the Nobility or Bishops is made choice of by the Three States assembled in the name of the Infant King who by Nature or Alliance hath most Interest in the preservation of the Life and Authority of the Infant and to whom least benefit can accrue by his Death or Diminution as the Uncle by the Mothers side if the Crown come by the Father and so vice versa is made Protector so during the minority of Edward 6. his Uncle by the Mothers side the Duke of Somerset had the tuition of him and was called Protector and when this Rule hath not been observed as in the minority of Edw. 5. it hath proved of ill consequence If the King of England be Non compos mentis or by reason of an incurable disease weakness or old age become uncapable of governing then is made a Regent Protector or Guardian to govern King Edward 3. being at last aged sick and weak and by grief for the death of the Black Prince sore broken in body and mind did of his own will create his fourth Son John Duke of Lancaster Guardian or Regent of England If the King be absent upon any Foreign Expedition or otherwise which antiently was very usual the Custom was to constitute a Vice-gerent by Commission under the Great Seal giving him several Titles and Powers according as the necessity of affairs have required sometimes he hath been called Lord Warden or Lord of the Kingdom and therewith hath had the general power of a King as was practised during the Absence of Edward the First Second and Third and of Henry 5. but Henry 6. to the Title of Warden or Guardian added the Stile of Protector of the Kingdom and of the Church of England and gave him so great power in his absence that he was tantum non Rex swaying the Scepter but not wearing the Crown executing Laws summoning Parliaments under his own Teste as King and giving his assent to Bills in Parliament whereby they became as binding as any other Acts. Sometimes during the Kings Absence the Kingdom hath been committed to the care of several Noblemen and sometime of Bishops as less dangerous for attempting any usurpation of the Crown sometimes to one Bishop as Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury was Viceroy of England for many years and when Edward 3. was in Flanders though his Son then but nine years old had the Name of Protector John Stafford Archbishop of Canterbury was Governour both of the Kings Son and of the Realm Lastly Sometimes to the Queen as two several times during the absence of Henry 8. in France Of the QUEEN of ENGLAND THe Queen so called from the Saxon Konigin whereof the last syllable is pronounced as gheen in English it being not unusual to cut off the first Syllables as an Almes-House is sometimes called a Spital from Hospital She hath as high Prerogatives Dignity and State during the life of the King as any Queen of Europe From the Saxon times the Queen Consort of England though she be an Alien born and though during the life of the King she be femme covert as our Law speaks yet without any Act of Parliament for Naturalization or Letters Paâ—ents for Denization she may purchase Lands in Feesimple make Leases and Grants in her own Name without the King hath power to give to sue to contract as a femme sole may receive by gift from her Husband which no other femme â—overt may do Had anciently a Revenue of Queen Gold or Aurum Reginae as the Records call it which was the tenth part of so much as by the Name of Oblata upon Pardons Gifts and Grants c. came to the King Of later times hath had as large a Dower as any Queen in Christendome hath her Royal Court apart her Courts and Officers c. The Queen may not be impleaded till first petitioned shall not be amerced if she be nonsuited as all other Subjects are if she be Plaintiff the Summons in the Process need not have the solemnity of 15 dayes c. Is reputed the Second Person in the Kingdom The Law setteth so high a value upon her as to make it High Treason to conspire her death or to violate her Chastity Her Officers as Attourney and Sollicitor for the Queens sake have respect above others and place within the Barre with the Kings Council The like honour the like reverence and respect that is due to the King is exhibited to the Queen both by Subjects and Foreigners and also to the Queen Dowager or Widdow Queen who also above other Subjects loseth not her Dignity though she should marry a private Gentleman so Queen Katharine Widdow to King Henry the Fifth being married to Owen ap Theodore Esquire did maintain her Action as Queen of England much less doth a Queen by inheritance or a Queen Soveraign of England follow her Husbands condition nor is subject as other Queens but Soveraign to her own Husband as Queen Mary was to King Philip. Of the SONS and DAUGHTERS of ENGLAND THe Children of the King of England are called the Sons and Daughters of England because all the subjects of England have a special interest in them though the whole power of Education Marriage and disposing of them is only in the King The Eldest Son of the King is born Duke of Cornwall and as to that Dutchy and all the Lands Honours Rents and great Revenues belonging thereunto he is upon his Birth-day persumed and by law taken to be of full age so that he may that day sue for the Livery of the said Dukedom and ought of right to obtain the same as if he had been full 21 years of age Afterwards he is created Prince of Wales whose Investiture is performed by the Imposition of a Cap of Estate and Coronet on his Head as a Token of Principality and putting into his Hand a Verge of Gold the Emblem of Government and a Ring of Gold on hs Finger to intimate that he must be a Husband to his Countrey and Father to her Children Also to him is given and granted Letters Patents to hold the said Principality to him and his Heirs Kings of England by which words the separation of this Principality is prohibited From the day of his Birth he is commonly stiled the Prince a Title in England given to no other Subject The Title of Prince of Wales is ancient and was first given by King Edward 1. to his Eldest Son for the Welsh Nation till that time unwilling to submit to the yoke of strangers that King so ordered that his Queen was delivered of her first Child in Caernarvan Castle in Wales and then demanded of the Welsh If they would be content to subject themselves to one of their own Nation that could not speak one word of English and against whose life they could take no just exception Whereunto they readily consenting the King nominated this his new born Son and afterwards created
under him against the French King then leagued with the English Rebels against Spain where his Magnanimity and Dexterity in Martial Affairs though unsuccessful were very eminent In the year 1660 came over with the King into England and being Lord High Admiral in the year 1665 in the War against the Vnited States of the Netherlands commanded in person the whole Royal Navy on the Seas between England and Holland where with incomparable valour and extraordinary hazard of his own Royal Person after a most sharp dispute he obtained a Signal Victory over the whole Dutch Fleet commanded by Admiral Opdam who perisht with his own and many more Ships in that Fight He married Anne the eldest Daughter of Edward Earl of Clarendon late Lord High Chancellour of England by whom he hath had a numerous issue whereof are living first the Lady Mary born 30 April 1662 whose Godfather was Prince Rupert and Godmothers the Dutchesses of Buckingham and Ormond Secondly the Lady Anne born in Febr. 1664 whose Godfather was Gilbert Lord Archbishop of Canterbury her Godmothers were the young Lady Mary her Sister and the Dutchess of Monmouth She is lately for her health transported into France Thirdly 15 Sept. 1667 was born Edgar lately created Duke of Cambridge by Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England whose Godfathers were the Duke of Albemarle and the Marquiss of Worcester his Godmother the Countess of Suffolk The Titles of his Royal Highness are Duke of York and Albany Earl of Ulster Lord High Admiral of England Ireland and all Foreign Plantations Constable of Dover Castle Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports Governour of Portsmouth c. Of the Prince of Orenge NExt to the Duke of York and his Issue is William of Nassau Prince of Orenge only Issue of the lately deceased Princess Royal Mary eldest Daughter to King Charles the First and wedded 1641 to William of Nassau Commander in Chief of all the Forces of the States General both by Land and by Sea His Highness the present Prince was born 9 dayes after his Fathers death on the 14th Novemb. 1650 had for Godfathers the Lords States General of Holland and Zealand and the Cities of Delft Leyden and Amsterdam His Governess was the Lady Stanhop then wife to the Heer van Hemvliet At 8 years of age was sent to the University of Leyden His Revenue is about 60000 l. Sterling besides Military Advantages enjoyed by his Father and Ancestors which amounted yearly to about 30000 l. Sterling more He is a Prince in whom the high and princely qualities of his Ancestors already appear Of the Princess Henretta THe next Heir after the fore-named to the English Crown is the Princess Henretta only Sister living to the present King of England She was born the 16th of June 1644 at Exeter during the heat of the late Rebellion after the surrender of Exeter conveyed to Oxford and thence 1646 to London whence with her Governess the Lady Dalkieth she escaped into France was there educated as became her high Birth and Quality but being left wholly to the care and maintenance of the Queen her Mother at Paris embraced the Romish Religion At the age of 16 years came with the Queen Mother into England and 6 moneths after returning into France was married to the only Brother of the French King the Illustrious Prince Philip then Duke of Anjou till the death of his Uncle and now Duke of Orleans whose Revenue is 1100000 Livres Tournois besides his Appanage not yet setled Her Portion was 40000 l. Sterling her Joynture to be the same with the present Dutchess Dowager of Orleans This Princess hath issue one Daughter if she hath a Son the French King allows him 50000 Crowns yearly and the Appanage after the death of the present Duke reverts to the Crown Of the Prince Elector Palatine THere being left alive no more of the Off-spring of King Charles the First the next Heirs of the Crown of England are the Issue and Descendants of Elizabeth late Queen of Bohemia only Sister to the said King who was married to Frederick Prince Palatine of the Rhine afterwards stiled King of Bohemia whose eldest Son living is Charles Lodowick Prince Elector Palatine of the Rhine commonly called the Palsgrave from the High Dutch pfaltzgraff Palatii Comes was born the the 22th December 1617 at Heydelberg and afterwards in Holland at the Hague and at the University of Leyden was educated in a Princely manner At the age of 18 years came into England was created Knight of the Garter about two years after fought a Battel in Westphalia In the year 1637 passing incognito thorow France to take possession of Brisach upon the Rhine which the Duke Saxon Weymar intended to deliver up unto him together with the Command of his Army he was by that quick-sighted Cardinal Richlieu discovered at Moulins and thence sent back Prisoner to the Bois de Vincennes whence after 23 weeks imprisonment he was by the mediation of the King of England set at liberty In the year 1643 he came again into England and with the Kings secret consent because the King could not continue unto him the wonted Pension whilst the Rebels possest the greatest part of his Majesties Revenues made his Addresses to and abode with the disloyal part of the Lords and Commons at Westminster until the Murder of the said King and the Restauration of the Lower Palatinat according to the famous Treaty at Munster for which he was constrained to quit all his right to the Upper Palatinat and accept of an Eighth Electorship at a juncture of time when the King of England had he not been engaged at home by an impious Rebellion had been the most considerable of all other at that Treaty and this Prince his Nephew would have had the greatest advantages there In 1650 he espoused the Lady Charlotte Daughter to the Landgrave of Hessen by which Lady he hath one Son named Charles aged about 16 and one Daughter aged about 14. Of Prince Rupert NExt to the Issue of the Prince Elector Palatin is Prince Rupert born at Prague 27 Novemb. 1619 not long before that very unfortunate Battel there fought whereby not only all Bohemia was lost but the Palatin Family was for almost 30 years dispossest of all their Possessions in Germany At 13 years of age he marcht with the then Prince of Orenge to the Siege of Rhineberg afterwards in England was created Knight of the Garter At the age of 18 he commanded a Regiment of Horse in the German Wars and in a Battel being taken by the Imperialists under the Command of Count Hatzfield he continued a prisoner above three years In 1642 returning into England and made General of the Horse to the King fights and defeats Collonel Sands near Worcester routed the Rebels Horse at Edge-hill took Cirencester recovered Lichfield and Bristol raised the long Siege before Latham House fought the great Battel at Marston Moor was created Earl of Holderness and
French Nation began to take Surnames with de prefixt as at this day is their usual manner The English also took to themselves Surnames but not generally by the Common People till the Raign of Edw. 2. At first for Surnames the English Gentry took the Name of their Birth-place or Habitation as Thomas of Aston or East-Town John of Sutton or South-Town and as they altered their Habitation so they altered their Surname After when they became Lords of places they called themselves Thomas Aston of Aston John Sutton of Sutton The Common People for Surnames added their Fathers Name with Son at the end thereof as Thomas Johnson Robert Richardson They also oft took their Fathers Nick Name or abbreviation with addition of s as Gibs the Nick Name or abbreviation of Gilbert Hobs of Robert Nicks of Nicholas Bates of Bartholomew Sams of Samuel and thence also Gibson Hobson Nickson Batson Samson c. Many also were surnamed from their Trade as Smith Joyner Weaver c. Or from their Office as Porter Steward Sheepheard Carter or from their Place of Abode as Atwood Atwell Athill which since are shrunk into Wood Wells Hill The Normans at their first coming into England brought Surnames for many of their Gentry with de prefixt as the French Gentry doth generally at this day and their Christian Names were generally German they being originally descended from a part of North Germany And some for about 200 years after the Conquest took for Surname their Fathers Christian Name with Fitz or Fils prefixt as Robert Fitz-William Henry Fitz-Gerard c. The Britains or Welsh more lately civilized did not take Surnames till of late years and that for the most part only by leaving out a in ap and annexing the p to their Fathers Christian Name as instead of Evan ap Rice now Evan Price so instead of ap Howel Powel ap Hughe Pughe ap Rogers Progers c. The most ancient Families and of best account for Surnames in England are either those that are taken from Places in Normandy and thereabouts in France and from some other Transmarine Countries or else from Places in England and Scotland as Devereux Seymour Nevile Montague Mohun Biron Bruges Clifford Berkley Darcy Stourton c. which antiently had all de prefixt but of later times generally neglected Of the Government of ENGLAND in general OF Governments there can be but three Kinds for either One or More or All must have the Soveragn Power of a Nation If One then it is a Monarchy If More that is an Assembly of Choice Persons then it is an Aristocracy If All that is the General Assembly of the People then it is a Democracy Of all Governments the Monarchical as most resembling the Divinity and nearest approaching to perfection unity being the perfection of all things hath ever been estemed the most excellent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For the Transgressions of a Land many are the Princes or Rulers thereof Prov. 28. 2. Of Monarchies some are Despotical where the Subjects like Servants are at the Arbitrary Power and Will of their Soveraign as the Turks and Barbarians Others Political or Paternal where the Subject like Children under a Father are governed by equal and just Laws consented and sworn unto by the King as is done by all Christian Princes at their Coronations Of Paternal Monarchies some are Hereditary where the Crown descends either only to Heirs Male as in France or next of Blood as in Spain England c. Others Elective where upon the death of every Prince without respect had to the Heirs or next of Blood another by Solemn Election is appointed to succeed as in Poland and Hungary and till of late in Denmark and Bohemia Of Hereditary Paternal Monarchies some are dependent and holden of Earthly Potentates and are obliged to do Homage for the same as the Kingdoms of Scotland and Man that held in Capite of the Crown of England and the Kingdome of Naples holden of the Pope others independent holden only of God acknowledging no other Superiour upon Earth England is an Hereditary Paternal Monarchy governed by one Supreme Independent and Undeposable Head according to the known Laws and Customs of the Kingdom It is a Free Monarchy challenging above many other European Kingdoms a freedom from all Subjection to the Emperour or Laws of the Empire for that the Roman Emperours obtaining antiently the Dominion of this Land by force of Arms and afterwards abandoning the same the Right by the Law of Nations returned to the former Owners pro derelicto as Civilians speak It is a Monarchy free from all manner of Subjection to the Bishop of Rome and thereby from divers inconveniencies and burdens under which the neighbouring Kingdoms groan as Appeals to Rome in sundry Ecclesiastical Suits Provisions and Dispensations in several cases to be procured from thence many Tributes and Taxes paid to that Bishop c. It is a Monarchy free from all Interregnum and with it from many mischiefs whereunto Elective Kingdoms are subject England is such a Monarchy as that by the necessary subordinate Concurrence of the Lords and Commons in the making and repealing all Statutes or Acts of Parliament it hath the main advantages of an Aristocracy and of a Democracy and yet free from the disadvantages and evils of either It is such a Monarchy as by a most admirable temperament affords very much to the Industry Liberty and Happiness of the Subject and yet reserves enough for the Majesty and Prerogative of any King that will own his people as Subjects not as Slaves It is a Kingdom that of all the Kingdoms of the World is most like the Kingdom of Jesus Christs whose yoke is easie whose burden is light It is a Monarchy that without interruption hath been continued almost 1000 years and till of late without any attempts of change of that Government so that to this sort of Government the English seem to be naturally inclined and therefore during the late Bouleversations or over-turnings when all the art that the Devil or Man could imagine was industriously made use of to change this Monarchy into a Democracy this Kingdom into a Common-wealth the most and the best of English Men the general Spirit and Genius of the Nation not so much the Presbiterian or Royalist by mighty though invisible influence concurred at once to restore their exiled Soveraign and re-establish that antient Government Of the KING of ENGLAND THe King is so called from the Saxon word Koning intimating Power and Knowledge wherewith every Soveraigne should especially be invested The Title antiently of the Saxon King Edgar was Anglorum Basileus Dominus quatuor Marium viz. the British German Irish and Deucalidonian Seas and sometimes Anglorum Basileus omniumque Regum Insularum Oceanique Britanniam circumsacentis cunctarumque Nationum quae infra eum includuntur Imperator Dominus The Modern Title more modest is Dei Gratiâ of England Scotland
be verified of Religion and Gods Service amongst us The time thereof may be Threescore years and ten if it continue till Fourscore it will be but small joy to those that shall then behold the Condition of the English Church and the best read Historian cannot produce one example of a happy State where the Clergy hath been exposed to the peoples Contempt which must needs happen where their Benefices their Maintenance is scandalous and their Persons despicable It is the last Trick saith St. Gregory that the Devil hath in this World when he cannot bring the Word and Sacraments in disgrace by Errours and Heresies he invented this Project to bring the Clergy into contempt and low esteem as it is now in England where they are accounted by many as the dross and refuse of the Nation Men think it a stain to their blood to place their Sons in that Function and Women ashamed to marry with any of them whereas antiently in England as among the Jews the Tribe of Levi was counted Noble above all other Tribes except that of the Royal Tribe of Judah the Function of the Clergy was of so high account and esteem that not only the best Gentry and Nobility but divers of the Sons and Brothers of divers of our English Kings since the Conquest and before disdained not to enter into Holy Orders and to be Clergy-men as at this day is practised in most other Monarchies of Christendome Ethelwolph Son and Successor to Egbert first sole King of England was in Holy Orders and Bishop of Winchester at his Fathers death Odo Bishop of Bayeux in Normandy was Brother to William the Conquerour Henry de Blois Brother to King Stephen was Bishop of Winchester Geofry Plantagenet Son to Henry 2 was Bishop of Lincoln Henry de Beaufort Brother to Henry the 4th was Bishop also of Winchester And of later Times that most prudent Henry 7 had designed his second Son to be a Clergyman to omit many others of Noble Blood Which Policy is still observed even amongst the few Families of the Romish Religion in England wherein are to be found at this day some Brothers or Sons of Dukes Marquisses Earls and Barons in Holy Orders and all the rest of the Stock of Baronets Knights or Gentry and for this cause find respect not only amongst those of their own Opinions but even of the more sober moderate and best civilized Protestants Whilst this Policy lasted in England the Clergy were judged the fittest Persons to execute most of the Chief Offices and Places of the Kingdom according to the Divine Policy amongst Gods peculiar People where the Priests and Levites were the Principal Officers and Judges in every Court to whom the People were to be obedient on pain of death and the Laity did with much reverence and respect submit to them And as then Os Sacerdotis Oraculum erat plebis according to that of Malachi 2. 7. So Os Episcopi Oraculum erat Regis Regni Rex amplectabatur universum Clerum lata fronte ex eo semper sibi eligebat primos a Consiliis primos ad officia Regni obeunda Primi igitur sedebant in omni Regni Comitiis Tribunalibus Episcopi in Regali quidem Palatio cum Regni Magnatibus in Comitatu una cum Comite in Turno cum Vicecomite in Hundredo cum Domino Hundredi sic ut in promovenda Justitia usquequaque gladius gladium adjuvaret nihil inconsulto Sacerdote vel Episcopo ageretur And because the Weal of the Kingdom and the Service of the King depended so much upon them and their presence for that end so oft required at London it was judged expedient that every Bishoprick should have a Palace or House belonging to it in or about London and it is known at this day where stood the Houses of every one except that of St. Asaph which also might probably have had one but more obscure than some other that Bishoprick having been as still very mean Great was the Authority of the Clergy in those dayes and their Memory should be precious in these dayes if we consider that they were the Authors of so great benefits and advantages to this Kingdom that there are few things of any importance for promoting of the welfare of this Church and State wherein the Bishops and Prelats under God have not been the Principal Instruments The Excellent Laws made by King Ina King Athelstan King Edmund and St. Edward from whom we have our Common Laws and our Priviledges mentioned in Magna Charta were all made by the perswasions and advice of Bishops and Archbishops named in our Histories The Union of the 2 Houses of York and Lancaster whereby a long and bloody War was ended was by the most wise Advice and Counsel of Bishop Morton then a Privy Councellour The Union of England and Scotland that inexpressible advantage to both Nations was brought to pass by the long fore-sight of Reverend Bishop Fox a Privy Councellour in advising Henry the 7th to match his Eldest Daughter to Scotland and his Younger to France Most of the Great Publick Works now remaining in England acknowledge their antient and present being either to the sole Cost and Charges or to the liberal Contributions or at least to the powerful Perswasions of Bishops as most of the best endowed Colledges in both our Vniversities very many Hospitals Churches Palaces Castles have been founded and built by Bishops even that famous chargeable and difficult Structure of London-Bridge stands obliged to the liberal Contributions of an Archbishop and it was a Bishop of London at whose earnest request William the Conquerour granted to the City of London so large Priviledges that in a grateful remembrance thereof the Lord Mayor and Aldermen to this day upon some solemn dayes of their resort to St. Pauls Church do go in Procession to the Grave Stone where that Bishop lies interred But above all The Converting England to the Christian Religion the Reforming that Religion when corrupted and since that the maintenance of the Doctrine thereof against all Romish Writers and of the Discipline thereof none of the least good Offices against all the Practices and Power of the Puritan and Presbyterian Factions and all those other Sectaries lineally descended from them all this and more is owing if not solely yet principally to Bishops and Prelats by the late want of whom to sit at the Stern how soon was this goodly Vessel split upon the Rocks of Anarchy and Confusion Even since the late Restauration of Bishops to set down the many considerable Publick Benefits flowing from them and other Dignified Clergy would tire the Reader What Sums of Money have been by them expended in repairing Cathedral Churches Episcopal Houses in founding and building Hospitals in Charity to poor Widdows of Clergymen utterly ruined by the late Rebels for redeeming of poor Christian Slaves at Algier what publick and private Sums for supplying the Kings Necessities at his
to E. Chamberlayn she writes her self Susanna Clifford Chamberlayn Notwithstanding all which their condition de facto is the best in the World for such is the good nature of Englishmen towards their Wives such is their tenderness and respect giving them the uppermost place at Table and elsewhere the right hand every where and putting them upon no drudgery and hardship that if there were a Bridge over into England as aforesaid it is thought all the Women in Europe would run thither Besides in some things the Laws of England are above other Nations so favourable to that Sex as if the Women had voted at the making of them If a Wife bring forth a Child during her Husbands absence though it be for some years within England and not beyond the Seas that Husband must father that Child If a Wife bring forth a Child begotten by any other before Marriage yet the present Husband must own the Child and that Child shall be his Heir at Law The Wife after her Husbands death may challenge the third part of his yearly Rents of Lands during her life and within the City of London a third part of all her Husbands moveables for ever As the Wife doth participate of her Husband Name so likewise of his Condition If he be a Duke she is a Dutchess if he be a night she is a Lady if he be an Alien made a Denison she is ipso facto so too If a Freeman marry a Bondwoman she is also free during the Coverture wherefore it is said as before Uocor fulget radiis Mariti All Women in England are comprised under Noble or Ignoble Noble Women are so three manner of wayes viz. by Creation by Descent and by Marriage The King the Fountain of Honour may and oft hath created Women to be Baronesses Countesses Dutchesses c. By Descent such Women are Noble to whom Lands holden by such Dignity do descend aâ— Heir for Dignities and Titles of Honour for want of Males descend to Females but to one of them onely because they are things in their own nature entire and not to be divided amongst many as the Lands and Tenements are which descend to all the Daughters equally besides by dividing Dignities the Reputation of Honour would be lost and the Strength of the Realm impaired for the Honour and Chevalry of the Realm doth chiefly consist in the Nobility thereof By Marriage all Women are Noble who take to their Husbands any Baron or Peer of the Realm but if afterwards they 〈◊〉 to Men not Noble they 〈◊〉 their former Dignity and follow the condition of their laâ—â— Husband for eodem modo distolvitur earum Nobilitas quo constituitur But Women Noble by Creation or Descent or Birthright remain Noble though they marry Husbands under their Degree for such Nobility is accounted Character indelebilis Here note that by the Courtesie of England a Woman Noble only by Marriage alwayes retaineth her Nobility but if the Kings Daughter marry a Duke or an Earl illa semper dicitur Regalis as well by Law as Courtesie Noble women in the Eye of the Law are as Peers of the Realm and are to be tried by their Peers and to enjoy most other Priviledges Honour and Respect as their Husbands Only they cannot by the opinion of some great Lawyers maintain an Action upon the Statute De Scandalo Magnatum the Makers of that Statute meaning only to provide in that Case for the Great Men and not for the Women as the words of that Statute seem to import Likewise if any of the Kings Servants within his Check Roll should conspice the death of any Noblewoman this were not Felony as it is if like Conspiracy be against a Nobleman None of the Wives Dignities can come by Marriage to their Husbands although all their Goods and Chattels do onely the Wives Lands are to descend to her next Heir yet is the Courtesie of England such that as the Wife for her Dower hath the third part of her Husbands Lands during her life so the Husband for the Dignity of his Sex and for playing the Man in begetting his Wife with Child which must appear by being born alive shall have all his Wives Lands for his Dower if it may be so called during his life By the Constitutions of England married persons are so fast joyned that they may not be wholly separated by any agreement between themselves but only by Sentence of the Judge and such separation is either a Vinculo Matrimonii and that is ob praecontractum vel ob contractum per metum effectum vel ob frigiditatem vel ob affinitatem sive Censanguinitatem vel ob Saevitiam or else such separation is a Mensa Thoro and that is ob Adulterium The Wife in England is accounted so much one with her Husband that she caunot be produced as a witness for or against her Husband Concerning Children in England The Condition of Children in England is different from those in our Neighbour Countries As Husbands have a more absolute Authority over their Wives and their Estates so Fathers have a more absolute Authority over their Children Fathers may give all their Estates from their own Children and all to any one Child and none to the rest the consideration whereof keeps the Children in great awe Children by the Common Law of England are at certain ages enabled to perform certain Acts. A Son at the age of 14 may choose his Guardian may claim his Lands holden in Socage may consent to Marriage may by Will dispose of Goods and Chattels At the age of 15 he ought to be sworn to his Allegeance to the King At 21 he is said to be of full age may then make any Contracts may pass not only Goods but Lands by Will which in other Countries may not be done till the Annus consistentiae the age of 25 when the heat of youth is somewhat abated and they begin to be staied in mind as well as in growth A Daughter at 7 years is to have aid of her Fathers Tenants to marry her for at those years she may consent to Marriage though she may afterwards dissent At 9 she is dowable as if then or soon after she could virum sustinere and thereby Dotem promereri At 12 she is enabled to ratifie and confirm her former consent given to Matrimony and if at that age she dissent not she is bound for ever she may then make a Will of Goods and Chattels At 14 she may receive her Lands into her own hands and is then out of Wardship if she be 14 at the death of her Ancestor At 16 though at the death of her Ancestor she was under 14 she shall be out of Wardship because then she may take a Husband who may be able to perform Knights-service as well as hers At 21 she is enabled to contract or alienate her Lands by Will or otherwise The Eldest Son inherits all Lands and to the younger Children are disposed Goods and Chattels and commonly the Eldest Sons Wives Portion and besides they are carefully educated in some Profession or Trade If there be no Son the Lands as well as Goods are equally divided amongst the Daughters Concerning Servants in England The Condition of Servants in England is much more favourable than it was in our Ancestors dayes when it was so bad that England was called the Purgatory of Servants as it was and is still the Paradise of Wives and the Hell for Horses Ordinary Servants are hired commonly for one year at the end whereof they may be free giving warning 3 Moneths before and may place themselves with other Masters only it is accounted discourteous and unfriendly to take another Mans Servant before leave given by his former Master and indiscreet to take a Servant without a Certificate of his diligence and of his faithfulness in his Service to his former Master All Servants are subject to be corrected by their Masters and Mistresses and resistance in a Servant is punisht with severe penalty but for a Servant to take away the life of his or her Master or Mistris is accounted a Crime next to High Treason and called Petty Treason and hath a peculiar Punishment Capital Slaves in England are none since Christianity prevailed A Slave brought into England is upon landing ipso facto free from Slavery but not from ordinary service Some Lands in England are holden in Villanage to do some particular Services to the Lord of the Mannor and such Tenants may be called the Lords Servants There is a Twofold Tenure called Villanage one where the Tenure only is servile as to plow the Lords ground sow reap and bring home his Corn dung his Land c. the other whereby both Person and Tenure is servile and bound in all respects at the disposition of the Lord such persons are called in Law pure Villans and are to do all Villanous Services to improve the Land he holds to the Lords use themselves to be wholly at the Lords Service and whatever they get is for their Lord of such there are now but few left in England The nearest to this condition are Apprentices that signifies Learuers a sort of Servants that carry the Marks of pure Villans or Bond-slaves as before in the Chapter of Gentry is intimated differing however in this that Apprentices are Slaves only for a time and by Covenant the other are so at the Will of their Masters FINIS Name Climat Dimensions Aire Soyle Comâ—odities Inhabitants Their Language Stature Dyet Attire Buildings Number of Inhabitants Dispositions and humours of the Inhabitants Recreations Weights and Measures Measures Moneys English Coâ—â—â—tation English Numbring English Names Surnamesâ— Name Title Arms. Patrimony Dominions Person Office Power and Prerogative Supremacy and Soveraignty Divinity Respect Minor â—capaâ—ty Absence â—â—me â—erogaâ—es Dignity Eldest Son Title Arms. Dignity Priviledges Revenues Cadets Name Surname Genealogy Birth Baptisme Court Education Marriage Arms. Lord Chancellour Dignity Office Oath Salary Lord Treasurer Oath Office Lord Privy Seal Dignity Admiral Office Chamberlain Constable Earl Marshal High Steward Clergy their Dignity Name Degrees Bishop Archbishop Suffragan Bishop Dean Archdeacon Priviledges of the Clergy Archbishop Canterbury York don Revenues of the Clergy Name Use Degrees Duke Marquisâ— Earl Vicount Baron Priviledges Precedence State Marquiss Earl Vicount Baron Number Revenue Baronets Knights Knights of the Garter Knights Bannerets Knights of the Bath Knights Bachelors Gentleman
our Kings and some Necessities for the preservation of the Weal Publick too much alienated The Antient Dominions of the Kings of England were first England and all the Seas round about Great Britain and Ireland and all the Isles adjacent even too the Shores of all the Neighbour Nations and our Law saith the Sea is of the Ligeance of the King as well as the Land and as a mark thereof all ships of Foreigners have antiently demanded leave to fish and pass in these Seas and do at this day Lower their Top-sailes to all the Kings Ships of War To England Henry 1. annext Normandy and Henry 2. Ireland being stiled only Lord of Ireland till 33 H. 8. although they had all Kingly Jurisdiction before Henry 2. also annext the Dukedomes of Guien and Anjou the Counties of Poictou Turein and Mayn Edward the First all Wales and Edward the Third the Right though not the Possession of all France King James added Scotland and since that time there have been super-added sundry considerable Plantations in America The Dominions of the King of England are at this day in Possession besides his just Right and Title to the Kingdom of France all England Scotland and Ireland Three Kingdoms of large extent with all the Isles above 40 in number small and great whereof some very considerable and all the Seas adjacent Moreover the Islands of Jersey Garnsey and Alderny Parcel of the Dutchy of Normandy besides those profitable Plantations of New England Virginia Barbados Jamaica Florida Bermudos besides several other Isles and Places in those Quarters and some in the East Indies and upon the Coast of Africa also upon the main land of America by right of first discovery to Estoit land Terra Corterialis New found Land Novum Belgium Guiana the King of England hath a Legal Right though not Possession Rex Angliae est Persona mixta cum Sacerdote say our Lawyers He is a Priest as well as a King He is anointed with Oyle as the Priests were at first and afterward the Kings of Israel to intimate that his Person is Sacred and Spiritual and therefore at the Coronation hath put upon him a Sacerdotal Garment called the Dalmatica c. and before the Reformation of England when the Cup in the Lords Supper was denied to the Laity the King as a Spiritual Person received in both kinds He is capable of Spiritual Jurisdiction of holding of Tythes all Extra-Parochial Tythes some Proxies and other Spiritual Profits belong to the King of which Laymen both by Common and Canon Law are pronounced uncapable He is an External Bishop of the Church as Constantine the Emperour said of himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But I am constituted Bishop for external things of the Church Rex idem hominum Phaebique Sacerdos He is as the Roman Emperours Christian as well as Heathen stiled themselves Pontifex Max. He is the Supreme Pastor of England and hath not only Right of Ecclesiastical Government but also of Exercising some Ecclesiastical Function so far as Solomon did 1 Kings 8. when he blessed the People consecrated the Temple and pronounced that Prayer which is the Pattern now for Consecration of all Churches and Chappels but all the Ministerial Offices are left to the Bishops and Priests as the determinination of Causes are to the Kings Judges although the King may himself sit in Judgement if the Affairs of State did not alwayes require his Presence at the Helme and the Administration of Sacraments Preaching and other Church Offices and Duties to the Bishops and their Ordained Clergy Of this Sacred Person of the King of the life and safety thereof the Laws and Customs of England are of tender that they have made it High Treason onely to imagine or intend the death of the King And because by imagining or conspiring the death of the Kings Counsellors or Great Officers of his Houshold the destruction of the King hath thereby sometimes ensued and is usually aimed at saith Stat. 3 H. 7. that also was made felony to be punisht with death although in all other Cases Capital the Rule is Voluntas non reputabitur pro facto and an English Man may not in other Cases be punisht with death unless the Act follow the Intent The Law of England hath so high esteem of the Kings Person that to offend against those Persons and those things that represent his Sacred Person as to kill some of the Crown Officers or the Kings Judges executing their Office or to counterfeit the Kings Seals or his Moneys is made High Treason because by all these the Kings Person is represented and High Treason is in the Eye of the Law so horrid that besides loss of Life and Honour Real and Personal Estate to the Criminal his Heirs also are to lose the same for ever and to be ranked amongst the Peasantry and Ignoble till the King shall please to restore them Est enim tam grave crimen saith Bracton ut vix permittitur haeredibus quâ—d vivant High Treason is so grievous a Crime that the Law not content with the Life and Estate and Honour of the Criminal can hardly endure to see his heirs survive him And rather than Treason against the Kings Person shall go unpunisht the Innocent in some Cases shall be punished for if an Idiot or Lunatick who cannot be said to have any will and so cannot offend during his Idiocy or Lunacy shall kill or go about to kill the King he shall be punisht as a Traytor and yet being Non compos mentis the Law holds that he cannot commit Felony or Petit Treason not other sorts of High Treason Moreover for the precious regard of the Person of the King by an Antient Record it is declared that no Physick ought to be administred to him without good Warrant this Warrant to be made by the Advice of his Council no other Physick but what is mentioned in the Warrant ro be administred to him the Physitians to prepare all things with their own hands and not by the hands of any Apothecary and to use the assistance only of such Chyrurgeons as are prescribed in the Warrant And so precious is the Person and Life of the King that every Subject is obliged and bound by his Allegeance to defend his Person in his Natural aswell as Politick Capacity with his own Life and Limbs wherefore the Law saith that the life and member of every Subject is at the service of the Soveraign He is Pater Patriae Dulce erit pro Patre Patriae mori to lose life or limb in defending him from Conspiracies Rebellions or Invasions or in the Execution of his Laws should seem a pleasant thing to every loyal hearted Subject The Office of the King of England according to the Learned Fortescue is Pugnare bella populi sui eos rectissime judicare To fight the Battels of his People and to see Right and Justice done unto them Or according to
Kings of Ireland but also over the Welsh Scottish and French Kings He acknowledgeth onely Precedence to the Emperour Eo quod Antiquitate Imperium omnia Regna superare creditur As the King is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the State so he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Church He acknowledgeth no Superiority to the Bishop of Rome whose long arrogated Authority in England was 1535 in a full Parliament of all the Lords Spiritual as well as Temporal declared null and the King of England declared to be by Antient Right in all Causes over all Persons as well Ecclesiastical as Civil Supreme Head and Governour The King is Summus totius Ecclesiae Anglicanae Ordinarius Supreme Ordinary in all the Dioceses of England 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and for his Superintendency over the whole Church hath the Tenths and First-Fruits of all Ecclesiastical Benefices The King hath the Supreme Right of Patronage over all England called Patronage Paramount over all the Ecclesiastical Benefices in England so that if the mean Patron as aforesaid present not in due time nor the Ordinary nor Metropolitan the Right of Presentation comes to the King beyond whom it cannot go The King is Lord Paramount Supreme Landlord of all the Lands of England and all landed men are mediately or immediately his Tenants by some Tenure or other for no man in England but the King hath Allodium Directum Dominum the sole and independent Property or Domain in any Land He that hath the Fee the Jus perpetuum and Utile Dominium is obliged to a duty to his Soveraign for it so it is not simply his own he must swear fealty to some Superiour The King is Summus totius Regni Anglicani Justitiarius Supreme Judge or Lord Chief Justice of all England He is the Fountain from whence all Justice is derived no Subject having here as in France Haute moyenne basse Justice He only hath the Soveraign power in the Administration of Justice and in the Execution of the Law and whatsoever power is by him committed to others the dernier resort is still remaining in himself so that he may sit in any Court and take Cognisance of any Cause as antiently Kings sate in the Court now called the Kings Bench Henry the Third in his Court of Exchequer and Hen. 7. and King James sometimes in the Star-Chamber except in Felonies Treasons c. wherein the King being Plaintiff and so Party he sits not personally in Judgement but doth performe it by Delegates From the King of England there lies no Appeal in Ecclesiastical Affairs to the Bishop of Rome as it doth in other principal Kingdoms of Europe nor in Civil Affairs to the Emperour as in some of the Spanish and other Dominions of Christendom nor in either to the People of England as some of late have dreamt who in themselves or by their Representatives in the House of Commons in Parliament were ever Subordinate and never Superiour nor so much as Co-ordinate to the King of England The King being the onely Soveraign and Supreme Head is furnisht with plenary Power Prerogative and Jurisdiction to render Justice to every Member within his Dominions whereas some Neighbour Kings do want a full power to do Justice in all Causes to all their Subjects or to punish all Crimes committed within their own Dominions especially in Causes Ecclesiastical In a word Rex Angliae neminem habet in suis Dominiis Superiorem nec Parem sed omnes sub illo ille sub nullo nisi tantùm sub Deo a quo secundus post quem primus ante omnes super omnes in suis ditionibus Deos Homines The Title of Dii or Gods plurally is often in Holy Writ by God himself attributed to Great Princes because as Gods Vicars or Vice-dei upon Earth they represent the Majesty and Power of the God of Heaven and Earth and to the end that the people might have so much the higher esteem and more reverend awfulness of them for if that fails all Order fails and thence all Impiety and Calamity follows The Substance of the Titles of God was also used by the Antient Christian Emperours as Divinitas nostra Aeternitas nostra c. as imperfectly and analogically in them though essentially and perfectly only in God and the good Christians of those times out of their excess of respect were wont to swear by the Majesty of the Emperour as Joseph once by the life of Pharaoh and Vegeâ—ius a learned Writer of that Age seems to justifie it Nam Imperatori saith he tanquam praesenti corpoarli Deo fidelis est praestanda Divotio pervigil impendendus famulatus Deâ— enim servimus cum fideliter diligimus cum qui Deoregnat Autore So the Laws of England looking upon the King as a God upon earth do attribute unto him divers excellencies that belong properly to God alone as Justice in the Abstract Rex Angliae non potest cuiquam injuriam facere So also Infallibility Rex Angliae non potest errare And as God is perfect so the Law will have no Imperfection found in the King No Negligence or Laches no Folly no Infamy no stain or corruption of blood for by taking of the Crown all former though just Attainders and that by Act of Parliament iâ— ipso facto puâ—ged No Nonage or Minority for his Grant of Lands though held in his Natural not Politick Capacity cannot be avoided by Nonage Higher than this the Law attributeth a kind of immortality to the King Rex Angliae non moritur his Death is in Law termed the Demise of the King because thereby the Kingdom is demised to another He is said not subject to Death because he is a Corporation in himself that liveth for ever all Interregna being in England unknown the same moment that one King dies the next Heir is King fully and absolutely without any Coronation Ceremony or Act to be done ex post facto Moreover the Law seemeth to attribute to the King a certain Omnipresency that the King is in a manner every where in all his Courts of Justice and therefore cannot be non-suited as Lawyers speak in all his Palaces and therefore all Subjects stand bare in the Presence Chamber wheresoever the Chair of State is placed though the King be many miles distant from thence He hath a kind of universal influence over all his Dominions every soul within his Territories may be said to feel at all times his Power and his Goodness Omnium Domos Regis Vigilia defendit Omnium Otium illius Labor Omnium Delicias illius Industria Omnium vacationem illius Occupatio c. So a kind of Omnipotency that the King can as it were raise men from death to life by pardoning whom the Law hath condemned can create to the highest Dignity and annihilate the same at pleasure Divers other semblances of the Eternal Deity belong to the King He in his own Dominions as God saith
Vindicta est mihi for all punishments do proceed from him in some of his Courts of Justice and it is not lawful for any Subâ—ect to revenge himself So he onely can be Judge in his own Cause though he deâ—â—ver his Judgement by the Mouth of his Judges And yet there are some â—hings that the King of England cannot do Rex Angliae â—ihil injuste potest and the King cannot devest himself or his Successors of any part of his Regal Power Prerogative and Authority inherent and annext to the Crown not that there â—s any defect in the Kings Power as there is none in Gods Power though he cannot lie nor do any thing that implies Contradiction not but that the King of England hath as absolute a power over all his Subâ—ects as any Christian Prince rightfully and lawfully hath oâ— ever had not but that he still hath a kind of Omnipotency noâ— to be disputed but adored by his Subjects Nemo quidem 〈◊〉 factis ejus praesumat disputarâ— saith Bracton multo minuâ— contra factum ejus ire nam dâ—â— Chartis Fact is ejus non debenâ— neâ— possunt Justiciarii multâ— minus privatae personae disputare Not but that the King may do what he please without either opposition or resistance and without being questioned by his Subjects for the King cannot be impleaded for any Crime no Action lieth against his Person because the Writ goeth forth in his own Name and he cannot arrest himself If the King should seize his Subjects Lands which God forbid or should take away his Goods having no Title by Law so to do there is no remedy Onely this Locus erit saith the same Bracton supplicationi quod factum suum corrigat emendet quod quidem si non fecerit sufficit ei â—d paenam quod Dominum Dèum expectet Vltorem There may be Petitions and Supplications made that His Majesty will be pleased to rule according to Law which if he shall refuse to do it is sufficient that he must expect that the King of Kings will be the Avenger of Oppressed Loyal Subjects But there are also divers things which the King cannot do Salvo jure Salvo Juramento Salvâ Conscientia sua Because by Oath at his Coronation and indeed without any Oath by the Law of Nature Nations and of Christianity he holds himself bound as do all other Christian Kings to protect and defend his people to do justice and to shew mercy to preserve Peace and Quietness amongst them to allow them their just Rights and Liberties to consent to the Repealing of bad Laws and to the Enacting of good Laws Two things especially the King of England doth not usually do without the consent of his Subjects viz. make New Laws and raise New Taxes there being something of Odium in both of them the one seeming to diminish the Subjects Liberty and the other his Property therefore that all occasion of disaffection towards the King the Breath of our Nosthrils and the Light of our Eyes as he is stiled might be avoided it was most wisely contrived by our Ancestors that for both these should Petitions and Supplications be first made by the Subject These and divers other Prerogative rightfully belong and are enjoyed by the King of England Nevertheless the Kings of England usually govern this Kingdom by the ordinary known Laws and Customs of the Land as the great God doth the World by the Laws of Nature yet in some Cases for the benefit not damage of this Realm they make use of their Prerogatives as the King of Kings doth of his Extraordinary Power of Working of Miracles Lastly To the Kings of England quatenus Kings doth appertain one Prerogative that may be stiled super-excellent if not miraculous which was first enjoyed by that pious and good King Edward the Confessor which is by the touch to remove and to cure the Struma that stubborn disease commonly called the Kings Evil. In consideration of these and other transcendent Excellencies no King in Christendom nor other Potentate receives from his Subjects more Reverence Honour and Respect than the King of England All his People at their first Addresses kneel to him he is at all times served upon the Knee all Persons not the Prince or other Heir Apparant excepted stand bare in the presence of the King and in the Presence Chamber though in the Kings absence Only it was once indulged by Queen Mary for some eminent services performed by Henry Ratcliffe Earl of Sussex that by Patent he might at any time be covered in her presence but perhaps in imitation of the like liberty allowed by King Philip her Husband and other Kings of Spain to some of the principal Nobility there called Grandees of Spain Any thing or Act done in the Kings Presence is presumed to be void of all deceit and evil meaning and therefore a Fine levied in the Kings Court where the King is presumed to be present doth bind a Feme Covert a married Woman and others whom ordinarily the Law doth disable to transact The Kings only Testimony of any thing done in his presence is of as high a nature and credit as any Record and in all Writs sent forth for dispatch of Justice he useth no other Witness but himself viz. Teste me ipso Of the Kings Succession to the Crown of ENGLAND THe King of England hath right to the Crown by Inheritance and the Laws and Customs of England Upon the Death of the King the next of Kindred though born out of the Dominions of England or born of Parents not Subjects of England as by the Law and many Examples in the English Histories it doth manifestly appear is and is immediately King before any Proclamation Coronation Publication or Consent of Peers or People The Crown of England descends from Father to Son and to his Heirs for want of Sons to the Eldest Daughter and her Heirs for want of Daughters to the Brother and his Heirs and for want of Brother to the Sister and her Heirs The Salique Law or rather Custom of France hath here no more force than it had anciently among the Jews or now in Spain and other Christian Hereditary Kingdoms Among Turks and Barbarians that French Custom is still and ever was in use In Case of descent of the Crown contrary to the Custom of the descent of Estates among Subjects the Half Blood shall inherit so from King Edward the Sixth the Crown and Crown Lands descended to Queen Mary of the half blood and again to Queen Elizabeth of the half blood to the last Possessor At the death of every King die not only the Offices of the Court but all Commissions granted to the Judges durante beneplacito and of all Justices of Peace If the King be likely to leave his Crown to an Infant he doth usually by Testament appoint the person or persons that shall have the tuition of him and sometimes for want of such appointment a fit person of
him Prince of Wales and bestowed on him all the Lands Honours and Revenues belonging to the said Principality The Prince hath ever since been stiled Prince of Wales Duke of Aquitaine and Cornwall and Earl of Chester and Flint which Earldomes are alwayes conferred upon him by his Patent since the Union of England and Scotland his Title hath been Magnae Britanniae Princeps but more ordinarily the Prince of Wales As Eldest Son to the King of Scotland he is Duke of Rothsay and Seneschal of Scotland from his Birth The King of Englands Eldest Son so long as Normandy remained in their hands was alwayes stiled Duke of Normandy Antiently the Princes of Wales whilest they were Soveraigns bare quarterly Gules and Or 4 Lyons passant gardant counterchanged The Arms of the Prince of Wales differ from those of the King only by addition of a Labell of three points and the Device of the Prince is a Coronet beautified with three Ostrich Feathers inscribed with Ich dien which in the German or old Saxon Tongue is I serve alluding perhaps to that in the Gospel The Heir whilest his Father liveth differeth not from a Servant This Device was born at the Battel of Cressy by John King of Bohcmia as serving there under the King of the French and there slain by Edward the Black Prince and since worn by the Princes of Wales and by the Vulgar called the Princes Arms. The Prince by our Law is reputed as the same Person with the King and so declared by a Statute of Henry 8. Corruscat enim Princeps say our Lawyers radiis Regis Patris sui censetur una persona cum ipso And the Civilians say the Kings Eldest Son may be stiled a King He hath certain Priviledges above other Persons To imagine the death of the Prince to violate the Wife of the Prince is made High Treason Hath heretofore had priviledge of having a Purveyor and taking Purveyance as the King To retain and qualifie as many Chaplains as he shall please To the Prince at the Age of 15 is due a certain Aid of Moneys from all the Kings Tenants and all that hold of him in Capite by Knight Service and Free Socage to make him a Knight Yet as the Prince in nature is a distinct person from the King so in Law also in some cases He is a Subject holdeth his Principalities and Seignories of the King giveth the same respect to the King as other Subjects do The Revenues belonging to the Prince since much of the Lands and Demesnes of that Dutchy have been aliened are especially out of the Tinne Mines in Cornwall which with all other profits of that Dutchy amount yearly to the summe of The Revenues of the Principality of Wales surveyed 200 years ago was above 4680 l. yearly a rich Estate according to the value of Money in those dayes At present his whole Revenues may amount to Till the Prince come to be 14 years old all things belonging to the Principality oâ— Wales were wont to be disposed of by Commissioners consisting of some principal Persons of the Clergy and Nobility The Cadets or younger Son of England are created noâ— born Dukes or Earls of what Places or Titles the King pleaseth They have no certain Appanages as in France but onely what the good pleasure of the King bestows upon them All the Kings Sons are Consilii nati by Birth-right Counsellors of State that so they may grow up in the weighty affairs of the Kingdom The Daughters of England are stiled Princesse the eldest of which have an Aid or certain rate of Money paid by every Tenant in Capite Knight Service and Soccage towards her Dowry or Marriage Portion To all the Kings Children belong the Title of Royal Highness All Subjects are to be uncovered in their presence to kneel when they are admitted to kiss their hands and at Table they are out of the Kings Presence served on the Knee The Children the Brothers and Sisters of the King if Plaintiffs the summons in the Process need not have the solemnity of 15 dayes as in Case of other Subjects The Natural or Illegitimate Sons and Daughters of the King after they are acknowledged by the King take precedence of all the Nobles under those of the Blood Royal. They bear what Surname the King pleaseth to give them and for Arms the Arms of England with a Bend Sinister border Gobionnee or some other mark of illegitimation Some Kings of England have acknowledged many and had more illegitimate Sons and Daughters King Henry the First had no fewer than sixteeen illegitimate Children Henry the Eighth amongst others had one by Elizabeth Blount named Henry Fitzroy created by him Duke of Somerset and Richmond Earl of Notingham and Lord High Admiral of England Ireland and Aquitain OF THE PRESENT KING OF ENGLAND THe King now raigning is CHARLES the Second of that Name His Name of Baptisme Charles in the German Tongue signifies one of a Masculine strength or vertue The Royal and also the most princely and antient Families of Europe at this day have properly no Surnames for neither is Burbon the Surname but the Title of the Royal Family of France nor Austria of Spain nor Stuart of England since the coming in of King James nor Theodore or Tudor for his 5 immediate Ancestors in England nor Plantagenet for 11 Generations before as some vainly think for although Geffery Duke of Anjou was surnamed Plantagenet from a Broom Stalk commonly worn in his Bonnet yet his Son H. 2. King of England was surnamed Fitz-empresse and his Son Richard Coeur de Lion So Owen Grandfather to King Henry 7. was ap Meredith and he ap Theodore pronounc'd Tyder Surnames being then but little in use amongst the Cambrobritans So Walter Father to Robert King of Scotland from whom our present King is descended was only by Office Grand Seneschal or High Steward or Stuart of Scotland though of later times by a long vulgar errour it hath so prevailed that they are accounted Surnames of many Families descended from him Steward is a Contraction from the Saxon word Stedeward that is in Latine Locum-tenens in French Lieu-tenant because the Lord High Steward was Regis Locum tenens a Name not unfit for any King who is Dei Locum tenens Gods Stuart or Lieutenant or Vicegerent upon Earth The King now raigning is Son to King Charles the Martyr and the Princess Henretta Maria Daughter of King Henry the Great of France from which two Royal Stocks he hath in his Veins all the Royal Blood of Europe concentred Is descended lineally and lawfully from the British Saxon Danish Norman and Scottish Kings and Princes of this Island From the first British King the 139th Monarch from the Scottish in a continued Succession for almost 2000 years the 109th from the Saxon the 46th and from the first of the Norman Line the 26th King So that for Royal
by the Earl of Sandwich conducted by a Squadron of Ships to Portsmouth where the King first met her and was remarried On the 23th of August 1662 her Majesty coming by water from Hampton Court was with great Pomp and Magnificence first received by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London at Chelsey and thence conducted by water to Whitehall The Portion she brought with her was Eight hundred Millions of Reas or two Millions of Crusado's being about Three hundred thousand pounds Sterling together with that important place of Tangier upon the Coast of Africk and the Isle of Bombaim neer Goa in the East Indies with a Priviledge that any Subjects of the King of England may trade freely in the East and VVest Indie Plantations belonging to the Portugueses Her Majesties Joynture by the Articles of Marriage is Thirty thousand pounds Sterling per Annum and the King out of his great affection toward her hath as an addition settled upon her 10000 l. per Annum more The Queens Arms as Daughter of Portugal is Argent 5 Scutcheons Azure cross wise each Scutcheon charged with 5 Plates or Besants Argent Saltier-wise with a Point Sable the Border Gules charged with 7 Castles Or. This Coat was first worn by the Kings of Portugal in memory of a Signal Battel obtained by the first King of Portugal Don Alphonso against 5 Kings of the Moors before which Battel appeared Christ crucified in the air and a Voice heard as once to Constantine the Great In hoc signo vinces before which time the Portugal Arms were Argent a Cross Azure Queen CATHERINE is a Personage of such rare perfections of Mind and Body of such eminent Piety Modesty and other Vertues that the English Nation may yet promise all the happiness they are capable of from a Succession of Princes to govern them to the end of the World Of the Queen-Mother THe Third Person in the Kingdom is the Queen-Mother or Dowager Henretta Maria de Bourbon Daughter to the Great King Henry the Fourth Sister to the Just King Lewis the Eleventh Wife to the Pious Martyr King Charles the First Mother to our Gracious Sovereign King Charles the Second and Aunt to the present Puissant King Lewis the 14th She was born the 19th of November 1609 married first at Nostre Dame in Paris by Proxy 1625 and shortly after in the moneth of June arriving at Dover was at Canterbury espoused to King Charles the First In the year 1629. was delivered of her First born a Son that died shortly after in 1630 of her Second our present Soveraign whom God long preserve in 1631 of her Third Mary the late Princess of Orenge a Lady of admirable Vertues who had the happiness to see the King her Brother restored 6 or 7 moneths before her death In 1633 of her Fourth James now Duke of York In 1635 of her Fifth named Elizabeth who being a Princess of incomparable Abilities and Vertues died for grief soon after the murther of her father In 1636 of her Sixth named Anna who died young In the year 1640 of her Seventh Child Henry of Oatlands designed Duke of Glocester who living till above 20 being most excellently accomplished in all Princely Endowments died four moneths after the Restauration of the King In the year 1644 of her Eighth the Lady Henretta now Dutchess of Orleans In the year 1641 her Majesty fore-seeing the ensuing storm of Rebellion and seeing the groundless Odium raised already against her self timely withdrew her self with her eldest Daughter then newly married to Henry Prince of Orange into Holland whence in 1643 after a most furious storm and barbarous fierce pursuit of the English Rebels at Sea she landed at Burlington Bay with Men Money and Ammunition and soon after with a considerable Army met the King at Edgehill and thence was conducted to Oxford In April 1644 marching with competent forces from Oxford towards Exeter at Abington took her last farewel of the King whom she never saw again In July following embarkt at Pendennis Castle she sailed into France where entertained at the Charges of her Nephew the persent King of France she passed a solitary retired life until the moneth of October 1660. when upon the Restauraution of her Son to the Crown of England she came to London and having settled her Revenues here she went again with her youngest Daughter the Lady Henretta into France to see her espoused to the then Duke of Anjou now of Orleans and in the moneth of July 1662 being returned into England she settled her Court at Somerset-House where she continued till May 1665 then crossed the Seas again and hath ever since continued in France her Native Countrey She needeth no other Character then what is found in the Seventh Chapter of that inimitable Book compiled by him that knew her best Of the present Princes and Princesses of the Blood Royal of England THe First Prince of the Blood in France called Monsieur sans queue is the Most Illustrious Prince James Duke of York Second Son to King Charles the Martyr and only Brother to the present King our Soveraign He was born Octob. 14. 1633 and forth-with proclaimed at the Court Gates Duke of York the 24th of the same moneth was baptized and afterward committed to the Government of the then Countess of Dorset The 27th of July 1643 at Oxford was created by Letters Patents Duke of York though called so by special command from his Birth without those Solemnities the iniquity of the times not admitting thereof that were used to the King his Father 1605 when being Second Son to King James and so Duke of Albany in Scotland was created Duke of York with the preceding Solemn Creation of divers young Noblemen to be Knights of the Bath and the Robes of State put upon him the Cap of State on his Head and the Golden Rod into his Hand the Prime Nobility and Heralds assisting at that Ceremony After the Surrender of Oxford his Royal Highness was in 1646 conveyed to London by the then prevailing disloyal part of the Two Houses of Parliament and committed with his Brother Glocester and Sister Elizabeth to the care of the Earl of Northumberland In 1648 aged about 15 was by Colonel Bampfield conveyed in a disguise or habit of a Girle beyond Sea first to his Sister the Princess Royal of Orenge in Holland and afterward to the Queen his Mother then at Paris where he was carefully educated in the Religion of the Church of England and in all Exercises meet for such a Prince About the Age of 20 in France he went into the Campagne and served with much Gallantry under that great Commander the Protestant Mareschal de Turenne for the French King against the Spanish forces in Flanders Notwithstanding which upon a Treaty between the French King and Cromwell in 1655 being obliged with all his retinue to leave the French Dominions and invited into Flanders by Don Juan of Austria he there served
High Admiral of England whose Trust and Honour is so great that this Office hath usually been given either to some of the Kings younger Sons near Kinsmen or to some one of the highest and chiefest of all the Nobility He is called Admiral from Amir in Arabick and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek that is Praefectus Marinus a word borrowed from the Eastern Empire where such kind of compounds were much in re-request and introduced into England after the Wars in the Holy Land by King Richard or King Edward 1. The Patent of the Lord Admiral did anciently run thus Angliae Hiberniae Aquitaniae Magnus Admirallus but at present thus Angliae Hiberniae ac Dominiorum Insularum earundem Villae Callesiae Marchiarum ejusdem Normandiae Gasconiae Aquitaniae Magnus Admirallus Praefectus Generalis Classis Marium dictorum Regnorum To the Lord High Admiral of England is by the King intrusted the management of all Marine Affairs as well in respect of Jurisdiction as Protection He is that High Officer or Magistrate to whom is committed the Government of the Kings Navy with Power of decision in all Causes Maritime as well Civil as Criminal of all things done upon or beyond the Sea in any part of the World all things done upon the Sea Coasts in all Ports and Havens and upon all Rivers below the first Bridge next toward the Sea The Lord Admiral hath the power to commissionate a Vice-Admiral a Reer Admiral and all Sea Captains also Deputies for particular Coasts Coroners to view dead bodies found on the Sea Coasts or at Sea Commissioners or Judges for exercising Justice in the Court of Admiralty to imprison release c. He hath sometimes a power to bestow Knighthood to such as shall deserve it at Sea To the Lord Admiral belongs by Law and Custom all penalties and amercements of all Transgressors at Sea on the Sea Shore in Ports and from the first Bridge on Rivers towards the Sea also the Goods of Pyrats Felons or Capital Faulters condemned outlawed or horned Moreover all Waifs Stray Goods Wrecks of Sea Deodands a share of all lawful Prizes Lagon Jetson and Flotson as the Mariners term them that is Goods lying in the Sea on Ground Goods floting on the Sea and Goods cast by the Sea on the Shore not granted to Lords of Mannors adjoyning to the Sea All great Fishes as Sea Hogs and other Fishes of extraordinary bigness called Royal Fishes except only Whales and Sturgeons This High Dignity is at present enjoyed by the Kings only Brother the Illustrious Prince James Duke of York The Fifth Great Officer of the Crown is the Lord Great Chamberlain of England an Officer of great Antiquity to whom belongs Livery and Lodging in the Kings Court and certain Fees due from each Archbishop and Bishop when they do their Homage or Fealty to the King and from all Peers of the Realm at their Creation or doing the Homage or Fealty and at the Coronation of any King to have 40 Ells of Crimson Velvet for his own Robes and on the Coronation day before the King riseth to bring him his Shirt Coyfe Wearing Clothes and after the King is by him apparelled and gone forth to have his Bed and all Furniture of his Bed-Chamber for his Fees all the Kings Night Apparel and to carry at the Coronation the Coyfe Gloves and Linnen to be used by the King upon that occasion also the Sword and Scabberd and the Gold to be offered by the King and the Robe Royal and Crown and to undress and attire the King with his Robes Royal and to serve the King that day before and after Dinner with water to wash his hands and to have the Basin and Towells for his Fees c. This Honour was long enjoyed by the Earls of Oxford from the time of Hen. 1. by an Estate Tayle or Inheritance but in the two last Coronations by the Earls of Lindsey and that by an Estate of Inheritance from a Daughter or Heir General claimed and controverted The Sixth Great Officer is the Lord High Constable of England so called some think from the Saxon Cuning by contraction King and Stable quasi-Regis columen for it was antiently written Cuningstable but rather from Comes Stabuli whose Power and Jurisdiction was antiently so great that after the death of Edward Bohun Duke of Buckingham 1521 the last High Constable of England it was thought too great for any Subject But since upon occasion of Coronations as at that of King Charles 2. was made the present Earl of Northumberland and at Solemn Trials by Combat as at that which was intended between Rey and Ramsey 1631 was made Robert Earl of Lindsey there is created pro hac vice a Lord High Constable His Power and Jurisdiction is the same with the Earl Marshal with whom he sits Judge in the Marshals Court and takes place of the Earl Marshal The Seventh Great Officer of the Crown is the Earl Marshal of England so called from Mare in the old Saxon i.e. Horses and Schal Praefectus He is an Earl some say by his Office whereby he taketh as the Constable doth Cognisance of all matters of War and Arms determineth Contracts touching Deeds of Arms out of the Realm upon Land and matters concerning Wars within the Realm which cannot be determined by Common Law This Office is of great Antiquity in England and antiently of great Power The last Earl Marshal was Henry Howard Earl of Arundel who died in 1652 his Father Thomas Earl of Arundel and he enjoying that Office onely for the Term of their lives by the Kings Letters Patents At the Coronation of His Majesty now raigning the present Earl of Suffolk for that Solemnity only was made Earl Marshal The Eighth and last Great Officer of the Crown is the Lord High Steward of England quasi Stedeward Locum tenens the Kings Lieftenant in Lawyers Latin Seneschallus of Sen in Saxon Justice and Schals Governour or Officer His Power antiently in Civil Matters was next to the King and was so transcendent that it was thought fit not longer to trust it in the hands of any Subject for his Office was Supervidere regulare sub Rege immediatè post Regem as an antient Record speaks totum Regnum Angliae omnes ministros Legum infra idem regnum temporibus pacis guerrarum The last that had a State of Inheritance in this High Office was Henry of Bullinbrook Son and Heir to the great Duke of Lancaster John of Gaunt afterwards King of England since which time they have been made only hâc vice to officiate at a Coronation by vertue of which Office he sitteth judicially and keepeth his Court in the Kings Palace at Westminster and there receiveth the Bills and Petitions of all such Noblemen and others who by reason of their Tenure or otherwise claim to do Services at the New Kings Coronation
his Subdean is Doctor Jones whose Fee is 100 l. yearly The Fee of each Priest and Clerk of the Chappel is 70 l. yearly The Clerk of the Closet is Doctor Blandford Bishop of Oxford hath no Fee The Lord High Almoner is Doctor Henchman Bishop of London hath no Fee his Sub-Almoner is Doctor Perinchef whose Fee is 6 l. 6 s. 10 d. Of the Civil Government of His Majesties Houshold FOr the Civil Government of the Kings Court the Chief Officer is the Lord Steward quasi Stede ward Locum tenens called also in the time of Henry 8. the Great Master of the Kings Houshold after the French Mode but Primo Mariae and ever since called the Lord Steward of the Kings Houshold He hath Authority over all Officers and Servants of the Kings House except those of His Majesties Chappel Chamber and Stable c. He judgeth of all disorders committed in the Court or within the Verge which is every way within 12 miles of the chief Tunnel of the Court only London by Charter is exempted for the Law having an high esteem of the dignity of the Kings settled Mansion House laid out such a Plot of ground about his House as a half-pace or Foot-Carpet spread about the Kings Chair of Estate that ought to be more cleared and void than other places to be subject to a special exempted jurisdiction depending on the Kings Person and Great Officers that so where the King comes there should come with him Peace and Order and an Awfulness and Reverence in mens hearts besides it would have been a kind of eclipsing of the Kings Honour that where the King was any Justice should be sought but immediately from the Kings own Officers and therefore from very antient times the Jurisdiction of the Verge hath been executed by the Lord Steward with great Ceremony in the nature of a peculiar Kings Bench and that not only within but without the Kings Dominions for so it is recorded that one Engleam of Nogent in France for stealing Silver dishes out of the House of Edward 1. King of England then at Paris after the matter had been debated in the Council of the King of France touching the Jurisdiction and ordered that the King of England should enjoy this Kingly Prerogative of his Houshold was condemned by Sir Robert Fitz-John then Steward to the King of England and hanged in St. Germans Fields The Lord Steward is a White Staffe Officer for he in the Kings Presence carrieth a White Staffe and at other times going abroad it is carried by a Foot-man bare-headed At the death of the King over the Hearse made for the Kings Body he breaketh this Staffe and thereby dischargeth all the Officers whom the succeeding King out of his meer grace doth re-establish each one in his former Office This eminent Emploiment is now enjoyed by James Duke of Ormond Lord Lieftenant of Ireland whose Fee is 100 l. yearly and 16 Dishes daily each Meal with Wine Beer c. The next Officer is the Lord Chamberlain who hath the over-sight of all Officers belonging to the Kings Chamber except the Precincts of the Kings Bed-Chamber which is wholy under the Groom of the Stool and all above Stairs who are all sworn by him or his Warrant to the Gentlemen Ushers to the King He hath also the over-sight of the Officers of the Wardrobes at all his Majesties Houses and of the removing Wardr or of Beds of the Tents Revels Musick Comedians Hunting and of the Messengers of the Trumpetters Drummers of all Handy-Crafts and Artisans retained in the Kings Service Moreover he hath the over-sight of the Heraulds and Pursivants and Sergeants at Arms of all Physitians Apothecaries Surgeons Barbers c. To him also belongeth the over-sight of the Chaplains though himself be a Lay-man contrary in this particular to the Antient Custom of England and Modern Custom of all other Kingdoms where Ecclesiastiques are never under the ordering of Lay-men The Fee of the Lord Chamberlain of the Kings House is 100 l. yearly and 16 Dishes each Meal with all the Appurtenances This Office is now in the hands of Edward Montague Lord Montague and Earl of Manchester Most of the above-named Offices and Places are in the Gift and Disposal of the Lord Chamberlain The Third Great Officer of the Kings Court is the Master of the Horse antiently called Comes Stabuli or Constable to whom a higheâ— Employment and Power was then given and this taken from him This great Officer hath now the ordering and disposal of all the Kings Stables and Races of Horses and had heretofore of all the Posts of England He hath also the power over Escuiries and Pages over the Footmen Grooms Riders of the Great Horses Farriers Smiths Coach-men Sadlers and all other Trades working to the Kings Stables to all whom he or by his Warrant the Avener giveth an Oath to be true and faithful He hath the Charge of all Lands and Revenues appointed for the Kings breed of Horses and for Charges of the Stable and for Litters Coaches Sumpter Horses c. Also for the Charges of Coronations Marriages Entries Cavalcades Funerals c. He only hath the Priviledge to make use of any Horses Pages Foot-men belonging to the Kings Stable At any Solemn Cavalcade he rides next behind the King and leads a Lear Horse of State This great honour is now enjoyed by George Monk Duke of Albemarle in consideration of his unparalleld Services to the King to his Crown and Dignity at a juncture of time when his Affairs and Friends were in a very desperate condition His yearly Fee is 666 l. 16 s. 4 d. Under these Three Principal Officers of His Majesties Houshold are almost all the other Officers and Servants First under the Lord Steward in the Compting-House is the Treasurer of the Houshold Comptroller Cofferer Master of the Houshold Two Clerks of the Green-Cloth Two Clerks Comptrollers One Sergeant Two Yeomen The Cofferers Clerk The Groom Two Messengers It is called the Compting-House because the Accompts for all Expences of the Kings Houshold are there taken daily by the Lord Steward the Treasurer the Comptroller the Cofferer the Master of the Houshold the two Clerks of the Green Cloth and the two Clerks Comptrollers who also there make Provisions for the Houshold according to the Law of the Land and make Payments and Orders for the well governing of the Servants of the Houshold In the Compting-House is the Green-Cloth which is a Court of Justice continually sitting in the Kings House composed of the Persons last mentioned whereof the three first are usually of the Kings Privy Council To this Court being the first and most ancient Court of England is committed the charge and oversight of the Kings Court Royal for matters of Justice and Government with Authority for maintaining the Peace within 12 miles distance wheresoever the Court shall be and within the Kings House the power of correcting all the Servants therein that
are 2 Clerks of the Avery or Avenry One Clerk of the Stable Three Surveyors 2 Gentlemen Riders 4 Yeomen Riders 4 Coachmen 8 Littermen a Sergeant of the Carriage 2 Sadlers a Squire Sadler and a Yeoman Sadler a Yeoman of the Stirrup 4 Yeomen Purveyors 4 Yeomen Granators a Sergeant Farrier 4 Yeomen Farriers a Yeoman of the Male a Yeoman Peckman a Yeoman Bilmaker a Yeoman of the Close Cart Sixty four Grooms of the Stable 26 Footmen in Liveries to run by the Kings Horse There is besides some other Officers not here named an Antient Officer in the Kings Houshold called Clerk of the Mercat who within the Verge of the Kings Houshold is to keep a Standard of all Weights and Measures and to burn all false Weights and Measures and from the Pattern of this Standard are to be taken all the Weights and Measures of the Kingdom There are divers other Offices belonging to the King of great importance which are not subordinate to any of the 3 fore-mentioned Great Officers as Master of the Great Wardrobe Master of the Ordnance Warden of the Mint c. and above all for profit is the Office of Post-Master settled by Act of Parliament on the Duke of York and worth about 20000 l. yearly but managed by the order and oversight of His Majesties Principal Secretaries of State who also are Principal Domestiques of the King of whom a farther account shall be given in the Chapter of the Kings Privy Council Master of the Robes is Laurence Hyde Esquire second Son to the late Lord Chancellour whose Office is to have in Custody all His Majesties Robes as those of Coronation of St. Georges Feast and of Parliament also the Custody of all His Majesties Wearing Apparel and of his Collar of Esses Georges and Garters beset with Diamonds Pearls c. Of this Office there is one Master 2 Yeomen 4 Grooms 3 Pages c. In the Court of King James there were many more Offices and to many Offices there belonged many more persons which King Charles the first much lessened and the present King now raigning hath yet lessened much more Of the Military Government in the Kings Court. AS in a Kingdome because Civil Governours proposing Temporal and Ecclesiastical Governours Eternal Rewards and Punishments are not sufficient to secure Peace therefore a Military force is alwayes in readiness so in the Kings Court besides Civil and Ecclesiastical Officers it is thought necessary alwayes to have in readiness Military Officers and Souldiers to preserve the Kings Person whereupon depends the Peace and Safety of all his Subjects Belonging peculiarly to the Kings Court besides above 4000 Foot and above 500 Horse who are alwayes in Pay and readiness to assist upon any occasion there are Guards of Horse and Foot The Horse Guard which the French call Garde du Corps the Germans Lieb Guardy we corruptly Life Gard that is the Gard of the Kings Body hath consisted of 500 Horsemen all or most Gentlemen and old Officers commanded by the Captain of the Guard now James Duke of Monmouth whose Pay is 30 s. a day and each Horseman 4 s. a day These Horse have been divided into Three Parts whereof 200 under the immediate Command of the Captain of the Guard 150 under Monsieur le Marquis de Blancfort and 150 under Sir Philip Howard whose Pay to each is 20 s. a day Under the Captain of the Guard are four Lieutenants Sir Thomas Sandis Sir Gilbert Gerard Major General Egerton and Sir George Hambleton the Cornet is Mr. Stanly Brother to the Earl of Derby also four Brigadeers The Office of the Captain of the Life Guard is at all times of War or Peace to wait upon the Kings Person as oft as he rides abroad with a considerable number of Horsemen well armed and prepared against all dangers whatsoever At home within the Kings House it is thought fit that the Kings Person should have a Guard both above and below Stairs In the Presence Chamber therefore wait the Gentlemen Pensioners carrying Pole-axes there are 50 who are usually Knights or Gentlemen of good Quality and Families their Office is to attend the Kings Person to and from his Chappel only as far as the Privy Chamber also in all other Solemnities their yearly Fee is 100 l. to each Over these there is a Captain usually some Nobleman at present the Lord Bellassis whose Fee is 200 l. yearly a Lieutenant Sir John Bennet his Fee 66 l. 13 s. 4 d. a Standard-Bearer Fee 100 l. a Pay-masters Fee 50 l. and a Clerk of the Check Again in the first Room above Stairs called the Guard-Chamber attend the Yeomen of the Guard whereof there are 250 men of the best quality under Gentry and of larger Stature wearing Red Coats after an Antient Mode bearing Halberds at home and Half-Pikes in Progress and alwayes wearing a large Sword Their Pay is daily 2 s. 6 d. Their Captain the Lord Grandison The Kings Palace Royal ratione Regiae Dignitatis is exempted from all Jurisdiction of any Court Civil or Ecclesiastical but only to the Lord Steward and in his absence to the Treasurer and Comptroller of the Kings Houshold with the Steward of the Marshalsey who may by vertue of their Office without Commission hear and determine all Treasons Felonies Breaches of the Peace committed within the Kings Court or Palace The Kings Court or House where the King resideth is accounted a place so sacred that if any man presume to strike another within the Palace where the Kings Royal Person resideth and by such stroke only draw blood his right hand shall be stricken off and he committed to perpetual prison and fined By the Antient Laws of England only striking in the Kings Court was punisht with death and loss of goods To make the deeper impression and terrour into mens minds for striking in the Kings Court it hath been ordered that the Punishment for striking should be executed with great Solemnity and Ceremony in brief thus The Sergeant of the Kings Woodyard brings to the place of execution a square Block a Beetle Staple and Cords to fasten the hand thereto the Yeoman of the Scullery provides a great fire of Coals by the Block wherein the Searing Irons brought by the Chief Farrier are to be ready for the Chief Surgeon to use Vinegar and Cold Water brought by the Groom of the Saucery the Chief Officers also of the Cellar and Pantry are to be ready one with a Cup of Red Wine and the other with a Manchet to offer the Criminal after the Hand cut off and the Stump seared The Sergeant of the Ewry is to bring linnen to wind about and wrap the Arm. The Yeoman of the Poultry a Cock to lay to it the Yeoman of the Chandry seared Clothes the Master Cook a sharp Dresser Knife which at the place of Execution is to be held upright by the Sergeant of the Larder till Execution be performed by an Officer appointed thereto
Garter upon the Left Leg upon pain of paying 2 Crowns to any Officer of the Order who shall first claim it onely in taking a Journey a Blew Ribon under the Boot doth suffice Upon the Left Shoulder upon Cloak Coat or Riding Cassack in all places of Assembly when they wear not their Robes they are to wear an Escutcheon of the Arms of St. George that is a Cross with a Garter and this by an Order made April 1626. That Ornament and Embellishment about the said Escutcheon now worn and called the Star or rather the Sun in its glory was at the same time enjoyned The The greatest Monarchs of Christendome have been enrolled and have taken it for an Honour to be of this Order There have been of this Order since the Institution 8 Emperours 25 or 26 Forreign Kings besides many Soveraign Princes c. The Fellows and Companions of the Most Noble Order of St. George are at present these that follow ranked according as they are seated in their several Stalls at Windsor IN the first Stall on the right hand is the Soveraigne of the Order King Charles the Second who is Patron and Sole Disposer of the Order The Stall opposite to His Majesty is now void In the other Stalls on the Sovereign Side are thus placed these that follow 2 The Duke of York 3 Prince Rupert 4 Marquiss of Brandenbourgh 5 Earl of Salisbury 6 Earl of Northumberland 7 Duke of Buckingham 8 Earl of Bristol 9 Count Marsin 10 Earl of Sandwich 11 Duke of Richmond 12 Earl of Strafford 13th Stall is void On the other side opposite to these afore-named are placed in this Order these that follow 2 Prince Elector Palatine 3 Prince of Orenge 4 Prince of Denmark 5 Earl of Berkshire 6 Duke of Ormond 7 Duke of Newcastle 8 Prince of Tarent 9 Duke of Albemarle 10 Earl of Oxford 11 Earl of Manchester 12 Duke of Monmouth 13th Stall on this Side also is void The whole number of Fellows of this Order is not to exceed 26. In the next place are Knights Bannerets Equites Vexilliferi antiently a high Honour now obsolete there being at this time none of this Order in England These may bear Supporters of their Arms and none under this Degree Knights of the Bath so called of their Bathing used before they are created The first of this sort were made by Henry 4th Anno 1399. They are now commonly made at the Coronation of a King or Queen or Installation of 〈◊〉 Prince of VVales They weaâ— a Scarlet Ribon Belt-wise They are still made with much Ceremony too long here to be described Other Knights called Equites Aurati from the Gilt Spurs usually put upon them and Knights Batchelors quasi Baschevaliers Knights of lower Degree So Bachelors in Arts or Divinity quasi Low Knights or Servitors in Arts. These were antiently made by girding with a Sword and Gilt Spurs and was bestowed onely upon Sword men for their Military Service and was reâ—uted an excellent and glorious Degree and a Noble Reward â—or Courageous Persons but â—f late being made more common and bestowed upon â—own Men contrary to the â—ature of the thing as Degrees â—n the University are sometimes â—estowed upon Sword men it â—s become of much less reputaâ—ion Yet amongst Gown men 〈◊〉 is given only to Lawyers and â—hysitians and not to Divines â—ho may as well become that Dignity and be Spiritual Knights as well as Spiritual Lords These are now made with no other Ceremony but kneeling down the King with a drawn Sword lightly toucheth them on the Shoulder after which heretofore the King said in French Sois Chevalier au nom de Dieu and then Avances Chevalier When a Knight is to suffeâ— death for any foul Crime hiâ— Military Girdle is first to be ungirt his Sword taken away hiâ— Spurs cut off with an Hatchetâ— his Gantlet pluckt off and hiâ— Coat of Arms reversed Next amongst the Loweâ— Nobility are Esquires so called from the French word Escuyers Scutigeri because they were wont to bear before the Prince in War or before the better sort of Nobility 〈◊〉 Shield or else perhaps because they bear a Coat of Arms as Ensigns of their descent and by our Lawyers are called Armigeri Of this Title are first all Vicounts eldest Sons and all Vicounts and Barons younger Sons and by the Common Law of England all the Sons of Earls Marquisses and Dukes are Esquires and no more Next are the Esquires of the Kings Body mentioned among the Officers of the Kings Court after these are reckoned Knights eldest Sons and their eldest Sons for ever then younger Sons of the elder Sons of Barons next Esquires created by the King by putting about their Necks a Collar of Esses and bestowing on them a pair of Silver Spurs Lastly any that are in superiour Publick Office for King or State are reputed Esquires or equal to Esquires as Justices of the Peace Mayors of Towns so Councellours at Law Batchelors of Divinity Law or Physick although none of them really are so In the last place among thâ— lower Nobility are accounted the Gentry of England that have no other Title but are descended of antient Families that have alwayes born a Coaâ— of Arms. This Kind of Honour is derived from the Germans to the rest of Christendome and was never known in any Countrey where the German Customs were unknown as in Asia Africa and America The Germans antiently warring oft amongst themselves painted their Scutcheons with the Picture of some Beast Bird or other thing for distinction and put some eminent and visible Mark upon the Crest of their Helmets and this Ornament both of Arms and Crest descended by inheritance to their Children to the eldest pure and to the rest with some note of distinction such as the Old Master of Ceremonies in High Dutch Here-alt now Herald thought fit Gentlemen well descended and well qualified have alwayes been of such repute in England that none of the higher Nobility no nor the King himself have thought it unfitting to make them sometimes their Companions The Title of Gentleman in England as of Cavalier in France Italy and Spain is not disdained by any Nobleman All Noblemen are Gentlemen though all Gentlemen are not Noblemen The State of Gentry was antiently such that it was accounted an abasing of Gentry to put their Sons to get their Living by Shop-keeping and our Law did account it a disparagement of a Ward in Chivalry to be married to a Shop-keepers Daughter or to any meer Citizen for Tradesmen in all Ages and Nations have been reputed ignoble in regard of the doubleness of their Tongue without which they cannot grow rich for Nihil proficiunt nisi admodum mentiuntur as Tully observed and therefore amongst the Thebans no man was admitted to places of Honour or Trust unless he had left off trading ten years before So by the Imperial Laws a Tradesman is not capable of any