was before the Conquest For in an ancient and Authentical Manuscript Intituled Authoritas Seneschalli Angliae where putting an Example of his Authority saith Sicut accidit Godwino Comiti Kanciae tempore Regis Edw ' antecessoris Willielmi Ducis Normandiae pro hujusmodi male gestis consilijs suis per Seneschallum Angliae adjudicatus forisfecit Commitivam suam In the time of the Conqueror William Fitz Eustace was Steward of England and in the Reign of William Rufus and Hen. 1. Hugh Grantsemenel Baron of Hinkley held that Barony by the said Office Of ancient time this Office was of Inheritance and appertained to the Earldom of Leicester as it also appeareth by the said Record Seneschalcis Angliae pertinet ad Comitivam de Leicester pertinuit ab antiquo That is that the Earldom of Leicester was holden by doing of the Office of Steward of England Other Records testified thaâ— it should belong to the Barony of Hinkley The truth is That Hinkley was parcel of the Possessions of the Earâ— of Leicester for Robert Bellomont Earâ— of Leicester in the Reign of Hen. 2 Married with Petronilla Daughter and Heir of the said Hugh Grantsemenel Baron of Hinkley and Lord Steward oâ— England and in her right was Steward of England And so it continued until by the Forfeiture of Simon Montford it came to King Hen. 3. who iâ— the 50th year of his Reign created Edmond his Second Son Earl of Leicester Baron of Hinkley and High Steward of England which continued is his Line until Henry of Bullinbrook Soâ— and Heir of John of Gaunt Duke oâ— Lancaster and Earl of Leicester who was the last that had any Estate of Inheritance in the Office of the Steward of England since which time it waâ— never granted to any Subject buâ— but only hac vice and the reason was for that the Power of the Steward of England was so transcendent that it was not holden fit to be in any Subjects hands For the said Record saith Es Sciendum est quod ejus Officium est supervidere regulare sub Rege immediatè post Regem totum regnum Angliae omnes Ministros legum infra idem Regnum temporibus pacis guerrarum c. and proceedeth particularly with divers exceeding High Powers and Authorities which may well be omitted because they serve for no present use And albeit their Power and Authority have been since the Reign of Henry the Fourth but hac vice yet is that hac vice limited and appointed As when a Lord of Parliament is Indicted of Treason or Felony then the Grant of this Office under the Great Seal is to a Lord of Parliament reciting the Indictment Nos considerantes quod Justitia est virtus excellens Altissimo complacens aeque prae omnibus uti volentes ac pro eo quod Officium Seneschalli Angliae cujus praesentia pro administratione justitiae executione ejusdem in hac parte facien requiritur ut accepimus jam vacat De fidelitate strenuitate provida circumspectione induâ—tria vestris plurimum câ—nfidenteâ— ordâ—nâ—vimus constituimus vos ex hac causa causis Seneschallum nostrum Angliae ad Officium illus cum monibus eidem Officio in hac parte debitis pertinentibus hac vice gerend ' accipiend ' exercend ' dantes concedentes vobis tenore praesentium plenam sufficientem potestatem authoritatem ac mandatum speciale indictamentum praedict ' c. So that it appeareth that this great Officer is wholly restrained to proceed only upon the recited Indictment And he to whom this Offic is granted must be a Lord of Parliament and his proceeding is to be Secundum Leges Consuetudines Angliae for so is his Commission And hereof you may read more at large in Coke's 3 Inst Chap. High Treason Also at every Coronation he hath a Commission under the Great Seal hac vice to hear and determine the Claims for Grand Serjeanties and other Honourable Services to be done at the Coronation for the solemnization thereof For which purpose the High Steward doth hold his Court some convenient time before the Coronation See a President hereof before the Coronation of King Richard the Second John Duke of Lancaster then Steward of England who in Claims before him was styled Tres Honourable Seignior Roy de Castile Leon Seneschalle d' Engleterre and held his Court in Alba Aula apud Westm die Jovis proximè ante Coronationem Quae quidem coronatio habita solemnizata fuit die Jovis sequente viz. 16 Julij Anno 1 Ric. 2. The first that was Created Hac vice for the Solemnization of the Coronation of Henry the Fourth was Thomas his second Son and upon the Arraignment of John Holland Earl of Huntingdon the first that was Created Steward of England Hac vice was Edward Earl of Devon When he sitteth by force of his Office he sitteth under a Cloth of State and such as direct their Speech unto him say May it please your Grace my Lord High Steward of England The style of John of Gaunt was Johannes filius Regis Angliae Rex Legionis Castellae Dux Aquitaniae Lancastriae Comes Derbiae Linconliae Leicestriae Seneschallus Angliae And in respect his Power before it was limited was so Transcendent no mention is made of this Great Officer in any of our ancient Authors the Mirror Bracton Britton or Fleta It seemeth they liked not to treat of his Authority neither is he found in any Act of Parliament nor in any Book Case before the 1st of Henry the Fourth and very few since which hath caused me to be the longer saith the Lord Coke in another place to set forth his Authority and due proceeding upon the Arraignment of a Peer of the Parliament by Judicial Record and Resolution of the Judges agreeable with constant Experience As the Peers of the Realm that be Tryors or Peers are not sworn so the Lord Steward being Judge c. is not sworn yet ought he according to his Letters Patents to proceed Secundum legem consuetudinem Angliae Co. 4. Inst. cap. 4. In Enditemene de Treason ou Felony verâ— un des Pieres del Realm le Tryal est per sâ—s Pieres quel maner de tryal in Appel nesâ— grauntable per que depuis que cel Trial per ses Pieres est le proper Trial que appertient al piere del Realm quant sur Enditement de Treason ou Felony il ad plead dâ—rien culpable Veions l'order proces dâ—cest Tryal Appiert An. 1. H. 4. fol. 1. An 13 H. 8. fol. 11. que quant un Seigniour del Parlement serra arraigne de Treason 〈◊〉 Felony dount il est endite Le Roy persâ—â— Letters patents ferra un graunde sagâ— Seigniour d'estre de grand Seneschaâ—â— d' Engleterre pour le jour de l'arraignment qui devant le dit jour ferra precept a son Serjaunt d'Arms qui
To take care of the Church and Church Assemblies The Overseers of the Poor To take care of the Poor Sick Aged Orphans and other Objects of Charity And Lastly The Clerk to wait on him at Divine Service And for The Civil Government of Villages THe Lord of the Manor or Soil who from the Crown immediately holds or mediately holds Dominium Soli Is said to have in him The Royalty as if he were a little King and hath a kind of Jurisdiction and a Court Baron incident to the Manor and sometimes a Court Leet by Grant from the King to which the Inhabitants owe Suit and Service and where smaller Matters as Escheats upon Felonies or other Accidents common Nusances c. Admitting of Tenants passing of Estates Reliefs Herriots Hunting Hawking Fishing c. or other matters Of which you may see more at large in the Description of the Jurisdiction of these two several Courts may be heard and determined And under the Lord is The Constable or Headborough Chosen yearly by the Lord or Steward in the Leet to keep the Peace in case of Quarrels to search any House for Robbers Murderers and others who have broken the Peace to raise Hue and Cry after Robbers to seize Offenders and keep them in the Stocks or other Prison till they can bring them before some Justice of Peace to whom the Constables are subservient upon all occasions either to bring Criminals before them or to carry them by their Command to the Common Prison Thus having in a Brief and Methodical manner described the Constitution of the English Government For the Excellency thereof we may welâ— conclude with the Poet O Fortunatos nimium bona si sua Norint Angligenas THE ISLANDS Adjacent to ENGLAND CAlled by Heylin The Sporades not as he saith that they are so named in any Author but being many he thought fit to include them under that general Name The Chief of which are The Isle of Man INsula Euboniae modo Manniae hath been an ancient Kingdom as appears by Walsingham pag. 287. and Coke's Reports Lib. 7. fol. 21. Calvin's Case And yet we find it not Granted or Conveyed by the Name of a Kingdom Sed per Nomen Insulae c. cum Patronatu Episcopatus The Patronage of the Bishoprick of Sodor being a Visible Mark of a Kingdom Est nempe Jus ipsius Insulae ut quisquis illius sit Dominus Rex vocetur cui etiam fas est Corona Aurca Coronari Walsingh 17 R. 2. This Island was taken from the Britains by the Scots and from them regained by Edwin King of Northumberland Afterwards the Norwegians seised it from whom Alexander the Third wrested it and about the Year 1340. William Montacute Earl of Salisbury descended from the Norwegian Kings of Man won it from the Scots and afterwards sold it to W. Lord Scroope who forfeiting the same for Treason to King H. 4 he granted it to H. Percy Earl of Northumberland who being 5 H. 4. Attainted of Treason In 7 H. 4. it was by Parliament Enacted the King should have the Forfeiture of all his Lands and Tenements And afterwards 7 H. 4. the King granted the Isle cum Patronatu Episcopatus unto Sir John Stanley first for Life and afterwards to him and his Heirs Sir John had Issue Sir John Stanley Knight who had Issue Sir Henry Stanly Lord Chamberlain to King Henry the Sixth who Created him Lord Stanley He had Issue Thomas whom King Henry the Seventh Created Earl of Derby to him and the Heirs Male of his Body c. Vide Co. 4 Inst cap. 69. The Laws and Jurisdiction of this Isle differs from other places For they call their Judges Deemsters which they chuse out of themselves And they determine all Controversies without Process Pleading Writing or any Expence at all If any Cases be ambiguous or of greater weight it is referred to Twelve which they call Claves Insulae They have Coroners quos Annuos vocant who supply the Office of Sheriff But altho' the King's Writ runneth not into this Island yet his Commission extendeth thither for Redress of Injustice and Wrong The Bishop was Instituted by Pope Gregory the Fourth is under the Archbishop of York being annexed to that Archbishoprick by King Henry the Eighth but hath neither Place nor Voice in the Parliament of England In hac Insula Judex Ecclesiasticus citat definit infra Octo dies parent aut carcere intruduntur The People are a Religious Industrious and True People They have peculiar Laws or Customs For if a Man steal a Horse or an Ox it is no Felony because he cannot hide them but if he steal a Capon or Pigg he shall be hanged c. In this little Kingdom are Two Castles Seventeen Farishes Four Market Towns and many Villages It is scituate against the South part of Cumberland from which it is distant 21 Miles Is in Length 30 Miles in Breadth 15 but in some part only 8 Miles The Soil is abundant in Flax Hemp Oats Barley Wheat and Bishop Merrick writing to Cambden when he was composing his Britannia saith Our Island for Cattle Fish and Corn hath not only sufficient for it self but sendeth store into other Countries The chief Towns are Balacurri and Russin or Castle-Town the Seat of the Bishop On the Hill Sceaful may be seen England Scotland and Ireland Here are also bred the Soland Geese The People speak a Mixture of the Norwegian and Irish Tongues Anglesey IS accounted a Shire of Wales bordereth on Carnarvanshire is in Length 20 in Breadth 17 Miles containing in former times 360 Towns and Villages the chief whereof are 1. Beaumaris towards Wales 2. Newburg 3. Aberfraw on the South-side This Island for its abundant Fertility is called Mam Cymri i. e. Mother of Wales It was once the Seat of the Druids first Conquered by Suet onius Paulinus and united to the English Crown by the Valour of Edward the First Jersey olim Caesarea IS in Compass 20 Miles and sufficiently strong by reason of the dangerous Seas It containeth 12 Towns or Villages the Chief being St. Hillary and St. Malo and four Castles The Ground is plentiful in Grain and Sheep most of them having four Horns of whose Wool our Jersey Stockings are made Gernsey olim Servia IS distant 20 Miles from Jersey to whom it is much Inferiour in respect of Fertility and Largness but more commodious by reason of the safe Harbours It containeth 10 Parishes the Chief being St. Peters the Port or Haven and Market Town These Islands of Jersey and Gernsey lye both nigh unto Normandy and Bretaign and did in ancient time belong to the Dutchy of Normandy But Henry the First Overthrowing his Elder Brother Robert united the Dutchy of Normandy with these Isles to the Kingdom of England And altho' King John lost Normandy and Henry the Third took Money for it yet these Isles continued Faithful to England the possession thereof being a good Seisin of the whole
pray to God for him c. and this by divers Writers appears to be the practice used by the Primitive Churches And this Punishment if the Crime be not very notorious may by the Canons of the Church of England be commuted to a Pecuniary mulct to the Poor or to some other pious Use Punishments Ecclesiastical peculiar to the Clergy TO the before-mentioned Punishments both Clergy and Laity are subject but there are Punishments to which the Clergy only are liable as first Suspensio ab Officio Is when the Minister for a time is declared unfit to execute the Office of Minister Then Suspensio à Beneficio when the Minister is for a time deprived from the profits of his Benefice and these two Censures are wont to be for smaller Crimes Then Deprivatio à Beneficio is for a greater Crime wherein a Minister is wholly and for ever deprived of the profits of his Benefice or Living And Lastly Deprivatio ab Officio when a Minister is for ever deprived of his Orders and this is called Depositio or Degradatiâ—â— and is commonly for some heinous Crime deserving Death and is performed by the Bishop in a Solemn manner pulling off from the Criminal his Vestments and other Ensigns of his Order and this in the presence of the Civil Magistrate tâ— whom he is then delivered to be punished as a Layman for the like Offence And this may suffice for a shoâ—â— view of the Ecclesiastical Government The Civil Government c. A Brief Account of the Ecclesiastical Government having been given In the next place we are to Treat of the Civil Government the first great Wheel moved therein by the King and his Privy Council Being The High Court of Parliament BEfore the Conquest called the Great Council of the King consisting of the Great Men of the Kingdom It was also called Magnatum Conventus or Praelatorum Procerumque Consilium and by the Saxons Michel Gemot and Witenage Mote after the Conquest it was called Parliamentum from the French word Parler still consisting of the Great Men of the Nation as some hold until the Reign of Hen. 3. when the Commons also were called The first Writs to Summon or Elect them being said to bear date 49 Hen. 3. above 400 years ago so that now this High Court consists of The King who being Caput Principium Finis Parliamenti Sits there as in his Royal Politick Capacity The Lords Spiritual As the Two Archbishops and Bishops being in number about Twenty four who sit there by Succession in respect of their Baronies and to every one of these Ex Debito Justitiae a Writ of Summons is to be directed The Lords Temporal As Dukes Marquesses Earls Viscounts and Barons who sit there by reason of their Dignities and were in the Lord Cokes time about 106 now near twice that number And every of these being of full Age Ex Debito Justitiae ought to have a Writ of Summons And The Commons of the Realm being Knights of Shires Citizens of Cities and Burgesses of Burroughs all which are respectively Elected by the Counties Cities and Burroughs and none of them ought to be omitted and these were in number in the Lord Cokes time 493 now about 513 persons Spiritual Assistants are Procuratores Cleri who are so called as by the Writ to the Bishop before mentioned appears to Consult and to Consent but never had Voices as being no Lords of Parliament And by the Treatise De modo tenendi Parliamentum they should appear cum praesentia eorum sit necessaria Temporal Assistants Are all the Judges of the Realm Barons of the Exchequer and of the Coif The King 's Learned Council and the Civilians Masters of the Chancery are called to give their Assistance and Attendance in the upper House of Parliament but have no Voice and their Writs differ from the Barons being Quod intersitis nobiscum cum caeteris de concilio nostro super praemissis tractaturi vestrumque Concilium impensuri Romulus Ordained 100 Senaâ—ours which were afterwards increased to 300 and of that number were our House of Commons in Fortescue's time The Person Summoning is the King or in his Absence the Custos Regni or in his Minority the Protector Regni doth Summon the Parliament which cannot be begun without the Kings Presence either in Person or Representation by Commission under the Great Seal or by a Guardian of England by Letters Patents The manner of Summoning a Parliament is in manner following About 40 days before their time of Sitting the King cum Advisamento Consilij sui Issues out of Chancery Writs of Summons to every Lord of Parliament Spiritual and Temporal Commanding the Lords Spiritual in Fide Dilectione and the Lords Temporal per Fidem Allegiantiam to Appear Treat and give their Advice in certain Important Affairs concerning the Church and State c. And the Warrant is per ipsum Regem Concilium And for Summoning the Commons a Writ goeth to the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports for Election of the Barons of the Cinque Ports who in Law are Burgesses and to every Sheriff in the 52 Counties in England and Wales for the Choice and Election of Knights Citizens and Burgesses within every of their Counties respectively Two Knights for each County Two Citizens for each City and One or Two Burgesses for each Burrough according to Statute Charter or Custom Persons Elected for each County ought to be Milites Notabiles or at leastwise Esquires or Gentlemen fit to be made Knights they ought to be Native Englishmen or at least such as have been Naturalized by Act of Parliament No Alien or Denizen none of the 12 Judges no Sheriff of a County no Ecclesiastical person having Cure of Souls may be a Parliament Man And for Legality of Sitting in Parliament he must be 21 years old All the Members of Parliament both Lords and Commons with their Menial Servants and necessary Goods are Priviledg'd during the time of Parliament Eundo Morando ad proprium redeundo But not from Arrests for Felony Treason or Breach of the Peace If the King do not think fit the Parliament shall Sit at the day of Return of the Writ he may by Writ Patent Prorogue them till another day as was done 1 Eliz. At the day of Meeting of the Parliament The King and by his Direction the Lord Chancellor The Lord Keeper of the Great Seal or some other by the Kings appointment Declares the Causes of Calling the Parliament as in Ed. 3. time Sir Henry Green Lord Chief Justice although the Lord Chancellor were present And when a Bishop is Lord Chancellor he usually takes a Text of Scripture in Latin and Discouses thereupon And when a Judge by way of Oration he Declares the Cause of Calling the Parliament The Lords in their House have power of Judicature The Commons in their House to some purposes have power of Judicature and both together have power of Judicature But this
County of Cambridge which was before within the Diocess of Lincoln And this King Henry the first granted to this new Bishop and his Successors Jura Regalia within the Isle of Ely But the Priory and Convent were by Henry the eighth suppressed and instead thereof a Dean and Prebendaries raised to be the Chapter of the Bishop and a Grammar School for a Master and 24 Scholars This Royal Jurisdiction the Bishop hath by Prescription granted upon the said Grant as well in Pleas of the Crown as in Common Pleas before his Justices of his Liberties and other Matters Vide Coke's 4 Instituets cap. 39. The County Palatine of Pembroke THis was an ancient County Palatine within Wales and the Earl was Comes Palatinus and had Jura Regalia and all things belonging to a County Palatine but the Jurisdiction thereof was taken away by the Statute of 27 Hen. 8. cap. 26. It being then in the King's hands The Franchise of Hexam and Hexamshire THis was sometime parcel of the Possessions of the Archbishop of York and claimed by him to be a County Palatine And at the Parliment 2 Hen. 5. resolved that Hexamshire was a Franchise where the Kings b Writ went not And in the Statute of 33 Hen. 8. It is named a County Palatine but by the Statute of 14 Elizab. cap. 13. It is declared no County Palatine or Franchise Royal The Courts of the Cinque-Ports BY Doomesday-Book it appears that the priviledged Ports were but Three at first viz. Dover Sandwich and Rumney afterward Two more Hastings and Hythe were added to them by the Conqueror And these have several Priviledges as to be free from Burthens and Charges and many others and every of these send Two Burgesses to Parliament by Name of Barons of the Cinque-Ports and although Two more viz. Winchelsey and Rye be added yet they hold their former Names of Cinque-Ports These lying towards France Antiquity provided they might be securely kept for performance whereof they have a Governour by his Office called Lord Wardon of the Cinque-Ports who is Admiral also and hath the Jurisdiction of the Admiralty amongst them He is also Constable of Dover Castel of whose Jurisdiction as Constable vide Stat ' Artic ' super Chartas and Coke's 2 Inst. 556. There is a Diversity between the Principality of Wales the Counties Palatine and the Cinque-Ports For Wales was no part of England but Counties Palatine are parcel of the Realm of England but divided in Jurisdiction and the Cinque-Ports are parcel of the County of Kent and yet Ubi Breve Domini Regis non currit but have not Jura Regalia And therefore regularly no Writ of Error did lye of a Judgment in Wales otherwise it is in the Counties Palatine A. Judgment here of Lands in Wales or in the County Palatine is void but a Judgment given here of Lands in the Cinque-Ports is good if the Priviledge be not pleaded for they are part of the County And in the Cinque-Ports are Divers Courts as first The Court before the Constable of the Castle of Dover And there be other Courts before the Majors and Jurators within the Ports themselves and another called Curia Quinque Portuum apud Shepway If any of the King's Courts write to have a Record in the Cinque-Ports or for doing any thing within the same the Writ is directed Constabulario Castri de Dover Guardiano Quinque Portuum And all Plaints against the Barons of the Cinque-Ports ought to be determined at Shepway before the Warden of the Cinque-Ports And if an Erroneous Judgment be given in the Cinque-Ports before any of the Mayors and Jurats it is to be Redressed before the Constable of Dover at the Court at Shepway which Court was raised by Letters Patents of Edward the First Vide more in Coke's 4 Inst cap. 42. and Records there cited The President and Counsel in the North. THis Counsel was raised by H. 8. by his Commission giving them two Authorities under one Great Seal For the King having suppressed Monasteries of 200 l. per Annum by Act of Parliament 27 H. 8. Insurrection was raised by Lord Hussey and 20800 Men in Lincolnshire whom Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk appeased and afterwards of 40000 Men more commanded by Sir Robert Aske whom the Duke of Norfolk dispersed and afterwards a Great Commotion was raised in Lancashire Westmorland Cumberland and Northumberland whom the Earl of Derby quieted and divers other Rebellions being raised and overcome and appeased the King intending to suppress the Great Monasteries which he brought to pass in 31 H. 8. for preventing future Dangers By Commission 31 H. 8. gave power of Oyer and Terminer De quibuscunque Congregationibus Transgressionibus Riotis Routis c. per quae Pax c. in Com' Ebor ' Northumberland Westmorland Durham Com' Civitatis Ebor ' Kingston super Hull Newcastle super Tinam gravetur c. secundum Legem c. vel aliter secundum Sanas Discretiones vestras c. Necnon quascunque Actiones Reales seu de Libero Tenemento Personales c. audiend terminand ' But afterwards the said Commission being adjudg'd to be against Law First For that the Clause Secundum Sanas Discretiones vestras being Resolved by the Judges 6 Jacobi primi to be against Law and Secondly the latter Clause was then also so Resolved For that Actions Real and Personal were not to be heard and determined by Commission but Secundum Legem c. to the end their Authority should not be known they procured their Commission should not give them any Authority but wholly to refer to Private Instructions given them not to be Inrolled in any Court whereof King James being informed did give Order their Instruictions should be Inrolled for the Advantage of the Subjects This Commission hath had continuance therefore the Lord Coke thinks it worthy of some Establishment by Parliament Henry the Eighth likewise raised a President and Council for the Western parts but they of Devon and Cornwal opposed it Et sic Commissio illa cito evanuit Likewise no doubt is that there hath been a President and Councl of York De facto but what Jurisdiction they had is the Question But now the Courts are Dissolved the Jurisdiction being taken away by the Statute of 17 Car. 1. cap. 10. The Wardens Courts in the East West and Middle Marshes adjoyning to Scotland THey proceed according to Marsh Law or Borders Law but their Jurisdiction was increased by Statutes and confin'd to Northumberland Cumberland Westmorland and Newcastle upon Tine But since King James was Monarch of both Kingdoms the said Courts are vanished and Hostile Laws on both Sides by Authority of Parliament in either of the Kingdoms are Repealed The Court of Stannaries in the Counties of Devon and Cornwal Is so called à Stanno and the Style of this Court is Magna Curia Domini Regis Ducatus sui Cornubiae apud Crokerenton in Com' Devon ' coram A. B. Custode Stannariae
of each Inns of Court who sitting as the Benchers do in the Inns of Court at their Mootes they hear and Argue his Case In the Term time the only Exercise of Learning is Arguing and debating Cases after Dinner and Mooting after Supper as in the Vacation time The Keeping Christmass in the Inns of Court IF there be a sufficient number of Students to keep a Solemn Christmass then the Students before Christmass hold a Parliament and certain of them are appointed to be Officers in Imitation of the Kings Court as Comptroller of the Inner Temple so of the Middle Temple stiled Lieutennant of the Tower and Treasurer c. These bear Rule during the time of Christmass and are to behave themselves with that Port and Gravity as if they as perhaps they may afterwards were so in the Kings House At such time they have divers Divertisments as Feasting every day Singing Dancing Dicing which is allowed to all Comers and is so Excessive that the Butlers Box usually amounts to above 50 l. a Day and Night With which and a Small Contribution from each Student are the great Charges of the Christmass defrayed When their Treasure is great they sometimes create a Prince giving him such Title they think fit And he hath all Officers and a Court Suitable to a Great Prince and many of the Prime Nobility and Great Officers of State have been Entertained by him with Feasting Enterludes c. As was sometime done with Great Magnificence by Sir John Lort by the Title of Prince de la Grange From All Saints-day to Candlemass each House usually hath Revells on Holy days that is Musick and Dancing and for this is usually chosen some young Student to be Master of the Revels The Manner of holding Parliaments in the Inns of Court EVery Quarter the Benchers cause one of the Standing Officers of the House to Summon a Parliament which is an Assembly of the Benchers which are called the Sage Company in a place called the Parliament Chamber Where they treat of matters for good Ordering of the House Here are the Readers for Lent and Summer Vacation Elected The Treasurer chosen Auditors appointed To take the Accompts of the old Treasurer Offences committed by any of the Society Punished c. In the Four Inns of Court are about 800 Students The Serjeants Inns. THe Common Law Student when he hath been admitted of some Inn of Court where he is first called a Moote Man and after about Seven years Study an Utter Barrister and after Twelve years more and having performed his Exercises is chosen a Bencher and sometime after a Reader He then wears a long Robe different from other Barristers and is in Capacity to be made Serjeant when the King please to call him and when he is arrived to that Degree he hath his Diet and Lodging in one of those Two Inns called Serjeants Inn And these are called Servientes ad Legem Serjeants at Law and are as Doctors in the Civil Law Only Doctoris appellatio est Magisterij Servientis vero Ministerij And therefore Doctors of Law are allowed to Sit within the Bar in Chairs covered whilst Serjeants stand without the Bar bare Headed Only their Coifs or Caps on And The Call or Creation of Serjeants IS when the number of Serjeants is Small The Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas by the Advice and Consent of the other Judges makes choice of 6 or 8 more or less of the most grave and learned of the Inns of Court and presents their Names to the Lord Chancellor or Keeper who sends by the Kings Writ to each of them to appear on such a day before the King to Receive the State and Degree of a Serjeant at Law at the Time appointed They being habited in Robes of Two Colours viz. Brown and Blew come accompanied with the Students of the Inns of Court and attended by a Train of Servants and Retainers in certain Peculiar Cloth Liveries to Westminster-Hall there in Publick take a Solemn Oath and are Clothed with certain Robes and Coifs without which they may no more be seen in publick and making their Count at the Common Pleas Bar and causing Rings to be distributed amongst the Officers and Clerks of the Court they afterwards Feast the great Officers and Persons of the Kingdom in a Magnificent manner and give Gold Rings to the Princes of the Blood Archbishops Chancellor and Treasurer of Forty shillings value to Earls and Bishops Rings of Twenty Shillings value to other Officers Barons Prelates c. Rings of less value And out of these are chosen The Judges WHen any Judges are wanting The King by Advice of his Counsel makes choice of some of these Serjeants to supply his or their Places and Constitutes him if Chief Justice of the King's Bench by Writ But if others then he or they are Constituted by Letters Patents Sealed by the Chancellor who Sitting in the Middle of the rest of the Judges in open Court by a Set Speech Declares to the Serjeant or Serjeants there brought in the King's Pleasure and to the People the Kings Goodness in providing the Bench with such Able Honest Men and causeth the Letters Patent to be Read and being departed The Chief Justice placeth him on the Bench Junior to all the rest and having taken his Oath well and truly to serve the King and his People in the Office of Justice To take no Reward To do equal and Speedy Justice to all c. he Sits to the Execution of his Office And now being a Judge hath thereby great Honour and a Considerable Salary besides Perquisites for each one hath at least 1000 l. a year from the King and now besides his Serjeants Habit he hath a Cloak put over him and closed on his right Shoulder and instead of his Caputium lined with Lamskins it is now lined with Minever or De Minuto vario only the Two Lord Chief Justices and the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer have their Hoods Sleeves and Collars turn'd up with Trimme To these Two Serjeants Inns belong the Twelve Judges and about Twenty six Serjeants The Colledge of Civilians in London CAlled Doctors Commons being Purchased by Dr. Henry Harvy long since Dean of the Arches for the Professors of the Civil Law in this City where Commonly the Judge of the Arches The Judge of the Admiralty And the Judge of the Prerogative and divers other Eminent Civilians Presiding and having their Diet and Lodging there in a Collegiate Manner It was usually known by the name of Doctors Commons which being consumed in the late Dreadful Fire and now Rebuilt at the Charge of the said Doctors they now keep their Courts and Pleadings there every Term which begins and ends almost at the same time with that at Westminster Those that are allowed to be Advocates and plead in these Courts are all to be Doctors of the Civil Law in one of the Universities of England who upon their Petition to
expresly forbid the same as heretofore hath sometimes been done It is free for any Man of the Parliament or not of the Parliament to get a Bill drawn by some Lawyer and give the same to the Speaker or Clerk of the Parliament to be presented at a time convenient and this Bill may be put first either in the Lords House or the Commons House Whatever is proposed for a Law is firâ—t put in Writing and called a Bill which being read commonly after Nine of the Clock in a full Assembly it is either unanimously Rejected at first or else allowed to be Debated and then it is committed to a certain Number of the House presently nominated and called a Committee After it hath been amended and twice read two several Days in the House then it is Ingrossed that is written fair in Parchment and read the third time another Day and then if it be in the Lords House the Lord Chancellor in the Commons House the Speaker demandeth if they will have it put to the Question Whether a Law or no Law If the Major Part be for it there is written on the Bill by the Clerk Soit Baille aux Communes or Soit Baille aux Seigneurs retaining still in this and some other things about making Laws the Custom of our Ancestors who were generally skilled in the French Tongue Note That when the Speaker finds divers Bills prepared to be put to the Question he gives notice the Day before That on the Morrow he intends to put such Bills to the Passing or third Reading and desires the special Attendance of all the Members Note also That if a Bill be Rejected it cannot be any more proposed during that Session A Bill sent by the Commons up to the Lords is usual to shew their Respect attended with Thirty or Forty of the Members of the House As they come up to the Lords Bar the Member that hath the Bill making three profound Reverences delivereth it to the Lord Chancellor who for that purpose comes down to the Bar. A Bill sent by the Lords to the Commons is usually sent by some of the Masters of the Chancery or other Person whose Place is on the Wooll-sacks and by none of the Members of that House and they coming up to the Speaker and bowing thrice deliver to him the Bill after one of them hath read the Title and desired it may be there taken into Consideration if aftewards it pass that House then is written on the Bill Les Communes oâ—t assentez When any one in the Commons House will speak to a Bill he stands up uncovered and directs his Speech only to the Speaker then if what he delivers be confuted by another yet it is not allowed to answer again the same Day lest the whole time should be spent in Debate Also if a Bill be debating in the House no Man may speak to it in one day above once If any one speak words of Offence to the King's Majesty or to the House he is called to the Bar and sometimes sent to the Tower The Speaker is not allowed to perswade or disswade in passing of a Bill but only to make a short and plain Narrative nor to Vote except the House be equally divided After Dinner the Parliament ordinarily assemble not though many times they continue sitting long in the Afternoon Committees sit after Dinner where it is allowed to speak and reply as oft as they please Note By Death or Demise of the King the Parliament is ipso facto dissolved Anciently after every Session of Parliament the King commanded every Sheriff to proclaim the several Acts and to cause them to be duly observed yet without that Proclamation the Law intending that every one hath Notice by his Representative of what is transacted in Parliament of later times since Printing became common that Custom hath been laid aside See before in High Court of Parliament Page 51. To the Court of the High Steward of England BUT now by Stat 7 W. 3. Upon the Trial of any Peer or Peeress either for Treason or Misprision all the Peers who have Right to sit and Vote in Parliament shall be duly summoned Twenty days at least before every such Trial to appear at every such Trial and every Peer so summoned and appearing at such Trial shall Vote in the Trial of such Peer or Peeress so to be tried every such Peer first taking the Oaths mentioned in the Act of Parliament made 1 W. M. Intituled An Act for Abrogating the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy and Appointing other Oaths And subscribing and audibly repeating the Declaration mentioned in the Act made Anno 30 Car. 2. Regis For disabling Papists to sit in either House of Parliament Provided that neither the Act nor any thing therein contained be construed to extend to any Impeachment or other Proceedings in Parliament in any kind whatsoever Provided also That the Act nor any thing therein contained shall any ways extend to any Indictment of High Treason nor to any Proceedings thereupon for Counterfeiting the King's Coyn his Great Seal or Privy Seal his Sign Manual or Privy Signet See before in The Court of the High Steward of England Page 81. Of the Power and Authority of the Protector and Defender of the Realm and Church of England during the King's tender Age. And Guardian c. of England in the King's Absence FOR his Authority Place and Precedency See Rot. Parl. Anno 1 Hen. 6. Nu. 26 27. 2 Hen. 6. Nu. 16. 6 Hen. 6. Nu. 22 23 24. 8 Hen. 6. Nu. 13. 11 Hen. 6. Nu. 19. 32 Hen. 6. Nu. 71. The Lord Coke in his 4th Inst. Cap. 3. saith The surest way is to have him made by Authority of the Great Council in Parliament Richard Duke of Gloucester Uncle to King Edward the 5th and afterwards King by the Name of Richard the 3d. was by the Council then Assembled made Protector of King Edward the 5th and his Realm during his Minority Holinshead's Chron. fol. 1363. And for the Government of the Realm and Surety of the Person of King Edward the 6th his Uncle Edward Earl of Hertford was by Order of the Council and the Assent of his Majesty appointed Governour of his Royal Person and Protector of his Realms Dominions and Subjects and so proclaimed the 1 st of February Anno 1547. by an Herauld at Arms and Sound of Trumpet through the City of London in the usual places thereof And on the 6th of Feb. Anno 1547. the said Earl of Hertford Lord Protector Adorned King Edward with the Order of Knighthood remaining then in the Tower and therewith the King standing up called for Henry Hubblethorn Lord Mayor of the City of London who coming before his Presence the King took the Sword of the Lord Protector and Dubbed the said Hubblethorn Knight Holinshead Chron. fo 1614. The King when he intends to go or is in remotis out of the Realm appoints a Guardian c.