Dugd. Bar. took his title, need not be in England: nor, in reality, was there a neceffity that there fhould be any place. Albemarle was not in England; and, nevertheless, at V. 3. p. 230. the time of Magna Charta, there was an earl of that title; and there had been dukes, who had lately borne that title: § 93. Sir Thomas Gerard having been created Lord Gerard of Gerard's Bromley, by letters patent, (he being then refident with his family in the faid capital meffuage), a question arose, whether the faid capital meffuage became thereby caput baronia; and it was held that it did not. § 94. Where a perfon, who has a dignity, marries, his wife becomes entitled to the fame during her life; unless fhe afterwards marries a commoner. But, where a woman, who has a dignity in her own right, marries à commoner, fhe still retains her dignity. § 95. Lord Coke fays, if a dutchefs by marriage, afterwards marries a baron, fhe remains a dutchefs, and does not lofe her name; because her husband is noble. Mr. Hargrave, in a note on this paffage, obferves, that in fome books it is faid, if a woman, noble by birth, marries one of inferior nobility, she shall be ftyled by the dignity of her second husband. At the coronation of his prefent majesty, the Dutchefs Dowager of Leeds, then the wife of Lord Portmore, claimed to walk as a dutchefs, but it was refused. § 96. It § 96. It is faid by Juftice Doddridge, that, if a Coll. 130. woman, who acquires a dignity by marriage, elopes from her husband, fhe will lofe her dignity. "For, Tit.6.c.5.f.7. "as then every woman fhall lofe her dower, fo being "advanced to titles of dignity by that husband, by "fuch elopement fhe lofeth them." no cafe that confirms this doctrine. I have met with S 97. It feems to be doubtful, whether a perfon can refuse or waive a dignity conferred on him by the Crown. Lord Coke fays, "if the king calleth any 66 knight or cfquire to be a lord of parliament, he "cannot refuse to ferve the king there in illo communi concilio, for the good of his country." This opinion is contradicted by Lord Chancellor Cowper, who held, that the king could not create a subject a peer of the realm, against his will; because then it would be in the power of the king to ruin a fubject, whose estate and circumstances might not be fufficient for the honour. His Lordship alfo held, that a minor might, when of age, waive a peerage granted to him during his infancy. Whether a P. Wms 592. Lord Trevor was of a different opinion, and held, in Idem. conformity with Lord Coke, that the king had a right to the service of his fubjects in any station he thought proper; and inftanced in the cafe of the Crown's having power to compel a fubject to be a fheriff, and to fine him for refusing to ferve. He obferved, that in Ante, f. 51. Lord Abergavenny's cafe it was admitted, the king might fine a perfon, whom he thought proper to fum mon to the House of Peers; it being there faid, that 14 a perfon What Eftate may be had a perfon might choose to submit to a fine: and, if it were allowed, the king might fine one for not accepting the honour, and not appearing upon the writ: the king might fine toties quoties, where there was a refufal; and, confequently, might compel the subject to accept the honour. And that it was not to be prefumed the king would grant a peerage to any one, to his wrong, any more than that he would make an ill use of his power of pardoning: all which were fuppofitious, contrary to the principles upon which the conftitution was framed, which depended upon the honour and justice of the Crown. $ 98. With respect to the eftate, which may be in a Dignity. had in a dignity or title of honour, while dignities were annexed to lands, and held by tenure, the perfon in poffeffion of the estate, if he was tenant in fee-simple, would, I prefume, have had the fame eftate in the dignity. Inft. 27 a. Aute, f. 45. I Inft. 166. S 99. A perfon may also have a qualified fee in a dignity. Thus, Lord Coke fays, that king Henry 6. by letters patent, granted to John, the fon of John Talbot, that he and his heirs, lords of the manor of Kingston Lifle in the county of Berks, fhould thenceforth be lords and barons of Lifle, and peers of the realm; by which he held a fee-fimple qualified in the dignity, determinable upon his or their ceafing to be lords of the manor of Kingston Lifle. 100. As to dignities, derived from writs of fummons, Lord Coke fays, "And it is to be obferved 13 "that "that, if he be generally called by writ to parliament, "he hath a fee-fimple in the barony, without any "words of inheritance." But this expreffion is inaccurate; and Lord Coke himself corrected it in the fame page, by faying, " and thereby his blood is ennobled to him and his heirs lineal." Dignities of this kind, which are defcendible to females, have generally been faid to be held in fee, but this is a mistake; a perfon having a dignity of this kind, is not tenant in feefimple of it: for, in that cafe, it would defcend to the heirs general, lineal, or collateral, of the perfon last feised; whereas a dignity of this kind is only inhe- Vide Tit. 29. ritable by fuch of his heirs as are lineally defcended from the perfon first fummoned to parliament, and not to any other of his heirs. It is, in fact, a fpecies of eftate, not known to the law in any other inftance, except in that of an office of honour. § 101. A dignity or title of honour may be intailed within the ftatute De Donis Conditionalibus, for it concerns land and it was refolved by all the judges in 7 James, that, where Ralph Nevil was by letters patent created Earl of Westmoreland, to him and the heirs male of his body, an eftate tail was thereby created in the dignity, and not a fee-fimple conditional at law. And Lord Coke fays, the judges obferved that, with this refolution, agreed divers precedents, and the experience and practice always ufed: for the earldom of Northumberland was intailed by queen Mary to Thomas Percy, and the heirs male of his body; and, for default of fuch iffue, that Hugh his brother fhould be earl, to him and the heirs male of his body; and, in Tit. 25. Nevil's Cafe, 7 Rep. 33. that Coll. 173. that cafe, by the attainder of Thomas for treason, Hugh § 102. A dignity may not only be intailed at its first creation, but also, a dignity which was originally defcendible to heirs general, may be intailed by parliament on the heirs male of the perfon feifed thereof. § 103. In the year 1626, a conteft arofe in confequence of the death of Henry de Vere Earl of Oxford, refpecting the right to the earldom, between Robert de Vere claiming under an intail of the dignity, made by an act of parliament in 16 Rich. 2. as heir male of Aubrey de Vere, and Lord Willoughby of Ereby, claiming as heir general. The cafe was referred by king Charles the first to the House of Lords, who called to their affiftance Lord Chief Justice Crew, Lord Chief Baron Walter, Doddridge, and Yelverton, Juftices, and Baron Trevor. Their opinion was delivered by Lord Chief Justice Crew; the exordium of which is fo eloquent, that, for the gratification of the reader, it fhall be tranfcribed. 66 "This great and weighty caufe, incomparable to any other that hath happened at any time, requires "great deliberation, and folid and mature judgment "to determine it: and, therefore, I wish all the judges "of England had heard it, (being a cafe fit for all), "to the end we altogether might have given our "humble |