PRE 
ed an intruder ; the remedy upon which is 
by an information of intrusion. The reme- 
dy against the King is by petition to the 
King in Parliament, in Chancery, or some 
other court, for there can be no writ, be- 
cause the King cannot command himself, as 
it is quaintly expressed. There is also an- 
other proceeding by monstrance de droit, 
which is, where the suitor’s title appears 
by the same record as that of the King. 
Even upon an office found there may now 
be, by statute 34 Edward Ilf. c. 14, a tra- 
verse, denial, or litigation, of it. 
The King, by his prerogative, may sue in 
what court he pleases, and shall not be pre- 
judiced by any neglect to pursue his right, 
which is meant by the maxim nullum tern- 
pus, &c. or no time runs against the King. 
Though now, by statute 9 George III. c. 16, 
the King’s suit, except for liberties and 
franchises, is limited, under certain condi- 
tions, to 60 years for lands. 
As to the disposal of the personal revenue 
of the King, this can only be by the Great, 
or Privy Seal ; and every one who receives 
money out of the Exchequer, without due 
warrant, is accountable for it. He may, it 
is said, dispose of his lands and other real 
revenues of inheritance, by patent, to 
others, when he pleases. And by statute 
1 Anne 7, s. 5, all grants by the King of 
any manors, lands, &c. advowsons of 
chiirciies and vicaragfes excepted, shall be 
void, except for 31 years or under, or for 3 
lives, &c. subject to'waste, and at the usual 
rent or more, or if no usual rent, then a rent 
at least one-third of the annual value. By 
the same act, the hereditary excise, revenue 
of the post-office, first fruits and tenths, 
fines for writs of covenant, and entry at 
tire alienation office, post fines, wine li- 
cences, sheriffs prefers, and compositions, 
and seisures.for unaccustomed and pro- 
hibited goods, shall not be alienable for 
longer than the life of the King who grants 
them. 
It is to be ' observed that mueh of the 
King’s prerogative, producing revenue, has 
been from time to time granted out with 
various manors, and the article of forfei- 
tures, which might in some cases be some- 
what profitable, is very little enforced. 
When a forfeiture is discovered, the officers 
of the crown generally allow a portion to 
the informer; sometimes one-sixth. It has 
been proposed, by Mr. Bentham, to make 
forfeitures of land supply, in some measure, 
the place of taxes, and to restrain the power 
of bequest of land to certain degrees of 
kindred only. Blackstone and others, how- 
PRE 
ever, though they approve of the statute of 
Anne to prevent tlie improperly granting 
away crown lands, consider the great dimi- 
nution of the landed dehiesnes of the crown 
well exchanged by the subject for the 
lighter burthen of taxes, since, had things re- 
mained as at the conquest, the King would, 
by forfeiture and otherwise, have possessed 
all the land in the kingdom. The observa- 
tion is short-sighted enough, for no people 
would have tolerated itj William possessed 
all the lands by force, only to parcel them 
out like a robber among his troops, and 
had he not speedily parted with them, he 
and they must have found that he who 
grasps all loses all. See Revenue. 
Prerogative court, the court wherein 
all wills are proved, and all administrations 
taken, which belong to the Archbishop by 
his prerogative ; that is, in cases where the 
deceased had goods of any considerable 
value out of the diocese wherein he died ; 
and that value is ordinarily 51. except it be 
otherwise, by composition, between the 
Archbishop and some other Bishop, as in 
the diocese of London, it is iOl. 
PRESBYTERIANS. This denomina- 
tion of Protestant Dissenters has been call- 
ed by different names at different periods 
of time. In their first attempts fora further 
reformation of the church, they were, by 
way of reproach, termed Puritans, a name 
derived from the Cuthari or Puritani of the 
third century. But reproachful names have 
not been the only species of persecution 
they have at various times suffered. The 
cruel persecutions they suffered in the reigns 
of Elizabeth, James I. and the two Charleses, 
will ever reflect disgrace upon the memoiy 
of those princes. 
The reformed exiles who were driven to 
Franckfort, to avoid the cruelties of Mary 
I. and who afterwards set up congrega- 
tions at Basil and Geneva, were first called 
Puritans, as their opponents obtained the 
name of Conformists. From the Puritans 
sprung the Presbyterians, whose form of 
church discipline was first established and 
is still followed by the Kirk of Scotland. 
The first Presbyterian church in England 
was erected at Wandsworth, a village near 
London; and, on the 20th of November, 
1572, eleven elders were chosen, and their 
offices described in a register, entitled The 
Order of AYandsworth. Other churches, 
notwithstanding proclamations for unifor- 
mity, &c. were soon erected in other coun- 
ties, though with the utmost privacy and 
secresy. But we are compelled by our 
limits to omit many important particulars 
