tenements, goods and chattels, are forfeited to the Crown; and that his body shall remain in prison during the royal pleasure. It is not lawful, however, to kill any person attainted in a præmunire. Precedence.-Degrees of superiority amongst the nobility, who are all peers, i.e., equal, as being of the greater nobility; and amongst the commoners, of whose lesser nobility the law takes no notice, they being all peers, i.e., equals, in the eye of the law. Many of the following degrees are established by ancient usage, some by letters patent or statute :— Secretary of State, if a Baron. Speaker of the House of Commons. Lords Commissioners of the Great Seal. Viscounts' eldest sons. Earls' younger sons. Barons' eldest sons. Privy Councillors. Chancellor of the Exchequer. Chancellor of the Duchy of Lan- Chief Justice of the King's Bench. Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. Knights Bannerets, Royal. Barons' younger sons. Baronets. Knights Bannerets. Knights of the Bath. Knights Bachelors. Baronets' younger sons. Knights' younger sons. Serjeants-at-Law. Doctors-With whom, it is said, Gentlemen. Yeomen. Tradesmen. Artificers. Labourers. Married women and widows are entitled to the same rank among each other, as their husbands would respectively have borne between themselves; except such rank is merely professional or official :-and unmarried women to the same rank as their eldest brothers would bear among men, during the lives of their fathers. Prerogative Court.-A Court formerly held by each of the Archbishops of England and Ireland for the purpose of trying the validity of wills, registering them, and granting probate. This Court ceased to exist on the transference of the jurisdiction of the spiritual Courts in matters testamentary to the Crown by statute 20 & 21 Vict. c. 77. (See PRObate, Court of.) - President of the Council, Lord. The fourth great officer of state. He is appointed by letters patent, and has to attend the royal person, to manage the debates in council, to propose matters from the Queen at the council table, and to report to Her Majesty the resolutions taken thereon. Press, The.-There is no censorship over the press, but the author, printer, and publisher of a libel are liable to an action for damages at the suit of the party injured; or to an indictment, or, in certain cases, to a criminal information. For laws relating to the press see 39 Geo. III. c. 79, amended by 51 Geo. III. c. 65, and 2 & 3 Vict. c. 12. Preventive Service.-The body of armed police officers engaged in watching the coasts for the purpose of preventing smuggling and other illegal acts. Primogeniture. In the times of the patriarchs the firstborn son always inherited his father's position as head of his family. The Roman law did not acknowledge the principle of primogeniture, and it was not recognised in France until the time of the Capets. It was established in England by the Normans, and takes effect almost in all cases, except where its operation is hindered by the customs of gavelkind and borough-English. Privy Council, Judicial Committee. See JUDICIAL, &C. Privy Council.-A great council of state held by the sovereign with her councillors, to concert matters for the public service, and for the honour and safety of the realm. The sovereign's will is the sole constituent of a privy councillor; and it also regulates their number, which in ancient times was about twelve. Afterwards it increased to so large a number, that it was found inconvenient for secrecy and despatch; and therefore Charles II. in 1679, limited it to thirty; whereof fifteen were principal officers of state, and to be councillors ex officio; and the other fifteen were composed of ten lords and five commoners of the King's choosing. Since that time, however, the number has been much augmented, and now continues indefinite. Privy Councillors.-Advisers of the sovereign. They are made by the royal nomination, without patent or grant. After taking the necessary oaths they become immediately privy councillors during the life of the sovereign who chooses them, but subject to removal at the royal discretion. Any naturalborn subject of England is capable of being a member of the privy council. The duty of a privy councillor appears from the oath of office, which consists of seven articles. 1. To advise the sovereign according to the best of his cunning and discretion. 2. To advise for the sovereign's honour and good of the public, without partiality, through affection, love, need, doubt, or dread. 3. To keep the sovereign's counsel secret. 4. To avoid corruption. 5. To help and strengthen the execution of what shall be there resolved. 6. To withstand all persons who would attempt the contrary. And, lastly, in general, 7. To observe, keep, and do all that a good and true councillor ought to do to his sovereign lord. Privy Seal.-The Privy Seal is a seal of the sovereign under which charters, pardons, &c., signed by the sovereign, pass before they come to the Great Seal, and also for some documents of less consequence, such as discharges of recognisances, &c. Privy Seal, Lord. See LORD PRIVY SEAL. Prize Court.-An international tribunal existing only by virtue of a special commission during war, until litigations incident to war have been brought to a conclusion. In the Court are decided questions relating to captures, prize, and booty, and also questions upon the law of nations. It is frequently confounded with the Court of Admiralty, but there is no connection between the two. Probate Court.-The grant of letters of administration of the effects of persons dying intestate, and of probate of wills, which were formerly the prerogative of the Ecclesiastical Courts, have been recently vested (1857) in a newly established Court called the Court of Probate. The functions of this Court are confined entirely to deciding upon the authenticity of wills, and upon the proper persons to whom administration is to be committed when no will exists. The practice of the Court of Probate has been thrown open to the whole legal profession. The Court is presided over by a single judge, who sits at WestAn appeal lies from his decision direct to the House minster. of Lords. The rules of evidence in the Court of Probate are the same as those in Courts of law and equity, while its proceedings are assimilated to those of the Courts of common law. A central registry of wills and administrations is established in London, and district registries are established in forty of the S principal towns of England. These towns are*:-Bangor, Birmingham, Blandford, Bodmin, Bristol, Bury St. Edmunds, Canterbury, Carlisle, Carmarthen, Chester, Chichester, Derby, Durham, Exeter, Gloucester, Hereford, Ipswich, Lancaster, Leicester, Lewes, Lichfield, Lincoln, Liverpool, Llandaff, Manchester, Newcastle, Northampton, Nottingham, Norwich, Oxford, Peterborough, St. Asaph, Salisbury, Shrewsbury, Taunton, Wakefield, Wells, Winchester, Worcester, and York. Original wills proved in the country are preserved in the district registries, but copies of them are transmitted to the office in London, so that the metropolitan registry is the most convenient office to search for any will whatever. Proctors.-Are those who, in the Ecclesiastical and Admiralty Courts, discharge duties similar to those of solicitors and attornies in other Courts. From the jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Courts having been mainly abolished, the 20 & 21 Vict. c. 77 and 85, award Proctors compensation, and admit them to practice not only in the Probate and Divorce Courts, but also in the Courts of equity and common law. Prohibition.-A writ which issues from the Queen's Bench, and Courts of Chancery, Exchequer, and Common Pleas, to prohibit inferior Courts, either ecclesiastical or temporal, as Courts of request, &c., from taking cognizance of suits that do not belong to them, or are not comprehended within their jurisdiction. It is doubtful whether a prohibition will lie to the Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes. Prolocutor of the Convocation House, an officer chosen by ecclesiastical persons publicly assembled in convocation by virtue of the Sovereign's writ; at every Parliament there are two prolocutors, one of the Upper House of Convocation, the other of the Lower House, the latter of whom is chosen by the Lower House, and presented to the Bishops of the *Latest edition of Bond's " Handy Book for verifying Dates." |