[1] As a proof that Franklin was anciently the common name of an
order or rank in England, see Judge Fortesque, _De laudibus legum
Angliæ_, written about the year 1412, in which is the following
passage, to shew that good juries might easily be formed in any part
of England:
"Regio etiam ilia, ita respersa refertaque est _posessoribus
terrarum_ et agrorum, quod in ea, villula tam parva reperiri non
poterit, in qua non est _miles_, _armiger_, vel pater-familias,
qualis ibidem _franklin_ vulgariter nuncupatur, magnis ditatus
possessionibus, nec non libere tenentes et alii _valecti_ plurimi,
suis patrimoniis sufficientes, ad faciendum juratam, in forma
prænotata."
"Moreover, the same country is so filled and replenished with landed
menne, that therein so small a thorpe cannot be found wherein
dwelleth not a knight, an esquire, or such a householder as is there
commonly called a _franklin_, enriched with great possessions; and
also other freeholders and many yeomen, able for their livelihoods to
make a jury in form aforementioned."