Selected quad for the lemma: land_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A50824
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The new state of England under Their Majesties K. William and Q. Mary in three parts ... / by G.M.
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Miege, Guy, 1644-1718?
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1691
(1691)
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Wing M2019A; ESTC R31230
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424,335
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944
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Woman upon Marriage does not only lose the Power over her Person Will and Goods but she must part with her very Name and ever after use her Husband's Surname contrary to the Custom of some other Countries One Thing more there is yet which evidences the great Subjection of a Wife to her Husband And that is the Punishment inflicted upon a Woman that has Killed her Husband which is to be Burnt alive the Offence being counted Petty-Treason by Law that is as great a Crime as the Killing of his Father or Master Yet in some things the Law is very favourable to the female Sex of England As for Example if a Wife bring forth a Child begotten before Marriage by another Man than her present Husband her Husband is bound to own the Child and that Child shall be his Heir at Law So literally we take the Saying Pater est quem Nuptiae demonstrant If a Husband be a long time absent from his Wife though it be for some Years and his Wife bring forth a Child during his Absence he must father that Child in case he lived all the while in this Island or to speak the Words of the Law inter quatuor Maria. And if that Child be her first-born Son and her Husband's Estate Intailed or left without Will that Child shall be Heir to it Another Priviledge of English-Women is that the Wife having no Joynture settled before Marriage may challenge after her Husband's Death the third part of his yearly Rents of Land during her Life and within the City of London a third Part of all her Husband's Moveables for ever If there be many Children the rest comes to the eldest if not to the next Heir at Law And if she do not approve of the Division she may claim the Right of being Indowed with the best of the Land to a third part But if the Law be so favourable in some Cases to married Women Custom or rather the good Nature of Englishmen makes their Condition much happier Whose Respect and Tenderness for them is generally so great that every where they give 'em the Precedency and put them the least of any Nation upon Drudgery and Hardship Women are not here mewed up as in Italy and Spain and that mischievous Passion of Jealousy has got so little footing here that the Nation is little troubled with its troublesom Influences or fatal Consequences In short married Women have here more Liberty than any where else Their chief Care is of the House and Houshold according to the ancient Custom of the Greek Wives which is indeed the proper Office of a Wife as the Husband 's is to mind his Concerns abroad And such is generally their Carriage to their Husbands and their mutual Tenderness for them that where the Law gives them nothing the dying Husband often leaves all behind him to the Disposal of his Wife Except in London where a peculiar Order is taken by the City agreeable to the Civil Law A Knight's Wife is by the Courtesy of England counted and called a Lady If her Husband die before her and she take afterwards 〈◊〉 Husband of a lower estate still she shall be â—alled Lady with the surname of her first husband and not of the second Which is by â—he Courtesy of England and according to â—adies of a higher Rank as I have before obâ—erved In point of real Estate 't is Observable that â—f the Wife be an Heiress and bring to her Husband an Estate in Land that Land descends â—o her eldest Son and if she has no Sons â—ut only Daughters it is divided amongst â—hem But if she dies without Issue the â—and goes immediately to the next Heir at Law Only the Husband shall enjoy the Proâ—â—es thereof during his Life if so be that he â—â—d a Child alive of her Body that had been heard once to cry And this also is called the Courtesy of England As to what I said before touching real and personal Estates in case of Matrimony the same is to be understood in the sense of the Common Law where there is no private Contract For whatever Contract or Covenants were made before the Marriage betwixt the husband and the Wife either by themselves â—y their Parents or Friends they take place â—nd are of force to be Kept according to the Validity thereof Lastly the Wife in England is accounted 〈◊〉 much one with her Husband that she cannot be produced as Witness for or against her Husband And so strong is the Tie that joyns them together that they may not be wholly Separated by any Agreement between themselves but only by a Judicial Sentence Now there is a twofold Separation both called by the name of Divorce The one in case of Adultery a Mensa Thoro Which is nothing else but a living asunder without a liberty-to Remarry whilst either Party is alive Whereas the other is a Vinculo Matrimonii from the Bond of Matrimony whereby each Party is free to Remarry And this is allowed upon a Nullity of the Marriage or upon some essential Impediment as Consanguinity or Affinity within the Degrees forbidden Precontract Impotency or such like Of which Divines reckon fourteen according to these Verses Error Conditio Votum Cognatio Crimen Cultus Disparitas Vis Ordo Ligamen Honestas Si sis Affinis si forte Coire nequibis Si Parochi duplicis desit praesentia Testis Raptave sit Mulier c. But sometimes in case of Adultery this plenary Divorce has been allowed of in private Cases by Act of Parliament CHAP. XXVI Of Children and Servants FRom the Condition of Women in England I come now to that of Children and Servants As to the first a Father in England has a more absolute Authority over his Children than is usual in our Neighbour Countries Here a Father may give all his Estate Unintailed from his Children and all to one Child the Consideration whereof is apt to keep his Children in aw and within the bounds of filial Obedience But commonly the eldest Son inherits all Lands and the younger Children Goods and Chattels by which is meant the Personal Estate Among the Nobility and Gentry the eldest Son 's Wife's Portion does usually go for the Portions of his Sisters and the younger Sons are put out to some Profession The Reason why the eldest Son is so well provided beyond the rest of the Children is that he may be the better able to bear up the Honour of the Family which in course â—alls to the share of the Eldest For when all is done Titular Honour without Means is commonly lookt upon but as an empty Shadow But if there be no Son the Lands as well as Goods are equally divided among the Daughters A Son at the Age of 14 his Father being dead may chuse his Gardian and may claim his Land holden in Socage that is such Lands as Tenants hold by or for certain inferiour Services of Husbandry to be performed to the Lord of
afford excellent Fish and wild Fowl in great plenty A noted Place in former time for its wonderfull rich Abbey which continued in its glory till its Dissolution by King Henry VIII This County which formerly was Part of the Kingdom of Mercia and its Inhabitants Part of the Iceni as the Romans called them is now in the Diocese of Lincoln Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire but two Parliament Men and these out of Huntington Kent KENT in Latin Cantium so called as being seated in a Canton or Corner of the Kingdom is a large rich and pleasant Country â—â—ying between the Thames and the Narrow Seas So that it is invironed on all sides with the Sea except Westward where it borders both upon Surrey and Sussex It contains in Length from East to West 60 Miles in Breadth from North to South 30. The Whole divided into five Lathes called Sutton Aylesford Scray St. Augustine and Shepway Lathes and these into 67 Hundreds wherein 408 Parishes and 30 Market Towns Which is an Argument of its Populousness But the Air is neither so serene nor so healthful here as in other Counties especially near the Sea and Marshes which makes this Country so noted for its Kentish Agues Now that you may know in few words the Nature of this Country both as to its Air and Soil I shall bring in the Remark made upon it which is that there are 3 Ridges of Hills in Kent one called Health without Wealth the second Health and Wealth and the third Wealth without Health Others as to the Soil give this different Character of it The Weald for Wood East Kent for Corn Rumney for Meadow Tenham for an Orchard Shepey and Reculver for Wheat Thanet for Barley and Hedcorn for Capons In general this may be said of Kent that it is a Country very good for Corn and fit for Pasturage according to the several Plots and Parts thereof and wondrous full of fruitful and well-ordered Orchards from whence the City of London is supplied with most sorts of Fruit but chiefly with Pippins and Cherries which are counted the best in England On the Cliffs between Deal and Dover there grows a great store of Samphire The same is well watered with Rivers For besides the Thames that washes its North Parts here is the Medway which in a manner parts it in the middle the Stower that runs by Canterbury the Tun through Tunbridge and the Rother upon which Appledore is seated not to mention the lesser Streams Of all the Counties in England this was the first Kingdom of the Heptarchy and had a particular King to it self which no other County ever had Neither was it conquered by the Normans the Kentish Men yielding upon Articles and having their ancient Franchises and Customs confirmed to 'em by William the Conqueror One of which is the Cavelkind whereby they are not so bound by Copy-hold as in other Parts of England Lands of this nature being equally divided here among the male Children and for want of Males among the Females By the same Law they are at age at 15 years old and they may sell or make over the Land without the consent of the Lord. Also the Son tho of a convicted Father for Felony or Murder succeeds him in such Kind of Lands The Kentish Men besides have this to glory in that they were the first Christians of this Island And this is the only County at this time that has two Cities or Episcopal Sees namely Canterbury and Rochester Canterbury the chief Place of this County is 46 miles East of London Viz. from London to Dartford 12 to Rochester 11 more from thence to Sittingborn 10 and to Canterbury 13 more A City of great Antiquity if it was built as some Authors aver 900 years before Christ 'T is seated on the River Stower noted for breeding the best Trouts in the South East Parts of England and is counted in the Lath of S. Augustine The Buildings of it but mean and the Wall which encompasses it in a decayed condition The greatest Ornament of all is the Cathedral wherein ly interred the Bodies of eight Kings For this City had been the Seat of the Kings of Kent till given by Ethelbert the first Christian King of this Country to Augustine the first Archbishop thereof and his Successors Whereupon the King removed his Seat to Reculver a Town by the Sea-side In this Cathedral is also interred the Body of Thomas Becket once Archbishop hereof that famous Saint so reverenced by the Romanists In this City and its Suburbs are reckoned 14 Parish Churches besides a Meeting-place under the Cathedral for the Walloonâ— that dwell in this City who are very numerous and drive a considerable Trade of the Stuffs they make here It has two Markets a Week Wednesdays and Saturdays the latter of which is the most considerable But to the honour this City has had of being the Regal Seat of the first Kings of Kent and of being to this day the See of the Primate of England let us add the Coronation of King John and Queen Izabel his Wife the Marriages of Henry II. and Edward I and the Interments of Edward the black Prince King Henry the Fourth and Queen Joan his Wife all which was performed in this Place The other Market-Towns are Eltham Mund. Wrotham Tue. Lenham Tue. Westram Wedn. S. Mary Cray Wedn. Goldburst Wedn. Gravesend Wedn. Sat. Feversham Wedn. Sat. Dover Wedn. Sat. Sandwich Wedn. Sat. Wye Thu. Rumney Thu. Lyd Thu. Folkstone Thu. Maidstone Thu. Bromley Thu. Rochester Frid. Tunbridge Frid. Tenderden Frid. Woolwich Frid. Smarden Frid. Malinge Sat. Milton Sat. Cranbrook Sat. Hythe Sat. Ashford Sat. Sevenoke Sat. Dartford Sat. Appledore Among which Rockester requires the preeminence as a Bishops See and the second for Antiquity in all the Island It is seated upon the Medway over which it has a stately Stone-bridge one of the fairest in England It consists most of one principal Street which extends it self a long way the Houses being but ordinary as they are inhabited for the most part but by Trades-men and Inn-keepers Yet besides the Honour it has of being a Bishops See it is dignify'd with the Title of an Earldom in the Person of the Right Honourable Laurence Hyde Earl of Rochester Viscount Hyde c. Which Title was formerly enjoy'd by three Wilmots And before them there was a Viscount of this Place Sir Robert Carr being created Viscount of Rochester Anno 1611. and afterwards Earl of Somerset Adjoyning to this City is Chatham also seated on the Banks of Medway A long Thorough-fare Town well inhabited by Seamen and Shipwrights as being the principal Station of the Royal Navy and having a good Dock and Store-houses for the building and equipping of his Majesties Ships Maidstone is seated also on the Medway but near the head of it This is the Town where the County-Goal Sessions and Assizes are kept being conveniently seated for