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3ferlW* frophteu. The original is said to be of the famous Merlin, who lived about a thousand years ago; and the following transla- tion is two hundred years old, for it seems to be written near the end of Henry the seventh's reign. I found it in an old edition of Merlin's prophecies, imprinted at London by John Hau- Jcyns in the year 1533. — Amet.
SeTen and ten addyd to nlnr. Of Fmance her woe thjrs is the STgne, ■ Tiamy s rivere twys y frozen, Walke sans wetynt? shoes ne ho zen. Then comyth foortbe, Icb understonde. From town of Stoffe to fattyn Londe, An herdie cbyftan. woe the morne To Fraunce, that evcre he was borne. Ttien shall the fysbe beweyle bis bosse; Nor shall grin berrys make up the losse, Yoore Symnele shall aeain miscarrye: And Norways pryd a^n shall marrry. And from the tree blosums feele, Ripe fruit shall come, and all is wele. Reanms shall daunce honde in honde. And it shall be merrye in old Ingloude. Then old Ing-londe shall be no more. And no man shall be sorrie therefore. Geryon shall have three hedea a^yne. Till Hapsborgh makyth them but twayne.
1530. At this period the benefit of clergy* was aboli^ed for the crimes of petty treason, to all under the degree of a subdeacon. But the former superstition not only protected crimes in the clergy; it exempted also the laity from punishment, by affording them shelter in the churches and sanctuaries. These privileges were abridged by the parliament. It was first declared that not sanctuaries were allowed in ca.<ies of high treason; next, in those of murder, felony, rapes, burglary, and petty treason; and it limited them in other particulars. It appears by our law boolcs, that laymen that could read had the pri- rile^ of the clergy ever since the 26th Edward III., Stat. 3, c. 4, which provides that clerks, convicts for treason or felonies, touching other persons than the king himself or his royal ma- jesty, shall have the privilege of holy church. But yet it was not allowed in all cases whatso- ever, for in some it was denied even in common law, viz., intidiatio viarum, or lying in wait for one on the highway, depopolatio agrorum, or de- stroying and ravaging a country; and comhutiio denioTum, or arson, that is burning of bouses;
- Frieitegittm CiericaU, or benefit of clergy, denotes an
ancnent pilrjlege of the chnrch, consisting in this, that places consecrated to religious duties were exempted from criminal process before the secular Judges in particular eases. Tliis, at fint, was an indulgence granted by the ciTil goremment, but it was afterwards claimed as an InlieTent, indefeasible, and jure dimno right: and the der^y eodearoored to extend the exemption not only to aJncist all kinds of crimes, but to a variety of persons, besides those who were properly of their own order.
We are told of a rector of a parish who, on going to law -with his parishioners about paving the church, quoted this anthority, as from St. Peter — Paveant iUi, non paceam egn; which he thus construed, Thej/ are to pave the church, not I: and this was allowed to be good Uw by a judge, vrho was an ecclesiastic.
There is extant an old act of parliament, which provides, that a nobleman shall be entitled to the btntfit of kit ciergg, even though he cannot read. And another law, cited by judge Rolls In his Abridgment, sets forth, that the roiDiDand of the sheriff to bis officer, by word of month, and without writing, is good; for it may he, that neither the theriif nor his officer can write or read.
all which are a kind of hostile acts, and in some degree border upon treason. — And further, all these identical crimes, together with petit trea- son, and very many other acts of felony, are ousted of clergy by particular acts of parlia- ment.
The privileges of the English clergy, by the ancient statutes, are very considerable; their goods are to pay no tolls either in fairs or mar- kets; they are exempt from all offices but their own, from the king's carriages, posts, &c., from appearing at sheriffs' toums, or frankpledges; and are not to be fined or amerced according to their spiritual, but their temporal means. A clergyman acknowledging a statute, his body is not to be imprisoned. If he is convicted of a crime for which the benefit of clergy is allowed, he shall not be burnt in the hand: and he shall have the benefit of clergy in infinitum, which no layman can have more than once. The clergy, by common law, are not to be burdened in the general charges of the laity, nor to be troubled nor encumbeie<l, unless expressly named and charged by the statute; for general words do not affect them. Thus, if a hundred is sued for a robbery, the minister shall not contribute; neither shall they be assessed to the highway, to the watch, &c.
In England, though this privilege was allowed in some capital cases, it was not universally ad- mitted. The method of granting it was settled in the reig^ of Henry VI. which required, that the prisoner should first be arraigned, and then claim his benefit of clergy, by way of declinatory plea, or, after conviction, by way of arrest of judgment, which latter mode is most usually practised. This privilege was originally con- fined to those who had the habitum et fomuram clericalem: but in process of time every one was accounted a clerk, and admitted to this benefit, who could read; so that, after the invention of printing, and the dissemination of learning, this became a veiy comprehensive test, including laymen as well as divines.
This privilege was formerly admitted, even in cases of murder; but the ancient course of the law is much altered upon this head. By the statue of 18 Eliz. cap. vii. clerks are no more committed to their orainary to be purged; but every man to whom the benefit of clergy is granted, though not in orders, is put to read at the bar, after lie is found guilty and convicted of such felony, and so burnt in the band, and set free for the first time, if the ordinary or deputy standing by, do say, Leg^it ut clericus: otherwise he shsdl suffer death.
Such was the power of the clergy in those days, that they committed the most scandalous crimes with impunity, and if ever brought to trial, which was only a matter of form, before twelve of their own body, they were invariably acquitted. At length, however, it was con- sidered that learning was no extenuation of guilt; and experience having shewn that so universal a lenity was an encouragement of crime, that it gradually was abolisbed.
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