ment to his Katherina; or if he should exhume the stool itself from the law's lum ber room. Upon the walls of that room, imbedded in cobwebs, hangs a well-known British print of an " Ordeal and wager by battle," also of the actual workings of a " press gang," that procedure long feared of British sailors, and which angered Uncle Sam into the naval war of 1812, and are parts of the legal rub bish now stored away; but yet the press gang in a way survives by the intrusions of newspaper reporters into private houses for impertinent interviews and for the printing of portraits, nilly, willy, of modest men and women. A curious curate or deacon of the church, "in orders," if allowed to roam through the law's lumber room would soon discover a piece of worm-eaten furniture, carried from an old legal mansion and labelled " Benefit of Clergy "; and he might stop to ask of himself what was the " benefit " that it com memorated, for perhaps he himself was as much in need of a benefit as an actor. Then the custodian of the lumber room, on being asked for explanations, would remind that curious clerical that there existed an English period when ecclesiastical law acted pari passu with common law; when the high pretensions of the church were highly favored by the secular power; when com mon law recognized the clergy as a distinct and almost charmed order whose members were too sacred in character to be subjected to the jurisdiction of a secular court (all long before the advent of the doctrine that "law is no respecter of persons"). The curate much interested, and perhaps regret ful that his order was not now equally re spected, might enter into a colloquy with the well-informed custodian, who had fully catalogued the contents of the law's lumberroom, which colloquy would run after this fashion : — Keeper. Why if a curate or a parish clerk committed murder for instance, in olden
times, an ecclesiastical chap called an ordi nary (who by the way was an extraordi nary) stepped forward as the murderer was arrested and said to the constable " By your leave, take off the steel wristlets and gyves, he is entitled to his benefit of clergy, and I will take him before our Bishop. There he will have compurgators to the number of twelve of his own fellows (a biased jury in fact) who will listen to his story, but hear nothing against him; and then say to the civil law judge " Hands off, the murderer is clerical in character, and you shall not try or hang him for he is entitled to his benefit of clergy." C. What then? Surely the clerical mur derer was not set free? K. Sometimes he was not, but generally yea, after the ordinary had branded him with a hot iron on the thumb, by the letter standing for the offence whereof he was ac cused and disciplined by the church — e. g. "M. " if a murderer; T. if a thief; B. if a bigamist," etc. That mark was a record of his escape from secular justice, once. If he criminally offended afterward, the mark prevented him from again pleading his clergy. C. In short, then and there the hard doc trine of second offence was born, but tell me more. K. The Church fabricated other benefits : first for clerical malefactors and afterwards for all malefactors, and soon the secular statutes enlarged the benefit. The curious curate would discover that another piece of furniture in the law's lum ber room was labelled Sanctuary, when the custodian and keeper would continue: — If the malefactor fled into a church edifice he was safe from criminal or civil arrest. The church said we have warrant for this in the "cities of refuge " of old Hebrew days. So long as the malefactor remained in sanctuary he was safe : and at a proper time by con senting to " abjure the realm " he was given time within a specified period to get him to
