But the qualification as to reading was not strictly applied at this period, for if the prisoner could spell and thus put syllables together, he was held, by Fortescue, to be entitled to his clergy. Littleton said that if the clerk refused generally to read, he was denied his clergy; but if a cause were stated which could not be allowed by the law of the land, as where he had not the _tonsura clericalis_ or _ornamentum clericale_, if clergy were refused, the ordinary was fined and enjoined to receive the felon.[18] During the reign of Edward IV. the prisoner claimed his clergy, upon his arraignment, but this was deemed prejudicial to the prisoner, for he thus had no challenges and was denied the right to a trial on the merits and even if innocent of the crime, if he could not read, was hanged, and his estate was forfeited. Sir John Priscott, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas Court, during the reign of Henry VI. changed the practice and when the felon claimed his clergy, on arraignment, he was required to plead to the merits and then, if convicted, the crown took his estate by forfeiture and he was then allowed his clergy. This practice served the double purpose of giving the prisoner the benefit of a trial on the merits and giving the crown a chance at his estate, which the other practice denied to the crown and hence, it was afterwards generally followed.[19] It was customary to keep a register of clerks-convict and persons attainted, so that such persons might not have their privilege more than once.[20] The burning in the hand, which was a necessary part of the procedure of the privilege of clergy, was not ordained by the statute (IV. Henry VII.) as a punishment, but merely to enable the court, on a subsequent arraignment of the offender, to ascertain if the defendant had been accorded his clergy. By statute, during the reign of Elizabeth (18 Elizabeth), it was enacted that the prisoner should not be delivered until he had been burned in the hand, and in Biggen’s case, near the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it was decided, notwithstanding the statute referred to, that the Queen could pardon the burning in the hand, but unless she had done so, the prisoner could not be discharged until he had been burned in the hand, and must remain perpetually in prison.[21]