it was not set off with much Ceremony to quicken Devotition yet it wanted neither a stamp of Reverence nor the metal of Godliness Yet he would be careful in Launching out so far in Curiosity to give no Scandal to Catholicks whose Jealousie might perhaps suspect him as if he thought it lawful to use both ours and the Church of Rome's Communion Therefore he made suit to be placed where none could perceive him and that an Interpreter of the Liturgy might assist him to turn the Book and to make right Answers to such Questions as fell by the way into his Animadversions None more forward then the Lord Keper to meet the Abbat in this Request Veritas oculatos testes non refermidat The Abbat kept his hour to come to Church upon that High Feast and a Place was well fancied aloft with a Latice and Curtains to conceal him Mr. William Beswell like Philip Riding with the Treasurer of Queen Candace in the same Chariot sate with him directing him in the Process of all the Sacred Offices perform'd and made clear Explanation to all his scruples The Church Work of that ever Blessed day fell to the Lord Keeper to perform it but in the place of the Dean of that Collegiate Church He sung the Service Preach'd the Sermon Consecrated the Lords Table and being assisted with some of the Prebendaries distributed the Elements of the Holy Communion to a great multitude meekly kneeling upon their knees Four hours and better were spent that morning before the Congregation was dismiss'd with the Episcopal Blessing The Abbat was entreated to be a Guest at the Dinner provided in the College-Hall where all the Members of that Incorporation Feasted together even to the Eleemosynaries call'd the Beads-men of the Foundation no distinction being made but high and low Eating their Meat with gladness together upon the occasion of our Saviours Nativity that it might not be forgotten that the poor Shepherds were admitted to Worship the Babe in the Manger as well as the Potentates of the East who brought Rich Presents to offer up at the shrine of his Cradle All having had their comfort both in Spiritual and Bodily Repast the Master of the Feast and the Abbat with some few beside retired into a Gallery The good Abbat presently shew'd that he was Bred up in the Franco-Gallican Liberty of Speech and without further Proem defies the English that were Roasted in the Abbies of France for lying Varlets above all others that ever he met We have none of their good word I am sure says the Keeper but what is it that doth empassion you for the present against them That I shall calmly tell your Lordship says the Abbat I have been long inquisitive what outward Face of God's Worship was retein'd in your Church of England What Decorums were kept in the external Communion of your Assemblies St. Paul did Rejoyce to behold good Order among the Colossians as well as to hear of the stedfastness of their Faith cap. 2.5 Therefore waving Polemical Points of Doctrine I demanded after those things that lay open to the view and pertain'd to the Exterior Visage of the House of God And that my Intelligence might not return by broken Merchants but through the best Hands I consulted with none but English in the Affairs of their own home and with none but such as had taken the Scapular or Habit of some Sacred Order upon them in Affairs of Religion But Jesu how they have deceiv'd me What an Idea of Deformity Limm'd in their own Brain have they hung up before me They told me of no composed Office of Prayer used in all these Churches by Authority as I have found it this day but of extemporary Bablings They traduc'd your Pulpits as if they were not possest by Men that be Ordein'd by imposition of Hands but that Shop-keepers and the Scum of the people Usurp that Place in course one after another as they presum'd themselves to be Gifted Above all they turn'd their Reproaches against your behaviour at the Sacrament describing it as a prodigious Monster of Profaneness That your Tables being furnish'd with Meats and Drinks you took the Scraps and Rellicks of your Bread and Cups and call upon one another to remember the Passion of our Lord Jesus All this I perceive is infernally false And though I deplore your Schism from the Catholick Church yet I should bear false Witness if I did not confess that your Decency which I discern'd at that Holy Duty was very allowable in the Consecrator and Receivers 218. My Brother Abbat says the Lord Keeper with a Smile I hope you will think the better of the Religion since on Christ's good Day your own Eyes have made this Observation among us The better of the Religion says the Abbat taking the Words to relate to the Reformed of France nay taking all together which I have seen among you and he brought it out with Acrimony of Voice and Gesture I will lose my Head if you and our Hugenots are of one Religion I protest Sir says the Keeper you divide us without Cause For the Harmony of Protestant Confessions divulg'd to all the World do manifest our Consonancy in Faith and Doctrine And for diversity in outward Administrations it is a Note as Old as Irenaeus which will justifie us from a Rupture that variety of Ceremonies in several Churches the Foundation being preserv'd doth commend the Unity of Faith I allow what Irenaeus writes says the Abbat for we our selves use not the same Offices and Breviares in all Places But why do not the Hugonots at Charenton and in other Districts follow your Example Because says the Lord Keeper no part of your Kingdom but is under the Jurisdiction of a Diocesan Bishop and I know you will not suffer them to set up another Bishop in the Precincts of that Territory where one is establish'd before that would savour of Schism in earnest And where they have no means to maintain Gods Worship with costly Charge and where they want the Authority of a Bishop among them the people will arrogate the greatest share in Government so that in many things you must excuse them because the Hand of constraint is upon them But what constreins them says the Abbat that they do not Solemnize the Anniversary Feast of Christ's Nativity as you do Nay as we do for it is for no better Reason then because they would be unlike to us in every thing Do you say this upon certainty says the Keeper or call me Poultron if I feign it says the other In good troth says the Keeper you tell me News I was ever as Tully writes of himself to Atticus in Curiositate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apt to search narrowly into Foreign Churches and I did never suspect that our Brethren that live with you were deficient in that Duty For the Churches of the Low-Countries of Heidelberg Helvetia Flassia Breme and others do observe a yearly Day to the
Richardson's Argument taken from the Excommunication or Abstension which St. Ambrose exercised by his Episcopal Power over the Emperor Theodosius for commanding a great Slaughter to be made upon the People of Thessalonica in an hasty distemper of Anger before their Cause was heard To which Dr. Williams said That what St. Ambrose said was neither Juridical Abstension nor Excommunication It was a private Act of St. Ambrose's directed by the motion of his proper Piety and not a Censure issuing from a Court or Authority Ecclesiastical And if at the same time another bishop is of Rome Aquileia or Ravenna had communicated with the Emperor and received him to Prayers and the Holy Sacrament he might have done it without the violation of any Canon A particular Presbyter may do the like at this day and with a good Conscience withdraw himself from doing Sacred Offices if a King after often and humble Admonition continue Impenitent in great Sins which the Day light hath detected Therefore this was no Precedent for the Excommunication of the Supreme Magistrate which was but a particular forbearance of St. Ambrose's in Sacred Duties not to impact them for his share to so great an Offender whom he left at liberty to all the World beside to partake with him But he that is justly Excommunicated from one Congregation in â—rict Discipline is excluded from all This Answer was it which afforded most Matter of Discourse and spread far even to King James's Ear who heard of it and approved it Much was not said to the Second Question a Bush that had been often beaten Yet there was some grappling about the new Clause That the Subduction or Denial of the Cup to the People maimed the very Priesthood But the Doctor maintain'd it thus That the Order of Priesthood is a Sacrament in the Roman Church the Matter of which Sacrament by a wretched shift some of their Controversial Writers say is the Bible laid upon the Neck of the Ordain'd to furnish him to teach Christ's Mystical Body together with the Paten and the Chalice put into his hand to authorize him to make Christ's Natural Body If a Priest so Ordain'd were consin'd to Pray and not to Preach to the People it were a Mutilation of his Office So if he be stinted to distribute the Consecrated Bread and not the Cup it is a cutting of one half of his Priesthood This was the God-speed and the Good-speed of his Disputation It were no Sin to forget the Feasts he made at this Solemnity They were bounteous nay excessive after the usual Trespass of the superfluity of our Nation Such as Plutarch says Lucullus made in his Dining-Room which he calls Apollo One thing deserves a Smile That the Doctor was at no little Cost to send to the Italian Ordinaries at London and to ransack the Merchants Stores for such Viands as might please Arch-Bishop Spalato out of his own Country To which accates he was observ'd that he never put his Hand towards them but lik'd our Venison and English Dishes a great deal better he Thank'd him But enough of this for many do not love the smell of a Kitchin 40. Presently after he had shewn himself such a Man in this Field of Honour Veianius armis Herculis ad postem fixis latet abditus agro Horat. Ep. 1. He never went more chearful to any place then to his private Home the Rectory of Walgrave as if then he had been call'd from the Custom-house of the World to follow Christ or as if he had been one of David's Mariners landed at a quiet Shore Psal 107.30 Then they are glad because they be at rest so he bringeth to the Haven of their desire His Cost was over before he came thither For there he had built and garden'd and planted and made it a Dwelling sit for all the changeable Seasons of the Year as much when Warmth as when Pleasure was intended Here he became his own Master for a while here he could solace himself in private Retirements here he was attended by Mutes like the Monarchs of the East by so many Volumes of a well replenish'd Library As Vatia said in Seneca when he went out of Rome to live in his little Villa three Year before he died Fuit Vatia multos annos vixit tantùra tres So this Doctor might have written that in three Years or not fully four that he kept for the most part in this Bower of Tranquility he lived the Comforts of twenty The harmless Country Cottages bred more Saints who are only seen unto the Eyes of God then would fill a thousand Calenders Why may not the Speech of Christ to his Church look this way Cant. 7.11 Come my Beloved let us go forth into the Field let us lodge in the Villageâ— To track him a little in this shady Life He hazarded to lose his Health by excessive Study at all the Hours of the Clock but preserv'd it by Temperance For though he were greatly Hospital the Cloth that cover'd his Table being always cover'd with Dishes yet with Carving and Discoursing he gave his own Appetite but a short Bait. Velleius says that great Caesar discern'd that none but a temperate Man could do mighty things Qui somno cibo in vitam non in voluptatem uteretur Through Temperance he had strength to be Industrious and gave a good Example to the Divines his Neighbours who had need to have such prick'd in here and there among them For a Country Minister hath master'd a great Tentation that hath overcome Sloth a Mischief that will fear upon the Soul with too much craft and sweetness Idleness is commonly the English Gentleman's Disease and the Rural Curate's Scandal Let the first learn from as good a Gentleman as the best of them Marc. Antoninus the Emperor lib. 9. who writes thus Rise early leave the Bed of Sluggishness to them that are sick in Body or Mind And being up it were as good you were laid down again as not to be guilty of so much Reason to know you rose to do the Work of a Man which is not to waste all the day in sporting with Beasts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is Why should I be loth to be put to the Employment of some Work for I was made for that use and I came for that end into the World Let others learn from a greater then Antoninus that Labour and Watching Pureness and Knowledge are the Gifts that commend them to be the Ministers of God 2 Cor. 6.4 They are Master-Builders and must not loiter who should set all to work Or to pass a sharper Sentence It is certain that the worst of Superstition is an Idol and the worst of Idols is an Idle Shepheard that is Who hath a Mouth and speaks not Zech. 11.17 This Doctor that walk'd as a burning Light before his Brethren did the whole Office that belong'd unto him as Reading the Liturgy of Divine Service Wednnesdays and Fridays before such as
in the Records of the Tower can be produced to exclude the Lords Spiritual from sitting and voting in Causes of Blood Sometimes by the great Favour of the King Lords and Commons not otherwise they were permitted to absent themselves never before now commanded by the Lay-Lords to forbear their Votes in any Cause that was agitated in Parliament So our Law Books say That the Prelates by the Canon-Law may make a Procurator in Parliament when a Peer is to be tryed Which is enough to shew their Right thereunto This is to be seen 10 Edw. IV. f. 6. placit 17. And That it is only the Canon-Law that inhibits them to vote in Sanguinary Causes Stamford Pleas of the Crown f. 59. And saith Stamford the Canon-Law is a distinct and separated notion and not grown in his Age to any such Usance or Custom as made it Common-Law or the Law of the Land 152. Coming now to an end it moves me little what some object That many worthy Fathers of this Church-reformed and Bishop Andrews among the rest did forbear to vote in Causes of Blood and voluntarily retired out of the House if such things came in question nor did offer to enter any Protestation I do not doubt but they had pious Affections in it though they did not fully ponder what they did I have heard that a main Reason was that of the Record and Statute of 11 Rich. II. That it is the honesty of that Calling not to intermeddle in matters of Blood Now the French word Honesty signifies Decency and Comeliness As though it were a butcherly and a loathsom matter to be a Judge or to do Right upon a Malefactor to Death or loss of Members But this is an imaginary Decency never known in Nature or Scripture as I said before but begotten by Tradition in the dark Foggs and Mists of Popery Such an Honesty of the Clergy it was to have a shaven Crown to depend on the Pope to plead Exemptions and to resuse to answer for Felonies in the King's Courts All these were esteemed in those days the Honesty of the Clergy And such an Honesty it was in the Prelates of England in the loose Reign of Rich. II to absent themselves when they listed from the Aslembly of the Estate contrary to the King's Command in the Writ of Summons and to the Duties of their places as Peers of Parliament Yet they had more insight into what they did than some of our Bishops for they never offer'd to retire themselves in those days before their Protestation was benignly received and suffer'd to be enter'd upon the Parliament-Roll by the King the Lords and the House of Commons I know those excellent men that are with God proposed other Scruples to themselves they doubted not of the Legality or Comeliness for an Ecclesiastical Peer of the Kingdom of England to vote in a Judgment of Blood they did it continually in passing all Appeals and Attainders in Parliament but it startled them because it is not the practice of Prelates in other parts of the Christian Church so to do and thought it better to avoid Scandal and the Talk of other Nations That there being in the High Court of Parliament and Star-chamber Judges enough beside them they might without any prejudice to their King and Country forbear voting in those Judicatures somewhat the rather because all our Bishops in England are Divines and Preachers of the Gospel and consequently to be employ'd in Mercy rather than in Judgment who never touch upon the sharpness of the Law unless it be to prepare mens Hearts to relish and receive the comfort of the Gospel Let the Piety then and the Good-meaning of those grave Fathers be praised but I say they forgot their Duty to the Writ of the King's Summons and the use and weight of their Place And now to close I protest without vaunting I cannot perceive how this can be answer'd which I have digested together And if so many Bishops cannot obtain their Right which is so clear on their side God send the Earl of Strafford better Justice who is but a single Peer 153. Blame not my Book that there is so much of this Argument I hope the Ignorant will not read it at all but let a knowing man read it again and when he hath better observ'd it he will think it short Some History-spoilers have detracted from our Bishop that though he pleaded much in Parliament to his own Peril in the behalf of E. Strafford yet he wrought upon the King to consent to give way to his beheading Says our Arch-Poet Spencer lib. 3. Can. 1. st 10. Great hazard were it and Adventure fond To lose long-gotten Honour with one evil Hand But he shall lose no Honour in this for first as Nazian Or. 27 rejects them that had raised an ill Report of him whom he praised 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 can you prove that they were sound in their mind that said so if any will believe it from such authors a good man hath lost his thanks Ego quod bené fec◠malè feci quia amor mutavit locum Plautus That which was well done is ill done because it is not lovingly requited Hear all and judge equally Both the Houses of Lords and Commons by most Voices found the Earl guilty of Treason they made the greater Quire but those few that absolved him sung better The King interceded by himself by the Prince his Son to save him craved it with Cap in Hand Being founder'd in his Power he could go no further the Subjects denied their Soveraign the Life of one Man so Strafford must be cast away Opimii calamitas turpitudo Po. Rom. non judicium fuit Cic. pro Plancio Whose Calamity is the shame of English Justice His Majesty for divers days could not find in his Heart to set his Hand to the Warrant for Execution for Conscience dresseth it self by its own light And I would he had been as constant to his own Judgment in other things that we might remember it to his Honour as Capitolinus testifies for Maximus Non aliis potiùs quà m sibi credidit The fate of it was that the Parliament would not grant Mercy to the Earl and would have Justice from the King according to their Sentence whether he would or no They threaten and were as good as their Word to sit idle and do nothing for publick Safety and Settlement the whole Realm being in distraction till the Stroke was struck All the Palace-Yard and Hall were daily full of Mutineers and Outcries His Majesty's Person was in danger the roguy Off-scum in the Streets of Westminster talk'd so loud that there was cause to dread it Though there is nothing more formidable than to fear any thing more than God yet the most eminent Lords of the Council perswaded His Majesty to make no longer resistance Placeat quodcunque necesse est Lucan lib. 4. Not he but Necessity should be guilty of it If he did
and out of those their Treatises wherein especially they handled the Cause for which he Appealed unto them And Thirdly When he had fixed what was prime and principal Truth in any Debate with great Meekness and Sweetness he gave copious Latitude to his Auditors how far they might dissent keeping the Foundation sure without breach of Charity These were the Constellations whose fortunate Aspect did shine upon this Neophytus in the Orb of Cambridge and being under the Influence of such Luminaries a judicious Academian might Prognostic how much he would prosper without a judicious Astrologer But for all that he posted so speedily through the broad Way of the best Tracts of Knowledge yet he found a little leisure to call in as he went at the attaining of some Skill in Musick Instrumental and Vocal not as a Siren to catch him but as a Delight to solace him Nay though he set his Face to the end of a great Journey yet in transiâ—â— he took Acquaintance of the French Tongue to make himself able to read the choice Pieces of that acute Nation which flow'd in easily and apace into him having the Pipes of the Latin Tongue ready cast to convey it What shall we say to him that took in hand such a long Sorites of Sciences and Tongues together But that such Blood and Spirits did boil in his Veins as Tully felt when he spake so high Mihi satis est si omnia consequi possim Nothing was enough till he got all 14. The Gamester was the freer to throw at all because he was like to draw a good Stake Preferment already holding its Hand half open For â—fâ—câ—bi 2º his Patron and tenderly-loving Kinsman Dr. Vaughan was Removed from the Bishoprick of Chester to the See of London The young Eaglets are quickly taken up upon the Wings of the old one But the good Bishop within three Years after he had ascended to that Dignity ended his days greatly lamented of all and lived not till his young Cousin was adult for Promotion This only was much to his Benefit that every Year the Bishop sent for him to spend a few Weeks in his Palace of London a great help to his Breeding to let him see the course of Church-Government managed by the Piety and Wisdom of so grave a Prelate who had much of a Gentleman much of a Scholar and most of a Christian During his abode in the Reverend Bishop's Palace he had the opportunity to tender his Duty to that noble-minded and ancient Baron John Lord Lumley who received him with equal Courtesie and Bounty as his Kinsman That Lord having given his Sister in Marriage to Mr. Humfry Llyd of Nor. h. Wales a most industrious Antiquary as appears in Ortelius and Adjutant to Mr. Cambden in his great Work This Lord Lumley did pursue Recondite Learning as much as any of his Honourable Rank in those Times and was owner of a most precious Library the Search and Collection of Mr. Humsry Llyd Out of this Magazine that great Peer bestowed many excellent Pieces printed and Manuscript upon Mr. Williams for Alliance sake a Treasure above all Presents most welcom to him Yet the noble-hearted Lord a free Mccaenas gave with both hands and never sent his young Kinsman away from him without a Donative of ten Pieces The first Gift of Books he kept better then Gold for the Gold went from him again as magnificently as if he had been no less then the Lord Lumley himself But that he had received those noble Favours I heard him remember with great and grateful Expressions in the Chancel of the Parish-Church of Cheam near to Nâ—nâ—â—câ— in Surrey whereof my self have been Rector now above 30 Years coming on a day to view the Burial-place of the Lord Lumley where his Body lies under a comely Monument 15. It fell out luckily to Mr. Williams to keep him from incurring great Debts that he had such an Ophir or Golden Trade to drive with the Lord Lumley's Puâ—se who supplied him with a Bounty that grudg'd him nothing till the Year 1â—â—9 for then that aged Baron died Four Years before the loss of that dear Friend An. 1605 he took his Degree of Master of Arts and he Feasted his Friends at the Commencement as if it had been his Wedding having more in Cash at command by the full Presents of many Benefactors then is usual with such young Graduates His Merits being known brought him in a great Revenue long before he had a certain Livelihood A Master of Arts is a Title of honest Provocation rightly considered Nomina insignia onerosa sunt says the Emperor Alexander Mammaens But they are scarce so many as a few that are warm'd with the remembrance of that Honour which the Regent-House conferr'd upon them worthy to be taxed in parodie with that Increpation Heb. 5.12 Cum deberetis Magistri esse propter tempus rursum indigetis ut vos doceamini When for the time ye eught to be Masters you have need one teach you again Whose Reproach hath this and no other use that they are a pitiful Foil to their Betters I am sure I explain a Man who added as much Grace to the Name as any his Ancestors of those that came after he that was the best was but second in the Order Every day borrowing much of the Night advanced his Knowledge He hired himself to labour under all Arts and sorts of Learning The more he toil'd the more he perceiv'd that nothing in this Earth had such Amplitude as the extent of Sciences He saw it was a Prospect which had no Horizon a Man can never say he sees the utmost bound of the Coast Therefore he was continually drawing his Bow because he was sure he could never shoot home No Man fishes to get all the Fish in the Sea yet since the Sea contains so much he is slothful that labours but for a little Our Student began now to fall close to the deep and spacious Studies of Divinity I deliver from his own mouth what he would relate sometimes in his riper Years That he began to read all the Scriptures with the choicest and most literal and as he found it fit with the briefest Commentators so that all his Superstructure might knit close to that Foundation He compared the common places of P. Martyr Chemnitius and Musculus Calvin and Zanchie being in at all with the Sacred Text and found that Harmony in them all with the Oracles of God's Word that he perceived he might with a good Conscience as he would answer it to Christ Jesus defend the Integrity of the Reformed Religion taking it not upon Trust but upon Judgment and Examination But an Artist knoweth not what he hath got by all his Diligence till he useth it neither can a Scholar understand what Tast is in the Waters of his own 〈◊〉 till he draws some quantity out Therefore he disclosed himself both in his own Terms and for his Friends in common Places and
of the King Now for your own private I make no question but I may say of you my Lord as one said of Coccius Nerva Foelicior longè quà m cum foelicissimus That you were greater a great deal in your own Contentment than now that you have worthily attained to all this Greatness But as in this World of Things every Element forsakes his Natural Disposition so as we many times see the Earth and Water evaporating upward and the Fire and Air darting downward ad conservationem universi as Philosophy speaks to preserve and maintain the common course So in this World of Men private Must give way to publick Respects Now if it be expected that I should say any thing for your Lordships Direction in this Great Office your Lordships Wisdom and my Ignorance will plead pardon though I omit it I will only say one word and that shall be the same which Pliny said to one Maximus appointed Questor that is Treasurer for Achaia Memenisse oportet Ossicii titulum Remember but your Name and you shall do well enough Your Lordship is appointed Lord Treasurer Take such Order in his Majesties Exchequer that your Lordship do not bear this Denomination and Title in vain and your Lordship shall be worthily honour'd for the happiest Subject in this Kingdom And surely as your Lordship hath the Prayers so you have the Hopes of all good Men that Si Pergama dextrâ defendi poterant If any Man living can improve the Kings Revenue with Skill and Diligence you are that good Husband And so I wish your Lordship as much Joy of your Place as the King and the State do conceive of your Lordship This was the Perfume which was cast upon the new Treasurer in his Robes of Instalment The King was pleased much in his Advancement For his Majesty had proved him with Questions and found that he was well studied in his Lands Customs in all the Profits of the Crown in Stating of Accompts And in the general Opinion the White-Staff was as fit for his Hand as if it been made for it The most that could be objected was that he was true to the King but gripple for himself A good Steward for the Exchequer but sower and unrelishing in Dispatch A better Treasurer than a Courtier There was nothing in appearance but Sun-shine and warm Affections between him and the Lord Keeper The Lord Treasurer I know well had cross'd the other in one or two Suits which had been beneficial to him and not drawn a Denier out of the Kings Purse He dealt so with every Man therefore the Sufferer gave little sign of Grievance It was not his Case alone Another Pick in which they agreed not I cannot say disagreed was about a Brood of Pullein which were never hatcht The last Parliament being dissolv'd it was well thought of by some of the Lords of the Council-Board to sweeten the ill relish which it had in some Palats with a Pardon of Grace that might extend to a fair Latitude for the ease of those that were question'd for old Debts and Duties to the Crown for concealed Wardships and not suing out Liveries and such charges of the like kind which put those that were secure in their Improvidence to a great deal of trouble and disanimated their best Friends for fear of such blind Claps to be their Executors When the Lord Keeper had brought this Pardon so near to his Birth that the Atturney-General was sent for to draw it up the Lord Treasurer mov'd That such as took out this Pardon should pay their Fees which are accustomed in that kind to such Officers as he should appoint that the Advantage might enrich the King and that himself might have that share which the Lord Chancellour us'd to have who put the Seal to those Pardon 's This was heard with a dry laughter and denied him But from thenceforth he struggled to correct the lusty Wine of the Pardon with so much Water that there was no comfort in it and falling short of that Grace which was expected was debated no more The Lord Keeper having obtein'd a good Report for the Conception of the Pardon and the Lord Treasurer a great deal of Envy for the Abortion it curdled in his Stomach into Choler and Mischief And wherefore was he angry with his Brother Abel Look what St. John answers 1 Epist Chap. 3. Vers 12. He endeavoured first to make a Faction in Court against the Lord Keeper and it would not hit because he had no Credit with the Great Ones Then he falls to Pen and Paper and spatters a little Foam draws up Ten What-do-you-call-Um's some of them are neither Charges of Misdemeanour nor Objections which were meant for Accusations but are most pitiful failings entramell'd with Fictions and Ignorance They are extant in the Cabal Pag. 72. which the Lord Keeper puts away as quietly as the Wind blows off the Thistle-Down Pusheth his Adversary down with his little Finger yet insults not upon his Weakness As Pliny writes to Sabin Lib. 9. Ep. Tunc praecipua mansuetudinis laus cum irae causa justissima est It was very laudable to be so mild when there was just cause given to be more angry Yet he complain'd by Letters to the Lord Marquiss as if he were sensible of the despite and unto him was very loud in his own Justification From whom he got no more remedy but that his Adversary was not believ'd And was will'd to consider that he dealt with one whose ill Manners would not pay him Satisfaction for an Injury Unto which the Lord Keeper rejoyn'd to the Lord Marquiss His Majesties Justice and your Lordships Love are Anchors strong enough for a Mind more tost than mine is to ride at Yet pardon me my Noble Lord upon this Consideration if I exceed a little in Passion the Natural Effect of Honesty and Innocency A Church-man and a Woman have no greater Idol under Heav'n than their Good Name And they cannot Fight nor with Credit Scold and least of all Recriminate to Protect and Defend the same The only Revenge left them is to grieve and complain Then he concludes Whom I will either Challenge before his Majesty to make good his Suggestions or else which I hold the greater Valour and which I wanted I confess before this Check of your Lordships go on in my course and scorn all these base and unworthy Scandals as your Lordship shall direct me What need more be said In the space of a Month they wrangled themselves into very good Friends and the Lord Keeper was Gossip to the next Child that was born to the Treasurer As Nazianzen says of Athanasius Encom p. 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There was the Condition of two kinds of Stones in his Nature that are much commended He was an Adamant to them that smote him found and firm and would never break But a Loadstone to draw them to him that discorded with him though they were as hard as
up the greatest part of the Time in speaking to the Redress of petty Grievances like Spaniels that rett after Larks and Sparrows in the Field and pass over the best Game Therefore his Majesty to loose no time drew up a Proclamation with his own Pen Feb. 20 to this end that certain of the Lords of the Privy Council should have Power and special Commission to receive the Complaints of all the good People of this Land which should be brought before them concerning any Exorbitances Vexations Oppressions and Illegalities and either by their own Authority if it would reach to it to see them corrected or to give Orders to cut them off by the keenest Edge of the Laws That Complainants should be encouraged to present their Grievances as well by the Invitement of the Proclamation as by the Signification of the Judges to the Country and Grand Juries in their respective Circuits The Draught of this the Features of his Majesty's own Brain came by Post to pass the Great Seal Yet for all that Hast the Lord Keeper took time to scan it and sent it back with Advice that the Project would be sweeter if it were double refined presuming therefore that his Majesty would not be unwilling to stop a little at the Bar of good Counsel he wrote this ensuing Letter to the Court Feb. 22. May it please Your most Excellent Majesty 120. I Do humbly crave Your Majesties Pardon that I forbear for two or three days to seal Your Proclamation for Grievances until I have presented to Your Majesty this little Remonstrance which would come too late after the Sealing and Divulging the Proclamation First As it is now coming forth it is generally misconstrued and a little sadly look'd upon by all men as somewhat restreining rather than enlarging Your Majesties former Care and Providence over Your Subjects For whereas before they had a standing Committee of all the Council-Table to repair unto they are now streitned to four or five only Most of which number are not likely to have any leisure to attend the Service Secondly I did conceive Your Majesty upon Your first Royal Expression of Your Grace in this kind in a Resolution to have mingled with some few Lords of Your Privy-Council some other Barons of Your Kingdom Homines as Pliny said of Virginius Rufus innoxiè Populares Whose Ears had been so opened to the like Grievances in the time of Parliament as their Tongues notwithstanding kept themselves within the compass of Duty and due Respect to Your Majesty as the Earls of Dorset and Warwick the Lord Houghton Dr. Morton the Lord Dennie the Lord Russel the Lord North. And among the Lords Spiritual the Bishops of Lichfield Rochester and Ely and especially unless Tour Majesty in Your deep Wisdom have some Reasons of the Omission Dr. Buckeridge the Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury This mixture would produce the these Effects ensuing First An Intimation of Your Majesties Sincerity and Reality in this Proclamation Dr. Felton Secondly A more free and general Intimation to Parties Aggrieved who will repair soonear to these private Peers then to the great Lords of Your Majesties Council Thirdly The making of these Lords and the like Witnesses of Your Majesties Justice and good Government against the next ensuing Parliament and the stopping of their Ears against such supposed Grievances at that time as shall never be heard of in their Sitting upon this Commission Fourthly and Lastly The gaining of these Temporal Lords to side with the State being formerly much wrought upon by the Factious and Discontented If Your Majesty shall approve of these Reasons it is but to Command Your Secretary to interline these or some of these Names in the Commission which in all other respects is already wisely and exceeding well penn'd with two short Clauses only First That these Lords shall attend very carefully and constantly in Term-time when they are occasion'd to be at London Secondly That they be instructed to receive all Complaints with much Civility and Encouragement giving them full Content and Redress according to the merit of their Grievances For nothing will sooner break the Heart of a People or make them lose their Patience than when hopes of Justice are frustrated after the Royal Word is engaged But if Your Majesty in Your high Wisdom will overpass these Particulars which I have dutifully presented upon the return of the Proclamation as it is it shall be sealed and divulged with all expedition But these Reasons were not overpass'd Both the Proclamation and private Orders to the Lords Commissioners were reformed by the Contents of that weighty Letter His Majesty greatly inclining to the Lord-Keeper's Readiness and espying Judgment in all Consultations For as Laertius in Zeno's Life said of a famous Musician 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Ismenias could play well upon all Instruments So this was another Ismenias who had the Felicity to make all Deliberations pleasing and tuneable especially he had that way above all that I knew to make sweet Descant upon any plain Song that was prick'd before him It will be to the Profit of the Reader if I rub his memory with one Passage of the Letter for it is but one though it come in twice which presseth the King to Sincerity and Reality to fix his Word like the Center of Justice that cannot be moved Righteous Lips are the delight of Kings Prov. 16.23 And a King of Righteous Lips is most delightful Since the coercitive part of the Law doth not reach him upon what Nail shall those Millions that stand before his Throne hang their Hopes if his Word do not bind him A People that cannot give Faith to their Sovereign will never pay him Love It seems that the ancient Latin Kings did profess to use Crookedness and Windings of Dissimulation in their Polity therefore their Scepter was called Lituus because it bent in toward the upper end But the Scepter of thy Kingdom says David of GOD is a right Scepter A right one indeed For Contracts and Promises bind God to Man much more must they oblige the King to his People An Author of our own Dr. Duck in his very Learned Treatise De usu Juris Civilis p. 44. hath well delivered this Morality Princeps ad contractum tenetur uti privatus nec potest contractum suum rescindere ex plenitudine potestatis cum maximè in eo requiratur bena sides Falshood is Shop-keepers Language or worse but 't is beneath Majesty 121. A Parliament being not far of either in the King's Purpose or in Prospect of Likelihood Serj Crooke Cvew Finch Damport Bramston Bridgman Crawly Headly Thin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Authurst Blng. Dâ—y the Lord Keeper was provident that the Worthies of the Law should be well entreated Their Learning being most comprehensive of Civil Causes and Affairs they had ever a great Stroke in that Honorable Council Therefore he wrought with his Majesty to sign a Writ for the Advancement of some
Old Latium August and Sacred signified the same 'T were good if it would prove so now But it began with discontent on every side and never mended Our Wise King no longer smother'd his Passion but confess'd at sundry times a great fault in himself that he had been so improvident to send the Duke on this Errand with the Prince whose bearing in Spain was ill Reported by all that were not partial He put the bafful so affectedly upon the Earl of Bristol at every turn that those Propositions which his Majesty had long before approved with deep Wisdom and setled with the Word of Honour were struck out by my Lord of Buckingham only because Bristol had presented them Nay if the Prince began to qualifie the unreasonableness he would take the Tale out of his Highness's Mouth and over-rule it and with such youthful and capricious Gestures as became not the lowly Subjection due to so great a Person but least of all before Strangers It was an Eye-sore to the Spaniards above any people who speak not to their King and the Royal Stems of the Crown without the Complement of Reverence nor approach unto them without a kind of Adoration The more the Prince endur'd it the more was their judgment against it For every Mouth was fill'd with his Highness's Praise and nothing thought wanting in him to be absolutely good and Noble but to know his own Birth and Majesty better and to keep more distance from a Subject So the Earl of Bristol Writes Cab. p. 20. I protest as a Christian I never heard in all the time of his being here nor since any one Exception against him unless it were for being supposed to be too much guided by my Lord of Buckingham which was no Venial Sin in their censure For how much their gall Super-abounded against that Lord the same Earl could not hold to write it to the Lord Keeper bearing Date August 20. I know not how things may be Reconciled here before my Lord Duke's departure but at present they are in all Extremity ill betwixt this King his Ministers and the Duke And they stick not to profess that they will rather put the Infanta head-long into a Well then into his Hands One thing that fill'd up the Character of my Lord Duke before in this Work was that he had much of the brave Alcibiades in him In this they differ that Plutarch's Alcibiades suited himself so well to the Manners and Customs of all Courts where he came that he gave satisfaction to all Princes and they were best pleased with him that most enjoy'd him The great Lord Villiers was not so Fortunate for he thrived not in the Air of Madrid and he brook'd the Air of Paris as ill about two years after upon the like Occasion And no marvel For as Catulus said of Pompey in Paterculus Praeclarus vir Cn. Pompeius sed reipub liberae nimius So this Lord was a worthy Gentleman but too big to be one in a Free Treaty with other Ministers The Lord Keeper who was the Socrates to this Alcibiades had Noted his Lordships Errors and unbeseeming Pranks before For which he look'd for no better then he that rubs a Horse that is gaul'd Yet he resolv'd to shoot another Arrow the same way that the former went though the Duke had threatned to break his Bow as soon as he came Home But he was too prudent to be scared from doing Duty to so great a Friend 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Aristotle He is neither Wise nor Faithful but a Flatterer that denies his Spirit ingenious Freedom And it is a Speech worthy of Sir Ph. Sidney which the Lord Brooke ascribes to him Pag. 42. of his Life That he never found Wisdom where he found not Courage Therefore the Lord Keeper writes to the Duke Aug. 3. of which this is the Moral to him that reads it intelligently That no Man living can keep Favour who keeps not Conditions that merit to perpetuate Favour May it please your Grace I Have no more to trouble your Grace at this time withal than the Expression of that Service and those Prayers which as I do truly owe so shall I ever as faithfully perform to your Grace New Comers may make more large and ample Promises but will in the end be found to fall short of your old Servants in Reality and Performances If your Grace hath by this time thought that I have been too bold and too near your Secrets in those Counsels I presumed upon in my last Letters I beseech you to remember how easie it was for me to have held my Peace how little Thanks I am like to receive from any other beside your Grace for the same how far I am in these Courses from any end of mine own beside your Prosperity and Security If your Grace would give me leave to deliver my Opinion upon the main though no Hunter after Court-News it is this Your Grace stands this Day in as great Favour with his Majesty as your Heart can desire And if I have any Judgment in far more Security of Continuance than ever you did if you remain as for ought I can perceive you do in the same State with the Prince in the same Terms as your Pains have deserved with the Princess and out of Quarrels and Recriminations which will but weaken both Parties and make way for a third with the rest of his Majesties Agents in this Negotiation I cannot but presume once more to put your Grace in mind that the nearer you are drawn to his Highness in Title the more you are with all Care and Observance to humble your self unto him in Speech Gesture Behaviour and all other Circumstances yea although his Highness should seem to require the Contrary This cannot be any way offensive to your own and is expected to the utmost Punto by that other Nation I do presume of Pardon for all my Follies in this kind and that whatsoever is wanting in my Discretion your Grace will be pleased to make up out of my Sincerity and Affection However your Grace and the Earl of Bristol shall conclude I hope your Grace will pardon my Zeal though peradventure not according to Knowledge aiming only at your Grace's Service the Amplitude and Continuance of your Greatness For whatsoever your Grace shall determine and conclude I do and shall implicitly yield unto the same Yet am still of Opinion the way of Peace to be the broad way to enlarge and perpetuate your Grace's Greatness and Favour with his Majesty c. This was bold but faithful and ingenious Dealing The Duke's last Messenger whom he sent into England before he arrived Sir J. Hipsley gave him a touch of the same Cab. P. 316. For God's-sake carry the Business with Patience betwixt my Lord of Bristol and you And again in the same For God's-sake make what hast you may Home for fear of the worst For the King's Face began to gather Clouds upon the
Employment by and from your excellent Majesty First your Majesty knoweth I was threatned before your Majesty to be complained of in Parliament on the third Day of your Reign And though your Majesty most graciously promis'd to do me Justice therein Yet was I left under that Minacy and the Minacer for ought I know left to his course against me 2. My Lord-Duke confest he knew the Complaints and Complainants and gave me leave to suspect his Grace which indeed I had cause to do if within three days and three days he should not acquaint me with the Names of the Parties Which I desir'd to know not to expostulate but to watch and provide to defend my innocency His Grace failed me in his promise herein I employed Sir Charles Glemham and Mr. Sackvile Crowe to press him for an Answer which was such as they durst not in modesty return unto me 3. Sir Francis Seymore a Knight whom I know not by sight told many of that House who imparted it unto me that upon his first coming to Oxford he was dealt with by a Creature of my Lord-Dukes whom I can name to set upon the Lord-Keeper and they should be backed by the greatest Men in the Kingdom Who gave this Answer That he found nothing against the Lord-Keeper but the Malice of those great Men. 4. Sir John Eliot the only Member that began to thrust in a Complaint against me the Lord-Viscount Saye who took upon him to name Sir Thomas Crew to succeed in my Place Sir William Stroud and Sir Nathanael Rich whom my Friends most noted to malice me were never out of my Lord-Duke's Chamber and Bosom 5. Noble-men of good Place and near your Majesty gave me often intelligence that his Grace's Agents stirred all their Powers to set the Commons upon me 6. I told the Lord-Duke in my Garden that having been much reprehended by your Majesty and his Grace in the Earl of Middlesex's Tryal for thanking the last King at Greenwich for promising to protect his Servants and great Officers against the People and Parliament I durst not be so active and stirring by my Friends in that House as otherwise I should be unless your Majesty by his Grace's means would be pleas'd to encourage me with your Royal Promise to defend and protect me in your Service If I might hear your Majesty say so much I would venture then my Credit and my Life to manage what should be entrusted to me to the uttermost After which he never brought me to your Majesty nor any Message from you Standing therefore upon these doubtful terms unemploy'd in the Duties of my Place which were now assign'd over to my Lord Conway and Sir J. Cooke and left out of all Committees among the Lords of the Council which I know was never done by the direction of your Majesty who ever conceiv'd of me far above my Merit and consequently fallen much in the Power and Reputation due to my place I durst not at this time with any Safety busie my self in the House of Commons with any other than that measure of Zeal which was exprest by the rest of the Lords of the Privy-Council Gracious and dread Sovereign if this be not enough to clear me let me perish 19. The King was a Judge of Reason and of Righteousness and found so much in that Paper that he dismist him that presented it graciously for that time his Destiny being removed two Months further off though it was strongly urg'd not to delay it for a day But in St. Cyprian's words Nemo diu tutus est periculo proximus About a Fortnight after at Holdbery in New-forrest the Duke unfast'ned him utterly from the good Opinion of his Majesty and at Plimouth in the midst of September obtain'd an irrevocable Sentence to deprive him of his Office If the Queen could have stopt this Anger he had not been remov'd with whom he had no little Favour by the Credit he had got with the chief Servants of her Nation and by a Speech which took her Majesty very much which he made unto her in May upon her coming to White-hall and in such French as he had studied when he presented his Brethren the Bishops and their Homage to her Majesty His Friends of that Nation shew'd themselves so far that Pere Berule the Queen's Confessor and not long after a Cardinal was the first that advertis'd him how my Lord-Duke had lifted him out of his Seat 'T is custom to Toll a little before a Passing-bell ring out and that shall be done in a Moral strode as Chaucer calls it Such as would know the true Impulsion unto this Change shall err if they draw it from any thing but the Spanish Negotiation Not as if the Lord-Keeper had done any one much less many ill Services to the Duke as one mistakes For I take the Observator to be so just that he would have done as much himself if he had been in place King James was sick'till that Marriage was consummated and died because he committed it to the Skill of an Emperick The Keeper serv'd the King's directions rather than the cross ways of the Duke which was never forgiven Though the late Parliament had wrought wonders to the King 's Content as it gave him none this innocent Person had receiv'd the Blow which was aimed at him before the Parliament sat He bestirr'd him in the former King's Reign to check the encroaching of the Commons about impeaching the great Peers and Officers of the Realm which the Duke fomented in the Earl of Middlesex's Case Since that House began to be filled with some that were like the turbulent Athenians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Meursius Ath. Attic. p. 79. It grieved him at the Heart that more time was spent by far to pluck up an honest Magistrate than to plant good Laws There was no Sin I think that he hated more than that Epidemick violence which he saw was come about that the People extoll'd them most as it was once in the Days of Marius that endeavour'd to thrust down the most noble Patricians This is the right Abstract what was and what was not the Cause of this Mutation 20. There were yet other things that did concur to precipitate his Downfall First My Lord of Buckingham's honest Servants would say that he gave their Master constantly the best Counsel but that he was too robustious in pressing it Vim temperatam Dii quoque provehunt in majus Horat. lib. 3. Od. Well I do not deny it But the more stout in that Point the more true and cordial He that loses such a one that comes to prop him up who had rather offend him than not save him Navem perforat in quâ ipse navigat Cicer. pro Milone he sinks the Bark wherein himself fails The Scythians were esteemed barbarous but this is wise and civil in them as Lucian reports in his Toxaris They have no wealth but he is counted the richest Man that hath
in Psychom upon the Persecuted Church Yet though nothing was alter'd in him to appearance when he was doom'd to resign his Office with such a plausible Dismission pruning away the Circumstances of it I cannot see how the substance of the Act could choose but displease him For whether it come from a white or a black Whip the Wound will be blew The Transactions with which all that remain'd were wound up were first between the Lord Conway and the Lord-Keeper Lastly with his Majesty if they belong let him skip them that doth not like them He that would satisfie Posterity knows not how to leave them out And it will be worth the noting to learn from a wise Man how to manage a broken Fortune One of the first things that Comines praises in King Lewis his Master is Optimòrationem tenebat ex adversis rebus eluctandi To be fallen into great disfavour and yet to come off with no blot of Credit proves him that could do it a great Master in State-wisdom A Boat-swain will tell you That a rotten Ship had need of a good Pilot. On the 15th of October the Lord Conway came to the Lord-Keeper's Lodgings in Salisbury and began thus My Lord His Majesty some four days ago gave me a Command to deliver a Message unto you the which because it was sharp and there might be occasion for change of Councils I forbore to deliver till this Morning That is That his Majesty understanding that his Father who is with God had taken a Resolution that the Keepers of the Great-Seal of England should continue but from three Years to three Years and approving very well thereof and resolved to observe the Order during his own Reign he expects that you should surrender up the Seal by Allhallowtide next alledging no other cause thereof And that withal that having so done you should retire your self to your Bishoprick of Lincoln Answer I am his Majesty's most humble Servant and Vassal to be commanded by him in all things whatsoever The Great-Seal is his Majesty's And I will be ready to deliver up the same to any Man that his Majesty shall send with his Warrant to require it And do heartily thank God and his Majesty that his calling for the Seal is upon no other ground No indeed said Mr. Secretary no other ground that I know Only this last Clause seemeth strange unto me that I should be restrained to my Bishoprick or any place else And I humbly appeal to his Majesty's Grace and Favour therein Because it is no fault in me that his Majesty or his Father hath made such a Resolution Nor do I dispute against it although the King that dead is continued me in the Place after the three Years ended and the King that now is deliver'd me the Seal without any Condition or limitation of Time And therefore deserving no restraint I humbly desire to be left to my discretion which I will so use as shall be no way offensive to his Majesty Lord Conway I conceive it not to be a restraint but to mount in effect that his Majesty intends not to employ you at the Table but leaves you free to go to your Bishoprick Answer My Lord I desire your favourable Intercession for an Explanation of that Point And I beseech your Lordship to move his Majesty that I may attend upon him considering there is no offence laid to my charge to present unto his Majesty two humble Petitions nothing concerning this business in hand but in general the one concerning my Reputation and the other my maintenance Lord Conway I shall move his Majesty in the best Fashion I can for your content therein Answer I thank your Lordship and I doubt not of it and the rather because I vow before God I am not guilty of the least Offence against his Majesty and am ready to make it good upon my Life And I make the like Protestation for any unworthiness done against the Duke whose Hand peradventure may be in this Business Lord Conway I am ever ready to do good Offices and if my Lord of Middlesex had been perswaded by me I believe I had saved him I am the Duke's Servant but no Instrument of his to destroy Men. My Lord I being latly demanded by a great Personage if it were true that your Lord was guilty of such unworthy Practices towards the Duke I answer'd plainly I knew of no such things For which my Lord Conway having receiv'd due Thanks from me he repeated my Answers and my Petition to the King in few words that he might not be mistaken At the parting my Lord Conway spake about the time of Resignation I said it was all one to me if it were before Christmas as good soon as late Then I ask'd his Lordship if I was restrained from the Board before the delivering of the Seal His Lordship answer'd He knew of no such Intent 25. October 16. Waiting on his Majesty by my Duty and Place to go to Church my Lord Conway told me He was now for me I thank'd him and past on to the Church heard the Sermon and at the Anthem after Sermon desir'd him to tell me my Answer He said Well do you long for it And so we went on to the upper-end of the Quire and said to this effect This Morning entring into our dispatches with his Majesty I desir'd him to stay a while that I might relate your Answer to him I told his Majesty that you yielded to his Command with all possible Obedience that you said the King remanded but his own which you were very willing and ready to restore That for the Condition of three Years you would not dispute against it being a way that once you had your self recommended to the late King his Father But for the Clause of retiring to your Bishoprick which seemed to be a restraint and no cause of Offence exprest it wounded you much and you sent it back to his Majesty's Consideration Then I acquainted his Majesty with your Lordship's desire to wait upon him and to present his Majesty without touching upon things settled and resolv'd two Petitions the one concerning your Reputation the other concerning your Estate His Majesty said for the first which is your retiring he meant no restraint of Place but for some Questions that might be renewed and for some Considerations known to himself he intended not to use your Service at the Council-Table for a while until his Pleasure should be further known And for your Estate you had no Wife and Children You had a Bishoprick and his Father to help you to bear the Dignity of your Office gave you leave to hold the Deanry His Majesty intended not to debar you of any of these until he should provide you of a better But he was content to admit you to speak with him when you pleas'd so as you endeavour'd not to unsettle the former Resolutions I gave his Lordship hearty thanks for his friendly and faithful
the first settling of our Church in the Queens days Morning Prayer stopt at the end of the three Collects after the Apostle's Creed then the People had leisure before the Litany began either to retire or to betake them to private Prayers In this Interspace some Communicants had time to give in their Names to the Curate this is plain in that first Order for a publick Fast anno 5 Eliz. the words are After the Morning Prayer ended the Minister shall exhort the People assembled to give themselves in their private Prayers and Meditations for which purpose a Pause shall be made of one quarter of an hour and more by the discretion of the Curate during which time as good silence shall be kept as may be That done the Lâ—tany is to be read c. Now after the pause of scarce a minute made by this digression let the main scope of the King 's Fast indicted in July be remembred that great Humiliation with Fasting and extraordinary Prayer should be joyn'd together to avert the Peril of a Spanish Invasion therefore that we on the defensive should be ready with our Bodies and Purses to avert the Fury of our Enemies Though the Land was admonish'd of this in a religious way yet they condescended to part with Money very hardly They did only hear of an Enemy but they saw their Coyn collected from them Well did Tully write lib. 3. Ep. 24. Nulla remedia tam saciunt dolorem quae vulneribus adhibentur quà m quae maximè salutarta Say it was a Wound to our great Charter to call for Contribution without a Parliamentary way yet it was not the worse for the Wound that the Injection was sharp that cur'd it What we lost in the Privilege of Liberty it was presum'd we got in Safety 72. But the most did want that charitable Presumption and paid the irregular Levy with their Hand and not with their Heart A Prince that grieves his Subjects with a sconcing Tribute takes up Moneys at a dear Interest who should not live extempore but upon premeditation to act to day what shall be safe and honourable for ever Grotius is very political in a Passage to be found in his Proleg De jure belli pacis Qui jus civile pervertit utilitatis praesentis causâ id convellit quo ipsius posteritatis suae perpetuae utilitates continentur The People are unpleas'd upon this Levy and the Ink of a Remonstrance could not kill the Tettar A third Parliament is called to justifie the King's Act from Necessity in the face of the Kingdom It was determin'd by some about His Majesty that our Bishop should not sit in it The great Favourite knew his Discontents were encreased the Bishoprick of Winchester had been void and conferr'd upon another Archbishop Abbot removed for some months to Ford in Kent is brought to Lambeth to the Court to the Parliament Lincoln not only wanted these Sweetnings but was tir'd with defailance of Promises and defied with Threatnings so it was thought best to keep him out of the Parliament against all Right rather than suffer one with the Powers of his Parts to argue and vote against exorbitant Persons and Causes The Bishop stood upon his Place as a Spiritual Lord and resolv'd to let his Right be infring'd no longer Utrumne est tempus aliquod quo in Senatum venire turpe sit says Cicero pro domo ad Pontif. It can be no shame to come into the Senate it is a Disgrace to be kept out Therefore yielding all Obedience to Soveraignty unto the utmost of that which was due he disputed the Right of his Order so stoutly that he came to the House and continued in it to the last which he obtained the more resolutely because he look'd upon the King's Affairs with a desire to help him The L. K. Coventry had order to stop him by a Letter if he could which the other answered in these words R. H. and my very good Lord I Have received your Lordships Letter of the 17. of February but this day being the 25. of the same and although I could not desire more comfortable News from your Lordship than Leave of Absence from that Parliament in which my presence may be suspecled either by the King which my Innocency will not suffer me to believe or by any other near unto His Majesty yet being the Right of a Peer in this Kingdom that never convicled imprison'd or question'd for any Offence is not withstanding now against a second Parliament kept from his lawful and indubitable Right of sitting in that House and may be for any Comfort he doth receive from your Lordship intended to be debarr'd for ever from the same I must crave some time to resolve by the best Counsels God shall give me whether I shall obey your Lordship's Letter though mentioning His Majesty's Pleasure before mine own Right which by the Law of GOD and Man I may in all Humility maintain Especially His Majesty's Writ and Royal Proclamation of a far later date do either of them imply as your Lordship best knoweth an authentical Command I do know that of my Obedience to my Gracious Soveraign as of late I have found small acceptance so could I never find any limit or bottom And therefore I beseech your Lordship to make this no Question of the Act but of this Object only of my Duty and Submission But if I find I may without prejudice absent my self I will deal clearly with you my noble Lord in the second point I do refuse with all humble Duty and Vassalage unto His Majesty reserv'd to appoint for my Proctor the Bishop proposed And so I humbly take my leave The Courtiers knew not what would follow upon this Answer but a Course was follow'd by the Bishop as in the like Case before to cut a way between two Extreams Inter abruptam contumaciam deforme obsequium For the Parliament newly sitting the L. Keeper being demanded by John Earl of Clare whether this Bishop had a Writ sent to him and that being affirm'd the Peers call'd for his Assistance and without more ado the Parliament beginning March 17. he came to it before the end of that Month breaking the Restraint upon him not by attempt of his own Will but because it was the Pleasure of the Lords and as soon as he came he was quickly set a work for the upper House appointing to meet together at the Holy Communion Apr. 6. 1628. he preach'd the Sermon at that Solemn Occasion the Text being Gal. 6.14 and at the next Session he preacht again by their Lordship's order at a Fast kept on Ash-Wednesday Feb. 18. 1628. in the same Church upon Job 42.12 entituled Perseverantia Sanctorum Both these Sermons were printed by their Lordships direction two pieces so full of Learning and Piety that they were fitter for a longer perusal than for the short time wherein they were utter'd 73. At this great and high Assembly our