no new Laws bind the People of England but such as are by common consent agreed on in that great Council By the second He has a share in the Executive part of the Law no Causes being Tryed nor any man Adjudged to lose Life Member or Estate but upon the Verdict of his Peers or Equals his Neighbours and of his own Condition these two Grand Pillars of English Liberty are the Fundamental Vital Priviledges whereby we have been and are preserv'd more free and happy than any other People in the World and we trust shall ever continue so For whoever shall design to Impair Pervert or Undermine either of these do strike at the very Conisttution of our Government and ought to be Prosecuted and Punished with the utmost Zeal and Rigour To cut down the Banks and let in the Sea or to Poyson all the Springs and Rivers in the Kingdom could not be a greater Mischief for this would only affect the present Age but the other will Ruine and Enslave all our Posterity But besides these General Paramount Priviledges which the English are Estated in by the Original Constitution of their Government there are others more particularly declared and expressed in diverse Acts of Parliament of which several of the most remarkable and usefull are here presented at large to the Reader with some Notes thereupon for his better understanding of the same MAGNA CHARTA or the Great Charter made in the ninth Year of King Henry the Third and confirmed by King Edward the First in the eight and twentieth Year of his Reign EDward By the Grace of God King of England Lord of Ireland and Duke of Guyan To all Arch-Bishops Bishops c. We have seen the great Charter of the Lord Henry sometimes King of England our Father of the Liberties of England in these Words HEnry By the Grace of God King of England Lord of Ireland Duke of Normandy and Guyan and Earl of Anjou To all Arch-Bishops Bishops Abbots Priors Earls Barons Sheriffs Provosts Officers and to all Baysliffs and other our Faithful Subjects which shall see this present Charter Greeting Know you that We unto the Honour of Almighty God and for the Salvation of the Souls of our Progenitors and Successors Kings of England to the Advancement of Holy Church and Amendment of our Realm of our meer and free Will have Given and Granted to all Arch-Bishops Bishops Abbots Priors Earls Barons and to all Free-men of this our Realm these Liberties following to be kept in our Kingdom of England for ever CHAP. I. A Confirmation of Liberties FIrst We have granted to God and by this our present Charter have confirm'd for Us our Heirs for ever That the Church of England shall be free and shall have all her whole Rights and Liberties Inviolable 2 We have granted also and given to all the Free-men of our Realm for Us and our Heirs for ever these Liberties under-written to have and to hold to them and their Heirs for ever CHAP. II. The Relief of the Kings Tenant of full Age. IF any of our Earls or Barons or any other which Hold of Us in Chief by Knights Service dye and at the time of his Death his Heir be of full Age and oweth to us Relief he shall have his Inheritance by the old Relief that is to say the Heir or Heirs of an Earl for a whole Earldom by one hundred pound the Heir or Heirs of a Baron for an whole Barony by one hundred marks the Heir or Heirs of a Knight for one whole Knights Fee one hundred shillings at the most And he that hath less shall give less according to the old Custom of the Fees CHAP. III. The Wardship of an Heir within Age The Heir a Knight BUt if the Heir of any such be within Age his Lord shall not have the Ward of him nor of his Land before that he hath taken of him Homage 2. And after that such an Heir hath been in Ward when he is come to full Age that is to say to the Age of one and twenty Years he shall have his Inheritance without Relief and without time so that if such an Heir being within Age be made Knight yet nevertheless his Land shall remain in the keeping of his Lord unto the Term aforesaid CHAP. IV. No wast shall be made by a Guardian in Wards Lands THE Keeper of the Land of such an Heir being within Age shall not take of the Lands of the Heir but reasonable Issues reasonable Customs and Reasonable Services and that without destruction and waste of his Men and his Goods 2. And if we commit the Custody of any such Land to the Sheriff or to any other which is answerable unto us for the Issues of the same Land and he make destruction or waste of those things that he hath in Custody we will take of him amends and recompence therefore 3. And the Land shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men of that Fee which shall answer unto Us for the Issues of the same Land or unto him whom we will Assign 4. And if we give or sell to any man the Custody of any such Land and he therein do make destruction or waste he shall lose the same Custody And it shall be Assigned to two lawful and discreet men of that Fee which also in like manner shall be answerable to Us as afore is said CHAP. V. Guardians shall maintain the Inheritance of their Wards And of Bishopricks THe Keeper so long as he hath the Custody of the Land of such an Heir shall keep up the Houses Parks Warrens Ponds Mills and other things pertaining to the same Land with the Issues of the said Land And he shall deliver to the Heir when he cometh to his full Age all his Land stored with Ploughs and all other things at the least as he receiv'd it All these things shall be observed in the Custody of Arch-Bishopricks Bishopricks Abbeys Priories Churches and Dignities vacant which appertain to Us Except this that such Custody shall not be sold CHAP. VI. Heirs shall be Married without Disparagement HEirs shall be Married without Disparagement CHAP. VII A Widow shall have her Marriage Inheritance and Quarentine The Kings Widow A Widow after the Death of her Husband Incontinent and without any difficulty shall have her Marriage and her Inheritance 2. And shall give nothing for her Dower her Marriage or her Inheritance which her Husband and She held the day of the Death of her Husband 3. And She shall tarry in the chief House of her Husband by forty days after the Death of her Husband within which days her Dower shall be Assigned her if it were not Assigned her before or that the House be a Castle 4. And if she depart from the Castle then a competent House shall be forthwith provided for her in the which She may honestly dwell until her Dower be to her Assigned as it is aforesaid And She shall have in the
five Year of our Reign Sententia lata super Chartas The Sentence of the Clergy against the Breakers of the Articles above written IN the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost Amen Whereas our Sovereign Lord the King to the Honour of God and of Holy Church and for the common profit of the Realm hath granted for him and his Heirs for ever these Articles above written Robert Archbishop of Canterbury Primate of all England admonished all his Province once twice and thrice Because that shortness will not suffer so much Delay as to give knowledge to all the People of England of these presents in Writing We therefore enjoyn all Persons of what Estate soever they be that they and every of them as much as in them is shall uphold and maintain these Articles granted by our Sov L. the K. in all points And all those that in any point do Resist or break or in any manner hereafter procure Counsel or any ways assent to resist or break those Ordinances or go about it by word or deed openly or privily by any manner of Pretence or Colour We the foresaid Arch-bishop by our Authority in this Writing expressed do Excommunicate and accurse and from the Body of our Lord Jesu Christ and from all the Company of Heaven and from all the Sacraments of Holy Church do Sequester and exclude NOTES It may be observed that this Curse is left out of our late Printed Statute-Book though inserted at large in that Printed in three Volumns in Queen Elizabeth's days Anno. 1557. There is likewise another like dreadful but more full and express Curse Solemnly pronounced before in the time of King Henry 3d. which being also omitted in our Modern Statute-Book I shall add here for the Readers satisfaction The Sentence or Curse given by the Bishops against the Breakers of the Great Charter IN the Year of our Lord One thousand two hundred and fifty three the Third day of May in the great Hall of the King at Westminster in the Presence and by the assent of the Lord Henry by the Grace of God King of England and the Lord Richard Earl of Cornwal his Brother Roger Bigot Earl of Norfolk and Suffolk Marshal of England Humphry Earl of Hereford Henry Earl of Oxford John Earl Warren and other Estates of the Realm of England William Boniface by the Mercy of God Arch-bishop of Canterbury Primate of all England F. of London H. of Ely S. of Worcester E. of Lincoln W. of Norwich G. of Hereford W. of Salisbury W. of Durham R. of Exeter M. of Carlile W. of Bath E. of Rochester T. of Saint Davids Bishops apparelled in Pontificials with Tapers burning against the Breakers of the Churches Liberties and of the Liberties or other Customs of the Realm of England and namely of those which are contained in the Charter of the Common Liberties of England and Charter of the Forrest have denounced the Sentence of Excommunication in this Form By the Authority of Almighty God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost and of the Glorious Mother of God and perpetual Virgin Mary of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and of all Apostles and of all Martyrs of Blessed Edward King of England and of all the Saints of Heaven We Excommunicate Accurse and from the Benefits of our Holy Mother the Church we Sequester All those that hereafter willingly and maliciously deprive or spoil the Church of her Right And all those that by any Craft or Wiliness do Violate Break Diminish or Change the Churches Liberties and free Customs contained in the Charters of the Common Liberties and of the Forr est granted by our Lord the King to Archbishops Bishops and other Prelates of England and likewise to the Earls Barons Knights and other Freeholders of the Realm And all that secretly or openly by Deed Word or Council do make Statutes or observe them being made and that bring in Customs or keep them when they be brought in against the said Liberties or any of them the Writers the Law-makers Councellors and the Executioners of them and all those that shall presume to judge against them All and every which Persons before mentioned that wittingly shall commit any of the Premises let them well know that they incurr the foresaid Sentence ipso facto i. e. upon the Deed done And those that Commit ought ignorantly and be admonished except they reform themselves within 15 dayes after the time of the admonition and make full satisfaction for that they have done at the will of the Ordinary shall be from that time forth wrapped in the said Sentence and with the same Sentence we burden all those that presume to disturb the Peace of our Soveraign Lord the King and of the Realm To the perpetual Memory of which thing we the foresaid Prelates have put our Seals to these presents So Zealous were our Ancestors to preserve their Liberties from encroachments that they employed all the strength of humane Policy and Religious Obligations to secure them intire and inviolate And since this Act is still in as much force as the Act against Conventicles I cannot fadome the Reason why our Prelates should not as well hold themselves obliged twice a Year to accurse the Infringers thereof as to Prosecute Protestant Dissenters However we may note that by this Statute Chap. 2. it is expresly provided that if any Judgments be given from that time forwards against any of the points of Magna Charta they shall be annull'd and holden for nought therefore Quaere whether the conviction of Protestant Dissenters by a Justice and spoiling them of their goods without any Trial and Conviction by a Jury which is expresly against the 29 Chapter of Magna Charta ought not to be taken notice of and redress'd and the original Promoters thereof to be Curs'd by my Lords the Bishops as aforesaid A Statute made Anno 34 Edw. 1. commonly called de Tallageo non Concedendo CHAP. I. The King or his Heirs shall have no Tallage or Aid without consent of Parliament NO Tallage or Aid shall be taken or Levied by Us or our Heirs in our Realm without the good Will and Assent of Arch-Bishops Bishops Earls Barons Knights Burgesses and other Freemen of the Land CHAP. II. Nothing shall be purveyed to the Kings Vse without the Owners consent NO Officer of ours or of our Heirs shall take Corn Leather Cattel or any other Goods of any manner of Person without the good Will and Assent of the Party to whom the Goods belonged CHAP. III. Nothing shall be taken of Sacks of Wooll by Colour of Maletot NOthing from henceforth shall be taken of Sacks of Wooll by colour or occasion of Maletot CHAP. IV. All Laws Liberties and Customs confirmed WE Will and Grant for Us and our Heirs That all Clerks and Lay-men of our Land shall have their Laws Liberties and free Customs as largely and wholly as they have used to have the same at any time
when they had them best 2. And if any Statutes have been made by Us and our Ancestors or any Customs brought in contrary to them or any manner of Article contained in this present Charter We Will and grant that such manner of Statutes and Customs shall be void and frustrate for evermore CHAP. V. Pardon granted to certain Offenders MOreover we have pardoned Humphrey Bohun Earl of Hereford and Essex Constable of England Roger Earl of Norfolk and Suffolk Marshal of England and other Earls Barons Knights Esquires and namely John de Ferrariis with all other being of their Fellowship Consederacy and Bond and also of other that hold 20 l. Land in our Realm whether they hold of us in Chief or of others that were appointed at a day certain to pass over with us into Flanders the Rancour and Evil will born against us and all other Offences if any they have committed against us unto the making of this present Charter CHAP. VI. The Curse of the Church shall be Pronounced against the Breakers of this Charter ANd for the more assurance of this thing we will and grant that all Archbishops and Bishops for ever shall read this present Charter in Cathedral Churches twice in the Year and upon the Reading thereof in every of their Parish-Churches shall openly Denounce accursed all those that willingly do procure to be done any thing contrary to the tenour force and effect of this present Charter in any point and article In witness of which thing we have set our Seal to this present Charter together with the Seals of the Archbishops Bishops which voluntarily have sworn that as much as in them is they shall observe the tenour of this present Charter in all Causes and Articles and shall extend their faithful Aid to the keeping thereof c. The Comment THe word Tallage is derived from the French word Tailler to share or cut out a part and is Metaphorically used for any Charge when the King or any other does cut out or take away any part or share out of a Mans Estate and being a general word it includes all Subsidies Taxes Tenths Aids Impositions or other Charges whatsoever The word Maletot signifies an Evil that is an unjust Toll Custom Imposition or Sum of Money The occasion of making this Statute was this King Edward being injured by the French King resolves to make War against him and in order thereunto requires of Humphrey le Bohun Earl of Hereford and Essex and Constable of England and of Roger Bigot Earl of Norfolk and Suffolk and Marshal of England and of all the Earls Barons Knights Esquires and Freeholders of 20 l. Land whether they held of him in Capite to contribute towards such his expedition that is to go in Person or find sufficient Men in their places in his Army which the Constable and Marshal and many of the Knights and Esquires and especially this John Ferrers taking part with them and all the Freemen stoutly denyed unless it were so ordained and determined by common consent in Parliament according to Law And it seems the contest grew so hot that Baker's Chronicle Folio 99. relates a strange Dialogue that pass'd between them viz. That when the Earl Marshal told the King That if his Majesty pleased to go in Person he would then go with him and march before him in the Van-Guard as by right of Inheritance he ought to do but otherwise he would not stir the King told him plainly he should go with any other though he went not in Person I am not so bound saith the Earl neither will I take that Journey without you The King swore By God Sir Earl you shall either go or Hang And I swear by the same Oath said the Earl I will neither go nor Hang. And so the King was forc'd to dispatch his expedition without them And yet saith my Lord Coke altho the King had conceived a deep displeasure against the Constable Marshal and others of the Nobility Gentry and Commons of the Realm for denying that which he so much desired yet for that they stood in defence of their Laws Liberties and free Customes the said King Edward the First who as Sir William Herle Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas who lived in his time and served him said in the time of King Edward the 3d. was the wisest King that ever was did after his return from beyond the Seas not only consent to this Statute whereby all such Tallages and Impositions are forbidden for the future but also passes a Pardon to the said Nobles c. of all Rancour Ill-will and Transgressions If any they have committed which last words were added lest by acceptance of a Pardon of Transgression they should implicitely confess that they had Transgressed so careful were the Lords and Commons in former times to preserve the Ancient Laws Liberties and free Customs of their Country But note these words Si quas fecerint If any they have committed are left out in all the Printed Books of Statutes but they are in this Statute recited by Coke in his second Book of Institutes Fo. 535. and specially noted which he would never have done if it had not been so in the Rolls And since 't is probable them may be many more like Omissions Mistakes or Falsifications crept into the Prints and for that the Râ—â—â—â—d not the printed Satute-Book varying from the Records is the Law It were to be wished that all the Rolls of Acts of Parliament were carefully by some Persons of Learning and Integrity view'd and Compared with the Prints and notice taken of all such Varâ—â—tions and of Errors committed in the Translations and of any Statutes of a publick Import if in force that were never printed and the same to be made publick Anno 25 Edw. 3. CAP. II. A Declaration what Offences shall be adjudged Treason WHereas diverse opinions have been before this time in what Case Treason shall be said and in what not 2. The King at the Request of the Lords and of the Commons hath made a declaration in the manner as hereafter followeth that is to say When a Man doth Compass or Imagine the Death of our Lord the King or of our Lady his Queen or of their eldest Son and Heir 3. Or if a man do violate the Kings Companion or the Kings Eldest Daughter unmarried or the Wife of the Kings Eldest Son and Heir 4. Or if a Man do Levy War against our Lord the King in his Realm or be Adherent to the Kings Enemies in his Realm giving them Aid and Comfort in the Realm or elsewhere and thereof be provably Attainted of open Deed by the People of their Condition 5. And if a Man Counterfeit the Kings Great or Privy-Seal or his Money 6. And if a Man bring false Money into this Realm Counterfeit to the Money of England as the Money called Lushburgh or other like to the said Money of England knowing the Money to be false to Merchandise
or make payment in deceit of our said Lord the King and of his People 7. And if a Man Slay the Chancellor Treasurer or the Kings Justice of the one Bench or the other Justices in Eyre or Justices of Assize and all other Justices Assigned to Hear and Determine being in their Places doing their Offices 8. And it is to be understood that in the Cases above rehearsed that ought to be judged Treason which extends to our Lord the King and of his Royal Majesty 9. And of such Treason the Forfeiture of the Escheats pertaineth to our Lord as well of the Lands and Tenement holden of other as of himself 10. And moreover there is another manner of Treason that is to say when a Servant slayeth his Master or a Wife her Husband or when a Man Secular or Religious slayeth his Prelate to whom he oweth Faith and Obedience 11. And of such Treason the Escheats cught to pertain to every Lord of his own Fee 12. And because that many other like Cases of Treason may happen in time to come which a man cannot think nor declare at this present time it is Accorded That if any other Case supposed Treason which is not above specified doth happen before any Justices the Justices shall tarry without any going to Judgment of the Treason till the Cause be shewed and declared before the King and his Parliament whether it ought to be judged Treason or other Felony 13. And if percase any Man of this Realm Ride Armed covertly or secret with Men of Arms against any other to Slay him or Rob him or Take him or Retain him till he hath made Fine or Ransome for to have his deliverance it is not the mind of the King nor his Council that in such Case it shall be judged Treason but shall be judged Felony or Trespass according to the Laws of the Land of old time used and according as the Case requireth 14. And if in such Case or other like before this time any Justices have judged Treason and for this cause the Lands and Tenements have come into the Kings hands as forfeit the chief Lords of the Fee shall have the Escheats of the Tenements holden of them whether that the same Tenements be in the Kings hands or in others by Gift or in other manner 15. Saving always to our Lord the King the Year and the Waste and the sorfeitures of Chattels which pertain to him in the Cases above named 16. And that the Writs of Scire Facias be granted in such Case against the Land-Tenants without other Original and without allowing any Protection in the said Suit 17. And that of the Lands which be in the Kings hands Writs be granted to the Sheriffs of the Counties where the Lands be to deliver them out of the Kings hands without delay The Comment TReason is derived from Trabir which signifies Treacherously to betray when it concerns the Government and the Publick 't is called High Treason but against particular Persons as a Wife killing her Husband a Servant his Master c. it is Petty Treason High Treason in the Civil Law is called Crimen Laesae Majestatis a Crime wronging Majesty but in our Common-Law-Latine Alta proditio and in an Indictment for this offence the word Proditorie must be in Before the making this Act so many things were charged as High Treason That no Man knew how to behave himself Now by this Statute the particulars of that Grand Crime are reckoned up and all others excluded till declared by Parliament And the settling of this Affair was esteemed of such Importance to the Publick-Weal That the Parliament wherein this Act passed was called long after Benedictum Parliamentum the Blessed Parliament The substance of this Statute is branched out by my Lord Cook 3d. part of Instit. Fol. 3. into six Heads viz. The first concerning Death by compassing or imagining the death of the King Queen or Prince and declaring the same by some Overt Deed. By killing and murdering of the Chancellor Treasurer Justices of either Bench Justices in Eyre Justices of Assize Justices of Oier and Terminer In their Places doing their Offices The second is to Violate that is to Carnally know the Queen the Kings Eldest Daughter unmarried the Princes Wife The third is Levying War against the King The fourth is Adhering to the Kings Enemies within the Realm or without and declaring the same by some overt Act. The fifth is Counterfeiting of the Great the Privy Seal or the Kings Coin The sixth and last by bringing into this Realm Counterfeit Mony to the likeness of the Kings Coin Now as to the particular Exposition of the several parts of this Statute 1. When a man doth compass c. in the Original it is Quant Home which extends to both Sexes but one that is Non compos mentis or an Infant within the Age of discretion is not included but all Allens within the Realm of England being thereby under the Kings Protection and owing a Local Allegiance if they commit Treason may be punisht by this Act but otherwise it is of an Enemy 2. To compass and Imagine Is to contrive design or intend the death of the King but this must be declared by some Overt Act. But declaring by an open Act a design to Depose or Imprison the King is an Over Act to manifest the compassing his death For they that will depose their King will not stick to Murder him rather than fail of their end and as King Charles the First excellently observed and lamentably experienced There are commonly but few steps between the Prisons and the Graves of Princes 3. By the word King is intended 1. A King before his Coronation as soon as ever the Crown descends upon him for the Coronation is but a Ceremony 2. A King de Facto and not de Jure is a King within this Act and a Treason against him is punishable thô the Right Heir get the Crown 3. A Titular King as the Husband of the Queen is not a King within this Act but the Queen is for the word King here includes both Sexes 4. What is to be understood by the Kings Eldest Son and Heir within this Act I answer 1. A second Son after the death of the first Born is within the Act for he is then Eldest Secondly The Eldest Son of a Queen Regnant is as well within the Statute as of a King Thirdly The Collateral Heir Apparent or Presumptive is not within this Statute Roger Mortimer Earl of March was in Anno Dom. 1487. 11 Rich. 2. Proclaimed Heir Apparent Anno 39. Hen. 6. Richard Duke of York was likewise Proclaimed Heir Apparent and so was John de la Poolen Earl of Lincoln by Rich. 3. And Henry Marquess of Exeter by King Henry the 8. But none of these or the like are within the Purview of this Statute saith my Lord Coke 3 Instit fol. 9. 5. Note Whereas in the Printed Statute-Books it is there
order to which we must consider for what ends they serve and they are principally Two The first is the preservation of our Religion from Popery the other is to preserve inviolable our Liberty and Property according to the known Laws of the Land without any giving way unto or Introduction of that Absolute and Arbitrary Rule practiced in Forreign Countreys which we are neither to imitate or regard Therefore 1. Take Care to Choose such as are well known to be men of good Consciences fearing God throughly Principled in the Protestant Religion and of high Resolution to maintain it with their Lives and Fortunes And amongst these rather cast your Favour upon themof large Principles I mean in matter of meer opinion such as will not sacrifice their Neighbours Property and Civil Rights to the frowardness of their own Party in Religion Narrow Souls that will own none but those that bear their own Image and superscription will sooner raise Persecution at home than secure us from Popery and Invasion from abroad The great Interest of England at this day is to Tolerate the Tollerable to bear with the weak to encourage the Conscientious and to restrain none but such as would restrain all besides themselves 2. As we ought as near as we can possibly judge to Elect good Protestants towards God and just towards men yet since in this Corrupt Age wherein we Live men are not so spiritual as they ought to be it is not amiss to seek for those whose spiritual Interest is seconded by a Temporal one For though men talk high and keep a great Noise with Conscience and love to their Country yet when you understand Mankind aright not as it should be but as it is and I fear ever will be then you will find that private Interest is the string in the Bears Nose it is that Governs the Beast And therefore the surest Champions for our Religion Caeteris Paribus against the Papacy are our Abby Landed-men for notwithstanding the Registred Dispensation to King Henry the Eighth from the Pope for the seizing of those Monasteries and Lands yet of late they pretend that the Pope had not Power to Alien them from the Church so that the present Possessors can never trust or rely upon that or any new promises or Actual Grants thereof especially from him whose everlasting and declared Maxime it is Never to keep Faith with Hereticks Undoubtedly to make easy his ascent into the Saddle he will proffer many Assurances and Grants but if these Abby-Landed men be not the most silly of all others they will never believe him For when he is once firmly setled then will he with his Canon-Law Distinctions like Fire under Quicksilver Evaporate away all his Promises and violently Resume the Lands glorying of his own Bounty if he require not the mean profits ever since they have been sacriligiously with-held from Holy Church 3. Endeavour to Chuse men of Wisdom and Courage who will not be Hectored out of their Duties by the Frowns and Scowles of men Never had you more need to pitch upon the old English Spirit that durst be faithfull and just against all Temptations What a degenerate Race have we known that could never yet Resist Smile or Frown but tamely sunk below their own Convictions and knew the Evil they did yet durst not but Commit it 4. Make it your business to Chuse such as are resolved to stand by and maintain the power and priviledges of Parliament for they are the Heart-strings of the Common-Wealth together with the power and just Rights of the King according to the Laws of the Kingdom so as the one may not Entrench upon the other And such as with a becoming true English Courage will Prosecute all Traitors whether already Impeached or to be Impeached And to secure us from Popery hereafter and to get removed all Corrupt and Arbitrary Ministers of State and wicked Judges and stiflers of the discovery of the Popish Plot and Suborners and vile Pamphleteers that endeavour so industriously to Clear the Papists and expose the Protestant Religion and poison the People Lastly Take particular notice of those who are men of Industry and Improvement for such as are Ingenious and laborious to propagate the growth and advantage of their Country will be very tender of yeilding to any thing that may weaken or Impoverish it If you Conduct yourselves thus prudently honestly and gallantly in your Choice without putting the Gentlemen whom you chuse to serve you to charges the consequence will be that as you will be sure to have a good Parliament when ever His Majesty shall please to call one and such as will be zealous for the safety of the Protestant Religion and prosperity of the Nation if they shall continue to sit and Act so on the other side If they should be Dissolv'd and never so many new Parliaments be called yet you run no hazard for the same Candidates will still be ready to serve you And so we shall conclude our discourse of Parliaments when I shall first have observ'd that antiently all Freemen of England though not Free-holders had a right to chuse their Representatives till the same was altered and limited by the following Statute for the reasons therein mention'd The Statute Anno 8. Hen. 6. Cap. 7. What sort of men shall be Chusers and who shall be Chosen Knights of the Parliament ITem whereas the Elections of Knights of Shires to come to the Parliaments of our Lord the King in many Counties of the Realm of England have now of late been made by very great Outragious and Excessive numbers of People dwelling within the same Counties of the Realm of England of the which most part was of people of small Substance and of no value whereof every one of them pretended a voice Equivalent as to such Elections to be made with the most worthy Knights and Esquires dwelling within the same Counties whereby Man Slaughter Riots Batteries and Divisions among the Gentlemen and other People of the same Counties shall very likely rise and be unless convenient and due Remedy be provided in this behalf 2 our Lord the King considering the premises hath provided ordained and stablished by Authority of this present Parliament that the Knights of the Shires to be chosen within the said Realm of England to come to the Parliament of our Lord the King hereafter to be holden shall be chosen in every County of the Realm of England by People dwelling and resident in the same Counties whereof every one of them shall have Landor Tenement to the value of forty Shillings by the year at the least above all Charges 3 and that they which shall be so chosen shall be dwelling and resident within the same Counties 4 and such as have the greatest number of them that may expend forty shillings by the year and above as afore is said shall be returned by the Sheriffs of every County Knights for Parliament by Indentures sealed
c. Deserves to be written in Letters of Gold and I have often wondered the words thereof are not Inscribed in Capitals on all our Courts of Judicature Town-Halls and most publick Edifices they are the Elixir of our English Freedoms the Storehouse of all our Liberties And because my Lord Cook in the second part of his Institutes has many excellent Observations I shall here Recite his very words This Chapter containeth nine several Branches 1. That no man be taken or Imprisoned but per Legem terrae that is by the Common Law Statute-Law or Custome of England For these words per Legem terrae being towards the end of this Chapter do Refer to all the precedent matters in this Chapter and this hath the first place because the Liberty of a mans person is more pretious to him than all the rest that follow and therefore it is great reason that he should by Law be Relieved therein if he be wronged as hereafter shall be shewed 2. No man shall be Disseised that is put out of Seisin or dispossessed of his Free-hold that is Lands or Livelyhood or of his Liberties or free Customs that is of such Franchises and Freedoms and free Customs as belong to him by his Free Birth-Right unless it be by the lawful Judgment that is Verdict of his equals that is of men of his own Condition or by the Law of the Land that is to speak it once for all by the due Course and process of Law 3. No man shall be Outlawed made an Exlex put out of the Law that is deprived of the Benefit of the Law unless he be Outlawed according to the Law of the Land 4. No man shall be Exiled or Banished out of his Countrey that is Nemo perdet patriam no man shall lose his Countrey unless he be Exiled according to the Law of the Land 5. No man shall in any sort be destroyed Destruere id est quod prius structum factum fuit penitus Evertere Diruere unless it be by the Verdict of his Equals or according to the Law of the Land 6. No man shall be Condemned at the Kings Suit either before the King in his Bench where the Pleas are Coram Rege and so are the words Nec super eum ibimus to be understood nor before any other Commissioner or Judge whatsoever and so are the words Nec super eum mittimus to be understood but by the Judgment of his Peers that is Equals or according to the Law of the Land 7. We shall sell to no man Justice or Right 8. We shall deny to no man Justice or Right 9. We shall defer to no man Justice or Right Each of these we shall briefly explain 1. No man shall be taken that is Restrained of Liberty by Petition or Suggestion to the King or his Council unless it be by Indictment or Presentment of good and lawful men where such deeds be done This Branch and divers other parts of this Act have been notably explained and Construed by divers Acts of Parliament several of which you will find Recited hereafter in this Book 2. No man shall be Disseised c. Hereby is intended that Lands Tenements Goods and Chattels shall not be seised into the Kings Hands contrary to this great Charter and the Law of the Land nor any man shall be disseised of his Lands or Tenements or dispossessed of his Goods or Chattels contrary to the Law of the Land A Custom was alleadged in the Town of C. that if the Tenant cease by two years that the Lord should enter into the Freehold of the Tenant and hold the same until he were satisfied of the Arrearages it was adjudged a Custom against the Law of the Land to enter into a Mans Freehold in that case without Action or Answer King Henry 6. Granted to the Corporation of Diers within London power to search c. And if they found any Cloath died with Log-Wood that the Cloath should be Forfeit And it was adjuged that this Charter concerning the Forfeiture was against the Law of the Land and this Statute For no Forfeiture can grow by Letters Patents No Man ought to be put from his Livelihood without Answer 3. No Man Outlawed That is barred to have the benefit of the Law And note to this word Outlawed these words Vnless by the Law of the Land do Referr Of his Liberties This word hath three Significations 1. As it hath been said it signifieth the Laws of the Realm in which respect this Charter is called Charta Libertatum as aforesaid 2. It signifieth the Freedom the Subjects of England have for example the Company of Merchant-Taylors of England having power by their Charter to make Ordinances made an Ordinance that every Brother of the same Society should put the one half of his Cloaths to be dressed by some Cloath-Workers Free of the same Company upon pain to Forfeit 10 s. c. And it was adjuged that this Ordinance was against Law because it was against the Liberty of the Subject for every Subject hath freedom to put his Cloaths to be dressed by whom he will sic de similibus And so it is if such or the like grant had been made by his Letters Patents 3. Liberties signifie the Franchises and Priviledges which the Subjects have of the gift of the King as the Goods and Chattels of Felons Out-laws and the like or which the Subject claims by Prescription as wreck waife straie and the like So likewise and for the same reason if a Grant be made to any Man to have the Sole making of Cards or the Sole dealing with any other Trade that Grant is against the Liberty and Freedom of the Subject that before did or lawfully might have used that Trade and consequently against this great Charter Generally all Monopolies are against this great Charter because they are against the Liberty and Freedom of the Subject and against the Law of the Land 4. No Man Exiled that is Banisht or forced to depart or stay out of England without his Consent By the Law of the Land no Man can be Exiled or Banished out of his Native Country but either by Authority of Parliament or in Case of Abjuration for Felony by the Common Law and so when our Books or any Record speak of Exile or Banishment other than in case of Abjuration it is to be intended to be done by Authority of Parliament as Belknap and other Judges c. Banished into Ireland in the Reign of Rich. the Second This is a Beneficial Law and is Construed benignly And therefore the King cannot send any Subject of England against his will to serve him out of this Realm for that should be an Exile and he should perdere Patriam No he cannot be sent against his will into Ireland to serve the King or his Deputy there because it is out of the Realm of England For if the King might send him out of this Realm to any
place then under pretence of Service as Ambassador or the like he might send him into the furthest part of the World which being an Exile is prohibited by this Act. 5. No Man destroyed That is forejudged of Life or Limb or put to Torture or Death every oppression against Law by colour of any usurped Authority is a kind of destruction And the words Aliquo modo any otherwise are added to this Verb destroyed and to no other Verb in this Chapter and therefore all things by any manner of means tending to destruction are prohibited as if a Man be accused or Indicted of Treason or Felony his Lands or Goods cannot be granted to any no not so much as by promise nor any of his Lands or Goods seized into the Kings hands before he is Attainted For when a Subject obtaineth a promise of the forfeiture many times undue means and more violent prosecution is used for private Lucre tending to destruction than the quiet and just proceeding of the Law would permit and the party ought to live of his own until Attainder 6. By Lawful Judgment of his Peers That is by his Equals Men of his own Rank and Condition The general division of Persons by the Law of England is either one that is Noble and in respect of his Nobility of the Lords House of Parliament or one of the Commons and in respect thereof of the House of Commons in Parliament And as there be divers degrees of Nobility as Dukes Marquesses Earls Viscounts and Barons and yet all of them are comprehended under this word Peers and are Peers of the Realm so of the Commons there be Knights Esquires Gentlemen Citizens and Yeomen and yet all of them of the Commons of the Realm And as every of the Nobles is one a Peer to another though he be of a several degree so it is of the Commons and as it hath been said of Men so doth it hold of Noble Women either by Birth or Marriage And forasmuch as this Judgment by Peers is called Lawful it shews the Antiquity of this manner of Trial It was the ancient accustomed Legal Course long before this Charter Or by the Law of the Land That is by due process of Law for so the words are expresly expounded by the Stat. of 37 Edw. 3. chap. 8. And these words are specially to be referred to those foregoing to whom they relate As none shall be condemn'd without a lawful Trial by his Peers so none shall be taken Imprison'd or put out of his Free-hold without due process of the Law that is by the Indictment or Presentment of good and lawful Men of the place in due manner or by Writ Original of the Common-Law Now seeing that no Man can be Taken Arrested Attached or Imprisoned but by due process of Law and according to the Law of the Land these conclusions hereupon do follow 1. That the Person or Persons which commit any must have lawful Authority 2. It is necessary that the Warrant or Mittimus be lawful and that must be in Writing under his Hand and Seal 3. The Cause must be contained in the Warrant as for Treason Felony c. Suspicion of Treason or Felony or the like particular Crime For if it do not thus specifie the Cause if the Prisoner bring his Habeas Corpus he must be discharged because no Crime appears on the Return Nor is it in such Case any offence at all if the Prisoner make his escape whereas if the Mittimus contain the Cause the escape would respectively be Treason or Felony though in Truth he were not Guilty of the first offence And this mentioning the Cause is agreeable to Scripture Acts 5. 4. The Warrant or Mittimus containing a lawful Cause ought to have a lawful conclusion c. And him safely to keep until he be delivered by Law c. and not until the party committing shall further Order If any Man by colour of any Authority where he hath not any in that particular Case shall presume to Arrest or Imprison any Man or cause him to be Arrested or Imprisoned this is against this Act and it is most hateful when it is done by Countenance of Justice King Edw. the 6th did Incorporate the Town of Saint Albans and granted to them to make Ordinances c. They made a by-Law upon pain of Imprisonment and it was adjudged to be against this Statute of Magna Charta so it had been if such an Ordinance had been contained in the Patent it self We will sell to no Man deny to no Man c. This is spoken in the Person of the King who in Judgment of Law in all his Courts of Justice is present And therefore every Subject of this Realm for injury done to him in Bonis Terris vel Persona in Person Lands or Goods by any other Subject Ecclesiastical or Temporal whatever he be without exception may take his Remedy by the course of the Law and have Justice and Right for the Injury done him Freely without sale Fully without any denial and Speedily without delay For Justice must have three Qualities it must be Libera Free for nothing is more odious than Justice set to sale Plena Full for Justice ought not to limp or be granted Piece-meal and Celeris speedy Quia Dilatio est quaedam negatio Delay is a kind of denial And when all these meet it is both Justice and Right We will not deny nor delay any Man c. These words have been excellently expounded by latter Acts of Parliament that by no means common right or common law should be disturbed or delayed no though it be commanded under the Great Seal or Privy Seal Order Writ Letters Message or Commandment whatsoever either from the King or any other and that the Justices shall proceed as if no such Writs Letters Order Message or other Commandment were come to them all our Judges swear to this for 't is part of their Oaths so that if any shall be found wresting the Law to serve a Court Turn they are perjur'd as well as unjust The Common-laws of the Realm should by no means be delayed for the Law is the surest Sanctuary that a Man can take and the strongest Fortress to protect the weakest of all Lex est tutissima Cassis the Law is a most safe Head-piece and sub Clipeo legis nemo decipitur no man is deceived whilst the Law is his Buckler but the King may stay his own suit as a Capias pro fine for the King may Respit his Fine and the like All Protections that are not Legal which appear not in the Register nor warranted by our Books are expresly against this Branch nulli diffâ—remus we will not delay any Man As a Protection under the Great Seal granted to any Man directed to the Sheriffs c. and commanding them that they shall not Arrest him during a certain time at any other Mans suit which hath words in it Per Prerogativâ—m nostram
made a Slave and his Children Perpetual Vassals The before mentioned old Lord Treasurer Barleigh who is thought to have been the greatest Statesman that ever this Nation bred did frequently deliver as a Maxime or rather as a Prophecy That England can hardly be ruined unless it be by her own Parliaments undoubtedly foreseeing that other oppressions as being wrought by violence might perhaps by violence be in time shaken off again whereas when in a Parliamentary way we are undone by a Law that can never be reverst but by a down-right Rebellion because the parties advantag'd by that Law will never agree to the repealing of it and a Rebellion is both so dangerous and of so biack a Character as men either rich or conscientious will not engage therein and therefore no publick mischief is so irrecoverable as that which is grown into a Law and nothing you know can become so but what is Imposed upon you by Parliament Such is the happy frame of your Government so prudently and so strong have your Ancestors secured Property and Liberty rescued by inches out of the hands of encroaching violence that you cannot be enslaved but with chains of your own making for as you are never undone till you are undone by Law so you can never be undone by a Law till you chuse the undoing Legislators and may not your enemies add Scorn to their Cruelty and pretend Justice for both when they can plead they had never trampled on your heads had not you laid them on the Ground From what has been said it evidently appears of what vast importance it is at all times when ever his Majesty shall be pleas'd to issue out his Writs for a Parliament to chuse as much as in us lies a good house of Commons as we tender our Religion Liberties Estates and Posterity upon our well or ill chusing depends our well or ill being 't is here as in marriage or war there is no room for second Errors one Act may ruine a Nation beyond retrieve Besides they whom you chuse will represent the qualities as well as the persons and if you send up a false glass it will represent you with an ugly face you have hitherto had the repute of an antient and grave people but if you chuse raw Saplings green heads unexperienced children the world will Judge of you as they once did of the Grecians that you were either always children or are grown twice so you have long been a famous Religious Protestant Nation but if you chuse debauched swearing Atheists men of no Religion or such as are meer formalists or enclinable to Popery what can the world think but that the Nation has lost its sense of Religion and is content to be led back into the Egyptian darkness of Romish Fopperies you have formerly had the Character of a sober temperate Nation but if you chuse Drunkards for your Trustees or give your voices for those that gorge you most with liquor what can be supposed but that you are already Drunk with folly and Just Reeling into Slavery Some Directions concerning the Choice of Members to serve in Parliament and the Qualifications that render a Gentleman fit or unfit worthy or undeserving of your Voices for so great a Trust 1. AVoid all such as hold any Office of Considerable value during pleasure they being subject to be Over-awed For altho a man wish well to his Countrey and in the Betraying thereof knows that at the long run he mischiefs and enslaves his Posterity if not himself yet the narrowness of mers minds is such as makes them more tenderly apprehend a small present damage than a far greater hereafter Such men must of necessity be under a great Temptation and Distraction when their Consciences and Interest look different ways For to say truth such an Office is but a softer word for a Pension Therefore since these men know before hand the Inconveniences that attend the Trust of a Member of Parliament faithfully discharged 't is very suspitious and reflecting upon their honesty if any such stand for it And I think we are bound in Charity nor can we do them a greater Courtesy than to Answer their Petition in the Lords Prayer Not to lead them into Temptation 2. Suspect all those especially if they are men of Ill Repute who in their Profession or near Relations have dependency upon the Court. For though to be the Kings Servant is no Bar from being a Parliament-man or from serving his Countrey honestly in that Station and no doubt several of them have at divers times well discharged the same yet frequently such persons unworthily guessing at their Prince by themselves are apt to Vote right or wrong as they imagine will most please the Prerogative Party and 't is an hard matter for a Courtier to please that great perhaps corrupt Minister who supports him and those whom he Represents at the same time And if he endeavours to oblige both he becomes such an uncertain Weathercock as most commonly he pleases neither And therefore the most prudent and honestest of the Courtiors are always observed to decline being Parliament men for this very reason 3. Meddle not with such as have been or are like to prove Pensioners or receive Salaries for secret Services I know they would now Brazen it out That there were no such men no such practices But the contrary is notorious did not the House of Commons last Westminster-Parliament take the thing into Examination nay did not Sir S. F. by his memory without the books which for some reasons were refused to be brought in name about 30 of them and the respective Sums yearly paid to each and would not many more have been discovered and the whole knot of them severely and exemplarily punisht if that Parliament had a little longer Continued Now there is none more implacably your Enemy then that person whose Interest is to destroy you that must neither eat nor drink except you starve that must go in Rags except you go naked are taught to Fleece you that they may keep themselves warm To prevent this avoid not only all former Pensioners but such other as may be in danger to become so Therefore meddle not with men of necessitous Fortunes or much in Debt The Representative of a Nation ought to consist of the most wise Wealthy sober and couragious of the people not men of mean Spirits and little figure and sordid passions that would sell the Interest of the People that chose them to advance their own or be at the beck of some great man in hope of a lift to a good Imploy Those that have fair Estates have in a manner given Hostages to their Country and must be Errant Fools before they can play the Knave with you But what cares the needy Passenger if the Ship perish if he can but save himself in the long Boat or get some Booty by the Wreck What Protection do you expect from them who cannot shew their
betwixt the said Sheriffs and the said Chusers so to be made 5 and every Sheriff of the Realm of England shall have power by the said authority to examine upon the Evangelists every such Chuser how much he may expend by the year 6 and if any Sheriff returned Knights to come to the Parliament contrary to the said Ordinance the Justices of Assizes in their Sessions of Assizes shall have power by the authority aforesaid thereof to enquire 7 and if by inquest the same be found before the Justices and the Sheriff thereof be duly attainted that then the said Sheriff shall incur the pain of an hundred pounds to be paid to our Lord the King and also that he have Imprisonment by a year without being let to mainprise or bail 8 and that the Knights for the Parliament returned contrary to the said Ordinance shall lose their wages Provided always that he which cannot expend forty Shillings by year as afore is said shall in no wise be Chuser of the Knights for the Parliament 2 and that in every Writ that shall hereafter go forth to the Sheriffs to chuse knights for the Parliament mention be made of the said Ordinances Note Though this Statute make the penalty on a Sheriff but 100 l. for a false Return yet the House may further punish him by Imprisonment c. at their pleasure by the Law and Custom of Parliaments We shall now proceed to certain excellent Laws of a latter Date made for the explanation and conservation of our Liberties and in the first place present you with that excellent Petition of Right granted by King Charles the first Anno Regni Caroli Regis Tertio The PETITION exhibited to His Majesty by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in this present Parliament assembled concerning diverse Rights and Liberties of the Subjects To the Kings most excellent Majesty HUmbly shew unto our Soveraign Lord the King the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament assembled That whereas it is declared and enacted by a Statute made in the time of the Reign of King Edward the first commonly called Statutum de Tallagio non Concedendo that no Tallage or Aid shall be laid or Levyed by the King or his Heirs in this Realm without the good Will and Assent of the Arch-bishops Bishops Earles Barons Knights Burgesses and other the Freemen of the Commonalty of this Realm 2 and by authority of Parliament holden in the five and twentieth year of the Reign of King Edward the third it is declared and Enacted that from thenceforth no person should be Compelled to make any Loans to the King against his Will because such Loans were against Reason and the Franchise of the Land 3 And by other Laws of the Realm it is provided that none should be Charged by any Charges or Imposition called a Benevolence nor by such like Charge 4 By which the Statute before mentioned and othe the good Laws and Statutes of this Realm your Subjects have Inherited this Freedom that they should not be Compelled to Contribute to any Tax Tallage Aid or other like Charge not set by Common Consent in Parliament 2. Yet nevertheless of late divers Commissions directed to sundry Commissioners in several Counties with Instructions have Issued by means whereof your people have been in divers places Assembled and required to lend certain Sums of Money unto your Mejesty and many of them upon their refusal so to do have had an Oath administred unto them not warrantable by the Laws or Statutes of this Realm and have been Constrained to become bound to make Appearance and Attendance before your Privy Council and in other places and others of them have been therefore Imprisoned Confined and sundry other ways molested and disquieted 2 and divers other Charges have been laid and levyed upon your people in several Counties by Lord Lieutenants and Deputy Lieutenants Commissioners for Musters Justices of Peace and others by Command or direction from your Majesty to your Privy Council against the Law and free Customs of this Realm 3. And where also by the Statute called the great Charter of the Liberties of England it is declared and Enacted that no Freeman may be taken or imprisoned or be disseised of his Freehold or Liberties or of his free Customs or be outlawed or Exiled or in any manner destroyed but by the lawfull Judgment of his Peers or by the Law of the Land 4. And in the eight and twentieth year of the Reign of King Edward the third it was declared and Enacted by Authority of Parliament that no man of what Estate or Condition that he be should be put out of his Land or Tenements nor taken nor Imprisoned nor disherited nor put to death without being brought to answer by due process of Law 5. Nevertheless against the tenor of the said Statutes and other the good Laws and Statutes of your Realm to that end provided diverse of your Subjects of late have been Imprisoned without any cause shewed 2 and when for their deliverance they were brought before Justices by your Majesties Writs of Habeas Corpus there to undergo and receive as the Court should order and their keepers commanded to certify the causes of their detainour no cause was certifyed but that they were detained by your Majesties special command signified by the Lords of your privy Council and yet were returned back to several prisons without being charged with any thing to which they might make answer according to the Law 6. Whereas of late great Companies of Souldiers and Mariners have been dispersed into diverse Counties of the Realm and the Inhabitants against their wills have been compelled to receive them into their Houses and there to suffer them to sojourn against the Laws and Customes of this Realm and to the great grievance and vexation of the People 7. And whereas also by authority of Parliament and in the five and twentieth year of the reign of King Edward the third it is declared and enacted that no man shall be forejudged of life and limb against the form of the great Charter and Law of the Land 2 and by the said great Charter and other the Laws and Statutes of this Your Realm no man ought to be Judged to death but by the Laws established in this your Realm either by the Customes of the Realm or by Acts of Parliament 3 And whereas no offendor of what kind soever is exempted from the proceedings to be used and punishments to be Inflicted by the Laws and Statutes of this your Realm nevertheless of late diverse Commissions under Your Majesties great Seal have Issued forth by which certain persons have been Assigned and appointed Commisioners with power and authority to proceed within the Land according to the Justice of Martial Law against such Souldiers and Mariners or other dissolute persons joining with them as should commit any Murder Robbery Felony Mutiny or other Outrage or Misdemeanour whatsoever and by such summary Course
own Bond to pay the Charges of carrying back the Prisoner if he shall be Remanded by the Court or Judge to which he shall be brought according to the true intent of this present Act and that he will not make any Escape by the way make Return of such Writ 3 And bring or cause to be brought the Body of the party so Committed or Restrained unto or before the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England for the time being or the Judges or Barons of the said Court from whence the said Writ shall Issue or unto and before such other person or persons before whom the said Writ is made returnable according to the Command thereof 4 And shall then likewise certifie the true Causes of his Detainer or Imprisonment unless the Commitment of the said party be in any place beyond the distance of twenty Miles from the place or places where such Court or Person is or shall be Residing and if beyond the distance of twenty Miles and not above one hundred Miles than within the space of twenty days after such the delivery aforesaid and not longer III. And to the Intent that no Sheriff Goaler or other Officer may pretend ignorance of the import of any such Writ 2 Be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That all such Writs shall be marked in this manner Perstatutum Tricesimo primo Caroli Secundi Regis and shall be signed by the person that Awards the same 3 And if any person or persons shall be or stand Committed or Detained as aforesaid for any Crime unless for Felâ—ny or Treason plainly expressed in the Warrant of Commitment in the Vacation time and out of Term it shall and may be lawful to and for the person or persons so Committed or Detained other than persons Convict or in Execution by Legal Process or any one on his or their behalf to Appeal or complain to the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper or any one of His Majesties Justices either of the one Bench or of the other or the Barons of the Exchequer of the degree of the Coif 3 And the said Lord Chancellor Lord Keeper Instices or Barons or any of them upon view of the Copy or Copies of the Warrant or Warrants of Commitment and Detainer or otherwise upon Oath made that such Copy or Copies were denied to be given by such person or persons or any on his her or their behalf attested and subscribed by two Witnesses who were present at the delivery of the same to award and grant an Habeas Corpus under the Seal of such Court whereof he shall then be one of the Judges 5 To be directed to the Officer or Officers in whose Custody the party so Committed or Detained shall be returnable immediately before the said Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper or such Justice Baron or any other Justice or Baron of the Degree of the Coif of any of the said Courts 6 And upon service thereof as aforesaid the Officer or Officers his or their under Officer or under Officers under Keeper or under Keepers or Deputy to whose Custody the party is so Committed or Detained shall within the times respectively before limited bring such Prisoner or Prisoners before the said Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper or such Justices Barons or one of them before whom the said Writ is made Return able and in case of his absence before any other of them with the Return of such Writ and the true Causes of the Commitment and Detainer 7 And thereupon within two days after the party shall be brought before them the said Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper or such Justice or Baron before whom the Prisoner shall be brought as aforesaid shall discharge the said Prisoner from his Imprisonment taking his or their Recognizance with one or more surety or sureties in any sum according to their discretion having regard to the Quality of the Prisoner and Nature of the Offence for his or their appearance in the Court of Kings Bench the Term following or at the next Assizes Sessions or General Goal-delivery of and for such County City or Place where the Commitment was or where the Offence was Committed or in such other Court where the said Offence is properly Recognizable as the Case shall require and then shall Certifie the said Writ with the Return thereof and the said Recognizance or Recognizances into the said Court where such appearance is to be made 6 Unless it shall appear unto the said Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper or Justice or Justices Baron or Barons that the party so Committed is Detained upon a Legal Process Order or Warrant out of some Court that hath Jurisdiction of Criminal matters or by some Warrant Signed and Sealed with the Hand and Seal of any of the said Justices or Barons or some Justice or Justices of the Peace for such matters or offences for the which by the Law the Prisoner is not Bailable IV. Provided always and be it Enacted That if any person shall have wilfully neglected by the space of two whole Terms after his Imprisonment to pray a Habeas Corpus for his Enlargement such person so wilfully neglecting shall not have any Habeas Corpus to be granted in Vacation time in pursuance of this Act. V. Be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That if any Officer or Officers his or their Under-Officer Under-Officers Under-Keeper or Under-Keepers or Deputy shall neglect or Refuse to make the Returns aforesaid or to Bring the Body or Bodies of the Prisoner or Prisoners according to the Command of the said Writ within the Respective times aforesaid or upon demand made by the Prisoner or Person in his Behalf shall Resuse to deliver or within the space of six hours after demand shall not deliver to the Person so demanding a true Copy of the Warrant or Warrants of Commitment and detainer of such Prisoner which he or they are hereby Required to deliver accordingly all and every the Head Gaolers and Keepers of such Prisons and such other Person in whose Custody the Prisoner shall be detained shall for the first Offence forfeit to the Prisoner or Party Grieved the sum of one hundred pounds 2. And for the second Offence the sum of two hundred pounds and shall and is hereby made Incapable to Hold or Execute his said Office 3. the said penalties to be Recovered by the Prisoner or Party grieved his Executors or Administrators against such Offenders his Executors or Administrators by any Action of Debt Suit Bill plaint or Information in any of the King's Courts at Westmin wherein no Essoign Protection priviledge Injunction Wager of Law or stay of Prosecution by Non vult ulterius prosequi or otherwise shall be Admitted or Allowed or any more than one Imparlance 4. And any Recovery or Judgment at the Suit of any Party Grieved shall be a sufficient Conviction for the first Offence and any after Recovery or Judgment at the suit of a Party Grieved for
no Man of what Estate or Condition soever he be shall be put out of his Lands or Tenements nor taken nor Imprisoned nor Dis-inherited without being brought in to Answer by due Process of Law 5. And by another Statute made in the two and fortieth year of the Reign of the said King Edward the Third it is Enacted That no Man be put to Answer without Presentment before Justices or matter of Record or by due Process and Writ Original according to the Old Law of the Land and if any thing be done to the contrary it shall be void in Law and holden for Errour 6. And by another Statute in the six and thirtieth year of the Reign of the same King Edward the Third it is amongst other things Enacted That all Pleas which shall be pleaded in any Courts before any of the King's Justices or in his other places or before any of his other Ministers or in the Courts and places of any other Lords within the Realm shall be Entred and Enrolled in Latine 7. And whereas by the Statute made in the third year of King Henry the Seventh Power is given to the Chancellor the Lord Treasurer of England for the time being and the Keeper of the Kings Privy Seal or two of them calling unto them a Bishop and a Temporal Lord of the King 's Most Honourable Council and the Two Chief Justices of the King's Bench and Common Pleas for the time being or other two Justices in their Absence to proceed as in that Act is expressed for the punishment of some particular Offences therein mentioned 8. And by the Statute made in the one and twentyeth year of King Henry the Eighth the President of the Council is Associated to joyn with the Lord Chancellour and other Judges in the said Statute of the Third of Henry the Seventh mentioned 9. But the said Judges have not kept themselves to the points limited by the said Statute but have undertaken to punish where no Law doth warrant and to make Decrees for things having no such Authority and to Inflict heavier punishments than by any Law is warranted 2. And forasmuch as all matters Examinable or Determinable before the said Judges or in the Court commonly called the Star-Chamber many have their proper Remedy and Address their due punishment and correction by the Common Law of the Land and in the ordinary course of Justice elsewhere 2. And forasmuch as the Reasons and Motives inducing the Erection and Continuance of that Court do now cease 3. And the Proceedings Censures and Decrees of that Court have by Experience been found to be an Intollerable Burthen to the Subject and the means to Introduce an Arbitrary Power and Government 4. And forasmuch as the Council-Table hath of late times assumed unto it self a Power to Intermeddle in Civil and matters only of private Interest between Party and Party have adventured to determin of the Estates and Liberties of the Subjects contrary to the Law of the Land and the Rights and Priviledges of the Subject by which great and manifold mischiefs and inconveniences have arisen and happened and much Incertainty by means of such proceedings hath been conceived concerning mens Rights and Estates for settling whereof and preventing the like in time to come 3. Be it Ordained and Enacted by the Authority of this present Parliament That the said Court commonly called the Star-Chamber and all Jurisdiction Power and Authority belonging unto or Exercised in the same Court or by any the Judges Officers or Ministers thereof be from the first day of August in the Year of our Lord God one thousand six hundred forty and one clearly and absolutely dissolved taken away and determined 2. And that from the said first day of August neither the Lord Chancellour or Keeper of the Great Seal of England the Lord Treasurer of England the Keeper of the Kings privy Seal or President of the Council nor any Bishop Temporal Lord privy Councellour or Judge or Justice whatsoever shall have any power or Authority to hear examine or determine any matter or thing whatsoever in the said Court commonly called the Star-Chamber or to make pronounce or deliver any Judgment Sentence Order or Decree or to do any Judicial or Ministerial Act in the said Court 3. And that all and every Act and Acts of Parliament and all and every Article clause and Sentence in them and every of them by which any Jurisdiction Power or Authority is given Limited or appointed unto the said Court commonly called the Star-Chamber or unto all or any the Judges Officers or Ministers thereof or for any Proceedings to be had or made in the said Court or for any matter or thing to be drawn into question Examined or determined there shall for so much as concerneth the said Court of Star-Chamber and the power and Authority thereby Given unto it be from the said first day of August Repealed and Absolutely Revoked and made void 4. And be it likewise Enacted That the like Jurisdiction now used and Exercised in the Court before the President and Council in the Marches of Wales 2. and also in the Court before the President and Council Established in the Northern parts 3. and also in the Court commonly called the Court of the Dutchy of Lancaster held before the Chancellour and Council of that Court 4. And also in the Court of Exchequer of the County Palatine of Chester held before the Chamberlain and Council of that Court 5. The like Jurisdiction being Exercised there shall from the said first day of August one thousand six hundred forty and one be also Repealed and Absolutely Revoked and made void any Law prescription Custom or Usage or the said statute made in the third year of King Henry the Seventh or the statute made the one and twentieth of Henry the Eighth or any Act or Acts of Parliament heretofore had or made to the Contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding 6. And that from henceforth no Court Council or place of Judicature shall be Erected Ordained constituted or appointed within this Realm of England or Dominion of Wales which shall have use or Exercise the same or the like Jurisdiction as is or hath been used practised or Exercised in the said Court of Star-Chamber 5. Be it likewise declared and Enacted by Authority of this present Parliament That neither His Majesty nor his Privy Council have or ought to have any Jurisdiction Power or Authority by English Bill Petition Articles Libel or any other Arbitrary way whatsoever to Examine or draw into question determine or dispose of the Lands Tenements Hereditaments goods or Chattels of any of the Subjects of this Kingdom but that the same ought to be tryed and determined in the ordinary Courts of Justice and by the ordinary course of the Law 6. And be it further provided and Enacted That If any Lord Chancellor or Keeper of the Great Seal of England Lord Treasurer Keeper of the Kings Privy Seal President