Page:Prerogatives of the Crown.djvu/129

 Ch.VIII.] Fountain of Honours^ &^x. lod realm, and were summoned to Parliament to do suit and ser- vice to their sovereign : and when the land was alienated, the dignity passed with it as appendant. Thus the bishops still sit in the House of Lords in right of succession to certain antient baronies annexed, or supposed to be annexed, to their episcopal lands («) ; and thus in 1 1 Hen. 6. the possession of the castle of Arundel was adjudged to confer an earldom on its possessor [b). But afterwards when alienations grew to be frequent, the dignity of peerage was confined to the lineage of the party ennobled, and instead of being territorial, became per- sonal. Actual proof of a tenure by barony became no longer necessary to constitute a lord of Parliament ; but the record of the writ of summons to him, or his ancestors, was admitted as a sufficient evidence of the tenure {c). At the present day therefore, peers may be and frequently are created by the King, though no office or property is annexed to them. It is indeed immaterial whether the place from whence a peer takes his title really existed {d)* The creation of peers is effected either, 1, by tt?nV, or 2, by patent^ (usually by the latter mode) : for those who claim by prescription must suppose either a writ or patent made to their ancestors ; though by length of time it is lost {e). 1 . The creation by writ (which is more antient than the cre- ation by patent) {f is a summons to attend the house of peers by the style and title of that barony which the King is pleased to confer (g) : but the writ does not take effect, and the party is not ennobled until he has taken his seat in Parliament by virtue of his Majesty's summons (h). Some are of opinion that there must be at least two writs of summons and a sitting in distinct Parliaments to evidence an hereditary barony (2). The King may in his writ of sununons restrain the mode in which the dignity is to descend, to males exclusive of fe- (fl) Glan. 1. 7. c. 1. (/) Co. Lit. 16, b. {b) Seld. Tit. of Hon. b. 2. c. 9. s. 5. (g) 1 Bla. Com. 400. (c) 1 Bla. Com. 399, 400. 3 Cruis. {h) 12 Co. Rep. 78. Co. Lit. 16, b. Dig. 174, 185, &c. 219 Rot. Pari. 3 Cruise Dig. 194. 1 Bla. Com. 400. 4voU441; 5 vol. 148. 1 Dugd. Bar. The sitting in Parliament must be 322,323, 361,363,365. Collins, 115. proved by the records of Parliament. 61, 113, 116, 28<F. Lords' Journ. 1 vol. Co. Lit. 16, b. 1 Lord Raym. 14. 516; 2 vol. 345. 3 Cruise Dig. 195. (d) Ibid. U. Raym. 13. (i) 1 Bla. Com. 400. Whitelock of (e) 1 Bla. Com. 400. As to adigni- Purl. c. 114. ty by prescription, see 1 Bulstr. 196. males ;