THE ENGLISH Historical Library. PART III. Giving an Account OF OUR Records, Law-Books and Coins, FROM THE CONQUEST To the End of Q. Elizabeth's Reign: So far as they are Serviceable to History. By WILLIAM NICOLSON, A. M. Arch Deacon of Carlisle. Antiquitates seu Historiarum Reliquae sunt tanquam Tabulae Naufragii, quas homines▪ industrii,& Sagaces ex Gen●alogiis, Fastis, Titulis, Numismatibus, Archivis& instruments tam Publicis quàm Privatis, à Temporis Diluvio eripiunt& Conservant. Fr. Bacon, de Aug. Scient. Lib. 2. cap. 6. LONDON: Printed for Timothy child, at the White Hart at the West End of St. Paul's Church-Yard. MDCXCIX. Viro perillustri, Legum,& Regiminis ANGLIAE Legalis, Assertori Strenuo, D. christopher MUSGRAVE, Equiti& Baronetto, In Supremis Regni Comitiis Academiae OXONIENSIS Procuratori, Tertium hoc BIBLIOTHECAE HISTORICAE Volumen, Grati animi,& Observantiae non Simulatae MONUMENTUM P. Servus illi non uno nomine Adstrictissimus, Guil. Nicolson. THE PREFACE. TO inquire into the History and Original of our English Law, may seem an Undertaking far too Adventurous, since the best of our ancient Lawyers are pleased to declare, that Her Foundations are not known: That we know not where to look for her Tracings; forasmuch as the most Primitive British Laws, the Fountain of all that followed, were elder than even the Knowledge of Letters in this country. Of this kind we are taught to believe our old Common Law to be: For Lib. 1. cap. 1. Bracton calls it Jus non Scriptum, and In proem. Fleta( who copies him pretty exactly) Leges non Scriptae. These Laws De laud, Leg. Angl. cap. 17. Sir John Fortescue says expressly were never altered by the Romans, Saxons, Danes, or Normans; who all found 'em so agreeable to the first Rules and Dictates of Right and Primitive Reason, that they were sensible they had none better to establish in their stead. This Doctrine looks Venerable; and therefore some of the Gentlemen of the Long rob have always kept at a decent distance from it. It has been their Mode to place any old Term or Custom, whereof they meet not with the Original in the printed Statutes, Register or Year-Books, under the Head and Title of the Vid. H. Spelm. Gloss. voc. Englecheria. Common-Law; and this supersedes all farther Enquiry into its Parentage and Pedigree, as effectually as if( Hero-like) it were descended from Mars or Jupiter. Sir Edward cook Rep. par. 3. in proem. says, the Name of Common Law was first given by Edward the Confessor, to a Collection which he made out of all the Laws of his Ancestors. But I leave it to our more modern Professors, whether that King's Ordinances( as they are published by Lambard) can justly challenge any such Denomination. These were indeed confirmed by William the Conqueror, at the M. Paris, ad An. 1070. earnest svit of the English; but qualified with the Addition of many ( Norman) Feudal Services and tenors. To say that any of these are of an Eternal and Immutable Nature, is to make them Divine, and not human. So that tho some particular Precepts are by all Nations borrowed from the common and unalterable Principles of Reason, which is a part of God's own Law, yet the Body of each Countrey's Municipal Constitutions was ever subject to the same Changes and Alterations with the State itself; and a diligently exact observance of these, will always furnish us with the best and most useful part of its History. To this good End, I cannot but hope that the Study of our English Laws will shortly grow more fashionable in our Universities: Where( as all other kinds of good Literature, so especially) the Knowledge of our British Antiquities begins to flourish in greater Perfection than formerly. The only Reason that one of our Old Sir J. Fortesc. de Laud. Leg. cap. 48. Lawyers could give his Prince, why our academics in his Days were unacquainted with the Laws of the Land, was because they were strangers to the Tongue wherein a great many of 'em were penned: But that Obstacle is sufficiently removed, since( as an Excellent Person has modestly noted in his own Case) the French Language is now so very common among us, that it is not thought a Part of Learning to understand it. The local Statutes oblige the Scholars at Cambridge to be Vid. J. Cowel, in Praefat. ad Instit. Leg. Angl. conversant in the Municipal Laws of their Native country; and this good Reason is assigned for the Injunction, ut differentias Exteri Patriique Juris sic cognoscant, that they may see how far England excels other Nations in the wisdom of their Composure. Surely the Ratio Legis, in this particular, will hold as strong at Oxford. From such Students we are to hope for a Regular History of the Original and Progress of our English Laws; a work, which( to our great dishonour) is still wanting in this Kingdom; Since the Men of chief Learning and Eminence in our Inns of Court are not at leisure for such inquiries, the whole of their time being employed in( what is more Serviceable to the ordinary Duties of their Calling) the Practical Part of their Profession, and Attendance on the Causes of their Clients. This defect had been long since amply supplied, had the Project of those Learned Persons( who, in the beginning of this Age, had formed themselves into a Society of Antiquaries) met with a suitable Encouragement; their first subject, proposed to be treated on and considered, being Vid. D. Tho. Smith, in Vit. D. Rob. Cotton, pag. 9. De Antiquitate Legum Angliae. How necessary the Study and Knowledge of our Laws and Law-Books are to complete the Historian, has been observed by the great D. Ed. cook, Instit. Par. 2. p. 498, 499. Oracle of those Laws; who takes notice that the most Learned Men of that Profession, for want of skill in Legal Antiquities, have been grossly mistaken in treating of these matters. He instances in Hoveden and Paris, who both maintain that Justices-Itinerant were first Instituted by Henry the Second, and laid aside by Edward the Third; in both which Particulars they were out: And therefore he advices that when our Historians meddle with matters of Law, they would consult those that are knowing in them. I think, 'twould be as advisable for the Man that attempts the Writing of our History to endeavour to be so much Master of the Law, as to be his own counsellor and Guide. How many scandalous mistakes was polydore Vergil guilty of, merely for want of skill in the History of our English Laws? Mistakes, which( if there had been no other failing in it) were sufficient for ever to discredit his Book. Had he been Master of that Accomplishment, which we are now wishing for in him that pretends to writ the Story of this Kingdom, he could never have asserted, that William the conqueror first Instituted the Sheriff's Office, and brought in trials by a Jury of twelve Men; that Henry the First was the Contriver of the Aid( which our Law-Books call à file merrier) for Augmentation of the King's Daughter's Dowry, &c. not to mention his errors relating to the common Usage and customs of our Parliaments and inferior Courts of Judicature, which are innumerable. Perhaps, the Reader may tell me, that even the Account which he meets with in some of the following Chapters( about the Institution and Modern proceedings of these Courts) are likewise a little too Lame and Unsatisfactory: But he ought to consider that 'tis not my Business to writ a History, but to give what directions I could for the doing of that hereafter. I pretend to touch no farther upon these matters, than what will just serve for an Introduction or Step to( what is chiefly intended) the Pointing at such latent Records as may be for my Historian's purpose: So that, if the main Building proves good and firm, I am not much concerned how Stately and Strong, or how Slight and Pitiful, my Scaffolding may be. Neither ought it to be expected from me, that every little Pamphleteer that has occasionally Written on any single Point of Law, and only repeated what has been a Hundred times observed by better Authors, should be taken Notice of. 'tis enough to say, I have chiefly concerned myself with Writers of an ancient standing and good Repute. Some others I may mention, that do not deserve either of those Characters: But I have designedly omitted many that I knew to be Triflers, and several that I suspected to be so. There are Books which may be very good in their kind, and serviceable to one designed for the Profession of the Law, which I did not think so necessary a Part of our Historian's Library; and therefore the Reader will in vain expect to meet with them in the following Treatise: Such as Sir John Doderidge's English Lawyer, H. Fulbeck's Preparative, and W. Philip's Directions for that Study; all which have excellently well remarked those Qualifications that are requisite in the Professors of our Law, and prescribed the Methods most proper for the completing of their Knowledge in it, but do not seem to carry in them, what so nearly concerns the Subject under our present Consideration, or what will regularly fall within any of the ensuing Chapters. Tables of Fees, Books of Precedents for attorneys and their Clerks, &c. I thought not worth my Notice; as useless and foreign to History. It's more than probable that I am mistaken in omitting many Authors and Books that have very well deserved to be mentioned; and that, on the other hand, I have noted down others that are Trivial, and unworthy the Rank I have given them amongst Writers of a better Fashion and Quality. They that think this Work fit to be encouraged, will( I hope) be so kind as to inform me of what faults they observe of either sort; and they shall be very gratefully corrected, if God continues my Life and Health till I can bring this imperfect Attempt to something that looks more complete than a bare Essay. I do confidently hope that the Book will prove serviceable to a great many Gentlemen, whose studies and acquaintance in the Laws of this Kingdom have enabled them to make large Additions to what I here present them with: And, if my Endeavours to serve them have merited it, I do not doubt but they will kindly let me know what is wanting, and how it may be supplied. I shall gratefully aclowledge any such obliging Information. I have not here( as in the two foregoing Parts) always noted the Time and Place of various Editions. The Books that relate to the Laws of England are generally Printed at London, where our Inns of Court are: And the several Editions, of those that are reprinted, do commonly agree in the Main. Where there are any considerable Variations, I have( to the best of my knowledge) noted down the Years wherein the most correct Copies were published: Otherwise, I have contented myself with marking the size of the Book, and its Price, as the Term-Catalogues( and those by Clavel and Basset) have given them. I may, I think, avow that I have red most of the Ancient Writers; and the Censures I give of them are what I believe to be honest and fair. In those that are modern, I have sometimes ventured wholly to rely upon the judgement of others; and have very frequently given only the bare Titles of such as I had no opportunity of knowing any farther or better. I must here observe( what I am sorry and loathe to do) that, generally speaking, the Oldest Editions of our Law-Books are the best: Whether it be that the Gentlemen of that Profession do not love to trouble themselves with the Niceties of exact Orthography and Criticism, or that the ready Sale of such Works causes the Press to teem them out a little too hastily, I cannot determine. Most of what is here offered to public view and censure had been printed some Months ago, had not the Author been prevailed with to add a Chapter( more than was intended) concerning our English Coins: And he hopes that what is said on that Subject will atone for all the delay he has made. It was thought a little hard that so many Authors should have written whole Volumes upon the Greek and Roman Coins, and not so much as one of our own Antiquaries should ever think it worth his while to treat on those of this Nation; that Strada and others should be able to preserve the true Pourtraictures of the Eastern and Western Emperors, taken from their Medals and Money, and yet none attempt to do the like Service for our English Kings; that there should be La France Metallique, and that Spain should have her Museo de las Medallas, and yet England not have so much as a Man that( till Worthy Mr. Evelyn bravely shew'd the way) ever pretended to cultivate this Branch of her Antiquities. The general Complaint was, That our ancient Money was so inartificially coined, that hardly a Piece was to be found that gave a King's Face with any tolerable Exactness; and that this occasioned that Confusion, when we came to inquire after several Kings of the same Name, as was indeed extremely discouraging, if not insuperable. I dare not pretend to have wholly removed this Difficulty; and yet I think I may boldly affirm that I have( in some measure) lessened it, and given a fair Invitation to the skilful Reader to try his better Strength upon it. I have given some sort of Account or other of all the Coins( whether in Gold or Silver) which, as far as I could learn, were minted in this Kingdom after the Norman Conquest, and before the Union of the two Crowns in King James the First: And this has swelled that Chapter at such a rate that I was forced to lop off a few less necessary Branches in others, to preserve this Third Part from being of too over-grown a Bulk for its Fellows. It will readily be observed that here I have had the best Assistance that the Kingdom could afford me, and therefore it must be my Fault if I have not set Matters in as good a Light as they would admit of: Whereas, if in the other Chapters( where I walk single, and without a Guide) I chance sometimes to mistake my way, I am the more excusable. Before this was finished, I was desired to bethink myself of another Addition; of a few proper Rules for the Judging at the Age of our ancient Manuscript Instruments and Records. The Limits, to which I am at present confined, will not suffer me to look any farther back than the Middle of the Eleventh Century; and, even for such a Period, I cannot say that my Circumstances would have afforded me Materials enough for a complete Discourse on this Subject. By what I have of that kind, I see 'twould be no easy Task to give certain Directions for the distinguishing the Ages of Deeds and Conveyances, purely by the Hand and Character. I have several Original Instruments, both of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, wherein the Cotemporary Scribes writ as variously as we do now; and it would be hard to assign this or the other as a Standard for their common Aera. I will not deny but some Criticisms there are in this Art( such as that about the many ways of writing the Letter i, befors it came to be pointed, as 'tis now, &c.) which are well to be headed; but, I dare say, there are not many in Father Mabillon's whole Treasury, that will universally hold within the Times here treated on. Whilst Learning and Letters were in a few hands, the Modes of Writing were pretty Uniform: But, as Writers grew Numberless, the Alphabets increased in proportion, and the Degrees of Painters and Penmen were infinite. The surest way of Judging of the Age of Common Grants is by their Forms, Witnesses, and Seals; whereof the Reader will find some Account in the following Sheets. Charters and Chancery-Acts are allowed to have been always written in a Hand different from that of the Ordinary Dispatches of Private Men: So that the History of these will not create so great a Trouble to a Student in our English Antiquities, and 'tis hoped there will be no want of Directions on this Head. If the Seventh Chapter be not sufficiently instructive in the rest, I have good Encouragement to believe that the Defect will shortly be supplied by Mr. Wanley; who has already given his Friends a wonderful Specimen of his Extraordinary Qualifications for such a Work, by his Exact Imitation of some old Manuscripts in the Cottonian and King's Libraries. These Copies, with others that he has taken in Oxford, he designs for the Foundation of a Res Diplomatica for England: Which, we may justly hope, will enable us( at the first view) to ascertain the Age of any tattered Scrol we meet with. His Examples will be brought out of such Books as have Dates to testify when they were written: At least, some of these he endeavours to find out for every Age. Had the Oxford-Catalogue of MSS. come early enough to my hand it would have lead me to a new store of Pedigrees, Rentals, Inquisitions, Letters, &c. among Mr. Dodesworth's, Mr. Wood's and Sir William Glynne's Books; to several Papers of State, relating to the Affairs of Queen Elizabeth's Reign, in my Lord Longueville's and Mr. Evelyn's Libraries; to the History of the Naval Force of England, in her time, in that of Mr. Pepys; and to a vast Number of Reports, Pleadings and other Law-Tracts, amongst the many choice Volumes of the Learned Bishop of Norwich: But I had wearied myself with Reviews before I had an Opportunity of looking into that excellent Collection, and therefore I must even desire the Reader to make those Additions himself. Nor shall I now trouble him with any of the Defects in the Second Part; since those that have been observed to me are neither very many, nor of any great Weight. Some Objections indeed have been raised against particular Characters of Authors and their Writings; wherein those that are concerned, either for themselves or their Friends, accuse me of being too rigorous and even Unjust in my Censures. I may probably live to see another Edition of this Work: And then, if these Gentlemen shall convince me of the Truth of what they allege, I hope I shall abundantly satisfy them that I was not under the Influence of any little sneaking Designs, in Flattering Men in Power or Contemning those that are in Affliction. Till this is done, I must answer them in the words of an Ingenious Person, and one that has well considered our Methods and Ways of Judging: Mr. Lock, Pref. to Essay of Hum. Underst. Men's Principles, Notions and Relishes, are so different that it is hard to find a Book which pleases or displeases all Men. Those very Passages wherewith some are highly scandalized, are as much applauded by others; and these different and Contradictory Opinions come from such Judges as I truly and equally honour: But they must give me leave to affirm that I was as unbiased and disinterested in writing as they are in sentenceing; and that I must adhere to my own thoughts, till I see better Reasons( than hitherto have been offered) to recede from them. When an Error is discovered to me, I shall be more ashamed to persist in it than to recant. The first draft of this Historical Library was intended purely for my own Use; it was afterwards drawn up into something of Form for my Diversion; and 'tis now published, in hopes of its being Serviceable to other Lovers of our English Histories and Antiquities. If it fails of this good End, and brings upon its Author the displeasure of some of those he designed to oblige, 'tis not the first time that he has been thus mistaken in his Measures: And he has reason to thank God that his Constitution is of that hardy Frame, that an unlooked for Frown( where he hoped for a smother Countenance) will not break his heart, nor deter him from continuing in what he thinks to be well-doing. The Contents of the following Chapters 1. OF Proclamations, Orders of Council and other Papers of State, within the Verge of the King's Court and Palace-Royal. 1 2. Of Acts, Ordinances, Journals, &c. Of the two Houses of Parliament. 29 3. Of the Records of the King's Courts at Westminster. 67 4. Of Records of Assize, Sessions of the Peace and other inferior Courts in England and Wales. 105 5. Of Law-writers, Year-Books& Reports. 130 6. Of Ecclesiastical Courts and their Registers. 190 7. Of Conveyances, Deeds and other Evidences, in the hands of private Subjects. 223 8. Of English Medals and Coins, from the Conquest to the end of Q. Elizabeth's Reign. 247 THE English Historical Library. PART III. CHAP. I. Of Proclamations, Orders of the Privy-Council, and other Papers of State, within the Verge of the King's Court, and Palace-Royal. THE Society of Antiquaries( projected by Sir Robert Cotton, Mr. cambden, Proclamations. and others) took particular care to make this one of the Rules and Vid. D. Th. Smith, in Vit. D. R Cotton, p. 8. Par. 3. Statutes of their Community, that all the Proclamations of our Kings and Queens should be exactly( because of the scarcity of their Copies) enquired after, and preserved in their Library. And 'twas certainly a right Thought in them; since 'tis but a lame Account that our Historians commonly give us of such Matters. They may possibly take notice of something Commanded, or Prohibited, in this or that Year, by Royal Authority; but they seldom give us the Reasons whereon such public Edicts were built: And yet these( which are always expressed in the formal Instrument itself) are best worth knowing, and have usually couched in them the chief part of the Story of those times. It was once provided by St. 31 Hen. 8. cap. 8. Act of Parliament, that all Proclamations made by the King's Highness, with the Advice of the Honourable[ Privy] Council, should be obeyed and kept, as though they were made by Act of Parliament: But this, being afterwards judged to be of a terrible Consequence, was presently repealed by another subsequent 1 Ed. 6. cap. 12. Law. Charters. Charters and Letters-Patents, making Grants of privileges, Offices and Pensions, are indeed( at this day) enrolled in Chancery, and may justly be reckoned amongst the Records of that Court: But, because they have generally their Rise at the King's Court of Residence, being so many special Acts of his own Royal Bounty, and are therefore particularly registered here as well as elsewhere; I cannot think it amiss, to consider them in this Chapter. Before the Reign Instit. par. 2. p. 78. of Richard the Second, they were all, by Advice of the Privy-Council, expressed by Hijs Testibus, with a Recital of the Names of such as were present. In the first Years of that King, the Style was changed; and the Conclusion of them ran in this Form, In cujus rei Testimonium has Literas nostras fieri fecimus patents: Teste meipso. To distinguish those that are truly ancient and Genuine, from such as are false and Counterfeit, it will be requisite that one be perfectly well skilled in the several Changes that have been made by our Kings in their Seals and Titles. None of 'em sealed with any Id. par. 1 cap. 1.7. a. b. Seal of Arms before Richard the First; the Seals of his Predecessors bearing only the portraiture of the King, sitting in a Chair on one side, and on Horseback on the other. This Richard sealed with a Seal of two lions; because the conqueror( for England) bore two lions: But King John( in the right of Aquitaine, the Duke whereof bore one lion) was the first that sealed with three; and all our succeeding Kings have followed his Example. Edward the Third, in the thirteenth Year of his Reign, quartered the Arms of France with his three lions; and this Copy has been also carefully written after by all his Successors. The same King, as Founder of the most Noble Order of Knights of the Garter, had his Arms sometimes encircled with their Motto of Honi Soit, &c. that of Dieu et Mon Droit having formerly been assumed by Richard the First, See E. C●amberlane's Angl. Not. Edit. 16. p. 69▪ intimating that the Kings of England hold their Empire from God alone: But neither of those ever appeared on the broad Seal, before the days of Henry the Eighth. There is yet a greater Variety in the Titles of our Kings, than in their Seals. William the Conqueror Instit. pa●. 1. cap. 1. commonly styled himself Willielmus ●●x, and sometimes Willielmu● P●●● Anglorum. The like did Willia● P●●fus, who sometimes wrote also Will●elmus Dei Gratia Rex Anglorum Henry the First used both likewise; and so did King Stephen. Henry the Second omitted Dei Gratia, and wrote himself Henricus Rex Angliae, Dux Normanniae& Aquitaniae& Comes Angedaviae. Richard the First used the same Style with his Father. He was also King of Cyprus and Jerusalem; but never mentioned either of those Titles. King John added Dominus Hiberniae. Mr. Selden, I know, affirms, Tit. of Hon. p. 37. 38, &c. That Henry the Second himself used this Title, in pursuance of Pope Adrian the Fourth's Bull for the Invasion of that Kingdom, Et illius Terrae Populus Te recipiat,& sicut DOMINIUM veneretur: But his own Quotation, out of the Annals of Ireland, seems to confute this Opinion; telling us, that Johannes Filius Regis, Do●inus Hiberniae de dono Patris, venit, &c. Henry the Third( in the forty-fourth Year of his Reign) left off Dux Normanniae& Comes Andegaviae, and wrote himself only Rex Angliae, Dominus Hiberniae& Dux Aquitaniae. This continued till the thirteenth of Edward the Third; who then began to Stylo himself Edwardus Dei Gratia Rex Angliae,& Franciae,& Dominus Hiberniae. Richard the Second gave Franoe the Precedence, his great Seal bearing Rex Franciae& Angliae: And so did See their Seals in Speed. Henry the Fourth. Henry the Fifth( in his Eighth Year, and thenceforward during his whole Reign) wrote, Rex Angliae, Haeres& Regens Franciae& Dominus Hiberni. His Successors resumed Edward the Third's Title: To which Henry the Eighth( in the thirteenth Year of his Reign) added Fidei Defensor. This was conferred upon him, in his twelfth Year, by Pope lo the Tenth, for the good Services he had done the Papacy in writing against Luther. The Original of that Book, written with the King's own Hand, is still preserved in the Vatican Library; being thus inscribed, Anglorum Rex Henricus Leoni X. mittit hoc opus& fidei testem& Amicitiae. It was thought serviceable to the Roman Cause, in the late Reign, to have it translated into English. Notwithstanding this generally received Opinion Chamb. Not. Ed. 16. p. 67. some have affirmed, that several of our Kings used the Title of Defender of the Faith, long before King Henry's time; which they pretend to prove from sundry ancient Charters granted to the University of Oxford. The same King( in his twenty-sixth Year) had another Title of Supremum Caput Ecclesiae Anglicanae confirmed to him by St. 26 Hen. 8. cap. 1. Act of Parliament; and the Law takes Notice, that before that time, he had been so recognized by the Clergy of this Realm in their Convocations. This Style was used by Edward the Sixth all his Reign; and by the Lady Jane Grey, in the Proclamation that was made of her Right to the Crown, upon that King's Decease. Queen Mary also called her self Supreme Head in the like Proclamation of her Right, and on other public Occasions in the beginning of her Reign: And having omitted it in her Summons of the Parliament, it was Seld. Tit. of Hon. p. 59. much disputed whether those Writs were Legal. However, within a short time after her coming to the Crown, she wholly omitted that part of the Royal Style; which, after her Marriage, ran thus: Philip and Mary by the Grace of God, King and Queen of England and France, Naples, Jerusalem, and Ireland, Defenders of the Faith, Princes of Spain and Sicily, archdukes of Austria, Dukes of Milan, Burgundy and Brabant, Counts of Flasburgh, Flanders, and Tyrol. In their fourth and fifth Year they left out Naples, but added both Sicilies. The Oath of Supremacy was St. ● Eliz. cap. 1. strictly enjoined upon Q. Elizabeth's first Advancement to the Thrones, and yet she was always shy of assuming the Title of Supremum Caput, contenting her self with that of E. Dei Gratia Angliae, Franciae,& Hiberni●e, Regina, Fidei Defensor, &c. The Direction Instit. par. 2. p. 1. of all these Letters-Patents, down to the end of Edward the Third's Reign, was in these Words: Archiepiscopis, Episcopis Abbatibus, Prioribus, Comitibus, Bar●●thus, &c. But Richard the Second began a more general and compendious Direction, Omnibus ad quos praesentes Literae pervenerint, which is used to this day: Saving that in Charters of Creation of Dignities it still runs, Archiepisc●pis, E●●scopis, Ducibus, Marchionibu●▪ &c. a●● hijs Testibus in the end. The first of our Kings that wrote in the Plural Number Id. ibid. p. 2. was King John; his Predece●●ors writing in the Singular. They used Ego in their Grants; and this King, with those that followed him, Nos. For ancient and Modern Precedents of Characters the Reader may consult 8o. pr. 1 s. W. Sheppard's Treatise of Corporations, Fraternities, and Guilds; wherein also the Necessity, Antiquity, various Kinds, Orders and Government, of Bodies politic, are accounted for. I shall not pretend to affirm, Paper-Office. with a Chamberl. Angl. Not. Ed. 16. par. 2. cap. 1. certain late Writer, that the Authority, of the King's Privy-Council was anciently so great, that whatever was resolved on there( and sealed afterwards with the King's Seal) passed immediately into a Law. For this Opinion he quotes Sis H. Spelman: But I cannot meet with such a Doctrine in any of his Writings. He mentions, indeed, a Gloss. in voice Parliamentum. Conjecture of Sir W. Raleigh, that the present Constitution of our Parliaments was not known before the seventh Year of Henry the First; at which time he finds the King with the sole Advice of his Privy-Council, raising a considerable Sum for the Marriage-Portion of his eldest Daughter. 'tis well known, this will not prove his Point; nor needed he have gone so far back( as appears by King John's Charter, and great store of other Evidence) for an Instance of this kind. It must be allowed, that from the Council-Board have always issued out Occasional Proclamations; which are binding to the Subject, if not contrary either to Statute or Common-Law. These, with all Dispatches and Instructions for Foreign Ministers, Letters of Intelligence( and other public Papers, that are either communicated here, or to the two Secretaries of State) are afterwards transmitttd to the Paper-Office, wherein they are all disposed by way of Library, in a place of good Security and Convenience, within the King's Royal Palace at White-Hall. Here are likewise the Credentials of Ambassadors, the Letters of Foreign Princes and States, Leagues, Treaties, Memorials, &c. Of what great use to our Historian a free Access to this Royal Treasury ought to be esteemed, appears from the best and Hist. Reform. Eccles. Angl. a G. Burnet. completest History this Age has produced; Cujus operis( says my H. Gale, in Praefat. ad xx. Script. Vol. 1. p. 7. Author) fundamenta& Statumina fear omnia ex hoc Armario depromebantur. Besides these Assistances, the inquisitive Historian will here find great variety of Papers relating to the Decrees and Transactions of several of our ancient as well as Modern Palace-Courts. It were certainly a very vain thing to look for any Records of the Court of Star-Chamber Star-Chamber. higher than the third Year of Henry the Seventh, if that 3 Hen. 7. cap. 1. Statute which declares the Powers of its Judges, were indeed( as some have thought) the first Original and Foundation of their Jurisdiction: But, in Croke's Rep. Term. Mich. 5. Car. 1. Chambers's Case, 'twas the Unanimous Opinion of the whole Court of King's-Bench, That it was not erected by that Statute, but was a Court many years before, and one of the most High and Honourable Courts of Justice. Returns of Writs to the King in Camerae ( which is commonly expounded Instit. Lib. 4. à p. 60. ad 66. Star-Chamber) are as old as the 28th of Edward the Third: And it appears( from a Case in one of the Lord Dier's Mss.) that both the Chief Justices sat in that Court, and that they fi●ed Delinquents very deep, in the Reign of Henry the Sixth. It took cognizance of Riots, Extortions, Oppressions, and other grievous Offences, but meddled not with Crimes liable to the Pains of Death. It is said to have had but few Sessions; and that for these Reasons. 1. Because those Enormities that were chiefly therein cognizable were rare. 2. Ne dignitas hujus Curiae vilesceret. 3. That the Council might not neglect the public Affairs of State, in their too frequent Attendance on private Causes. Their Proceedings were by Informations, Bills, Answers, Replications, Interrogatories, &c. all which were filled up; and the Sentences and Decrees were engrossed in a fair Book, with the Names of such Lords and others as were present, and gave their Voices. The Judges in the Court of Chivalry, Court of Chivalry. Ibid. cap. 17. were the Lord High Constable and Earl Marshal; the latter whereof was also obliged to see Execution done. Its Jurisdiction and manner of proceeding in it, is at large accounted for in an old French Manuscript, entitled, M●dus faciendi Duellum coram Rege; and may be also pretty well learned from the 13 Ric. 2. cap. 2.& 1 Hen. 4. cap. 14. Statutes themselves. The Matters( from beyond the Seas) tryable in this Court, were determinable,( as the Patent Rot. pat. 7. Ed. 4. apud J. Seld. Not. in Fortese. cap. 32. expresses it) summary& de plano, sine strepitu& figura ●udicij. It was of an ancient Date; for so says the same Commission, Quae in Curia Constabularij ab Antiquo, videlicet tempore Domini Willielmi Conquestoris quondam Angliae, progenitoris nostri, &c. But it has now been very long discontinu'd; there having been no constant and standing High Constable since the Ao. 12 Hen. 8. beheading of Edward Duke of Buckingham. Its Records are chiefly to be had amongst the Heralds; who were obliged to be Attendants on this Court. Some of those that relate to the Proceedings in the Marshalsea are still in the Paper-Office: But the Reader will see from the Account given of the Nature and Jurisdictions of this Court, by Sir Edward Cook in his Lib. 4. fol. 46. 47. Lib. 6. fol. 20. 21.& Lib. 10. fol. 68, 69, &c. Le Case deal Marshalsea. Reports, that there's little in them to our Historian's purpose. Embassies What is especially considerable in this rich Treasury, is the vast Collection we there meet with of Memorials, Instructions, Plenipotentiary Powers, &c. granted and given( in several Reigns, and on divers weighty Occasions) to our Ambassadors and Envoys, or Papers of the like kind presented by the Ministers of foreign Princes and States residing here in England. How great light in History may be had from these, is sufficiently evident from Sir D. Digges's Fol. land. 1655. complete Ambassador; wherein we have a pleasing variety of Letters penned by the most eminent Statesmen of Queen Elizabeth's Reign, and the best account that's any where public, of what passed on the Subject of that Princess's Matching with foreigners. The Book was Collected for private Use: But, being now published, every Man has liberty to look into the Cabinets of the great Cecil, Smith, Walsingham, &c. The like Entertainment may be had from the History of In Hackluyt's Voyages; Vol. 1. Sir Tho. Randolph's Embassy to the Emperour of Russia, in the Year 1568. wherein the Reader will find the whole Story of the first privileges that were ever procured for our English Merchants in that Country. We have also a Diary of MS. in Bibl. Bodl. Sir Henry. Unton's in France; giving an Account of his Commission, Instructions, Letters, &c. from July 13. 1591. to June 12. 1592. He was sent on a second Embassy to the said Court, and is Vid. Ath. Oxon. l. 1. p. 246. reported to have penned the Transactions of that likewise: But where that Journal is to be had, or whether it be not now lost, we know not. in the Receipt-Office in the Exchequer, there's a short Collection of all Leagues and Treaties of Peace, intercourses and Marriages with foreign N●tions, compiled by the industrious Id. ibid. p. 444. Antiquary Ar. Agard: But this falls infinitely short of that immense Store which Sir John Cotton's Library will afford us of these Matters. We have there no less than Caligula, B. C. D. E. Forty three Volumes of Treaties 'twixt the English, Scots, and French, in a fair and regular Method; besides Julius, E. 1. ●. 3. F. 6. Tiberius, B. 6. 12. Nero, B. 1. 2. &c. D. 6. Galba, B. C. D. E. Vitellius, B. C. 11. 16. 17. Vespas. C. F. Titus, A. 3. B. many more of the like kind in a more loose and dispersed Condition. Nor are the Memoirs of our own Ambassadors only of great Use in our English History; but so are likewise those of our Neighbour Nations: Those especially wherewith this Kingdom has usually maintained the greatest Correspondence in Treaties of Peace and Commerce, as France and Holland. I have seen a Transcript of above In Bibl. Guelpherbyt. four hundred Volumes of French Treaties: So that I have sometimes wondered at an Assertion of one of the most eminent Historians of this Age, and one that has had great opportunities of looking into the Archives abroad as well as at home, that G. Burn. Refl. on Var. par. 1. p. 86. it has not been the practise of that Court to lay up the Negotiations of their Ambassadors. And this Remark seems the more strange to me, because the same Author( in that very Ibid p. 50. Treatise) had told us of a whole Volume of authentic Proofs, for his History of the Reformation, greater than he had already published, in the King of France's Library; Which( says he) were the Letters of the French Ambassadors that were in King Henry the Eighth's Court. The Kings of France have often sat as Arbitrators of Differences in this Kingdom, and have, upon a full Hearing, given their definitive Sentences in the Causes brought before them. So much, in short, our Chronicles sometimes tell us: But what were the Pleadings on both sides, and on what Reasons the Judgments were given, they very rarely inform us. Thus( for Example) we are told that Lewis the Seventh M. Paris, ad An. 1169. Umpir'd the Matter betwixt our Henry the Second, and Archbishop Becket, then in Exile; and that Continuator, dict. M. P. ad An. 1263. Saint Lewis decided the grand controversy between Henry the Third, and his Barons, in favour of the King. Now, if we desire to know what Memorials or Arguments were produced in either of thse great Cases, and what were the Motives that induced the Royal Arbitrators to frame their Awards in the Form and Fashion that we red of, we must fetch our Informations from France; since our own Historians will afford us no manner of Satisfaction in these Points. The like must be said of Denmark, Sweden, &c, whenever we find our own Affairs mixed and interwoven with those of other Countries. There is another Repository of Court Records, which is commonly known by the Name of the Green-Cloth; Green-Cloth. so called from the Vib. Instit. Lib. 4. cap. 19. Covering of the Board, whereat the great Officers sit and give Audience. In this Office( which by some of our Writers is called Domus Compotus Hospitij Regis) are not only preserved the Accounts of the King's household expenses, but you have also here such prudent Orders as( from time to time) have been made by the Lord Steward, Chamberlain, controller, &c. for the more decent and regular Behaviour of the Inferior Servants.) They have St. 3. Hen. 7. cap. 14. a Power of Trying and Determining all Treasons and Conspiracies within the Verge of the Court, against the King's Royal Person, or any of the Members of his Privy-Council; as also all Murders, Manslaughter, and Bloodshed, within the St. 33. Hen. 8. cap. 12. Limits and Bounds of the King's Palace, or within two hundred Yards of the Door, or Gate of any House where His Majesty shall personally reside. Here likewise( and not in Chancery) were commonly enrolled all Letters and Writings concerning such Matters of State as were not fit to be made vulgar. In the conclusion of this Chapter, Prerogatives, I think, we ought to take some notice of those that have ventured to Treat upon the Rights of our Monarchs, and the Extent or Plenitude of their Regal Power: And these indeed have been very many. Phil. Hunton, a Non-conformist Minister, published the most learned 4o. land. 1643. 1680. 1689. Treatise on Monarchy, of any of the Writers of his Party; in the former part whereof he inquires into the Nature of Monarchy in general; and in the latter considers the Frame and Constitution of that in this Kingdom. This Author peremptorily asserts that the Sovereignty of England is in the three Estates of King, Lords, and Commons; which Proposition was condemned as Heterodox by the University July, 21. 1683. of Oxford, in their Convocation, and the Book itself publicly burned. In Answer to this, Sir Robert Filmer published his 4o. land. 1646.& 8o. Ibid. 1652. 79. Anarchy of a limited and mixed Monarchy. 'tis likely that Hunton had met with some more early Antagonist; since, before the Appearance of Sir Robert's Book, he printed a 4o land. 1644. Vindication of his Treatise of Monarchy. Another of the most virulent Opposers of Kingly Government, and Patrons of Democracy, was James Harrington, sometime of the Bed-Chamber to King Charles the First: Who, though he was a zealous and affectionate Admirer of his Royal Master's Personal Endowments, never hearty reverenced his Regal Office. When that was supposed to be brought to a final Period, he wrote his Fol. land. 1656. Common-Wealth of Oceana, wherein he proposes a new Utopian Model of Government, by ballotting of Senators, &c. In Answer to this came forth mat. 8o. land. 1657. Wren's Considerations, &c. reflecting on the first part of Harrington's Preliminaries. To these was prefixed a Letter to Dr. Wilkins,( then Warden of Wadham college) desiring his Thoughts of the controversy; which gave occasion to Harrington to reflect a little severely, upon that Club of Virtuosi▪( which then usually met at the Warden's Lodgings, and were the first Seedlings of the now famous Royal Society) as if they laid their Heads together for the composure of that Answer. This he did in his 4o. land. 1658. Prerogative of▪ Popular Government, in the former part whereof he enlarges the first Preliminary of Oceana, and endeavours to vindicate it from all such Mistakes or Slanders as have been alleged against it under the Notion of Objections. To this Wren replied in his 8o. land. 1659. Monarchy asserted; wherein are given the true States of both Monarchical and Popular Government, in defence of the Considerations. Hereupon, the Democratick immediately published a Comical Repartee, under the Title of 4o. land. 1659. Politicaster: And so this mighty controversy ended in a quibble. Against the Oceana appeared also Mr. Baxter; who, to convince the Author of that Book that he was a Politician, did also afterwards oblige the World with his 8o. land. 1659. Holy Common-wealth: A piece which needs have no more said of it, than that it fell under the same Condemnation with P. Hunton's before-mentioned. He had some other Opponents of less Note. Honest Fabian Philips has furnished us with a sufficient stock of Answers to whatever shall be scribbled by the Writers of that Gang, in his Fol. land. 1686. Investigatio Jurum Antiquorum, &c. wherein our established Government is vindicated from Popular and Republican Principles and Mistakes, with a respect to the Laws of God, Man, Nature, and Nations. 'tis observable, that most of those doughty Combatants, that have hitherto engaged the English Monarchy, have borrowed their chief Artillery from some select Passages in Glanvil, Bracton, Fleta, &c. whereas they might have carried their Authorities much higher. In those Laws which are said to have been of King Edward the Confessor's enacting, and confirmed by William the conqueror, they have these Strictures, LL. Guit. 1. cap. 17. Debet Rex omnia rite facere in Regno,& per judicium Procerum regni. Debet enim Jus& Justitia magis regnare in regno, quam voluntas prava. Lex est semper quod Jus facit, &c. This indeed is part of the younger of the two Copies of those Laws, which Mr. Selden perused: But even that appears to have been penned in or soon after the Reign of William Rufus, which is before the time of the Authors usually quoted. Let it only be further observed, that( in this very Chapter, which seems to have been the Original whence this Doctrine is copied) 'tis affirmed, that these Bounds were set by the Pope, and not by the People. The great Respect which has of late been paid to Nath. Bacon's Bacon. First part, from the first Times to the Reign of Ed. 3. 4o. land. 1647. Second part, to the end of Q. Eliz. Ibid, 4o. 1651. Both Reprinted in Fol. land. 1695. Historical Discourse of the Uniformity of the Government of England, will oblige us to consider that Author apart from the rest. There are several Witty, Political and Moral, Reflections in his Book; which discover a peculiar Art in drawing very notable and weighty Conclusions from weak and Airy Premises. His Remarks on the Clergy, upon all occasions, are so full of Bitterness and Invective, as might have become Mr. Selden himself, and are an evident Argument of the Author's having a mind to Ape even the very Passions of that angry Great Man. Some favourable Expressions towards Monarchy drop from him unawares; as when he speaks of the Duke of Normandy's being a scourge to the People for their Causeless deserting of the Royal Stem, &c. But, whenever this happens, he's manifestly out of his way. His main design was to blacken all our Kings, and to show that they had nothing lovely in them but what was derived from the Favour and Caresses of the People, as will appear from the following Abstract of the whole Work, which shall be given in his own Words. The British People held the Helm of Government in their own Hands, till the Romans made them a Province, and subjected them to Kings. The Saxons were also a Free People, and a Law unto themselves: saving only that these, as well as the Britains, paid a profound Respect and Reverence to their Priests. The Conqueror stooped under the Law of a Saxon King, and became a King by Leave, wisely foreseing, that a Title gotten by Election is more certain than that which is gotten by Power. William Rufus was happy in the fear or favour of the People; for he had nothing else to make room for his rising. Henry the First bound himself, by Capitulation, to be Just, that he might be Great; and the People to submit to Justice, that they might be Free. K. Stephen was a Vapour mounted up by the Clergy; tossed by Tempests for a time, and at length falling. Henry the seconds Title was by Compact made between the Lords, King Stephen, and himself; all being then ready to try the Right by the Sword to that to which none of them had any right at all( at that time) but by the favour of the People. Richard the First's Entrance was upon an Election made in his Father's time. John was chosen hand over head, and so ruled: though the King must be thought sober, the Man was mad. Henry the Third was the first Precedent of Conscience, in point of Succession by Inheritance; the People closing about this Spark, in hopes it might bring forth a flamme whereby to warm themselves in stormy weather. Edward the first contended for Arbitrary Power in England: But our good old Enemies( the Scots) by Divine Providence suddenly crossed his way. Edward the Second was made a Monument of God's Revenge upon inordinate Desires in a King, and of the English People enraged: Not long surviving his Demise, he died a Death meet to be for ever blotted out of the thoughts of all Subjects, but to he had in everlasting remembrance of all Kings. Edward the third, after fifty years Reign, died in his Minority, under the Rule of a Woman of none of the best famed. Richard the Second retained a tincture of the light Inconstancy of his Mother, and the Luxuriousness of his great Grandfather; and, running his[ Ed. II's] Course, came to his End. Henry the fourth was an unhappy confident Man, that durst undertake more than he would, did more than he ought, and was successful in what he did; yet never attained his End, to be sure of his Crown and Quiet of Mind. Henry the fifth was bold enough to out-face small Doubts in point of Succession: for he could( for a need) out-face common Civility itself. Henry the Sixth entered the Throne in his Mother's Lap. A sad Presage of what followed; for many Men think that he was in a Lap all his Days. Edward the fourth came in by the People, though he endeavoured to support himself by Foreign Dependencies. Edward the fifth was the Materia Prima of a King; and lived only long enough to be enrolled amongst the rest. Richard the third proceeded from a Protector to an Usurper, and thence to a Tyrant; a Scourge to the whole Nation, especially the Nobility; an Instrument of God's Revenge upon himself; a Man made up of day and Blood; living not loved, and dying unlamented. Henry the Seventh was a Cunning Man, rather than a Wise English King. And, though he died Rich, yet is he since grown into Debt to the Penmen of his Story, that by their own Excellency have rendered him a better King than he was. Henry the Eighth knew neither faithful Servant, counselor nor Wife; but struck at all that stood in his way. Edward the Sixth was every way tender; born and supported by extraordinary Means, which could never make his Days many, or his Reign long. Q. Mary lived an uncomfortable Life; shaped a bloody Reign, and had but a dim Conclusion. Q Elizabeth was begotten in a heat against Rome; wherein also she was born and trained up by her Father and Brother's Order, and saw enough in his Sister's Course to confirm her therein. This is the sum and Substance of this admired Book; which( with its Author) I shall leave to the Reader's due correction, and proceed. CHAP. II Of Acts, Ordinances, Journals, &c. of the Two Houses of Parliament. A Collection of the Laws before Magna Charta Laws before M. Charta. was made by Sir H. Spelman; and is now amongst the many choice MSS. in Bodley's Library. It bears the Title of Vid. Praefat. ad Reliq. Spelmann. Codex Legum Veterum& Statutorum Regni Angliae, quae ab ingressu Gulielmi, usque ad Annum Nonum Henrici Tertii edita sunt; hoc est, ante Primum Statutum omnium Impressorum in Libris Juridicis. All these have been a good while scattered and dispersed, in our Printed Books. We have a pretendedly exact Copy of the Conquerour's in their Original French Language, together with a latin Translation, first published by Mr. Selden In Spicileg. ad Eadmer. ; and afterwards by Addit. ad Guil. Lambardi Archaion. ab Abr. Whelcco Edit. 1644. p. 159, &c. Sir Roger Twisden and Sir H. Spelman council. Brit. Vol. 2. ; who only transcribed them from the former. The Old Chronicle of Litchfield( out of which Selden had one of his Copies) gives this account of the first enacting of these Laws. Anno Guilielmus Regni sui quarto apud Londonias Consilio Baronum svorum fecit summoniri per Universos Angliae Comitatus omnes Nobiles, Sapientes,& sua Lege eruditos, ut eorum Leges& Consuetudines audiret. Et licet idem Rex Willielmus Leges Norfolkiae& Suffolkiae, Grantbrigiae& Deirae( ubi quondam Maxima pars Danorum& Norwegiensium inhabitabant) prius magis approbaverat,& eas per totum regnum observari praeceperat, pro eo quod omnes Antecessores eius,& fear omnes Barones Normanniae, Norwegenses extitissent,& quod de Norwagia olim venissent; postea, ad preces Communitatis Anglorum, Rex adquievit; qui deprecati sunt quatenus permitteret sibi Leges Proprias& Consuetudines antiquas habere, in quibus vixerant Patres eorum, & ipsi in eis nati& nutriti sunt, scilicet Leges sancti R. Edwardi, &c. In this Chronicle, as likewise in the French Transcript which Ingulphus brought to Croyland in the last Year of that King's Reign, the Number of these Laws are Fifty; and they contain several Norman and Feudal Customs, which could not be borrowed from any Constitutions purely Saxon. To these there are added one and twenty other Decrees, which( in the read Book of the Exchequer) are given by way of Charter, the Form observed by the Conqueror's immediate Successors; the Thirteenth whereof is in these Words: Hoc quoque praecipimus, ut omnes habeant& teneant Leges Edwardi Regis in omnibus rebus, adauctis iis quas Constituimus ad Utilitatem Anglorum. This was well Noted by Gervase of Tilbury, who( in his Dialogue Vid. I. Seld. Notas ad Fortesc. cap. 17. De Scaccario) gives this very account of 'em: Quasdam reprobavit, quasdam autem approbans, illis Trans-Marinas Neustriae Leges, quae ad Regni pacem tuendam efficacissimae Videbantur, adjecit. Besides these, Mr. Selden has likewise collected some other scattered Edicts of his out of our English Historians, and published them together in his Fol. land. 1683. cap. 4. Epinomis: A Treatise wherein he has done the same thing for his six immediate Successors, in so many several Chapters, and was intended by its learned Author for a Supplimentary Introduction to the Books of our Statute-Laws. We have no perfect Laws of William the seconds Establishment; and those broken Fragments which the Epinomis brings out of Malmesbury and Polydore Vergil are presumed only, but not proved, to be of his enacting. They that expound Polydore's words of Hist. Angl. lib. 10. p. 168. Vectigal Unius Anni, to prove that this King set up the legal claim of First-Fruits, upon the Vacancies of bishoprics and Monasteries, are manifestly mistaken; since the Historian, in that place, intimates only that the Temporalties of such Vacant Dignities might as well be enjoyed by the King, as the Jurisdiction by the Archbishop of the Province. Some of the Interpolations in the latter copy of his Father's Laws appear to have been composed even after the Demise of this King, and others look somewhat like the Edicts of this Reign: But, the main of those Additions being taken out of the Saxon Laws, as well as the sounder and more ancient part of the Text itself, 'tis uncertain whether of the Williams we ought to ascribe them to, or whether indeed they belong rightly to either of them. Those that bear Vid. Tit. of Hon. p. 518. the Name of Henry the First, have been pub●ish'd out of three several Manuscripts) by Sir Roger Twisden, together with those of his Father already mentioned: But, as the learned Publisher himself Not. ad p. 179. observes, they have had some late hand in modeling them into the Form they now carry. They expressly quote Pope Gregory's Decretal; which was not compiled by Gratian till near twenty years after the death of this King. There were two other MS. Copies, in the Libraries of Sir R. Cotton and Sir H. Spelman, which seem not to have come to Sir Roger's Knowledge; tho', 'tis sufficiently Vid. Spelm. Gloss. in Vocc. Flemenfirma, Hantesia, Herthohertreingrevet, Lafordswic& Pudhebec. plain, they might have been of great use to him. I do not think that ever these would have helped us to a truly correct Edition of them, since they are likewise acknowledged to be miserable corrupted; but they would certainly have helped to make the Jumble a little less confused than now it appears to be. Meric Casaubon De quat. Ling. p 141. assures us that Mr. Somner took good pains with the Edition of these Laws; having written upon it Animadversiones uberes et doctas, cum Glossario utilissimo. I guess the larger of those two Glossaries, which we now have in the Appendix to them, might be of his Composure; the other ancient and Imperfect one being all that Sir Roger himself pretends to have given us: Though a W. Kennet, in Vit. Somneri, p. 32. learned Person will not be persuaded but there must be somewhere a more accurate, and much larger, work of his on this Subject, which has not yet seen the Light. The matter of these Laws are chiefly on the Crown-Side; the Regulation of the Common-Pleas being the Business of some following Reigns. That King Stephen forbade the Usage of the Civil Law is attested by the Famous friar In Compend. Theolog. cit. in Not. ad Fortesc. cap. 23. Bacon; who gives this account of the matter, Rex quidam Angliae Stephanus, allatis Legibus Italiae in Angliam, publico Edicto prohibuit ne ab aliquo retinerentur: And J. Salisburiensis( a little more particularly) tells us that these were Laws De Nugis Curial. lib. 8. cap. 22. quas in Britanniam domus Venerabilis Patris Theobaldi Britanniarum Primatis asciverat. But neither of these speak any thing of his giving his Subjects any others in their stead. Henry the second contented himself with the Confirmation of the Laws of Edward the Confessor and William the First; which he is R. Hoveden. Hist. Hen. 2. p. 600. said to have done by the special Advice of his chief Justice R. Glanvil. M. Charta; In the Front of all our Printed Statutes we have always the Great Charter; which( being frequently granted and confirmed by Assent and Authority of Parliament) is by tenors, lib. 2. cap. 4.§. 108. Littleton rightly called L'Estatute de Magna Charta. Others have styled it Charta Libertatum Regni, Communis Libertas and Le Chartre des Franchises; and the reason assigned for its being name Magna, is because of the Coke's Instit. lib. 2. cap. 3. great weightiness and weighty greatness of the matter contained in it. It was first granted in Form by King Anno Regni, 1●… John, and enlarged by Anno R. 9. Henry the Third; who afterwards( at the Instigation of his chief Justice Hubert de Burgo) cancelled it, upon Pretence that he was under Age when he granted it. It has since been confirmed by 25. Ed. 1. and 31. Acts following many Acts of Parliament; and declared by our Judges to be the chief part of the Common-Law of England: And we are told, that the said Hubert, together with the two Infamous Spencers, in Edward the seconds Time, came to an unhappy end by continuing his rash counsels Proem. ad Instit. par. 2. En contre la forma de l● grand Chartre. 'tis in this latter( of Hen. 3.) that the various feudal customs and services of Wardship▪ Marriage, &c. are first drawn into a formal Law: Which probably gave Vid. Reliq. Spelm●… p. 30. occasion to R. Higden to assert tha● this share of the Common-Law wa●… Introduced by that King, The Fit. land. 1662. &c. Second Part of Sir Ed. Coke's Institutes gives us Magna Charta, and several other select Statutes in the Original Languages wherein they were first enacted, much more correctly then we have 'em in any other Printed Copies. Upon these he continually gives us his own Commentaries, very full of excellent Learning; wherein he shows how the Common-Law stood be●ore the making of such Statutes, whether they are Introductory of any New Law, or only Declara●ory of the old; what were the Causes and Ends of their being enacted, what branches of 'em are now altered or repealed, &c. Sir Hen. Spelman In Gloss. voice Magna Charta. has also an Elaborate Discourse upon this Famous Charter; which he is pleased to call Augustissimum Libertatum A●glicarum Diploma et sacra Anchora. Some have imagined, that this, and the like Expressions on that Head, with some of the same Face that follow elsewhere, might occasion the delay of See his Life by Mr. Gibson, p. 6. Publishing the Second Part of his Glossary; the First being sent to the Press at a time A. D. 1626. when Prerogative ran high, and the Liberties of the People were not to be mentioned. In the whole History which he gives us of its Original Growth and Perfection, he has not observed( what is noted by another D. Th. Gale, Praefat. ad Angl. Script, p. 5. Learned Person) that we have not one true Copy of this inestimable piece; notwithstanding all the Blood that has been shed in its defence. In the Common Prints, and even in Sir Edward Coke's own Copy, the Witnesses are B. Cantuariensi Archiepiscopo, F. Londinensi Episcopo, &c. Anno Regni nostri nono. Whereas 'tis certain that Boniface was not Archbishop of Canterbury before the 27th of Henry the Third; nor was there any such Man as E. Bishop of London, all the while that he was Primate. That most of our Copies are corrupted and abused, is what I can easily believe; but that there should not be so much as one sound one in the whole Pack, looks like an Assertion too bold and general. Copies were sent to the several Proem. ad Instit. par. 2. Archbishops and Bishops of the Realm, to be preserved in their Regestries; and there was hardly a Monastery in the Kingdom without one or more of them. 'tis hard to affirm, that all these were blunder'd and spoyled; tho 'tis certain their Copyers were extremely careless in giving the proper Names of witness, &c. In a very old one that has fallen into my hands, King Henry's Charter ends Hiis Testibus, Bonefacio Cant. Archiep. &c. Dat. apud Westmon. IX. Die Februar. anno regni nostri nono. And King Edward's Confirmation does also conclude very differently from what we have in the Print, Hiis Test. Roberto Cantuar. Archiep. &c. Datum per manum nostrum apud Westmon. xviii. die Maii, Anno Regni nostri xxviii. In several Manuscripts, and in Tottel's Edition in Print, the Customs of Kent are annexed; being certain privileges and tenors peculiar to that Country. The Epilogue of 'em says they are such ( queen furent devaunt le Conquest, een le Conquest) as were in use before and at the Conquest; and Mr. Lambard Peramb. of Kent. Edit. 1596. p. 570. met with one Copy of 'em which says they were allows en Eire John de Berwike, e ses Compagnions, Justices en Eire en Kent, le 21. an le Roy Ed. Fitz le Roy henry. The same Learned Antiquary has given us an Explanatory Comment on these Customs; wherein several Instances are given of the difference of ancient Gavelkind from Common-Law-Tenures. Printed Statutes. Our Acts of Parliament give often such fair Hints of the Humors most prevailing at the Time of their being enacted, as that many parts of our History may be recovered from them; especially if compared with the Writers, either in Divinity or Morality, about the same Date. Thus, for Example, the 5. Hen. 4. cap. 4. Statute against Multiplication of Metals, discovers somewhat of the Ruinous Fancy( which had then seized most of our Nobility) of trying chemical Conclusions for the attaimment of the Philosopher's ston; and he that reads Chaucer's Tale of the Canon's Yeoman, penned about the same time, will have a farther View of the Fashionable Vanity of those Days. Thus likewise, from the Statute of A. D. 1267. 52. Hen. 3. Marlbridge, some have taken the great epoch of our present English Government; Vid, D R. Twisden, Praefat. ad L. L. Wil.& Hen. 1. p. 158. affirming that 'twas then that( to use Livy's Expression) the Imperia Legum began to prevail in our Land, the Confusions of Absolute and Arbitrary Tyranny being utterly abolished and la●d aside. Amongst our Printed Statute-Books, the most ancient ones are of Chief Use and Authority; giving a Just Account of some Laws which( being now lost from among the Records) had otherwise perished, and very often a more Faithful one than the Books of later Editions. For Instance, The Statute 37. Ed. 3. cap. 9. of Felony for Stealing a Falcon( in the last Editions) has the words Laneret, or any other Hawk; and some Old Copies in Manuscript have Lanyret, Austor ou author Falcon: Whereas the true Reading is, that of the Eldest Prints, Lanyret ou auter Falcon; omitting the the Word Austor( or Gos-hawk) which the Enactors of that Law never thought of, and not using so general a Term as any other Hawk, which likewise goes beyond their Intention. To enlarge the Stock of their Laws, in Times wherein the Remains are not numerous, the first Compilers of these Books have amassed Proclamations, Writs, &c. all under the General. Name of Laws. Thus the Statute, as they call it, of 13 Ed. 1. circumspect Agatis, is more properly a Writ to the Judges: The like may be said of that 15 Ed. 2. of Carlisle, and that 18 Ed. 1. of Fines is more like a Rule of Court, that 28. Ed. 1. of Wards and Relief no more than a Marginal Note, on some old Book of Entries, &c. R. Pynson's 12o land. 1527. Edition of the Antiqua Statuta is acknowledged to come after two or three former Impressions; and yet what a wretched Confusion runs through the whole Work? Several of the Constitutions of Henry the Third( as De Anno Bissextili, Assisa Panis, &c.) are jumbled and misplaced, so as to follow after others of Edward the First's Enacting; and several of Edward the seconds( De Prerogativa Regis, and Modus faciendi Hominium) are likewise followed by some of that King's Fathers and Grandfathers. The putting of Marginal Notes to the Statutes at large, was first begun by Will. Rastal, who Fol. land. 1559 Collected all in force from Magna Charta to the fourth year of Philip and Mary; and his Continuer Fol. Ibid. 1603. carried them to the forty third of Queen Elizabeth. Soon after, Ferd. Pulton published his Collection Fol. land. 1608. of Statutes, repealed as well as unrepeal'd; and Fol. Ibid. 1618. afterwards gave the same more serviceably( with good useful Marginal Notes) down to the Sixteenth of K. James the First. These have since been continued by Manby, Keeble, &c, Pulton's comparing of the Statutes of the first ten Kings,( from the Ninth Year of Henry the Third, to the Second of Richard the Third) with the Original Records in latin, or French, his examining of the rest, his References, Abstracts of private Acts, &c. are Performances which have highly obliged the public; but are still capable of farther Improvements than our late Publishers have thought fit to bestow on them. In comparing these Editions with the MS. Rolls of Parliament, we may observe, 1. Divers Acts in Print that are not in the Roll. 2. Many in the Rolls never yet Printed. 3. Divers Clauses omitted in the Print, which occur in the Rolls. 4. Many considerable Variations; especially in qualifying bitter Reflections on the Pope's Usurpations. 5. Some Statutes pretended to be Enacted, and afterwatds disaffirm'd, and yet Printed. 6. Whole Parliaments omitted, wherein were many notable Matters Transacted. 7. Whole Parliaments repealed and made voided by Subsequents. These Differences were long since Instit. Par. 4. cap. 1. p. 50, &c. observed, and a great many Instances given upon every particular Head; and yet I do not find that care is taken to have them rectified. The common placing of our Statute Laws is certainly of great and necessary Use; especially since they grew up to that vast bulk wherein we now have them. But when these Methodical Abstracts are published, 'tis requisite that a more than ordinary care be taken in examining the Numeral Quotations, and short References; otherwise the Mistakes, into which the Reader may be lead, are unspeakable and endless. The first 4o. land. by Chr. Barker the Queen's Printer. Abridgement of this kind that I have seen, was made by F. Pulton; who drew it up in an Alphabetical order, and( intending it only for the Service of Justices of Peace) took notice only of Penal Statutes. He was followed and enlarged by Edm. Wingate; whose Book has been often very carelessly Reprinted. In the last Impression 8o. land. 1689. the false References are said to be rectified; and the whole so accurately revised, that there's no hazard of a Man's being misled and imposed on. Our Printed Laws, it appears, Rolls of Parliament. will not afford an Historian full satisfaction in the Particulars they treat on; and therefore Truth as well as Curiosity will necessary invite him to consult the Original Records, whereof these are often very faulty Copies. Before the use of Printing, and till the Reign of Henry the Seventh, our Statutes were all engrossed in Parchment, and( by virtue of the King's Writ to that purpose) proclaimed openly in every County: A Method which was undoubtedly of excellent Advantage to the Subject, and what foam of our Instit. Par. 2. p. 526. greatest Men of Law have thought worthy to be restored. About the time that this Advice was offered, 'twas Instit. par. 1. Lib 2. cap. 10. observed, that we had then had near three hundred Sessions of Parliament since the Conquest, in each whereof divers Acts had been passed; and that of these a considerable Number had never yet appeared in Print. The Reader's Zeal will perhaps be the better quickened, if we give him one or two of the many Instances that might be afforded him in this Particular. Know therefore, that there is 18 Ed. 3. one dormant Statute of this kind, wherein such Ecclesiastical Livings as paid Tenths to the Pope, were exempted from paying them to the King; with a Proviso, that the acquired Possessions afterwards should be chargeable to the King, and not to the Pope. There's 11. Hen. 4. another Act in the Rolls against Corruption in Judges and other of the King's Officers; which was omitted by those that made Collections for the public, because they found on its Margin Respectuatur per Dominum Principem& Concilium. This Statute( as appears from Instit. par. 3. cap. 101. Sir Edward Coke's published Copy of it) has its Le Roy le voet: And the Marginal Note is only one of the many Frollicks of the Prince( afterwards Henry the Fifth) who also put a like Respectuatur upon another Act of the same Parliament touching the Regulation of Attorneys. In these Rolls we have likewise a great many Decisions of difficult Points in Law; which were frequently, in former times, referred to the Determination of this Supreme Court by the inferior Ones of both Benches. In these, as in our Modern Reports, we have not only the final Resolution and judgement of the Court; but also the Reasons and Causes of the same. An exact abridgement of as many of the Parliamentary Records as were to be had in the Tower of London,( from the Reign of Edward the Second, to that of Richard the Third) was made by Sir Robert Cotton, and published by Fol. land. 1657. Will. Prynne; who, in his Preface, gives an Account how most of those that were elder than the Times of Edward the Third, came to be lost. Some few, he says, he did meet with of an elder Date; which seemed to have been overlooked by that great Man, whose Work he here sends abroad with some Garnishings( as an Index, Marginal Notes, &c.) of his own. Amongst those that are thus omitted, he reckons the Rolls of the 5. 8. 9. and 19th Years of Edward the Second; the Statute-Roll of Henry the Third, Edward the First and Second; a Parchment-Book of some Pleas in Parliament during the Reigns of the two first Edwards; and lastly, a few Bundles of Petitions in the Parliaments of the Sixth Years of Edward the First, and the four first Years of Edward the Third. He informs us likewise, that in the Clause, Patent, Charter and Fine, Rolls of King John, Henry the Third, Edward the First and Second, he found some Writs of Summons; together with several short Memorials of Acts and Ordinances, Aids, Subsidies, dimes and Quindismes, granted in the Parliaments of those Reigns. The Rolls themselves, whence these Abstracts were taken, are now quiter perished and gone: Which he probably supposes to have happened either through the negligence of those that were entrusted with the keeping of the Records, or the Iniquity of the Times, during the long continuance of our Civil Wars betwixt the King and Barons, and( afterwards) between the two Houses of York and Lancaster. In these Confusions it was natural for the prevailing Parties, by themselves or their Agents, to suppress or embezle all such Records as made against their respective Titles and Interests; and the great Liberty, he thinks, that has been since taken by the King's attorneys, and other Officers, in calling for the Remains of such a Spoil,( without a due care of returning them, when their Occasions were answered) has abundantly increased the Damage The best and only supply, he observes, which is now to be had of these Defects, is from such Fragments as are to be found in our later Records and ancient Historians; especially in M. Paris, Westminster, Malmesbury, Huntingdon, and Hoveden, who frequently Register the Parliamentary Proceedings and Transactions within the several Limits of their Histories. Let me add, If the future Changes to which all human Affairs are liable, shall hereafter expose these to new Losses and Embezlements, there's a sair Transcript to be had of them( from the first Year of Edward the Third, to the forty third of Q. Elizabeth) in Vol. 16. Titus, E. F. Cotton's Library; where there are also Ibid. Titus, C. 2. 3. two Volumes of Indices to the Tower Records, the one whereof commences at the third of King John, ending at the fifty first of Edward the Third, and the other begins at the first of Richard the Second, and continues to the twenty-third of Edward the Fourth. An Ordinance Ordinances. of Parliament is commonly distinguished from an Act; forasmuch as the latter can only be made by the King, and a threefold Consent of the Estates; whereas the former is ordained with one or two of them: So that( when the Clergy is omitted) whatever passes by the King, the Lords Temporal and Commons, is no more than an Ordinance. For this Opinion Instit. par. 4. cap. 1. p. 25. Sir Edward cook cites a great many Rolls of Parliament and other Authorities: And for farther Satisfaction, the Reader may have recourse to a Treatise( published 8o. land. 1677. about twenty years ago) concerning Statutes and Acts of Parliament, and the Exposition. 'tis said to have been written by Sir Christopher Hatton, the famous Lord Chancellor of England( and of the University of Oxford) in Queen Elizabeth's Time: But some Vid. Ath. Oxon. lib 1. p. 223. have doubted whether that great Name were not unjustly usurped, for the convenience of the Stationer, and to procure a more ready Sale of the Book. The last sort of Parliamentary Records are the Journals Journals. of the Lords and Commons; wherein every Day's Vote that passes is carefully registered by the Clerks of the several Houses. I call these Records, upon very just Grounds; since the St. 6. Hen. 8. cap. 16. Law itself has declared that of the House of Commons to be so. A complete Journal of the Transactions of both Houses( from the first year of Henry the Eighth to the Seventh of Edward the Sixth) was drawn up by Rob. Bowyer, who was sworn Clerk of the Parliaments A. D. 1609. and is now in Tiberius, D. 1. Cotton's Library. The true Primitive Constitution of our Parliaments is by some fancied to be best learned from an old Treatise bearing this long Title: Modus tenendi Parliamentum. Bibl. Cot. Nero, c. 1. Modus quomodo Parliamentum Regis Angliae& Anglorum svorum tenebatur temporibus Regis Edwardi, filii R. Ethelredi; qui modus recitatus fuit per discretiores Regni coram Willielmo deuce Normanniae, Conquestore& Rege Angliae, ipso Conquestore hoc praecipiente,& per ipsum approbatus,& suis temporibus& temporibus Successorum svorum Regum Angliae usitatus. Some great Vid. Instit. Par. 4. cap. 1. p. 2. Men, I say, have confidently believed this whole Story, and roundly affirmed, that the Book was presented( in the very manner here mentioned) to the Conqueror; who not only approved it, but held a Parliament pursuant to its Directions. It was afterwards they say, transcribed in a Parchment-Roll, and sent into Ireland, by Henry the Second; and exemplified( by the Advice of Sir John Talbot, Lord Lieutenant, and the Privy-Council of that Kingdom) in the Sixth year of Henry the Fourth. It appears also that it was perused by the Compilers of the Statute of Magna Charta; who have stated the Relief of Earldoms, Baronies and Knights-Fees, according to the Proportions in this very Modus. 'tis pity that all this should be a mistake. And yet Tit. of Hon. p. 610, 611, 612, &c. Mr. Selden very reasonably argues, that this Venerable Monument cannot be elder than the Reign of Edward the Third; and that the whole is an Impostor of some bold fancy. This he proves from the Terms of Justiciae de Banco, Capitalis Justiciarius, Comes Seneschallus, Comes Mareschallus, &c. which bear Date some Ages after the coming in of the Normans; nor could he ever meet with any Copy of it,( and he had seen several) that carried an elder Face. There never was any such Rule observed in making of Earldoms and Baronies, out of so many Knights-Fees, as is there pretended: For several Earldoms, in the Times it refers to, consisted of more than twenty such Fees; and several Baronies of less than Thirteen. The Author is also mistaken in guessing at such Usages and Customs, as indeed never prevailed in either House of Parliament: As when he represents the Archbishops and Bishops of the two Provinces, as placed on the King's Right and Left Hand; the equalling of Barons of the Cinque-Ports with Barons of the Kingdom, &c. Upon what just Grounds this Censure is given, every Man may now judge▪ since the Book itself has been published by 12o. pr. 2 s. 6. d. W. Hakewell, who has added several Collections of his own out of the Journals of the House of Commons. There are other Treatises on the same Subject, and by later Hands, which bear a like Title; among which none outdoes that of The 8o. land. 1663.& 12●. 1675. ancient Method and manner of holding Parliaments in England, by( that most accomplished Clerk of the House of Commons) Henry elsing; who was applied to as an Oracle by those very Senators, whose Proceedings were Ath. Oxon. lib. 2. p. 106. supposed to shorten his days. We have a later than this under the Title 8o. land. 1689. of Memorials of the Method and Manner of Proceedings in Parliament in passing Bills; which pretends to give a View of the Orders of the House of Commons from Observation and the Journal-Books ever since the Time of Edward the Sixth: But there are few Particulars in it of an elder Date than the Union of the Kingdoms; and it Vid. p. 84. appears to have been penned in the days of Rebellion, when the style of the Supreme Government was the Common-wealth instead of the Crown. How Pleadings used to be managed in this Supreme Court of the Realm, in what manner judgement was given, how Petitions were brought in, and in what Form Statutes and other Parliamentary Constitutions were anciently drawn, may be seen at large in W. Ryley's Placita Parliamentaria; in which we have Judgments upon such Pleadings in the Parliaments of Edward the First, and Edward the Second. To these there is added an Appendix of Statutes, Ordinances and other Records, whereby the Author would prove the Fol. Lat. pr. 18 s. Homage heretofore paid by the Kings of Scotland to ours, to be( as many other Writers, both before and after him, have endeavoured to do) for their whole Realm; and not solely for the English Counties which they held in Fee. Out of W. Prynne's grand Storehouse of Collections, we had what he was pleased to call the 4o. land. 1649. first Part of the History of the ancient Councils, and Parliaments of England, from the Year 673, to the beginning of Henry the Third's Reign; which was 4o. Ibid. 1654. afterwards transformed into a Seasonable, Legal, and Historical Vindication of the good old Fundamental Liberties, Rights, Laws, and Government, of all English Freemen: And this, with a Second Part to the same Tune, was Reprinted the year following. A great many more Writers have treated on this Subject; some whereof are not worth the naming. House of Commons. The Preface to Nath. Bacon's Discourse on the English Government,( formerly mentioned) is an Answer to a Treatise endeavouring to prove, that the Lords were the only Parliament before the Thirteenth Century: But his Conclusion shows that he could not be an Impartial Writer in the Cause. If sometimes, says he, a Parliament of Lords onely may be against the King, and so without King or People; as in the Case between Stephen and Maud the Empress, and the Case of King John; possibly it may be thought as rational for the Commons in after Ages to hold a Parliament without King or House of Lords; and then all the Opponents Labour is to little purpose. The Debate has been lately reassumed; and managed on both sides, with less Virulence and better Manners. The chief Asserters of the Antiquity of the Commons are Mr. Petyt in his 8o. land. 1680. ancient Right of the Commons of England, and Mr. Atwood in his Jani Anglorum facies Vid. Argument. Anti-Norman. p. 154. altera; who are both amply taken to task by the Industrious and Learned In his Introduction to the old English History. Fol. land. 1684. Dr. Robert Brady, the King's Professor of physic at Cambridge, and sometime a Representative of that University in Parliament. Against Mr. Petyt he takes upon him to prove expressly, 1. That the Commons of England( represented by Knights, Citizens and Burgesses in Parliament) were not introduced, nor were one of the three Estates, before the 49th year of Henry the Third; and, 2. That, if they were any way represented in those great Councils, before that time, it was by the Tenentes in Capite. His controversy with the other Gentlemen( the New Face-maker, as he calls him) is bottomed upon King John's Charter; which his Adversary says, does abundantly prove, that all Cities, Burghs, and Free-holders, were constituent Parts of the Common-Council of the Kingdom: Whereas, says he, it only intimates, that all these had anciently their free Customs, and local Usages, which are here confirmed. In both these Discourses the Dr. shows himself to be very conversant, and well skilled, in our English Records; which we have all the reason in the World to believe are fairly and faithfully cited; and whether the Inferences that he draws from them are just and reasonable, his Readers must judge. He seems to have been as solicitous as we can well desire an Author to be, to give us all due Satisfaction in this Particular. Before the Use of these Records, I considered( says he) again, and again, whether I might not be mistaken in their true Meaning; and likewise considered all Circumstances, and compared them with other Relations of the same Time and Things, wherever I could find them. What farther care could we possibly expect? One would hope that a Work thus cautiously carried on, might be entirely relied on, and so effectually maintain its Point, as never to be overthrown: And yet an Attempt was made to expose and run it down, as an impotent Libel against the Government by King, Lords, and Commons) in a Book entitled, supposed to be written by Mr. Atwood. Vid. Argument. Anti-Norman. p. 69. Jus Anglorum ab antiquo; in the Conclusion whereof there's a shame Speech, pretended to be made upon the Doctor's Principles, which is, indeed, Libellous enough upon our English Government. What seemed considerable in this Book, was replied to in an Answer to 8o. land. 1682. Argumentum Anti-Normannicum; a Piece written( as the Doctor guesses) by the same Author in Masquerade. There was another Answer to Mr. Petyt's Book, written by MS. in Musaeo Ashmol. Lit. E. 2. Sir William Dugdale: But, as that has less in it than what was advanced by Dr. Brady, so it seems to have been left unfinished, upon the Notice the Author might have of the like Undertaking by another Hand. I have often wondered that none of these Inquisitve Gentlemen ever mention a Record, in the Norman Saxon Dialect, which was long since published by In Dictionar. Anglo. Sax. voice Unnan. Mr. Somner; and appears to me to have something very remarkable on this Subject. It bears Date the 18th of October, in the forty-second Year of Henry the Third, and manifestly distinguishes 'twixt those Members of Parliament that were chosen by the King, and those that were Elected[ þurg þaet loan des folk] by the People: Which seems plainly enough to prove that the latter had their Representatives here before the 49th of that King. Sir Henry Spelman's Treatise Reliq. Spelman. p. 57, &c. of Parliaments, is short and full; and what Summarily determines all Disputes concerning the ancient Constitution of these August Assemblies. He shows that the meanest Vassals in the Kingdom had their Representatives or Masters, in the most Primitive Councils of the Nation, who had a sufficient Power to Act for, and conclude them: So that what these Senators( even before the Conquest) agreed to, was indispensably and Universally obliging. And truly, if Vid. LL. Ed. Confess. cap. 8. Concessa à Rege, Baronibus& Populo, be right latin for Acts of Parliament, their Original Date is very ancient. The House of Lords Lords. is( on all hands) agreed to be Curia as well as Concilium; the highest Court of Judicature in England; from whence no Appeal lies, save only to a succeeding Parliament. Their Rights of Judicature, &c. are particularly stated and examined in two Treatises usually ascribed to Mr. Selden; though the former is suspected to have been written by Sir Symonds D' Ewes. 1. 4o. land. 1640. A brief Discourse concerning the Power of Peers, and commons of Parliament, in point of Judicature; a small Pamphlet of two Sheets. 2. 8o. land. 1642. privileges of the Baronage of England, when they sit in Parliament. There have, indeed, often happened Debates( even in the House of Peers itself) about the Rights of the Lords Spiritual, to Vote in Capital Cases; and the Merits of the Cause have been argued by several Persons of great Learning and Acquaintance with the Antiquities and Records of this Kingdom. The Dispute was carried somewhat higher in the Year 1660 when the last Conflict happened betwixt Episcopacy and Presbytery; and then a 8o. land. 1660. learned Apology was published by Jer. Stephens, Prebendary of Salisbury, the excellent Coadjutor Vid. Praefat. ad council. Tom. 1. of Sir H. Spelman in his Edition of our ancient Councils. Afterwards, when this general attack upon the whole Order had failed, the Argument was confined to the single Case before-mentioned; and then, in defence of the Spiritual Lords, we had their Fol. pr. 1 s. Honour Asserted, and the 8o. pr. 2 s. 6 d. Grand Question concerning the Bishops Right, &c. the latter whereof was written by the Learned Dr. Stillingfleet, late Bishop of Worcester, who has given us all that the Rolls of Parliament and our ancient Histories afforded on that Subject. These Advocates were replied upon by the Lord See his Remains. 8o. pr. 4 s. Hollis, in a first and second Letter to his Friend; and a couple of Gentlemen, of the same persuasion, bore up his Train in an Appendix. All that looks new in these Writers is, in a few words, overthrown by an Anonymouts Author of the 8o. pret. 1 s. 6 d. Rights of Bishops to Judge in Capital Cases, &c. Some extraordinary Passages in the late Reign, put our Men of Law upon an Enquiry, not much canvased in former Times, Whether the King could dispense with Penal Statutes? Sir Edward Herbert, Lord Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas, argued for the dispensing Power, Dispensing Power. in his 4o. pret. 6 d. short Account of the Authorities whereon judgement was given in Sir Edward Hales's Case; wherein he endeavoured to prove, that every Malum Prohibitum was dispensible, and that our Kings have usually dispensed with the 23. Hen. 6. cap. 8. Statute which provides that no Sheriff should continue above one Year, their practise being justified by the An 2. Hen. 7. Unanimous Opinion of the Judges. This Account was 4o. pr. 1 s. examined by W. Attwood, a Barrister at Law; who undertook to show that the Authorities, whereon the Chief Justice laboured to excuse his judgement, were unfairly cited, and as ill applied. Before either of these appeared in Print, Sir Edward Atkins( as himself tells us) had completed his Fol. pr. 1 s. 6 d. Enquiry into the Nature and Grounds of this pretended Power; though, having not published it till he met with the former of 'em, he added Animadversions upon Sir E. Herbert's Book. He proves that a Non Obstante is a purely Popish Invention; about the same Date with the Doctrine of Transubstantiation: That the Use of it is not warranted by Prescription, Reason, or Law; and that our Parliaments never expressly yielded this Point, tho' they have sometimes prudently waved the disputing of it. In the Fol. pr. 3 s. 6 d. trial of the Seven Bishops there was a fresh Occasion given for the dwelling of this whole Matter; and those Learned Persons who were of Counsel for the Prelates, gave us a clear View of whatever our ancient Records afforded on that topic. The great Councils of Parliament have been always called by a Writ of Summons Writs of Summons. from the King; wherein the ancient Instit. Par. 4. cap. 1. p. 1. Words and Forms are religiously to be attended to and kept: And therefore, because those( in that directed to the Counties) require them to Elect duos Milites gladiis cinctos, an St. 23. Hen. 6. cap. 15. Act of Parliament was necessary to allow the Election of Notable Esquires, or Gentlemen. Whoever desires a full Account of these Matters, may have recourse to Will. Prynne's voluminous 4o. pret. 25 s. Brief Register, or calendar of the several kinds and forms of all Parliamentary Writs: or perhaps he may, with more Ease, and greater Advantage, fetch his Instructions from Sir William Dugdale's Fol. land. 1685. perfect Copy of all Summons of the Nobility to the great Councils and Parliaments of this Realm, from the 49th of Henry the Third, to the present Times; wherein he will also find the like Mandates to the Clergy and Commons. Those to the Laity sometimes require them to appear Cum Equis& Armis, ad faciendum ea, &c. and the Writ directed to the Archbishops and Bishops, Commands, either their own Attendance singly, or( as most commonly) that they be accompanied with the Priors, Arch-Deacons, and Proctors of the Clergy. The Lists of the Nobility, summoned in the several Reigns, are highly useful; showing us, that many noble Persons have been called to Parliament in Right of their Wives, others in the Life-time of their Fathers, and by such Titles as( in Truth) were not yet descended upon themselves, &c. As soon as the Houses were met, they petitioned the King, that he would require the Archbishops and Clergy to pray for the Peace and good Government of the Realm, and for a Continuance of the good Understanding 'twixt His Majesty and the Estates of His Kingdom: And, accordingly, the Writ de orando pro Rege& Regno, was common in Edward the Third's Time. CHAP. III. Of the Records of the King's Courts at Westminster. THE general Name of all those is from the latin word, Recordor: Records in general. For a Record or enrolment is a Memorial of the highest Nature. Hence they are well defined, Instit. Par. 1. Lib. 3. cap. 7. Sect. 438. Memorials in Rolls of Parchment, of the Proceedings and Acts of a Court of Justice, which has Power to hold Plea, according to the Course of the Common-Law, of real, or mixed Actions, wherein the Debt, or Damage amounts to( at least, Forty Shillings; which Courts of Record are created by Parliament, Letters-Patents, or Prescription. During the Term wherein any Judicial Act is done, these Records remain in the Breast of the Court, and are alterable as the Judges shall direct: But afterwards they are in the Roll, and admit no Alteration, Averment, or Proof to the contrary. They carry so absolute a Verity in our Law, that, upon a Plea that there is no such Record, 'tis not to be tried by Witness, Jury, or otherwise than only by itself. The St. 8. Hen. 6. cap. 12. stealing, or withdrawing of any Record, or Parcel thereof, Writ, Return, Panel, Process, or Warrant of Attorney in the Chancery, Exchequer, or either Bench, is Felony. The County-Court, Hundred-Court, Court-Baron, &c. are not Courts of Record; and therefore the Proceedings therein may be denied, and tried by Jury. Yet we shall beg leave to give them the Name of Records hereafter; since they may be of much more use and Authority in History, than at the Bar. Inst. Par. 1. Lib. 2. cap. 11. Sect. 175. Monumenta quae nos Recorda vocamus, sunt Veritatis& Vetustatis Vestigia. This Description of 'em, in a large, and a more extended Sense, will best agree with our present Notion and Use of the Word: though we shall readily allow, that those of the former Denomination best deserve the Name, and ought to have( what we here give them) the Precedence. So jealous have our Governours always been, of the exact Preservation of these, that we have not only severe St. 8. Ric. 2. cap. 4. Laws against either Judges, or Clerks, that shall be guilty of any false Entry, Rasure, &c. but, in point of Fact, we are assured, that Justice Inst. Par. 1. Lib. 3. cap. 19. Ingham( in the Reign of Edward the First) paid no less than eight hundred Marks for a Fine; his Crime being only this, A poor Man was fined at 13 s. 4 d. and the Judge, in Compassion, caused the Roll to be razed, and made 6 s. 8 d. As the chapel at the Rolls grows full and overstock'd, these Records are removed( by a special Writ to that purpose) to the Tower, where, in two several Apartments, they are methodically ranked according to their various kinds and uses. 1. In Wakefield Tower, we have the Enrolments of Leagues and Treaties with Foreign Princes; the Original Laws, as they passed the Royal Assent; authentic Memoirs of our English achievements in France, and other Nations; Forms of Homage from the Kings of Scotland; the Establishment and Laws of Ireland; Liberties and privileges granted to Cities, Corporations, and private Subjects; tenors and Surveys of Lands and manors; Inspeximus of Charters and Deeds made before, and soon after the Norman Conquest; Boundaries of all the Forests in England, &c. In short, we have here( according to the Petition of the 46. Ed. 3. Num. 43. Commons in Parliament) the perpetual Evidence of every Man's Right, Dr. Chamberlane's Angl. Not. Edit. 16. p. 229, &c. without which no Story of the Nation can be written or proved. 2. In Julius Caesar's chapel, in the White Tower, there's another mighty Collection of Records; out of which indefatigable W. Prynne gathered his four large Volumes. These are sorted into several Classes, according to the Order of each King's Reign; beginning with King John, and ending with Richard the Third. Here are also a deal of lesser Presses and Drawers; with Inscriptions on the outside, directing to the different Matters in every such several Reign. As, Rot. Parliament. Placitorum Coronae, Placitorum Parliament. Rot. Claus. Rot. Brevium, Finium, Inquisitionum, Liberationum, Cartarum, Esohaetriae, Pat. Rot. Ordinationum. Rot. Franciae, Scotiae, Vasconiae,& Almaniae. Rot. Roman. Judaeorum, Ragman, Brangwin, Contrarientium. The last was so called from the Barons that joined with the Duke of Lancaster against Edward the Second; who( being too great and powerful to be name Rebels) had the softer Name of Vid. Praefat. ad Instit. par. 4. p. 3. Contrarients bestowed on them. Any of these may be seen and perused by those that have occasion to consult them; there being one appointed( by the Keeper) to attend, for that purpose, eight hours every day in Summer, and six in Winter. The Writs of Inspeximus( which repeat to us the Ordinances, Letters-Patents, &c. of former Kings) have happily preserved the History of many notable Transactions, which had otherwise perished: For Example, we should not have known that the Bishops and Arch-Deacons were forbidden by William the Conqueror to mix Jurisdictions with the Earl( Senator, or Alderman of the County) in the Hundred, or Scyre-Gemots, but for such an Rot. pat. 1 Ric. 2. m. 12. n. 5. Inspeximus, which we find in the Second Year of Richard the Second; at which time, it seems, such an authentic Prohibition was extant and in being. In the Case of red and hid Term. Mich. 10. Jac. 1. come. Banco. a Vidimus was produced under the great Seal, wherein were these Words: Vidimus quendam Librum in Pergameno, intitulatum Volumen de Copiis Munimentorum sen diversorum gestorum& actorum Monasterii de Abingdon. It was resolved by the Judges, that this Exemplification ought not to be given in Evidence; because that which was exemplified, was not of Record, nor public, and in the Custody of sworn Officers. It was also resolved, that no Record, or enrolment of any Record, may be exemplified under the great Seal; other than those of the Court of Chancery, or duly removed thither by Certiorari, &c. and that no Exemplification ought to be of a part of any such Record, but of the whole. A Bench of Antiquaries would never have been thus nice and scrupulous. Tho. Powel's 4o. pr. 2 s. Repertory of Records in the Exchequer, and Directions for the Search of those that are there, as likewise in the 4o. pret. 1 s. 6 d. Chancery and Tower, with the accustomed Fees for such inquiries, will be of some use to our Historian; as well as to those Practitioners in Law, for whom they were chiefly intended. In the Ninth Year of Edward the Fourth, Courts in General. 'twas the declared Opinion of all the Judges of the Realm,( at a trial in the Instit. Par. 4. cap. 8. Exchequer) that all the King's Courts have been time out of mind; so that 'tis not known which is the most ancient. I shall not now move for the reversing of this judgement; but shall only inform the Reader, that he may learn what Pleas are tryable before each of these( and consequently of what Nature their several Records are) from the Writings of such Authors as have designedly treated of their Jurisdiction. W. Lambard's 8o. pret. 1 s. 6 d. Archeion discourses, after that Writer's learned way, of all the supreme Courts of Judicature in this Kingdom; and has been so well liked, as to admit of various Editions, with considerable Additions and Improvements. The fourth part of Fol. land. 1648, &c. Sir Edward Coke's Institutes gives likewise an Account of the Institution, Rules, Jurisdiction, &c. of all the Courts in England, from the Parliament down to a Court-Baron. The Author confesses that, in this Work, he amassed together every thing that seemed( never so remotely) to belong to any of those Heads under which he had first ranked the whole of his Matter: So that, if there be some Repetitions and Tautologies, 'tis but what usually happens in the prime Draughts of all Common-place-Books. His great Age, when he came to lick these Papers over for the Press, would not admit of Nicety and Exactness; and he died before they were published. In Will. Prynne's Fol. land. 1669. Animadversions upon them, a great many Misquotations of Records, &c. are noted; and the learned Author is more severely reflected on than he ought to have been for a Posthumous Work, wherein we know not what Injustice might be done him by the Publishers of his Orphan-Labours. As the Case now stands with this Book, perhaps our first inquiries after the History of the Laws of this Kingdom ought to begin with the careful reading of Sir Will. Dugdale's Fol. land. 1666. Origines Juridiciales: which we shall find so accurately penned, and with so good a mixture of Learning and judgement, that 'twill almost do the Work alone. I cannot give a better View of this most Elaborate Treatise, than by telling the Reader, that it fully answers its Title-Page; giving as complete a History as 'twas possible for one Man to furnish us with, of the Original of our English Laws, Courts of Justice, Forms of trial, Punishments in Cases Criminal, Law-Writers, Grants and Settlements of Estates; Degree of sergeant, Inns of Court and Chancery. Under all these Heads the Collections are many, and the Method exact: So that we have abundance, without superfluity; and all we can wish for, without the hazard of being cloyed. In the Conclusion there's a Chronology of the Lord Chancellors, and Keepers of the great Seal, Lord Treasurers, Justices Itinerant, Justices of the King's-Bench, and Common-Pleas, Barons of the Exchequer, Masters of the Rolls, King's Attorneys, Solicitors, and Serjeants at Law: In which, if any thing have escaped the Search of so diligent and curious a Writer, the Tables are so ordered, that every Reader's additional Discoveries are quickly marshaled and Tribed under their proper Columns. Out of these( and W. Rastal's Table of Years) were stolen the 8o. pret. 4 s. Chronica Juridicialia; being a Chronological Table of the Chancellors, &c. from the Conquest to the first Year of King James the Second: with a Catalogue of such Archbishops and Bishops as were, in all that time, entrusted with the chief Places of Honour and Eminence in the State. Sir William brings large Orig. Jurid. cap. 32. Quotations out of Sir Henry Spelman's MS. History of the Original of the four yearly Terms at Westminster; which he calls an Ample and Judicious Discourse. That Treatise is now correctly Reliq. Spelm. pag. 69, &c. printed, and appears to have very well deserved the Character there given it; demonstrating, with a great deal of solid Learning that these stated Seasons of Judicature are owing to the Canon-Law. Nor ought this to be looked on as a Novel Doctrine by any of the Sages of our Law; since they know very well, that 'twas St. 3. Ed. 1. cap. 51. at the special Request of the King made unto the Bishops, that it was( some Ages afterwards) provided, that Assizes should be taken in Advent, and Lent, Times prohibited in the Decretals for Matrimony, and Law-Suits. The Preface to this excellent Discourse acquaints us, that it was written in the year 1614. to be communicated to some of his learned Friends, who had then newly formed themselves( he being one of their Number) into a Society of Antiquaries. This college had been erected some years before, and was now to be renewed: But King James the First, jealous of their meddling with State-Affairs, discountenanced the Project; and so it perished in its Cradle. What might have been hoped for from the joint endeavours of such a learned set of Antiquaries as they were, and to what a height of Perfection they would have carried the History of our English Laws and Government; is easy to imagine from this single Performance; and a modern Reader will hardly avoid the having a secret Wish, that the Design were revived in our Days. The Court of King's-Bench Kings-Bench. is called ●racton, Lib. 3. cap. 7. fol. 105. b. Aula Regia in our old Books, because supposed to be wherever the King himself resides; and the Matters chiefly cognizable in it are Propriae Causae Regiae, which we English by Pleas of the Crown. So that, in the Records of this Court, we are to look for all Judgments upon Notorious Treasons, Breaches of the Peace, &c. as also for the like upon Common-Pleas( by Bill for Debt, Covenant, Promise, &c.) against the immediate Officers of His Majesty's Court; who, if impleaded elsewhere, would have been privileged. This Court likewise corrects Errors and Grants out Prohibitions, for the keeping of all inferior Courts( Ecclesiastical and Temporal) within their due Bounds and legal Jurisdiction. Its different Records, on all these various Occasions, are to be sought for in the hands of the several Clerks of the Crown, Declarations, Remembrances, Bayls and Postea's, Nisi prius, Rules, Errors, &c. together with the Filazers for the several Counties. The most ancient Writer,( professedly) upon the Pleas of the Crown is 4o. Fr. pret. 5 s. Sir William Stamford; who carries on his Work by way of Common-place. Ferd. Pulton's Fol. pr. 10 s. Treatise de place Regis& Regni, is on the same Matter; and so is 8o. pr. 2 s. 6 d. Sir Matthew Hale's Pleas of the Crown, and J. 8o. pr. 1 s. 6 d. Bridell's Jus Criminis. But the most Copious is the Fol. land. 1660, &c. third part of Sir Edward Coke's Institutes; wherein the Author proposes the same end to himself that he had in the Second, the comparing Statute-Law with Common, so as to discover which Acts are only Declaratory of former Laws, and which are New. Having run over all Crimiminal Matters, and their legal Punishments, he concludes with the Nature of Pardons and Restitutions; showing how far, in each of these, our Kings can proceed alone, and where they want the Assistance and joint Power of their Parliaments. Polydore Virgil must be in a Mistake, when he affirms, that the Court of Chancery Chancery. was brought in at the Conquest; if the Mirror, Fortescue, and others, say true, that 'twas well known here in the Saxon Times. But then 'tis to be noted, that there are( at this day) two Instit. Par. 4. cap. 8. several Courts in our Chancery; the one( which only was known to the ancients) wherein the Process runs Secundum legem& Consuetudinem Angliae, which determines all Contests about Letters-Patents, Offices, &c. the other proceeds Secundum aequum& bonum, and is of a later Date. The Proceedings of the former Court are not enrolled, but remain in Filaciis; that is, filled up in the Petty-Bag-Office. The chief Clerk of this Court is the Master of the Rolls; who in his Patent is styled, Clericus Parvae Bagae, as well as Custos Rotulorum& Domus Conversorum. In his keeping are the Enrolments of all Letters-Patents, Treaties and Leagues, Deeds and Purchasers-Recognizances, Commissions of Appeal, Oyer and Terminer, &c. ever since the beginning of Henry the Seventh's Reign; the rest having been remitted to the Tower. Most of the Chancery-Records were, in an outrageous manner, burned and destroyed by the Rebels( under Wat-Tyler, &c.) in Richard the seconds time; their Leader having insolently given it out, that for the future, J. Speed, in Rich. 2. Sect. 19. 23. all the Laws of England should come out of his Mouth. Rasure and Embezlement of Records is also Id. Ibid. Sect. 112. one of the Charges against that King himself; upon h●● forced surrender of his Crown to H●nry the Fourth. There are some choice 8o. land. 1651▪ Observations concerning the Office of Lord Chancellor, written by Sir Tho. Egerton, Lord Keeper of the great Seal in Queen Elizabeth's time; who was also created Baron Ellesmere, and Lord Chancellor of England, by King James the First. The excellency of this Treatise should prevail with the Studious in our Laws, to make an Industrious Search after those Vid, Ath. Oxon. lib. 1. p. 354. other four volumes of his Collections upon, 1. The Prerogative Royal. 2. privileges of Parliament. 3. Proceedings in Chancery. 4. The Power of the Star-Chamber. There's no doubt but all these are written with that accuracy and strength of judgement, which may reasonably be expected from the vast extent of Learning and Parts, whereof this great Man was Master: For such he has abundantly shown himself to be, not only in the Book before-mentioned, but likewise in the large land. 1609. Harangue which he made in the Exchequer-Chamber upon the new Signification of the word Post nati. Mr. Selden alone was fit to second my Lord Ellesmere; and he has left us a like learned Fol. land. 1671. Discourse on the same Office, to which is added Sir Will. Dugdale's Catalogue of Chancellors and Lord Keepers. There was formerly such a 4o. land. 1636. Catalogue as this( together with the List of the Treasurers and Masters of the Rolls) published by John Philips, Somerset-Herald. There is one famous Monument of Antiquity belonging to this Court, Registrum de Cancellaria. which they call Registrum de Cancellaria, or the Registry of Writs; containing the Form of Writs at the Common-Law, which issue out of Chancery, Inst. Par. 1. lib. 2. cap. 1.§. 101. tanquam ex Officina Justitiae. For the better understanding whereof, we ought to consider the Distinction that Bracton gives us of Writs to be had in the Court of Chancery, Bract. lib. 5. fol. 413. b.& Fleta. lib. 2. cap. 12. Sunt quaedam Brevia formata in suis Casibus,& quaedam de Cursu, quae concilio totius Regni sunt approbata; quae quidem mutari non possunt absque eorundem contraria voluntate. Magistralia autem saepe variantur secundum varietatem Casuum, &c. These last, which he calls Magistralia, are such as are penned( in extraordinary Cases) by direction of some of the twelve Masters in Chancery: whereas those that are in the Register are only such as are Common and Original. This being the chief Repository of all the ancient Forms of proceeding in our Courts of Justice is the Vid. J. Seld. Dissert. ad Fletam, cap. 9. Sect. 1. best Evidence we can produce that our English Common-Law was not borrowed from the Roman; since we shall hardly find one Term in it, which is used in the same sense by the Civilians, or to be met with in any of their Books. The Register has been frequently printed; but most commonly extremely false and uncorrect. In the Fol. Lat. pret. 1 l. 2 s. fourth Edition better care is pretended; and the former Prints are said to have been diligently examined and compared with the Original. Some other Writs, not extant in the Register, though used in the Office of the Clerk of the Crown, are added; as also the Digest of Writs Original, &c. composed by that eminent Lawyer, S. Thelo●l. This Industrious Gentleman was the first that reduced all the Readings and Discourses upon Writs into a Methodical Common-place; which he therefore justly Entitled land, 1579. Le Digest des Brieses Originals& des chooses concernants eux. He observed, that after the pains taken by Stathome, Fitzherbert and Brook, our most learned Men of the Law( particularly Mr. Justice In Praefat. ad. Prerogat. Reg. Stamford) still complained that this Subject was left in confusion; and therefore he resolved to attempt somewhat towards the finishing of so useful, though hitherto inperfect a Work: which he has so happily effected, that his Book does( to this day) very deservedly bear a great and honourable Esteem. In the former Natura Brevium, we had onely the Forms of several Writs under such proper Heads as the Author was pleased to Tribe them, and in such an Order as was not always agreeable; whereas here we have every particular Branch of the Matter itself laid open, all manner of Original Writs Dissected and anatomised, their sound and weak Parts discovered, &c. The Work is divided into sixteen Books: wherein is shew'd who may sue out Writs, and against whom; and by what Names and Titles; to whom they are to be directed; what are just Matters of Complaint; what are the Natural, as well as Accidental, Nullities and Abatements in Writs; who may pled to them; in what Time, Manner and Form that's to be done; and( lastly) how the Returns are to be made upon them, whith some other Incidents of a lower Consideration. The Common-Pleas Common-Pleas. are so called, to distinguish them from Pleas of the Crown; which, as we have already seen, are tryable elsewhere. This Court is to be kept in some certain Instit. Par. 4. cap. 10. and fixed place; that the Subject may always be sure where to apply for Justice. It hears all civil Causes, real and personal; levies Fines; suffers Recoveries; and( as well as the King's-Bench) grants Prohibitions. There are several Officers in whose hands Records and Proceedings are to be had. The Chirographer( and his Clerks) engrosses all Fines, according to the several Counties; and the Clerk of the Treasury makes out Records of Nisi Prius. There are others whose Names sufficiently intimate their Office; as, 1. Custos Brevium. 2. Three Prothonotaries. 3. A Clerk of the Warrants. 4. A Clerk of the King's Silver, Argenti Regis. 5. Four Exigenters. 6. Fourteen Filazers. 7. A Clerk of Juries. 8. Clerk of the Essoignes. 9. Clerk of the Outlawries. The Course and practise of it is given us in short by Tho. Cory 4o. pret. 6 d. Esquire; sometime a protonotary in that Court: And Dr. Zouch published several learned Introductory Discourses on( its great Rule) the Common-Law; As, 1. 8o. Oxon. 1634. Descriptio Juris& Judicii Feudalis. 2. Descriptio Juris& Judicii Temporalis; printed with Dr. Mocket's Tract 8o. land. 1683. de Politia Ecclesiae Anglicanae. 3. Descriptio Juris 4o. Oxon. 1636. & Judicii Temporalis secundum Consuetudines Feudales& Normannicas. In the Reign Instit. Par. 1. Sect. 534. of Edward the Third, the Pleadings in this Court were brought to Perfection and Fineness; the Judges and Professors of the Law being Learned, and the Serjeants drawing their own Pleadings themselves. This is the most curious and distinguishing part of our English Law; whereof Littleton gives this high Character: Tenur. lib. 3. cap. 9. Et saches( mon fits) queen est un des pluis honorables laudables& profitables chooses en nostre lay, de aver le Science de bïen pleder en actions reals& personals,& pure ceo jeo toy counsel especialment de mitter ton courage& cure de ceo apprender. 'tis this which is the chief Subject of all our ancient Lawwriters; as will be better made appear in another place. The Court of Exchequer Exchequer. has its Name either( as the Green-Cloth) from a Chequer'd Carpet on the Table; or from the French Word exchequer, a Chess-board; because the accountants anciently used such in their Calculation. There's a double Court here, as well as in Chancery. All judicial Proceedings, according to Law, are coram Baronibus: But the Court of Equity is coram Thesaurario, Cancellario& Baronibus. The latter had only its beginning in the first year of Philip and Mary: But the former is of a very ancient Date. The King's three Courts( says a celebrated Nat. Bacon's Histor. Disc. p. 190, 191. Writer) were originally in one, the Court of Lords; who deputed Judges on several Occasions: And, because that which concerned the public Treasure was of more regard than the other, the Deputation thereof was probably committed to some of their own Members, who in those days were Barons of the Realm, and afterwards retained the Title, but not the Degree. The more probable account is, That the whole Usage D. Hen. Spelm. Gloss. in voice Baro, &c. of this Court was brought from Normandy; where the fashion was to call all sorts of Judges Barons. Here we have the Records of a great many inferior Courts that are now utterly abolished; such as Returns of Process before the Justices of Trailbaston, Wards and Liveries, &c. Into the Pipe-Office were likewise Returns anciently made of the Escuage paid out of all Knights Fees in the several Counties of England; and in the old Rolls we find the Lists still extant under the Titles of Tit. of Hon. p. 574. De Scutagiis Baronum qui non abierunt, nec Milites nec Denarios miserunt ad Exercitum Hiberniae, Galweiae, Walliae, &c. The Treasurer's Remembrancer makes Process against Sheriffs, bailiffs, and other ancient Receivers of Fee-Farm-Rents, &c. as the King's does against the Collectors of Customs and other new erected Parliamentary Revenues. The Remembrancer of the first Fruits and Tenths is an Officer also within the Rule and Survey of the Exchequer; though his Office has, for many years past, been kept in Hatton-Garden. He takes Compositions for all those Payments; and makes Process against such as neglect them. The Valuation of the Church-Dignities and benefice in England was first taken in the twenty'th year of Edward the first: And there are W. Kennet's Paroch. Antiq. p. 315, 316. several Manuscript Copies extant of the Returns made by the Commissioners appointed for that purpose. One in Bi●l. Bo●l. in Parchment bears the Title of Liber Taxationum omnium Beneficiorum in Anglia: Another has this Note endors'd upon it, Ibid. This Manuscript was written An. 1291. Nicholas the Fourth being Pope, 19. Ed. 1. and a third Vol. 86. Transcript of a great part of the Book is amongst R. Dodesworth's Collections. He that desires to see the Valuations as they now stand, may either consult the Index Villaris, published by Fol. land. 1680. Mr. Adams, or the printed Book of the 12o. 1680. Valuations itself; which seems to be taken from a Copy drawn in or about the latter end of Queen Mary's Reign, which bore this Title: Nomina& Valores omnium& singulorum Archiepiscopatuum, Episcopatuum, Archidiaconat. Decanat. Prebendarum, Ecclesiarumque Paroch. infra Regnum ac Dominia Angliae, ac omnium aliarum promotionum quarumcumque Spiritualium infra eadem, quae ad solutionem decimae parts earund. Dom. Regi& Reginae nuper tenebantur. There was formerly an Escheator chosen annually in the Exchequer for each County; whose Office 'twas to collect all Escheats( or extraordinary and dropping deuce) for the King's Use; and in the Rolls that belonged to this Charge, we have all the Forfeitures, Heriots, Wards, Lapses of Advowson, Revenues of vacant Dignities and Livings, &c. The Inquisitions taken by these Officers, upon the Death of any Gentleman of Estate, afford perhaps the truest Draughts of the several Counties in England; and the Writs of Amoveas manum, or Reseiser, which were sometimes Vid. Stat. de Eschaet. 29. Ed. 1. sent to them upon such occasions, do frequently farther illustrate to us the then Condition of such Lands and Possessions. In the Hands of the two Chamberlains of the lower Exchequer( where all Receipts and Disbursements are made) there are many ancient Records, Leagues and Treaties with Foreign Princes, Standards of Money, Weights and Measures, Domes-day, the Black Book, &c. some whereof will require our particular Notice. For a fuller Account of this Court, the Reader may have recourse to the 8o. by Sir T.F. pret. 1 s. 6 d. practise of the Exchequer-Court; wherein a view is given of its several Officers, and the Power and Duty of each Person. Arth. Agard Ath. Oxon. lib. 1. p. 444. left also with the Officers here a Register( of his own Collection) of all the Records in the four Treasuries, how they are now placed, and how to be preserved for the future: And this Book he deposited in the Receipt-Office, to be transferred in Succession by way of Inventory and Indenture. He likewise required his Executors, for a small Consideration, to make over to the said Officers eleven other Volumes of his Composure; wherein he had made such Observations as he believed might be helpful to them, and serviceable to the Interest of the King their Master. The Court of Augmentations of the Revenues of the Crown of England was erected by St. 27. Hen. 8. cap. 28. Act of Parliament, Augmentation-Office. at the same time that all the lesser Monasteries( not exceeding two hundred Pounds in yearly Revenue) were granted to the King: and was appointed to consist of a Chancellor, Treasurer, attorney and Solicitor. All purchased and abbey-lands were within their Survey; and therefore, for the better regulating of this newly Augmented Branch of the Royal Revenue, they had Possession given them of all the Lieger-Books, and Registers belonging to such Monasteries: For the Act provided, that not only the manors, Grainges, Lands and Tenements, but also all their Ornaments, Jewels, Goods, chattels, and Debts, should fall into the King's hands. Afterwards St. 33. Hen. 8. c. 37, 38. several dispersed Parks, messages, &c. were united into manors, and put under Order and Survey of this Court; which was sufficiently provided with all the requisite old Charters, Grants, and Evidences, thereunto belonging. It was dissolved by Queen Mary's Proclamation, in the first year of her Reign, pursuant to a Power given her to that purpose by Act of Parliament: But still there's an Apartment in the Exchequer, which bears the Name of the Augmentation-Office, wherein are to be had a deal of the forementioned Registers, &c. These were of great use to Dodesworth and Dugdale; who aclowledge the helps they had from hence, in the compiling of the Monasticon Vid. Tom. 1. p. 398, 601, 961. Tom. 2. p. 109, 258, 962, 1007. Anglicanum. Amongst all the ancient Records in the Exchequer▪ doomsday Domes-day. - Book is deservedly of the greatest Reputation and Value. The Name is undoubtedly of Saxon Original; and was plainly used in their times, in the same sense 'tis here taken. They called the Judge's Directory his Vid. LL. Edv. R. in Praefat. &c. 8. Dom-boc; which was an W. Kennet, Gloss. ad Antiq. Paroch. voice Domesday-Book. Inquisition taken of the several Districts of the Kingdom, when King Aelfred divided it into Counties, Hundreds, and Tithings: And Fabian Vol. 2. p. 1. tells us, that the Citizens of London had formerly an old Register, wherein were Recorded the Names of the Portgreves, together with the Laws and Customs of that City, which in the Saxon Tongue was called the doomsday. This seems to countenance an Kennet, ubi supra. ingenious Person's Observation, that the Addition of Dey or Day( by turning Dom-boc into Domesday-Book) does not augment the sense of the Word, but onely doubles and confirms it; since the word Dey, or Day in that composition does not really signify the Measure of Time, but the Administration of Justice. Dr. Hammond takes In Annot. ad Heb. 10, 25. notice, that Day in all Idioms, signifies Judgm●nt, as {αβγδ} 1 Cor. 3.13. is human judgement, &c. and even now, in the North of England, Daysman is an Arbitrator, Umpire or Judge: So as Domesday-Book is no more than the Book of Judicial Verdict, or Decretory Sentence and Dooming of judgement. And thus is the reason of its Name given by Gervase of Tilbury, who should best understand it: Citat. à D. Guil. Dugdale, Orig. Jurid. p. 7. Non quod in eo de propositis aliquibus dubiis feratur sententia, said quod à praedicto Judicio non liceat ulla ratione discedere. In relation to the first intent and design of it 'tis frequently called Liber Censualis totius Angliae: For 'tis( in truth) a Tax-Book, made by William the Conqueror's Commissioners, wherein is an exact Survey of all the Cities, Towns and Villages in England. It does not onely account for the several Baronies, Knights-Fees, and Plowlands; but gives also the Number of Families, Men, Soldiers, Husbandmen, Servants and Cattle; what Rent, how much Meadow, Pasture, Woods, Tillage, Common, Marsh, Heath, every one possessed. The bitterest part of it was, That, to reimburse the King his expenses, in framing this great Roll of the Kingdom, Six Shillings was laid upon every Plowland: Sir W. Temple's Introd. to Hist. p. 256, 257. which made the Design of it less agreeable to the People, though every Man's Right thereby received a new Evidence, and no Injustice was complained of in the Digestion of so difficult a Work, and of so various a Nature. This noble Survey was begun in the sixteenth year( as Annal. Waverl. ad An. 1083. some will have it) of the Conqueror's Reign; or, as others Lib. Rub. Scacc. in the fourteenth; and was finished, as the Book itself witnesses, in the twenty'th. 'tis in two Volumes; whereof the former gives a succinct Description of thirty-three Counties, and the latter( which was finished in the very last year of that King's Reign) gives a somewhat larger Account of Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk. The four Northern Counties of Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmerland, are wholly omitted: and Lancashire comes under the Titles of Yorkshire and Cheshire. In the Front of each County stands a List of the Lords of the Soil, that is, the King and a few of his Nobles; and the number of these ascertains the number of the Chapters for that County. Sir H. Spelman Glossar. in voice Domesdei. has given us a Sample of the Book; which may be of good Use and Assistance to such as shall have occasion to consult it, and are Strangers to its Orthography. Norf. Rex. H. de Galgow. In Facenham ten' Herold'. t. r. e. ij. car'. ter'. semp'. v. vill'.& xx. bor'.& iiij. serve'. semp. in. dmo'. ij. car'& hom. iiij. car'. Silva ad xij pox'. v. acr. pra' iij. moll'. dimi. salina. Semp. iij. r'.& xxvij. pox'.& cc. ov'. Huic man'. pertinet i. beruita Alatorp de i. car'. ter'. &c. Fagenhamhet'. vij. quar'. in long.& dimi. in lat.& xij. d' in gelded. Which is to be red thus: In Comitatu Norfolcia Rex tenet terras subscriptas, viz. In hundredo de Galgow. In Facenham tenuit Heroldus quidam tempore Regis Edvardi Confessoris duas carucatas Terrae. Semper erant ibi quinque villani,& xx Bordarii,& quatuor servi. Semper in Dominico ii. carucatae,& inter homines ( Scil. Vassallos& Golonos) quatuor Carucatae. Silva ad duodecem porcos saginandos. Quinque acrae Prati. iii. Molendina. Dimidia salina. Semper iii. runcini,& xxvii. porci,& cc. oves. Huic manerio pertinet una beruita, Alatorp, de una carucata Terrae, &c. Fagenham habet vii. Quarteria milliarii in longitudine,& dimidium in latitudine,& reddit Regi xii. denarios in gelded. i. in geldo seu Tributo. Neither of these Volumes( which are kept under three Locks) are to be consulted under a Fee of six Shillings and eight-pence; and four-pence is to be likewise paid for every Line you transcribe. Amongst several MSS. of great value, which were bequeathed to the Cottonian Library by Arthur Agard, Deputy-Chamberlain of the Exchequer, there's Vitellius, C. ix 26. one of his own Composure, Entitled, Tractatus de usu& verbis obscurioribus Libri de doomsday; wherein is also given the whole History of its Composure, the several Names by which it has been called, &c. There is also, in the keeping of the King's Remembrancer, an ancient Miscellany of several notable Treatises; which Volume is commonly cited, and called by the Name of Liber ruber Scaccarii, or the Red-Book Red-Book. of the Exchequer. It has some things( as the Number Vid. Hist. Angl. Script. xx. a Tho. Gale, Vol. 1. p. 748. of the Hides of Land in many of our Counties, &c.) relating to the Times before the Conquest: And the Ceremonies used at the Coronation of Queen Selden's Tit. of Hon. p. 149. elinor, Wife to King Henry the Third, are there at large. There's likewise an exact Id. ibid. p. 573. 574. Collection of the Escuages under Henry the Second, Richard the First, and King John; compiled by Alexander Archdeacon of Shrewsbury, a most diligent Officer in the Exchequer, in the Reigns of the two last mentioned Kings, and Henry the Third, in whose time he wrote that Book. In the Lib. Rub. fol. 47. Preface to this Work he says he Collected also, into one Volume, the Certificates made by all the Prelates and Barons of England,( to King Henry the Second) of the Number of Knight's-Fees held by each of them; and this, he says, he did in the Service of William Bishop of Ely, Lord Chancellor in the time of Richard the First. Such a Collection as this there is likewise in this very Volume; which is reasonably believed to be the same he there speaks of, the Title being Escuagium tàm supper Praelatis quam caeteris Baronibus assisum. When Sir Edward cook Instit. Par. 4. cap. 53. in margin. affirms that the read Book was written in the time of Henry the First, he is to be understood a little Figuratively; since 'tis plain that it could not( all of it) be penned so early. The Black Bo●k Black Book. was compiled by Gervase of Tilbury, Joh. Stow, ad an: 1176. Nephew to King Henry the Second, in the twenty-second year of that King's Reign. In this we have the History of the first Institution of the Court of the King's Exchequer; the Reason of its being name Scaccarium; the Names and Titles of all the Officers, both on the Chequer and Treasury sides; their Duties, privileges, Fees, &c. the Order and Form of issuing out Writs and Tallies; the manner of stating the Accounts of those Times, and the way of Collecting the Rents, both in Money and Purveyances of Victual, &c. Some share of the Book at least( as particularly the last Chapter save one of the first Part, which bears the Title de Libro Judiciario) Glossar. voice Domesdei. Sir Henry Spelman ascribes to Hen. de Bloys, Bishop of Winchester. I know not what Authority that worthy Person might have for such an Assertion: But I suspect that Bishop's being Nephew to our first Henry, as Gervase was to the Second, and there being frequent mention made of the State of the Treasury under the former of those Princes, might occasion the mistake. In other places of the same Ibid. voice Arsura& Cancellaria. Work, he confesses the Book was commonly reputed to be Gervase of Tilbury's; and, in the Conclusion, Ibid. voice Scaccarium. he seems to have been fully brought over to that Opinion himself, and boldly ascribes it to him. The great Roll that's here of all the Lands held in Ibid. in voice Chachepollus. Grand or Petty Sergeanty within the County of Hereford( being written in the Reign of Henry the Third, and bearing the Title of Testa Nevilli Testa Nevilli, &c. ) seems to be nearly related to the Nomina Villarum, cited by Worthies of Engl. p. 365. in Glocestr. Dr. Fuller; saving only that this latter Manuscript( which is also said to be in the Exchequer) is of a more general Extent. It was compiled, as he says, by order of King Edward the First; who, in the ninth year of his Reign, directed his Letters Mandatory to all Sheriffs of Counties, requiring them to make Returns, qui& quot Hundredi sunt in Balivâ tuâ,& quorum sunt;& quae& quot Civitates, Burgi& Villae sunt in quolibet Hundredorum illorum;& qui sunt Domini eorundem. Tibi praecipimus, firmiter injungentes, quòd modis & viis omnibus, quibus pleniùs& diligentiùs poteris, te informs de praemissis, &c. Thus runs the Letter directed to the Sheriff of gloucester, which our Author exemplifies at large; and he farther tells us, that it appears, from some passages in the Book, that this Survey was not completed till twenty years after the Date of these Writs. Here's a Story so like that we have already had of the Conqueror, in all its Parts and Circumstances, that it would tempt a Man to look for a Counterpart of doomsday; and to hope that King Edward's Inquisition, being taken two hundred years later, would prove the nobler Piece of the two. But I am much afraid that these Nomina Villarum are little better than an empty sound; since I have not met with any other Writer that has magnified this relic at the Doctor's Rate. CHAP. IV. Of the Records of Assize, Sessions of the Peace, and other inferior Courts in England and Wales. ASsizes, Assizes. properly so called, were first instituted by King Vid. Reliq. Spelm. p. 90. Henry the Second; and Nisi prius by the St. 13. Ed. 1. second Statute of Westminster. The former had its Name from the Assisae novae Dissessinae, which the Judges are empowered to take in their Circuits; tho' that Method is now much laid aside: But they are( by many Acts of Parliament) invested with new Powers of trying Murders, Treasons, Felonies, Riots, &c. The other should be rather called Si prius; for so runs the Writ, Si prius die Lunae, &c. venerint. 'tis elsewhere observed how pernicious a matter it has always been esteemed to alter or erase any Records in the Courts at Westminster, even by the Judges themselves; and 'tis also long since enacted, St. 11. Hen. 4. cap. 3. That the Justices, assigned to take Assizes by the King's Commission in the Counties of the Realm, shall cause to be delivered fully in the King's Treasury all the Records of Assizes of Novel Disseisin and Mordancestor, &c. every second Year; and that the said Records shall in no wise be amended or impaired by new entering of the Clerks, &c. There's a little Book, called the 8o. pret. 2 s. 6 d. Office of a Clerk of Assize; wherein is the Form and Method of proceeding here, and at a general Goal-Delivery, together with Precedents of Presentments, Indictments, &c. And for the better Instruction of Juries, we have some other useful Tracts. Those on the Crown side ought not to be Strangers to Zach. Babington's 8o. pret. 2 s. 6 d. Advice to grand Jurors in Cases of Blood; nor should those of the other Court be unacquainted with the 8o. pret. 6 s. trials per Pais, or the Law concerning Juries by Nisi Prius, &c. Reports of adjudged Cases in the Circuits, where the different Customs of the several Counties are best canvased and proved, would be as beneficial to our Historian( and, I presume, to the young Students of the Law) as those that are brought from any of the Courts in Westminster-Hall: And some Joh. Clayton's Reports 8o. pr. 1 s. 6 d. Vide& MSS. R. Dode●wo●th, in Bibl. Bodl. Vol. 1. such have been lately published, of Cases tried at the Assizes at York, before sundry Judges of that Circuit. The Office of a Justice of Peace began in the first Year of Edward the Third: Sessions. Since which time there have been Quarterly Courts held before them, wherein the grand Juries of their Counties have enquired of all Traytors, heretics, Conventiclers, Thieves, Murderers, Money-Coiners, Riots, Assaults, &c. and those that appear guilty are by the said Justices committed to Prison, to be tried at the Assizes next following. The Rolls or Records of these Sessions are( or should be) in the Custody of one of the principal Justices of the Peace and Quorum; who is appointed to that Office by the Vid. St. 37. Hen. 8. cap. 1.& 3. 4. Ed. 6. cap. 1. Lord Chancellor, and is usually styled Custos Rotulorum. The first designed Directions for the right Execution of the Justice's Office were Collected by Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, one of the Judges of the Common-Pleas; whose Book, together with what he wrote of some other Offices of Sheriffs, Bailiffs, Coroners, &c. has been several times published, and is much enlarged by 4o. Fr. pret. 6 s. R. Crompton. Besides this, W. Lambard's 8o. land. 1581. 1592, &c, Eirenarcha is the only Treatise on this Subject before the Death of Queen Elizabeth; since whose Reign Fleetwood, Chamberlain, shepherd, Dalton, Bond, Keble and others, have been more Voluminous and better known. There are divers other inferior Officers, who are to act by the Direction and Warrant of the Justices; a full Account and Knowledge whereof may be had from those that have written about the Office and Duty of Constables, &c. as W. Lambard, J. Layer, G. Meriton and others. The City of London London. has several Courts of Judicature; the chief whereof is the Hustings, to which there lies an Appeal from that of the two Sheriffs. This Name is evidently compounded of two Saxon Words( hus and ðing) which may be rendered either by Domus Placitorum, Instit. Par. 2. p. 322. or Forum Contentiosum; and, in the very same sense, it was many Ages since used likewise at Fleta, Lib. 2. cap. 28. Lincoln, Winchester, and York. The Records of this Court are kept in the Chamber of London; and for the greater ease of him that has occasion to consult them, are marked Alphabetically. The Lord Mayor holds also( by Prescription) a Court of Conscience, or Equity; the like to which several have been lately erected in other places, by Act of Parliament. After these, follow the Courts of the Mayor and Aldermen, Orphans, Common-Council, Ward-mote, Hall-mote, Chamberlain, Conservator of the River, Coroner, &c. all which have their proper Clerks, Records and Registers. For the better Discovery of Grants and other Evidences( belonging to this City) being genuine, it ought to be known, that the Citizens( at, and a little after, the Conquest) were governed by Portgreves; Instit, Par. 4. cap. 50. and afterwards, by Charter from Richard the First, by two bailiffs. The same King, in the first Year of his Reign, appointed their first Mayor; who continued till the eighth Year of King John, from whom they had another. Two years after, that King granted them a Power of choosing a Mayor de seipsis; which has continued to this day. There's an old Treatise( in latin and Saxon) in Sir John Cotton's Claudius, D. 2. Library, which bears the Title of Judicia Civitatis London; which promises some special Remarks on the ancient Jurisdiction of this famous City. Counties Palatine Counties Palatine. have all the Jura Regalia within themselves; and of what extent those are, as likewise what kind of Records are there to be sought for, will be best learnt from the Words of the Charter granted by King Edward the Third, to his Son John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster: Rot. Pat. Ao. 50. Ed. 3. Ut habeat infra Comitatum Lancastriae Cancellariam suam, ac Brevia sua sub Sigillo suo pro Officio Cancellarii, deputando, consignando. Justiciarios suos tam ad placita Coronae, quàm ad quaecunque alia placita Communem Legem tangentia, tenenda, ac cognitiones eorundem,& quascunque Executiones per Brevia sua& Ministros suos faciendas. The Bishops of Ely have the like Royalties, within the Isle of Ely; by Grant from Henry the First, Founder of that bishopric. The like had the Earls of Pembroke, in that County, till their Jurisdiction and privileges were taken away by 27. Hen. 8. cap. 26. Act of Parliament; which also put an end to the same pretensions of Hexamshire, 14. Eliz. cap. 13. giving the Sheriff of Northumberland Power to execute his Office there. But, omitting all the rest, the Reader will best understand the true Constitution of these Palatinates from the State of that of Durham; which is thus given me by J. Rowel, Dec.& Capit. Dunelm. Registr. an ingenious Person, and one that's perfectly acquainted with the ancient Usages and Records of that place. The County of Durham, he says, is a County Palatine by Prescription, time out of mind, and not by Creation, or Grant within Memory; and extends from the middle of the River of tine, on the North, to the midst of Teese on the South: The Shires also of Norham, Holy iceland, and Bedlington( together with the Mannor of crack, in the County of York) having anciently been, and still continuing Members thereof. The Bishops of this Diocese successively( as well before, as ever since, the Conquest) have always been Counts Palatine within the foresaid Limits; and, as such, have held and enjoyed divers Royalties and Jurisdictions, with the following Courts of Justice and Equity. 1. A Court of Chancery; wherein the Chancellor, Register and Examiner, are all made by the Bishop's Letters-Patents. 2. A Court of Pleas; which used to determine all Pleas of the Crown, as well as all Civil Rights in Actions Real, Personal and mixed: Wherein Commissions were given to the Justices in his own Name, and under his Seal, the Indictments running contra pacem Domini Episcopi; and Pardons were granted in the same Name and Manner. The 27. Hen. 8. cap. 24. Act of Resumption of Royal Franchises put an end to some of these privileges: But continued the Bishop and his Temporal Chancellor( for the time being) perpetual Justices of the Peace for that County. This Honour is likewise still retained, that even those Commissions, Writs, &c. which run in the King's Name and Style, bear Teste the Bishop; who also appoints the Sheriff of the County, Under-Sheriff, County-Clerk, jailer, Clerk of the Crown, protonotary, Clerk of the Peace, Cursitor, &c. 3. A Court of Wards and Liveries, with an Escheator and Feodary; which continued till even the King's own Wardships were taken away by 12. Car. 2. cap. 24. Act of Parliament. 'tis well known, that the Excise of Beer and Ale was settled on the Crown in lieu of these: And, in recompense of the Bishop's Loss, the King was graciously pleased to release to H●m and his Successors,( from and after the Decease of the then Queen-Mother) the yearly Rent of eight hundred and eighty Pounds; which is still di●continu'd, and stands discharged to the present Bishop. 4. A Court of Admiralty; with a Vice-Admiral, Register, Marshal, or Water-Bayliff, with other Officers, who have all constantly acted therein, both on the Sea-Coasts, and in the Rivers of the said County. The Bishops have also enjoyed all Forfeitures and Profits incident to this Royalty, as Wrecks of the Sea, Anchorage, Beaconage, Warfage, Moorage, and other the like Advantages; in as ample a manner as the Kings of this Realm have had, in the other parts of their Dominions. They likewise anciently arrayed, armed, and equipped, all Land-Soldiers and Ships of War, by Writs and Commissions in their own Names, out of the Chancery at Durham; upon Notice or Command from the King, by Writ or Summons to that purpose. For the Proof of these, and many other Royal privileges belonging to this Palatinate, there are great Numbers of Records still remaining; which have happily escaped the Fury of the last great Rebellion. Amongst the Rolls of the Chancery, the most ancient is that of Richard de Bury; who was Angl. Sacr. Vol. 1. p. 763. consecrated Bishop in the year 1333. and died in 1345. Some of their Grants and Charters are much elder, as, 1. Carta Willielmi de S. Karilefo Episcopi Dunelm. de Libertatibus Ecclesiae Dun. ( Priori sc.& Conventui) concessis, per Consensum Gregorii Papae& Will. Conquestoris, Anno Regni 14o. 2. Recordatio Marchiarum, temp. Willielmi Secundi: Whereby the meats and Bounds of the River tine are described, as then agreed on, and enjoyed by the Earl of Northumberland on the North, and Bishop Ranulphus on the South. 3. Carta, Hen. 1. Ranulpho Episcopo Dunelmensi Concessa, de Consuetudinibus in Aquis S. Cuthberti in Tina: Quas Ranulphus Episcopus diracionavit adversus Northumbrenses, in sua& Baronum svorum presentiâ. The Original is in the Dean and Chapter's Treasury. 4. Carta Hen. 2. Episcopo Dunelm. concessa, de Applicatione Navium ex parte suâ in Aquâ de Tina; tam libere, honorificè& quietè● sicut Rex habet ex altera parte. County-Court: The Judges anciently appointed to preside in the Sheriff's Courts were LI. Hen. 1. cap. 7. Edit. Twysd. p. 180. Episcopi, Comites, Vice-Domini, Vicarii, Centenarii, Aldermanni, Praefecti, Praepositi, Barones, Vavasores, Tungrevii,& caeteri Terrarum Domini: And the Causes tryable before them are such as were proper for these Persons to examine, Agantur( says the same Law) primò debita verae Christianitatis Jura; secundo Regis placita; postremò causae singulorum dignis satisfactionibus expleantur. Neither the Courts nor the Causes are now so considerable as in former days; though that for the trial of Civil Disputes is still held( as this Law directs) once a Month, the Turn or County-Leet is kept only twice in the year, at Easter and Michaelmas. How the Sheriffs are to behave themselves here and elsewhere, and what Furniture they can afford us for History, may be seen at large in Fol. pret. 16 s. Dalton's Officium Vice-Comitum, J. 8o. pret. 4 s. 6 d. Wilkinson's Office and Authority of Coroners and Sheriffs, and William Greenwood's 8o. pr. 3 s. 6 d. {αβγδ}, or Treatise concerning Country Judicatures. A Court-Leet Court-Leet. or View of Flank-Pledge is held twice in the year by Stewards of manors, Mayors, bailiffs and other Governours of Corporations; wherein Sureties of the Peace Instit. Par. 4. cap. 54. were anciently given by every suitor of twelve years old, by taking the Oath of Allegiance. It takes Presentments of Murders, Riots, and other Misdemeanours; Some whereof are in Misericordiâ Judicis, and others transmitted to the Cognisance of superior Courts. For the Methods in this, consult J. 8o. pret. 6 s. Kitchin's Jurisdictions, and 8o. pr. 1 s. D. Jenkins's Pacis consultum; as likewise Rob. Powel's 4o. pr. 2 s. 6 d. Treatise of their Antiquity, Authority, Cases, &c. pr. 1 s. 6 d. W. Sheppard's Court-Keeper's Guide, and his 8o. pr. 1 s. Survey of the County-Judicatures. In the Magna Carta of King John 'tis granted, Court-Baron. quòd faciemus summoneri Archiepiscopos, Episcopos, abbots, Comites& Majores Barones regni singulatim per Literas Nostras. Where 'tis to be observed, that these last Lords of Parliament are called Barones Majores, to distinguish them from the Minores; who were only Lords of manors, and had Courts of their Freeholders, which to this day are called Instit. Par. 4. cap. 1. p. 49. Curiae Baroniarum. 'tis true, most of the Matters debated here are little peddling Debts and Trespa●●es; and yet, where the Court-Rolls are carefully kept, much of the Fashion and Humour of the Times is to be learned from them. Very remarkable was that Pa●●age which was ob●erv'd by( the famous Antiquary) R. Dodesworth in those at Wakefield, where this Record was enter d sometime in the Reign of Edward the First: Vid. Seld. Tit. of Hon. p. 690. Franco Tyas Miles tulit Action●m versus Germanum Mercer, qui arrestavit Equum Will●elmi Lepton Armigeri fui ad dedecus& damn●m praed●cti Franci, quia fuit sine Armigero: Et praedictus Franco r●●uperavit C. Solidos. Ideō Germanus Mercer in his Miserecordia. The chief Judges in the Forest-Courts, Forest-Courts. are the Justiciarii Itinerantes, or Justices in Eyre; whereof the one presides in all Forests on the North of Trent, as the other does on the South. There are many particular Forest-Laws, which( with the famous Carta de Foresta) are the Guides in these Judicatories: Amongst which, that which bears the Title of 33. Ed. 1. Ordinatio Forestae, though it has constantly kept its place amongst the Statute-Laws of this Realm, is looked upon as an Ordinance only Instit. Par. 4. cap. 73. p. 292. made by the King alone without Authority of Parliament. Indeed, what Sir Edward cook gives us in latin is very different from what we have in our English Prints; where 'tis expressly affirmed to be the Answer given to a Request made by the great Men to our Lord the King in this Parliament: Which, as I apprehended, the Custom of those days to have been, is all that's requisite to the legal Formality of a true Act of Parliament. With these Laws, and with the Records of these Courts, our English Historian ought to be thoroughly acquainted; that he may be able to understand readily the Terms of Viridarii, Agistatores, Regardatores, Gruarii, Bosci, Haiae, Fugacia, Pannagium, Assertum, Putura, &c. which he must plentifully meet with in our old Historians and Law-Writers. The old Perambulations Vid. St. 1. Ed. 3. cap. 1. of Forests, together with the Boundaries and extent of Neighbouring Purlieus, may be had amongst the Records of the Tower; where there are also several Rolls of Verdicts and Judgments, given in the Courts of the Justices in Eyre. The cutting of Timber for the King's Use, in any of his Majesties Forests most convenient for the present Occasions o● the State, has been ordered by Commissions, either under the Great Seal, or Seal of the Exchequer; whereof many Precedents are in the keeping of ●he K●ng's Remembrancer: And therein 'tis ob ervable, that Exceptions have been usual●y made of such Trees as( by the Judges in any of the said foreste Courts) shall be thought nece●●ary for the Coverture and Pawnage of the dear. For the better understanding of the Carta de Foresta, it may be convenient to red with it J. Manwood's Treatise of the 4o. pret. 14 s. Laws of the foreste; wherein we have the Original of the Word and Thing; its difference from a Chase, Park, and Warren; the proper Terms of Art thereunto belonging, &c. with some Statutes of the foreste not elsewhere printed. The Swainmote, or Swanimote( from the Saxon Vid. Reliq. Spelm. p 85. word, sƿaegn, a Country-Clown, or Husbandman, and mot, or gemot, Conventus) is an inferior Court of Freeholders within the foreste; which had a power to inquire into Transgressions, by empanelling Juries of Men of better Quality than this Etymology seems to intimate. What sort of Records this Court afforded, appears also from the last Clause of their Commission: Ordin. foreste. 34. Ed. 1. in Instit. Par. 4. p. 292. Et sic inquisitâ veritate praesentationes illae per communem concordiam& Assensum Ministrorum praedictorum roborentur& sigillis suis sigillentur. The chief part of the D, Chamberlain, Not. Angl. Edit. 16. p. 174. Laws observed in the Court of Admiralty, Admiralty. are those of Rhodes and Oleron; whereof the ●ormer were long since incorporated into the Roman Civil Law, and the other were compiled at the direction of our great Richard the First, being collected into one Body, which( from that Isle in the Bay of Aquitaine, wherein they were made) bears the Name of La Rool d' Oleron. To these there were several excellent Constitutions added by Edward the Third; at Quinborough, in the Year 1375. If the Reader has a mind to see this Court in its Nonage, and before King Richard had finished its Rules, let him peruse that King's R. Hoveden, p. 666. Edit. Francof. Carta de Statutis illorum qui per mere ituri ●rant: Wherein Methods of trial and Execution are prescribed, which are very singular, and without all manner of Precedent. And, even now when 'tis better formed, some of our English Lawyers will not allow it to be called a Court of Record; because, forsooth, if an Instit. Par. 4. cap. 22. p. 135. erroneous Sentence be given in that Court, there lies no Writ of Error in the Case, but only an Appeal: Which( as a late noble D. of B's Speech in Skinner's Case. Lord observed upon some other Contests betwixt these Gentlemen and those of the Admiralty) is not speaking as we ordinary Men do, but a making bold with the very Sense and Language of the whole Nation. It appears that the English Admirals have had a Judicature, as long as the English Kings themselves have had a Sovereignty, in the British Ocean; and that was long since allowed to be Vid. Record. 22. Ed. 1. De Superioritate Maris Ang●●ae, &c. Instit. Par. 4. cap. 22. du temps dont il ny a● mem●ire du contrary. Out of the Historical Remains we have of their Proceedings which we commonly call Records) the English Dominion over the four Seas( totally excluding our Neighbours, both French and Dutch, from fishing therein without our licence) has been fairly made out by Mr. Selden, in his mere Fol. land. 1635. Clausum; against all the Objections of H. Grotius, in his 8o. Ludg. Bat. 1618. mere Liberum. 'tis very plain, that when the Author penned this Book, he was not such an inveterate Enemy to the Prerogative-Doctrine of Ship Money, as afterwards: For he professedly asserts that, in the Defence of their sovereignty at Sea, our Kings constantly practised the levying great Sums on their Subjects, without the Concurrence of their Parliaments. His Authorities indeed are brought no lower than the Reign of Henry the Second: But, even so, the Service was reckoned of that valuable kind, as that( by an express Order of the King and Council) the Book was delivered to the Barons of the Exchequer, in open Court, to be Ath. Oxon. Vol. 2. p. 109. by them laid up, as a most inestimable Jewel, amongst the choice Records which concerned the Crown. 'twas translated into Fol. land. 1652. English by Marchamont Needham, the scurrilous News-monger; who suppressed the Epistle Dedicatory, interlarded it with several Treasonable Comments and false Glosses of his own, and added a few old Evidences which were supposed to be communicated to him by J. Bradshaw of infamous Memory. After the Restoration of King Charles the Second, this Edition was revised and Fol. land. 1662. corrected by J.H. Gentleman; who did the Learned Author that Justice after his Death, which he wanted the Courage to demand in his Life-time. About the same time that the mere Clausum was penning, Sir John Borough( Keeper of the Records in the Tower of London, and soon after Garter King at Arms) was busy'd on the same Subject: But he seems to have suppressed his Collections, as needless, upon the appearance of that famous Work. However, some of this Gentleman's Friends( almost ten years after his Death) did him so much right, as to sand them also abroad; which was done under the Title of 12o land. 1651. The Sovereignty of the British Seas proved by Records, History and the Municipal Laws of the Kingdom. That the Common-Law took Cognizance of Trespasses committed at Sea, in the twenty-fifth year of Edward the First's Reign, Not. in Fortesc. cap. 32. Mr. Selden thinks very probable from an old MS. Report which he had of that Year: And the like he believes may be concluded of the times of Henry the Third, from a torn Roll of the forty-seventh of that King. He mentions also a Manuscript Treatise( sometime lent him by Sir Walter Raleigh) bearing the Title of De l' Office deal Admiralty; wherein the Indictments and trials ran in the same Form as is now used at Common-Law: But he confesses the Book seemed rather a Collection of Adversaria for a designed Work on that Subject, than a finished piece. He gue●ses it might be penned about Henry the Sixth's Reign; and commends it for preserving several Constitutions( of Henry the First, Richard the First, King John, and Edward the First) relating to the Admiralty, which were hardly to be had elsewhere. The Jurisdiction of the Court is asserted, against Sir Edward Coke's Instit. Par. 4. cap. 22. Articles, by 8o. land. 1663. Dr. R. Zouch; who, sometime before and after the Restoration, was Judge of it himself. To which ought to be added his 4o. Oxon. 1640. Descriptio Juris Maritimi; and Dr. Godolphin's 8o. pr. 2 s. 6 d. View of the Admiral-Jurisdiction. The practise of it is given by 8o. pr. 1 s. Fr. clerk. The Affairs of Sea-Commerce are well handled by Ch. Molley, in his Book 8o. pr. 5 s. de Jure Maritimo& Navali; which has been so well approved as to admit of several Editions. Lastly, A short Account of almost all the forementioned Treatises, with some other valuable Pieces are to be had in the Consuetudo Fol. pr. 24 s. or Lex Mercatoria; wherein are likewise the necessary Instructions that relate to the right Understanding of Sea-Laws, Merchant-Accounts, and the other Essentials of traffic. To these must be added an Enquiry into the Navy-Office; and the Abstracts of Accounts, Lists of the old and new Shipping, from the several Yards at Deptford, Woolwich, Chatham, &c. all which may be seen in the Custody of the Secretary of the Admiralty. For a just Estimate of the increase of the Military Force in England, Ordnance. there are several Repositories of Papers and Rolls wherewith our Historian should be acquainted. The Lieutenants and Deputy Lieutenants of our Counties have their Muster-Masters and others that keep stated Accounts of all that's transacted and ordered amongst them. But, above all, the Office of Ordnance will afford him the best acquaintance with the Provisions of War; as being the grand Magazine of this Kingdom. All Orders and Instructions for the Government of this Office( as likewise all Patents and Grants to the many Officers, Artificers, Attendants and Labourers; with the Quarter-Books for Salaries, Liegers of Receipts and Returns of His Majesty's Stores, &c.) are in the Custody of the Clerk of the Ordnance; as those for the giving out of any Provisions or Stores, either at the Tower or any other of the King's Magazines, are under the care of the Clerk of the Deliveries. Staple, &c. There are some other Courts, Communities and Corporations, which have their proper Registers; and ought not to be slighted. The Court of Stanneries has had mighty privileges for all such as are Vid. Instit. Par. 4. cap. 45. actual Workers in the Mines of cornwall; and that of the Ibid. cap. 42. Cinque-Ports has a Jurisdiction which extends to all manner of Civil Causes. But these are so particular and purely local, that we can only just point at them. The Court of the Mayor of the Staple Ibid. cap. 46. was heretofore kept at Bruges, Calais, Antwerp, Middleburgh, &c. and afterwards at Westminster, its Jurisdiction reaching from Temple-Bar to Tuttle-fields. In it the Mayor and two Constables gave Sentence according to Vid. St. 27. Ed. 3. cap. 21. Law-Merchant; and the chief Matters under debate were the five Staple Commodities of this Kingdom, Wool, Wool-fels, Leather, led and tin. As the Proceedings in this, and that which our Lawyers call Paepoudrous, are Summary, and such as are most agreeable to the hast that Merchants are in, both when they make their Contracts, and sue for the Performances, so all the Registers that we can expect of them, must look like Minutes more than Records. What Remains there are of either of 'em, are to be sought in those Corporations and Market-Towns, where such Courts have been kept: But, of late years, the Merchant Pleas have been usually tried in the Mayor's Court of the place where the Actions have happened. CHAP. V. Of our Law-Writers, Year-Books, and Reports. BEfore one attempt the perusal of our ancient Law-writers, 'twill be highly convenient to have a general Idea of the Common-Law itself, the chief Subject of all their Tracts: And this perhaps cannot be had more readily than from that Methodical System which is well known by the Name of Finch's Law. 'twas written by Henry Finch, a young counselor of Grey's Inn; whom King James the First made afterwards one of his own Serjeants, and then a Knight. It was first published in French, under the Title of Fol. land. 1613. Nomotechnia; cestascavoir, un description deal common Leys d' Angleterre, &c. But, some time after, the Author himself translated it into English; in which Language it has had a great many 8o. land. 1613, 1636, 1661, &c. Editions, and is still in good Credit and Repute. Out of it is extracted, or stolen, another small Treatise which is called a 8o. land. 1654. Summary of the Common-Law of England. If the Custumier de Fol. Fr. pret. 20 s. Normandy were indeed( as some have See Whitlock's Speech in Par. Argum. Anti-Norm. p. 115. asserted) an ancient Formulary drawn up by the first Princes of that Country, Custumier de Normandy. and brought in hither by the Conqueror, it might justly challenge the first Rank in this Catalogue of Law-Books: But there are many particulars in it which will not suffer us to allow it so great an Age. Some are of Opinion that it was written in the Reign of Henry the First; which they pretend to prove from Sequerius's Affirming, that this King established the English Laws in Normandy. He might possibly introduce some of our Sanctions into that Country: But that this very Codex of 'em was drawn up in his time seems not so probable. There's one Chapter in it of Nampes, or Distresses; wherein 'tis decreed, that none shall bring his Action upon any seizure, save only from the time of the Coronation of King Richard; which must be our Richard the First, since no French King had that Name: Nay, the Author Vid. Custum. cap. 22. fol. 29.& cap. 112. himself intimates, that he compiled the Work about forty Years after that King's Access to the Throne. There are in it a great many of the Laws of Edward the Confessor, and other Saxon Kings; but mixed with many Norman Customs that are no way related to them. Several Paragraphs are( almost Verbatim) translated out of Glanvil; yet some of his Courts of Justice, Original Writs, &c, are not so much as name. Sir Edward Instit. Par. 2. p. 5. cook tells his Reader, that he will frequently meet with this Book cited in his Institutes, where it agrees with the Laws of England, and sometimes where it disagrees, ex diametro. Henry II. 'tis said Coke's Reports, Vol. 8. i●… proem. that Ralph de Meschines( E of Chester, in Henry the First's time) wrote a Book of the Common-Law of this Kingdom; and the same Ibid. Vol. 3. in proem.& J. Bale, Ce●● 3. cap. 26. Authority assures, that King Henry the Second himself did the like. There is indeed, a Volume in Titus, A. 13. Sir John Cotton's Library, which is thus inscribed, Consuetudines Angliae, quae proponebantur Tho. Becket tempore Henrici Secundi; cum Constitutionibus ejusdem Regis renovatis in Normannia: Which perhaps has given occasion for this Report. On the contrary, 'tis well known that this King was a great encourager of Archbishop Theobald and his Civilians, whom his Predecessor had endeavoured to suppress: Insomuch, that one of that Primate's domestics tells us, that 'twas the fashion of the Family( betwixt Prayers and Dinner) to have public Mootings in the Common-Hall, where Pet. bless. apud J. Seld. Dissert. ad Fletam. cap. 8. Sect. 1. Omnes Quaestiones Regni Nodosae referuntur ad nos. And his Example had that Influence upon his two Sons and Successors( King John and Richard the First) that they gave the same Protection to the Professors of the Civil Law; ordering that this should be joined with the Common in all Courts of Judicature within this Realm, which was accordingly put in J. Seld. Ibid practise all their Reigns. Yet some will not be satisfied but he was the first great Patron and Polisher of the Common-Law. Henry the Second( says a florid Nat. Bacon, Hist. Disc. Par. 1. p. 169. Gentleman) was the first Maecenas since the Conquest that brought on the Spring-time of a settled Common-Weal; and therefore left this fair Testimony by putting forth the Primrose of English Laws, under the Name of Glanvil, letting al Men know that thenceforth England would no more vale itself in an unknown Law, but explain itself to the World to be a Regular Government. And as King Henry thinks fit( in this place) to call himself by the Name of Glanvil, so we shall find that elsewhere Glanvil goes by the Name of Henry the Second; since one of the MS. Bibl. Cot. Claudius, D. 2. Copies of his Book bears the Title of that King's Laws. R. de Glanvil. But, let us inquire how our Historians are like to determine this controversy. Eodem anno( says Hoveden Ad Annum, 1180. who was his Contemporary) Henricus Rex Angliae Pater( to distinguish him from his Son of the same Name, whom he had caused to be crowned King) constituit Ranulfum de Glanvilla summum Justiciarium totius Angliae; cujus sapientia conditae sunt leges subscriptae quas Anglicanas vocamus. After which he proceeds to give us the Law of Edward the Confessor, and William the First; as if these had never been brought into any regular Form before his time. John Bale very gravely tells us, that he was sent by King Henry to the S●ege of Damiata in Eg●pt, and that he did mighty Feats in that Expedition: But the good Man mistakes, in that short Story, Henry the Third for Henry the Second; and Ralph de Meschines( the Second) Earl of Chester for Ralph de Glanvil. The Mirror Cap. 2. Sect. 25. represents this Chief Justice as an able Lawyer, affirming, that he was the Inventor of the famous Writ of Assize, or de Novel Disseisin; though others Instit. Par. 4. cap. 27. believe it to be more ancient. The Book, that now carries his Name, was 8o. land. 1554. first published by the persuasion and procurement of Sir William Stanford; and has since had 8o. Ibid. 1557, 1604, &c. several Editions. In all these it has kept the same Title, which runs thus: Tractatus de legibus& consuetudinibus Regni Angliae, tempore Regis Henrici secundi Compositus, Justitiae gubernacula tenente illustri viro Ranulpho de Glanvilla, Juris Regni& antiquarum consuetudinum eo tempore peritissimo. Et illas solum leges continet& consuetudines, secundum quas placitatur in curia Regis ad Scaccarium& coram Justiciis ubicunque fuerint. From these last Words some Vid. Instit. Par. 4. cap. 8. have concluded, that the Court of Exchequer did anciently take cognizance of all manner of Common-Pleas; whereas a little pointing of the Words will make these three distinct Courts. 1. In Curia Regis. 2. Ad Scaccarium. 3. Coram Justiciis ubicunque fuerint. It has also been concluded from this Title, that the first Publishers, or Copyers of the Book, looked upon it as rather penned in the time of that Judge, than by himself; which may possibly appear likewise from what I shall hereafter advance, in treating of the Regiam Majestatem of Scotland. For the present, we are to suppose him to be the Author: And I shall only observe, that whoever compares this Book, with that ancient Repository of the Common-Law of our Neighbouring Kingdom, must conclude, that there is no such hideous distance betwixt our Law and theirs, as the Lord Chief Justice cook and Attorney General Bacon( in the beginning of King James the First's Reign) represented the Matter; but that, if the secret Reasons of these Gentlemen against making them One had not been stronger than those they published, Britannia See Coke's Instit. Par. 4. cap. 75. and Sir Francis Bacon's three Speeches. might have easily and readily had as good a Body of Law as either Anglia or Scotia. The whole Work is divided into fourteen Books; treating of, 1. Pleas and Essoins in the Court of King's-Bench. 2. trials by combat and the grand Assize. 3. Warranty. 4. Advowson of Churches. 5. naturalisation and Freedom. 6. Dowry. 7. Bastardy and Wardship. 8. Fines. 9. Homage, with other Services; and Purprestures, or Encroachments. 10. Debts and Contracts. 11. Attorneys. 12. Writs of Right and Prohibition. 13. recognisances and Disseisins. 14. Pleas of the Crown: In all which we have the Forms of such Writs as were then( and are mostly still) in Use, upon all the several Occasions there treated on. When Mr. Selden wrote his Titles of Honour, he questioned whether this Book was rightly fathered: For, having occasion to city a Passage out of it, he does it with an Expression full of Diffidence as to its Authority, Tit. of Hon. p. 649. as the Words are in the Book attributed to Glanvil. And surely, whether he be the true or only reputed Author, may be still a Query with us; since it was so to him, who could want no Light that was any where to be had in this Matter. I know, says he Juris. of Test. Par. 1. cap. 5. elsewhere, the Authority of that Treatise is suspected; and some of the best and ancientest Copies having the Name of E. de N.( which I have heard, from diligent Searchers in this kind of Learning, affirmed to have been sometimes E. de Narbrough, and not R. de Glanville) it has been thought to be anothers Work, and also of later time: But, as on the one side, I dare not be confident that it is Glanvil's, so I make little question that it is as ancient as his time, if not his Work. The Tests of the Precedents of Writs under his Name, the Language( especially the Name of Justitia always for that which we now, from ancient time, call Justitiarius; and Justitia was so used in Writers under Henry the Second) and the Law delivered in it tasteth not of any later Age. We are not so much in the dark about Master John Bracton: J. Bracton. Whom all agree to have been a Orig. Jurid. fol. 56. Judge Itinerant in the latter end of Henry the Third's Reign,( as likewise, say some, Dr. Brady, in Praefat. ad Hist. Angl. in the beginning of that of Edward the First) and the undoubted Author of the Book that bears his Name. This indeed, is variously written in the Records that come nearest his own Time; where we have him called Bratton, Breton, Bretton, Briton, briton, and Brycton. He seems to have given it Edit. 1569. lib. 4. fol. 188. b. himself with some exactness, which inclined the Publishers of his Book to call him Bracton with a good assurance: But, even in that Passage, 'tis variously penned in most of the Vid. J. Seld. Dissert. ad Flet. cap. 2. Sect. 2. Manuscripts. Though we have now several Fol. land. 1569, 1640, &c. Editions of this Work, 'twas a good while before 'twas printed; and the MS. Copies were so many, that it was no easy task to compile a genuine Text out of any, or all of' em. Some learned Persons had loaded their Books with Marginal Notes, and some with interlineary Remarks; which, by the carelessness of Transcribers, were afterwards admitted as part of the Author's own Discourse. It was hard for one Man to struggle with these Difficulties, and to be so perfect a Master of Bracton's Style, as always to distinguish what was truly of his own Composure, from what was only( through Ignorance, or Inadvertency) fathered on him; and therefore many worthy Professors of the Law gave their Assistance towards the setting forward and finishing so desirable a Work. By their kind clubbing of their Pains and Parts, this truly venerable Code of our ancient Common-Law was published in as correct a manner as was possible; and has ever since had an esteem answerable to its real Deserts and Value. It consists of five Books; which begin with the several legal ways of procuring of Properties; and proceed to those of the just maintaining or recovering of them. The Method is Natural, and very conformable to that of the great Emperor Justinian; whose Matter is also very frequently adhered to, and his Laws quoted( sometimes in ipsissimis verbis) as familiarly as if they were part of the known Common-Law of this Kingdom. On every Head we have an interspersed Register of proper Writs, and Reports of adjudged Cases in both Benches; as also of such as have been tried before the Judges in Eyre, Assize, &c. The Author must be pardoned his easy Admission of the Pope's Supremacy, and his sometimes Naturalizing the Canon as well as Civil-Law, when we consider the time wherein he wrote: That it was soon after King John had made a formal Conveyance of his Realm to the See of Rome, and when the greatest part of Europe was entirely under its usurped Dominion. The Passages that savour strong of the Iniquity and Vassalage of those unhappy Days are not many; and there is that disagreeable Obliquity in them; from the other continued Description of our true English Government, that they are readily discerned to be preternatural and Monstrous. Some Mistakes he made in his Cap. 19. fol. 417. a. Sect. 2. Account of Parliamentary Proceedings in the twenty'th( it should be the eighteen) year of Henry the Third, are corrected by a Seld. Tit. of Hon. p. 597, 598. learned Pen; especially his misreciting the Names of the Barons, &c. In many places whole Sentences are perfectly transcribed out of Glanvil. Once more, we are to return to our Shades: For who was the Author of that Methodical and learned Treatise which bears the Name of Fleta Fleta. is not known, nor indeed hardly so much as guessed at. 'tis plain, that he wrote in the Reign of King Edward, of whom he says many mighty things in his Preface: But which of our first three Edwards he means, will admit of some Dispute. There's one Passage in the Lib. 1. cap. 20. Sect. 59. Book, which seems to intimate, that he wrote either in the days of the Second or Third: Qui receperint debita Regis, vel partem debiti,& debita illa non acquietaverint tam de tempore Regis E. Patris Regis, quàm de tempore praesenti. Thus our Printed Books, in both Editions, give the Words; and herein they are acknowledged to agree with the Manuscript from which they were published. But even that Copy itself is full of Literal Faults; and is supposed( by several Blanks in it, left for Words, and sometimes whole Sentences) to have been taken by an worshipful Scribe, and a good while after the Author's own Time. It's therefore not improbable that the Transcriber mistook E. for H; or else, that, writing his Copy in one of the two latter Reigns, and being over-wise, he took upon him to vary the Story, so as to svit his own Days: For 'tis impossible that such a Writer, in either of the two supposed Reigns, should overlook the many Famous Statutes that were enacted by those Kings, and would have been so much to his purpose on several occasions. Besides, the Passage before mentioned, refers to part of a St. Westm. 1. Ao. 3. Ed. 1. cap. 19. Statute of Edward the First; which is punctually repeated in Lib. 2. cap. 33. another part of this Tteatise, as what had been newly passed into a Law by the Prince then reigning. He quotes also the Statute of An. 13. Ed. 1. Acton-Burnel, as newly Lib. 2. cap. 64. enacted, in Parliamento nuper habito: And he speaks of the privileges of the Lib. 2. cap. 50. Sect. 16. Knights Templars, as then in being, who( 'tis well known) were abolished in the beginning of Edward the seconds Reign. The Character that he gives the then Ruling King( in his Preface) is what can never fit Edward the Second: Though, it must be confessed, no great weight is to be laid on this Argument; since the like, and in almost the very same words, is given by Glanvil to our King Henry the Second, and by the Scotch Author of the Regiam Majestatem to their King David the First. These, and some other Reasons, which I shall not now stay to repeat, prevailed with Mr. Selden Dissert. ad Flet. cap. 10. to fix the time of this Author in the Reign of Edward the First; contrary to the Opinions of Pref. to Rep. lib. 8. Sir Edward cook and Interp. voice Fleta. Dr. Cowel, who are verily persuaded that he wrote either in the latter end of Edward the Second, or in the beginning of Edward the Third. The Author himself acquaints us, in his Preface, that the Reason of his Book's bearing the Title of Fleta, was because 'twas penned in the Prison of that Name: And so, in our time, Sir John Pettus was pleased to give some of his Labours( in the same place) the Inscription of Fleta Minor, though treating on a quiter different Subject. In the Year 1289. the King imprisoned Tho. de Weylond, Chief Justice, and several other Judges for foul Practices. The Holingshead& Stow, ad an. 1289. Chronicles indeed say, they were committed to the Tower: But the Fleet being, even in those days, a Prison for Delinquents of Note and Quality, 'tis probable some of 'em might be sent thither. In his first Book he insists chiefly upon Pleas of the Crown; in the second he gives a most full and curious Account of all the Officers of the King's household, with many other Particulars that exceedingly illustrate the Story of those Times; and in the Four following he shows the then practise of our Courts of Judicature, the Forms of Writs, Explication of Law-Terms, &c. He sometimes transcribes the very words of Bracton; and elsewhere jumps with( one of Bracton's Epitomizers) Gilbert de Thornton. There's one piece of History in his Book, which will want the Authority of some others to support it 'tis the Account which it gives Lib. 3. cap. 6. Sect. 3. of a Provision made in a general Congress of the Christian Princes at Montpelier▪ in the Fourth Year of Edward the First Reign, which obliges them to a Revocation of all Grants made of thei●… Crown-Lands, and ancient Demesn● a Doctrine which he Lib. 1. cap. 8. elsewhere maintains for good English Law, however contrary to the known practise 〈…〉 both former and more modern Times. And indeed there was little occasion for such a National Compact, if other Kingdoms had the same Notion of the Nature of the ancient Demesne of the Crown( or Terra Regis, as doomsday calls it) which is said to have Vid. Reliq. Spelm. p. 57. prevailed in ours; that it was Sacrum Patrimonium, and therefore the same Crime to lessen or embezzle it as to violate the Rights, or alienate the Possessions, of God and his Church. We might probably be better instructed in this particular, were the Discourse published which was written by Vid. Ath. Oxon. lib. 1. p. 119.& 148, 149. Sir Anthony Brown( one of our Learned Judges in the Reigns of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth) upon certain Points touching the Inheritance of the Crown; tho the greatest part of it seems to relate to the Nature of the Succession, and designed to assert the Right of Mary Queen of Scots. The Fleta was happily secured to us, amongst many other Valuable Monuments of the like kind, by the incomparable Mr. Selden; who found it in the Julius, B. 8. Cottonian Library, in a hand as old as the Author's own Time, and assisted in the making it public. He Dissert. in Flet. cap. 1.§. 1. says indeed, that it was transcribed for the Press by such unskilful amanuensis as the Stationer employed; and that, upon this Score, it was published in a more slovenly Dress than he could have wished. But ought not we much more to complain, that a 4o. land. 1685. Second Edition has not corrected the Faults which he so long since lamented, and had marked out to us? 'tis true, the impertinent Marginal Notes are removed; but the Abbreviations still continue, and the Fet Assavoir to this day remains as part of the Text. We have before hinted, that Bracton's more Voluminous Book was epitomized by Gilbert de Thornton; G. de Thornton. who was V●d. Dugd. Summon. Ao. 23. E● 1. pag. 9. Chief Justice towards the latter End of Edward the First's Reign. Mr. Selden Dissert. ad Flet. cap. 2.§. 1.& 4. met with a MS. Copy of this Treatise( nor could he ever hear of any other) in the Lord Burghley's Library; in the Title whereof was this Account of the Book and its Author: Incipit Summa de Legibus& Consuetudinibus Angliae à Magistro Henrico de Bryctona composita tempore Henrici filii Regis Johannis, quam quidem Summam Dominus Gilbertus de Thornton, tunc Capitalis Justic' Domini Regis in Angl. secundum Statuta& Leges tunc usitatas, ad utilitatem Posterorum diligenti study post modum abbreviavit sub Compendio, anno Regni Edwardi filii Regis Henr' Vicesimo. Et ipse idem Dominus Gilbertus tempore illo Scientiâ, bonitate& Mansuetudine, floruit eleganter. This is not so to be understood as if the epitomiser had intermixed the Statutes made after Bracton's time, as Breton did afterwards; but that he so modeled this Abstract of the Common-Law, that it might be most useful in explaining present and future Acts of Parliament. He frequently quits Bracton's Method, and makes use of one which looks more confused: As may best appear by the following Catalogue of the Eight Parts of his Book. 1. Of Persons and Things, Grants and Confirmations. 2. Actions, Bonds and Penalties; with the Power of Judges Itinerant and others. 3. Criminal Matters; Murder, Appeals and Felony. 4. Unlawful seizures and Disseisures. 5. Common Pasturage, assize of Mordancestre, Damages and Attaints. 6. Writs of Right and Appearance, and of Essoigns. 7. Demurrers and Prohibitions; Bastardy and Inheritances. 8. Homage and Relief; with Settlements upon Marriage and Dowries. These Parts were subdivided into two hundred and twelve Chapters, which is near a Third short of the Number of those in the Printed Bracton: But several of these are lost out of that Manuscript, and we can hardly hope to meet with another that will supply them. Sir Ralph de Hengham R. de Hengham. was chief Justice of the King's Bench at the Parliament which enacted the Statute St. 4. Ed. 1. Vid. Instit. Par. 2. p. 267. de Bigamis. In the sixteenth year of King Edward the First he was Seld. in Praefat. ad Hengh. M. removed and fined Seven Thousand Pounds; but was afterwards restored to favour, and made Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas. In this Station there's the Process of a Cause Kennet's Paroch. Antiq. p. 351. tried before him, and his Fellow-Justices, in the thirty third year of that King: About which time Sir Edward cook Instit. Par. 2. p. 142.& 220. observed him to be called, in one Record, Roger de Hegham. But that learned Man is undoubtedly mistaken; since it appears that soon after( in the first Vid. D. W. Dugd. Summon. p. 60. 62. 64. year of Edward the second) there was another Judge of this latter Name who sate on the same Bench with Sir Ralph. His sums have always passed under the Titles of Hengham magna and Parva; and have both the same common Subject, treating of the ancient( and now obsolete) Forms of Pleading in Essoins and Defaults. They were long since translated into English: But that being done in the Language of Edward the Second or Third's time, it was thought most advisable to Print them in their Original latin. This was done by Mr. Selden; who published them 8o. land. 1616. with Fortescue, adding some few Notes of his own in English. The Bookseller, who 8o. Ibid. 1660. reprinted the last mentioned Author, gave us also a new Edition of Hengham, but dissembled the Date in the Title page.; pretending that this Part of his Book was the old one of 1616. However, his heedless Printing of the Notes, as he there found them, discovers the cheat: For they do not answer to the Pages in this stolen Edition; but confounded and perplex the Reader, instead of being rightly serviceable. There are many remarkable Forms and Rules in these sums, which are omitted by Bracton on the same Heads; and yet 'tis thought we want a considerable share of the Author's whole Work, none of the MS. Copies that were to be had being perfect. MSS. Ed. 1. Besides these there are a great many more Treatises on Matters of Law, which were penned in the days of Edward the First; wherein the Bar-Practice began indeed first to Flourish. These, tho' not so very conducing to our Historian's Purpose as the former, are worth the mentioning; which shall be done in a Method somewhat different from that wherein Orig. Jurid. Cap. 23. Sir William Dugdale has given them. These( with those that follow) are all mentioned in an old Parchment-Roll in Cotton's Library; but he knows not where they are now to be had. 1. Speculum Justiciariorum. 2. Examen Cartarum. 3. Curia Baronis. 4. Assisa in London, de muris& Stillicidiis. 5. De Narrando. 6. Casus qui tenet locum secundùm Leges Angliae. 7. De Divortio. 8. Ordinale Compoti de Walvescie secundùm Oliverum. 9. Modus Chyrographandi in Curiā Regis de omnibus Placitis These two were in the hand of Sir Orlando Bridgeman. 10. De Brevibus Ordinandis. 11. Breves Pledes. In the Possession of W. Goddard of Lincoln's Inn, Esq; 12. Modus Calumniandi Essonium. 13. Cadit Casa. 14. Cum sit Necessarium. 15. Natura Brevium. 16. De Brevibus Cassandis. 17. Exceptiones generales. 18. De Bastardiâ. 19. Tractatus Coronae. 20. Placita Coronae. 21. Notabilia. 22. Articuli in Narrando. 23. Proprietas Narrationum. 24. Judicium Essoinorum, per Joh. de Metingham, Cap. Justit. 18. Ed. 1. In the Custody of Sir Mat. Hales. 25. Rageman, de Justiciariis assignatis. 26. Ordinationes Novissimae apud Westmonasterium. Some few others are supposed to be of the same Age, tho' they are not registered in the forementioned Roll▪ As, 1. Statutum Regis in Judaismo: Which was likewise in Sir M. Hale's Library. Amongst Sir Orl. Bridgeman's Manuscripts. 2. De veteribus Placitis Coronae. 3. Nova Capitula Coronae. 4. Dampna in Duplo. 5. Ordo Exceptionum. 6. Placita de Itinere Cornubiae, 30. Ed. 1. In Mr. Selden's Library▪ 'tis no great Matter whether Andrew Horn( the Author of the Miroir des Justices) lived in the Reign of Edward the Vid. Not. ad. Aelfred. M. Vit. pag. 82. First or his J. Seld. Dissert. ad Fletam. Cap. 1.§. 2. Son: Miroir. But we shall follow a great Man's Example, against the Many, in placing him under the latter. This Writer can best inform us what he meant by the Title of his Book. His Design, he says, In Pra●fat. was to give the Judges of his Time a View of their comely and hard-favour'd Features; the Presenting them with what they should have been, as well as what they were. He very frequently quotes the Rolls of the Saxon Times, and even their very Year-Books, which are now vanished: And this shows that we have lost many of our best Helps towards the furnishing out of the History of those Ages; and demonstrates withal that the state of the Law in this Kingdom was then much different from what some would make it. He pretends to have perused all the Laws of this iceland ever since the Reign of the Famous King Arthur; and some are so generous as to believe that, amongst the many ancient pieces out of which he gathered his Materials, he had seen K. Elfred's Book Contra Judices Iniquos. I rather think that the Story and Catalogue which he gives us Cap. 5.§. 1. of the forty four Judges, that were hanged up by this King for their Illegal and Corrupt Practices, was the occasion of his being the reputed Author of such a Book; and I am pretty sure that this is a better Foundation than either Bale or Pits many times have for several of their Volumes. The English 12o. land. 1646. Edition differs very much from the French; and yet the Translator pretends that he kept himself close to the words and meaning of his Author. That excellent French Manual of our Laws which bears the Name of briton, briton▪ is usually ascribed to John le Breton Bishop of Hereford; this opinion being grounded on the Account which one of our chief Historians gives of the death of that Prelate, Obiit, says he, Mat. Westm. ad An. 1275. Vid. etiam E. Wingate, in Praefat. ad briton.& Pry●ns Rec. of Ed. 1. p. 168. 169. hoc anno Johannes Bretoun Episcopus Herefordensis, qui admodum peritus in Juribus Anglicanis, librum de eis conscripsit qui vocatur le Bretoun. It is certain that Bishop dyed in the year there mentioned, there being still to be seen( amongst the Records of the Tower) the congee d' Eslier for the Election of a new one in his Place: But then 'tis hard to imagine how one that died in the third year of Edward the First's Reign should refer his Readers( as Brit. cap. 14.& 36. he does) to a Statute enacted in the thirteenth of that King. This has prevailed with some to look after another Author; and finding there was one, of both these Names, who was a Judge( together with Henry de Bracton) in the Vid. J. Seld. Not. in Hengh. pag. 7. fifty first year of Henry the Third, they have guessed that he was the Man. But, why should not this Person be the same with the Bishop? We know 'twas usual enough to have Clergymen Justices of both Benches; and Sir Ed. cook says expressly, that the Author of this Book was an Instit. Par. 2. pag. 265. Ecclesiastic. Mr. Selden was of the same opinion when he published Hengham: But he was persuaded to change it afterwards, observing this Note in the Conclusion of a MS. Copy of that Treatise in his own Study; Icy finist le Brecton queen contient IV. lieures, en less queux chescun manner de plea est contenue. He also found that in our Year-Books, it was cited by the Name of Bracton; and that the Passage quoted from mat. of Westminster was an Interpolation, no such thing appearing either in the best MSS. or in the first Edition of that Historian. These Considerations prevailed with him to believe Dissert. in Flet. Cap. 1.§. 2.& cap. 2.§. 3. that Bracton and Breton were intended for the same Person; the latter being given to a Treatise, which indeed is no more than an Abstract of another better known by the former. He allows the Penman to be an Anonymous epitomiser, sometime in the Reign of Edward the First; out of whose Laws several things are added, which are not( nor could be) Bracton's. If I may be allowed to differ from all these Authorities, I should think that the true Writer of this Abstract was that same Joh. Breton, whom we find one Vid. D. D. Dugd. Summon. pag. 60. 62. 64. of the King's Justices( together with Ralph and Roger de Hengham) in the first year of Edward the Second; and this falls low enough to remove all the difficulties wherewith the other Opinions are clogged. E. Wingate's 12o. land. 1640. Edition is justly commended for the Care and judgement of the Publisher; such Various Readings being added in the Appendix as serve very much to supply the Defects and Imperfections of the former Impression. The Language is the true old French of the Thirteenth Century, as appears from the Authentic Instruments of those days; and differs considerably from that of Littleton in the Fifteenth, which is still in Fashion amongst our Modern Pleaders and late Reporters. The whole Book runs in the Name and Style of the King himself; as a Summary of all the Laws then in Force, within the Kingdom of England and Dominion of Ireland. There are some MS. Ordinances of Barons of the Exchequer, for the Establishment of the Estate of Edward the seconds household, &c. in Claudius, A. 8. Sir John Cotton's Library; which, with what has been already accounted for, is all that's now fit to be mentioned in that Reign. Novae Narr. It's generally agreed that the art of Pleading was brought to its Perfection in Edward the Third's Reign; when the little Manual of Entries which bears the Name of Novae 8o. Lat. pret. 2 s. è MS. in Bibl. Hosp. Lincoln. Narrationes was first Collected and published. It gives us such Forms of Counts, Declarations, Defences, Pleas, &c. as were then in use; to which are added the Articuli ad Novas Narrationes, being a Commentary and some short Rules upon them. But all these are few and defective, in Comparison of what we have in those Books of Entries which are the Works of later Times; the chief whereof are those by Fol. Lat. Pret. 3 l. Will. Rastal, Fol. Lat. Pret. 3 l. 5s. Sir Edward cook and Fol. Lat. Pret. 40 s. Sir Humphrey Winch. Out of these three, a great many late Pedlars in Precedents have Collected and published what to their several little Wisdoms appeared to be of most common and Ordinary Use; and 'twere endless to repeat so much as the Title-Pages of such Insignificant Retailers. The Old Narrationes are said to have been Coke's Rep▪ vol. 10. in ●roaem. vouched and allowed by Sir John Prisot; who was Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas under Henry the Sixth. Spec. Regis We are told of a Book called Instit. Par 2. pag. 545. Speculum Regis; which was written in latin by Simon Islip Archbishop of Canterbury, and directed( I suppose, in an Epistolary Way) to King Edward the Third. The Author sharply inveighs against the Intolerable Abuses of Purveyours and Purveyance, in many particulars; and earnestly presses the King to provide Remedies for those unsufferable Oppressions. Accordingly, H●… Majesty was pleased frequently to peru●… the Book and to consider its Contents which had so good effect upon him th●…( in the Thirty-Sixth year of his Reig●… he caused many excellent Laws, of his O●… Will, to be made for that purpose. The●…ther Law-Books of his Time( whic●… are here to be mentioned) are the●… only: 1. Natura Brevium vetus; whic●… has been several times 8o. land. 1572. 15●… Printed, a●… gave occasion to Fitzherbert to call 〈…〉 La Nowelle Natura, &c. 2. A MS. in Bibl. Hosp. Lincoln. Book of old tenors. 3. Placita MS. in. Bibl.. Se●… in Itinere in Comitat. Bedford, Notti●…ham& Derby. 3. Ed. 3. 4. Placita MS. Ibid. in Itinere in dictis Comitat. 4 Ed. 3. Sir John Fortescue Fortescue. was Spelm. Gloss. Edit. Noviss. p. 343.& J. Seld. in Praefat.. ad Fortesc. Chief Justice of the King's Bench, during half of Henry the Sixth's Reign, tho', since he thought fit to acquaint us that his unfortunate Master had made him chancellor, he is never so much as remembered in the other high Office. He attended the King into Scotland, when he fled thither for shelter; and there it was( as is supposed) that he had the great Seal committed to his Charge. However; he was certainly See his Introduct. chancellor when he wrote his Book De laudibus Legum Angliae, in the duchy of Berry: Where Queen Margaret, with her Son Prince Edward, lived then in Exile, during the King's Imprisonment in England. The Prince, he says, improved himself wonderfully, in Riding the great Horse and other Exercises of Chivalry, suitable to his high Birth and Prospect of a Crown: Which a certain old Knight( grandaevus quidam senex, in his own Modest Language) his Father's chancellor, observing, concluded with himself that such a marshal Hero would want no other Qualification for a Throne, save only an Acquaintance with the Laws that were to be his Guide and the Rule of his Government. This might be the occasion of his putting the Work into that Form wherein 'tis published; but 'tis reasonably Instit. Par. 2. cap. 99. p. 208. ubi etiam citartur rot. Parll. 28. Hen. 6. num. 19. usq. ad n. 47. believed that it had a more early Original. William de la Pole Duke of Suffolk( Henry the Sixth's great Favourite and Flatterer) endeavoured to bring in the use of the Civil Law; which obliged the Chief Justice to writ in Commendation of our own Laws, preferring them( for the Government of this Land) before the other. In this Treatise( which is managed by way of Dialogue betwixt the Prince and Himself) he proves that all Kings are under the like obligation to be Conversant in the Laws of their own Realms, as those of Israel were to be in the Book of Deuteronomy; that our Laws are not alterable at the sole Will of our Monarchs, whose Power is not Absolute and Royal, but Legal or politic, that our Customary or Common-Law is the most reasonable, as well as the most See Sir W. Temple's Introduct. to Engl. Hist. pag. 312. 313. ancient, in Europe; that our Statutes, enacted by the Advice and Consent of above three hundred Senators, are not alterable but by the same Authority that gives them their Being; that our Conviction of Criminals, by Juries, and without racking, is more Just and Human than the Methods of some Neighbouring Nations; Our Challenging of panels, Writs of Attaint upon Corrupt Verdicts, and the usual Wealth of our Jurors, such Securities to the Lives and Estates of Subjects as other Countries are incapable of affording; Our Kings greater and more potent in the Liberties and Properties of their People, than Arbitrary Tyrants in the Vassalage of their Slaves; the Civil Law more unreasonable than ours in the Legitimation of Children born before Wedlock, as also in its Axiom of Partus sequitur ventrem, Tuition of Orphans, &c. Our Inns of Court more convenient for the study of the English Law than our Universities, and their whereas Degree as honourable as that of Doctor in these; and lastly, that the Proceedings in our Courts of Judicature are less dilatory than in those of other Nations. The Book was first translated, and published together with its English Version, by 8o. land. 1599. R. Mulcaster; being revised 8o. Ibid. 1616. afterwards, and improved with a few Cursory Notes, by Mr. Selden. His Edition being out of Print, the Company of Stationers gave leave to one of their Body to reprint it: But he 12o. land. 1660. published it in a very careless and slovenly manner. The Literal faults, especially in the latin Text, are very Numerous: and some of 'em such as most wretchedly pervert the Author's Sense and meaning. Being written in a concise Method, such as was proper for a Piece designed for the View and Use of a Prince, it was thought deserving enough of such a Gloss or Commentary as usually attends Books of Value and Authority; and this good Pains was taken with it by Edw. water-house, who calls his Work by the name of Fol. pret. 12 s. Fortescutus Illustratus. He wrote other two Books of the Distinction betwixt Dominium regal& Politicum, and a Retractation of his Errors about the Title of the House of York; both which are still Pretty J. Selden. Praefat. ad Fortesc. It. Bibl. Cott. Claudius, A. 8.& Otho. B. 1. Common in Manuscript, but have not yet been thought worthy of the Press, A third he compiled likewise,( as Fol. 27. b. 35. a. 78. a. 88. b. himself tells us) for the use of Prince Edward, which treated de Naturâ Legis Naturae; and, in the Opinion of its Author, was a Notably shrewd Piece: But whether 'tis now lost, or was destroyed and recanted upon the forementioned change of his Side and Principles, I cannot tell. I suppose he grew weary of Banishment and the Interests of the House of Lancaster sometime before the unhappy return of the Queen and her Son, upon the Earl of Warwick's Revolt; since we do not Stow's Chron. p. 424. hear of him in their Retinue. I am assured, by R. Parsons, LL. D. Dioces. Glocestr. cancel. one of general Acquaintance in the Antiquities of this Kingdom, that his last retirement was at Ebburton in Glocestershire; where he lies buried, and has lately had a good handsome Monument erected to his Memory. Nicholas Statham Statham. ( one of the Barons of the Exchequer in the time of Edward the Fourth) was the first that employed himself in that useful Service to the Young Students of the Law, of Abridging the larger Arguments and tedious Reports of the Year-Books into a short system under proper Heads and Common-Places; which he did as low as Henry the Sixth's Reign. His Book has had several Fol. Fr. temp. Hen. 8. &c. pret. 30 s. Impressions; and still carries a good Repute and high Price. His Example was followed by Sir Robert brook, Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas under Queen Mary; who also made an Alphabetical Abstract of all the Choice Matters in our Law, as contained in such Commentaries, Records, Readings, &c. This is justly entitled La grand Abridgement: Being indeed a general Epitome of all that could be had upon the several Heads there treated on. It has had likewise a great many Fol. min. land. 1573. 76. 86. &c. Editions; amongst which( as it commonly fares with the Authors of that Profession) the eldest are still reckoned the best. The daily multiplying of our Reports has occasioned a third Alphabetical Abridgement by Fol. Ft. pret. 50 s. Hen. Roll( published by the late learned Chief Justice Hale) and a fourth by 4●. 3. Voll. pret: 35 s. W. shepherd; and we must expect that the Number of these will be yet farther increased. They are indeed much more helpful to a man of Law than to an Historian; who will find that they generally omit what makes most for his Purpose. Sir Thomas Littleton Littleton. was one of the Justices of the Common-pleas, in the Reign of Edward the Fourth; who, in his Fifteenth Year, made him a Knight of the Bath. His Book of tenors is in every ones hand and head that pretends to the Profession or Study of the Municipal Laws of this Kingdom; and has been more ( c) frequently imprinted than any other Law-Book whatever. A great many of these Editions are very 4o. Rotham.& Fol. land. temp. Hen. 8. Gallicè& Lat. Saepius▪ gull.& Angl. 8o land. 1670. &c. faulty, and cautiously to be used; turning the foolish Marginal Notes( of some illiterate owners of the MS. Copies) into the Text, and senselessly quoting Lib. 3. cap. 1.§. 260. &c. Cases that were never thought on by the Author himself. The first Impression shows that it never had his finishing hand; since the Table there gives the Titles of Tenancy by Elegit, Statute Merchant and Staple, which he never lived to treat on in his Book; having only Projected them, amongst others, in the first draft of his Work. A great many Particulars of his Common-Law are now altered by Acts of Parliament; and others are disused and grown obsolete. For Example, The whole Story about Gifts in Frank-Marriage, &c. Instit. Par. 1. Lib. 3. cap. 2.§. 271. serves only for Moot-Cases; affording some pretty quaint and nice Questions in Law, for the Exercise of Youth in the Inns of Court. Some Passages which may here seem a little dark( by reason of the Brevity to which the Author's Method obliged him) may be had more largely explained in the Year-Book of Edward the Fourth; wherein we have frequently Littleton's Opinion, in several intricate Cases, and the Reasons that confirmed it. Others are more amply treated on by Bracton and Breton; which, in the main, have been epitomized by this Writer. His two first Books were( as himself Lib. 3. cap. 13.§. 749. confesses) written by way of Comment upon le ancient livre de tenors; which( as In Praefat. ad N. B. Q. Fitzherbert informs us) was the Work of a grave and discreet man in the Reign of Edward the Third. Notwithstanding all these seeming Insufficiencies, the Treatise has obtained that Credit, and the Author's judgement has been reputed so infallible, that Praefat. ad Instit. Par. 1. p. 5. Sir Hen. Hobart and others of King James the First's Judges would not suffer his Opinion to be argued; and he who best understood him, gives a Character of his Performance as towering as 'tis possible to raise it. Tis the most perfect and absolute Work, Id. Ibid. says he, that ever was written in any human Science; and they that endeavour to disgrace the Author do not understand him. The first Volume of Sir Edward Coke's Institutes is onely a Translation and Comment upon this little Book; wherein all the Corruptions and Additions, that were in the former Prints; are said to be removed. I do not doubt but Effectual Care was taken in that Matter; and yet there have Several Mistakes( especially in Proper Names) escaped the Commentator himself, in his own Part, which will be more troublesone to the Historian than the Lawyer. Sir Edward's Complete 8o. pret. 2 s. 6 d. Copy-holder may be also red as a second Commentary on Littleton's tenors; since therein is explained the Nature of manors, and the Tenements that are held by Copy of Court-Roll, &c. Together with these it will be highly convenient to peruse Sir Hen. Spelman's most learned and Methodical Treatise of the Original, Growth, Propagation and Condition, of Feuds and tenors by Knight-Service here in England; which is lately Inter Reliq. Spelman. given us in Print, and wherein that Whole Subject is very Critically and Minutely handled. He proves, beyond all Contradiction, that these hereditary tenors were brought in by the Normans; and that all the Words or Terms of Art that belong to them were unknown to the Saxons: As were also those beneficiary Fruits( of Wards, Marriage, Homage, &c.) that grew from them. Ed. Dudley Dudley. was an eminent Lawyer in the beginning of the Reign of Henry the Seventh; who made him a privy-councillor, and employed him( with Sir R. Empson) in the invidious Office of Collecting Forfeitures upon Penal Statutes, which( to gratify the enraged Populace, in the entrance of the next Reign) cost him his Head. He wrote, in a MS. in Bibl. Cott. Vid.& Ath. Oxon. lib. 1. p. 7. Juridic style, a Book entitled arbour Reipublicae; but what the Reader will find in it, worth his seeking, I cannot inform him The Dialogue( in two Parts) which goes now by the Name of the Doctor and Student, was written by one Chr. Seintgerman, Seintgerman. a Barrister of the Inner-Temple; who died in the year Ibid. pag. 48. 1540. Bale says 'twas in 1539 and Dr. Fuller, Worthies, p. 210. in London. misplacing the two last Figures, makes it 1593 assuring us that he was extremely aged( above Eighty) when death seized him. His Book was first published in latin, and has had several 8o. land. 1528. 1598. 1604. &c. Editions in that Language under the Title of Dialogus de fundamentis Legum Angliae & de Conscientia. In the Translation 'tis called, 8o. land. 1580. &c. The Dialogues in English between a Doctor of Divinity and a Student in the Laws of England; and this has some few Chapters more than the former. The Design of the Book is to inquire into the Grounds and Reasons of the Common-Law of England; and to show how consistent every of its Precepts( how surprising soever they may appear, at the first sight) are with right Reason and a good Conscience. A great many of the most curious and intricate Points of Law are Stated with that clearness which is extremely Pleasant and entertaining, as well as useful and Instructive; and all the seeming Hardships and Difficulties in the Cases of Inheritance, Contract, Warranty▪ Wreck, Actions feigned, &c. are made easy, and fairly reconcilable to Moses and the Prophets. Mr. Wood says, that, with several of the latin Copies, he found another Treatise bearing the Title 8o. land. 1546. Principia sieve Maxima Legum Angliae, à Gallico illo( ut fertur) sermone collecta,& sic in Latinum translata, non solùm generosis Studentibus, ver●m etiam Perrarum dominis& possessoribus summè Necessaria: But he knows not whether 'twas of the same Author's Composure. Since his time, even down as low as our own, this very Subject has been undertaken by a great many Writers. Some of these, having rashly attempted the treating of Matters above their Understandings, are not worth mentioning: But others are highly deserving of any true Englishman's reading and Consideration. Such are. J. Perkin's French Treatise, which is said to have been written Vid. Orig Jurid. Cap. 23. not long after this Author's decease; Sir Fran, 4o. pret. 3 s. 6 d. Bacons Elements of the Common-Law of England; Dr. Cowels 8o. Lat. pret. 2 s. Angl. pret. 2 s. 6 d. Institutions, after the Method and Order of those of the Empire; M. 8o. pret. 4 s. Hawkes's and 8o. pret. 1 s. Noy's Grounds of the Law; W. 12o. pret. 1 s. Philip's Principles; and Fol. pret. 14 s. E. Wingate's Maxims of Reason. Sir Anthony Fitzherbert Fitzherbert. was one of Justices of the Common-Pleas in Henry the Eighth's time, and was Author of the new 8o. Fr. 1567. &c. Natura Brevium, amongst some other things elsewhere mentioned. He is observed( in this Book) never to city any Authority, but where the case is rare and doubtful; following herein the great Example of Sir Tho. Littleton in his famous Treatise of tenors. It was carefully reviewed and corrected by Will. Rastal; who added a Table and some other proper Ornaments, to what its excellent Author seems to have left unfinished. This Rastal was one of the most learned Justices of the same Bench in Queen Mary's time; but left the Kingdom upon her Sister's Accession to the Throne, being as Zealous a Romanist as his Uncle Sir Thomas More, and died at louvain. He has written( besides the Entries before mentioned) 8o. land. 1595. &c. less terms de la lay, being an useful Explanation of the Terms of Art in our English Law-Books; a work well known and esteemed by the Professors and Students in that Faculty. Dr. Cowel's 4o. Cantab. 1607. Interpreter was intended as an Enlargement upon this Book; but met with a differrent sort of Usage, the Ao. 3. Jac. 1. Parliament having ordered it to be burned and its Author imprisoned. One of the Crimes laid to his charge was his vilifying the Laws of England, and endeavouring to expose Littleton's tenors: whereas, in Truth, all that could justly be charged on him( as to this Particular) was onely a Vid. Spelm. Gloss. voice Tenura. modest recital of Fr. Hottoman's Raillery and Objections. Others allege Weldon's Court and Char. of King James 1. p. 191. a quiter different Reason for this severe Treatment of him and his Book; assuring us that he had therein ventured to assert that King James the First( who used not to put up a Reflection upon himself) had never taken that Oath which he ought to have done at his Coronation: And some Ath. Oxon. vol. 1. p. 784. say that his maintaining that the Royal Prerogative was limited, was what chiefly occasioned his sufferings. There were ten Fol. land. 1675 Volumes of the Year-Books Year-Books. Printed, by Subscription, about twenty years ago; being recommended by the Judges to all Students and Professors of the Law, as an Essential Part of their Study. These began with the Reign of Edward the Third, and ended with that of Henry the Eighth; and had all of 'em, at several times, been published heretofore: To which were afterwards added the Fol. Fr. pret. 25 s. Cases adjudged in the time of Edward the Second, collected by sergeant Maynard out of several ancient Manuscripts. The fairest of these is in the Library of the Inner-Temple; given to that Society by Sir John Barker, chancellor of the Exchequer under Philip and Mary. It was written by Richard de Winchedon, a Student of the Law in those times; who is supposed to be the first Collector of these Juridical Annals. Mr. Selden Dissert ad Flet. cap. 8.§. 3. had seen the like Reports of the Reign of Edward the First: For, speaking of the Authority of the Civil Law in our Courts, and the Quotations that were sometimes made out of it at the Bar, said rarissimae( says he) sunt ejusmodi in Seculo illo Juris apud Nostros Citationes; quod scimus ex Annalibus Juridicis Edwardorum tum primi tum secundi. Neque in primi Annalibus quid ejusmodi mihi occurrit. The first-publish'd ten Volumes are, 1. The former Part of Edward the Third; being Reports of Cases in his first ten years. 2. The Second Part of Edward the Third; beginning with the Tenth, and ending with the Thirty-ninth year of his Reign. 3. The Quadragesims; beginning at the Fortieth, and ending the Fiftieth year of that King. 4. The Book of Assizes and Pleas of the Crown, moved and depending before the Justices, as well in their Circuits as elsewhere, in the time of Edward the Third: Which said Book is of great Authority in Instit. Par. 1. lib. 3. cap. 4.§. 318. Law; and is so called because it Principally contains Proceedings upon Writs of Assize of Novel Disseisin, which in those days was festinum et frequens remedium. 'tis often quoted and referred to by most of our ancient Writers; and even Littleton Lib. 3. cap. 5. Sect. 383.& cap. 7.§. 420. himself gives some examples out of it. 5. The Reigns of Henry the Fourth and Henry the Fifth. 6. The Annals of Edward the Fourth. 7. The Long Quinto; or Cases adjudged in the fifth year of Edward the Fourth. 8. The first Part of Henry the Sixth; being the Cases of the first twenty years of that Reign. 9. The Second Part of Henry the Sixth; or, Reports in his twenty-first and following years. 10. Cases adjudged in the Reigns of Edward the Fifth, Richard the Third, Henry the Seventh and Henry the Eighth. These undoubtedly give us the best History of our Judges of both Benches; setting forth their Opinions in Cases of Intricacy, and( by Consequence) good probable Grounds for guessing at the Learning and Accomplishments of the Men. In this we have the concurring Testimony and Experience of Sir William Dugdale; who, amongst the Numerous Monuments of his Industry, has left some MS. Collections of his own which bear the Title of MSS. Dugd. in Mu●aeo Ashmol. E▪ 2. Observations upon Sundry Persons learned in the Law, extracted from the Year-Books. He has indeed Orig. Jurid. in Praefat. elsewhere noted two faults, in the elder Editions of them, which may expose young Students to mistakes; and, I am sure, they will be a much greater Stumbling-Block in the way of an Historian. 1. The Authorities alleged are dark; not distinguishing the Judges and Pleaders. Sir William's own Catalogues of the Judges may help to rectify this. 2. The Names of both are in such Abbreviations as to leave the Reader to very uncertain Conjectures, how the Persons mentioned were truly called. For the more effectual and ready Use of 'em there are several Tables and other Manuals published; the chief whereof are Tho. Ash's Fol. Fr. 2. Voll. pret. 15 s. Repertorium general, and his 8o. pret. 2 s. Epiceia. Reports. anciently Judgments at the Common-Law were recorded with the Vid. Instit. Par. 4. pag. 4. Reasons and Causes of such Judgments; and so the custom was during the whole Reign of Edward the First, and a great share of that of Edward the Second. But this Fashion ceased in Edward the Third's Time; when Causes were Numerous, and the practise of the Law was brought to its full Stature and Perfection. Hence arose the Trouble of those grave Reporters of Cases, who( from the beginning of that Reign) have supplied the Defects we meet with in the Records; and do not onely afford us( as these do) the final Determination of the Judges in each Case, but also the intermediate Reasonings and Debates whereon such judgement was formed and Founded. The Numbers of our Reporters are already swollen to some Scores, and are daily increasing; but I shall onely trouble the Reader with an Alphabetical Index of such as give the History of the Cases within my own present Limits, not meddling with those that have been adjudged since the Union of the Kingdoms. Anderson Fol. Fr. in two Parts. pret. 24 s. ( Sir edmond, sometime Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas) of the Principal Cases argued in his own Court, during the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. Bendloes Fol. Fr. pret.. 12 s. ( William, sergeant at Law) gives the Reign of Henry the Eighth, Edward the Sixth, Philip and Mary, and Queen Elizabeth. brook( Sir Robert, before mentioned) collected the cases, most remarkable in the Common-Pleas, from the Sixth of Henry the Eighth to the Fourth of Q. Mary. The Book has been frequently 8o. land. 1578. 1604. 1625. &c. Printed; and bears the Title of Ascuns novel cases, &c. cook( Sir Edward) in his first Fol. Fr. pret. 3 l Engl. pret. 30 s. Eleven Books brings Prime Cases adjudged in the Reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James the First, intermixed. The Author, being accused( by the said King's Directions) before his Majesty and the Privy-Council, of some misbehaviours in the Management of his Office as Chief Justice, it was ordered: Act. council. Reg. MS. Grenovic. Jun. 30. 1616. 1. That he be sequestered from the Council-Table until his Majesty's Pleasure be further known. 2. That he forbear to ride his Summer's Circuit as Justice of Assize. 3. That during this Vacation( while he has time to live Privately, and dispose himself at home) he take into his Consideration and Review his Books of Reports: Wherein, as his Majesty is informed, there be many Exorbitant and Extravagant Opinions, set down and published for Positive and good Law: And, if in Reading and Review he find any thing fit to be altered or amended, the Correction of it is left to his Direction: And, amongst other things, his Majesty was not well pleased with those Books wherein he styled himself Lord Chief Justice of England, whereas he could challenge no more than Chief Justice of the King's Bench: And, having corrected what in his Discretion he found meet in those Reports, his Majesty's Pleasure was, that he should bring the same privately to himself, that he might consider thereof as in his Princely judgement should be found Convenient. This was an Authoritative and terrible Sentence upon the whole. The Fifth Part of them contains cases relating to Ecclesiastical Power and Jurisdiction; and the false grounds, whereon many of the Judgments are there given, have been shown by Parsons in his 4o. Pret. 8 s. Answer to that Part. croak( Sir George, one of the Justices in the Kings Bench, temp. Car. 1.) in the first of his Three Fol. pret. 50 s. Parts, brings cases from the twenty-fourth of Queen Elizabeth to the end of her Reign. Dyer( Sir James, Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas) collects choice Fol. Fr. Pret. 24 s. cases throughout the four Reigns of Henry the Eighth, Edward the Sixth, Mary and Elizabeth. i. from the 4th of Hen. 8. to 24. Eliz. Goldesborough 4o. pret. 3 s. 6 d. ( J, Esquire, protonotary of the Common-Pleas) touches onely upon the last years of Queen Elizabeth's Reign. Hughes 4o. pret. 12 s. ( W. Esquire, of Grey's Inn) published an Anonymous Collection of Reports, seen and approved by Mr. Justice Godbolt, the first whereon go as high as Q. Elizabet. Kelway Fol. Fr. pret. 14 s. ( Supervisor Liberationum Regis, 10. Hen. 8.) wrote Reports from the twelfth of Henry the Seventh to the twenty-first of Henry the Eighth; and seems to have been the First Writer of Reports, giving that Name to his own Collection of Cases which are brought within the Year-Books. Noy Fol. pret. 10 s. ( William, attorney General to King Charles the First) begins with Queen Elizabeth's) tho' the chief of his are in the two following Reigns. own Fol. pret. 9 s. ( Thomas, one of the Justices of the Common-Pleas in Q. Elizabeth's Reign) reconciles many seemingly disagreeing Sentences in the Year-Books. Plowden Fol. Fr. in two Parts. pret. 20 s. ( Edm. sergeant at Law) goes thro' the Reigns of Edward the Sixth, Philip and Mary, and Queen Elizabeth. He might have done much greater things, had he started early enough; but he Ath. Oxon. Vol. 1. p. 176. practised physic some years before he engaged in the Law. His Reports were abridged in French, and the Abridgement was afterwards translated into English by Fabian Hickes: As before they had been rendered somewhat more useful by a Table made for them by W. Fleetwood, Recorder of London. There's this Character given of him by an able Judge Camb. Annal R. Eliz. ad An. 1584. Ut in Juris Anglicani Scientiâ, de quâ scriptis benè meruit, facilè Princeps; ita vitae integritate inter homines suae Professionis nulli secundus. Popham Fol. pret. 8 s. ( Sir John) his own Cases are onely those of Queen Elizabeth's Reign; tho' others are added by the Publishers of his Book. Cambden Annal. Reg. Eliz. ad An. 1592. says he was Chief Justice of the King's Bench: But his last Vid. Ath. Oxon. vol. 1. p. 293. Will proves that In Chron. Serie ad fin. Orig. Jur. Sir William Dugdale has more rightly placed him in the Common-Pleas. His Book itself adjudges the Cause the same way. Savil Fol. Fr. pret. 6 s. ( Sir John, Baron of the Exchequer) has the Cases of his own Court, and those of the Common-Pleas, in the Reign of Q. Elizabeth. yeluerton Fol. Fr. pret. 8 s. ( Sir Henry, Justice of the Common-Pleas) gives also some few of the latter part of that Queen's Reign. Together with the perusal of the Law-Writers( properly so called) it may be convenient for our Historian to consult also some of the short Readings: Readings. Which are Vacation-Exercises performed by the Utter-Barristers in our Inns of Court, by the appointment of the Benchers. The Reader usually makes choice of some Act of Parliament for his Subject; and his chief business is to observe what Inconveniences and Defects were in the Law, before the making of that Act, and how far it removes them. Of this kind several have been published by Sir Robert Brook, Sir Francis Bacon, and others. CHAP. VI. Of our Ecclesiastical Courts and their Registers. THE General Name which was anciently given, even by our Vid. Statut. circumspect Agatis, 13. Ed. 1. Law-givers themselves, to the Ecclesiastical Courts, was Curia Christianitatis; which seems to be but a little lamely explained by the great D. Ed. cook, Instit. Par. 2. pag. 488. Expounder of our English Law: For as the Constitutions that regulated their Proceedings were Sacred and Divine, so the matters therein debated were Spiritual; and 'twas believed that, without such Judicatories, the very Substance of Religion would Perish and come to nothing. On this Consideration, it has been the Pious Care of our Rulers to guard and defend them against the Encroachments of their Temporal Courts; whereof we have two Eminent Instances in the Statutes of Ao. 9. Ed. 2. Articuli Cleri and Circumspectè Agatis. Sir Edward cook, in his Instit. Par. 2. p. 5●9. Commentary upon the former of these, has given us the Answers of King James the First's Judges to five and twenty Objections; which were laid before that King and his Council, by Archbishop Bancroft, against the frequency of Prohibitions. This was in the Third year of that Reign; and, not long after, Sir Thomas Ridley wrote his View of the Civil and Ecclesiastical Law. This excellent Author, having defined both these Laws, and given a short account of the Volumes wherein they are contained, proceeds to show what Authority they have( of right) in this Kingdom; how the Authority has been, of late years, encroached upon; and by what means it may be restored, and even improved, without any Injustice to the Professors of our Common-Law. After this Book had wandered a while under great Variety of Fortunes, and different Censures, it had a 4o. Oxon. 1634. Second Edition given it by the learned J. Gregory, then Chaplain of Christs-Church in Oxford: Who, in the Notes he published upon some Passages, gave here a very early Testimony of his great Knowledge in the Antiquities and History of the Christian Church in General, as well as in those of England, from the first Establishment of the Gospel in this iceland. R. Mocket( Chaplain to Archbishop Abbot, and Warden of All-Souls) was Sir Thomas's Cotemporary; and wrote also a general View of the State of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in the English Church, which he entitled Tractatus de Politiâ Ecclesiae Anglicanae. 'twas Fol. land. 1616. first published with his latin Translation of our Liturgy, Articles, &c. and immediately condemned to the Flames, and burned. What was the Occasion of such a rough Treatment is variously reported. Some See Fuller's Ch. Hist. ad an. 1616. say that the fault was in this Treatise; the Author having therein shown himself a better Chaplain than Subject, magnifying the Ecclesiastical Power and depressing the Temporal. Others, P. Heylin, Cypri. Angl. lib. 1. p. 70. better acquainted with the Transactions of those Times, affirm the Cause to have been of another Nature: And that the whole Volume perished upon account of the Author's leaning too much towards the Discipline of Geneva, and( on that Score) omitting the first Clause of the twenty'th Article. However it was, the Treatise de Politia has since had the favour of a new 8o. land. 1683. Edition; and is well esteemed as a learned and useful system. With it there's now joined( and very fitly) R. Zouch's Descriptio Juris& Judicii Ecclesiastici secundùm Canones& Constitutiones Anglicanas: Wherein the Modern practise of both our superior and subordinate Courts is most succinctly and methodically Illustrated; not only by the ancient Canonists, but likewise by the Common and Statute-Laws of this Kingdom. Attorney General Noy left a large Ath. Oxon. vol. 1. pag. 506. Volume of Collections out of the Records of the Tower, touching the Privileges and Jurisdiction of our Ecclesiastical Courts; which we have reason to believe would be answerable to that Character, which Archbishop See his Printed Diary. p. 19. Laud has left of him, that he was the greatest Friend to the English Church that she ever had of his Condition, since she needed any such. Till these Collections can be retrieved, we must be content to learn the Nature of our Church's Policy from such Helps as have been already mentioned; together with Rich. Cosin's Book entitled Fol. Oxo●▪ 1684. Ecclesiae Anglicanae Politeia in Tabulas digesta. How Justice is administered in these Courts in Relation to Advowsons, Incumbency, Tithes, &c. may be known from Sir Simon 8o. pret 4 s. Degge's Parson's counsellor, J. Doderidge's 8o. pret 1 s. 6 d. Complete person, W. Hughes's 8o. pr●● 2 s. Parson's Law, W. Sheppard's 12o pr. 1 s. Parson's Guide, G. Meriton's 8o. pret. 2 s. Parson's Monitor; and J. 4o. pret. 10 s. Godolphin's Repertorium Canonicum: And, for the right Determination of Causes relating to Espousals and Matrimonial Contracts, the Ecclesiastical Judge can hardly have a safer Rule than is prescribed by He●● Swinburn, in his Treatise 4o. pret. 4 s. on that Subject; wherein the most Intricate Questions are soundly and Religiously Stated. In the Cottonian Library there are also several MSS, which look this way, and are reckoned by Orig. Jurid. cap. 24. Sir William Dugdale amongst his Law-Books of uncertain Times and Authors; which nevertheless ought to be put in the Catalogue of our Church's Apologies. They are these: 1. Cleopatra, E. 6. De Potestate Regiâ in Ecclesiasticis. 2. Ibid. F. 1. A Volume of Tracts concerning the Jurisdiction of the Clergy; Jurisdiction of Prelates; Prohibitions: Exposition of Statutes concerning Ecclesiastical Causes, whether the Interpretation belong to the Judges or Civilians; and Actions for Tithes. 3. Ibid F. 2. Immunitas Clericorum à Jurisdictione Temporali. 4. Claudius, E. 8. Consuetudo Angliae, ex qu● Occisor Clerici esset sola excommunicatione feriendus. The highest Ecclesiastical Court in England is that of the Convocation; Convocation which has always been called by the King's Writ, or( as Bede Hist. Eccles. lib. 2. cap. 2. expresses it in the case of Augustine the Monk) Adjutorio Regis. It has been allowed to have a Power of Judging in Causes purely Spiritual Instit. par. 4. cap. 74. Juxta Legem Divinam& Canones Sanctae Ecclesiae: But was frequently inhibited, even in the very Writs of Vid. D. gull. Dugd. Summon. in Ed. 1. Ed. 2. &c. Summons, from Decreeing any thing to the Prejudice of the King or his Realms. Such was the ancient Respect paid to these August Assemblies, that the prevailing with them to attest their H. Spelm. Glossar. in voice Finis. Finales Concordiae or Conventiones( Fines levied, as we now call 'em) was thought to be as good and valid, as Solemn and Authentic, as if the business had been Transacted in the King's own Presence, or before his great Council of Parliament. So that, had we the Journals of Convocations complete, we should thereby receive very considerable Light in matters of Civil History, as well as in those that more especially relate to the Affairs and State of the Church. The Transactions of that under Henry the Eighth, in the year 1536. were seen and perused by the Hist. of Hen. 8. pag. 405. Lord Herbert; who tells us that the King himself drew up the Articles of Religion that were passed in it, moderating the Arguments of the Members upon each Question, and adding Animadversions upon 'em with his own hand. The like he did upon those of 1543. called a necessary Defence for all sorts of People; as appears by the Book itself, which is still extant in Sir John Cotton's Library: Where are also several others of the like kind. What's the present Nature, Power and Constitution of these Courts, has been very much disputed of late; and the Controversy has been managed with somewhat of an unbecoming bitterness and Zeal. The fi●st Starter of the Moot-Point was the Author of a 4o. land. 1696. Letter to a Convocation-Man &c. A Treatise which pretends to prove, 1. That this Assembly has a Right to meet, whenever the Parliament does so. 2. That, being thus met, it has also an inherent and unalterable Right to the Exercise of its Power; so as to confer( at least) and treat, without any formal licence from the King. This Letter having made a considerable Noise and Pother in the Kingdom, commended and railed at by Men of different Thoughts and Interests, was at last considered by Dr. Wake; who entitled his Answer 8o. land. 1697. The Authority of Christian Princes over their Ecclesiastical Synods considered, &c. This learned Writer shows first what Obedience all foreign Councils, both National and Provincial, have always paid to their respective Emperours, King's, and other Princes; and then proceeds to prove that the like Authority has been, in all Ages, exercised by the Monarchs of this Realm: Insomuch that our Convocations could never meet without the King's Writ of Summons, nor ever act without his Permission. In Reply to this was published 8o. land. 1697. Municipium Ecclesiasticum, by a warm Author in Ambuscade; who is pleased to tell the World that the Church of England suffered more by the Doctor's Book, than by all other Lay or Law Oppositions whatsoever. This, being onely the First Part in Three of what was Projected on this Occasion, goes no farther than a General Narrative of the Nature of these Divine Powers wherewith the Churches of Christ are invested: Whereas the main of the Quarrel, about matters of Fact in Ecclasiastical History, is still reserved for the Subject of a Second Adventure; and, when that's happily finished, we may hope for a Third, which will demonstrate the pressing Necessities we are now under of having a Convocation to sit and act. In the mean time, the Doctor( in his 8o. land. 1698. Appeal to all the true Members of the Church of England) has kindly Pointed to him most of those Writers which may create him any Disturbance in the framing and finishing of his Second Part: Which can never be effectually completed, till he either proves that those great Men are misquoted or misrepresented; or else that they are under a Notorious Error in their Common Doctrine of the King's Supremacy, and that all our Doctors since the Reformation have conspired together against the Sacred Authority of the Ecclesiastical State. From the Rites of the Christian Church further defended &c. 8o. land. 1698. Letter lately published in the Name of Mr. S. Hill Rector of Kilmington, one would imagine that the remaining Parts of the unfinished Answer go but slowly on; and that the Author's chief Talent( as his unknown Friend observes of him) lies in making daring Attempts upon formidable Adversaries. Before he advances any farther in these Attempts, he may do well to consider the plain Distinction betwixt those Convocations that are called by the King's Writ to the Bishops as Members of Parliament, and those that are summoned onely by his Writ to the two Archbishops: And, having found that these latter are indeed the true English Convocations, properly so called, he will allow their Just Definition( wherewith Dr. Wake has not been able to please him) to be See B. Stillingfleet's Rights of Paroch. Clergy, p. 364, 365. Occasional Assemblies of the Bishops and inferior Clergy for such purposes as the King shall direct when they meet. The Court of Delegates Delegates. is erected by virtue of a 25. Hen. 8. cap. 19. Statute which says, that for lack of Justice in any of the Courts of the Archbishops, upon Appeal to the King's Court of Chancery, Commissions shall be directed under the great Seal to such Persons as the King shall Name; whose Decree shall be Good, Effectual and Definitive. It has also been Instit. Par. 4. cap. 74. approved( tho' the Act of Parliament takes no notice of any such matter) that Appeals do not onely ly to this Court from the Archbishops, but also from the Court of Admiralty: And, tho' the Statute says that Decrees in this Court shall be Definitive, yet the Term. Trin. 39. Eliz. in B. R. Judges have maintained that the King may still( as the Pope used to do heretofore) grant a new Commission ad Revidendum. The established Doctrine of the King's Supremacy, whereon the Authority of this Court is founded, was at large asserted by Will. Prynne; who has furnished us with Three Voluminous Tomes of an exact Chronological Vindication and Historical Demonstration of our British, Roman, Saxon, Norman and English King's being Supreme in and over all Spiritual or Religious Affairs, Causes, Persons, &c. The Fol. land. 1666. First of these begins at the first planting of Christianity in this iceland, and reaches to the end of Richard the First's Reign: Whence the Fol. land. 1665. Second( which was first published) continues the Story and Precedents down to the death of Henry the Third. Most of the Copies of these two Tomes perished in the dreadful Fire of London; and no man has hitherto thought it worth his expense and while to give us a new Edition, from any of the few that escaped. His Fol. land. 1668. Third has enough( in all Conscience) to satisfy any reasonable Reader; and supersede his Enquiry into the State of the case, in either former or following Ages. He begins with a long List of the Records of King John and Henry the Third, which he calls an Appendix to the Second Tome; and then proeeeds( for above a Thousand Pages) with the like Precedents in the Reign of Edward the First. His Design is to show how the Pope and Court of Rome, the English Clergy and Scotch Nobility, usurped upon the Rights of these three Kings; and how, on the contrary, they defended themselves against all such Perfidious Encroachments. After the Author's death, his Executors( into whose hands most of the Impression fell) put a new Title to the Book and called it See his Title-Page, Printed 1670. The History of King John &c. in hopes that, appearing in the Shape and Disguise of an Entire Work, it would go off the more readily. Here we have sufficient Barriers against the Pope's Invasion: But, the Supremacy having been also invaded by the People, it was necessary that this Dispute should be likewise set in a Just Light; and Royalty asserted against the English as well as foreign Usurpers. This was done by R. Sheringham, Fellow of Cai's college; who, being in Exile with his sovereign, and finding a pretended English Parliament caressed by the States of Holland as the Supreme Government of this Nation, resolved to do what he could to undeceive those that were Strangers to our Constitution. His The King's Supremacy asserted, 4o. land. 1651. 1682. Book shows his intimate Acquaintance with the Laws of England; and learnedly overthrows the Arguments of those restless and antimonarchical scribblers that( at that time) distracted the Age with their Impertinent and mad Discourses about Coordination of the three Estates, Superiority of the King's Court over his Person, &c. The Court of High-Commission High-Commission. was St. 1. Eliz. cap. 1. erected out of a Instit. Par. 4. cap. 74. Necessity of the Times; since the Bishops and most of the Clergy were to be deprived, and yet the old Methods of Justice would not do the Work. The Commissioners had Power to execute all manner of Spiritual Jprisdiction under the Queen; and to reform all Heresies, Schisms, Contempts, &c. but( as was declared by the Term. Pasch. 9. Ja. 1. Judges, and amply proved by argument, &c. 4o. p●et. 6 d. Nic. Fuller) had not any Authority to fine and imprison at such a rate as was afterwards practised. Before chancellor Egerton's time none of their Commissions were enrolled, nor are now to be found; so that 'tis not certainly known what Powers were granted them. But it appears that they took cognisance not onely of Adultery, Fornication and some other Grosser Faults, but also of petit and trifling Cases of Assaults, Defamation, working on holidays, &c. Each of the two Archbishops Archbishops. has a Prerogative-Court; wherein all Wills are to be proved, and Administrations granted, where the Party deceased had bona Notabilia in some other Diocese than that wherein he died. The Probate of every Bishop's Will, or Administration of his Goods, is also to be had at these Perogative-Offices. That for the Province of Canterbury is kept in Dean's Court near St. Paul's Church in London; where Vid. D. Chamberl. Not. Angl. Edit. 16. p. 276, 277. any Will may be copied ( which is here provable) since Wat Tyler's Rebellion. The Court of Arches( or Arcubus) has its Name from Bow-Church, wherein the Dean of the Arches keeps it; that Parish, with twelve more in London, being under the peculiar Jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Judge has Ordinary Jurisdiction( over these Parishes) in Spiritual Causes of the first Instance; and, by Appeal, his Power may be extended throughout this whole Province. The Court of Audience is kept by the Archbishop himself in his own Palace, and meddles not with any thing of Contentious Jurisdiction, but Matters of Form onely and Voluntary; such as Confirmations of the Elections of Bishops, Consecrations, Guardianship of the Spiritualties of his Suffragans seed vacant, Institutions, Collections, &c. and the Records that relate to these are commonly in the Custody of the Archbishop himself, or His Secretary, and rarely transmitted into any Register's Office. Consistories. The Courts of the Suffragan-Bishops of both Provinces are not onely held before the chancellors of the several Dioceses, but also( in some large ones) before the Bishop's Commissary; whose Vid. Instit. par. 4. cap. 74. Jurisdiction extends to such Places as are so remote from the Cathedral that the chancellor cannot call them thither without great travail and Vexation. 'twas about the eighteen year of William the Conquerour's Reign that( by Advice of his Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots and Princes of the Kingdom) it was provided that these and the County-Courts should be Separated. The Records of that Parliament are now lost: But the very words of so much of 'em, as related to this Particular, have been preserved in a Charter granted by that King to Remigius Bishop of Lincoln; which tells us that therein 'twas provided, Vid. Reliq. Spelm. pag. 131. Ut nullus Episcopus vel Archidiaconus de Legibus Episcopalibus ampliùs in Hundred Placita teneat, nec causam quae ad Regimen Animarum pertinet ad Judicium Saecularium omnium adducant; said quicunque secundùm Episcopales leges de quacunque causa vel culpâ interpellatus fuerit, ad locum quem ad hoc Episcopus ei elegerit et nominaverit, veniat, ibique de causâ vel culpâ suâ respondeat. The Bishops were not( in those days) furnished with any such Subordinate Judges in these, as Vicars-General, chancellors, Commissaries, &c. Which were never heard of( at least, in this Kingdom) till about the See B. Stillingfl. of Eccles. Cases, p. 147. middle of Henry the seconds Reign, when their constant attendance at Court put them upon a necessity of committing the Administration of Justice in their Dioceses to other People. The Methods of Proceeding here used, with a view of the Matters Transacted and Recorded, are to be learned from Hen. Cary's 12o. pret. 10 d. Law of England, or true Guide for all Persons concerned in Ecclesiastical Courts; Fr. Clark's 4o. pret. 5 s. Praxis; and H. Conset's 8o. pret. 6 s. practise of the Spiritual Courts. 'tis lately asserted by a B. Stillingfl. Eccles. Cases, p. 146. great Man, that, in the Saxon times, the Archdeacons Archdeacons. had no Jurisdiction; their whole business being to attend the Bishop at Ordinations and other public Services in the Cathedral. In the Province Hoc è fragm. MS. Bibl. Cott. Edit. in Angl. Sacr. Tom. 1. p. 150. of Canterbury, he says, their Courts were first erected by Lanfranc: who, by the way, is represented by Introd. to Engl. Hist. p. 234, &c. Sir William Temple as a Person of an approved Wisdom and Master of all these other excellent Qualifications that are desirable in a good Prelate and trusty counsellor. The like was done by his Cotemporary Archbishop Thomas in the Province of York: And the two Reasons alleged for this Reformation, are 1. The laying aside the Chorepiscopi in the Western Parts, as assuming too much to themselves. 2. The Public Services which the Bishops were more strictly tied to, as the King's Barons, in the Norman Times. There's several times mention made of these Courts, as well known and allowed on, in the Famous Constitutions of Clarendon and Henry the Second; but I shall onely desire the Reader to take notice of the tenth, De Appellationibus, sicubi emerserint, ab Archidiacono debent ad Episcopum &c. Which is still the practise. 'twas not the Design of these Constitutions( as is well known) to enlarge the Jurisdiction and Authority of Ecclesiastical Judges, but rather to correct and restrain their Usurpations upon the Temporal Power; and therefore it may justly be believed that the Archdeacons had formerly presided in those Subordinate Courts, which are here hinted at and approved: So that a W. Kennet. Paroch. Antiq. p. 643. learned Person seems to be mistaken in his Calculation, when he dates the Original of that Judicial Power which the Archdeacons now have in our Church from their Invasion and Intrusion upon Rural Deans, sometime after the year 1236. Nor can I see how either Legate Otho's Injunction, or the Gloss upon it, gives any Countenance to his opinion in making this a New Office. The Commentator especially appears to me to be of a quiter different judgement: For, having pu●… the Gloss. 2●… Constit. de Archid. ver. Visitant. Question, whether the Monk●… might prescribe against the Archdeacon's Visitation of their appropriated Livings? He answers, Videtur quòd non: cum ejus Superioritas, sicut Episcopi, sit Juris communis. I shall easily agree that, about this Time, the Supine Negligence of the Archdeacons themselves, and the Gross Corruptions of their Officials and other Officers( who minded little more than what the Gloss calls Lucrum Pecuniarum) might Squander and lose most of the Records of these Courts: Or otherwise, I know not but we might have their Acts as entire, and of as old a date, as any of those in the Consistories of our Bishops. In their Registers we should have Inquisitions de Jure Patronatûs, Presentments, Schedules of the Ornaments, and Terriers of the Gleab-Lands, &c. The best Account of their Procurations is given by Historical Discourse of Procurations. 4o. land. 1661. Jo. Stephens; who, having been engaged in many Contests about them in the Archdeaconry of gloucester, took the Pains to make a full Enquiry into the Legal State of such Payments here in England. In handling of which Debate, he answers these three Questions: 1. What a Procuration is, and in what manner it was anciently Paid? 2. Whether it be due ratione Visitationis? 3. Whether onely so due, and no otherwise? Having largely and learnedly determined these Points, he subjoins the Famous Case Term. Trin. 2. Jac. 1. in Scacc. of Proxies between the King and Sir Ambrose Forth; and, in the Conclusion, adds two more of his own Discourses about Synodals and Pentecostals. Wills. Not to trouble ourselves with the harsh Distinction of Intrinsical and Extrinsical Jurisdiction in Testamenrary Causes, 'tis enough for our present purpose that it be allowed us that the former( or the Probate of Wills) seems to be as ancient in the Bishop's Court as the forementioned Separation of that from the County by the Conqueror. 'tis plain the practise ran so in Lib 7. cap. 6, 7,& 8. Glanvil's time, under Henry the Second; and he speaks of it as a settled and uncontroverted Point. That Reign was the most remarkable for sharp Contests and Feuds betwixt the Civil and Ecclesiastical Lawyers; and yet we do not hear that this Right was ever denied to the Churchmen. Sir Hen. Spelman has left us a Vid. Reliq. Spelm. pag. 127. &c. Vid. etiam G. Linwood Tit. de Test. Cap. Stat. verb. Eccles. Libert. learned Discourse on this Subject; wherein he shows that the Goths and Normans had the Usage of proving their Wills in presence of their Clergy only( and a Notary Apostolic) long before the Conquest. The way, he says, in Normandy was to do it before the Curate or Vicar of the Parish where the Testator lived; which is a Method still prescribed to in some peculiar Parishes in this Kingdom. It is therefore possible that we may meet with the Originals of some Wills, and Copies of others, in our Ecclesiastical Courts, as ancient as our first Norman Kings: Tho' a most diligent Seld. Jurisd. of Test. cap. 6. see also Prynn's Rec. of Ed. 1. p. 139, 140. Searcher after such Records, as well as others of all Nations and Languages, assures us that he could never see an express Probate elder than about the time of Henry the Third. Administrations granted of Intestate's Goods, by the same Powers, are probably as ancient; and therefore we may confidently search for Inventories of such as old as any of the aforesaid Wills. So much I think may reasonably be inferred from that clause in King John's Charter, si aliquis liber homo intestatus decesserit, C●tal●a sua &c. Per visum Ecclesiae distribuantur: For, since this was a Confirmation of those Liberties which the Barons of England claimed as their known Rights in the days of his Ancestors, it looks very probable that the Church had likewise challenged and enjoyed those Powers that are here granted Her. I know this is an Inference that's not allowed on by Mr. Selden, in his In two Parts, Fol. land. 1683. Original Jurisdiction of Testaments: But that great Man was under some invincible Prejudices against our Ecclesiastical State, which would not suffer him to be Himself when he treated of Affairs of that Nature. How our Law stands in Relation to these, may be seen in 4o. pret. 10 s. Hen. Swi●burn's Elaborate Treatise on Wills and Testaments; J. Godolphin's 4o. pret. 6 s. Orphan's Legacy; G. 8o. pret. 1 s. 6 d. Meriton's Touchstone; and Tho. Wentworth's 8o. pret. 2 s. Office and Duty of Executors. This last was an Eminent Lawyer, and Recorder of London, in the beginning of King James the First's Reign; and has given excellent Directions to Testators for the better choice of Executors and Contrivance of their Wills. Mr. Selden's 4o. land. 1618. History of Tithes Tithes. was what, most of all his Works, blasted his Credit, and exposed him to Penance as well as Censure: For the High Commission presently obliged him to a public acknowledgement of his Offence, in those Scandalous In Praefat. Reproaches he cast upon the Clergy, as generally blokish and idle. This Treatise was immdiately fallen upon by several learned and Vigorous Opponents. R. Tildesley, who wrote ( f) Animadversions upon it, taking to task the Law-Part, as S. Nettles did the Rabbinical, who was Archdeacon and 4o. land. 1619. Prebendary of Rochester; where he had the Convenience of those Records which were of mighty use to him in the compileing of that work. R. Mountagu's Book bears the Title of 4o. land. 1621. Diatribae upon the first Part of the late History of Tithes, and is onely a Supplement( of three Chapters) to what Dr. Tildesley had before published; having little or nothing from the Records of this Kingdom, and seems to have been Printed chiefly for its bringing abroad with it its Vaunting Prefatory Address, stuffed( according to the mode of those times) with a deal of Philological Learning. Selden's History was reprinted in the year 1680. tho' the Title-Page dissembled the matter, and pretended that the Copies now distributed were onely a newly discovered Store of the former Edition. This gave occasion to a fresh 4o. land. 1681. Vindication of the Divine Right of Tithes by Dr. cumber, the present learned Dean of Durham; who Ingenuously confesses that, in what relates to our English Records, he had no other Helps than what he borrowed from Tildesley, the Monasticon and Selden's own Quotations. Another Answer was framed by Will. Sclater; whose 4o. land. 1623. Arguments about Tithes are not thought to be so Valid and Considerable, as what has been advanced by the four learned Persons above-mentioned. M. Selden had undoubtedly a deal of Resentment in him, against the established Churchmen, when he wrote his Book: But it can hardly be supposed that 'twas intended to gratify the Presbyterian Party; who never boggled at the receiving Tithes in full, as the most comfortable Support of their Ministry. One of the Chief Bell-Weathers of that Faction, Dr. Cornelius burgess, has carried the Point higher than the warmest of our Episcopal Writers; affirming, in his 8o. land. 1625. New Discovery of Personal Tithes, that the Tenth Part of the clear gains of Servants and Day-Labourers are due to the person, both in Conscience and by the Laws of this Kingdom. 'tis true this Treatise was published before its mischievous Author had openly deserted our Church's Communion, and whilst he was Chaplain to King Charles the First: But we do not hear, that, even after his traitorous Desertion of his Mother and( the Father of his Country) his own Royal Master, he ever recanted that Doctrine; tho' he zealously preached up the Alienation of the Lands of Bishops and Deans and Chapters, himself coming in for a share in the Spoil, contrary to his avowed Opinion in former days. The Mischief that has accrued to the Church of England by Appropriations, and the Scandal of our Reformation in continueing the Sacrilege by our many impropriated Tithes at this day, is well treated on by an W. Kennet, Paroch. Antiq. pag. 433. &c. ingenious and learned Person, who designs a more distinct Ibid. 445. Historical Account of these matters; wherein possibly may be brought to Light the long concealed MS. Vid. Ath. Oxon. lib. 2. p. 289. Whip for Sacrilege, which was written by John Reading( Prebendary of Canterbury) against Anthony Persons's great Case of Tithes. Till this is done, we may reasonably content ourselves with what is already given us by Sir Henry Spelman; in his three excellent Treatises on the same Subject, 8o. land. 1613. Denon temerandis Ecclesiis, his larger 4o. Ibid. 1646. Work of Tithes, and his 8o. land. 1698. History and Fate of Sacrilege. The best account of the present State of our Tithes( both as to the Foundation in our Laws, whereon they stand, and the Rules that are to be observed in looking after them) is lately given by the most learned Bishop Eccles. Cases, p. 254, 255, &c. Stillingfleet; who never fails of exhausting whatever Subject he pretends to treat on. The 'vice Chancellour's Courts, in both our Universities, Univerties. are of great Antiquity; and should afford us some valuable Records. In the Case of Croke's Rep. Term. Trin. 3. Car. 1. Wilcocks against Bradel, by the Charters of the University of Oxford then produced, it appeared that they had been long empowered to inquire of all Trespasses, Injuries, Pleas and Quarrels, and of all other Crimes and Matters( except Pleas of Frank-tenement) where a Scholar or their Servants or Ministers sunt una partium& Cognitionem& correctionem ind habend. Secundum eorum Statuta vel Consuetudines, vel secundùm Legem Regni nostri Angliae, ad voluntatem Cancellarii; Ita quòd Justiciarii de Banco Regis sieve de Communi Banco, vel Justiciarii de Assisis non se intromittant. It likewise appeared that these Charters were confirmed by St. 13. Eliz. Act of Parliament; wherein they were particularly and Verbatim recited. But we are not to estimate the utmost Age of the Records of this Court from what was alleged at that trial: For in Halley's Case, croak, Term. Mich. 3. Car. 1. the same year, a Charter was produced, bearing Date in the third of Richard the Second; and we also Vid. Hist.& Antiq. Oxon. Par. 1. p. 164. know the like was granted by his Grandfather, Edward the Third, in the year 1331. So that thus Nay, as high as 3. Ed 1. as appears from Prynne's Records of that King. p. 162. 363. high( at least) we might hope for Information from the Registers of this Court; if they had been continued completely down to our Times. Registers in Churches( of Weddings, Registers in Churches. christenings and Burials) were first appointed to be kept in the year J. Speed, in Hen 8.§. 100. 1538. just upon the Dissolution of Monasteries; and, since that time, have proved some of our best Helps towards the preserving of History. Their Use might be of a yet farther extent, if care were taken to register also many other remarkable Occurrences relating to the Public Concerns of the Several Parishes; as Recoveries of Benefactions, Properties in Seats or Isles, Rights of Advouson, &c. But 'twill be our everlasting Reproach, if( instead of thus improving the good Designs of our Ancestors, for the continuance of their Names and Memories) we shall omit even that Part of our Duty which is now enjoined by an Vid. Constit. Eccles. A. D. 1603. Can. 70. Ecclesiastical as well as Civil Authority, and record Matters in our Church-Books after such a Manner as will only serve to render them Monuments of our own Negligence. For a Collection of ancient Usages in Presentations by Lay-Patrons the Reader may consult 4o. land. 1649. W. Prynne's Book entitled Jus Patronatus: Or( as he is pleased to expound those two words) a brief, legal and rational Plea for Advowsons and Patrons ancient, lawful, Just and Equitable Rights and Titles to present Incumbents to Parish-Churches or Vicarages upon Vacancies, &c. CHAP. VII. Of Conveyances, Deeds and other Evidences, in the hands of private Subjects. THE Miseries of our many Civil Wars must be presumed to have destroyed vast Numbers of Papers relating to the Affairs of private Families, as well as more Public Records; especially when we consider the Several Forfeitures and Sequestrations to which( at some time or other) all that are of any Note have been exposed. But the sudden Subversion of Monasteries; together with the havoc that it made of Registries of a more general Nature, did also occasion a heavy Destruction of these useful Materials for History; since many of the most considerable English Families had committed their best Vid. Rites &c. of the Ch. of Durham. p 132. Evidences to the Custody of the Monks, in whose hands they thought them safer than at Home. The small Scraps of Parchment and Paper, wherein these were commonly written, were more liable to be lost and squandered than the more bulky Instruments of our dayes: For our forefathers used such short, simplo and confideing Forms of Conveyance, as sufficiently proved that they were not upon the Catch, nor expected any Advantage by their Skill in quirks, and the nice wording of their Deeds. W. Sheppard's Fol. pret. 14. Law; and 4o. pret. 10 s. Touch-stone, of Common-Assurances, would have been useless Pieces in those Ages; when all manner of Feoffments, Gifts and Grants, ran in as few and easy Terms as the first Bargains( that occasioned them) were or could be concluded, An eminent Antiquary has floridly declamed against Degeneracy in this matter, from the laudable practise of our Ancestors, in this panegyric upon their contrary Methods and Management: J. Seld. Jan. Angl. lib. 2. pag. 70. Quàm facilis& apicibus Juris soluta, videre est; Domi●●●●uit translatio, simul& à perplexantium ●●●tiosâ m●litiâ, turgescen ub●sque memb●●●arum ●●●●●us& Poly●rychis libera. And W. Somner of R. Ports in Kent. p. 71. See also Cambd. Brit. N E. p. 344, 345. another, who himself was a great Master of that Pri●●●●ve ●ntegrity which he observed in the Men of old, takes Special Notice o● the vast Difference between the Candid Simplicity and Plainness of those elder Times( when Conscience was accoun●●d t●e best Evidence) and the Serpent ●●e S●btilty of these, when no Conveyance but i● Folio; when an Acre of Land cannot p●ss without almost an Acre of Writing, &c. their honest meaning going farther, in point of security, than our much writing now; whilst their plain dealing supplied and made up what was wanting e●ther in Matter of Form or Multitude of Words. Whether the Norman Nobility brought their use of large Seals Seals. into this Kingdom, or found it here, I am not very certain: But here they had them, presently after their Arrival; the most usual Impres●es being an armed Knight on Horse-back, with a drawn Sword and the Bearer's Na●e; 〈◇〉 SIGILLUM ROBERTI DE VALL●BUS. &c. Perhaps the large Territories, wherewith the ●●nquerour rewarded their Services, induced them to believe themselves advanced ●●o so many Principalities; and this conceit might incline them to rival their sovereign himself in the Grandeur of their Public Instruments. Sometimes, instead of the Horseman, we have a Lion, Leopard, Greyhound, bide or other Device, part of the Arms of the Family; but always the Person of ●●nour's own Proper Name incir●●●g his Paternal Coat, or whatever other Impression he was pleased to fancy. Seals of a round See Tit. of Hon. pag. 532. Form generally betoken'd something of Royalty in the Possessor, and a more than Ordinary Extent of Temporal Jurisdiction: Whereas great Ladies under Coverture, and Bishops, Abbots, &c. commonly made use of oval ones. The Bishops of Durham, as Counts Pa●●tine, had round ones; bearing the ●●shop sitting in his Chair, circumscrib● with his Name Dei gratia Episcopus Du●●●mensis; and( on the Reverse) an armed man on Horseback, with his Sword drawn, and the Bishop's Arms( either of his See or Family) on the ●hield, circumscribed as before. If the Grantor's Quality was mean, and his Family too Inconsiderable to bear Arms, the Conveyances were usually ratified under the Authentic Seal of some Public Officer or Corporation; ●he reason being alleged in these or the like words, Quia Sigillum meum penitus ●st ignotum, Sigillum Officialis de N. ●pponi Procuravi. From the frequency of these Subscriptions, and other Arguments of less consideration, some have W. Lambard's Peramb. of Kent. Edit 1596. pag. 404, 405. 406. affirmed that the common use of Seals did not prevail in England before the Reign of Edward the Third. And there's a Passage in a MS. History of Battail-Abbey which seems to countenance that Opinion. It tells a story of an inferior Fellow's being reprimanded by Richard Lucy( Lord Chief Justice under Henry the Second) for daring to use a private Seal; which, as he observed to him, was the Proper prerogative of the King and Peers of the Realm. The matter of Fact, as it there stands, is but lamely reported; and 'tis hard to draw any certain Conclusion from it. The man Vid. Tit. o● Hon. p. 652. perhaps was censured for unjustly usurping another's Signet, and Coat of Arms; Or, it may be, he had insolently taken upon him to use a greater Seal than became his Quality: For the Nobility, and other Persons of Rank and Family, had their larger and less Seals; the former giving the Impression of their Ancestor's Coat, and the latter any little Device without a Scutcheon. This is proved from an entry on an old Record, which runs thus: Placit. apud Westm. Term Hil. 44. Hen. 3. Rot. 28. Johannes de Burgo cognovit quòd apposuit parvum Sigillum suum cuidam Scripto quod fecit Decano& Capitulo de Lichefeud, de Confirmatione& quieto clameo de Advocatione de Herdel, & apponet Sigillum suum magnum praedicto scripto circa tertiam Septimanam post Pascham. Others have thought that none below the Degree of a Knight-Bachelour was anciently privileged to use a Seal: And this fancy seems to be supported by a Clause added to a Charter given by Husculph de Soligne Lord of Dol in Bretagne to the Abbey of Vieuville, about the year 1170. Tit. of Hon. Par. 2. cap. 3. p. 459. & quia adhuc Miles non eram, proprium Sigillum non habebam, quando hanc concessionem fecimus, authoritate Sigilli Domini Johannis Patris mei Cartam illam Sigillavimus. Agreeable to which, and of an elder Date, is that in the old Lieger-Book of Ibid. p. 651. Abingdon from Richard Earl of Chester( under King Henry the First) and his Mother the Countess Dowager; which is there reported to have been sealed by the said Earl with the Countess's Seal: And the reason assigned is, ●ondum enim militari Balteo cinctus est; Nay, and 'tis likewise added that literae quaelibet ab eo directae materno Sigillo includebantur. From this latter Passage M. Selden thinks it probable that Infants( in those times) were not al●ow'd to have any Seal of their own, being obliged to have continual recourse to those of their Guardians or Tutors; and that out of a very Prudential Consideration, to prevent the Inconveniencies that Youth and Indiscretion might otherwise bring upon them. The former Expression proves also that the Earl was now under a Legal, as well as Natural, Non-age: For the Nobility were sometimes Knighted in their Childhood; and, whenever that Honour was conferred, it always( amongst its other privileges) brought a Supply of full Age. Notwithstanding these seeming Objections, and whatever Surmises of the like kind ma● be raised, we are pretty sure that the ancient use of Seals in this Nation was general; and that from the most Early times, after the coming in of the Normans. Ingulphus, speaking of the many English Customs that were abolished here upon the Conqueror's Arrival, says expressly: Ing●l●. Hist. Edit. Francos. p. 901. Chirographorum confectionem Anglicanam, quae antea usque ad Edwardi Regis tempora fidelium praesentium Subscriptionibus cum crucibus aureis aliisque sacris signac●l● firma fuerunt, Normanni condemnantes, Chirographa Chartas vocabant;& chartarum firmitatem cum cereâ Impressione per uniuscujusque speciale Sigillum, sub instillatione trium vel quatuor testium astantium, conficere constituebant. That this Usage was observed in the next following Reigns, we are sufficiently assured by the Evidence that was then admitted at Common-Law upon Deeds o● other Securities; this being one of their remarkable ways of convicting a Defendant: Vid. R. Granvil. lib. 10. cap. 12. Ubi Sigillum suum esse publicè recognoverit in Curiâ, Cartam illam praecisè tenetur Warrantizare,& Conventionem in ipsâ Cartâ expressam, sicut in eā continetur, omnino servare sine contradictione. Et suae malae custodiae imputet, si damnum incurrat per Sigillum suum malè custoditum. These last words put me in mind of a Passage I have lately red, in a Grant bearing Date( not long after R. Granvil's time) in the year 1247. in Cartular. ●S. abbot. de Holme-Cultram. In cujus rei testimonium huic Scripto Sigillum meum innovatum apposui, quia Sigillum quod prius habui amisi: Which shows the great Care taken by the Men of that Age to have their proper Seals certainly known, and the speedy pains they took to prevent the mischief that might ensue upon the casual loss of their signets. Bracton Bract. lib. 2. cap. 16.§. 12. likewise tells us that all the Deeds in his days( and he flourished about the very year last mentioned) ended either with the aforesaid Clause of In cujus rei &c, or, in other words, quod ut ratum sit& firmum, huic Scripto Sigillum meum apposui. 'tis plain therefore that Sealing was in Vulgar Use long before the days of Edward the Third; tho' 'tis also certain that there were several Conveyances which( down as low as his Reign) were admitted as good and Legal, when otherwise well attested, although they never had any Seals affixed to them. These being the Grants of such as still adhered to their old Saxon Modes, and so retained the ancient Subscriptions of Names and Crosses. There were other Transgressions of the Common Rule and practise; as when The like is reported of W. the Conq. See his Life in Speed,§. 59. Edward the Third fancifully gave To Norman the Hunter the Hop and the Hop Town With all the Bounds upside down: And in witness that it was soothe He bit the wax with his fong tooth▪ And to Aubrey de Vere's Conveyance of Hatfield a short black hafted Knife was affixed, instead of a Seal; the like whereof, in other fond Crotchets, Mr. Lambard Peramb. of Kent, pag. 406. says he had met with several. The Noble and learned Du Fresne Vid. W. Kennet, in Praefat. ad Antiq. Paroch. p. 7. asserts that, after the Conquest, there were no Deeds Deeds. written in the Saxon Language: But since 'tis evident( what he also denies) that there were several Charters and other Public Instruments in that Tongue, for three or four Successive Reigns, we may presume that all the Private Evidences, which are still to be seen in that Language and Character, are not to be condemned as Spurious. Amongst these, the Grants from the Nobility( as well as the King) were usually directed Omnibus hominibus fuis Francis& angles; there being generally a mixture of both Nations in every Barony and Mannor. Donations to Churches began commonly with Not●m sit omnibus( or Universis) Sanctae Matris Ecclesiae Filiis: And afterwards, about Henry the seconds time, Notum sit omnibus tam praesentibus quàm futuris; Or Notum sit Universitati tam Praesentium quàm futurorum; Or Sciant Praesentes& futuri. The Donation-Clause itself ran Deo& Ecclesiae de N. and the Warranty in the Conclusion was as general as heart could wish, Contra omnes Gentes— Omnes homines& faeminas— Christianos& Judaeos. The dating of them, with Particular Mention of the King's Reign, was hardly ever used before that of Edward the First, and not very constantly then neither: For, both in his and in his Son's, we meet with several which have the day of the Month, but not the year. They generally concluded with Hiis Testibus &c. till( in the Reign of Instit. Par. 2. pag. 78. Henry the Eighth) the fashion was brought in of naming the Witnesses under the dead, and sometimes endorsing their Names. In the perusal of those of elder Date the Reader will find it necessary for him to be well skilled in the ancient modes of contracting words and Syllables; and, to this purpose, a Work of Sir Hen. Spelman's( giving a Scheme of these Abbreviations) may be very useful to him 'tis true, this is not yet Printed: But there are so many Vid. Vit. D. Hen. Spelm. per. E. Gibson. pag. 15. Copies of it in Manuscript that there can be no great difficulty in procuring one of' em. Nor will it be amiss to observe to him that, so careful have our Lawgivers been to secure us against being cheated in these matters, the St. 5. Eliz. cap. 14. Forgers of any dead, Will or other sealed writing, whereby another's Right may be molested, are( for the first Offence) to be Pillory'd, their Ears cut off, Noses slit and seared with a hot Iron, forfeit their Lands and be imprisoned during Life; and the Second Offence of this kind is Felony. All fraudulent 13. Eliz. cap. 5.& 29. Eliz. cap. 5. Conveyances, Deeds of Gift and Alienation, feigned Bonds and Judgments &c. whereby a Creditor may be defeated of a just Debt, are voided; and ●he Party offending forfeits one year's value of the Lands specified, and the several sums mentioned. Indentures. Those attested Instruments that recorded any mutual Contract or Agreement betwixt two several Bargainers did always( as at this day) consist of a Part and Counterpart, or Script and Rescript; wherein our Ancestors seem to have been more cautious and exact than we are, how far soever they fell short of us in the wording and Contrivance of their single Deeds. They wrote both Parts of their Articles on the same sheet of Paper, Parchment or velum; and, betwixt the two Copies, they drew the Capital Letters of the Alphabet or the word SYNGRAPHUS, through which they cut the sheet asunder Indenture-wise, and so were able to prove both Parts by Matching them on any future occasion. After this Prudent Custom, says Gloss. ad Antiq. Paroch. voice Chyrographum. Mr. Kennet, had prevailed for some time, then the word Chyrographum was appropriated to such bipartite Writings; which he proves out of the Monasticon Anglicanum, and some ancient Evidences alleged in his own Book. And indeed, tho' Ingulphus( in the forerecited Passage) affirm peremptorily that the Normans did change Chirographa into Chartae, we do find that the former Word was continued long after his Time: For, in the St. 13. Ed. 1. cap. 44. Second Statute of Westminster, we red de Chirographariis pro Chirographo faciendo Statutum est quòd de quatuor solidis sint contenti; and this, in 2. Hen. 4. cap. 8. another Act of Parliament, is explained so as to be meant of the Chirographer of the Common-Pleas, who is to have no greater Fee than the said sum for any Fine levied in that Court. The committing of Boundaries Boundaries. to writing was undoubtedly in practise in the Saxon Times: since( in King Vid. Reliq. Spelm. p. 19. Edgar's days, above a hundred years before the Conquest) we find a Grant of Lands with such a Particular Survey, which is there called the Land-gemark, and the like was made by several of his Successors. Under our first Norman Kings, Disputes about these Limits were very Common; so that, in some of the Laws of Henry the first, we have this Rule for the trial of such frequent Pleas: Cart. Hen. 1. citat. in Reliq. Spelm p. 58. Si exurgat Placitum de divisione Terrarum, si interest Barones meos Dominicos, tractetur in Curia mea;& si inter Vavassores duorum Dominorum tractetur in Comitatu. Fortescue reckons these exact Divisions and Limits as peculiar to the English Nation; and amongst the many Advantages she has over her Neighbours. Take the Description he gives of her Usage in his own words: Cart. Hen. 1. citat. in Reliq. Spelm p. 58. Villarum metae, non muris, aedificiis aut stratis, terminantur, said agrorum ambitibus, territoriis ●●gnis, Hamiletis quibusdam,& multis aliis; sicut Aquarum, Boscorum& Vastorum terminis.— Vix in Anglia est locus aliquis qui non infra Villarum ambitus contineatur, licet Privilegiati loci quidam infra villas de iisdem Villis pars esse non censentur. With these we may join De Laud. Leg. Angl. cap. 24. the ancient Terriers of every particular Acre of Ground, Houses and other Edifices, Demesne-Lands, Parks, Pawnage; &c. which( if of any considerable Age) are usually drawn according to the fullness of that Method which is laid down in the Statute of 4. Ed. 1. Extenta Manerii. Had Pedigrees Pedigrees. been carefully preserved in all the great Families of England, I can hardly think of any better old Stores of History than they might probably have afforded us; since the most notable Circumstances of the Life of any eminent Person in the Progeny are usually recorded there with accuracy and niceness: But many of this kind we shall not meet with. Sir H. Spelman Reliq. Spelm. pag. 188. found one of 'em in his Native County of Norfolk, that of the ancient Family of the Sharnburns; which seems to have been perused by Brit. Edit. Noviss. P. 391. Cambden. Yet this was looked upon, by its Discoverer, as such a Rarity that he has left us this Motto upon it: Non vulgar vides Monumentum; fort videbis Haud dvo praeterea talia, si qua vides. Old Accounts Accounts. of expenses and Disbursements, in the Families of Noblemen and Persons of Quality, will be of most Singular Use to our Historian; who will soon perceive what necessary Articles the Prices of Food, clothes and other Conveniencies of Human Life, the Wages of Servants and Day-Labourers, &c. will make in his inquiries. We may easily believe that, among the Norman Nobles, most of their Stewards made up these in the French Language; and there's a better Reason assigned for this practise than for obliging the whole Nation to have her Laws in the same Tongue. 'twas Fortesc. de Laud. Leg. Angl. cap. 48. ne ipsi ind Deciperentur. But to observe, as the same Author does, that the generality of our Arithmetical Terms are borrowed from that People, would tempt one to believe that Book-Keepers were mighty Rarities, in the Times of the Saxons; and that there was hardly so much of the Mystery here, before their Arrival, as would serve to settle the Affairs of a Private Family, much less to adjust the concerns of the Kingdom. In these Expensa Domûs we may( with great Pleasure and Advantage) see how different the rates of Corn, Castle, Wool, Leather, &c. were in several Ages: And this will not only furnish us with a tolerable Conjecture at the Humours of the Men of those times, but also pretty well enable us to calculate the Gradual Improvements that have been made in our Trade and Manufactures, or what we call the State of the Nation. The Wages of Servants and other Labourers is what is most especially to be noted; since the Prices of all other things have been rightly See R. Vaughan of Coinage. p. 105. observed to bear a due Proportion to these. Their Hire has been always at dearer Rates, as the plenty of our money grew upon us; and is well known to be extremely enhanced since the Discoveries of the West Indies, and the vast Importation of Gold and Silver from thence. Edward the Third was the first of our Princes that took care to regulate St. 25. Ed. 3. Wages by the Prices of Edibles and other Houshold-Provisions; and, since his Time, several 12.& 13. Ric. 2. 13. Hen 4. 6.& 23. Hen. 6. 6. Hen. 8.5. Eliz. &c. Statutes have been enacted about the same Subject. The Rents of Farms, by the yearly Improvements of the Lands, are so changeable and uncertain, that hardly any proper judgement can be made of the value or Scarcity of Coin in the Nation by any Estimate taken thence: But House-Rents will afford a more certain bottom for Calculation; especially in such Places where the Concourse and Throng of the Inhabitants has continued almost the same for several Ages. Thus, for example, when we find a large House within the very Precincts of the Court, in Channon-Row in Westminster, letten to no less a Person than the controller of the King's household for Thirty Shillings, we must conclude that( in King Edward the Sixth's time, when J. S. Life of Sir Tho. Smith, p. 226. this was done) money was not so plentiful as 'tis now; and that one of his Shillings, when 'twas first coined, would have done a man far more Service than it will at this day. The grand Advantage and Light that accrues to History from the Epistolary Remarks of Men of sense and Business, Letters. is so very obvious and apparent, that I shall need onely just to touch upon it. I will not trouble the Reader with more than one Instance of the usefulness of such Papers; and I can onely point to a small handful of these, the greatest part of the store being still in private hands. 'tis the Collection of those latin Letters that were composed by R. Ascham; and, chiefly upon the Account of their Elegancy, have had several 8o. land. 1577, 78, &c.& 12o. Col. Allobr. 1611. Editions. The Author was sometime an Instructor in the latin Tongue, and afterwards Latine-Secretary, to King Edward the Sixth, Queen J. S. Life of Sir Tho. Smith, pag. 69. Mary and Queen Elizabeth; and, in this latter Station, was frequently employed to translate several Letters of the then English Ministers of State to foreign Princes, ambassadors and other great Men. In these we have all the fine variety of Language that's proper for the rendering of either a Petition or Complaint the most agreeable; and( withal) a deal of very choice Historical Matter that is hardly preserved any where else. Together with the Author's own Letters, we have a good many that are directed to him, both from the most eminent Foreigners of his time( such as Sturmius, Sleidan, &c.) and the best Scholars, as well as wisest Statesmen, of his own country: And the E. Grant. in vit. Authoris. Publisher of these assures us that he had the perusal of a vast Number of others in the English Tongue, which were highly valuable. His attendance on Sir Richard Moryson, in his German Embassy, gave him an intimate Acquaintance with the Affairs of that country; and the extraordinary freedom and Familiarity, wherewith the two Sister-Queens treated him here at home, afforded him a perfect knowledge of the most Secret Mysteries of State in this Kingdom: So that, were the rest of his Papers to be retrieved, we could not perhaps have a more pleasing view of the main Arcana in those Reigns than his writings would have given us. I know not whence a late Ath. Oxon. vol. 1. p. 695. Writer was informed that he spent too much of his latter days in Diceing and Cock-fighting. A. nowell, the learned Dean of S. Paul's, who preached his Funeral-Sermon and was his Confessor during his last sickness, affirms that he never knew any man live more honestly nor dy more Christianly; and all that we have of his Composure shows him to have been a Master of such Accomplishments as are rarely attainable by any of such loose Dispositions. Out of Letters of Correspondence, and private Journals, have been composed several Lives Lives. of eminent Statesmen and Warriors; and many more might still be had from the like Materials, wherein are always some scattered Passages of Note which either illustrate or improve the more general Histories of the Times. Of this kind are those of MS. gull. apud Cambd. in Brit. N. E. p. 549. Fulk Fitzwarren and See Plot's Staffordsh. p. 444. R. Fitzwalter; two persons of great Figure and Renown in the Reign of King Henry the Third. In after Ages, as the Remains of men of Business grew more considerable, their Lives were drawn at greater Length and in fuller Proportions. Sir Thomas Moor's was written by a great many Vid. J. Pit's, p. 764.& Ath. Oxon. vol. 1. p. 35, 36.& 115. Fuller's Worthies, in Lincolnsh. p. 208, 209. hands; and Sir Fulk Grevil has given us the 8o land. 1652. story of his intimate friend Sir Philip Sidney, but not so accurately as we could wish, nor as the Memory of that extraordinary Person deserves. Sir Thomas Smith's is 8o. land. 1698. lately published by Mr. John stripe: who had formerly obliged us with some of the like Remains of Archbishop Cranmer. CHAP. VIII. Of the English Medals and Coins; from the Conquest to the end of Queen Elizabeth's Reign. SInce a Collection of Medals and Coins is esteemed Evelyn's Numism. p. 1. not only an Ornament, but an useful and necessary Appendage to a Library, this Historical one ought not to want a concluding Chapter on that Subject. And, I trust, the Reader will pardon me, if here my Method be a little altered, and I am forced to treat of the matter itself, instead of the Authors that have handled it. Few or none are our English Writers that have hitherto attempted a full History of our Coins. Mr. Speed gave us the Cuts of several of 'em, curiously enough designed, in his general Chronicle: But, as we shall have occasion to observe anon, he took them upon the Credit of Sir R. Cotton's and Mr. Selden's Conjectures; and therefore has not always appropriated them to their right owners. Sir H. Spelman's Dialogue( newly Reliq. Spelm. p. 203, &c. printed) reaches little farther than briefly to show the variety in value of our ancient Groats, &c. as also of all sorts of Commodities, from those of modern times: And 8o. land. 1675. Mr. Vaughan's Treatise of Money is only a Political Discouse on the Advantages and Disadvantages in Trade, by the Rise and Fall of the current Species. Sir John Davis, in one of his Reports, gives the most satisfactory Account of the Mixture of Metals in the Royal Mints, and John Stow, in his Survey of the Tower of London, has picked up a deal of useful Remarks relating to the History of Coinage. Others have lately considered the same Affair with much skill and exactness: But their Speculations, being of an Universal Extent, and applicable to almost all Nations and Climates, are not to our Purpose. Onely Mr. Lowndes has written in so peculiar& instructive a manner, that our Historian may learn better, by his Essay for the Amendment of the Silver Coins. 8o land. 1695. little Book, how to distinguish and value the Coins of our several Kings, than from all the Volumes of our English Antiquaries. From the eighteen year of Edward the Third( downward) he gives Abstracts of such Indentures of the respective Masters of the Mint as are now to be had in the Exchequer; showing what pieces of Gold and Silver were coined, and of what weight, Fineness or alloy. We might justly have expected whatever could have been desired on this Subject from the excellently learned Pen of Mr. Evelyn; had he bent his thoughts, as was believed, towards the consideration of our British Coins as well as Medals. It now appears that his Fol. Lo●d▪ 1697. Numismata carried him no farther than those larger and more choice pieces that are usually called by this latter Name, whereon he has indeed treated with that accuracy and fineness which became a Gentleman and a Scholar. Our common ordinary Coins are still neglected and untouched; and therefore it's but a lame account that's to be looked for in this first Essay. Some few MS. Tracts are to be had in the Cottonian Library, which seem to look this way; and the Founder's eminent knowledge in Vid. Cottoni Posthuma, pag. 285. these Matters, as well as all other Parts of good and Polite Learning would put an Enquirer upon a better Stock of Hopes than will be answered on a search into them. One of these has had the good fortune to be highly applauded by the learned Publisher of the Catalogue, who bestows this inviting Character upon it: Si liber iste suis Numeris absolutus fuisset, pretii foret inestimabilis& vel ditissimis Thesauris aequandus; Utcunque erit in re Antiquariâ& Historicâ maximi usûs. It bears the Title of Tiberius. D. II. 1. Livre de Monnoyes; being wrtten in the French Tongue, and presenting the Reader with pretty fair Draughts of a great many Coins of several Nations. But this Author, or Designer, furnishes us onely with twenty-seven of those which he calls English; tho' he reckons others among the French, which are truly of our Growth. None of these are of any great Age; the eldest being two Golden pieces of Richard the Second, and the rest of a much later Date. The other Fragments are very inconsiderable, and hardly worth consulting: being mostly Abstracts of our Laws and other Ordinances about Coinage, &c. easily to be had elsewhere. Such are those, 1. Julius, D. II, 15. De monetarum pondere, &c. 2. Nero, C. II, 11. De Danelaye, s●●e Lege Danorum & Denariis beati Petri. It gives the Statutes whereby this Tribute was enacted; tells how much was collected in each Diocese; brings a Testimony of King Aethelwolph's making the Offering to the Pope, about the year 948. &c. 3. Of the Otho, E. X. 3. Orders about Money, &c. in the time of Henry the Eighth, by Sir Tho. Gresham. Most of this, which is not transcribed from the Statute-Book, relates to the disposal of the many Extravagant sums that were expended in that Reign. 4 Vespas, D. XVIII, 4. Two Letters to K. Edward the Sixth, touching the Reformation of the Coin; short and Political. 5. Cleop. C. VII, 6. Capitula de tonsurâ Monetae; which are onely heads of some intended Discourse. 6. Cleop. A. XVI. 3, 6, 7. De Compositione Monetae tempore R. Edwardi filii Regis Henrici; in French: Which, having repeated Henry the Third's Statute of Assisa Panis, goes on with other Collections of a like Nature. In the same Volume there are two other small Tracts inscribed Varia genera& valores auri& argenti, and Assaium auri factum apud Westminster▪ Ao. 23. R. Edw. 3. where you have a regular Scheme of what his Majesty and the Mint-Master are to gain by the Coinage of such and such Quantities of Gold; these being the two general Titles of the Calculation, Pondus Auri and Pars Regis& Magistri. There is also a fair French MS. in the well furnished Library of the present worthy Bishop of Norwich; written by Nic. Tyery▪ one of Henry the Eighth's Mint-Masters. The Design of the Book is to suggest some Reasons for the new coining of the money of this Kingdom, and raising its value: To which end he gives his Majesty an Account of the Weight, Metal, Form, &c. of all the then current Money in Europe; with Draughts of every Piece, in Black and White. The Heads and Reverses seem to be exactly taken: But the Legends are very faulty, and not to be relied on. The Author is most particular about the Irish Money; because( as appears from his Preface) he was concerned in the Reformation that was made, by this King, in the Mint at Dublin. Before the Reign of King Charles the First, we have very few Pieces, Medals. ( as Mr. Evelyn observes) that can pretend to the Name of Medal. The most of those few, he has given us; and I shall not repeat them, but remit the Reader to his Book. One or two there are, within my Limits, which seem not to have fallen in the way of that most curious Gentleman. If Edward the Third's Rose-Noble( or Golden Royal, as he calls it) be indeed to be reckoned amongst our Medals, yet it must not pretend to be the first of that Name; if all be true which a modern See J. Barnes's Hist. of Ed. 3. pag. 4. Author has recorded about the Coronation-Pieces of that great King. He is extremely Particular in his Description of these: Telling us that on the Pile was the young Prince crowned, laying a sceptre on a Heap of Hearts, with this Motto POPULO DAT JURA VOLENTI. On the Reverse a hand held forth, as it were saving a Crown falling from on high, with those words NON RAPIT said RECIPIT. I do not doubt but his Friend at Greys-Inn had such a Medal: But he must give me leave to suspect that they were very widely mistaken that first ascribed it to this Prince. For( to omit other Reasons) there's nothing in the Legend that looks that way; and the inscribed fancies are too brisk for those Times, savouring of a much more Polite Age. One of Queen Elizabeth's is omitted, whereon we have the Queen's Head crowned, with the Legend QUID NOS SINE TE; and on the Reverse, a Castle mounted on a Globe inscribed, QUID HOC SINE ARMIS. Another of the same Queen is also wanting, which bears four Figures( a Man, Woman, and two Children) in a Praying Posture, and subscribed 1588. The Legend being HOMO PROPONIT, DEUS DISPONIT. On the Reverse is a great Ship tossed on the Waves, and HISPANI FUGIUNT ET PEREUNT NEMINE SEQUENTE. These are all that( as far as I know) were struck before the union of the Kingdoms in King James the First, which have escaped the notice of this worthy Person. I shall only beg leave to add this single Remark, that perhaps the Reverse of his first Medalion of Henry the Eighth is rather to be reckoned a Family-Badge than regardant of any particular Action of that King: Since his Father has the Portcluse, with the same Motto, on his Tomb at Westminster; which there seems to refer to his other Titles to the Crown being strengthened by his Mother's being a Beaufort, of which Family the Portcluse was the Badge. And, what if this very Medalion be indeed one of Henry the Seventh's; and unduly( by some error of the Engraver or Copyer) bestowed on his Son? The Figure of the Face would tempt a man to suspect some such matter. William. I. At the Conquest, the little coined Silver they had bore the same Countenance with what had passed in the days of our Saxon Kings: For the Conqueror's Penny( in Speed) is of the same Size with theirs, giving his Head full-faced a across in the right hand and a sceptre in the left, inscribed WILLEM. REX. ANGLO: On the Reverse a across Fleuree, with four sceptres quarterly, the Inscription IESTHN. ON. HEREFOR ✚. Some Penes RR. D. Joh. Archiep. Ebor. others, that are justly believed to be his, have two sceptres on the Crownside; and some have none. Stow says the conqueror( as he appeared on his Coins) wanted a Beard; and he quotes William of Malmesbury to prove that the Normans never wore any. As also mentions some pieces of his that had Le Rey Wilam inscribed on them; tho all those that we now attribute to him have either the simplo Style of Rex, or with the Addition of An or Anglo. I suppose the Coinage of their Money, in this Fashion, was one of those Improvements which the Norman Court had from our Edward the Confessor; who, by their own Writers, is allowed to have taught them a great many of our English customs. That all great sums were yet paid by Vid. Reliq. Spelm. p. 203. Weight and Touch is generally agreed; and thus the Monks Speed. ad An. 1073. of Ely paid the King their seven hundred Marks, and Edgar Id. ad An. 1074. Etheling's Allowance was a pound of Silver( by weight) daily. Yet Purveyances were, even in this King's Reign, Gerv. Tilbur. in Dialogue de usu Scacc. changed into money; and the Sheriff collected them in the following Proportions. Instead of, Bread for a hundred men, one Shilling; One Pasture-fed-Ox, one Shilling; A Ram or a Sheep, fourpence; Provender for twenty Horses, four pence, But, when these little Contributions were thus gathered, the Collectors still paid their gross sums into the Exchequer by Weight: Solutionis autem modus( says Jan. Angl. lib. 2. p. 75. Mr. Selden) Ponderis& Metalli operâ Chymicâ examen, Fusor& Miles Argentarius, fusiùs apud metipsum enarrantur. Where he has done this I could never yet learn: For, in his Treatise Ad. finem Ph. Labbei, Bibl. Bibliothecc. 8o. Rothom. 1679. de Nummis, there's no mention of any such matter. But Mr. Lowndes gives the Discourse at large, out of the Black Book in the Exchequer, De Officio Militis Argentarii& Fusoris. William. II. W. Rufus's Penny is of the same bigness with his Father's; bearing his own Image, full-faced and inscribed WILLEM. REX.( some have WILLEM. II. REX.) and on the Reverse, CONDRIOONO ✚ ב WI ✚. which perhaps should be red GODRIC. ON. NORTHWIC. Both this King and his Father appear, on their Coins, in a pearl'd diadem, with labelns at each ear, and a sort of an Arch across the Head; such as is frequent on these of the Eastern Selden's Tit. of Hon. p. 134. Emperours. Henry the First's is of the same Shape and Size with the former; Henry. I. inscribed HENRIC. REX. and LEFPARD. ON. SV ✚. So Speed has given it: But Penes RR. Archiep. Ebor. sometimes he bears a Crown of three flowers de Lis, without any Rays intermixed, and without any Pearls at his Ears. Roger de Edit. Francof. p. 471. Vide& LL. Hen. 1. cap. 1. Hoveden gives this Notable Account of the State of the Mint in his time: Monetam corruptam& falsam sub tanta animadversione corrigi Statuit, ut quicunque falsos denarios facere deprehensus fuisset, oculos& inferiores corporis partes, sine ulla redemptione, amitteret;&, quoniam saepissimè dum denarii eligebantur, flectebantur, rumpebantur, respuebantur, statuit ut nullus denarius vel obolus, quos& rotundos esse jussit, aut etiam quadrants, si integer esset, respueretur. Ex quo facto magnum bonum toti regno provisum est, &c. Some of these small pieces are still to be seen in several of the Musaea of our learned men, with the King's head crowned( as on his Penny) with a pearl'd Diadem; but without any manner of Inscription. There's another memorable Passage, in one of his own Ordinances, relating to this Subject: Vid. Cart. Hen. 1. citat.( è mat. Paris.) à Joh. Seld. Jan. Angl. lib. 2. p. 80. Monetagium Commune quod capiebatur per Civitates vel Comitatus, quod non fuit tempore Edwardi Regis, hoc ne à modò fiat omnino defendo. R. Westcot( or rather Ath. Oxon. vol. 2. p. 180. Ad. Littleton) translates Monetagium Commune by these words, the Common Duty of Money or Coinage; And, in his Notes, guesses that the Countrey-Mints paid some▪ such Duty to the King's chief Mint. He proves, from Domesday-Book, that Winchester paid twenty Shillings for each Minter; Pro Cuneis Monetae accipiendis, that is, for their Dies or Stamps. Some of these do not seem to have made that honest use of the privileges so granted them, as they ought to have done; since it appears the Land was so oppressed with false counterfeit Money that the King was forced to put his forementioned Law in Execution: M. Paris, ad An.. 1125. Omnes Angliae Monetarios, eo quòd Monetam furtivè corruperant, fecit turpiter ementulari,& manus dextras praecidi. We shall have occasion to say something more of this matter hereafter. At present, let it onely be observed that many of our chief Antiquaries( and such as have been curious in their inquiries about our ancient Coins) have complained that 'tis extremely difficult, if not utterly impossible, to distinguish those of our elder Kings of the same Name; especially our Henries and Edwards. Indeed Henry the First and Second are, in their Coins, crowned alike; with Fleuree See Selden's Tit. of Hon. P. 1. cap. 8. p. 134. de Lis, and two labelns of Pearl( or some such thing) at each ear: But several of the rest differ considerably in this particular, as will be noted of each in their Order. And, where no assistance can be had from the variety of their Crowns, we may be pretty well enabled to Tribe them right by the change of their Style and Title; whereof enough has been already said, upon the Subject of their Charters. Where this expedient likewise fails us, we are Scrupulously to examine the different Allays of the Metal itself: And( lastly) the difference of the Size is sometimes carefully to be headed. For example, amongst the three first Henries we meet with nothing but thin Pieces of about the Weight, Breadth, and intrinsic value, of a Queen Elizabeth's Three pence; which was their Penny, and from which was still retain the Name of our Penny-weight. In succeeding Reigns larger pieces, of four times the bulk and weight of these, were minted; they, from such increase of their Size beyond that of former times, were called Groats, and weighed as much as our present Shillings. In King Stephen's Stephen. time there seems to have been a deal of Money coined: For thus writ some of our Historians, G. Neubrigens. apud. J. Seld. Jan. Angl. lib. 2. pag. 88. Erant in Anglia quodammodo tot Reges, vel potius Tyranni, quot Domini Castellorum, habentes singuli percussuram Proprii Numismatis,& potestatem Subditis Regio more dicendi Jus. And yet we have very few Remains of their Treasure. His Penny, in Speed, is no bigger than those of his Predecessors. 'tis the first, after the Conquest, that's half-faced; with this Inscription, STIEFN. E. and, on the Reverse, ✚ SPTIDETS̄ DN v V. which may possibly be the blunder'd Name of some of his formention'd Royal Lords. Different from this is Penes RR. D. Archiep. Ebor. that which gives us both his Eyes; tho', even here, the Face is somewhat Side-wayes. The Crown is much the same with that of Henry the First; onely the Flowers are raised higher. Mr. Tanner lately met with another; which, instead of the King's Head, bore two Angels with STIEFEN RE. and had a Reverse like that of William the conqueror. Amongst the foreign Coins, that were current in England at this time, the most remarkable were the Silver and Gold Besantines, so called from byzantium or Constantinople, where they were coined; whereof the former was worth about two See Kennet's Paroch. Antiq. pag. 109. Id. in Gloss. voice Besant. Shillings English, and the other about the ( c) weight of a Ducate. A Manuscript in Nero, C. II. 11. Sir John Cotton's Library sets it at a Florene and a half. Henry. II. 'tis a strong Dispute amongst our Antiquaries, whether the Name of Sterling-Money be any elder than the Reign of Henry the Second. Nay, some will needs bring it as low as that of his Son Chamberl. Not. Angl. Edit. 16. Par. 1. p. 10. Richard the First. Mr. Kennet Gloss. ad. Antiq. Paroch. Vid.& G. Somner, Gloss. ad. X Scripp. observes the use of the word Sterilensis, for the later Sterlingi, to be as early as the dayes of Ordericus Vitalis, who particularly uses it in his History of the Transactions of the year 1082. from whence he concludes( according to Mr. Somner's Opinion) that the word should be derived from the Saxon steor Regula, and steoran( to Steer) Regulare; because this Money was of that just Temper and Fineness which was the proper Standard of the Mint. But Sir Hen. Spelman thinks otherwise; and so does the Author of a MS. Bibl. Cott. Faustina, E. V. 10. Fragment on this Enquiry. They( and others) affirm that it must be derived either from Esterling, a standard used by the Merchants tradeing hither from the Eastern Parts; or from those Easterlings themselves, who were the first workmen of it. For my own part, I cannot prevail with myself( notwithstanding the powerful Authority of Sir Henry Spelman) to believe such a Story; and am strongly inclined to fancy that this Conjecture( from the Jingle of the two words) has been too rashly vented by some, and as carelessly embraced by others. 'tis certain the Prussians and other next neighbouring Nations to the Baltic Sea, who are the Easterlings aimed at by these Writers, had no Silver-Money among them, till 'twas brought into that country, by the Knights of the Teutonic Chr. Hartnoch. Dissert. de Reb. Pruss. p. 282. Order, about the middle of the Thirteenth Century: And King Winceslaus, about fifty years after that, gave a Currency to ( die Bohmische Groschen) the Vid. Alex. Guagnini Hist. Sarmat. Edit. Spir. fol. 16. a. Bohemian Groats, which was the first Silver Coin that was known in the Kingdom of Poland. How then is it possible to imagine that we had our first Refiners of Silver from a country that either was wholly unacquainted with the Metal, or( at least) did not, at that time, use it in Commerce? Nor was there any such Purity in the best foreign Money as in that which we now coined at home; and therefore this King had also, amongst other Officers of the Exchequer, his Miles Argentarius or Assay-Master, whose business it was D. H. Spelm. Gloss. in voice Arsura. examinare pecunias Regi Solutas, propterea quòd in multis locis& diversè admodùm cudebatur. Sterlingus, in all the Records of this Age, is the very same thing with Denarius; and both words are indifferently used to signify that small Piece of Silver-Money which our Kings then coined, with little Anulets or Stars in every Quarter of their Reverse. This King's is no larger than those already mentioned; giving him full-faced, with a sceptre in his right hand, and this Inscription HENRICUS. REX. on the Reverse— ORIM. — ON. S— Instead of his Crown in Speed, Penes RR. Archiep. Ebor. several of his Coins have only a Row of Points( commonly five in Number) with a across raised upon the middlemost of 'em; and, on the Reverse, a doubled-lined across, with four Globuli or Bullets in each Quarter. Mr. Thoresby of Leedes has three several sorts of Pennies, which he supposes to have been coined at York in this Reign; one of 'em bearing nichol ON EVE; another RENAVD ON EV. and the Third TOMAS ON EVR. An Eminent Vid. Reliq. Spelm. p. 206. M. Paris, ad. An. 1170. Antiquary observes that he had two Prodigal Sons, Henry and John, Kings at the same time with himself; and that 'twas a vast Treasure which they wasted in their costly Expeditions into France, Flanders, Sicily, &c. His Son Henry( who died before him) was indeed ( c) crowned in his Life-time; and brought a Charge on the Nation, by grasping at a greater Share of sovereignty than was designed him: But John was not so much as a Vice-Roy till the Throne was in the Possession of his brother Richard, who made him Dominus Hyberniae but no Rex. Whether Henricus Junior( as our Historians call him, in distinction from his Father) coined any Money, I know not: But 'tis certain he had a great Tit. of Hon. p. 134.& J. Speed, in Hen. 2.§. 79. Seal. Richard the First Richard. I. is represented as a Corrupter, rather than a Refiner, of our English Coin: And truly his Parade in the Holy Land, with his Ransom upon his Return, was so very chargeable that 'tis no wonder to find him put to all imaginable Shifts for the multiplying of his Money at home. His Penny, in Speed, looks a little oddly; having two faces inscribed RICVS. R::: S. REX. and, on the Reverse, A: V:: ON. N:: NICO. His money is rare. King John John. gives his Face full, in a Triangle, with a sceptre in his right hand, inscribed JOHANNES. REX. on the Reverse, another Triangle, with a half Moon and a Star, and this Inscription: ROBERD. ON. DIVE. Which last words, I presume, show that the money was coined at Dublin or Divelin; he being the first( as has been already hinted) that had the Title of Dominus Hyberniae, and that in his Brother's Life-time. Some Pennies of the following Kings have also the Head in a Triangle; and 'tis observable that all such are Irish Coins. Henry the Third's Henry. III. is inscribed HENRICUS. REX. III. and, on the Reverse, ROBERT. OICANT. i. Rob. on Cant. or Canterbury; tho' I can hardly think 'tis any way related to Robert Kilwardby, who came only to the Archiepiscopal See in the very last year of that King's Reign. The Crown here differs much from that on his great Seal; which( as 'tis drawn by Speed, and described by Tit. of Hon. pag. 134. Selden) gives it Fleuree, pointed or rayed, the Points or Rays being raised, but not high, between the Flowers: Whereas here there seems to be somewhat of a Tuft or Button in the middle of the Crown. In all the Coins that belong to this King there's always his Number( III.) added to his Title; which is enough to distinguish them from those of other Kings of the same Name. About the Thirtieth year of his Reign the Clippers had made that havoc with the money, that there was hardly a Penny to be seen, which had not lost the Letters on both sides: So that the King was obliged to issue out a Proclamation, requiring all Traders to receive and pay by Weight. Strict Enquiry was also made after those traitorous Persons themselves who had been the Authors of this mischief; and they were found to be chiefly the Vid. M. Paris. ad ann. 1248. Caursini, a Knot of Italian Bankers, who( under pretence of coming hither to traffic by the Pope's Encouragement) carried on their villainous Practices of impoverishing the Kingdom by Usury and other oppressive Exactions. There were also a great many Jews and Flemish Merchants engaged in the Confederacy; and such of 'em as could be apprehended were immediately executed( as they were likewise in France) according to their demerits. Edward the First Edward I. finished many of his Father's well designed Projects; and among these, is supposed to have been the first of our Kings that perfectly fixed the Evelyn's Numism. p. 233. Lowndes, p. 94. Standard of our Coin. This he very quickly effected. In the Third year of his Reign, as we are told out of an old Camd. Remains, Chap. of Money, Lieger-Book of the Abbey of St. Edmundsbury, the matter was thus ordered by Gregory Rockley, then Mayor of London and Mint-Master: That, in a pound of Money there should be eleven Ounces two pence farthing pure Leaf-Silver, and only Seventeen pence half-penny farthing alloy; and this pound was to weigh twenty Shillings and three pence in account, each Ounce twenty pence, and every Penny twenty four grains and a half. But the Size of his Coin was not so presently altered, if ever it was so in his Reign: For, at the making of the Statute of 28. Ed. I. Articuli supper Chartas, the Penny is Coke's Instit. par. 2. p. 575. supposed to have been the only current Money of England. At the same time there were divers kinds of foreign Id. ibid. p. 577. and Counterfeit Money( as Pollards, Crocards, Staldings, Eagles, Leonines, and Steepings) cried down by Proclamation; because, says the Record, two pieces of 'em were only of the value of one Sterling, their Composition being an Artificial mixture of Silver, Copper and Sulphur. Others Cambden's Remains. observe that the French Crocards, Pollards, &c. were first forbidden in the Seventh year of this King; and that this Prohibition was not repeated in his twenty-Eighth, but( instead of that) Rosaries, Steepings and Staldings, were only decried utterly; and Crocards and Pollards ordered to pass at half. Afterwards, he is see J. Stow's Survey of land. Chap. Tower; and Chamberlain's Not. Angl. Edit. 16. p. 11, 12. reported( but, I think, falsely) to have ordered the minting of Groats; which were so called, because they were the Greatest, or largest, Money then used. So the Germans had already name their Grosche; which, tho' Schottelius makes it a Primitive, is a Word of the like signification, and undoubtedly the Parent of our Groat. These were of the weight and value of four Pennies. J. Speed pretends to give us a Cut of one of 'em, inscribed EDWARDUS. DI. GRA. ANGL. on the Reverse, in a larger circled, DNS. HYBNE. DVX. AQVIT. and, in a lesser, CIVITAS. LONDON. I fancy he is mistaken. None of those Pieces of Silver which we find on the Borders of Scotland( where this King partend with a great share of his Treasure, and afterwards his Life) carry this Inscription; and therefore I sometimes thought that this was coined by his Grandson, before he took upon him the Title of France. I have now learned that the figure of the N( as will be observed hereafter) determines it rather to Edward the Fourth: But, the truth is, 'tis so very singular( and so different from any that I have, or have seen) that I know not well what to say to it. 'tis also reported, out of the Lowndes's Essay, p. 94, 96. Red-Book in the Exchequer, that this King's Foreign Mint-Masters( from Marse●●●es and Florence) had Thirty Furnaces at London, Eight at Canterbury, besides three which the Arch-Bishop had there, Twelve at Bristol, and Twelve at York; and that they coined Gold as well as Silver: But, the main of that Book having been written before this Reign commenced, the Authority of a Quotation out of its additional Fragments( of a later Date) is not of any great weight. We cannot assuredly affirm that Edward the Second Edward II. did ever coin any Money; he and his Favourites minding more the methods of exhausting, than increasing, the Treasure of the Kingdom. Some Pennies indeed there are which usually go by the Name of this King: Bearing EDW. R. ANGL. DMS. HYB.( as in Speed) and, on the Reverse, the Names of several Cities in England and Ireland; as CIVITAS. LONDON. LINCOL. DUBLIN. WATERFORD, &c. But, whether All or any of these are justly ascribed to him, I cannot tell; neither our Histories nor Laws affording us any Light in this matter. My RR. D. Archiep. Ebor. in Notis MSS. best Guide has observed that Edward the First set up four Mints at Dublin, and coined a great deal of Money in that Kingdom; and that the Old Edward-Pennies, that are Irish, have only the three first Letters of the Name. He likewise takes notice that most of the English have the like: And therefore( considering that this King coined far more Money than his Son) he thinks it reasonable to conclude, that all such Pennies as have EDW. belong to the First of that Name; whereas those with EDWA.( EDWAR. or EDWARD.) are the seconds, and those with EDWARDUS( at length) were coined either by the Third or Fourth. Edward the Third Edward III. ( the greatest Prince in Europe, of his time, and the Glory of our English Throne) improved the Regulation of Coin, begun by his Grand-father; providing Statute of York, 9. Ed. 3. largely against the Importation of false or black Money, and Counterfeit Sterling. This, the Preface to the Law tells us, was then commonly practised by Foreigners: And 'twas a mischief so difficult to redress, that another St. 18. Ed. 3. Statute awards an Exigent against those that bring in such Money in deceit of the People. In the Thirteenth Year of his Reign he took upon him the Title of France; and, after that, we have his Groats very plentifully, bearing his Head full-faced, crowned and inscribed Edward. D. Gra. Rex. Angl.& Franc. D. Hyb. On the Reverse, in a large circled, Posui Deum Adjutorem Meum( a Motto continued by all his Successors, down to the Uniting of the Kingdoms) and, in a lesser, Civitas London. Some have Civitas Eboraci. These are they which Bishop In Addit. ad Lib. de Arte Supputandi. Tunstal( too hastily) observed to be Equivalent, in weight and fineness, to the Old Roman Denarius; as his half-Groat was said to be to their Quinarius, and his Penny to their Sestertius: And such Numbers of 'em are still daily discovered, especially on the Confines of the two Kingdoms, as sufficiently shows the mistake of that Observation that Reliq. Spelm. p. 207. His Victories and Designs, in France and elsewhere, exhausted so much Treasure, that little or none almost remained in the Land. In his Seventeenth Year, by a Coke's Instit. Par. 3. cap. 31. p. 93. Statute never Printed, Provision is made against the Exportation of Sterling-Money, and Allowance given for the Currency of such Flemish Coins ( grosses ou autres) as shall be of the like alloy; and the Year following, as it all the Charter-Mints in the Kingdom were too few to Answer the Public occasions, 'tis St. 18. Ed. 3. cap. 6. ordained that Money shall be made wherever the King pleases. It may not perhaps be ungrateful to the Reader to prefent him with the Form of a Writ upon one of his Grants for the Coinage of Money, made before the enacting of that Statute. It runs thus: In Regist. MS. Monast. de Reading, penes virum doctiss. nobisque amiciss. T. ●anner. Rex dilecto sibi Johanni de fleet Custodi Cambii nostri London. Salutem. Cum per Cartam nostram concesserimus dilectis nobis in Christo— Abbati& Monachis de Radyng quòd ipsi& successores in perpetuum habeant unum Monetarium& unum Guneum apud dictum locum de Radyng ad Monetam ibidem, viz. tam ad obolos& ferlingos, quàm ad Sterlingos, prout moris est, fabricandam& faciendam, prout in Cartâ nostrâ praedictâ pleniùs continetur: Vobis mandamus quod trees Cuneos de duro& competenti Metallo, unum, viz. pro Sterlingis, alium pro obolis,& tertium pro ferlingis, pro Monetâ apud dictum locum de Radyng faciendâ, de Impressione& circumscripturâ quas dictus— abbess vobis declarabit, sumptibus ipsius Abbatis, fieri& fabricari faciatis indilatè,& eos ad Scaccarium Nostrum apud Westm. quam primum poteritis mittatis, ita quòd sint ibidem a die S. Martini prox. futuro in xv. dies, ad ultimum, praefato Abbati ex causâ praedictâ liberand. T. J. de Shardiche apud Westm. xvii. die Nov. Anno Regni nostri xiiio. Whence it should seem that either the Abbots and other great Men were only permitted to Coin smaller Pieces, useful in common Exchange, in like manner as our Kings to this Day are wont to give Patents for the making of Copper half-pence and farthings, whereas the sovereign still reserved the sole Power of Minting the larger Money to himself, in his own immediate Officers: Or else, that( in truth) there was not any greater Piece coined here, till after the twelfth Year of this King, than a Penny. But, to return. By another of his Laws 'tis made High Treason, St. 25. Ed. 3. cap. 3. Si home apport eu cest Roialme— la money appellà Lushburg: Which is Coke's Instit. Par. 2. pag. 1. See also Chancer's Pref. to his Monk's Tale. explained to be meant of base Money coined at Luxemburg, but resembling the true English Sterling. In the same Year, the 25. Ed. 3. cap. 13. Statute of Purveyors takes notice of the Golden Coin of this Kingdom; and provides that it shall not be impaired in Weight nor alloy. 'tis most certain that, even in the Saxon times, this Metal was sometime given in discharge of gross sums; As, not to mention other Authorities, is sufficiently evident from that Passage in the Old Book of Abingdon: Apud J. Seld. Jan. Angl. lib. 2. p. 91, 92. Ulfricus Spot, Minister Ethelredi Regis( A. D. 1004.) Dedit dicto Regi, pro Confirmatione Donationis& Constructionis Abbatiae de Burton, ccc. Mancas Auri,& unicuique Episcopo V Mancas: But we could never learn that this was paid any otherwise than by Weight and in Bullion. The Author of the Mi●ro●des Justices, giving an Cap. 1.§. 3. Account of several Constitutions, made by some of our ancient Kings( before Edward the First) says that they ordained, queen nul Roy de cest Realm ne poet changer fa money, ne impairer, ne amend●r; ne auter money faire, queen de ore ou d'argent sans l'ussent de touts less Counties: Which words manifestly imply that, in those Days of Yore, our Forefathers had coined Moneys in Gold as well as Silver. But let the Reader observe that, in the English Edition, 'tis said that no King, &c. Shall make any other Money but of Silver; and indeed the Words de ore ou seem to be a Marginal Note, of some Novice in our History, and( tho' Sir Edward cook, Instit. Par. 2. p. 576. finds no fault in them) very unfairly crept into the Text. Wherefore, for any thing that has yet appeared to the contrary, Edward the Third is justly reckoned the first of our Monarchs, that coined Gold: And this he caused to be done in so Beautiful a manner that his Rose-Noble has merited the Esteem of a Medal. Mr. Evelyn Numism. p. 85, 86. has amply described this, and given a full Account of the Inscription( J●s●● autem transiens, &c.) on the Reverse i● But( with submission) 'tis Edward the Fourth's that he gives instead of Edward the Third's, whose Pieces never stinted the French Flowers de Lis, to the precise, Number of three( for that was not done before Henry▪ the Fifth's Reign) nor had they a Sun, but a across only, on the Reverse. About the same Cambden's Remains, Ch. of of Money. St. 18. Ed. 3. Mr. Lowndes's Essay, p. 35. time that these were first, coined, there were also coined Pieces of Six Shillings of the same fine Gold; which had the Name of Florences, from the Florentines, Evelyn's Numism. p. 4. Gloss. D. Du Fresne, in voice Florenus. who( in the year ●●25 〈◇〉) had first minted such pieces: So that Florenus was then a Name which was generally used, all Europe over, for the chief Golden Coin, as 'tis now for the best in Silver. Our English Florens did not differ much from some of the same King's Rose-Nobles in Weight( there being fifty of the former, and forty-five of the latter, coined out of a Pound of Gold) and whether they differed at all in the Impression and Legend I cannot tell: But I am sure that the Golden Florene was also, at this time, as current and common beyond the Seas as here, and indeed a Foreign Coin. Amongst other Articles agreed on( in the Year 1366.) between Peter the First, King of Castile, and our Valiant Prince Edward, it was provided that the English Army should be paid by the said King; and that, to this purpose, he should advance five hundred and fifty thousand Florens. The Words are Tit. of Hon. p. 219. Cugni de Florentiâ boni auri& legitimi ponderis: And we may as well affirm that the French Muttons( Multones Gloss. H. Spelm.& W. Kennet, in voc. Multo. a●●●●) which were also current here at the same time, were of Edward the Third's own coining, as that King Peter's Florens were so. The Rose-Noble had the former part of its Denomination from the Rose encircling the King's Arms, &c. and the latter from the purity and excellence of its Metal; and 'twas from this famous Coin that every imaginary half-mark was afterwards called a Noble, the most early use of the word in that sense being in the Gloss. D. H. Spelm. in voice Nobilis. French King's Parole of Ransom in the thirty-fourth y●●r of this Reign. Richard the seconds Richard. II. Rose-Nobles( if that in Speed may be called by that Name, for it wants both the Rose and the constant Legend of Jesus autem, &c.) gives his portraiture in a Sedentary Posture, with a Sword in his right hand, and Ricard. d. gra. Anglie. Francie. Rex. D. acquit. On the Reverse, Auxiliam meum a Domino. His Crown here is Fleuree, as on the Coins of his Predecessors, but has no Rays betwixt the Flowers. We ought perhaps to red Hyb. instead of acquit. Since it's hard to Imagine why Aquitaine should be so much as mentioned after France: And AGLIAE instead of ANGLIAE makes it probable that this was rather coined by the Third Richard( in whose Reign that way of Writing was grown fashionable) than by the Second. In the rest of his Coins( both of Gold and Silver) he exactly apes his Grandfather; and it had been well if he had as exactly traced him in his other ways and Methods of Government. We have, in our 14. Ric. 2. cap. 12. Printed Books, the Title of one of his Statute-Laws, wherein are given the valves of all the then current Coins of Scotland, as they were to pass in this Realm; which, tho' omitted( as obsolete) by the Men of Law, ought nevertheless to be retrieved and preserved by our English Historian. It may be had in Rasta●'s Edition; and it provides that the Scotch Groat shall go for no more than Two-pence English, their Half-Groat for our penny, and their penny for our half-penny, &c. Another St. 17. Ric. 2. cap 1. Act of Parliament in his Reign forbids the melting down of Groats, or half-Groats, for common uses; and then, it seems, the Scotch Money was found to be of so base a Composition that the farther currency of it in this Kingdom was wholly prohibited. Henry the Fourth's Henry. IV. Laws concerning Coinage respect only the Silver Money▪ requiring that 4 Hen. 4. cap. 6. all foreign Money be sent out of the Kingdom, or recoin'd; that 4. Hen. 4 cap. 10. a Third of the Bullion be coined in half-pence and farthings, and that 11. Hen. 4. cap. 5.& 13. cap. 6. Gally-half pence be not payable, as formerly, in great deceit of the People. By the Indenture, of his third year, we find that he also contracted for the Coinage of Rose-Nobles in Gold, of the same weight and fineness with those of Edward the Third; and his Groats, half-Groats, Sterlings and Half-Sterlings( or Mailes, as they were now called) were likewise of that King's Standard. That which Speed gives for his half-Groat belongs rather to his Son and Successor; as we shall see anon. Henry the Fifth Henry. V. was a Prince of a more than ordinary greatness of Spirit; and it became such an one to assume, what was his undoubted Right, an Tit. of Hon. Par. 1. cap. 8. p. 134. Imperial Crown. Yet neither he nor his Son appear in that Dress on their great Seals; nor do this King's Coins( as 'tis thought) carry so great a share of Majesty. His Gold Coins were the Rose-Noble, 9. Hen. 5. St. 3. cap. 7.& Lowndes, p. 37. Half-Noble and Farthing; and, it seems, they were so debased that 'twas necessary to order that they should be 9. Hen. 5. St. 2. cap. 11. recoin'd at the Tower Gra●is. The Description which Numism. pag. 86. Mr. Evelyn gives of his Rose-Noble must certainly belong to his Son's Noble-Angel: But what he says of his Salus is true, and agreeable to what we have from Coke's Instit. lib. 3. cap. 30. p. 92. other hands. This Salus, as likewise his Son's, had the Angel Saluting the B. Virgin( the one holding the Arms of England, the other of France) with the King's Title; and, on the Reverse, Christus vincit. Christus regnat. Christus imperat. which we find, very little altered, upon some of the earlyest Pistols of the present Lewis le Grand. The Legend indeed belongs to France; and Du Fresne reckons the Salut amongst the proper Coins of that Country. His Silver-Money was mostly ( as the 9. Hen. 5. St. 2. cap 6. Statute directed) coined at Calais; tho some of his pieces have Civitas London, in the inner circled of the Reverse. The abuses relating to the Mints are taken care of by such Laws of his as make it 3. Hen. 5. cap. 1. Felony to make, coin, buy, bring in or put in payment any Galley-Half-pence, Suskin or Dotkyn; and Treason 3. Hen. 5. cap. 6. to clip, wash or file, the right Sterling money. The reason for prohibiting those in the former of these Constitutions was because they were Instit. par. 3. cap. 30. p. 92. base, and not of the fineness of Sterling: His right Silver-Coins were Groats( Ninety in a Pound Troy) Half-Groats, Pence, Half-pence or Mails, and Farthings. These are supposed to be Ita RR. D. Archiep. Ebor. distinguished( chiefly) from those of Henry the Fourth by two little Circles, or Eylet holes, which are pretty deeply impressed, a little below the Face, on each side of the neck; which are also answered by two more, amongst the Globuli on the Reverse. There's also a difference in their weight, Henry the Fifth's Great weighing only two penny-weight and Sixteen Grains; and they vary somewhat in the Stops betwixt the words in the Legend: Otherwise they are exactly alike. Henry the Sixth's Henry. VI. large Ryal( as we have it in Speed) gives him crowned with a Crown Imperial; seated on the Throne, with a sceptre in the right hand and Globe in the left, inscribed Henricus Dei gra. Rex Angl.& Fran. Dus. Hib. On the Reverse, the Arms of France and England Quarterly, and Jesus autem transieus, &c. In the first year of this Reign the Rose-Nobles, Half-Nobles and Quarter-Nobles, changed their Name and Value; being now called Rials, half-Rials, &c. and went at Ten Shillings, Five Shillings and Two and Sixpence. Instead of the two former were coined Noble-Angels( with Michael and the Dragon) and Angellets, at Six and Eight pence and Three and four pence; their being 134 of the latter in a Pound of fine Gold. His Salut was a French Coin, and very much resembled the Silver Groat which he likewise coined in that Kingdom; saving that the Groat wanted the Angel and Virgin over the shields, and instead of Christus vincit. &c. had Sit nomen Domini benedictum. The Mint was a while continued at Calais; where the 2. Hen. 6. cap. 6.& 12. Master was obliged to coin Half-Nobles and Farthings of Gold; with Groats, half-Groats, Pence, Half-pence and Farthings; that the Common People might have small Gold, and white Money, as they reasonably should need: And yet, the very year before, 'twas 1. Hen. 6. cap. 1. enacted that the King's Council, might order the coining of Money at York and Bristol, or what other places they thought fit. Hereupon several Mints were accordingly erected in divers Places; and particularly one at Dunwich, as some Cambd. Brit. in Suffolc.& J. Weaver. Fun. Mon. p. 718. 720. Pieces there coined( having Civitas Donwic on the Reverse) do still testify. Care being thus taken to furnish every body with plenty of good Money, it was made Felony to 2. Hen. 6. cap. 9. receive or pay Blanks: Which were a sort of white Money, coined by Henry the Fifth in France; after his victory at Agincourt, his Style being then Rex Angliae, Regens& Haeres Franciae. Sir Edward cook Instit. Par. 3. cap. 30. p. 92. says these pieces were called Blanks, or Whites, from their Colour; because at the same time that King coined also his Salus of Pure Gold: But the Blanks, says he, were but valued at Eight Pence; and, because of their baseness, were decried. By Eight Pence, I suppose, he means two Thirds of this King's Groat; which was his highest Coin in Silver, and for which they seem to have been first designed. But we are otherwise to understand chancellor, De laud. Leg. Angl. cap. 53. fol. 127. a. Fortescue; who affirms that, about the latter end of Henry the Sixth's Reign, four French Sols were valued at about Eight pence English. I know not upon what grounds M. Evelyn Numism. p. 228. asserts that this King endeavoured to supply his Extravagancies by the beggarly Shift of alchemy, and other Sophistications in his Coin. It's agreed that his Money Tit. of Hon. p. 135. first carried the arched, or Imperial, Crown; and 'tis observable that they are generally said to be minted at London, whereas his Father's and Grandfather's are( as generally) owned, in the Legends of their Reverse, to be coined at Calais. The first of Edward the Fourth's Edward. IV. Ordinances that we meet with, relating to Money, commands that all St. 3. Ed. 4. cap. 1. Bullion of Gold and Silver, paid for Merchandise at the Staple, be coined at the Mint of Calais; and the Historian Stow's Chron. p. 418. 419. pretends to inform us how that Act was put in Execution. The King, he says, caused a new Coin to be made, whereby he gained much; for he made of an old Noble a Royal, which he cammanded to go for ten Shillings. Nevertheless, to the same Royal was put Eight pence of alloy; and so it weighed the more by Eight Pence, being smitten with a new Stamp. He likewise made half-Angels of five Shillings; and Farthings of two and Six pence; Angelets of Six and Eight pence; and half-Angelets of three and four pence. He made Silver Money, of Three-pence a Groat; and so of other Coins after that rate, to the great harm of the Commons. This Story, tho' very formally told, is not true: For Edward the Fourth was not the man that introduced this great Alteration; since, as far as it appears by the See an Account of Six of 'em in Mr. Lowndes's Essay, p. 4●, 41. Indentures, he only kept matters just as they were left by his Predecessor. Nor was Calice the only Mint in this King's Reign; since it appears that he had Groats coined( not only at London, but also) at York, and Bristol. Some of these are in Mr. Thoresby's Cabinet; and they have the Initial Letters E and B on the King's Breast, as well as the names of those respective Cities more at large on their Reverses. The same Author produces a Record, whereby the unfortunate Lord Hastings is appointed Master of the King's Mints in England, Ireland, and France; and he seems yet farther to have enhans'd the value of all the Pieces both of Gold and Silver. Out of a pound weight of Gold he coined fifty Nobles of Eight Shillings and four pence; the Gold being( as at this day) twenty-three Carats, three grains and half, fine: And of a pound of Silver ( as Henry the Sixth had done before) he made a hundred and twelve Groats and a half. So that now the Groat weighed about six pence of our present Money; which is hardly half of what it did in the days of Edward the Third. This, well considered, may perhaps convince us that Edward the Fourth's Groats are no such Rarities as some have imagined: And 'twere indeed strange if they should be so, since we are sure this King coined a very great deal of Money. We have plenty of two Sorts of old Edward-Groats; which differ much in their Weight, Bulk and Insrciption. Some that are pretty large and thick, above three Penny-weight, have the Letter N( in the words Angl. Franc. and London) formed not much unlike to a Roman H; and these were undoubtedly coined by Edward the Third, who also Styles himself( what the other omits) Dominus Hyberniae. Others are less and thinner, of the forementioned weight of a Modern Sixpence, and giving the Letter N in this fashion R; and these are as certainly Edward the Fourth's, tho' J. Spe●d has unduly bestowed one of them upon Edward the Third. For a farther Confirmation of this, there's one Groat of the Penes RR. D. Archiep. Ebor. lesser sort( of the same Face and Reverse with the rest) stamped at Waterford in Ireland; which, tho' it be a very fair one, wants Eighteen Grains of what even an Edward the Fourth's Groat ought to weigh. Now, 'tis impossible this should belong to Edward the Third; in whose time( as Sir Reports, Case of mixed Money. John Davis assures us) there was no Mint in that City. Edward the Fourth, he says, had one there; as he had likewise another at Trim, a Third at Galway, &c. And 'twas he, who( as the same learned Judge observes) first raised the value of the Irish Money a fourth Part: So that, whereas 'twas formerly equal in Weight and value to the English, now an English Threepence went at Four pence, and Nine pence for a Shilling, in Ireland. The Custom was continued by his Successors; insomuch that we have Nine-pences( as low as King James the First) that were coined for Irish Shillings, and Four-pence-half-pennies their Half-Shillings. That small Coin which we have in Speed cannot be above the value of one of his Half-Groats, if it do indeed at all belong to him: For I very much doubt it, tho the great Tit. of Hon. Par. 1. cap. 8. p. 135. Selden looks upon the thing as certain and unquestionable. The Crosses, instead of Rays, betwixt every two of the Flowers on its three Crowns, will indeed sufficiently distinguish it from those of any of the three former Edwards; and so will the Quartering of the French and English Arms on the Reverse. 'tis probable this is an Irish Coin; and 'tis no great matter whether we bring it within the Statute 17. ●d. 4. cap. 1. of this Reign, which prohibits all such to run in Payments either in England or Wales: But, I think, 'twill not be hard to find it( tho' a great Rarity at this day) among those Groats which F. Moryson Itin. Par. 1. Lib. 3. cap. 6. tells us were common in the Kingdom of Ireland about the latter end of Queen Elizabeth's Reign. Those were, 1. Broad-faced Groats; minted for four pence, but worth Eight Pence. 2. across Keel Groats; stamped( mark it!) with the Pope's Triple Crown. 3. Dominus Groats; coined by such of our Kings as wrote themselves Domini Hiberniae, 4. Rex Groats; by Henry the Eighth and Edward the Sixth, who only( before that time) had styled themselves Reges Hiberniae. 5. White Groats; of so base an alloy that an English Shilling was worth nine of them. Edward. V. Mr. Evelyn Bibl. Cott. Tiberius, II, 1. tells us that he had seen a complete Series of our ancient Money, down from the Time of the confessor; excepting only that of Richard the Third, which( he says) it has not been his hap to light upon. Surely he should also have excepted that of Edward the Fifth: Unless we may say that this unhappy Prince survived his Father too few weeks to be so much as reckoned amongst our English Kings. In the Cottonian Manuscript Livre de Monnoyes we have indeed both the Groats and Pennies de Eduuard Cinquieme de ce nom Roy d' Engleterre Seigneur d' ireland &c. But, by the very Descriptions he gives of 'em, 'tis plain that Author was mistaken. The Groats must be those of Edward the Third; and the Pennies appear to be the same with those already mentioned under Edward the Second. There are some Indentures, Richard. III. mentioned by Mr. Lowndes, that prove Richard the Third's contracting for the Coinage of Money( both in Gold and and Silver) of the value and Denomination with those of the first year of Henry the Sixth: And 'tis not improbable but Mr. Evelyn may have met with several of his Groats, much lighter than those of Richard the Second, and inscribed with Characters of the like shape with those of Henry the Sixth and Edward the Fourth. One of these I am Master of, which( with a moderate abatement, in Proportion to its Age) carries nearly Two-penny-Weight and three Grains, which was the exact standard of Richard the Third's Groat; and there are several more of 'em in Penes R R. D. Archiep. Eb●r. D. R. Thoresby. &c. other hands. In all these as well as those of Edward the Fourth, the Face-side wants the outer circled; the Letters of the Inscription, reaching to the very extremity of the Coin, being generally imperfect: So that there was reason for the Provision made by Act of Parliament( in the next Reign) that the New Money should have a circled about the outermost Parts, &c. Henry the Seventh's Henry. VII. St. 19. Hen. 7. cap. 5. current Coins of Gold, were his sovereign, Half-Soveraign, Royal, Half-Royal and Quarter-Royal, Angel and Half-Angel; and of Silver, Groats, Half-Groats, Pennies, Half-pence and Farthings. Those old Pennies that bore divers Spurs, or the Mullet betwixt the Bars of the across, were to go only for half-pennies; and, to avoid clipping for the future, the King( by Advice of his Council) caused new Groats and Two-pences to be coined with outer Circles, and ordered that the whole Scripture should be about every piece of Gold. The standard for 12. Hen. 7. cap. 5. Silver continued the same as in some former Reigns; and the Counterfeiting of foreign Money, current in this Kingdom, was made 4. Hen. 7. High Treason. This last Statute was fit to pass into a Law in the Reign of this Wise and Provident King; who is said to have left behind him no less than Coke's Instit. Par. 2. p. 576. five Millions and Three Hundred Thousand Pounds in ready Money, and most of it in foreign Coin. In the twenty'th year of his Reign there were some few J. Stow's Survey of land. Ch. Tower. and Cambd. Rem. Shillings coined; and those( being only forty in a Pound of Silver) were fair and large Pieces, a full Third heavier than ours at this day. They are now choice Rarities in our best furnished Cab●●ets. Both his Groats and Twopences bear his half-faced Head, crowned and inscribed Henricus VII. D. Gra. Rex. Angl.& Fran. and, on the Reverse, his Arms with Posui Deum, &c. He is likewise said to have Cambd. ibid. coined small pieces called Dandy-Prats: But of what Metal, Value, or Fashion, we are not informed. The State of Henry the Eighth's Henry. VIII Money was, like his Mind and Humour, very changeable and uncertain. In the beginning of his Reign, his Silver-Coins were as like his Father's as was possible: the Inscription( excepting the change of VII. into VIII.) the same; his Image half-faced; the Money good sterling; &c. And, some years after, good Provision was made for the Regulation of the Mints; particular Vid. St. 14.& 15. Hen. 8. cap. 12. care being taken that all Farthings( not heretofore distinguishible from Half-pence) should have the Portcluse on one side, and the Rose with a across on the other: Nor are any other Coins of Silver there mentioned( as being then of known and common u●) save only Groats, Half-Groats, Pence and Half-pence. But, tho' the Indentures, that are left, are as Silent in this matter as the Act of Parliament, we are sure there were some Testons coined( in his early and best days) of fine Silver and half-faced; whereof one Penes RR. Archiep. Eb●r. has Civitas Eboraci on the Reverse, instead of the more ordinary Posui Deum &c. And here, by the way, let it be observed that even his lesser pieces( not minted at London) generally omit that Inscription, and have only the Name of the Place( as Civitas Cantor. Ibid. Turnaci, &c.) where they were coined. His Pence and Halfpence give him seated in a Throne, crowned and holding a sceptre in his right hand; On the Reverse, the Arms of France and England Quaterly. These, representing his Majesty much after the same manner as Speed's Golden Coin had shown us Henry the Sixth, tempted some to believe that they were also that King's Money, and that( therefore Henry the Seventh was not the first of our Kings who set the Arms on Silver: But that Conjecture is overthrown by some of 'em, having Cardinal Wolsey's Hat and the Initial Letters of his Name ( T. W.) on their Reverse. In the twenty Socond year of his Reign a Commission was granted to this Cardinal for the Alteration of his Coin; whereby great Confusion Vaughan, of Coinage. p. 112 happened in the value of our Money. Whether this Grant was not designedly obtained by the Cardinal's Enemies, who sought his Destruction, I shall not pretend to determine: But 'tis observable that he died under an Arrest in November, that very year; and one of the Instit. Lib. 4. cap. 8. Articles wherewith he stood charged was his placing the Hat under the King's Arms on the Groats he coined at York. 'tis certain that, a good while before this, he had coined several Groats both at York and Durham; as did likewise Archbishop Cranmer afterwards at Canterbury, Archbishop Lee at York, and Bishop T●●stal at Durham. And the practise was so far from being thought illegal, that when an Act of Parliament St. 14.& 15. Hen. 8. cap. 12, prescribed to the Royal Mint in the Tower, special Provision is made that thereby no Prejudice should accrue to the Coiners of York, Duresme and Canterbury. The Archbishops of York always claimed it as their Right, from time immemorial; and it has been accordingly allowed them, as appears by many repeated Charters to that purpose. In the Eighth year of Edward the First, there was a Quo Warranto brought against William Wickwain Archbishop of York, for coining of Money there without the King's licence; to which he put in his Answer, by his attorney, as follows: That he and his Predecessors had, from time immemorial, been seized de duobas Cune is Monetalibus at York. And, for greater Evidence, he says that in the time of Henry the First, Odo sheriff of Yorkshire hindered Gerard then Archbishop from holding Pleas in his own Court de Monetariis suis, and passing judgement upon them: And that, upon Gerard's complaint to the King, a Writ was directed to the sheriff in these words, Volo& praecipio ut Gerardus Archiepiscopus Ebor. in Terris Ecclesiarum suarum,& in omnibus Terris Archiepiscopatûs Ebor. Placita sua in Curiâ suâ habeat de Monetariis suis& de Latronibus& omnibus aliis,& omnes Leges& Consuetudines suas de omnibus habeat, sicut& Thomas Archiepiscopus meliùs habuit tempore Patris vel Fratris mei, &c. And he says farther, that he and his Predecessors used to have a certain third Mint [ Cuneum] which the King now has in the City of York, and he preys that his Right herein may be saved to him &c. Which Plea was allowed. Mr. Evelyn's Numism. p. 12. account of the Alterations, made by the Cardinal and other Prelates, is a little darkly expressed. He seems to say that their own Faces were impressed upon the Money they coined: Which certainly is a Mistake. In this they all agreed that their Metal was much coarser than had formerly been minted: But yet the grand debasement of all was the King's own, after he had taken upon him the style of Rex Hyberniae, and a little before his Expensive and insignificant Conquest of Bologne. This was the Thirty-sixth year of his Reign; when, having wasted the most immense Treasure that ever any Monarch of England was Master of, he was at last reduced to those miserable Straits as to suffer person Brock to make him a Cambden's Remains. Copper Nose. 'twas now that his Stow's Chron. p. 587. broad-faced Shillings were coined; being large Pieces of thrice the weight of such Groats as were then made of the same Metal. On these was the King's Head( whence they had also the Name of Testons) full-faced and crowned, with Henricus 8. Dei Gra. Angl. Franc. & Hib. Rex. and the Reverse had a Rose and Crown, betwixt H and R crowned, with the Common Inscription Posui Deum Adjutorium( instead of the more usual Adjutorem) meum. Upon the first coining of these Shillings( in the Thirty-fourth year of his Reign) his Money had only a fifth Part alloy; but, two years after, 'twas half Copper; and, in his Thirty-Seventh year, it had only a Third of Silver. The Scheme of his Gold Coins, as the Indenture gives it, runs thus: Ao. 1. Hen. 8. A Pound of fine Gold made. — sovereigns, 24. at 01 02 06   l. s. d. — Rials. 48. 00. 11. 03. — Angels, 72. 00. 07. 06. — George-Nobles, 81. 00. 06. 08. — Half-Angels, 144. 00. 03. 09. — 40-penny-peices, 162. 00. 03. 04. A Pound of Crown-Gold made— — Crowns, 100. ½ at 00. 05. 00. — Half-Crowns, 201 00. 02. 06. These continued the Species in that Metal; tho' afterwards they were somewhat debased and lowered in their value. Edward VI. Edward the Sixth presently set himself to the remedying this unhappy See his Journal amongst Bishop Burnet's Collection of Records for the 2 d. vol. of his Hist. of the Reform. State of the Coin; and that with an Application wonderfully beyond what could have been expected from a Prince of his tender Years. Yet, such Reformation as was necessary was not to be wrought on a sudden; and therefore we may observe that the distemper was strugled-with some years before 'twas perfectly subdued. There were two several sorts of Testons, no better than his Father's in the Intrinsic value of the Metal, and much inferior in Bulk, which were coined in his third and fifth years. Both these gave him half-faced, with his Titles as on the purer Money below: But they differed in the Legends on the Reverse; the one bearing Timor Domini est fons vitae; MDXLVIII. and the other Inimicos ejus induam confusione. 'twas on the former of these that honest Bishop Latimer made his merry Remark, that it was such a Latimer's Sermons, fol. 30. a. and 44. b. pretty little Shilling that he had like to have put it away for an old Groat; and yet( whatever were the Silver) the inscribed sentence he reckons to be golden, and hopes it would be always Printed in the heart of the King, &c. In the latter end of his fifth year, both these and those of Kind Henry were cried down; first from Twelvepence to Ninepence, and( about a Month after) to Sixpence: And, at the same time, the following new Coins were given in good ancient Sterling-Standard. Fine Gold, Crown-Gold,   s.   s. sovereign, 30 sovereign, 20 Angel, 10 Half-Sovereign, 10 Angelet, 5 Crown, 5     Half-Crown.   Silver, Crown, Half-Crown, Shilling, sixpence. The Four last differed mostly in Size and Weight; all of 'em having the King's Titles thus, Edwardus VI. D. G. Angliae Franc.& Hib. Rex. and, on the Reverse, the King's Arms with Posui Deum, &c. Only, the Crown and half-Crown gave him on Horse-back, subscribed 1551. whereas the Shilling and Sixpence( as in Speed) have no more than his Head full-faced, &c. The finer sovereign had on its Reverse Scutum fidei proteget eum; and the Coarser Jesus autem transiens &c. At the same Stow's. Chron. p. 606. time were coined small pieces of base and mixed Metal; a Penny with a double Rose, half-penny with a single-Rose; and Farthing with a Portcluse: But the Indenture makes these of the same fineness with the Crown, &c, Q. Mary. In the first year of Queen Id. p. 616. Mary's Reign, Proclamation was made for the currency of these New Coins: the sovereign( at 30 s.) and Half-Soveraign, Angel( at 10 s.) and half-Angel, in Gold; and the Groat, half-Groat and Penny, in Silver. All base Coins were ordered to go at the same rates that were set by K. Edward. Of the gold Coins I have only the last; whereon we have Michael and the Dragon with Maria D. G. A. Fr.& Hib. Reg. On the Reverse, the Queen's Arms in a ship, crested with a across, a Star and the Letter M, and inscribed A Dno factum est istud. Her sovereign, I suppose, is the same with what Mr. Evelyn Numism. pag. 91. calls a Ryal; which he says was scattered at her Coronation: Whereon was the Queen, vested in her Regalia and enthroned, with Maria D. G. Ang. Fra.& Hib. Regina. MDLIII. About the Arms on the Reverse( placed in the Center of a Rose full blown) A Dno. factum est istud& est mirabile in ocul. nris. However, the Engraver seems to have committed a mistake; in placing the sceptre in her Left-hand and the Globe or across in her Right. Her Groat gives her Head crowned and Maria D. G. Ang. Fra.& Hib. Reg. On the Reverse, her Arms with Veritas temporis filia. After her Marriage the style was altered on her Coin, as well as elsewhere. Speed gives us the draft of a very beautiful Shilling; bearing the King and Queen's Heads, face to face, with a Crown above and the year of our Lord 1554. their Titles Philip.& Maria D. G. R. Ang. Fr. Neap. Pr. Hisp. On the Reverse the Arms of Spain and England, in different Shields, crowned and inscribed Posuimus Deum Adjutorem nostrum. Others were coined the year after, whereon the Arms were quartered; and the style ran only Philip.& Maria D. G. Rex& Regina Angl. The Reason of which change was because Charles the Fifth had then resigned the Kingdom of Spain to his son Philip; and therefore he was no longer Princeps but Rex Hispaniarum. Their Groats had only the Queen's Head crowned; but the Legend name them both, as in the Shilling last mentioned. Cambden Remains, Chap. of Money. mentions their Crown of Gold, whereon was Mundi falus unica: But whether the Pieces struck in remembrance of Wyat's See Mr. Evelyn's Numism, pag. 92. Rebellion, &c. were Gold or Silver, I know not. The last years of Henry the Eighth brought greater Corruptions in the Money than could be removed in the two following Reigns. Q. Mary, Q. Elizabeth. we see, went no farther in the redressing of this Grievance than her Brother had gone before her: But Q. Elizabeth happily finished the Work; insomuch that Moneta ad suum valorem reducta is very deservedly amongst the Encomia on her Tomb at Westminster, and an St. 5. Eliz. cap. 11. Act of Parliament very early witnessed for her, that by her great goodness new moneys or Coins were reduced to as much fineness as ever had been in any time of her Noble Progenitors. Her first business was to Camb. Remains. mark all the base pieces with either a Greyhound, Portcluse, Lion, Harp, Rose or Flower de Lis; and soon after followed her Stow's Chron. p. 646. crying down the finest Testons from Sixpence to Fourpence halfpenny, those of a Second rate to Twopence, and the rest to nothing. This was done in the latter end of her Second year: But( so unconstant are the best directed human politics) the very Sir Rob. Cotton's Posthuma, p. 179. next year following the Majority of her Council affencted and advised a fresh abasement of the Coin. This was vehemently opposed by the wise and honest Treasurer Burleigh, then Secretary of State; who would never give way to any such resolution in his Time. Hereupon, a Proclamation Stow, p. 647. introduced the Currency of new Six-pences, Groats, Threepences, Twopences, Pence, Penny-halfpennies, and Halfpenny-farthings, all of pure Silver; the first of these being of that beautiful coin which was continued for several years after, and whereof we have a fair draft in Speed's History. Afterwards we have Ann. 25.& 43. See the Indentures in Mr. Lowndes's Essay. Shillings( and other larger pieces) of the same fineness; among which the Portcluse-Shilling is perhaps the most rare and remarkable. It bears the Queen's Arms crowned, as likewise the two Initial Letters of her Name and Title ( E. R.) with Elizabeth. D. G. An. Fr.& Hib. Regina: And, on the Reverse, a crowned Portcluse inscribed Posui Deum &c. Before the Queen's Titles we have here an Annulet or O; whereas on others there's an A, and on some a Dove, &c. The last of these has been thought to resemble a Duck or Drake; and the current Tradition is that these Shillings were struck( Medal-wise) in memory of the famous Expedition of Sir Francis Drake, which was finished in her twenty-second year. In this flourishing condition was our English Silver-Money during her long and Prosperous Reign; the Inscriptions on every piece( from a Crown, in her two last years, to threepence) being the same. Some of her lesser Coins had Civitas London on the Reverse; instead of the common Posui Deum &c. on the larger. She caused indeed some Irish Shillings( called Harpers, from the Arms of that Kingdom stamped upon them) to be made of a base kind than the English, so that they usually passed for Nine-pence here: And towards the latter end of her Reign, she paid her Army there with yet much base Coin; having three F. Moryson's Itin. Par. 1. lib. 3. cap. 6. Parts Copper, and a fourth only Silver. This our Goldsmith's valued at no more than Twopence-halfpenny, tho' 'twas commanded by Proclamation to pass at twelvepence in that Kingdom; designed for the speedy impoverishment and reduction of the Rebels there. In the year 1600. Id. Ibid. She contracted for the coining of Angels, Half-Angels, Pieces of an Angel and half and three Angels, of the finest Angel-Gold; and( of a coarser Crown-Gold) pieces of Twenty, Ten and Five, Shillings. The former sort had A Domino factum est istud& est Mirabile on their Reverse; and the latter Scutum fidei protegit eam. The Indentures of that year( those, at least, that Mr. Lowndes met with) do not mention the Pieces of Angels and a half, nor three Angels; but they reckon also, what my Author omits, her Quarter-Angels at Two Shillings and Sixpence. They speak likewise of Crown gold coined( the same year) into sovereigns of twenty Shillings, Half-Soveraigns, Crowns and Half-Crowns. Others of 'em say that, in her Twenty-Sixth year, she caused Double Nobles( the same, I suppose, with Edward the Sixth's finer sovereigns) and Nobles to be coined of fine Gold; whereof the former went at Thirty Shillings, and the latter at fifteen. The more ancient Coins in Gold, as well Foreign as Domestic, which went here in Payments about the beginning and middle of her Reign, are accounted for by Append. to his Life, by J. S. p. 137. Sir Thomas Smith; who has left us a Table for the ready distinguishing of 'em by their several Weights: But( as now Printed) 'tis far from being so exact as we could wish it. Before the Union, there never was any brass or Copper-money coined by any of the Kings or Queens of this Nation; tho' most of the Neighbouring Princes and States had their halfpence and farthings( some time before the death of Q. Elizabeth) in one or both of those Metals. The end of the Third and last Part. AN INDEX OF ALL THE Writers, &c. in the Third Part. A. Accounts 240 Admiralty 121 Aelfred 156 Agard 15, 92, 100 Anderson 183 Archdeacons 208 Ascham 2●3 Ash 181 Assizes. 105 Atkins 64 A●wood 57, 64 Augmentation 93 B. Babington 106 Bacon 23, 56, 175, 189 Baxter 22 Bendlocs 183 Black Book 101 Bond 108 Borough 124 Boundaries 237 Bowyer 51 Bracton 139 Brady 57 bridle 79 briton 157 Brook 168, 183, 189 Brown 147 Burgess 217 C. carry 208 Chamberlain 108 Chancery 80 Charters 2 Chivalry 13 clerk 126, 208 Coins of our Kings, — William I. 256 — William II. 258 — Henry I. 259 — Stephen 262 — Henry II. 264 — Richard I. 268 — John 268 — Henry III. 269 — Edward I. 271 — Edward II. 274 — Edward III. 275 — Richard II. 283 — Henry IV. 285 — Henry V. 285 — Henry VI. 288 — Edward IV. 291. — Edward V. 296 — Richard III. 297 — Henry VII. 298 — Henry VIII. 299 — Edward VI. 306 — Q. Mary. 308 — Q. Elizabeth. 311 cook 37, 74, 79, 161, 171, 183, cumber 216 Common-Pleas 86 Conset 208 Consistories 206 Convocations 191 Cory 87 cousin 194 Cotton 47, 250 County-Court 116 Court-Baron 117 Court-Leet 117 Cowel 176, 177 croak 185 Crompton 108 Custumier de N. 131 D. Dalton 101, 116 Davis 248 Degge 194 Delegates 201 D' Ewes 61 digs 14 Dode●idge 194 doomsday 95 Dudley 173 Dugdale 60, 66, 75, 83, 181. Durham 111 Dyer 188 E. Egerton 82 elsing 54 Embassies 14 Evelyn 249 Exchequer 88 F. Fet assavoir 148 Filmer 20 Finch 130 Fitzherbert 108, 176 Fleetword 108, 187 Fleta 142 Forest-Courts 118 Fortescue 163 G. Glanvil 134 Godolphi● 100, 170, 194 Goldesborough 185 Green-cloth 18 Greenwood 116 Gregory 191 Gresham 251 Grotius 123 H. Hakewel 54 Hales 79 Harrington 20 Hatton 51 hawks 176 Henry II. 133 Henry VIII. 6 Hengham 150 Herbert 64 Hickes 187 Hill 200 Hollis 63 Horn 155 Hughes 186, 194 Hunton 19 I. Jenkins 117 Indentures 236 Journals 51 Islip 162 K. Keble 108 Kelway 186 King's Bench 78 kitchen 117 L. Lambard 39, 74, 108 Layer 108 Letters 243 Lex Mercatoria 127 Littleton 169 Lives 245 Livre de tenors 171 London 108 Lowndes 248 M. Magna Charta 35 Manwood 120 Maynard 178 Medals 253 Meriton 108, 194, 170 Meschines 132 Metingham 154 Miroir 155 Mocket 192 Modus ten. Parl. 52 Molley 126 montague 216 Mulcaster 166 N. Narbrough 138 Natura Brev. yet. 162 Needham 124 Netles 215 Nomina Villarum 103 Novae Narr. 160 Noy 176, 186, 193 O. Ordinances 50 Ordnance 127 own 186 P. Palatinates 110 Paper Office 9 Parish-Registers 175 Parsons 185 Pedigrees 239 Perkins 175 Petyt 57 Philips 22, 83, 176 Plowden 186 Popham 187 Powel 73, 117 Prerogative 19. 205 Proclamations 1 Prynne 47, 56, 65, 70 75, 201, 222 Pulton 43, 45, 79 R. Rageman 154 Randolf 15 Rastal 43, 76, 161 Reading 218 Readings 188 Records 67 read book 100 Registrum de Cancel. 83 Reports 182 Ridley 191 Roll 169 Rolls of Parl. 45 Rool d' Oleron 122 Ryley 55 S. Savil 188 Sclater 217 Seals 225 Seintgerman 173 Selden 29, 31, 61, 82, 123, 147, 151, 166 214, 215 Sessions 107 shepherd 9, 108, 117 169, 194 Sheringham 203 Somner 34 Speculum Regis 162 Speed 247 Spelman 29, 37, 60, 77 172, 213, 219, 235 248 Stamford 79 Staple 128 Star-chamber 11 Statham 168 Statutes 40 Stephens 62, 211 Stillingfleet 63 Stow 248 stripe 246 Swanimote 121 Swinburn 194, 214 T. Testa Nevilli 103 Theloal 84 Thornton 148 Tilburiensis 101 Tildesley 215 Tithes 215 Twisden 3●, 33 Tyery 252 U. Valor Benefic. 90 Vaughan 248 universities 219 Unton 15 W. Wake 198 water-house 166 Wentworth 215 Westcot 260 Wilkinson 116 Wills 212 Winch 161 Winchedon 178 Wingate 35, 176 Wren 21 Y. Year-Books 178 yeluerton 118 Z. Zouch 87, 126, 193 Advertisement. THe English Historical Library; or a short View and Character of most of the Writers now Extant either in Print or Manuscript; which may be Serviceable to the Right Understanding of the General History of this Kingdom. Part I. Containing an Account of the Historians of Civil Affairs. Part II. A Catalogue of most of our Ecclesiastical Historians, and some Critical Reflections upon the Chief of them. Both which, together with this Third Part, are Sold by Timothy Child, at the White-Hart in St. Paul's-Church-Yard.