grosly abused by the multiplicity of Libellous Pamphlets and my self debarred from wonted access to the best of Princes and it is Vox Populi that I am Popishly affected How earnest I have been in my Disputations Exhortations and otherwise to quench such sparks lest they should become Coals I hope after my death you will all acknowledge yet in the midst of all my afflictions there is nothing 〈◊〉 hath so nearly touched me as the remembrance of your free and joyful acceptance of me to be your Chancellour and that I am now shut up from being able to do you that Service which you might justly expect from me When I first received this honour I intended to have carried it with me to my Grave neither were my hopes any less since the Parliament called by his Majesties Royal Command committed me to this Royal Prison But sith by reason of matters of greater consequence yet in hand the Parliament is pleased to procrastinate my Trial I do hereby as thankfully resign my Office of being Chancellor as ever I received that Dignity entreating you to Elect some Honourable Person who upon all occasions may be ready to serve you and I beseech God send you such an one as may do all things for his glory and the furtherance of â—â—ur most famous Vniversity This is the continual Prayer of Your dejected Friend and Chancellour Being the last time I shall write so Will. Cant. Tower Iune 28 1641. This Resignation having eased him of some part of his cares it was no small refreshment to him in the midst of his sorrows that notwithstanding all the clamour about Innovations the Parliament had made no Order to alter any thing which he had laboured to establish The Commons might perhaps have some thoughts that way but they either kept them to themselves or found but little comfort in them when they suffered them to go abroad or shew themselves in any motion to the House of Lords The Peers were then so far from entertaining any such extravagant Fancies that taking notice of the Irregular Zeal of some forward men who had not patience enough to attend the leisure of Authority they joyned together with the Prelates in this Order of Ianuary 16. for putting a stop to their Exorbitancies at the first breaking out For by that Order it was signified to be the pleasure of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal assembled in the High Court of Parliament That the Divine Service be performed as it is appointed by the Acts of Parliament of this Realm And that all such as shall disturb that wholsom Order shall be severely punished according to the Law And the Parsons Vicars and Curates in the several Parishes shall forbear to introduce any Rites or Ceremonies that may give offence otherwise than those which are established by the Laws of the Land Which last Clause being couched in such general terms related only to such Rites and Ceremonies as otherwise might have been introduced for the time to come not unto such as had been entertained and settled by any former Authority Countenanced and secured by which Declaration the Ordinaries went on chearfully in the exercise of their Jurisdiction suffering no alteration or disturbance to pass unquestioned if any troublesome or unquiet person did begin to stir But no sooner was the Coercive power of Bishops and other Ecclesiastical Judges restrained or rather utterly abolished by the late Act of Parliament and the Kings Journey into Scotland left men and matters at more liberty than before they were but presently the House of Commons took upon them such a Reformation so it must be called in which they neither found concurrence of the House of Peers or could expect it from the King But finding that they were strong enough to set up for themselves without working Journey-work any longer unto either of them they made the following Order of September 8. to be the first Experiment or Essay of their undertakings For though in a Conference had the same day with the Lords they desired their consent therein and that the Lords returned them no other Answer than by sending them the next day being the day of the Recess a Copy of the former Order of Ianuary 16. in which they desired then to concur yet Pym who governed the Committee during that Recess dispatcht his Mandate oâ— the 29 th of the same month over all the Kingdom requiring all Ministers and Churchwardens to publish the said Order in their several Churches to see it put in execution and cause Certificates to be made thereof by the time appointed Which Order being the Leading Card to the Game that followed was verbatim thus viz. WHereas divers Innovations in or about the Worship of God have been lately practised in this Kingdom by enjoyning sâ—me things and prâ—â—â—â—â—â—ng others without warrant of Law to the great grievance and disconâ—ent of his Majesties Subjects For the suppression of such Innovations and for preservation of the Publick Peace It is this day Ordered by the Commons in Parliament assembled That the Churchwardens of every Parish Church or Chappel respectively doth forthwith remove the Communion Table from the East end of the Church Chappel or 〈…〉 some other convenient place and that they take away the 〈…〉 the Chancâ—ls as heretofore they were before the late 〈…〉 That all Crucifixes scandalous Pictures of any one or 〈…〉 of tâ—e Trinity and all Images of the Virgin Mary shall 〈…〉 and aâ—olished and that all Tapers Candlesticks and 〈…〉 from the Communion Table That all Corporal Bâ—w 〈…〉 IESVS or toward the East end of the Church 〈…〉 or towards the Communion Table be henceforth 〈…〉 That the Orders aforesaid be observed in all the several Ca 〈…〉 Churches of this Kingdom and all the Colledges Churches or 〈◊〉 in the two Vniversities or any other part of this Kingdom 〈◊〉 in thâ— Temple Church and the Chappels of other Inns of Court 〈◊〉 the Deaâ—s of the said Cathedral Churches by the Vice-Chancellours of the said Vniversities and by the Heads and Governours of the several Câ—lleâ—ges and Halls aforesaid and by the Benchers and Readers in 〈…〉 Inns â—f Court respectively That the Lords day shall be duly obsâ—râ—ed and sanctified All Dancing or other Sports either before or after Diâ—iâ—e Service be forborne and restrained and that the Preaching 〈…〉 â—â—rd be permitted in the Afternoon in the several Churches and Chappels of this Kiâ—gdom and that Ministers and Preachers be encouâ—â—gâ—d thereunto That the Vice-Chancellours of the Vniversities Heads 〈…〉 Colledges all Parsons Vicars Churchwardens do 〈◊〉 Câ—rtificate of the performance of these Orders and if the same shall 〈◊〉 be observed in any places aforementioned upon complaint therâ—of made to the two next Iustices of the Peace Major and Head-Officers of Cities and Towns Corporate It is ordered That the said Iustices Major and other Head-Officer respectively shall examine the 〈◊〉 of all such complaints and certifie by whose default the same are â—â—mitted All which Certificates are to
were weekly Fasts appointed to be kept by the Laws of the Land which if they did observe as they ought to do there would be no need of Solemn Fasts to begin their Parliaments The blame of which Answer in the Parliament immediately foregoing this was by the Puritan Faction cast upon the Bishops who at the same time had opposed some Proposition tending to some Restraints on the Lords day not imposed before as men whose Pride hindred all such Religious Humiliations and whose Profaneness made them Enemies to all Piety But the King having now cast himself into the arms of his People had brought himself to a necessity of yielding to their desire and thereby left a fair President both for them to crave and his Successor to grant the like So that from this time forward till the last of King Charles we shall see no Parliament nor Session of Parliament to begin without them though that King checked some times at the importunity So far his Majesty had gone along with them in yielding unto their desires but he must go a little further And therefore secondly They thought it not enough that his Majesty had made a Publick Declaration for the real and utter Dissolution of the said Treaties but it must be declared also by Act of Parliament That the said two Treaties were by his Majesty Dissolved Which gave them some colour of Pretence in the following Parliament to claim a share in managing the War which the Dissolving of these Treaties had occasioned and of being made acquainted with the Enterprize which was then in hand But for this time they were contented to have engaged the King for the future War toward the carrying on of which and more particularly as the Act expresseth for the Defence of this Realm of England the Securing of the Kingdom of Ireland the Assistance of his Majesties Neighbours the States of the Vnited Provinces and other his Majesties Friends and Allies and for the setting forth of his Royal Navy they granted to him three Subsidies together with three Fifteenths and Tenths to be paid before the tâ—nth of May which should be in the year 1625. Which though it be affirmed in the said Act to be the greatest Aid which ever was granted in Parliament to be levied in so short a time yet neither was the time so short as it was pretended there being almost fifteen Months between the dissolving of the Treaties and the last payment of the Monies Nor did the King get any thing by it how great soever the said Aid was supposed to be For thirdly before the King could obtain this Act he was fain to gratifie them with some others amongst which that entituled An Act for the general quiet of the Subject against all pretext of Concealments whatsoever was the most considerable An Act of such a grand Concernment to the Peace and Happiness of the Subject and of such Disprofit to the King in his Gifts and Graces to his Servants that it was affirmed by Justice Dodderidge at the Oxon. Assises next ensuing That his Majesty had bought those Fifteenths and Subsidies at ten years purchase Nor fourthly did one penny of this Money so dearly paid for accrew unto his Majesties particular use or was to come into his Coffers it being ordered in the Act aforesaid That the said Monies and every part and parcel of them should be paid to certain Commissioners therein nominated and that the said Commissioners should issue and dispose the same according as they should be warranted by George Lord Carew Foulk Lord Brooke and certain other Commissioners to the number of ten nominated and appointed for a Council of War by them to be expended in the Publick Service And albeit the Grant of the said Fifteenths Tenths and Subsidies might possibly be the greatest Aid which had been given in Parliament for so short a time yet did this greatness consist rather in tale than weight the Subsidy-Books being grown so low for those of the Fifteenths and Tenths do never vary that two entire Subsidies in the time of Queen Elizabeth came to more than all More nobly dealt the Clergy with him in their Convocation because it came into his own Coâ—lers and without Conditions For taking into consideration amongst other motives the great Expences at which his Majesty was then and was like to be hereafter as well for the support of his Royal Estate as for the necessary Defence of this Realm of England and other his Dominions whereby was like to grow the safety of Religion both at whom and abroad they granted to him four entire Subsidies after the rate of 4 s. in every Pound which was indeed the greatest Aid that was ever given by Convocation in so short a time the Subsidies of the Clergy being fixed and certain those of the Laity diminishing and decreasing daily A Burden which must needs fall exceeding heavy on many poor Vicars in the Country whose Benefices are for the most part of small yearly value and yet rated very high in the Kings Books according unto which they are to be Taxed Insomuch as I knew several Vicaridges not worth above 80 l. per Annum which were charged higher than the best Gentlemen in the Parish whose yearly Revenues have amounted unto many Hundreds Laud who had sometimes been Vicar of Stamford in Northamptonshire as before is said was very compassionate of the case of these poor men for whose case he devised a course in this present Session which being digested into form he communicated to the Duke of Buckingham who very readily promised to prepare both the King and Prince for the passing of it This done he imparted it also to the Lord Keeper Williams and the Bishop of Durham who look'd upon it as the best service which had been done for the Church many years before and advised him to acquaint the Archbishop with it But Abbot either disliking the Design for the Authors sake or being an enemy to all Counsels which had any Author but himself instead of favours returned him frowns asking him What he had to do to make any suit for the Church And telling him withall That never any Bishop attempted the like at any time and that no body would have done it but himself That he had given the Church such a wound in speaking to any Lord of the Layty about it as he could never make whole again And finally That if the Lord Duke did fully understand what he had done he would never endure him to come near him again St Davids replies very mildly That he thought he had done a very good office for the Church and so did his betters too That if his Grace thought otherwise he was sorry that he had offended But hoped that he had done it out of a good mind and for the support of many poor Vicars abroad in the Country who must needs sink under the payment of so many Subsidies and therefore that his error might be pardonable if
his Confederates were fixt upon him and that they would separate and dissolve if it did not spâ—edily set forwards But then the dangers which they feared from the growth of Popery stood as much in his way as Mountague and the Grievances had done before For the securing tâ—em from all such fears an humble Petition and Remonstrance must be first prepared which they framed much after the same manner with that wâ—ich had been oâ—â—ered to King Iames in the year 1621. In this they shewed the King the dangers which were threatned to the Church and State by the more than ordinary increase of Popery and oâ—fered him such Remedies as they conceived most likely to prevent the mischiefs And unto this Petition they procured the Peers also to joyn with them But the King easily removed this obstruction by giving them such a full and satisfactory answer on the seventh of Aâ—gust that they could not chuse before their Rising which followed within five days after but Vote their humble Thanks to be returned unto his Majesty for giving such a Gracious Answer to their said Petition This they had reason to expect from his Majesties Piety but then they had another Game which must be followed before the Kings Business could be heard In the two former Parliaments they had flesh'd themselves by removing Bacon from the Seal and Cranfeild from the Treasury And somewhat must be done this Parliament also for fear of hazarding such a Priviledge by a discontinuance Williams came first into their eye whom they looked on as a man not only improper for the Place but also as not having carried himself in it with such integrity as he should have done and him the Lawyers had most mind to that they might get that Office once again into their possession This Williams fearing so applied himself to some leading Members that he diverted them from himself to the Duke of Buckingham as a more noble Prey and fitter for such mighty Hunters than a silly Priest Nor was this Overture proposed to such as were either deaf or tongue-tied for this great Game was no sooner started but they followed it with such an Out-cry that the noise thereof came presently to his Majesties ears who finding by these delays and artifices that there was no hope of gaining the Supplies desired on the 12th of the same August dissolved the Parliament He may now see the error he had run into by his breach with Spain which put him into a necessity of making War and that necessity compell'd him to cast himself in a manner on the Alms of his People and to stand wholly in like manner at their Devotion The Parliament being thus dissolved his Majesty progresseth towards the West to set forward his Navy and Laud betakes himself unto his Diocess this being the year of his Triennial Visitation He took along with him in this Journey such Plate and Furniture as he had provided for his new Chappel at Aberguilly which he Consecrated on Sunday August 28. Here he continued by reason that the Sickness was hot in London and not cooled in Oxon. till he was fain to make his way back again through Ice and Snow as he writes in his Letters to the Duke from Windsor December 13. At his return he found no small alteration in the Court The Lord Keeper Williams stood upon no good terms with the Duke in the life of King Iames but he declined more and more in Favour after his decease The Duke had notice of his practising against him in the last Parliament and was resolved to do his errand so effectually to the King his Master that he should hold the Seal no longer and he prevailed therein so far that Sir Iohn Suckling Controller of His Majesties Houshold was sent to him being then at a House of the Lord Sandys's in the Parish of Bray neer Windsor to require him to deliver up the Seal to his Majesties use which being very unwillingly done the Custody of the Great Seal on Sunday the second of October was committed to Sir Thomas Coventry his Majesties Atturney General whom Heath succeeded in that place But my Lord was not gone though the Keeper was He still remained Lord Bishop of Lincoln and Dean of Westminster holding still both his other Dignities and Preferments before recited So that he might have lived as plentifully as the greatest and as contentedly as the best had he not thought that the fall was greater from the top of the Stairs unto the second or third Step than from the second or third to the lowest of all But as he sell so Laud ascended Neil his good Friend then Bishop of Durham had fallen sick in the beginning of the Spring at whose request he was appointed to wait upon his Majesty as Clerk of the Closet in which Service though he continued not long yet he made such use of it that from that time forwards he grew as much into the Kings Favour as before he had been in the Dukes becoming as it were his Majesties Secretary for all Church Concernments His Majesty having set forward his Navy which setting out so late could not be like to make any good Return was not unmindful of the Promise he had made in Parliament in answer to the Petition of the Lords and Commons concerning the great dangers threatned to the Church and State by the Growth of Popery to which end he caused a Commission to be issued under the Great Seal for executing the Laws against Recusants which he commanded to be published in all the Courts of Justice at Reading to which Town the Term was then removed that all his Judges and other Ministers of Justice might take notice of it as also that all his Loving Subjects might be certified of his Princely Care and Charge for the Advancement of true Religion and Suppression of Popery and Superstition Which done he directed his Letters of the 15th of December to his two Archbishops signifying how far he had proceeded and requiring them in pursuance of it That no good means be neglected on their part for discovering finding out and apprehending of Jesuits and Seminary Priests and other Seducers of his People to the Romish Religion or for repressing Popish Recusants and Delinquents of that sort against whom they were to proceed by Excommunication and other Censures of the Church not omitting any other Lawful means to bring them forth to publick Justice But then withal his Majesty takes notice of another Enemy which threatned as much danger to the Church as the Papists did And thereupon he further requireth the said two Archbishops That a vigilant care be taken with the rest of the Clergy for the repressing of those who being ill affected to the true Religion here established they keep more close and secret their ill and dangerous affections that way and as well by their example as by secret and under-hand sleights and means do much encourage and encrease the growth of Popery and Superstition
in sundry parts of this Kingdom And therefore he did not only require that none of them might have any manner of Covert Protection Countenance or connivence from them or any of the rest as they tendred his Royal Commandment in that behalf but that all possible diligence be used as well to unmask the false shadows and pretences of those who may possibly be won to Conformity letting all men know That he could not think well of any that having Place and Authority in the Church do permit such persons to pass with impunity much less if they give them any countenance to the emboldening them or their adherents On the receiving of these Letters Abbot transmits the Copies of them to his several Suffragans and to our Bishop of St. Davids amongst the rest requiring him to conform therein to his Majesties Pleasure and to see the same executed in all parts of his Diocess On the receipt whereof the Bishop commands his Chancellor Arch-Deacons and other Ecclesiastical Officers within his Diocess of St. Davids That all possible care be taken of such as are any way backward in Points of Religion and more especially of known and professed Recusants that they may be carefully presented and Proceedings had against them to Excommunication according to form and order of Law and that there be a true List and Catalogue of all such as have been presented and proceeded against sent to him yearly after Easter by him to be presented to the Archbishop of Canterbury as had been required No Command given unto his Chancellor and other Officers to look into the Practises and Proceedings of the Puritan Faction for which I am able to give no reason but that he had received no such Direction and Command from Archbishop Abbot whose Letter pointed him no further it is no hard matter to say why than to the searching out presenting and Excommunicating the Popish Recusants And in what he commanded he was obeyed by his Chancellor returning to him in Iune following the names of such Recusants as lived within the Counties of Caermarthen and Pembroke the chief parts of his Diocess The Kings Coronation now draws on for which Solemnity he had appointed the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin better known by the name of Candlemas day The Coronations of King Edward vi and Queen Elizabeth had been performed according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Roman Pontificals That at the Coronation of King Iames had been drawn in haste and wanted many things which might have been considered of in a time of leasure His Majesty therefore issueth a Commission to the Archbishop of Canterbury and certain other Bishops whereof Laud was one to consider of the Form and Order of the Coronation and to accomodate the same more punctually to the present Rules and Orders of the Church of England On the fourth of Ianuary the Commissioners first met to consult about it and having compared tâ—e Form observed in the Coronation of King Iames with the publick Rituals it was agreed upon amongst them to make some Alterations in it and Additions to it The Alteration in it was that the Unction was to be performed in forma Crucis after the manner of a Cross which was accordingly done by Abbot when he officiated as Archbishop of Canterbury in the Coronation The Additions in the Form consisted chiefly in one Prayer or Request to him in the behalf of the Clergy and the clause of another Prayer for him to Almighty God the last of which was thought to have ascribed too much Power to the King the first to themselves especially by the advancing of the Bishops and Clergy above the Laity The Prayer or Request which was made to him followed after the Vnction and was this viz. Stand and hold fast from henceforth the Place to which you have been Heir by the Succession of your Forefathers being now delivered to you by the Authority of Almighty God and by the hands of us and all the Bishops and Servants of God And as you see the Clergy to come neerer to the Altar than others so remember that in place convenient you give them greater honour that the Mediator of God and Man may establish you in the Kingly Throne to be the Mediator between the Clergy and the Laity that you may Reign for ever with Iesus Christ the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who with the Father and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth for ever Amen The Clause of that Prayer which was made for him had been intermitted since the time of King Henry vi and was this that followeth viz. Let him obtain favour for the People like Aaron in the Tabernacle Elisha in the Waters Zacharias in the Temple Give him Peters Key of Discipline and Pauls Doctrine Which Clause had been omitted in times of Popery as intimating more Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction to be given to our Kings than the Popes allowed of and for the same reason was now quarrell'd at by the Puritan Faction It was objected commonly in the time of his fall That in digesting the form of the Coronation he altered the Coronation Oath making it more advantageous to the King and less beneficial to the People than it had been formerly from which calumny his Majesty cleared both himself and the Bishop when they were both involved by common Speech in the guilt thereof For the clearer manifestation of which truth I will first set down the Oath it self as it was taken by the King and then the Kings Defence for his taking of it Now the Oath is this The Form of the CORONATION-OATH SIR says the Archbishop Will you grant keep and by your Oath confirm to your People of ENGLAND the Laws and Customs to them granted by the Kings of ENGLAND your Lawful and Religious Predecessors and namely the Laws Customs and Franchises granted to the Clergy by the Glorious King St. Edward your Predecessor according to the Laws of God the true Profession of the Gospel established in this Kingdom and agreeable to the Prerogative of the Kings thereof and the Ancient Customs of this Land The King Answers I grant and promise to keep them Archbishop Sir Will you keep Peace and Godly Agreement entirely according to your Power bâ—th to God the Holy Church the Clergie and the People Rex I will keep it Archbishop Sir Will you to your Power cause Iustice Law and Discretion in Mercy and Truth to be executed in all your â—udgments Rex I will Archbishop Sir Will you grant to hold and grant to keep the Laws and rightful Customs which the Commâ—nalâ—y of this your Kingdom have and will you deâ—end and uphold them to the honour of God so much as in you lieth Rex I grant and promise so to do Then one of the Bishops reads this Admonition to the King before the People with a loud voice Our Lord and King we beseech you to pardon and to grant and to preserve unto us and
reference to the Statute of the Third of this King a Warrant is granted in the Month of April 1629. by Richard Dean then Lord Mayor of London for apprehending all Porters carrying Burthens or Water-men plying at their Oars all Tankerd-bearers carrying Water to their Masters Houses all Chandlers and Hucksters which bought any Victuals on that day of the Country-Carriers all Vinteners Alehouse-keepers Strong water-men and Tobacco-sellers which suffered any Person to fit drinking on that day though possibly they might do it only for their honest necessities In which as Dean out-went the Statute so Raynton in the same Office Anno 1633. over-acted Dean prohibiting a poor woman from selling Apples on that day in St. Paul's Church-yard within which place he could pretend no Jurisdiction and for that cause was questioned and reproved by Laud then Bishop of London But none so lastily laid about him in this kind as Richardson the Chiâ—â— Justice of his Majesties Bench who in the Lent-Assizes for the County of Somerset Anno 1631. published the like Order to that which had been made by Walter for the County of Devon not only requiring that the Justices of the Peace in the said County should see the same to be duly put in execution but also as the other had done before that publication should be made thereof in the Parish-Churches by all such Ministers as did Officiate in the same with which encroachment upon the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in imposing upon men in Holy Orders the publishing of Warrants and Commands from the Secular Judges Laud being then Bishop of London and finding his Majesties Affairs in a quieter condition than they had been formerly was not meanly offended as he had good reason so to be and made complaint of it to the King who thereupon commanded Richardson to revoke the said Order at the next Assizes But Richardson was so far from obeying his Majesties Command in that particular that on the contrary he not only confirmed his former Order but made it more peremptory than before Upon complaint whereof by Sir Robert Philips and other chief Gentlemen of that County his Majesty seemed to be very much moved and gave Command to the Bishop of London to require an Account from the Bishop of Bath nnd Wells then being how the said Feast-days Church-Ales Wakes or Revels were for the most part celebrated and observed in his Diocess On the Receipt of which Letters the Bishop calls before him 72 of the most Orthodox and ablest Clergy-men amongst them who certified under their several hands That on the Feast-days which commonly fell upon the Sunday the Service of God was more solemnly performed and the Church was better frequented both in the forenoon and afternoon than upon any Sunday in the year That the People very much desired the continuance of them That the Ministers in most Places did the like for these Reasons specially viz. For preserving the memorial of the Dedication of their several Churches For civilizing the People For composing Differences by the mediation and meeting of Friends For encrease of Love and Unity by those Feasts of Charity For Relief and Comfort of the Poor the Richer part in a manner keeping open House c. On the Return of which Certificate so seasonably seconding the Complaint and Information of the Gentry Richardson was again convented at the Council-Table and peremptorily commanded to reverse his former Orders at the next Assizes for that County withal receiving such a rattle for his former Contempt by the Bishop of London that he came out blubbering and complaining That he had been almost choaked with a pair of Lawn Sleeves Whilst these things were thus in agitation one Brabourne a poor School-master in the Diocess of Norfolk being seduced and misguided by the continual inculcating of the Morality of the Lords-day Sabboth from the Press and Pulpit published a Book in maintenance of the Seventh-day Sabboth as it was kept amongst the Iews and prescribed by Moses according to Gods Will and Pleasure signified in the Fourth Commandment This Book at the first not daring to behold the Light went abroad by stealth but afterwards appeared in publick with an open confidence an Epistle Dedicatory to his Majesty being placed before it His Majesty extremely moved with so lewd an impudence and fearing to be thought the Patron of a Doctrine so abhorrent from all Christian Piety gave Order for the Author to be Censured in the High-Commission Brabourne being thereupon called into that Court and the Cause made ready for an Hearing his Errour was so learnedly confuted by the Bishops and other judicious Divines then present that he began to stagger in his former Opinion which hint being taken by their Lordships he was admonished in a grave and Fatherly manner to submit himself unto a Conference with such Learned men as should be appointed thereunto to which he chearfully consented and found such benefit by that Meeting that by Gods Blessing he became a Convert and freely conformed himself to the Orthodoxal Doctrine of the Church of England concerning the Sabboth and Lords-day Which Tendences of some of the People to downright Iudaism grounded upon the Practices and Positions of the Sabbatarians and seconded by the petulancy of some Publick Ministers of Justice in debarring his good Subjects in keeping the ancient Dedication-Feast of their several Churches occasioned his Majesty to think of the reviving of his Royal Fathers Declaration about Lawful Sports To which end he gave Orders to the Archbishop of Canterbury to cause the same to be re-printed word for word as it had issued from the Press in the time of his late Royal Father Anno 1618. at the end whereof he caused this Declaration of his own sense to be super-added that is to say Now out of a like Pious Care saith his Sacred Majesty for the Service of God and for suppressing of any humours that oppose the Truth and for the case and comfort and recreation of Our well-deserving People We do Ratifie and Publish this Our Blessed Fathers Declaration the rather because of late in some Counties of Our Kingdom we find that under pretence of taking away Abuses there hath been a general forbidding not only of ordinary Meetings but of the Feasts of the Dedication of Churches commonly called Wakes Now Our express Will and Pleasure is That these Feasts with others shall be observed and that our Iustices of the Peace in their several Divisions shall look to it both that all Disorders there may be prevented or punished and that all neighbourhood and freedom with manlike and lawful exercises be used And We further command Our Iustices of Assize in their several Circuits to see that no man do trouble or molest any of Our lâ—yal and dutiful People in or for their Lawful Recreations having first done their Duty to God and continuing in Obedience to Vs and Our Laws And of this We command all Our Iudges Iustices of the Peace as well within Liberties as
consent in the times foregoing so were they now upon the point of having those old Rules broken on them by the King in making Canons and putting Laws and Orders on them for their future Government to which they never had consented And therefore though his Majesty had taken so much care as himself observed for facilitating and conveniencing their obedience by furthering their knowledge in those points which before they knew not yet they did generally behold it and exclaimed against it as one of the most grievous burthens that ever had been laid upon them More clamour but on weaker grounds was made against the Book of Common Prayer when it first came out which was not till the year 1637. and then we shall hear further of it Mean while we will return to England and see what our Archbishop doth as a chief Counsellor and States-man in his Civil Actings It was about four or five years since Anno 1631 that he first discovered how ill his Majesties Treasury had been managed between some principal Officers of his Revenue to the enriching of themselves to the impoverishing of their Master and the no small amazement of all good Subjects But the abuses being too great to be long concealed his Majesty is made acquainted with all particulars who thereupon did much estrange his countenance from the principal of them For which good service to the King none was so much suspected by them as the Archbishop of Canterbury against whom they began to practise endeavouring all they could to remove him from his Majesties ear or at the least to lessen the esteem and reputation which his fidelity and upright dealing had procured of him Factions are heightned in the Court Private ends followed to the prejudice of Publick Service and every mouth talkt openly against his proceedings But still he kept his ground and prevailed at last appointed by his Majesty on the fifth of February 1634. to be one of the great Committee for Trade and the Kings Revenue and seeing Wesâ—ons Glories set under a cloud within few weeks after Weston being dead it pleased his Majesty to commit the managing of the Treasury by Letters Patents under the Broad Seal bearing date on the fourteenth day of March to the Lord Archbishop Cottington Chancellor of the Exchequer Cooke and Windebank principal Secretaries and certain others who with no small envy looked upon him as if he had been set over them for a Supervisor Within two daies after his being nominated for this Commission his Majesty brought him also into the Foreign Committee which rendred him as considerable abroad as he was at home This as it added to his power so it encreased the stomach which was borne against him The year 1635. was but new began when clashing began to grow between him and Cottington about executing the Commission for the Treasury And that his grief and trouble might be the greater his old Friend Windebank who had received his preferment from him forsook him in the open field and joyned himself with Cottington and the rest of that Party This could not chuse but put him to the exercise of a great deal of Patience considering how necessary a friend he had lost in whose bosome he had lodged a great part of his Counsels and on whose Activity he relied for the carrying on of his designs at the Council Table But for all this â—e carries on 〈◊〉 Commâ—â—â—ion the whole year about acquaints himself with the Mysteries and secrets of it the honest advantages which the Lord Treasurers had for enriching themselves to the value of seven tâ—ousand pound a year and upwards as I have heard from his own mouth without defrauding the King or abusing the Subject He had observed that divers Treasurers of late years had raised themselves from very mean and private Fortunes to the Titles and Estates oâ— Earls which he conceived could not be done without wrong to both and therefore he resolves to commend such a man to his Majesty for the next Lord Treasurer who having no Family to raise no Wife and Children to provide for might better manage the Incomes of the Treasury to the Kings advantage than they had been formerly And who more like to come into his eye for that preferment than Iuxon his old and trusty Friend then Bishop of London a man of such a well tempered disposition as gave exceeding great content both to Prince and People and one whom he knew capable of as much instruction as by a whole years experience in the Commission for the Treasury he was able to give him It was much wondred at when first the Staff was put into this mans hand in doing whereof the Archbishop was generally conceived neither to have consulted his own present peace nor his future safety Had he studied his own present peace he should have given Cottington leave to put in for it who being Chancellor of the Exchequer pretended himself to be the next in that Ascendent the Lord Treasurers Associate while he lived and the presumptive heir to that office after his decease And had he studied his own safety and preservation for the times to come he might have made use of the power by recommending the Staff to the Earles of Bedford Hartford Essex the Lord Say or some such man of Popular Nobility by whom he might have been reciprocated by their strength and interess with the People in the change of times But he preferred his Majesties Advantages before his particular concernments the safety of the Publick before his own Nor did he want some seasonable considerations in it for the good of the Church The peace and quiet of the Church depended much on the conformity of the City of London and London did as much depend in their trade and payments upon the Love and Justice of the Lord Treasurer of England This therefore was the more likely way to conform the Citizens to the directions of their Bishop and the whole Kingdom unto them No small encouragement being thereby given to the London Clergy for the improving of their Tythes For with what confidence could any of the old Cheats adventure on a publick Examination in the Court of Exchequer the proper Court for suits and grievances of that nature when a Lord Bishop of London sate therein as the principal Judge Upon thâ—se Counsels he proceeds and obtains the Staff which was delivered to the Bishop of London on Sunday March 6. sworn on the same day Privy Counsellor and on the first of the next Term conducted in great state from London House to Westminster Hall the Archbishop of Canterbury riding by him and most of the Lords and Bishops about the Town with many Gentlemen of chief note and quality following by two and two to make up the Pomp. It was much feared by some and hoped by others that the new Treasurer would have sunk under the burden of that place as Williams did under the custody of the Seal but he deceived them both
as forward in it as any other that their Contributions mounted higher than was expected The Benevolence of the Diocess of Norwich only aâ—ounting to 2016 l. 16 s. 5 d. The Archdâ—acorry of Winchester only to the sum of 1305 l. 5 s. 8 d. And though we may not conclude of all the rest by the greatness of thâ—se yet may it be very safely said that they did all exceeding bountifully in their several proportions with reference to the extent of their Diocesses and the ability of their Estates Nor were the Judges of the several Benches of the Courts at Westminster and the great Officers under them Protonotaries Secondaries and the like deficient in expressing their good aâ—â—ections to this general cause in which the safety of the Realm was as much concerned as his Majesties honour And for the Doctors of the Laws Chancellors Commissaries Officials and other Officers belonging to the Ecclesiastical Courts they were spurred on to follow the example of the Secular Judges as having a more particular concernment in it by a Letter sent from the Archbishop to the Dean of the Arches on February 11. and by him communicated to the rest By which Free-will offerings on the one side some commanded duties on the other and the well-husbanding of his Majesties Revenue by the Lord Treasurer Iuxon he was put into such a good condition that he was able both to raise and maintain an Army with no charge to the Common Subject but only a little Coat and Conduct money at their first setting out These preparations were sufficient to give notice of a War approaching without any further denouncing of it by a publick Herald and yet there was another accident which seemed as much to fore-signifie it as those preparations Mary de Medices the Widow of King Henry iâ— of France and Mother to the Queens of England and Spain arrived at Harwich on October 19. and on the last of the same was with great State conducted through the Streets of London to his Majesties Palace of St. Iames. A Lady which for many years had not lived out of the smell of Powder and a guard of Muskets at her door embroyled in wars and troubles when she lived in France and drew them after her into Flanders where they have ever since continued So that most men were able to presage a Tempest as Mariâ—eâ—s by the appearing of some Fish or the flying of some Birds about their ships can foresee a storm His Majesty had took great care to prevent her comming knowing â—ull well how chargeable a guest she would prove to him and how unwelcome to the Subject To which end â—eswel was commanded to use all his wits for perswading her to stay in Holland whither she had retired from Flanders in the year precedent But she was wedded to her will and possibly had received such invitations from her Daughter here that nothing but everlasting foul weather at Sea and a perpetual cross-wind could have kept her there All things provided for the War his Majesty thought sit to satisfie his good Subjects of both Kingdoms not only of the Justice which appeared in this Action but in the unavoydable necessity which enforced him to it To which end he acquaints them by his Proclamation of the 20 of February How traiterously some of the Scottish Nation had practiced to pervert his Loyal Subjects of this Realm by scattering abroad their Libellous and Seditious Pamphlets mingling themselves at their publick meetings and reproaching both his Person and Government That he had never any intention to alter their Religion or Laws but had condescended unto more for defence thereof than they had reason to expect That they had rejected the Band and Covenant which themselves had prest upon the people because it was commended to them by his Authority and having made a Covenant against God and him and made such Hostile preparations as if he were their sworn Enemy and not their King That many of them were men of broken Fortunes who because they could not well be worse hoped by engaging in this War to make themselves better That they had assumed unto themselves the power of the Press one of the chief markes of the Regal Authority prohibiting to Print what he commanded and commanding to Print what he prohibited and dismiâ—â—ng the Printer whom he had established in that Kingdom That they had raised Arms blockt up and besieged his Castles laid Impositions and Taxes upon his people threatned such as continued under Loyalty with force and violence That they had contemned the Authority of the Council Table and set up Tables of their own from which they send their Edâ—cts throughout all parts of the Kingdom contrary to the Laws therein established pretending in the mean time that the Laws were violated by himself That the question was not now whether the Service-Book should be received or not or whether Episcopacy should continue or not but whether he were King or not That many of them had denied the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance for which some of them had been committed as inconsistent and incompatible with their holy Covenant That being brought under a necessity of taking Arms he had been traduced in some of their writings for committing the Arms he had then raised into the hands of professed Papists a thing not only dishonourable to himself and the said noble persons but false and odious in it self That some of power in the Hierarchy had been defamed for being the cause of his taking Arms to invade that Kingdom who on the contrary had been only Counsellors of peace and the chief perswaders as much as in them lay of the undeserved moderation wherewith he had hitherto proceeded toward so great Offenders That he had no intent by commending the Service-Book unto them to innovate any thing at all in their Religion but only to create a conformity between the Churches of both Kingdoms and not to infringe any of their Liberties which were according to the Laws That therefore he required all his loving Subjects not to receive any more of the said seditious Pamphlets but to deliver such of them as they had received into the hands of the next Justice of the Peace by him to be sent to one of his Majesties principal Secretaries And finally That this his Proclamation and Declaration be read in time of Divine Service in every Church within the Kingdom that all his People to the meanest might see the notorious carriages of these men and likewise the Justice and Mercy of all his proceedings And now his Majesty is for Action beginning his Journey towards the North March 27. being the Anniversary day of his Inauguration His Army was advanced before the best for quality of the Persons compleatness of Arms number of serviceable Horse and necessary Provision of all sorts that ever waited on a King of England to a War with Scotland Most of the Nobility attended on him in their Persons and such as were to be
into the Form of an Impeachment he intended to present to the House of Peers as soon as he had taken his place amongst them and to that end prepared for his last Journey to London from whence he never was to return alive Calling together some of his especial Friends and many of the chief Officers and Commanders which remained in the Army he made them acquainted with his purpose of going to Westminster to attend the Parliament leaving to them the Charge of his Majesties Forces and the preserving of those parts from the spoyl of the Enemy An Enterprise from which he was disswaded by most of his Friends alledging that he could not chuse but know that the Scots and Scotizing English had most infallibly resolved on his destruction and that innocency was no Armour of Proof against the fiery Darts of malicious Power That seeing such a storm hang over his head rather keep himself in the English Army being under his Command which he had gained upon exceedingly by his noble carriage or pass over into Ireland where the Army rested wholly at his Devotion or transport himself to some Foreign Kingdom till fairer weather here in reference to his own safety and the publick peace should invite him home That it was no betraying of his innocency to decline a Trial where Partiality held the Scales and Self-ends backt with Power and made blind with Prejudice were like to over-ballance Justice That if Sentence should be passed against him for default of appearance which was the worst that could befal him yet he would then keep his head on his shoulders until better times and in the mean season might do his Majesty as good Service in the Courts of many Foraign Princes as if he were sitting in White-hall at the Council Table Turning a deaf car to these considerations he Resolved to prosecute his design but was scarce entred into the House of Peers when followed at the heels by Pym whom it concerned as much as any who fearing or knowing his intendments impeacht him of high Treason in the name of all the Commons of England requiring their names that he might be sequestred from the House and Committed to Custody And here again it was conceived that the Earl shewed not that praesentiam animi that readiness of Courage and Resolution which formerly had conducted him through so many difficulties in giving over his design For though he lost the opportunity of striking the first blow yet he had time enough to strike the second which might have been a very great Advantage to his preservation For had he offered his impeachment and prosecuted it in the same paces and method as that was which was brought against him it is possible enough that the business on both sides might have been hushed up without hurt to either And for so doing he wanted not a fair Example in the second Parliament of this King when the Earl of Bristol being impeached of high Treason by the Kings Attorney at the instance and procurement of the Duke of Buckingham retorted presently a recrimination or impeachment against the Duke and by that means took of the edge of that great Adversary from proceeding further Nor gave it little cause of wonder unto many wise men that a person of so great Spirit and knowledge should give himself up so tamely on a general accusation only without any particular Act of Treason charged upon him or any proof offered to make good that charge not only to the loss of his Liberty as a private Person but to the forfeiture of his Priviledge as a Member of Parliament But the impeachment being made his Restraint desired and nothing by him offered to the Contrary he was committed the same day Novemb. 11. to the Custody of the Gentleman Vsher called the Black-rod and not long after to the Tower Sir George Ratcliff one of his especial confidents being presently sent for out of Ireland by a Serjeant at Arms as concriminal with him In this condition he remained till the 16th of Decemb. without any particular Charge against him Which at the last was brought into the House of Peers by the Scots and presented in their Names by Lord Paget one of the Members of that House In which they did inform against him in reference to matters which concerned Religion that in promoting the late pretended Innovations he had been as forward as Canterbury himsâ—lf and to that end had preferred his Chaplain Bramhall to the See of Derrie and Chappel to the Colledge of Dublin that he had threatned to burn the Articles of Ireland agreed upon in Convocation Anno 1615. by the hand of the Hangman and would not hearken to the Primate when he desired a Ratification of them by Act of Parliament for preventing and suppressing the said Innovations that he countenanced divers books against them and their Covenant which were Printed at Dublin and caused all Persons above the age of sixteen years to abjure the said Covenant by a solemn Oath or otherwise to be Imprisoned or to fly that Kingdom that at his last coming into England he had openly said that if ever he returned unto the Honourable Sword he would not leave any of the Scots in that Kingdom either Root or Branch and that he did advise the great Council of Peers assembled at York to send them back again in their own blood and that he might whip them out of England In further pursuance of this Charge it was prest against him in the Articles Exhibited by the House of Commons on the 16 â—h of February for so long it was before he heard any more news from them That he maintained a correspondence with the Papists of Ireland endeavoured to raise hostility between England and Scotland and had consented to the betraying of New-castle into the hands of the Scots to the end that the English being nettled by so great a loss might be more Cordially engaged in the War against them that he gave a Warrant under his hand to some Bishops in the Church of Ireland and their Chancellors and other Officers to Arrest the Bodies of such of the meaner sort as after Citation should refuse to appear before them or should refuse to undergo and perform all Lawful decrees and sentences given or issued out against them and the said persons to keep in the next Common Goal till their Submission to the said Orders and Decrees and otherwise shew some Reason to the Contrary to the Lords of the Counsel that in the Moneth of May in the year 1639. he caused a new Oath to be contrived Enforced especially upon those of the Scottish Nation in the Realm of Ireland by which the party was obliged to Renounce the Covenant and to swear that he would not Protest against any of his Majesties Royal Commands but submit himself in all obedience thereunto and had put divers grievous fines upon many of them on their Refusal of the same that he required the like Oath for the