"were like ships in port: their value and magnitude were felt
and acknowledged; but when at a distance, as their size seemed
insignificant, so their worth and importance were not duly estimated."

Charles I., with characteristic arbitrariness, carried matters with
a still higher hand. His Star Chamber caused buildings to be actually
razed, and fined truants heavily. One case which is reported displays
the grim and costly humor of the illegal tribunal which dealt with
such cases. Poor Mr. Palmer of Sussex, a gay bachelor, being called
upon to show cause why he had been residing in London, pleaded in
extenuation that he had no house, his mansion having been destroyed by
fire two years before. This, however, was held rather an aggravation
of the offence, inasmuch as he had failed to rebuild it; and Mr.
Palmer paid a penalty of one thousand pounds--equivalent to at least
twenty thousand dollars now.

A document which especially serves to show the manner of life of the
ancient noblesse is the earl of Northumberland's "Household Book"
in the early part of the sixteenth century. By this we see the great
magnificence of the old nobility, who, seated in their castles, lived
in a state of splendor scarcely inferior to that of the court. As
the king had his privy council, so the earl of Northumberland had
his council, composed of his principal officers, by whose advice and
assistance he established his code of economic laws. As the king had
his lords and grooms of the chamber, who waited in their respective
turns, so the earl was attended by the constables of his several
castles, who entered into waiting in regular succession. Among other
instances of magnificence it may be remarked that not fewer than
eleven priests were kept in the household, presided over by a doctor
or bachelor of divinity as dean of the chapel.