First is stiled the Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench and is created not by Patent but by a short Writ thus Johanni Keeling Militi salutem Sciatis quod constituimus vos Justiciarium nostrum Capitalem ad placita coram nobis tenenda durante beneplacito nostro Teste me ipso apud Westm The rest of the Judges of the Kings Bench hold their places by Letters Patents in these words Rex omnibus ad quos praesentes literae pervenirint salutem Sciatis quod constituimus dilectum fidelem Richardum Rainsford Militem unum Justiciariorum ad placita coram nobis tenenda durante beneplacito nostro Teste c. These Judges and all the Officers belonging to this Court have all Salaries from the King and the chief of them have Robes and Liveries out of the great Wardrobe In this Court all young Lawyers that have been called to the Bar are allowed to plead and practice This Court may grant Prohibitions to keep other Courts both Ecclesiastical and Temporal within their Bounds and due Jurisdiction The Jurisdiction of this Court is general and extendeth to all England is more uncontroulable than any other Court for the Law presumes that the King is alwayes there in person None may be Judge in this Court unless he be a Serjeant of the Degree of the Coif that is a Serjeant at Law who upon taking this high Degree is obliged to wear a Lawn Coif under his Cap for ever after A List of the several Officers belonging to His Majesties Court of Kings-Bench LOrd Chief Justice Sir John Keeling Knight Justices are Sir Thomas Twisden Knight and Baronet Sir Richard Rainsford Knight Sir William Morton Knight Clerk of the Crown Sir Thomas Fanshaw Knight his Secondary Jasper Waterhouse Esquire Protonotary Sir Robert Henley Knight his Secondary William Livesay Esquire Marshal or Keeper of the Kings Bench Prison Stephen Mosedell Esquire Custos Brevium Justinian Paget Esquire Andrew Vivean and Francis Woodward Clerks of the Paper Office Sealer of the Writs Edward Coleman Gilbert Barrel Clark of the Rules Clerk of the Errors Henry Field George Bradford Clerk for Filing Declarations a Cryer Porter and some other inferiour Officers Then there are Filacers for the several Counties of England whose Office is in this Court to make out all Process upon original Writs as well real as personal and mixt They were lately these that follow Humphrey Ironmonger Edward Parnel James Buck Samuel Astrey Francis Greg John Hynde Thomas Stone Thomas Leach Gilbert Eveleigh Henry Ewin Joshua Langrige William Oglethorp John Philips William Osborn Rob. Hyde and Anthony Rouse The manner of Tryals in this and all other Common Law Courts in England being different from that of all other Countries and peculiar to England shall be at large described apart in a Chapter with other peculiars Of the Court of Common Pleas. THe next Court for execution of Laws is the Court of Common-Pleas so called because there are debated the usual Pleas between Subject and Subject Some say this Court as well as other Courts were at first held in the Kings House wheresoever he resided but by the Statute of Magna Charta it was ordained that this Court should not be ambulatory but be held at a certain place and that hath ever since been in Westminster-Hall None but Serjeants at Law may plead in this Court and so many of them as the King shall appoint are bound by oath to assist all that have any Cause depending in that Court This Court may grant prohibitions as the Court of the Kings Bench doth The chief Judge in this Court is called the Lord Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas or of the Common-Bench holdeth his place by Letters Patent durante bene placite and so do the other inferiour Judges of this Court whereof there are commonly three In this Court all Civil Causes Real and Personal are usually tryed according to the strict Rule of the Law Real Actions are pleadable in no other Court nor Fines levyed or Recoveries suffered but only in this Court at Westminster The King allows to the Lord Chief Justice of this Court a Fee Reward Robes and two Tun of Wine â—s is done to the Lord Chief Justice of the other Bench also to the other Judges of this Court and to four Serjeants is allowed Fees Reward and Robes to each one In the 11th and 12th of Edward 3. there were eight Judges belonging to the Common Pleas at other times seven six and five and so in the time of Henry 6. and Edward 4. but since usually but four as at this day Before the Reign of Queen Mary these and the rest or the twelve Judges rode upon Mules and not upon Horses as they now do in great State aâ— the beginning of the Term. A List of the several Officers belonging to His Majesties Court of Common-pleas LOrd Chief Justice Sir John Vaughan Kt. Sir Thomas Tyrrel Kt. Sir John Archer Kt. Sir William Wylde Kt. and Bar. these are the present Judges of that Tribunal Then there is an Officer called Custos Brevium the first Clerk of the Court whose Office it is to receive and keep all Writs returnable in that Court to receive of the Protonotaries all the Records of Nisi Prius called Postea's He holdeth his Place by Patent from the King and hath the Gift of the second Protonotary's Place and of the Clerk of the Juries· Sir Joseph Ash hath this Office and doth execute it by his Deputy Thursby Esquire There are three Protonotaries a word compounded of Greek and Latin which with the Antients was usual and signifies the first Notaries they are chief Clerks of this Court and by their Office are to enter and inroll all Declarations Pleadings which the Filazers did formerly promiscuously do Assises Judgments and Actions to make out Judicial Writs c. These considerable Offices are in the hands of Thomas Robinson Alan Lockhart and Humphrey Wirley Esquires The Chirographer also from two Greek words signifying to acknowledge a Debt by setting ones
from the Sacraments or else offending against Justice as the delaying of Legacies given to the poor or pious uses Dilapidations of Buildings or Goods belonging to the Church taking of Usury beyond the rate allowed by Statute Simony Perjury c. or by offending against Sobriety as Drunkenness Incest Adultery Fornication filthy Speech tempting of any ones Chastity Clandestine Marriages as for want of thrice publishing the Banes the want of Parents consent the want of witnesses which must be above two or marrying in a private place in an undue time before Eight in the morning and after Twelve of the Clock in the day c. Now for the better executing of this Jurisdiction the Law of England hath furnished the Bishops with a power of Ecclesiastical Censures whereof some may be inflicted both upon Lay-men and Church-men as Suspension from entring into the Church or else from receiving the Sacrament or greater Excommunications c. Others may be inflicted only upon Ecclesiastical Persons as Sequestration of their Ecclesiastical Profits Suspension sometimes ab Officio sometimes à Beneficio Deprivation and Deposition which is sometimes verbal by sentence pronounced against them and sometimes real by Degradation Here note that of all these Censures Excommunication is never inflicted but only for Contumacy as when a person being duly summoned will not appear or appearing will not obey the Orders of the Bishop The solemn manner of making a Bishop in England is as followeth When any Bishops See becomes vacant the Dean and Chapter of that Cathedral giving notice thereof to the King who is Patron of all the Bishopricks in England and humbly requesting that His Majesty will give leave for them to chose another the King hereupon grants to the Dean his Congè d' Eslire which in French wherein it was antiently penned signifies leave to elect then the Dean summons a Chapter or assembly of the Prebendaries who either elect the person recommended by His Majesties Letters or shew cause to the contrary Next the Election is certified to the party Elected who doth modestly refuse it the first and second time and if he refuse it a third time then that being certifyed to His Majesty another is recommended when the Election is accepted by the party it is certifyed to the King and the Archbishop of that Province whereupon the King gives his Royal Assent under the Great Seal of England which is exhibited to the Archbishop of the Province with command to confirm and consecrate him hereto the Archbishop subscribes Fiat Confirmatio and gives Commission under his Archiepiscopal Seal to his Vicar-General to perform all the Acts required for perfecting his Confirmation The Vicar-General then in the name of the Archbishop sends forth a Citation summoning all Opposers of the said Election or Person Elected to appear at a certain time and place especially assigned to make their objections This is done by an Officer of the Arches usually at Bow Church in Cheapsid London by Proclamation three times and then affixing the said Citation on the Church door for all people to read the said Officer returns an Authentick Certificate thereof to the Archbishop and Vicar-General At the day and place assigned for the appearance of the Opposers the Vicar General sits then the Proctor for the said Dean and Chapter exhibits the Royal assent and the Commission of the Archbishop which read and accepted by the Vicar-General the Proctor exhibits the Proxy from the Dean and Chapter and then presents the Elected Bishop and returns the Citation and desires the Opposers to be publickly called three times which being done accordingly he accuseth their contumacy and for penalty thereof desires that the business may proceed which the Vicar-General in a Schedule by him read and subscribed doth order Next the Proctor giving a summary Petition wherein is deduced the whole Process of Election and Consent desires a time to be assigned to prove it which the Vicar-General admits and decrees After which the Proctor exhibits the Royal Assent with the Elected Bishops Assent and the Certificate to the Archbishop and desires a term presently to be assigned to hear final sentence which the Vicar-General decrees Then the Proctor desires that all Opposers should be again called which being thrice publickly done and none appearing nor opposing they are pronounced contumacious and a Decree made to proceed to Sentence by a Schedule read and subscribed by the said Vicar-General Then the Elect person takes the path of Supremacy Simony and Canonical Obedience Next the Judge of the Arches reads and subscribes the Sentence after which usually there is an entertainment made for the Officers and others there present which being once done at the Sign of the Nags Head in Cheapside near the said Bow Church gave occasion to our adversaries of the Romish Church to affirm that Fable that there our first Bishops after the Reformation were consecrated When a Bishop is Elected and the Election confirmed he may give Institution and do his ordinary Jurisdiction and may sit in Parliament as a Lord thereof according to Sir Ed. Coke 4. Institut p. 47. After the Confirmation then according to the Kings Mandate is the solemn Consecration of the Elected Bishop which is done by the Archbishop with the assistance of two other Bishops in manner following Upon some Sunday or Holy-day after Morning Service the Archbishop beginneth the Communion Service after a certain Prayer appointed for this occasion one of the Bishops there present readeth the Epistle 1 Tim. 3. another readeth the Gospel John 21. then after the Nicene Creed and some Sermon the Elected Bishop vested with his Rochet or Linnen Garment is by two Bishops presented to the Archbishop or some other Bishop commissioned by him sitting in his Chair who demands the Kings Mandate for the Consecration and causes it to be read then the Elect Bishop takes the Oath of Supremacy and of Canonical Obedience to the Archbishop and after divers prayers and several Interrogatories put to the Bishop and his Answers the rest of the Episcopal Habit is put upon him and after more prayers the Elect Bishop kneeleth down and the Archbishop and Bishops there present lay their hands on his head and by a certain pious grave form of words they consecrate him Afterward the Archbishop doth deliver to the Bishop Elect a Bible with an other set form of words and so all proceed to the Communion Service and having received the Sacrament and the Blessing they retire from Church to dinner which is at the charge of the Bishop Elect and is usually very splendid and magnificent the greatest the Nobility Clergy Judges Privy-Counsellors c. honouring it with their presence the expence hereof with Fees of Consecration commonly amounting to Six or Seven hundred pounds This form and manner of consecrating Bishops is accordingly to the rule laid down in the Fourth Council of Carthage about the year 470 generally received in all the Provinces of the Western Church Note that by
of Venice and as it doth the Senators of Rome at this day c. The time of sitting in Parliament is on any day in the morning or afore dinner onely it hath antienly been observed not to assemble upon some high Festival days but upon ordinary Sundays oft-times as days accounted by all Christians less solemn then divers other Festivals which are celebrated but once a year When the day prefixt by the King in his Writs of Summons is come the King usually cometh in person with his Crown on his Head and clothed with his Royal Robes declares the cause of the Summons in a short Harangue leaving the rest to the Lord Keeper who then stands behind His Majesty the Commons in the mean time standing bare at the Barr of the Lords House are afterwards in the Kings name commanded to choose them a Speaker which without the Kings Command they may not do whereupon they returning to their own House make choice of one of their own Members whom afterwards upon another day they present to the King and being approved of by His Majesty sitting in his Chair and all His Lords both Spiritual and Temporal in their Robes of Scarlet he makes a modest refusal which not allowed he petitioneth His Majesty that the Commons may have during their sitting First a free Access to his Majesty Secondly Freedom of Speech within their own House Thirdly Freedom from Arrests Before any affair be medled with all the Members of the House of Commons take the Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy in the presence of an Officer appointed by the King By that old Manuscript called Modus tenendi Parliamentum it doth appear that the House of Commons did antiently as the House of Lords at this day consist of Clergy-men as well as Lay-men there sate the Procuratores Cleri two for each Diocess representing all the Clergy-Commons of the Diocess as the Knights of the Shire doth all the Lay-Commons of the Shire for it was then judged expedient that every Freeman of England as well Clergy as Laity should in passing of all Laws touching propiety whereunto they were to be subject give their consent personally or immediately by themselves or else by some that by their Election should mediately undertake for them and the words of the Writ for summoning the Procuratores Cleri as aforesaid seem to warrant the same at this day The Power and Priviledges of both Houses of Parliament are divers and distinct one from an other The Lords House hath a power not onely in making and repealing Laws but also in tractando consilium impendendo as the words of the Writ are also in judging of Controversies judging in the arraignment of any Peer of the Realm putting men to their Oaths especially in matters of importance as the Corruption of Judges and Magistrates in Errours Illegal proceedings in other Courts in Appeals from Decrees in Chancery c. The Lords that in their Religion conform not to the Church of England may yet sit and have Suffrage in the Lords House All the Lords Spiritual and Temporal have this Priviledge That if by reason of Sickness or other business they cannot appear they may make Proxies to vote in their stead after Licence obtained by a Letter under the Kings Signet to be excused for their absence so that in every Parliament every person in England either by himself Proxy or Representative is said to be there and to have his Suffrage for making or repealing any Law The Commons have also a power in making and repealing Laws they also have their Negative Voyce for Levying of any money upon the Subject the Bill is to begin in the Commons House because from them doth arise the greater part of Moneys The Commons have the Priviledge to supplicate and propose Laws to impeach publick Delinquents even the highest Lords of the Kingdom both Spiritual and Temporal The House of Commons is the Grand Inquest of the Realm summoned from all parts to present publick grievances and Delinquents to the King and Lords to be redressed and punished by them and to this purpose the Lords sit in their Robes on the Bench covered as Judges do in other Judicatories they swear and examine Witnesses and at length pass sentence whilst the Members of the Commons House stand bare at the Bar of the Lords House produce Witnesses mannage evidence c. Note that although every Member of the Commons House is chosen to serve for one particular County City or Burrough yet he serves for the whole Kingdom and his voyce equal to any other his power absolute to consent or dissent without ever acquainting those that sent him or demanding their assent as the States General of the United Neatherlands are obliged to do in many Cases Yet are they to make that their special care to promote the Good of that County City or Borough for which they serve Although the Lords of Parliament are to bear their own charges because they represent there only themselves yet all the Commons both Lay and Clergy that is the Procuratores Cleri are to have rationabiles Expensas as the words of the Writ are that is such allowance as the King considering the Prices of all things shall judge meet to impose upon the people to pay In the 17 Edward 2. it was 10 groats for Knights and 5 groats for Burgesses but not long after it was 4 s. a day for dubbed Knights and 2 s. for all others which in those days as appears by the prices of all things was a considerable sum above 20 times more than it is now for not onely their expences were considered though that was great by reason of the sutable attendance that then every Parliament man had but also their pains their loss of time and necessary neglect of their own private affairs for the service of their Country and when the Countries Cities and Burroughs paid so dear for their expences they were wont to take care to choose such men as were best able and most diligent in the speedy dispatch of affaires by which means with some other more business in those times was dispatched in Parliament in a week then is now perhaps in ten so that the Protections for Parliament men and their Servant from Arrests were not then grievous when scarce any Parliament or Session lasted so long as one whole Term. In the Raign of Edward 3. the Parliaments sometimes sate but eight days and sometimes less as may be seen in the Records of the Tower and yet transacted several and weighty affairs of the Nation many things being prepared before hand as some think by the King and his privy Council as they are at present in Sweden and that commonly they then debated onely upon such things as the King did propose which is now done by the Convocation of the Clergy of England The afore-mentioned expences being duly paid did cause all the petty decayed Burroughs of England to become humble Suitors to the King
hand is an Officer who ingrosseth Fines acknowledged c. He holdeth his Place also by Patent and is at present Mr. Sparks in trust for Sir William Drake who doth execute it by a Deputy Mr. Wayt. All these Officers aforementioned sit in the Court covered with black round knit Caps according to the mode immediately before the invention of Hats which was since the beginning of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth Moreover they are all sworn and have their Offices for life as a Freehold There are in this Court 3 Officers unsworn and hold their Places durante bene placito One Clerk of the Treasury Mr. George Ingram who hath the charge of keeping the Records of this Court and makes out all Records of Nisi Prius and divers other things This Office is in the Gift of the Lord Chief Justice 2. Clerk of the Inrolements of Fines and Recoveries who is by Statute under the three puisne Judges of this Court and removeable at their pleasure Note that the Inrolement of Fines and Recoveries or any part thereof by Stat 23 Eliz. cap. 3. is of as good force and validity in Law to all intents and purposes for so much of any of them so inrolled as the same being extant and remaining were or ought by Law to be The general neglect whereof in this Kingdom hath occasioned many Law Suits and hath proved in process of time exceeding dangerous to many mens Estates 3. The Clerk of the Outlawries Mr. Annuel who makes out the Writs of Capias Utlagatum after the Outlawry in the name of the Kings Atturney whose Deputy he is pro tempore There are five Clerks more 1. Clerk of the Kings Silver Henry Nurse Esquire unto whom every Fine or Final Agreement in sale of Lands is brought after it hath been with the Custos Brevium and to whom Money is paid for the Kings use 2. Clerk of the Warrants Mr· Thomas Brown executed by a Deputy Mr. James Mayo who entreth all Warrants of Atturney for Plaintiff and Defendant 3. Clerk of the Juries Mr. John Green who makes out the Writs called Habeas Corpora and Distringas for appearance of the Jury either in this Court or at the Assises in the Country 4. Clerk of the Essoins or Excuses for lawful cause of absence Mr. Townley 5. Clerk of the Super sedeas Mr. Abbot which is held by Patent but before King James time made by the Exchequer In this Court are also Filazers for the several Counties of England so called from the French Fil a Thred because they file their Writs These make out all Process upon Original Writs and do many other things too long to be here set down of these there are 14. viz. Fabian Philips Esquire who hath London Middlesex Huntington and Cambridge Shires The rest of the Counties are divided amongst these that follow Sir Roger Hill Henry Dutton Spicer Grey Fr. Hill Robert Child Charles Clare Sir Thomas Stringer Thomas Child Bennet Mark Hildesley Herbert Matthews and Hughes who is Protonatory Filazer and Exigenter of Monmouth by Patent the rest in the Gift of the Lord Chief Justice and hold for life There are also four Exigenters whose Office it is to make all Exigents and Proclamations in all Actions where process of Outlawry doth lye This Writ is called an Exigent because it exacteth the Party that is requireth his appearance to answer the Law and lies against a Transgressor of the Law that cannot be found nor any of his Goods within the County so that after summons by the Sheriff at five several County Courts if he appear not he is outlawed The four Exigenters at present are William Petty John Dawling Charles Clare and Silvester Petty all in the Gift of the Lord Chief Justice and are for life There are also belonging to this Court four Cryers and a Porter Of the Court called the Exchequer THe next Court for Execution of Laws is that called the Exchequer so called as some think from a Chequer-wrought Carpet covering the great Table in that Court as the Court of Green Cloth in the Kings house is so called from the Green Carpet or else from the French word Eschequier a Chess board because the Accomptants in that Office were wont to use such Boards in their Calculation Here are tryed all causes which belong to the Kings Treasury or Revenue as touching Accounts Disbursements Customs and all Fines imposed upon any man In this Court may sit the Lord Treasurer the Chancellor of the Exchequer the Lord Chief Baron and four other Learned Judges called Barons of the Exchequer and one other Cursitor Baron but the two first seldom sit and the five last Seldom fail The first of these five is the Principal Judge of this Court and answers the Bar or the Baristers who direct their Speech to him takes Recognizances for the Kings Debts c. It is an Office of High Honour and Profit he is styled Lord Chief Baron is Created by Letters Patents to hold this Dignity Quam dieu bene se gesserit wherein he hath a more fixed estate then the Chief Justices of either Bench for the Law intends this an Estate for Life in the absence of the Lord Chief Baron the other three Barons supply his place according to their Seniority but the fifth is said to be a Cursitor of the Court and administers the Oaths to the Sheriffs Under-Sheriffs Baylifs Searchers Surveyors c. of the Custom-house In the Exchequer are held two Courts one of Law another of Equity All Judicial Proceedings according to Law are coram Baronibus but the Court of Equity held in the Exchequer Chamber is coram Thesaurario Cancellario Baronibus This Court had its beginning primo Ph. Mar. The Authority of this Court is of original jurisdiction without any Commission Note also that all the other forementioned Courts were not Instituted by any Statute or written Law but have their Original from the antient Custom of the Kingdom For a long time after the Conquest there sat in the Exchequer both Spiritual and Temporal Barons of the Realm and in later times there sate in their places others that were not Peers of the Realm yet stiled Barons quia ibi sedere solebant Barones All the Twelve Judges belonging to these High Tribunals sit in Robes and Square Caps like those Doctors of Divinity because as some say they were antiently most commonly Clergy-men and Doctors Bishops or Prelates A List of the several Officers belonging to His Majesties Court of Exchequer In the Vpper Exchequer THe Kings Remembrancer Thomas Lord Vicount Fanshaw in whose Office are 8 sworn Clerks whereof John Payn and Thomas Hall Esquires at present are the two Secondaries the rest are Ansel Beaumont Hugh Frankland Butler Buggin George Wats Nicholas Sanders c. In this Office pass all the Accounts concerning the Kings Revenue for Customs Excise Hearth-money Subsidies and all Ayds granted to the King in Parliament and all other Accounts of what nature soever
Next is the Auditor of the Receipts Sir Robert Long whose Office is to file the Bills of the Tellers whereby they charge themselves with all moneys received and to draw all Orders to be signed by the Commissioners of the Treasury for issuing forth all moneys by vertue of Privy Seals which are recorded and lodged in his Office He also makes debentures to the several Persons who have Fees Annuities or Pensions by Letters Patents from the King out of the Exchequer and directs them for payment to the Tellers He receives every week the state of the account of each Teller and also weekly certifies the whole to the Commissioners of the Treasury who immediately present the estimate or Ballance to the King He takes the Tellers Accounts in gross at Easter and Michaelmas By him are kept the several Registers appointed for paying all persons in course upon several Branches of the Kings Revenue He is Scriptor Taliorum hath five Clerks to manage the whose estate of Moneys received disbursed and remaining Next there are four Tellers Laurence Squib John Loving Esquires Sir George Downing aforementioned and Sir William Doily Kt. Their Office is to receive all moneys due to the King and thereupon to throw down a Bill through a Pipe into the Tally Court where it is received by the Auditors Clerk who there attends to write the words of the said Bill upon a Tally and then deliver the same to be entred by the Clerk of the Pells or his under Clerk who there attends to enter it in his Book then the Tally is cloven by the two Deputy Chamberlains who have their Seals and while the Senior Deputy reads one part the Junior examines the other part with the other two Clerks Clerk of the Pells is William Wardour Esquire whose Office is to enter every Tellers Bill into a Parchment skin in Latin Pellis whence this Office hath its name all receipts and payments for the King for what cause or by whom soever and is in nature of a Comtroller hath four Clerks whereof one is for the Introitus and another for the Exitus Moreover he is to make weekly and half yearly Books both of the Receipts and Payments which are delivered to the Commissioners of the Treasury In the Tally Court sit the Deputies of the two Chamberlains Edward Faulconbridge and John Low Esquires who cleave the Tallies and examine each piece a part A Tally in the Exchequer from the French Verb Tailler to cut is a very antient and most certain way of avoiding all cozenage in the Kings Revenue the like no where else in Christendom and is after this manner He that payes the King any moneys receives for his Acquittance a Tally that is the one half of a stick cloven with certain proportionable Notches thereon expressive of the sum from the said Deputy Chamberlains who keep the other cloven part of the stick called the Foyl and deliver it to the Tally-Joyners on the other side of the Exchequer who are also Deputies to the Chamberlains and they joyn it with the Foyl which agreeing they give it their Test and send it by an Officer of their own to the Pipe where their Quietus est is engrossed in Parchment Other Officers in the Exchequer are the two Ushers Robert and Philip Packer Esquires whose Office is to take care to secure the Exchequer by day and by night and all the Avenues leading to the fame and to furnish all necessaries as Books Paper c. There is also a Tally Cutter and four Messengers By long continuance and the wisest contrivances that the ablest men of many ages could invent the Exchequer of the King of England is become the best ordered publick Revenue in the world Though the number of Officers in the Exchequer is far greater than in any other of the Kings Courts yet not near so great as the Financiers and other Officers belonging to the Revenues of the French King who are so many that their Fees eat up three parts in four of the whole Revenue whereas for rewarding all the Officers in the English Exchequer whereof most are ever persons of Estates Parts and great Integrity it costs the King a very inconsiderable sum of money as will easily appear to any one who shall consider that in case of a gift from the King of Moneys or Pension out oâ— his Exchequer he that receives it pays but 5 l. per cent amongst the Tellers Auditors Clerk of the Pells and their Clerks and to all other Officers whatsoever and which is remarkable there goes not amongst the said Officers and Clerks so much as 5 s. per cent out of publick Payments as for the Navy Ordnance Wardrobe Mint to the Cofferer Treasurer of the Chamber c. In case of Moneys paid in by any of the Kings Tenants Receivers it costs them sometimes but six pence and at most but 3 s. for every payment under a thousand pounds and that goes only to the Clerks for their pains in writing and attending The bringing in of all moneys to the King costs his Majesty amongst Receivers Collectors and all others in the Country not above 2 s. in the pound and at his Exchequer it costs him in a manner nothing at all for the Tellers who are bound to the King in 20000 l. security for the true discharge of their great trusts have under 33 l. per an for their Salary from the King and the two Clerks of each Teller who constantly attend their Offices have nothing at all from the King The Court of the Dutchy of Lancaster THere is another Court at Westminster called the Court of the Dutchy of Lancaster which takes Cognizance of all Causes that any way concern the Revenue belonging to that Dutchy which hath been long since annext to the Crown The chief Judge of this Court is the Chancellor of the Dutchy who is assisted by the Atturney of the Dutchy There are divers other Officers of this Court a list of whose Names here follow Sir Thomas Ingram Chancellor and one of His Majesties most honourable Privy Council Sir John Heath Atturney Genera Sir John Curzon Receiveâ— General Sir Thomas Trevor Knight of the Bath and John Fanshaw Esq Auditors Sir Gilbert Gerard Clerk of the Dutchy Thomas Desborough Messenger This Court is kept at Westminster by the Lower Exchequer and the Office of Sir Gilbert Gerard at Grays Inn. Of the High Court of Chancery NExt to the Kings Bench in Westminster-Hall is wisely placed this High Court to mitigate the Rigour of that it is called Curia Cancellariae as some judge because as some think the Judge of this Court sate antiently intra Cancellos or Lattices as the East end of our Churches being seperated per cancellos from the body of the Church as peculiarly belonging to the Priest were thence called Chancels This Court is the Officina Justiciae the Womb of all our Fundamental Laws the Fountain of all our proceedings in Law the Original of all other Courts
are as the Dies Nefâ—sti wherein the Courts sit not so that in one fourth part of the year and that in one City all considerable causes of the greatest part of England are fully decided and determined whereas in forreign parts the Courts of Justice are open all the year except high Holydayes and Harvest and that in all great Cities This may seem therefore strange to all Forreigners till they know that the English have alwayes been given more to peaceableness and industry then other people and that rather then go so far as London and be at so great Charges with Attourneyes and Lawyers they will either refer their differences to the Arbitration of their Parish Priests who do or ought to think it a Principal part of their Duty to reconcile differences within their Parishes or to the Arbitration of honest Neighbours or else are content to submit their differences to tryal before the Judges of Assises or the Itinerant Judges who twice a year viz. after the end of Hilary Term and after the end of Trinity Term two by two of these principal Judges ride several Circuits and at the Principal Town of every County sit to hear and determine all Causes of lesser moment both civil and criminal a most excellent wise Constitution begun by King Hen. 2. Anno 1176. who at first divided England into six Circuits not the same that are now and to each Circuit allotted three judges Wales also is divided into two Circuits North and South Wales for which are designed in like manner two Sergeants at Law for each Circuit These Judges give Judgment of the Pleas of the Crown and all Common Pleas within those Counties dispatching ordinarily in two or three days all Controversies in a County that are grown to issue in the fore-mentioned Courts at London between Plaintiffs and Defendants and that by their Peers a Jury of 12 men ex viceneto out of the neighbourhood where about the business lyes So that twice a year in England and Wales Justice may be said to be rightly and speedily administred even at our own doors Besides the forementioned Courts at Westminster Henry 8. erected for the more ease of the Subject a Court in the North of England another for the County of Wales and Counties adjoyning and intended another for Cornwall and Devonshire and these in manner of those Courts called in France Parlements where all cases might be decided both according to the Laws of England and according to equity in Chancery Of these Courts that for Cornwal was never fully erected those people desiring rather to come to London for Justice that of the North was by the late long Parliament taken away and so was that of Wales but this last since the Restauration of the King again erected Of this Court or Council of the Marshes of Wales is a Lord President at present the Lord Vaughan Earl of Carbury divers Councellors Secretary Attourney Sollicitor Surveyor who have Salaries from His Majesty HAving given a brief Account of the Civil Government of all England in General next shall be described the particular Government of Counties Hundreds Cities Burroughs and Villages For the Civil Government of all Counties the King makes choice of some of the Nobility Clergy Gentry and Lawyers men of worth and parts who have their usual residence in the County so many as His Majesty pleaseth to keep the Peace of the County and these by Commission under the great Seal are called Justices of Peace and such of them in whom the King doth more particularly confide or respect are called Justices of the Quorum from those words in the Commission Quorum A. B. unum esse volumus that is some business of more importance may not be transacted without the presence or concurrence of one of them One of the principal Justices of Peace and Quorum is by the Lord Keeper made Custos Rotulorum so called because he hath the Custody of the Rolls or Records of the Sessions and is to bring them to each Quarter Sessions The Original of Justices of Peace is from the first year of Edward 3. Their Office is to call before them examine and commit to Prison all Theeves Murderers wandring Rogues those that hold Conspiracies Conventicles Riots and almost all other Delinquences that may occasion the breach of Peace and quiet to the Kings Subjects to commit all such to prison as either cannot or by Law are not to be bailed that is cannot be set at liberty by Sureties taken for their appearance at a place and time certain land to see them brought forth in due time to Tryal Every Quarter or three months the Justices meet at the chief or Shire Town where the Grand Enquest or Jury of the County is summoned to appear who upon Oath are to inquire of all Traitors Hereticks Theeves Murderers Money-coiners Riots c Those that appear to be guilty are by the said Justices committed to prison to be tryed at the next Assises when the Judges of Westminster come their Circuits aforementioned For execution of Laws in every County except Westmorland and Durham the King every Michaelmas Term nominates for each County a Sheriff that is a Reeve of the Shire Praepositus or Praefectus Comitatus a Governor or Guardian of the County for the words of the Patent are Commisimus tibi Custodiam Commitatus nostri de N. The Sheriffs Office is to execute the Kings Mandates and all Writs directed to him out of the Kings Courts to empannel Juries to bring Causes and Criminals to Tryal to see the sentences both in Civil and Criminal affairs executed to wait on and guard the Itenerant Judges twice a year so long as they continue within the County which at the Assises is performed with great Pomp Splendor Feasting c In order to the better execution of his Office the Sheriff hath attendant his Under-Sheriff divers clerks Stewards of Courts Bayliffs of Hundreds Constables Gaolers Sergeants or Beedles besides a gallant train of servants in rich Liveries all on Horseback at the Reception of the Judges He was antiently chosen as Knights of the Shire but to avoid Tumults it is now thus Every year about the beginning of November the Judges Itinerant nominate six fit men of each County that is Kts. or Esquires of good Estates out of these the Lords Keeper Treasurer Privy Councellors and 12 Judges assembled in the Exchequer Chamber and sworn make choice of three of which the King himself after chooseth one to be Sheriff for that year only though heretofore it was for many years and sometimes heriditary as at this day to the Cliffords who by dissent from Robert de Vipont are Sheriffs heriditary of the County of Westmoreland by Charter from King John Furthermore the Sheriffs Office is to collect all publick profits Customes Taxes of the County all Fines Distresses and Amerceaments and to bring them into the Kings Exchequer or Treasury at London or else where as the King shall appoint The
following are a few heads or particulars of them viz. The Leagues of foreign Princes and the Treaties with them And all the Atchievements of this Nation in France and other Foreign Parts The Original of all the Laws that have been Enacted or Recorded until the Reign oi Richard the Third The Homage and Dependency of Scotland upon England The Establishment of Ireland in Laws and Dominions The Dominion of the British Seas totally excluding both the French and Hollander to Fish therein without Licence from England proved by Records before the Conquest The Interest of the Isle of Man and the Isles of Jersey Gernsey Sark and Alderny which four last are the remaining part of the Norman possession The Title to the Realm of France and how obtained And all that the Kings or Princes of this Land have until that time done abroad or granted or confirmed unto their Subjects at home or abroad Tenures of all the Lands in England Extents or Surveys of Mannors and Lands Inquisitions post mortem being of infinite advantage upon tryals of Interest or Descent Liberties and Priviledges granted to Cities and Towns Corporate or to private Men as Court-Leets Waiffs Estrays Mercats Fairs Free warren Felons Goods or what else could come to the Crown or pass out of it Several Writs Pleadings and Proceedings as well in Chancery as in all the Courts of Common Law and Exchequer Inspeximus's and Inrolments of Charters and Deeds made and done before the Conquest Deeds and Contracts between party and party and the just establishment of all the Offices in the Nation The Metes and Bounds of all the Forests in England with the several respective Rights of the Inhabitants therein to Common of Pasture c. Besides many other Priviledges and Evidences which are too long to be here repeated or inserted And are therefore in the Petition of the Commons of England in Parliament An. 46 Edw. 3. num 43. said to be the perpetual Evidence of every Mans right and the Records of this Nation without which no story of the Nation can be written or proved These Records are reposited within a certain Place or Tower called Wakefield Tower adjoyning to the Bloody Tower near Traytors Gate There is another place called Julius Caesars Chappel in the White Tower The going up to this Chappel is in Gold Harbor Eighty four Steps up with Six or eight great Pillars on each side and at the upper end thereof there was a Marble Altar which in the late times of Rebellion was caused to be beaten down as a Monument of Tyranny and Superstition There are many Cart load of Records lying in this place out of which William Prynne Esquire late Keeper of the same with indefatigable labor Collected and Printed many of Publick Utility Annis 1659 1660 1662 1664. in Four several Volumes beginning Primo Regis Johannis for before that time there are no Rolls but onely Chartae Antiquae or Ancient Transcripts made and done before and since the Conquest until the beginning of King John Then follows His Son Henry the Third where the first Offices Post Mortem begins Then there is Edward the First Second and Third Richard the Second Henry the Fourth Henry the Fifth Henry the Sixth and Edward the Fourth and the Inquisitions Post Mortem of Richard the Third who reigned onely Three years The Rolls of that King are in the Chappel of the Rolls in Chancery Lane The Rolls in the Tower are variously distinguished viz. Rotuli Patentium Cartarum Parliamentorum Clausarum finium Scotiae Vasconiae Franciae Hiberniae Walliae Normanniae Alemanniae Oblatae Liberatae Extractae Perambulationes Forestae Scutag Rotul Marescal Romae de Treugis Chart. Patent fact in partibus transmarinis Patent de Domibus Judaeorum Protection de Perdonation c. Stapulae cum multis aliis which are lately depicted upon the outside of every Press in the Repository belonging to each Kings Reign and very easily to be brought forth for the use of the Client By a Table of Orders hanging up in the said Office and subscribed by the Keeper hereof The same is to be kept open and constantly attended for all Resorters thereto from the hours of Seven till eleven of the Clock in the Morning and from One till five in the Afternoon every day of the week except in the Moneths of December January and February and in them from Eight till eleven in the morning and from One to four in the Afternoon except on Holidays Publick Fasting and Thanksgiving days and times of great Pestilence The Governor of this great and important Fortress being called The Lieutenant of the Tower is usually a Person of great worth and fidelity who is Virtute Officii to be in Commission of the Peace for the Counties of Kent Surrey and Middlesex He is High Steward of a Court there held hath a Deputy and may refuse an Habeas Corpus may give Protection to all Debtors belonging to the Tower Infra Regnum Angliae Hath the Priviledge to take Unam lagenam Two Gallons and a Pint Antâ— malum retro of all Wine Ships that come and to be as some hold Custos Rotulorum of the County of Middlesex His Salary is 200 l. per annum His usual Fee for every Prisoner sent to the Tower who are commonly Men of Estates is 20 l. and 3 l a week for an Esquire and 5 l. for a Knight For a Baron or above 50 l. at entrance to whom the King allows weekly 10 l. whereof two parts go to the Prisoner the third to the Lieutenant for Lodgings and Diet and 50 l. to the Lieutenant upon the Prisoners discharge The present Lieutenant of the Tower is Sir John Robinson Baronet The Gentleman Porter of the Tower holds his place by Patent and at the entrance of a Prisoner hath for his Fee Vestimenta superiora or else a Composition for the same The Gentleman Jaylor is put in by the Lieutenant of the Tower his Fee is 41 s. of a Gentleman and 5 l. of a Knight Then there are Forty Warders of the Tower accounted the Kings Domestick Servants and sworn by the Lord Chamberlain of His Majesties Houshold or by the Clerk of the Check The Moneys allowed by the King to the several Officers and Servants in the Tower and for keeping in repair that huge structure amounts to a vast sum Near the Tower is S. Katherines which hath a Royal Jurisdiction for the Ecclesiastical Causes and Probate of Wills and belongeth to the Queen Dr. Bud is Commissary from whom if any will appeal it must be to the King in His Court of Chancery who thereupon issueth out a Commission under the Great Seal as in Appeals from the Arches or Prerogative The next thing remarkable in the City of London may be the Bridge which for admirable Workmanship for vastness of Foundation for all Dimensions and for the solid stately Houses and rich Shops built thereon surpasseth all others in Europe it hath Nineteen
to behave themselves in that Port Gravity and Authority as if they were so in the Kings House that so hereafter they may know the better to behave themselves in case they should be promoted to that Honour for these Gentlemen are usually of such quality as come not hither with intent to profess the Law but to learn so much Law as may be necessary to preserve their Estates and to make themselves accomplisht in other qualities necessary for Gentlemen At such time they have here divers divertisements as Feasting every day singing dancing Musick which last is allowed there to all Comers and is so excessive that what the Dicers allow out of each winning to the Butlers box usually amounts to above 50 l. a day and night wherewith and a small contribution from each Student are the great charges of the whole Christmas defrayed Sometimes when their publick Treasury is great they create a Prince among themselves with such Title as they please to give him and he hath all his Officers and a Court sutable to a great Prince and many of the prime Nobility and great Officers of State are feasted and entertained by him with Enterludes c. From All Saints day to Candlemas each House usually hath Revels on Holy-dayes that is Musick and Dancing and for this is chosen some young Student to be Master of the Revels Note that the manner of their Parlament is briefly thus Every Quarter commonly the Benchers cause one of the standing Officers of the House to summon a Parlament which is onely an Assembly and Conference of Benchers and Utter-Baristers which are called the Sage Company and meet in a place called the Parlament Chamber and there Treat of such matters as shall seem expedient for the good ordering of the House and the Reformation of such things as they shall judge meet to be Reformed Here are the Readers for Lent and Summer vacation elected also the Treasurer is here chosen and the Auditors appointed to take the Accounts of the old Treasurer c. Here offences committed by any of the Society are punished c. These Innes of Court are most wisely situated by our Ancestors between the Kings Courts of Judicature and the most opulent City of London In the Four Innes of Court are reckoned about 800 Students Lastly there are two more Colledges called Sergeants Inne where the Common-Law Student when he is arrived to the highest degree hath his Lodging and Dyet These are called Servientes ad Legem Sergeants at Law and are as Doctors in the Civil Law only these have heretofore been reputed more Noble and Honourable Doctoris enim appellatio est Magisterii Servientis vero Ministerii and therefore Doctors of Law are allowed to sit within the Bar in Chairs and covered whilst Sergeants stand without the Bar bareheaded only with Coiffs or Caps on To arrive to this high Degree take this brief account The young Student in the Common Law being born of a Gentile Stock and bred two or three years in the University and there chiefly versed in Logick and Rhetorick both expedient for a Lawyer and gotten some insight into the Civil Law and some skill in the French Tongue as well as Latin he is admitted to be one of the Four Innes of Court where he is first called a Moot man and after about Seven years study is chosen an Utter Barister and having then spent Twelve years more and performed the Exercises before mentioned he is chosen a Bencher and some time after a Reader during the Reading which heretofore was Three weeks and Three days the Reader keeps a constant and sumptuous Feasting inviting the chief Nobles Judges Bishops great Officers of the Kingdom and sometimes the King himself as that most accomplished Lawyer the present Atturney General did that it costs them sometimes 800 or 1000 l. Afterward he wears a long Robe different from other Baristers and is then in a capacity to be made a Sergeant at Law when His Majesty shall please to call him which is in this manner When the number of Sergeants is small the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas by the advice and consent of the other Judges make choice of Six or Eight more or less of the most Grave and Learned of the Innes of Court and presents their Names to the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper who sends by the Kings Writ to each of them to appear on such a day before the King to receive the State and Degree of Sergeant at Law at the appointed time they being habited in Robes of two colours viz. Brown and Blew come accompanyed with the Students of the Innes of Court and attended by a train of Servants and Retainers in certain peculiar cloth Liveries to Westminster-Hall there in publick take a solemn Oath and are clothed with certain Robes and Coyfs without which they may no more be seen in publick after this they feast the great persons of the Nation in a very magnificent and Princely manner give Gold Rings to the Princes of the Blood Archbishops Chancellor and Treasurer to the value of Forty shillings each Ring to Earles Bishops Rings of Twenty shillings to other great Officers to Barons great Prelates c. Rings of less value Out of these are chosen all the Judges of the Kings Bench and Common Pleas wherefore all those Judges do alwayes wear the white Linnen Coyfe which is the Principal Badge of a Sergeant and which he had ever the Priviledge to wear at all times even in the Kings presence and whilst he spake to the King though antiently it was not permitted to any Subject to be so much as capped in the Presence of the King of England as at present it is not allowed in the presence of the Pope or of the Emperour When any of the aforementioned Judges are wanting the King by advice of His Council makes choice of one of these Sergeants at Law to supply his place and constitutes him by Letters Patents Sealed by the Chancellor who sitting in the middle of the rest of the Judges in open Court by a set Speech declares to the Sergeant that upon this occasion is brought in the Kings pleasure and to the people the Kings goodness in providing the Bench with such able honest men as that Justice may be done expeditely and impartially to all His Subjects and then causes the said Letters Patents to be read and being departed the Chief Justice places the said Sergeant on the Bench junior of all the rest and having taken his Oath well and truly to serve the King and His people in the Office of Justice to take no reward to do equal and speedy Justice to all c. he sits himself to the Execution of his Charge The Sergeant being thus advanced to be a Judge hath thereby great Honour and a very considerable Salary besides certain perquisits for each one hath at least One thousand pound a year from the King and now in some things his former habit