Fee-simple make Leases and Grants and sue in her own Name without the King which is not in the power of any other Feme-covert or married Woman to do A Queen Dowager or Widow-Queen is still Respected as a Queen in her Widowhood and keeps a Court accordingly And though she should marry a private Gentleman as did Queen Catharine King Henry the Fifths Widow she does not lose her Dignity By the Sons and Daughters of England I mean the King's Children So called because all the Subjects of England have a special Interest i◠Them though their Education and the Disposing of Them is only in the King The Eldest Son commonly called the Prince of Wales is born Duke of Cornwal and afterwards created Prince of Wales Upon his Birth he is by Law of full Age to sue for the Livery of the said Dukedom as if he were full a Years of Age. But so much of the Lands 〈◊〉 Demesns of it have been Alienated that h◠Revenues are chiefly out of the Tin-Mines i◠Cornwall Which with all other Profits of the Dutchy amount yearly to the Sum of 140◠Pounds and the Prince's whole Revenues to about 20000 l. When King Edward I had compleated the Conquest of Wales He divided it into Seven Shires to which Henry VIII added five more out of the March Lands Over each of the Seven Shires King Edward placed a particular English Lieutenant and over the whole he designed a Vicegerent The Welch being disgusted at this He sent for his Queen then great with Child to Caernarvan where she was delivered of a Son Upon the News whereof the King assembled the Chief Men of that Nation and offered to name them a Governour born in Wales who could not speak one word of English and against whose Life they could take no just exception Such a one when they had all sworn to obey he named his young Son Edward Whereupon He created him Prince of Wales and since that time the Kings of England eldest Sons have been called Princes of Wales Whereas while Normandy was in the Power of the English which lasted till the Reign of King John they were stiled Dukes of Normandy The Investiture is performed by the Imposition of a Cap of Estate and a Coronet on the Princes Head as a Token of his Principality by delivering into his hand a Verge of Gold the Emblem of Government by putting a Gold Ring on his Finger in token that he must be a Husband to his Country and a Father to her Children and by giving him a Patent to hold the said Principality to Him and his Heirs Kings of England By which Words the Separation of it from the Crown is prohibited and the King keeps to himself an excellent Occasion of obliging unto Him his Son when he pleases In Imitation of which Custom John I King of Castille and Leon made his Son Henry Prince of the Asturias a Country so Craggy and Mountainous that it may not improperly be called the Wales of Spain And all the Spanish Princes ever since have been honoured with that Title The Mantle worn in Parliament by the Prince of Wales has for Distinctions sake one gard more than a Duke's his Coronet of Crosses and Flower de luces and his Cap of State indented His Arms differ from the Kings only by addition of a Label of three points And his peculiar Device is a Coronet beautified with three Ostrich Feathers inscribed with ICH DIEN that is I serve Alluding perhaps to that in the Gospel The Heir while he is a Child differs not from a Servant Which Device was born at the Battel of Cressy by John King of Bohemia serving there under the French King and there slain by Edward the Black Prince Since worn by the Princes of Wales and by the Vulgar called the Princes Arms. In short the King of England's Eldest Son has ever since been stiled Prince of Wales Duke of Aquitain and Cornwal and Earl of Chester and Flint these Earldoms being conferred upon him by Letters Patent As Eldest Son to the King of Scotland he is Duke of Rothsay and Seneschal of Scotland from his Birth Though he is a Subject yet the Law looks upon his Person as so Sacred that it is high Treason to imagine his Death or violate his Wife The Younger Sons of England depend altogether upon the King's Favour both for Titles of Honour and Revenues sutable to their Birch For they are not born Dukes or Earls but are so created according to the Kings Pleasure Neither have they as in France certain Appanages but only what Revenue the King pleases to bestow upon them They are indeed by Birth-right as well as the Prince of Wales Counsellors of State whereby they may fit themselves to manage the weighty Affairs of the Kingdom The Daughters are called Princesses And to violate them unmarried is High Treason The Title of Royal Highness is common to all the King's Children All Subjects ought to be uncovered in their Presence to kneel when they are admitted to kiss their hands and to be served on the Knee at Table unless the King be present Lastly all Persons of the Royal Bloud being a Lawful Issue have the Precedency of all others in England As for the King 's Natural or Illegitimate Sons and Daughters they are commonly created Dukes and Dutchesses and bear what Surname the King pleases to give them King Henry I. and Charles II. of blessed Memory are noted to have had the most of any CHAP. XII Of the Nine Great Officers of the Crown NEXT to the Royal Family the Great Officers of the Crown come of course to be Inquired into which are Nine in Number Viz. The Lord High Steward The Lord High Chancellor The Lord High Treasurer The Lord President of the Kings Council The Lord Privy Seal The Lord Great Chamberlain The Lord High Constable The Lord Earl Marshal The Lord High Admiral The Lord High Steward of England is the highest Officer under the King His Office not unlike that of the Mayre of the Pallace under the ancient Kings of France is to rule and govern the Kingdom under the King in Time of Peace and War during his Reign Which Power being thought too large and exorbitant for a Subject to have this Great Officer has been discontinned ever since Henry of Bullingbrock Son to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster afterwards King of England under the Name of Henry IV. Only at a Coronation also for the Trial of a Peer or Peeress for Treason or Felony or some other great Crime the King makes a High Steward for that Time Who during his Stewardship is called His Grace and bears a white Staff in his hand which he openly breaks when the Business is over and so ends his Office By virtue of his Office at a Coronation he sits Judicially at the King's Pallace at Westminster Where he receives the Bills and Petitions of all such Noblemen and others who by reason of their Tenure or otherwise
eldest Son is Frederick the Heir apparent born in the Year 1671 and the two others are Christiern and Carolus The Duke of Glocester is the only Son and Heir of their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Denmark He was born July 24th 1689 and on the 27th he was Christened at Hampton-Court by the Lord Bishop of London and named William the King and the Earl of Dorset Lord Chamberlain of His Majesties Houshold being Godfathers and the Lady Marchioness of Hallifax Godmother CHAP. XIX Of the Nobility of England THE English Nobility is divided into five Degrees Viz. Duke Marquess Earl Viscount and Baron And they are called the Peerage of England because they are all Peers the Barons as well as the rest They have also all of them the Title of Lord. All these Honours are given by the King who is the sole Fountain of Honour and whatever Title a Subject of England receives from any forein Prince is not only Insignificant here but Unwarrantable by Law All Noblemen at their Creation have two Ensigns which signify two Duties Their Heads are adorned in token that they are to assist their King and Country with good Counsel in time of Peace and they are girt with a Sword as being to support the King and defend the Kingdom with their Lives and Fortunes in time of War A Duke is created by Patent Cincture oâ— Sword Mantle of State Imposition of A Cap and Coronet of gold on his head and a Vergâ— of gold put into his hand A Marquess and aâ— Earl by Cincture of Sword a Mantle of State with a Cap and Coronet put upon him by the King himself and a Patent delivered into his hand Viscounts and Barons are made by Patent and these sometimes by Writ whereby they are called to sit in the House of Lords All the Peers have Coronets but with these Distinctions A Baron has six Pearls upon the Circle a Viscount the Circle of Pearls without number an Earl has the Pearls raised upon Points and Leaves low between a Marquess a Pearl and a Strawberry-leaf round of equal height and a Duke Leaves without Pearls Only the Dukes of the Royal Blood bear like the Prince of Wales a Coronet of Crosses and Flower de Luce. Which is the same with the King 's excepting the Arches Globe and Cross on the top of the King's Crown But the greatest Distinction amongst the Nobles is their Parliament Robes in their several Gards on their Mantles and short Cloaks about their Shoulders For a Baron has but two Gards a Viscount two and a half an Earl three a Marquess three and a half and a Duke four Besides that the Mantle of a Duke Marquess and Earl is faced with Ermine that of a Viscount and Baron with plain white Furr Dukes were at first so called a ducendo being anciently Generals and Leaders of Armies in time of War Marquesses from their Government of Marches and Frontire-Countries Earls in Latine Comites because they had the Government of Counties Viscounts in Latine Vice-Comites as being Assistants or Deputies in the Government of Counties Barons according to Bracton quasi Robur Belli the safety of the King and People in Time of War depending upon their Courage and Skill in Martial Affairs Anciently a Duke was made so for Term of Life then held by Lands and Fees till Dukes came to be Titular and Hereditary In those Times likewise there was no Earl but had a County or Shire for his Earldom who for the support of his State had the third Peny out of the Sheriffs Court issuing out of all Pleas of that County whereof he was Earl Also 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 that is of 400 Marks each Knights Fee being 20 l. And whoever had so much was wont to be summoned to Parliament But then 100 Marks was as much as 2000 pounds at this day as may be guessed by comparing the Prices of Things 'T is true King Henry III after he had with much ado suppressed his Barons called by Writ unto Parliament only such great Men as had continued loyal or were like so to be Which Example being followed by his Successors they only were accounted Peers of the Realm that were so called by the King 's special Writ Till Barons came to be made by Patent as well as by Writ and at last most by Patent which makes it hereditary But there are Barons in England that have noâ— share in the Peerage as such viz. the Barons of the Exchequer and the Barons of the Cinque-Ports Such as these the Earls Palatines and the Eath of England Marches had anciently under them and such there are yet in Cheshire The chieâ— Burgesses of London were also called of oâ— Barons All Dukes Marquesses and Earls at this day have their respective Titles from some Shire or part of a Shire Town or City Castle Park or Village Except two Earls whereof one is Officiary and the other Nominal the first being the Earl Marshal of England and the last the Earl Rivers who takes his Denomination from an Illustrious Family Barons are so denominated from their chief Seat or a Castle belonging to the Family Which is not to be divided amongst Daughters if there be no Sons but must descend to the eldest Daughter None of these Honours can be lost but these two Ways Either by want of Issue male except where the Patent extends to Issue female as sometimes it does Or else by some heinous Crime and then it cannot be restored to the Bloud but by Act of Parliament A Duke has the Title of Grace given him and the other Peers that of Lordship on Honour Accordingly we commonly give to these the Epithet of Right Honourable All Dukes and Marquesses Sons are called Lords by the Courtesy of England and the Daughters Ladies I say by the Courtesy of England for the Law makes no such Distinction but looks upon all as Commoners that have no Right to sit in the House of Peers Of an Earl none but the eldest Son is called Lord though all the Daughters be Ladies And as for the Issue of Vicounts and Barons none of their Sons is Lord nor of the Daughters Lady A Dukes eldest Son is called Lord Marquess and the younger Sons by their Christen-names with the Title of Lord prefixt as Lord William Lord Thomas c. A Marquesses eldest Son is called Lord of a Place and the younger Sons as those of a Duke that is by their Christen-names with the Title of Lord prefixt as Lord William Lord Thomas An Earl's eldest Son is born as a Viscount and called Lord of a Place In point of Precedency this is the Rule Af-the Princes of the Bloud the first amongst the Nobility are the Dukes and these are thus followed Viz. Dukes Marquesses Dukes eldest Sons Earls Marquesses eldest Sons Dukes younger Sons Vicounts Earls
eldest Sons Marquesses younger Sons Barons Vicounts eldest Sons Earls younger Sons Barons eldest Sons Vicounts younger Sons Barons younger Sons But 't is to be observed that all Dukes that are not Princes of the Bloud are preceded by these four Great Officers of the Crown though they be but Barons viz. the Lord Chancellour the Lord Treasurer the Lord President of the Privy Council and the Lord Privy Seal I leave out the Lord High Steward of England because none of this Office is continued beyond the present Occasion As for the Lord Great Chamberlain of England the Lord High Constable the Lord Marshal the Lord High Admiral the Lord Steward of the King's Houshold and the Lord Chamberlain of the King's Houshold they sit above all of their Degree only The Nobility of England have at all times injoyed many considerable Priviledges Though neither Civil nor Common Law allow any 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 whereas the law allows any one of the Commonalty arraigned for Treason or Felony to challenge 35 of his Jury without shewing Cause and others by shewing Cause a Peer of the Realm cannot challenge any of his Jury or put any of them to their Oath the Law presuming that they being Peers of the Realm and judging upon their Honour cannot be guilty of Falshood Favour or Malice In Criminal Causes a Peer cannot be tried but by a Jury of the Peers of the Realm who are not as other Juries to be put to their Oath but their Verdict given in upon their Honour sufficeth All Peers of the Realm being lookt upon as the King 's constant Counsellors their Persons are at all Times priviledged from Arrests except in Criminal Cases Therefore a Peer cannot be Outlawed in any Civil Action and no Attachment lies against him The only Way for satisfaction from a Peer is by Execution taken forth upon his Lands and Goods and not by Attachment or Imprisonment of his Person So tender is the Law of the Honour Credit Reputation and Persons of Noblemen that there is a Statute on purpose called Scandalum Magnatum to punish all such as by false Reports â—ring any scandal upon them They are exempted from all Attendance at Leets or Sheriffs Turns where others are obliged to take the Oath of Allegiance And whereas for the suppressing of Riots the Sheriff may raise the Posse Comitatus yet he cannot command any Peer of the Realm to attend that Service In Civil Causes they are not to be Impanelled upon any Jury or Inquest de facto though in a Matter between two Peers and if a Peer be returned upon any such Jury there lies a special Writ for his Discharge They are upon no Case to be bound to their good Behaviour or 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 Every Peer of the Realm summoned to Parliament may constitute in his lawful absence a Proxy to Vote for him which none of the Commons may do And any Peer in a Place of Trust is free to make a Deputy to act in his absence whilst he attends the Person of the King Where a Peer of the Realm is Defendant no Day of Grace is to be granted to the Plaintiff the Law presuming that a Peer of the Realm must always be ready to attend the Person of the King and the Service of the Commonwealth Therefore he ought not to be delayed any longer than the ordinary Use of the Court but tâ— have expedition of Justice In any Civil Trial where a Peer of the Realâ— is Plaintiff or Defendant there must be at leasâ— one Knight returned of the Jury Otherwisâ— the Array may be quashed by Challenge In all Cases wherein the Priviledge of the Clergy is allowed to other Men and in divers Cases where that Priviledge is taken away from them a Peer of the Realm upon his Request shall be for the first time adjudged as a Clerk Convict though he cannot read And that without burning in the Hand loss of Inheritance or Corruption of Bloud In case of Amerciaments of the Peers of the Realm upon Non-Suits or other Judgments a Duke is to be amerced but Ten Pounds and all others under Five This to be done by their Peers according to Magna Charta though it has been often done of late by the King's Justices A Peer of the Realm being sent for by the King to Court Parliament Council or Chancery has the Priviledge passing by the King's Park or Forest both coming and returning to Kill one or two Deer An Earl has 8 Tun of Wine Custom-free and the rest proportionably All Peers of the Realm have a Priviledge of Qualifying a certain Number of Chaplains to hold Plurality of Benefices with Cure of Souls But it must be with a Dispensation first obtained from the Archbishop and the same ratified under the Great Seal of England Thus a Duke may qualify six Chaplains a Marquess and Earl five a Viscount four and a Baron â—hree A Peer of the Realm has also the Priviledge â—f Retaining six Aliens whereas another may â—ot Retain above four These are the chief Priviledges belonging to â—e Nobility of England which are great and â—onsiderable And yet none of them ever had the Priviledge of the Grandees of Spain to be covered in the King's Presence except Henry Ratcliff Earl of Surrey 'T is true the Princes of the Bloud have often had the honour of being covered but then it was by the King 's gracious Command not by virtue of any constant Priviledge Neither are our Noblemen exempted as in France from Tailles and Contributions but always bear a share proportionable And in case of a Poll-Act they are usually thus Rated according to their several Degrees of Honour Viz. Â l. s. d. A Duke 50 00 00 A Marquess 40 00 00 An Earl 30 00 00 A Viscount 25 00 00 A Baron 20 00 00 Those of their Sons which have attained to 16 Years of Age are thus taxed As. Â l. s. d. The Eldest Son of A Duke 30 00 00 The Eldest Son of A Marquess 25 00 00 The Eldest Son of An Earl 20 00 00 The Eldest Son of A Viscount 17 00 00 The Eldest Son of A Baron 15 00 00 A Younger Son of A Duke 25 00 00 A Younger Son of A Marquess 20 00 00 A Younger Son of An Earl 15 00 00 A Younger Son of A Viscount 13 06 00 A Younger Son of A Baron 12 00 00 The Nobles to bear up their Rank have generally great and plentiful Estates some of them beyond those of several Princes beyond Sea And till the Civil Wars in the Reign of Charles I. they lived with suitable splendour and Magnisicence Keeping a plentiful Table and a numerous Attendance with several Officers delighting in
matter of admiration 'T is pretty to see the Temper of these Men and those they have infected all made up of Contradictions They hate their Friends and love their Enemies They deride Popery and yet do their utmost to bring it in None more averse than they from Slavery but leave no Stone unturned to work it into these Kingdoms Whose Condition is like that of a Sick Person that longs for Health and yet is greedy to catch at any Thing that pleases his Fancy let it prove never so fatal The Truth is 't is nothing else in the bottom but a malignant Humour that causes Inflammation and strikes up to the Brain lately a catching but now thanks be to God a vanishing Disease I conclude with the Parish-Church Officers which are indeed Lay-men but as they have a peculiar Relation to the Church they may be counted to be half-Clergy-men The Church-Wardens amongst these are the principal Whose Office is to see that the Church be in good Repair and want nothing for Divine Service c. That the Church-yard be well inclosed and an exact Terrier of the Glebe-Land be Kept They are also to sue for any Thing Kept from the Church that is of right belonging to it to inquire after admonish and present to the Bishop scandalous Livers and to collect the Charity of the Parishioners The Bishops Orders they are both to declare and to execute They serve commonly two Years in that Station and Easter-Week is the time for their Election Usually they are elected by the Parson and the Parishioners where it is so agreed If not the Parson chuses one and the Parishioners the other In some great Parishes there are joyned Sidesmen to the Church-Wardens to assist them in the Inquiries into the Lives of inordinate Livers and in presenting Offenders at Visitations Next is the Clerk whose Office is to serve at Church the Priest and Church-Wardens He ought to be at least 20 Years old and a Man of good Life and Conversation that can read write and sing Psalms the tuning whereof is part of his Office He is commonly chosen by the Parson only In many Parishes there is also one Sexton or more So we call those that attend the Parishioners at Church and let them into their Pews Which in Cathedral and Collegiate Churches is commonly performed by the Vergers so called from a Silver Verge which they carry in their hands To take care of the Parish-Concerns both Civil and Ecclesiastical a great Power is by Law committed to the Vestry-men So called from the Vestry a Room adjoyning to the Church for the Use of the Parson and Parish-Officers They are a select Number of the chief Parishioners in every Parish within the City of London and Suburbs and elsewhere who yearly chuse Officers for the Parish as Church-Wardens Constables Scavengers Collectors for the Poor c. The Beadle's is a standing Office CHAP. XXV Of Women ALL Women in England are either Noble or Ignoble The first are so by Descent Creation or Marriage By Descent as when a Lady holds an Estate by a noble Title For Titles of Honour sometimes for want of Males do descend to Females But only to one of them because they are Things in their own nature intire and not to be divided amongst many as the Lands and Tenements are which descend in equal Proportion to all the Daughters By Creation some Women have been made at the King's pleasure Baronesses Countesses and Dutchesses But the greatest Part of the English Noblewomen are so only by Marriage all Women being counted Noble that are married to any Peer of the Realm And so as the Law says Uxor fulget Radiis Mariti Yet if afterwards they marry to Men not Noble they lose by Law their former Dignity and follow their latter Husbands Condition though by the Courtesy of England they are still lookt upon and respected as Noble and called by the Name of the former Husband But Women Noble by Descent or Birth-right or by Creation retain by Law their Nobility tho they Marry afterwards to Husbands under their Degree 'T is observable that any Noble-woman by Birth being married to a Baron takes place but as Baroness though she be a Duke's Daughter But if she marry to one under the Degree of a Nobleman as to a Knight or Gentleman the Courtesy of England gives her place according to her Birth and not her Husbands Condition A Noble-woman marrying to an Ignoble Man adds no Honour to him Her Honour is all hers and he has no share in it though by Marriage he becomes Master of all her Goods and Chattels But her Dignities with the Lands descend to her next Heir Noble-women in the Eye of the Law are Peers of the Realm and accordingly they injoy most of the Priviledges of Peers But it is thought they cannot maintain an Action upon the Statute De Scandalo Magnatum As happy as the Condition of married Women is generally all over England yet the Laws of this Kingdom are in the main very severe upon them For when a Woman marries she gives her self over and what she brings with her to the power of her Husband Whatever she is possessed of the Husband becomes the Proprietor of it and her very necessary Apparel is not hers in Propriety If she has any Tenure it is all in Capite that is she holds it of and by her Husband who is the Head of his Wife And all the Chattels personal she had at the Marriage are so much her Husbands that he dying before her they shall not return to his Wife but go with his other Goods and Chattels to the Husband's Executor or Administrator Except the Paraphernalia that is those Goods which a Wife besides her Dower or Joynture is after her Husbands Death allowed to have as Furniture for her Chamber wearing Apparel and Jewels if she be of quality which are not to be put into her Husband's Inventory especially in the Province of York The Wife can make no Contract without her Husband's Consent and without it she cannot set sell give away or alienate any Thing So great is her Subjection to her Husband's Will that in the Sense of the Law she has no Will of her own Therefore when a Man and his Wife commit a Felony together the Wife can neither be Principal nor Accessory the Law supposing she was forced thereunto in regard of the Subjection and Obedience she ows to her Husband In short by the Law of England a Wife is so much in the Power of her Husband that she is no better than a Child or the best of Servants For she can call nothing her own more than a Child whom his Father suffers to call many Things his own yet can dispose of nothing And when she offends 't is in her Husband's Power to correct her as a Servant Therefore if she wrong another by her Tongue on by Trespass her Husband must answer for her Fault and make Satisfaction But a
submitted to take it at his hand again at a yearly Tribute the Pope in the Reign of Edward III. demanded his Rent and all the Arrears Upon which issued this Resolve of the Parliament that neither the King nor any other could put the Realm nor the People thereof into a forein Subjection without their Assent This was a high Resolution in Law in one of the highest Points of Law concerning the Kings Claim of an absolute Power when the Pope was in his height However this intimates that with their joynt Consent the Crown may be disposed of But how transcendent soever be the Power and Authority of the King and Parliament yet it do's not extend so far as to bar restrain or make void subsequent Parliaments and tho divers Parliaments have attempted â—t yet they could never effect it For the â—atter Parliament hath still a Power to abrogate suspend qualify explain or make void the former in the Whole or any Part thereof notwithstanding any Words of Restraint Prohibition or Penalty in the former it being a Maxim in the Law of Parliament Quod Leges posteriores priores contrarias abrogant 'T was therefore but in vain that the late King James pretended so to settle that Liberty of Conscience which he ushered in by his Declaration as to make it a Law unalterable like the Laws of the Medes and Persians It was but a Blind for Dissenters to bring them into his Snare and tho he had really designed it he must have been at least Immortal to secure it One of the fundamental and principal Ends of Parliaments was to Redress Grievances and ease the People of Oppressions The chief Care whereof is in the House of Commons as being the Grand Inquest of the Realm summoned from all Parts to present publick Grievances to be redressed and publick Delinquents punished as corrupted Counsellours Judges and Magistrates Therefore Parliaments are a great Check to Men in Authority and consequently abhorred by Delinquents Who must expect one time or other to be called to a strict and impartial Account and be punished according to their Demerits Remember said the Lord Bacon to his Friend Sr. Lionel Cranfield when he was made Lord Treasurer that a Parliament will come In this Case the House of Commons the Parliament sitting Impeaches and the House of Lords are the Judges the Commons Inform Present and Manage the Evidence the Lords upon a full Trial give Judgment upon it And such is the Priviledge of the House of Commons in this particular that they may Impeach the highest Lord in the Kingdom either Spiritual or Temporal and he is not to have the benefit of the Habeas Corpus Act that is he cannot come out upon Bail till his Trial be over or the Parliament Dissolved which last some of the late Judges have declared for But the Lords cannot proceed against a Commoner except upon a Complaint of the Commons In a Case of Misdemeanour both the Lords Spiritual and Temporal are Judges and the Kings Assent to the Judgment is not necessary But if the Crime be Capital the Lords Spiritual tho as Barons they might sit as Judges yet they absent themselves during the Trial because by the Decrees of the Church they may not be Judges of Life and Death For by an Ordinance made at the Council at Westminster in 21 Hen. 2. all Clergymen were forbidden agitare Judicium Sanguinis upon pain to be deprived both of Dignities and Orders When a Peer is Impeached of High Treason a Court is usually erected for his Trial in Westminster-Hall and the King makes a Lord Steward which commonly is the Lord Chancellour to sit as Judge thereof The Trial being over the Lords Temporal resorting to their House give Judgment upon it by Voting the Party arraigned upon their Honours Guilty or not Guilty and he is either Condemned or Acquitted by the Plurality of Voices If found Guilty he receives Sentence accordingly by the Mouth of the Lord High Steward The House of Lords is also in Civil Causes â—he highest Court of Judicature consisting of â—ll the Lords Spiritual and Temporal as Judges â—sisted with the most eminent Lawyers both 〈◊〉 Common and Civil Law And from this Court there lies no Appeal only the cause or â—ome Point or other of it may be brought again before the Lords upon a new Parliament In Case of Recovery of Damages or Restitution the Parties are to have their Remedy the Parliament being ended in the Chancery and not in any inferiour Court at the Common Law But the Lords in Parliament may direct how it shall be levied In short by the ancient Laws and Constitutions of this Kingdom it belongs to the House of Peers to interpret Acts of Parliament in Time of Parliament in any Cause that shall be brought before Them I conclude with the Priviledges of Parliament which are great in both Houses and fit for so honourable a Court. First as to the Persons of the Commoners they are Priviledged from Suits Arrests Imprisonments except in Case of Treason and Felony also from Attendance on Trials in inferiour Courts serving on Juries and the like Their necessary Servants that tend upon them during the Parliament are also Priviledged from Arrest except in the aforesaid Cases Which Priviledge is their due eundo morando redeundo that is not only for that time the Parliament sits but also during 40 Days before and 40 Days after the Parliament finished And that not only for the Persons of Members and their necessary Servants but also in some Cases for their Goods and Estates during that Time Moreover this Priviledge do's likewise extend to such Officers as attend the Parliament as the Clerks the Sergeant at Arms the Porter of the Door and the like But if one was Arrested before he was chosen Burgess he is not to have the Priviledge of the House Many are the Precedents which shew the Resentments of this House against such as have offered to act contrary to these Priviledges and their severe Proceedings against some of them either for serving a Subpoena upon or Arresting a Member of this House or refusing to deliver a Member arrested for Debt the Parliament sitting For common Reason will have it that the King and his whole Realm having an Interest in the Body of every one of its Members all private Interest should yield to the Publick so that no Man should be withdrawn from the Service of the House And so much has been the Priviledge of the House insisted on that it has been a Question Whether any Member of the House could consent to be sued during the Session because the Priviledge is not so much the Person 's the House's And therefore when any Person has been brought to the Bar for any Offence of this nature the Speaker has usually charged the Person in the name of the whole House as a Breach of the Priviledge of this House Also for offering to threaten or to give abusive Language to any Member