Seas to belong to the King of England according to an Ordinance made at Hastings in Sussex by John King of England about Four hundred and fifty years ago To maintain this Right and Title to protect Trade to subdue Pirates to defend this Kingdom against hostile Invasions and to reduce foreign Potentates to Reason the Kings of England have had especially of later times a considerable number of Ships of War for Strength for Beauty and Sailing if not for number surpassing all those of our Neighbor Nations For Strength by reason of the most excellent English Timber they are like so many floating Castles and Barbicans For Beauty so proportionably and spaciously built and so curiously and richly adorned that they are as so many Royal Palaces Amongst other Ships at Sea they are as so many Lions amongst other silly Beasts or as Eagles amongst other Birds Histories mention a great Fleet of Julius Caesar a Fleet of the forementioned King Edgar consisting of Three thousand six hundred Sail a Fleet of Lewis Son to Philip King of France of Six hundred Sail that arrived at Sandwich to assist the English Barons against King John but those doubtless were but as so many Cottages to Castles in respect of the present Ships of War Henry the Eighth in the Fifth year of His Reign built a Ship then accounted the greatest that ever had been seen in England and named it Henry Grace de Dieu or the Great Henry it was of One thousand Tun. In the Eighth year of King James was built by the Londoners a Ship of Twelve hundred Tun and called The Trades Increase which being lost in the East Indies King James caused another to be built of Fourteen hundred Tun which being given to Prince Henry was by Him named the Prince King Charles the Martyr perceiving the great encrease of Shipping in our Neighbor Nations and that the Soveraignty of these Seas was like to be disputed amongst other great Ships of War built one greater then any Ship of War either in England or in any Countrey of Europe and named it The Royal Soveraign which for a little diversion shall here be more particularly described The Royal Soveraign being a Ship of the First Rate or Rank built in the Year One thousand six hundred thirty and seven is in length by the Keel One hundred twenty seven Foot in bredth by the Beam Forty seven Foot in depth Forty nine Foot her draught of Water Twenty one Foot Of burden in all Two thousand seventy and two Tuns and One thousand five hundred fifty and four Tuns besides Guns Tackle c. This mighty Moving-Castle hath Six Anchors whereof the biggest weighs 6000 l. and the least 4300 l. It hath Fourteen Cables whereof the greatest is Twenty one Inches in compass and weighs 9000 l. Her least Cable being eight Inches in compass weighing near 1300 l. To the Royal Soveraign belong Eighteen Masts and Yards whereof the greatest called The Main Mast is One hundred and thirteen Foot long and Thirty eight Inches Diameter Her Main Yard One hundred and five Foot long and Twenty three Inches Diameter and her Main Top Fifteen Foot Diameter She hath Ten several sorts of Sails of several names as every Ship of every one of the Six Rates hath whereof her greatest Sail called Her Main Course together with her Bonnet contains One thousand six hundred and forty Yards of Canvas Ipswich double and the least Sail called The Fore-top-gallant-sail contains One hundred and thirty yards of Canvas The charge of one compleat Sute of Sails for the Soveraign is 404 l. Sterling Money The weight of the Sea store in point of Ground Tackle and other Cordage is Sixty Tuns Eight hundred and odd pounds She carries a long Boat of Fifty Foot a Pinnace of Thirty six Foot and a Skiff of Twenty seven Foot long The weight of her Rigging is Three and thirty Tun. She hath Three Tire of Guns all of Brass whereof there are Forty four in her upper Tire Thirty four in her second Tire and Twenty two in her lower Tire in all One hundred Guns She carries in all of Officers Soldiers and Mariners Seven hundred Men. Finally Her whole Charges for Wages Victuals Ammunition wear and tear for every Moneth at Sea costs the King 3500 l. Sterling as hath been computed by a very skilful person The charges of Building a Ship of the First Rate together with Guns Tackle and Rigging besides Victualing doth ordinarily amount to about 62432 l. Those of Lower Rates proportionally The King hath now Six Ships of the First Rate whereof Five are longer by the Keel then the forementioned Royal Soveraign and all of the same force except two which yet may carry each one One hundred and ten Guns Of Ships of War great and small the King had before the last War with the United Netherlands above One hundred and sixty Sail whereof a true List followeth A List in Alphabetical Order of all the Ships Frigats and Vessels of his Majestie 's Royal Navy together with the Rates Tuns Men and Guns usually accounted First Rate Ships Tuns Men Guns Charles 1229 550 80 Prince 1205 600 84 Soveraign 1554 700 100 Second Rate    St Andrew 775 300 56 St. George 775 300 56 Henry 1047 380 64 James 792 350 60 London 1050 500 64 Royal James 1100 500 70 Rainbow 782 320 56 Swiftsure 740 340 60 Triumph 779 350 64 Catherine   76 Victory 690 320 56 Unicorn 786 320 56 Vantguard 706 3â—0 56 Royal Oak   76 St. Michael    Third Rate    Anne 742 240 54 Dreadnought 738 240 52 Dunkirk 635 230 48 Edgar    Essex 633 230 48 Fairfax 755 240 52 Henrietta 781 250 50 Glocester 755 240 52 Lyon 550 210 48 Mary 727 260 56 Monk  260 50 Montague 769 260 52 Plâ—mouth 771 250 50 Revenge 741 240 52 Resolution 765 250 52 York 739 240 52 Rupert    Fourth Rate Ships Tuns Men Guns Antelope 550 160 40 Assistance 513 160 40 Advice 516 160 40 Adventure 505 140 24 Amity 354 120 30 Assurance 341 135 32 Bristol 534 180 44 Bear 430 130 36 Breda 515 160 40 Crown 536 160 40 Centurion 531 170 40 Convertine 500 170 40 Constant Warwick 315 135 32 Charity 400 140 38 Diamond 547 160 40 Dover 511 160 40 Dragon 414 150 38 Elizabeth 477 150 38 Elias 400 130 36 Expedition 323 120 30 Foresight 513 160 40 Guinea â—75 120 30 Happy Return 607 180 44 Hampshire 481 150 38 Jersey 560 160 40 Indian 500 180 40 Kent 600 170 40 Leopard 666 180 44 Matthias 400 160 44 Mary Rose 566 160 40 Marmaduke 400 130 32 Newcastle 633 180 44 Nonsuch 389 140 34 Portland 607 170 40 Princess 600 150 36 Portsmouth 433 150 38 Phenix 414 150 38 President 462 150 38 Providence 323 120 30 Reserve 512 160 40 Ruby 550 160 40 Swallow 543 170 40 Saphire 442 150 38 Tyger
It is as antient as the Civility of the Nation though perhaps by another name This Court proceeds either ordinarily according to the Laws Statutes and Customes of the Nation and in Latin granting out Writs mandatory and remedial Writs of Grace or else according to Equity and Conscience and by English Bill so that the Chancery hath two Courts in one the equitable part is by Bills Answers and Decrees to examine Frauds Combinations Trusts secret uses c. to moderate the Rigour of the Laws and rescue men out of the hands of their Oppressors To relieve a man especially in three things viz. against Cheats unfortunate accidents and breaches of Trust Out of this Court issue out Writs or Summons for Parliaments Edicts Proclamations Charters Protections safe Conducts Writs of Moderata Misericordia when any person hath been amerced too high and for a reasonable part of Goods for Widdows and Orphans Patents for Sheriffs Writs of Certiorari to remove Records and false Judgements in inferiour Courts Writs of Audita Querela and Scire facias here are sealed and inrolled Letters Patent Treaties and Leagues with forreign Princes Deeds betwixt Party and Party touching their Lands and Estates or Purchasers taking recognizances and making of Extents upon Statutes and Recognizances for payment of Moneys or securing of Contracts Writs Remedial or Magisterial Commissions of Appeal Oyer and Terminer c. The Court of Common Pleas which are betwixt Subject and Subject hath its Original and Commissions from the Chancery and cannot hold Pleas without it For the Latin part of this Court are the 24 Cursitors and for the English part are the six Clerks The Court of Equity that proceeds not according to Law is no Court of Record and therefore binds onely the person not his Lands or Goods The Judge of this Court is the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England He is here the sole Judge whereas in other Courts there are three or four Judges but he may and doth often in cases of greater weight and difficulty in cases of Law call some of the other Judges to his assistance and therefore it is said this Office may be discharged by one that is no professed Lawyer as it was almost always antiently and so of later times by Sir Christopher Hatton and after by Doctor Williams Bishop of Lincoln to their great praise and commendation It is the highest Dignity in England that a Lay-man is capable of it is Summum ambientis animi quasi Solstitium and the Chancellor is Magistratuum omnium Antistes Antiently the Lord Chancellor had sometimes his Vicechancellor commonly called Keeper of the Great Seal but of later times they differ onely in name In France he that is made Chancellour is durante vita his place cannot be taken away although the Seales may It is said there that he is so to attend to the sole Interest of the King and People that he must not be sensible of any Relations or other consideration and therefore he may not put himself in mourning neither for his own Father nor for the King himself Chancellours have been in England as the learned Dugdale finds as soon as Christianity was embraced by the Saxons The Chancellor is said to be keeper of the Kings Conscience to judge secundum aequum bonum according to equity and conscience he is to moderate the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the exact rigour and letter of the Law whereunto other Judges are strictly tyed for the Princes of this Realm in imitation of the King of Kings governing the World by justice and mercy have erected two supreme Tribunals together at the upper end of Westminster-Hall one of Justice wherein nothing but the strict Letter of the Law is observed and the other of Mercy wherein the Rigour of the Law is tempered with the sweetness of Equity which is nothing else but Mercy qualifying the sharpness of Justice This Court being a Court of Conscience the less it is perplexed with the quirks of Lawyers the more it is guided by Conscience and Equity and therefore the Kings of England would have this Court superiour to the other Tribunals that so if any thing was done amiss by those following the Rigour of the Law here good by Conscience and Equity it might be amended wherein they followed the noble Pattern of the Great Constantine qui omnes suas leges imperfectas esse voluit ut inde subditi sui appellarent ad Episcopos and therefore in all former times the Judges of this Court were chosen out of the Clergy able Divines who by their skil in the Law of God and of Nations were best able to judge according to Moderation and Equity and most willing to execute accordingly also fittest to dispose of the Kings spiritual Benefices Besides when this High Office was given to Bishops and Clergy men in whom wealth and a publick Spirit being usually conjoyned what great publick Acts of Piety and Charity were done by them for this Nation to mention onely in Oxford What noble and rich foundations are Christ-church Magdalens New Colledge and Merton Colledge all founded by Bishops that were Chancellors and on the contrary since the places of Chancellor Treasurer Privy Seal c. have been usually in the Hands of Lay-men what one great work hath been done for the Publick but onely wealth heaped up for their own private Families The manner of Proceeding in this Court is much like that in the Courts of the Civil Law the Actions by Bill or Plaint the Witnesses examined in private the Decrees in Engliâ—h or Latin not in French No Jury of twelve men but all Sentences given by the Judge of the Court. The Chancellor or Lord Keeper hath twelve assistants antiently called Clerici or Magistri Cancellariae because they were usually in Holy Orders and all Doctors of Laws for Master and Doctor was antiently the same as at this day a Doctor in the Arts is called Magister in Artibus The first of these is called Master of the Rolls a place of great dignity and is in the gift of the King either for life or during His Majesties pleasure and this Officer hath jure Officii the gift of those considerable Offices of the six Clerks in Chancery hath the keeping of the Rolls hath the House of the converted Jews now called the Rolls and in the absence of the Chancellor heares Causes and makes Orders by Vertue of a Commission with two Masters and not jure Officii One reason why the Masters of Chancery were ever Civilians may be because for all cases almost imaginable some Law or case conformable thereunto may be fetched by a good Civilian out of that Law of Laws called the Civil Law Another may be because the Chancery more antient then in any other Court of England for all Original writs and Comissions whereupon the other Courts do ground all their proceedings do come from thence hath probably been taken from the Civil Law divers points
Headborough to keep the Peace to secure offenders to bring them before the Justice c. Then for the Ecclesiastical Government of Villages there is as before hath been mentioned the Parson or Vicar who hath Curam Animarum the Care of Souls as the Lord of the Mannor hath in some measure Curam Corporum for which he hath the Tythes Glebe and Church Offrings hath under him the Church-wardens and Sides-men to take care of the Church and Church Assemblies the Overseers of the Poor to take care of the Poor Sick Aged Orphans and other Objects of Charity and Lastly the Clark to wait on him at Divine Service Thus admirable and excellent is the Constitution of the present English Government above and beyond any other Government in Christendom O Fortunatos nimium bona si sua norint Angligenas If English men did know their Bliss Too great would be their Happiness Of the Military Government of England IT was a smart Motto that the Great Henry the IV. of France Grandfather to our Gracious King now raigning caused to be engraven on his Great Guns Ratio Ultima Regum Intimating thereby that when Subjects refuse to submit to the Laws of the Land or Neighbours to the Law of Nations then Kings have recourse to Force and Armes to bring them to Reason So long as Subjects are prone to Sedition and Neighbour-Princes and States to Ambition there will be a necessity of a Military Power in every State both by Land and likewise by Sea where the Country is any where bordering on the Sea Of the Military power of England both by Land and Sea the King of England hath the sole supreme Power Government Command and disposition And neither one nor both Houses of Parliament have any right to levey any Forces or make any War Offensive or Defensive as they have at large declared in Parliament Anno 14 Car 2. By Land the next under the King was the late Duke of Albemarle who by His Majesties Commission dated 4 th of April 1660. at Breda was made Generalissimo of all His Majesties Forces in all His Three Kingdoms Horse and Foot Land Souldiers in pay as well within Garrison as without Since the Death of the aforementioned Duke the Horse and Foot which are in constant Pay are thus ordered there are four excellent Regiments of Foot The first is called the Kings Regiment consisting of 24 Companies and near 1700 men commanded by Coll. John Russel whose Lieftenant Coll. is Edw. Grey brother to the Lord Grey and whose Major is William Rolleston The next is the Duke of Yorks Regiment 720 men commanded by Sir Charles Littelton whos 's Lieft. Coll. is Sir John Griffith and his Major Nath. Dorrel Of the third Regiment 600 men Sir Walter Vane is Coll. Thomas Howard of Suffolk Lieft. Coll. and Sir Thomas Ogle Major Of the fourth Regiment 960 men the Coll. is the Earl of Craven his Lieft. Col. is Sir James Smith his Major John Millar There is also a Gallant Regiment of Horse consisting of 8 Troops about 500 Horse besides Officers commanded by the Earl of Oxford and his Major is Francis Windham His Majesty hath besides 3 compleat Troops for his Life Guards whereof one is called the Kings Troop consisting of 200 Horse and commanded by the Duke of Monmouth Another the Queens Troop 150 Horse and commanded by Sir Philip Howard and the third the Duke of Yorks Troop 150 Horse and commanded by the Marquis of Blanquefort whereof see more in the first Part of the Present State of England The pay of a Colonel of Foot is 20 s. per diem and of a Colonel of Horse 12 s. per diem the other Officers have proportionable pay Each Foot Souldier in London hath 10 d. a day and each Horseman 2 s. 6 d. a day Onely those of the Life Guard have each 4 s. a day The rest of His Majesties Forces that are in constant pay are disposed of into several Garrisons a List whereof follows Alphabetically with the names of their several Governors Barwick Lord Widdrington Carlile Sir Philip Musgrave Chepstow Captain Roger Vaughan Chester Sir Jeofry Shackerly Dover Capt. Strode Deale Capt Titus Guernsey Lord Hatton Gravesend Sir Francis Leak Harwich Sir Charles Littleton Hull John Lord Bellassis Jersey Sir Thomas Morgan Languard Fort Major Dorrell St. Maws Sir Viel Vivian Pendenis Richard Lord Arundel Plimouth Earl of Bath Portsmouth D. of York Sir Philip Honywood Lieutenant Governor Scarborough Sir Tho. Slingsby Scylly Isle Sir Will. Godolphin Shereness Sir Bourcher Wray Tinmouth Col. Edward Villars Tower Sir John Robinson Vpner Castle Windsor Castle Prince Rupert Isle of Wight Sir Robert Holmes York the Lord Freschevile In some of these Garrisons His Majesty is at the charge of above 500 men constantly each Garrison Souldier hath 8 pence a day Of all the land Forces in pay the Commissaries Gen. of Musters are Henry Howard of Suffolk and Sir Cecil Howard The Pay-master of all the Forces is Sir Stephen Fox The Judge Advocate Dr. Sam. Barrow For regulating and ordering His Majesties Land Forces that are in constant pay there are no Orders yet setled by Act of Parliament as there are for his Sea Forces but may be in a short time Besides the afore-mentioned Forces there is the standing Militia by Land of all England setled in the King to be governed ordered and enlarged from time to time as his Majesty shall see occasion For the management of these standing Land Forces the King himself makes choice of divers of the principal Peers of his Kingdome and by Commission creates them Lord Lieutenants of the several Counties of England with power to arm array and form into Companies Troops and Regiments to conduct upon occasion of Rebellion or Invasions and employ the men so armed within the Counties and Places for which the said Lords are commissioned or into any other County as the King shall give order To give Commissions to Colonels or other Commissioned Officers to present to the King the names of the Deputy-Lieutenants who have in the absence of the Lord Lieutenant the same power and these are to be of the prime Gentry of the County to charge any person in the County with Horse Horsemen and Arms or Foot Souldiers and Arms within the said County proportionable to their estates with limitation that no person be charged with a Horse unless he hath 500 l. yearly Revenue or 6000 l. in personal Estate No person to be charged with a Foot Souldier unless he hath 50 l. yearly Revenue or 600 l. personal Estate Those that have meaner Estates are to joyn two or three together to find a Horse and Horseman or a Foot Souldier The forementioned Horse and Foot are to muster once or twice a year and each Horseman during the time of the Muster to be allowed him for whom he serves 2 s. a day and each Foot Souldier 12 d. a day For furnishing Ammunition and other Necessaries the Lord Lieutenant
following are a few heads or particulars of them viz. The Leagues of foreign Princes and the Treaties with them And all the Atchievements of this Nation in France and other Foreign Parts The Original of all the Laws that have been Enacted or Recorded until the Reign oi Richard the Third The Homage and Dependency of Scotland upon England The Establishment of Ireland in Laws and Dominions The Dominion of the British Seas totally excluding both the French and Hollander to Fish therein without Licence from England proved by Records before the Conquest The Interest of the Isle of Man and the Isles of Jersey Gernsey Sark and Alderny which four last are the remaining part of the Norman possession The Title to the Realm of France and how obtained And all that the Kings or Princes of this Land have until that time done abroad or granted or confirmed unto their Subjects at home or abroad Tenures of all the Lands in England Extents or Surveys of Mannors and Lands Inquisitions post mortem being of infinite advantage upon tryals of Interest or Descent Liberties and Priviledges granted to Cities and Towns Corporate or to private Men as Court-Leets Waiffs Estrays Mercats Fairs Free warren Felons Goods or what else could come to the Crown or pass out of it Several Writs Pleadings and Proceedings as well in Chancery as in all the Courts of Common Law and Exchequer Inspeximus's and Inrolments of Charters and Deeds made and done before the Conquest Deeds and Contracts between party and party and the just establishment of all the Offices in the Nation The Metes and Bounds of all the Forests in England with the several respective Rights of the Inhabitants therein to Common of Pasture c. Besides many other Priviledges and Evidences which are too long to be here repeated or inserted And are therefore in the Petition of the Commons of England in Parliament An. 46 Edw. 3. num 43. said to be the perpetual Evidence of every Mans right and the Records of this Nation without which no story of the Nation can be written or proved These Records are reposited within a certain Place or Tower called Wakefield Tower adjoyning to the Bloody Tower near Traytors Gate There is another place called Julius Caesars Chappel in the White Tower The going up to this Chappel is in Gold Harbor Eighty four Steps up with Six or eight great Pillars on each side and at the upper end thereof there was a Marble Altar which in the late times of Rebellion was caused to be beaten down as a Monument of Tyranny and Superstition There are many Cart load of Records lying in this place out of which William Prynne Esquire late Keeper of the same with indefatigable labor Collected and Printed many of Publick Utility Annis 1659 1660 1662 1664. in Four several Volumes beginning Primo Regis Johannis for before that time there are no Rolls but onely Chartae Antiquae or Ancient Transcripts made and done before and since the Conquest until the beginning of King John Then follows His Son Henry the Third where the first Offices Post Mortem begins Then there is Edward the First Second and Third Richard the Second Henry the Fourth Henry the Fifth Henry the Sixth and Edward the Fourth and the Inquisitions Post Mortem of Richard the Third who reigned onely Three years The Rolls of that King are in the Chappel of the Rolls in Chancery Lane The Rolls in the Tower are variously distinguished viz. Rotuli Patentium Cartarum Parliamentorum Clausarum finium Scotiae Vasconiae Franciae Hiberniae Walliae Normanniae Alemanniae Oblatae Liberatae Extractae Perambulationes Forestae Scutag Rotul Marescal Romae de Treugis Chart. Patent fact in partibus transmarinis Patent de Domibus Judaeorum Protection de Perdonation c. Stapulae cum multis aliis which are lately depicted upon the outside of every Press in the Repository belonging to each Kings Reign and very easily to be brought forth for the use of the Client By a Table of Orders hanging up in the said Office and subscribed by the Keeper hereof The same is to be kept open and constantly attended for all Resorters thereto from the hours of Seven till eleven of the Clock in the Morning and from One till five in the Afternoon every day of the week except in the Moneths of December January and February and in them from Eight till eleven in the morning and from One to four in the Afternoon except on Holidays Publick Fasting and Thanksgiving days and times of great Pestilence The Governor of this great and important Fortress being called The Lieutenant of the Tower is usually a Person of great worth and fidelity who is Virtute Officii to be in Commission of the Peace for the Counties of Kent Surrey and Middlesex He is High Steward of a Court there held hath a Deputy and may refuse an Habeas Corpus may give Protection to all Debtors belonging to the Tower Infra Regnum Angliae Hath the Priviledge to take Unam lagenam Two Gallons and a Pint Antâ— malum retro of all Wine Ships that come and to be as some hold Custos Rotulorum of the County of Middlesex His Salary is 200 l. per annum His usual Fee for every Prisoner sent to the Tower who are commonly Men of Estates is 20 l. and 3 l a week for an Esquire and 5 l. for a Knight For a Baron or above 50 l. at entrance to whom the King allows weekly 10 l. whereof two parts go to the Prisoner the third to the Lieutenant for Lodgings and Diet and 50 l. to the Lieutenant upon the Prisoners discharge The present Lieutenant of the Tower is Sir John Robinson Baronet The Gentleman Porter of the Tower holds his place by Patent and at the entrance of a Prisoner hath for his Fee Vestimenta superiora or else a Composition for the same The Gentleman Jaylor is put in by the Lieutenant of the Tower his Fee is 41 s. of a Gentleman and 5 l. of a Knight Then there are Forty Warders of the Tower accounted the Kings Domestick Servants and sworn by the Lord Chamberlain of His Majesties Houshold or by the Clerk of the Check The Moneys allowed by the King to the several Officers and Servants in the Tower and for keeping in repair that huge structure amounts to a vast sum Near the Tower is S. Katherines which hath a Royal Jurisdiction for the Ecclesiastical Causes and Probate of Wills and belongeth to the Queen Dr. Bud is Commissary from whom if any will appeal it must be to the King in His Court of Chancery who thereupon issueth out a Commission under the Great Seal as in Appeals from the Arches or Prerogative The next thing remarkable in the City of London may be the Bridge which for admirable Workmanship for vastness of Foundation for all Dimensions and for the solid stately Houses and rich Shops built thereon surpasseth all others in Europe it hath Nineteen
are as the Dies Nefâ—sti wherein the Courts sit not so that in one fourth part of the year and that in one City all considerable causes of the greatest part of England are fully decided and determined whereas in forreign parts the Courts of Justice are open all the year except high Holydayes and Harvest and that in all great Cities This may seem therefore strange to all Forreigners till they know that the English have alwayes been given more to peaceableness and industry then other people and that rather then go so far as London and be at so great Charges with Attourneyes and Lawyers they will either refer their differences to the Arbitration of their Parish Priests who do or ought to think it a Principal part of their Duty to reconcile differences within their Parishes or to the Arbitration of honest Neighbours or else are content to submit their differences to tryal before the Judges of Assises or the Itinerant Judges who twice a year viz. after the end of Hilary Term and after the end of Trinity Term two by two of these principal Judges ride several Circuits and at the Principal Town of every County sit to hear and determine all Causes of lesser moment both civil and criminal a most excellent wise Constitution begun by King Hen. 2. Anno 1176. who at first divided England into six Circuits not the same that are now and to each Circuit allotted three judges Wales also is divided into two Circuits North and South Wales for which are designed in like manner two Sergeants at Law for each Circuit These Judges give Judgment of the Pleas of the Crown and all Common Pleas within those Counties dispatching ordinarily in two or three days all Controversies in a County that are grown to issue in the fore-mentioned Courts at London between Plaintiffs and Defendants and that by their Peers a Jury of 12 men ex viceneto out of the neighbourhood where about the business lyes So that twice a year in England and Wales Justice may be said to be rightly and speedily administred even at our own doors Besides the forementioned Courts at Westminster Henry 8. erected for the more ease of the Subject a Court in the North of England another for the County of Wales and Counties adjoyning and intended another for Cornwall and Devonshire and these in manner of those Courts called in France Parlements where all cases might be decided both according to the Laws of England and according to equity in Chancery Of these Courts that for Cornwal was never fully erected those people desiring rather to come to London for Justice that of the North was by the late long Parliament taken away and so was that of Wales but this last since the Restauration of the King again erected Of this Court or Council of the Marshes of Wales is a Lord President at present the Lord Vaughan Earl of Carbury divers Councellors Secretary Attourney Sollicitor Surveyor who have Salaries from His Majesty HAving given a brief Account of the Civil Government of all England in General next shall be described the particular Government of Counties Hundreds Cities Burroughs and Villages For the Civil Government of all Counties the King makes choice of some of the Nobility Clergy Gentry and Lawyers men of worth and parts who have their usual residence in the County so many as His Majesty pleaseth to keep the Peace of the County and these by Commission under the great Seal are called Justices of Peace and such of them in whom the King doth more particularly confide or respect are called Justices of the Quorum from those words in the Commission Quorum A. B. unum esse volumus that is some business of more importance may not be transacted without the presence or concurrence of one of them One of the principal Justices of Peace and Quorum is by the Lord Keeper made Custos Rotulorum so called because he hath the Custody of the Rolls or Records of the Sessions and is to bring them to each Quarter Sessions The Original of Justices of Peace is from the first year of Edward 3. Their Office is to call before them examine and commit to Prison all Theeves Murderers wandring Rogues those that hold Conspiracies Conventicles Riots and almost all other Delinquences that may occasion the breach of Peace and quiet to the Kings Subjects to commit all such to prison as either cannot or by Law are not to be bailed that is cannot be set at liberty by Sureties taken for their appearance at a place and time certain land to see them brought forth in due time to Tryal Every Quarter or three months the Justices meet at the chief or Shire Town where the Grand Enquest or Jury of the County is summoned to appear who upon Oath are to inquire of all Traitors Hereticks Theeves Murderers Money-coiners Riots c Those that appear to be guilty are by the said Justices committed to prison to be tryed at the next Assises when the Judges of Westminster come their Circuits aforementioned For execution of Laws in every County except Westmorland and Durham the King every Michaelmas Term nominates for each County a Sheriff that is a Reeve of the Shire Praepositus or Praefectus Comitatus a Governor or Guardian of the County for the words of the Patent are Commisimus tibi Custodiam Commitatus nostri de N. The Sheriffs Office is to execute the Kings Mandates and all Writs directed to him out of the Kings Courts to empannel Juries to bring Causes and Criminals to Tryal to see the sentences both in Civil and Criminal affairs executed to wait on and guard the Itenerant Judges twice a year so long as they continue within the County which at the Assises is performed with great Pomp Splendor Feasting c In order to the better execution of his Office the Sheriff hath attendant his Under-Sheriff divers clerks Stewards of Courts Bayliffs of Hundreds Constables Gaolers Sergeants or Beedles besides a gallant train of servants in rich Liveries all on Horseback at the Reception of the Judges He was antiently chosen as Knights of the Shire but to avoid Tumults it is now thus Every year about the beginning of November the Judges Itinerant nominate six fit men of each County that is Kts. or Esquires of good Estates out of these the Lords Keeper Treasurer Privy Councellors and 12 Judges assembled in the Exchequer Chamber and sworn make choice of three of which the King himself after chooseth one to be Sheriff for that year only though heretofore it was for many years and sometimes heriditary as at this day to the Cliffords who by dissent from Robert de Vipont are Sheriffs heriditary of the County of Westmoreland by Charter from King John Furthermore the Sheriffs Office is to collect all publick profits Customes Taxes of the County all Fines Distresses and Amerceaments and to bring them into the Kings Exchequer or Treasury at London or else where as the King shall appoint The
Sheriff of each County hath a double function first Ministerial to execute all Processes and Precepts of the Courts of Law and to make returns of the same Secondly Judicial whereby he hath authority to hold two several Courts of distinct nature the one called the Sheriffs Turn which he holdeth in several places of the County enquiring of all Criminal Offences against the Common-Law not prohibited by any Statute The other called the County Court wherein he hears and determines civil Causes of the County under 40 s. which antiently was a considerable summe so that by the great fall of the moneys now the Sheriffs authority in that part is much diminished He is said to be the life of Justice of the Law and of the County for no suit begins and no process is served but by him then no Execution of the Law but by him lastly he is the chief Conservator of the Peace in the whole County Every County being subdivided into Hundreds so called at first either for containing an hundred houses or 100 men bound to find Armes or Wapentakes so called from touching a weapon when they swore Allegiance as the manner at this day is in Sweden at their solemn weddings for the chief witnesses to lay all their hands upon a Lance or Pike every such Wapentake oâ— Hundred hath commonly a Bayliff a very antient Officer but now of small Authority also Officers called High Constables first ordained by the Statute of Winchester 13 Edw. 1. for conservation of Peace and view of Armour they disperse Warrants and Orders of the Justices of Peace to each Pety Constable There are also in every County two Officers called Coroners whose Office is to enquire by a Jury of Neighbours how and by whom any person came by a violent death and to enter the same upon Record which is matter Criminal and a plea of the Crown and thence they are called Crowners or Coroners These are chosen by the Free holders of the County by vertue of a Writ out of the Chancery They were antiently men of estates Birth and Honour and therefore in the Reign of Edward III. a Merchant being chosen a Coroner was removed quia communis Mercator fuit whereas he ought to have been a Gentleman which have no Trades man is reckoned to be by our Laws Every County also hath an Officer called Clerk of the Mercat whose Office is to keep a Standard of all Weights and Measures exactly according with the Kings Standard kept in the Exchequer and to see that none others be used in the same County to Seal all Weights and Measures made exactly by the Standard in his custody and to burn such as are otherwise He hath a Court and may keep and hold Plea therein Of the Civil Government of Cities EVery City of England by their Charters or Priviledges granted by several Kings is a little Common-wealth apart governed not as the Cities of France by a Nobleman or Gentleman placed there by the King but wholly by themselves they choose amongst themselves their own Governor in Cities a Mayor is chosen commonly out of 12 Aldermen In some other Coâ—porations a Bailiff is chosen out of a certain number of Burgesses They are not taxed but by their own Officers of their own Corporation every trade having some of their own alwayes of the Council to see that nothing be enacted contrary to their profit Every City by Charter from the King hath haute moyenne basse Justice a jurisdiction amongst themselves to judge in all matters criminal and civil onely with this restraint that all civil causes may be removed from their Courts to the Higher Courts at Westminster The Mayor of the City is the Kings Lieftenant and with the Aldermâ—n and Common Council as it were King Lords and Commons in Parliament can make Laws called By-Laws for the Government of the City He is for his time which is but for one year as it were a Judge to determine matters and to mitigate the Rigour of the Law The next in Government of Cities are two principal Officers called though improperly the Sheriffs who are Judges in civil causes within this City and to see all execution done whether penal or capital and should rather be called Stat-reeves or Port-reeves i. e. Urbis vel Portus Praefecti In Cities the people are generally made more industrious by Manufactures and less idleness suffered then in other places so that in some Cities children of six or seven years old are made to gain their own expences In the City of Norwich it hath of late yeares been computed and found that yearly children from 6 to 10 years of age have gained 12 thousand pounds more then what they spend and that chiefly by knitting fine Jersey Stockings The Government of Burroughs and other Towns corporate is much after the same manner In some there is a Mayor in others one or two Bailiffs who have equal power with a Mayor and Sheriffs and during their Offices they are Justices of the Peace within their Liberties and have there the same power that other Justices of the Peace have in the County For the better Government of Villages the Lord of the place hath ordinarily power to hold a Court-Baron so called because antiently such Lords were called Barons as they are still in many parts of France or else Court Baron i. e. Court of Freeholders as the Barons of Germany are called Frey herren so the Barons of the Cinque Ports in England are but the Freeholders of the Cinque Ports And this Court may be held every 3 weeks Also for the Government of Villages there is a Pety Constable chosen every year by every one that is Lord of the place this Officer is to keep the Peace in case of quarrels to search any house for Robbers Murdrers or others that have any way broken the peace to raise the Hue and Cry after Robbers fled away to seize upon them and keep them in the Stocks or other Prison till they can bring them before some Justice of Peace to whom the Constables are subservient upon all occasiions either to bring crrminals before them or to carry them by their command to the common Prison Every little Village almost hath an Epitome of Monarchical Government of Civil and Ecclesiastical policy within it self which if duly maintained would render the whole Kingdome happy First for the civil Government there is the Lord of the Soyl who from the Crown immediately or mediately holds Dominium soli and is said to have in him the Royalty as if he were a little King and hath a kind of Jurisdiction over the Inhabitants of the Village hath his Court-Leetâ— or Court-Baron to which they owe suit and service and where may be tryed smaller matters happening within the Mannour Escheats upon Felonies or other accidents Custody of Infants and Lunaticks power of passing Estates and admitting of Tenants Reliefs Hariots Hunting Hawking Fishing c. under the Lord is the Constable or
or Deputy Lieutenants may levy every year one fourth part if they judge it expedient of each mans proportion in the Tax of 70000 l. a moneth upon the whole Kingdom And in the case of marching against an enemy they have power to cause every man so charged to allow each Souldier one months pay which the King is after to repay before they may be charged with another moneths pay These Forces are alwayes in readiness with all things necessary at the beat of a Drum or sound of Trumpet to appear muster and be compleat with men horse and armes and are at certain times trained and disciplined that they become able skilful and useful Souldiers These are to be commanded only within the Kingdom for the security of the King and Kingdom Subservient in the standing Militia to the Lord Lieutenant and Deputy Lieutenant are the Justices of Peace of every County who upon all occasions according to the orders of their Superiors are to send their Warrants to the High Constable of the Hundred or Petty Constable of the Parish c. These are commonly called the Train-bands of every County whereof the number is so great that in only five of the bigger Counties of England there are to be found well provided forty thousand able lusty men ready to assist the King upon all occasions so that in all times of peace the King hath six or sevenscore thousand men enrolled and wholly and solely at his disposing for the defence of his Kingdom of England For the better securing of the Kingdom from foreign Invasion besides the Ships of war whereof more anon there are upon certain eminent places over al parts of England mediterrane as well as maritime high Poles erected whereon are fastned pitch Barrels to be fired by night and a smoke made by day and thereby to give notice in few hours to the whole Kingdom of the approaching Invasion whereupon the Inhabitants in arms make haste to the sea-coasts These are called Becons from the Saxon Beacen or Beacnian to shew by a sign In all times of danger some are set to watch at every Becon Antiently there were many Castles in all parts of England but inland Castles generally have either been demolisht in latter times or wittingly suffered to decay that to Rebels they might be no shelter to Invaders no stay nor to the Invaded any refuge in flight and consequently that there may not be any lingring war again in England which is the greatest misery and calamity that can ever happen to a Nation In 1588. upon expectation of the Spanish Armado stiled invincible there went forth from the Queen Commissions to muster in all parts of England all men that were of perfect sense and limb from the age of 16. to 60 except Noblemen Clergy-men University Students Lawyers Officers and such as had any publick charges leaving only in every Parish so many Husbandmen as were sufficient to till the ground In all those Musters there were then numbred three millions but of those fit for war about six hundred thousand In another Muster of Queen Elizabeth there were found in all England fit for war of common Souldiers about four hundred thousand and of those armed and trained one hundred eighty five thousand besides Horse near forty thousand and that the Nobility and Gentry were then able to bring into the field of their Servants and Followers twenty thousand men Horse and Foot choice men and excellent horses and in all fit for war and ready upon all occasions six hundred forty two thousand leaving sufficient to till the ground and to furnish Trades besides Nobility Gentry c. Of the present Maritime Power belonging to the Crown of England THe Kingdom of England being a Peninsula almost surrounded with the sea there will alwayes be a necessity of maritime forces And as next Neighbours grow potent at sea the King of England will be necessitated to augment his maritime forces proportionably how great soever the charge thereof may be or else to quit his antient right to the Soverainty of the narrow seas and to suffer his Merchants to be abused and their traffique every where interrupted It is true that in the 24. of Eliz. upon a general view and muster there were found but 13 Ships of war and 135 Ships of considerable burden belonging to all the Subjects of England and in the year 1600 her Majesty had but 36 Ships of war and 13 or 14 Pinaces the biggest Ship was then of One thousand Tun carried Three hundred and forty Mariners One hundred and thirty Soldiers and but Thirty piece of Ordnance The lesser Ships of War were of One hundred Tun Forty or fifty Mariners Seven or eight Soldiers and Eight Guns The Pinnaces of Thirty Tun Eighteen or twenty Mariners and Two or four Guns so small was the Royal Fleet in those days when our next Neighbor Nations were weak and always engaged with Civil and Foreign Wars but now that their strength at Sea is of late so prodigiously increased it will be most expedient for this Kingdom to be always well provided And God be thanked we have a King that understands better and takes more delight in Maritime Affairs and Ships of War then any of His Royal Ancestors or any Soveraign Prince now living in the World and who hath made it His cheif business that way to fortifie this Kingdom The Forces of Potentates at Sea Sont des Marques de Grandeur d'Estat saith a French Author Whosoever commands the Sea commands the Trade of the World He that commands the trade commands the Wealth of the World and consequently the World it self Again As he that is Master of the Field is said to be Master of every Town when it shall please him so he that is Master of the Sea may in some sort be said to be Master of every Countrey at least of such as are bordering on the Sea for he is at liberty to begin or end a War where and upon what terms he pleaseth and to extend his Conquests even to the Antipodes To the Crown of England belongs the Dominion of all the Narrow Seas round about the whole Island of Great Britain by Ancient Right whereof it hath had possession in all times First the Aborigenes or Ancient Britains were possest thereof as Mr. Selden makes appear and in their Right the Romans held it then the Saxons having gotten possession of England kept that Dominion their King Edgar amongst His Royal Titles calling Himself Soveraign of the Narrow Seas Afterward the Normans possessing England claimed and quietly possest the same Dominion in testimony whereof the Swedes Danes Hans-Towns Hollanders Zealanders c. were wont to ask leave to pass the British Seas and to take Licenses to fish therein And to this day do strike Sail to all the Ships of War belonging to the King of England as oft as they pass by any one of them thereby to express that they acknowledge the Soveraignty of the British
at this City as oft as the Moon comes to the North East and South West points of Heaven the one in our Hemisphere and the other in the other Hemisphere The highest Tides are upon a Land Flood the Wind Northwest at the Equinoctial and the Moon at full when these four causes concur which is very rare then the Thames swells in some places over its Banks and Westminster is a little endammaged in their Cellars not in their Chambers and upper Rooms as the City of Rome sometimes is by the overflowing of the Tiber and Paris by the Seyne This River opening Eastward towards Germany and France is much more advantageous for Traffick than any other River of England To say nothing of the variety of excellent Fish within this River the fruitful fat soil the pleasant rich Meadows and innumerable stately Palaces on both sides thereof in a word the Thames seems to be the very Radical moisture of this City and in some sense the natural heat too for almost all the Fuel for firing is brought up this River from Newcastle Scotland Kent Essex c. From this River the City by water Engins is in many places supplyed with excelient wholsome water also from almost twenty Conduits of pure Spring water and moreover by a new River brought at a vast charge and exquisite skill by Sir Hugh Middleton who deserves his Statue in Brass from Amwell and Chadwell two Springs near Ware in Hartfordshire from whence in a turning and winding course it runs threescore miles before it reaches this City In some places the Channel is necessarily thirty foot deep in other place it is carried over valeys more then twenty foot high above ground in open Troughs Over this new River are made eight hundred Bridges some of Stone some of Brick and some of Wood Six hundred men have been at once employed in this great work It was begun 1608. and finished in five years It serves the highest parts of London in their lower Rooms and the lower parts in their highest Rooms The vast Traffick and Commerce whereby this City doth flourish may be guessed at chiefly by the Customs which are paid for all Merchandise imported or exported which are but very moderate Impositions in comparison of the Imposts of most other Countries of Europe and yet the Customs of the Port of London onely amount to above three hundred thousand pounds a year By the infinite number of Ships which by their Masts resemble a Forest as they lye along this stream besides many that are sent forth every year to carry and fetch Commodities to and from all parts of the known world whereby it comes to pass that no small number of Merchants of London for Wealth for stately Houses within the City for Winter and without for Summer for rich Furniture plentiful Tables and honorable living c. excel some Princes in divers of our neighbour Nations Moreover one may conjecture at the huge Commerce by the infinite number of great well furnished Shops which a Spaniard once observing together with the great number of Law sutes in Term time made this report of London to his Country-men that it was indeed a great City but made up of nothing but Tiendas y Contiendas Shops and Sutes whereas he might rather have said more truly in a few more words viz. that London is a huge Magazin of Men Money Ships Horses and Ammunition of all sorts of Commodities necessary or expedient for the use or pleasure of mankind that London is the mighty Rendevous of Nobility Gentry Courtiers Divines Lawyers Physitians Merchants Seamen and all kinds of excellent Artificers of the most refined Wits and most excellent Beauties for it is observed that in most Families of England if there be any Son or Daughter that excels the rest in Beauty or Wit or perhaps Courage or Industry or any other rare quality London is their North-star and they are never at rest till they point directly thither The Government of this City considering the greatness and populousness thereof is very admirable and might take up a Volume in the description thereof The Ecclesiastical Government is by a Bishop was in the time of the Britains by an Archbishop but when it became subject to the Saxons the Archiepiscopal Sea was placed at Canterbury not because that was the more worthy City but for the sake of Saint Austin who first preacht the Gospel there to the Heathen Saxons and was there buried Since which time it hath been under a Bishop above ten Centuries and a half in a continual succession in which space there are reckoned 99 Bishops of London to the Present worthy Bishop thereof the grave learned pious divine Doctor Humphry Henchman consecrated Bishop of Salisbury 1660. and translated to London 1663. To his Cathedral also belongs a Dean a Chapter a Treasurer and Thirty Prebendaries all persons of worth For the Ecclesiastical Government of the several Parishes there are are placed many excellent Divines that have the Cure of Souls a Rector or Vicar for every Parish and these have for a long time had the repute of the most excellent way of Sermonizing in Christendom insomuch as divers Divines of foreign Reformed Churches have come hither on purpose to learn their manner of haranguing in the Pulpit For maintaining these Divines with their families there is in every Parish a Parsonage or Vicaridge house and in most a competent allowance in Tithes Antiently the Parsons due in London besides the Tithes of the Trades-mens Gains and Mortuaries Obits c. was 3 s. 5 d. in the pound of the yearly Rent of all Houses and Shops and this was paid as Offerings on Sundayes and Holidayes onely a half penny for each pound whereby the Parishioners did hardly feel it although the Sundayes and Holy-dayes were so many that in a whole year it amounted to 3 s. 5 d. in the pound Afterwards many Holidayes being taken away and the Clergy Means thereby abated it was ordained 25 H. 8. that 2 s. 9 d. in the pound of all Rents of Houses and Shops should be paid yearly to the Parson whereunto the Londoners did not onely consent as they had good reason it being much less in the pound then before but bound themselves by an Act of Common Council to perform the same and the said Ordinance was confirmed in Parliament 27 Hen. 8. and again 37 Hen. 8. with a power given to the Lord Mayor to commit to prison any Citizen that should refuse to pay his Tythes and Dues according to that proportion But since the Reformation many men willing to think Tythes a rag of Popery or else making no conscience of robbing God have devised many base and fraudulent wayes by double Leases by great Fines and small Rents and several other wayes to cheat the Law and their God Mal. 3.8 complaint whereof being made to King James 1618. it was declared in his Court of Exchequer by the Barons there that the Inhabitants of London
Arches founded in a deep broad River and some say on a soft ozy Ground is Eight hundred Foot in length Sixty high and Thirty broad hath a Draw bridge almost in the middle and Twenty Foot between each Arch it was built Anno 1209. in the Reign of King John The first Stone-bridge in England having been built above One hundred years before by Queen Maud Wife to Henry the First at Stratford on the River Lee Three miles from London so called from the Highway there passing over a Ford and since called Stratford Bow from the Arched Bridge a piece of Architecture then new to the English Nation The building of this Bridge of London was an exceeding difficult and costly piece of Work and to those that consider the constant great Flux and Reflux at that place it seems almost impossible to be done again The charges of keeping it in repair is so great that it hath been thought fit by our Ancestors to have a large House a vast Revenue in Lands and Houses divers considerable Officers c. to be set apart for the constant care and repair thereof Concerning this Bridge and the stupendious site and structure thereof take here the fancy of an ingenious Person deceased WHen Neptune from his Billows London spi'd Brought proudly thither by a High Spring-Tide As through a Floating Wood he steer'd along And moving Castles cluster'd in a throng When he beheld a mighty Bridge give law Unto his Surges and their fury aw When such a Shelf of Cataracts did roar As if the Thames with Nile had chang'd her shoar When he such Massie Walls such Towers did eye Such Posts such Irons upon his back to â—ie When such vast Arches he observ'd that might Nineteen Rialto's make for depth and height When the Cerulean god these things survey'd He shook his Trident and astonish'd said Let the whole Earth now all Her Wonders count This Bridge of Wonders is the Paramount Not far below this famous Bridge is placed the Custome House where is received and managed all the Impositions laid on Merchandise Imported or Exported from this City which are so considerable that of all the Customs of England divided into three parts the Port of London pays Two thirds that is above 330000 l. yearly In this Office there are employed many persons of great ability and worth Collectors Customers Comptrollers Surveyors Registers whereof some have Salaries of 500 l. yearly besides many perquisites The House where this great Office was kept being destroyed by the late Fire is now rebuilt in a very much more magnificent uniform and commodious manner by the King and will cost His Majesty 10000 l. the building There are at present within this City of London divers other very considerable Offices whereof take the account following Of the Office of Post-Master General THe Profits of the said Office are setled by Act of Parliament on his Royal Highness the Duke of York but His Majesty doth constitute His Post-Master General by Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England and accordingly hath conferred that Office upon the Right Honorable Henry Lord Arlington His Principal Secretary of State The present Post-Master General keepeth one Grand or General Office in the City of London from whence Letters and Pacquets are dispatched Every Monday to France Italy Spain Flanders Germany Sweden Danemark c and to Kent Every Tuesday to the United Netherlands Germany c. And to all parts of England Scotland and Ireland Every Wednesday to Kent onely and the Downs Every Thursday to France Spain Italy and all parts of England and Scotland Every Friday to the Spanish and United Netherlands Germany Sweden Danemark and to Kent Every Saturday to all parts of England Scotland and Ireland And the Answers of the said Letters and Pacquets are received in the said Office in due Course And from thence dispersed and delivered according to their respective directions with all expedition The said Office is managed by a Deputy and other Officers to the number of Seventy seven Persons who give their actual attendance respectively in the dispatch of the business Upon this Grand Office depends One hundred eighty two Deputy Post-Masters in England and Scotland most of which keep Regular Offices in their Stages and Sub Post-Masters in their Branches and also in Ireland another General Office for that Kingdom which is kept in Dublin consisting of Eighteen like Officers and Forty five Deputy Post-Masters The present Post-Master General keeps constantly for the transport of the said Letters and Pacquets Between England and France Two Pacquet-Boats Flanders Two Pacquet-Boats Holland Three Pacquet-Boats Ireland Three Pacquet-Boats And at Deal Two Pacquet-Boats for the Downs All which Officers Post-Masters Pacquet-Boats are maintained at his own proper charge And as the Master piece of all those good regulations established by the present Post-master General for the better government of the said office he hath annexed and apropriated the Market Towns of England so well to the respective Post-stages that there is no considerable Market-Town but hath an easy and certain Conveyance for the Letters thereof to and from the said grand office in the due Course of the Mailes every Post Note also that all Letters are conveyed with more expedition and less charges then in any forreign Country A Letter containing a whole sheet of Paper is conveyed 80 miles for 2 d. 2 sheets 4 d. and an ounce of Letters but 8 d. and that in so short a time by night as well as by day that every 24 hours the Post goes 120 miles and in 5 dayes an answer of a Letter may be had from a place 300 miles distant from the Writer Moreover if any Gentleman desires to ride Post to any principal Town of England Post-Horses are alwayes in readiness taking no Horse without the consent of his owner which in other Kings reigns was not duly observed and only 3 d. is demanded for every English mile and for every Stage to the Post boy 4 d. for conducting Besides this excellent convenience of conveying Letters and Men on Horseback there is of late such an admirable commodiousness both for Men and Women of better rank to travel from London to almost any great Town of England and to almost all the Villages near this great City that the like hath not been known in the World and that is by Stage Coaches wherein one may be transported to any place sheltred from foul weather and foul ways free from endamaging ones health or body by hard jogging or over violent motion and this not onely at a low price as about a shilling for every 5 miles but with such velocity and speed as that the Posts in some forreign Countryes make not more miles in a day for the Stage Coaches called flying Coaches make Forty or Fifty miles in a day as from London to Oxford or Cambridge and that in the space of Twelve hours not counting the time for Dining setting forth not too early and