The constitution of parliaments in England deduced from the time of King Edward the Second, illustrated by King Charles the Second in his Parliament summon'd the 18 of February 1660/1, and dissolved the 24 of January 1678/9 : with an appendix of its sessions / observed by Sr. John Pettus ... Knight.

CHAP. XIX. Of the Kings Serjeant at Arms, Attendant in the House of Lords.

I Have spoken of the Servientes ad legem or Serjeants at Law; Now I come to the Servientes ad arma, Serjeants at Arms; these were such as amongst the Romans were call'd Satellites Caesaris, or a Guard to the Emperor, and sometimes they were call'd Macerones, (from whence probably the word Mace might be us'd) which these Serjeant at Arms use to carry before the King, &c.

Of these Serjeants at Arms (for I meddle not with the lower degree in Corporations, sometimes call'd Serjeants of the Mace, or only Serjeants) there are twenty in number, which are call'd the Kings Serjeants at Arms, and these are Created with great Ceremony; for the Person who is to be Created kneeling before the King, the King

himself lays the Mace on the Serjeants Right Shoulder, and says these words, Rise up Serjeant at Arms, and Esquire for ever: He hath his Patent for the Office besides; (of which and of the particulars of his Imployments, Segar in his Book of Nobi∣lity gives a full account) but of these twenty the King appropriates sixteen to his Personal Service, whereof four wait on him every Quarter; the other four are thus distributed, viz. in time of Parliament one is to attend the Speaker of the House of Lords, in case he is not Lord Chancellor, another to attend the Speaker of the House of Commons; one other to attend the Lord Chancellor, and another the Lord Trea∣surer, as well in as out of Parliament.

But in respect the Lord Chancellor and Speaker of the Lords House is usually the same Person, there were but three of the twenty us'd in this time of Parliament, and but two out of Parliament, so as the other one or two are reserv'd for accidental oc∣casions.

The Serjeant at Arms who attends the House of Lords hath the privilege of car∣rying the Mace before the Speaker (whe∣ther he be the Lord Chancellor or not) within the Lords House up to the very Chair of State, and after he hath made his Obeysances, he lays it down on the first

Woolsack by the Speaker, and so departs till the Speaker hath occasion to use him again upon the Rising of the House.

And herein methinks the Serjeant at Arms of the House of Commons hath more respect afforded him than the Serjeant at Arms to the House of Lords; for the Com∣mons Serjeant hath the freedom to stand at the Bar, and hear all Debates, and when weary of standing, hath an easie seat by the door; but the Lords Serjeant is not permit∣ted to be in the Lords House whilst it is Sitting, nor hath any Station within the Bar, nor Seat without the Bar, as the Gentle∣man Usher hath: and yet this Office is more ancient than that, and is not only Serjeant at Arms to the Speaker, and Chancellor (the Parliament not sitting) but is the chief of the twenty of the Kings Serjeants at Arms; he hath his Duputy, so as if there should be occasion of two, viz. for a Speaker and Chancellor, he may supply one, and his Deputy the other; and besides his Deputy he hath also other Agents under him, and hath use for them; For upon Commitments of Delinquents without door, he is to see them forth coming, and in bringing them to the Bar; but upon con∣smements or Commitment of any Member within doors, that peculiarly belongs to the Gentleman of the Black Rod.

So as these 2 Officers set the first wheel of a Parliament in motion; for the Serjeant at Arms conducts the Chancellor or Speaker into the House of Lords, the King sends the Black Rod to the Commons to bring up their Speaker, who being con∣firm'd by the King, goes to his Chair in the Commons, usher'd with the other Ser∣jeants at Arms, and so when each Speaker retires from each House, each Serjeant is to each a Conducter.