Severn Banks stands Berkley Castle which gives Name to a noble and ancient Family dispersed in many Places of this Kingdom and whereof they were made Barons by King Henry the II. Whereas before that time they were called Fitz-Harding as being descended from one Robert Fitz-Harding of the Blood-Royal of the Danes William Lord Berkley of this House descended from the Mowbraies who amongst other Titles were Earls of Nottingham was in the Year 1432 created Viscount Berkley by King Richard III afterwards Earl of Nottingham and Earl Marshal by King Henry VIII and finally Marquess Berkley by the same King Anno 1509. But dying without Issue all those Titles ended with him Only the Title of Lord Berkley continued in the Collateral Line till advanced to the Title of Earl by King Charles II. Anno 1679. in the person of the Right Honourable George Earl of Berkley Viscount Dursley c. To conclude this County which formerly was Part of the Kingdom of Mercia and its Inhabitants with those of Oxfordshire known among the ancient Romans by the Name of Dobuni is now partly in the Diocese of Glocester and partly in that of Bristol On t of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire six Members of Parliament Viz. 2 out of Glocester 2 out of Tewksbury and 2 more out of Cirencester In this Case Bristol is counted in Somersetshire Hampshire HAMPSHIRE or HANTSHIRE otherwise called the County of Southampton from Southampton the Shire-Town is a Maritime County Bounded on the East by Surrey and Sussex on the West by Wiltshire and Dorsetshire on the North by Barkshire and on the South by the Channel or British Sea It s Length from North to South is about 46 miles its Breadth from East to West 30. The Whole divided into 39 Hundreds wherein 253 Parishes and 16 Market-Towns This County is rich in all Commodities both of Sea and Land and those Parts of it which â—y furthest from the Sea of a pure and excellent Air. In particular the Country is well cloathed with Wood affords plenty of Iron which is here wrought from the Mines with abundance of Wool which the Inhabitants make Cloths and Kerseys of and the best sort of Hony As for Rivers here is in the West Parts of the County the Avon and the Stower a Dorsetshire River which meet together at their fall into the Sea More Eastward you will find the Test and the Itching which also meet at their fall into the Sea and that near Southampton In this County is the New Forest about 30 miles in compass A Forest which William the Conquerour so delighted to hunt in that to make it compleat and intire he caused many Towns and Villages with no less than 36 Parish-Churches to be pulled down and levelled with the ground But this Exorbitance of his did not escape unpunished For in this very Forest Richard his second Son was goared by a Deer and died William his third Son was accidentally slain by Sir Walter Tyrrel and his Grandchild Robert Curtoyse being in pursuit of the Game was struck by a Bough into the Jaws and died Southampton the Shire-Town bears from London South-West by West and is distant therefrom 60 miles thus From London to Stanes 15 to Bagshot 10 more thence to Alton 14 to Alesford 8 more from Alesford to Twiford 7 and to Southampton 6 more This Town is commodiously seated at the very Mouth of the Rivers Test and Itching both which Streams being here united together into one go under the Name of Hampton which is more like an Arm of the Sea than a River And 't is capable of Ships of good Burden to the very Key which is very commodious for lading and unlading of Ships Accordingly this Town has flourished for some time and injoy'd a great Trade with France especially being conveniently seated opposite to Normandy and its adjacent Isles Jersey and Garnsey It has been likewise a Place of good Defence surrounded with a double Ditch and strong Walls with several good Towers and fortified besides with a Castle At present both its Trade and Strength are very much decay'd and diminished However it is still of that extent as to contain five Parish Churches And though it be within the County yet it is as some other Towns a County of it self for which it stands beholding to King Henry VI. The Bishops of Winchester were anciently reputed to be Earls of Southampton and are so stiled in the new Statutes of the Garter made by Henry VIII But that Title has been since otherwise disposed of Thomas Wriothesley Lord Chancellour being created Earl of Southampton by King Edward VI. Anno 1547. In whose Line it has continued till it died with Thomas Wriothesley Lord Treasurer Anno 1667. In the Reign of Charles II. After whom Charles Fitz-Roy Lord Limrick eldest Son to the Dutchess of Cleveland was created Baron of Newberry Earl of Chichester and Duke of Southampton Anno 1675. For Provisions and other Commodities this Town has two Markets a Week viz. Tuesdays â—nd Fridays But though Southampton be properly the Shire Town yet the City of Winchester outloes it upon several accounts and theresore deserves a particular Description by it self Winchester the Venta Belgarum of the ancient Romans is pleasantly seated in a Valley betwixt Hills and on the Banks of the River Itching A City of great Antiquity and noted among the Romans for being the Place where the rich Imbroideries were made for their Emperours In the time of the Saxons it was twice consumed by fire and by them rebuilt being made the Royal Seat of the West-Saxon Kings and the chief Episcopal See Afterwards it felt with many other Places the fury of the Danes In the time of the Normans it was repaired and honoured with the keeping of the publick Records of the Kingdom But soon after it had a Relapse being sore oppressed during the Civil Wars of Maud the Empress and King Stephen At last it began in the Reign of Edward III. to recover it self having made it the Mart for Wool and Cloth At present this City contains within its Walls about a mile and a half in Circuit but not without some waste Here is a fine Hall where the Assizes and Sessions are kept for the County and in this Hall hangs up King Arthur's Round Table which is kept as a Monument For Divine Worship here are five Parish Churches Besides the Cathedral a large and beautiful Structure dedicated to the Holy Trinity and of special note for being the Sepulchre of many Saxon Kings and Queens besides two Kings of the Danish and two of the Norman Race For the Education of Youth here is in the Suburbs a fair Colledge liberally endowed and a place of good Literature built and endowed by William of Wickham for a Seminary to his other Colledge in Oxford And for the Relief of the Poor a very fair Hospital called S. Crosles not far off from the Colledge Here is also a goodly and
divest him of his whole Authority To this purpose we have still fresh before us the Example of the late King of Portugal who for a few Acts of Rage fatal to very few Persons was put under a Guardianship and kept a Prisoner till he died and his Brother the present King made Regent in his place Which it seems was at least secretly approved by most of the Crowned Heads of Europe and even our Court gave the first Countenance to it Though of all others King Charles II. had the least Reason to do it since it justified a Younger Brother's supplanting the Elder But the Evidence of the Thing carried it even against Interest These are my Authors Arguments which I thought fit to insist upon to justify the Nations taking up Arms for the Defence of their Laws Religion and Property against the late King 's actual and bare-faced Subverting the whole Frame of this most happy and blessed Government A Government which has made many Kings glorious beyond the Great Nimrod of France and their People happy beyond all other Nations A Government which allows enough to a King that cares not to be a Tyrant and enough to the People to keep them from Slavery When the King's Prerogative do's not interfere with the Liberty of the People or the Peoples Liberty with the Kings Prerogative that is when both King and People keep within their own Sphere there is no better framed Government under the Sun Here is Monarchy without Slavery a great King and yet a free People And the Legislative-Power being lodged in the King Lords and Commons joyntly 't is such a Monarchy as has the main Advantages of an Aristocracy in the Lords and of a Democracy in the Commons without the Disadvantages or Evils of either The Government of England being thus constitued I see no Ground there is for passive Obedience where the Kings Commands are visibly contrary to Law and destructive of the Constitution The Measures of Power and consequently of Obedience must be taken from the express Laws of the State or from Immemorial Customs or from particular Oaths which the Subjects swear to their Princes And in all Disputes between Power and Liberty Power must always be proved for Liberty proves it self that being founded only upon a Positive Law this upon the Law of Nature Now 't is plain the Law of Nature has put no Difference or Subordination amongst Men except it be that of Children to their Parents or of Wives to their Husbands So that with relation to the Law of Nature all Men are born Free and this Liberty must be still supposed intire unless so far as it is limited by Contracts Provisions and Laws And as a private Person can bind himself to another Man by different Degrees either as a common Servant for Wages or as an Apprentice appropriate for a longer Time or as a Slave by a total giving himself up to another so may several Bodies of Men give themselves upon different Terms and Degrees to the Conduct of others And as in those Cases the general Name of Master may be equally used tho the degrees of his Power are to be judged by the nature of the Contract so in these all may carry the same Name of King and yet every ones Power is to be taken from the Measures of that Authority which is lodged in him and not from any general Speculations founded on some equivocal Terms such as King Sovereign or Supream But this has been of late so learnedly argued that I shall wave any further Discussion of this Matter This only I shall add that the King of England is by the moderate Assertors of this Monarchy called Pater Patriae and Sponsus Regni By which Metaphorical Characters the King and his Subjects come within the Relation of a Father and Children or within that of a Husband and Wife which is proper enough to represent the Nature and Mildness of the English Government Others make King and Subject to be no other Relation than that of Gardian and Ward Ad tutelam namque says Fortescue Legis Subditorum ac eorum Corporum Bonorum Rex hujusmodi erectus est the King being ordained for the Defence or Gardianship of the Laws of his Subjects and of their Bodies and Goods I have done and now I proceed to a further Description of this Monarchy 'T is Free and Independent that is not holden of any Earthly Potentate or any ways obliged to do Homage for the same as the Kingdom of Naples holden of the Pope by the King of Spain and that of Scotlund which held in Capite of the Crown of England Whereas the Kingdom of England owns no Superiour upon Earth A Monarchy that justly challenges a Freedom from all Subjection to the Emperour or Laws of the Empire For tho the Roman Emperors were anciently possessed of this Country and got by force of Arms the Possession of it yet upon their quitting the same the Right by the Law of Nations returned to the former Owners pro Derelicto as the Civilians speak The same is also free from all manner of Subjection to the Pope of Rome and consequently from those several Inconveniencies and Burdens which ly upon Popish Kingdoms As Taxes paid to that Bishop Provisions and Dispensations in several Cases to be procured from the Court of Rome and Appeals thither in Ecclesiastical Suits 'T is an Hereditary Monarchy and such as allow's of no Interregnum free therefore from those Mischiefs and Inconveniencies which frequently attend such Kingdoms as are Elective Though it is granted at least it seems apparent by History that England has been an Elective Kingdom especially in the Time of the Saxons When upon the King's Death those Persons of the Realm that composed the then Parliament assembled in order to the chusing of another And tho one or other of the Royal Bloud was always chosen yet the next in lineal Succession was often set aside as is evident from the Genealogies of the Saxon Kings But however it was in those and after Times certain it is that ever since King Henry VII the Crown has run in a course of lineal Succession by Right of Inheritance Till the late King having forsaken the Government and abdicated the Kingdom the Crown with the general Consent of the Nation was set upon the Head of the Prince of Orange our present King joyntly with the Princess the next Heir to King James and the Succession settled as will appear afterwards And upon William and Mary our Gracious King and Queen may the Crown long flourish To conclude whatever be the Bent and Inclination of some Men amongst us for a Commonwealth the Generality of the Nation is so much for Monarchy that it is like so to continue as long as the World indures In that Eclipse of Monarchy which hapned before the Restauration of King Charles II how busy then the Commonwealth Party was to provide against its Return and to settle here
Democracy for ever all the World know's No Stone was left unturned and what came of it As soon as ever Opportunity served the very Presbyterians themselves joyned with the Royalists to bring in the exiled King and re-establish the ancient Government So soon the Nation grew sick of the Commonwealth and so strong was then the Current for Monarchy that without the shedding of a drop of Bloud the first was in a manner hissed out of the Nation and Monarchy restored with the greatest Pomp and Joy imaginable I set aside the Zeal of our English Clergy for Monarchy and their Influence upon the Laity The great Number alone of our Nobility and Gentry with their proportionable Ascendent upon the People makes me look upon it as a moral Impossibility for Commonwealth-Government ever to prevail here 'T is well known the Genius of Commonwealths is for keeping down the Nobility and extinguishing all those Beams of Royalty Therefore as 't is their Interest so I suppose it will be their Care to stick to Monarchy CHAP. VII Of the KING of ENGLAND And first of his Dominions Titles Arms his Ensigns of Royalty and Marks of Sovereignty THE King of England is otherwise called King of Great-Britain as being the sole Sovereign and supreme Head of this great and famous Island containing the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland besides the Principality of Wales Which Principality was first united by Conquest to the Crown of England Anno 1282 by King Edward I. Who overcame and slew in Battel Llewellen the last Sovereign Prince of Wales of the Race of Cadwallader the last King of the Britains After the Conquest thereof he took all the provident Care imaginable to secure it to the Crown but the Welsh seldom contained themselves within the bounds of true Allegiance till the Reign of Henry VII who was extracted from the Welsh Bloud In whose Successor's Reign Henry VIII they were made by Act of Parliament one Nation with the English subject to the same Laws capable of the same Preferments priviledged with the same Immunities and inabled to send Knights and Burgesses to the English Parliament So that the Name and Language only excepted there is now no Difference between the English and Welsh A very happy Union Scotland was also brought into Subjection by the same King Edward so that he received Homage of its King and Nobility and had there his Chancery and other Courts under a Viceroy But with much strugling they recovered at last their Liberty and set up a King of their own Robert Bruce who had the luck to be confirmed in it by the Defeat given to Edward II one of our unfortunate Kings 'T is true his Son King Edward III a most virtuous and valorous Prince changed the face of Affairs in Scotland and brought again the Scots to Obedience Insomuch that he excluded David the Son of Robert Bruce from the Crown then forced to fly into France and restored the House of Baliol to the Kingdom in the person of Edward Son of King John Baliol. Who upon his coming to the Crown did Homage to this King Edward as his Father had done to King Edward I. But 't was not long before the Scots quitted again their Subjection and Vassalage to the Crown of England the Roll of Ragman being treacherously delivered into their hands by Roger Mortimer Earl of March Which Roll contained a Confession and Acknowledgement of the Estates of Scotland subscribed by all their Hands and Seals whereby they owned the Superiority of the Kings of England not only in regard of such Advantages as the Sword had given them but as of their original and undoubted Right But setting aside this point of Vassalage the Kings of England are Kings of Scotland by a better Title For King James VI of Scotland and the first of England succeeded Q. Elizabeth in the Realm of England as the next Heir to the Crown Anno 1602 being descended by Mary Queen of the Scots his Mother from Margaret the eldest Daughter of Henry the VII King of England and Wife to James IV of Scotland And here the Wisdom and prudent Foresight of Henry is very remarkable Who having two Daughters bestowed the Eldest contrary to the Mind of his Council on the King of Scots and the younger on the French King that if his own Issue Male should fail as it did by the Death of his Grandson King Edward VI and that a Prince of another Nation must inherit England then Scotland as the lesser Kingdom should depend upon England and not England wait on France as upon the greater In which Succession of the Scots to the Crown of England the Prophecy of the fatal Stone received accomplishment I mean the Stone which the Scots lookt upon as their Palladium kept at Scone in Scotland the usual Place for the Coronation of the Scotish Kings upon which they received their Crown till the Removal of it unto Westminster by King Edward I. The Verses of old ingraven upon this Stone run thus Non fallat Fatum Scoti quocunque locatum Invenient Lapidem regnare tenentur ibidem Translated in old Meeter thus The Scots shall brook that Realm as natif Ground If Weirds fail not where ere this Stone is found Thus the Scots so often quelled and curbed by the English never subdued England but by this blessed Victory Ever since this happy Union Scotland has been deprived of its Kings Residence there who changed the worse Seat for the better But under the King there is a chief Governour appointed by his Majesty the Lord High Commissioner of Scotland who by that Title injoys the ordinary Power and Authority of a Viceroy In this manner Scotland has continued to this day a separate Kingdom governed by its own Laws 'T is true there have been several Attempts made to unite it into one Kingdom with England as Wales was by Henry VIII But hitherto they proved unsuccesfull So far we have cleared in few Words by History the whole Isle of Great Britain to the King of England with the numerous Islands about it the principal of which are the Isles of Shepey Thanet Wight Anglesey and Man The next that offers it self is the Kingdom of Ireland a great Part whereof was Conquered by the English about the Year 1172. in the Reign of Henry II and the Occasion thus Ireland being then divided amongst several â—petty Kings the King of Leinster was by the King of Meath driven out of his Kindom He fled to England for Refuge where applying himself to King Henry Henry resolved to attempt his Restauration which he did effectually and in the doing of it brought the best part of the Island under the English Subjection King John the Younger Son of Henry was the first who was Intituled Lord of Ireland Which Stile was granted him by Pope Urban III and continued to his Successors though in effect Kings thereof till the Year 1542 when Henry VIII was declared in an Irish Parliament King of
Ireland as a Name more sacred and replete with Majesty But the English never made a full and entire Conquest of that Kingdom till the latter end of Queen Elizabeths Reign upon the great Defection of the Irish Which ended in a total Overthrow of the Rebels then under the Conduct of Hugh O Neal Earl of Tiroen and the consequence of it according to the Rule That every Rebellion when 't is suppressed does make the Prince stronger and the Subjects weaker Which I hope will be the effect of the present Rebellion in that Kingdom But besides Great Britain and Ireland the King of England is possessed of Jersey Garnsey Alderney and Sark four Islands of good note especially the two first on the Coast of Normandy in France The same are holden in right of that Dukedom which was Conquered by Henry I of England and continued English till the Days of King John when Philip II of France surnamed Augustus seized on all the Estates the English had in France as Forfeitures Anno 1202. And since the French seized upon Normandy they have often attempted Jersey and Garnsey but always with repulse and loss So affectionate are the People to the English Government and jealous of the Priviledges they injoy under it which they could not hope for from the French In America the King of England is possessed of New-England Virginia Mary-Land New York Pensylvania Carolina and Hudsons-Bay Besides many noted Islands as New-found Land Jamaica Bermudos Barbados and amongst the Leeward Islands Nevis Antego Montserat Anguilla c. In Asia he has the Isle of Bombay near Goa which was Part of the present Queen Dowagers Portion besides Conveniencies for Traffick in India China and the Levant The same he has upon the Coast of Africk The King of England has a Claim besides to the Sovereignty of all the Seas round about Great Britain and Ireland and all the Isles adjacent even to the Shores of all the Neighbouring Nations Therefore all Foreiners Ships have anciently demanded Leave to Fish and to pass in these Seas and to this day lower their Top-Sails to all the Kings Ships of War Our Law faith the Sea is of the Liegeance of the King as well as the Land And accordingly Children born upon our four Seas as sometimes it does happen are accounted natural born Subjects of the King of England without being naturalized The King of England has moreover a Title to the Kingdom of France First Challenged by King Edward III as Son and Heir of Isabel the Daughter of King Philip the Fair and Sister of Lewis IX Philip V and Charles the Fair who reigned successively and died without Issue Male. To prosecute which Title he entred into France with an Army took upon him the Title of King of France and caused the Flower de luces to be quartered with the Lions of England which has been continued ever since amongst all his Successors The French opposing his Title by virtue of a pretended Salique Law disabling Women from the Succession to the Crown he overthrew in two great Battels with a small Force under the Conduct of the incomparable Edward the Black Prince his Son Duke of Aquitain Those were the Battels of Cressy and Poitiers the first being fought Anno 1343 in the Reign of Philip VI surnamed de Valois and that of Poitiers in the Reign of his Son King John who was taken Prisoner with Philip his Son and brought over into England But such is the Vicissitude of Humane Affairs that the English soon after lost all they had got in these Wars Calais excepted For Charles V of France the Son of John proved too hard for Richard II of England one of our unfortunate Kings the next Successor of King Edward III and his Grandson by Edward the Black Prince But Henry V his next Successor but one did so far pursue the Title of France that he won it after he had won the great Battle of Agincourt which happened Anno 1415. The Opportunity was great whether we consider the Weakness and distracted Condition of Charles VI then King of France or the very Distraction of the Kingdom at that time occasioned by the Faction of Burgundy against that of Orleans So that being sought to for Peace he granted it with these Conditions that upon his Marriage with the Lady Catharine Daughter to King Charles he should be made Regent of France during Charles his Life and after the Death of Charles the Crown of France and aâ—â— its Rights should remain to King Henry and his Heirs for ever which was agreed to â—n â—oth sides And though Henry did not live â—o possess the Kingdom yet his Son Henry VI â—ad the fortune to be Crowned King of France in Paris which he held during the life of his Uncle John of Bedford anâ— Humfrey of Gloâ—ester After whose Deaths he not only lost France to the French but England and his Life to the Yorkish Faction Thus Charles VII Son of Charles VI after 〈◊〉 long and bloody War recovered from the English then divided at Home all their Possessions in France except Calais Which last remained under the English till Queen Maries Reign and was taken from her by Henry II of France And ever since Things have remained much in the same Posture the Kings of England with the Title to France and the French Kings with the Possession Nay we have had two Kings of late so passionately inamoured with the present French King that far from attempting to take the least Flower of his Crown from him have promoted his Greatness and encouraged his Rapines and unjust Usurpations The Scope whereof at last appeared to be no less than the Inslaving this Nation with the Assistance of France and far from raising the Glory of the English to make them an Object of Scorn and Contempt to the World But now we are blest with a wise just and magnanimous King three Vertues that have been long absent from the Throne of England we may hope shortly to see France if not Conquered again at least so humbled and weakened that it shall not be in her power to insult and incroach upon her Neighbours as she has in our Time to the Ruin and Desolation of the best Part of Europe 'T was a notable if not Prophetick Answer which an Englishman made to a French Officer who after the English had lost France asked him in a scoffing manner When they would return thither Wheâ— your Sins says he â—â—re greater than ours As baâ— as this Nation 〈◊〉 been 't is apparent the French have far outdone us in their Pride and Lewdness Cruelties and Usurpations So that I hope from the Disposition of the present Affairs of Europe the Time is come for France to give an Account thereof to God and Man I come now to the King of England's Titles which run thus at present joyntly with Queen Mary William and Mary by the Grace of God King and Queen of England Scotland France and Ireland
King Who in such Case usually make choice of such a Person among the Nobility as is fit for that Station whose private Interest is to preserve the Kings Life and Authority and to whom least benefit can accrue by his Death or Diminution Thus in the Case of Edward VI the Duke of Somerset his Uncle by the Mothers side was made Lord Protector during the Kings Minority And when this Rule has not been observed as in the Minority of Edward V it has proved of very ill consequence But this is observable withall that when thâ— King comes to be 24 Years of Age he may bâ— his Letters Patents under the Great Seal aâ—cording to a Statute made in the Reign of Heâ—ry VIII revoke and utterly null whatsoeveâ— has been Enacted in Parliament during his Mâ—nority When the King was Absent upon any so reign Expedition as several of our Kings have been with good success the Custom was for merly to constitute a Vicegerent by Commission under the Great Seal with the Titâ— of Lord Warden or Lord Keeper of the Kingdom and sometimes that of Protector And such was the Latitude of his Power that except wearing of the Crown he was as great aâ— the King But sometimes the Kingdom durinâ— the King's Absence has been committed to thâ— Care of several Noblemen During the Absence of Henry VIII in France which hapned two several times the Queeâ— was made Regent And so is at this time oâ—â— Gracious Queen Mary during his Majesties so reign Expedition So in case of the Kings Incapacity to govern either through Age or Weakness or by reason of some Incurable Disease a Gardian 〈◊〉 Regent is constituted to govern the Kingdom for Him Such a one was John Duke of Lâ—â— caster in the latter Days of King Edward 〈◊〉 appointed by the King himself who then what with Age and Weakness what with Sickness and Grief for the untimely Death of 〈◊〉 dear Son the Black Prince was much decayâ— both in Body and Mind I come now to the Succession to the Crâ—â— Which is not in England as in France Turâ—â— and amongst Barbarians by excluding Females from the Crown For the Crown of England in its natural Course descends from Father to Sâ—n for want of Sons to the eldest Daughter and her Heirs for want of Daughter to the Brother and his Heirs for want of Brother to the Sister and her Heirs In short upon the Death of the King or Queen upon the Throne the next of Kindred though born out of the Dominions of England or of Parents not Subjects of England is immediately King or Queen before any Proclamation or Coronation And contrary to the Descent of Estates among Subjects the Half Blood inherits as in the Case of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth who succeeded King Edward the Sixth though they were his Sisters only by the Father's side But the Government being lately Dissolved by King James his Misgovernment as well as Abdication the Crown was settled in this manner by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons assembled at Westminster in the Month of December Anno 1689. First upon William and Mary then Prince and Princess of Orange during their Lives and the Life of the Survivor of Them but the sole and full Exercise of the Regal Power to be only in and executed by the said Prince of Orange in the Names of the said Prince and Princess during their joynt Lives And after their Deceases the said Crown and Royal Dignity to be to the â—eirs of the Body of the said Princess And for default of such Issue to the Princess Anne of Denmark and the Heirs of her Body And for default of such Issue to the Heirs of the Body of the said Prince of Orange Upon which the said Prince and Princess now King and Queen of England c. did accept thâ— Crown and Royal Dignity of the Kingdoms oâ— England France and Ireland and the Dominions thereunto belonging And for preventing all Questions and Divisions in this Realm by reason of any pretended Titles to the Crown and for preserving a Certainty in the Succession thereof the Settlement of the Crown as aforesaid was Confirmed by an Act of the Insuing Parliament which passed the Royal Assent Dec 16. 1689. With this excellent Proviso That Whereas it hath been found by Experience that it is Inconsistent with the Safety and Welfare of this Protestant Kingdom to be Governed by a Popisâ— Prince or by any King or Queen Marrying Papist all and every Person and Persons thaâ— is are or shall be Reconciled to or shall holâ— Communion with the See or Church of Rome or shall profess the Popish Religion or shalâ— Marry a Papist shall be Excluded and be soever Uncapable to Inherit Possess or Injoy thâ— Crown and Government of this Realm and Ireland and the Dominions thereunto belonâ—ing or any Part of the same or to Have Usâ— or Exercise any Regal Power Authority or Jâ—risdiction within the same And in all and 〈◊〉 very such Case or Cases the People of theâ— Realms shall be and are hereby Absolved 〈◊〉 their Allegiance and the said Crown and Government shall from time to time Descend 〈◊〉 and be Injoy'd by such Person or Persons â—â—ing Protestants as should have Inheritâ—â— or Injoyed the same in case the said Pâ—â—son or Persons so Reconciled holding Coâ—munion or Professing or Marrying as afoâ—â—said were naturally Dead By which Act further Confirmed and Asserted by the Act of Recognition passed in the last Session of Parliament the Crown is by Law for ever Insured into Protestant Hands and all Pretence of Popish Succession Nulled and Invalidated CHAP. XI Of the Royal Family Particularly of the Queen and the Sons and Daughters of England THe Queen of England is either a Sovereign or Queen Consort or else Queen Dowager When the Queen is Sovereign as were Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth the two Daughters of Henry VIII and Sisters of Edward VI. he is invested with all the Regal Power and â—cts as Sovereign And whoever she does marry â—o far from following her Husbands Condition â—he is her Husbands Sovereign as Queen Mary â—as Philip's The Case indeed of our present Queen Mary is â—ifferent She is a Sovereign joyntly with her â—usband King William but the Administration 〈◊〉 the Government and the sole Executive Power â—â—lodged only in the King during their Joynt â—â—ves Except the Time of his Majesties Absence 〈◊〉 his foreign Expedition during which Her â—jesty is Vested by a late Act of Parliament with the Administration and acts as Queen Regent A Queen Consort without Sovereignty is Reputed however the Second Person in the Kingdom and Respected accordingly The Law sets so high a value upon Her as to make it High Treason to conspire her Death or to violate her Chastity She has her Royal Court and Officers apart with a large Dower to maintain her Greatness And though she be an Alien born yet without Denization or Naturalization she may purchase Lands in
Fee-simple make Leases and Grants and sue in her own Name without the King which is not in the power of any other Feme-covert or married Woman to do A Queen Dowager or Widow-Queen is still Respected as a Queen in her Widowhood and keeps a Court accordingly And though she should marry a private Gentleman as did Queen Catharine King Henry the Fifths Widow she does not lose her Dignity By the Sons and Daughters of England I mean the King's Children So called because all the Subjects of England have a special Interest i◠Them though their Education and the Disposing of Them is only in the King The Eldest Son commonly called the Prince of Wales is born Duke of Cornwal and afterwards created Prince of Wales Upon his Birth he is by Law of full Age to sue for the Livery of the said Dukedom as if he were full a Years of Age. But so much of the Lands 〈◊〉 Demesns of it have been Alienated that h◠Revenues are chiefly out of the Tin-Mines i◠Cornwall Which with all other Profits of the Dutchy amount yearly to the Sum of 140◠Pounds and the Prince's whole Revenues to about 20000 l. When King Edward I had compleated the Conquest of Wales He divided it into Seven Shires to which Henry VIII added five more out of the March Lands Over each of the Seven Shires King Edward placed a particular English Lieutenant and over the whole he designed a Vicegerent The Welch being disgusted at this He sent for his Queen then great with Child to Caernarvan where she was delivered of a Son Upon the News whereof the King assembled the Chief Men of that Nation and offered to name them a Governour born in Wales who could not speak one word of English and against whose Life they could take no just exception Such a one when they had all sworn to obey he named his young Son Edward Whereupon He created him Prince of Wales and since that time the Kings of England eldest Sons have been called Princes of Wales Whereas while Normandy was in the Power of the English which lasted till the Reign of King John they were stiled Dukes of Normandy The Investiture is performed by the Imposition of a Cap of Estate and a Coronet on the Princes Head as a Token of his Principality by delivering into his hand a Verge of Gold the Emblem of Government by putting a Gold Ring on his Finger in token that he must be a Husband to his Country and a Father to her Children and by giving him a Patent to hold the said Principality to Him and his Heirs Kings of England By which Words the Separation of it from the Crown is prohibited and the King keeps to himself an excellent Occasion of obliging unto Him his Son when he pleases In Imitation of which Custom John I King of Castille and Leon made his Son Henry Prince of the Asturias a Country so Craggy and Mountainous that it may not improperly be called the Wales of Spain And all the Spanish Princes ever since have been honoured with that Title The Mantle worn in Parliament by the Prince of Wales has for Distinctions sake one gard more than a Duke's his Coronet of Crosses and Flower de luces and his Cap of State indented His Arms differ from the Kings only by addition of a Label of three points And his peculiar Device is a Coronet beautified with three Ostrich Feathers inscribed with ICH DIEN that is I serve Alluding perhaps to that in the Gospel The Heir while he is a Child differs not from a Servant Which Device was born at the Battel of Cressy by John King of Bohemia serving there under the French King and there slain by Edward the Black Prince Since worn by the Princes of Wales and by the Vulgar called the Princes Arms. In short the King of England's Eldest Son has ever since been stiled Prince of Wales Duke of Aquitain and Cornwal and Earl of Chester and Flint these Earldoms being conferred upon him by Letters Patent As Eldest Son to the King of Scotland he is Duke of Rothsay and Seneschal of Scotland from his Birth Though he is a Subject yet the Law looks upon his Person as so Sacred that it is high Treason to imagine his Death or violate his Wife The Younger Sons of England depend altogether upon the King's Favour both for Titles of Honour and Revenues sutable to their Birch For they are not born Dukes or Earls but are so created according to the Kings Pleasure Neither have they as in France certain Appanages but only what Revenue the King pleases to bestow upon them They are indeed by Birth-right as well as the Prince of Wales Counsellors of State whereby they may fit themselves to manage the weighty Affairs of the Kingdom The Daughters are called Princesses And to violate them unmarried is High Treason The Title of Royal Highness is common to all the King's Children All Subjects ought to be uncovered in their Presence to kneel when they are admitted to kiss their hands and to be served on the Knee at Table unless the King be present Lastly all Persons of the Royal Bloud being a Lawful Issue have the Precedency of all others in England As for the King 's Natural or Illegitimate Sons and Daughters they are commonly created Dukes and Dutchesses and bear what Surname the King pleases to give them King Henry I. and Charles II. of blessed Memory are noted to have had the most of any CHAP. XII Of the Nine Great Officers of the Crown NEXT to the Royal Family the Great Officers of the Crown come of course to be Inquired into which are Nine in Number Viz. The Lord High Steward The Lord High Chancellor The Lord High Treasurer The Lord President of the Kings Council The Lord Privy Seal The Lord Great Chamberlain The Lord High Constable The Lord Earl Marshal The Lord High Admiral The Lord High Steward of England is the highest Officer under the King His Office not unlike that of the Mayre of the Pallace under the ancient Kings of France is to rule and govern the Kingdom under the King in Time of Peace and War during his Reign Which Power being thought too large and exorbitant for a Subject to have this Great Officer has been discontinned ever since Henry of Bullingbrock Son to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster afterwards King of England under the Name of Henry IV. Only at a Coronation also for the Trial of a Peer or Peeress for Treason or Felony or some other great Crime the King makes a High Steward for that Time Who during his Stewardship is called His Grace and bears a white Staff in his hand which he openly breaks when the Business is over and so ends his Office By virtue of his Office at a Coronation he sits Judicially at the King's Pallace at Westminster Where he receives the Bills and Petitions of all such Noblemen and others who by reason of their Tenure or otherwise
and Queen as they were lately settled by King and Parliament differ in several Points from the Settlement made in the Reign of Charles II and Confirmed to the late King James 'T is true the Excise which consists in certain Impositions upon Beer Ale and other Liquors is Settled upon Them for their Lives and the Life of the Survivor of Them But out of it a Yearly Rent of 20000 l. comes to Her Royal Highness the Princess of Denmark and her Issue during Their Majesties Lives and the Survivor of Them The Custom upon Commodities Imported and Exported which was settled upon King Charles II and afterwards his Successor for their respective Lives is now Confined within the Term of four Years to commence on the 24th Day of December 1690. And that great Branch of the Revenue the Hearth-Mony which was for ever Settled in the Crown to the great Grievance of the People is now lopt off by Act of Parliament upon the King 's generous Motion for the Relief of His Subjects As to Their Majesties other Revenues I refer you to the Ninth Chapter Which with the Excise and Custom come to above Twelve hundred thousand Pound a Year that is about 16 Millions of French Livers A Revenue which may serve in Time of Peace to Keep up the Honour of the Crown not to inable any Ambitious or Over-covetous Prince to Invade the Property and Liberty of the Engglish Subjects or under a vain Pretence of his own Glory to disturb the Peace and Quiet of his Neighbours A sad Experience whereof we have seen of late Years by the Practice of that Ambitious Monarch the French King whose exorbitant Incomes have helped him to Crush first his Subjects and then most of his Neighbours But when the Nation is concerned in a forein War and the War grounded upon Equity and Honour the Parliaments of England seldom fail of Supplying the King with Subsidies suitable to the present Occasion by a Land-Tax Poll-Mony and such other Ways as they think most convenient In the mean time as the Custom and Excise are the two principal Branches of Their Majesties Revenues let us see how the same are managed how the Products thereof come into the Exchequer and are there disposed of by such thrifty Methods that all Charges born it costs the King little above 2 Shillings in the Pound For the Managing of the Custom-Revenue there are in the first place at present Seven Commissioners who have the Charge and Oversight of all Their Majesties Customs in all Ports of England Which Customs amount to about 600000 l. a Year whereof the Port of London only pays two Thirds that is about 400000 l. Yearly The said Commissioners sit day by day at the Custom-House London They hold their Places by Patent from the King and have each a Salary of 1000 l. per Annum Under these are a great Number of Officers imployed both at London and in the Out-Ports some of them of considerable quality and ability Such as Collectors Customers Comptrollers Surveyors Registers Searchers Waiters c. whose due Perquisites are so considerable that to some they are more than their respective Salaries First there is A Collector Inwards and for the Act of Navigation 966 13 04 A Collector Outwards 276 00 00 A Customer of the Cloth and petty Customs 277 06 08 Two Customers of the great Customs each 50 00 00 A Comptroller General of the the Accompts 500 00 00 A Comptroller of the Cloth and petty Customs 100 00 00 A Surveyor General 500 00 00 A Surveyor of the Out-Ports 250 00 00 A Register of the Seizures 106 00 00 A Head-Searcher 120 00 00 Nineteen King's Waiters each 52 00 00 Forty Land-Waiters each 80 00 00 There is also a Secretary a Ware-house-Keeper a Surveyor of the Ware-house 7 Land-Surveyors 8 Tide-Surveyors 7 Under-Searchers these at 12 l. per Annum and many more Officers that I pass by for brevities sake Besides several Persons Commissioned to seize Uncustomed Goods either Inward or Outward bound 80 Tide-Waiters whose Fee is each 5 l. a Year and 3 shill a Day besides extraordinary Tide-Waiters allowed no Salary but only 3 shill a Day when Imployed To which add Noon-Tenders Watchmen and abundance of other inferiour Officers The Excise Office is Kept in a stately House in Broad Street where this Revenue is also managed by Seven Commissioners who receive here the whole Product of the Excise all over England and pay it into the Exchequer They have each of them 1000 l. Salary per Annum and are obliged by Oath to take no Fee nor Reward but from the King only Under these is A Register and Secretary 500 00 00 An Auditor who for himself and Clerks is allowed 700 00 00 A Comptroller and his Clerks 1240 00 00 There are other considerable Places belonging to this Office both within Doors and without which are injoyed and officiated by very sufficient Persons Particularly the House-Keeper's Place worth 400 l. per Annum And to collect the Excise-Duty all over the Kingdom a great Number of Men appointed for that purpose whose Salary is 20 shill a Week But 't is Observable that from the foresaid Commissioners there lies an Appeal to five others called the Commissioners of Appeal whose yearly Salary from the King is 200 l. each These and all other Their Majesties Revenues are paid at Westminster into the Exchequer that Ocean of Treasure which receives all those Streams and returns them again to refresh the Kingdom by the constant Payments out of it Whereby is caused a great Circulation of Mony throughout the Land And as there are a great many Officers for Collecting the King's Revenues so there are not a few to Receive and Disburse the same according to His Majesties Order The principal Officer is the Lord Treasurer One of the Great Officers of the Crown Whose Place is sometimes as it is at this present managed by Commissioners appointed by His Majesty The next is the Chancellour of the Exchequer an Officer of great Account and Authority whose Power extends not only in the Exchequer Court but also here in the managing and disposing of the King's Revenue He is Under-Treasurer has the Exchequer-Seal in his Custody and a Superintendency over the Lord Treasurer's Roll. The Places of the Comptroller of the Pipe of the Clerk of the Pleas the Clerk of the Nichils and the two Praisers of the Court besides the Seal thereof are all in his Gift Then there are two Chamberlains who 〈◊〉 in their Custody many ancient Records the Standards of Monies Weights and 〈◊〉 and Doomsday Book otherwise called 〈…〉 Book of the Exchequer First Known by the Name of Rotulus Wintoniae and since named Doomsday Book as containing an exact account of all the Lands of England with the true Value of them and their Owners Names So that when this Book was opened upon any Difference the Cheat appeared and Judgement was given accordingly This Tax-book has been written above
of the House or to speak irreverently of the Court of Parliament in Time of Parliament several have been sent for by the Sergeant to answer it to the House and Committed Dec. 1641. it was Resolved that the setting of any Gards about this House without the Consent of the House is a Breach of the Priviledge of this House and that therefore such Gards ought to be dismissed Which Resolve was followed by three others Nemine Contradicente The first that the Priviledges of Parliament were broken by his Majesties taking notice of the Bill for suppressing of Souldiers being in agitation in both Houses and not agreed on The second that his Majesty in propounding a Limitation and provisional Clause to be added to the Bill before it was presented to Him by the Consent of both Houses was a Breach of the Priviledge of Parliament The third that His Majesty expressing his Displeasure against some Persons for Matters moved in the Parliament during the Debate and preparation of that Bill was a Breach of the Priviledge of Parliament And whereas in January following the King did come to the House of Commons in a warlike manner with armed Men some posted at the very Door of the House and others in other Places and Passages near it to the Disturbance of the Members then fitting and treating in a peaceable and orderly manner of the great Affairs of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and His Majesty having placed himself in the Speakers Chair did demand the Persons of divers Members of the House to be delivered unto him It was thereupon declared by the House that the same is a high Breach of the Rights and Priviledges of Parliament and inconsistent with the Liberty and Freedom thereof and therefore the House doth conceive they could not with safety of their own Persons or the Indemnities of the Rights and Priviledges of Parliament sit there any longer without a full Vindication of so high a Breach of Priviledge and a sufficient Gard wherein they might conside Lastly both Houses of Parliament are the proper Judges of their respective Priviledges and the inferiour Courts have nothing to do with it CHAP. II. Of the King's Privy Council NEXT to the Court of Parliament which is the great Wheel that gives motion to the rest is the Kings Privy Council A Court of great Honour and Antiquity Incorporated as it were to the King Himself and bearing part of his Cares in the great Bufiness of the Government Insomuch that upon their Wisdom Care and Watchfulness depends the Honour and Welfare of His Majesties Dominions in all Parts of the World For according to their Oath they are chiefly to Advise the King upon all Emergencies to the best of their Judgment with all the Fidelity and Secrecy that becomes their Station And as the King has the sole Nomination of them so 't is his main Interest to make choice of such eminent Persons as are best able with their Wisdom Experience and Integrity to â—nswer those great Ends they are appointed for They ought to be Persons of several Capacities that nothing be wanting for good Counsel and Advice in a Court from whence in a great measure depends the Safety Honour and Welfare of the King and Kingdom Generally they are pickt out amongst the Nobility and for Things that relate to Church Affairs the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London use to be Members thereof In the late Kings Reign not only Popish Lords were admitted contrary to Law but in defiance as it were of the Nation a Traytor by the Law and the worst of Counsellours a mercurial hot-headed Jesuit whose pernicious Counsels and Influences proved accordingly fatal to King James and all the Popish Party As for the Number of Privy Counsellours 't is at His Majesties pleasure Anciently they used to be but twelve or thereabouts but since their Number has increased sometimes to forty The Privy Council is kept in the Kings Court or Pallace and the King himself do's commonly sit with them The usual Days for their sitting is Wednesdays and Fridays in the Morning out of Parliament or Term-time and in the Afternoon in Parliament or Term-time But upon extraordinary Occasions the King calls them together at any time Accordingly they wait on His Majesty in the Council-Chamber and fit at the Council Board in their Order bare-headed when the King presides To whom His Majesty declares what He thinks fit and desires their Advice in it At all Debates the lowest Counsellour delivers his Opinion first that so he may be the more free and the King last of all by declaring his Judgment determines the Matter 'T is with the Advice of the Privy Council that the King puts out Proclamations Orders and Declarations which being grounded upon Statute or Common Law are binding to the subject And upon any sudden Emergency â—herein the publick Safety may be Indangered â—or want of speedy Redress the King and Council may take a latitude of Power sutable 〈◊〉 the Occasion Formerly the Council heard and determiâ—ed Causes between Party and Party But of â—te lest private Causes should hinder the Publick they seldom meddle with them but leave â—em to the Kings Courts of Justice There are two distinct and important Offices â—longing to this Court. The first is the Lord Presidents who is one of the Nine Great officers of the Crown He is called Lord Preâ—â—dent of the Privy Council because by his office he is in a manner the Director of it â—Tis he that reports to the King when His â—ajesty has been absent from the Council the â—ate of the Businesses transacted there The other Great Office is that of Secretary â—mmonly called a Secretary of State which â—rmerly was single till about the end of Henry III. his Reign Who considering the Imâ—rtance of this great and weighty Office â—ought fit to have it discharged by two Perâ—â—ns of equal Authority and therefore both â—ed Principal Secretaries of State In those Days and some while after says 〈◊〉 Chamberlain they sat not at Council-board 〈◊〉 having prepared their Business in a Room joyning to the Council-Chamber they came 〈◊〉 and stood on either hand of the King â—d nothing was debated at the Table until 〈◊〉 Secretaries had gone through with their Proposals Which Method afterwards was altered in Q. Elizabeths Reign who seldom coming to Council ordered the two Secretaries to take their places as Privy Counsellours which has continued ever since And a Council is seldom or never held without the presence of one of them at the least Besides the publick Concerns of the Nation most of which pass through their hands they are also concerned with Grants Pardons Dispensations c. relating to private Persons For in their hands are lodged most of the Subjects Requests to be represented to the King whereupon they make Dispatches according to His Majesties Directions In short so great is their Trust and their Imployment of that great latitude that it requires their
the Buildings of this Town they are but mean tho' it be in Time of Peace the greatest Thorow-fare for Travellers from England to France and from that Kingdom to this It has formerly had 〈◊〉 Parish-Churches which are now reduced to two It s Haven is indifferent good and as Calais on the other side of the Water fit only for smaller Vessels As for honourary Titles I don't find any it has yielded before the Reign of King Charles I by whom Henry Carey Viscount Rochford and Baron Hunsden was created Earl of Dover Anno 1627. Which Title expired with his Son John Carey dying without Issue-male in the Year 1667 the Barony continuing in the Collateral Line Sandwich lies about 12 miles North from Dover and was formerly a Place of good Strength But since the Sea has forsaken it and its Haven has been choakt up it has losâ— much of its Trade and Reputation Noted however for giving the Title of Earl to the Right Honourable Edward Montague the present Earl of Sandwich Devolved to him from his Father Edward Montague created Baroâ— Montague of S. Neots Viscount Hinchingbrooâ— and Earl of Sandwich by King Charles II 1660. Who lost his Life in a Sea-fight against the Dutch May 29. 1672. Hythe another of the Cinque-Port Towns has run the same fate as Sandwich by the unkindness of the Sea It lies South and by Wesâ— from Dover within a Mile of Sangate Cade Rumney is seated in a Marsh so called about 14 Miles long and 8 broad Much more famous for the Conveniency of the Marsh in the Grazing of Cattel than either for good Air or a good Harbour To the Port of Dover belongs Folkstone as a Member thereof a Sea-Town near Sangate Castle formerly containing 5 Parish Churches now reduced to one Lyd is likewise a Member of the Cinque-Ports And so are Deal and Fordwich Members of the Town and Port of Sandwich The â—irst of which is of most note in these Parts for the Fleets that from time to time harbour â—ereabouts in order to sail East or West The Kentish Isles Thanet and Shepey In the North-East Parts of Kent near â—andwich is an Island called Thanet surrounded on all sides with the Sea except Westward where it is severed from the main Land by the River Stoure here called Yenlade but so that by the benefit of a Causey and Passage for the Waters in convenient Places it is united to the Continent or main Land of Kent This Island called by the Saxons Thanet from Thanatos or Athanatos by which Name it is found in Solinus is about 9 Miles in length and 8 in breadth at the broadest An Island plentifully stored with Provisions but Corn especially and withall very populous Famous for being the Place which the Saxons landed at when they first came into Britain the first Livery and Seisin which they had of the whole Kingdom conferred by the improvident Bounty of Vortiger to whose Aid they were called in And no less remarkable for being the Landing Place of Augustine the Monk when he brought the Gospel to the victorious Heathen Saxons and by his Preaching subjected them to the Rules of Christianity At Stonar a Port Town of this Island is the Sepulchre says Heylin of Vortimer King of the Britains Who having vanquished the Saxons in many Battels and finally driven them out of the Island desired to be here interred on a fond conceit that his dead Corps would fright them from Landing any more upon these Goasts Which he did probably in imitation of that Scipio who having had a fortunate Hand against those of Carthage gave order that his Tomb should be turned towards Africk to fright the Carthaginians from the Coasts of Italy But the Britains found at last by sad experience the difference there is betwixt a King in the Field and a King in the Grave On the North Shore of this Island is a Point of Land of special note among Mariners by the Name of North Foreland And the whole Isle in general is noted for giving the Title of Earl to the Right Honourable Thomas Tufton the present Earl of Thanet Shepey is another Island much about the bigness of the former Surrounded on all sides with the Sea except Southward where it is parted by the Medway from the main Land of Kent This is likewise a very fruitful Island winch from the great Flocks of Sheep that feed here came perhaps to be called Shepey 'T is well watered with Rivers especially the South Parts of it And the Soil of it has a peculiar quality in not breeding of Moles This Island has been much harassed by the Danes and by the Followers of Earl Goodwin and his Sons At present it gives the Title of Countess to the Lady Elizabeth Countess of Shepey Lady Dacres c. The chief Place is Queenborough which stands on the West Coast Besides which here are several other Towns as Minster East-Church Warden Leysden Elmley c. West from this Island is another of a small Compass on which stands the Fort called Sheerness which commands the Mouth of the Thames and Medway To conclude as to the County of Kent it stands now divided between the Diocese of Canterbury and Rochester and was as I said before a Kingdom of it self in the Time of the Heptarchy Called Cantium and the Inhabitants Cantii by the Romans Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire 16 Members of Parliament Viz. Two out of each of these Towns Canterbury Rochester Maidstone and Queenborough besides these Cinque-Port Towns Sandwich Dover Hythe and New-Rumney It has been for several Ages dignify'd with the Title of an Earldom that is ever since the Entrance of the Normans but not without several Interruptions Till upon the Death of William Nevil Earl thereof the Title was conferred by King Edward IV. upon Edmund Grey Lord Ruthen Created Earl of Kent Anno 1465. From whom is descended the Right Honourable Anthony Grey the present Earl of Kent Grandchild of Anthony Grey Clerk Parson of Burbage in the County of Leicester Who upon the Death of Henry Grey without Issue Male Anno 1639. was advanced to this Title as the next Heir to it being Grandchild of Anthony third Son of George Grey the Son of Edmund aforesaid Lastly to those several Things Remarkable in this County which I brought in occasionally I shall only add That at Egerton is a Spring whose Water turns Wood into Stone And at Boxley-Abbey another Spring of the same nature the Water whereof will turn in 9 days time Sticks and small Wood into Stone CHAP. XI Of Lancashire Leicester and Lincolnshire Lancashire LANCASHIRE or the County Palatine of Lancaster is a large Maritimâ— County in the North-West Parts oâ— England Founded on the East with York shire and part of Derbyshire on the Wesâ— by the Irish Sea on the North by Cumberlanâ— and Westmorland and on the South by Châ—shire It s Length from North to South is 57 miles its
handsom Town flands pleasantly among fertile Meadows near the Forest of Charwood on the Banks of the River Stowr over which it has a Bridge Lutterworth a goodly Town also beautified with a large and fair Church with a neat and lofty Spire-Steeple is seated in a good Soil on the River Swift which at a small distance from hence falls into the Avon in Warwickshire Of this Town the famous Wicless was Parson an okl Champion against the Corruptions and Errours of the Church of Rome This County now in the Diocese of Lincoln was part of the ancient Kingdom of Mercia in the Time of the Heptarchy and its Inhabitants with several of their Neighbours went among the ancient Romans under the Name of Coritani Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire but two Members of Parliament chosen by the Town of Leicester Lincolnshire LINCOLNSHIRE a large Maritime County is bounded on the East with the German Ocean on the West with the Counties of York Nottingham and Leicester on the North with the River Humber which parts it from Yorkshire on the South with the Counties of Cambridge Northampton and Rutland It contains in Length from North to South almost 60 miles in Breadth from East to West 35. The Whole divided into 3 Parts called Lindsey Kesteven and Holland And these 3 Divisions contain 30 Hundreds wherein 630 Parishes and 35 Market-Towns This Country being Fenny especially in the East and South Parts makes the Air something unhealthful because it is apt to be thick and foggy The Soil in the North and West Parts is exceeding pleasant and fertile stored with Pasturage Arable and Meadow Grounds But the East and South Parts that are full of Fenny Grounds and something brackish by reason of the Salt Waters that come in from the Sea through several Inlets are barren and unfit for Corn. 'T is true in recompence thereof there is such a plenty both of Fowl and Fish that no County in the Kingdom can compare with it And there goes a Story that at one draught with a Net 30â—0 Mallards have been taken besides other sorts How true it is I am as yet to seek but am apt to think there 's one Cypher too much As for Rivers no County in England is better irrigated nor Rivers any where more plentifull of Fish Northward is the Humber which as I said before parts it from Yorkshire and Westward the Trent which severs Part of it from Nottinghamshire Cross the Country you will find the Witham River Southward the Weland and the Nen. That Part of the County which goes by the Name of Lindsey lies to the Northward and is so named from Lindissi the ancient Name of Lincoln according to Beda This Part is so surrounded with Water that it is an Island and its Extent so great in proportion to the rest that it takes up at least one half of the County Noted for giving the Title of Earl to the Right Honourable Robert Bertie the present Earl of Lindsey Lord Great Chamberlain of England Kesteven and Holland take up the South Parts from Lindsey Holland lying towards the Sea and Kesteven West from it Of Holland there has been 3 Earls Henry Robert and Edward Rich. The first created Earl of Holland by King James I. Anno 1624. Robert his Son succeeded not only in this Title but also in that of Earl of Warwick upon the Death of his Cousin-german Charles Rich Earl of Warwick who died without Issue So that both Titles are now injoyd by his Son and Heir the Right Honourable Edward Rich the present Earl of Warwick and Holland Lincoln the principal Place in this Shire and a Bishops See bears from London North by West and is distant from it by common Computation 103 miles thus Viz. from London to Huntington 48 miles for the Particulars whereof I refer you to Huntingtonshire from thence to Stilton 9 to Peterborough 5 more to Market-Deeping 8 to Sleaford 18 more and thence to Lincoln 15. A City seated on the side of a Hill the lower part whereof is watered by the River Witham over which there are several Bridges for the Conveniency of Passengers A Place of great Antiquity whose ancient ruinated Places are still an Argument of its former Greatness In the Time of the Romans 't was a Town of great strength and fame and in the Time of the Normans a Place of great Trading Whose flourishing Condition occasioned the Episcopal See then at Dorchester near Oxon to be removed hither But this City has gone through all the Calamities of Fire Sword and Earth-quake Which has so much weakned and impaired it that of 50 Churches it is said to have had for divine Worship there remains but 15 besides the Cathedral In the Time of the Saxons King Arthur drove away their Forces from this Place The like did Edmund Ironside to the Danes who had made sore havock thereof On the 5th of Sept. 1140. here was a great Battel fought between King Stephen and Maud the Empress in which the King was taken Prisoner and afterwards laid in irons in Bristol On the 19th of May 1217. here was another sore Battel fought betwixt King Henry III. and his disloyal Barons who stood for Lewis the Dauphin of France in which the King got the day But whatever Disasters and Calamities this City has gone through still 't is a large populous and well frequented Place Dignified not only with an Episcopal See whose Diocese to this day is the greatest of any in the Kingdom but also for many Ages with the Title of an Earldom Which having passed through severall Families with frequent Interruptions came at last to be in the possession of Edward Fiennes Lord Clinton who being Lord Admiral in Queen Elizabeth's Time was by her Majesty created Earl of Lincoln Anno 1565. From whom the Title is now devolved in a direct Line to the Right Honourable Edward Clinton the present Earl of Lincoln The Cathedral or Minster as now standing is one of the stateliest Piles in England and perhaps in Christendom high seated on a Hill and from thence discerned over all the Country In short this City is a County of it self whose Liberties extend about 20 miles in compass and is called the County of the City of Lincoln It s Market kept on Fridays is well served with Provisions and Country Commodities The other Market-Towns are Grantham Sat. Kirkton Sat. Thongcaster Sat. Waynfleet Sat. Horn-Castle Sat. Dunington Sat. Burton Sat. Bourn Sat. Spilsby Mun. Salsby Mun. Sleaford Mun. Market-Stanton Mun. Stamford Mund. Frid. Ganesborough Tue. Barton Tue. Market-Rasen Tue. Bullingbrook Tue. Spalding Tue. Alford Tue. Grinsby Wedn. Binbrook Wedn. Lowthe Wed. and Sat. Boston Wed. and Sat. Glamford Thu. Burgh Thu. Market-Deeping Thu. Folkingham Thu. Holbich Thu. Wragby Thu. Naverby Thu. Tatershall Frid. Saltfleet Crowland Barnwell Among which Stamferd in Kesteven Division and the hithermost Town of Lincolnshire is the most considerable Seated on both sides of the
Division stands on both sides of the River Witham within few Miles of its fall into the Sea This is a considerable Town of good Antiquity and a Place of Trade well inhabited and resorted unto Over the River it has a very fair high wooden Bridge It s Market Place is fair and spacious And the Church of special Note for its fine-built Tower exalted to that height as to serve as a Land-mark to Mariners Kirkton is situate on a sandy Ground rising in that flat Country A Town so called from its Church which is a fair Structure built Cathedral like in the form of a Cross with a broad Steeple in the middle Of some note besides for its excellent Pippins But there is another Kirkton in Lindsey Crowland ly's some Miles East of Market-Deeping and upon the same River which is the Weland A Town seated so low among Fenâ— and miry Ground that there is no coming to it but by the North and East side and that by narrow Causeways not admitting oâ— Carts Hence came the Proverb that 〈◊〉 the Carts that come to Crowland are shod wiâ—â— Silver It consists of 3 Streets severed each from other not unlike Venice by Water-Courses running between and on the Banks which are raised up and preserved by Piles are set Willow-Trees Their Cattel are kept a good distance from the Town and when they go to milk their Cows they go in small Skerries or Boats Here they take in the Pools or watery Places a world of Fish and Fowl of which they make good profit In short the Ground about this Town is so very rotten that one may thrust a Pole in to it 30 foot And in a Place called Hollanâ— there it is so wet that as one stands upoâ— it the Earth will shake under his Feet anâ— he will be ready to sink into it Here are alâ— many Quick-sands which have a wonderful force both to draw to them and to holâ— fast whatever they draw Spalding a pretty Town and a Place oâ— good Trade stands also on the Weland buâ— nearer its Influx into the Ocean some mileâ— North of Crowland That is not far from the Washes the neighbouring Sea so calleâ— for its frequent Inundations in these Parts Dunington also situate in a Flat and waterish like Spalding is a considerable Place foâ— the great quantities of Hemp and Provisionâ— here sold To conclude this County which now is in the Diocese of Lincoln was part of the â—ncient Kingdom of Mercia in the Time of the Heptarchy and its Inhabitants part of the Coritani in the Time of the Romans Out of it are chosen besides the two Knights of the Shire ten Members of Parâ—iament Viz. Two out of each of these following Towns Lincoln Stamford Grantham Boston and Grimsby CHAP. XII Of Middlesex Monmouthshire Norfolk and Northamptonshire Middlesex MIDDLESEX a small Inland County is bounded on the East with Essex from which 't is parted by the River Lea on the West with Buckinghamshire from which 't is severed by the Coln and the Shire-Ditch on the North with Hartfordshire and on the South with the Thames which parts it from Surrey and Kent Called Middlesex from its Situation as lying between the East-Angles and the West-Saxons It contains in Length from East to West about 24 miles in Breadth from North to to South 18. The Whole divided into seven Hundreds wherein 203 Parishes and 6 Market-Towns For Sweetness of Air or Fruitfulness of Soil this County may compare with any Shire iâ— England From the Hills that are about it as Hampsted Highgate Harrow-Hill c. thâ— Prospect of the whole is seen in this not unlikâ— to Zoar in Egypt London the chief Place hereof but withal the Metropolis and the Glory of the Kingdom is too great to be crowded here withiâ— the narrow Compass of these short Descriptions Therefore I refer you to the Conclusion of this Part and so proceed to The Market-Towns besides London and Westminster Brentford Tue. Stanes Frid. Vxbridge Thu. Edgeware Thu. Brentford in the Western Road 7 or 8 mileâ— from London is divided into Old and New Brentford both so called from Brent a smalâ— River that falls here into the Thames Oâ— most renown in former times for the gooâ— Success Edmund Ironside King of England haâ— here against the Danes Anno 1016 which comâ— pelled them to raise the Siege of London Noâ— of most note for being the Thorough-fare bâ— twixt London and the Western Countries thâ— Passage up and down by Water for the eaâ— of Travellers and a well frequented Market Once dignify'd with the Title of an Earldoâ— in the person of Patrick Ruthen Earl of Forâ— in Scotland Created Earl of Brentford by Kinâ— Charles I. Anno 1644. Stanes upon the Thames is a large weâ— inhabited and frequented Town It lies oâ— the West Road of England and has a Bridgâ— over the River that leads into Surrey Vxbridge is another good Town that lies North of Stanes on the River Coln which parts as I said before this County from Buckinghamshire And as it is seated in the high Road from London to Oxford so it is well accommodated with Inns and Houses of Intertainment As for Edgeware 't is but a small Town But besides these four Market-Towns the flourishing City of London has such an Influence over all its Neighbourhood that it swarms all over with pretty Towns not only in Middlesex but even in Surrey In Middlesex as Islington Highgate Hampsted Chelsey Kensington Fulham Hamersmith Thistleworth Hounslow c. most of them graced with the Seats of divers Noblemen Gentlemen and Citizens Among which Kensington of late has the honour of injoying some part of the Year Their Majesties Presence as Hamersmith the Queen Dowager's Hounslow famous for its adjoyning Heath and the notable Incampments made there in the late Reign in order to bring in Popery But as Providence was pleased to order it the Thames swallowed the Tiber and the cold Northern Heresy proved too hard for the hot-headed Jesuit Besides Kensington-House here are in this County no less than five Royal Houses viz. Whitehall and S. James in Westminster Hampton-Court Enfield and Hanworth Lastly this County which formerly was Part of the Kingdom of the East-Saxons and its Inhabitants part of the Trinobantes as the Romans called them is now in the Diocese of London Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire six Members of Parliament viz. 4 out of London and 2 out of Westminster As for honourary Titles I know not by what popular Errour the Citizens of London reckoned the Lord Mayor elect for Earl of Middlesex But whatever Ground it had now it has none to stand on since that Title was bestowed first on Lionel Lord Cranfield Lord Treasurer of England created Earl of Middlesex by King James I. Anno 1622. Which continued in his Son James and died with Lionel Brother of James But in the Year 1675. it was revived by King Charles II. in the person
New Buckenham ly not far from Thetford to the Eastward Diss and Harleston on the Waveney Watton Windham Hingham Swafham and East-Derham do not ly far asunder about the middle of the County Further to the Northward you will find Repeham Caston Fakenham Walsingham Holt Aleâ—ham Worsted North Walsham and Hickling this last in a Marsh-Ground not far from the Sea Downham is upon the Ouse over which it has a Bridge leading into Cambridgeshire Snetham North of Lyn is seated on a bivuler not far from the Sea Burnham-Market and Cromere are two Sea-Towns in the North Parts of the County Between which is Clay another Sea-Town on three sides incompassed with Waters and once a Market Town but now discontinued And near it Wayborn-hope a noted Place amongst Seamen as is Winterton Ness or Point in the East which is very coldly seated And yet it is observed that the Ground about Winterton is one of the richest and fattest in England Among the aforesaid Towns Walsingham was formerly renowned as for its Colledge of Canons so for the continual Concourse of Pilgrims to this Place Who came hither to pay their Superstitious Devotion to the Blessed Virgin at a Chappel near the two Wells called to this day the Virgin Mary's Wells It was also a Place of note for its good Saffron Near Burnham-Market within 2 Miles from it to the Westward is a small Country-Town called Brancaster the Ruins of an ancient Town known by the Name of Branodunum Seated near the Sea-shore and a Place of good account in the time of the Romans who kept here a Garrison Not far from Hickling in the North-East Parts is the ancient decay'd Abbey of St. Bennet's in the Holme built by the Danish King Canute An Abbey so fortified afterwards by its Monks with Walls and Bulwarks that it seemed rather a Castle than a Cloyster and yet was betrayed by a Monk to William the Conqueror The Bishop of Norwich retains to this Day the Title of Lord Abbot of St. Bennets And it is observable that hereabouts both Cockles and Perwinkles are digged out of the Ground Lastly this County which is the largest in England next to Yorkshire but much more populous was Part of the Kingdom of the East-Angles in the time of the Heptarchy and its Inhabitants part of the Iceni as the Romans called them It is observed of the People in this County that they are notably industrious for Plough and Manufactures insomuch that one shall hardly see a Beggar throughout all the Country And yet which one would wonder at they are notable Wranglers and generally so well versed in the Quirks of the Law that they create more work for the Assizes than almost all the Circuit else Accordingly Norfolk is the County which commonly yields the best Breed of Lawyers and has furnished the Courts of Justice with many an emiment Man in the Laws of England But a great Antiquary has made another material Observation That in this County are a hundred Families of ancient Gentry that never were attainted of high Treason Which if it be true the Gentry here have had better fortune than the Dukes Dutchesses and Earls of Norfolk His Grace Henry Howard the present Duke of Norfolk derives his Title from his noble Ancestor John-Lord Howard created Duke of Norfolk by King Edward IV. Anno 1483 and descended from the Lady Margaret Dutchess of Norfolk Daughter of Tho. de Brotherton Earl of Norfolk first Son of King Edward I. Out of this County are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire ten Members of Parliament Viz. Two out of each of these following Places Norwich Kings I yn Yarmouth Thetford and Castle-rising Northamptonshire NORTHAMPTONSHIRE an Inland County is bounded on the East with the Counties of Cambridge Huntington Bedford and Buckingham on the West with Rutland Leicestershire and Warwickshire Northward with the Counties of Lincoln Rutland and Leicester Southward with Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire This County being long but narrow runs in Length from North to South ahout 50 miles and in Breadth from East to West but half The Whole divided into 20 Hundreds wherein 326 Parishes and 13 Market-Towns Here the Air is temperate and healthfull the Soil as rich either for Corn or Grass as in any Place in England And the Inhabitants find such a Profit here by Grazing and Tillage that they improve the Ground every where Insomuch that it is said there is less waste Ground in this County than in any other As for Rivers and other fresh Streams 't is as well watered as most Counties are It s principal Rivers are the Nen and the Weland both having their Rise here besides the Ouse which rises in the South Parts near Bucking hamshire A further Proof of the excellency of this County might be fetched from its Populousness For it is so garnished with Towns that in many Places 20 or 30 Steeples present themselves at one view And considering its Extent 't is said to be honoured with the Seats of as many if not more of the Nobility and Gentry as any County in the Kingdom Northampton the chief Place hereof ly's North-West from London and by common Computation is distant from it 54 miles thus From London to Barnet 10 thence to St. Allans 10 and to Dunstable 10 more from Dunstable to Stony Stratford 20 and to Northampton 10 more A Town pleasantly seated on the Banks of the River Nen where it meets with two Rivulets one from the North the other from the South And though it has suffered much by the sore hand of the Dane and other Calamities and of late particularly by the dreadfull Fire which buried it all in Ashes in September 1675 yet it has raised it self again more glorious than before So that for Circuit and Beauty it may at this time be ranked with many Cities Fortified heretofore with good Walls and a strong Castle and seated in so good an Air that once the Students of Cambridge had a mind to remove their University hither Here the Inhabitants drive a considerable Trade especially of Leather and its Market which is on Saturdays is well served with Provisions This Town is the Place where the County-Goal and the Assizes are kept Of special note for giving the Title of Earl to the Right Honourable George Compton the present Earl of Northampton Devolved to him from his noble Ancestor William Lord Compton and Lord President of Wales Created Earl of Northampton by King James I. Anno 1618. The other Market-Towns are Peterborough Sat. Oundle Sat. Higham-Ferrers Sat. Rothwell Mund. Thrapston Tue. Towcester Tue. King's Cliff Tue. Wellingborow Wed. Braâ—kley Wed. Daventry Wed. Kettering Frid. Bodkingham Among which Peterborough is seated in a Nook or Angle of the County bordering upon Cambridgeshire and Huntingtonshire where formerly had been a Gulf or Whirlpool of an exceeding depth 'T is seated on the River Nen over which it has a Bridge leading into Huntingtonshire A Town of no great account but for being a
Bishops See since the Reign of Henry VIII For as it is no plausible Place either for health or pleasure so it stands out of the way for Trade Yet it shews two handsom Streets a large Market-Place and a fair Parish Church besides the Abbey Which last from a Monastery founded by Wolpher the Mercian King is now become a Cathedral And from that Monastery dedicated by him to St. Peter This Town formerly known by the Name of Medanshede came to be called Peterburgh or Peterborough Dignifyâ—d with the Title of an Earldom in the person of Henry Mordant the present Earl of Peterborough devolved to him from his Father John Lord Mordant created Earl of Peterborough by King Charles I. Anno 1627. Oundle is pleasantly seated on the Banks of the Nen over which it has two Bridges A well built and uniform Town beautified with a fair Church a free School and an Alms-house Nigh unto Oundle Northwards and upon the same River stands Fotheringhay-Castle invironed on all sides with pleasant Meadows Noted for that here Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded Thrapston Higham-Ferrers and Wellingborow ly all three upon the Nen the first two on the Eastern the last on the Western Banks and each of them with a Bridge over the River Higham-Ferrers has a Free-School for the Education of Youth and an Alms house for the Relief of poor people and was anciently strengthned with a Castle whose Ruins are yet to be seen Wellingborow pleasantly seated upon the Ascent of a Hill is a large and well inhabited Town injoying a good Trade beautified with a fair Church and having the Convieniency besides of a Free School Not far from Rothwell or Rowel is Naseby which is said to stand on the highest Ground in England near which the Avon and the Nen two considerable Rivers have their Spring-heads A noted Town for the Battel fought here June 14th 1645 where the Kings Forces commanded by Prince Rupert were totally routed by General Fairfax Towcester situate in a Valley and on the Banks of a small River that empty's it self in the Ouse is a Place of good Antiquity Cambden takes it for the ancient Tripontium which took its Name from 3 Bridges the Roman Port-way which in many places between it and Stony-Stratford shews it self being cut through by three Streams or Channels which the Rivulet there divides it self into About the Year 917. it was so strongly fortified as to resist the furious Assaults of the Danes At present 't is but a small Town beautified however with a fine Church Near this Place Eastward is Grafton a Road-Town in this part of Northamptonshire with a fine Park adjoyning to it and a Mannor-house of great Antiquity most part whereof was burnt and pulled down in the long Intestine War Anno 1643. Memorable for the Marriage here consummated betwixt Edward IV. and the Lady Grey the first King oâ— England since the Conquest that married his Subject This was the ancient Seat of the Family de Wideville Earls of Rivers And Richard the last of the male Line dying Anno 1490. did by his Will bequeath it amongst other Lands to Thomas Grey Marquess of Dorset In which Name it continued till Henry VIII with whom it was exchanged for other Lands in Leicestershire and so has ever since continued in the Crown Of late become of more remark for giving the Title of Duke to his Grace Henry Fitz-Roy created Baron of Sudbury Viscount Ipswich and Earl of Euston Anno 1672 and Duke of Grafton five years after Brackley a Town of Note when it was in a manner the Staple Town in the County for Wool is seated near the Spring of the Ouse upon the edge of the County towards Buckinghamshire It contains two Parish-Churches and had formerly a Colledge now made use of for a Free-School Daventry and Kettering are seated each of 'em upon a Rivulet that falls into the Nen. The first a great Road-Town from London to the North-West Counties and from thence hither The last North-East from that is delightfully seated on an Ascent and has a Sessions-House for the Justices of Peace of the County who sometimes assemble here Rockingham a small Town is seated on the Weland A Town of note in former Time for its Castle long since demolished Lastly this County together with Rutland make up the Diocese of Peterborough In the Time of the Saxons it made part of the Kingdom of Mercia and its Inhabitants in the Romans Time part of the Coritani Out of it are chosen besides the two Knights of the Shire seven Members of Parliament Viz. 2 out of Northampton 2 out of Peterborough 2 out of Brackley and 1 out of Higham-Ferrers CHAP. XIII Of Northumberland Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire and Rutland Northumberland NORTHVMBERLAND a Maritime County and the furthest North in England is bounded on the East by the German Ocean on the West by Cumberland and the Cheviot Hills which part it from Scotland Northward by the River Twede which divides it also from Scotland and Southward by the Bishoprick of Durham from which severed in part by the River Tine It s Form is triangular contains in Length from North to South about 40 long Miles and in Breadth from East to West at the broadest 30. The Whole divided into six Wards wherein 460 Parishes and but 6 Market-Towns The Air of this County is sharp and piercing in Winter and sometimes troubled with deep Snows and pinching Frosts sutable to its Climate But yet 't is nothing near so sharp as the People And by my late Experience here wet Weather is not so sensible and searching as it is in Middlesex 'T is possible the warm Breaths that continually come out of its numberless Colepits helps with the Vapours of the Sea to take off the rawness of a cold dampish Air. For the Soil as this County is nearly related to Scotland so it is one of the worst Counties in England being for the most part rough and hilly and hard to be manured Yet in some Parts chiefly towards the Sea it is fertile enough But the greatest Riches of this Country lies in the Bowels of the Earth full of Coal-mines Which supply with Coals not only this Country where that Fewel is always bought at very easy rates but a good Part of England besides and London particularly for whose Use many hundred Sail of Ships have yearly from hence their Loading The Coal-Pits made use of to get up this Treasure are all square commonly 7 or 8 foot in diameter and timbered from top to bottom some 30 some 40 more or less but few above 50 fadoms deep A great Depth for Workmen to go and rake a Livelyhood And yet here is a Legion of such Men bred and born to it that spend most of their Life in this Land of Darkness in continual Danger besides that of the Rope of being crushed below by a Thrust sometimes in Danger of Water and in some places of Fire The Way to go down these
it gave it out that the Body of Joseph of Arimathea lay there Interred Certain it is that this was a Shelter to the Britains in the latter Times of the British Churches when they were miserably harassed and persecuted by the Pagan Saxons And it might be as Dr. Stillingfleet says of far greater request among the Britains because it was the Place where King Arthur was buried Whose Body was found there very deep in the Earth in the Reign of Henry II with a Latine Inscription on a leaden Cross expressing that King Arthur lay there buried in the Island of Avalon And his Body was laid so deep for fear of the Saxons this being a Place of Retreat in the British Times but not without the apprehension of their Enemies Invasion Axebridge is so called from the River Axe on which it is situate Pensford and Canesham ly North and by East from Axebridge both seated on the Chire and the last at its very fall into the Avon near Bristol Philip-Norton and Froumselwood stand near the Froume on the Confines of Wiltshire Shepton-Malles and Somerton ly South and by West from 'em both pretty large but poor Towns Whereas Somerton as I said before was once a Place of such note that the Shire took its Name from it Ilchester so called from the River Ill or Yeovel upon which it is seated is a Town of great Antiquity and was once a Place of good Strength Then it had 16 Parish Churches now reduced to two However this is the Place where the County-Goal is kept Evil or Yeovel stands upon the same River and grows by the decay of of its Neighbour Ilchester Winâ—aunton stands on the side of a Hill in the Road to London and is a good Market-Town for Cheese especially Minehead Watchet and Dunster ly all three by the Sea-side But the first has the best Harbour and is a Place of some Trade especially into Ireland West from which towards Devonshire stands another Sea-Town called Porlock noted for its Bay or Harbour sometimes resorted unto by Seamen in those Parts But to conclude this County in general is noted for two Things besides the fore-mentioned The first for giving the Title of Duke to his Grace Charles Seymour the present Duke of Somerset Marquess of Hartford c. Descended from Edward Seymour Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector of King Edward the Sixth who was beheaded Anno 1552. But upon the Restauration of King Charles the Second the Title was restored to the Line in the person of William Seymour the great Grandchild of the foresaid Duke from whom it is now devolved to the present Duke Brother to Francis who was killed in Italy 'T is remarkable besides that this County was few Years since the Scene which brought the late Duke of Monmouth with many of his Followers to their tragical End and gave an Opportunity to the Popish Party by the uncontroulable Authority of the late King James to hurry on their Design of Intailing Popery and Slavery upon these Nations Which was wonderfully defeated under God by the Magnanimity of our present King Lastly this County which formerly was Part of the Kingdom of the West-Saxons and its Inhabitants Part of the Belgae in the Time of the Romans is now in the Diocese of Baâ—h and Wells Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire 16 Members of Parliament Viz. Two out of each of these following Places Bristol Bath Wells Taunton Bridgewater Minehead Ilchester and Milburn Port. Which last stands on the Confines of Dorsetshire In the South Parts of this County is a sharp Hill called Montacute which gives the Title of Viscount to the Right-Honourable Francis Brown the present Viscount Montacute Derived to him from Anthony Brown created Viscount Montacute in the Reign of Queen Mary Anno 1354 being descended from the Lady Lucy Daughter of John Nevil Grandchild of Tho. Montacute Earl of Salisbury who was created Lord Montacute and afterwards Marquess Montacute by King Edward the fourth Staffordshire STAFFORDSHIRE an Inland County is bounded Eastward by Derbyshire and part of Warwickshire parted from the first for the most part by the River Dove Westward by Cheshire and Shropshire Northward by Cheshire and part of Derbyshire and Southward by Worcestershire It s Length from North to South is at least 40 miles its Breadth from East to West about 25. The whole divided into five Hundreds where in 130 Parishes and 18 Market-Towns The Air is counted here pretty good and healthfull but it is somewhat sharp in Winter As for the Soil 't is true the greatest Part of the Country is taken up with Moors and Woods insomuch that one may go the whole length of the County and see little but Heaths and Moors But they are such as yield both profit and pleasure Profit by breeding Multitudes of Sheep Deer and Conies and many of 'em by the Husbandmans Industry yielding very good Corn. Pleasure for they afford the greatest plenty of Heath-Game of any County in the Kingdom either by Hawking or Hunting And so great was formerly the Number of Parks and Warrens in this Shire that there was scarce any Gentlemans Seat in the County but what had both Park and Warrens The chief Forests are those of Cank and Kinvare and among Chases those of Needwood Peasey and Alderwas Hay In short the North Part of this Country is full of Hills and Woods the South stored with Coals and Mines of Iron and the middle Part being watered with the River Trent adorned with fair Corn-fields and Meadows And yet in the North-Parts the Pastures near the River Dove yield the sweetest and fattest Mutton in England For Manuring the Ground here 's plenty both of Lime and Marl. For Building abundance of Timber and Stone which last for its fineness and durableness is held in good esteem A sort of Plaister is made of the Lime which soon after it is laid grows as white as Snow and as hard as a Stone Here is also a good deal of Alabaster and in some Places salt Springs yielding plenty of white Salt not much inferiour to the best Salt in Cheshire The Hills of most note are Mowcop-hill in the Confines of Cheshire where Mill-stones are got Dudley-hill which affords a fine Prospect the Shaw which overlooks the Counties of Darby and Leicester and the Wever With Rivers Springs and Brooks no County in England is better watered than this Besides the Trent here is the Dove the Churnet the Blithe the Line the Tean the Sowe the Penk the Manifold and several others some emptying themselves into the Dove as this dees into the Trent and all of them stored with most sorts of fresh-water Fish The Trent of special note for its Pikes Pearches Fels and Graylings the Dove for its Trouts and the Blithe for Eels And over all these Rivers are reckoned at least 24 Stone-bridges But as the Gentry here are not so curious in their private Buildings as they be in other
'T is bounded on the East with Yorkshire and the Bishoprick of Darham on the West and North with Cumberland and on the South with Lancashire Which last does so interfere with Westmorland along the Sea-Coast that this County has but one Corner to peep out upon the Sea which is about the Place where the Ken falls into it It contains in Length from North to South about 35 miles its Breadth from East to West about 25. The Whole divided into four Wards called Kendale Lensdale East and West Wards Wherein are contained 26 Parishes and 8 Market-Towns This County is very hilly there being two several Ridges of high Hills that cross the Country as far as Cumberland However it has especially in the Southern Parts many fruitfull Valleys with good Arable Meadow and Pasture-Grounds The Air by reason those Hills and the Northern Situation of the Country is very sharp and piercing and not so subject to the Fogs as many other Counties Whereby the People are very healthfull free from strange and infectious Diseases and commonly live to a great Age. As for Rivers this County is very well watered The principal of which are the Eden the Can or Ken the Lon and the Eamon The Can of some note for its two Cataracts or Water-falls near Kendall where the Waters descend with a great fall and noise From which the Country-people have made this Observation that when the North Water-fall sounds clearer and louder than the other 't is a certain presage of fair Weather But when the other does so they expect rainy Weather Here are also two noted Lakes or Meers the one called Vlles Water and the other Winder or Wimander Meer the first bordering both upon Cumberland and Westmorland and the last upon this County and Lancashire where you will find it described Kendall or Candale the Shire Town from whence one of the Wards or Divisions has the Name of Kendall Ward bears from London North-West and by North and is distant therefrom 201 miles thus From London to Lancaster 181 miles the particulars whereof you may see in Lancastire and from Lancaster to Kendall 14. It is seated in a Dale on the River Ken whence it had the Name built in the manner of a Cross two long and broad Streets thwarting one another besides some by-Streets The same is a rich populous and well-traded Town especially for the making of woolen Cloth Druggets Serges Hats and worsted Stockings whereby the poor people are imployed and the adjacent Parts inriched Over the River it has two fair Stone-Bridges besides another of Wood which leads to the Ruins of a Castle the Birth-place of Queen Catherine the sixth Wife to King Henry VIII Here is a fair and large Church to which as the Parish-Church belong 12 Chappels of Ease And by the Church-yard stands a Free-School being a large Building well indowed with good Exhibitions for poor Scholars going from hence to Queens Colledge in Oxford Here are also in this Town seven Companies viz. the Mercers Shearmen Cordwainers Tanners Glovers Taylors and Pewterers having their respective Halls for managing their Concerns And for Provisions here is a great Market which is kept on Saturdays Lastly this Town is an ancient Barony Noted besides for giving the Title of an Earl to John Duke of Bedford Regent of France and to John de Foix created Earl hereof by King Henry VI. The other Market-Towns are Appleby Sat. Burton Tue. Burgh Wed. Ambleside Wed. Orton Wedn. Kirby Lonsdale Thu. Kirby Stephens Frid. Fardondyke Among which Appleby Kirby Stephens Burgh and Orton are in East Ward Kirby Lonsdale and Burton in Lonsdale Ward Ambleside in Kendale Ward Appleby the Abellaba of the ancient Romans is memorable for its Antiquity 'T is pleasantly seated on the Banks of the River Eden over which ' it has a Stone-Bridge and does chiefly consist of one broad Street rising from North to South with an easy ascent In the upper Part of it stands a Castle once of good Strength in the nether end the Church and not far from it a free School In the East side of the Street leading to the Castle is an Amls-House or Hospital founded and liberally indowed by the Lady Clifford Where about the Year 1652 she placed a deceased Minister's Wife with her 12 Daughters whereof eleven Widows and the twelfth a maimed Maid She also purchased Lands which she settled upon Feoffees in Trust for the Repairing of the Church then very ruinous the School-House the Moot or Town Hall and the Bridge as Occasion required In this Town the Assizes and Bessions are usually held Kirby Lonsdale that is the Church-Town in Lonsdale is seated on the Banks of the River Lon in the pleasant and rich Vale of Lonsdale towards Lancashire A large and well-built Town well inhabited and resorted unto being the greatest Town in the County except Kendale Beautified with a fair Church and a large Stone-Bride and driving a good Trade for Cloth This Place gives Name to one of the four Divisions of the County from hence called Lonsdale Ward of some note besides for the many deep and hollow Caves near it Kirby Stephens a goodly Town is seated in East ward near the Skirts of the Hills which sever this County from Yorkshire Beautified with a fair Church and much improved by the Trade of making Stockings Near this Town is Wharton-Hall a Seat belonging to the Lord Wharton Burton an indifferent Town stands in a Valley near the great Hill called Farleton-Knot-Hill And Orton among the Heaths is so destitute of Wood that the people say they han't so much as a Stick to hang a Dog on I pass by the other Towns as inconsiderable to take notice of the Stone-Cross upon Stainmore-Hill a Hill so called for its being exceeding stony Stain in the North being the Word used for a Stone The Cross said to be erected upon a Peace concluded between William the Conquerour and Malcolm King of Scotland with the Arms of the King of England on the South-side and those of the King of Scotland on the North-side Which served for a Boundary as the Case stood then betwixt the two Kingdoms In the North-West Parts at the joyning of the River Eamont with the Lowther is Whinfeld Forest and hard by it Brougham-Castle which by the Coyns c. that have been there digged up seems to have been a Place of good account in the time of the Romans By the High-Way side leading between Lowther and Eamont Bridges is a large Circle of Ground with a fair Plain in the midst Which the Country-people give out to be the Place made use of by the Knight of the Round Table for their Tilts and Turnaments there being two opposite Passes to make their Approaches in And accordingly they call it King Arthur's Table At Shap a great Parish stood the only Abbey in this County founded by Thomas Son of Jospatrick in the Reign of Henry Iâ— and seated near the River Lowther Not far from which
was part of the ancient Kingdom of Mercia and its Inhabitants part of the Cornavii in the Time of the Romans Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire seven Members of Parliament Viz. 2 by Worcester 2 by Droitwich 2 by Evesham 1. by Bewdley And so much for Worcestershire Yorkshire YORKSHIRE a Maritime County and the greatest in the whole Kingdom is bounded Eastward by the German Ocean Westward by Lancashire and Westmorland Northward by the said Ocean and the Bishoprick of Durham from which parted by the River Tees and Southward by Lincoln Nottingham and Derby Shires It s Length from East to West is 80 miles its Breadth from North to South 70. The Whole divided first into three Parts called Ridings viz. the East West and North Riding Which together contain 26 Wapentakes or Hundreds wherein 563 Parish-Churches and 49 Market-Towns A small number of Parishes for such an Extent of Ground but that there are great many Chappels of Ease equal for bignesss and resort of people to any Parish elsewhere The East-Riding which is by much the least of the three takes up only that part of Yorkshire which lies between the River Derwent went and the Sea The North-Riding takes up the North Parts as far as Westmorland And the West-Riding the largest of the three is bounded on the North by the two former Ridings on the South by the Counties of Derby Nottingham and Cheshire Eastward by Lincolnshire and Westward by Lancashire The Soil is generally fruitfull in a very good measure And as says Speed if one Part thereof is stony and barren Ground another is as fertile and richly adorned with Corn and Pasturage If here you find it naked and destitute of Woods in other Places you shall find it shadowed with most spacious Forests If it be somewhere moorish miry and unpleasant elsewhere it is as pleasant as the Eye can wish As for Rivers here are many of good note For besides the Tees which parts this County from Durham here you will find the Swale the Youre and the Nyd of which the Ouse at York is a Compound Besides the Warfe the Are the Calder and Derwent which from several Parts fall into the Ouse below York To which add the Dun which severs part of this County from Lincolnshire and the Hull which falls into the Humber at Hull As for the Humber which is the largest of all it cannot be said properly to be a distinct River but rather a Compound or a Mouth of several Rivers joyning into one Stream as I have already hinted in the beginning of this Part. York in Latin Eboracum the chief Place of Yorkshire bears from London North-by-West and is distant therefrom 150 miles thus From London to Huntington 48 miles for the particulars of which I refer you to Huntingtonshire from Huntington to Stamford 21 to Grantham 16 more thence to Newark 10 to Tuxford 9 more from Tuxford to Duncaster 18 to Wentbridge 7 more thence to Tadcaster 12 and to York 9 more A City which for fame and greatness is the second City of England It is in the North-Riding situate on the River Ouse which divides it into two Parts but joyned together by a stately Stone-Bridge Of which two Parts that towards the East is the most populous the Houses standing thicker and the Streets narrower In general 't is a fair large and beautifull City adorned with many fair Buildings both publick and private and inclosed with a strong Wall with several Turrets upon it A City rich and populous well inhabited by Gentry and wealthy Tradesmen and containing about 30 Parish-Churches and Chappels besides its Cathedral dedicated to St. Peter First built by Edwyn the first Christian King of the Northumbers Anno 627 and finished by King Oswald his next Successor but one But being afterwards destroyed by Fire and by the fury of the Danes that which now stands was erected in the place thereof by Archbishop Thomas the 25th of this See and after by degrees adorned and beautify'd by his Successors Of that magnificent Structure which may justly put her in the first Rank of the Cathedrals in Europe In short the Romans of old had this City in such great esteem that Severus their Emperour had his Palace here where he ended his Days Here also upon the Death of Fl. Valerius Constantius surnamed Chlorus his Son Constantine was forthwith proclaimed Emperour Nor did this City flourish only under the Romans for it has been of as eminent Reputation in all Ages since and in the several Turns and Changes which have befallen this Kingdom under the Saxons Danes and Normans has still preserved its ancient Lustre Adorned it was with an Archbishops See in the time of the Britains nor stooped it lower when the Saxons imbraced the Gospel Richard II laying unto it a little Territory on the West-side thereof made it a County Incorporate as our Lawyers term it in which the Archbishops of York injoy the Right of Palatines It is governed as London by a Lord Mayor London and York being the only Cities whose Mayors bear the Title of Lord. But not so much famed by that as by the Title of Duke it has given to divers Princes of the Royal Bloud and particularly to the late King James before he came to the Crown As for its Markets it has two a Week viz. on Thursdays and Saturdays The other Market-Towns are 1. In the East-Riding Heydon Sat. Howden Sat. Burlington Sat. Pocklington Sat. Hull Tue. and Sat. Wighton Wedn. Beverley Wedn. and Sat. Kilham Thu. 2. In the West-Riding Duncaster Sat. Sherburn Sat. Tickhill Sat. Bautrey Sat. Pontefract Sat. Boroughbridge Sat. Skipton Sat. Rotheram Mund. Selby Mund. Otley Tue. Settle Tue. Sheffield Tue. Leeds Tue. and Sat. Wakefield Thu. Frid. Ripley Frid. Snathe Frid. Thorne Barnesley Wedn. Knaresborough Wedn. Hallifax Thu. Bradforth Thu. Tadcaster Thu. Weatherby Thu. Rippon Thu. 3. In the North-Riding Richmond Sat. Whitby Sat. Stokesly Sat. Malton Sat. Helmley Sat. Pickering Mun. Middleham Mun. Gisborough Mun. Thirsk Mun. Bedal Tue. Masham Tue. North-Allerton Wed. Abberforth Wed. Kirby-Moreside Wed. Scarborough Thu. Yarum Thu. In the East-Riding the Town of chief note is Hull otherwise called Kingston upon Hull seated at the very fall of the Hull into the Humber A Town of no great Antiquity being first built by King Edward I who called it Kingston made an Harbour tâ— it and gave such Incouragements to its Inhabitants by the Priviledges he granted them that it grew up quickly to what it is A large Town to this day though containing but two Parish Churches graced with faiâ— Buildings and well ordered Streets with a Custom-house and Key by the Water-side Here Ships come to lade and unlade their Merchandises and in the next Street to it not unlike Thames-street in London they find all Necessaries for Shipping such as Pitch Tar Cordage Sails c. A Town so fortified withall with Walls Ditches Forts Block-houses and Castles that with
Rate 3 Rate  s. d s. d. s. d. Capt. 15 00 12 00 10 00 Lieut. 03 00 03 00 02 06  4 Rate 5 Rate 6 Rate Capt. 07 06 06 00 05 00 Lieut. 02 06     The Lieutenants of the fifth and sixth Rate Ships are paid by the Month and so are all others belonging to the Ships Now you must know that in the several Rates there is a Proportion greater or lesser of some sort of Officers As in a first Rate Ship 6 Master's Mates and Pilots in a second 4 and in a third 3 in a fourth and fifth 2 in a sixth 1. Quarter-Masters 4 in all Rates except the fifth and sixth which have but 2 each Quarter-Master's Mates 4 in the first and second Rates 2 in the third and fourth 1 in the fifth and sixth Boatswains Mates 2 in the first and but 1 in â—he rest Yeomen of Sheets 4 in the first and second Rates 2 in the third and fourth that is in each of them Gunners Mates 2 in the first and second and but 1 in each of the rest Quarter-Gunners 4 in the first second and third 1 in each of the rest Carpenters-Mates 2 in the first and second 1 in each of the rest Ordinary or Crew 9 in the first 6 in the second 4 in the third 3 in the fourth 1 in each of the fifth and sixth Midshipmen 8 in the first 6 in the second 4 in the third 3 in the fourth 2 in the fifth and 1 in the sixth For the Building Repairing and Cleaning of their Majesties Ships there are six great Yards where they are usually laid up Viz. Chatham Deptsord Woolwich Harwich Sheerness and Portsmouth Fitted with several Docks Wharfs Lanches and Graving places always furnished with great Quantities of Timber and other Materials having convenient Store-houses with vast Quantities of Cables Rigging Sails Blocks and other sorts of Stores with great Rope-Yards to make Cables and all sorts of Cordage for the Navy In those Yards are imployed divers Officers the principal whereof are as follow with their Yearly Salaries Viz.  l. A Clerk of the Checque 245 A Store-Keeper 260 A Master Attendant 124 His Assistant 80 A Master Shipwright 133 His Assistants each 70 Clerk of the Survey 160 Note that the Charges of the Clerks and Inâ—â—ruments are included in their Salaries All these are under the Direction and Management of the Navy Office kept in the Crouched Friars London Where the whole Business concerning the King's Ships is managed by four principal Officers and four Commissioners of the Navy besides other Commissioners for Victualling the Navy The four principal Officers are the Treasurer Câ—mptroller Surveyor and Clerk of the Acts. The Treasurer's Office is to pay the Charges of the Navy out of the Exchequer having first a Warrant for the Mony from the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury and for the Payment thereof another Warrant from the principal Officers of the Navy His Allowance is 3000 l. a Year The Comptroller's Office is to attend and comptroll all Payments of Wages He is likewise to know all the Mâ—rket Rates of all Stores for Shipping to audit and examine all Treasurers Victuallers and Store-Keepers Accounts His Salary is 500 l. per Annum and his Assistants 400. The Surveyor's Business is to know the state of all Stores and see their Wants supplied to survey the Hulls Masts and Yards and have their Defects repaired at reasonable rates What Stores the Boatswains and Carpenters receive in order to a Voyage he is to charge them with by Indenture and at their return to state and audit their Accounts His Salary is 400 l. a Year The Clerk of the Acts is to record all Orders Contracts Bills Warrants c. relating to the Navy and his Salary is 500 l. pen Annum Amongst the four Commissioners one's Province is to Comptroll the Victualler's Accounts another's the Accounts of the Store-keepers of the Yards and the two others have the managing of Their Majesties Navy the one at Chatham and the other at Portsmouth The Salary of each is 500 l. Both the principal Officers and Commissioners hold their Places by Patent under the Great Seal of England and have Clerks allowed to each of them with respective Salaries for the Dispatch of Business The Commissioners for Victualling the Navy are commonly four and their Salary is each 400 l. a Year Lastly the Navy-Office is subordinate to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty as they execute the Office of the Lord High Admiral of England of whose Power and great Priviledges I have already spoken amongst the Great Officers of the Crown For transacting of Maritime Affairs they keep a Court called the Court of Admiralty of which in my Third Part. By virtue of their Place they appoint in divers Parts of the Kingdom several Vice-Admirals with their Judges and Marshals by Patent under the Great Seal of the High Court of Admiralty Now there are 17 of these Vice-Admiralties in England besides 2 in Wales Those in England are Chester Parts Cornwal North Parts Cornwal South Parts Devonshire Dorset Durham Northum berland Westworland and Cumberland Essex Glocester Kent Lancaster Lincoln Norfolk Somerset Southampton or Hampshire Suffolk Sussex York In Wales there 's but two Vice-Admiralties one in the North and the other in the South Parts of Wales To reflect upon what is past relating to our Naval Force this I confess was much weakened by the late King Charles his strange Neglect of Shipping and Seamen to the great discredit and damage of this Nation Then and not till then the French grew upon us and grew like a Weed so fast that they have been ever since a great Discouragement and Obstruction to our English Trade To see those Sea-Mushrooms the French dare be so bold as to crow over the English who would not have Imployed them for Swabbers some Years since 't were enough to inrage a sensible Nation But if one may guess at future Events from the present Disposition of Things I am apt to think this prodigious Gallicinium or Crowing of the French King is a Presage of his Fall And without Inquiring into the secret Causes of the late unusual and wonderful Tameness of our Fleet which gave him the satisfaction to rove a while undisturbed in our Seas now such Measures are taken as will in all probability make him lower his Top-sail As for Tourville his Admiral 's Exploit at Tingâ—nouth 't is such as deserves Derision more than a Triumph Tingmouth a small open and obscure Place the Resort of a few Fishermen who had there some Thatched Houses was wonderfully Stormed and irresistibly Burnt by this Victorious Fleet. Which flushed with this great Expedition and its happy Come-off in the Sea-fight sailed few Days after with flying Colours for Brest Brest which expected great Spoils from the British Shore and some Return for Millions expended to make this proud Appearance at Sea wondered to see nothing but their Fleet come
eldest Son is Frederick the Heir apparent born in the Year 1671 and the two others are Christiern and Carolus The Duke of Glocester is the only Son and Heir of their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Denmark He was born July 24th 1689 and on the 27th he was Christened at Hampton-Court by the Lord Bishop of London and named William the King and the Earl of Dorset Lord Chamberlain of His Majesties Houshold being Godfathers and the Lady Marchioness of Hallifax Godmother CHAP. XIX Of the Nobility of England THE English Nobility is divided into five Degrees Viz. Duke Marquess Earl Viscount and Baron And they are called the Peerage of England because they are all Peers the Barons as well as the rest They have also all of them the Title of Lord. All these Honours are given by the King who is the sole Fountain of Honour and whatever Title a Subject of England receives from any forein Prince is not only Insignificant here but Unwarrantable by Law All Noblemen at their Creation have two Ensigns which signify two Duties Their Heads are adorned in token that they are to assist their King and Country with good Counsel in time of Peace and they are girt with a Sword as being to support the King and defend the Kingdom with their Lives and Fortunes in time of War A Duke is created by Patent Cincture oâ— Sword Mantle of State Imposition of A Cap and Coronet of gold on his head and a Vergâ— of gold put into his hand A Marquess and aâ— Earl by Cincture of Sword a Mantle of State with a Cap and Coronet put upon him by the King himself and a Patent delivered into his hand Viscounts and Barons are made by Patent and these sometimes by Writ whereby they are called to sit in the House of Lords All the Peers have Coronets but with these Distinctions A Baron has six Pearls upon the Circle a Viscount the Circle of Pearls without number an Earl has the Pearls raised upon Points and Leaves low between a Marquess a Pearl and a Strawberry-leaf round of equal height and a Duke Leaves without Pearls Only the Dukes of the Royal Blood bear like the Prince of Wales a Coronet of Crosses and Flower de Luce. Which is the same with the King 's excepting the Arches Globe and Cross on the top of the King's Crown But the greatest Distinction amongst the Nobles is their Parliament Robes in their several Gards on their Mantles and short Cloaks about their Shoulders For a Baron has but two Gards a Viscount two and a half an Earl three a Marquess three and a half and a Duke four Besides that the Mantle of a Duke Marquess and Earl is faced with Ermine that of a Viscount and Baron with plain white Furr Dukes were at first so called a ducendo being anciently Generals and Leaders of Armies in time of War Marquesses from their Government of Marches and Frontire-Countries Earls in Latine Comites because they had the Government of Counties Viscounts in Latine Vice-Comites as being Assistants or Deputies in the Government of Counties Barons according to Bracton quasi Robur Belli the safety of the King and People in Time of War depending upon their Courage and Skill in Martial Affairs Anciently a Duke was made so for Term of Life then held by Lands and Fees till Dukes came to be Titular and Hereditary In those Times likewise there was no Earl but had a County or Shire for his Earldom who for the support of his State had the third Peny out of the Sheriffs Court issuing out of all Pleas of that County whereof he was Earl Also those Barons only were accounted Peers of the Realm that held of the King per integram Baroniam which consisted of 13 Knights Fees and one third part that is of 400 Marks each Knights Fee being 20 l. And whoever had so much was wont to be summoned to Parliament But then 100 Marks was as much as 2000 pounds at this day as may be guessed by comparing the Prices of Things 'T is true King Henry III after he had with much ado suppressed his Barons called by Writ unto Parliament only such great Men as had continued loyal or were like so to be Which Example being followed by his Successors they only were accounted Peers of the Realm that were so called by the King 's special Writ Till Barons came to be made by Patent as well as by Writ and at last most by Patent which makes it hereditary But there are Barons in England that have noâ— share in the Peerage as such viz. the Barons of the Exchequer and the Barons of the Cinque-Ports Such as these the Earls Palatines and the Eath of England Marches had anciently under them and such there are yet in Cheshire The chieâ— Burgesses of London were also called of oâ— Barons All Dukes Marquesses and Earls at this day have their respective Titles from some Shire or part of a Shire Town or City Castle Park or Village Except two Earls whereof one is Officiary and the other Nominal the first being the Earl Marshal of England and the last the Earl Rivers who takes his Denomination from an Illustrious Family Barons are so denominated from their chief Seat or a Castle belonging to the Family Which is not to be divided amongst Daughters if there be no Sons but must descend to the eldest Daughter None of these Honours can be lost but these two Ways Either by want of Issue male except where the Patent extends to Issue female as sometimes it does Or else by some heinous Crime and then it cannot be restored to the Bloud but by Act of Parliament A Duke has the Title of Grace given him and the other Peers that of Lordship on Honour Accordingly we commonly give to these the Epithet of Right Honourable All Dukes and Marquesses Sons are called Lords by the Courtesy of England and the Daughters Ladies I say by the Courtesy of England for the Law makes no such Distinction but looks upon all as Commoners that have no Right to sit in the House of Peers Of an Earl none but the eldest Son is called Lord though all the Daughters be Ladies And as for the Issue of Vicounts and Barons none of their Sons is Lord nor of the Daughters Lady A Dukes eldest Son is called Lord Marquess and the younger Sons by their Christen-names with the Title of Lord prefixt as Lord William Lord Thomas c. A Marquesses eldest Son is called Lord of a Place and the younger Sons as those of a Duke that is by their Christen-names with the Title of Lord prefixt as Lord William Lord Thomas An Earl's eldest Son is born as a Viscount and called Lord of a Place In point of Precedency this is the Rule Af-the Princes of the Bloud the first amongst the Nobility are the Dukes and these are thus followed Viz. Dukes Marquesses Dukes eldest Sons Earls Marquesses eldest Sons Dukes younger Sons Vicounts Earls
submitted to take it at his hand again at a yearly Tribute the Pope in the Reign of Edward III. demanded his Rent and all the Arrears Upon which issued this Resolve of the Parliament that neither the King nor any other could put the Realm nor the People thereof into a forein Subjection without their Assent This was a high Resolution in Law in one of the highest Points of Law concerning the Kings Claim of an absolute Power when the Pope was in his height However this intimates that with their joynt Consent the Crown may be disposed of But how transcendent soever be the Power and Authority of the King and Parliament yet it do's not extend so far as to bar restrain or make void subsequent Parliaments and tho divers Parliaments have attempted â—t yet they could never effect it For the â—atter Parliament hath still a Power to abrogate suspend qualify explain or make void the former in the Whole or any Part thereof notwithstanding any Words of Restraint Prohibition or Penalty in the former it being a Maxim in the Law of Parliament Quod Leges posteriores priores contrarias abrogant 'T was therefore but in vain that the late King James pretended so to settle that Liberty of Conscience which he ushered in by his Declaration as to make it a Law unalterable like the Laws of the Medes and Persians It was but a Blind for Dissenters to bring them into his Snare and tho he had really designed it he must have been at least Immortal to secure it One of the fundamental and principal Ends of Parliaments was to Redress Grievances and ease the People of Oppressions The chief Care whereof is in the House of Commons as being the Grand Inquest of the Realm summoned from all Parts to present publick Grievances to be redressed and publick Delinquents punished as corrupted Counsellours Judges and Magistrates Therefore Parliaments are a great Check to Men in Authority and consequently abhorred by Delinquents Who must expect one time or other to be called to a strict and impartial Account and be punished according to their Demerits Remember said the Lord Bacon to his Friend Sr. Lionel Cranfield when he was made Lord Treasurer that a Parliament will come In this Case the House of Commons the Parliament sitting Impeaches and the House of Lords are the Judges the Commons Inform Present and Manage the Evidence the Lords upon a full Trial give Judgment upon it And such is the Priviledge of the House of Commons in this particular that they may Impeach the highest Lord in the Kingdom either Spiritual or Temporal and he is not to have the benefit of the Habeas Corpus Act that is he cannot come out upon Bail till his Trial be over or the Parliament Dissolved which last some of the late Judges have declared for But the Lords cannot proceed against a Commoner except upon a Complaint of the Commons In a Case of Misdemeanour both the Lords Spiritual and Temporal are Judges and the Kings Assent to the Judgment is not necessary But if the Crime be Capital the Lords Spiritual tho as Barons they might sit as Judges yet they absent themselves during the Trial because by the Decrees of the Church they may not be Judges of Life and Death For by an Ordinance made at the Council at Westminster in 21 Hen. 2. all Clergymen were forbidden agitare Judicium Sanguinis upon pain to be deprived both of Dignities and Orders When a Peer is Impeached of High Treason a Court is usually erected for his Trial in Westminster-Hall and the King makes a Lord Steward which commonly is the Lord Chancellour to sit as Judge thereof The Trial being over the Lords Temporal resorting to their House give Judgment upon it by Voting the Party arraigned upon their Honours Guilty or not Guilty and he is either Condemned or Acquitted by the Plurality of Voices If found Guilty he receives Sentence accordingly by the Mouth of the Lord High Steward The House of Lords is also in Civil Causes â—he highest Court of Judicature consisting of â—ll the Lords Spiritual and Temporal as Judges â—sisted with the most eminent Lawyers both 〈◊〉 Common and Civil Law And from this Court there lies no Appeal only the cause or â—ome Point or other of it may be brought again before the Lords upon a new Parliament In Case of Recovery of Damages or Restitution the Parties are to have their Remedy the Parliament being ended in the Chancery and not in any inferiour Court at the Common Law But the Lords in Parliament may direct how it shall be levied In short by the ancient Laws and Constitutions of this Kingdom it belongs to the House of Peers to interpret Acts of Parliament in Time of Parliament in any Cause that shall be brought before Them I conclude with the Priviledges of Parliament which are great in both Houses and fit for so honourable a Court. First as to the Persons of the Commoners they are Priviledged from Suits Arrests Imprisonments except in Case of Treason and Felony also from Attendance on Trials in inferiour Courts serving on Juries and the like Their necessary Servants that tend upon them during the Parliament are also Priviledged from Arrest except in the aforesaid Cases Which Priviledge is their due eundo morando redeundo that is not only for that time the Parliament sits but also during 40 Days before and 40 Days after the Parliament finished And that not only for the Persons of Members and their necessary Servants but also in some Cases for their Goods and Estates during that Time Moreover this Priviledge do's likewise extend to such Officers as attend the Parliament as the Clerks the Sergeant at Arms the Porter of the Door and the like But if one was Arrested before he was chosen Burgess he is not to have the Priviledge of the House Many are the Precedents which shew the Resentments of this House against such as have offered to act contrary to these Priviledges and their severe Proceedings against some of them either for serving a Subpoena upon or Arresting a Member of this House or refusing to deliver a Member arrested for Debt the Parliament sitting For common Reason will have it that the King and his whole Realm having an Interest in the Body of every one of its Members all private Interest should yield to the Publick so that no Man should be withdrawn from the Service of the House And so much has been the Priviledge of the House insisted on that it has been a Question Whether any Member of the House could consent to be sued during the Session because the Priviledge is not so much the Person 's the House's And therefore when any Person has been brought to the Bar for any Offence of this nature the Speaker has usually charged the Person in the name of the whole House as a Breach of the Priviledge of this House Also for offering to threaten or to give abusive Language to any Member
Lieutenant General Sir Henry Goodrick Kt. and Bar. Surveyor John Charleton Esq Clerk of the Ordnance Sir Thomas Littleton Kt. Keeper of the Stores Thomas Gardiner Esq Clerk of the Deliveries Philip Musgrave Esq Assistant Surveyor William Boulter Esq Treasurer or Pay-master Charles Bertie Esq Master Gunner Capt. Richard Leak Principal Engineer Sir Martin Beckman Kt. Keeper of the small Guns Mr. Charles Beaumont The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty and of the Admirals The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty The Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery The Earl of Carbery Sir Michael Wharton Bat. Sir Thomas Lee Bat. Sir John Chichley Bat. Sir John Lowther Bat. William Sacheveril Esq Admirals Sir Richard Haddock Kt. Henry Killigrew Esq Sir John Ashby Kt. A List of the Commissioners and other Principal Officers belonging to the Navy The Commissioners Sir Richard Haddock Kt. Charles Sergison Esq Sir John Tippet Kt. Sir Richard Beach Kt. The Treasurer Edward Russel Esq Comptroller Sir Richard Haddock Kt. Surveyor Sir John Tippet Kt. Clerk of the Acts Charles Sergison Esq Victuallers of the Navy Thomas Papilion Simon Macne John Agur Humphrey Ayles and James How Esquires Commissioners for Sick and Wounded Seamen and exchange of Prisoners of War Thomas Addison Esq Edward Leigh Esq Anthony Shepherd Esq John Starkey Esq Of the Martial Court THis Court you have too short an Account of in my Third Part Page 91. I therefore beg leave here to inlarge upon it 'T is called the Martial or Military Court or High Court of Chivalry otherwise the Court of Honour and in Latine Curia Militaris The Place anciently appointed for holding thereof was the King's Hall wherein the Constable and Earl Marshal of England sat as Judges Where any Plaintiff in case of Dignities or Matters of Arms or of any other Sute or Controversy concerning Nobility Gentility or Arms might sue the Defendant But now that great Office of Constable of England is hid aside the whole Power is vested in the Earl Marshal And the Present Possessor of that honourable Office is his Grace Henry Duke of Norfolk Earl Marshal of England Who has appointed the Hall in the Colledge of Arms to be the Place for Keeping the said Court. And upon Application made to him by any of the Nobility or Gentry of this Kingdom being abused in Matters of Honour and Arms may there have relief from his Grace Officers belonging to this Court Their Majesties Advocate William Odys Dr. of Laws Register of the Court Robert Plott Dr. of Laws Secretary and Seal-Keeper Francis Negus Esq Deputy-Register Mr. John Cheek Proctors Samuel Francklyn Esq Batchelour of Laws Mr. Ralph Suckley Mr. Everard Exton Batchelour of Laws Mr. John Hill Mr. Francis Nixon Mr. Robert Chapman Mr. Samuel Wiseman Mr. Keate Waller Marshal of the Court. Mr. John Curry A List of the Lords Lieutenants Bedford Earl of Bedford Berks Duke of Norfolk Bucks Earl of Bridgewater Cambr. Earl of Bedford Cheshire Earl of Warrington Cornwal Earl of Bath Cumberland Earl of Carlisle Derbysh Earl of Devon Devonsh Earl of Bath Dorcetsh Earl of Bristol Essex Earl of Oxford Gloc. and Heref. Earl of Maclesfield Hartfordsh Earl of Shrewsbury during the Minority of the Earl of Essex Huntingt Earl of Manchester Kent Earl of Winchelsey Lancashire Earl of Derby Leicestersh Earl of Rutland Lincolnsh Earl of Lindsey Middlesex Earl of Clare Monmouthsh Earl of Maclesfield Norfolk Duke of Norfolk Northampt. Earl of Monmouth Northumb. Earl of Scarborough Nottinghamsh Earl of Kingston Oxon Earl of Abington Salop Lord Visc Newport Somersetsh Lord Visc Fitz-Harding Southampton Duke of Bolton Staffordsh Lord Paget Suffolk Lord Cornwallis Surrey Duke of Norfolk Sussex Earl of Dorset and Middlesex Warwicksh Earl of Northampton Wiltshire Earl of Pembroke Worcestersh Earl of Shrowsbury York East-Riding Earl of Kingston York North Riding Earl of Falconberg York West-Riding Earl of Derby South and North Wales Earl of Maclesfield Governours of Garrisoned Places Barwick Christ Babington Esq Calshot Francis Pawlet Esq Carlisle Jeremiah Bubb Esq Chepstow Chester Sir John Morgan Cinque-Ports Col. John Beaumont Esq Dartmouth Nich. Roope Esq Graves-end William Selwyn Esq Guernsey Lord Hatton Holy Island Hull Marquess of Caermarthen Hurst-Castle Henry Holmes Jersey Lord Jermyn Isle of Wight Sir Robert Holmes Landguard-Fort Henry Killigrew Esq S. Maws Pendennis Earl of Bath Plimouth Earl of Bath Portland Portsmouth John Gibson Esq Scarborough Scilly Islands Sheerness Robert Crawford Esq Tinmouth Sir Edw. Villiers Tower of London Lord Lucas Upner Castle Robert Minors Esq Windfor Castle Duke of Norfolk Governours of Foreign Plantations Of Jamaica Earl of Inchqueen Virginia Lord Effingham New York Col. Sloughter Barbadoes James Kendal Col. Leeward Islands Col. Godrington As for New England the Governor is not yet setled Mary-Land Pensylvania and Carolina are governed by their respective Proprietors who have there their Deputies Their Majesties Embassadors Envoys and Residents Abroad At Vienna Lord Paget At Constantinople Sir William Hussey In Holland Lord Dursley Spain William Stanhop Esq Flanders John Eckart Esq Sweden William Duncomb Esq Denmark Robert Molesworth Esq Brandenburg James Johnston Esq Lunenburg and Brunswick Sir William Dutton Colt Swisserland Thomas Cox Esq Hamburg Sir Paul Rycaut Geneva Philibert Herbert Esq Agent in Germany Hugh Hughes Gent. Consuls in Foreign Parts At Venice Hugh Broughton Esq Cadiz S. Maries Sevil S. Lucar in Spain Wartin Nescomb Robert Godschall Walter Doleman Eâ—â— Alicant Genoua Leghorn Naples in Italy Thomas Kirk Esq Robert Serle Esq Sir George Davis Kt. Argiers in Barbary Thomas Baker Esq Foreign Ministers at present residing in their Majesties Court. Spain Don Pedro de Ronquillo Ambassador in Ordinary Portugal Don Simon de Soza de Magellanes Envoy Extraordinary Sweden Baron Leyonbergh Envoy Denmark Monsieur Alfeldt Envoy Holland The Heer Van Zitters Ambassador in Ordinary Brandenburg Monsieur Dankelman Envoy Lunenburg Baron de Schutz Envoy Extraordinary Savoy The President de la Tour Envoy Extraordinary Vienna Monsieur Hofman Resident A Scheme of the Sovereign and Knights Companions of the most Noble Order of the Garter â—â—e King of Denmark The Sovereign The King of Sweden Prince George of Denmark * Elector of Brandenb Earl of Oxford Earl of Strafford Duke of Beaufort Earl of Bedford Duke of Southampton Earl of Mulgrave Duke of Newcastle Marquis of Caerm  Duke of Richmond Duke of Hamilton Duke of Somerset Duke of Northumb. Duke of Norfolk Earl of Peterborough Earl of Rochester Earl of Feversham Earl of Sunderland Duke of Ormond * Earl of Devonshire  A List of the Knights made by His Present Majesty King William Knights Baronets Hender Moulesworth Esq created Baronet July 19th 1689. Sir John Ramsden of Yorkshire Esq created Baronet Dec. 30. 1689. Sir William Robinson of Newby in Yorkshire Esq created Baronet Febr. 13th 1689. Knights Batchelours Anthony Keck Esq Counsellor at Law Knighted at Whitehall March 5th 1688. William Rawlinson Esq One of the Lords Commissioners of the Chancery Knighted at Whitehall March 5th