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Of Capital

Crimes.

thou shalt be carried to the Place of Execution, there thou shalt be banged by the Neck till thou be dead. Then he faith to the Sheriff, Sheriff do Execution.

ALL Crimes in England that are Capital, or touch the Life of a Man, are of three Kinds, High-Treafon. viz. (1.) High-Treafon, which comprehends all Attempts against the Security, Safety, and Peace of the King, or any of the Royal Family; as alfo against the Government and Conftitution; alfo Clipping, or coining falfe Money, counterfeiting Petty Treafon. the King's Privy-Seal, &c. (2.) Petty Treafon; this is when a Man kills his Master, a Wife her Husband, a Secular his Prelate, to whom he owes Faith and Obedience. (3.) Felony; this comprehends Murder, Larceny or Theft, Sodomy, Buggery, Rapes, Firing Houfes, &c.

Felony.

The Punishment of Traitors.

For Petty
Treafon.

THE Punishment of High-Treafon is by Law thus appointed: The Traitor fhall be drawn on a Sledge to the Gallows, there hang'd by the Neck, presently cut down alive, his Bowels instantly taken out of his Belly, and burnt before his Face; then his Head fhall be cut off, his Body divided into four Parts, and the whole hung up or impal'd where the King fhall command. Befides all this his Lands and Goods are forfeited, his Wife lofeth her Dowry, and his Children their Nobility and all Right of Inheri tance from him or any other Ancestor.

FOR Petty-Treason the Punishment is to be drawn on a Sledge and banged, for a Man; be for a Woman, to be drawn and burnt alive, tho' it be ufual to ftrangle them first at the Stake. All Felonies are punifhed with Hanging only, s before faid. But the King has the Prerogative of fhewing Mercy to Felons in reprieving then from Death, either for Pardon, Tranfportation, &c.

a Peer.

If a Peer of the Realm commit High-Treafon, Bebeading for Petty-Treafon, or Felony, although his Judgment be the fame with that of common Perfons, yet the King doth ufually extend fo much Favour to fuch, as to cause them only to be beheaded with an Ax on a Block lying on the Ground, and not, as in other Countries, by a Sword, kneeling or ftanding.

IF a Criminal indicted of any capital Crime The Punishrefufeth to plead, or put himself upon a legal ment of a mute Perfon. Trial, then, as mute and contumacious, he is prefently to fuffer the horrid Punishment call'd Peine Peine forte & forte & dure, or Pressing to Death, by extending dure. him on his Back, naked on a Floor, and laying on his Body Iron or Stone, as much or more than he can bear. The next Day he is to have three Morfels of Barley Bread without Drink; and the third Day he is to have Water next the Prifon Door (except Running Water) without Bread; and this fhall be his Diet till he die. But the English, naturally abhorring Cruelty, generally charge the Criminal with fo much Weight at once, as caufes him to expire prefently.

THUS much for the Laws of England, which are undoubtedly the beft in the World for the Mercy and Equity, as well as the Justice of them; one thing only is to be wifh'd, that the Benefit of them might be had with lefs Difficulty, and that the Marks of a corrupt Commonwealth were lefs visible in their Bulk and Multiplicity.

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a Peer.

If a Peer of the Realm commit High-Treafon, Beheading for Petty-Treafon, or Felony, although his Judgment be the fame with that of common Perfons, yet the King doth usually extend fo much Favour to fuch, as to cause them only to be beheaded with an Ax on a Block lying on the Ground, and not, as in other Countries, by a Sword, kneeling or ftanding.

dure.

IF a Criminal indicted of any capital Crime The Punishrefufeth to plead, or put himself upon a legal ment of a Trial, then, as mute and contumacious, he is premute Perfon. fently to fuffer the horrid Punishment call'd Peine Peine forte & forte & dure, or Pressing to Death, by extending him on his Back, naked on a Floor, and laying on his Body Iron or Stone, as much or more than he can bear. The next Day he is to have three Morfels of Barley Bread without Drink; and the third Day he is to have Water next the Prifon Door (except Running Water) without Bread; and this fhall be his Diet till he die. But the English, naturally abhorring Cruelty, generally charge the Criminal with fo much Weight at once, as caufes him to expire prefently.

THUS much for the Laws of England, which are undoubtedly the beft in the World for the Mercy and Equity, as well as the Justice of them; one thing only is to be wifh'd, that the Benefit of them might be had with lefs Difficulty, and that the Marks of a corrupt Commonwealth were lefs visible in their B. and Multiplicity.

of

The Field.

Arms, what.

The Poin's of

THE FIELD is the whole Surface or Space within the bounding Lines of every Shield or Efcutcheon, and retains fuch honourable Marks as antiently were acquired in the Field of Battle, being of the Tinctures and Metals received in the Science of Heraldry; and are call'd

ARMS, which are all thofe Figures and Characters with which the Field of the Escutcheon is charged, and are expreffive of the Degree, Merit and Quality of the original Bearers. Thefe are taken from all Parts of the Creation; as Angels, Men, Beafts, Fowls, Fishes, Infects, Ce leftial Bodies, Trees, Herbs, and all Artificial Subjects. The feveral Parts, Poftures, Pofitions, and Tinctures of which are alfo to be regarded, as being very fignificant in Coat-Armory.

THE POINTS or Parts of an Escutcheon an Efcutcheon. are nine, viz. (1.) Three on the upper Part, in an horizontal Direction; of which the middle Point is call'd the Chief; that on the right Corner, the Dexter Chief; and the other in the left Corner, the Sinifter Chief. (2.) Three Poins perpendicularly fituated in the middle Part of the Shield; of which the firft is call'd the Cor or Honour Point; the fecond, the Heart or F Point, as being exactly the middle Point of the Field; the third is call'd the Nombril or N Point. (3.) Three Points horizontally at t Bottom of the Shield; of which the middle ore is call'd the Bafe Point; the other two the Dextr and Sinifter Bafe Points. Now the Charges of different Importance, as they are placed d ferently in thefe Points of the Shield; and there fore their Situation, as to the Points, ought be carefully mention'd in blazoning a Coat d Arms, unless in a few special Cafes.

Of Tinctures.

TINCTURES are next to be confider'd a Armory; they are thofe Armorial Colours with

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