104 
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only ; by the former from that communion, and alfo from 
the company of the faithful ; and incapacitated from per¬ 
forming any legal aft. The fentence of excommunication 
was instituted originally for preferving the purity of the 
church j but ecclefiaftics-did not fcruple to convert it into 
an engine for promoting their own power, and inflicted it 
on the molt frivolous occafions. If the judge of any fpi- 
ritual court excommunicates a man fora caufe, of which 
he hath not the legal cognizance, the party may have an 
action againft him at common law ; and he is alfo liable 
to be indicted at the fuit of the king, i Inf. 134. 
An excommunicated perfon is difabled to do any aft that 
is required to be done by one that is probus and legalis homo. 
He cannot ferve upon juries, cannot be a witnefs in any 
Court, cannot bring an action either real or perfonal to re¬ 
cover lands or money due to hkn, and when he dies is not 
permitted to have Chriftian burial. And on forty days’ 
contumacy, the defendant is liable to be taken on a writ of 
excommunicato capiendo and imprifoned till lie is reconciled to 
the church, when he may be freed by a writ of excommu¬ 
nicato deliberandi . 2 Inf. 189. In cafe of fubtraction of 
tithes, a more fummary and expeditious afliftance is given 
by the flatutes 27 Hen. VIII. c. 20 ; 3 Hen. VIII. c. 7 ; 
which enatt, that on complaint by the ecclefiaftical judge 
of any contempt or milbebaviour of a defendant, in any 
fuit for tithes, any privy-councellor or any two juftices of 
the peace, (or in cafe of difobedience to a definitive fen- 
ler.ce any two juftices of the peace,) may commit the 
party to prifon without bail or mainprize, till he enters 
into a recognizance with fufficient fureties to give a due 
obedience to the procefs and fentence of the court. 
Excommunication is generally for contempt in notap¬ 
pearing, or not obeying a decree. But in other ref'pedts 
the caufes of it are many ; as for matters of herefy, refill¬ 
ing to receive the facrament, or to come to church ; in- 
continency, adultery, ftmony, &c. In fome cafes perfons 
incur excommunication ipfo faEto by aft of parliament ; 
but they are to be firft convicted of the offence by law, 
and the conviction istranfmitted to the ordinary. Dyer 275. 
By 5 and 6 Eaw. VI. c. 4, if any perfon fliall finite 
or lay violent hands upon any other, either in any church 
or church-yard, then ipfo faElo every perfon fo offending 
fnall be deemed excommunicate, and be excluded from 
the fellowftiip and company ofChrift’s congregation. And 
it is further enabled by the find ftatute, that if any perfon 
Hi all malieioufly ftrike any perfon with any weapon, in 
any church or church-yard, or fliall draw any weapon in 
any church or church-yard, to the intent to ftrike ano¬ 
ther w'ith the fame weapon, then every perfon fo offend¬ 
ing fliall ftand ipfo faElo excommunicated as aforeftiid. 
None but the bifhop is to certify excommunication, un- 
lefs the bithop be beyond fea, or in remotis ; or except the 
certificate be by one that hath ordinary jurifdiftion. 
It hath been adjudged, that the fpiritual court hath not 
power to meddle with the body of any perfons whatfoever, 
or to fend procefs to take them : for if a perfon is excom¬ 
municated for contempt, &c. they ought to certify it 
into tfie chancery,whence it is fent into the court of kitig’s- 
bencli, and thence iffues procefs. Cro. E/iz.74.1. If a per- 
fon be unjuftly excommunicated for a matter of which 
theTpiritual court hath not conuzance, and he is taken on 
a writ of excommunicato capiendo, the party grieved fliall 
have a writ out of chancery to the IherifF, to deliver him 
out of prifon,. 2 Inf. 623. So if the fpiritual court pro¬ 
ceeds inverfo ordhie ; as it they refufe a copy of the libel, 
&c. a prohibition (hall go, with a claufe to abfolve and 
deliver the party injured. 1 Sid. 232. 
EXCOMMUNICATIO CAPIENDO, a writ di¬ 
rected to the fheriff for apprehending him who ftands 
obftinately excommunicated. If within forty days after 
fentence of excommunication has been publiflied in the 
church!, tlie offender does not fubmit and abide by the 
lentence of the fpiritual court, the bilhop may certify Inch 
contempt to the king in chancery. Upon which there 
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iffues out this writ to the fheriff of the county; and the 
fheriff fliall thereupon take the offender and imprifon him 
in the county gaol till he is reconciled to the church, and 
inch reconciliation certified by the bifhop. By the ftatute 
5 Elizabeth, c. 23, writs de excommunicatio capiendo fliall 
iffue out of the court of chancery in term-time, and be 
returnable in the king’s-bench. They (ball be brought 
fealed into the king’s-bench, and there opened and deli¬ 
vered of record to the (lieriff, and there muft be twenty 
days between the tefc and the return : and if the fheriff 
return a non cf inventus on the writ, a capias with procla¬ 
mation is to be granted for the party to yield his body 
to gaol under the penalty of 10I. And if he do not ap¬ 
pear on the firft capias and proclamation, a fecond is to go 
forth, and he is to forfeit 20I. &c. 
EXCOMMUN I CATO'DE LIBER ANDO, a writ to 
the fheriff' for delivery of an excommunicate perfon out 
of prifon, upon certificate from the ordinary of his con¬ 
formity to the ecclefiaftical jurifdiCtion. And where a 
man is unduly excommunicated, he may be delivered in 
fome cafes by an habeas corpus ; and fometimes by plead¬ 
ing, as well as by an excommunicato deliberando : alfo fome¬ 
times by prohibition, &c. And on a general pardon, the 
party may have a writ to the bifhop to abfolve him. ‘ If 
a plaintiff in an a£tion be excommunicate, and after lie 
gets letters of abfolution ; on fliewing them in court, he 
may have are-fuminons, See. upon his original. 1 Inf. 133. 
EXCOMMUNICATO RECIPIENDO, or rather 
Re.capiendo, a writ whereby perfons excommunicated being 
for their obftinacy committed to prifon, and unlawfully 
delivered, before they have given caution to obey the 
authority of the church, are commanded to be fought 
after, retaken, and imprifoned again. If a perfon after 
his commitment efcapes, and the flieriff has not returned 
his writ, a capias excommunicatum de novo fliall go, otherwife 
if the writ be returned. Mod. Ca. 78. 
To EXCG'RIATE, v. a. To flay ; to ftrip off the fkin. 
—A11 hyperfarcofis arifesupon the excoriated eyelid, and 
turneth it outward. Wifeman .— A loofenefs proves often 
a fatal fymptom in fevers ; for it weakens, excoriates , and 
inflames the bowels. Arbuthnot. 
EXCORI AT'ION,/. Lofs of fkin ; privation of fkin ; 
the act of flaying.—The pituite fecerned in the nofe, 
mouth, and inteftines, is not an excrementitious, but a 
laudable humour, neceflary for defending tliofe parts from 
excoriations. Arbuthnot. —Plunder; fpoil ; the a£t of flap¬ 
ping of poffelTions.—It hath marvelloufly enhanced the 
revenues of the crown, though with a pitiful excoriation of 
the poorer fort. Hozvel. 
EXCORTIC A'TION, f. [from ex and cortex , Lat. ] 
Pulling the bark off any thing. Quincy. 
To EX'CREATE, v. a. [ excreo , Lat.] To eject at the 
month by hawking, or forcing matter from the throat. 
EXCRF, A'TION, f. The adt of hawking up and fpit- 
ting out. Scott. 
EX'CREMENT, f. fxcrementum, Lat.] That which, 
is thrown out as ufelefs, noxious, or corrupted, from tiie 
natural paftages of the body. — We fee that tliofe excre¬ 
ments , that are of the firft digeftion, fmejl the vvorft ; as 
tlie excrements from the belly. Bacon. 
Farce, in itfelf, is of a nafty feent ; 
But the gain fmells not of the excrement. Drydcn. 
EXCREMEN'TAL, adj. That which is voided as ex¬ 
crement.—God hath given virtues to fprings, fountains, 
earth, plants, and the excrcmental parts of the bafeft li ving 
creatures. Raleigh. 
EXCREMENTITIOUS, adj. Containingexcrements; 
confiding of matter excreted from the body ; offenfive 
or ufelefs to the body.—Toil of the mind deftroys health, 
by attracting the fpirits, from their talk of concoftion, to 
the brain ; whither they carry along with them clouds of. 
vapours and excrementitious humours. Har-vey. —The lungs 
are the grand enumdtory of the body; and the main end 
1 •> .of 
