presence as now in his absence they answered all Motions c. So Supream is also the Jurisdiction of this Court that if any Record be removed hither it cannot being as it were in its Center be remanded back but by an Act of Parliament In this Court sit commonly four Grave Reverend Judges The principal whereof is called the Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench and is thus created by Writ A. B. Militi Salutem Sciatis quod Constituimus Vos Judiciarium nostrum Capitalem ad Placita coram nobis tenenda durante Beneplacito nostro Teste meipso apud Westm The rest of the Judges of the King's Bench hold their Places by Letters Patent in these Words Rex omnibus ad quos praesentes Litera pervenerint Salutem Sciatis quod Constituimus dilectum fidelem B. C. Militem unum Justiciariorum ad Placita coram nobis tenenda durante Beneplacito nostro Teste c. Though in the Writ or Patent made to these Judges they are not named Sergeants yet none can be a Judge of this Court unless he be a Sergeant of the Degree of the Coif that is a Sergeant at Law who upon taking this Degree is obliged to wear a Lawn Coif under a black Cap. These Judges or Justices are the Sovereign Justices of Oyer and Terminer Goal-Delivery Conservators of the Peace c. in the Realm So that when this Court comes and sits in any County the Justices of Eire of Oyer and Terminer and Goal-Delivery c. are ipso facto void without writing to them They are likewise the Sovereign Coroners of the Land and therefore where the Sheriff and Coroners may receive Appeals by Bill much rather the Justices of this Court may do it Their Salary from the King is each 1000 l. per Annum besides Robes and Liveries out of the great Wardrobe and two Tun of Wine to the Lord Chief Justice In this Court all young Lawyers that have been called to the Bar are allowed to practise Here are three distinct Offices Viz. the Crown Office the Protonotaries and the Custos Brevium's Office To the first belong the Clerk of the Crown a Secondary and several entring Clerks The first is a Cap-Officer who sits covered in Court The entring Clerks have Counties assigned them and usually are Attornies for Defendants prosecuted at the King's Suit To the second belongs the Protonotary a Cap-Officer to whom belong all Clerks of the Plea-side his Secondary and Deputy for signing Writs a Clerk for filing Declarations a Clerk of the Remembrances a Clerk of the Bails and Posteas To the Custos Brevium's Office belongs the Custos Brevium Recordorum a Cap-Officer who is also Clerk of the Essoins and Warrants of Attorney two Clerks one of the Inner and the other of the outward Treasury who are all Officers for Life There are besides two Book-Bearers who carry the Records into Court a Marshal or Keeper of the King's Bench Prison who has a Deputy a Clerk of the Papers a Clerk of the Rules and his Deputy a Clerk of the Errours and his Deputy a Sealer of Writs a Head-Crier two Under-Criers two Ushers and four Tip-staves Lastly there are several Filazers for the several Counties of England who make out all Process upon Original Writs Actions personal and mixt CHAP. V. Of the Court of Common-Pleas THis Court is so called because here are debated the usual Pleas between Subject and Subject For in this Court all Civil Causes real and personal are usually tried according to the strictness of the Law And real Actions are pleadable nor Fines levied or Recoveries suffered in no other Court but this Which may also grant Prohibitions as the Court of the King's Bench doth Here are also commonly four Judges the chief whereof is called the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas or of the Common Bench. Who holds his Place by Letters Patent as the other Three do derante Beneplacito Their Fee is the same as that of the King's Bench Judges None but Sergeants at Law may plead in this Court and so many of them as the King shall appoint are bound by Oath to assist all that have any Cause depending here for which the King allows them Fees Reward and Robes Many are the Officers belonging to this Court. The principal whereof is the Custos Brevium who is the first Clerk of the Court and whose Office is to receive and keep all Writs returnable here to receive of the Protonotaries all the Records of Nisi-prius called Posteas He holds his Place by Patent from the King has the Gift of the second Protontaries Place and of the Clerk of the Juries Then Three Protonotaries who enter and inroll all Declarations Pleadings Assizes Judgments and Actions and make out Judicial Writs In whose Offices all the Attorneys of this Court enter their Causes Now each of them has a Secondary who draws up the Rules of Court c. And these Secondaries are commonly the ablest Clerks or Attorneys of the Court. There is also a Chirographer whose chief Business is to ingross Fines acknowledged and for whose Office there is a Register and several Clerks having their several Counties allotted them for which they Ingross the Fines levied of Lands in their respective Divisions All which forementioned Officers are Sworn and hold their Offices for Life as a Freehold They sit in the Court covered with black round Caps such as were in fashion before the Invention of Hats Moreover there are in this Court three Officers unsworn who hold their Places durante Beneplacito Viz. 1. A Clerk of the Treasury whose Office is in the Gift of the Lord Chief Justice He Keeps the Records of this Court and makes out amongst other Things all Records of Nist Prius 2. The Clerk of the Inrollments of Fines and Recoveries who is by Statute under the three Puisne Judges of this Court and removable at their Pleasure 3. The Clerk of the Outlawries who after the Party is returned Outlawed makes out the Writs of Capias Uelegatum in the name of the Attorney General to whom this Office does properly belong and who exerciseth it by Deputy There is besides a Clerk of the Warrants who enters all Warrants of Attorney for Plaintiff and Defendant and inrolls all Deeds acknowledged before any of the Judges of the Common Pleas. The Clerk of the King's Silver to whom every Fine or final Agreement upon Sale of Land is brought after it has been with the Custos Brevium and to whom Mony is paid for the King's Use The Clerk of the Juries who makes out the Writs called Habeas Corpus and other Writs for appearance of the Jury The Clerk of the Essoins or Excuses for lawful Cause of Absence And the Clerk of the Supersedeas who makes out the Writs of Supersedeas which formerly was done by an Exigenter Here are also 15 Filazers for the several Counties of England who amongst many other Things make out all Process upon Original
large Town seated upon two Rivers the Skerne and a Rivulet that runs there into it Over the first which falls within 2 miles into the Tees it has a fair Stone-Bridge Not far from hence at Oxenhall are 3 Pits called Hell-Kettles of a wonderful depth supposed to come of an Earthquake that hapned in the Year 1179. 'T is said of Bishop Tunstall of this Diocese that he took a Goose which he markt and put into one of the Pits and the same Goose was found afterwards in the River Tees Bernard Castle is seated in a Bottom on the River Tees and adjoyning to Marwood Park 'T is but an indifferent Town and of chief note for Stockings here made Bishop Aukland is pleasantly seated on the side of a Hill between the Ware over which it has a Bridge and a Rivulet that runs into it This is a neat Town and noted for its good Air. But that which adds much to its Reputation is its stately Castle the Bishops Summer Pallace beautifully repaired by Dr. Cosins the late Bishop of Durham and a fine Chappel raised by the same Bishop from its Ruins Sunderland is a Sea-Town on the Mouth of the River Ware Called Sunderland because by the Working of the Sea it is in a manner pulled from the rest of the Land it being at high Water invironed on all sides with the Sea This is a noted Place for its Sea-Coal Trade but chiefly for giving the Title of Earl first to Emanuel Lord Scrope of Bolton and Lord President of the North created Earl of Sunderland by King Charles I. Anno 1627. Upon whose Death without lawful Issue the Title was bestowed by the same King upon Henry Lord Spencer of Wormleighton in the Year 1643. Who being slain the same Year at the first Newberry Fight the Title fell to Robert his Son and Heir the present Earl of Sunderland Stainthorp or Staindrop ly's but 5 miles East-North-East from Bernard Castle among Parks and on a Rivulet that runs from thence into the Tees And not far from it is another Castle called Raby-Castle which King Canute gave to the Church of Durham with the Lands about it But besides the said Market-Towns here is in the South-East Parts Stockton and Billingham noted for their strong Ale And further Northward Hartlepool that stands upon a Neck of Land shooting forth into the Sea which surrounds it on all sides except Westward On the Mouth of the River Tine you will find Sheals where the New-Castle Coal-Fleet takes its Cargo A little higher stands Jarrow noted for being the Birth place of the Venerable Beda And over against Newcastle Gateshead or Gateside the Receptacle of those numerous Men that work in the Coal-pits Men that rake their mean Subsistence from the very Bowels of the Earth This County was formerly called St. Cuthberts Patrimony from S. Cuthbert the Raiser of Durham whose Episcopal See was removed hither from Lindisfarn or Holy Island on the Coast of Northumberland A Saint for whom several of the Saxon Kings and after them Canute the Dane had so great a Veneration that upon him and his Successors in that See was all the Country between Tees and Tine conferred by Alfred King of England Which his Donation was confirmed and in part increased by his Successors Edward Athelstan and Canute the Dane So fortified it was with Priviledges and Royal Grants that at the coming in of the Norman Conquerour the Bishop was reputed for a Count Palatine and did ingrave upon his Seal an armed Knight holding a naked Sword in one hand and in the other the Bishops Arms. Nay it was once adjudged in Law that the Bishop was to have all Forfeitures and Escheats within the Liberties as the King had without In short the Bishops hereof had the Royalty of Princes having their own Courts of Judicature both for Civil and Criminal Causes and covning their own Coin But these exorbitant Priviledges and Immunities were in part impaired by a Statute under Henry VIII and altogether with the Lands and whole Rights thereof conferred upon the Crown by Act of Parliament in the last Year of the Reign of Edward VI. To conclude when England was divided into seven Kingdoms this County was Part of that of Northumberland And the Inhabitants of it as well as those of most part of the North besides were called Brigantes by the ancient â—omans Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire but two Members to serve in Parliament for which Durham has the Right of Election Essex ESSEX another Maritime County has for its Bounds Eastward the German Ocean Westward Hartfordshire and Middlesex Northward the County of Suffolk and Southward the County of Kent This is a pretty large County being in Length about 45 miles in Breadth 36. The Whole divided into 20 Hundreds wherein 45 Parishes and 21 Market-Towns The same is abundantly irrigated both with great and small Rivers For besides the Thames which severs it from Kent the Stower from Suffolk and the Lea from Middlesex here is the Coln the Chelmer the Crouch and the Roding with several others in all which are great plenty of Fish Here the Air is very Temperate but down in the Hundreds towards the Sea-side it is very Aguish The Soil for the most part is good and in some Parts so fruitful that according to the Author of Englands Remarqnes after 3 Years Glebe of Saffron the Land for 18 years more will yield plenty of Barley without any Manuring with Dung or the like and then bear Saffron again One Acre of this Ground which is most in the North Part of the County will yield 80 or 100 weight of moist Saffron in a Year which being dried is valued 2. pound sterling It s chief Commodities besides Saffron as aforesaid are Cloths Stuffs Hops and the best of Oysters Colchester the chief Place of it bears from London North-East and is distant from it 43 miles by common Computation Viz. 10 from London to Rumford 5 more to Burntwood 10 from thence to Chelmsford and to Colchester 18 more A Town of great Antiquity and built as some Authors write by Coilus the British Prince 124 years after Christ's Birth But yet more Remarkable for giving birth to â—ucius Helena and Constantine the first Christian King Empress and Emperour in the World Seated it is upon the Rise of a Hill stretching it self from East to West and watered by the River Coln from whence probably it came to be called Colchester And as it is but 6 miles distant from the Sea so its Situation must needs be upon all accounts both pleasant and commodious 'T is a fair and well-built Town fortiâ—â—ed with an old Roman Wall and having six Gates of entrance besides 3 Posterns Towards the East stands an old Castle within the Ruins of a Trench containing about two Acres In short there were in it 14 Parish Churches several of which are now reduced to ruin But it is still a Place of good
Invention worth our taking notice To Insure for example 100 l. upon a Brick-house the Rates are 6 Shillings for one Year 12 for two Years 18 for three Years and double for a Timber-house But if any Insure for four Years there is a Discount allowed for paying down the Mony so that he pays but three Years and a Quarter and proportionably five for seven seven for eleven Years Insurance And as often as the House is Burnt or Demolished by reason of Fire within the Term Insured the Mony Insured on the House is to be paid but if only Damaged then to be Repaired at the Charge of the Office For the security of which Payment the Office has a Fund to the Value of 60000 l. in Ground-Rents of Inheritance which is above 2600 l. per annum to answer Losses and Damages and settled on Twelve Gentlemen Trustees by many of the most eminent Counsel at Law This Ingenious and Usefull Invention was first put into practice about 8 Years since and has deservedly met with good Incouragement insomuch that there are now above 7300 Houses Insured The Office is kept on the Back-side of the Royal-Exchange and at the Rainbow Coffee-house by the Inner-Temple Gate in Fleetstreet Now to put a present stop as far as is possible to any suâ—den Fire there are belonging to the Office a great many stout and lusty Servants in Livery with Badges dwelling in several parts of the City and always to be ready on all Occasions of sudden Fires Who in such Cases do commonly expose themselves to the utmost Hazards and with great Dexterity labour to suppress the Fire There is also another Office of Insuring of Houses called the Friendly Society by a mutual Contribution agreed to by the Trustees That every Member of that Society shall pay yearly at the Office before hand only one shilling four pence for every 100 l. secured upon Timber-houses by way of Praemium By this Office there are likewise a great many Houses secured To conclude the Arms of the City of London are Argent a Cross Gules with the Swerd of St. Paul CHAP. XIX Of OXFORD and CAMBRIDGE FROM the great hurry of Trade in London I come now to the quiet Seats of the Muses the two famous Universities of the Land Oxford and Cambridge Oxford OXFORD or Oxon the principal Place of Oxfordshire which from hence takes its Denomination bears from London West-North-West and is distant therefrom 47 miles thus From London to Vxbridge 15 to Beaconfield 7 more thence to Wickham 5 to Stoken-Church 5 more from thence to Wheatly-Bridge 9 and to Oxford 6 more 'T is finely seated for health for pleasure and plenty at the Influx of the Charwell into the Isis where this divides it self into several Streams wherewith and the Charwell most part of the City is incompassed But for the Conveniency of its Inhabitants here are several Bridges This is so ancient a City as to fetch her Original from the Time of the Britains So large as to contain 13 Parish-Churches besides the Cathedral And so beautifull that whether one looks on the compacted Uniformity of private Houses or the Magnificence of the publick Structures it must be allowed to be a fair and goodly City Besides the Glory of being a most famous University it is honoured with a Bishops See founded by King Henry VIII Anno 1541. and has been dignify'd above 500 years successively with the Title of an Earldom in twenty of the noble Family of the Veres The first that injoyed it was Aubrey de Vere created Earl of Oxford by Henry II. Anno 1155. In whose Line it continues to this day in the person of the Right Honourable Aubrey de Vere the present Earl of Oxford As it is an University this may be said oâ— it in general without immodesty and 〈◊〉 hope without dislike or envy That for thâ— stateliness of the Schools and publick Library the bravery and beauty of particular Coledges all built of fair and polished Stone the liberal Indowments of those Houses and notable Incouragements of Industrâ— and Learning in the Salary of the Professoâ— in most Arts and Sciences it is not to 〈◊〉 parallelled in the Christian World and for thâ— Number of Students and the well ordering of them by good Laws and Ordinances not to be equalled by any but her Sister Cambidge That Oxford has been for many Ages a Place of publick Studies is a Thing past all doubt But it is true withal that there has been a Time of Decay when this City sharing with the rest of the Land in those common Calamities brought by the Saxons and Danes the Muses were dispersed and shifted for themselves Alfred the learned Saron King of England was he that recalled them who having intirely subjected the irksom Danes to his Government made it his business to restore this University and repair the Ruins thereof And the better to invite Students to Oxford he sent thither his Son Ethelward which drâ—â—â— the young Nobles from all Parts to Oxford This came to pass about the latter end of the ninth Century Then Oxford began to flourish again and by degrees to grow to what it is But as now in Leyden and many other forein Universities so anciently in Oxford the Students lived in Citizens Houses having only Meeting Places to hear Lectures and Disputations and that without any distinction of Habit. After that there were divers Houses now called Halls for Students only to live together in Society as now the Inns of Court and of Chancery at London Amongst which some afterwards Indowed by the bounty of divers Patrons of Learning who thought best to settle for ever plentitiful Revenues in Lands and Houses in order to maintain such Students as by merit and worth should from time to time be chosen and to settle large Salaries for Professors to inftruct 'em and for a Head to govern them according to certain Statutes and Ordinances made by the said Patrons or Founders And these are the Colledges whereof the first thus Indowed in Europe were Vniversity Baliol and Merton Colledges In short there are in Oxford 18 of such Indowed Colledges and 7 Halls In which Halls the Students live with the same Discipline as those in the Colledges but upon their own Means except certain Exhibitions or annual Pensions annext to one or two of them The Names of the Colledges and their Founders together with the Time of their Foundation you have in the following Table Colledges Founded by Anno Vniversity King Alfred 872. Baliol Jo. Balâ—ol Knight and Deb. his Wife 1263. Merton Walter de Merton Clerk 1267. Exeter Wa'ter Stapleton Earl of Exeter 1316. Oriel King Edward II. 1324. Queens Robert Eaglesfield Clerk 1340. New Colledge William of Wickham Bishop of Winton 1349. Lincoln Richard Fleming Bishop of London 1427. All Souls Henry Chichley Archbishop of Canterbury 1438. Magdalen William of Wainfleet Bishop of Winchester 1458 â—azen Nose Wil. Smith Bishop of Lincoln and Sir Richard Sutton
Right of Patronage called Patronage Paramount Insomuch that if the mean Patron or the Ordinary or the Metropolitan present not in due time the Right of Presentation comes at at last to the King As for the Bishopricks the King only has the Patronage of them For none can be chosen Bishop but whom he nominates in his Conge d'Estire and a Bishop Elect cannot be Consecrated or take possession of the Revenues of the Bishoprick without the King 's special Writ or Assent In short as the King is the only Sovereign and Supream Head both in Church and State so there lies no Appeal from Him as from some other States and Kingdoms beyond Sea either to the Pope of Rome or to the Emperor But indeed the greatest and safest of the Kings Prerogatives is as the present King wrote in a late Letter to his Council of Scotland to Rule according to Law and with Moderation The Dispensing Power so much contended for in the late Reign by the Court-Party as a Branch of the Kings Prerogative and as vigorously opposed by some true Patriots is â—ow quite out of Doors by the Act of Settlement which makes it plainly Illegal And as to that divine Prerogative which the Kings of England claimed as a Thing de Jure divino I mean the Curing of the King 's Evil only by the King 's laying his hands on the Sick assisted with a short Form of Divine Service it is now laid aside as a Traditional Errour at least a Doctrine not fit to be trusted â—o So that the French King is at this time the only Monarch that pretends to this Miraculous Priviledge Our Historians derived it here from King Edward the Confessour who lived so holy a Life that as they say he received Power from above Intailed to his Royal Successors for ever to cure this stubborn Disease But now 'c is lookt upon as a Doctrine not so fit for Protestants as bigotted Papists to whom no Miracle is amiss I come now to the King's Power with relation to forein Parts Which I shall describe as near as I can first as Defensive secondly as Offensive In the first Sense England if well united is of all the States in Europe the least subject to an Invasion especially since the Conjunction of Scotland The whole Island is naturally so well senced with the Ocean and when Occasion requires so well garded by those moving Castles the King's Ships of War the strongest and best built in the whole World The Kingdom besides is so abundantly furnished with Men and Horses with Provisions and Ammunition and Mony the Sinews of War that nothing but our intestine Divisions can make us a Prey to the greatest Potentates of Europe tho united together As for the King's Power abroad not only our Neighbours but the most remote Places have sufficiently felt it and this at a time when Scotland and Ireland were usually at enmity with Him 'T is true since the Reign of Qâ— Elizabeth what with our Distractions at home and the Weakness or Effeminacy of some of one Kings England has either been Idle or taken up with Intestine Broils Only in Cromwel's Time we humbled the Hollanders scowred the Algerines kept the French and the Pope in aw and took Jamaica from Spain Our greatest Exploits were upon our own selves when being unhappily involved in Civil Wars for several Years together we destroy'd one another with a fatal Courage Then were computed about two hundred thousand Foot and fifty thousand Horse to be in Arms on both sides which had they been imploy'd abroad might have shaken the greatest part of Europe And here I cannot but with an aking heart apply the Words of Lucan Heu quantum potuit Coeli Pelagique parari Hoc quem Civiles fuderunt Sanguine Dextrae In English thus How much both Sea and Land might have been gained By their dear Bloud which Civil Wars have drained Of so martial Spirit the English are and their fear of Death so little that as Dr. Chamberlain has well observed no Neighbourâ—â—ation scarce durst ever abide Battle with â—hem either by Sea or Land upon equal Terms â—nd now we are ingaged in a just War both with Ireland and France under a Prince of â—o great Conduct and Courage incouraged by â—â—s Parliament assisted and faithfully served by the greatest General now in Europe I cannot but hope well from our Armies both by Seu and Land if our provoked God do not fight against us The next Thing that offers it self to our Consideration is the King of England's Court which for State Greatness and good Order besides the constant Concourse of Nobility and Gentry resorting thither when there is no Jealousy between the King and his People is one of the chief Courts of Europe It is as an Author says a Monarchy within a Monarchy consisting of Ecclesiastical Civil and Military Persons the two last under their proper Government To support the Grandure of this Court and the other Charges of the Crown in time of Peace the Kings of England have always had competent Revenues Which never were raised by any of those sordid Ways used in other Countries but consist chiefly in Domains or Lands belonging to the Crown in Customs and Excise Anciently the very Domains of the Crown and Fee-Farm Rents were so considerable that they were almost sufficient to discharge all the ordinary Expences of the Crown without any Tax or Impost upon the Subject Then there was scarce a County in England but the King had in it a Royal Castle a Forest and a Park to Receive and Divert Him in his Royal Progresses A piece of Grandure which no King else could boast of But upon the Restauration of King Charles the Crown Revenues being found much Impaired and the Crown Charges increasing upon the growing Greatness of our Neighbours the French and Dutch the Parliament settled upon the King a Yearly Revenue of Twelve Hundred Thousand Pounds by several Imposts besides the Domains and other Profits arising to the Crown in Tenths and First-Fruits in Reliefs Fines Amerciaments and Confiscations And the whole Revenue improved to that degree that in the late Reign it was judged to amount to near two Millions Which is a Fair Revenue in Time of Peace In Time of War the Parliament supplies the King according to his Occasions by such Taxes to be raised upon the Nation as they think most convenient CHAP. X. Of the Government of England by Regency Also of the Succession to the Crown THere are three Cases wherein the Kingdom of England is not immediately governed by the King but by a Substitute Regent And those are the Kings Minority Absence or Incapacity The King is by Law under Age when he is under twelve Years old And till he has attained to that Age the Kingdom is governed by a Regent Protector or Gardian appointed either by the King his Predecessor or for want of such Appointment by the Three States assembled in the Name of the Infant
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
Writs These are in the Gift of the Lord Chief Justice and hold for Life As also The four Exigenters whose Office is to make all Exigents and Proclamations in all Actions where Process of Outlawry does ly Now an Exigent is a Writ so called because it requires the Parties Appearance to answer the Law and lies against a Transgressor of the Law that can't be found nor any of his Goods within the County Whereupon he is Summoned by the Sheriff at five several County Courts and if he appear not he is Outlawed that is excluded from the Protection of the Law Which looks upon him as unworthy of it that acts in contempt of the Law Lastly there are four Criers and a Porter belonging to this Court CHAP. VI. Of the Courts of Exchequer and Dutchy of Lancaster THese two I joyn together because they both concern the King's Revenue and take Cognizance of all Causes arising from it The Judges of this Court are called Barons of the Exchequer ever since Barons of the Realm used to sit here as Judges though in latter times Men learned in the Law have usually filled up this Station They are commonly four that sit in this Tribunal as in the two former Courts the principal whereof is stiled Lord Chief Baron But 't is to be observed that the Lord Treasurer and the Chancellour of the Exchequer may sit here as Principal though they seldom do it The Lord Chief Baron is created by Letters Patents to hold this Dignity Quamdiu se bene gesserit which the Law intends for Life so that he is better fixed than either of the Chief Justices His Place is of great Honour and Profit In Matter of Law Information and Plea he answers the Bar and gives Order for Judgement thereupon He alone in the Term-time doth sit upon Nisi prius that come out of the King's Remembrancer's Office or out of the Office of the Clerk of the Pleas which can not be dispatched in the Mornings for want of time He takes Recognizances for the King's Debts for Appearances and Observing of Orders He takes the Presentation of all Officers in Court under himself and of the Mayor of London and sees the King's Remembrancer to give them their Oaths He also takes the Declaration of certain Receivers Accounts of the Lands of the late Augmentation made before him by the Auditors of the Shires and gives two Parcel-makers Places by vertue of his Office In his absence his Place is supplied by the other three Barons his Assistants according to their Seniority These Judges and those of the two former Courts of King's Bench and Common Pleas make up the Number of Twelve who all sit in on their Tribunals in Robes and square Caps Next to the four Barons of this Court is first the Cursitor who administers the Oath to the Sheriffs Under-Sheriffs Bayliffs Searchers Surveyors c. of the Custom-House Then the King's Remembrancer in whose Office are entred the States of all Accompts whatsoever concerning the King's Revenue except Sheriffs and Bayliffs Accounts Here also are taken all Securities either by Bonds or Recognizances to the King for the faithful Performance of those Persons imployed in the Collecting of his Majesties Revenue and for the Payment of his Debts And all Proceedings upon the said Bonds or Recognizances or any other Bonds taken in the Kings Name by Officers thereunto appointed under the Great Seal of England besides all Proceedings upon any Statute by Information for Custom Excises or any other Penal Law concerning the Kings Revenue are transmitted hither for the Recovery thereof and properly belong to this Office From whence accordingly issue forth Process to cause all Accountants to come in and account And as the Exchequer do's consist of two Courts the one of Law and the other of Equity all Proceedings touching the same are in this Office with many other Things relating to the Kings Revenue To this Office being in the Kings Gift belong eight sworn Clerks whereof the two first are called Secondaries The Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer who makes Process against all Sheriffs Receivers Bayliffs c. for their Accompts and into whose Office all Charters and Letters Patents upon which any Rents are reserved to the King are transcribed and sent by the Clerk of the Pettibag Out of this Office Process is made to levy the Kings Fee-Farm Rents c. This Office is likewise in the Kings Gift and there are several Clerks belonging to it the two first being distinguished from the rest by the Name of Secondaries The Remembrancer of the First-fruits and Tenths who takes all Compositions for the same and makes Process against such as do not pay them He has two Clerks under him The Clerk of the Pipe who receives into his Office all Accompts which pass the Remembrancer's Office He makes Leases of the Kings Lands and extended Lands when he is ordered so to do by the Lord Treasurer and Chancellor of the Exchequer or the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury He has under him 8 sworn Clerks by whom all Accounts of Sheriffs and Bayliffs are made up and when the Accounts are even he gives the Accomptants their Quieâ—us est All Tallies which vouch the Payments contained in such Accounts are examined and allowed by the chief Clerk in the Pipe called the Secondary The Comptroller of the Pipe who writes out the Summons twice every Year to the high Sheriffs to levy the Debts charged in the great Roll of the Pipe He also writes in his Roll all that is in the great Roll and nothing entered in this can be discharged without his privity The Forein Opposer whose Office is to oppose all Sheriffs upon the Schedules of the Green Wax This Office is kept in Grays-Inn The Clerk of the Pleas in whose Office all the Exchequer Officers and other Debtors to the King are to plead and be impleaded as at the Common Law The Reason why it is done here is because their Attendance is required in this Court. And therefore here are four sworn Attorneys The Clerk of the Estreats who receives every Term the Estreats or Extracts out of the Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer's Office and â—rites them out to be levied for the King He â—lso makes Scheduâ—es of such Sums as are to be â—ischarged A Clerk of the Parcels and another of the â—ichils Two Auditors of the Imprest who Audit the great Accompts of the Kings Custoâ—s Wardrobe â—int First-fruits and Tenths Naval and Miâ—tary Expences Moneys Imprested c. Seven Auditors of the Revenue who Audit all Accompts of the Kings Lands Revenue and all Taxes granted by the Parliament There are also several Receivers of the Kings Revenues arising from Lands and Rents whose Accompts are yearly made up by the Auditors To which add a Receiver of the First-Fruits Revenue As for the Tenths the Bishops are Collectors of them and account yearly for the same But there are two other considerable Officers not to be omitted viz. the Deputy Chamberlains In whose
HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE XXX RR IE MAINTIENDRAI THE NEW STATE OF ENGLAND BRITANNIA I Sturt Sculp in ye Old Change THE New State OF ENGLAND Under Their MAJESTIES K. William and Q. Mary In THREE PARTS CONTAINING I. A Geographical Description of England in General and of every County in Particular with Usefull and Curious Remarks II. An Account of the Inhabitants their Original Genius Customs Laws Religion and Government of Their Present Majesties Their Court Power Revenues c. III. A Description of the several Courts of Judicature Viz. the High Court of Parliament Privy Council and all other Courts With a Catalogue of the present Officers in Church and State By G. M. LONDON Printed by H.C. for Ionathan Robinson at the Golden Lion in St. Paul's Church-yard 1691. To the Most Honourable THOMAS Marquess of CAERMARTHEN Earl of DANBY Viscount LATIMER Baron OSBORN OF KIVETON Lord President of His Majesties Most Honourable PRIVY-COUNCIL And Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter This New State of England is humbly Dedicated by the Author TO THE READER 'T IS the late Revolution that has given birth to this new Piece of Work a New Face of Things required a New State of England And of all the Changes this Kingdom has gone through as this was the most sudden so it is the most wonderfull To see Popery in so few days crowing upon the Throne and groaning under its Ruins but t'other day upon the Pinnacle and now stunned with its sudden Fall is such a Change as may deserve the Admiration of this and future Ages In short such is our present Settlement upon Their Majesties happy Accession to the Crown that the Popish Party may assoon see a Protestant Pope of Rome as a Popish King of England Now to make this Work the more acceptable and usefull to the Publick I have divided it into three several Parts In the First you have a particular Description of ENGLAND in its several Counties of every County-Town with the Distance and the common Road to it from London the Metropolis and of all other Places of note in each County Here you have particularly a List of the Market-Towns in every Shire with the Days pointed when their Markets are kept also an account of most other Remarkable Things either of Nature or Art Besides the Honours or Noblemens Titles from Counties Cities Towns Mannors c. And the Number of Men each City or Borough sends to serve in Parliament I conclude this Part with a particular Description of London Oxford and Camidge London as the Capital City of England the Seat of its Monarchs and the Center of Trade Oxford and Cambridge as being the two famous Vniversities of the Land and the glorious Seats of the Muses The Second Part treats of the INHABITANTS of England their Complexion Temper Genius Language c. Of the English Way of Living Commerce Laws Religion and Government Of the King of England and the Royal Family particularly of the present King WILLIAM and Queen MARY with a brief Relation of their Accession to the Crown and the Vnreasonableness of the Disaffected Party under their Government Of Their Majesties Court Forces and Revenues Of the Queen Dowager the Prince and the Princess of Denmark Of the Nobility Gentry and Commonalty Of the Episcopal Dignify'd and Inferiour Clergy And lastly of Women Children and Servants All of them with their respective Priviledges The Third and last Part is about the COURTS of JUDICATURE Viz. The High Court of Parliament with a large Account of their Proceedings Orders Debates Passing of Bills and Acts c. Of the Privy-Council and there particularly of the Principal Secretaries of State Of the Chancery Kings-Bench Common Pleas Exchequer Dutchy of Lancaster and all other Courts To which is annexed a Catalogue of the chief Persons of the Realm both in Church and State Magistrates and Officers Civil and Military Who being subject to Change though the Offices continue the same I thought it improper to mix Certainties and Vncertainties together Therefore I chose rather to place the Officers together by themselves as I have done here than to have them dispersed where I speak of their Offices And from this Method you will reap this Conveniency that by Interleaving of the Catalogue only you may fill up Vacancies as they become void Thus you have as it were a Scheme of the whole Drift of this Book The Foundation whereof is that Ingenious Piece De Republica Anglorum written in Latin by Sir Thomas Smith Improved as you see and fitted to the present Times The Matter of it self is of a general Vse both for English and Foreiners and the Variety so great that it cannot but be Pleasant and Vsefull to the Reader THE TABLE For the First PART This Table contains the Names of the Towns and Cities Hills Islands Meers and Rivers and other Curiosities mentioned in the first Part of this Book And for such as desire only to know what County any of them lies in the Table it self will give them that Satisfaction without any further Trouble it being so contrived that it is in a manner a Geographical Dictionary for England A ABberforth in Yorks 259 Abbey-holm in Cumb 49 Abbey of Westminster 317 Abbots-bury in Dors 67 Abergavenny in Mon. 148 149 Advantages of England 7 Agmundesham in Buck. 30 Ailesbury in Buck. 30 31 Air of England 13 Alborough in Suffolk 204 208 Aldborough in Yorks 273 Aldermen of London 324 Alford in Lincolns 136 140 Alfreton in Derbysh 57 Alisford in Hampsh 95 Almondbury in Yorks 264 Alnewick in Northumb 168 170 Alney-Isle in Gloc. 87 Alston-Moor in Cumb. 49 Altrincham in Chesh 39 Ambleside in Westm 238 Amersbury in Wilts 246 247 Ampthill in Bedf. 27 28 Andover in Hamps 95 96 Antiquity of Oxf. and Cambr. 350 Appleby in Westm 238 Appledore in Kent 112 Are a Yorks River 256 Arrow a River of Heref. 103 Artillery Company in London 329 Arun a Sussex River 224 Arundel in Sussex 225 227 Ashbourn in Derbysh 57 Ashburton in Devonsh 61 Ashby in Leicest 131 Ashford in Kent 112 Aspley in Bedf. 28 Atherston in Warw. 234 235 Attlebury in Norf. 153 Auburn in Wiltsh 246 Aukland in the Bishoprick of Durham 76 77 Aulcester in Warw. 234 Avon the Name of several Rivers 85 92 c. Axebridge in Somers 192 194 Axholm an Isle in Lincolns 139 Axminster in Dev. 61 B BAkewell in Derbysh 57 Baldock in Hartf 100 Bampton in Oxf. 178 179 Banbury in Oxf. 178 179 Banquetting House at Whitehall 316 Barkin in Essex 81 BARKSHIRE 22 Barnesly in Yorks 259 Barnet in Hartf 100 102 Barnstaple in Dev. 61 63 Barnwel in Linc. 136 Barristers in Lond. 304 Barton in Linc. 136 139 Barwick in Northumb. 168 Basingstoke in Hamps 95 96 Bath in Somers 189 Battel in Sussex 225 228 Battersea in Surrey 221 Bautrey in Yorks 259 Beaconfield in Buck. 30 32 Beckles in Suffolk 204 209 Bedal in Yorks 273 Bedford 26
the Garter 219 Knights Baronets 223 Knights of the Bath 224 Knights Batchelours Ibid. Knights Banerets 229 L. LAnd-Forces 177 Language of the English 12 English Laws 59 Lent-Preachers 171 The Lord Lieutenant's Power 179 Way of Living among the English 31 M. MAritime Power 181 Earl Marshal of England 131 Master of the Horse 161 Master of the Houshold 149 150 Master of the Wardrobe 160 Master of the Robes 162 Master of the Revels 163 Master of the Ceremonies 164 Maundy Thursday the Ceremony of that Day 173 English Measures 53 Merchants 229 Militia 178 Millenarians 70 Mint-Officers 51 N. ENglish Names 21 Nobility of England their Creation and Distinction 210 c Their Priviledges 215 Noble Women 258 O ORder of the Garter 219 Ordination of Priests and Deacons 251 Ordnance its Office and Officers 194 c. Original of the English 1 c. Oxford Regiment 168 P. PArsons 250 Patrons of Churches 252 Pledging the Original of it 43 Post-Office 47 Poverty a description thereof 230 Power of the King by Sea and Land 113 Prebendaries 248 Prerogative of the King 109 Presbyterians 68 President of the Council 129 Prince of Wales 122 Prince George 208 Princess Ann ibid. Privy Purse 162 Privy Seal 129 Proclamation of the King 98 Pursuivants 163 Q. QVakers 70 Sovereign Queen of England 121 Queen Mary's Character 143 Queen Consort 122 Queen Dowager 122 The present Queen Dowager 207 R. ENglish Recreations 39 Recusants 71 Reformation of the Church of England 63 Regency 117 Religion of England 61 Religion alters the Temper of Men 71 Revenues of the King of England 115 Revenues of the present King Queen 199 Revenues of the Clergy 253 Revenues of the Bishops 244 Rural Deans 249 S. SCotlands Union with England 85 c. Sergeants at Arms 163 Servants 266 Act of Settlement 119 Sextons 257 Ship-yards and their Officers 190 Sidesmen 257 Marks of Sovereignty 94 High Steward of England 126 Lord Steward of the King's Houshold 148 Succession to the Crown 118 T. TEmper of the English 4 Tenure in Villenage 268 Title of the King to the Crown of France 89 Tobacco the Benefits of it 38 The great Trade of England 55 Train-Bands see Militia The English way of Travelling 46 The Lord High-Treasurer 128 Treasurer of the King's House 150 V. S. VAlentines Day 45 Vestry 258 Vicars 253 The Vnreasonableness of the present disaffected Party 144 W. WAles its Union with England 84 Wardrobes of the King 160 Weights used in England 52 Women 258 Laws concerning them 260 261 Y. YAchts 186 Yeomen 228 Yeomen of the Gard 167 The Table FOR THE THIRD PART A ALdermen 73 Alienation Office 53 Apprentices Laws concerning them 112 Aâ—â—zes 80 Attachment 95 B. BAyliffs 74 Benefit of the Clergy 58 C. CHancery see Court Circuâ—ts 80 Clerk of the Market 72 Commission of Assize 81 Commission of Nisi-prius ib. Commission of Peace 82 Commission of Oyer Terminer ib. Commission of Gaol-delivery ib. Committees 30 c. Common Pleas see Court Constables 77 Convocation 96 Coroners 71 Privy Council 43 County Court 68 Court of Chancery 49 Court of King's Bench 55 Court of Common Pleas 59 Court of Exchequer 62 Court of Dutchy of Lancaster 66 Court of Admiralty 91 Court of Marshalsea 94 Court of Requests 94 Court Martial 91 215 Court Leet 75 Court Baron 76 Courts of Conscience 94 Prerogative Court 102 Court of Arches 100 Court of Audience 102 Court of Delegates 103 Court of Peculiars 104 Court of the Lord Mayor of London 106 Court of Aldermen at Lond. 107 Court of Common Council 108 Court of Goal-Delivery 110 Court of the London Sheriffs 111 Court of the Chamberlain ib. Court of the Orphans 114 Cursitors Office 52 H. HEadboroughs 77 House of Lords 11 House of Commons 12 Hustings 109 J. GRand Jury 70 L. A List of the Kings Houshold Officers and Servants 135 A List of the Gentlemen of the King's Bedchamber 144 A List of the Genâ—l Pensioners 152 A List of the Yeomen of the Guard Officers 153 A List of the Officers of the four Troops of Horse ib. A List of the Officers of the Oxford Regim 158 A List of the Officers of the Foot-guards 159 A List of the Chappel Royal 161 A List of the Queens Houshold 163 A List of the Nobility 168 A List of the Bishops 174 A List of the House of Commons 175 A List of the Privy Council 191 A List of the Lords Commissioners and Officers of the Court of Chancery 193 A List of the Judges and Officers of the C. of Kings Bench 19â— A List of the Judges and Officers of the C. of Common Pleas 200 A List of the Judges and Officers of the C. of Exchequer 203 A List of the Judges and Officers of the Dutchy of Lancast 206 A List of the Attorney aâ—â— Solicitor General Sergeants and Council at Law ib. A List of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury 208 A List of the Officers of the Custom 209 A List of the Officers of the Excise 210 A List of the Officers of the General Post-Office 211 A List of the Officers of the Mint 212 A List of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty 213 A List of the Admirals 214 A List of the Commissioners other Officers belonging to the Navy ib. A List of the Officers of the Martial Court 215 A List of the Lords Lieutenants 216 A List of the Governours of Foregn Plantations 219 A List of the Consuls in Foreign Parts 220 A List of the Foreign Ministers residing here ibid. A List of the Knights of the Garter 221 A List of the Knights made by K. William 222 A List of the Deans in England Wales 225 A List of the Colledge of Civilians 226 A List of the Colledge of Physicians 230 A List of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London 232 A List of the Lieutenancy of London 234 A List of the Governours of the Charterhouse 236 A List of the Chancellor Vice-Chancellor Heads of Colledges and Halls Proctors Orator and Professors in Oxford University 237 A List of the Chancellor Vice-Chancellor Heads of Colledges and Halls Proctors Orator and Professors in Cambridge 239 M. MAster 's of Chancery 50 Master of the Rolls 51 Mayors 73 P. PAper-Office 47 Parliament of England 1 Pie-powder Court 96 Privy Council 43 Q. QVarter Sessions 70 S. SEcretaries of State 45 Sheriffs 67 Sheriffs Turn 68 Signet-Office 47 Speaker of the House of Lords 10 Speaker of the House of Commons 14 Stewards 75 Subpoena Office 53 Swainmote 95 T. TRial of Malefactors 83 W. WArden of the Fleet 54 ERRATA PART I. Page 4. line 12. read Wiltshire p. 7. l. 10. dele of and l. 12. r. third p. 29. l. 5. r. Lincoln p. 81. in the list 1. Burntwood p. 89. l. 11. r. be p. 116. l. 10. r. Rockingham p. 291. l. 25. r. 1209. p. 302. r. only Grocer's Hall p. 324. l. 6. r. 25. p. 329. l. 13. r. 9000. p. 331. l. 16. r. manner p. 341.
England into Counties there is a common way of dividing it but into Two Parts North and South that is all the Counties on the North and South-side of the River Trent Which way is followed by the Justices in Eyre of the Forest and likewise by the Kings at Arms. Another Division there is relating to the publick Administration of Justice by the Itinerant of Judges And that is into Six Circuits of which I shall give a particular Account in my second Part. Lastly for the Church Government England is divided first into two Provinces or Archbishopricks namely Canterbury and York and these two Provinces into 22 Diocesses or Bishopricks these into Archdeaconries Archdeaconries into Rural Deanries and these last into Parishes The Number whereof setting aside the 12 Counties of Wales amounts to near Ten Thousand CHAP. II. The Advantages of ENGLAND from its Situation in opposition to Inland Countries The natural Beauty of it A Description of its principal Rivers OF all the States of Europe there 's none more happy than ENGLAND whether we consider the Advantages of its Situation the Temperateness of its Air the Richness of its Soil the happy temper of its Inhabitants or the Blessed Constitution of its Government especially under their present Majesties As it is in a manner surrounded by the Sea it injoys Two great Advantages the One in Relation to foreign Trade and the Other in point of Security from forein Invasion In relation to forein Trade it lies open to all Parts of the World that are adjacent to the Sea either for the Exportation of home-bred or the Importation of foreign Commodities To which purpose as Nature has fenced its Sea-Coasts from the Irruptions and Inundations of the Sea with high Cliffs so she has furnished it with abundance of safe and capacious Harbours for the security of Ships As for a forein Invasion 't is certain that Islands of any great Importance are by Nature the most defensible Places and the least open to Conquests The Sea that fluid Element which surrounds them is such a Bar to their Enemies Attempts the Winds that govern it so fickle and uncertain the Charges of a Fleet and Land Army so vast the Preparations such as cannot be carried on with that speed and secrecy as for an Invasion by Land and the Difficulty of Landing so great in case of Opposition 'T is true no Continent perhaps was oftener Conquered than ENGLAND first by the Romans then by the Saxons afterwards by the Danes and last of all by the Normans But how was it done always by the help of some discontented or corrupted Party in the Island Thus Bericus a noble but disgusted Britain incouraged Claudius the Roman Emperour to stretch his Empire hither And Vortiger an Usurper of the British Throne called in the Saxons to his help who having got a footing here could not be so easily expelled as brought in In short it may be said England was never and can scarce be Conquered but by England especially since its happy Conjunction with Scotland and the Annexion of Wales As to the late Revolution 't is self evident that the chief Part of the Nation had a hand in it and as it proved we may justly call it not an Invasion as King James affected to do but a wonderful and signal Deliverance To those Two great Advantages of Trade and Security which England does injoy from its Situation near the Sea let us add the Prospect it has from the Sea-Coast of the wonderful Ocean one of the three great Antiquities of the World and the plentiful Variety of Fish and Sea-Fowl c. it affords to this Island But that which raises my Admiration of ENGLAND is the Beauty of it being generally a flat and open Country not overgrown with wild and unwholsom Forests nor dreadful high Mountains What Hills it has are generally very gentle and pleasant and raised as it were to give a charming Prospect to the Eye as its Forests seem only contrived for Variety and the pleasure of Hunting But one Thing there is which adds much to the Beauty of it and that is its excellent Verdure Which by reason of the mildness of the Air even in the Winter-Season exceeds in duration of Time the most fruitful Places of Europe To which add the Concourse of so many Rivers which glide through this Country and strive to make it agreeable and fruitful They are reckoned in all 325 the chief whereof are these following Viz. The Thames The Medway The Severn The Ouse The Trent The Humber The Tees The Tine The Twede The Thames is a Compound of the Thame and Isis two Rivers the first whereof rises in Buckinghamshire the other near Cirencester in Glocestershire both joyning together into one Stream by Dorcester in Oxfordshire where it parts that County from Barkshire From whence taking its course Eastward with many Windings and Turnings it parts Buckinghamshire from Barkshire Middlesex from Surrey and Essex from Kent Where being swelled with the Influx of several lesser Rivers it discharges it self into the Sea watering by the way amongst other Towns Reading and Windsor in Barkshire Kingston and Southwark in Surrey London in Middlesex Barking in Essex and Gravesend in Kent A River the Water whereof is extraordinary wholsom the Stream exceeding gentle and the Tides very commodious for Navigation For the Sea flows gently up this River about 80 Miles almost as far as Kingston being 12 Miles by Land and 20 by Water above London The Medway is a Kentish River not so remarkable for the length of its Course as for the Depth of its Channel and therefore made use of for harbouring the Royal Navy It runs thorough Maidstone Rochester and Chatham a few Miles from whence it empties it self in the Mouth of the Thames This River loses it self under Ground and rises again at Loose not far from Cox-Heath The Severn rises in Montgomeryshire a County of North-Wales From whence it runs through Shropshire Worcestershire and Glocestershire where it does so expatiate it self that the Mouth of it is more like an Arm of the Sea than any part of a River It waters in its course Shrewsbury Worcester and Glocester the chief Towns of the foresaid three Counties and takes in by the way several Rivers of good note two Avons the Temd the Wye and the Vsk The Ouse has its source in the South-Borders of Northamptonshire From whence it runs through the Counties of Bucks Bedford Huntington Cambridge and Norfolk where it discharges it self into the Ocean watering in its Course Buckingham Bedford Huntington Ely and the Sea-Port of Lyn in Norfolk The River that runs through York has also the Name of Ouse being a Compound chiefly of these three Yorkshire Rivers the Swale the Youre and the Warfe And between Norfolk and Suffolk you will find the little Ouse which parting these Two Counties runs at last into the great Ouse The Trent which divides England into Two Parts North and South has its Rise
in Staffordshire and from thence runs through Darbyshire Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire where it falls into the Humber not far from Hull It waters in its course these three chief Places Nottingham Newark and Gainsborough The Humber is a Yorkshire River if that can be called a distinct River which has no Spring of its own but is more properly a Compound or rather a Mouth of several Rivers joyning into one Stream especially the Trent and the York Ouse the Dun and the Darewent The Town of Hull is seated upon it before which Place it widens it self much like the Severn at its Mouth to a great breadth and so falls into the Sea The Tees is another River of the North parting Yorkshire from the Bishoprick of Durham and running from West to East into the Sea The Tine famous for its Coal-trade parts for some Miles Durham from Northumberland running likewise from West to East Seaward by Newcastle therefore called Newcastle upon Tine The Twede is the furthest River Northward and that which parts England from Scotland At the Influx whereof into the Sea is seated Barwick called from this River Barwick upon Twede But besides these principal Rivers and many others of less note though several of them Navigable I cannot but mention those pleasant Rivulets and Brooks which are so numerous in this Country Whose clear and swift-running Streams add much to the Beauty and Fruitfulness of it CHAP. III. Of the Air of ENGLAND It s Temperateness and the Effects of it BY the Situation of ENGLAND so far North as it is one would think the Air should be pretty sharp here and at least colder than in France which lies South from it Whereas it is so Temperate Winter and Summer that the Winters are milder here and the Summers much more moderate In Winter-time the warm Vapours of the Sea on every side do so thicken the Air that it cannot so soon penetrate as the thin Air of hot Countries In Summer the frequent Interposition of Clouds often dissolving into Rain and the usual Blasts from the Sea allay those excessive Heats which both hot and cold Climates are troubled with in that Season for want of Wind and Rain Thus ENGLAND has the happiness of being seldom tired either with a long Frost in Winter or Drought in Summer On the contrary while Continents in the same Latitude and some of a much more Southern Situation ly under Snow pinched with a hard Frost it happens often that our Fields are here cloathed with Grass as in the Spring And whilst the Sun in Summer scorches the Plants and the Inhabitants themselves of hot Climates here it shines so kindly that it does but warm us by a moderate Heat which makes the Country so plentiful both of Corn and Pasture 'T is true on the other side the Air is nothing so pure nor the Weather so serene or regular as it is in Continents Most part of the Winter ENGLAND is under a Cloud often stuffed up with Fogs troubled with rainy Weather and except there happens a Frost but seldom injoying the Sun in its splendour Whence proceed those frequent Colds which are in a manner the original Cause of most of our Distempers and from the frequency of Rain Land-floods which drown the Countries where the Rivers swell out of their Channels and break over their Banks And yet as rainy as this Country is we seldom see here such impetuous Showers or rather Storms of Rain as hot Countries are subject to which often drown the fairest Hopes of the Husbandman For if they have Rain but seldom they have it by the great and sometimes with a Vengeance Whereas in England where it is more frequent it proves most commonly a gentle soaking Rain But there is another Inconveniency in the Weather here and that is its Changeableness and Irregularity according to the Wind that blows Which happens sometimes to be so frequent and sudden that in the space of 24 hours I have observed four different sorts of Weather proper enough for the four Seasons of the Year This I confess is an extraordinary Case But however such is the Mutableness of the Weather that it seldom holds out many Days in the same degree either of Warmth Coldness or Driness And of all Times of the Year the Month of March is the most subject to Change witness the usual Expression March Many-weather And yet this may be said for Changeableness of Weather that it creates Diversion by its Variety What is more comfortable in Winter than a warm Day after a fit of cold Weather and a cool Day in Summer after a fit of hot Weather The quickest and most refined Pleasures grow dull by their Continuance but Change sets an edge upon ' em And as glorious as the Sun appears in its greatest splendour I have oftentimes been weary of its undiscontinued Appearance for a long time together On the other side ENGLAND is nothing near so subject to Hail to Thunder and Lightning or to the Heavens darting of Thunderbolts as many other Regions which are frequently alarmed with those dreadful Meteors And if Nature be somewhat too prodigal of Moisture in this Country she is on the other side as careful to cure it Scarce a fit of Rain is over but comes a fit of Wind to dry up the Moisture and purify the Air. So that the most part of the Year is commonly divided betwixt these two Gods of the Heathens Jupiter and Aeolus The Wind that reigns most in ENGLAND is the Westerly Wind which blows from the vast Western Ocean perhaps three parts in four of the Year But when I say a Westerly Wind I don't mean only that which blows directly from the Cardinal Point but all the Collateral Points from South to North. An Easterly Wind especially in the Spring is lookt upon here to be fatal to Plants and if the Proverb be true to Man and Beast For high Winds and tempestuous Weather we have here two Times of the Year seldom free from it And those are the two Equinoxes in September and March But for Hurricanes and Earthquakes England of all the Countries in Europe is the least subject to ' em The Storm indeed which hapned on the 12th of January last was so very violent blew with such impetuous Gusts and proved so mischievous that it may pass for an Hurricane But it was such as the like has not been known here within the Memory of Man In short whatever be the Disadvantages of ENGLAND in point of Air in respect to other Countries the same is sufficiently countervailed by the Sweetness and Comforts of it as 't will further appear by the insuing Chapter CHAP. IV. Of the Products of ENGLAND both from the Land and Water and the Fruitfulness thereof 'T IS said of Henry the Seventh one of the wisest Kings that ever sat upon the Throne of England but whose Breeding had been low and private That being once pressed by some of his Council to pursue his
is scarce any Country whose Fields are better stored with all sort of Corn the Pastures with Cattel the Woods and Forrests Parks and Warrens with wild Beasts only for Recreation and Food the Air with Birds and Fowls the Seas and Rivers with Fishes and the Mines with Coals and Metals On the other side there is scarce a Country so little troubled with hurtful and ravenous Beasts with venomous Serpents or noisom Flies and Vermine Wolves which of all ravenous Beasts are the most pernicious and destructive of Cattel have been so wonderfully extirpated out of this Land that I cannot omit the History of it I know it has been a Tradition of old Writers that England never had any Wolves at all and that being brought hither from other Places they would not live But History tells us the contrary here being abundance of them till King Edgar commuted for 300 Wolves the yearly Tribute paid him by the Prince of Wales Which made the Welch so industrious and active in Wolf-hunting that the Wolves were in time quite rooted out of the Land the Welch protesting at last they could find no more of ' em Whereby 't is come to pass that whereas in other Countries they are at the Charge and Trouble of guarding their Sheep and housing them by night here they are left feeding in the Fields day and night secure from any Danger unless it be sometimes from Men-Wolves or Sheep-stealers And yet I am credibly informed that in some Places as Warwickshire among the rest some Wolves from time to time have been discovered But as it happens but seldom so upon the least notice the Country rises amain as it were against a common Enemy there being such a hue and cry after the Wolf that it is hard for him to escape the Posse Comitatus CHAP. V. Of the COUNTRY in particular And first of Barkshire Bedfordshire Buckinghamshire in the Alphabetick Order With an Account of what is most remarkable in each Barkshire BARKSHIRE BERKSHIRE or BERKS is an Inland County 'T is bounded on the North by the Thames and Isis which part it from Oxfordshire On the South by Hampshire Eastward by Surrey and Westward by Wiltshire and Glocestershire It contains in Length from East to West about 45 Miles in Breadth from North to South 25. The whole divided into 20 Hundreds wherein 140 Parishes and 12 Market-Towns The Country is very pleasant the Air sweet and the Soil fruitful Next to the Isis and the Thames which water the North Parts of it the Kennet is the principal River which runs into the Thames at Reading and yields excellent Trouts especially about Hungerford Reading the County-Town lies 32 Miles West from London thus viz. to Colebrook 15 from thence to Maidenhead 7 and 10 more to Reading A Town commodiously seated at the fall of the Kennet into the Thames over which Rivers it has several Bridges and that over the Kennet is the fairest The Town is well inhabited and contains 3 Parish Churches Of great Resort and Trade especially for its Cloth and Malt here made Here the County Assizes are usually kept and its Market is on Saturday The other Market-Towns are Windsor Sat. Vantage Sat. Abington Mund. Frid. Faringdon Tues Ockingham Tues Wallingford Tues Frid. Maidenhead Wed. Hungerford Wed. East-Isley Wed. Newbury Thurs Lainborn Amongst which Wallingford and Abington are two Towns of great Antiquity and such as have flourished in their time but since gone to decay The first being the Guallena of the Ancients and then the chief Town of the Attrebatii was afterwards also among the West Saxons the chief Town of this County A Mile in compass at that time within the Walls fortified with a strong Castle and adorned with 12 Parish Churches But in the Year 1348 so desolated by a Plague that there is now but one Church left hardly Inhabitants enough to keep that in repair and nothing of the Walls left as not much of the Castle but the Tract and Ruins of ' em However as it is seated upon the Thames over which it has a Bridge it makes shift to support it self by its Trade of Maulting and its Commodiousness for Transporting Corn and other Commodities to London And so doth Abington which lies North-West from it at the fall of the Ouse into the Isis Noted for giving the Title of an Earldom to the Right Honourable James Bertie the present Earl of Abington Baron Norreys c. Windsor on the Thames is chiefly remarkable for its Castle the finest Royal Pallace of England and the only Castle of six this County has formerly had which is now remaining Which being seated on a great Eminence with a stately and spacious Terrass before it injoys a pure Air and a delicate Prospect Famous for being the Place where the Ceremony of the Knights of the Garter is solemnized on St. George's Day Newbury and Hungerford are both seated on the River Kennet few Miles distant from each other The first of chief note for the Batteâ— fought here in the long Civil Wars called Newbury Fight where King Charles I. remained victorious And the last for having the best Trouts and Craw-Fish in all England This County formerly a Part of the ancient Kingdom of the West-Saxons the Inhabitants whereof called Attrebatii by the ancient Romans is in the Diocese of Salisbury Dignified with the Title of an Earldom in the person of the Right Honourable Thomas Howard the present Earl of Barkshire Viscount Andover c. Devolved to him from his Brother Charles and to Charles from their Father Thomas Howard created Earl of Barkshire Anno 1625. Which Title had been injoyed before him by another Family but in the Person only of Francis Norris created Earl of Barkshire by King James I. Anno 1620 who died few Years after without Issue Male. Out of this County are chosen besides the two Knights of the Shire seven Members to sit in Parliament Viz. 2 from Reading 2 from Windsor 2 more from Wallingford and 1 from Abington Bedfordshire BEDFORDSHIRE another Inland County is bounded Eastward by Hartfordshire and part of Cambridgeshire Westward by Buckinghamshire Northward by Northampton and Huntington Shires Southward by Middlesex and the South Parts of Buckinghamshire It contains in Length from North to South not above 24 Miles in Breadth but 12 and in Circumference 72. The Whole divided into nine Hundreds wherein 116 Parishes and 10 Market-Towns Here the Air is very temperate the Country for the most part Champion and the Soil ferile especially the North part of it Noted shiefly for yielding the best Barley in Engâ—and Next to the River Ouse which waters the North Parts of it the Ivel is the chief which falls into the Ouse A memorable Thing is recorded of this River Ouse which I am unwilling to pretermit At a Place near Harwood on New Years Day 1399 just before the War began between the Two Houses of York and Lancaster this River suddenly stood still and ceased
Escheator and other Officers to the great ease of all the Country in expedition of their Business Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire but two Members of Parliament and Chester only has the Right of Election CORNWAL the furthest County in the West of England is on all sides surrounded with the Sea except Eastward where the River Tamer parts it from Devonshire It s Length from East to West is about 70. miles and the broadest Part next to Devonshire 40. The Whole divided into nine Hundreds wherein 161 Parishes and 21 Market Towns The Country being for the most part but narrow you cannot expect here Rivers of any long Course The Tamer aforesaid is the most considerable next to which you have the Camel and the Fale Here the Air is pure and subtile but much subject to Winds and stormy Weather and more apt to preserve than to recover Health especially to Strangers The Spring is something backward here which makes the Harvest to be later than in the Eastern Parts but on the other side the Winter does prove milder The Country in general is hilly and rocky the Rocks being crusted over with a shallow Earth The Parts towards the Sea are the most fruitful both in Corn and Pasturage Which happens partly by the industrious manuring the Ground with a fruitful sort of Sand and a Sea-weed called Orewood The middle Parts except the Inclosures about Towns and Villages ly generally waste and open and serve chiefly for Summer Cattel But as to Game both for the Hawk and the Hound here 's great store of it One Thing it excels all other Counties in and that is its Tin Mines the Tin whereof goes beyond any in Europe for fineness Here is also found in some Rocks a sort of precious Stone called the Cornish Diamond shaped and polished by Nature and some of them as big as a Walnut but indeed not so hard as the right Diamond For Fishing of Pilchards this is the Place the Time from July to November When the Sea does so swarm of them that enough can be spared to supply France Spain and Italy with them in great Stores the smoaked one being called Fumados in Italy where they pass for a great Dainty In Mounts Bay is the famous Hill called S. Michael's Mount severed from the main Land by a sandy Plain which at Ebb-water may be passed over on foot A Hill that proudly raises it self to a great eminence the top of it being a small Plain the greatest part on 't taken up by an old Fort. Nigh unto the said Bay is a strong Rock called Main Amber which lieth as it were mounted on others of a smaller size with so equal a Counterpoise that it may be stirred but not moved out of its place And in S. Cleere's Parish there are upon a Plain 6 or 8 Stones such as are upon Salisbury Plain Which like them too will be mistaken in their telling so that when they are told over again they will be found either more oâ— less than before At Boskenna is a Trophy erected 18 Stone placed round and pitched 12 foot from each other with another in the Center far biggeâ— than the rest And in many Places hereaboutâ— are Pieces of Armour both for Horse and Man digged out of the Ground Among Sea-faring Men here are besideâ— the Harbours two Places of chief note â— viz. the Lizard Point and the Lands End The first is the furthest part South-West of the Goon hilly Downs a pretty large Tract 〈◊〉 Ground shooting forth from the main Land into the South Sea The Lands End is the furthest Point Westward of Cornwal and consequently of England Lanceston the County Town bears from London West-South-West and is distant there from 170 miles Viz. from London to Salisbury 70 miles for the particulars of which 〈◊〉 refer you to Wiltshire from thence to Shaftâ— bury 18 to Sherburn 12 more to Axminster 19 to Honiton 7 more thence to Exeter 12. and to Lanceston 32 more This Town is seated on the banks of a small River called Kensey and not far from its falâ— into the Tamer A Town of good Trade anâ— well inhabited whose Market on Saturdayâ— is well frequented and served with Provisions Here are held the Assises for this County The other Market Towns are Saltash Sat. Foway Sat. East-Lowe Sat. Padstow Sat. Grampound Sat. Tregny Sat. Helston Sat. Iiskerd Sat. Bâ—dmin Sat. Stratton Tue. Truro Wedn. Sat. Penrin Wedn. Frid. Sat. S. Ives Wedn. Frid. S. Colomb Thu. Falmouth Thu. Market-Jew Thu. Penzance Thu. Listhiel Frid. S. Germans Frid. Camelford Frid. Falmouth the most-frequented Place in these Parts by Mariners deserves a particular Description First it is called Falmouth from its Situation at the Mouth of the River Fale and that in a fertile Tract of Ground called Roseland which contains several Parishes and feeds great Flocks of Sheep The Haven before it is so safe and so capacious that the Town has thriven of late very much upon it the Creeks being coasted with steep Shores and so large withal that 100 Sail of Ships may safely ride at Anchor Besides it lieth more in the way of Trade to wind-driven Ships than Plimouth in Devonshire And over against it is the Castle called Pendennis erected for the better security of this Coast by King Henry VIII But that which adds much of late to the Reputation of Falmouth is his Majesty's setling of a Sea-Post here for Spain and Portugal whereby all immediate Correspondence with France is interrupted at least during this present War and the Benefit of it cut off from that Kingdom The Groyn a Sea-Port Town of Gallicia in Spain is the Place appointed to receive our Packetâ— there from thence to be distributed through all Places of Correspondence both in Spain and Portugal Lastly this Town is of some note for giving the Title of Viscount to the Duke of Northumberland Further in the County Northward lies Truro a Town of good note seated in the middle oâ— two Streams that run into Falmouth Haven and giving the Title of Baron to the Right Honourable Charles Bodvile Roberts Earl of Radnor Penrin another Town of note lies something nearer but to the Northwest of Falmouth on a Creek of Falmouth Haven Penzance and Market-Jew stand over against one another West and East of Mounts Bay the first a good traded Town the other but inconsiderable Eastward you will find Fouay East and Weâ— Iowe upon the South Sea and on the North or Irish Sea the Havens of Padstow and S. Ives The rest of the Market Towns are up in the Country This County which formerly was part of the ancient Kingdom of the West Saxons and the Inhabitants together with those of Devonshire Known among the old Romans by the Name oâ— Danmonii is now in the Diocese of Exeter Out of it are elected besides the two Knightâ— of the Shire no less than 42 Members to sit iâ— Parliament Viz. two out of
capacious Palace for the Bishops Dwelling called Wolvesey-House and upon a Hill a strong Castle which overlooks the Country In short the City of Winchester is indifferently well peopled and frequented And its reekly Markets kept on Wednesdays and Saturdays are well served with all sorts of Provisions especially that on Saturdays Noted besides for giving the Title of Marquess to his Grace Charles Paulet lately made Duke of Bolton by our present King The other Market-Towns are Kingsclere Tue. â—asing-stoke Wedn. Kingwood Wedn. â—lisford Thu. Portsmouth Thu. Sat. Andover Sat. Ramsey Sat. Petersfield Sat. Lemington Sat. Odiam Sat. Besides Christchurch and Whitechurch whose Market-Days I am ignorant of and Newport â—in the Isle of Wight of which more anon Amongst which Portsmouth the strongest Place in this Kingdom is seated in the Isle of Porsey South-East from Southampton Which Isle has Communication on the North with the main Land by a Bridge This Place is both a good Harbour for Ships and by its strong Fortifications a Shelter to this Country Here are Docks and Store-houses for the King to build and equip Men of War and for its Defence two Castles one in the North and another in the South besides other Fortifications and a good Garrison withall But it is counted an unhealthy Place However it gives the Title of Dutchess to a famous French Lady Louisa de Querouaille created Baroness of Petersfield Countess of Faruham and Dutchess of Portsmouth by King Charles II. Anno 1673. A Town noted besides for a Race of small Dogs like Beagles bred about it which hunt Moles as their natural Game Odiam seated on the Road did formerly belong to the Bishops of Winchester Near unto it stand the Ruins of an old Castle once so strong that in the Reign of King John 13 Englishmen kept out the Dauphin of France and his Army for the space of 15 days As for Whitechurch Stocksbridge and Rumsey they are all three seated upon the Test Ringwood upon the Avon Christ-Church betwixt the Avon and the Stower at their fall into the Sea and Lemington East from it by the Sea-side Stockbridge Basingstoke Petersfield and Andover are great Thorow-fare Towns Spithead a noted Place for being a frequent Rendezvous to the Royal Navy lies between Portfmouth and the Isle of Wight Of the Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight falls next under our Consideration And as Nature has parted it from the rest so in her Imitation I give you here a separate Account of it This Island being scarce 3 miles from Hurst-Castle is generally supposed to have been dismembred from Hampshire by the Sea 'T is about 20 miles in length and 12 broad where broadest of an oval Form ending with two Peninsules one East and the other West Naturally fenced about with steep and craggy Rocks amongst which the Shingles and the Needles Northwestward are of chief note amongst Sea-men Southward where it looks towards France it is inaccessible but towards the North-East something flat and level The Soil hereof abundantly answers the Pains of the Husband man So plentiful it is of Corn and Pasturage that the Inhabitants have not only sufficient for themselves but furnish also the Markets of Portsmouth and Southampton but the first especially with the greatest part of the Wheat Flesh Cheese and Butter which is spent amongst them Insomuch that the Souldiers of Portsmouth presuming on the strength of that Town use to say That as long as they have the Isle of Wight to their Friend and the Seas open they need not care for all the World besides And as the Sea about this Island is exceeding full of Fish so is the Land stored almost in all Places with Conies Hares Partridges and Pheasants And the Sheep here yield so fine a Fleece that the Wool hereof has the precedenty of that of Coteswold in Glocestershire and is next in esteem to that of Lemster in Herefordshire This Island is divided into two principal Parts viz. East and West-Meden containing 36 Parishes and in them 3 Market-Towns Newport the chief of all the Isle stands on the North-East Coast with a little Creek before it where small Vessels come to the very Key which does very much facilitate its Trade 'T is a large and populous Town having two Markets a Week viz. Wednesdays and Saturdays At the entrance of the aforesaid Creek is Cowes often mentioned in our Gazets a noted place for harbouring of Ships therefore fortified with a Castle And a little way West from Newport stands another call'd Caresbrook Castle Yarmouth the best Town in this Island next to Newport is situate on the North-West Coast This Town is strengthened with a Castle and other pieces of Fortification most of it's Houses built of Free Stone and covered with Slate In the South-East-Parts is Sandham on a Bay so called also fortified with a Castle So that here are more Castles in this Spot of Ground than there is in any the like Spot in England Lastly this Island as well as the Isle of Man has had the honour of being advanced to the Title of a Kingdom but either of 'em much more deservedly than the Lordship of Ivitot in France 'T was in the Year 1445 when King Henry VI out of his particular affection to Henry Beauchamp Earl of Warwick crowned him King of Wight Which Title ended with his Life about two years after Besides this Island there are to the Eastward of Portsmouth two lesser Isles called Haling and Thorney and having two Towns of their Name This County whereof the Isle of Wight makes a Part is in the Diocess of Winchester and was formerly part of the Kingdom of the West Saxons The Inhabitants whereof together with those of Wiltshire and Somersetshire were known by the Name of Belgae among the ancient Romans Out of it are elected besides the two Knightâ— of the Shire no less than 24 Members to serve in Parliament viz. two out of each of these Towns Winchester Southampton Portsmouth Petersfield Stockbridge Lemington Andover Christ-church White-Church besides these three in the Isle of Wight Newport Yarmouth and Newton Hartfordshire HARTFORDSHIRE an Inland County is bounded on the East by Essex on the West by Buckingham and Bedfordshire on the North by Cambridge-shire and on the South by Middlesex It contains in Length from North to South 30 miles and in Breadth from East to West 27. The whole divided into eight Hundreds wherein 120 Parishes and 18 Market Towns A Country not only blest with a sweet and wholsom Air but also with a fruitful Soil well watered with fresh and delightful Streams the principal whereof are the Lea and the Coln Hartford the Shire-Town from whence the County took its Name stands North by West 20 miles from London Viz. 10 from London to Barnet and 10 more to Hartford A Town of great note in the time of Beda by whom named Herudford for a Synod there held in the dawning of the day of Christianity amongst the Saxons
that purpose and a Place of good resort Gravesend is seated on a rising Hill on the Banks of the Thames A Town of great Refort for Travellers both by Sea and Land that either come up the Thames to London or go down the River in order to take Shipping well furnished therefore with Inns and other Houses of Entertainment but noted for their exactings Over against it in Essex is Tilbury-Fort that commands this Passage Nearer to London stands Dartford on the River Darent not far from its Influx into the Thames which gives good advantage to the Town in conveying their Goods to London The Town is large and being in Dover Road is therefore well accommodated with Inns and Houses of Entertainment Of chief note for the Rebellion begun here and headed by John Tiler commonly nick-named Jack-straw in the Reign of Richard the second Anno 1381. Woolwich seated on the Thames is remarkable for nothing but its Dock used for the Royal Navy But nearer to London stand Greenwich and Deptford two Towns of better account tho they be no Market-Towns The first is pleasantly seated on the Banks of the Thames a neat and healthful Place well inhabited and frequented by Gentry Adjoyning to which is a Royal House called Queen Elizabeth's Pallace with a Park about it yielding a fair Prospect Besides another Pallace by the Rivers-side first built by Humphrey Duke of Glocester and after him inlarged and beautify'd by several Kings till being fallen to ruin King Charles II. attempted to make it a stately Pile of Building but left it unfinished Adjoyning to Greenwich is Black-Heath noted for the Battels fought here against Rebels under the Reigns of Richard II. Henry VI. and Henry VII Deptford is another large Town divided into the Upper and the Lower seated the nearest to Surrey at the very fall of the Ravensburn a small River into the Thames among rich and low Meadows A Town well inhabited and frequented by Sea-men by reason of its Docks and Store-houses for the Navy Royal. Bromley stands upon the same River graced with the Bishop of Rochester's Seat a Country House by it One of whose late Predecessors I mean Dr. Warner founded here a Colledge for 20 Clergy-mens Widows Where each one hath a fair Apartment and 20 l. a Year Rent-Charge duly paid and for their publick Devotion a Chaplain provided with fair Lodgings and 50 l. a Year Rent-Charge Eltham seated on the South-side of Shootersâ—hill among Woods is a neat Town and well inhabited by Gentry Formerly honoured with â— Royal Pallace but laid aside and gone to decay since Greenwich came to be lookt upon as indeed it is a Place of greater Delight Near Westram on the Darent stands Otford on or near the same River a place of good Antiquity Noted for the Battel sought here betwixt King Edmund surnamed Ironside and Canute the Dane wherein Canute was put to flight with the Loss of 5000 Danes S. Mary Cray is so called from Cray a small but swift River on which it is situate in a Wood-land Country It s Market is very inconsiderable Sevenoke not far distant from thence is a Town of good Resort Here is an Hospital and a Free-School founded by one William Sevenoke Lord Mayor of London Anno 1418. who was a Foundling in this Town and from hence took his Name Tunbridge so called from the River Tun upon which it is seated within few miles of its fall into the Medway is a noted place for its mineral Waters so much resorted unto by the Gentry and drunk in the Summer-Season Known by the Name of Tunbridge-Wells tho' at some distance from thence at a Place called Speldherst Cranbrook is seated at the very head of the River Medway and Lenham at the Spring of the Stower Upon which last River you will find also both Ashford and Wye And upon the Rother Appledore an Island called Oxney-Isle This Island is seated in the South-West Parts of Kent towards Sussex incompassed with the River Rother and a lesser River that runs into it It has but 3 Towns in it Wittrisham Stonae and Ebony all three but inconsiderable North-Eastward near the Isle of Shepey lie Milton and Feversham the first a Place of good account in the Reign of Edward the Confessour but Feversham the best trading Place at this time For it has the Conveniency of a Creek that comes up to it which makes it the chief Port-Town for all this Part of Kent being well frequented by Hoys and such like small Vessels The Town is large and well inhabited and its Markets well served with Provisions But it is counted an Aguish Place Here was erected an Abbey by King Stephen where himself his Queen and Eustace his Son were buried Of late years it has been dignified with the Title of an Earldom in the Person of the Right Honourable Lewis de Duras Earl of Feversham c. And since that it has made a greater Noise in the World on the account of the late King 's landing there Incognito in the first Attempt he made to withdraw himself into France Not far from this Town are Pits of a great depth narrow at the mouth and very broad below with several distinct Rooms in 'em and Pillars of Chalk as it were to support them Whitstable and Reculver are two Sea-Towns few Miles North of Canterbury well frequented by Hoymen and Fishermen Reculver of special note for that Ethelbert the first Christian King of Kent had his Palace and did reside here It s Church remarkable for its lofty spired Steeple which serves for a Sea-Mark I come now to the Cinque-Port Towns that belong to this County Those are called CinqueForts which lying on the Coast of Kent and Sussex had great Priviledges granted them by former Kings the better to enable 'em to seture these Coasts against the Incroachments of France They were at first but five as is â—mply'd by the Word which is originally French But three more were added to 'em which makes up the Number of eight Whereof four are in this County Viz. Dover Sandâ—ich Hythe and Nâ—w Rumney the others in Sussex to wit Rye Winchelsey Seaford and Hastings And of these in their proper place Dover the principal of 'em stands over against Calais in France the Passage by Sea being reckoned but 7 Leagues or 21 Miles over Seated it is in the very South-East Point of Kent in a Bottom among Cliffs from whence one may easily discern the Coast of France Upon one of those Cliffs stands the Castle both to command and defend the Town which some will have to be built by Julius Caesar A Castle of that importance that Philip King of France when Lewis his Son being called in hither by the factious Barons against King John had gotten many Towns and Forts without being able to get the mastery of this slighted all that was taken and said his Son had not one Foot of Land in England if he were not Master of Dover-Castle As to
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
Pits and to come up is by the help of a Rope one end whereof being made into a Loop the Workman gets a Leg and Knee into it as far as the very Hip. Thus hugging the Rope with one Arm his Life wrapt up with it down he goes while the Rope turns about an Engine made for that purpose If the Rope fails as sometimes it does through Carelesness there 's an end of the Man and of the Conveyance By a Thrust is meant the fall of some Earth or great Stones whereby 't is the ill fate of some to be crushed as it is of others to be drowned by a sudden Irruption of Waters from an old Waste or otherwise But some Pits at Sunderland in the Bishoprick of Durham are subject besides to Fire-Damps So they call an Inflammation of the Air in those subterraneous Parts which being more than ordinary affected with sulphurous matter are sometimes apt to catch fire and then all go's to wrack It breaks out like a Thunder-bolt carries all away with it higher than the Pits Mouth and that with a dismal noise as it were with a crack of Thunder In this Case one might compare the inflamed Sulphur to Gun-powder the Coal-pit to a great Gun and what it brings up with it to Bullets it comes up with such a force But when this happens the Workmen foresee it by their Candles burning blue and blazing more than ordinary Whereupon they lay themselves flat upon the Ground and let the Meteor work it self above it But this is too deep a piece of Geography for me to insist upon I leave it therefore to those Men of deep reaches who live upon the Spot in order first to take a View of Newcastle the chief Place of this County Newcastel for distinctions sake called Newcastel upon Tine to difference it from another Town of that Name in Staffordshire bears from London North-by-West and is reckoned to be distant from it 212 miles Viz. 200 from London to Durham for the particulars whereof I refer you to my Description of Durham and 12 more from Durham to Newcastle This Town is seated on the North-Bank of the River Tine about 7 miles from its fall into the Sea Over the River it has a fair Stone-Bridge leading to Gateshead in the Bishoprick of Durham with an Iron-Gate upon it which parts the two Counties It stands high and low part upon a steep Hill and part in the bottom on 't near the River The Streets upon the Ascent are so very steep that they stand like so many Ladders And yet both Men and Horses are so used to 'em that they make little of it either with or without a Load The Houses are most of Stone some Timber and a few Brick-houses In short it is a Place of that extent as to contain four large Parishes with as many Churches The Whole incompassed with a Wall and fortified with a Castle but neglected and going to ruin Built by Robert Son to William the Conquerour from whence this Town formerly called Monk-Chester took the Name of Newcastle Among the other publick Buildings of this Place the Key next to the River the Town-House â—ard by it the Custom-house upon Sandy-Hill and S. Nicholas Church in the midst of the Town are the most Remarkable Ships of good Burden come up to the very Key as â—ar as the Bridge though the Newcastle-â—leet seldom comes higher than Sheales near â—he River's Mouth Under the Town-house which 〈◊〉 no mean Structure is the Exchange or â—eeting Place for Merchants Before this â—ouse in the Market-Place stood lately a â—ew brazen Statue the Image of the late â—ing James on horseback Which soon after is Abdication was suddenly pulled down by â—e Forces then quartered in Town to the â—reat grief of many devout Jacobites in those â—arts who reverently paid to the Image the â—onour they retained for the Original S. Niâ—olas Church stands very lofty on the top of Hill and looks more like a Cathedral than Parish Church with a fair Steeple of curious â—rchitecture But Newcastle do's not glory so much in all â—is as it do's in the great Trade it drives â—oth by Sea and Land for all Commodities â—somuch that one may well call it the Bristol 〈◊〉 the North it being the wealthiest as it is 〈◊〉 most trading Place in the whole Northern â—ract 'T is true nothing has made it thrive so â—uch as the Coal-Trade being surrounded â—s it is with Coal-Mines and blessed with â—e Conveniency of a navigable River for â—e Transportation of so necessary and usefull Commodity For the Carrying on of this Trade they have such Priviledges as might seem to some people exorbitant No Owner of Coals can load his Ship with his own Commodity but it must be done by a Member of a Company they have for that purpose called the Company of Fitters and every Fitter has six pence allowed him for every Newcastle Chaldron that go's out which makes up near upon two of London Measure The Town moreover takes 3 pence a Chaldron as a Duty besides 12 pence a Chaldron to the King paid at the Custom-house To conclude Newcastle is a County of it self that is has the Priviledge of governing it self independently from the rest of the County Of some note besides for giving the Title of Duke to his Grace Henry Cavendish the present Duke of Newcastle Whose Father William Cavendish was created first Earl afterwards Marquess of Newcastle by King Charles the first and in the Year 1664. Duke of Newcastle Earl of Ogle c. by Charles II. It has two Markets a Week viz. on Tuesdays and Saturdays both very considerable for all sorts of Provisions but particularly abounding with Cods and Salmon in their proper Season The other Market-Towns are Barwick Sat. Alnewick Sat. Hexam Tue. Morpeth Wedn. and Weller Thu. Barwick is seated at the mouth of the River Twede over which it has a fair Bridge supported by no less than 14 or 15 Arches But as it stands on the North side of the River by the Bounds of Northumberland it ought rather to be counted in Scotland than England And because it has been in the hands of the English from the Reign of Edward IV therefore in all Acts of Parliament and Royal Proclamations wherein this Town is concerned Barwick upon Twede is always named by it self as a distinct Part of this Realm and of Northumberland by consequence However as it is so near a Neighbour to this County I am unwilling to deviate from the Method of all Geographers whose way is to bring it under this Head as if it were a part of Northumberland In short Barwick by its Situation is a Place of good Strength being almost surrounded with Water what with the Sea and what with the River But it is fortified besides with good Walls and a Castle besides other Fortifications The Occasion of it was its being a Frontire-Town sometimes possessed by the Scots and sometimes by the English before these two
Nations came to be united under one Head So that upon the least Rupture this Town was sure to undergo the first brunts of the War It is large and populous and the Houses well built injoying a good Trade especially for Corn and Salmon Here one may have a good Salmon for 12 pence Lastly Barwick is like Newcastel a County of it self Dignified also with the Title of a Dukedom and that by the late King James in the person of James Fitz-James the present Duke of Barwick his natural Son â—inked with him in his Misfortunes Alnwick so called from the River Alne upon which it is seated about 8 miles from the Sea is an indifferent good Town Once strengthened with a great Castle which is now something ruinous However a noted Place for the Battel fought here between the English and the Scots in the Reign of Henry II where William King of Scots was taken Prisoner Hexam is situate West of Newcastel on the South-side of the River Tine Once a Bishoprick in the Infancy of the Saxon Church the Bishop whereof called Episcopus Hagulstadiensis according to Beda S. Eata the fifth Bishop of Lindisfarne or Holy Island was the first Bishop of this Place Succeeded by nine others till by the fury and rapine of the Danes it discontinued the Jurisdiction of it being added to the See of York But in the Reign of Henry VIII it was taken from that Archbishoprick and by Authority of Parliament united to the County of Northumberland whereby it became annexed to the Bishoprick of Durham Here was a most stately Church said to surpass most Minsters in England before a great part thereof was pulled down by the Scots Morpeth a goodly Town is situate on the River Wensbeck and fortified with a Castle Its Market is esteemed the best in the County for Provisions and living Cattel which from hence are dispersed to divers Parts of the Kingdom The Town of some note besides for giving the Title of Viscount to the Eaâ— of Carlisle Some miles South-west from it near a Town called Belsey on the River Pont stands Ogleâ— Castle formerly belonging to the Barons Ogleâ— and now to the Duke of Newcastle from hence stiled Earl of Ogle As for Weller 't is but a small Town seated on the side of a Hill near the Banks of the River Till which runs Northward into the Twede But its Market is great for Corn and other Provisions Of the Islands along the Sea-Coast of Northumberland Along the Coast of this Country you will find 3 principal Islands as you go from South to North viz. Cocket Farn and Holy Island Cocket is but a small Island lying not far from Wetherington Castle Farne Island something bigger lies North from Cocket 2 miles from Bamburg Castle North-East of which lie six smaller Islands hardly worth the naming Holy Island the biggest of the three and yet of no great extent is not far from Barwick This Island being in shape not unlike a Wedge runs out with a Neck of Land towards Northumberland And this is it which formerly was known by the Name of Lindisfarne in the dawning of Christianity among the Northumbers made a Bishops See by S. Aidan one of the first Apostles of these Parts Selected for that Dignity by that holy Man for the Solitude and Privacy of it which made it thought more fit and proper for Devotion Till at last by the religious Lives of so many pious Bishops Monks and others of the Clergy as did inhabit here it got the Name of Holy Island And here the See continued 353 years that is from the Year 637 to 990 under 22 Bishops hence called Bishops of Lindisfarne From whence the See was removed to Durham the Insolencies of the Danes who then terribly raged on these Coasts compelling these religious Men to forsake their Solitude The Air of this Island is so unhealthfull and the Soil ungratefull that it is but thinly peopled Fish and Fowl is the best Accommodation of it So that here is but one Town with a Church and Castle under which is a good Haven defended by a Block-house In short this County formerly a Part of the Kingdom of Northumberland and its Inhabitants part of the Ottadini as the Romans caded them is now in the Diocese of Durham Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire six Members of Parliament Viz. 2 by Newcastle 2 by Morpeth and 2 more by Barwick Lastly this County is noted for the Title of Duke and Earl it has given to several noble Personages but with frequent Interruptions As for the Title of Duke I find but one that has injoy'd it till of late viz. John Dudley Earl of Warwick and Lord Admiralâ— Duke of Northumberland beheaded by Queeâ— Mary Put that of Earl has gone through several Changes and different Families Thâ— Piercies are those who have injoy'd it the long est of any and yet not without some Interruption too The first of 'em that had the Title conferred upon him was Henry Piercy Lord Constable who took possession of iâ— Anno 1377. under the Reign of Richard II. Three of his Name and Family injoy'd it after him before John Nevil Lord Montague was advanced to this Honour by King Edward II who after six years resigned it to Henry Piercy that had been dispossessed of it Another Henry Piercy injoy'd it after him who died in the Year 1527. And 24 years after his Death the foresaid John Dudley Earl of Warwick was by Edward VI. created Duke of Northumberland viz. Anno 1551. Six Years after this the Title of Earl returned to the Piercies in the person of Thomas Earl of Northumberland In which Family it has continued ever since till the Year 1670 when Joceline Piercy died at Turin in Italy without Issue male At present we have a Duke of Northumberland his Grace George Fitz-Roy third Son to the Dutchess of Cleveland who in the Year 1674. was created by King Charles II. Baron of Pontefract Viscount Falmouth and Duke of Northumberland Nottinghamshire NOTTINGHAMSHIRE an Inland County is bounded Eastward with Lincolnshire from which it is separated a good way by the River Trent Westward with Derbyshire and some part of Yorkshire Northward with Yorkshire and Southward with Leicestershire It is of an oval Form doubling in length twice its breadth It s Length from North to South is about 40 miles the Breadth from East to West 20. The Whole divided into 8 Wapentakes or Hundreds 168 Parishes and 9 Market-Towns As for the Soil of this County part of it is Clay-Ground part sandy Ground and the rest Woody The South East Part being watered by the Trent and small Rivers that fall into it is the most fruitfull and this is the Clay Part. The Western where the Forest of Shirwood is so famous for Robin-Hood and his Companions is stocked not only with Wood but Pit-Coal well served besides with Game Besides the River Trent here are several small Streams whereby this Country
fortified with a strong Castle wherein a Garrison is kept The Town is not very large but well built and well inhabited and as it has a commodious Key it injoy's a pretty good Trade Several Vessels belong unto this Town imploy'd especially in Herring-Fishing Season which are taken on this Coast in great plenty This Place is also noted for its famous Spaw which is much resorted unto But of late in a more particular manner for giving the Title of Earl to the Right Honourable Richard Lumley newly created Earl of Scarborough Between this Town and Whitby to the Northward is Robin Hoods Bay so called from Robin-Hood that noted Robber in the Reign of Richard I. About which is found a sort of Jeat or black Amber Whitby another Sea-Town is commodiously seated on the River Esk at its Influx into the Sea A pretty neat Town with a Bridge over the River and driving a good Trade chiefly for Allum and Butter Here is a Custom-House and great many Vessels belonging to the Town Formerly a Place of note for its Abbey but chiefly for the Abbess thereof S. Hilda so famed in her time for working of Miracles One of which Tradition tells us was her ridding this Part of the Country of Snakes which infected it much and conjuring of them into the Sea by her fervent Prayers Which is backed by those who aver that at the Root of the craggy Rocks that are upon the Shore therely Stones scattered here and there naturally as round as a Bullet In which Stones being broken are found stony Serpents wrapt round but most of them headless Not far from Whitby is Mulgrave an ancient Castle situate near unto the Sea and first built in the Time of Richard II by Peter de Mauley Who being pleased with it called it Mouligrace that is a fine Seat But as it proved a grievous Yoke to the neighbour Inhabitants they nicknamed it and called it Moultgrave since turned into Mulgrave by which Name it go's to this day It continued in this Line for 7 Generations and all of them called Peters too The Issue male failing it passed through several Families till it came to the Sheffields Out of which House Edmund Lord Sheffield of Butterwick Lord President of the North was created Earl of Mulgrave by King Charles I. Anno 1625. To whom succeeded in the Title Edmund his Grand-Son by Sir John Sheffield his second Son Who dying in the Year 1658. left his Title to his Son and Heir the Right Honourable John Sheffield the present Earl of Mulgrave Some miles West from Mulgrave Castle is a small Sea-Town called Skeningrave not to be omitted were it but for the following Account of the Seal-fish Hereabouts near unto Hunt-Cliff at low Water appear Rocks not far from the Shore about which the Seal-fish come in great Sholes and in fair and warm Weather ly sleeping and sunning themselves But as it has been observed while they ly thus asleep one of them is upon the Watch and acts the part of a Sentinel Who upon the appearance of any Danger gives the Signal by flouncing into the Water the Noise whereof awakes the rest and so they make their escape They are not afraid say's my Author of Women but only of Men and therefore they that catch 'em put on Womens Cloaths If when they are chased they find themselves too far from the Water their Way is with their hinder feet to fling Sand and Gravel backward in the Pursuers faces which forces 'em sometimes to quit the Sport Some miles from this Coast to the Southward is a Tract of Land called Cleveland taking that Name as Cambden tells us of the Cliffs or steep Banks which run all along the side thereof and at the foot of which the Country spreads it self into a fine fruitful Plain A Territory besides of a good extent which gave the Title of an Earl to Thomas Lord Wentworth created Earl of Cleveland by King Charles I. But leaving no Issue the Title died with him Anno 1670. King Charles II. conferred the Title of Dutchess of Cleveland upon Barbara Villiers Daughter to the Lord Viscount Grandison who was slain in the Civil Wars the Earl of Castlemain's Wife and Mother of three Dukes viz. the Duke of Southampton the Duke of Grafton and the Duke of Northumberland In this Tract I mean Cleveland is an ancient Castle called Danby seated near unto a large Park and a goodly Chase of the same Name It belonged anciently to the Lord Latimer and was sold with other Lands belonging to that Family to Ralph Nevil Earl of Westmorland who forthwith gave the same to his Son Sir George Nevil And not long after King Henry VI. summoned him to the Parliament by the Name of Lord Latimer Whose Issue male failing in Queen Elizabeths Time the Estate was divided between his two Daughters The Castle with the Lands adjoyning fell to the share of Mary Wife to Sir John Danvers of Wiltshire By whom she got Sir Henry Danvers Created by King James I. Lord Danvers of Danby and by King Charles I. Earl of Danby But he dying without Issue the Title lay dormant till revived by Charles II. By whom the Right Honourable Thomas Osborn now Marquess of Caermarthen was created Baron of Kineton and Viscount Latimer in the Year 1673 and Earl of Danby the next Year Gisborough is pleasantly seated in a Flat between Mulgrave and the River Tees A mean Town to what it was when it had its rich Abbey but of some note however for being the first place where Allum was made in England Not far from which is Roseberry-Topping a Hill Pyramid-like serving to Sailers for a Land-Mark and being to the Country-people a certain Sign of Rain when they see a Cloud over it Almost at the top of it is a Spring of Water coming out of a huge Rock counted good for sore Eyes Stokesley is a Market-Town well watered with fresh Streams Yarum but a mean Town is seated on the Tees which divides this County from the Bishoprick of Durham and over which it has a fair Stone-Bridge North-Allerton a large Borough-Town stands near the Wisk a small Stream that falls into the Swale And Thirsk is a small Borough-Town that had once a very strong Castle Bedal Middleham and Masham are all three in Richmondshire The first seated on the Swale and a small Stream that falls there into it Middleham and Masham on the Youre And not far from Masham is Aldborough an ancient Borough-Town New Malton Pickering Kirby-Moreside and Helmley ly all four Eastward not far distant from each other nor from the Sea The first a Borough-Town is seated on the Banks of the River Derwent over which it has a Stone-bridge and contains 3 Parish Churches being well-inhabited and accommodated with good Inns for Travellers It s Market on Saturdays is counted one of the best in all the County for Horses living Cattle Provisions and most Country-Commodities especially Tools for Husbandry The other
Indignation Your Majesty answered the Lord Mayor calmly may do what you please therein and your City of London will prove still dutifull but she comforts her self with the Thoughts that your Majesty will leave the Thames behind you This River besides is so Kind that it seldom indamages any Part of this City by its Overflowings Here the highest Tides are upon a Land-floud and the Moon at full when sometimes it does swell over its Banks But then Westminster lying low feels alone the effects of it and that seldom further than the Cellars Whereas the Chambers and Upper Rooms at Rome and Paris are sometimes overflowed Rome by the Tiber and Paris by the Seine From this River the City by Water-Engines is in many places supplied with good Water But to serve with Water the North Parts of the City as the Thames does the South Parts it has the Conveniency of an artificial River commonly called the New River which was begun Anno 1608 and finished in five Years time A noble Undertaking of Sir Hugh Middleton who for this great Work deserves his Statue in Brass This River he brought from Amwell and Chadwell two Springs near Ware in Hartfordshire from whence in a turning and winding Course it runs near upon 60 miles before it reaches this City In this Undertaking fitter indeed for a Prince than any Subject there have been six hundred Men at once imployed which was a prodigious Charge The Channel in some Places 30 foot deep in others carried over Valleys 20 foot at least above Ground in open Troughs And over this River are 800 Bridges some of Stone some of Wood and others of Brick This City besides has the Conveniency of several Conduits of Spring-Water so commodiously placed that they serve all the chief Parts of it And it is so situated that in all Parts though on the highest Ground 't is abundantly served with Pump-Water the Pumps in many Places not six foot deep in the Ground For a constant Supply of Provisions besides the fruitfull County of Middlesex in which it stands and that of Surrey on the other side of the River both which are ready at hand to furnish it with their Provisions it is neighboured with many other plentifull Counties out of whose abundance this City lives in great plenty and seldom knows what Scarcity is The Conveyance so easy both by Land and Water that no City in Europe has better Conveniencies So large fair and smooth are the High Ways that lead from all Parts to it and so convenient is the River that almost all the Fewel for firing is brought up that Way to Town The Coals from Newcastle and the Wood from Kent and Essex some of which last comes also down the River from Surrey and Middlesex Lastly as it has the Command of the Sea so there is scarce any Blessing in the Terrestrial Globe but this City has her Share in it Moreover its Distance from the Sea which is about 60 Miles is a great Argument of the Founder's Wisdom For by that Distance as it is not so near as to be annoyed by the unwholsom Vapours of the Sea or to be suddenly surprised by an Enemies Fleet so it is not so far but that by the help of the Tide which comes up every 12 hours Ships of great burden may be brought into her bosom In point of Latitude 't is in 51 Degree 30 Minutes I come now to its full Extent with its Suburbs and Places adjacent It s Length from East to West that is from Lime-house to the further end of Mill-Bank in Westminster is above 7500 Geometrical Paces which comes to seven measured miles and an half at 1000 paces a mile that is about five computed miles or two Parisian Leagues and a half The Breadth indeed is not proportionable the City being built in Length for the Conveniency of the River And yet taking Southwark in on the other side of the River as it is under the Lord Mayor's Jurisdiction and joyned to London by the Bridge this vast City reaches there in Breadth from North to South that is from the further end of White-Chappel Street to St. George's Fields in Southwark near upon 3 miles So that I cannot but conceive that if London were cast as Paris into an orbicular Form the Circumference of it would be much larger than that of Paris So much it is increased in Buildings since the dismal Conflagration in the Year 1666. But whether it is profitable to the Body of the State or not to have so vast a Head may be made a Question And if Dr. Heylin had cause to complain in his time of its being grown then too big for the Kingdom he might with much more reason do it now Great Towns says he in the Body of a State are like the Spleen or Milt in the Body natural The monstrous Growth of which impoverishes all the rest of the Members by drawing to it all the animal and vital Spirits which should give nourishment unto them and in the end cracked or surcharged by its own fulness not only sends unwholsom Fumes and Vapours to the Head and heavy Pangs upon the Heart but draws a Consumption on it self He adds further that the Overgrowth of great Cities is of dangerous consequence not only in regard of Famine such Multitudes of Mouths not being easy to be fed but in respect of the irreparable Danger of Insurrections if once those Multitudes sensible of their own Strength oppressed with Want or otherwise distempered with Faction or Discontent should gather to a head and break out into Action These are all I confess very plausible Arguments But if we consider London as it is in a manner the Head of three Kingdoms at least the Seat of their Monarch I see nothing of Monstrousness in it On the other side London having the Conveniency of the Sea and of a navigable River is so much the less subject to a Famine for that in case of Scarcity at home it may be supply'd from abroad And as in so great a Body there be commonly different Parties led by opposite Interests so there is the less Cause to fear Insurrections because one Party keeps still another in aw Just so Geneva and Hamburg two free Cities do not subsist so much by their own Strength as by the Jealousy of the several States that neighbour upon ' em But the greatest Danger incident to great Cities and omitted by Dr. Heylin is in Case of Contagious Diseases Which the more Matter they find to work upon make so much the greater havock and like a raging Fire get strength by their Motion Witness the Year 1665 when at London there died of the Plague in one day no less than 1200. When all is done I have this to urge in the behalf of great Cities that they are a visible Sign of a flourishing State and such as draws Respect from its Neighbours who look upon it as the Luxuriancy and Result of its Wealth
now the chief Prison where Persons of quality that are charged with Crimes against the Government are kept in Custody Here are also many Dwelling-Houses foâ— the Officers that belong to it either as aâ— Arsenal or a Mint c. And as an Arsenal here is kept the Office of his Majesties Oâ—dinance to be explained in my second Part For the publick Devotion of all the Dwelleâ—â— in the Tower there is within its Walls onâ— Parochial Church called S. Petri ad Vinculâ— infra Turrim being the Kings Donative without Institution and Induction and exempâ— from all Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Archbishop The Government of the Tower as it is a Place of great Trust so it has been usually put in the hands of two Persons of great worth the one called Constable and the other Lieutenant of the Tower The Constable has the chief Command and is Lord Lieutenant of the 21 Hamlets belonging to it which ly in several Parishes of large extent Whose Train-bands making two intire Regiments of Foot and above 3000 Men are to attend the Kings Person when commanded but are to march no farther than the King They were sometimes the Gards of the Tower and are bound if occasion be to reinforce the Garrison upon the Constable's Command Who by his Place is to be in the Commission of the Peace for the City of London and the Counties of Middlesex Kent and Surrey And so is the Lieutenant who is subordinate to the Constable for the time being but in his absence commands with the full Power of both His Salary is 200 l. per annum with all the Fees and Perquisites which are very considerable both from the Prisoners that happen to be in the Tower and from the Warders Places which are all at his Disposal Under the Command of the Constable and the Lieutenant of the Tower in his absence are the Gentleman Porter the 24 â—eomen Warders and the Gunners of the Tower The Gentleman Porter who holds his Place by Patent has the Charge of the Gates The Keys whereof he is every night to deliver to the Constable and in his absence to the Lieutenant and to receive them of him the next morning He commands the Warders that are upon duty and claims for his Fee at the entrance of a Prisoner his Upper Garment or else a Composition for the same The Warders are accounted the King's Domestick Servants and sworn accordingly by the Lord High Chamberlain or by the Clerk of the Check Their Duty is to wait at the Gates and by the Lieutenant of the Tower's appointment to attend Prisoners of State which is the most profitable and beneficial part of their Station At the Gates they examine every Stranger that offers to go in and before admittance according to the Rules of Military Discipline those that â—ear Swords must leave 'em in their hands â—ill they go out Ten of them are usually upon the Days Wait and two upon the Watch â—very night The Gunners are to look after the Ordâ—ance mounted on the Batteries and Lines â—nd ready for Service on the shortest Warning One or more of them are upon Duty â—ay and night to wait for Orders For the Liberty of the Tower to which â—as been annexed the old Artillery Garden â—y Spittle-Fields and the little Minories here is an ancient Court of Record held by a Steward every Monday by Prescription for Debts Trespasses c. And in the said Liberty the Gentleman Porter has the same Power and Authority as Sheriffs have within their respective Counties He constitutes Bayliffs thereof to execute all Process and Warrants directed to them by the Steward of the Court and has all Escheats Deodands and Goods of all Felones deâ—se For Ecclesiastical Causes and Probate of Wills the Tower and Liberties thereof have a Royal Jurisdiction From which there is no Appeal but to the King in his Court of Chancery who thereupon issues out a Commission under the Great Seal as in Appeals from the Arches or Prerogative Courts But whether the Tower be in the County that is under the Jurisdiction of Middlesex or in the Liberty of the City 't is undetermined to this day Some will have it to be part of it in Middlesex and part in the Liberty of the City And in the Case of Sir Thomas Overbury's Murder the Judges Opinion was that the Trial must be made in the City the Fact being done in that Part of the Tower held to be in the City Liberties Next to the Tower I come to the Custom House placed between the Tower and thâ— Bridge Which having been destroy'd by the Fire in the Year 1666 was soon afteâ— rebuilt much more commodious uniform anâ— magnificent and the Building cost the Kinâ— 10000 pounds Here are received and managed all the Impositions laid upon Merchandise Imported and Exported from this City Which are so considerable that of all the Customs of England divided into 3 Parts the Port of London pay's two Thirds that is when Trade flourishes about 400000 l. yearly In this Office are imploy'd a great Number of Officers an Account whereof you will find in my Second Part where I speak of the King's Revenues The Bridge of London offers it self in the next place to our Consideration Which considering the constant great Flux and Reflux at that Place was certainly a very difficult and costly piece of Work It consists of 19 Arches at 20 foot distance of each other with a Draw-bridge almost in the middle 'T is about 800 foot long and 30 broad Set out with a fine Row of Houses all along with Shops furnished with most sorts of Commodities So that it looks more like a Street than a Bridge the Street being widened in the late Reign from 12 to 20 foot It was built in the year 1200 in the Reign of King John And so great are the Charges of keeping it in repair that there is a large Revenue in Lands and Houses set apart for that purpose and two Bridge-Masters besides other Officers chosen out of the Liverv-men on Midsummer-Day to look after the same Near this Bridge is the fatal Place where the dreadful Fire afore-mentioned first began In perpetualâ— Memory whereof was erected by virtue of an Act of Parliament that â—aster-piece of Building called the Monument begun Anno 1671 in the Mayoralty of Sir Richard Forde Knight and finished Anno 1677 Sir Thomas Davies being Lord Mayor of London This Pillar not unlike those two ancient white Marble Pillars at Rome erected in honour of the Emperours Trajan and Antonius is all built of Portland Stone as durable almost as Marble and is of the Dorick Order 202 foot high and 15 foot Diameter Within-side is a fair winding Stair-case with Iron rails up to the top where this stately Pile is surrounded with an Iron-Balcony yielding a pleasant Prospect all over the City The Pedestal is 40 foot high and 21 foot Square the Front of it adorned with ingenious Emblems and the North and
Warranto brought in at the latter end of Charles II his Reign and a new Charter granted the City but with several Restrictions of great moment yet that Judgement was Reversed upon their late Application to the Parliament and their ancient Charter Confirmed So that Things run now as they did before that Judgment in their proper Channel For Military Affairs the City of London is a Lieutenancy of it self So that the Power of a Lord Lieutenant is in the Lord Mayor and Aldermen and other principal Members of the City for the Time being Who by a peculiar Commission from His Majesty are authorized to act as his Lieutenants in London for the ordering the City-Militia with the same Power that the Lord Lieutenants have in their respective Counties Now the City-Militia consists of 6 Regiments of Foot making about 90000 men besides the Hamlets of the Tower 2 Regiments and the Regiment of Southwark To which if we add the Militia of Westminster consisting of 2 Regiments called Holborn and Westminster each of 2000 men we find in all eleven Regiments But in case of Necessity the Auxiliaries are raised consisting of Apprentices which make up six Regiments more every Freeman that has two Apprentices finding one for that purpose To supply the City Train-Bands and Auxiliary men with Commanders there is a Nursery of Souldiers called the Artillery Company of above 60 Years standing This Company consists of 600 choice men commanded in chief by the King and under his Majesty by a Leader Who exercises this Company every Tuesday fortnight in the Artillery-Ground a spacious Place near Moorfields inclosed for that purpose with a fair Brick-Wall And the other Tuesday the Exercise is performed by the several Members of the Company who are there trained up to command most of them being Commanders of the Train-Bands They have a Court-Marshal consisting of a President Vice-President Colonel and 24 Members of the Company On the second Tuesday in February is their general Rendezvous every Year when they chuse their Officers Which besides the Leader are two Lieutenants 2 Ensigns 2 Sergeants a Provost Marshal 3 Gentlemen of Arms c. The Church-Government is by the Bishop of London The Parishes whereof for the most part provided with able and eminent Divines under the Title of Rector or Vicar are under his Jurisdiction And for maintaining these Divines with their Families there is in most Parishes a Parsonage or Vicarage-House with a yearly Allowance besides the Perquisites arising from Christenings Marriages and Burials Which Allowance since the Reformation falls much short of what it was in the time of Popery when besides the Tythes of the Tradesmens Gains the Mortuaries Obits c. the Priest tho' in a state of Celibacy had 3 shillings and 5 pence in the pound of the yearly Rent of all the Houses and Shops in his Parish Which afterwards was brought to 2 shillings 9 pence in the pound by an Act of Parliament under the Reign of Henry VIII and that confirmed by a subsequent Act. But since the Reformation this being lookt upon as too large an Allowance it has been so curtailed that 't will be hard to bring back that golden Age. 'T is true under the Reign of Charles II. a Regulation was made by Act of Parliament but it concerned only those Parishes whose Churches had been demolished by the dreadfull Fire And according to the several Extents of Parishes the Parsons thereof by virtue of that Act have a certain yearly Allowance none under 100 Pounds and none above 200 but most between one and two hundred Pounds The same to be raised in lieu of Tythe within the said respective Parishes by rating the Houses and Shops therein proportionably to their respective Rents As to those Parishes all over the City and Suburbs where there is besides the Parson a Lecturer he has his maintenance no otherwise than by a voluntary Contribution from the Parishioners As for the City of Westminster the Dean and Chapter are invested with all mander of Jurisdiction both Civil and Ecclesiastical not only within the City of Westminster but also in other Places of their Jurisdiction as the Precincts of S. Martin le Grand within the Walls of London and some Towns in Essex The Dean in particular has a Commission of Peace within the City and Liberties of Westminster The principal Officer in it called the High Steward of Westminster is usually one of the prime Nobility Under whom there is a Deputy Steward then the Bayliff and the two high Burgesses these chosen every Year Within the Precincts of Westminster but chiefly near the Court the Nobility and Gentry take up for the most part their Quarters But the proper Station of the Lawyers is in their Inns between the City and the Court and that of Merchants and Seamen in and about the East-end of the City Thus you have a short Description of the famous City of London the Metropolis of England the Seat of the British Empire the Epitome and Glory of this Kingdom A City which for Greatness Beauty Conveniencies Plenty of Provisions Commerce Riches and good Government is inferiour to none beyond Sea 'T is a Magazine of all sorts of Commodities necessary or expedient for the Use or Pleasure of Mankind The great Rendez-vous of the Nobility Gentry Courtiers Divines Lawyers Physicians Merchants Seamen of the best Artificers the most refined Wits and the greatest Beauties of the Land For a constant Supply of Provisions here are abundance of Markets the best furnished of any in Christendom but especially Leaden-Hall-Market near the Royal Exchange in the City the greatest Flesh-Market about the City and a great Magazine of Corn. So that there is scarce a great City in Europe where poor People or such as love a frugal Life may live cheaper or the splendid Liver gallanter To get a Livelyhood and raise himself in the World no Place like this by Mechanick or Liberal Arts by Merchandizing Offices Preferments c. For Conveniencies and Delight here all is at hand and scarce any Thing wanting that Money can purchase In point of Society here learned and unlearned high and low rich and poor good and bad may fit themselves any where And this I must needs say to the Praise of London that there is not a Place in Europe of such a vast Confluence of all sorts of People where Murders and Outrages so frequent in great and populous Cities beyond Sea are so seldom heard of Which argues a great deal of Wisdom in the Magistrate that so great a Body should be kept in so good Order William the Conquerour to prevent Disorders and Mischiefs in the Night commanded that in every Town and Village a Bell called Curfew-Bell a Corrupt Word from the French Couvre-feu should be rung every Night at 8 of the Clock and that all people should then put out their Fire and Candle This continued in his Reign and that of his next Successor William Rufus But Henry I. revoked
that Order and Henry III. Anno 1253. commanded Watches to be kept in Cities and Boroughs for the Preservation of Peace and Quietness among his Subjects Therefore there are in the respective Streets of London to this day convenient Stations for the Watchmen who are to examine all Persons walking in unseasonable Hours and to secure till next Day such as are either suspicious or riotous And then they bring them before a Justice of Peace who deals with them according to the Merit of the Cause Thus Murders Robberies Felonies Fires and other Evils are oftentimes prevented which could not be avoided in so great and populous a Place where a great many wicked People ly lurking for Mischief This Duty of Watching is commonly performed by Men hired for that purpose and paid for 't by the Citizens under the Command of a Constable assisted by the Eeadle of the Parish In case of a publick Riot the King usually sends a Party of his Gards to suppress it and if occasion requires part of the Militia is raised But to draw to a Conclusion if we cast our Eyes upon the vast Traffick and Commerce whereby this Place is become so flourishing it will every where afford matter of Admiration The same does plainly appear by the Customs yearly paid for all Merchandise Imported and Exported by the great Wealth of many Citizens by the infinite Number of Shops both in the City and Suburbs for the Retailing Trade and lastly by the incredible Abundance of Apprentices which are here brought up to all manner of Trades The Customs for this City alone tho' very moderate in comparison of most other Places in Europe did lately amount to near 400000 l. a Year The Wealth of the Citizens so vast that some of 'em for great Estates in Mony c. excel some Princes beyond Sea and live accordingly in great state and plenty few so penuriously as most of the Dutch Merchants do The Number of Shops both in the City and Suburbs so great and indeed so far beyond that of any foreiâ— City that it is to Strangers a just Matter of Amazement Proportionable to which is That of the Apprentices reckoned to be at least forty thousand Now this great Trade of the Londoners runs into three several Streams 1. among themselves 2 in the Country and 3 beyond Sea of which in my second Part. Only I shall observe here that the vast Trade of this Place has chiefly occasioned that great Appearance in it of Pictures in the Air a Thing taken particular notice of at the first view by Strangers I mean the Multitude of Signs which hang before the Houses many of them very rich and costly and all together yielding a fine Prospect But on the other side its frequent Dirt in Winter and Dust in Summer are two such Nusances as take off very much from the Glory of it And yet both of them might with ease be Remedied and will I hope in time For in point of Cleanness few Towns are better Seated than London is standing upon an easy Ascent from the River And the Allowance for it from each House-keeper is so considerable that one would think it enough to keep it cleaner than it is But the Truth is there 's a sort of Chymists that can extract Gold out of Dirt. And I conjecture the less Care has been taken to take off that Reproach from so noble a City because of the two great Conveniences it has to go free from the Dirt from one End of it to the other that is by Land in Coaches and by Water in Boats Besides that the principal Streets and most of the New Buildings are paved a good convenient Breadth on each side with smooth hewn Stone for the benefit of Foot-Passengers Which is a great Commodiousness as well as an Ornament I conclude as to Loudon with three notable Conveniencies it has not elsewhere to be found Viz. the New Lights the Peny-Post and the Insurance-Office for Houses in case of Fire The New Lights is so ingenious and usefull an Invention that Mr. Edmund Heming the Inventor deserves an immortal Praise for it He brought it to light about 6 Years ago with a Patent from King Charles II for the Injoyment of the Profits thereof And such is the Reflexion of these Lights tho' at a good distance from each other that few of them serve to light a whole Street in the Night better than ten times the Number of Glass Lanthorns For by the regular Position of one of them before the Front of every tenth House on each side of a broad Street there is such a mutual Reflection that they all seem to be but one great solar Light And so cheap is this Conveniency that for five Shillings down and five Shillings a Year for five Years to be paid at two Quarterly Payments the Inventor obliges himself to light the Front of ones House from Michaelmas to Lady Day every Night from six to twelve beginning the third Night after every Full-Moon and ending the sixth Night after every New Moon which is in all 120 Nights The Peny-Post is such a Contrivance that for one Peny a Letter or Parcel not exceeding one pound Weight or ten pounds in value is presently conveyed from all Parts of the Town and Suburbs to the remotest Places thereof And it has been so far improved since the first settling of it as to reath ten miles about London He that sends pays the Peny â—nd when the Letter or Parcel goes beyond the Bounds of the Weekly Bills of Mortality the Receiver pays another Peny To carry on this usefull Design first there are about the Town four or five hundred Houses to take in Letters and Parcels And to convey them according to their Directions there are about 100 messengers imployed from Morning to Night to call every Hour at the said Houses and take what Letters and Parcels they find there Who carry the same to their respective Offices from whence the Letters and Parcels are dispatched away according to their Directions The Offices are six in Number Viz. The General Office St. Paul's Office The Temple Office Westminster Office Soutwark Office The Hermitage Office The General Office is in Star-Court in Cornhill and has 3 Clerks belonging to it whereas the rest have but two Clerks each The whole Concern is managed in chief by three Persons a Comptroller an Accomptant and a Receiver Every one of the Messengers imployed in the bringing in and carrying out of Letters gives 50 l. Security by Bond to the Office for his Fidelity And for this Contrivance the Publick is indebted to that ingenious Citizen of London Mr. William Dockwrea who settled it some Years since not without much trouble and cost But the late King when Duke of York sued him for the lame as his Right and carried it from the Inventor So that the Benefit of it is now inherent in the Crown The Insurance Office for Houses in case of Fire is also an
is the Fort St. George belonging to the East-India Company where they have a President of all the Factories on that Coast and of the Bay of Bengala As to the Royal African Company King Charles II was pleased by his Letters Patents to grant them a Liberty of Trading all along the Western Coasts of Africk from Cape Vert as far as the Cape of good Hope with prohibition of Trading there to all his other Subjects At Cape-Coast is the Residence of the chief Agent of the Company where they have a strong Place or Fort. I pass by the other Companies though some of them very considerable and the great Trade of the West-Indies generally managed by Merchants not Incorporated Only I shall add that every Company has the Priviledge to govern themselves by setled Acts and Orders under such Governours Deputies Assistants and Agents as they think fit to chuse among themselves And this way has been found to be so profitable and beneficial by Exporting the native Commodities thereof by setting the Poor on Work by building of many brave Ships and by Importing hither of forein Commodities both for Use and Ornament that the Benefit accruing thereby to these Nations cannot be expressed The principal Commodities exported from hence into forein Countries are Woollen Cloths of all sorts broad and narrow the English being now the best Cloth-Workers in the World To which add Sattins Tabies Velvets Plushes and infinite other Manufactures some of which make very good Returns from the foreign Plantations Abundance of Tin Lead Alum Copper Iron Fullers Earth Salt and Sea-Coal of most sorts of Grains but Wheat especially of Skins and Leather of Trane Oyl and Tallow Hops and Beer Saffron and Licorish besides great Plenty of Sea-fish is yearly transported over Sea to forein Conntries From whence the Merchants make good Returns and bring a great deal of Treasure and rich Commodities to the Inriching of themselves the unspeakable benefit of the Nation and the Credit of the English in general Who are as industrious and active as fair Dealers and great Undertakers as any Nation in the World For though the Hollanders perhaps do drive a greater Trade 't is neither for want of Stock nor for want of Industry on the side of the English The Hollanders being squeezed as they are within the narrow Bounds of their Country find little or no Land to purchase with the Returns of their Trade This puts 'em upon a kind of Necessity of improving still their Stock and of sending back those Riches a floating upon the Sea which they cannot fix on the Land Whereas our English Merchants having the Opportunity of Injoying the Fruits of their Industry in a spacious delicate fruitful Country by purchasing Estates for themselves and Families are apt to yield to the Temptation and to exchange the hurry of Trade for the pleasures of a Country-life CHAP. V. Of the English Laws and Religion THE Laws of England are of several Sorts and severally used according to the Subject First there is the Common Law that is the Common Customs of the Nation which have by length of time obtained the force of Laws This is the Summary of the Laws of the Saxons and Danes first reduced into one Body by King Edward the Elder about the Year 900. Which for some time being lost were revived by King Edward the Confessor and by Posterity named his Laws To these William the Conquerour having added some of the good Customs of Normandy he caused them all to be written in his own Norman Dialect which being no where vulgarly used varies no more than the Latine Therefore to this day all Reports Pleadings and Law-Exercises Declarations upon Original Writs and all Records are written in the old Norman But where the Common Law falls short the Statute Law makes it up Which are the Laws made from time to time by King and Parliament The Civil Law which is counted the Law of Nations is peculiarly made use of in all Ecclesiastical Courts in the Court of Admiralty in That of the Earl Marshal in Treaties with forein Princes and lastly in the Two Universities of the Land The Canon-Law otherwise called the Ecclesiastical Laws takes place in Things that meerly relate to Religion This Law comprehends the Canons of many ancient General Councils of many National and Provincial English Synods divers Decrees of the Bishops of Rome and Judgments of ancient Fathers received by the Church of England and incorporated into the Body of the Canon Law By which she did ever proceed in the Exercise of her Jurisdiction and do's still by virtue of an Act in the Reign of Henry VIII so far as the said Canons and Constitutions are not repugnant to the Holy Scripture to the Kings Prerogative or the Laws of this Realm But whereas Temporal Laws inflict Punishment upon the Body these properly concern the Soul of Man And as they differ in several Ends so they differ in several Proceedings The Martial Law reaches none but Souldiers and Mariners and is not to be used but in time of actual War But the late King who ran headlong to Arbitrary Power made nothing of violating this and most other Laws The Forest-Law concerns the Forests and in flicts Punishment on those that trespass upon them By virtue of this Law the Will is reputed for the Fact so that if a Man be taken hunting a Deer he may be Arrested as if he had taken it Lastly there are Municipal Laws commonly called Peculiar or By Laws proper to Corporations These are the Laws which the Magistrates of a Town or City by virtue of the King's Charter have a Power to make for the benefit and advantage of their Corporation Provided always that the same be not repugnant to the Laws of the Land These By-Laws properly bind none but the Inhabitants of the Place unless they be for publick Good or to avoid a publick Inconvenience In which Case they bind Strangers Thus much in general as to the Laws of England The chief Particulars will come in of course when I come to treat of the Government The Religion of England as it is established by Law is the best Reformed Religion and the most agreeable to the primitive Times of Christianity But before I come to shew the Occasion Time and Methods of its Reformation it will not be improper to give a brief historical Account how the Christian Faith came to be planted in this Island to set forth its Progress Decay and Restauration then its Corruption with Rome and at last its Reformation That Christianity was planted here in the Apostles Times long before King Lucius is plainly demonstrated by the Antiquity of the British Churches writ some Years since by Dr. Stillingfleet the present Bishop of Worcester Where he learnedly disproves the Tradition concerning Joseph of Arimathea supposed by many to have been the first Planter of the Gospel here as an Invention of the Monks of Glassenbury to serve their Interests by advancing
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
of Salisbury began the Sermon his Text being taken out of 2 Sam. 23. V. 3 4. The Sermon ended Their Majesties took the Oath And being conducted to their Regal Chairs placed on the Theater that they might be more conspicuous to the Members of the House of Commons who were seated in the North-Cross They were Anointed After the Unction they were presented with the Spurs and Sword invested with the Palls and Orbs and then with the Rings and Scepters At four of the Clock the Crowns were put upon their Heads at sight whereof all the People shouted the Drums and Trumpets sounded the great Guns were discharged and the Peers and Peeresses put on their Coronets Then the Bible was presented to Their Majesties and after the Benediction They vouchsafed to kiss the Bishops Being Inthroned first the Bishops and then the Temporal Lords did their Homage and Kissed Their Majesties left Cheeks In the mean while the Treasurer of the Houshold threw about the Coronation Medals which were of Silver about the bigness of a half-crown Piece representing of one side the King and Queen with their Names thus Gulielmus Maria Rex Regina And on the Reverse giddy-brained Phaethon unskilfully guiding the Chariot of the Sun with Jupiter above striking him with a Thunder-bolt and this Motto about it Ne Totus Absumatur that is Lest the whole World be Consumed with fire A very pat Emblem to the present Juncture as those may best judge who are well acquainted with the Story of Phaethon Next followed the Communion And Their Majesties having made Their second Oblation received the holy Sacrament Then the Bishop read the final Prayers After Prayers Their Majesties retired into S. Edward's Chapel where they were new Arrayed in Purple Velvet And in this Habit they returned to Westminster-Hall with Their rich Crowns of State upon their Heads and the Nobility their Coronets A splendid Dinner being prepared in the Hall for Their Majesties and the whole Proceeding the first Course for Their Majesties Table was served up with the proper Ceremony being preceded by the great Officers and the High Constable High Steward and Earl Marshal But the Tables of the Nobility c. were all ready furnished before their Coming in Before the second Course Charles Dymoke Esq Their Majesties Champion came into the Hall on horse-back between the High Constable and the Earl Marshal where be performed the Challenge After which the Heralds proclaimed Their Majesties Styles Dinner being ended and the whole Solemnity performed with great Splendour and Magnificence Their Majesties about eight in the Evening returned to Whitehall CHAP. IX Of the King's peculiar Prerogatives Also of His Power Court and Revenues in general BEsides the Royal Marks of Sovereignty inherent in the Crown of England the King has certain Priviledges properly called by the Name of Prerogatives which are so many Flowers of the Crown The principal are these that follow First all Estates for want of Heirs or by Forfeiture escheat or revert to the King To Him also belong all Lands of Aliens dying before Naturalization or Denization unless they leave Issue born within his Dominions All Waste Ground or Land recovered from the Sea All Gold and Silver Mines in whose Ground soever they are found All Wayfs Strays and Wracks not granted away by Him or any of his Predecessors All Treasure found as Gold Silver Plate Bullion c. the Owner whereof is unknown All Royal Fishes as Whales Dolphins c. And Royal Fowl as Swans not markt and swimming at liberty on the River The King by his Prerogative has the Right of Pre-emption of all Sorts of Victuals near the Court and may take Horses Carts Ships and Boats for his Carriages at reasonable Rates By his Letters Patent he may erect new Counties Cities Boroughs Universities Colledges Schools Hospitals Fairs Markets Forests Chases Free-Warrens c. And without his Authority no Forest Chase or Park can be made or Castle built He has Power likewise to Infranchise an Alien and make him a Denison whereby he is inabled to purchase Houses and Lands and to bear some Offices But none can be Naturalized but by King and Parliament The King only can give Letters of Mart or Reprisal And in case of Losses by Fire or otherwise He only can give Patents to receive the charitable Benevolences of the People without which no Man may ask it publickly Debts due to the King are in the first place to be satisfied in case of Executorship and Administratorship and till the Kings Debts be satisfied He may protect the Debtor from the Arrest of other Creditors He may Distrein for the whole Rent upon one Tenant tho he do not hold the whole Land Is not obliged to demand his Rent as others are and may sue in what Court he pleases and Distrain where he list No Occupancy can stand good against the King nor any Entry before Him prejudice him And the Sale of the Kings Goods in open Market do's not take away his Property therein All Receivers of Mony for the King or Accomptants to Him for any Branch of his Revenues are chargeable for the same at all times in their Persons Lands Goods Heirs Executors and Administrators And when any Debtor to the King is disabled to pay him by reason of Debts owing him which he has not been able to recover in such a Case the Kings Debtor being Plaintiff has some Priviledges above others by virtue of a Quo minus in the Exchequer In Doubtfull Cases always there ought to be a particular Regard and favourable Presumption for the King And Judgments against the King's Title are always entred with a Salvo Jure Domini Regis That if at any time the King's Council at Law can make out his Title better that Judgment shall not prejudice Him Which is not so for a Subject The King's Servants in Ordinary are free from Arrest also from all Offices that require their Attendance as Sheriff Constable Church-Warden c. And for reasonable Causes Him thereunto moving He may protect any Man against Suits at Law c. with a Noli Prosequi As to Church Matters the King by Act of Parliament is the Supream Head of the Church as He is of the State and is lookt upon as her Gardian and Nursing Father He is as Constantine the Emperor said of himself an external Bishop of the Church and in some Sense a Priest aswell as a King Therefore at his Coronation He is Anointed with Oyl as the Priests were at first and afterwards the Kings of Israel to intimate that his Person is Sacred and Spiritual and has the Dalmatica and other Priestly Vests put upon Him By virtue of his Prerogative He has Power to call a National or Provincial Synod and to make such Alterations in the Church-Discipline as they shall judge expedient And as He is the Lord Paramount or Supream Landlord of all the Lands in England so He has all over England the Supream
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
claim to do Services at the King's Coronation and to receive the accustomed Fees and Allowances In the Procession on the Coronation-Day 't is he that carries the King's Crown The Right Honourable the Earl of Devonshire was honoured with this great Office in the last Coronation Upon the Trial of a Peer he sits under a Cloth of State and his Commission is to proceed secundum Legem Consuetudinem Angliae He is not Sworn nor the Lords who are the Tryers of the Peer arraigned and tho he call all the Judges of the Land to assist him yet he is the sole Judge Next to the Lord High Steward is the Lord High Chancellour who in Civil Affairs now there is no High Steward is the highest Person in the Kingdom next to the Royal Family as the Arch-bishop of Canterbury is in Ecclesiastical His Oath is to do Right to all manner of People rich and poor after the Laws and Customs of the Realm truly to counsel the King and keep secret the King's Counsel to stand for the Rights of the Crown c. The Great Seal of England is in his Custody He is the Judge of the Court of Chancery otherwise called the Court of Equity where he is to judge not according to the Rigour and Letter of the Law but with Equity and Conscience He also bestow's all Ecclesiastical Benefices in the King's Gift under 20 l. a Year in the King's Books Since the Reign of Henry VII this great Office has been commonly executed by Lawyers whereas formerly Bishops and other Clergy-men learned in the Civil Laws were usually intrusted with it The Lord High Chancellour holds his Place but durante Regis Beneplacito during the King's Pleasure And his Place is counted to be worth 8000 l. a Year Anciently he had sometimes a Vice-Chancellour commonly called Keeper of the Great Seal But of later Times they differ only in Name For the late Kings have always beflowed the Great Seal either with the Title of Lord Keeper or of Lord Chancellour but still with the same Power and Right of Precedence Only the Lord Chancellour receives a Patent from the King for his Office which the Lord Keeper do's not and by the Title of Chancellour he is lookt upon as in greater favour with the King But his present Majesty since his Accession to the Crown thought fit to have this Office managed by Commissioners and accordingly it has been hitherto managed by three Lords Commissioners The third Great Officer of the Crown is the Lord High Treasurer who has the Charge and Government of all the King's Revenue kept in the Exchequer He has the Gift of all Customers Comptrolers and Searchers in all the Ports of England and the Nomination of all Escheators in every County He has also the Check of all the Officers imploy'd in collecting all the Revenues of the Crown He has power either by himself or with others joyned in Commission with him to let Leases of all the crown-Crown-Lands And it is he that gives Warrants to certain Persons of Quality to have their Wine Custom-free Anciently he received this Office and Dignity by the delivery of the golden Keys of the Treasury which is now done by delivery of a white Staff to him by the King His Oath do's not differ much from that of the Lord Chancellour and he holds his Place as he do's during his Majesties Pleasure His Place is also reckoned to be worth 8000 l. per ann But this great Office is now executed by four Persons called the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury Next is the Lord President of the King 's Privy Council an Officer as ancient as King John's Time made by the King's Letters Patent under the Great Seal durante Beneplacito His Office is to manage the Debates in Council to propose Matters from the King and report the Transactions to his Majesty In the late Reigns this Office was often supplied by the Chancellour Next to the Lord President is the Lord Privy Seal whose Office is of great Trust and Skill He is so called from the Privy Seal which is in his custody All Charters and Grants of the King and all Pardon 's signed by the King pass through his hands before they come to the Great Seal of England And hâ—â— ought not to put this Seal to any Grant withâ— out good Warrant under the King 's Privy Signet nor with Warrant if it be againsâ— Law or Custom until the King be first acquainted He manages also divers other Matters of less concernment which do not pass the Great Seal He is by his Place of the King 's Privy Council and takes his Oath accordingly besides a particular Oath as Lord Privy Seal Wheâ— there is a Court of Requests he is the chieâ— Judge of it His Place is also during the King's Pleasure 〈◊〉 and his Salary is 1500 l. per annum The sixth Great Officer of the Crown iâ— the Lord Great Chamberlain of England an Officer of State and of great Antiquity whose chief Business is on the Coronation-Day For it is his Office that Day to bring the King his Shirt Coyf and Wearing Cloaths before his Majesty rises and to carry at the Coronation the Coyf Gloves and Linnen to be used by the King upon that Occasion In the Church where the King is Crowned he undresses and attires his Majesty with Robes Royal and giveâ— Him the Gold which is offered by Him at the Altar Before and after Dinner he serves the King with Water to wash his hands For this Service he has 40 Ells of Criâ—â—son Velver for-his own Robes the King 's Beâ— and all the Furniture of his Bed-Chamber all the King's Night-Apparel and the Basoâ— and Towels used at Dinner for his Fees He has also Livery and Lodging in the King's Court certain â—ees from all Peers of the Realm at their Creation and from each Arch-Bishop or Bishop when they do their Hoâ—â—age or Fealty to the King To him belongs the Care of providing all Things in the House of Lords in Parliament-Time and therefore has an Apartment allowed him near the House of Lords This Office is Hereditary and belongs to the Earls of Lindsey The Lord High Constable is another great Officer but of too great Authority and Power to be continued and therefore is only created for the Solemnity of the King's Coronation The Duke of Ormond was High Constable in the last The next is the Earl Marshal of England an Officer of great Antiquity and anciently of great Power His proper Office is to summon the Nobility to the King's Coronation with such Directions for State and publick Appearance as becomes that Solemnity He also takes Cognizance of Matters of War and Arms out of the reach of the Common Law and in these Matters he is commonly guided by the Civil Law Neither can any obtain a Coat of Arms but he must first apply himself to the Earl Marshal to whom the Heralds Colledge is subordinate The last is the Lord
High Admiral of England an Office held by Patent and of so great a Trust that it has usually been given to Princes of the Royal Bloud For the Lord High Admiral is Intrusted with no less than the Management of all Maritime Affairs with the Government of the King's Navy with Power of Decision in all Causes Maritime aswell Civil as Criminal of all Things done upon or beyond the Sea in any Part of the World in all Ports and Havens upon the Sea-Coasts and all Rivers below the first Bridge next towards the Sea In short the Admiralty being in a manner a separate Kingdom from the rest the Lord High Admiral may be reputed at least the Viceroy thereof A Multitude of Officers high and low are under him both at Sea and Land some of a Military others of a Civil Capacity some Judicial others Ministerial And under him is held the High Court of Admiralty the Places and Offices whereof are in his Gift The last High Admiral of England was the late King when Duke of York For since he came to the Crown the Office was executed by Seven Lords Commissioners as it is to this day CHAP. XIII Of Their present Majesties King WILLIAM and Queen MARY With a brief Account of Their Accession to the Crown KING WILLIAM our present Monarch is the only Issue of the late Illustrious Prince William of Nassaw Prince of Orange and of the Deceased Princess Royal Mary eldest Daughter to King Charles I who was wedded to the foresaid Prince in the Year 1641. His Majesty was born in Holland Nov. 4th 1650 ten days after his Fathers Death and was Christened by the Names of William Henry William being his Fathers Name and Henry his Grandfathers The House of Nassaw is an Ancient and most Illustrious Family so called from Nassaw a Town and County in Weteravia a Province of Germany That Branch of it from whence the King is descended had their usual Seat at Dillenburg not far from Nassaw before they settled in the Low-Countries whence for Distinctions sake they were named the Earls of Nassaw of the House of Dillenburg Otho of Nassaw who died Anno 1190 was the Founder of the present Family of the Princes of Orange out of which descended Adolph Earl of Nassaw who was chosen Emperour in the Year 1292. By the Marriage of Engelbert the seventh Earl of this House with Mary Daughter and Heir of Philip Lord of Breda in Brabant that Town and Barony with many other fair Estates in the Netherlands was added to the Family And by the Marriage of Henry the tenth Earl of Nassaw Anno 1515. with Claude of Chalons Sister and Heir of Philibert Prince of Orange this Principality bordering upon Provence and Dauphene within the Dominions of France accrued to the Family So much the worse for having so ill an Neighbour as the present French King who has long since rapaciously seized upon it but left however what he could not take away the King 's just Title to it In short our Gracious King William is the 18th Earl of Nassaw beginning with Otho aforesaid and the 7th Prince of Orange of his Family beginning with Rene of Nassaw Son of Henry and Claude who succeeded Philibert his Uncle in the Principality of Orange A Family as much honoured for the personal Merit of the Princes of it as any other in Europe and to which the States of Holland ow the Liberty and Greatness they injoy All the World knows how great a Patron and Assertor of the Belgick Liberties against the Spaniard was the most noble and generous Prince William of Nassaw one of his Majestieâ— Ancestors And to pass by the generous Exploits of his noble Successors till the present King William 't is well known what his Majestly has done to rescue not only his Native Country but the best Part of Europe from its Oppressors It has been of late Years both at home and abroad the Maxim of some Princes to outvy each other in preying upon and destroying not only their Neighbours but their own Protestant Subjects by all Methods of Perfidiousness and Cruelty To establish or maintain their Tyranny they went about to introduce a general Ignorance For where Subjects part with their Reason 't is easy for them to part with their Liberty witness those miserable Inslaved Countries where Popery domineers On the contrary the House of Orange has always appeared against that ravenous and inhumane Principle And as if Providence had appointed them for a Check to Tyranny God has been pleased accordingly to bless their just Indeavours Never the Liberty of England and the Protestant Interest in general lay more at stake than it did in the late Reign 'T is plain there was a general Design to extirpate Herely in a Popish Sense and to inslave all Europe The Plot was laid in the Reign of blessed King Charles who with a shew of Proteslantism made the Way smooth for Popery At last when all Things were finely prepared to the hand of his next Heir King Charles go's off the Stage and his Brother to play the last Act enters and ascends the Throne No Prince more Courteous more Obliging or more Promising at first than He was to his new Subjects The Church of England Triumphed in his Exaltation and Addressed Him from all Parts of the Kingdom as their Tutelaâ— Angel The People in general look'd upon him as an Incomparable Hero who would quickly make it his Business to pull down the Hector of France and to carry the Glory of England beyond all his Predecessors In short so great were the Hopes of this King that Edward III and Henry V the most glorious Monarchs of England were upon his Account to be hissed out of our English Chronicles No body dreamed of a Popish Catechism to be the first step to this Glory nor of an Army to be raised for the defence of it Under whose shelter besides a secret League with France the Prerogative began presently to swell above its Banks the Laws to be Overwhelmed the Liberty and Property of the Subject Invaded the Church of England Crushed that had raised the King to the Throne Popery crowing over all the Nation and to crown all their Hopes presto a Prince of Wales In short to speak in terms of War the Miner was fix'd and we must either Surrender or be Stormed This was our Condition when the Prince of Orange our present King undertook our Deliverance and effected it under God in a miraculous manner Upon whose Approach our Mass-Hero fled left us to shift for our selves and the Popish Party to the mercy of the Rabble This hapned Dec. 11th 1688 a fatal Year in this and the foregoing Age to Popery iâ— England In that state of Anarchy what could the Nation do less than provide for a Settlement under the gracious Influences of the Prince Which was accordingly done in as regular 〈◊〉 Way as the present state of Affairs would â—ow King James having thus deserted the
Maâ—sties a bold Thing I confess for my Pen to â—â—dertake but such as I can make it it may â—ake us the more sensible of our Happiâ—ess The King is a Prince perhaps the best qualiâ—ed for a Throne He is Great without Pride â—rue to his Word Wise in his Deliberations â—ecret in his Counsels Generous in his Atâ—â—mpts Undaunted in Dangers Valiant withâ—â—t Cruelty Unchanged under all Events He â—ves Justice with Moderation Government â—ithout Tyranny Religion without Persecuâ—â—on and Devotion without Hypocrisy or Suâ—rstition How often has he exposed his Life through â—re and Sword for a sinking Commonwealth â—ll at last he rescued it from the open Violence of one King and the Undermining of another No Temptation could draw him away from 〈◊〉 generous Principle nothing but true Greatneâ— could make him Great To Save us here when we were at the Britâ— of Ruin designed for a Prey to those two Inseparable Monsters Popery and Slavery He hâ—ventured his Life by Sea and Land By Sea 〈◊〉 the worst Season of the Year in the face 〈◊〉 Two great Monarchs his Professed Enemies anâ— upon an Element which at his first setting oâ— seemed to Declare against Him By Land hâ—ving a great Army to oppose many Hardshiâ— to undergo Uncertainties to struggle with tâ—â— Romish consecrated Daggers and Poyson to pâ—vent Undaunted he went through all and without shedding of Blood restored of a suâ—den two languishing Nations France thâ— laughed at the Attempt was amazed at thâ— Success and her superfine Politicks blushed 〈◊〉 the sight of this But that which is admirable is to see a Prinâ— of a Temper so even as neither to be disheaâ—ned with Hardships and Misfortunes nor pâ— up with Success Always the same though â—â—der various Circumstances which is a trâ— Symptom of a great Soul Whereas Mutahiâ—ty is the proper Character of a mean aâ—cowardly Soul sometimes huffing other timâ— sneaking sometimes ready to tear his Sâ—â—jects to pieces at other times fawning upâ—â— them From those great Things His Majesty 〈◊〉 done hitherto one may guess at his next â—â—tempt assoon as Ireland is reduced The Freâ— King's Invasions and Devastations and his hâ—rid Persecution of his Protestant Subjects 〈◊〉 â—hings not to be forgotten Manet alta mente â—â—stum and I am much mistaken if the wild 〈◊〉 at last don't meet with a Hercules Che va â—â—no va sano As for the Queen She is the Glory of her â—ex the fairest and yet the best natured â—incess in the World Humble and affable in â—er Conversation never seen in any Passion â—ways under a peculiar Sweetness of Temper â—loved of her Friends admired by her Eneâ—ies Moderate in her Pleasures full of Zeal 〈◊〉 her Devotions and of Charity towards Peoâ—le in Distress A professed Enemy to Idleâ—ess and as great a Lover of Vertue and Knowâ—dge In a word She is a Princess of many â—â—traordinary Vertues and Excellencies withâ—ut any appearance of Vanity or the least mixâ—â—re of Vice So that we have under this Government â—â—e fairest Prospect imaginable of a suture Hapâ—iness And after several weak and inglorious â—eigns we are like in this with Gods Blesâ—ing if we be not wanting to our selves to â—e once more the Delight of our Friends and 〈◊〉 Terrour to our Enemies CHAP. XIV The Vnreasonableness of the Disaffected Party under Their Majesties Gracious Government UNder our happy Circumstances of 〈◊〉 gentle and easy Government of seeing our Laws and Property Restored wâ— want nothing but Union to compleat our Happiness But instead of it we have Men amongst us that are already sick of it some Churchmen some Dissenters besides the generality of Roman Catholicks These indeed have the most reason to grumble who by losing King James have loâ—â— their greatest Hopes Yet if they do seriously consider what Indulgence they met with when they expected nothing but Vengeance they ought to rest satisfied and blush at their bloody Principles What have they suffered for all their Clamours Threats Insults and Outrages during the Reign of King James Scarce a Man hurt amongst them and but a few Houses pulled down by the Rage of the Mobile incouraged thereto by the Desertioâ— of King James when he left us without anâ— form of Government Ever since they have injoy'd the same Protection with the otheâ— Subjects of this Kingdom whatever has beeâ— maliciously suggested and published beyond Seâ— to the contrary and have been no where at least with Authority hindered in their Devotions So very Indulgent the King has been hitherto to his greatest Enemies But suppose King James had prevailed they would have had indeed Popery Triumphant fine Processions Monks in their proper Habits and our Saviour walking the Streets in a Box. But what 's all this to Property A Belly full of domineering Popery makes many an empty Belly for Slavery always attends it The Church of Rome is an hungry Church and the Princes of her Communion know best how to squeeze their Subjects Whilst they work upon the â—ody she works upon the Soul They pull one way she another and so they divide the Spoil making a Prey of the People every where Therefore if the English Papists understand their true Interest as their Wise Ancestors did they ought to stand for the English Liberty as â—ong as they can have any Indulgence in matter of Religion But besides the Roman Catholicks which are â—â—deed the most excusable in this Case who â—ould have imagined that Protestants should be â—anable of lessening themselves their own Hapâ—iness in this Change And amongst them â—senters disgusted but for what Because 〈◊〉 King has declared Himself particularly for 〈◊〉 Church of England I bear a Love to Disâ—â—ters as Christians and Protestants and Soâ—er People for the generality But they cannot â—pect to be blameless as long as Envy and Reâ—nge two Passions very opposite to Contenâ—ness and Meekness do so far possess some of â—â—em as never to be pleased till they get the â—â—ff in their hands Time was when they desired â—hing more but the Liberty of Serving God in their Way without Molestation This Liberty they got since this Change by Act of Parliament with the ready Concurrence of the Church of England Members and the King's Assent to it but now it won't serve their turn If nothing will please them but to see a Church run down that stood alone at the Gap in the late Reign that so learnedly baffled all the Popish Writers and was therefore by a Roman Decree to be stript of all and destroyed when the Dissenters were much in favour in that Court God forbid they should ever be pleased The King knows who are the best Friends to the Crown and upon whom he may safely rely He loves all his Subjects but perhaps not all alike The Mischief is that some of our Churchmen are also out of Humour or rather out of order One lies sick of a Scruple of Conscience another languishes in love with King James a third is e'en distracted betwixt
in Yorkshire Tinmouth Castle in Northumberland and Holy Island near the Coast of that County S. Maries Castle among the Isles of Scilly Pendennis in Cornwal and Portland Castle in Dorsetshire Besides the Islands of Jersey and Garnsey on the Coast of Normandy The Number of Men in each of those Garrisons is uncertain for it is greater or lesser as Occasion serves Most of them are unregimented Companies These together with the Royal Guards being the standing Land-Forces in Their Majesties Pay there is for the Paying of them first a general Officer called the Pay-Master General who has several Clerks under him Next is the Commissary General of the Musters who has a Deputy Commissary in London besides eight other Deputy-Commissaries who have their distinct Circuits in the Country for Mustering the Forces which lye in the several Garrisons There is also a Secretary at War with several Clerks and a Messenger under him Which three considerable Offices are kept at the Horse-Guard Moreover there is a Judge Advocate a Scout-Master General an Adjutant General and a Marshal of the Horse besides a Chirurgeon General Amongst Their Majesties Land Forces we may reckon the Militia or Train Bands of every County as being wholly at the King's Disposal and bound to Assist Him upon all Occasions within the Bounds of the Realm In Queen Elizabeth's Time a general Muster was made by her Order of all Men able to bear Arms from the Age of 16 to 60 who then amounted to three Millions of Men whereof six hundred Thousand fit for War But in Time of Peace the Matter is so regulated that there is not above one hundred thousand Horse and Foot actually Inrolled for the Defence of the Realm The Management whereof is in the hands of the Lord Lieutenants of the several Counties of England who are usually of the principal Rank amongst the Peers of the Realm chosen for that purpose by the King and so created by his Commission They have Power by Act of Parliament to charge any Person with Horse Horsemen and Arms that has 500 l. a Year or 6000 l. personal Estate and with a Foot Souldier any Person that has 50 l. yearly Revenue or 600 l. personal Estate Those that have meaner Estates are to joyn two or three together either to find a Horse and Horseman or a Foot Souldier according to their Estates They have also Power to Arm Array and Form the Forces into Companies Troops and Regiments and to make their Officers by giving them Commissions and upon any Rebellion or Invasion to lead and imploy the Men so Armed within their respective Counties or into any other County as the King shall give Order They name their Deputy Lieutenants and present them to the King for his Confirmation Who are to be of the principal Gentry of the Country and have the same Power as the Lord Lieutenant in his absence To find out Ammunition and other Necessaries there is a Tax of 70000 l. a Month upon the whole Kingdom whereof the Lord Lieutenants or Deputies or any three or more of them may levy a Fourth Part of each Mans Proportion in it And when occasion shall be to bring the Militia into actual Service the Persons so charged are to provide each Souldier respectively with pay in hand for a Month at the rate of 2 shill a Day for a Horseman and 12 pence for a Foot Souldier For Repayment of which Mony and the satisfaction of the Officers for their Pay during the time aforesaid Provision is to be made by the King out of the publick Revenue and till the same be actually performed none can be charged with another Months Pay These Forces are always to be in readiness with all Things necessary at the beat of Drum or sound of Trumpet to appear muster and be at certain times trained and disciplined Now to give speedy notice of an approaching Invasion there are all over England high Poles erected upon eminent Places both Inland and Maritime with Pitch-barrels fastened on the Top known by the name of Beacons Which being set on fire one by the sight of another the whole Kingdom has thereby notice in few Hours of the approaching Danger Whereupon the Militia to secure the Kingdom makes haste to the Sea-Coasts As for the present Army which God has lately blest with a glorious Victory carrying with it the Reduction of Ireland and I hope a Fate upon France it was lately Computed to be near Fifty thousand strong Horse Foot and Dragoons consisting of English Irish French Danish and Dutch Forces I wish for the satisfaction of the Reader that I could give a particular and exact Account of this brave and gallant Army But rather than do it imperfectly I beg the Reader 's leave to decline it And so I come to the Maritime Power of England Which consists in general of about 130 Men of War besides Fireships Yachts Hulks Ketches Sloops Hays and Smacks and several other Vessels for Tenders and Victuallers The Men of War are divided into six Rates or Ranks Built in several Places but most at Woolwich Chatham Deptford Blackwall Harwich and Portsmouth The following List gives you the Names of them according to their Rates in the Alphabetick Order with the Year when they were built also the Number of Tuns Men and Guns each of them commonly carries abroad in Time of War Those whose Names be in the Roman Letter are the Thirty that were built by an Act of Parliament made in the Year 1676. First Rates Ships Built An. Tuns Men. Guns S. Andrew 70 1313 730 96 Britannia 82 1620 815 100 Charles 67 1229 710 96 Royal Charles 72 1531 780 100 Royal James 75 1422 780 100 London 70 1328 730 96 S. Michael 69 1101 600 90 Royal Prince 70 1403 780 100 Royal Sovereign  1605 815 100 Rebuilt     Second Rates Albemarle 81 1462 660 90 Catharine 64 1050 540 82 Coronation 85 1475 660 90 Duke 82 1546 660 90 Dutchess 79 1475 660 90 S. George 22 891 460 72 Neptune 83 1475 660 90 Ossory 82 1300 660 90 Rainbow 17 868 410 64 French Ruby  868 570 80 Sandwich 79 1395 660 90 Triumph 23 891 460 70 Vangard 78 1357 660 90 Victory Rebuilt 63 1029 530 82 Unicorn 33 823 410 64 Windsor Castle 78 1462 660 90 Third Rates Berwick 79 1089 460 70 Breda 79 1050 460 72 Burford 79 1174 460 70 Cambridge  941 420 70 Captain 78 1164 460 72 Defiance 75 881 420 70 Dreadnought 53 732 355 62 Dunkirk 51 662 340 60 Eagle 79 1057 460 70 Edgar 68 994 445 72 Elizabeth 79 1151 460 70 Essex 79 1068 460 70 Exeter 79 1070 460 70 Expedition 78 1057 460 70 Grafton 79 1184 460 70 Hampton Court 78 1105 460 70 Harwich 74 993 420 70 Hope 78 1058 460 70 Kent Rebuilt 79 1064 460 70 Lenox 78 1096 460 70 Lyon Rebuilt 58 717 340 60 Mary 49 777 355 62 Monk 59 703 340 60 Monmouth
of them and then asks the People if they Know any notable Impediment or Crime in any of them Then follow certain godly Prayers with the Collect and Epistle appointed for this Solemnity After which the Oath of Supremacy is administred to every one of them and the Bishop puts divers godly Questions to them Which being answered they all Kneel and he laying his Hands upon them severally does Ordain them Deacons Then he delivers to every one of them the New Testament and gives them Authority to read the same in the Church Whereupon the Bishop appoints one of them to read the Gospel This done they with the Bishop proceed to the Communion and so are dismissed with the Blessing pronounced by the Bishop The Ordination of Priests is much after the same manner Only the Epistle and Gospel are different and after the Questions and Answers made the Bishop puts up a particular Prayer for them Which being ended he desires the Congregation to recommend them to God secretly in their Prayers for doing of which there is a competent time of general Silence Then follows Veni Creator Spiritus in Meter to be sung And after another Prayer they all Kneeling the Bishop with one or two of the grave Priests there present lays his Hands upon the Head of every one of them severally and so gives them Ordination in a grave set Form of Words different both from that of Bishops and that of Deacons The rest is the same as in the Ordaining of Deacons What the Office of a Parish-Priest is is so well known that I need not insist upon it His Orders he has from the Bishop but the Benefice he holds from the Patron Now we call those Patrons of Churches who by first building of Churches or first indowing them with I ands have obtained for them and their Heirs a Right of Advowson or Patronage Who when the Church is void is to propose a fit Clerk to the Bishop to be by him Canonically Instituted As to the Revenues of the Inferiour Clergy they are as in all Places unequally divided So that some Parsons have a very plentiful some but a competent and others but a small Maintenance some two or three hundred pounds per Annum or more others one hundred or thereabouts and some much short of that Which besides the Glebe-Land is mostly raised by way of Tythes and the Duties paid for Christenings Marriages and Funerals The Plurality of Benefices that is the Priviledge of holding more Livings than one allowed by the Church of England for the Incouragement of worthy and eminent Divines makes room for many Curates So we call those who officiate in those Churches where such as hold Plurality of Livings do not Keep their Residence These Curates are such Clergy-men as they think fit to appoint in their places with such an Allowance as is agreed upon amongst themselves The Condition of Vicars is much the same as that of Curates if not worse These properly officiate in those Livings which are called Impropriations of which there are in England no less than 3845. For above a third part of the best Benefices of England being anciently by the Popes Grant appropriated to Monasteries towards their Maintenance were upon the Dissolution of the Monasteries made Lay-fees Which Benefices ever since have been accordingly provided not with the best Allowances nor with the best of the Clergy Amongst the Priviledges of the Clergy this is one of the principal that all Deans Arch-Deacons Prebendaries Rectors and Vicars may some by themselves others by Proxy or by Representative sit and vote as Commons Spiritual in the Lower House of Convocation No Subsidies or other Tax to the King might formerly be laid upon them without their own Consent first had in Convocation And indeed the Clergy paying to the King the first Fruits that is the first Years Profits of all Spiritual Benefices and yearly the Tenth of all the said Benefices 't was thought but reasonable they should be exempted from all other Taxes Though to give the Laity good Example they have often laid upon themselves Subsidies and other great Taxes The glebe-Glebe-Lands and Spiritual Revenues of Clergy-men being held in pura perpetua Eleemosyna that is as the Law calls it in Frankalmoine are exempted from arraying and Mustering of Men or Horses for the War And as by their Function they are prohibited to wear any Arms therefore they cannot serve personally in War But they serve their Country otherwise by being our Leaders in our Spiritual Warfare Neither can any Clergy-man be compelled to undergo any other Personal Functions or Services in the Common-wealth For if any Man by reason of his Land be liable to be elected to any Servile Office if he takes Orders he is free and there lies a Writ purposely to free him Clergy-Men are not obliged to appear at Sheriffs Turns or Courts-Leet there to take their Oath of Allegiance By Magna Charta no Clergy-man ought to he Fined or Amerced according to his Spiritual Means but according to his Temporal Estate and to the Crime committed The Goods of Clergy-men are discharged by the Common Law of England from Tolls and Customs of Average Pontage Murage and Panage for which they have the King 's Writ to discharge them provided they don 't trade with them All Clergy-men are free from the King's Purveyors Carriages Post c. for which they may demand a Protection from the King with the Clause Nolumus As to the whole Number of the Clergy in England besides the two Archbishops and the twenty four Bishops there are 26 Deans of Cathedral and Collegiate Churches 576 Prebendaries 9653 Rectors and Vicars besides as many more Curates and others in holy Orders In point of Learning and good exemplary Life England I dare say is outdone by no Clergy in the Christian World If amongst the Inferiour Clergy there be some ignorant lewd Livers the dignified Clergy and the Episcopal Colledge are generally Men noted both for their great Piety and deep Learning And the late Scuffle they had with the Romanists in so difficult a Juncture as King James his Reign as it has sufficiently shewn the greatness of their Parts and the Depth of their Learning so it expressed to the World their strong and invincible Zeal for the Protestant Religion and the gross Mistake of Dissenters that lookt upon them as broad-faced Papists Nothing troubles me more than to see some of the Clergy so much infatuated as to indeavour to defeat as far as in them lies the late signal Providence that rescued us so wonderfully from Popery and Slavery I do not reflect upon those who remain quiet under their Scruples of Conscience and are not so far disturbed in their Mind as to disturb the Government But to see some so low-spirited as to fall a hugging their old Enemies the French and admire them as their Tutelar Angels who were but 'tother Day the greatest Object of their Scorn and Contempt this affords
matter of admiration 'T is pretty to see the Temper of these Men and those they have infected all made up of Contradictions They hate their Friends and love their Enemies They deride Popery and yet do their utmost to bring it in None more averse than they from Slavery but leave no Stone unturned to work it into these Kingdoms Whose Condition is like that of a Sick Person that longs for Health and yet is greedy to catch at any Thing that pleases his Fancy let it prove never so fatal The Truth is 't is nothing else in the bottom but a malignant Humour that causes Inflammation and strikes up to the Brain lately a catching but now thanks be to God a vanishing Disease I conclude with the Parish-Church Officers which are indeed Lay-men but as they have a peculiar Relation to the Church they may be counted to be half-Clergy-men The Church-Wardens amongst these are the principal Whose Office is to see that the Church be in good Repair and want nothing for Divine Service c. That the Church-yard be well inclosed and an exact Terrier of the Glebe-Land be Kept They are also to sue for any Thing Kept from the Church that is of right belonging to it to inquire after admonish and present to the Bishop scandalous Livers and to collect the Charity of the Parishioners The Bishops Orders they are both to declare and to execute They serve commonly two Years in that Station and Easter-Week is the time for their Election Usually they are elected by the Parson and the Parishioners where it is so agreed If not the Parson chuses one and the Parishioners the other In some great Parishes there are joyned Sidesmen to the Church-Wardens to assist them in the Inquiries into the Lives of inordinate Livers and in presenting Offenders at Visitations Next is the Clerk whose Office is to serve at Church the Priest and Church-Wardens He ought to be at least 20 Years old and a Man of good Life and Conversation that can read write and sing Psalms the tuning whereof is part of his Office He is commonly chosen by the Parson only In many Parishes there is also one Sexton or more So we call those that attend the Parishioners at Church and let them into their Pews Which in Cathedral and Collegiate Churches is commonly performed by the Vergers so called from a Silver Verge which they carry in their hands To take care of the Parish-Concerns both Civil and Ecclesiastical a great Power is by Law committed to the Vestry-men So called from the Vestry a Room adjoyning to the Church for the Use of the Parson and Parish-Officers They are a select Number of the chief Parishioners in every Parish within the City of London and Suburbs and elsewhere who yearly chuse Officers for the Parish as Church-Wardens Constables Scavengers Collectors for the Poor c. The Beadle's is a standing Office CHAP. XXV Of Women ALL Women in England are either Noble or Ignoble The first are so by Descent Creation or Marriage By Descent as when a Lady holds an Estate by a noble Title For Titles of Honour sometimes for want of Males do descend to Females But only to one of them because they are Things in their own nature intire and not to be divided amongst many as the Lands and Tenements are which descend in equal Proportion to all the Daughters By Creation some Women have been made at the King's pleasure Baronesses Countesses and Dutchesses But the greatest Part of the English Noblewomen are so only by Marriage all Women being counted Noble that are married to any Peer of the Realm And so as the Law says Uxor fulget Radiis Mariti Yet if afterwards they marry to Men not Noble they lose by Law their former Dignity and follow their latter Husbands Condition though by the Courtesy of England they are still lookt upon and respected as Noble and called by the Name of the former Husband But Women Noble by Descent or Birth-right or by Creation retain by Law their Nobility tho they Marry afterwards to Husbands under their Degree 'T is observable that any Noble-woman by Birth being married to a Baron takes place but as Baroness though she be a Duke's Daughter But if she marry to one under the Degree of a Nobleman as to a Knight or Gentleman the Courtesy of England gives her place according to her Birth and not her Husbands Condition A Noble-woman marrying to an Ignoble Man adds no Honour to him Her Honour is all hers and he has no share in it though by Marriage he becomes Master of all her Goods and Chattels But her Dignities with the Lands descend to her next Heir Noble-women in the Eye of the Law are Peers of the Realm and accordingly they injoy most of the Priviledges of Peers But it is thought they cannot maintain an Action upon the Statute De Scandalo Magnatum As happy as the Condition of married Women is generally all over England yet the Laws of this Kingdom are in the main very severe upon them For when a Woman marries she gives her self over and what she brings with her to the power of her Husband Whatever she is possessed of the Husband becomes the Proprietor of it and her very necessary Apparel is not hers in Propriety If she has any Tenure it is all in Capite that is she holds it of and by her Husband who is the Head of his Wife And all the Chattels personal she had at the Marriage are so much her Husbands that he dying before her they shall not return to his Wife but go with his other Goods and Chattels to the Husband's Executor or Administrator Except the Paraphernalia that is those Goods which a Wife besides her Dower or Joynture is after her Husbands Death allowed to have as Furniture for her Chamber wearing Apparel and Jewels if she be of quality which are not to be put into her Husband's Inventory especially in the Province of York The Wife can make no Contract without her Husband's Consent and without it she cannot set sell give away or alienate any Thing So great is her Subjection to her Husband's Will that in the Sense of the Law she has no Will of her own Therefore when a Man and his Wife commit a Felony together the Wife can neither be Principal nor Accessory the Law supposing she was forced thereunto in regard of the Subjection and Obedience she ows to her Husband In short by the Law of England a Wife is so much in the Power of her Husband that she is no better than a Child or the best of Servants For she can call nothing her own more than a Child whom his Father suffers to call many Things his own yet can dispose of nothing And when she offends 't is in her Husband's Power to correct her as a Servant Therefore if she wrong another by her Tongue on by Trespass her Husband must answer for her Fault and make Satisfaction But a
Country and if he has something to object against any of them he bids him take a view of them and speak for that he stands upon Life and Death Upon this the Jury is Sworn consisting of 12 Men at least And if the Prisoner be aâ— Stranger 't is a Party Jury consisting half oâ— Englishmen and half of Foreiners In case the Prisoner has no Exception to make against any of them by that time Twelve are Sworn these stand to give the Verdict Whereupon the Crier says aloud If any one can give Evidence or can say any thing against the Prisoner let him come now for he stands upon his Deliverance If none come in the Judge doth ask who sent him to Prison And if the Justice of Peace be present who did it he delivers up the Examination he took of him subscribed by those whom he has bound to give Evidence who for not appearing must pay their Recognizance In the mean time the Jury acquit the Prisoner tho he has confessed the Crime to the Justice of Peace But if they come in that are bound to give Evidence first the Justices Examination is read and then the Party robbed being present is sworn next to him the Constable and such as were with him at the taking of the Prisoner and at last as many more as are there to give Evidence Who are all set in a convenient place to see the Judges and Justices the Jury and the Prisoner so as to hear them and to be heard of them all The Judge after they be sworn asketh first the Party robbed if he know the Prisoner and bids him look upon him The Party robbed says Yes and upon that relates the Robbery with all its Circumstances But the Prisoner standing still upon the Negative those who were at the Taking of him or any other that can Evidence against him are heard one â—fter another The Prisoner on the other side is free to make what Defence he can And tho the â—â—ing be Party against him as one that has â—â—oke his Peace yet the Judges do freely hear what he can say for himself provided he keep within bounds But he is allowed no Council which in Civil and Pecuniary Matters is never denied be it for Land Rent Right â—or Possession tho he plead against the King When the Judge has heard them all he â—sks them if they can say any more Upon their silence he directs the Jury and bids them dischange their Consciences If the Case be plain they consult together without going from the Bar and if they do all agree the Fore-man of the Jury in the Name of himself and the rest pronounces the Prisoner Guilty If the Case requires a Debate they withdraw into a Room only with a Copy of the Inditement â—and there they are to remain by themselves till they be all agreed on the Verdict without bread drink meat or fire To which purpose there is a Bayliff appointed to watch them If but one of the Jury stands it out against the rest he must either bring them over to him or they must bring him over to them before they can stir out of the Room or have the least Refreshment in it So that it is in the power of one to make all the rest â—n a manner Prisoners and if he be obstitate to put them to Inconveniencies for want â—f Necessaries till he himself can bear with â—hem no longer When the Jury have agreed upon the Verâ—ict they give notice of it to the Bayliff and â—â—ay to be heard Then the Prisoner being sent for again to the Bar each one of the Jury is called in by his Name and he answer to it The Clerk asketh if they be agreed and who shall speak for them Which being answered the Prisoner is bidden to hold up his hand to whom the Clerk speaks in these Words Thou art Indited by the Name of A of such a Place c. and being Arraigned Thoâ— pleadest thereto Not Guilty being Asked how Thou wouldst be Tried Thou saidst By God and the Country These honest Men were given tâ— thee by God and thy Prince for thy Country Hearken what they say Then he asketh of the Jury What say you Is he Guilty or Noâ— Guilty The Fore-man makes answer 〈◊〉 one word Guilty or in two Not Guilty The first is Death to the Prisoner and the last Acquits him for neither the Judges nor the Justice can alter or reverse this Judgment Then the Clerk asketh what Lands or Chattels the Prisoner had at the time of the Felony committed Which is commonly answered by the Jury with an Ignoramus But the Sheriff and the Escheator are diligent enough to find it out both for the Princes and their own Advantage Upon this the Judge doth ask the Prisoneâ— Convicted what he can say for himself why Sentence should not pass upon him If he caâ— read never so little he demands the Benefit of the Clergy an ancient Liberty of the Church which has been confirmed by divers Parliaments By vertue whereof one in Orders arraigned of Felony by a Secular Judge might pray his Clergy which was as much as if he prayed to be delivered to his Ordinary to purge himself of the Offence objected But the ancient Course of the Law in this point of Clergy is much altered so that Lay-men have been made capable of this Benefit in many Cases As in Theft of Oxen Sheep Mony and other Things not forcibly taken to the terrour of the Owner So favourable is our Law that for the first Fault the Felon shall be admitted to his Clergy In order to which the Bishop sends a Clergy-man with a Commission under his Seal to be Judge in that matter at every Goal-Delivery If the Prisoner demands to be admitted to his Book the Judge commonly gives him a Psalter and turns to what place he pleases The Prisoner reads as well as he can and it happens most times but sadly Then the Judge asketh of the Bishops Commissary Legit ut Clericus To which the Commissary must answer Legit or Non legit for these be the formal Words and our Men of Law are the most precise in their Forms If he say Legit the Judge proceeds no further to Sentence of Death But if he say Non legit the Sentence follows either that Day or the next in these Words Thou A. hast been Indited of such a Felony and therefore Arraigned Thou hast pleaded Not Guilty and put thy self upon God and thy Country They have found thee Guilty and Thou hast noâ—hing to say for thy self The Law is that Thou halt return to the Place from whence thou camest â—nd from thence Thou shalt go to the Place of Execution where Thou shalt Hang by the Neck â—ill Thou be dead Whereupon he charges the â—heriff with the Execution But he that â—â—aimeth his Clergy in Cases where it is adâ—itted is in the presence of the Judges burnt 〈◊〉 the brawn of his Hand with a hot Iron marked with
become bound to bring in an Inventory the Court of Aldermen have power to send him to Newgate there to remain till â—he submit and the Courts at Westminster will not release such Person After the Bond given the Executor must procure 4 Freemen to appraise the Testator's Goods In order to which he must cause them to appear before a Justice of Peace in London and take their Oaths that they shall make a just and true Valuation and Appraisement of the Goods and Chattels of the Deceased according to the best of their Judgements and Skills When the Appraisement is to be made the Common Crier is to have notice of it before-hand being appointed by the Court of Aldermen to see the same be fairly done and to the best advantage of the Orphan And unless the Common Crier or his Deputy be present and the Inventory signed by the Common Crier the Court of Aldermen will not allow thereof The Appraisement being made as aforesaid and signed by the Common Crier and the Appraisers it must be given to the Common Sergeant of the City or one of his Clerks at his Office in Guildhall-Yard he being the only Person intrusted by the Court of Aldermen to take all Inventories and Accounts of Freement Estates If he approves thereof he will cause it to be Ingrossed and a Duplicate of it to be made for the Executor or Administrator And when the same is examined by him and his hand set thereto in testimony thereof the Executor or Administrator must in the Court of Aldermen swear the same Inventory to be a true Inventory of the Goods and Chattels of the Party deceased according to the best of his Knowledge When the Inventory is so exhibited the Executor must become bound in a considerable Penalty either to bring in the Mony that shall appear due to the Orphans by the Inventory or within two Months to give good Security to pay the same into the Chamber of London for the Use of the Orphans when they shall come to Age or be married If the Executor pay the Mony into the Chamber of London the Court of Aldermen usually allow five per Cent Interest for so much Mony of the Testator's Estate as is due to the Orphans by the Custom of London so as the same exceed not 500 l and for Legacy-mony 3 l. 6 s. 8. d. per Cent. But if the Executor shall not think fit to pay the Mony into the Chamber he must become bound with 3 Sureties to the Chamberlain of London for the time being in one or more Recognizances or else by Bond to pay the Mony due to Orphans And in case the Security live within the Liberties of London they must be bound by Bond. Now as to Recognizances the Custom is never to make any touching Orphans of greater Penalty than 400 l. and not for the Payment of above 300. Therefore if the Sum for Example be 900 l. the Security must become bound by 3 Recognizances each for the Payment of 300 l. If a Freeman leaves Lands and Tenements to his Children the Executor must become bound with Sureties to account for the Rents and Profits thereof The Securities must take particular care that â—one of the Orphans marry or be put Apprenâ—ice with their Consents without the Leave of the Court of Aldermen first obtained for that â—urpose And as the Orphan comes to be of the Age of 21 Years or to be married with the Consent of the Court of Aldermen the Securities must take care to bring him to Guildhall with a person to prove his Age. Then the Orphan must acknowledge satisfaction for the Mony due to him or her of the Testator's Estate which must be done in the Court of Aldermen And upon Motion made by Mr. Common Sergeant the Court does order that all Bonds entered into for the Payment of such Orphan's Portion shall be delivered up and cancelled And if the Security became bound by Recognizances the Clerk of the Orphans will cross and discharge such Recognizances The Chamber of London is counted the safest and best Security in or about London 〈◊〉 the Moneys paid therein to the Use of the City or any Orphan being constantly repaid upon Demand without any trouble And when Orphans come to Age or be married with the Consent and Approbation of the Couâ— of Aldermen they may receive their Portion if paid into the Chamber at an hours notice though the Sum be 10000 l. or more Mâ— Chamberlain and his Clerks attending daily 〈◊〉 that purpose The finding or Interest Mony is constantly paid as it becomes due and the Court haâ— always taken great Care that every Orphaâ— shall receive his or her Portion out of the Chamber of London without paying any other or greater Fees than has been paid timâ— out of mind The Custody of Orphans is committed by the Court of Aldermen to such Person or Persons as they think fit And if any Person whatsoever do intermarry with any Orphaâ— without Leave of the said Court such Persoâ— may be fined by that Court according to the quality and portion of the Orphan And unâ—â— less such Person do pay the Fine or give Bonâ— to pay the same in some reasonable Timâ— though he shall have ten times a better Estate 〈◊〉 the Orphan he intermarries yet the Court may commit him to Newgate there to remain â—â—til the Fine be paid But if he settle an Estate upon the Orphan as the Court shall diâ—â—ct and make application to the Court â—â—y Petition to have the Fine remitted they â—ill in probability shew favour to such Perâ—on as they have done in the like Caâ—s The Lord Mayor Aldermen and Commons of the City of London in Common Council â—ave made several good Acts and Orders to preâ—ent Freemens Children from Marrying without the Consent of their Parents and Guardians â—nd to keep them from vicious Courses More â—articularly an Act of Common Council called Judds Law made in the Mayoralty of Sir Andrew Judd Knight in the Fifth year of King â—dward VI. Which Law though unrepealed the Lord Mayor and Aldermen have sometimes for special Reasons thought fit to dispense with in favour of Orphans that have â—ought Relief against the Penalties therein mentioned By the Custom of London a Freemans Wiâ—ow may require a third part of his Personal â—state after his Debts paid and Funeral Charâ—es discharged besides her Widows Chamber â—mished and his Children may require anoâ—er third part thereof The other third part â—f his Estate he may by his last Will give away â—ther to his Wife or any of his Children or â—ny other Person whatsoever But if he die â—thout Issue his Widow may require a Moity â—f his personal Estate after Debts paid together â—ith her Widows Chamber furnished And 〈◊〉 a Freeman make his Will contrary to this Custom and give away more than a third of his Estate from his Wife and Children they may be relieved against such Will by exhibiting their Bill in this Court
petty Matters and Offences there committed contrary to the Proclamation made on Bartholomew Eve in the Afternoon at the great Gate going into the Cloth-Fair for the better regulating this Fair. Besides the foresaid Courts every Alderman keeps a Court in his Ward called Wardmote for Things relating to his Ward but still under the Direction of the Lord Mayor Who annually issues out his Precept to every Alderman to hold his Wardmote for the Election of Common Council-Men and other Officers The Companies of Traders have also their Courts called Halmotes for regulating what belongs to their several Trades and so called from the Halls or Assembly Places where they meet many of them very stately Buildings CHAP. XVI Of the Punishments inflicted on Malefactors IN the 9th Chapter of this Part I have shewn at large the Manner of Trying Criminals in England wherein is to be commended our English Humanity towards Prisoners that are upon their Trial. When other Nations under pretence that no Man ought to be put to Death but upon his own Confession of the Crime he stands charged with have devised such racking Tortures to extort the Confession as make often the Innocent cry Guilty and prefer Death to the Rack But this I have already toucht upon in my first Part. My Business is now to speak of the Punishments inflicted here upon Criminals of what nature soever Hanging is the usual Punishment to Death in England either for High Treason Petty Treason or Felony But the Manner is different For a Traytor to the King and Government is to be drawn upon a Hurdle or Sledge to the Gallows and there to be hanged by the Neck But then he is presently cut down â—live his Entrals pulled out of his Belly and â—urnt before his Face his Head cut off and his Body divided into four Parts and both the Head and Body hung up or impaled where the King shall command This Punishment indeed considering all its Circumstances seems cruel to such as do not narrowly consider the nature of the Crime Whereas the Law thinks it but reasonable that whosoever indeavours to cut off the King or rend the Government should be himself cut off and rent as before said As for his Lands and Goods they are forâ—eited to the King his Wife if married loses her Dower and if he be Noble his Children lose their Right of Nobility aswell as Inheritance For by the Law Treason taints the Bloud But it is observable as to the Kings Person that it is not only downright killing or murdering the King which makes it High Treason For the very imagining or contriving his Death without any overt Act is High Treason Falsifying and Clipping of Mony is also High Treason by Law But the Offender's Punishment is only to be Drawn and Hanged by the Neck till he be dead The same it is with one guilty of Petty Treason as when a Servant kills his Master or Mistris a Wife her Husband or a Clergy-man his Prelate to whom he ow's Obedience For Felony as Murder Theft or Robbery and other Capital Crimes for which anciently there were several sorts of Punishments the Malefactor is but Hanged since the Reign of Henry I. But when the Robbery is attended with Murder the Criminal after he is hanged and dead is taken down to be hanged in Chains and so to hang in terrorem till the Body be quite rotted off or eaten up by the Birds of the Air. As to Persons of great Birth and Quality convicted of High Treason Petty Treason or Felony tho the Judgment be the same with that of common Persons yet by the Kings Favour they are usually Beheaded Which is performed with an Ax upon a Block lying on the Scaffold and not as in other Countries by a Sword kneeling or standing The Notion of Murder as a Capital Crime invites me to explain two Law-Terms relating to it viz. Manslaughter and Chance-medley Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of one without prepensed Malice As when two that formerly meant no harm one to another meet together and falling out upon some sudden Occasion the one kills the other It differs from Murder because it is not done with fore-going Malice and from Chance-medley because it has a present Intent to kill 'T is Felony but it is allowed the Benesit of the Clergy for the first time Chance-medley otherwise called Manslaughter by Misadventure signifies the casual Killing of a Man not altogether without the Killer's Fault though without an evil Intent for which the Offender shall have his Pardon of course But here must be considered whether the Offender when he committed this Manslaughter by Chance-medley was doing a lawful Thing For if the Act were unlawful it is Felony As if two are fighting together and a third Man comes to part them and is killed by one of the two without any Malice fore-thought or evil Intent in him that killed the Man yet this is Murder in him and not Manslaughter by Chance-medley or Misadventure because they two that fought together were doing an unlawful Act. And if they were met with prepensed Malice the one intending to kill the other then it is Murder in them both Burning alive is sometimes used but only for Witches and Women convicted of High Treason or Petty Treason In the Time of Popery especially in the Reign of Queen Mary this was the proper Punishment for Hereticks that is in the Popish Sense for Protestants When the Papists who ever delighted in humane Sacrifices made Bonefires of them and reserved Hell-fiâ—e for themselves Pressing to Death called by the Law Peine forte dure is a Punishment for those only that being Arraigned either of Petty Treason or Felony refuse to Answer or to put themselves upon the ordinary Trial of God and the Country Which by the Law is called to stand Mute And for this Contumacy the Offender is to be sent back to the Prison whence he came there to be laid in some low dark Room all naked but his privy Members his Back upon the bare Ground his Arms and Legs stretched with Cords fastened to the several Quarters of the Room Then is laid upon his Body Iron and Stone as much as he may bear or more The next Day he shall have three morsels of Barley-bread without Drink and the Day after he shall have for his Drink as much of the next Water to the Prison as he can drink three several times except it be running Water and that without any bread And this is to be his Diet till he Die Which grievous kind of Death some stout Men have chosen to save their Estates to their Children and keep their Bloud from being stained But in case of High Treason though the Criminal stand mute yet Judgment shall be given against him as if he had been Convicted and his Estate shall be Confiscated In many Parts beyond Sea the Criminals hanged or beheaded are denied Christian Burial their Society being declined in the Grave who
Weymouth and Melcomb Regis stand opposite to one another on each side the River Wey where it falls into the Sea But of the two Melcomb much surpasses Weymouth foâ— Conveniency of Situation and Buildings And yet abroad all goes now under the Name of Weymouth since they were both by Act of Parliament made but one Corporation and the Occasion of it thus These two Towns having for some time injoy'd alike the Priviledges and Immunities of the Haven lying in the bosom of them at last there arose a great Controversy between them And by their continual Suits they still wearied the Lords of the Council and the Judges till by an Act of Parliament in the Reign of Q. Elizabeth they were Incorporated into one Body to be governed by one Mayor with Aldermen and other Sub-Officers Upon which immediately they joyned themselves together by a fair Bridge of Timber now in being but stilâ— they send each of 'em two Burgesses to Parliament Lastly Weymouth is of some note besides for giving the Title of Viscount to the Right Honourable Tho. Thynne the present Viscount Weymouth Lime otherwise called Lime Regis is seated in the Borders next to Devonshire and is so named from a River of that Name which runâ— through the midst of the Town and falls into the Sea The Town is large and its Cobb 〈◊〉 safe Harbour Which being industriously made in the Sea for Ships to ride in is as carefully looked afer and kept in good repair This Place is noted most of all for the late Duke of Monmouth's Landing here with his small Force from Holland in the late Reign which brought him shortly after to his tragical End Near unto it is Charmouth a Village where the Danes did twice land their Forces when they came to subdue England Bridport East from Lime was a Town of good account in Edward the Confessor's Time 'T is seated low and dirty not above 2 miles from the Sea between two Rivers that meeting with a little Rill about a mile lower mix their Streams together and make a fit Place for a good Harbour as it was in former times But now 't is choakt up with Sands The Town however is still a good Market-Town and chiefly noted for Hemp. Insomuch that once 't was the only Place appointed for the twisting of Cordage and Ropes for the Navy of England as well in respect of the adjoyning Soil yielding great store of excellent Hemp as for the skill of the People in twisting it Pool a Haven-Town in the furthest East Parts of this County is so seated upon an Inâ—et of the Sea called Luckford Lake that 't is inclosed on all sides with it except Northward where it admits entrance only by one Gate This Town from a mean Hamlet consisting of a few Fishermens-Houses in the Reign of Edward III grew to be a Market Town of good Trade and by reason of its large and safe Harbour increased so that Henry VI. granted it the Priviledge of a Haven and licensed the Mayor to wall it in Then began the Inhabitants to abound in Wealth who to free themselves from Subjection to the County purchased the Priviledge of 〈◊〉 County But now it has lost much of its former glory In this Haven the Sea contrary to all other Parts in England ebbs and flows 〈◊〉 times in 24 hours Viz. first at a South-East and North-West Moon and the seconâ— time at a South-by-East and a North-by-Weâ—â— Moon Warham is seated on the West of and opposite to Pool at the Influx of the Frome anâ— Biddle into Luckford Lake Where it had 〈◊〉 good Harbour for Ships with all the Advantages of a strong Wall defended by a Castle and of rich Inhabitants Till being crushed by the frequent Shocks of ill Fortune nothing oâ— its ancient Glory remained but the Shadow its Castle being wholly ruinated its Haveâ— choaked up and most of its Churches pulleâ— down and demolished Shaftsbury an Inland Town lies in the Northern Verge of this County and near thâ— Borders of Wiltshire It stands lofty upon a high Hill in the form of a full-bent Bow where it injoys not only a serene and healthfuâ— Air but also a large and delightful Prospectâ— Here Canute the first Danish King that swayed the English Scepter ended his Days Iâ— its flourishing Time it had ten Parish Churches now reduced to three to which belong abouâ— 500 Houses built of free Stone with which the Hill abounds It s Market which is kept on Saturdays is very considerable for moâ—â— sorts of Provisions and far exceeding all the adjacent Market Towns Lastly in the Reigâ— of Charles the Second it was honoured in giving the Title of Earl to that sagacious Statesman Anthony Earl of Shaftsbury since devolved by his death to his eldest Son and Heir the Right Honourable Anthony Ashâ—ey Cooper the present Earl of Shaftsbury Sturminster Blandford and Wimborn-minster are all three seated on the River Stowr Over which Sturminster has a fair Stone-bridge leading to Newton a noted Place for the remains of an ancient Castle near adjoyning which was the Seat of the West-Saxon Kings Blandford is a fair large and well compacted Town well inhabited and neighboured with Gentry Wimborn-Minster is seated in a â—ertile Soil and is pretty well frequented and â—nhabited But t is a Town of more antiquity â—han beauty Cranborn and Sherburn are also Towns of great â—ntiquity The first seated near the Spring of a River that runs into the Stowr and having a Chase which extends it self almost to Salisbury Sherborn on the Ill is fairly seated and well watered 'T is divided into two Parts that which lies near the Castle which is old and in part ruinated being called the Castle-Town Middleton Cerne-Abbas and Frampton do not â—y far asunder All three but mean and the first two being old Abby-Towns considerable only by their Antiquity But of the two Câ—rne-Abbas has the advantage being seated in a dry bottom watered with a fine Rivulet and in a Champain Country affording great delight both for the Hawk and Hound Frampâ—on is likewise pleasantly seated upon a good River which affords plenty of Fish and amongst them excellent Trouts In this County is a noted Castle called Lulworth Castle being counted the best Seat in the whole County either for Situation or Beauty The same has a very fair Prospect into the Sea and a large Park about it well furnished with Deer and has been sometimes honoured with the presence of our Kings in their Western Progresses Of Portland and Purbeck I should now have done with Dorsetshire but that it were improper to leave it so without taking notice of its two Peninsules which generally go by the name of Islands And those two are Portland and Purbeck Portland is that Tract of Ground which runs South from Weymouth some miles into the Sea A Place of great strength both by Nature and Art being surrounded with inaccessible Rocks except at the very Place of Landing where stands a strong Castle
called Portland Castle built by Henry VIII And almost opposite to it on the Lands side towards Weymouth stands another called Sandford Castle Which two Castles command all Ships that pass into this Road. The whole Peninsule does shew it self from the top of the Rocks in a Flat and is in compass about 7 miles The Ground is very good for Corn and indifferent for Pasture but so destitute of Wood and other Feweâ— that the Inhabitants are fain to dry their Cow-dung and burn it Which Defect iâ— made up another way by its Quarries oâ— excellent free Stone for Building and thaâ— in such plenty that they make use of it foâ— their Fences On the South-East-side stands the only Church in the Isle and that so near the Seaâ— that to fence it from its furious Waves the Church-yard Banks were fain to be walled to an incredible height And here it is that Portland Race shews it self For so they call the Meeting of the two Tides here with so great striving and beating of the Waves that 't is not safe even in the calmest Season for Barks to pass over it This Peninsule has been dignify'd with the Title of an Earldom first in the person of Richard Weston created Earl of Portland by King Charles I. Anno 1632 and continued in his Son Jeremy then in Charles Son and Heir of Jeremy and lastly in Thomas Weston Uncle to Charles the late Earl of Portland But since the late Revolution our present King was pleased to confer this Title upon the Right Honourable William Bentinck the present Earl of Portland and Groom of the Stole to His Majesty East of Portland lies Purbeck an Island or rather a Peninsule that takes up the South-East part of this County about 10 miles in length and 6 in breadth reaching from Luckford Lake to the Channel So that it is surrounded with the Sea North East and South and Westward with Rivers within less than a â—ile In this Compass of Ground are many small Towns whereof Corfe is the chief Seated on the banks of a River running through the middle parts of Purbeck into Luckford Lake and that in a barren Soil betwixt two Hills upon one of which stands a Castle called from â—he Town Corfe-Castle A Castle that had great Priviledges granted to the Lords thereof â—s the free Warren Chase over all the Isle â—ea-wracks Freedom from the Lord Admiral â—f England c. To conclude this County formerly Part of the Kingdom of the West-Saxons and its Inhabitants the ancient Durotriges is now in the Diocese of Bristol Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire 18 Members of Parliament Viz. two out of each of these following Towns Dorchester Pool Lime Weymouth Melcomb Regis Bridport Shaftsbury Warham and Corfe-Castle Of this County there have been both Marquesses and Earls the Title of Marquess first injoy'd by the Beauforts and after them by the Greys the last that possessed it being Henry Grey Duke of Suffolk who was beheaded in the Year 1553. The Title of Earl was conferred by King James I. upon Thomas Sackvil Lord Buckhurst created Earl of Dorset Anno 1603 in whose Line it has continued hitherto the present Earl hereof being the Right Honourable Charles Sackvil Earl of Dorset and Middlesex and Lord High Chamberlain of his Majesties Houshold Durham DVRHAM a Maritime County in the North of England is bounded Eastward by the German Ocean Westward by Cumberlanâ— and Westmorland Northward by Northumberland and Southward by the River Tees which parts it from Yorkshire It s Length from East to West is about 3â— miles its Breadth from North to South 30 The Whole divided into four Wakes noâ— Hundreds wherein 118 Parishes and 6 Maâ—ket-Towns Here the Air is pretty sharp and keen noâ— only by reason of the Climate but because 〈◊〉 its Hilliness especially the West Parts of iâ— So true it is that those Northern Counties which are so nearly related to Scotland by their Situation participate likewise of its nature This County is so well watered what with the Sea and what with the Rivers that it is almost incompassed with Water Next to the River Tine which parts it for some miles from Northumberland and the Tees from Yorkshire here is the Ware which runs through Durham and Derwent into the Tine As the Soil of it is different so it is in some Parts fertile in others barren and accordingly inhabited The Eastern Part is Champain and bears plenty of Coal the Southern is the most fertile the Western is hilly and barren and thin of Woods and Towns But it is recompensed by its Store of Coal Lead and Iron Mines Durham the County Town bears from London North by West and is distant therefrom by common Computation 200 miles That is 150 miles to York for the Particulars of which I refer you to Yorkshire and 50 miles more to Durham Viz. from York to Borough-bridge 13 to North-Allerton 13 more 10 from thence to Darlington and 14 more to Durham Whose Situation is upon Hills and Bottoms of Hills all surrounded with Hills but the â—ow Parts watered with the River Ware which incircles the best Part of it and over which there are two Stone-Bridges If what Mr. Bloom says of it in his Britannia was true when it was published the Case is altered I have been often upon the Place but could never find it fair and neatly compacted nor so beautified as he represents it nor its Market-Place so spacious nor its Trade so flourishing On the contrary 't is a good retiring Place free from the noise and hurry of Trade unless it be upon Saturdays on which Day the Market is kept Here indeed one may live plentifuly and breath good Air at an easy rate The greatest Ornament of this Place is the Castle and the Cathedral The Castle where the Bishop makes his Residence is I confess a stately Fabrick raised on the top of a Hill by William the Conquerour with all the Advantages both of a Pallace and a Castle Over against it on the same Hill stands the Cathedral whose Structure has this Defect that it is built of a soft mouldering Stone Between both these is a spacious Place called the Green On one side whereof is the Hall where the Assizes are kept with a handsom publick Library erected and founded by Dr. Cosins the late Bishop of Durham and on the other side a Row of Alms-Houses the standing Fruits of his Charity At Nevils Cross near Durham a bloudy Battel was fought the 20th of Oct. 1346 between the English and the Scots where David Bruce King of Scots was taken Prisoner by one Copland a Man of a mean degree but Knighted for this Action Then was Queen Philip Wife to King Edward III in person in the Field the Battel being managed by the Lords Mowbray Percy and Nevil The Market-Towns besides Durham it self are Darlington Mund. Bernard-Castle Wedn. Bishop Aukland Thu. Sunderland Frid. and Stainthorp Darlington is a good
the very first Inabitants of all it may be made a Question and such as can scarce be solved Therefore that wise Roman Historian Tacitus puts it off with an Ignoramus Qui Mortales says he Initio coluerint parum compertum est As to the Original of the Britains themselves Caesar proves them to be derived from the Gauls by their Agreeableness in their Making Speech Manners Laws and Customs A rude and illiterate Nation whose Learning such as it was was all lockt up in the breasts of the Druids their Priests who communicated what they knew to none but those of their own Order and by that means kept the People much like the Papists of our Days in continual Ignorance of their sacred Mysteries The Romans began the Conquest of this People under the Emperor Claudius about the middle of the first Century and compleated it in the time of Domitian as far at least as the Frythes of Edenburgh and Dunbarton in Scotland unwilling to venture further where there was nothing to be got but blows cold and hunger For as to Julius Caesar he rather discovered than conquered England and his three next Successors Augustus Tiberius and Caligula made no Attempt upon it So that we cannot properly reckon the Conquest of England but from the Empire oâ— Claudius Uncle to Caligula Thus the Britains continued subject to the Romans about 400 Years after Christ till the Reign of Honorius When Italy being invaded by the Goths the Romans abandoned Britain to defend their own Country After the Romans were departed under whose Protection and easy Government the Britains lived comfortably they soon became a Prey to the Picts and Saxons but chiefly tâ— the Saxons who never left off teazing of thâ— Britains till these quitted the Stage and retired beyond the Severn into Wales Thus England came to be wholly possessed by a new Nation that is an aggregate Body of many People amongst the Germans who came hither to try their fortune After the Saxons came the Danes the next considerable and the most cruel Actors on the Stage of England Who in the time of Egbert the Saxon Monarch that is in the Ninth Century first invaded this Country and so exercised the patience of his Posterity till at last they overpowred them and got the Kingdom to themselves But then the Saxons and Danes lived together mixed in Marriages and Alliance and so made one Nation consisting of Saxons and Danes At last in the eleventh Century the Normans a Northern People of France came in with their Duke William Who in one Battel got his pretended Right to the Crown of England and from a single Victory the Title of Conquerour Now the Normans mixing as they did with the Body of this Nation we may say that the English Bloud at this day is a Mixture chiefly of Saxon Dane and Norman not without a Tincture of British and Romish Blood And as the Country is temperate and moist so the English have naturally the advantage of 〈◊〉 clear Complexion not Sindged as in hot Climates nor Weather-beaten as in cold Regions The generality of a comely Stature graceful Countenance well-featured grayyed and brown-haired But for Talness and Strength the Western People exceed all the â—est The Women generally more handsom than in other Places and without Sophistications sufficiently indowed with natural beauties In an absolute Woman say the Italians are required the Parts of a Dutch-Woman from the Waste downwards of a French-Woman from the Waste up to the Shoulders and over them an English Pace Therefore an English-Woman makes one of the six Things wherein England excels comprehended in this Latine Verse Anglia Mons Pons Fons Ecclesia Foemina Lana That is to say For Mountains Bridges Rivers Churches fair Women and Wool England is past Compare In short there is no Country in Europe where Youth is generally so charming Men so proper and well proportioned and Women so beautiful The Truth is this Happiness is not only to be attributed to the Clemency of the Air. Their easy Life undeâ—â—â—e best of Governments which saves them from the Drudgery and Hardship of other Nations has a great hand in it And the Experience of a Neighbouring People shew's us sufficiently there 's nothing more destructive of good Complexion than that Monster of Slavery A fit Subject therefore for that Sex which is so tender of Beauty to chew upon The English Temper is naturally sutable to their Climate They are neither so fiery aâ— the French nor so cold as the Northern People better tempered for Counsel than thâ— first for Execution than the last A happy temper besides for all sorts of Learning The generality of them reserved and wary not apt to communicate but with their best and serious Acquaintances And as their Friendship is not easily gained so when once got 't is not easily lost The Mischief is that by their different Interests both in Civil Matters and Points of Religion they are apt to be divided into Factions which takes off very much from their Happiness After so great a Deliverance as they were lately blessed with who would have thought that there should be now a Party tho inconsiderable which repineth at it And that a Protestant Party who like the Israelites have a lingering Mind after the Onions of Egypt Brought as they are out of Captivity by the wounderful hand of Providence into a happy state of Liberty they grumble and weary of their happiness seem willing to exchange their Moses for a Pharaoh Were none but they concerned in the Change 't is pity but they should have it and be crushed into Common Sense They put me in mind of those silly Women in Moscovy which according to Olearius fancy their Husbands love them best that whip 'em most For Courage I cannot but say this for the English That Death the King of Terrours is â—o where so affronted as it is amongst them Whether I look upon those that die privately in their Beds or publickly upon a Scaffold or Gibet I see so much Unconcernedness that 't is a wonder how a Nation that lives in so much case should value their Lives so little In point of Fighting 't is true they are not altogether so hasty as the French to fight out a single Quarâ—el But 't is not so much for want of Courage as out of respect to the Laws which are severe upon those that break the Peace For upon a publick Account when Men fight with Authority no Nation shew's more forwardness As they are a free People their Spirits are accordingly averse from Slavery and as greedy of Glory Their Fore fathers Exploits which by oral Tradition and reading of Histories they are generally pretty well acquainted with adds much to their Courage But especially the Notion of their Conquest of France is so universally spread all over the Nation and their Antipathy against the French so great and universal that one may reasonably expect a good Success from their first Attempt
upon France when Opportunity shall serve For desperate Attempts no Nation like the English either by Sea or Land If they be bent upon Fighting they go to it undaunted without telling the Number or valuing the Strength of their Enemies With this bold and undaunted Courage not common with other Nations they have sometimes outdone the very Romans themselves and for this I appeal particularly to the History of France where with a hand-full of Men they have routed and defeated the bravest Armies 'T is true they were at last expelled from thence buâ— their Expulsion was not so much the Fruit oâ— the French Valour as the Effect of our Divisions So redoubted they were afterwards iâ— France that in the Wars between Charles VIII and the Duke of Bretagne the Duke to strikâ— a Terrour amongst the French apparelled 150â— of his own Subjects in the Arms and Cross 〈◊〉 England But it proved as the Ass when 〈◊〉 had on the Lions Skin For a further Proof of the English Valour I might recount their Victories of old over the Irish Scots Cypriots and Turks And Spain it self has sufficiently experienced both by Sea and Land the English Valour to its cost but by Sea especially Witness the Battel Anno 1588. where Q. Elizabeth with a few Ships vanquished the Spanish Fleet which for the greatness of it was called Invincible Sir Francis Drake the Year before that had with four Ships only took from the Spaniard one Million and 189200 Ducats in one Voyage And afterwards with 25 Ships he awed the Ocean sacked S. Jago S. Dominico and Carthagena carrying away with him besides Treasure 240 Pieces of Ordnance Sr. Richard Greenvile Captain of one of the Queens Ships called the Revenge with 180 Souldiers whereof 90 were disabled with Sickness maintained a Sea-fight for 24 hours against an incredible Number of the Spanish Galleons sunk four of the greatest and killed several thousands of their Men. Till at last her Powder being spent to the last Barrel she yielded upon honourable Terms yet was never brought into Spain To this I shall add the famous Adventure of John Oxenham an Englishman one of the Followers of Sr. Francis Drake in the West Indies Where being landed in a small Barque with 70 of his Companions a little above Nombre de Dios in the Isthmus of Panama he drew his Barque on Land covered it with Boughs and marched over the Land with his Company guided by Negroes till he came to a River There he cut down Wood to make him a Pinnace wherewith he entred the South Sea and went to the Isle of Pearls About which Island in few days he surprized two Spanish Ships with an incredible Treasure of Gold and Silver and so returned in safety to the Land An Adventure not to be forgotten and recorded by Spanish Writers with much admiration so bold was the Attempt so strange the Success and so prodigious the Booty These Things I thought fit to record now this is a Time for Action We have a great Enemy to incounter with the Irish but only great by their Numbers 'T is but fighting with Cyphers But with the French there is both Laurels and Booty to be got And if the English Souldiery will but seriously reflect how much this Nation has been in the late Reigns abused and undermined by Them whose Masters they were formerly I doubt not but with Gods Blessing and their natural Courage under the Conduct of a magnanimous King and of a great General they will right themselves and be a glorious Instrument for the setling the Peace of Europe upon a sure and lasting Foundation The Character of Pride which Scaliger gives the English Nation * Scaliger de Re Poetica Lib. 3. Cap. 16. when he calls them Inflatos Contemptores is a Character common to most Nations but to none so well adapted as to his own For the French like the Romans of old look upon most other Nations as barbarous and count themselves the most accomplished I confess they have great many good Qualifications but this presumptuous Conceit spoils all And all Things being considered if the English have a little Pride it is perhaps the best grounded of any Nation Cruelty and Barbarity which the same Author charges 'em with when he calls them Inhospitales Immanes is a meer Phantasm of his own 'T is true the English are not so fawning as the French upon Strangers because they can make better shift without them but I hope they don't want common Civility They have indeed some thing of a natural Antipathy against the French as there is to this day betwixt the French and the Spaniards Yet when the French Protestants fled to them for Refuge in the late Persecution the strength of their Charity overcame their Nature They laid aside their inbred Prejudices and forthwith made it their business to relieve them as Brethren who suffered for their Religion How moderate they have been towards the plotting Papists I leave the World to judge Had the Huguenots of France plotted against the Government there as the Papists have done here ever since the Reformation what do you think could have expiated their Crime Nothing but a quick and general Massacre such as they suffered under Charles IX without the least Provocation The late Experience tells us what Spirit of Cruelty has possessed the French when upon the Kings Protestant Subjects utmost Submission to him in Civil Matters and his most solemn and sacred Ingagements to preserve their Liberties this very Prince whom they had lifted upon the Throne with the expence of their Bloud contrary to Equity and the Laws of the Land to his Oaths and Promises and to the Rules of Gratitude and Humanity let them loose to the Cruelty of his Apostolick Dragoons by whom they were crushed persecuted and used beyond the Barbarity of the very Heathens themselves But in England as obnoxious as the Catholicks are to the Government â—â—d liable to the lash of the Law still they are tole â—â—ted and connived at almost beyond measure Were Scaliger alive what could he say to all this How could he answer the late cruel Burnings and Devastations the French made in Germany contrary to the Rules of War and the very Practice of the most barbarous Nations And what could he say to their genteel Way of Poysoning wherein they have been of late so dexterous and the English so dull But to clear further the English from that foul Imputation of Cruelty and Barbarity if we look upon their Plantations abroad who more courteous and gentle than this Nation If we inspect their Proceedings against Malefactors no Nation in the World shews so much humanity or proceeds with more equity The barbarous Use of Racks apt to extort Confession right or wrong is absolutely laid aside amongst us Nothing but the Prisoners unforced Confession or the Deposition of Witnesses upon Oath made out with good Circumstances will take a Mans Life away The Breaking on the Wheel
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
Woman upon Marriage does not only lose the Power over her Person Will and Goods but she must part with her very Name and ever after use her Husband's Surname contrary to the Custom of some other Countries One Thing more there is yet which evidences the great Subjection of a Wife to her Husband And that is the Punishment inflicted upon a Woman that has Killed her Husband which is to be Burnt alive the Offence being counted Petty-Treason by Law that is as great a Crime as the Killing of his Father or Master Yet in some things the Law is very favourable to the female Sex of England As for Example if a Wife bring forth a Child begotten before Marriage by another Man than her present Husband her Husband is bound to own the Child and that Child shall be his Heir at Law So literally we take the Saying Pater est quem Nuptiae demonstrant If a Husband be a long time absent from his Wife though it be for some Years and his Wife bring forth a Child during his Absence he must father that Child in case he lived all the while in this Island or to speak the Words of the Law inter quatuor Maria. And if that Child be her first-born Son and her Husband's Estate Intailed or left without Will that Child shall be Heir to it Another Priviledge of English-Women is that the Wife having no Joynture settled before Marriage may challenge after her Husband's Death the third part of his yearly Rents of Land during her Life and within the City of London a third Part of all her Husband's Moveables for ever If there be many Children the rest comes to the eldest if not to the next Heir at Law And if she do not approve of the Division she may claim the Right of being Indowed with the best of the Land to a third part But if the Law be so favourable in some Cases to married Women Custom or rather the good Nature of Englishmen makes their Condition much happier Whose Respect and Tenderness for them is generally so great that every where they give 'em the Precedency and put them the least of any Nation upon Drudgery and Hardship Women are not here mewed up as in Italy and Spain and that mischievous Passion of Jealousy has got so little footing here that the Nation is little troubled with its troublesom Influences or fatal Consequences In short married Women have here more Liberty than any where else Their chief Care is of the House and Houshold according to the ancient Custom of the Greek Wives which is indeed the proper Office of a Wife as the Husband 's is to mind his Concerns abroad And such is generally their Carriage to their Husbands and their mutual Tenderness for them that where the Law gives them nothing the dying Husband often leaves all behind him to the Disposal of his Wife Except in London where a peculiar Order is taken by the City agreeable to the Civil Law A Knight's Wife is by the Courtesy of England counted and called a Lady If her Husband die before her and she take afterwards 〈◊〉 Husband of a lower estate still she shall be â—alled Lady with the surname of her first husband and not of the second Which is by â—he Courtesy of England and according to â—adies of a higher Rank as I have before obâ—erved In point of real Estate 't is Observable that â—f the Wife be an Heiress and bring to her Husband an Estate in Land that Land descends â—o her eldest Son and if she has no Sons â—ut only Daughters it is divided amongst â—hem But if she dies without Issue the â—and goes immediately to the next Heir at Law Only the Husband shall enjoy the Proâ—â—es thereof during his Life if so be that he â—â—d a Child alive of her Body that had been heard once to cry And this also is called the Courtesy of England As to what I said before touching real and personal Estates in case of Matrimony the same is to be understood in the sense of the Common Law where there is no private Contract For whatever Contract or Covenants were made before the Marriage betwixt the husband and the Wife either by themselves â—y their Parents or Friends they take place â—nd are of force to be Kept according to the Validity thereof Lastly the Wife in England is accounted 〈◊〉 much one with her Husband that she cannot be produced as Witness for or against her Husband And so strong is the Tie that joyns them together that they may not be wholly Separated by any Agreement between themselves but only by a Judicial Sentence Now there is a twofold Separation both called by the name of Divorce The one in case of Adultery a Mensa Thoro Which is nothing else but a living asunder without a liberty-to Remarry whilst either Party is alive Whereas the other is a Vinculo Matrimonii from the Bond of Matrimony whereby each Party is free to Remarry And this is allowed upon a Nullity of the Marriage or upon some essential Impediment as Consanguinity or Affinity within the Degrees forbidden Precontract Impotency or such like Of which Divines reckon fourteen according to these Verses Error Conditio Votum Cognatio Crimen Cultus Disparitas Vis Ordo Ligamen Honestas Si sis Affinis si forte Coire nequibis Si Parochi duplicis desit praesentia Testis Raptave sit Mulier c. But sometimes in case of Adultery this plenary Divorce has been allowed of in private Cases by Act of Parliament CHAP. XXVI Of Children and Servants FRom the Condition of Women in England I come now to that of Children and Servants As to the first a Father in England has a more absolute Authority over his Children than is usual in our Neighbour Countries Here a Father may give all his Estate Unintailed from his Children and all to one Child the Consideration whereof is apt to keep his Children in aw and within the bounds of filial Obedience But commonly the eldest Son inherits all Lands and the younger Children Goods and Chattels by which is meant the Personal Estate Among the Nobility and Gentry the eldest Son 's Wife's Portion does usually go for the Portions of his Sisters and the younger Sons are put out to some Profession The Reason why the eldest Son is so well provided beyond the rest of the Children is that he may be the better able to bear up the Honour of the Family which in course â—alls to the share of the Eldest For when all is done Titular Honour without Means is commonly lookt upon but as an empty Shadow But if there be no Son the Lands as well as Goods are equally divided among the Daughters A Son at the Age of 14 his Father being dead may chuse his Gardian and may claim his Land holden in Socage that is such Lands as Tenants hold by or for certain inferiour Services of Husbandry to be performed to the Lord of
the Fee He is free to consent to Marriage and may by Will dispose of Goods and Chattels At the Age of 15 he ought to be Sworn to his Allegiance to the King at 21 he is said to be of full Age. Then he is free to make any Contracts and to pass by Will both Goods and Lands which in other Countries may not be done till the Age of 25 called Annus Consistentiae A Daughter at the Age of 7 Years may consent to Marriage but at 12 she is free to retract or confirm it If she confirms it then the Marriage is good and she may make a Will of Goods and Chattels At 21 she may Contract or Alienate her Lands by Will or otherwise Servants in England are either tied to a certain Number of Years or only by the Year these being free to quit their Service at such a Warning as is agreed upon between the Master or the Mistris and the Servant By those that are tied to a certain Number of Years I mean Apprentices the usual Time for their Apprentiship being 7 Years This is the most Servile Condition in England considering the Lash they ly under together with their long and strict Confinement under Articles And whereas other Servants receive Wages for their Service these commonly do pay a Sum of Mony to their Masters for their Prenticeship The Condition of other Servants is much easier all over England For besides that few undergo the Hardship that Prentices do they may be free at the Years end giving 3 Months Warning and if a Servant do not like one Master he may go to another where perhaps he may find more favour or advantage But before a Person ventures upon such a Servant 't is civil first to get his former Masters Leave and prudential to have from him a testimony of his faithfulness and diligence Now there are so many Degrees of Serâ—ants in England that if some live meanly there are others who live genteely and some of these so splendidly as to keep Servants of their own In great Families where a Person of quality makes a proper Figure and has a sutable Attendance there is a necessary Subordination of Servants so that the Inferiour Servants may be at the beck of their Superiour Officers to answer the several parts of their respective Duties Thus a great Man lives like a Prince and Keeps a Court of his own In general it may be said no Country is more favourable than England to Servants who generally live here with more ease and less Subjection and have larger Salaries than any where else The truth is if we consider the nature of a Servant how by going to Service he devests himself of what is dearest to Mankind his Liberty and Subjects his Will to another who sometimes proves magget-headed cruel or tyrannical I think it but reasonable to have a tender Regard for good Servants For this amongst other Things was that great Man of Spain Cardinal Ximenes so noted in his time who proved so bountiful and so generous a Master to his Servants that History to this day does admire him for it As for stubborn and unruly Servants the Law of England gives Masters and Mistresses Power to correct them and Resistance in a Servant is punished with severe Penalty But for a Servant to Kill his Master or Mistris is so high a Crime that it is counted Petty Treason or a Crime next to High Treason Since Christianity prevailed here England admits of no forein Slaves In forein Plantations indeed the English as other Nations buy and sell Negro's as Slaves But a forein Slave brought over into England is upon Landing ipso facto free from Slavery though not from ordinary Service 'T is true there has been a sort of Tenure here called a Tenure in Villenage and the Tenant Villain who was in effect a Bond-man to the Lord of the Land For the Lord might take Redemption of him to marry his Daughter and to make him free He might put him out of his Lands and Tenements Goods and Chattels at his Will and might beat and chastise but not maim him Now such Villains are out of date though the Law concerning them stands unrepealed to this day Servorum Nativorum says Spelman apud nos sublata est Conditio quas ideo possidebant Terras vel Praedia hodie libere tenent sub antiquae Servitutis Consuetudinibus And Sir Edward Coke out of Fortescue has this Note Impius Crudelis judicandus qui Libertati non favet for which he gives this as the Reason of it Anglia Jura in omni Casu dant favorem Libertati the Laws of England in all Cases stand for Liberty The End of the Second Part. THE THIRD PART OF THE New State OF ENGLAND Under Their MAJESTIES K. William and Q. Mary CONTAINING A Description of the several Courts of Judicature Viz. The highest Court of Parliament Privy Council and all other Courts with a Catalogue of the present Officers in Church and State London Printed in the Year 1691. THE NEW STATE OF ENGLAND PART III. Of the Courts of Judicature CHAP. I. Of the Parliament of England THE High Court of Parliament being the Great Council of England the Supreme Court of Judicature and One of the most August Assemblies the World is the Court that I am to speak in the first place It came to be called Parliament from the French Parlement and this from their Verb Parler to speak or talk together The same is taken in a two-fold Sense First as it includes the Legislative Power of England as when we say an Act of Parliament In which Acceptation it includes the King Lords and Commons each of which have a Negative Voice in making Laws so that without their joynt Consent no Law can by either abrogated or made Secondly in a Vulgar Sense as when we say the King and Parliament or the King has called a Parliament by which is meant the Two Houses viz. the House of Lords and the House of Commons This Court is a Body Corporate consisting according to the first Acceptation of the Word of the Three Estates of the Realm And though the Name Parliament by which it is now called be not probably older than the Conquest by William Duke of Normandy yet 't is made plain by ancient Records and Precedents that the former Kings of England even in the Saxons-time had from time to time great National Councils much of the same nature as our Parliaments In the Saxons Time says Lambard the great Council of the Nation consisted of the King Lords and Commons It is most apparent says Prinn by all the old Precedents before the Conquest that all our ancienâ— Councils were nothing else but Parliaments called by different Names in several Ages till at lasâ— that of Parliament was fixed upon them and that our Kings Nobles Senators Aldermen Wisemen Knights and Commons were usuall present and voted there as Members and Judge The same is averred