XVIII. An Outline of the History of the Court of Star Chamber, in a Letter from John Bruce, Esq. F.S.A., addressed to Thomas Amyot, Esq. F.R.S., Treasurer

Abstract

The jurisdiction of the Court of Star Chamber is connected with a variety of curious questions relative to the ancient “Consilium Regis,” which, although often approached by writers of great reputation, do not appear to have been as yet satisfactorily elucidated. Whilst men were within the reach of this powerful judicature, they seem to have been unwilling to inquire too curiously into its origin; and, since its overthrow, the loss, or destruction, of its records, has increased the difficulties inseparable from such an investigation. I propose to attempt an outline of that part of the subject which is necessary to be considered by those who desire to form a general idea of the nature of the judicial jurisdiction exercised in the Star Chamber, and, by that means, to understand the reasons of the abhorrence in which that Court was held by our ancestors of the seventeenth century. If you deem the inquiry likely to interest the Society of Antiquaries, you will oblige me by submitting my remarks to that body. Amongst them I am aware there are many persons who are more favoured by circumstances, and better able, than myself, to treat the whole subject satisfactorily;—perhaps my paper may induce some one of them to give his attention to the inquiry.