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
where he had run through so hard a Task with the Regius Professor though he missed Windsor took this occasion to make himself merry as the Poet did musa jocosa mea est Ov. And so fell into this vein of Poetry When Windsor Prebend late disposed was One ask'd me sadly how it came to pass Potter was chose and Heylyn was forsaken I answer'd 't was by Charity mistaken But this Fancy was soon turned into a mournful Elegy by the death of his noble Friend the Attorny General Mr. Noy whose memory he could never forget for the honour of delivering to him the gracious message from his Majesty and for the intimacy he was pleased to bear to him as a bosom friend that he imparted to the Doctor all the affairs of State and transactions of things done in his time which made him so perfect an Historian in this particular and shewed him his papers manuscripts and laborious Collections that he had gathered out of Statutes and ancient Records for the proof of the Kings Prerogative particularly before his death at his house in Brainford where the Doctor kept Whitsontide with him in the year 1634. he shewed to him a great wooden Box that was full of old Precedents for levying a Naval aid upon the Subjects by the sole Authority of the King whensoever the preservation and safety of the Kingdom required it of them Mr. Hammond L' Strange acknowledges that Mr. Noy was a most indefatigable plodder and searcher of old Records The learned Antiquary Mr. Selden though no friend to the King nor Church confesses in his excellent book entituled Mare Clausum That the Kings of England â—…sed to levy mony upon the Subjects without the help of Parliament for the providing of Ships and other necessaries to maintain that Soveraignity which anciently belonged to the Crown Yet the honest Attorny General for the same good service to the King and Country is called by Hammond Le Strange The most pestilent vexation to the Subjects that this latter Age produced So true is the old Proverb some may better steal a Horse than others look on For it is usual with many not to judge according to the merits of the cause but by the respect or disrepect they bear to the Person as the Comedian once said Duo cum idem faciunt saepe possis dicere Hoc licet impune facere huic illi non licet Non quod dissimilis res sit sed quod qui facit When two does both alike the self same Act One suffers pain the other for the Fact Not the lest shame or punishment and why Respect of persons makes Crimes differently The death of Mr. Noy the more sadly afflicted the Doctor to lose so dear a Friend and an entire Lover of learned men during whose time no unhappy differences brake out betwixt the Dean of Westminster and the Prebends of that Church but all things were carried on smoothly by his Lordship because he knew well that Dr. Heylyn had a sure Advocate in Court both in behalf of himself and his Brethren if they stood in need of help that no sooner this worthy person departed the World but the Bishop so extremely tyrannized over the Prebendaries infringing their Priviledges violating their Customes and destroying their ancient Rights that for the common preservation of themselves and their Successors they were forced to draw up a Charge against his Lordship consisting of no less than thirty six Articles which were presented by way of complaint and petition of redress to his sacred Majesty who forthwith gave order for a Commission to be issued out unto the Arch-Bishops of Canterbury and York the Earl of Manchester Lord Privy Seal Earl of Portland the Lord Cottington the two Secretaries of State Sir John Cook and Sir Francis Windebank Authorizing them to hold a Visitation of the Church of Westminster to examine the particular charges made against John Lord Bishop of Lincoln and to redress such grievances and pressures as the Prebends of the said Church suffered by his misgovernment The Articles were ordered by the Council Table to be translated into Latin by Dr. Heylyn which accordingly he performed to avoid the common talk and scandal that might arise if exposed to the publick veiw of the vulgar on April 20. A. D. 1634. the Commission bore date which was not executed but lay dormant till December 1635 the Bishop expecting the business would never come to a hearing he raged more vehemently dispossessed the Prebends of their Seats refused to call a Chapter and to passe their Accounts conferred holy Orders in the said Church without their consent contrary to an ancient Priviledge which had been inviolably retained from the first foundation of the Church he permitted also Benefices in their gift to be lapsed unto himself that so he might have absolute power to dispose them to whom he pleased Quo teneam nodo With many other grievances which caused the Prebends to present a second Petition to his Majesty humbly beseeching him to take the ruinous and desperate estate of the said Church into his Princely consideration Upon which the former Commission was revived a day of hearing appointed and a Citation fixed upon the Church door of Westminster for the Bishops and Prebends to appear on Jan. 27. Upon the 25th instant The Prebends were warned by the Subdean to meet the Bishop in Jerusalem Chamber where his Lordship foreseeing the Storm that was like to fall upon his head carried himself very calmly towards them desiring to know what those things were that were amiss and he would presently redress them though his Lordship knew them very well without an Informer to which Dr. Heylyn replyed that seeing they had put this business into his Majesties hands it would ill become them to take the matters out oâ—… his into their own Therefore on Jan. 27th both Parties met together before the Lords in the Inner-star Chamber where by their Lordships Order the whole business was put into a methodical course each Mâ—…day following being appointed for a day of hearing till a Conclusion was made of the whole affair On February the 1st The Lords Commissioners with the Bishop and Prebends met in the Council-Chamber at White-hall where it was first ordered that the Plaintifs should be called by the name of Prebends supplicant Secondly they should be admitted upon Oath as Witnesses Thirdly they should have a sight of all Registers Records Books of account c. which the Bishop had kept from them Fourthly that the first business they should begin with should be about their Seat because it made the difference or breach more visible and offensive to the World than those matters which were private and domestick And lastly it was ordered that the Prebends should have an Advocate to plead their Cause defend their Rights and represent their Grievances Accordingly the Prebends unanimously made choice of Dr. Peter Heylyn for their Advocate The business now brought on so fairly
the Lords Commissioners met again on February the 8th following before whom the Bishop put in his Plea about the Seat or Great Pew under Rich. 2. from which he had disgracefully turned out the Prebends and possest it wholly to himself or the use of those Strangers to whom he had a special favour thinking scorn that honoured Society should sit with him a Bishop But the Prebends Advocate proved their Right of sitting there by these particulars First their original Right Secondly their derivative Right Thirdly their possessory Right How excellently he managed their Cause and what a mean defence the Bishop made for himself would be too tedious and impertinent to insert here concerning none but the Church of Westminster Finally upon hearing the matters on both sides it was ordered by general consent of the Lords Commissioners That the Prebends should be restored to their old Seat and that none should sit there with them but Lords of the Parliament and Earls eldest Sons according to the ancient custom But what were those differences about a Seat to the Disputes risen at that time about the Sabbath In the History of which Dr. Heylyn was then engaged and in a short time he perfected it to satisfie the scrupulous minds of some misguided Zelots who turned the observation of the Lords-day into a Jewish Sabbath not allowing themselves or others the ordinary Liberties nor works of absolute necessity which the Jews themselves never scrupled at Against which sort of Sabbatarians the Doctor published his History of the Sabbath The Argumentative part of that Subject was referred to Dr. White Bishop of Ely the Historical part of it to Dr. Heylyn Huic nostro tradita est provincia Both of their Books never answered to this day but pickird at by Mr. Palmer and Mr. Cawdrey two Divines of the Smectymnian Assembly and by some other sorry Writers of less account But the foundation and superstructure both in the logical and historical Discourses of those two Pillars of our Church stand still unmovable the latter though an Historian upon the Subject does fully answer all the material Arguments of the Adversaries side brought out of Scripture as well as History Neither doth the Bishop nor the Doctor in the least encourage or countenance in all their Writings any Profaneness of the Day when Christian Liberty is abused to Licentiousness Nor on the other side would they have the Religious Observation of the Day brought into superstition For Sunday amongst some I have known hath been kept as a Fast Day contrary to the ancient Opinion and Practice of the primitive Church who judged it a Heresie and not an Act of Piety Nefas est die Dâ—…minica jejunare that the day should be spent from Morning to Evening so strictly in preaching and praying in repetition upon repetitions in doing works of superogation which God never required at their hands nor any Christian Church commanded to make the Sabbath a burden that ought to be a Christians delight is new Divinity among the reformed Churches in Geneva it self before and after Divine Service the People are at liberty for manly Recreations and Exercises Upon complaint made before Lord chief Justice Richardson of some disorders by Feasts Wakes Revels and ordinary pastimes on Sundays perticularly in the County of Somerset His Majesty ordered that the Bishop of Bath and Wells should send a speedy account of the same The Bishop called before him seventy two of the Orthodox and ablest Clergy men among them who certified under their several hands that on the Feasts dayes which commonly fell upon Sundayes the service of God was more solemnly performed and the Church was better frequented both in the forenoon and afternoon then upon any Sunday in the year To decry the clamours of the Sabbatarians a Lecture read by Doctor Prideaux at the Act in Oxon Anno 1622. was translated into english in which he solidly discoursed both of the Sabbath and Sunday according to the judgment of the ancient Fathers and the most approved Writers of the Protestant and Reformed Churches This Lecture was also ushered with a preface In which there was proofe offered of these three propositions First that the keepiug holy one day of seven is not the moral part of the fourth Commandement Secondly that the alteration of the day is only an humane and ecclesiastical constitution Thirdly that still the Church hath power to change the day and transfer it to some other The name of Prideaux was then so sacred that the Book was greedily bought up by those of the Puritan faction but when they found themselves deceived of their expectation The Book did cool their colors and abate their clamour Since our Saviours reproof of the Jews for their superstitious fear of transgressing the traditions and Commanddements of their Fathers by which they kept the Sabbath with more rigour than God had commanded they are now bent upon the other extreme as Buxtorf tells us so hard a thing it is to keep a medium between two extreams Quanto voluptatis isti percipiunt saith he tanto se devotius Sabbatum colere statuunt The more pleasures they take on the Sabbath day the more devoutly they thought that they keep the Sabbath So that the rigid Sabbatarian hath no example of Jew or Christian and I am sure no Command of God in Scripture nor President in Antiquity or Ecclesiastical History but will find there the Lords-day is from Ecclesiastical Institution I speak not this I abhor it to animate or the least encourage people in looseness and debauchery to neglect the Duties of Religion or the Worship and Service of God upon this holy day which they ought as they tender their Souls with singular Care and Conscience to observe but hereby I think my Father in Law is justified though his own Book is best able to vindicate himself that his Opinion is orthodox both according to the Doctrine of the Church of England and the judgement and practice of Protestant Churches that the Lords-day should be Religiously observed and yet withal the lawful liberties and urgent necessities of the People preserved and not to be so tied up and superstitiously fearful that they dare not kindle a Fire dress Meat visit their Neighbours sit at their own Door or walk abroad no nor so much as talk with one another except it be in the Poets words Of God Grace and Ordinances As if they were in heavenly Trances To which I may add a more smart and witty Epigram upon the scruple and needless disatisfaction in them not onlâ—… about the Sabath but our Church and Religion in those Verses of Dr. Heylyn to Mr. Hammond L' Estrange as followeth A learned Prelate of this Land Thinking to make Religion stand With equal poise on either side A mixture of them thus he tryed An Ounce of Protestant he singleth And then a Dram of Papist mingleth With a Scruple of a Puritan And boyled them in his Brain pan But
in this Case that most Writers are in love with their Paper-works but the World should first judge whether there is any excellency or real worth in them otherwise it is a fond fancy Narcissus like for any one to be inamoured with his own Shaddow But that which is worse than all this I perceive the Writer is not consistent with himself but a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the Poets words difficilis facilis juâ—…undus acerbus es idem Because one while he plays the Satyrist against the Fanaticks and afterward turns Factor for the Papists whose cause he could not plead better to please the holy Fathers of the Ignatian Society founded since Luther's time than to render the Name of Protestant odious ` A Name ` saith he that imports little in it of `the positive part of Christianity God forbid and let us then put this into our Litany Lord have mercy upon our Souls who profess our selves to be Protestants and not Papists if the positive part of Christianity be wanting among us For by Name what doth he or can he mean but our Religion and Christian Profession For the Name of Protestant it self is but Thema simplex I may say vox praeterea nihil no more is Catholick Christian Orthodox or any other Name Nomina imponuntur rebus Names are given to things to diversify and distinguish them one from another or else how are they significative of themselves While he goes about to unchristian the Name Protestant or at least makes it Terminus diminuâ—…ns a very slighty Name indeed he endeavours to overthrow the true Protestant Religion For ever since the first Reformation and change of Religion wrought among us by our just and necessary separation from communion with the Church of Rome we and our Fore-fathers have constantly gone under the Name of Protestants though originally I acknowledge this Name was taken up by those Princes of Germany who adhering to Luther's Doctrine made their Protestation at Spires the imperial Chamber and afterward set forth the Augustane Confession since which time the Church of England having cast off the Papacy this Name hath been the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or remark of distinction betwixt us and Papists Our Kings and Princes not only acknowledging the same but have defended the Protestant Religion his most sacred Majesty whose Life God long preserve among us in most or all his Speeches unto his High Court of Parliament hath graciously declared to secure and defenâ—… the Protestant Interest and Religion His Royal Father the most glorious Martyr of our Church but two days before his Death told the Princess Elizabeth That he should die for the maintaining the true Protestant Religion and charged her to read Arch-Bishop Laud's Book against Fisher to ground her against Popery And why were the Jesuiâ—…s so active about his Death that some of them became Agitators in the Independant Army but because it was agreed before by the Pope and his Council saith Dr. du Moulin that there was no way for advancing the Catholick Cause in England but by making away the King of whom there was no hope to turn from hiâ—… Heresie because he was a Protestant I cannot omit Arch-Bishop Laud's words at the time of his Tryal before the Lords Anno Dom. 1643. Saith he Not to trouble your Lordships too long I am so innocent in the business of Religion so far from all practice or so much as thought of practice for any alteration unto Popery or any blemishing of the true Protestant Religion established in England as I was when my Mother first â—…are me into the World In his Speech upon the Scaffold before his Death he saith thus of the King I shall be bold to speak of the King our gracious Soveraign He hath â—…een mâ—…d traduced for bringing in of Popery â—…ut on my Conscience of which I shall give God a very present account I know him to be as free from this Charge as any Man living and I hold him to bâ—… as sound a Protestant according to the Religion by Law established as any Man in this Kingdom And now hath not this Name Protestant which imports our Religion been owned by all our Judges and Lawyers the Lord chief Justice speaking of Papists If they cannot saith he at this time live in a Protestant Kingdom with security to their Neighbours but cause such fears and dangers and that for Conscience sake then let them keep their Conscience and leave the Kingdom Mr. Justice Wild in like manner Had such a thing as this been acted by us Protestants in any Popish Country in the World I doubt there would not have been scarce one of us left a live I might bring in here Sir William Jones Mr. Finch Mr. Recorder of London And truly if we are ashamed of our Name we may be of our Religion and cannot blame Popish Plots to subvert it if we hold not funâ—…lamentals which are the positive parts of Christianiâ—…y The Jesuit hawketh not for â—…parrows his zeal to destroy our Religion carries him through Fire and Water Sea and Land over Rocks and Mountains to gain a Proselyte according to those Verses I find in Pareus alluding to the Pharisee and Hor the Poet. Impiger extremos Jesuita excurrit ad Indos Per mare discipulum quaerens per saxa per ignes Juventumque facit se duplo deteriorem Sea Land Fire craggy Rocks and Indian Shore A Jesuit's frantick zeal transports him o're One Romish Proselyte to make once made Child of the Devil twice then before he 's said Nay he hath the patience to stay at home and there no dull Stoick can excel him in this Vertue if he be once commanded by his Superior he will obey though his work be no other saith Mapheus than to water a dry log of Wood for a year together he will not presume to ask the reason why but does it Then how much more ready is he to propagate the Gatholick Cause and in order thereto adventure upon any action if it be to the hazard of his Life while he is commanded by his Father General at Rome and the Congregatio de Propaganda fide What will not he undertake to extirpate the Name of Protestant and think he does God Service for if positive Christianity be not imported in it then we are Negatives we are Jews Infidels Pagans and cannot be denominated Christians for Positive and Negative are contradicentia there can be no reconciling or tacking them together and accoâ—…ding to my Logick a Contradiction is omnium oppositorum fortissima the strongest and most forcible of all oppositions But I would know what are the Principles of Protestantisâ—… that are so contradictory to Christianity they must be either credenda or facienda matters relating to Faith or Christian practice Do we hold any points of Faith contrary to the Primitive Catholick Church Or deny Obedience to the Commands of God either in his Law or Gospel
In a word are Protestants Christians or no Or only nominal and not real I think they are the best and purest sort of Christians ever since the Apostolick times that they come nearest the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and the example of them at Antioch who were first called Christians We do not know how to distinguish men of the Church of England from the Church of Rome but by this characteristial Name or Appellation because in the times of Popery as appears not only by Linwood but by the constitutions of Otho and Othobon The Ecclesiastical Body of this Nation was anciently called the Church of England Ecclesia Anglicana and so it continueth to this day but with this discrimination only that we are Protestants in the Church of England and not Papists I know it will be objected this Name is abused by Fanaticks who impudently dare arrogate it to themselves and are ordinarily now called Protestants What then Abusus non tollit usum they are Protestants Catachrestice as Papists call themselves Catholicks And if they will boldly usurp the Name which no way belongs to them their Tongues are their own and they will speak Who is Lord over us say they And who can hinder them The Hereticks of old time who were ex parte Donati of Donatus side did the like and yet the Orthodox deemed themselves never the worse for their Pride and Usurpation The Name of Christian was common both to them and the Orthodox as Optatus the good Father tells them Pro utrisque illud est quod nobis commane est vobis Such Scandals are unavoidable therefore with patience must be born And it was the like complaint of Lactantius but what Remedy The Novatians Valentinians Marcionites and Arrians saith he Quilibet alij nominantur Christiani Christiâ—…i esse desâ—…runt any other Hereticks were called Christians though they were none So that 't is no wonder the Sectaries of our Age will confidently take upon themselves the Name of Protestants they do but as other Schismaticks who were their ancient Predecessors Mutato nomine de te Fabula narratur Yet some of the baser sort of them as Quakers and Independents despise the Name of Protestant and hold it in as great derision as the Papists do and no doubt have learned from the soul Mouth of Father Doleman alias Parsons and from Watson in his Quodlibets to call us of the Church of England Queen Besses Protestants However it does not become any Son of the Church much less the Rector of Bourton to bite and snarl at the Name of Protestant which distinguishes him from a Mass-priest especially in such times as ours when Papist and Fanatick joyn hand in hand mouth and tongue together against us because our Church is of Queen Elizabeths Religion and Reformation A Queen notwithstanding the malicious slanders of her Enemies the Popes Bull of Damnation against her and the Non-Conformists now Condemnation of her She was the most admired Princess of Europe in her time the glory and wonder of her Sex etiam supera Sexum saith Thuanus though himself a Papist and Beza the Successor of Calvin at Geneva gives her this Character of high praise which methinks our Dissenters should assent unto that she was a Queen God sent from Heaven to be a Nursing Mother at home unto the Church of England and to Protestant Churches abroad Let us hear his words more fully In Anglia opus Domini qui serenissimam illam ecclesiarum non tantum Anglicanarum fortissimam instauraticem verum etiam peregrinarum religiosissimam nutricem Flizabetham instaurandae suae Domui quasi sua ipsius manu coelitus demisit God be thanked also the Reformation of Religion and the Church of England became Protestant before her time Our Religion being established by Law in the Reign of her young Brother the most excellent Prince Edward the 6th whose Laws were written in Milk and not in Blood like those of Queen Mary his Sister who succeeded him Our Religion and Ecclesiastical Government by Arch-Bishops and Bishops c. is still the same as was in the Reigns of Edward the Sixth and Queen Elizabeth of blessed Memory in whose time this Kingdom was accounted Regnum Evangelii the Kingdom of the Gospel Now why our Dissenters should dissent why they should be so averse to the Protestant Religion then established by Law and is now the very same in all Articles of Faith Form of Worship and Ecclesiastical Discipline and yet they are not satisfied I must profess that I see no reason for their dissatisfaction but Will and Humor that they are as they have been and still resolve to be of a perverse and democratical Spirit in all matters relating to Church and State much less cause have they to reproach the Name of the most Renowned Queen Elizabeth which has been held in exceeding great veneration among all Protestants in forreign Kingdoms whose incomparable Vertues of Learning Piety Prudence Modesty Meekness Stoutness and other rare Perfections are described by a Poet living in her days and are as followeth O 〈◊〉 solum sapias 〈◊〉 Anglia parte hac Ut grate agnoscas Jovis benefacta 〈◊〉 En dedit affectam divina mente 〈◊〉 Imperij quae â—…um docta ingeniosa severa Et 〈◊〉 veneranda pudica animosa venenda 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tenera 〈◊〉 commoda 〈◊〉 Tot tibi contulerit quot 〈◊〉 nemo priorum Et quae vera Dei sit religione fruare Papa fugit solio Patris Regina locatur May be Englished thus O England native Soil of mine pay thanks to Jove The great and powerful God of Heaven above No one with larger gifts he could inspire Than such a noble Princess for Empire Learn'd ingenious modest meek and bold England's great Scepter in her hand to hold Queen of all Blessings to this Nation more Hath brought than all her Ancestors before Gods true Religion flourish'd Pope he 's gone When she ascended to her Fatherâ—… Throne Let us then not be ashamed of our Religion nor judge the worse of it much less deny our Christian Name since our departure from the Church of Romé because Papists and Fanaticks nick-name us Queen Besses Protestants Such dirt flung upon Majesty rebounds back with shame on their own Faces and will hereafter to their eternal confusion who dare reproach the Lords anointed The Pope himself first played 〈◊〉 part to throw Dirt and Stones at her by calling her misera Faemina a wretched Woman afterward followed many Rabsâ—…eka's especially Sanders and Rishton who termed her Lupam Anglicanam the Wolf-Bitch of England though she had more of the Lamb than the Wolf for she thirsted not after Blood as her Sister Queen Mary did Finally Parsons alias Cow 〈◊〉 a Priest's Bastard writ a Cart-load of Libels against her These were the Popes Birds and many other of the same Feather employed by his Holiness as the Alexandrians kept their Ibides to devour the
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
familiar with you as if they had known you from the Cradle and are so full of Chat and Tattle even with those they know not as if they were resolved sooner to want Breath than Words and never to be silent till in the Grave Dancing such a sport to which both Men and Women are so generally affected that neither Age nor Sickness no nor Poverty it self can make them keep their Heels still when they hear the Musick such as can hardly walk abroad without Crutches or go as if they were troubled all day with a Sciatica and perchance have their Raggs hang so loose about them that one would think a swift Galliard might shake them into their Nakedness will to the dancing Green howsoever and be there as eager at the sport as if they had left their several infirmities and wants behind them Their Language is very much expressed by their Action for the Head and Shoulders must move as significantly when they speak as their Lips and Tongue and he that hopeth to speak with a grace must have in him somewhat of the Mimick They are naturally disposed for Courtship as makes all the People complemental that the poorest Cobler in the Parish hath his Court cringes and his Eau beniste de Cour his Court-holy water as they call it as perfectly as the best Gentleman-Huisher of Paris They wear their Hair long goes thin and open to the very Shirt as if there were continual Summer in their Gate walk fast as if pursued on an Arrest Their humour is much of scoffing yea even in matters of Religion as appeareth in the story of a Gentleman that lay sick on his Bed who seeing the Host brought unto him by a Lubberly Priest said that Christ came to him as he entred into Jerusalem Riding upon an Ass. I cannot forget another of the like kind a Gentleman lying sick upon his Death Bed who when the Priest had perswaded him that the Sacrament of the Altar was the very Body and Blood of Christ refused to eat thereof because it was Friday And so far the good Geographer who hath pleasantly and truly described them But now we must come to him as a Divine wherein he acted his part as well as of a Cosmographer when he was called unto the Divinity School to dispute in his turn according to the Statutes of the University on April 18th A. D. 1627. He comes up as opponent and on Tuesday the 24th following he answered pro forma upon these two Questions An Ecclesia unquam fuerit invisibilis An Ecclesia possit errare Both which he determined in the Negative Upon occasional discourse with him at Abington he was pleased once to shew me his supposition which I read over in his House at Lacyes Court but I had not then either the leisure or good luck to Transcribe a Copy of it which would have been worth my pains and more worthy of the Press to the great satisfaction of others for my part I can truly say that I never read any thing with more pleasure and heart delight for good Latin Reason and History which that exercise was full of but since both it and many other choice Papers in his Study through the carelesness of those to whose Custody they were committed I suppose are utterly lost and gone ad blattarum tinearum epulas In stating of the first Question that caused the heats of that day he tells us himself I fell upon a different way from that of Doctor Prideaux the Professor in his Lecture De Visibilitate and other â—…ractates of and about that time in which the Visibility of the Protestant Church and consequently of the Renowned Church of England was no otherwise proved than by looking for it in the scattered Conventicles of the Bereâ—…garians in Italy the Waldenses in France the Wickliffs in England and the Hussites in Bohemia which manner of proceeding not being liked by the Respondent as that which utterly discontinued that Succession of the Hiearchy which the Church of England claims from the very Apostles and their immediate Successors He rather chose to find out a continual visible Church in Asia Ethiopia Greece Italy yea Rome it self as also in all the Western Provinces than subject to the power of the Roman Bishop when he was the Chief Patriarch Which Mr. Heylyn from his great knowledge and more than ordinary abilities in History strenuously asserted and proved to which the Professor could make but weak replies as I have heard from some knowing persons who were present at that Disputation because he was drawn out of his ordinay byass from Scholastical disputation to Forreign Histories in which encounter Mr. Heylyn was the invincible Ajax Nec quisquam Ajacem superare possit nisi Ajax But chiefly the quarrel did arise for two words in Mr. Heylyns Hipothesis after he had proved the Church of England received no Succession of Doctrine or Government from the Berengarians Wickliffs c. Who held many Hetordoxes in Religion as different from the established Doctrine of our Church as any points that was maintained at that time in the Church of Rome that the writers of that Church Bellarmine himself hath stood up as cordially in maintainance of some fundamental points of the Christian Faith against Anti-Trinitarians Anabaptists and other Hereticks of these last ages as any one Divine and other learned Men of the Protestant Churches which point Mr. Heylyn closed up with these words Vtinam quod ipse de Calvino sic semper errasset nobilissimus Cardinalis At which words the Reverend Doctor was so impatient in his Chair that he fell upon the Respondent in most vile terms calling him Papicola Bellarminianus Pontificius c. To draw the hatred of the University upon him according to the saying Fortiter calumniare aliquid adhaerebit grievously complaining to the younger sort of his Auditors unto whom he made his chiefest addresses of the unprofitable pains he took among them if Bellarmine whom he had laboured to confute for so many years should be honoured with the Title of Nobilissimus Notwithstanding the Respondent acquitted himself most bravely before all the Company ascribing no more honour to Bellarmine then for his deserts in learning and integrity in that particular point before spoken of which any generous Man would give to his Learned Antogonist For many Lutherans and Calvinists I may say paâ—…e tanti viri so angry at a word have not grudged much less judged it any Crime to praise the Cardinals Learning Doctrinam nos in ipso Commendamus saith a rigid Lutheran and St. Paul himself would not stick to call him who was an inveterate Enemy of the Christians most noble Festus And though Cardinals we know were originally but Parish Priests by Pride and Usurpation have made themâ—…lves Compeers to Kings that which is unjustly once obtained by time groweth common and familiar that none will refuse to give such their ordinary Titles of Honour although they
the Convocation still continued sitting notwithstanding the dissolution of Parliament And when this was scrupled at by some of the house the Doctor resolved their doubts and rid them of their fears by shewing them the distinction betwixt the Kings Writ for calling a Parliament and that for assembling a Convocation Their different forms and independence of one upon another Finally it was determined by the King himself and his learned counsel in the Law That the Convocation called by his Majesties Writ was to be continued till it was dissolved by his Writ notwithstanding the dissolution of Parliament This benefit the King got by their fitting six subsidies under the name of Benevolences which the Clergy payd to him On Friday May 29 the Canons of that Convocation were unanimously subscribed unto by all the Bishops and Clergy No one of them dissenting but the Bishop of Glocester for which he was deservedly suspended who afterward turned Papist and was the only renegado Prelat of this Land Of this Convocation Sir Edward Deering to shew his wit which he dearly payd for after in one of his speeches to the house of Commons was pleased to say that every one that had a hand in making their Ganons should come unto the Bar of the House of Commons with a Candle in one hand and a book in the other and there give fire to his own Canons which good fortune afterward fell upon his own book of speeches NecLex est justior ulla which by order of the House of Commons was burnt in the Fire by the hand of the common Hang-man A publick disgrace that he worthily deserv'd for his proud Eloquence in often pratling against the King and Church In another of his speeches he tells them That if they câ—…uld bring the Lords to sit in the House of Commons and the King to be but as one of the Lords then the work was done And finally in a nother he so abuseth all the Cathedrals in the Kingdom with so foul a mouâ—… as if he had licked up the filth of all the former Libells to vomit it at once upon them And yet this Gentleman afterward as Doctor Heylyn saith made it his earnest suit to be Dean of Canterbury which being denied him by the King in a great discontent he returned to the Parliament c. But lastly to consider the sad condition of that Convocation before they were dissolved the Doctor as one of their fellow members speaks most feelingly during all the time of their sitting they were under those horrid fears by reason of the discontents falling upon the Parliaments dissolution that the King was fain to set a Guard about Westminster-Abby for the whole time of their fitting Poor men to what a distress were they brought in danger of the Kings displeasure if they rose of the peoples fury if they sate in danger of being beaten down by the following Parliament when the work was done and after all obnoxious to the Lash of censorious tongues for their good intendments for notwithstanding their great care that all things might be done with decency and to edification every one must have his blow at them For Pryn published the unbishoping of Timothy and Titus and his other Libel of news from Ipswich wherein he called the Arch-Bishop of Cant. Arch-Agent of the Devil that Belzebub himself had been Arch-Bishop and all the Bishops were Luciferian Lords The like reproaches were thundered out of the Pulpit by Burton in his Sermon on Pro. 24. v. 22. where he abused the Text and Bishops sufficiently calling them instead of Fathers Step-Fathers for Pillars Cater-Pillars limbs of the Beast Factors for Antihcrist and antichristian Mushromes Bastwick laid about him before in his Flagellum Episcoporum Latialium when he had worn out that Rod took another in his Litany Finally the Rabble had a cursed Song among them to affront the poor Clergy with as they met them saying Your Bishops are bite-Sheep Your Deans are Dunces Your Preists are the Preists of Baal The Devil fetch them all by bunches And now the Fire smothering in the Embers at last broke forth into an open flame at the Session of the next Parliament which was fatall both to Chureh and State and finally to themselves that with scorn they were turn'd out of doors by their own Servants who became their Masters The first fitting of them was on a dismal day notable and infamous Novemb. 3d. when Henry 8 began the dissolution of Abbyes and Papists with Protestants were laid both on one hurdle and burnt together at the same Stake the King then promised his people should for ever be acquitted of Taxes ut facilius illi monasteia concederentur saith Sanders that Monasteries and Religious houses might be more easily granted to him The Parliment opening on that critical day Arch-Bishop Laud was advertised in a letter to move the King that for good luck sake their Session might be put off to another day but this being looked upon by his Lordship as a superstitious conceit he waved the motion of it to the King which proved afterward the fall of himself and the Hierarchie At the opening of this long Parliament a general Rumor was spread abroad that Doctor Heylyn was run away for fear of an approaching storm that was like to fall on his own head as well as on his Lordships Grace the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury but he who was ever of an undaunted Spirit would not pusillanimously desert the Cause of the King and Church then in question but speedily hastned up to London from Alrèsford to coufute the common Calumny and false report raised on him by the Puritan faction that he appeared the next day in his Gown and Tippet in Westminster Hall and in the Church with his accustomed formalities of Cap Hood and Surplice employed also his Pen boldly in defence of the Bishops right when the temporal Lords began to shake the Hierarchy in passing a vote that no Bishop should be of the Committee for examination of the Earl of Strafford being causa sanguinis upon which the Doctor drew up a breif and excellent discourse full of Law and History entituled de jure paritatis Episcoporum The Bishops right of Peerage so consequently that they ought to sit in that Committee their priviledge and right are maintained by him which by Law or ancient custom doth belong unto theâ—… It is worth our while to see what he hath written upon this point in the cause of Bloud many years after the first discourse of the Bishops Peerage when there was little hopes of ever their returning again into the House of Peers That the Bishops were disabled by some ancient Canons saith he from sentencing any man to death and it may be from being present when any such sentences was pronounced I shall easily grant but that they were disabled from being assistants in such case from taking the examinations or hearing the depositions of Witnesses or
Faults by his good service done both to Church and State The next Book which the Doctor published An. Dom. 1657. Ecclesia Vindicata or the Church of England justified he deâ—…ted it as a gratefuâ—… Testimony of his mind to his Master then living Mr. Edward Davis formerly School-Master of Burford and now Vicar of Shelton in the County of Berks to whom he ever shewed a Love and Reverence and had the Doctors Power been answerable to his will and intention he had design'd more considerable Preferments for him but the sudden and unexpected alteration in his own affairs prevented so soon almost as he was preferred that he could shew no other Specimen of his gratitude What saith the Heathen Diis parentibus Precaeptoribus non redditur aequivalens An amends can never be made to God our Parents and Tutors and certainly he hath but little of a Christian in him that can forget this Lesson About the same time he was harassed before Olivers Major General for the Decimation of his Estate hoc novum est aucupium For he thought there had been an end of all further payments and punishment for his Loyalty by compounding for his Estate in Goldsmiths-Hall that he argued the Case notably with them but all in vain for Arguments though never so acutely handled are obtuse Weapons against the Edge of the Sword He tells us that his temporal Estate was first brought under Sequestration and under a Decimation since only for his adhaesion to those sacred Verities to which he hath béen principled by Education and confirmed by Study While he was arguing his cause before the Major General and his Captains one Captain Allen formerly a Tinker and his Wife a poor Tripe-Wife took upon him to reprove the Doctor for maintaining his Wife so highly like a Lady to whom the Doctor roundly replyed That he had married a Gentlewoman and did maintain her according to her quality and so might he his Tripe-wife Adding withal that this Rule he always observed For his Wife to go above his Estate his Children according to his Estate and himself below his Estate so that at the years end he could make all even Soon after these things came out the Order of Decimation against him a Heathenish Cruelty in this Case if Mens Estates are as dear to them as their Lives because the one without the other renders them miserable may be compared to that of Maximian the Tyrant and cruel Persecutor of the Church that put the Christians to such a bloody Decimation that every tenth man of them was to be killed And this other was barbarous enough in its kind that all the Gentry of the Nation not only the tenth part of them who had engaged in his Majesties Service should first be compelled to compound for their own Estates and afterward without mercy Decimated that brought an utter ruin upon many of their Families Notwithstanding all this the Doctor like the Palm-Tree crescit sub pondere virtus the more he was pressed with their heavy loads did flourish and grow up in his Estate that through the blessing of God being neither the Subject of any mans Envy nor the Object of their Pity he lived in good Credit â—…nd kept a noble House for I my self being often there can say I have seldom seen him sit down at his Table without company for being nigh the University some out of a desire to be acquainted with him and others to visit their old Friend whom they knew rarely could be seen but at Meals made choice of that time to converse with him And likewise his good Neighbours at Abingdon whom he always made welcom if they were honest men that had been of the Royal party and was ready to assist them upon all occasions particularly in upholding the Church of St. Nicholas which otherwise had been pulled down on pretence of uniting it to St. Ellens but in truth to disable the sober party of the Town who were loyal people from enjoying their wonted Service and Worship of God in their own Parish Church of which they â—…ad a Reverend and Orthodox man one Mr. Huish their Minister and in his absence the Doctor took care to get them supplied with able men from Oxford Great endeavours were on both sides the one party to preserve the Church and the other to pull it down because it was thronged with Malignants who seduced others from their godly way Religion always hath been the pretence of factious minds to draw on others to their party as one saith well Sua quisque arma sancta praedicat suam causam Religiosam Deus Pietas cultus divinus praetexuntur Every one proclaimeth their own Quarrels to be a holy War the cause Religion God Godliness and Divine Worship must be pretended Several Journies the good Doctor took to London sparing neither his pains nor purse in so pious a cause for the managing of which he employed diverse Solicitors sometimes before Committees at other times before Oliver's Council where it was carried dubiously and rather inclining to the other side at which the Presbyterian party caused the Bells to be rung and made Bonefires in the Town to express their Joy triumphing in the Ruin of a poor Church but the day was not so clearly their own as they imagined Dum res quamvis afflictae nondum tamen perditae forent as the Orator said for the Church yet stood against all its Enemies God protecting his own House and his zealous Servants for it in a time when they could look for little favours from the Powers that then ruled who had not so much respect for Gods House as the Heathens had for their Idol Temples and for those that vindicated them as Justin saith on this occasion Diis proximus habetur per quem Deâ—…rum majestas vindicata sit For which he praiseth Philip of Macedon calling him Vindicem Sacrilegii ultorem Religionum c. During those troubles about the Church Mr. Huish the Minister thereof durst not go on in his ministerial Duties which no sooner the Doctor heard of but to animate and encourage him he writ a pious Letter a Copy of which I then transcribed which is as followeth and worth the inserting here Sir WE are much beholden to you for your chearful condiscending unto our desires so far as the Lords-days Service wich though it be Opus diei in die suo yet we cannot think our selves to be fully Masters of our Requests till you have yeilded to bestow your pains on the other days also We hope in reasonable time to alter the condition of Mr. Blackwels pious gift that without hazarding the loss of his donation which would be an irrecoverable blow to this poor Parish you may sue out your Qietus est from that daily Attendance unless you find some further motives and inducements to perswade you to it yet so to alter it that there shall be no greater wrong done to his Intentions than to most part
such a predetermined Term of every mans Life which is immutable but the great God of Heaven from whom we derive our Being can lengthen or shorten our days as his Wisdom pleaseth and on the other side this is a Decree most absolute and irrevocable Statutum est omnibus ut semel moriantur It is appointed for all men once to die In reverence of which Decree such a heavenly man as the Doctor was could not but be prepared as every religious Soul is for to dye or put off his mortal Body Before which time two Accidents happened to him one suddenly after the other which he looked upon as presaging Providences of his Death for he was a man very critical in his observation of unusual things and I may say in this particular prophetical For on the Saturday Night before he sickned he dreamed that he was in an extraordinary pleasant and delightful Place where standing and admiring the beauty and glory of it he saw the late King his Master who said to him Peter I will have you buried under your Seat at Church for you are rarely seen but there or at your Study Which Dream he told his Wife the next Morning saying it was a significant one giving her charge when he dyed there to bury him A few hours after his Maid holding his Surplice against the Fire to air it one of the Billets upon the fire tumbled down the Flame of which catched hold of the Surplice and burned it at which Accident so soon following his Dream he said That was ominous and he should never wear Surplice more as indeed he did not like Aaâ—…on the high Priest when he was stripped of his priestly Garments by Gods own appointment he must certainly dye These two Accidents falling out together made such a strong impression upon his mind that on the same day though he was seemingly well as he used to be he did not go to Church but on the Munday following went forth in the Morning stayed out all the Day in which time he bought a House of one Mrs. Floyd in the Almonry payed his Mony for it renewed the Lease of it and brought home the Writings and then told his Wife the reason of his being from home all that time which was an unusual thing with him was because he had bought her a House to live in near the Abby that she might serve God in that Church as he had done All which she not knowing before seemed strange and terrifying to her not thinking the precedent Accidents of the Dream and Surplice could have wrought such an indelible impression on his fancy she urged all the arguments and perswasions she possibly could to drive away this Melancholy humor but all in vain for he still persisted in his opinion which proved too sad a truth Because he was a man who rarely dreamed in his Life and when he did he could remember no circumstances of it which puts me in mind what Pliny hath writen to this purpose that there be some persons of so curious and excellent temper who are seldom or never disturbed with Dreams but if it so happen to them at any time it is a deadly sign Quibus mortiferum fuisse signum saith he contra consuetudinem somniorum in venimus exempla That there is a truth in some Dreams I do not question though I would not have men too credulous of them Because this is not now Gods oeconomy or his ordinary way of dispensation under the Gospel to manifest his mind to us as he did to the Patriarchs before the Law and afterward to the holy Prophets to whom he made known himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at sundry times and in divers manners and particularly in this way and manner of Dreams yet as God cannot be limited in his Will and Power at any time when he hath a mind to do an extraordinary thing I would therefore not too rigidly condemn all Dreams for delusions that are ascertained to us by the Testimony of wise and credible Persons whom we know are no way enclined to be either fanciful or fanatick Omiting what Artemidorus hath written in his Oneirocriticks I take Caelius Rhodoginus for a most learned and faithful Author who reports of himself that when he could not explain a hard passage he met with in Pliny that puzled his Brain it was made known and revealed to him in a Dream if he did look in such a Book he should find it Librum arripui saith he sicut somniaveram sic comperui ` I took up the Book and `found the same accordingly as I `dreamed Neither was that less wonderful which Joseph Scaliger tells us of his Fathers Dream who in his Sleep read an Epitaph which he never saw with his Eyes or ever heard of before yet proved most true whence he inferreth by this Example the prodigy and yet certainty of some Dreams Prodigiosa etiam usque ad miraculum ex somniis vaticinatio We may believe his Relation for he was a man of that Integrity and great Spirit as he would scorn to tell a Lye I cannot omit what Dr. Heylyn himself hath written of Arch-Bishop Laud That he was much given to take notice of Dreams and commit them to writing Amongst which I find this for one that on Friday Night the 24th of January 1639. his Fathâ—…r who died six and forty years before came to him and that to his thinking he was as well and as cheerful as evel he saw him that his Father asked him what he did there and that after some speecâ—… he demanded of his Father how long he would stay there And his Father made this Answer that he should stay till he had him along with him A Dream which made such impression on him as to add this Note to it in his Breviate that though he was not moved with Dreams yet he thought to remember this I know many impute those Dreams in our Sleep to a melancholy temper which the Doctor was never subject to either in time of Sickness or Health but was a Man always of most cheerful Spirit I confess that black humor presenteth strange things to the Imagination and Phantasie of some Persons that Aristotle in his Problems ascribes the Prophesie of the Sybil Women thereto and Cardanus the Revelations of Hermites because living in solitude and on bad diet Quantum poterat saith he in illis humor melancholicus The old Philosophers also were of opinion that all Prophesie did proceed from the strength of Imagination by the conjunction of the Understanding which they call Intellectus possibilis with the other faculty of the Intellectus agens whereby they concluded contrary to the holy Scripture that old men were not capable of prophecying by reason of the weakness of their imagination and other natural faculties decayed in them through Age but the quite contrary appeareth in Scripture Examples that that they were generally aged men or well stricken in years who
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-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