Heraldry in England and America. 



and to be short, who can live without manual labor, and will bear the 

 port, charge and countenance of a gentleman, lie shall be taken for a 



for a new coat, if therein none that appertain imio'hi'm fmiuVus' an- 

 cestors; and if so, confirm that upon him." 



tiesonoui neu'h in ; i • g ,1 man It i< 1 ntn i <a,d „l him "II I, 



coutered, have his attendance, and show a more manly courage ami 

 tokens of a generous education, by which means he shall purchase a 

 greater fame." 



The law was lenient and disposed to lend a little assistance to a 

 well-behaved aspirant to the honors of coat honor; for in time of 

 Elizabeth it was held that a yeoman born who had deported himself 

 as a gentleman and was known as such among the people might have 

 that title added to his name in a legal document. 



But if a gentlemen is sued as husbandman although such may be his 

 occupation, yet the claim cannot be maintained, because he must be 

 sued under his most worthy appellation. A gentleman, even if he go 

 to manual labor, vet in h gal proceedings he must be named as snch 

 and not by the title of yeoman, husbandman or laborer. 



" If a gentleman be bound an apprentice to a merchant or other 

 trade, he hath not thereby lost his degree of gentility." "If a 

 capias go against A. B., yeoman, and if the sheriff take A. B.,gentle- 

 i»<in, an action of false imprisonment lieth against the .sheriff, but if 

 A. B., yeoman, be indicted, and A. B., gentleman, be produced, being 

 the same man intended, it is good." This shows that even the laws 

 of heraldry were not to supersede common sense. 



If a falcon be lost, and the finder be a simple man, that is, under 

 the rank of gentleman, he must carry it to the sheriff, who shall keep 

 the hawk if the owner be not discovered. If a gentleman, however, 

 should find the hawk, then, the owner remaining unknown, he may 

 retain it as his own property. 



At first the children of gentlemen only were permitted to enter the 

 legal profession. "If a churle or pea-ant do detract from the honour 

 of a gentleman, he hath a remedy in law; " but if one gentleman 

 injures another, the combat was the ancient mode of settlement. 

 " In equal crimes a gentleman 6hall be punishable with more favour 

 than the churle, provided the crime is not heresy, treason or excessive 



" In giving evidence, the testimony of a gentleman is more authen- 



