XXXIV. CHA P. fantastical, or false prophecy, by the occasion of any arms, fields, beasts, badges, or such like thing, accustomed in ELIZAB. arms, cognisancy, or signets; or by reason of any time, year, or day, name, bloodshed, or war, to the intent to make any rebellion, insurrection, dissension, loss of life, or other disturbance within the realm; he shall be imprisoned for one year, and forfeit 10l.; for the second offence, to be imprisoned during life, and forfeit all his goods and chattels. The prosecution to be within six months. There had been an act of this kind made in the reign of Edward the Sixth (stat. 3 & 4 Ed. 6. c. 15.), which had expired; and the queen, whose apprehensions were greater on this point, than those of any of her subjects, was desirous of reviving some restriction upon such disturbers of her peace. Punish father of a bastard child. The other, concerning the punishment of the father and ment of the mother of a bastard child, is a provision perfectly new. This is made by stat. 18 Eliz. c. 3., which ordains that two justices, one to be of the quorum, in or next the limits where the church of the parish is in which a bastard shall be born, may take order, as well for the punishment of the mother and reputed father, as also for the better relief of such parish; and may likewise take order for the keeping of the child, by charging the father or mother with payment of money weekly, or other sustentation: and if they do not perform the order, they are to be committed to the common gaol, except they put in sufficient surety to perform the said order, or to appear personally at the next general sessions, and to abide such order as the justices then and there shall take; and if they take no order, then to perform the order before made. But the bastards intended by this act are such only as are likely "to be left to be kept at the charge of the parish where they were born, to the great burden of the same, and in defrauding of the relief of the impotent and aged poor," as described in the preamble; and the statute, in the enacting clause, refers to it in the words "such bastards." Of hue and cry. Among other regulations of the police, the new order XXXIV. ELIZAB. made respecting hue and cry must not be omitted. This CHAP. ancient method of pursuing offenders, at present stood upon two old statutes, the stat. of Winchester, 13 Ed. 1. st. 2. c. 1., and stat. 28 Ed. 3. c. 11. It seems this proceeding had of late been put in use more frequently than heretofore, and had therefore furnished many experiments of its defects, which it was now attempted to remedy. It was thought a hardship upon a hundred to be, in all events, liable to the party robbed; while the inhabitants had, perhaps, done every thing in their power towards pursuing the offender, in which the neighbouring hundred would not assist, by furthering the hue and cry, knowing that they were not concerned in making good the loss sustained by the party robbed. Again, the person robbed, confiding in the remedy he had against the hundred, would remit of any attempt or diligence in taking the offender. To remedy all this, it was enacted by stat. 27 El. c. 13. that the inhabitants of any hundred wherein there shall be negligence, or default of fresh suit, after hue and cry made, shall pay one moiety of the damages recovered; which contribution is to be recovered by an action at the suit of the clerk of the peace. Again, because the recovery upon the two former acts used to be against one or very few of the inhabitants, who could not obtain by law any contribution from the rest, and were thereby often entirely ruined; it was now enacted, that after execution had, two justices within or near the hundred may assess rateably and proportionably all the towns, villages and parishes, hamlets and franchises, in the hundred towards an equal contribution; after which, the constable and headboroughs of such places shall tax the inhabitants within their district, to be levied by distress, and to be paid to the justices within ten days after collection. The same method to be followed within the hundred where there has happened default of fresh suit. Further, where one out of many offenders is taken by fresh suit, no hundred is to be liable. A hue and cry will not be sufficient XXXIV. ELIZAB. men. CHAP. to satisfy this act, unless it be made by horsemen and footAll actions against the hundred are to be brought within one year after the robbery; and no person is entitled to an action, unless he gave notice of the robbery to some inhabitant of the first village or hamlet nearest the place where the robbery was committed; and, unless within twenty days next before the action brought, he be examined before some justice, whether he knows any of the offenders; and if he does, he is to enter into a recognisance to prosecute. CHAP. XXXV. Crown. ELIZABETH. Wardships.-Guardian in Soccage. — Grant of Entail to the the Peace. • The Queen and Government. - Treatises. Rastell. ·Brooke. -Lambard. · Miscellaneous XXXV. In the course of this long reign, the courts were called C H a P. upon to determine questions of every kind; and many points of great importance were settled by solemn adjudi- ELIZAB cation. It will be sufficient for the design of this work to select such as are more striking, and relate to those subjects whose history we have deduced in the preceding pages. In the reign of Edward the Sixth, it had been held, as Wardship. we are told in the case of Sir Anthony Brown, that where the son of one holding in knight's service was made a knight in the life-time of his father, he should nevertheless be in ward if his father died before he was of age: for otherwise the father might procure him to be made a knight XXXV. ELIZAB. CHA P. by collusion, in order to defraud the lord of his ward; so that he agreed with the crown for his marriage. Though Brooke was of opinion it should be otherwise where he was made knight during his infancy and wardship; for then he thought he was within the provision of Magna Charta, c. 3. (2 Ed. 6. New Cases, 155.) This question was again brought forward in the case of Sir John Ratcliffe, in the early part of this reign. When called upon by the court of wards for the value of his marriage, that gentleman's counsel said, that as he was enabled to do knight-service by having received knighthood from the king, who is the captain of all chivalry, there was not the pretence of imbecility and inability of an heir within age to demand it; and as the cause did not exist, there was no reason for the effect of it to be made a burden upon the minor. And to enforce this, they cited the same provision of Magna Charta ; from which, they said, it appeared that by the common law if the ward was made a knight during his nonage, he should be out of ward; and if it was the degree of knighthood which had this effect, there was the same reason for the exemption, if it was conferred in the life of the ancestor. Guardian Upon this, the court took some time to consider the question; for though it had been frequently made, yet we are told by Plowden, that the parties had always compounded; so that the above case of Sir Anthony Brown seems not to be an adjudication, but only an opinion. But Sir John Ratcliffe would not compound, but demanded law and justice. As this was likely to be a precedent, the court were three years before they made a decree, by which they adjudged that no marriage was due to the queen. (6 Eliz. Plowd. 267.) Some difficulty was found in the following case :-Lands in soccage. descended on the part of the wife were settled by fine on the husband and wife, and the heirs of the body of the husband, remainder in fee to the heirs of the wife; the husband and wife die, leaving an heir under fourteen years; and there arose a contest between the grandfather on the part |
