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
and to receive the Fees and Allowances due and accustomed as lately at the Coronation of King Charles the Second the Duke of Ormond was made for that occafion Lord High Steward of England and marching immediately before the King bore in his hands St. Edwards Crown Or else for the Arraignment of some Peer of the Realm their Wives or Widdows for Treason or Felony or some other great Crime to judge and give Sentence as the antient High Stewards were wont to do which ended his Commission expireth During such Tryal he sitteth under a Cloth of Estate and they that speak to him say May it please your Grace my Lord High Steward of England His Commission is to proceed Secundum Legem consuetudinem Angliae He is sole Judge yet doth call all the Twelve Judges of the Land to assist him Is not sworn nor the Lords who are the Tryers of the Peer arraigned During his Stewardship he bears a White Staffe in his Hand and the Tryal being over openly breaks it and so his Office takes an end Of the Kings Court. THe Court of the King of England is a Monarchy within a Monarchy consisting of Ecclesiastical Civil and Military Persons and Government For the Ecclesiastical Government of the Kings Court there is first a Dean of the Kings Chappel who is usually some grave Learned Prelate chosen by the King and who as Dean acknowledgeth no Superiour but the King for as the Kings Palace is exempt from all inferiour Temporal Jurisdiction so is his Chappel from all Spiritual it is called Capella Domenica the Demean Chappel is not within the Jurisdiction or Diocess of any Bishop but as a Regal Peculiar exempt and reserved to the Visitation and Immediate Government of the King who is Supreme Ordinary and as it were Prime Bishop over all the Churches and Bishops of England By the Dean are chosen all other Officers of the Chappel viz. a Subdean or Praecentor Capellae 32 Gentlemen of the Chappel whereof 12 are Priests and one of them is Confessor to the Kings Houshold whose Office is to read Prayers every Morning to the Family to visit the Sick to examine and prepare Communicants to inform such as desire advice in any Case of Conscience or Point of Religion c. The other 20 Gentlemen commonly called Clerks of the Chappel are with the aforesaid Priests to perform in the Chappel the Office of Divine Service in Praying Singing c. One of these being well skilled in Musick is chosen Master of the Children whereof there are 12 in Ordinary to instruct them in the Rules and Art of Musick for the Service of the Chappel Three other of the said Clerks are chosen to be Organists to whom are joyned upon Sundayes Collar dayes and other Holy-dayes the Saickbuts and Cornets belonging to the Kings Private Musick to make the Chappel Musick more full and compleat There are moreover 4 Officers called Vergers from the Silver Rods carried in their hands also a Sergeant 2 Yeomen and a Groom of the Chappel In the Kings Chappel thrice every day Prayers are read and Gods Service and Worship performed with great Decency Order and Devotion and should be a Pattern to all other Churches and Chappels of England Twelve dayes in the year being high and principal Festivals His Majesty after Divine Service attended with his principal Nobility adorned with their Collars of Esses in a grave solemn manner at the Altar offers a sum of Gold to God in signum specialis dominii that by his Grace he is King and holdeth all of him All Offerings made at the Holy Altar by the King and the Queen did antiently belong to the disposal of the Archbishop of Canterbury if his Grace were present wheresoever the Court was but now to the Dean of the Chappel Those 12 dayes are first Christmass Easter Whitsunday and All Saints called Houshold-dayes upon which the Besant or Gold to be offered is delivered to the King by the Lord Steward or some other of the Principal Officers then New-years-day and Twelf-day upon the later of which Gold Frankincense and Myrrhe in several Purses are offered by the King Lastly Candlemas Anuntiation Ascention Trinity Sunday St. John Baptist and Michaelmass day when only Gold is offered Upon Christmass Easter and Whitsunday His Majesty usually receives the Holy Sacrament none but two or three of the Principal Bishops communicating with Him The King hath also besides many Extraordinary 48 Chaplains in Ordinary who are usually eminent Doctors in Divinity whereof 4 every Moneth wait at Court to preach in the Chappel on Sundayes and other Festivals before the King and in the Morning early on Sundayes before the Houshold to read Divine Service before the King out of Chappel daily twice in the Kings Private Oratory to give Thanks at Table in the Clerk of the Closets absence In time of Lent according to antient laudable Custom the Divine Service and Preaching is performed in a more solemn manner Antiently at Court there were Sermons in Lent only and that in the Afternoon in the Open Court and then only by Bishops Deans and principal Prebends Our Ancestors judging that time enough and those persons only fit to teach such an Auditory their duty to God and Man Antiently also the Lent Preachers were all appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury Now on the first Wednesday called Ashwednesday in the Morning begins the Dean of the Chappel to preach and on each Wednesday after one of his Majesties more eloquent Chaplains and every Friday the Dean of some Cathedral or Collegiat Church and on the last Friday called Good Friday is alwayes to preach the Dean of Westminster and on every Sunday in Lent some Right Reverend Bishop preacheth and on the last Sunday of Lent called Palm-Sunday is to preach an Archbishop and upon Easter day the Lord High Almoner who is usually some principal Bishop that disposeth of the Kings Almes and for that use receiveth besides other moneys allowed by the King all Deodands Bona Felonum de se to be that way disposed In France the Grand Aumosnier is principal of all the Ecclesiastiques of the Court and all Officers of the Kings Chappel he receiveth their Oaths of Allegeance and himself swears only to the King for that Office he hath the disposition of all Hospitals the Charge for delivering Prisoners pardoned by the King at his coming to the Crown or at his Coronation or first entrance into any of his Cities Under the Lord High Almoner there is a Subalmoner two Yeomen and two Grooms of the Almonry Besides all these the King hath a Clerk of the Closet or Confessor to His Majesty who is commonly some reverend discreet Divine extraordinarily esteemed by His Majesty whose Office is to attend at the Kings right hand during Divine Service to resolve all doubts concerning spiritual matters c. The present Dean of the Chappel is Doctor Herbert Crofts Bishop of Hereford whose Fee is 200 l. yearly and a Table
and that by reason of their Honourable Order and Employment and also to all Bannerets made under the Kings Banner or Standard displayed in an Army Royal in open War and the King personally present Note also That if any of the Degrees of Nobility above-mentioned are descended of the Blood Royal they are to have place of all those of the same Degree with them Moreover Observe that all the Nobles of the same Degree take place according to the Seniority of their Creation There are certain Marks of State that belong to each Degree amongst the Nobility which they may practise or not practise at pleasure A Duke may have in all places out of the Kings presence a Cloth of Estate hanging down within half a yard of the ground so may his Dutchess and her Train born up by a Baron and no Earl to wash with a Duke without the Dukes pleasure A Marquiss may have a Cloth of Estate reaching within a yard of the ground and that in all places out of the presence of the King or a Duke and his Marchioness to have her Train born by a Knights Wife and no Vicount to wash with a Marquiss but at his pleasure An Earl also may have a Cloth of Estate without Pendants but only Fringe and a Countess may have her Train born by a Gentlewoman out of the presence of her Superiours and in their presence by a Gentleman A Vicount may have a Cover of Assay holden under his Cup while he drinks but no Assay taken as Dukes Marquisses and Earls may have And a Vicountess may have her Gown born up by a Woman out of the presence of her Superiours and in their presence by a Man A Baron may also have the Cover of his Cup holden underneath whilst he drinketh and a Baroness may have her Gown born up by a man in the presence of a Vicountess All Dukes eldest Sons be as Earls and the younger as Lords with the addition of their Christian Names as Lord Thomas Lord John c. A Dukes eldest Son of the Blood Royal shall take place of a Marquiss that is not and of an Earl that is of the Blood Royal. A Marquisses eldest Son is called Lord of a place and the younger Sons Lord Thomas Lord John c. A Marquisses eldest Son of the Blood Royal shall go before an Earl that is not and of a Vicount that is of the Blood Royal. An Earls eldest Son is called Lord of a place and all his Daughters Ladies but his younger Sons not Lords An Earls eldest Son of the Blood Royal takes place of a Vicount that is not and of a Lord that is of the Blood Royal. A Vicounts eldest Son is no Lord nor his Daughters Ladies and therefore the eldest Son and the eldest Daughter of the first Vicount of England is said to be the first Gentleman and Gentlewoman without Title in England A Vicounts eldest Son of the Blood Royal takes place of all Barons The Princes of the Blood the Great Officers of the Realm and the Bishops are to precede according to an Act of Parliament 31 H. 8. The Lord Chancellour Lord Treasurer Lord President of the Kings Council Lord Privy Seal These being Barons or above shall in Parliament sit above all Dukes except the Son Brother Grand-Child or Nephew of the King The Lord High Steward of England is not here named because it was intended that he should not continue beyond the occasion for which he should be made Next hath place the Lord Great Chamberlain of England then the Lord High Constable the Earl Marshal the Lord High Admiral Lord Steward of the Kings Houshold Lord Chamberlain of the Kings Houshold These shall sit after the Lord Privy Seal above all of their Degree only And if the Kings Principal Secretary be a Baron he takes place of all Barons that are not of the Offices before mentioned but if he be a Vicount or higher Degree he shall take place only according to his Degree Also if the Kings Secretary be a Bishop as antiently was usual he takes place next to the Bishop of Winchester of all other Bishops that have none of the Offices aforesaid All Dukes Marquisses Earls Vicounts and Barons not having any of the said Offices shall take place according to the antiently of their Creation All Dukes eldest Sons have the Title of Earls and the eldest Son of an Earl hath the Title of the Earls Barony and sometimes of the Vicountry according to the Patent A Catalogue of the Peers of England according to their Precedence Dukes of the Royal Blood JAMES Duke of York and Albany Earl of Ulster Lord High Admiral of England the Kings only Brother Rupert Duke of Cumberland and Earl of Holderness Edgar Duke of Cambridge The Lord Chancellour or Lord Keeper of the Great Seal the Lord Treasurer and the Lord Privy Seal take place before all Dukes not of the Blood Royal. Dukes Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk William Seymour Duke of Somerset George Villars Duke of Buckingham Charles Stuart Duke of Richmond George Monk Duke of Albemarle James Scot Duke of Monmouth William Cavendish Duke of Newcastle Marquisses John Pawlet Marquiss of Winchester Edward Somerset Marquiss of Worcester Henry Pierrepont Marquiss of Dorchester Earls These three take place in respect of their Offices Bertue Earl of Lindsay Lord High Chamberlain of England James Butler Earl of Brecknock Lord Steward of the Kings Houshold Edward Montague Earl of Manchester Lord Chamberlain of the Kings Houshold Earls Awbrey de Vere Earl of Oxford Algernon Percy Earl of Northumberland Francis Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury Anthony Grey Earl of Kent Charles Stanley Earl of Derby John Mannours Earl of Rutland Theophilus Hastings Earl of Huntingdon William Russel Earl of Bedford Philip Herbert Earl of Pembroke Theophilus Clinton Earl of Lincoln Charles Howard Earl of Nottingham James Howard Earl of Suffolk Richard Sacvile Earl of Dorset William Cecil Earl of Salisbury John Cecil Earl of Exeter John Edgerton Earl of Bridgewater Robert Sydney Earl of Leicester James Compton Earl of Northampton Charles Rich Earl of Warwick William Cavendish Earl of Devonshire Basil Fielding Earl of Denbigh George Digby Earl of Bristol Lionel Cranfield Earl of Middlesex Henry Rich Earl of Holland John Hollis Earl of Clare Oliver St. John Earl of Bullingbroke Mildmay Fane Earl of Westmorland Montague Earl of Manchester Thomas Howard Earl of Berkshire Thomas Wentworth Earl of Cleveland Edward Sheffield Earl of Mulgrave Thomas Savage Earl Rivers Bertue Earl of Lindsay Nicolas Knowles Earl of Banbury Henry Cary Earl of Dover Henry Mordant Earl of Peterborough Henry Grey Earl of Stamford Henage Finch Earl of Winchelsey Charles Dormer Earl of Caernarvon Montjoy Blunt Earl of Newport Philip Stanhop Earl of Chesterfield John Tufton Earl of Thanet William Wentworth Earl of Strafford Robert Spenser Earl of Sunderland James Savil Earl of Sussex George Goring Earl of Norwich Nicholas Leak Earl of Scarsdale John
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
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
Duke of Cumberland after the extinction of the Male Line of the Cliffords Finally the Kings forces at land being totally defeated he transported himself into France and was afterward made Admiral of such Ships of War as submitted to King Charles the Second to whom after divers disasters at Sea and wonderful preservations he returned to Paris 1652 where and in Germany sometimes at the Emperours Court and sometimes at Heydelberg he passed his time in Princely Studies and Exercises till the Restauration of his Majesty now raigning after which returning into England was made a Privy Counsellour in 1662 and in 1666 being joyned Admiral with the Duke of Albemarle first attackt the whole Dutch Fleet with his Squadron in such a bold resolute way that he put the Enemy soon to flight He enjoys a Pension from his Majesty of 4000 l. per Annum After Prince Rupert the next Heirs to the Crown of England are 3 French Ladies Daughters of Prince Edward lately deceased who was a younger Son of the Queen of Rehemia whose Widdow the Princess Dowager Mother to the said three Ladies is Sister to the late Queen of Poland Daughter and Coheir to the last Duke of Nevers in France amongst which three Daughters there is a Revenue of about 12000 l. Sterling a year After these is the Princess Elizabeth eldest Sister living to the Prince Elector Palatin born 26 Decemb. 1618. unmarried and living in Germany The next is another Sister called the Princess Louisa bred up at the Hague with the Queen her Mother in the Religion of the Church of England at length embracing the Romish Religion is now Lady Abbess of Maubisson at Ponthoise not far from Paris Last of all is the Princess Sophia youngest Daughter to the Queen of Bohemia born at the Hague 1630. and in 1659 wedded to John Duke of Lunenberg and Free Prince of Germany Heir to the Dutchy of Brunswick by whom she hath Sons and Daughters Of these three Princesses it is said that the first is the most learned the second the greatest Artist and the last one of the most accomplisht Ladies in Europe Of the Great Officers of the Crown NExt to the King and Princes of the Blood are reckoned the Great Officers of the Crown whereof there are Eight viz. the Lord High Chancellour the Lord High Treasurer the Lord Privy Seal the Lord High Admiral the Lord Great Chamberlain the Lord High Constable the Earl Marshal and the Lord High Steward for the time being First the Lord High Chancellour Summus Cancellarius so called because all Patents Commissions Warrants coming from the King and perused by him are signed if well or cancelled if amiss He is after the King and Princes of the Blood in Civil Affairs the highest Person in the Kingdom as the Archbishop of Canterbury is in Ecclesiastical Affairs His Office is to keep the Kings Great Seal to judge not according to the Common Law as other Civil Courts do but to moderate the rigour of the Law and to judge according to Equity Conscience or Reason His Oath is to do right to all manner of People poor and rich after the Laws and Customs of the Realm and truly counsel the King to keep secret the Kings Counsel nor suffer so far as he may that the Rights of the Crown be diminisht c. From the time of Henry 2. the Chancellours of England have been ordinarily made of Bishops or other Clergy-men learned in the Civil Laws till Henry 8. made Chancellour one Richard Rich a Common Lawyer from whom is descended the present Earl of Warwick and the Earl of Holland since which time there have been some Bishops but most Common Lawyers This High Office is in France durante vitâ but here is durante beneplacito Regis The Salary from the King is 848 l. per Annum and when the Star-Chamber was up 200 l. per Annum more for his Attendance there The Lord Chancellour or Lord Keeper who differ only in Name is created per traditionem magni Sigilli sibi per dominum Regem and by taking his Oath The Great Seal being lately taken from Edward Earl of Clarendon Lord Chancellour was by his Majesties great favour bestowed upon Sir Orlando Bridgeman with the Title of Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England The next Great Officer of the Crown is the Lord High Treasurer of England who receives this high Office by delivery of a White Staffe to him by the King and holds it durante beneplacito Regis Antiently he received this Dignity by the delivery of the Golden Keys of the Treasury His Oath is little different from that of the Lord Chancellour He is Praefectus Aerarii a Lord by his Office under whose Charge and Government is all the Kings Revenue kept in the Exchequer He hath also the check of all the Officers any way emploied in collecting Imposts Customs Tributes or other Revenues belonging to the Crown He hath the gift of all Customers Controllers and Searchers in all the Ports of England He hath the nomination of the Escheators in every County and in some Cases by Statute is to appoint a Measurer for the length and breadth of Clothes He with others joyned in Commission with him or without letteth Leases of all the Lands belonging to the Crown He giveth Warrants to certain Persons of Quality to have their Wine Custom free The Annual Salary of the Lord High Treasurer is in all 383 li. 7s 8d per Annum Since the decease of Thomas Wriothesly last Earl of South-hampton and last Lord High Treasurer of England this Office hath been executed by a Commission granted to five eminent Persons viz. the Duke of Albemarle Lord Ashley Sir Thomas Clifford Sir Will. Coventry and Sir John Duncomb The Third Great Officer of the Crown is the Lord Privy Seal who is a Lord by his Office under whose hands pass all Charters and Grants of the King and Pardons signed by the King before they come to the Great Seal of England also divers other matters of less Concernment as for payments of money c. which do not pass the Great Seal He is by his Place of the Kings Privy Council and Chief Judge of the Court of Requests when it shall be re-continued and besides his Oath of Privy Counsellour takes a particular Oath as Lord Privy Seal His Salary is His Place according to Statute is next to the Lord President of the Kings Council It is an Office of great Trust and Skill that he put not this Seal to any Grant without good Warrant under the Kings Privy Signet nor with Warrant if it be against Law or Custom until that the King be first acquainted This great Officer is mentioned in the Statutes of 2 Rich. 2. and then â—anked amongst the Chief Persons of the Realm And is at present enjoyed by John Lord Robarts Baron Robarts of Truro The Fourth Great Officer of the Crown is the Lord
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
Baron was used for Vir as at this day Baron or Varon in the Spanish Tongue is used for the same so that a Baron is Vir 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vir Notabilis Principalis so the Chief Burgesses of London antiently and still those of the Cinque Ports are called Barons Antiently those Barons only were accounted Peers of the Realm that held of the King per integram Baroniam which consisted of 13 Knights Fees and one third part each Knights Fee being 20 l. which make in all 400 Marks and whoever had so much was wont to be summoned to Parliament Now to hold per Baroniam is to hold per haereditatem Baronis whether greater or less Barons in the beginning of the Raign of H. 3. were not of so much repute as afterwards when that King after that great Rebellion against him was supprest called by Writ unto Parliament only such great men as had continued loyal which the succeeding Kings observing they only were accounted Peers of the Realm that were called by the Kings special Writ and the others lost their Peerage The Earls Palatines and Earls Marchers of England had antiently also their Barons under them as in Cheshire there are yet such Barons but as no Bishops but those that hold immediately of the King are Peers of the Realm for the Bishop of Man holding immediately of the Earl of Derby is no Peer so no Barons but those that hold immediately of the King are Peers of the Realm Caput Baroniae is some Castle or Chief Seat of a Nobleman which is not to be divided amongst Daughters if there be no Son but must descend to the Eldest Daughter caeteris filiabus aliunde satisfactis Lands holden by Barony doth not make the purchaser that is ignoble to be noble although the charge of such Tenure doth lie upon him in respect of the Service of the Realm no more than Lands by Villain Service doth make the Purchaser that is a Freeman a Villain though he shall thereby be bound to his Villain Service due for those Lands Barons are sometimes made by Writ being thereby called to sit in the Higher House of Parliament but most usually by Patent All the fore-mentioned Degrees have the Title of Lord from the Saxon word Laford Dominus All the Lords of England both Spiritual and Temporal are Feudataries to the King and in their Creation and also in their Succession do swear an Oath of Fealty and do Homage to the King their Soveraign and pay certain Duties as Signs and Symbols of their Subjection to their Prince All Honours in England are given by the King who is the sole Fountain of Honour The Law of England prohibiteth all Subjects of the Realm to receive any Title of Honour or Dignity of the Gift of any Forreign Prince King or Emperour Est enim jus Majestatis inter Insignia summae potestatis None of these Honours bestowed by the King on a Family can be lost but by want of Issue or else by some heinous Crime and then that Family cannot be restored to their Blood but by Parliament All Noblemen at their Creation have two Ensigns to signifie two Duties Their Heads are adorned ad consulendum Regem Patriam tempore pacis and they are girt with a Sword ad defendendum Regem Patriam tempore belli The several Degrees of the English Nobility are differenced and distinguisht one from another by their Titles and Ensigns of Honour A Duke hath the Title of Grace and being written unto may be stiled Most High Potent and Noble Prince A Marquiss Most Noble and Potent Prince An Earl Most Noble and Potent Lord. A Vicount Right Noble and Potent Lord. And A Baron Right Noble Lord. Their Coronets are all different A Baron hath a Coronet of 6 Pearls upon the Circle given to that honour by the present King A Vicount hath a Coronet with 8 Pearls without the Circle â—n â—â—arls Coronet hath the Pearls raised The Marquiss a Pearl and Strawbeâ—ry Leaf round And a Dukes Coronet only Leaves without Pearls They are more especially distinguisht by their Robes of Parliament by their several Guards on their Mantles or Short Cloaks about their Shoulders A Baron hath but 2 Guards a Vicount two and and a half an Earl 3 a Marquiss 3 and a half and a Duke 4. The Nobility of England have in all times enjoyed many considerable Priviledges All Peers of the Realm being lookt on as the Kings Hereditary constant Counsellours their Persons out of Parliament time are priviledged as others in Parliament time from all arrest unless for Treason Felony or breach of Peace Condemnation in Parliament or Contempt to the King No Supplicavit can be granted against them No Capias or Exigent sued out against them for Actions of Debt or Trespass No Essoin lies against any Peer of the Realm In Criminal Causes Treason or Felony they cannot be tried by any other Jury but by a Jury of Peers of the Realm who are not as other Juries to be put to their Oath but their Veâ—dict given in upon their Honour sufficeth In Civil Causes they are not to be empanelled upon any Jury nor upon any Enquests de facto though in a matter between two Peers In case any Peer be returned upon any such Jury there is a special Writ for his discharge Upon no case to be bound to the good behaviour nor put to swear they will not break the Peace but only to promise it upon their Honour which was ever counted so sacred as upon no terms to be violated A Peer of the Realm may not be put to the Rack or Torture to discover the truth though accused of High Treason Every Peer of the Realm called to Parliament hath the Priviledge in his lawful absence to constitute a Proxy to vote for him which none of the Commons may do Also in places of trust committed to them they are allowed to make Deputies by reason of the necessity supposed in the Law of their attendance on the Person of the King Though neither Civil Law nor Common Law allow any others Testimony to be valid but what is given upon Oath yet the Testimony of a Peer of England given in upon his Honour without any Oath is esteemed valid and they were wont to be examined upon their Allegeance and the Loyalty of their Chivalry and to put in their Answer to a Bill super honorem without taking an Oath though of later times that Priviledge by the neglect of some Lords hath been infringed sometimes A day of Grace by the favour of the Court is not to be granted to the Plaintiff in any Suit or Action wherein a Peer of the Realm is Defendant and this by Statute Law because the Law presumes that a Peer of the Realm must alwayes be ready to attend the Person of the King and the Service of the Commonwealth and therefore it is not to be delayed longer than the ordinary use of the Court
Second State or Nobility of England p. 405. to p. 457. and therein of their Degrees Priviledges Precedence State Revenues c. p. 417. A Catalogue of all the Peers of England according to their Precedence p. 439. Of the Third State or Commons of England p. 457. Of Knights Esquires Gentlemen Yeomen Citizens Handycrafts c. p. 472. Of the Liberties and Properties of the English Subjects p. 493. Of the Women in England p. 497. Of the Children p. 509. Of the Servants p. 513. OF ENGLAND ENgland the better part of the best Iland in the whole World antiently with Scotland called Britain and sometimes Albion was about 800 years after the Incarnation of Christ by special Edict of King Egbert descended from the Angles a people of the Lower Saxony named Angle or Englelond thence by the French called Angleterre by the Germans Engeland and by the Inhabitants England It is situated between the Degrees 16 and 21 Longitude equal with Normandy and Britany in France and between 50 and 57 Northern Latitude equal with Flanders Zeland Holland Lower Saxony and Denmark The longest day in the most Northern part is 16 hours 44 minutes and the shortest 7 hours 16 minutes It is in length 386 miles in breadth 279 in compass by reason of the many Bayes and Promontories about 1300 miles in shape triangular contains by computation about 30 Millions of Acres about the thousandth part of the Globe and 333d part of the habitable earth almost ten times as big as the United Neatherlands five times as big as the Spanish Neatherlands less than all Italy by almost one half and in comparison of France is as 30 to 82. The Aire is far more mild and temperate if not more healthy than any part of the Continent under the same Climat By reason of the warm vapours of the Sea on every side and the very often Winds from the huge Western Sea the Cold in Winter is less sharp than in some parts of France and Italy though more Southern By reason of the continual blasts from Sea the Heat in Summer is less scorching than in some parts of the Continent that lies more Northern As in Summer the gentle Winds and frequent Showres qualifie all violent Heats and Droughts so in Winter the Frosts do only meliorate the cultivated Soyle and the Snow keep warm the tender Plants It is blessed with a very fertile wholsome Soyle watered abundantly with Springs and Streams and in divers parts with great Navigable Rivers few barren Mountains or craggy Rocks but generally gentle pleasant Hills and fruitful Valleys apt for Grain Corn or Wood. The excellency of the English Soyle may be learnt as Varro advised of old from the Complection of the Inhabitants who therein excell all other Nations or else from the high value put upon it by the Romans and the Saxons who â—ookt upon it as such a precious â—pot of ground that they thought it worthy to be fenced â—n like a Garden Plot with a mighty Wall of fourscore miles â—n length viz. from Tinmoâ—th on the German Sea to Solwey Frith on the Irish Sea whereby the Caledonian Bores might be excluded and with a monstrous Dike of fourscore and ten miles viz. from the Mouth of the River Wy to that of the River Dee whereby the Cambrobritan Foxes might be kept out lastly the excellency of her Soyle may also be learnt from those transcendent Elogies bestowed on her by Antient and Modern Writers calling England the Granary of the Western World the Seat of Ceres c. That her Valleys are like Eden her Hills like Lebanon her Springs as Pisgah and her Rivers as Jordan That she is a Paradise of Pleasure and the Garden of God O fortunata omnibus terris beatior Britannia te omnibus coeli ac soli ditavit Natura tibi nihil inest quod vitae offendat tibi nihil deest quod vita desiderat ita ut alter orbis extra orbem poni ad delicias humani generis videaris O happy and blessed Britanie above all other Countries in the World Nature hath enricht thee with all the blessings of Heaven and Earth Nothing in thee is hurtful to Mankind nothing wanting in thee that is desirable in so much that thou seemest another World placed besides or without the great World meerly for the delight and pleasure of Mankind As it is divided from the rest of the World so by reason of its great abundance of all things necessary for the life of Man it may without the contribution of any other part of the World more easily subsist than any of its Neighbouring Countries Terra suis contenta bonis non indiga mercis First for Food what plenty every where of Sheep Oxen Swine Fallow Deer and Coneys what plenty of Hens Ducks Geese Turkeys Swans Peacocks Phesants Partridges Woodcocks Snipes Plovers Quailes Herons Bustards Heath Cocks or Grouse Thrushes or Throstles Black-birds Veldevers Nightingales Pigeons and Larks What plenty of Salmon Trouts Carps Tench Lampreys Pikes Perches Eeles Crevish Flounders Plaice Shads Mullets What great abundance of Herrings Pilchards Oysters Lobsters Crabs Mackerel Whitings Soles Smelts Sprats Prawnes Ruffes c. What great plenty of Apples Pears Plums and Cherries How doth England abound with Wheat Barly Pulse Beans and Oates with excellent Butter and Cheese with most sorts of Edible Roots and Herbs It wants not Red Deer Hare Goats c. It wants not Wild-Ducks Wild-Geese Puffins Snipes God-wits and many other kind of Sea-fowl It wants not Apricocks Peaches Nectarins Grapes Figgs Melons Quinces c. Walnuts and Hasel-nuts Lastly for Drinks England abounds with Beer Ale Sider Perry and in some places with Metheglin Now of all these things there is such a constant continuance by reason of the Clemency of the Climat that scarce the least Famine which frequenteth other Countries hath been felt in England these 300 years Then for Rayment England produceth generally not onely very Fine Wooll which makes our Cloth more lasting than other Countrey Cloth and better conditioned against Wind Weather but also such great abundance of Wooll that not onely all sorts from the highest to the lowest are clothed therewith but so much hath been heretofore transported beyond the Seas that in honour of the English Wooll that broughâ— heretofore such plenty of Golâ— into the Territories of Charleâ— the puissant and bold Duke of Burgundy where the Staple for English Wooll was then keptâ— he instituted that famous Military Order of the Golden Fleece aâ— this day in highest esteem with the whole House of Austria This abundance and cheapness of Wooll in England proceeds not onely from the goodness of the Soyle but also from the freedom from Wolves and temperateness of Heat and Cold which in other Countries creates a great charge of a constant guarding their Sheep and housing them by Night and sometimes by Day Also for advancing the Manufacture of Cloth that necessary Earth called Fullers Earth
the Impositions were heaâ—ier for by reason of the great abundance of Flesh and Fish Corn Leather Wooll c. which the Soil of its own bounty with little labour doth produce The Yeomanry at their ease and almost forgetting labour grow rich and thereby so proud insolent and careless that they neither give that humble respect and awful reverence which in other Kingdomes is usually given to Nobility Gentry and Clergy nor are they so industrious or so skillful in Manufactures as some of our Neighbour Nations so that in England it is no Paradox to affirm that as too much indigency in the inferiour sort of people doth depress the spirits and dulâ— the minds of them so too plentiful and wanton a fortune causeth in them a lazyness and less industry that state commonly enjoying most peace and order and happiness where either the moderate barrenness of the Countrey or want of ground or multitude of Imposts as in Holland do necessitate the common people to be industrious in their Callings and so to mind their own as not to disturb the State and Church Affairs Moreover of the English especially it hath been observed that then it is happiest with them when they are somewhat pressed and in a complaining condition according to that old Riming Verse Anglica gens est optima flens pessima gaudens The English Nation anciently were and at this day are very apt to hearken to Prophesies and to create Prodigies and then interpret them according to their own extravagant conceits to invent and then maintain any the most prodigious Opinions and Tenents in Philosopy of Divinity some of the inferiour sort of late holding abominable opinions unworthy even of men and such as in no Age were ever broacht before The English National Vices were antiently Gluttony and the effects thereof Lasciviousness when they made four Meals in a day and most excessive Feasting with great plenty of French Wine when Women of professed Incontinency were permitted to proffer their Bodies to all Comers in certain places called Stews or Stoves or Bathing places because men were wont to bath themselves there as still in other Countries before they addrest themselves to venereous acts Moreover Pride in Apparel wherein they were anciently so extravagant and foolish that divers Statutes and Homilies have been made against that Excess and an English Man was wont to be pictured naked with a pair of Taylors Sheers in his hand and a piece of Cloth under his arme with Verses annext intimating that he knew not what fashion of Clothes to have Excess of drinking was anciently more rare in England as appears by an old Poet Ecce Britannorum mos est laudabilis iste Vt bibat arbitrio pocula quisque suo The Danes in the time of King Edgar first brought it in but it was afterward banisht â—ence so that we find no ancient Statute against it for though the Statutes heretofore â—â—ade against Excess in Apparel and Dyet are ancient yet those against Drunkenness are but of late date As the English returning from the Wars in the Holy Land brought home the foul disease of Leprosie now almost extinct here though not yet in our neighbouring Countries so in our Fathers dayes the English returning from the Service in the Netherlands brought with them the foul Vice of Drunkenness as besides other Testimonies the Term of Carous from Gar ausz All out learnt of the High-Dutch there in the same Service so Quaffe c. This Vice of late was more though at present too much insomuch that some persons and those of quality may not safety be visited in an Afternoon without running the hazard of Excessive drinking of Healths whereby in a short time twice as much liquor is consumed as by the Dutch who sip and prate and in some places it is esteemed a piece of wit to make a man drunk for which purpose some swilling insipid Trencher Buffoon is alwayes at hand However it may be truly affirmed that at present there is generally less Excess in Drinking especially about London since the use of Coffee less excess in Dyet but principally in Apparel than heretofore insomuch that the poor Tradesman is much pincht thereby for as it is expedient for the benefit of the whole Commonwealth that divers unnecessary and superfluous Commodities should be allowed as ' Tobacco Coffee Spices Sugars Raisins Silks c. so some less hurtful excesses as in Apparel Dyet Building Coaches Lackeys c. must either be connived at or much of all the money of the Nation must lie dead and unemploied as it now doth in the private sullen niggardly Non-Conformists hands and Tradesmen must either starve or be sustained by Almes The Sin of Buggery brought into England by the Lombards as appears not only by the word Bugeria but also by Rot. Parl. 50. Edw. 3. N. 58. is now rarely practised amongst English although sometimes discovered amongst Aliens in England and then punisht by Death without any remission Impoysonments so ordinary 〈◊〉 Italy is so abominable amongst English as 21 H. 8. 〈◊〉 was made High Treason â—hough since repealed after which the punishment for it was 〈◊〉 be put alive in a Caldron of Water and there boiled to â—eath Stabbing in England is much â—â—ore seldome than in Italy â—â—e English being easie to be reâ—onciled to pardon and remit â—ffences not apt to seek reâ—enge the true well-bred Enâ—lish have more of inclination 〈◊〉 goodness which the Greeks â—alled Philanthropia than other Nations the Nobility and well-â—red Gentry delighting to be â—racious and courteous to Strangers compassionate to the afflicted and grateful to Benefactors when their Purse or Estaâ— not diverted by other extravagant expences will give theâ— leave to remember them The English according to the Climat are of a middle tempâ—â— The Northern Saturnine aâ— the Southern Mercurial tempâ—â— meeting in their Constitution render them ingenious and active yet solid and perseveâ—ring which nourisht under sutable liberty inspires a courage generous and lasting Their Ingenuity will not allow them to be excellent 〈◊〉 the Cheat but subject in thaâ— point rather to take thaâ— give and supposing others 〈◊〉 open-hearted as themselves are many times in Trespass overmatcht by them whom they overmatch in Arms and â—â—ue Valour The English since the Reformation so much given to Literature that all sorts are generally the most knowing people 〈◊〉 the world They have been 〈◊〉 much addicted to writing and â—specially in their own language and with so much licence or connivence that according to the observation of a â—earned Man there have â—een since the Reformation more good and more bad Books printed and published in the English Tongue than in all the Vulgar Languages of Europe For solidity of matter for â—legancy of style in their Sermons Comedies Romances as also in their Books of Philosophy Physick History and all other solid Learning no Nation hath surpassed the English and few equalled them The English especially the Gentry are so
France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith The King only is Dei Gratiâ simply i.e. from the favour of none but God and the Archbishops and Bishops that pretend to that Title must understand Dei gratiâ Regis or Dei gratiâ voluntate Regis Defender of the Faith was antiently used by the Kings of England as appears by several Charters granted to the University of Oxford but in the year 1521 more affixt by a Bull from Pope Leo the Tenth for a Book written by Henry the Eighth against Luthers in defence of some points of the Romish Religion but since continued for defence of the Antient Catholck and Apostolick Faith Primogenitus Ecclesiae belongs to the Kings of England because their Predecessor Lucius was the first King that embraced Christianity Christianissimus was by the Lateran Council under Pope Julius the 2d conferred on the Kings of England in the 5th year of Henry 8 though now used only by the French King The Title of Grace was first given to the King about the time of H. 4. to H. 6. Excellent Grace to Ed. 4. High and Mighty Prince to Hen. 8. first Highness then Majesty and now Sacred Majesty after the Custom of the Eastern Emperours that used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The King of England in his Publick Instruments and Letters stiles himself Nos We in the plural number before King John's time the Kings used the singular number which Custom is still seen in the end of Writs Teste meipso apuâ— Westm In speaking to the King is used often besides Your Majesty Syr from Cyr in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Abbreviation o◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dominus much used to the Greek Emperours but Syr or Domine iâ— now in England become the ordinary word to all of better rank even from the King to the Gentleman It was antiently in England given to Lords afterwards to Knights and to Clergymen prefixt before their Christian Names â—ow in that manner only to Baâ—onets and Knights of the Bath and Knights Batchelours yet in France Syr or Syre is reserved only for their King About the time that our Saviour lived on Earth there was a Jewish Sect whose Ring-â—eader was one Judas of Gaile mentioned Acts 5. 37. that would not give this Title of Sir or Dominus to any man affirming that it was proper only to God and stood not unlike our new Fanaticks called Quakers so perversely for such Nominal Liberty being â—n other points meer Pharisees that no penalties could force them to give this honorary Title to any man no not to the Emperour uti videre 〈◊〉 apud Josephum alios Sed hâ—â— obiter The Saxon Kings before the Conquest bare Azure a Crossâ— Formy between four Martlet Or. Afterward the Danish King raigning in England bare oâ— Semi de Harts Gules 3 Lyon Passant Gardant Azure After the Conquest the Kings of England bare two Leopards born first by the Conquerour as Duke of Normandy till the time of Hen. 2 who in right of his Mother annext her Paternal Coat the Lyon of Aquitaine which being of the same Field Mettal and Form with the Leopards â—â—om thence-forward they were â—intly marshalled in one Shield and Blazoned 3 Lyons as at â—resent King Edward the Third in â—â—ght of his Mother claiming â—he Crown of France with the Arms of England quartered the Arms of France which then were Azure Semy Flower â—eluces Or afterwards changed to 3 Flower deluces whereupon Hen. 5. of England caused the English Arms to be changed likewise King James upon the Union of England and Scotland caused the Arms of France and England to be quartered with Scotland and Ireland and are thus blazoned The King of England beareth for his Soveraign Ensigns Armorial as followeth In the first place Azure 3 Flower deluces Or for the Regal Arms of France quartered with the Imperial Ensigns of England which are Gules threâ— Lyons Passant Gardant in Palâ— Or. In the second place with in a double Tressure counter-flowered de lys Or a Lyon Rampant Gules for the Royal Arms of Scotland In the third place Azure an Irish Harp Or Stringed Argent for the Royal Ensigns of Ireland In the fourth place as in the first All within the Garter the chief Ensign of that most Honourable Order above the same an Helmet answerable to His Majesties Soveraign Jurisdiction upon the same a rich Mantle of Cloth of Gold doubled Ermine adorned with an Imperial Crown and surmounted for a Crest by a Lyon Passant Gardant Crowned with the like supported by 〈◊〉 Lyon Rampant Gardant Or Crowned as the former and an unicorn Argent Gorged with a Crown thereto a Chain affixt passing between his foreâ—egs and reflext over his back Or both standing upon a Compartment placed underneath and in the Table of the Compartment His Majesties Royal Motto Dieu mon Droit The Supporters used before the Union of England and Scotland were the Dragon and Lyon The Arms of France placed first for that France is the greater Kingdom and because from the first bearing those Flowers have been alwayes Ensigns of a Kingdom whereas the Arms of England were originally of Dukedoms as beforesaid The Motto upon the Garter Honi soit qui mal y pense that is Shame be to him that evil thereof thinketh was first given by Edward 3 the Founder of that Order upon occasion as some have written of a Garter falling from the Countess of Kent and Salisbury as she danced and taken up by that King whereat the Queen being jealous or the Courtiers observing it the King first uttered those words now upon the Garter whereof the Order was soon after instituted The Motto Dieu mon Droit that is God and my Right was first given by Richard the First to intimate that the King of England holdeth his Empire not in Vassallage of any mortal man but of God only and after taken up by Edward 3. when he first claimed the Kingdom of France King William the Conquerour getting by right of Conquest all the Lands of England except Lands belonging to the Church to Monastenies and Religious Houses into his own hands in Demesne as Lawyers speak soon bestowed amongst his Subjects aâ— great part thereof reserving some retribution of Rents and Services or both to him and his Heirs Kings of England which reservation is now as it was before the Conquest called the Tenure of Lands the rest he reserved to himself in Demesne called Coronae Regis Dominica Domaines and Sacra Patrimonia Praedium Domini Regis Directum Dominum cujus nullus est Author nisi Deus all other Lands in England being held now of some Superiour and depend mediately or immediately on the Crown but the Lands possest by the Crown being held of none can escheat to none being sacred cannot become prophane are or should be permanent and inalienable Which Royal Domaines are by Time the Gift and Bounty of
another it is to protect and govern his People so that they may if possible lead quiet and peaceable lives in all Godliness and Honesty under him Or more particular as is promised at the Coronation to preserve the Rights and Priviledges of the Church and Clergy the Royal Prerogatives belonging to the Crown the Laws and Customs of the Realm to do Justice shew Mercy and keep Peace and Vnity c. The King for the better performance of this great and weighty Office hath certain Jura Majestatis extraordinary Powers Preeminencies and Priviledges inherent in the Crown called antiently by Lawyers Sacra Sacrorum and Flowers of the Crown but commonly Royal Prerogatives whereof some the King holds by the Law of Nations others by Common Law excellent above all Laws in upholding a free Monarchy and exalting the Kings Prerogative and some by Statute Law The King only and the King alone by his Royal Prerogative hath Power without Act of Parliament to declare War make Peace send and receive Ambassadours make Leagues and Treaties with any Foreign States give Commissions for levying Men and Arms by Sea and Land or for pressing Men if need require dispose of all Magazines Ammunition Castles Fortresses Ports Havens Ships of War and Publick Moneys hath the sole Power to coyn Money appoint the Mettal Weight Purity and Value thereof and by his Proclamation make any Foreign Coyn to be lawful Money of England By his Royal Prerogative may of his meer Will and Pleasure Convoke Adjourn Prorogue Remove and Dissolve Parliaments may to any Bill passed by both Houses of Parliament refuse to give without rendring any reason his Royal Assent without which a Bill is as a Body without a Soul May at pleasure encrease the number of the Members of both Houses by creating more Barons and bestowing Priviledges upon any other Towns to send Burgesses to Parliament May call to Parliament by Writ whom he in his Princely Wisdome thinketh fit and may refuse to send his Writ to others that have sate in former Parliaments Hath alone the choice and nomination of all Commanders and other Officers at Land and Sea the choice and nomination of all Magistrates Counsellors and Officers of State of all Bishops and other High Dignities in the Church the bestowing of all â—onours both of higher and of â—â—wer Nobility of England â—he Power of determining Reâ—ards and Punishments By His Letters Patents may â—ect new Counties Bishopricks â—niversities Cities Burroughs â—â—lledges Hospitals Schools â—airs Markets Courts of Juâ—â—ice Forests Chases Free â—arrens c. The King by his Prerogative â—â—th power to enfranchise an â—lien and make him a Denison â—hereby he is enabled to purâ—â—ase Leases of Houses and â—ands and to bear some Offiâ—es Hath power to grant Letâ—rs of Mart or Reprisal The King by his Prerogaâ—ive hath had at all times the â—ight of Purveyance or Preemption of all sorts of Victuaâ— neer the Court and to talâ— Horses Carts Boats Ships for his Carriages at reasonabâ—â— rates also by Proclamation 〈◊〉 set reasonable rates and pricâ— upon Flesh Fish Fowl Oaâ— Hay c. which his Majesâ—â— now raigning was pleased to exchange and in liew thereof 〈◊〉 accept of some other recompence Debts due to the King are the first place to be satisfied 〈◊〉 case of Executorship and Admiâ—nistratorship and until thâ— Kings Debt be satisfied he maâ—â— Protect the Debtor from the arrest of other Creditors May distrain for the whoâ— rent upon one Tenant that holdâ—eth not the whole land maâ— require the Ancestors Debt 〈◊〉 â—he Heir though not especiâ—ly bound is not obliged to â—â—mand his rent as others are â—â—ay sue in what Court he â—â—ease and distrain where he 〈◊〉 No Proclamation can be â—ade but by the King No Protection for a Defenâ—ant to be kept off from a Suit â—t by him and that because 〈◊〉 is actually in his Service He only can give Patents in â—se of losses by Fire to reâ—ive the Charitable Benevolenâ—s of the People without â—hich no man may ask it pubâ—â—kly No Forest Chase or Park 〈◊〉 be made nor Castle to be â—uilt without the Kings Auâ—â—ority The sale of his Goods in a open Market will not take awaâ— his property therein His Servants in ordinary aâ— priviledged from serving in an Offices that require their attendance as Sheriff Constable Churchwarden c. All Receivers of Money for the King or Accomptaâ—â— to him for any of his Revenueâ— their Persons Lands Goods Heirs Executors Administrators are chargeable for thâ— same at all times for Nulluâ— tempus occurrit Regi His Debtor hath a kind 〈◊〉 Prerogative remedy by a Qâ—minus in the Exchequer against all other Debtors or any against whom they have anâ— Cause of Personal Action supposing that he is therebâ— â—isabled to pay the King and 〈◊〉 this Suit the Kings Debtor â—eing Plaintiff hath some Priâ—iledges above others In Doubtful Cases Semper â—â—aesumitur pro Rege No Statute restraineth the King except he be especially â—amed therein The quality of his Person alters the Descent of Gavelkind the Rules of Joynt Tenaney no Estopel can bind him nor Judgment final in a Writ of Right Judgments entred against the Kings Title are entred with a Salvo Jure Domini Regis that if at any time the Kings Council at Law can make out his Title better that Judgement shall not prejudice him which is not permitted to the Subject The King by his Prerogativâ— may demand reasonable Aid Money of his Subjects to Knighâ— his Eldest Son at the Age of 15 and to marry his Eldest Daughter at the Age of 〈◊〉 years which reasonable Aid is Twenty Shillings for every Knights Fee and as much for every Twenty Pound a year in Socage Moreover if the King be taken Prisoner Aid Money is to be paid by the Subjects to set him at liberty The King upon reasonable causes him thereunto moving may protect any man against Suits at Law c. In all Cases where the King is party his Officers with an arrest by force of a Process at Law may enter and if entrance be denied may break open the â—ouse of any man although â—ery mans House is said to be 〈◊〉 Castle and hath a priviâ—â—dge to protect him against all â—her Arrests A Benefice or Spiritual Liâ—ng is not full against the King 〈◊〉 Institution only without Inâ—â—ction although it be so against Subject None but the King can hold â—â—ea of false judgments in the â—ourt of his Tenants The King of England by his â—rerogative is Summus Regni â—ustos and hath the Custody â—f the Persons and Estates of â—uch as for want of understanding â—annot govern themselves 〈◊〉 or â—erve the King so the Persons â—nd Estates of Ideots and Luâ—aticks are in the Custody of â—he King that of Ideots to his own use and that of Luâ—naticks to the use of the nexâ— Heir So the Custody or Wardâ—â—ships of all such Infants whoâ— Ancestors held their Lands bâ— Tenure in Capite or Knight service were
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
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
c. In the Kings Court not only striking is forbidden but also all occasions of Striking and therefore the Law saith Nullas Citationes aut summonitiones licet facere infra Palatium Regis apud Westm vel alibi ubi Rex residet The Court of the King of England for Magnificence for Order for Number and Quality of Officers for rich Furniture for Entertainment and Civility to Strangers for plentiful Tables might compare with the best Court of Christendom and far excel the most Courts abroad of one whereof see the Description made by an ingenious Person beyond Sea writing to a Friend of his at Court there Annon in Inferno es Amice qui es in Aula ubi Daemonum habitatio est qui illic suis artibus humanâ licet effigie regnant atque ubi Scelerum Schola est Animarum jactura ingens ac quicquid uspiam est perfidiae ac doli quicquid crudelitatis ac inclementiae quicquid effraenatae superbiae rapacis avaritiae quicquid obscaenae libidinis ac faedissimae impudicitiae quicquid nefandae impietatis morum pessimorum totum illic acervatur cumulatissimè ubi stupra raptus incestus adulteria ubi inebriari jurare pejerare Atheismum profiteri palam principum nobilium ludi sunt ubi fastus tumor ira Liver faedaque cupido cum sociis suis imperare videtur ubi criminum omnium procellae virtutumque omnium inerrabile naufragium c. But the Court of England on the contrary hath been and is hoped ever will be accounted as King James adviseth in his Basilicon Doron a Pattern of Godliness and all Honesty and Vertue and the properest School of Prowess and Heroick Demeanour and the fittest Place of Education for the Nobility and Centry The Court of England hath for a long time been a Pattern of Hospitality to the Nobility and Gentry of England All Noblemen or Gentlemen Subjects or Strangers that came accidently to Court were freely entertained at the plentiful Tables of His Majesties Officers Divers Services or Messes of Meat were every day provided Extraordinary for the Kings honour Two hundred and forty Gallons a day were at the Buttry Barr allowed for the Poor besides all the broken Meat Bread c. gathered into Baskets and given to the Poor at the Court Gates by 2 Grooms and 2 Yeomen of the Almonry who have Salaries of His Majesty for that Service Moreover the Court is an eminent Pattern of Charity and Humility to all that shall see the performance of that Antient Custom by the King and the Queen on the Thursday before Easter called Maundy Thursday wherein the King in a solemn manner doth wash the Feet cloth and feed as many poor Old Men as His Majesty is years old bestowing on every one Cloth for a Gown Linnen for a Shirt Shooes and Stockings a Joul of Salmon a Pol of Ling 30 Red and 30 White Herrings all in clean Wooden Dishes 4 Six Penny Loaves of Bread and a Purse with a 20 s. Piece of Gold The Magnificence and abundant plenty of the Kings Tables hath caused amazement in all Forreigners when they have been informed that yearly was spent of gross Meat 1500 Oxen 7000 Sheep 1200 Veals 300 Porkers 400 Sturks or young Biefes 6800 Lambs 300 Flitches of Bacon and 26 Boares Also 140 Dozen of Geese 250 Dozen of Capons 470 Dozen of Hens 750 Dozen of Pullets 1470 Dozen of Chicken For Bread 36400 Bushels of Wheat and for Drink 600 Tun of Wine and 1700 Tun of Beer Moreover of Butter 46640 Pounds together with Fish and Fowl Venison Fruit Spice proportionable This prodigious plenty caused Forreigners to put a higher value upon the King and caused the Natives who were there freely welcome to encrease their affection to the King it being found as necessary for the King of England this way to endear the English who ever delighted in Feasting as for the Italian Princes by Sights and Shews to endear their subjects who as much delight therein The Court of the Queen Consort of England THe Queens Court sutable to the Consort of so great a King is Splendid and Magnificent Her Majesty hath all Officers and a Houshold apart from the King for the maintenance whereof there is settled 40000 l. per annum For the Ecclesiastique Government of her Court there is first the Grand Almoner Father Howard Brother to the Duke of Norfolk He hath the superintendency over all the Ecclesiastiques belonging to the Queen The next is the Dean of the Chappel Doctor Goodwin The Third is the Treasurer of the Chappel Besides there are 4 Almoners and 4 Preachers 11 Franciscan Monks all Portuguez 6 Benedictins all English divers Persons belonging to the Musick of the Chappel to serve at the Altars Porters c. For the Civil Government of Her Majesties Court she hath a Council consisting of Persons of High Worth and Dignity whereof there are 12. 1. The Lord Vicount Cornbury her Lord Chamberlain 2. The Earl of Manchester 3. Earl of Sandwich 4. Lord Brunkard her Chancellour 5. Sir Richard Beclin her Secretary 6. Mr. Harvey Treasurer of her Houshold 7. Sir William Killigrew her Vice-Chamberlain 8. Mr. Montague her Atturney-General 9. Mr. Montague Brother to the Earl of Manchester her Sollicitor General 10. Mr. Montague Son to Lord Montague of Boughton 11. Sir Charles Harbord 12. Sir Henry Wood. Of Her Majesties Bed-Chamber are six Ladies of high rank first the Countess of Suffolk is her Groom of the Stole next are the Dutchess of Buckingham the Countesses of Castlemaine Bath Mairshal and Falmouth Her Majesty hath six Maids of Honour to wait at other times these must be all Gentlewomen unmarried over whom there is placed a Governess called The Mother of the Maids of Honour who is at present the Lady Sanderson The Maids are Mrs Cary Mrs Boynton Mrs Wells Mrs Price c. There are also 4 Dressers viz. the Ladies Scroop Freyser Killegrew and Mrs Le Guard moreover one Laundress Mrs Nun one Seamstress Mrs Chivens There are five Gentlemen Ushers of the Privy Chamber Sir William Courtney c. Five Gentlemen Ushers Daily Waiters Six Pages of the Back Stairs Eight Grooms of the Privy Chamber Two Carvers two Sewers two Cupbearers all Persons of quality Seven Gentlemen Ushers Quarter Waiters Four Pages of the Presence Master of Her Majesties Horse is Mr. Montague Son to the Lord Montague of Boughton To her Stable belong 4 Queries Persons of worth and 13 Grooms and 3 Messengers c. Of the Court of the Queen Mother THe highest Office in Her Majesties Court is that of Lord Chamberlain and Steward of Her Majesties Revenue enjoyed at present by Henry Lord Germin Earl of St. Albans whose Salary is and a Table of Dishes Monsieur Vantelet Vice-Chamberlain whose Salary is 200 l. per annum The third place is Her Majesties Chancellour enjoyed at present by Sir J. Winter Sir Henry Wood and Sir Robert Long whose Salary is and a Table of Dishes The
Cure of Souls To abolish irregularity gotten without a mans own default as by defect of body or birth or by accidental killing of a man c. To abolish the guilt of Simony To allow a Beneficed Clerk for some certain Causes to be Non-Resident for some time To allow a Lay-man to hold a Prebend c. whilst by study he is preparing himself for the Service of the Church To grant Dispensations to sick to Old People to Women with Child to eat flesh on dayes whereon it was forbidden To constitute Publick Notaries whose single Testimony is as good as the Testimonies of any two other Persons He hath the Power to grant Literns Tuitorias whereby any one that brings his Appeal may prosecute the same without any molestation To bestow one Dignity or Prebend in any Cathedral Church within his Province upon every Creation there of a new Bishop who is also to provide a sufficient Benefice for one of the Chaplains of the Archbishop or to maintain him till it be effected By the Stat. Primo Eliz. it is provided that the Queen by the Advice of the Archbishop might ordain and publish such Rites and Ceremonies as may be for Gods glory for edifying the Church and due reverence of the Sacraments He hath the Prerogative to Consecrate a Bishop though it must be done in the presence and with the assistance of two other Bishops as every Bishop gives Ordination but with the assistance of Presbyters to assign Co-adjutors to infirm Bishops to confirm the Elections of Bishops within his Province to call Provincial Synods according to the Kings Writ alwayes directed to him to be Moderator in the Synods or Convocations to give his Suffrage there last of all to visit the whole Province to appoint a Guardian of the Spiritualties during the Vacancy of any Bishoprick within his Province whereby all the Episcopal Rights of that Diocess belong to him all Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction as Visitation Institutions c. The Archbishop may retain and qualifie 8 Chaplains which is 2 more than any Duke by Statute is allowed to do The Archbishop of Canterbury hath moreover the Power to hold divers Courts of Judicature for deciding of Differences in Ecclesiastical Affairs as his Court of Arches his Court of Audience his Prerogative Court and his Court of Peculiars of all which shall be handled particularly and apart in the Second Part of the Present State of England These and other Prerogatives and Priviledges the Wisdom of our first Reformers thought fit to be retained and added to the Chief Person under the King of the Church of England The next Person in the Church of England is the Archbishop of York who was antiently also of very high repute in this Nation and had under his Province not only divers Bishopricks in the North of England but all the Bishopricks of Scotland for a long time until the year 1470 when Pope Sixtus the 4th created the Bishop of St. Andrews Archbishop and Metropolitan of all Scotland He was also Legatus Natus and had the Legantine Office and Authority annext to that Archbishoprick He hath still the place and precedence of all Dukes not of the Royal Blood and of all Great Officers of State except only the Lord Chancellour hath the Title of Grace and Most Reverend Father hath the Honour to Crown the Queen and to be her perpetual Chaplain He is stiled Metropolitan of England and hath under his Province the Bishopricks of York Durham Carlile Chester and that of the Isle of Man Hath the Rights of a Count Palatine over a certain Territory near York erected by King Rich. 2. into a County Palatine May qualifie also 8 Chaplains and hath within his Province divers other Prerogatives and Priviledges which the Archbishop of Canterbury hath within his own Province The next in place amongst the Clergy of England are the Bishops so called from the Saxon word Biscop and that from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Speculator Explorator vel Superintendens an Officer amongst the Heathen so called quia praeerat pani victui quotidiano Episcopus enim apud Christionos praeest pani victui spirituali All the Bishops of England are Barons and Peers of the Realm They are Barons by a threefold manner which cannot be said of the Lay Lords they are Feodal in regard of their Lands and Baronies annext to their Bishopricks They are Barons by Writ being summoned by the Kings Writ to Parliament and they are created Barons by Patent which at their Consecration is alwayes exhibited to the Archbishop They have the Precedence of all Temporal Barons under Vicounts In the Parliament have place in the Upper House in a double capacity not only as Barons but as Bishops for before they were Barons they had in all times place in the Great Council of the Kingdome and there ever placed on the Kings right hand not only to give their Advice as the Judges do but ad tractandum ordinandum statuendum definiendum c. They have the Title of Lords and Right Reverend Fathers All Bishops in England have one or two transcendent Priviledges which seem almost Regal as In their own Courts to judge and pass Sentence alone by themselves without any Collegue or Assessor which is not done in other of the Kings Courts for the Bishops Courts though held by the Kings Authority Virtute Magistratus sui are not accounted to be properly the Kings Courts and therefore the Bishops send forth Writs in their own Names Teste the Bishop and not in the Kings Name as all the Kings Courts properly so called do Moreover Bishops have this other transcendent Priviledge To depute their Authority to another as the King doth either to their Bishops Suffragans to their Chancellours to their Commissaries or other Officers which none of the Kings Judges may do All Bishops have one Priviledge above and beyond all Lay Lords viz. That in whatsoever Christian Princes Dominions they come their Episcopal Dignity and Degree is acknowledged and they may quatenus Bishops confer Orders c. whereas no Lay Baron Vicount Marquiss nor Duke is in Law acknowledgeed such out of the Dominions of the Prince who conferred those Honours The Laws and Customs of England are so tender of the Honour Credit Reputation and Person of Bishops our Spiritual Fathers that none might without special Licence from the King first obtained be endited of any Crime before any Temporal Judge Upon severe Penalty by our Laws no man may raise reports whereby Scandal may arise to the Person of any Bishop or Debate and Discord between them and the Commons of England In Civil Trials where a Bishop is Plaintiff or Defendant the Bishop may as well as any Lay Lord challenge the Array 〈◊〉 one Knight at least be not â—eturned of the Jury and it â—hall be allowed unto him as 〈◊〉 Priviledge due to his Peerage In Criminal Trials for life all â—ishops by Magna Charta and â—tat 25 Edw. 3.
first Kings of England â—ad all the Lands of England 〈◊〉 Demesne The second sole Monarch amongst the Saxon Kings Ethelwolphus by the advice of his Nobles gave foâ— ever to God and the Church both the Tythe of all Good and the Tenth part of all the Lands of England free from all Secular Service Taxations or Impositions whatsoever the Charter of which Donation 〈◊〉 to be seen in Ingulphus and other Authors which Chartâ— thus ends Qui augere voluerâ— nostram donationem as many Pious Kings and Nobles sinâ— have done augeat Omnipotenâ— Deus dies ejus prosperos si quâ—â— vero mutare vel minuere praesumpâ— serit noscat se ad tribunal Christ rationem redditurum Beside the Tenth of Land and the Husbandmans profits Merchants also and Shop-keepers paid to their Spirituaâ— Pastors the Tenth of theiâ— Gain Servants in divers Plaâ—es the Tenth of their Wages 〈◊〉 as Soldiers in the Kings Armies do now a part of their Pay and in some places Aleâ—ellers the Tenth Flagon Alâ—o Handicrafts-men and Day-â—abourers paid the Tenth of â—heir Wages upon their Oaths 〈◊〉 required Per Assisas Forestae and other â—ecords it doth appear that â—ythes have been paid even â—f Venison in divers parts of England men making consciâ—nce in those dayes as amongst â—he antient Jews to pay Tythes â—f all they possâ—ssed Besides all those in some plaâ—es were paid to the Pastor Obâ—entions Oblations Pensions Mortuaries c. so that the Enâ—lish Clergy were the best provided for of any Clergy in the whole World except only the Nation of the Jews amongst whom the Tribe of Levi being not the 40th part of the 12 Tribes as appears in the Book of Numbers yet had as Mr. Selden confesseth and that by Gods own appointment three times the Annual Revenue of the greatest of the 12 Tribes insomuch that the poorest Priest in the 24 Courses might be reputed a wealthy person And as amongst the Jews the 24 Chief Priests for the better maintenance of their Authority and Dignity had means far exceeding those of the Inferiour Clergy and the High Priest had a Maintenance as far exceeding any of the said 24 Priests So in England the Bishops by the great Piety and Bounty of several English Kings had in Lands and Revenues Temporal and Spiritual a Maintenance far more â—mple than those of the Inferiour Clergy and the 2 Archbishops more ample than â—he Bishops William the Conquerour at his coming into England found â—he Bishopricks then in being 〈◊〉 richly endowed with Lands â—hat he erected them all into Baronies and every Barony â—hen consisted of 13 Knights Fees at the least Besides theâ—e belonged to Bishops several Perquisits and Duties for the Visitations of â—heir Diocesses for Ordinasions Institutions Census Cathedraticus subsidium Charitativum which upon reasonable Causes they might requireâ— of the Clergy under them also other Duties called Decimarum quarta Mortuariorum Oblationum pensitatio Juâ— Hospitii Processio Litania Viatici vel Commeatus collatio which upon a Journey to Româ— they might demand Tenthâ— and First Fruits was antiently paid as is believed to the several Diocesans and was continued to the Bishop of Norwich till Henry 8. deprived him thereof and deprived the Pope of all the rest Moreover all Cathedral Churches were by divers Kings and Nobles richly furnisht with Lands for thâ— plentiful maintenance of a Dean and a certain number of Prebends insomuch that together with the Lands given to Monasteries a third part of the Lands of England belonged to the Church and Church-men whereby did accrue much benefit to this Nation great Hospitality was kept many Hospitals Colledges Churches Bridges built and other Publick Pious and Charitable Works All Leases held of them by the Laity were not â—aly much more easie than other Tenures but so unquestionable that there was little work for the Lawyers so much peaceableness that 140 sworn Attourneys was thought sufficient to serve the whole Kingdome At present the Revenues of the English Clergy is generally very small and insufficient above a third part of the best Benefices of England being antiently by the Popes Grant appropriated to Monasteries towards their maintenance were upon the dissolution of Monasteries made Lay Fees besides what hath been taken by secret and indirect means thorow corrupt Compositions anâ— Compacts and Customs in many other Parishes also manâ— large Estates wholly exempâ—â— from paying Tythes as Land belonging to the Cistertiaâ— Monks to the Knights Templars and Hospitallers Thoâ— Benefices that are free from these things yet besides Fiâ—â— Fruits and Tenths to the King and Procurations to the Bishop are taxed towards the Chargâ— of their respective Parishes and towards the publique charges of the Nation above and beyond the proportion of the Laity The Bishopricks of England have been also since the later end of Hen. 8. to the coming in of King James most miserably robbed and spoiled of the greatest part of their Lands and Revenues so that at this day a mean Gentleman of 200 l. land yearly will not change his worldly estate and condition with divers Bishops an Attourney a Shop-Keeper a common Artisan will hardly change theirs with ordinary Pastors of the Church Some few Bishopricks do yet retain a competency amongst which the Bishoprick of Durham is accounted one of the Chief the yearly Revenues whereof before the late troubles was above 6000 l. of which by the late Act for abolishing Tenures in Capite was lost above 2000 l. yearly Out of it an yearly Pension of 880 l is paid to the Crown ever since the Raign of Queen Elizabeth who promised in lieu thereof so much in Impropriations which was never performed Above 340 l. yearly paid to several Officers of the County Palatine of Durham The Assises and Sessions duly kept in the Bishops House at the sole Charges of the Bishop The several expences for keeping in repair certain Banks of Rivers in that Bishoprick and of several Houses belonging to the Bishoprick Moreover the yearly Tenths the Publick Taxes the Charges of going to and waiting at Parliament being deducted there will remain communibus annis to the Bishop to keep Hospitality which must be great and to provide for those of his Family but about 1500 l. yearly The like might be said of some other Principal Bishopricks The great diminution of the Revenues of the Clergy and the little care of augmenting or defending the Patrimony of the Church is the great reproach and shame of the English Reformation and will one day prove the ruin of Church and State Judicious Mr. Hooker who in the Preface of his Works fore-told our late troubles 40 years before they came to pass observing in his time how the Church was every day robbed of her Dues and that it was then an opinion rife That to give to the Church smelt of Judaisme and Popery and to take from the Church what our Ancestors had given was Reformation declared that what Moses saith in the 90th Psalme was likely to
Restauration what Expences in Hospitality c. above and beyond the Charity and Bounty of others who have ten times their Wealth and Riches As they have then been beneficial to this Kingdome above and beyond other ranks of men so they have had the highest respect reverence and esteem In all Ages amongst all Nations amongst Turks as well as Jews and Christians it was judged fit that the Principal Domestique Servants of the King of Heaven and Earth either should be of the Chiefest and Noblest upon Earth or at least should be so esteemed Such Reverence our Ancestors bare to that Function that as Selden observes to fall down and kiss the Feet was a Ceremony usual towards other Bishops and Principal Prelates besides the Bishop of Rome Divers of our Saxon and Norman Kings and Nobles so respected them that they constrained them in Publick Grants yet to be seen to sign before the highest of the Lay Nobles and sometimes before the Kings own Sons and Brothers and to rank them before c. In the year 1200. three Kings viz. of England Scotland and of South-Wales to express their pious and courteous respect to Hugh Bishop of Lincoln disdained not with their own Royal Shoulders to bear his dead Corps to the Grave And yet it hath been observed even by Strangers that the Iniquity of the present times in England is such that the English Orthodox Clergy are not only hated by the Romanists on the one side and maligned by the Presbyterian on the other side as the English Liturgy hath also been for a long time by both of them a sure evidence of the excellency thereof and as our Saviour was crucified between two Theeves but also that of all the Christian Clergy of Europe whether Romish Lutheran or Calvinian none are so little respected beloved obeyed or rewarded as the present Pious Learned Loyal Orthodox Clergy of England even by those who have alwayes professed themselves of that Communion O Deus in quae tempora reservasti nos Here followeth a Catalogue of the present Deans in the Provinces both of Canterbury and York In the Province of Canterbury Dr. Turner Dean of Canterbury Dr. Sancrost Dean of Pauls Dr. Dolben Bishop of Rochester and Dean of Westminster Dr. Clark Dean of Winchester Dr. Wilford Dean of Ely Dr. Creyton Dean of Bath and Wells Dr. Williams Bishop of Ossory and Dean Commendatory of Bangor Dr. Fell Dean of Christ-Church Dr. Hardy Dean of Rochester Dr. Gueson Dean of Chichester Dr. Thomas Dean of Worcester Dr. â—redyok Dean of Salisbury Dr. Honywood Dean of Lincoln Dr. Lloyd Dean of St. Asaph Dr. Cary Dean of Exeter Dr. Duport Dean of Peterborough Dr. Crofts Dean of Norwich Dr. Toogood Dean of Bristol Dr. Hodges Dean of Hereford Dr. Brough Dean of Glocester Dr. Wood Dean of Litchfield In the Province of York Dr. Hitch Dean of York Dr. Sudbury Dean of Durham Dr. Carlton Dean of Carlile Dr. Bridgeman Dean of Chester Note That in the Cathedral Churches of St. Davids and of Landaff there never hath been any Dean but the Bishop in either is Head of the Chapter and in the Bishops absence the Chanter at St. Davids and at Landaff the Archdeacon Note also That there are some Deans in England without any Jurisdiction only for honour so stiled as the Dean of the Chappel Royal and Dean of the Chappel of St. George at Windsor Moreover Some Deans there are without any Chapter yet enjoying certain Jurisdictions as the Dean of Croyden the Dean of Battel the Dean of Bocking c. Of the Nobility or Second Estate of England NObiles quasi viri Noscibiles or Notabiles In all Christian Monarchies men that have been Notable for Courage Wisdom Wealth c. have been judged fit and worthy to enjoy certain Priviledges Titles Dignities Honours c. above the Common People to be placed in an higher Orbe and to be as a Skreen between the King and the Inferiour Subjects to defend the one from Insolencies and the other from Tyranny to interpose by their Counsel Courage and Grandeur where common persons dare not ought not to be so hardy to support the King and defend the Kingdom with their lives and fortunes The Nobility of England is called the Peerage of England because they are all Pares Regni that is Nobilitate Pares though gradu impares The Degrees of the English Nobility are onely five viz. Duke Marquiss Earl Vicount and Baron These are all Barons but the four first are for State Priviledge and Precedence above and before other Barons A Duke in Latine Dux a ducendo Noblemen being antiently either Generals and Leaders of Armies in time of War or Wardens of Marches and Governours of Provinces in times of Peace afterwards made so for term of life then held by Lands and Fees at length made Hereditary and Titular The first Duke since the Conquerour was Edward the Black Prince created so by Edward 3 in the 11th year of his Raign A Duke is at this day created by Patent Cincture of a Sword Imposition of a Cap and Coronet of Gold on his Head and a Verge of Gold put into his hand Marchio a Marquiss was first so called from the Government of Marches and Frontier Countries The first that was so created was Robert Vere Earl of Oxford made Marquiss of Dublin in Octavo of Richard 2. A Marquiss is created by a Cincture of a Sword Imposition of a Cap of Honour with a Coronet and delivery of a Charter or Patent Earls antiently called Comites because they were wont Comitari Regem to wait upon the King for Counsel and Advice The Saxons called them Ealdormen the Danes Eorlas and the English Earls They had antiently for the support of their state the third penny out of the Sherives Court issuing out of all Pleas of that Shire whereof they had their Title but now it is otherwise An Earl is created by the Cincture of a Sword a Mantle of State put upon him by the King himself a Cap and a Coronet put upon his head and a Charter in his hand All Earls are stiled by the King Consanguinei nostri Our Cosins and they antiently did and still may use the style of Nos All the Earls of England are local or denominated from some Shire Town or Place except 2 whereof one is personal as the Earl Marshal of England who is not only honorary as all the rest but also officiary The other is nominal viz. Earl Rivers who takes his denomination from an Illustrious Family as the rest do from some noted place Vicecomes quasi vice Comitis gubernaturus Comitatum This Title was first given say some by Hen. 6. in the 18th year of his Raign to John Beaumont though it may be found that 5 H. 5. Sir Robert Brent was by that King created a Vicount A Vicount is so made by Patent In the Laws of the Longobards and of the Normans this Word
but to have expedition of Justice At the beginning of Parliament when the Oath of Supremacy is exacted of all those of the House of Commons yet is it not reqnired of any of the Lords because the King is otherwise assured of their Loyalty and Fidelity as is presumed In all Cases wherein the Priviledge of Clergy is allowed to other men and also in divers Cases where that Priviledge is taken away from other men every Peer of the Realm having Place and Voice in Parliament shall upon his Request by Stat. 1. Ed. 6. without burning in the hand loss of Inheritance or corruption of Blood be adjudged for the first time as a Clerk convict though he cannot read All Barons of England are exempted from all attendance at Sherives Turns or any Leets as others are to take the Oath of Allegeance A Peer cannot be outlawed in any Civil Action because he cannot be arrested by any Capias and by the same reason lies no Attachment against him By the Custom of England as is by the Law of the Empire Nobiles non torquentur in quibus plebeii torquerentur Nobiles non suspenduntur sed decapitantur yet this by the meer favour of the King and in some cases especially of Felony hath been otherwise sometimes For the suppressing of Riots and Routs the Sheriff may raise the Posse Comitatus that is â—all able men are to assist him yet may not the Sheriff command the Person of any Peer of the Realm to attend that Service A Baron of Parliament being sent for by the Kings Writ or Letter or by his Messenger to come to Court or to Parliament or to appear before the Council-Board or in his Court of Chancery may both coming and returning by the Kings Forest or Park kill one or two Deer In any Civil Trial where a Peer of the Realm is Plaintiff or Defendant there must be returned of the Jury at least one Knight otherwise the Array may be quasht by Challenge The Laws of England are so tender of the Honour Credit Reputation and Persons of Noblemen that there is a Statute on purpose to prohibit all offence by false reports whereby any scandal to their persons may arise or debate and discord between them and the Commons and because it is to defend not only Lay Lords but Bishops and all great Officers of the Realm it is called Scandalum Magnatum If a Peer of the Realm appear not upon a Subpena yet may not an Attachment be awarded against him as it may against a common person though of later times the practice hath been otherwise The House of a Peer cannot in some Cases as in search for Prohibited Books for Conventicles c. be enâ—â—red by Officers of Justice without a Warrant under the Kings own hand and the hands of 6 of his Privy Council whereof 4 to be Peers of the Realm No Peer can be assessed towards the standing Militia but by 6 or more of themselves The Law allowing any one of the Commonalty to be arâ—aigned for Felony or Treason in favorem vitae to challenge 35 of his Jury without shewing cause and others by shewing cause yet allows not a Peer of the Realm to challenge any of his Jury or to put any of them to their Oath the Law presuming that they being all Peers of the Realm and judging upon their Honour cannot be guilty of Falshood oâ— Favour or Malice All Peers of the Realm have a Priviledge of qualifying a certain number of Chaplains who after a Dispensation from the Archbishop if to him iâ— seem good and the same ratified under the Great Seal of England may hold Plurality of Benefices with Cure of Souls In this manner every Duke may qualifie 6 Chaplains every Marquiss and Earl 5 apiece every Vicount 4 and every Baron 3. A Peer of the Realm may retain 6 Aliens born whereas another may not retain above 4. In Case of Amercements of the Peers of the Realm upon Non-suits or other Judgements a Duke is to be amerâ—ed only 10 pounds and all under only 5 l. and this to be done by their Peers accordâ—ng to Magna Charta alâ—hough it is oft done by the Kings Justices instead of their Peers All Peers of the Realm beâ—ng constant hereditary Councellours of the King in his Great Council of Parliament and being obliged upon the Kings Summons to appear and attend in all Parliaments upon their own Charges are priviledged from contributing to the Expences of any Member of the House of Commons for which no levy may be made upon any of their Lands parcel of their Earldoms or Baronies any of their antient Demesnes Copyhold or Villain Tenants The Estates of all Peers of the Realm being judged in the Eye of the Law sufficient at all times to satisfie all Debts and Damages satisfaction is to be sought by Execution taken forth upon their Lands and Goods and not by Attachments Imprisonments of their Persons those are to be alwayes free for the Service of the King and Kingdome noâ— by Exigents or Capias Utlegatum c. Other Priviledges belong to the Peers of England as 8â— Tun of Wine Custome free to every Earl and to the rest proportionably c. Notwithstanding these great Priviledges belonging to the Nobility of England yet the greatest of them no not the Brother or Son of the King ever had the Priviledge of the Grandees of Spain to be covered in the Kings Presence except only Henry Ratcliffe Earl of Surrey as before Pag. 147. nor had ever that higher Priviledge of the Nobility of France whose Domain Lands and their Dependants holding them are exempted from all Contributions and Tailles whereby they are tied to their King and so enabled to serve him that although Rebellions are frequent yet seldome of long continuance and never prosperous whereas the highest born Subject of England hath herein no more Priviledge than the meanest Plowman but utterly want that kind of reward for antient Vertue and encouragement for future Industry Touching the Places or Precedences amongst the Peers of England it is to be observed that after the King and Princes of the Blood viz. the Sons Grandsons Brothers Uncles or Nephews of the King and noâ— farther Dukes amongst the Nobility have the first place then Marquisses Dukes eldest Sons Earls Marquisses eldest Sons Dukes younger Sons Vicounts Earls eldest Sons Marquisses younger Sons Barons Vicounts eldest Sons Earls younger Sons Barons eldest Sons Vicounts younger Sons Barons younger Sons Here note That it was decreed by King James that the younger Sons of Barons and Vicounts should yeeld Place and Precedence to all Knights of the Garter quateâ—us tales and to all Privy Councellours Master of the Wards Chancellour and Under Treasurer of the Exchequer Chancellour of the Dutchy Chief Justice of the Kings Bench Master of the Rolls Chief Justice of the Common Pleas Chief Baron of the Exchequer and all other Judges and Barons of the Degree of the Coise of the said Courts
of all sublunary things and remember that there was once a time when the Juvenes Nobiles in Old English the Edel Knaben were so leud that those words came at length to signifie as now Idle Knaves Of the Commonalty or Third State of England THe Law of England contrary to the Laws and Customs of other Countries â—alleth none Noble under a Baron so that not only all Baronets all sorts of Knights all Esquires and Gentlemen but also all the Sons of the Nobility are by our Law reckoned amongst the Commons of England and therefore the eldest Son of a Duke though by the Courtesie of England stiled an Earl yet shall be arraigned by the Stile of Esquire only and may be tried by a Jury of Common Freeholders and in Parliament can sit only in the House of Commons if elected till called by the Kings Writ to the Lords House Yet doth it seem very absurd that all Noblemens Sons with all Knights Esquires and Gentlemen should be esteemed Plebeans but rather as in Rome they were in a middle Rank inter Senatores Plebem or else as â—n other Christian Kingdomes they should be considered as â—he Minor Nobilitas Regni so â—hat as Barons and all above may be stiled Nobiles Majores â—o from a Baron downward to â—he Yeoman all may be not â—â—fitly stiled Nobiles Minores The Lower Nobility then of England consists of Baroâ—ets Knights Esquires and Gentlemen The next Degree to Barons â—re Baronets which is the lowâ—st Degree of Honour that is â—ereditary An Honour first â—nstituted by King James Anno â—611 given by Patent to a Man and his Heirs Males of his Body lawfully begotten for â—hich each one is obliged to â—ay into the Exchequer so much money as will for 3 years at 8â— d. per diem pay 30 Foot Souldiers to serve in the Province oâ— Vlster in Ireland which summe amounts to 1095 l. which with Fees doth commonly arise to 1200 l. Baronets have precedencâ— before all Knights excepâ— Knights of the Garter and Knights Bannerets made under the Kings Banner or Standard displaied in an Army Royaâ— in open War and the Kinâ— personally present Baronets have the Priviledgi to bear in a Canton of theiâ— Coat of Arms or in a wholâ— Scutcheon the Arms of Vlster viz. In a Field Argent a Hanâ— Gules also in the Kings Armies to have place in the gros near the Kings Standard witâ— some other particulars for their Funerals The whole number of Baronets in England are not to exceed 200 at one and the same time after which number compleated as any for want of heirs come to be extinct the number shall not be made up by new Creations but be suffered to diminish as appears by their Patent No Honour is ever to be created between Baronets and Barons The first Baronet that was created was Sir Nicholas Bacon of Suffolk whose Successor is therefore stiled Primus Baronettorum Angliae This Word Knight is derived from the German Word Knecht signifying originally 〈◊〉 Lusty Servitor The Germans as the antient Romans gave their young men Togam Virilem by Publick Authority bestowed on their young men able to manage Arms a Shield and a Javelin as fit for Martial Service and to be a Member of the Common wealth accounted before but a part of a Family and such a young man publickly allowed they called Knecht whence we had our Institution of Knighthood The thing Knight is at this day signified in Latine French Spanish Italian and also in the High and Low Dutch Tongues by a Word that properly signifies a Horseman because they were wont to serve in War on Horsback and were sometimes in England called Radenyhts id est Riding Servitors yet our Common Law stiles them Milites because they commonly held Lands in Knights Service to serve the King in his Wars as Soldiers The Honour of Knighthood is commonly given for some personal desert and therefore dies with the person deserving and descends not to his Son In England there are several sorts of Knights whereof the chiefest are those of the Order of St. George commonly called Knights of the Garter This Order is esteemed the most Honourable and most Antient of any now in use in Christendom It began as appears in the Statutes of this Order in the 23th year of the Warlike and Puissant King Edward 3 who was Founder thereof and at first made choice of the most Illustrious Persons of Europe to be of that Royal Society no doubt upon a Martial and not upon any such Amorous Account as is intimated Page 96 of this Treatise which ridiculous Story to the dishonour of the Order was first fancied by Polydore Virgil and since upon his credit taken up by many late Authors It appears by Antient Writings that this Honourable Company is a Colledge or Corporation having a Great Seal belonging to it and consisting of a Soveraign Guardian which is alwayes the King of England and of 25 Companions called Knights of the Garter of 14 Secular Canons that are Priests of 13 Vicars who are also Priests of 26 poor Knights who have no other Maintenance but the allowance of this Colledge which is given them in respect of their Prayers to the Honour of God and of St. George who is the Patron of England and of this Order in particular and is none of those Fabulous St. Georges as some have vainly fancied but that famous Saint and Soldier of Christ St. George of Cappadocia a Saint so universally received in all Parts of Christendom so generally attested by the Ecclesiastical Writers of all Ages from the time of his Martyrdome till this day that no one Saint in all the Calendar except those attested by Scripture can be better evidenced There be also certain Officers belonging to this Order as the Prelate of the Garter which Office is settled on the Bishoprick of VVinchester A Chancellour of the Garter A Register who of later times hath been constantly the Dean of VVindsor though antiently it was otherwise The Principal King at Arms called Garter whose chief function is to manage and marshal their Solemnities at their Installations and Feasts Lastly The Usher of the Garter There are also certain Orders and Constitutions belonging to this Society touching the Solemnities in making these Knights their Duties after Creation and their high Priviledges too long for this place The Colledge is seated in the Castle of VVindsor with the Chappel of St. George there erected by King Edward 3. and the Chapter House The Order of the Garter is wont to be bestowed upon the most excellent and renowned Persons for Honour and Vertue and with it a Blew Garter deckt with Gold Pearl and Pretious Stones and a Buckle of Gold to be worn daily on the Left Leg also at High Feasts they are to wear a Surcoat a Mantle a Black Velvet Cap a Coller of Garters and other stately and magnificent Apparel They are not to be seen abroad without their
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
Honourable Estate nor to be a Commander over Souldiers and therefore the English Nobility and Gentry till within late years judged it a stain and diminution to the honour and dignity of their Families to seek their Childrens support by Shop-keeping but only as in all great Monarchies by Military Court State or Church Emploiments much less to subject their Children to an Apprentisage a perfect Servitude for during that time whatever they gain by their Masters Trade or their own wit belongs all to their Master neither can they lie our of their Masters House noâ— take a Wife nor trade of their own but subject to all Houshold Work all Commands oâ— their Master undergo what punishment and eat and wear what their Master pleaseth which Marks of Slavery considered Heralds are of opinion that a Gentleman thereby loses his Gentility for ever till he can otherwise recover it and yet to the shame of our Nation we have seen of fare not onely the Sons of Baroners Knights and Gentlemen sitting in Shops and sometimes of Pedling Trades far more fit for Women and their Daughters but also an Earl of this Kingdom subjecting his Son to an Apprentisage and Trade but the folly of the English in swerving from their Ancestors steps herein as in other things is now apparent for those young Gentlemen possessing more noble and active Spirits could not brook such dull slavish lives and being thereby unfitted for other emploiments have generally taken ill debauched courses Priviledges The lower Nobility of England have fewer and lesse Priviledges than those in other Monarchies Some few Priviledges belong to Knights quatenus Knights 〈◊〉 a Knight be a Minor yet shall he be out of Wardship both for Lands Body and Marriage for though the Law doth judge him not able to do Knights Service till the Age of 21 years yet the King being Sovereign and Supreme Judge of Chivalry by dubbing him Knight doth thereby allow him to be able to do him Knights Service Knights are excused from attendance at Court-Leets They and their eldest Sons not compellable to find Pledges at the Visus Franci Plegii Knights by Magna Charta cap. 21. are so freed that no Demesne Cart of theirs may be taken The Son and Brother of a Knight by Statute law are capacitated to hold more than one Beenfice with cure of Souls By the Stat. Primo Jacobi It seems that Knights and their Sons though they cannot spend 10 l. per annum nor are worth 200 l. may keep Greyhounds Setting Dogs or Nets to take Pheasants or Partridges Some Priviledges also beâ—ong to Gentlemen Antientâ—y if an ignoble person did â—trike a Gentleman in England he was to lose his hand A Gentleman by Stat. Quint. Eliz. may not be comâ—elled to serve in Husbandry The Child of a Gentleman â—rought up to singing cannot â—e taken without the Parents â—nd Friends consent to serve â—n the Kings Chappel as others may The Horse of a Gentleman may not be taken to ride post Note That as there are somâ— Great Officers of the Crownâ— who for their Dignity anâ— Worth of their Places although they are not Noble men yet take place amongâ— the highest of the Higher Nobility so there are some Persons who for their Dignities in the Church-degrees iâ— the University Offices in thâ— State or Army although thâ— are neither Knights nor Gentlemen born yet take place amongst them So all Deanâ— Archdeacons Chancellours Prebends Doctors of Divinity Law and Physick Heads of Houses in the University usually take place nexâ— to Knights and before all Esquires and Gentlemen Likewise all Judges of Courts Mayors Bailiffs Justices of the Peace All Commissionated Officers in the Army as Colonels Master of Artillery Quarter-Master General c. All higher Officers in the Kings Court or State All Sergeants at Law c. These are wont to precede Esquires All Batchelors of Divinity Law and Physick all Doctors in the Arts commonly called Masters of Art all Barresters in the Innes of Court all Captains Officers in the Kings Houshold c. may equal if not precede Gentlemen that have none of those qualifications In England Gentry as in Germany all Nobility and Arms are held in Gavelkind descending to all the Sons alike only the eldest Son beareth Arms without difference which the younger may not Of the low Nobility in England the number is so great that there are reckoned at present above 500 Baronets more than the first intended number that is in all above 700 who are possest one with another of about 1200 l. a year in Lands Of Knights above 1400 who one with another may have about 800 l. Lands a year Of Esquires and Gentlemen above 6000 each one possest one with another of about 400 l. a year in Lands besides younger Brothers whose number may amount to about 16000 in all England who have small Estates in Lands but are commonly bred up to Divinity Law Physick to Court and Military Emploiments but of late too many of them to Shop-keeping The Lands in the possession of the lower Nobility will amount to about four Millions and sixty thousand pounds yearly Next to the lower Nobility and the first Degree of the Commons or Plebeans are the Freeholders in England commonly called Yeomen from the High Dutch Gemen or Gemain in English Common so in the Kings Court it signifieth an Officer which is in a middle place between a Sergeant and a Groom or else from the Low Dutch Yeman Some-body as the Spaniard calls a Gentleman Hidalgo Hijo d' algo that is the Son of Some-body The Yeomanry of England having Lands of their own to a good value and living upon Husbandry are lookt upon as not apt to commit or omit any thing that may endanger their Estates and Credits nor apt to be corrupted or suborned c. wherefore they are judged fit to bear some Offices as of Constable Churchwarden to serve upon Juries to be Train-Souldiers to vote in the Election of Knights of the Shire for Parliament c. In Cases and Causes the Law of England hath conceived a better opinion of the Yeomanry that occupy Lands then of Tradesmen Artificers or Labourers Husbandry hath in no age rendred a Gentleman ignoble nor uncapable of places of Honour Amongst the Romans some of the greatest Dictators and Consuls had been once Husbandmen and some of them taken from Plowing their Ground to bear those Highest Offices and Dignities so divers Princes Kings and Emperours have exercised Agriculture and the Grand Scipâ—o and the Emperour Dioclesian left their Commands to enjoy Husbandry By the Statutes of England certain Immunities are given to Freeholders and landed men though they are not Gentlemen Vide Stat. 1 Jacobi cap. 27. alibi Of the Free-holders in England there are more in number and richer than in any Countrey of the like extent in Europe 40 or 50 l. a year a piece is very ordinary 100 and 200 l. a year in some Counties is not rare Besides these
Freeholders which are so called because they hold Lands or Tenements inheritable by a perpetual Right to them and their heirs for ever there are in England a very great number of Copyholders who hold Lands within some Mannors only by Copy of Court Roll of the said Mannour c. have Jus perpetuum utile Dominium though not Allodium directum Dominium which none in England but the King hath Amongst the Commons of England in the next place are reckoned Tradesmen amongst whom Merchants of Forrein Trafick have for their great benefit to the publick for their great Endowments and generous living been of best repute in England and although the Law of England look upon Tradesmen and Chapmen that live by buying and selling as a baser sort of people and that a Ward within age may bring his Action of Disparagement against his Guardian for offering any such in Marriage yet in England as well as Italy to become a Merchant of Forreign Commerce without serving any Apprentisage hath been allowed as no disparagement to a Gentleman born especially to a younger Brother Amongst Tradesmen in the next place are Whole-sale-men then Retailers lastly Mechanicks or Handy-crafts-men These are all capable of bearing some Sway or Office in Cities and Towns Corporate The lowest Member the Feet of the Body Politique are the Day-Labourers who by their large Wages given them and the cheapness of all Necessaries enjoy better Dwellings Diet and Apparel in England than the Husbandmen do in many other Countries Liberties and Properties As the Clergy and Nobility have certain Priviledges peculiar to themselves so they have Liberties and Properties common to the Commonalty of England The Commons of England for hereditary fundamental Liberties and Properties are blest above and beyond the Subjects of any Monarch in the World First No Freemen of England ought to be imprisoned or otherwise restrained without cause shewn for which by Law he ought to be so imprisoned Secondly To him that is imprisoned may not be denied a Writ of Habeas Corpus if it be desired Thirdly If no cause of Imprisonment be alledged and the same be returned upon an Habeas Corpus then the Prisoner ought to be set at Liberty Fourthly No Soldiers can be quartered in the House of any Freeman in time of Peace without his will though they pay for their quarters Fifthly Every Freeman hath such a full and absolute propriety in Goods that no Taxes Loans or Benevolences can be imposed upon them without their own consent by their Representative in Parliament Moreover They have such an absolute Power that they can dispose of all they have how they please even from their own Children and to them in what inequality they will without shewing any cause which other Nations governed by the Civil Law cannot do Sixthly No Englishman may be prest or compelled unless bound by his Tenure to march forth of his County to serve as a Souldier in the wars except in case of a Forreign Enemy invading or a Rebellion at home Nor may he be sent out of the Realm against his will upon any forreign Employment by way of an honourable Banishment Seventhly No Freeman can be tried but by his Peers nor condemned but by the Laws of the Land or by an Act of Parliament Eighthly No Freeman may be fined for any Crime but according to the merit of the Offence alwayes salvo sibâ— contenemente suo in such manner that he may continue and go on in his Calling Briefly If it be considered only that they are subject to no Laws but what they make themselves nor no Taxes but what they impose themselves and pray the King and Lords to consent unto their Liberties and Properties must be acknowledged to be transcendent and their worldly condition most happy and blessed and so far above that of the subjects of any of our Neighbour Nations that as all the Women of Europe would run into England the Paradise of Women if there were a Bridge made over the Sea so all the Men too if there were but an Act for a general Naturalizati-of all Aliens Of the Women Children and Servants of England TOuching the Women of England there are divers things considerable in the English Laws and Customs Women in England with all their Moveable Goods so soon as they are married are wholly in potestate viri at the will and disposition of the Husband If any Goods or Chattels be given to Feme Covert to a Married Woman they all immediately become her Husbands She cannot let set sell give away or alienate any thing without her Husbands consent Her very Necessary Apparel by the Law is not hers in property If she hath any Tenure at all it is in Capite that is she holds it of and by her Husband who is Caput mulieris and therefore the Law saith Uxor fulget radiis mariti All the Chattels personal the Wife had at the Marriage is so much her Husbands that after his death they shall not return to the Wife but go to the Executor or Administrator of the Husband as his other Goods and Chattels except only her Parapherna which are her Necessary Apparel which with the consent of her Husband she may devise by Will not otherwise by our Law because the property and possession even of the Parapherna are in him The Wife can make no Contract without her Husbands consent and in Law matters sine viro respondere non potest The Law of England supposeth a Wife to be in so much Subjection and Obedience to her Husband as to have no will at all of her own Wherefore if a Man and his Wife commit a felony together the Wife by the Law can be neither Principal nor Accessory the Law supposing that in regard of the subjection and obedience she owes to her Husband she was necessitated thereunto The Law of England supposes in the Husband a power over his Wife as over his Child or Servant to correct her when she offends and therefore he must answer for his Wives faults if she wrong another by her Tongue or by Trespass he must make satisfaction So the Law makes it as high a Crime and allots the same punishment to a Woman that shall kill her Husband as to a Woman that shall kill her Father or Master and that is Petty Treason and to be burnt alive So that a Wife in England is de jure but the best of Servants having nothing her own in a more proper sense than a Child hath whom his Father suffers to call many things his own yet can dispose of nothing The Woman upon Marriage loseth not onely the power over her person and her will and the property of her Goods but her very Name for ever after she useth her Husbands Surname and her own is wholly laid aside which is not observed in France and other Countries where the Wife subscribes her self by her Paternal Name as if Susanna the Daughter of R. Clifford be married
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