Duke of Cumberland after the extinction of the Male Line of the Cliffords Finally the Kings forces at land being totally defeated he transported himself into France and was afterward made Admiral of such Ships of War as submitted to King Charles the Second to whom after divers disasters at Sea and wonderful preservations he returned to Paris 1652 where and in Germany sometimes at the Emperours Court and sometimes at Heydelberg he passed his time in Princely Studies and Exercises till the Restauration of his Majesty now raigning after which returning into England was made a Privy Counsellour in 1662 and in 1666 being joyned Admiral with the Duke of Albemarle first attackt the whole Dutch Fleet with his Squadron in such a bold resolute way that he put the Enemy soon to flight He enjoys a Pension from his Majesty of 4000 l. per Annum After Prince Rupert the next Heirs to the Crown of England are 3 French Ladies Daughters of Prince Edward lately deceased who was a younger Son of the Queen of Rehemia whose Widdow the Princess Dowager Mother to the said three Ladies is Sister to the late Queen of Poland Daughter and Coheir to the last Duke of Nevers in France amongst which three Daughters there is a Revenue of about 12000 l. Sterling a year After these is the Princess Elizabeth eldest Sister living to the Prince Elector Palatin born 26 Decemb. 1618. unmarried and living in Germany The next is another Sister called the Princess Louisa bred up at the Hague with the Queen her Mother in the Religion of the Church of England at length embracing the Romish Religion is now Lady Abbess of Maubisson at Ponthoise not far from Paris Last of all is the Princess Sophia youngest Daughter to the Queen of Bohemia born at the Hague 1630. and in 1659 wedded to John Duke of Lunenberg and Free Prince of Germany Heir to the Dutchy of Brunswick by whom she hath Sons and Daughters Of these three Princesses it is said that the first is the most learned the second the greatest Artist and the last one of the most accomplisht Ladies in Europe Of the Great Officers of the Crown NExt to the King and Princes of the Blood are reckoned the Great Officers of the Crown whereof there are Eight viz. the Lord High Chancellour the Lord High Treasurer the Lord Privy Seal the Lord High Admiral the Lord Great Chamberlain the Lord High Constable the Earl Marshal and the Lord High Steward for the time being First the Lord High Chancellour Summus Cancellarius so called because all Patents Commissions Warrants coming from the King and perused by him are signed if well or cancelled if amiss He is after the King and Princes of the Blood in Civil Affairs the highest Person in the Kingdom as the Archbishop of Canterbury is in Ecclesiastical Affairs His Office is to keep the Kings Great Seal to judge not according to the Common Law as other Civil Courts do but to moderate the rigour of the Law and to judge according to Equity Conscience or Reason His Oath is to do right to all manner of People poor and rich after the Laws and Customs of the Realm and truly counsel the King to keep secret the Kings Counsel nor suffer so far as he may that the Rights of the Crown be diminisht c. From the time of Henry 2. the Chancellours of England have been ordinarily made of Bishops or other Clergy-men learned in the Civil Laws till Henry 8. made Chancellour one Richard Rich a Common Lawyer from whom is descended the present Earl of Warwick and the Earl of Holland since which time there have been some Bishops but most Common Lawyers This High Office is in France durante vitâ but here is durante beneplacito Regis The Salary from the King is 848 l. per Annum and when the Star-Chamber was up 200 l. per Annum more for his Attendance there The Lord Chancellour or Lord Keeper who differ only in Name is created per traditionem magni Sigilli sibi per dominum Regem and by taking his Oath The Great Seal being lately taken from Edward Earl of Clarendon Lord Chancellour was by his Majesties great favour bestowed upon Sir Orlando Bridgeman with the Title of Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England The next Great Officer of the Crown is the Lord High Treasurer of England who receives this high Office by delivery of a White Staffe to him by the King and holds it durante beneplacito Regis Antiently he received this Dignity by the delivery of the Golden Keys of the Treasury His Oath is little different from that of the Lord Chancellour He is Praefectus Aerarii a Lord by his Office under whose Charge and Government is all the Kings Revenue kept in the Exchequer He hath also the check of all the Officers any way emploied in collecting Imposts Customs Tributes or other Revenues belonging to the Crown He hath the gift of all Customers Controllers and Searchers in all the Ports of England He hath the nomination of the Escheators in every County and in some Cases by Statute is to appoint a Measurer for the length and breadth of Clothes He with others joyned in Commission with him or without letteth Leases of all the Lands belonging to the Crown He giveth Warrants to certain Persons of Quality to have their Wine Custom free The Annual Salary of the Lord High Treasurer is in all 383 li. 7s 8d per Annum Since the decease of Thomas Wriothesly last Earl of South-hampton and last Lord High Treasurer of England this Office hath been executed by a Commission granted to five eminent Persons viz. the Duke of Albemarle Lord Ashley Sir Thomas Clifford Sir Will. Coventry and Sir John Duncomb The Third Great Officer of the Crown is the Lord Privy Seal who is a Lord by his Office under whose hands pass all Charters and Grants of the King and Pardons signed by the King before they come to the Great Seal of England also divers other matters of less Concernment as for payments of money c. which do not pass the Great Seal He is by his Place of the Kings Privy Council and Chief Judge of the Court of Requests when it shall be re-continued and besides his Oath of Privy Counsellour takes a particular Oath as Lord Privy Seal His Salary is His Place according to Statute is next to the Lord President of the Kings Council It is an Office of great Trust and Skill that he put not this Seal to any Grant without good Warrant under the Kings Privy Signet nor with Warrant if it be against Law or Custom until that the King be first acquainted This great Officer is mentioned in the Statutes of 2 Rich. 2. and then â—anked amongst the Chief Persons of the Realm And is at present enjoyed by John Lord Robarts Baron Robarts of Truro The Fourth Great Officer of the Crown is the Lord
and that by reason of their Honourable Order and Employment and also to all Bannerets made under the Kings Banner or Standard displayed in an Army Royal in open War and the King personally present Note also That if any of the Degrees of Nobility above-mentioned are descended of the Blood Royal they are to have place of all those of the same Degree with them Moreover Observe that all the Nobles of the same Degree take place according to the Seniority of their Creation There are certain Marks of State that belong to each Degree amongst the Nobility which they may practise or not practise at pleasure A Duke may have in all places out of the Kings presence a Cloth of Estate hanging down within half a yard of the ground so may his Dutchess and her Train born up by a Baron and no Earl to wash with a Duke without the Dukes pleasure A Marquiss may have a Cloth of Estate reaching within a yard of the ground and that in all places out of the presence of the King or a Duke and his Marchioness to have her Train born by a Knights Wife and no Vicount to wash with a Marquiss but at his pleasure An Earl also may have a Cloth of Estate without Pendants but only Fringe and a Countess may have her Train born by a Gentlewoman out of the presence of her Superiours and in their presence by a Gentleman A Vicount may have a Cover of Assay holden under his Cup while he drinks but no Assay taken as Dukes Marquisses and Earls may have And a Vicountess may have her Gown born up by a Woman out of the presence of her Superiours and in their presence by a Man A Baron may also have the Cover of his Cup holden underneath whilst he drinketh and a Baroness may have her Gown born up by a man in the presence of a Vicountess All Dukes eldest Sons be as Earls and the younger as Lords with the addition of their Christian Names as Lord Thomas Lord John c. A Dukes eldest Son of the Blood Royal shall take place of a Marquiss that is not and of an Earl that is of the Blood Royal. A Marquisses eldest Son is called Lord of a place and the younger Sons Lord Thomas Lord John c. A Marquisses eldest Son of the Blood Royal shall go before an Earl that is not and of a Vicount that is of the Blood Royal. An Earls eldest Son is called Lord of a place and all his Daughters Ladies but his younger Sons not Lords An Earls eldest Son of the Blood Royal takes place of a Vicount that is not and of a Lord that is of the Blood Royal. A Vicounts eldest Son is no Lord nor his Daughters Ladies and therefore the eldest Son and the eldest Daughter of the first Vicount of England is said to be the first Gentleman and Gentlewoman without Title in England A Vicounts eldest Son of the Blood Royal takes place of all Barons The Princes of the Blood the Great Officers of the Realm and the Bishops are to precede according to an Act of Parliament 31 H. 8. The Lord Chancellour Lord Treasurer Lord President of the Kings Council Lord Privy Seal These being Barons or above shall in Parliament sit above all Dukes except the Son Brother Grand-Child or Nephew of the King The Lord High Steward of England is not here named because it was intended that he should not continue beyond the occasion for which he should be made Next hath place the Lord Great Chamberlain of England then the Lord High Constable the Earl Marshal the Lord High Admiral Lord Steward of the Kings Houshold Lord Chamberlain of the Kings Houshold These shall sit after the Lord Privy Seal above all of their Degree only And if the Kings Principal Secretary be a Baron he takes place of all Barons that are not of the Offices before mentioned but if he be a Vicount or higher Degree he shall take place only according to his Degree Also if the Kings Secretary be a Bishop as antiently was usual he takes place next to the Bishop of Winchester of all other Bishops that have none of the Offices aforesaid All Dukes Marquisses Earls Vicounts and Barons not having any of the said Offices shall take place according to the antiently of their Creation All Dukes eldest Sons have the Title of Earls and the eldest Son of an Earl hath the Title of the Earls Barony and sometimes of the Vicountry according to the Patent A Catalogue of the Peers of England according to their Precedence Dukes of the Royal Blood JAMES Duke of York and Albany Earl of Ulster Lord High Admiral of England the Kings only Brother Rupert Duke of Cumberland and Earl of Holderness Edgar Duke of Cambridge The Lord Chancellour or Lord Keeper of the Great Seal the Lord Treasurer and the Lord Privy Seal take place before all Dukes not of the Blood Royal. Dukes Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk William Seymour Duke of Somerset George Villars Duke of Buckingham Charles Stuart Duke of Richmond George Monk Duke of Albemarle James Scot Duke of Monmouth William Cavendish Duke of Newcastle Marquisses John Pawlet Marquiss of Winchester Edward Somerset Marquiss of Worcester Henry Pierrepont Marquiss of Dorchester Earls These three take place in respect of their Offices Bertue Earl of Lindsay Lord High Chamberlain of England James Butler Earl of Brecknock Lord Steward of the Kings Houshold Edward Montague Earl of Manchester Lord Chamberlain of the Kings Houshold Earls Awbrey de Vere Earl of Oxford Algernon Percy Earl of Northumberland Francis Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury Anthony Grey Earl of Kent Charles Stanley Earl of Derby John Mannours Earl of Rutland Theophilus Hastings Earl of Huntingdon William Russel Earl of Bedford Philip Herbert Earl of Pembroke Theophilus Clinton Earl of Lincoln Charles Howard Earl of Nottingham James Howard Earl of Suffolk Richard Sacvile Earl of Dorset William Cecil Earl of Salisbury John Cecil Earl of Exeter John Edgerton Earl of Bridgewater Robert Sydney Earl of Leicester James Compton Earl of Northampton Charles Rich Earl of Warwick William Cavendish Earl of Devonshire Basil Fielding Earl of Denbigh George Digby Earl of Bristol Lionel Cranfield Earl of Middlesex Henry Rich Earl of Holland John Hollis Earl of Clare Oliver St. John Earl of Bullingbroke Mildmay Fane Earl of Westmorland Montague Earl of Manchester Thomas Howard Earl of Berkshire Thomas Wentworth Earl of Cleveland Edward Sheffield Earl of Mulgrave Thomas Savage Earl Rivers Bertue Earl of Lindsay Nicolas Knowles Earl of Banbury Henry Cary Earl of Dover Henry Mordant Earl of Peterborough Henry Grey Earl of Stamford Henage Finch Earl of Winchelsey Charles Dormer Earl of Caernarvon Montjoy Blunt Earl of Newport Philip Stanhop Earl of Chesterfield John Tufton Earl of Thanet William Wentworth Earl of Strafford Robert Spenser Earl of Sunderland James Savil Earl of Sussex George Goring Earl of Norwich Nicholas Leak Earl of Scarsdale John
the Nobility or Bishops is made choice of by the Three States assembled in the name of the Infant King who by Nature or Alliance hath most Interest in the preservation of the Life and Authority of the Infant and to whom least benefit can accrue by his Death or Diminution as the Uncle by the Mothers side if the Crown come by the Father and so vice versa is made Protector so during the minority of Edward 6. his Uncle by the Mothers side the Duke of Somerset had the tuition of him and was called Protector and when this Rule hath not been observed as in the minority of Edw. 5. it hath proved of ill consequence If the King of England be Non compos mentis or by reason of an incurable disease weakness or old age become uncapable of governing then is made a Regent Protector or Guardian to govern King Edward 3. being at last aged sick and weak and by grief for the death of the Black Prince sore broken in body and mind did of his own will create his fourth Son John Duke of Lancaster Guardian or Regent of England If the King be absent upon any Foreign Expedition or otherwise which antiently was very usual the Custom was to constitute a Vice-gerent by Commission under the Great Seal giving him several Titles and Powers according as the necessity of affairs have required sometimes he hath been called Lord Warden or Lord of the Kingdom and therewith hath had the general power of a King as was practised during the Absence of Edward the First Second and Third and of Henry 5. but Henry 6. to the Title of Warden or Guardian added the Stile of Protector of the Kingdom and of the Church of England and gave him so great power in his absence that he was tantum non Rex swaying the Scepter but not wearing the Crown executing Laws summoning Parliaments under his own Teste as King and giving his assent to Bills in Parliament whereby they became as binding as any other Acts. Sometimes during the Kings Absence the Kingdom hath been committed to the care of several Noblemen and sometime of Bishops as less dangerous for attempting any usurpation of the Crown sometimes to one Bishop as Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury was Viceroy of England for many years and when Edward 3. was in Flanders though his Son then but nine years old had the Name of Protector John Stafford Archbishop of Canterbury was Governour both of the Kings Son and of the Realm Lastly Sometimes to the Queen as two several times during the absence of Henry 8. in France Of the QUEEN of ENGLAND THe Queen so called from the Saxon Konigin whereof the last syllable is pronounced as gheen in English it being not unusual to cut off the first Syllables as an Almes-House is sometimes called a Spital from Hospital She hath as high Prerogatives Dignity and State during the life of the King as any Queen of Europe From the Saxon times the Queen Consort of England though she be an Alien born and though during the life of the King she be femme covert as our Law speaks yet without any Act of Parliament for Naturalization or Letters Paâ—ents for Denization she may purchase Lands in Feesimple make Leases and Grants in her own Name without the King hath power to give to sue to contract as a femme sole may receive by gift from her Husband which no other femme â—overt may do Had anciently a Revenue of Queen Gold or Aurum Reginae as the Records call it which was the tenth part of so much as by the Name of Oblata upon Pardons Gifts and Grants c. came to the King Of later times hath had as large a Dower as any Queen in Christendome hath her Royal Court apart her Courts and Officers c. The Queen may not be impleaded till first petitioned shall not be amerced if she be nonsuited as all other Subjects are if she be Plaintiff the Summons in the Process need not have the solemnity of 15 dayes c. Is reputed the Second Person in the Kingdom The Law setteth so high a value upon her as to make it High Treason to conspire her death or to violate her Chastity Her Officers as Attourney and Sollicitor for the Queens sake have respect above others and place within the Barre with the Kings Council The like honour the like reverence and respect that is due to the King is exhibited to the Queen both by Subjects and Foreigners and also to the Queen Dowager or Widdow Queen who also above other Subjects loseth not her Dignity though she should marry a private Gentleman so Queen Katharine Widdow to King Henry the Fifth being married to Owen ap Theodore Esquire did maintain her Action as Queen of England much less doth a Queen by inheritance or a Queen Soveraign of England follow her Husbands condition nor is subject as other Queens but Soveraign to her own Husband as Queen Mary was to King Philip. Of the SONS and DAUGHTERS of ENGLAND THe Children of the King of England are called the Sons and Daughters of England because all the subjects of England have a special interest in them though the whole power of Education Marriage and disposing of them is only in the King The Eldest Son of the King is born Duke of Cornwall and as to that Dutchy and all the Lands Honours Rents and great Revenues belonging thereunto he is upon his Birth-day persumed and by law taken to be of full age so that he may that day sue for the Livery of the said Dukedom and ought of right to obtain the same as if he had been full 21 years of age Afterwards he is created Prince of Wales whose Investiture is performed by the Imposition of a Cap of Estate and Coronet on his Head as a Token of Principality and putting into his Hand a Verge of Gold the Emblem of Government and a Ring of Gold on hs Finger to intimate that he must be a Husband to his Countrey and Father to her Children Also to him is given and granted Letters Patents to hold the said Principality to him and his Heirs Kings of England by which words the separation of this Principality is prohibited From the day of his Birth he is commonly stiled the Prince a Title in England given to no other Subject The Title of Prince of Wales is ancient and was first given by King Edward 1. to his Eldest Son for the Welsh Nation till that time unwilling to submit to the yoke of strangers that King so ordered that his Queen was delivered of her first Child in Caernarvan Castle in Wales and then demanded of the Welsh If they would be content to subject themselves to one of their own Nation that could not speak one word of English and against whose life they could take no just exception Whereunto they readily consenting the King nominated this his new born Son and afterwards created
our Kings and some Necessities for the preservation of the Weal Publick too much alienated The Antient Dominions of the Kings of England were first England and all the Seas round about Great Britain and Ireland and all the Isles adjacent even too the Shores of all the Neighbour Nations and our Law saith the Sea is of the Ligeance of the King as well as the Land and as a mark thereof all ships of Foreigners have antiently demanded leave to fish and pass in these Seas and do at this day Lower their Top-sailes to all the Kings Ships of War To England Henry 1. annext Normandy and Henry 2. Ireland being stiled only Lord of Ireland till 33 H. 8. although they had all Kingly Jurisdiction before Henry 2. also annext the Dukedomes of Guien and Anjou the Counties of Poictou Turein and Mayn Edward the First all Wales and Edward the Third the Right though not the Possession of all France King James added Scotland and since that time there have been super-added sundry considerable Plantations in America The Dominions of the King of England are at this day in Possession besides his just Right and Title to the Kingdom of France all England Scotland and Ireland Three Kingdoms of large extent with all the Isles above 40 in number small and great whereof some very considerable and all the Seas adjacent Moreover the Islands of Jersey Garnsey and Alderny Parcel of the Dutchy of Normandy besides those profitable Plantations of New England Virginia Barbados Jamaica Florida Bermudos besides several other Isles and Places in those Quarters and some in the East Indies and upon the Coast of Africa also upon the main land of America by right of first discovery to Estoit land Terra Corterialis New found Land Novum Belgium Guiana the King of England hath a Legal Right though not Possession Rex Angliae est Persona mixta cum Sacerdote say our Lawyers He is a Priest as well as a King He is anointed with Oyle as the Priests were at first and afterward the Kings of Israel to intimate that his Person is Sacred and Spiritual and therefore at the Coronation hath put upon him a Sacerdotal Garment called the Dalmatica c. and before the Reformation of England when the Cup in the Lords Supper was denied to the Laity the King as a Spiritual Person received in both kinds He is capable of Spiritual Jurisdiction of holding of Tythes all Extra-Parochial Tythes some Proxies and other Spiritual Profits belong to the King of which Laymen both by Common and Canon Law are pronounced uncapable He is an External Bishop of the Church as Constantine the Emperour said of himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But I am constituted Bishop for external things of the Church Rex idem hominum Phaebique Sacerdos He is as the Roman Emperours Christian as well as Heathen stiled themselves Pontifex Max. He is the Supreme Pastor of England and hath not only Right of Ecclesiastical Government but also of Exercising some Ecclesiastical Function so far as Solomon did 1 Kings 8. when he blessed the People consecrated the Temple and pronounced that Prayer which is the Pattern now for Consecration of all Churches and Chappels but all the Ministerial Offices are left to the Bishops and Priests as the determinination of Causes are to the Kings Judges although the King may himself sit in Judgement if the Affairs of State did not alwayes require his Presence at the Helme and the Administration of Sacraments Preaching and other Church Offices and Duties to the Bishops and their Ordained Clergy Of this Sacred Person of the King of the life and safety thereof the Laws and Customs of England are of tender that they have made it High Treason onely to imagine or intend the death of the King And because by imagining or conspiring the death of the Kings Counsellors or Great Officers of his Houshold the destruction of the King hath thereby sometimes ensued and is usually aimed at saith Stat. 3 H. 7. that also was made felony to be punisht with death although in all other Cases Capital the Rule is Voluntas non reputabitur pro facto and an English Man may not in other Cases be punisht with death unless the Act follow the Intent The Law of England hath so high esteem of the Kings Person that to offend against those Persons and those things that represent his Sacred Person as to kill some of the Crown Officers or the Kings Judges executing their Office or to counterfeit the Kings Seals or his Moneys is made High Treason because by all these the Kings Person is represented and High Treason is in the Eye of the Law so horrid that besides loss of Life and Honour Real and Personal Estate to the Criminal his Heirs also are to lose the same for ever and to be ranked amongst the Peasantry and Ignoble till the King shall please to restore them Est enim tam grave crimen saith Bracton ut vix permittitur haeredibus quâ—d vivant High Treason is so grievous a Crime that the Law not content with the Life and Estate and Honour of the Criminal can hardly endure to see his heirs survive him And rather than Treason against the Kings Person shall go unpunisht the Innocent in some Cases shall be punished for if an Idiot or Lunatick who cannot be said to have any will and so cannot offend during his Idiocy or Lunacy shall kill or go about to kill the King he shall be punisht as a Traytor and yet being Non compos mentis the Law holds that he cannot commit Felony or Petit Treason not other sorts of High Treason Moreover for the precious regard of the Person of the King by an Antient Record it is declared that no Physick ought to be administred to him without good Warrant this Warrant to be made by the Advice of his Council no other Physick but what is mentioned in the Warrant ro be administred to him the Physitians to prepare all things with their own hands and not by the hands of any Apothecary and to use the assistance only of such Chyrurgeons as are prescribed in the Warrant And so precious is the Person and Life of the King that every Subject is obliged and bound by his Allegeance to defend his Person in his Natural aswell as Politick Capacity with his own Life and Limbs wherefore the Law saith that the life and member of every Subject is at the service of the Soveraign He is Pater Patriae Dulce erit pro Patre Patriae mori to lose life or limb in defending him from Conspiracies Rebellions or Invasions or in the Execution of his Laws should seem a pleasant thing to every loyal hearted Subject The Office of the King of England according to the Learned Fortescue is Pugnare bella populi sui eos rectissime judicare To fight the Battels of his People and to see Right and Justice done unto them Or according to