It is true that the word _serviens_, _serjen_, or serjeant, was applied to the professors of the law long before the reign of Edward the Third, but not to denote a _privileged brotherhood_. It was applied to lawyers in common with all persons who did any description of work for another, from the _serviens domini regis ad legem_, who prosecuted the pleas of the crown in the county court, to the _serviens_ or _serjen_ who walked with his cane before the concubine of the Patriarch in the streets of Jerusalem.[580] The priest who worked for the Lord was called _serjens de Dieu_, and the lover who served the lady of his affections _serjens d'amour_.[581] It was in the order of the Temple that the word _freres_ serjens or _fratres_ servientes signified an honorary title or degree, and denoted a powerful privileged class of men. The _fratres servientes armigeri_ or _freres serjens des armes_, of the chivalry of the Temple, were of the rank of gentlemen. They united in their own persons the monastic and the military character, they were allotted one horse each, they wore the red cross of the order of the Temple on their breasts,[582] they participated in all the privileges of the brotherhood, and were eligible to the dignity of Preceptor. Large sums of money were frequently given by seculars who had not been advanced to the honour of knighthood, to be admitted amongst this highly-esteemed order of men. The _freres serjens_ of the Temple wore linen _coifs_, and red caps close over them.[583] At the ceremony of their admission into the fraternity, the Master of the Temple placed the coif upon their heads, and threw over their shoulders the white mantle of the Temple; he then caused them to sit down on the ground, and gave them a solemn admonition concerning the duties and responsibilities of their profession.[584] They were warned that they must enter upon a new life, that they must keep themselves fair and free from stain, like the white garment that had been thrown around them, which was the emblem of purity and innocence; that they must render complete and perfect obedience to their superiors; that they must protect the weak, succour the needy, reverence old men, and do good to the poor. The knights and serjeants of the common law, on the other hand, have ever constituted a privileged _fraternity_, and always address one another by the endearing term _brother_. The religious character of the antient ceremony of admission into this legal brotherhood, which took place in church, and its striking similarity to the antient mode of reception into the fraternity of the Temple, are curious and remarkable.