therefore placed their Lecturers in Market Towns and Corporations that were most populous where they might carry the greater sway of electing Burgesses to serve in Patliament or for the most part these zealous Preachers were such as had been silenced and suspended in the Ecclesiastical Courts or those that were well Wishers to Non-conformists The Parties themselves trusted in this design of buying Impropriations were of such affections as promised no good unto the peace and happiness of the Church of England being twelve in number four Ministers four common Lawyers and four Citizens all of them known to be averse unto the Discipline of the Church that as Dr. Heylyn saith If such publick mischiefs be presaged by Astrologers from the Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn though the first of these be a Planet of a most sweet and gentle influence what dangers what calamities might might not be feared from the Conjunction of twelve such persons of which there was not one that wished well to the present Government And therefore I may say of them as Domitiâ—…s Aenobarbus said unto his friends when they came to congratulate with him for the Birth of Nero. Nihil ex se Agrippina nisi detestabile malo publico nasci potest But now we must come to the Divinity Schools again where Mr. Heylyn must undergo the publick exercise of disputation for his degree of Doctor and appear before his severe Judge and Moderator Dr. Prideaux whose animosities and angers since the former Disputation in all the tract of time from the year 1627. to 1633. were not abated or in the least cooled but more inflamed that the Professor took upon himself the Office of an Opponent rather than of a Moderator so that those to whom the Opponents part belonged could hardly put in an Argument for his passion In the former Disputation Mr. Heylyn asserted the visibility and infallibility of the Church but now he insisteth upon its Authority and his Questions were these following 1. An Ecclesia habeat authoritatem in determinandis fidei controversiis 2. Interpretandi S. scripturas 3. Discernendi ritus ceremonias All which he held in the affirmative as himself gives an account of the whole disputation according to the plain and positive Doctrine of the Church of England in the twentieth Article which runs thus in terminis viz Habet Ecclesia ritus sive ceremonias statuendi jus in fidei controversiis authoritatem c. But the Doctor was as little pleased with these Questions and the Respondents stating of them as he was with the former and therefore to create to the Respondent the greater odium he openly declared that the Respondent had falsified the publick Doctrine of the Church and charged the Article with that Sentence viz. Habet Ecclesia ritus sive ceremonias c. Which was not to be found in the whole Body of it And for the proof thereof he read the Article out of a Book which lay before him beginning thus Non licet Ecclesia quicquam instituere quod verbo Dei scripto adversetur c. To which the Respondent readily answered that he perceived by the lines of the Book which lay on the Doctors Cushion that he had read that Article out of the Harmony of Consessions publisht at Geneva Anno 1612. which therein followed the Edition of the Articles in the time of King Edward the Sixth Anno 1652. in which that sentence was not found but that it was otherwise in the Articles agreed on in the Convocation Anno 1561. to which most of us had subscribed in our several places but the Doctor still persisting upon that point and the Respondent seeing some unsatisfiedness in the greatest part of the Auditory he called on one Mr. Westly who formerly had been his Chamber-fellow in Magdalen Colledge to step to the next Booksellers-shop for a Book of Articles which being observed by the Doctor he declared himself very willing to decline any further profecution of that particular and to go on directly to the Disputation But the Respondent was resolved to proceed no further usque dum liberaverit animam suam ab ista calumnia as his own words were till he had freed himself from that odious calumny but it was not long before the coming of the Book had put an end to the Controversie out of which the Respondent read the Article in the English tongue in his verbis viz. The Church hath power to decree Rites and Ceremonies and Authority in controversies of Faith c. which done he delivered the Book to one of the standers by who desired it of him the Book passing from one hand to another till all men were satisfied And at this point of time it was that the Queens Almoner left the Schools professing afterwards that he could see no hope of a fair Disputation from so foul a beginning The Doctor went about to prove that it was not the Convocation but the High Court of Parliament which had the power of ordering matters in the Church in making Canons ordaining Ceremonies and and determining Controversies in Religion and could find out no other medium to make it good but the Authority of Sir Edward Cook a learned but meer common Lawyer in one of the Books of his Reports An Argument if by that name it may be called which the Respondent thought not fit to gratifie with a better answer than Non credendum esse cuique extra suam artem And certainly a better answer could not be given by Mr. Heylyn I may say Non Apollinis magis verum atque hoc responsum This last exercise completed him in all degrees that the University could conferre upon him being now a Doctor in Divinity he returned home with honour where shortly after news was sent him that the King had bestowed upon him a Prebendary at Windsor by the intercession of Dr. Neale then Arch-Bishop of York but it proved otherwise for that Prebendary was promised to Dr. Potter when he presented to the King his Book called Charity mistaken and he also went without it by reason of the Bishop of Glâ—…cester not being translated to the Church of Hereford as was then commonly reported who kept the same Prebend in his hands by which means both the Candidates were disapointed This Goodman Bishop of Glocester at that time affected a remove to the See of Hereford and had so far prevailed with some great Officers of State that for mony which he offered like Simon magus and it was taken his â—…onge d' eslir issued out and his Election passed But Arch-Bishop Laâ—…d coming opportunely to the knowledge of it and being ashamed of so much baseness in the man who could pretend no other merit than his mony the wretched Bishop was glad to make his Peace not only with the resignation of his Election but the loss of his Bribe While these things were agitated the the young Doctor new come from the University
sure to rob the Spittle-house for he is so poor and put to hard shifts that he has had much ado to compose a tollerable Story which he hath been hammering and conceiving in his mind for four years together before he could bring forth the pretty Faetus of intollerable Transcriptions to molest the Readers patience and memory How doth he run himself out of breath sometimes for twenty Pages together and more at other times fifteen ordinarily nine and ten collected out of the Doctors old Books verbatim before he can take his wind again to return to his Story I never met with such a Transcriber in all my days For want of matter to fill up a Vacuum of which his book was in much danger he hath set down the Story of Westminster as long as the Plowmans Tale in Chaucer which to the Reader would have been more pertinent and pleasant I wonder that he did not transcribe bills of Chancery especially about a tedious Suit that my Father had for several years about a Lease at Norton that would have furnished him with matter enough I dare boldly affirm abating this of Westminster and his unmerciful Collections out of Certamen Epistolare and Theolog. Vetr his Book would not have exceeded the bulk of the nine Worthies After his writing out folio upon folio he endeavours to excuse himself after this manner I hope saith he the perusal of those things will be no less acceptable to the sober Reader than the transcribing of them has been to my self What if he has a mind to transcribe over all Dr. Heylyn's Writings Must he to please his own fancy of scribling obtrude them upon the Reader He was to write the Doctors Life and not his Books Must he spend his time and paper in needless excursions from page to page for nine ten and twenty pages together No sober Reader can endure an historical Narrative that has so many out-leaps Such a Writer he is as Plato describes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who flurts up and down now returning and anon gone sometimes in the way but for the most part out of it and at last sticks fast in the deep Mire Transcriptions are so many digressions from the Theme or Subject to which we must make a speedy return For my part I must confess that I have made use of several choice Collections out of my Fathers Treatises pro re nata but they are brief and necessary not superfluous nor nauseous I appeal to the Reader whether they clog his Stomach or beget a fresh appetite to what follows much less do they confound his Memory to what is precedent In other things I have offered some discourses of my own where I saw occasion to vindicate my Learned Father In all I doubt not but it will manifestly appear there is a multitude of more occurrences than can be found in the late Life-Writer which will blow away his most malicious slander of my excerpting his matter But what is all this to the obliquies against the most reverend Doctor himself whose Name and Reputation he hath injur'd more than mine by conjuring up old Ghosts and malignant Spirits of detraction that has been allayed and charmed down above thirty years ago and now are raised up again to disturb his Ashes and traduce his Name opprobious reports though insignificant among wise Men looks scandalously with the vulgar that they had better been buried in oblivion and perished in everlasting silence than remembred For nothing ought to be recorded against the party whom we love and honour that may give his adversaries the least occasion to reproach his Name Therefore no Man of prudence who pretends so high a reverence of Doctor Heylyn as the Author doth would have published to the world those particulars following 1. the Earl of Derbies speech to him 2. The rude usages he found in Court 3. His writing Mercurius Aulicus 4. His clandestine Marriage 5. His Marrying a Wife without a Portion 6. His Parishoners of Alsford perswaded they should never fix eye on him unless they took a journey to a Goal or a Gallowes All which matters true or false are unworthy to be mentioned in the Life of so venerable a person as Doctor Heylyn but they are scandals and for the most part untruths as shall appear hereafter Concerning his Marriage though he was my Father-in-law I cannot excuse it from being clandestine much less justify the contrary as the Author does boldly against a general known Truth beleived by every one in the University affirmed by all and not denyed by the Doctor himself I have reason to know it above others because this was wrongfully charged upon me by Doctor Hood of Lincoln Colledg as if I had intended to have done the like when I desired to hold my fellowship a longer time than the year of Grace which had been granted to others perticularly to Mr. Cross Rector of Great Chue in Somersetshire but denyed to me for this reason which the Rector alledged against me saying You are to marry Doctor Heylyns Daughter we hear and you will doe as he did The good Man then forgetting himself that one of his own Daughters was married to a Fellow of Lincoln-Colledge the Marriage was kept private and the profit of the Fellowship received by his Son-in-Law who shall be nameless It is more ingenious to confess an Errour then make a weak defence or Apology for it that does rather aggravate than extenuate the crime While the Author sweats to prove the Doctors Marriage was not clanculour because he ordered it to be performed upon St. Simon and St. Judes day between ten and eleven of the Clock in the morning in his own Colledg Chappel in the presence of a sufficient number of witnesses of both sexes the wedding dinner was kept in his own chamber c. Yet all this while it was a Marriage clancularly a Marriage in Masquerade a Marriage incognito to the Colledge because the President and Fellows neither knew nor beleived there was a true solemnization of Marriage in their Chappel and though some of them were invited to the wedding Dinner they took the invitation to a merriment and not to a Marriage Indeed it was not clandestine against the Lawes of our Church and Realm because the usual ceremonies and formalities of both were performed in the solemnization betwixt the parties but such Marriage was expresly against the Laws and Statutes of the ColledgFounder and much more for a married Fellow to keep his Fellowship after He is an absur'd Writer that will start into circumstances and not prove the main matter which is controverted But what mattereth it or availeth whether the Doctors Marriage was clandestine or no was he only the first example of this kind in the University was not this done in his youthful dayes In amore haec insunt vitia Aristotle will excuse a young Mans faults that cannot be so happy either in his judgment or
a very bad head for he must needs tell all he knows of him that the flesh in the forepart of his Head rotted to the Scull where never any hair came afterward he was sent to London and kept to a strict Diet and â—…requent sweatings God be thanked this was in the Doctors childhood or else the World would think strange things of him It seems some unlucky Star had a malevolent aspect upon his head which the the Writer of his Life though an Astrologer did take no notice of in his Nativity and much worse Fortune had the Doctor in the affairs of humane Life which if they had been prosperous according to Prognostication no doubt he had been a Bishop and not only a sub-Dean of Westminster and probably he would have preferred this Author whom his Son designed to write his Life But still he persists in his Astrology At which time sayes he the Sun was in the Horoscope of his Nativity and the Houses very well disposed But I affirm the contrary who think my self as great an Astrologer as he Non tu plus cernis sed plus tenerarius audes That the Houses were very ill disposed that time not only for the reasons I have already given but to speak more judiciously upon the point I find the Planets then were combust of the Sun under a fiery triplicity and the Lord of the ascendant in his Nativity was out of his essential dignities the moon also Cadent and unfortunated by those Planets that had dominion in the sixth or eighth House besides not a good Planet was then in Cazimi or the heart of the Sun both the promittors and significators weak in the Radix of his Nativity all which did signifie but indifferent good Fortune to the Doctor sometimes prosperous and improsperous good health and bad no firm Constitution of body as he saith but infirm often crazy never ill but once of his Head when he was a Boy which the Writer would for no good omit But I have found him out all this while where he has been tampering and that is in Mr. Lillys Book of introduction to Astrology who hath learnt him his coelestial Art That the ☉ presents a Man of good corporature of healthful constitution very humane c. his head quickly bald and so the Life-Writer sayes never any hair came afterward when the flesh was rotted to the Scull But Mr. Lilly is not at all so absolute and positive in his judgment upon Nativities between the hours of eight and nine in the Morning Indeed he is the more subtil Astrologer for he hath out-done Mr. Lilly in Christian Astrology because he can prognosticate and foretel from the Stars whether a Child when it is born shall be baptised or no and whether then it shall be Christened by the Minister with the sign of the cross for saith he this reverend man was in this particular fortunate that he had the honour to carry the mark of the Cross which was imprinted on him at the Font. Oh strange under what a happy constellation was the Doctor born above other Christians I thought it had been ordinary but this was extraordinary because he fell not into the hands of a Non-conformist I beleived he was signed with the Cross because I am sure the Heavenly Houses which first set out the Cross to Constantine are allwayes well disposed to this good sign but whether he was Christened at home or in Church I am not fully satisfied and if I should hold the contrary he cannot confute me for according to my Albumazar and other learned Authors the Heavens were then in that positure that the Sun was separated from a square of Jupiter and applyed to the square of Saturn which often gives strange disappointments to things expected so that still it remains a Question whether the Child was Christened in the Font. For my part I durst not pry so far into the Doctors Nativity much less into the Baptism or Holy Font but that the Author incites me to it For I medled no further but that he was born in a happy year with Augustus Thuanus the famous Historian which I wonder escaped his dash in the printed Folio Therefore for that kindness I will give him this counsel and I wish he may follow it hereafter That he would study the Doctors Books and not his Birth and leave poring on his Astronomical Tables and gazing up to the Stars lest he should happen some ill mischance not minding his foot-hold like Thales Milesius fall into a pit or meet with some worse disaster some trap-door which Tiberius Caesar provided for his Astrologers si vanitatis aut sraudis suspicio in cesserat If any jealousie came into his mind they were false and treacherous I cannot also but take notice of the Authors high opinion and conceit of himself because he is a little Writer All Men saith he have not the abilities to write Books so neither to pass sentence on them when written And is it not a Truth as undeniable Scribimus indoctique Are there not more Scriblers than learned Writers The World is pestered too much with them that swarm like Gnats and Flyes to buz the Head and â—…urt the Eyes and yet have no Hony or sweetness in them I am of opinion if there were fewer Books there would be more Learning and much better Scholars in every Age for Authors then would be well read digested and turned into good nourishment Whence Petrus Comestor who writ the Historia Scholastica took his Name Comestor sive manducator librorum saith Trithem quia scripturas quasi in ventrem memoriae manducarit An Eater of Books and good Digester of them Now they are hastily swallowed down without chewing and by reason of the gross stuff and mean feeding in most Books and Writers are converted into excrementitious matter that passes away per latrinam and as Martial saith of a bungling Versifier in his time Scribit Carmina quae legunt cacantes Socrates was looked upon as the chief Oracle among the Philosophers yet he left not one Book of his own writing to Posterity saith Suidaâ—… No doubt there hath been and is still in the World most worthy wise and learned Men as those who have written many vast Volumes For modesty in some weakness of Body and not of Mind in others fear of the Worlds censure nay continual study and reading of Books with which the mind of a Scholar is never satisfied has hindred many a good Writer so that it is no want of Faculty but Will No Imperfection ought to be charged on Mens Abilities who are known Scholars but if every one of them should undertake such a work in a short compass of time there would be more Writers of Books than Readers It was a Saying of Luther All of us have a Pope â—…red in us That is an opinion of our own works though there be no merit in them which we may apply
Book of Nature and Scripture This Knowledge excelleth all other and without it who knoweth not the saying Omnem Scientiam magis obesse quam prodesse si desit scientia optimi that all other Knowledge does us more hurt than good if this be wanting Notwithstanding he met with some discouragements to take upon himself the Profession of a Divine for what reasons it is hard for me to conjecture but its certain at first he fonnd some reluctancy within himself whether for the difficulties that usually attend this deep mysterious Science to natural reason incomprehensible because containing many matters of Faith which we ought to belâ—…eve and not to question though now Divinity is the common mystery of Mechanicks to whom it seems more easie than their manual Trades and Occupations or whether because it drew him off from his former delightful Studies more probably I believe his fears and distrusts of himself were very great to engage in so high a Calling and Profession and run the hazards of it because the like Examples are very frequent both in Antiquity and modern History however so timerous he was upon this account lest he should rush too suddenly into the Ministry although his abilities at that time transcended many of elder years that he exhibited a Certificate of his Age to the President of the Colledge and thereby procured a Dispensation notwithstanding any local Statutes to the contrary that he might not be compelled to enter into holy Orders till he was twenty four years old at which time still his fears did continue or at least his modesty and self-denyal wrought some unwillingness in him till at last he was overcome by the Arguments and powerful Perswasions of his Learned Friend Mr. Buckner after whose excellent Discourses with him he followed his Studies in Divinity more closely than ever having once tasted the sweetness of them nothing can ravish the Soul more with pleasure unto an Extasie than Divine Contemplation of God and the Mysteries in his holy Word which the Angels themselves prye into and for which reason they love to be present in Christian Assemblies when the Gospel is preached as the Apostle intimates to us That by continual study and meditation and giving himself wholly to read Theological Books he found in himself an earnest desire to enter into the holy Orders of Deacon and Priest which he had conferred upon him at distinct times in St. Aldates Church at Oxon by the Reverend Father in God Bishop Howson At the time when he was ordained Priest he preached the Ordination Sermon upon the words of our Saviour to St. Peter Luke 22. 32. And when thou art converted strengthen thy Brethren An apposite Text upon so solemne Occasion Being thus ordained to his great satisfaction and contentment the method which he resolved to follow in the Course of his Studies was quite contrary to the common Rode of young Students for he did not spend his time in poring upon Compendiums and little Systems of Divinity whereby many young Priests â—…hink they are made absolute Divines when perhaps a Gentleman of the â—…ish doth oftentimes gravel them in an ordinary Argument But he fell upon the main Body of Divinity by studying Fathers Councils Ecclesiastical Histories and School-men the way which King James commended to all younger Students for confirming them in the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England that is most agreeable to the Doctrine of the Primitive Church By this time his Book of Geography in the first Edition bought up by Scholars Gentlemen and almost every Housholder for the pleasantness of its reading was reprinted and enlarged in a second Edition and presented again to his Highness the Prince of Wales who not only graciously accepted the Book but was pleased to pass a singular Commendation upon the Author But afterward the Book being perused by his Royal Father King James the second Solomon for Wisdom and most Learned Monarch in Christendom the Book put into his Majesties hand by Dr. Young then Dean of Winton and Mr. Heylyn's dear Friend the Kings peircing Judgement quickly spyed out a fault which was taken no notice of by others as God always endows Kings his Vice-gerents with that extraordinary gift the Spirit of discerning above other Mortals Sicut Angelus Dei est Dominus meus Rex saith the holy Scripture as an Angel of God so is my Lord the King who lighting upon a Line that proved an unlucky Passage in the Author who gave Precedency to the French King and called France the more famous Kingdom with which King James was so highly displeased that he presently ordered the Lord Keeper to call the Book in but this being said in his Anger and Passion no further notice was taken of it in the mean time Dr. Young took all care to send Mr. Heylyn word of his Majesties displeasure the News of which was no small sorrow to him that he was now in danger to lose the Kings Favour Nil nisi peccatum manitestaque culpa falenda est Paenitet ingenij judiciique mei that Mr. Heylyn could have wished them words had been left out Dr. Young advised him to repair to Court that by the young Prince's Patronage he might pacifie the Kings Anger but not knowing whethâ—… the Prince himself might not be also offended he resided still in Oxford and laid open his whole grief to the Lord Danvers desiring his Lordships Counsel and best advice what Remedy he should seek for Cure according to the good Lord's Counsel he sent up an Apology to Dr. Young which was an Explanation of his meaning upon the words in question and then under Condemnation The Error was not to be imputed to the Author but to the Errata of the Printer which is most ordinary in them to mistake one word for another and the grand mistake was by printing is for was which put the whole Sentence out of joynt and the Author into pain if it had been of a higher Crime than of a Monosylable it had not been pardonable for the intention of the Author was very innocent Quis me deceperit error Et culpam in facto non scelus essemeo The words of his Apology which he sent up to Dr. Young for his Majesties satisfaction are these that followeth That some Crimes are of a nature so injustifiable that they are improved by an Apology yet considering the purpose he had in those places which gave offence to his sacred Majesty he he was unwilling that his Innocence should be condemned for want of an Advocate The Burdens under which he suffered was a mistake rather than a Crime and that mistake not his own but the Printers For if in the first Line of Page 441. was be read instead of is the Sense runs as he desired it And this appears from the words immediately following for by them may be gathered the sense of this corrected reading When Edward the third quartered the Arms of France and England he gave
when he thought it would digest The Scruple troubled all the rest Notwithstanding this scrupulosity in them the World knows their hypocritical Practices under all those zealous Pretences how light they are in the Ballance and how extraordinary a thing it is to find from their hands downright honesty and plain dealing they are too much like the Scribes and Pharisees who by godly shews of long Prayers sad Countenances Justification of themselves that they were the only Righteous and all others Sinners played the Hypocrites most abominably to deceive the vulgar sort they made Religion a meer mock and empty show 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith our Saviour to be seen like Stage-players in a Theater Nam tota actio est histrionica as Erasmus well observeth their whole carriage was dramatick to make a feigned Pageantry and Ostentation of Piety Yet John Lord Bishop of Lincoln in compliance with this Sect out of discontent and revenge because deprived of the great Seal and commanded by the King to retire from Westminster transformed himself into one of these Angels of new Light and made himself the Archangel and Head of their Party First of all by writing his pretended Letter to one Titly Vicar of Grantham against the holy Communion Table standing Altar-wise to which Dr. Heylyn made a sudden and sharp reply in his Book entituled A Coal from the Altar to which the Bishop within a Twelve-month after he took time enough for the Work did return an Answer under the Title of The Holy Table Name and Thing pretending withal that this was written long ago by a Minister in Lincolnshire against Dr. Cole a Divine in Queeu Marys Reign No sooner the King heard of this new Book but he sent a Command to Dr. Heylyn to write a speedy Answer to it and not in the least to spare the Bishop Neither did the Doctor baulk the grand Sophos but detected all his false Allegations and answered them that were true which the Bishop had wrested to a contrary sense if we will look into the Doctors Book called by him Antidotum Lincolniense All this while the Bishop as it must be confest being a man of Learning writ against his own Science and Conscience so dear is the passion of revenge to gratifie which some men wilfully sin against the Light of their own Souls therefore the Bishop according to the Apostles word was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 condemned of himself For look upon him in the point of practice and we shall find the Communion Table was placed Altar-wise in the Cathedral Church of Lincoln whereof he was Bishop and in the Collegiate Church of Westminster of which he was Dean and lastly in the private Chappel of his own house as Dr. Heylyn saith in whieh it was not only placed Altar-wise but garnished with rich Plate and other costly Utensils in more than ordinary manner By all which the Bishop needed no further refutation of his Book than his own Example that in those places where he had Authority the Holy Table did not stand in Gremio and Nave of the Quire as he would have it fixed but above the Steps upon the Altar close to the East end of the Quire ex vi catholicae consuetudinis according to the ancient manner and custom in the Primitive Catholick Church But hinc illae lachrymae ever since this mischief followed his Book that in most Country Churches to this day the Table is set at the hither end of the Chancel whithout any Traverse or Rails to fence it Boys fling their Hats upon it and that which is worse Dogs piss against it Country Juries write their Parish accounts Amerciaments By-Laws c. all which is a most horrible profanation and not to be suffered But now John Lord Bishop of Lincoln who would have removed the holy Communion Table from its proper place and had displaced his Prebends of their ancient Seat was himself at this time Anno Dom. 1637. thrown out of his Episcopal Chair by sentence of the Star-Chamber for endeavouring to corrupt the Kings Evidence in a Cause of Bastardy brought before his Majesties Justices of Peace at Spittle Sessions in the County of Lincoln which business afterward came to a hearing before the Lords in Star-Chamber by whose definitive sentence the Bishop was suspended ab Officio Beneficio deprived of all his Ecclesiastical Preferments deeply fined and his Complices with him and afterward committed to the Tower of London where he continued Prisoner for three years and in all that space of time his Lordship did never hear Sermon or publick Prayers to both which he was allowed liberty but instead thereof he studied Schism and Faction by his own Example and his Pen disguisedly During the time of his Lorships Imprisonment Dr. Heylyn was chosen Treasurer for the Church of Westminster in which Office he discharged himself with such diligence and fidelity that he was continued in it from year to year till the Bishops release out of tâ—…e Tower and his removal back again to Westminster While he was Treasurer he took care for the repairs of the Church that had been neglected for many years First of the great West-Isle that was ready to fall down was made firm and strong and of the South-side of the lower West-Isle much decayed he caused to be new timbred boarded and leaded but chiefly the curious Arch over the preaching place that looketh now most magnificently he ordered to be new vaulted and the Roof thereof to be raised up to the same height with the rest of the Church the charge of which came to 434 l. 18 s. 10 d. He regulated also some disorders of the Quire perticularly the exacting of Sconses or perdition mony which he divided among them that best deserved it who diligently kept Prayers and attended upon other Church Duties Whilest he was Treasurer his Brethren the Prebendaries to testifie their good affections to him presented him to the Parsonage of Islip near Oxford a very good Living worth about 200l per Annum then by the death of Dr. King made void but by reason of the distance from Alresford though standing most conveniently to taste the sweet pleasures of the University he thought fit to exhange it for another nearer hand the Rectory of South-warnborough in the County of Hampshire that was in the gift of St. Johns Colledge in Oxon to which exchange he was furthered by the Arch-Bishop who carried a great stroke in that Colledge of which he had been President It pleased God soon after to visit him and his Family at Alresford with a terrible fit of Sickness of which none escaped the Disease was so contagious but the Cook 's boy in the Kitchen who was then Master Cook for the whole Family and he performed his part so well in making their broths and other necessaries that he was the best Physitian among the Doctors for by his Kitchen Physick the Sick was cured No sooner Dr. Heylyn recovered of the
that the dear Saints in England had their Nose and their Ears slit for the profession of the Gospel The Parliament then might pretend the revenge of Mr. Pryns sufferings by a retaliation of a worse punishment upon Dr. Heylyn but the real cause that exasperated them was the good Doctors Loyalty to his King and fidelity to his Arch-Bishop the two great Pillars of the Church to whom all true Sons of the Church of England ought to be faithful And finally the many Books the Doctor had written and still likely to write more against the Puritan Faction was the grand cause of all his flights and sufferings in the time of War Est fuga dicta mihi non est fuga dicta Libellis Qui Domini paenam non meruere sui Though I am forc'd to fly my Books they are not fled No reason for my sake they should be punished At what Friends house he was now secured from danger though I have heard it named indeed I have forgot but from thence he travelled to Doctor Kingsmil a Loyal Person of great worth and ancient Family where he continued and sent for his Wife and Daughter from Winchester to him and from thence removed to Minster-Lovel in Oxfordshire the pleasant Seat of his elder Brother in the year An. Dom. 1648. which he farmed of his Nephew Collonel Heylyn for six years Being deprived of his Eâ—…astial Preferments he must think of some honest way for a Livelihood Fruges lustramus agros Ritus ut a prisco traditus extat aevo Yet notwithstanding he followed his studies which was his chief delight for though the 〈◊〉 Powers had silenced his Tongue from preaching they could not withold his Pen from writing and that in an acute and as sharp a stile as formerly after he had done with his frequent visits of Friends and long perambulations For the publick good of the Church to uphold her ancient maintenance by Tithes being rob'd then of all her other dues and dignities though himself was sequestred of both his Livings and made inâ—…apable of receiving any benefit by Tithes yet for the common cause of Christianity and in mere compassion of the Presbyterian Clergy though his profest Enemies he published at that time when Tithes were in danger to be taken away from them an excellent little Tract to undeceive the People in the point of Tithes and proveth therein That no man in the Realm of England payéth any thing of his own toward the maintenance of his Parish Minister but his Easter Offerings At the same time he enlarged his Book of Geography into a large Folio which was before but a little Quarto and intitâ—…led it with the name of Cosmography of which it may be truly said it does contain a world of Learning in it as well as the Description of the World and particularly sheweth the Authors most excellent Abilities not only in History and smoothness of its style that maketh the whole Book delightful to the Reader but in Chronology Genealogy and Heraldry in which last any one may see that he could blazon the Arms and describe the Descent and Pedigree of the greatest Families in Europe In which pleasing study while he spent his time his good Wife a discreet and active Lady looked both after her Housewifery within doors and the Husbandry without thereby freeing him from that care and trouble which otherwise would have hindred his laborious Pen from going through so great a work in so short a time And yet he had several divertisements by company which continually resorted to his House for having God be thanked his Temporal Estate cleared from Sequestration by his Composition with the Commissioners at Gold-Smiths Hall and this Estate which he farmed besides he was able to keep a good house and relieve his poor Brethren as himself had found relief from others Charity that his House was the Sanctuary of sequestred men turned out of their Livings and of several ejected Fellows out of Oxford more particularly of some worthy persons I can name as Dr. Allibone Mr. Levit Mr. Thornton Mr. Ashwel who wrote upon the Creed who would stay for two or three Months at his House or any other Acquaintance that were suffering men he cheerfully received them and with a hearty welcom they might tarry as long as they pleased The Doctor himself modestly speaks of his own Hospitality how many that were not Domesticks had eaten of his Bread and drunk of his Cup. A Vertue highly to be praised and most worthy of commendation in it self for which Tacitus giveth this Character of the old Germanes Convictibus Hospitiis non alia gens Effusius indulget Greater Hospitality saith he and Entertainment no Nation shewed more bountifully accounting it as a cursed thing not to be civil in that kind according to every mans ability and when all was spent the good Master of the House would lead his Guest to the next Neighbours House where he though not invited was made welcom with the like courtesie Among others kindly entertained Mr. Marchamont Needham then a zealous Loyalist and Scourge to the Rump Parliament was sheltered in the Doctors House being violently pursued till the Storm was over the good Doctor then as his Tutelar Angel preserved him in a high Room where he continued writing his weekly Pragmaticus yet he afterward like Balaam the Son of Beor hired with the wages of Unrighteousness corrupted with mercinary Gifts and Bribes became the only Apostate of the Nation and writ a Book for the pretended Common-wealth or rather I may say a base Democracy for which the Doctor could never after endure the mention of his name who had so disobliged his Country and the Royal Party by his shameful Tergiversation The good Doctors Charity did not only extend it self to ancient Friends and Acquaintance but to mere Strangers by whom he had like to run himself into a Premunire For word being carried to him in his Study there was a Gentleman at the door who said he was a Commander in the Kings Army and carâ—…estly desired some relief and harbour the Doctor presently went to him and finding by his Discourse and other Circumstances what he said was true received him into his House and made him very welcom the Gentleman was a Scotch Captain who having a Scotch Diurnal in his Pocket they read it fearing no harm thereby but it proved otherwise for one of the Doctors Servants listning at the door went straight way to Oxford and informed the Governour Collonel Kelsey that his Master had received Letters from the King whereupon the Governour sent a Party of Horse to fetch him away Strange News it was knowing his own Innocency to hear that Soldiers had beset his House so early in the Morning before he was out of Bed But go he must to appear before the Governour and when he came that treacherous Rogue his Man did confidently affirm that he heard the Letters read and was sure
he could remember the very words if his Master would produce the Letters Upon which the Doctor relates the whole story to the Governour and withal shews the Diurnal which the Governour read to the Fellow often asking him is this right Is this the same you heard To whom he answered Yes Sir yes that is the very thing and those words I remember Upon which the Governour caused him to be soundly whipt instead of giving him a reward for his Intelligence and dismissed the Doctor with some Complements ordering the same Party of Horse that fetcht him to wait upon him home Being thus delivered from the treachery of his Servant his great care was to provide one more faithful which the good Lady Wainman his Neighbour hearing of commended to him one of her own Servants whom Sr. Francis her Husband had bred up from a Child whose fidelity he need not fear in the Worst of times when a Mans enemies may be of his own Household as Q. Vibius Serenus was betrayed by his own Son Reus pater accusator filius idem Judex et Testis saith the Historian the Son was both Acuser Judge and witness against his Father After he had lived many years in Minster-Lovel he removed from thence to Abingdon where he bought a House called Lacies-Court of which he bestowed much cost in repairing and building some Additions to it particularly of a little Oratory or Chappel which about the Altar was adorned with Silk Hangings the other part of the Room plain but kept very decent wherein himself and his Family went to prayers most Rooms of his house were well furnished and the best Furniture in them as in the Dining-Chamber and next Room to it were saved by his good Neighbours at Alresford who were so far from thinking except some malicious persons among them that they should never fixe eye on him more unless they took a journy which I hate to mention to a Gaol or a Gallowes that they questioned not his return again to Alsford and the enjoyment of his plundered goods This house in Abingdon he purchased for the pleasantness of its situation standing next the Feilds and not distant five Miles from Oxford where he might be furnished with Booksat his pleasure either from the Book-Sellers Shops or the Bodlean-Library perticularly he was beholden to his Reverend and Learned Friend Doctor Barlow now Lord-Bishop of Lincoln who sometimes accommodated him with choice Bookes of whom I have heard the Doctor say if the Times ever altered he was confident that man of learning would be made a Bishop which indeed is now come to pass Such a fresh appetite to Study and Writing he still retained in his old Age that he would give his mind no time of vacancy and intermission from those Labours in which he was before continually exercised t is said of Julius Coesar Scaliger an indefatigable Student as his Son Writes of him Nullum tempus a Studiis Literarum et lucubrationibus relinquebat but he was then forty years of Age before he began the course of his Studies having spent his former dayes in the Camp of Mars and not of the Muses The Doctor from a Child devoted his whole Life to painful Study not allowing himself ease in the worst of times and in the midst of his troubles For at the time of his sad Pilgrimage when he was forced to wander and take Sanctuary at any Freinds House his thoughts were not extravagant but studiously intent upon these matters which he digested afterward into Form and Use when he came to a settled condition And in the begining of his troubles being under the displeasure of the House of Commons on the complaint of Mr. Pryn when his Enemies took the advantage some to Libel and others to write against him perticularly Doctor Hackwel before mentioned at such an unseasonable time with whom Doctor Heylyn saith he would not refuse an encounter upon any Argument either at the sharp or at the Smooth afterward when Monarchy and Episcopacy was troden under foot then did he stand up a Champion in defence of both and feared not to publish the stumbling Block of Disobedience and his Certamen Epistolare in which Mr. Baxter fled the Feild because there was impar congressus betwixt him and as I may say an old Soldier of the Kings who had been used to fiercer Combats with more famous Goliahs Also Mr. Thomas Fuller was sufficiently chastised by the Doctor for his Church History as he deserved a most sharp correction because he had been a Son of the Church of England in the time of her prosperity and now deserted her in her adverse Fortune and took to the Adversaries side And it was then my hap having some business with Mr. Taylor my fellow Collegian in Lincoln-Colledge then Chaplain to the Lord-Keeper Mr. Nathanial Fines to see Mr. Fuller make a fawning address to my Lord with his great Book of Church History hugged under his Arm which he presented to the Keeper after an uncouth manner as Horace describeth Sub ala fasciculum portas librorum ut rusticus agnum The many falsities defects and mistakes of that Book the Doctor discovered and refuted of which Mr. Fuller afterward being ingeniously ashamed came to the Doctors House in Abingdon were he made his Peace both became very good Friends and between them for the future was kept an inviolable bond of Friendship In the Year 1656. the Doctor printed some observations upon the History of the Reign of King Charles published by H. L. Esq with whom the Doctor dealt very candidly and modestly corrected some of his mistakes in most mild and amicable terms telling him viz. Between us both the History will be made more perfect and consequently the Reader will be better satisfied which makes me somewhat confident that these few Notes will be so far from making your History less vendible then it was before that they will very much advantage and promote the Sale And if I can do good to all without wrong to any I hope no man can be offended with my pains and Industry In answer to which Mr. Hammond L' Estrange led by his passion and not by reason fell upon the Doctor in such uncivil words unbecoming a Gentleman that as the Doctor saith he never was accustomed to such Billings-gate Language There was indeed a time saith he when my name was almost in every Libel which exercised the Patience of the State for seven years together and yet I dare confidently say that all of them together did not vomit so much filth upon me as hath proceeded from the Mouth of the Pamphleter whom I have in hand Therefore the Doctor returned a quick and sharp reply to him in his Book Entituled Extraneus Vapulans wherein with admired Wit and Eloquence he gave Mr. L' Estrange a most severe yet civil correction His Brother Mr. Roger L' Estrange a most Loyal Gentleman hath since made amends for his Brothers
for such as shine in a more eminent Sphere in the holy Hierarchy to have tendred these particulars to consideration which since they either have not done or that no visible effect hath appeared thereof I could not chuse but cast my poor Mite into the Treasury which if it may conduce to the Churches good I shall have my wish and howsoever shall be satisfied in point of Conscience that I have not failed in doing my duty to this Church according to the light of my understanding and then what happens to me shall not be material And thus again most humbly craving pardon for this great presumption I subscribe my self My Lord Your Lordships most humble Servant to be commanded PETER HEYLYN Soon after a Convocation was called by his Majesties Writ and during the time of their siting while he lived he seldom was without Visitors from them who constantly upon occasion came to him for his Advice and Direction in matters relating to the Church because he had been himself an ancient Clerk in the old Convocations Many Persons of Quality besides the Clergy for the reverence they had to his Learning and the delight they took in his Company payed him several Visits which he never repayed being still so devoted to his studies that except going to Church it was a rare thing to find him from home I happened to be there when the good Bishop of Durham Dr. Cousins came to see him who after a great deal of familiar discourse between them said I wonder Brother Heylyn thou art not a Bishop for we all know thou hast deserved it To which he answered much good may it do the new Bishops I do not envy them but wish they may do more than I have done Although he was but a Presbyter I believe their Lordships thought him worthy of their holy Order I am sure he was reverenc'd by some of them as St. Jerome was by St. Augustine Quamvis Episcopus major est Presbitero Augustinus tamen minor est Jeronimo The one of which was an old Presbyter the other a young Bishop but both of incomparable Learning and Vertues The old Presbyter writeth thus to St. Austin the great Bishop of his time In scripturarum campo juvenis non provoces senem Nos nostra habuimus tempora nunc te currente longa spatia transmeante nobis debitur otium For the good Doctors indefatigable pains and continued industry he was second to none For his Writings and Sufferings in the Cause of Monarâ—…by and Episcopacy he did spend himself and was spent For the sad Persecutions he suffered in the time of War his Enemies hunting â—…fter his Life as Ahaziahs Captains did for the man of God the woful shifts and straits he was put to to secure himself from violence how many times he narrowly escaped death from the hands of his Enemies as a Bird out of the Snare of the Fowler What fears and distractions were often upon him that he might say O si nescissem Literas I would to God I had not known a Letter of the Book for his Learning and Loyalty were the cause of all his Calamities yet notwithstanding he lived in an ungrateful Age that no respect was shewed to him or his But he returned only to his own in Peace which he enjoyed a little while before the War and less time after the Churches setlement It hath been the Lot many times of great Scholars to be neglected which made his Enemies rejoyce and not a little insult over him to see him only passed by and of all others remain in Statu quo in the same Condition he was in before which after the happy revolution of publick affairs neither Law nor Justice could hinder him of I will not say of him as the Cardinal did of Melancton that most Learned Divine of the Reformation O ingratam Germaniam quae tanti viri tantosque labores non pluris aestimet It fa redalso ill with Luthers Memory after his Death whose Widdow hoping some favours would be shewed to her for his merits was shamefully disappointed Praeter viduitatis incommoda quae mutiplicia experta est magnam ingratitudinem multorum pro quibus sperans benesicia ob ingentia mariti in Ecclesiam merita turpiter frustrata est So ordinary it is foâ—… men of admired worth who have done publick service either in Church or State to be soonest forgotten Now having run through the principal circumstances of this Reverend mans Life it behoves us to say something of his Person Conversation Qualities and the memorable Accidents hapning before the time of his Death and so leave his Memory among worthy men For his Person he was of a middle Stature a slender spare man his Face oval of fresh complexion looking rather young than old his Hair short and curl'd had few or no gray hairs his Eyes quick and sparkling before he had the ill fortune to loose his Sight His natural Constitution being hot and dry It was conceived by skilful Oculists his Brain heated with immoderate study burnt up the Christaline humor of his Eyes And this was most probable he being continually engaged in writing either for Church or State his Brain was like a Laboratory kept hot with study decayed his Eyes if there be any truth in the Naturalists Observation magna cogitatio obcaecat abducto intus visu And this he look'd upon as the saddest affliction that ever befel him in his whole Life Yet no doubt he was comforted with the words which he had often read in Socrates of Anthony the good Monk unto Dydimus that learned man of Alexandria Let it not grieve thee at all saith he O noble Dydimus that thou art bereaved of thy corporal Eyes and carnal sight for though you want such Eyes as commonly are given to Flyes and Gnats yet hast thou greatly to rejoyce that the Eyes wherewith the Angels do behold their Maker wherewith God is seen of Men are not taken from thee Our blessed Saviour said the light of the Body is the Eye for without these two Luminaries which God hath placed in the Microcosm of man None can be said in this World to live a true happy Day who are under such a continual Night of Darkness but that the intellectual Light of the Soul the Candle of the Lord within us supplies that miserable defect with a far greater felicity by extraordinary endowments of the mind which Seneca calls melior pars nostri and it is the best part of man indeed though all the Members and Parts of our Bodies are so excellently compacted together by the Wisdom of the Creator and have such a necessary depence upon one another for the exercise of their several Offices that the Compositum of Man cannot be complete without them and chiefly the Eye being the guide of the whole Body hath preheminence over the rest of the Members saith the Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because by it we
had the gift of prophecy though their eye sight failen them as did with Jacob yet they were called Seers because they foresaw future things they were so old that for their Age and gravity they were sometimes upbraided so Elisha by the Children was mocked who undoubtedly were so taught by their ungodly Fathers to say of him go up thou baldhead Neither doth a melancholy constitution as some have imagined make men prophetical either in sleeping or waking but on the contrary renders them uncapable as is evident by the examples of Jacob and Elisha the first of whom being in deep sadness which is the inseparable Companion of melancholy for the loss of his Son Joseph was at the same disabled from prophecy or otherwise he could have told what Fortune had befallen his Son who was not dead but sold by his Brethren Hence Mercer tells us it was an ordinary saying among the Rabbines Maeror prophetiam impedit In like manner the Prophet Elisha for the sorrow of Elijah his Master taken away from him and the anger he had conceived against Jehoram that wicked Prince whilst these two passions were predominant over him he could not prophesie till the Minstrel played with her Musical Instrument to drive away his melancholy sadness and then the hand of the Lord its said came upon him and he prophesied saying Thus saith the Lord c. By all which I hope it is evident that hypocondriacal persons who are grievously afflicted with melancholy are not thereby disposed to prophesie and then by necessary consequence it followeth that Dreams arising from the same natural cause cannot be said prophetical no more then that of Albertus magnus who dream'd that hot Scalding Pitch was poured upon his Brest aâ—…d so soon as he awakned from his sleep he vomited up abundance of adust Chollar Such Dreams certainly arise from the ill habitude of the Body through fullness of bad humors But there is another sort of Dreams which may be called divine or supernatural which are imprinted on the mind of man either by God himself or his holy Angels from which necessarily follows prophecy because such extraordinary impressions are usual for those ends And this I take to be the Reverend Doctors Dream who was a man of so great Piety as well as Study that I cannot think otherwise but that he was able to discern the different motions of his Soul whether they were natural or supernatural of which last he was so firmly assured by his own reason and great Learning that no arguments could disswade him to the contrary St. Austiine saith Animam habere quandam vim divinationis in seipsa That the Soul of man hath a certain power of Divination in it self when it is abstracted from bodily actions I confess then it must needs be drawn up to higher Communion with God than ordinary but more immediately I rather think with Tertullian a little before death about the time of its separation from the Body because many dying persons have wonderfully foretold things which afterward came to pass the reason of which that good Father giveth and therein I judge he was no Montanist when he saith Quia Anima in ipso divertio penitus agitari enunciet quae vidit quae audit quae incipit nosseâ—… Because the Soul then acts most vigorously at the last Broath declares what things it seeth it heareth and what it begins to know now entring into Eternity So the heavenly and pious Doctor according to the prenotions of his Death forseeing his time was short gave his Wife strict charge again that very night as he was going to Bed and in appearance well that she should bury him according to his Dream she affrighted with this dreadful charge sate by him while he fell into a Sleep out of which he soon awaked in a Feverish distemper and violent Hick-up which she taking notice of said I fear Mr. Heylyn you have got cold with going abroad to day but he answered very readily no it was Deathâ—… Hick-up and so it proved for he grew worse and worse till he dyed Now some I hear impute the cause of his sickness to the eating of a Tansey but this is false for I heard the contrary relation from her own mouth his Dream was on the Saturday night his Surplice happened to be burnt on Sunday morning all which day he pass'd in private mediatation in his Study and on the Monday what time he had to spare he spent in providing a Settlement for his Wife as aforesaid But to return again to his good mans sickness of which the true cause as his Physician said was the reliques of his long quartane Ague not purged out by Physick to which he was alwaies averse threw him into a malignant Feverâ—… in which â—…he remained insensible till some few hours before he dyed but when it pleased God to restore unto him his Senses again he most zealously glorified his Name with praises and thanksgivings for his mercies towards himself and Family earnestly praying for them and often commending them to Gods Heaveuly care and protection at the same time he left â—… little Book of Prayers with his dear Wife for her devotion which she shewed afterward to me being a Collection of many Collects out of the Common Prayer to every one of which he had added a most fervent Prayer of his own composure that little Book she said should be the prayer-Prayer-Book of her Devotion while she lived Finally as his time grew shorter and shorter he prayed with more vehemency of Spirit sometimes to God sometimes to his Saviour and to the blessed Comforter of his Soul rejoycing exceedingly that he should live to Ascension day uttering forth most heavenly expressions to the sweet Comfoâ—…t of others aud principally of his own Soul with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or full assurance of his Salvation through Christ Jesus which last unspeakable joy and consolation above all other God is pleased to be bestow upon the faithful and seal it to them with the earnest of his Spirit at the hour of Death At which time his Soul now ready to depart and be with Christ his Saviour one Mr. Merrol a Verger of the Church coming into his Chamber to see him he presently called him to his Bed side saying to him I know it is Church time with you and I know this is Ascenfion day I am ascending to the Church Triumphant I go to my God and Saviour unto joyes Caeleftial and to Halleluja's eternal with which and other like expressions he dyed upon Holy Thursday An. Dom. 1663. in the Climacterial year of his Life threescore and three in 〈◊〉 number the Sevenths and ninths do often fatally concurre He was afterward buried under his Sub-Deans Seat according to his Dream and desire His Death lamented by all good men because there was a Pillar though not a Bishop falln in the Church of whom I may say in the Poets words Quando ullum invenient parem