Rewards in store which they conferr'd proportionably to their Services and such Rewards were purposely reserv'd for such as had either given good Counsel or followed it by venturing their Lives and Fortunes for preservation of the Empire and some such Orders were made in our Edw. the 3ds time and confirmed by many Successive Councils as may be read in Sir Edw. Coke and Judge Dodridge 12. There are also other lesser Councils besides what I mentioned before as the Common Council of London and the like though not for number in other Cities which relate only to the Government of those Cities and Counsellors at Law and the meeting of such degrees as are qualified for that purpose are called in some of the Inns of Court Parliaments which relate only to matters of Law and Government of their Societies and Councils of War and Trade and many of these are great Assistants and often imploy'd both in the Privy and publick Council of the Kingdom 13. I have been the longer on this subject because all the Degrees hereafter mentioned are Members either of the Kings Privy Council or the Parliament or both yet their Writs of Summons are not singly Conciliario but by annexation to those Degrees which are capacitated to be Counsellors but the Degrees mentioned in the Act of whom I treat next are constantly of the Privy Council or Parliament but there are only some of the Parliament which are of the Privy Council by which means matters are more easily manag'd between the King the Privy Council and the Parliament the one constantly Sitting the other Summon'd only upon Emergencies of State which latter being thus Constituted it may well be call'd Magnum Concilium Animarum or a Council of Souls rather than Bodies so as the King may say with Cicero Conscientia conciliorum meorum me Consolatur i. e. The knowledge and Conscientious concurrence of minds or Souls for so Conscientia sometimes siguifies and integrity of my Counsellors are my Consolation 14. In the first Chapter I have shewn the List of the Privy Council who gave their Advice as t is said in the Warrant for Summoning the Parliament to begin the 8th of May 1661. and all but one of them had Summons and did sit in the Lords House or were Elected for the Commons House yet it may be observed that Prince Rupert was Summon'd as Duke of Cumberland The Duke of Laderdale being a Scotch Lord was not Summon'd till he was made Earl of Gilford some years after The Duke of Ormond was Summon'd as Earl of Brecknock in Wales the Lord Anthony Ashly Cooper was chosen a Burgess of Dorsetshire for the House of Commons but his Writ was time enough to sit in the Lords House Sir Charles Berkley Knt. was chosen a Burgess in Somersetshire and soon after made Lord Fitz Harding an Irish Title and so continued in the House of Commons to his death Sir George Cartret Knt. and Bar. was chosen Burgess for Portsmouth and continued in the Commons House to the end of that Parliament Sir Edward Nicholas Knt. was Summon'd to the Lords House but Sir William Morrice was chosen Burgess for Plymouth and continued with the Commons to his death Now I proceed with the chief of such as are for the most part of the Kings Privy Council mention'd in the Act and do with others of lesser Degreees Constitute both the Privatum and Magnum concilium or Parliament SECT III. Of the Princes of the Bloud IN this Act the King by vertue of his Kingly Office for so is the word in the Act and Prerogative Obs I. having power to give such Honors Places and Reputation to his Counsellors and other his Subjects as shall seem best to his most Excellent Wisdom especially to his Council or Parliament gives the Priority of all Places and Precedings to these following seven Degrees of the Bloud-Royal viz. 1. to the Kings Son first entituled Prince of Wales in the 11. Edw. the 3d. 2. to the Kings Children 3. to the Kings Brother 4. to the Kings Uncle 5. to the Kings Nephew 6. to the Kings Brothers Son 7. to the Kings Sisters Son all of these have Title of Earls or Dukes and any one of these where others in priority are wanting are to be accounted the first in their own seven Degrees and are Prior to the 5 following Degrees which comprehend all the Lords Temporal and these as they happen to be more or less have their distinct Writs as also their proceedings to all or any other Degrees either Spiritual or Temporal Official or Hereditary of whom I shall speak more in the following Sections and Chapters but if there be a failour of any of these or that they are absent from Parliaments in respect of Minority or otherwise then some of the Lords Spiritual have precedency to the Lords Temporal as will be shewn All that were Summon'd of this Degree to this Parliament were only the Duke of York the Kings Brother and Prince Rupert his Sisters Son Sect. Cap. 2. Fig. 1. and 2. SECT IIII. Of the Kings Vice-Gerent or Vicar-General Obs THe words of the Act are That forasmuch as the Kings Majesty is justly and lawfully Supream Head on Earth under God of the Church of England and for the good Exercise of that most Royal Dignity and Office viz. of Supream Head of the Church hath made Thomas Lord Cromwel who was not only Lord Privy Seal as in the Act is exprest but Master of the Kings Jewel-House Baron of Okham Knight of the Garter Earl of Essex and Lord Great Chamberlain 2. His Vice-Gerent for the good and due administration of Justice to be had in all Causes and Cases touching the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and for the Godly Reformation of all Errors Heresies and Abuses in the said Church so as he injoy'd Dignities and Offices of a mixt nature Ecclesiastical and Civil and thereby was placed above all the Lords Spiritual and above all the Lords Temporal of the following Degrees and not only in respect of his Temporal Dignities but as Vice-Gerent in Ecclesiasticals had power given him and to his Successors in that Office to sit above those Degrees in Parliament and to have a Voice and Liberty to assent or dissent as other Lords 3. But there hath been none imploy'd in this Office since that time as needless I conceive for the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in their Provinces and the Bishops in their Diocesses have ever since in a manner suppli'd the Duty of that Office under their own Titles and by their own Jurisdictions especially the Archbishop of Canterbury who is rankt in the next place in this Act and in all Pawns except this where some of the Bloud Royal are not exemplars SECT V. Of the Arch-Bishops and Bishops Obs I THE Title of Bishop is more ancient than the Title of Christian as I shall shew in the seventh Chapter however it became more general after Christianity spread it self The word comes from the
Mary two in the 28th of Eliz. two in the 30th of Eliz. one in the 35th of Eliz. three in the 39th of Eliz. one in the first of Jacob. three in the 21. of Jac. five in the first Car. prim four in the 15. Car. 1. three in the 13th Car. 2d the two before mentioned for whom Writs were order'd but not actually Summond as I have shewn 9. In the 39th Eliz. the Writs to the three Serjeants are directed distinctly Vni Vni Vni but in all the rest Servienti ad Legem without the addition of Vni nor do I find Vni added in any former Writs before Henry the Eighth but only this viz. 4 Hen. 5th Johanni Stranguayes Vno Servienti Regis ad Legem 10. And as a peculiar distinction the Kings eldest Serjeants have the Priviledge to Plead in all Courts of Westminster within the Bar but only in the Common Pleas where no other Graduats of Law but themselves can Plead as I have shewn and there all the Serjeants stand without the Bar. 11. They are also sometimes Assistants to the Judges and to the Lord Chancellor and Master of the Rolls and many times in case of age or infirmness of the Judges they do supply their places both in the Courts of Westminster and in their Itinerances and Circuits Pro hac vice and upon death of any of them if the King think fitting they are Constituted Judges in their Vacancies and this by Commission 12. As to their places in Parliament they are next the Judges as shall be shewn in the local part of this Treatise as also of their Imploymens sedente Parliamento Thus having brought the Servientes ad Legem to be Judices Magistros legum I pass to the second Degree of the third Orb or Rank viz. the Kings Attorney General The Consimilar Writ to the Kings Attorney General THis appellation of Attorney is deriv'd from Tourne so call'd in Magna Charta SECT 17 which anciently was call'd the Sheriffs Moot or view of Frankpledge and to this day is call'd the Sheriffs Tourne from Turris signifying a Tower or Castle where these Courts were kept and where inquiry is made upon Oath of all things done contrary to the peace of the Countrey c. as will be shewn when I come to the House of Commons and then those who did practise to those ends in those and other Courts were call'd Ad Tourny's or Attourny's generally the word doth signifie a Person intrusted to manage other mens Concerns And this being the most Eminent Trust in managing the Kings Concerns his Duty Care and Pains is the greater and more Eminent he hath also his Patent In haec verba CArolus Secundus c. Omnibus ad quos c. Salutem Sciatis quod nos de fidelitate Circumspectione dilecti fidelis nostri G. P. Mil. plurimum confidentes ipsum G. F. Constituimus Ordinavimus deputavimus assignavimus nostrum Generalem Attornatum in omnibus curijs nostris de Record'in Regno nostro Angliae Habendum occupand'officium hujusmodi Generalis Attornat ' nostri prefat ' G. F. quamdiu nobis placuerit percipiend'in pro officio illo exercend'Vad'Feod'Profic ' Regard'eidem officio pretinend'sive consuet ' Dedimus etiam ac tenore presentium damus prefat ' G. F. plenam potestatem authoritatem faciend'ordinand' deputand'tales clericos officiar ' sub seipso in quolibet Cur ' nostra quales aliquis alius officium illud proantea habens nomine occupans habuit fecit ordinavit seu deputavit aut facere ordinare seu deputare consuevit eo quod expressa mentio c. In cujus rei c Teste c. And he hath his Writ of Summons to a Parliament also In haec verba Carolus c. Dilecto fideli Galfrido which we in English call Jeffery Palmer Militi Attornato suo generali salutem and so verbatim according to the Exemplar Observations 1. THat which makes this Assistant the more eminent and remarkable is That as there is but one Lord Chancellor or Keeper one Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench one Master of the Rolls one Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and one chief Baron of the Exchequer so there is but one Attorney General and though those five have Judges and Masters of Chancery to assist them this hath no proper Officer under him yet hath power to depute Clerks and other Officers to assist him and is Singulus in omnibus omnis in singulis 2. Neither these nor any of the Assistants to the Lords House before named have the priviledge of making Proxies either before or in time of Parliament yet I remember something Equivalent in in the case of Valentine Elliot c. when upon a Writ of Error brought into the Lords House for reversing of a Judgment given in the Kings Bench against the said Elliot Sir Jeffrey Palmer being then Attorney General and indispos'd in his health and thereby finding himself unfit to manage that Case Mr. North then a young Professor of the Law was permitted to appear for the Attorney General and Plead the Case only here was the difference had Mr. Attorney been there in Person he had stood within the Bar and Pleaded but Mr North Pleaded without the Bar which he manag'd with so much Law Eloquence and Dexterity that his Abilities being known by usual Degrees in few years he was advanc't to his present Station of Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas 3. This Title of Attorney General began in Eward the Firsts time but I cannot be positive when they had their first Writs of Summons but in the 21.30 and 39. of Hen. 8. he had a Writ and so the 1.6.7 Edw. the 6. also the 1. and 1. of Mary and 2.3.4 and 5. Phil. and Mary and in those two last Writs he is term'd Attornat ' Dominorum Regis Reginae General ' and then in the 28.30.39 and 43. Eliz. Attornato Generali and so also the 1. and 21. of King James also the 1. and 15. Carol. primi and now 13. Caroli Secundi Sir Geffrey Palmer Attornato and after him none did sit in the House of Lords during this Parliament except Sir William Jones Knt. the Attorneys intervening those two being still chosen in the House of Commons as will be shewn Of the Consimilar Writ to the Kings Solicitor General THe words Attornatus Solicitator are us'd in the Civil Laws SECT 18 as here at the Common Law for such as do take care to manage or tend other mens Affairs and there is but one of that Profession as is before shewn of the Attorney General but because the Title should be distinguish't from the common sort of such Practisers as the Kings Attorney hath his Patent and Writ from the King so hath this thereupon call'd the Kings Solicitor General his Patent is In haec verba CArolus Secundus c. Omnibus ad quos c. salutem Sciatis
when Created Of two sorts of Dukes how distinguisht A Duke as Generall is not provided for in the Act of Precedency as other degrees of officiall honors are SECT III. Of Marquesses When begun in the Empire and in France When in England the reason of placing him between Duke and Earl From whence the Title is suppos'd to come Noble Actions caus'd Noble Titles and by some Hereditary SECT IV. Of Earls Of the word Comes or Count signifying Earl 6. sorts of Counts according to Selden 22. sorts according to Cassiadore 3. sorts in England Of the incongruity of the words Comes and Earl and from whence the word Earl is derived when first given in England Titutarly and upon what occasion when by Creation Of the Tachygraphy of the word Earl Of the Antient Titular and Created Earls little difference Of Local and Personal Earls here in England SECT V. Of Viscounts Sometimes considered as Equal sometimes of a lesier degree then an Earl Two sorts in England why the Hereditary Viscount interpos'd to Earl and Baron Of the first Created Viscount in England of the Parliamentary dignity of the one and Official Dignity of the other SECT VI. Of a Baron Of the word Baron the Baronial Tenures were the foundation of the Superior Tenures and Degrees Of Contributions to the King from Barons Spiritual Barons how Exempted from Contributions Of several other sorts of Barons The advantages of Created Barons CHAP. VI. Of the Writ to Princes of the Blood Royal. Of the Writ to Edward Earl of Chester Eldest Son to King Edward the 2d Anno 15. Ed. 2. And the Writ to James Duke of York 13. Car. 2. Compar'd Observations on both Writs A Recital or Numeration of the Exemplars of Earls Princes and Dukes of the Blood from Edward the 2d to this Parliament 1661. Observations on the Title of York the Consimilar to the Duke of York Observations on the Consimilars CHAP. VII Of the Writ to the Arch-Bishop and Bishops with Observations Reasons for incerting this Exemplar in this Place shewing that the Idolatrous Jews brought in Paganism into Britain manag'd by Druids and Bards after by Arch-Flamins and Flamins which were Pagan Priests Afterwards Christ Himself or his Apostles or Disciples or some of them brought in Christianity into Britain Bishops had Eleven several Titles according to several Regions given to the first managers of Christian Religion All included in the Word Bishop as Inspector or Father Of the Antiquity of the word Bishop Aristobulus the first Bishop of Britain who were his Successors Of King Lucius his message to Pope Eleutherius and the Popes answer about the first ordering of Christian affairs in Britain Of Linus the first Bishop of Rome and his Successors till the time of Lucius and Eleutherius all subsequent to Aristobulus The Amity between the Bishop of Britain and the Bishop of Rome in that time without any discord about Supremacy Afterwards the Bishop of Rome assum'd the Title of Pope and also a Supremacy to Britain and planted their Dependents there some small Endeavours to oppose it but Fruitless Of several Laws made to lessen the Power and Revenue of the Pope in Britain from the 9th of Hen. the 3. to the 5th of Hen. the 5th Of other wayes us'd by Hen. the 8th from the 9th of his Raign till his death in support of his Supremacy What Countermines were us'd by the Pope Historical passages from Hen. the 8ths Death to the dissolution of this Parliament Anno 1678. against and for the Papal Interest Of the the Titles of Defensor Fidei Supremum Caput how Vs'd disus'd and alter'd from the 12. of Hen. the 8th to the 13. Car. 2d Of Writs to Bishops before and in Edward the 2ds time having both the same and a greater Extention of Power than what is given in the Writs to the Lords Temporal and so to the 31. and 36. of Hen. the 8th and the 13. of Car. the 2d how they continued and alter'd some Observations on the old Writs Of the first Writ in the first Pawn of the 21. Pawns now remaining in the Pettibag Observations on that Pawn Of the 2d Pawn there Of the 3d. Pawn there Of the Pawn of this Parliament begun the 8th of May 1661. wherein Bishops were Omitted though entred in all former Pawns and the reasons of that Omission Of their Writ of Restitution in the same year Aug. 1661. and where Recorded Of their Consimilar Writs Fifteen Observations on their Writs and Temporal Employments CHAP. VIII Of the Writ to the Lord Chancellor Of the Original of the Office of Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper and of the Discription of them Antiently distinct but now Vnited Of their different Seals Of their eminent Imployments Seates and Stations in the Lords Houss Of his single Writ of Summons as Assistant and of his other Writ if otherwise dignified The Office antiently dispos'd of to Ecclessiasticks and of later years wholly to Laicks Of some difference between the Warrant and Writ to Sr. Edw. Hide The form of the Writ Observations on this Writ and the nature of the Office CHAP. IX Of the Writ to the Earl of Southampton Lord Treasurer of England and to the Nobles not of the Blood Of the form of the Writ to the Lords Temporal Observations upon it that the Degrees of Nobles viz. Dukes Marquesses Earls Viscounts and Barons and Titles of the Officers of State are still intermixt in the Writs with some of those fiue Degrees Which of these Degrees are usually made Exemplars Of the Antiquity of the method us'd herein Of their Consimilars Observations concerning the various applications of the Titles Chevaleer Dominus Miles Eques Auratus Bannerettus CHAP. X. Of Patents of Creation enabling the Lords Patentees to sit in Parliament The difference between Writs and Patents and advantages of Patents what the word signifies Patents of 3. sorts viz. of Confirming Reviving and Creating that is given where none was before The form of those 3. sort of Patents Their ellegant preambles The Patents consisting of 4. parts Of the distinct form of the Patents to Dukes Marquesses Earls Viscounts and Barons impowring them to sit in Parliaments Of the Confies of Antient Patents Of Creation money Of the difference in the former and late value of moneys CHAP. XI Of Lords and Peers Of the words Dominus Pares or Lords and Peers what the words signifie When Peers us'd in France and of their number there when in England and of their number there Of the words Praelates Magnates Proceres how to be appy'd Who properly called Peers how placed in the Lords House the words Generally applyed and promiscuously us'd the number increase or decrease according to the pleasure of the King a Corrollary on the Subject CHAP. XII Of Proxies in the Lords House Of the word Procurator Proxie Proctor considered as distinct appellation Proxie only proper in the Lords House Licenced by the King and to whom and sometimes denied A
Domini Nostri Regis conceiving that the very mentioning of the Kings License was a sufficient acknowledgment of his Prerogative herein however these following Proxee-Deputations or derivative Writs which I cite as Precedents were regularly obtain'd The Form of a Proxee-License from one Lord Temporal to another before the sitting of a Parliament 10. OMnibus Christi Fidelibus ad quos hoc praesens scriptum pervenerit Rupertus Palatinus Rheni Dux Bavariae Cumbriae Comes Holdernes in regno Angliae salutem Noveritis me praefatum principem per Licentiam Serenissimi Domini nostri Regis a suo Parliamento tenendo inchoando apud Westmonasterium in dicto regno Octavo die Mensis Maij proximo futuro sufficienter excusatum abesse Nominare ordinare constituere dilectum mihi in Christo praenobilem honoratissimum virum Jacobum Ducem Marchionem Comitem Ormondiae Comitem Osoriae Carrickiae Breconiae Dominum Thurles Baronem meum verum certum indubitatum Factorem Attornatum Procuratorem eidemque Procuratori meo dare concedere plenam Authoritatem Potestatem pro me nomine meo de super quibuscunque causis exponendis seu declarandis tractandis tractatibusque hujusmodi mihi factis seu faciendis Concilium nomine meo impendendum Statutisque etiam ordinationibus quae ex maturo deliberato Judicio Dominorum in eodem Parliamento Congregatorum inactitari seu ordinari contigerint nomine meo consentiendum eisdemque si opus fuerit subscribendum Caeteraque omnia singula quae in praemissis necessaria fuerint aut quomodolibet requisita facienda exercenda in tam amplo modo forma prout ego ipse facere possem aut deberem si praesens personaliter interessem ratum gratum habens habiturus totum quicquid dictus Procurator meus statuerit fecerit in praemissis In cujus rei testimonium praesentibus subscripsi Sigillumque meum apposui datum apud Westmonasterium decimo sexto die Aprilis Anno Regni dicti Domini nostri Caroli Secundi Dei gratia Angliae Scotiae Franciae Hiberniae Regis fidei defensoris c. decimo tertio Annoque salutis nostrae 1661. 11. This was subscribed Rupert and sealed with his Seal at large upon an annext Label 12. All Proxee-Writs of this nature are given into the Clerks of the Parliament before the Proxees are admitted and their Licenses either produced to the Lords if written or affirm'd by some other Lords that the Kings consent was thereto 13. This was the only derivative Proxee-Writ which was made by a Lord Temporal of this Parliament 1661. before the Sessions and though the Foreign Titles of the Proxor and of his Proxee are mention'd in the Writ Honoris Gratia yet it operates nothing in this Case for as the Proxor could not make a Proxee without the Kings License written or vernal so he could not be a Proxee by virtue of his Foreign Titles but only by their English or Welsh Titles viz. as Duke of Cumberland he was Proxor not as Palatine of the Rhine or Duke of Bavaria and the Earl of Brecknock was his Proxee as Earl of Brecknock not as Duke of Ormond 14. Had there been more of these Derivatives before the Sessions they must have been in the same words differing only in the Titles of the Proxor and Proxee and those that were made the Parliament sitting viz. the 10th of May the Earl of Holland before any Prorogation made the Earl of Suffolk his Proxee and are also in the same words with the other Form mutato nomine and by changing the future to the present viz. Tenendo Inchoando to tento inchoato but after a Prorogation the words are as in the next Writ at inde prorogato c. And these two Derivatives are sufficient to shew the difference between Writs made before the Parliament or before any Prorogation and the Writs made after a Prorogation 15. The recital of Prorogation or Prorogations are not only so in Derivatives but in all original Writs which are issu'd after a Prorogation by reason of the death of any Lord to summon another I have entred this Writ to the Archbishop here though I shall speak more of it when I come to treat of Writs made in time of Parliament because it contains many Clauses different from the Derivatives to the Lords Temporal especially in the last Paragraph more observable The Form of the Archbishop of Canterbury's derivative Proxee-Writ to the Bishop of London after a Prorogation OMnibus in Christo Fidelibus ad quos hoc praesens Scriptum pervenerit Gulielmus providentia divina Cantuariensis Archiepiscopus totius Angliae Primas Metropolitanus Salutem in Domino sempiternam Cum Serenissimus Dominus noster Rex quibusdam de causis sublimitati suae intimatis licentiam a praesenti hoc suo Parliamento tento inchoato apud Westmonasterium octavo die Maij Anno regni sui decimo tertio continuato ad decimum nonum diem Maij Anno decimo quarto dicti Domini Regis inde prorogato ad decimum octavum diem Februarij proximè inde sequentem nobis absentandi ex suo speciali gratia favore nuper concesserit dummodo sidelem aliquem Procuratorem vice locoque meis ponerem ordinarem constituerem Noveritis Igitur me praefatum Archiepiscopum dilectum mihi in Christo Reverendum in Christo Patrem Gilbertum eadem divina providentia Dominum London Episcopum meum verum certum indubitatum Factorem Actorem Procuratorem Attornatum negotiorumque nostrorum Gestorum Nuntium specialem nominare ordinarefacere constituere per p'sentes dando concedendo eidem Procuratori meo plenam authoritatem potestatem de super quibuscunque causis negotijs statum utilitatem dicti Domini nostri Regis Reipublicae incolumitatem Ecclesiae Anglicanae quietem concernentibus quae in praefato Parliamento qualibet ejusdem sessione per dicti domini Regis statum agitari contigerint tractandi tractibusque hujusmodimihi factis seu faciendis concilium auxilium nomine meo imponendis etiam ordinationibus quae Communi statu praedicta ordinatione ibidem fieri ordinari contigerint nomine meo consentiendi ijsdem si opus fuerit subscribendi vel dissentiendi Caeteraque omnia singula quae in praemissis aut in aliquo praemissorum necessaria fuerint seu quomodolibet requisita faciendi expediendi exercendi in tam amplis modo forma prout ego ipse facere possem deberem si praesens personaliter interessem Promittoque me ratum gratum firmum perpetuo habiturum totum quicquid dictus meus Procurator statuerit aut fecerit in praemissis sub Hypotheca obligatione omnium singulorum bonorum meorum in ea parte cautionem expono per presentes In cujus rei Testimonium manum sigillum meum Apposui Dat apud Lambeth '