were the less careful in passing it because they accounted it did rather concern my Predecessor than them I shewed the false Latin Non-sence injustice of it prejudice to them contrariety to it self and to the King 's Grant to me I shewed there were in one Period above 500 words and which passed the rest hanging in the Air without any principal Verb. I desired them to consider if the Seal hanging to it were the Bishop's Seal They acknowledged it was not Therefore with protestation that I meant no way to call in question the sufficiency of Mr. Cook or his former Acts I did judg the Patent to be void and so declared it inhibiting Mr. Cook to do any thing by virtue thereof and them to assist him therein This is the true History of this Business howsoever Mr. Cook disguises it I suspended him not absent indicta causâ It was his Commission which was present that I viewed with the Chapter and censured which if he can make good he shall have leave and time and place enough And now to accomplish my promise to relate to your Grace my purpose herein My Lord I do thus account that to any Work or Enterprize to remove Impediments is a great part of the performance And amongst all the Impediments to the Work of God amongst us there is not any one greater than the abuse of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction This is not only the Opinion of the most Godly Judicious and Learned Men that I have known but the cause of it is plain The People pierce not into the inward and true Reasons of things they are sensible in the Purse And that Religion that makes Men that profess it and shews them to be despisers of the World and so far from encroaching upon others in Matter of base Gain as rather to part with their own they magnify This bred the admiration of the Primitive Christians and after of the Monks Contrary Causes must needs produce contrary Effects Wherefore let us preach never so painfully and piously I say more let us live never so blamelesly our selves so long as the Officers in our Courts prey upon them they esteem us no better than Publicans and Worldlings and so much the more deservedly because we are called Spiritual Men and call our selves Reformed Christians And if the honestest and best of our own Protestants be thus scandalized what may we think of Papists such as are all in a manner that we live among The time was when I hoped the Church of Ireland was free from this Abuse at least freer than her Sister of England but I find I am deceived Whether it be that distance of place and being further out of the reach of the Scepter of Justice breeds more boldness to offend or necessarily brings more delay of redress I have been wont also in Ireland to except one Court as he doth Plato But trust me my Lord I have heard that it is said among great Personages here that My Lord Primate is a good Man but his Court is as corrupt as others some say worse And which I confess to your Grace did not a little terrify me from visiting till I might see how to do it with Fruit in that of your late Visitation they see no profit but the taking of Mony But to come to Mr. Cook of all that have exercised Jurisdiction in this Land these late Years he is the most noted Man and most cried out upon Insomuch as he hath found from the Irish the Nick-name of Pouc And albeit he came off with credit when he was questioned and justified himself by the Table of Fees as by a leaden Rule any Stone may be approved as well-hewed by that little I have met with sitice I came hither I am induced to believe it was not for lack of Matter but there was some other cause of his escaping in that Trial. By his pretended Commission and that Table of Fees he hath taken in my Predecessor's Time and seeks to take in mine for Exhibits at Visitations and his Charges there above the Bishop's Procurations for Unions Sequestrations Relaxations Certificates Licences Permutations of Penance Sentences as our Court calls them Interlocutory in Causes of Correction c. Such Fees as I cannot in my Conscience think to be just and yet he doth it in my Name and tells me I cannot call him into question for it Alas my Lord if this be the condition of a Bishop that he stands for a Cipher and only to uphold the Wrongs of other Men What do I in this Place Am I not bound by my Profession made to God in your presence and following your words To be gentle and merciful for Christ's sake to poor and needy People and such as be destitute of help Can I be excused another day with this That thus it was e're I came to this place and that it is not good to be over just Or sith I am perswaded Mr. Cook 's Patent is unjust and void am I not bound to make it so And to regulate If I may this matter of Fees and the rest of the Disorders of the Jurisdiction which his Majesty hath betrusted me withal Your Grace saith truly It is a difficult thing if not impossible to overthrow a Patent so confirmed and I know in Deliberations it is one of the most important Considerations what we may hope to effect But how can I tell till I have tried To be discouraged e're I begin is it not to consult with Flesh and Blood Verily I think so and therefore must put it to the trial and leave the success to God If I obtain the Cause the Profit shall be to this poor Nation if not I shall shew my Consent to those my Reverend Brethren that have endeavoured to redress this Enormity before me I shall have the Testimony of mine own Conscience to have sought to discharge my Duty to God and his People Yea which is the main the Work of my Ministry and my Service to this Nation shall receive furtherance howsoever rather than any hinderance thereby And if by the continuance of such Oppressions any thing fall out otherwise than well I shall have acquitted my self towards his Majesty and those that have engaged themselves for me At last I shall have the better Reason and juster Cause to resign to his Majesty the Jurisdiction which I am not permitted to manage And here I beseech your Grace to consider seriously whether it were not happy for us to be rid of this Charge which not being proper to our Calling nor possibly to be executed without Deputies as subjects us to the ill conceit of their unjust or indiscreet carriage and no way furthers our own Work Or if it shall be thought fit to carry this Load still whether we ought not to procure some way to be discharged of the envy of it and redress the abuse with the greatest strictness we can devise For my part I cannot bethink me of any course fitter for
alteration that every year should afford matter enough to be taken notice of in this account therefore I shall only here give you in general the more remarkable transactions of his Life from this time till his going over into England not long before that unhappy War After his being Arch-Bishop he laid out a great deal of money Anno 1627 in Books laying aside every year a considerable Sum for that end and especially for the procuring of Manuscripts as well from foreign Parts as near at hand having about this time by the means of Mr. Thomas Davis then Merchant at Aleppo procured one of the first Samaritan Pentateuchs that ever was brought into these Western Parts of Europe as Mr. Selden and Dr. Walton acknowledge as also the Old Testament in Syriack much more perfect than had hitherto been seen in these Parts together with other Manuscripts of value This Pentateuch with the rest were borrowed of him by Dr. Walton after Bishop of Chester and by him made use of in the Polyglot Bible All which Manuscripts being lately retrieved out of the hands of the said Bishop's Executors are now in the Bodleyan Library at Oxford a fit Repository for such Sacred Monuments About this time the Lord Viscount Falkland being re-called Anno 1629 from being Deputy of Ireland was waited on by the Lord Primate to the Sea side of whom taking his leave and begging his Blessing he set sail for England having before contracted an intimate friendship with the Lord Primate which lasted till his death nor did the Lord Primate fail to express his friendship to him on all occasions after his departure doing his utmost by Letters to several of the Lords of his Majesties Privy-Council here for his Vindication from several false Accusations which were then laid to his charge by some of the Irish Nation before his Majesty which Letters together with the Vindication of the Council of Ireland by their Letter to his Majesty of his just and equal Government did very much contribute to the clearing of his Innocence in those things whereof he was then accused This year the happy news of the birth of Prince Charles his late Gracious Majesty then Prince of Wales being brought into Ireland Anno 1630 by an Express on purpose the Lords Justices and Council order'd a Solemn Day of Thanksgiving for that great happiness and the Lord Primate was invited as I find by their Letter to preach before them on that occasion as he did accordingly My Lord Primate published at Dublin his History of Gotteschalcus Anno 1631 and of the Predestinarian Controversie stirred by him being the first Latin Book that was ever printed in Ireland Wherein after a short account of Pelagianism which had then much spread it self in Spain and Britain he proceeds to the History of Gotteschalcus a Monk of the Abby of Orbais who lived in the beginning of the IX Century and his Opinions shewing out of Flodoardus and other approved Writers of that Age that the points then held by this learned Monk and that were then laid to his charge by Hincmar Arch-Bishop of Rhemes and Rabanus Arch-Bishop of Mentz and which they got condemned in a Synod held in that City as also in another at Quierzy were notwithstanding defended and maintained by Remigius or St. Remy Arch-Bishop of Lyons and the Church of that Diocess as consonant to the Scriptures and Writings of the Fathers And that indeed divers dangerous Opinions and Consequences were imputed to this learned Monk which he was not guilty of And after an account of the heads of a Treatise written by J. Scotius Erigene in defence of Free-will and the contrary Opinions to those of Gotteschalce the Lord Primate then likewise gives the sum of the Censure which Florus Deacon of Lyons writ against the same in the name of that Church As also of several Writings of Remigius Arch-Bishop of Lyons Pudentius Bishop of Troyes and Ratramus a Monk of Corbey in defence of the said Gotteschalce's Opinions and against the extravagant Tenets of Scotus Which Disputes produced two other Synods at Bonoil and Neufle in France wherein the Opinions held by Gotteschalce were asserted and the contrary as maintained by Scotus were condemned Though those Councils were still opposed and censured by Hincmar in a large Book dedicated to the Emperour Charles the Bald the heads of which are there set down out of Flodoard Which yet did not at all satisfie the contrary party nor hinder Remigius Arch-Bishop of Lyons and his Provincial Bishops from calling another Council at Langres wherein the Canons of the Valentinian Council were confirmed and those Propositions maintained by Scotus were again condemned Which Canons were also referred to the judgment of the General Council of the XII Provinces assembled at Thoul and being there debated were not by it condemned as Baronius and others will have it but for quietness sake were again referred to the judgment of the next General Assembly that the Doctrines of the Church and Fathers being produced those should be agreed on that should then appear most Sound and Orthodox And in the Conclusion my Lord there shews the great constancy of this poor Monk who notwithstanding his cruel whippings and long imprisonment to which he had been condemned by the Council of Mentz till his death yet he would never Recant but made two Confessions of his Faith which are there set down and by which it appears That many things were laid to his charge and condemned in those Councils which he never held In this Treatise as the Lord Primate has shewn himself excellently well skill'd in the Church History of those dark and ignorant Ages so he there concludes that men should not Dogmatize in these Points And indeed there ever have been and still will be different Opinions concerning these great and abstruse questions of Predestination and Free-will which yet may be tolerated and consist in any Church if the maintainers of either the one side or other will use that Charity as they ought and forbear publickly to condemn rail at or write against each other About this time the Romish Faction growing there very prevalent Anno 1631 by reason of some former connivance by the State as also for want of due instruction as hath been already said and likewise that divers abuses had crept into the Church not only among the inferior Clergy but the Bishops themselves all which had been represented by the Lords Committees for Irish Affairs to his Majesty who thereupon thought fit to send over his Letters into Ireland to all the Arch-Bishops of that Kingdom as well to put them in mind of their duty as to strengthen their Authority which were as follows CHARLES REX MOst Reverend Father in God right Trusty and entirely Beloved We Greet you well Among such disorders as the Lords of Our Privy-Council Deputed by Us to a particular care of Our Realm of Ireland and the Affairs thereof have observed and represented to Us in
with great Solemnity in former times it pleaseth God that this day begins the 49th year of his Majesty's life and let me call it the year of Jubilee to his Majesty The Jews had a Custom that in the 49th year of any mans life he should be at liberty whatever his sufferings were before It must be the desire and prayer of every Loyal heart that the King may have a Jubilee indeed This is that which Loyalty bids us do I will not stand too much upon this particular but this I will say Oh! that we knew our happiness to have a King that is the Son of Nobles a King that is not a Child a King that is at full Age to Govern by Wisdom and Prudence And truly as God gives us this blessing so he expects we should acknowledge it thankfully Eccles. 10. 16. Wo be to thee O Land saith the Preacher when the King is a Child To have him when his experience hath riveted in him sound judgment and ability to Govern The Lord threatned Jerusalem in Isa. 3. 4. I will give Children to be their Princes and Babes shall rule over them Those that would have their own Wills could I warrant you be content that the youngest should Reign To have a base man exalted is one of the things that the Earth cannot bear but some Body must have the Government it doth not belong to all you see here is one that alone hath a right to it After which he concluded to this effect That all true Christians are the First-born of God Heb. 12. The Congregation of the First-born they are all Heirs of Heaven in the same relation that Christ is by Nature we are by Grace and Adoption c. This Sermon together with the Arch-Bishop's steady carriage in the point of Episcopacy did so much enrage both the Presbyterian and Independant Factions that in their News Books and Pamphlets at London they reproach'd the Lord Primate for flattering the King as also for his perswading him not to abolish Bishops and that he had very much prejudiced the Treaty and that none among all the King's Chaplains had been so mischievous meaning to Them as He which reproaches whether the Lord Primate did deserve or not I leave to the candid Readers both of the said Sermon and Reconciliation above mentioned to judge I am sure his Majesty's Affairs were in as ill a condition to tempt any man to flatter him as the temper of his Soul was then to suffer it But the truth is the Lord Primate did no more than assert his Majesty's just Rights and Prerogative then trampled upon and it was no more than what he had both preached and written before in that Treatise since published Of the Power of the Prince and Obedience of the Subject After the Lord Primate had taken his last leave of his Majesty and done him and the Church all the service he was able at that time though not with that success he desired he returned to Southampton in order to his going towards London where he was kindly received by the chief of the Town and withal intreated to preach there the next day being Sunday but when he thought of complying with their desires the Governor of the Garrison hearing of it came to my Lord Primate and told him he had been informed he intended to preach on the morrow to which when my Lord answered yes 't was true he replyed that it might be at that time of ill consequence to the Place and therefore wished him to forbear for they could not permit it and so they suffered him not to preach there for they were afraid of his plain dealing and that he would have declared against that Villainy they were then about to execute For not long after my Lord's return to London his Majesty was brought up thither as a Prisonerby the Army in order to that wicked piece of Pageantry which they called his Tryal And now too soon after came that fatal Thirtieth of January never to be mentioned or thought on by all good men without grief and detestation on which was perpetrated the most Execrable Villainy under the pretence of Justice that ever was acted since the World began A King Murthered by his own Subjects before his own Palace in the face of the Sun For which the Lord Primate was so deeply sensible and afflicted that he kept that day as a private Fast so long as he lived and would always be wail the scandal and reproach it cast not only on our own Nation but Religion it self saying That thereby a great advantage was given to Popery and that from thence forward the Priests would with greater success advance their designs against the Church of England and Protestant Religion in general Nor will it be impertinent here to relate a passage that happened to the Lord Primate at the time of his Majesty's murther The Lady Peterborough's House where my Lord then lived being just over against Charing-Cross divers of the Countesse's Gentlemen and Servants got upon the Leads of the House from whence they could see plainly what was acting before White-Hall as soon as his Majesty came upon the Scaffold some of the House-hold came and told my Lord Primate of it and askt him if he would see the King once more before he was put to death My Lord was at first unwilling but was at last perswaded to go up as well out of his desire to see his Majesty once again as also curiosity since he could scarce believe what they told him unless he saw it When he came upon the Leads the King was in his Speech the Lord Primate stood still and said nothing but sighed and lifting up his Hands and Eyes full of Tears towards Heaven seemed to pray earnestly but when his Majesty had done speaking and had pulled off his Cloak and Doublet and stood stripped in his Wastcoat and that the Villains in Vizards began to put up his hair the good Bishop no longer able to endure so dismal a sight and being full of grief and horror for that most wicked Fact now ready to be Executed grew pale and began to faint so that if he had not been observed by his own Servant and some others that stood near him who thereupon supported him he had swounded away So they presently carried him down and laid him on his Bed where he used those powerful weapons which God has left his People in such Afflictions viz. Prayers and Tears Tears that so horrid a sin should be committed and Prayers that God would give his Prince patience and constancy to undergo these cruel Sufferings and that he likewise would not for the vindication of his own Honour and Providence permit so great a wickedness to pass unpublished This I received from my Lord Primate's Grandson who heard it from the mouth of his Servant who lived with him till his death After this sad Tragedy the Government if it may be so called was managed by a
and his Epistle to Lud. Capellus concerning the various readings of the Hebrew Text speak him a great Critick in the Greek and Hebrew Tongues and his Annals of the Old and New Testament do shew how great a Master he was in all the Ancient Authors both Sacred and Prophane besides several other smaller Treatises as well in Latin as English viz. Of the Macedonian Year the Geographical Description of the lesser Asia c. each of which shew his great skill either in Astronomy ancient Geography or the Civil Laws of the Roman Empire besides divers other smaller Works of his too many to be here particularly inserted and therefore I shall refer the Reader to the Catalogue added at the end of this Account Yet must I not omit particularly to take notice of two excellent Posthumous Treatises of his which have not been yet mentioned as being published since his death the first is that of the Power of the Prince and Obedience of the Subject which was written by the King's Command during the late Wars but forborn then to be published because the corruption of those Times still growing worse and worse would not bear this sound Doctrine nor did he think it proper to do it in the short time of that Usurper lest he or others might have interpreted it to his advantage but not long after his late Majesty's happy Restauration it was Published and Dedicated to him by the Lord Primate's Grandson James Tyrrel with an excellent Preface written by that learned and good Bishop Sanderson in which he has given as true a Character of the Author as of the work it self in which he says with a great deal of truth That there is nothing which can be brought either from the Holy Scriptures Fathers Philosophers common Reason and the Laws and Statutes of this Realm to prove it altogether unlawful for Subjects to take up Arms against their Sovereign Prince but is there made use of with the greatest advantage The other Treatise is written in Latin entitled Chronologia Sacra which the Lord Primate never lived to finish but was as much of it as could be found though somewhat imperfectly published by the Learned and Reverend Dr. Barlow now Lord Bishop of Lincoln The occasion and design of this Treatise was to prove the Foundations of the accounts of time in his Annals and that his Chronological Calculations made use of in that work agreed with the accounts laid down in the Scriptures and Prophane Authors which could not be done in the Annals themselves without interrupting the Series of the Work In this he hath solved several difficulties relating to the History and Chronology of the Bible he began with the Creation though the first Chapter is lost being not to be found among his Papers yet in the next he gives an exact account of the differences between the Jewish Samaritan and Greek Calculations from the Creation to the Birth of Abraham which he carried on as far as the time of the Judges but was then interrupted by death Yet he had before happily perfected the account of the Reigns and Synchronisms of the Kings of Judah and Israel from Saul to the Babylonish Captivity which being more perfect than the other part was thought fit by the Printer or Publisher to be set before it though it be indeed contrary to the order of time It was great pity that my Lord did not live to finish this work which would have been of excellent use for the clearing of many difficulties and reconciling the differences between the Sacred and Prophane Chronology and History I may here likewise take notice of those many Volumes of his Collections and several of them all of his own hand on particular subjects both Theological Philological and Historical most of them extracted out of several Manuscripts in the Libraries of the Universities Cathedrals and private mens Studies there being scarce a choice Book or Manuscript in any of them but was known to him nor was he conversant in the Libraries of our own Nation alone but also knew most of the choice pieces in the Vatican Escurial and Imperial Library at Vienna as likewise in that of the King of France of Thuanus at Paris and Erpenius in Holland as still appears by the Catalogues he had procured of them divers of which I have now in my Custody and out of which Libraries he at his great cost procured divers Copies for his own use which made the most considerable Ornament of his Study But to return to his own Collections above mentioned which were the Store-Houses and Repositories from whence he furnished himself with materials for the writing of so many learned Treatises and out of which might be gathered matter towards the performing much more in the same kind though divers Volumes of them were borrowed by Dr. Bernard and never restored by him as I have already said Yet those that remain are thought very considerable by the several Learned men who have perused them and in particular the late judicious Lord Chief Justice Hale having borrowed several of them did out of them Transcribe those four Volumes which he bequeaths in his Will to the Library at Lincolns-Inn among divers other Manuscripts of his by the name of His Extracts out of the Lord Primate's Collections And for the satisfaction of the Reader I shall give you the Heads and Subjects of some of the most considerable of them at the end of this account So that the Lord Primate was like the wise Housholder in the Gospel who brought out of his Treasure things New and Old And a Learned man of this Nation compared the Arch-Bishop of Armagh not only to a careful Surveyor who collects all sorts of materials for his building before he begins his work but also to a skilful Architect who knew Artificially how to frame and put together the materials before Collected till they became one strong entire and uniform Structure Nor does any thing more express the great strength of the Lord Primate's memory than those Collections which though promiscuously gathered by way of Adversaria according as those Subjects offered themselves yet could he as readily call to mind and find out any particular in them which he had occasion to make use of as if they had been digested in the more exact method of a Common-place-Book So that he certainly deserved a much higher Character than that Dr. Heylin Sarcastically puts upon him Of a walking Concordance and living Library as if he had been only an Index for such wise men as himself to make use of but greater Scholars than he had far higher and more Reverend thoughts of him there being scarce a Learned Writer of this present Age who does not mention his great Piety Learning and Judgment with honour and veneration I had once collected a great many Elogies of this kind from the Writings of divers considerable Authors but since I find that done already by others and that it would swell this work
I meant I do it very willingly for I never meant him nor any Man else but thought it concerned your Grace to know what I credibly heard to be spoken concerning your Court Neither as God knows did I ever think it was fit to take away the Jurisdiction from Chancellors and put it into the Bishops Hands alone or so much as in a Dream condemn those that think they have reason to do otherwise nor tax your Grace's Visitation nor imagine you would account that to pertain to your Reproof and take it as a Wrong from me which out of my Duty to God and you I thought was not to be concealed from you I beseech you pardon me this one Error Si unquam posthac For that Knave whom as your Grace writes they say I did absolve I took him for one of my Flock or rather Christ's for whom he shed his Blood And I would have absolved Julian the Apostata under the same form Some other Passages there be in your Grace's Letters which I But I will lay mine Hand upon mine Mouth And craving the blessing of your Prayers ever remain Your Grace's poor Brother and humble Servant Will. Kilmore and Ardaghen Kilmore March 29. 1630. LETTER CLVI A Letter from the most Reverend James Usher Arch-bishop of Armagh to the Lords Justices My most Honoured Lords I Received a Letter from your Lordships without any Date wherein I am required to declare what Motives I can alleadg for the stopping of Sir John Bathe's Patent Whereunto I answer That I cannot nor need not produce any other reason than that which I have done and for the maintenance of the sufficiency whereof I will adventure all I am worth namely that for the Particular now in question Sir John Bathe's Letter hath been gotten from his Majesty by meer surreption and therefore no Patent ought to be passed thereupon For although I easily grant that my Lord Treasurer and the Chancellor of the Exchequer might certify unto his Majesty that there was no other thing left to be passed here but Impropriations though Sir John Bathe I think hath found already somewhat else to be passed in his Book and may do more if he will not be so hasty but take time to enquire Yet how doth it appear that either of these two noble Gentlemen did as much as know that his Majesty had taken a former Order for the settlement of these things upon the Church To which Resolution had they been privy I do so presume of their Nobleness and care of the Publick Good that the remittal of a Matter of two thousand pounds would not induce them to divert his Majesty from making good that precious Donation which by the Example of his Father of never-dying memory he had solemnly devoted to God and his Church such an eximious Act of Piety as is not to be countervalued with two or twenty thousand pounds of any earthly Treasure But whatsoever they knew or knew not of his Majesty's own pious Resolution and constant Purpose never to revoke that which he hath once given unto God I rest so confident as I dare pawn my Life upon it that when he did sign those Letters of Sir John Bathe's he had not the least intimation given unto him that this did any way cross that former Gift which he made unto the Church upon so great and mature deliberation as being grounded upon the Advice first of the Commissioners sent into Ireland then of the Lords of the Council upon their report in England thirdly of King James that ever blessed Father of the Church and lastly of the Commissioners for Irish Affairs unto whom for the last debating and conclusion of this business I was by his now Majesty referr'd my self at my being in England I know Sir John and his Counsel do take notice of all those Reasons that may seem to make any way for themselves But your Lordships may do well to consider that such Letters as these have come before now wherein Rectories have been expresly named and those general Non obstantes also put which are usual in this kind and yet notwithstanding all this his Majesty intimateth unto you in his last Letters that he will take a time to examine those Proceedings and punish those that then had so little regard to the particular and direct expression of his Royal Pleasure for the disposing of the Impropriations to the general benefit of the Church Which whether it carrieth not with it a powerful Non obstante to that surreptious Grant now in question I hold it more safe for your Lordships to take Advice among your selves than from any other bodies Counsel who think it their Duty to speak any thing for their Clients Fee As for the want of Attestation wherewith the credit of the Copy of a Letter transmitted unto you is laboured to be impaired If the Testimony of my Lord of London who procured it and the Bishop Elect of Kilfennora who is the bringer of it and of a Dean and an Arch-Deacon now in Ireland who themselves saw it will not suffice it will not be many days in all likelihood before the Original it self shall be presented to your Lordships In the mean time I desire and more than desire if I may presume to go so far that your Lordships will stay your hands from passing Sir John Bathe's Patent until my Lord of London himself shall signifie his Majesties further Pleasure unto you in this Particular And it my Zeal hath carried me any way further than Duty would require I beseech your Lordships to consider that I deal in a Cause that highly concerneth the good of the Church unto which I profess I owe my whole self and therefore craving Pardon for this my Boldness I humbly take leave and rest still to continue Your Lordships in all dutiful Observance J. A. Droghedah April the 3d 1630. Instructions given to Mr. Dean Lesly April 5. 1630. for the stopping of Sir John Bathe's Patent 1. YOU are to inform your self whether Sir John Bathe's Patent be already sealed and if it be whether it were done before Saturday which was the day wherein I received and answered the Lords Justices Letters touching this business and at which time they signified the Patent was as yet unpast and use all speedy means that the Patent may not be delivered into Sir John Bathes hands before you be heard to speak what you can against it and if that also be done I authorize you to signifie unto the Lords Justices that I must and will complain against them to his Sacred Majesty 2. You are to go unto Sir James Ware the younger from me and enquire of him whether he gave any Certificate unto my Lord Treasurer and the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the King had not of Temporal Lands the annual Rent of 300 l. to grant in reversion but that of necessity must be supplied with the Grant of the reversion of Tithes impropriate And withal learn
of him to what value the Temporal Rents not yet passed in reversion do arise and what proportion thereof Sir John Bathe is now a passing in his Book 3. Whereas the Lords Justices in their Letter do signifie unto 〈◊〉 that such a Certificate had been made unto his Majesty by the Lord Treasurer and Chancellor of the Exchequer you may certifie them that Sir John Bathe sent unto me a Certificate under their hands to view wherein they do inform his Majesty that in their Judgments the granting of 〈◊〉 l. Rent in Reversion will countervail the Sum which Sir John was to remit but that there was no other thing leâ—t to be passed but Impropriations which is the main thing that concerns this business that to my remembrance they meddle not with at all and Sir John Bathe by the Temporal Lands that now he is passing in his Book doth prove it to be otherwise 4. Take a view of Sir John Bathe's Letter and consider with your Counsel first whether there be any general Non obstante in it against all precedent Instructions and Directions of which I much doubt And secondly Whether any such general Non obstante have power to cross the particular Letter which in â—y apprehension is more then an Instruction at large which I brought over from his Majesty that now is for the disposing of the Impropriations otherwise 5. Let Sir John Bathe be demanded upon his Conscience whether he did so much as know that I had obtained any such Letter from his Majesty when he procured his If he did why did he not to take away all suspicion of surreption cause a special Non obstante to be inserted against it as well as he hath done against another particular Instruction mentioned in the end of his Letter If he did not as his Kinsman who brought me the Lords Justices Letters assured me he did not how in any common intendment can it be presumed that the Particularities of my former Letter were 〈◊〉 into due consideration and revoked by his Majesty If it be alledged that his Letter coming after mine is of it self a sufficient Revocation thereof I alledg in like manner that this last Letter of mine coming after his is of it self a sufficient Revocation of his and so much the more by far because his was obtained upon my direct Complaint against Sir John Bathe's Letter as surreptitiously procured which I take to be a Non-obstante sufficient enough against him whatsoever it be against any other whereas in the procuring of Sir John Bathe's there was no notice at all taken of my particular Letter 6. You are to 〈…〉 the Instructions which they received with the Sword they are 〈…〉 make stay of the passing of any Grant for which the King's Letters are brought unto them where they have cause to doubt whether his Majesty were fully informed or no concerning the 〈◊〉 or inconveniency of that Particular Wherein if my Lord of London's Letter be not of authority sufficient otherwise to make a legal Attestation of his Majesties Royal Intendâ—ent yeâ— I suppoâ—◠〈◊〉 will 〈◊〉 so much weight with it as to 〈◊〉 theâ—◠〈◊〉 little which longer as they have done 〈◊〉 when they had nothing so strong a 〈◊〉 until his Majesty being fully informed upon both sides shall signifie his express Pleasure unto them in this particular And in doing otherwise they may justly conceive that it will be charged upon them for a neglect in performance of his Majesties Pleasure LETTER CLVII A Letter from the Right Reverend George Downham Bishop of London-Derry to the most Reverend James Usher Arch-bishop of Armagh Most Reverend MY very good Lord. The Book and Papers which you were pleased to send to me I have now returned with Thanks Of which I made this use so soon as I had received them that I gave Directions to Mr. Price to insert those Additions unto the 13th Chapter of Perseverance and § 3. both in the beginning whereof I spake of Adulti of whom properly this Controversy is understood And in the end thereof where I speak of Infants touching whom I say first That this Controversy is not understood of those who neither are endued with Habit of Grace nor are able to produce the Acts thereof as not having the use of Reason And therefore being neither justified by Faith nor sanctified by the Habits of Grace cannot be said to fall from them Thus I thought good to rid my self of that Question rather then to profess a difference from them who notwithstanding that Objection taken from Baptism agree with me in the Doctrine of Perseverance yet I must profess to your Grace that I do not subscribe to their Opinion who extend the benefit of Baptism beyond either the Purpose or Covenant of Grace But hereof more when it shall please God to give us a meeting In the mean time and always I commend your Grace to the gracious Protection of the Almighty In whom I ever rest Your Grace's in all Duty Georg. Derens. Fawne April 24. 1630. LETTER CLVIII A Letter from the Right Reverend Thomas Morton Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield to the most Reverend James Usher Arch-bishop of Armagh Salutem in Christo Jesu Most Reverend I Was right glad to receive by your Graces own Letters the report of your late almost desperate Sickness they being therein the Messengers of your present Health Wherein I and others are to acknowledg the Mercâ— of God unto us who hath preserved you to be still a most emâ—nenâ—â—nstrument of his Glory and Comfort of his Church I do also condole with your Lordship the loss of those rare Lights of Learning mentioned in your Letter but yet enjoying also with you the hopes of their Blessedness Your Grace inquires after Christ his Mass a Fruit which will not be in season before Michaelmas I have an eager longing to be made partaker Histoâ—icae Controversiae Predestinatianae together with your new Edition of altering the Jesuits Challenge I had the sight of your Adversaries Book but obiter at what time I alight on a palpable Falsification of his but ea est infelicitas Memoriae that I have forgot it else according to my Duty I should have acquainted your Grace with it Good my Lord that which our outward Man denieth let our inward continually seek to embrace and enjoy our mutual presence by brotherly Affection and holy Prayer unto God that we may be that which we profess Filii Gratiae Charitate Fratres Our Lord Jesus preserve us to the Glory of his saving Grace Your Grace's in respectful Acknowledgment Tho. Covent Litchfield Eccleshall-Castle May 21 1630. LETTER CLIX. A Letter from the most Reverend James Usher Arch-bishop of Armagh to Dr. Ward Salutem à salutis fonte D. N. Jesu Christo. YOur Letter of the 24th of November lay by the way almost a quarter of a Year before it came into my hands but was the most welcome when it came of any that I did receive from
discharge the Duty let him have the Wages to better his Maintenance But when your Grace assureth us we shall lack no Men when there is besides Mr. Crien whom D. Sheriden hath heard preach as a Frier in that very place which I account would be the more to God's Glory if there now he should plant the Truth which before he endeavoured to root out besides him we have Mr. Nugent who offereth himself in an honest and discreet Letter lately written to me We have sundry in the Colledg and namely two trained up at the Irish Lecture one whereof hath translated your Grace's Catechism into Irish besides Mr. Duncan and others With what colour can we pass by these and suffer him to fat himself with the Blood of God's People Pardon me I beseech your Grace when I say We I mean not to prescribe any thing to you My self I hope shall never do it or consent to it And so long as this is the cause of Mr. D's Wrath against me whether I suffer by his Pen or his Tongue I shall rejoice as suffering for Righteousness sake And sith himself in his last Letter excuses my Intent I do submit my Actions after God to your Grace's Censure ready to make him Satisfaction if in any thing in Word or Deed I have wronged him For conclusion of this business wherein I am sorry to be so troublesome to your Grace let him surcease this his greedy and impudent pretence to this Benefice let Mr. Nugent be admitted to it or Mr. Crien if he be not yet provided for to whom I will hope ere long to add Mr. Nugent for a Neighbour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If these second questionless better Thoughts have any place in him as in his last Letters he gives some hope let my Complaints against him be cast into the Fire God make him an humble and modest Man But if Mr. Dean will needs persist I beseech your Grace to view my Reply to the which I will add no more As touching his traducing me in the Pulpit at Cavan I have sent your Grace the Testimonies of Mr. Robins and Mr. Teate altho he had been with them before and denied what they formerly conceived And if your Grace will be pleased to enquire of Mr. Cape by a Line or two with whom I never spake word about the matter or compare the heads of his Sermon which he saith were general with his former Reports made of me I doubt not but you will soon find the Truth I have sent also his Protestation against my Visitations wherein I desire your Grace to observe the blindness of Malice He pretends that I may not visit but at or after Michaelmas every Year As if the Month of July wherein I visited were not after Michaelmas for before the last Michaelmas I visited not I omit that he calls himself the Head of the Chapter The Canon Law calls the Bishop so he will have the Bishop visit the whole Diocess together directly contrary to that form which the Canons prescribe But this Protestation having neither Latin nor Law nor common Sence doth declare the Skill of him that drew it and the Wit of him that uses it Which if your Grace enjoyn him not to revoke I shall be enforced to put a remedy to it otherwise in respect of the evil Example and Prejudice it might bring to Posterity And now to leave this unpleasing Subject Since my being with you here was with me Mr. Brady bringing with him the Resignation of the Benefice of Mullagh which I had conferred upon Mr. Dunsterville and united to his former of Moybolk he brought with him Letters from my L. of Corke and Sir W. Parsons to whom he is allied But examining him I found him besides a very raw Divine unable to read the Irish and therefore excused my self to the Lords for admitting him A few days after viz. the 10th of this Month here was with me Mr. Dunsterville himself and signified unto me that he had revoked his former Resignation Thus he plays fast and loose and most unconscionably neglects his Duty Omnes quae sua sunt quaerunt Indeed I doubted his Resignation was not good in as much as he retained still the former Benefice whereto this was united Now I see clearly there was a compact between him and Mr. Brady that if he could not be admitted he should resume his Benefice again I have received Letters from Mr. Dr. Ward of the Date of May 28 in which he mentions again the point of the Justification of Infants by Baptism To whom I have written an Answer but not yet sent it I send herewith a Copy thereof to your Grace humbly requiring your Advice and Censure if it be not too much to your Graces trouble before I send it I have also written an Answer to Dr. Richardson in the question touching the Root of Efficacy or Efficiency of Grace but it is long and consists of five or six sheets of Paper so as I cannot now send it I shall hereafter submit it as all other my Endeavours to your Grace's Censure and Correction I have received also a large Answer from my Lord of Derry touching Justifying Faith whereto I have not yet had time to reply Nor do I know if it be worth the labour the difference being but in the manner of teaching As whether justifying Faith be an Assent working Assiance or else an Assiance following Assent I wrote presently upon my return from your Grace to my Lords Justices desiring to be excused from going in person to take Possession of the Mass-houses and a certificate that my Suit with Mr. Cook is depending before them I have not as yet received Answer by reason as Sir Will. Usher signified to my Son the Lord Chancellor's Indisposition did not permit his hand to be gotten I do scarce hope to receive any Certificate from them for the respect they will have not to seem to infringe your Grace's Jurisdiction Whereupon I shall be inforced to entertain a Proctor for me at your Graces Court when I am next to appear it being the very time when my Courts in the County of Leatrym were set before I was with you Asham'd I am to be thus tedious but I hope you will pardon me sith you required and I promised to write often And having had opportunity to convey my Letters this must serve instead of many Concluding with my humble Service to your Grace and Thanks for my kind Entertainment I desire the Blessing of your Prayers and remain always Your Graces humble Servant Will. Kilmore and Ardaghen Kilmore Sept. 18. 1630. LETTER CLXIX A Letter sent from Dr. Forbes Professor of Divinity at Aberdeen with his Irenicum to the most Reverend James Usher Arch-bishop of Armagh Reverendissimo in Christo Patri Jacobo Usserio Dei miseratione Archiepiscopo Armacano totius Hiberniae Primati meritissimo Domino suo colendissimo Salutem in Domino Reverendissime Sanctissime Pater TAnta mihi ex
omnes Provincias unitas post actas Deo solennes gratias accendendi ob recuperatum singulari Dei beneficio Schenkianum munimentum praecedenti anno turpissima nostrorum incuria deperditum Nunquam magis quam tum triumphavit hostis nunquam nos luximus magis tanto magis triumphamus nunc quod dissipatis magnis quae agitabat Consiliis ipsi ignominia nobis securitas data sit Faxit Deus ut tantum grata mente beneficium semper recolentes datori ejus dignas gratias rependamus ab eo uno pendeamus eum revereamur colamus Ejusdem favori ac clementiae Amplissimam tuam Dignitatem commendat utque ea sospes diù sit atque incolumis maximopere optat qui est erit Amplissimae tuae Dign devotissimus Servus Ludovicus de Dieu Datum Lugd. Bat. 4 Maii 1636. LETTER CLXXXVII A Letter from the Learned Lodovicus de Dieu to the most Reverend James Usher Arch-bishop of Armagh Reverendissime Praesul QUas per Cl. ac Nobilissimum D. Boswellum 4 o Maii ad Ampl. tuam dedi literas quin acceperis nullus dubito Monitus iterum per eundem D. Boswellum qui est ejus singularis in me favor de nave Dublinium cogitante non potuit non Rever tuam submissè vel verbulo salutare Scripseram de Historia Christi à Jesuita Hieronymo Xaverio Persicè contexta à me vero translata brevi censura notata Addideram tradi mihi dum scriberem Apostoli Petri Historiam eodem Autore Transtuli exinde hanc atque utriusque textum Persicum descripsi ingenti sane taedioso cum labore necessario tamen quia Orientalium scriptura legi à Typothetis non poterat Omnia jam sunt prelo adaptata eique proxima volente Deo septimana subjicientur Imprimitur jam tractatus Talmudicus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cum translatione Cl. Lempereur ejusque notis sequentur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Specimen quoque nuper vidimus sacraram Observationum Cl. Heynsii in universum N. Testamentum in procinctu est ut editio ejus procedat Opus certe luculentum multifaria eruditione refertum Haec sunt Vir amplissime quae hîc nunc potissimum in re literaria aguntur Quae nos tam tua scire interest quam hîc omnes docti valetudinem tuam resciscere avent anni enim sunt ex quo nihil de rerum tuarum statu cognovimus Incolumen tamen salvum speramus utque idem diu sis ardentissimis votis precamur Plurimum se favori tuo Cl. Lempereur commendat utque nos deinceps amore tuo digneris obnixè ambo rogamus Datum Lugd. Batav 22. Augusti 1636. Reverendae Amplit tuae Devotissimus Ludovicus de Dieu LETTER CLXXXVIII A Letter from the most Reverend James Usher Arch-bishop of Armagh to the Learned Lodovicus de Dieu Admodùm Reverendo in Christo fratri D. Ludovico de Dieu Ecclesiae Lugduno-Batavae Pastori vigilantissimo Leydam Reverende Vir ac Charissime in Christo Frater ELiteris tuis 22 o Augusti Gregoriani datis quae ante paucos dies ad me fuerant perlatae intelligo te alteras non ita pridem ad me dedisse quae nondum mihi visae sunt intercidisse illas quas ipse ad te scripseram Eucharisticas post allatas mihi eruditissimas tuas in Acta Apostolorum animadversiones in cujus luculenti operis Praefatione quòd quaedam haud admodùm magna beneficia tibi à me exhibita depraedicas in eo majorem propriae tuae humanitatis quà m rei ipsius rationem habuisti Ad duos verò illos Tractatus Persicos à te in Latinum sermonem conversos quod attinet diffiteri nemo potest quin omnes Persicae Linguae studiosi magnam inde haurire queant utilitatem Sed ut ingenuè animi mei sensum tibi aperiam indignos puto Jesuitas qui afficiantur illo honore ut hujusmodi ipsorum scriptis ullus transferendi labor impendatur praesertim à viris ad majora natis Itaque posthac si me uti monitore volueris potius aut in Syriacis Ephraemi illustrandis aut in pertexendis tuis in Novum Testamentum observationibus perges quâ ratione multo majus addes gloriae tuae incrementum quà m collocando operam tuam ibi unde neque ad nos insignis utilitas nepe ad te quicquam nisi cognitionis peregrini idiomatis fama redire queat Ephraemi Opusculorum si quid adhuc in Syriâ lateat eruendum curabimus quâ in re ne operam ludamus ac impensam emendo illa quae jam possidemus omnium ejus tractatuum quos istic Leidae habetis titulos atque exordia proprio sermone ac charactere descripta ad me transmittas velim Et quia scire valdè aveo quos secum ex Oriente libros attulerit Cl. Golius si catalogum ipsorum impressum addideris quem hactenus nancisci non potui rem mihi facturus es gratissimam Eruditissimi Heinsii praeclaras illas in Novum Testamentum Observationes avidissime expectamus cujus generis alias Clarissimum Grotium moliri jampridem intelleximus Doctissimum verò Salmasium tamdiu cessare miramur neque tot jam annis quicquam novi procudere quum praesertim tot circum urgeatur exemplis quae vel ignarum quenquam excitare queant ad praeclaros conatus nedum tantum ac talem virum Breviarium quoddam linguâ ut putabatur Aegyptiacā conscriptum illi transmittendum Arnoldo Bootio nostro tradidi sed illud intercidisse audio Plurimum velim meo nomine illi Heinsio si quos alios illic amicos habemus salutem dicas Vale Clarissime Vir ac me porrò amare perge Ja. U. Arm. Ex aedibus nostris Termino-fechinianis Septembris Juliani die 14. Anno Salutis MDCXXXVI LETTER CLXXXIX A Letter from the most Reverend William Laud Arch-bishop of Canterbury to the most Reverend James Usher Arch-bishop of Armagh Salutem in Christo. My very good Lord I Have been put to no small pains considering my other Occasions to read over and in a manner to study the several Letters and other Papers which have been sent and come to my hands some from your Grace some from the Provost and Fellows that join with him some from Pheasant and the other Party and some from the Lords Justices and Council there to the Lord Deputy and from his Lordship to me and all of them about the late unhappy difference fallen between the Visitors of the Colledg near Dublin and the Provost The more carefully I have read over these Papers the more I clearly confess to your Grace I am troubled at the Business and could heartily wish some friendly way were thought on there to prevent a formal and legal Decision by me Of which yet seeing so little hope as I do I have taken all the pains which I can preparatory to a final Sentence For I have
very carefully and with all indifferency drawn a brief History of the Fact and the whole Proceedings with relation in the Margent to every several Paper that hath come to my hands A Copy of this Brief together with all the several Papers to which it relates I have sent to my Lord Deputy and desired him to shew it to your Grace and all the other Parties whom it concerns to this end that if your Lordship and they agree upon the Fact I may have it returned unto me and go on to my Decision But if you agree not upon the Fact as I have set it down that then you may there settle any Difference and agree upon it that no one whom it concerns may say I had not a right state of the Question before me When this is done I shall go on to do my Duty with Justice to all Parties as far as I can apprehend the Cause and as far as my learned Counsel here shall be able to advise me But I cannot but still wish and that very heartily that my Decision may be prevented by the care and wisdom of my Lord Deputy and the moderate and prudent respects of the Parties interessed which I presume your Grace will further For it appears very ill to his Majesty who was of necessity to be made acquainted with the Business because the Censure of the Provost if he deserve it is referr'd to himself and must needs appear so to all wise Men both here and there that such a Difference concerning young Men newly started up from Boys should cause so great a disturbance among grave and wise Men as this hath done And 't is somewhat too that the Romanists which swarm in those Parts have such an occasion as this Difference to please themselves withal My Hopes are great in your Grace's Moderation but if all fail I shall make a binding Decision so soon as ever the state of the Business is sent me back So wishing your Grace all Health and Happiness I leave you to God's blessed Protection and rest Your Grace's very loving Friend and Brother W. Cant. Croidon Oct. 18. 1636. LETTER CXC Ornatissimo Clarissimoque Viro D. Gerardo Vossio Historiae civilis Doctrinae apud Amstelodamenses Professori ACcepi Vir eximie Literas tuas quibus dum amorem quo te prosequor ex breviore saltem muneris indicio rectè quidem colligis nobilissimum tuum pectus instar fertilioris alicujus agri aperis qui plus multo adferat quà m acceperit Adeo munusculum nuper tibi à me oblatum extollis ut quo te merito me absolvere studebas eo me tuo totum implices beneficium longè majus reddere videaris cùm te debere aliquid mihi profiteris Utcunque vero aliqua inter nos in Gotteschalci Historiâ oboriatur differentia gaudeo tamen tibi ex animo gratulor nos quod ait in eo quod rei caput est consentire uterque dum B. Augustini sententiam amplectimur Quam sive Gotteschalcus per omnia fuerit secutus sive aliquando excesserit nolim ego multùm contendere modo quod libenter audio nobis ipsis cum Augustino conveniat cujus sententiam in causâ Gotteschalci tuendam susceperat Remigius Qui verò duriores sunt vel fuerunt Augustini interpretes nunquam mihi placuerunt minimeque omnium inertes illi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qui faciunt agendo ut nihil agamus homines sponte suâ ignaros ipsis quoque truncis reddunt stupidiores quum divinus ille gratiae praeco ex eo ipso quòd Deus is sit qui efficiat in nobis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 contrarium plane deducat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Studendum idcirco ut cum timore tremore salutem nostram operemur Quippe quod verendum sit si ab Religione Officii hîc declinaverimus vel nihil agendo vel male agendo eum a cuius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 illa quam habemus volendi faciendi potestas tota pendet irritaverimus ne Deus ita a nobis lacessitus iure suo nobiscum agat atque nos desertos deserat novas ad volendum agendum vires absque quibus ipsi nos lassos erigere nequeamus ultra non impertiat De Mariano nostro quî factum ut mutus omnino ad vos venerit amantissimo utriusque nostrum D. Ludovico de Dieu rationem reddidi Mens verò quae nunc est mihi tum erat eadem nempe ut sicut tuâ operâ ita etiam sub tuo nomine integer prodiret Marianus Integrum vero in unico Cottonianae Bibliothecae exemplari reperi si tamen integrum Postrema enim pars Chronic à Dionysianae aerae anno 900 usque ad finem quam inde descriptam totam seorsim ad te miseram integrior in Sichardi editione legitur cui siquid desit ex tuo supplendum erit exemplari quod illud Gemblacense esse suspicor ex quo novam Mariani editionem promisit nobis Miraeus quam non praestitit Nactus sum alia tria exemplaria in quibus Anglicanum Florentii Chronicon cum universali Mariani hoc Wigorniensis quidam Monachus Regis Stephani temporibus commiscuerat Ex eorum uno Florentium vel potius Marianum suum edidit nobilissimus D. Guâ—ielmus Howardus de Naworth Thomae Norfolciensis Dueis Filius Duo alia apud Oxonienfes vidi 〈…〉 unum in Collegii Corporis Christi Bibliotheca alterum quorum utrumque praeter Proaemia integrum Librum secundum habuit qui à primo aberat Initio Cottoniani codicis verba ista praefixa inveni Meum Nomen ut dignum Chronica Chronicarum cum prae illis servo verba Evangelistarum nulla enim Cronica conservat diem mensis solaris Resurrectionis Christi iuxta Historiam Evangelii nisi ista sola Sequebantur deinde tanquam ipsius Mariani Tabellae illae Chronologicae quas in Apographi mei principio descriptas vides quae commodius ni fallor ad calcem operis essent rejiciendae Earum aliquot in Bodleiano quoque habentur codice qui à Consulum Indiculo incipit in altero Collegii Corporis Christi plures Romanorum Episcoporum Catalogo usque ad Eugenium III perducto cui aliâ adscripti erant manu ann 8 mens 4 di 20 quod argumento est Eugenii tempore exemplar illud fuisse exaratum Ut autem intelligas quibus in locis Cottonianum libri primi tertii Chronicon à vulgato differat Florentium Wigorniensem nunc ad te mitto quem Francisci Quarlesii operâ qui mihi tum erat ab Epistolis Vir ob sacratiorem Poësin apud Anglos suos non incelebris cum illo conferendum curavi ad Annum usque Dom. DCCCC Dionysianum à quo quaternio prius missus initium duxit Ubi quae lineis subtùs ductis sunt notata à Cottoniano exemplari absunt ex Florentii Annalibus à Wigorniensi de quo