with a windy c. a cheveral word which might be stretched as men would measure it Of this c. which has made so much noise in the world I shall now say nothing Somewhat is here subjoyn'd by our Author in 〈◊〉 thereof the rest made up by the Observator Only I shall make bold to ask him why he observ'd not this c. when the Oath was first under consideration or why he signified not his dissent when it came to the vote and shewed some reasons which might move him to object against it It had been fitter for a wise and judicious man to signifie his dislike of any thing when it might be mended then to joyn with others in condemning it when it was past remedy But Mala mâ—ns malus animus as the saying is The Convocation had no ill intent in it when they passed it so though some few out of their perverseness and corrupt affections were willing to put their own sense on it and spoil an honest-meaning Text with a factious Gloss. But let us follow our Author as he leads the way and we shall finde that Ibid. Some Bishops were very forward in pressing this Oath even before the time thereof For whereas a liberty was allowed to all to deliberate thereon until the Feast of Michael the Arch-angel some presently pressed the Ministers of their Diocesses for the taking thereof It seems by this that our Author was so far from taking notice of any thing done in the Convocation when the Canon for the Oath was framed that he never so much as looked into the Canon it self since the Book came out He had not else dâ—eamt of a liberty of Deliberation till the Feast of St. Michael the Arch-angel which I am sure the Canon gives not The Synod did indeed decree that all Archbishop and Bishops and all other Priests and Deacons in places exempt or not exempt should before the second day of November next ensuing take the following Oath against all innovation of Doctrine or Discipline By which we see that the Oath was to be given and taken before the second of November but no such thing as Liberty of Deliberation till the Feast of St. Michael And therefore if some Bishops did press the Clergy of their several and respective Diocesses assoon as they returned home from the Convocation they might well doe it by the Canon without making any such Essay of their Activity if providence as our Author most wisely words it had not prevented them If any of the Bishops did require their Clergy to take the Oath upon their knees as he says they did though it be more then was directed by the Canon yet I conceive that no wise man would scruple at it considering the gravity and greatness of the business which he was about But then Ibid. The Exception of Exceptions was because they were generally condemned as illegally passed to the prejudice of the fundamental Liberty of the Subject whereof we shall hear enough in the next Parliament Not generally condemned either as illegally passed or as tending to prejudice of the Subjects Rights I am sure of that Scarse so much as condemned by any for those respects but by such whom it concern'd for carrying on of their Designs to weaken the Authority of the Church and advance their own But because our Author tells us that we shall finde enough of this in the following Parliament we are to follow him to that Parliament for our satisfaction And there we finde that Mr. Maynard made a Speech in the Committee of Lords against the Canons made by the Bishops in the last Convocation in which he endeavoured to prove that the Clergy had no power to make Canons without common consent in Parliament because in the Saxon times Laws and Constitutions Ecclesiastical had the confirmation of Peers and sometimes of the People to which great Councels our Parliaments do succeed Which Argument if it be of force to prove That the Clergy can make no Canons without consent of the Peers and people in Parliament it must prove also that the Peers and People can make no Statutes without consent of the Clergy in their Convocation My reason is because such Councels in the times of the Saxons were mixt Assemblies consisting as well of Laicks as of Ecclesâ—asticks and the matters there concluded on of a mixt nature also Laws being passed as commonly in them in order to the good governance of the Common-wealth as Canons for the Regulating such things as concern'd Religion But these great Councels of the Saxons being divided into two parts in the times ensuing the Clergy did their work by themselves without any confirmation from the King or Parliament till the submission of the Clergy to King Henry the eighth And if the Parliaments did succeed in the place of those great Councels as he sayes they did it was because that antiently the Procurators of the Clergy not the Bishops only had their place in Parliament though neither Peers nor People voted in the Convocations Which being so it is not much to be admired that there was some checking as is said in the second Argument about the disuse of the general making of such Church Laws But checking or repining at the proceeding of any superior Court makes not the Acts thereof illegal For if it did the Acts of Parliaments themselves would be reputed of no force or illegally made because the Clergy for a long time have checkt and think they have good cause to check for theiâ— being excluded Which checking of the Commons apâ—ears not only in thosâ— antiâ—nt Authors which the Gentleman cited but in the Remonstrance tendred by them to King Henry the Eighth exemplified at large in these Animadversions lib. 3. n. 61. But because this being a Record of the Convocation may not come within the walk of a common Lawyer I shall put him in minde of that memorable passage in the Parliament 51. Edw. 3. which in brief was this The Commons fâ—nding themselves aggrieved as well with certain Constitutions made by the Clergy in their Synods as with some Laws or Ordinances which were lately passed more to the advantage of the Clergy then the common people put in a Bill to this effect viz. That no Act nor Ordinâ—nce should from thenceforth be made or granted on the Petition of the said Clergy without the consent of the Commons and that the said Commons should not be bound in times to come by any Constitutions made by the Clergy of this Realm for their own advantage to which the Commons of this Realm had not given consent The reason of which is this and 't is worth the marking Car eux ne veulent estre obligez a nul de vos Estatuz ne Ordinances faitz sanz leur Assent because the said Clergy did not think themselves bound as indeed they were not in those times by any Statute Act or Ordinance made without their Assent in the Court of Parliament
â—bâ—tted and confirm'd by his following Doctrines the name of Puritan though first found out to denote such as followed Calvin in dissenting from the Hierarâ—hy in Disciplin and Church-government might not unfitly be applyed to such as maintain'd his Doctrines also But of this Argument enough I shall adde only and so proceed to other businesses that Mr. Fox is brougâ—â— in as required to subscribe to the Canons by Archbishop Parker whereas there were at that time no Canons to subscribe unto nor is it the custom of the Church to require subscription unto Canons but unto those only who consented to the making of them Fol. 9â— John Felton who fastned the Popes Bull to the Palace â—f London being takenâ— and refusing to fly was hanged on a Gibbet before the Popes Palace The Bull here mention'd was that of Pope Pius the fifth for excommunicating Qâ—een Elizabeth which this Iohn Felton a 〈◊〉 Papist had hang'd up at the Gates of the Bishop of Londâ—â—s House that the Subjects might take noâ—â—â—e of it and for that fact was hang'd neer the same 〈…〉 he had offended But why our Author should call the Bishop of Londons House by the name of the Popes 〈◊〉 I do very much wonder unless it were to hold 〈◊〉 with the style of Martin Mar-Prelate and the 〈…〉 Faction Amongst whom nothing was more common then to call all Bishops Petty-Popes more particularly to call the Archbishop of Canterbury the Pope of Lambeth and the Bishop of London Pope of London But I hope more charitably then so being more willing to impure it to the fault of the Printers then the pen of our Author I only adde that to make even with this Iohn Felton a zealous Papist another Iohn Felton of the next age a zealous Puritan committed that execrable murther on the Duke of Buckingham Fol. 98. Against covetous Conformists it was provided that no Spiritual Person Colledge or Hospital shall let lease other then for twenty one years or three lives c. No mention in the Statute of Covernous Conâ—ormists I am sure of that and therefore no provision to be made against them the Coverous Conformist is our Authors own I finde indeed that long and unreasonable Leases had been 〈◊〉 by Colledges Deans and Chapters Parsons Vicarâ— and other â—aving Spiritual promotions which being found to 〈◊〉 the causes of Dilapidations and the decay of all Spiritual Livings and Hospitality and the utter impoverishing of all Successors incumbents in the same the Parliament thought it high time to provide against it In all which Bedroll it were strange if we should finde no Non-conformists who had by this time got a great part of the Church Preferments and were more likely to occasion those diâ—apidations then the regular and conformable Clergy these laâ—â—â— looking on the Church with an eye to succession the former being intent only on the present profit And if we mark it well we shall finde that Coverousness and Non-conformity are so married together that it is not easie to divorce them though here the crime of coverousness be wrongfully charg'd on the Conformists to make them the more odious in the eye of the vulgar Reader High Royalists in one place Covetous Conformists in another are no good signs of true affections to Conformity and much less to Royalty Fol. 121. These Prophesyings were founded on the Apostles Precept For ye may all Prophesie one by one that all may learn and all be comforted but so as to make it out they were fain to make use of humane prudential Additions Not grounded but pretended to be grounded on those words of St. Paul the Prophesying there spoke of not being 〈◊〉 be drawn into example in the change of times when 〈…〉 of the Spirit were more restrain'd and limited then they had been formerly For were they gâ—â—â—nded on that Text it had been somewhat sawcily done to adde their own prudential Additions to the direction and dictamen of the holy Spirit A course much favoured as it seems by Archbishop Grindal whose Letter to the Queen is recommended to the welcom of the pious Reader fol. 122. But both the Queen and her wise Councel conceiv'd otherwise of it looking upon these Prophesyings as likely to prove in fine the â—ane of the Common-wealth as our Author hath it Noâ— did King Iames conceive any better of them as appeareth by the conference at Hampton Court in which it was mov'd by Dr. Reynolds chief of the Millenary party That the Clergy might have meetings once every three weeks and therein to have â—â—â—phesying according as the Reverend Father Archbishop Grindall and other Bishops desired of her late Majesty No said the King looking upon this motion as a preamble to a Scottish Presbytery then Iack and Iâ—m and Will and Dick shall at their pleasures ceâ—â—â—re me and my Councel and all our proceedings then Will shall stand up and say It must be thus then Dick shall reply and say Nay marry but we will have it thus And therefore stay I pray you for one 7 years before you demand that of me and then if you finde me 〈◊〉 and fat and my windepipes stuffed I will perhaps hearken to you for if that government be once up I am sure I shall be kept in breath then shall we all of us have work enough both our hands full But let King Iames and Queen Elizabeth conceive what they will our Author hath declared it to be Gods and the Churches cause fol. 130. And being such it is enough to make any man consident in pleading for it or appearing in it Fol. 135. A loud Parliament is always attended with a silent Convocation as here it came to pass The Activity of the former in Church matters left the latter nothing to do A man would think by this that the Parliament of this year being the 23. of the Queen had done great feats in matters of Religion as making new Aâ—ticles of Faith or confirming Canons or something else of like importance But for all this great cry we have little wool our Author taking notice of nothing else which was done this Parliament but that it was madeâ— eason for the Priests or Jesuites to seduce any of the Queens Subjects to the Romish Religion and for the Subâ—ects to be reconciled to the Church of Rome with other matters nor within the power and cognizance of the Convocation But he conceals another Statute as necessary to the peace and safety of the Church and State as the other was By which it was Enacted that if any person or persons should advisedly devise or write print or set â—orth any manner of Book Rime Ballade Letter or Writing containing any false seditious and sâ—anderous matter to the defamation of the Queens Majesty or to the incouraging stirring or moving of any Inâ—â—â—rection or Rebellion within this Realm c. or that shall procure or cause such Book Rime Ballade c. to be written printed published or set
in them the Hierarchy of Bishops so coldly pleaded for as shews he had a minde to betray the cause whilst all things pass on smoothly for the Presbyterians whom he chiefly acts for And this is that which we must look for par my par tout as the Frenchmen say Nor deals he otherwise with the persons which are brought before him then he doth with the Causes which they bring No profest Puritan no cunning Non-conformist or open Separatist comes upon the Stage whom he follows not with Plaudites and some fair Commends when as the Fathers of the Church and the conformable Children of it are sent off commonly in silence and sometimes with censure The late Arch-Bishop of Canterbury so eminently deserving of the Church of England must be rak'd out of his Grave arraigned for many misdemeanors of which none could accuse him when he was alive all his infirmities and weaknesses mustered up together to make him hateful to the present and succeeding Ages when Mr. â—ovâ—'s Treasonable practices and seditious Speeches must needs for footh be buried in the same Earth with him The University of Oxford frequently quarrelled and exasperated upon â—light occasions the late Kings party branded by the odious Title of Malignants not better'd by some froth of pretended Wit in the Etymology The regular Clergy shamefully reproached by the Name of covetous Confoâ—mâ—sts Lib. 9. fol. 98. And those poor men who were ejected by the late long Parliament despitefully called Baals Priests uâ—savory salâ— not â—iâ— to be thrown upon the Dungâ— hill though he be doubtful of the proofs which were brought against them Lib. 11. fol. 207. So many of all sorts wronged and injur'd by him that should they all study their personal and particular Revenges he were not able to abide it And therefore we may jâ—stly say in the Poets Language Si de to◠〈…〉 Namin â— quisâ—ue Deorum 〈◊〉 in 〈…〉 unus erit Which may be Englisht in these words Should all wrong'd 〈◊〉 seek t' avenge their same 〈◊〉 were not enough to bear the shame 9. But nothing does more evidently discover his unfaithful dealing then his repoâ—t of the proceedings in the Isle of â—â—gh between his Majâ—sty and the long Parliament Divines of which he tells us Lib. 11. fol. 235. That his 〈…〉 aâ—â—nâ—wledged their great pains to inform his iudgement according to their perswasions and also took especial notice of thâ—ir civilities of the Application both in the beginning and body of their Reply and having cleer'd himself from some mis-understanding about the Writ of Partition which they speak of puts an end to the business The man who reads this passage cannot choose but think that his Majesty being vanquisht by the Arguments of the Prebyterians had given over the cause and therefore as convicted in his Conscience rendreth them thanks for the Instruction which he had receiv'd and the Civilities they used towards him in the way thereof But he that looks upon his Majesties last Paper will finde that he had Learnedly and Divinely refeâ—'d all their Arguments And having so done puts them in minde of three questions which are propos'd in his former Paper acknowledg'd by themselves to be of great importance in the present controversie without an Answer whereunto his Majesty declar'd that he would put an end to that conference It not being probable as he told them that they should work much upon his Iudgement whilâ—â— they are â—â—arful to declare their own nor possible to reliâ—ve his conscience but by a free dâ—â—laring of theirs But they not able or not daring for fear of displeasing their great Masters to return an Answer to those Questions his Majesty remain'd sole Master of the field a most absolute Conqueror For though the first blow commonly does begin the Quarrel it is the last blow always that gets the Victory But Regium est cum benefeceris male audire It hath been commonly the fortune of the greatest Princes when they deserve best to be worst reported 10. Nor deals he better with the Church then he does with the King concealing such things as might make for her justification and advocating for such things as disturb her order In the last Book we finde him speaking of some heats which were rais'd in the Church about placing the Communion-Table Altar-wise and great fault found for the want of Moderation in those Men who had the managing of that business But he conceals his Majesties Determination in the Case of St. Gregories Novem. 3. 1633. by which all Bishops and other Ordinaries were incouraged to proceed therein and consequently those of inferior rank to defend their actings The Chappel of Emmanuel Colledge in Cambridge is built North and South contrary to the usage of the Primitive times and the Church of England with which King Iames being made acquainted he answered as our Author tells us That it was no maâ—ter how the Chappel stood so the heart stood right Which Tale being told by him and believed by others populum qui sibi credit habet Ovid. in Ep. Hypsiphil as he is like enough to finde many Believers farewel to all external Reverence in the Service of God What need we trouble our selves or others with standing kneeling bowing in the acts of Worship it is no matter in what posture the Body be so the Heart be right What need we put our selves or others to the charge of Surplices and Hoods of Gowns and Cassacks in the officiating of Gods Service It is no matter in what habit the Body be so the heart be right There is another Chappel in Cambridge which was never consecrated whether a Stable or a Dormitory is all one to me At which when some found themselves grieved our Author tells them That others of as great Learning and Religion himself especially for one dare defend that the continued Series of Divine Duties publickly practiced for more then thirty years without the least check or controul of those in authority in a place set apart to that purpose doth sufficiently consecrate the same Stables and Barns by this Argument shall in some tract of time become as sacred as our Churches and if the Brethren think it not enough for their ease to be pent up in so narrow a Room t is but repairing to the next Grove or Coppise and that in a like tract of time shall become as holy as Solomons Temple or any consecrated place whatsoever it be Churches may well be spared pull'd down and their Materials sold for the use of the Saints a Tub by this our Authors Logick will be as useful as the Pulpit unto Edification And that we may perceive that nothing is more precious with him then an irregular unconsecrated and unfurnished Chappel Melvins infamous Libel against the Furniture of the Altars in the Chappels Royal for which he was censur'd in the Star-Chamber must be brought in by head shoulders out of time and place for fear least such an excellent piece of
passing of the Statute of Praemunire were without any further Ratification obligatory to all subjected to their jurisdiction And he hath told us also of such Convocations as had been called between the passing of the Statute of Praemunire and the Act for Submission that they made Canons whiche were binding although none other then Synodical Authority did confirme the same Upon whiâ—â—â—remisses I shall not fear to raise this Syllogism viz That power which the Clergy had in their Convocations before their submission to the King to binde the subject by their Canons and Constitutions without any further Ratification then own Synodicall Authority the same they had when the Kings power signified in his Royal assent was added to them but the Clergy by our Authors own confession had power in their Convocations before their submission to the King to binde the Subject by their Canons and Constitutions without any further ratification then their own Synodical Authority Ergo they had the same power to binde the Subjects when the Kings power signified by the Royal assent was added to them The Minor being granted by our Author as before is shewed the Major is only to be proved And for the proof hereof I am to put the Reader in minde of a Petition or Remonstrance exhibited to the King by the House of Commons Anno 1532. in which they shewed themselves agrieved that the Clergy of this Realm should act Authoritatively and Supremely in the Convocations and they in Parliament do nothing but as it was confirmed and ratified by the Royal assent By which it seems that there was nothing then desired by the House 〈◊〉 â—ommons but that the Convocation should be brought down to the same level with the Houses of Parliament and that their Acts and Constitutions should not binde the Subject as before in their Goods and Possessions untill they were confirmed and ratified by the Regal power The Answer unto which Remonstrance being drawn up by Dr. Gardiner then newly made Bishop of Winchester and allowed of by both Houses of Convocation was by them presented to the King But the King not satisfied with this Answer â—â—solves to bring them to his bent leâ—t else perhaps they might have acted something to the hindrance of his divorce which was at that time in agitation and therefore on the 10 of May he sends a paper to them by Dr. Fox after Bishop of Hereford in which it was peremptorily required That no Constitution or Ordinance shall be hereafter by the Clergy Enacted Promulged or put in Execution unlesse the Kings Highness do approve the same by his high Authority and Royal assent and his advice and favour be also interponed for the execution of every such constitution among his Highnesse Subjects And though the Clergy on the receipt of this paper remov'd first to the Chappel of St. Katherines and after unto that of St. Dunstan to consult about it yet found they no Saint able to inspiâ—e them with a resolution contrary to the Kings desires and therefore upon the Wednesday following being the 15 of the same Moneth they made their absolute submission binding themselves in Verbo Sacerdotii not to make or execute any Canons or other Synodical Constitutions but as they were from time to time enabled by the Kings Authority But this submission being made unto the King in his single person and not as in conjunction with his Houses of Parliament could neither bring the Convocation under the command of Parliaments nor render them obnoxious to the power thereof as indeed it did not But to the contrary hereof it is said by our Author that Fol. 194. He viz. the King by the advice and consent of his Clergy in Convocation and great Councel in Parliament resolved to reform the Church under his inspection from grosse abuses crept into it To this I need no other Answer then our Author himself who though in this place he makes the Parliament to be joyned in Commission with the Convocation as if a joynt Agent in that great business of Reforming the Church yet in another place he tels us another tale For fol. 188. it will appear saith he and I can tell from whom he saith it upon serious examination that there was nothing done in the Reformation of Religion save what was acted by the Clergy in their Convocations or grounded on some Act of theirs precedent to it with the Advice Counsel and Consent of the Bishops and most eminent Churchmen confirmed upon the Postfact and not otherwise by the Civill Sanction according to the usage of the best and happiest times of Christianity So then the Reformation of the Church was acted chiefly by the King with the advice of the Clergy in their Convocation the confirmation on the post-fact by the King in Parliament and that by his leave not in all the Acts and Particulars of it but in some few only for which consult the Tract entituled The Way and Manner of the Reformation of the Church of England Now as our Author makes the Parliament a joynt Assistant with the King in the Reformation so he conferreth on Parliaments the supreme Power of ratifying and confirming all Synodicall Acts. Fol. 199. The Parliament saith he did notifie and declare that Ecclesiasticall power to be in the King which the Pope had formerly unjustly invaded Yet so that they reserved to themselves the confirming power of all Canons Ecclesiastical so that the person or property of Refusers should not be subjected to temporal penalty without consent of Parliament But certainly there â—is no such matter in that Act of Parliament in which the submission of the Clergy and the Authority of the King grounded thereupon is notified and recorded to succeeding times nor any such reservation to themselves of a confirming power as our Author speaks of in any Act of Parliament I can knowingly and boldly say it from that time to this Had there been any such Priviledge any such Reservation as is here declared their power in confirming Ecclesiastical Canons had been Lord Paramount to the Kings who could have acted nothing in it but as he was enabled by his Houses of Parliament Nor is this only a new and unheard of Paradox an Heterodoxie as I may call it in point of Law but plainly contrary to the practice of the Kings of England from that time to this there being no Synodical Canons or Constitutions I dare as boldly say this too confirmed in Parliament or any otherwise ratified then by the superadding of the Royal assent For proof whereof look we no further then the Canons of 603 and 640 confirmed by the two Kings respectively and without any other Authority concurring with them in these following words viz. We have therefore for Us our Heirs and lawful Successors of our especial Grace certain knowledge and meer motion given and by these pâ—esents do give our Royal assent according to the foâ—m of the said Statute or Act of Parliament aforesaid to all and every of
Fellow of this Colledge whose Book entituled The Religion of Protestants a safe way to Salvation written in deâ—ence of Dr. Potters Book called Charity mistaken commended by our Author Lib. 3. fol. 115. remains unanswered by the Iesuites notwithstanding all their brags beforehand to this very day Which Book though most ridiculously buried with the Author at Arundel get thee gone thou accursed Book c. by Mr. Francis Cheynel the usu fructuary of the rich personage of Peâ—worth shall still survive unto the world in its own just value when the poor three-penny commodities of such a sorry Haberdasher of Small Wares shall be out of credit Of this Pageant see the Pamphet call'd Chillingworthi Novissima printed at London Anno 1644. Fol. 41. But now it is gone let it go it was but a beggerly Town and cost England ten times yearly more then it was worthâ— in keeping thereof Admit it be so yet certainly it was worth the keeping had it cost much more The English while they kept that Town had a dore open into France upon all occasions and therefore it was commonly said that they carried the Keyes of France at their Girdles Sound States-men do not measure the benefit of such Towns and Garrisons as are maintain'd and kept in an Enemies Countrey by the profit which they bring into their Exchequer but by the opportunities they give a Prince to enlarge his Territories Of this kinde was the Town of Barwick situate on the other side of the Tweed upon Scottish ground but Garrison'd and maintain'd with great charge by the Kings of England because it gave him the same advantage against the Scots as Calice did against the French The government of which last Town is by Comines said to be the goodliest Captain ship in the world so great an Eye-sore to the French that Mounsieur de Cordes who liv'd in the time of Lewis the eleventh was used to say that he would be content to lie in Hell seven years together upon condition that Calice were regain'd from the English and finally judged of such importance by the French when they had regain'd it that neither the Agreement made at the Treaty of Cambray nor the desire to free New-haven from the power of the English nor the necessities which Henry the fourth was reduc'd unto could ever prevail upon them to part with it But it is dry meat said the Countrey fellow when he lost the Hare and so let Caliâ—e pass for a Beggerly Town and not worth the keeping because we have no hope to get it ANIMADVERSIONS ON The Ninth Book OF The Church History OF BRITAIN Containing the Reign of Queen Elizabeth THe short Reigns of King Edward the sixth and Queen Mary being briefly past over by our Author he spends the more time in setting out the affairs of the Church under Queen Elizabeth not so much because her Reign was long but because it was a busie Age and full of Faction To which Faction how he stands affected he is not coy to let us see on all occasions giving us in the very first entrance this brief but notable Essay viz. Fol. 51. Idolatry is not to be permitted a moment the first minute is the fittest to abolish it all that have power have right to destroy it by that grand Charter of Religion whereby every one is â—ound to advance Gods glory And if Soveraigns forget no reason but Subjects should remember their duty Our Author speaks this in behalf of some forwardâ— Spirits who not enduring the laâ—inesse of Authority in order to the great work of Reformation fell beforehand to the beating down of superstitious Pictures and Images And though some others condemned their indiscretion herein yet our Author will not but rather gives these Reasons for their justification 1. That the Popish Religion is Idolatry 2. That Idolatry is to be destroyed by all that have power to do it 3. Which is indeed the main that if the Soveraigns do forget there is no reason but Subjects should remember their duty This being our Authors Master-piece and a fair gâ—â—â—ndwork for Seditious and Rebellious for the times ensuing I shall spend a little the more time in the examination of the pâ—opositions as before we had them And 1. It will be hard for our Author to prove that the Romish Religion is Idolatry though possible it is that some of the members of that Church may be proved Idolaters I know well what great pains Dr. Reynolds took in his laborious work entituled De Idololatria Ecclesiae Romanae and I know too that many very learned and moderate men were not thâ—oughly satisfied in his proofs and Arguments That they are worshippers of Images as themselves deny not so no body but themselves can approve them in it But there is a very wide difference betwixt an Image and an Idol betwixt the old Idolateâ—s in the state of Heathenism and those which give religious worship unto Images in some paâ—ts of Chrisâ—endom And this our Author being well stâ—died in Antiquity and not a stranger to the 〈…〉 of the present times cannot chuse but know thoâ—gh zeal to the good cause and the desire of being coâ—stanâ— to himself drew this pâ—â—â—age from him The Châ—istian faith delivered in the hâ—ly Gospels succeeded over the greatest part of the then known woâ—â—d in the place of that Idolatrous worship whiâ—h like a Leprosie had generally overspread the whole face thereof And therefore that the whole Mass of Wickliffes Heâ—erodoxies might be Christned by the name of Gospel our Author thinks it necessary that the Popish Mass and the rest of the Superstitious of that Church should be call'd Idolatry 2. That Idolatry is to be destroyed by all them that have power to do it I shall easily grant But then it must be understood of a lawful power and not permitted to the liberty of unlawful violence Id possumus quod jure possumus was the rule of old and it held good in all attempts for Reformation in the elder times For when the Fabrick of the Jewish Church was out of order and the whole Worship of the Lord either defiled with superstitions or intermingled with Idolatries as it was too often did not Gods servants carry and await his leisure till those who were supreme both in place and power were by him prompted and inflamed to a Reformation How many years had that whole people made an Idol of the Brazen Serpent and burnt â—â—cense to it before it was defaced by King Hâ—zekiah How many more might it have longer stood undefâ—ced untouched by any of the common people had not the King given order to demolish it How many years had the seduced Israelites adored before the Altar of Bethel before it was hewn down and cut in pâ—eces by the good King Iosiah And yet it cannot be denyed but that it was as much in the power of the Iews to destroy that Idol and of the honest and religious Israâ—lites to break down that
Lactantius has it Posterity is too soon taught to follow the ill examples of their Predecessors And though he press it not so home as Clesselius did yet when the gap is once set open and the Hedge of Authority torn down bloodshed and war and other acts of open violence will come in of course So that we may affirm of this dangerous Doctrine as the Sorbonists once did of the Iesuites viz. Videtur in negotio sidei periculosa pacis Ecclesiae perturbativa magis ad destructionem quà m ad aedificationem But I have staid too long upon these first Notes I now proceed unto the rest Fol. 54. This Parliament being very active in matters of Religion the Convocation younger Brother thereunto was little employed and less regarded Our Author follows his design of putting matters of Religion into the power of Parliaments though he hath chosen a very ill Medium to conclude the point This Parliament as active as he seems to make it troubled it self so little with matters of Religion that had it done less it had done just nothing All that it did was the Repealing of some Acts made in the time of Queen Mary and setling matters in the same State in which she found them at her first coming to the Crown The Common Prayer Book being reviewed and fitted to the use of the Church by some godly men appointed by the Queen alone receiv'd no other confirmation in this present Parliament then what it had before in the last years of King Edward The Supremacy was again restor'd as it had been formerly the Title of Supreme head which seem'd offensive unto many of both Religioâ—s being changed into that of Supreme Governor nothing in all this done de novo which could entitle this Parliament to such activity in matters of Religion but that our Author had a minde to undervalue the Convocation as being little imployed and less regarded I grant indeed that the Convocation of that year did only meet for forms sake without acting any thing and there was very good reason for it The Bishops at that time were so â—enaciously addicted to the Church of Rome that they chose all except Anthony Kitchin of Landaffe rather to lose their Bishopricks then take the Oath of Supremacy So that there was little or no hope of doing any thing in Convocation to the Queens content in order to the Reformation of Religion which was then design'd had they been suffered to debate treat and conclude of such particulars as had relation thereunto But we shall see when things are somewhat better setled that the activity of the next Convocation will make amends for the silence and unsignificancy of this In the mean time I would fain know our Authors Reason why speaking of the Convocation and the Parlialiament in the notion of Twins the Convocation must be made the younger Brother Assuredly there had been Convocations in the Church of England some hundreds of years before the name of Parliament had been ever heard of which he that lists to read the collection of Councils published by that learned and industrious Gentleman Sir Henry Spelman cannot but perceive Fol. 71. This year the spire of Poles steeple covered with lead strangely fell on fire More modestly in this then when he formerly ascribes the burning of some great Abbeys to Lightning from heaven And so this steeple was both reported and believed to be fired also it being an ordinary thing in our Common Almanacks till these latter times to count the time among the other Eâ—oches of Computation from the year that St. Paul-steeple was fired with Lightning But afterwards it was acknowledg'd as our Author truly notes to be done by the negligence of a Plummer carelesly leaving his Coles therein â—â—nce which acknowledgement we finde no mention of this accident in our yearly Almanacks But whereas our Author finds no other Benefactors for the repairing of this great Ruine but the Queens bounty and the Clergieâ— Benevolence I must needs tell him that these were only accessories to the principall charge The greatest part hereof or to say better the whole work was by the Queen imposed on the City of London it being affirmed by Iohn Stow that after this mischance the Queens Majesty directed her Letters to Sâ—ow Suâ—veâ— the Maior willing him to take order for the speedy repairing of the same And in pursuance of that order besides what issued from the publick stock in the Chamber of London the Citizens gave first a great Benevolence and after that three Fifteens to be speedily paid What the Queen did in the way of furtherance or the Clergy of the Province of Canterbury in the way of help is to be lookt upon as their free voluntary Act no otherwise obliged thereto but as the publick Honour of the Church and State did invite them to it The Maior and City were the parties upon whom the command was laid as most concerned in the Repair of their own Cathedâ—al Which I thought good to put our Author in minde oâ— as a fault of omission only leaving such use as may be made of the Observation to the 〈◊〉 of others Fol. 71. Here I would fain be informed by some learned men in the Law what needed the restoring of those Children whose â—ather was condemned and died only for Heresie which is conceived a personal crime and not tainting the blâ—nd The Parliament this year had passed an Act for the Restitution in bloud of the children of Thomas Cranmer late Archbishop of Canterbury for which our Author as it seems can see no reason in regard he was condemned and died only for Heresie For though saith he this Archbishop was first accused of High-Treason yet it afterward was waved and he tryed upon Heretical opinions But in this our Author is mistaken For though Cranmer was condemned and died for Heresie yet he was not condemned for that only nor was the accusation for Treason wav'd as he saith it was but the conviction of him as an Heretick superadded to it Being accused of High-Treason for subscribing though unwillingly to the Proclamation of the Lady Iane he was committed to the Tower on the 15. of September and on the 13. of November following arraigned at the Guildhall in London and there convicted and condemned together with the said Lady Iane the Lord Guilford Dudley her Husband and the Lord Ambrose Dudley her Husbands Brother Of which four the Lady Iane and her Husband only suffered death on that condemnation the Lord Ambrose Dudley being reprieved for a better fortune and the Archbishop reserved for a moâ—e cruell death For the Queen finding it more satisfactory to the Court of Rome to have him burnt for an Heretick then hanged for a Traytor and being implacably bent against him for his activeness in the Divorce thought good to wave her first proceeding and to have him put to death for Heresie But the Attainder holding still good at the Common-Law there was great reason
why his Children should desire a restitution in bloud not otherwise to be obtained but by Act of Parliament And so without troubling the learned in the Law for our information I hope our Author will be satisfied and save his Fee for other more necessary uses Fol. 72. In the Convocation now sitting the nine and thirty Articles were composed agreeing for the main with those set forth in the Reign of King Edward the sixth though in some particulars allowing more liberty to dissenting judgements This is the active Convocation which before I spake of not setling matters of Religion in the same estate in which they were left by King Edward but altering some Articles expunging others addingsome de novo and fitting the whole body of them unto edification Not leaving any liberty to dissenting Iudgments as our Author would have it but binding men unto the literal and Grammatical sense They had not othewise attained to the end they aimed at which was ad tollendam opinionum dissensionem consensum in vera Religione firmandum that is to say to take away diversity of Opinions and to establish an agreement in the true Religion Which end could never be effected if men were left unto the liberty of dissenting or might have leave to put their own sense upon the Articles But whereas our Author instances in the Article of Christs descent into Hell telling us that Christs preaching unto the Spirits there on which the Article seemed to be grounded in King Edwards Book was left out in this and thereupon inferreth that men are left unto a latitude concerning the cause time manner of his descent I must needs say that he is very much mistaken For first the Church of England hath alwayes constantly maintained a locall Descent though many which would be thought her Children the better to comply with Calvin and some other Divines of forain Nations have deviated in this point from the sense of the Church And secondly the reason why this Convocation left out that passage of Christ preaching to the Spirits in hell was not that men might be left unto a latitude concerning the cause time and manner of his Descent as our Author dreams but because that passage of St. Peter being capable of some other interpretations was not conceived to be a clear and sufficient evidence to prove the Article For which see Bishop Bilsons Survey p. 388 389. Fol. 74. In a word concerning this clause whether the Bishops were faulty in their addition or their opposites in their substraction I leave to more cunning Arithmeticians to decide The Clause here spoken of by our Author is the first Sentence in the twentieth Article entituled De Ecclesiae Authoritate where it is said that the Church hath power to decree Rites and Ceremonies and Authority in Controversies of the Faith Which being charged upon the Bishops as a late addition the better to support their power and maintain their Tyranny the late Archbishop of Canterbury in his Speech in the Star-Chamber Iune the 15 1637. made it appear that the said Clause was in a Printed Book of Articles published in the year 1563. being but very few moneths after they had passed in the Convocation which was on the 29. of Ianuary 1562. in the English account And more then so he shewed unto the Lords a Copy of the twentieth Article exemplified out of the Records and attested by the hands of a publick Notary in which that very Clause was found which had been charged upon the Bishops for an innovation And thus much I can say of mine own knowledge that having occasion to conâ—â—â—t the Records of Convocation I found this controverted Clause verbatim in these following words Habet Ecclesia Ritus statuendo jus in fidei Controversis Authoritatem Which makes me wonder at our Author that having access to those Records and making frequent use of them in this present History he should declare himself unable to decide the doubt whether the addition of this Clause was made by the Bishops or the substraction of it by the opposite party But none so blinde as he that will not see saies the good old proverb But our Author will not so give over He must first have a fling at the Archbishop of Canterbury upon this occasion In the year 1571. the Puritan Faction beginning then to grow very strong the Articles were again Printed both in Latin and English and this Clause left out publisht according to those copies in the Harmony of Confessions Printed at Geneva Anno 1612. and publisht by the same at Oxford though soon after rectified Anno 1636. Now the Archbishop taking notice of the first alteration Anno 1571. declares in his said Speech that it was no hard matter for that opposite Faction to have the Articles Printed and this clause left out considering who they were that then governed businesses and rid the Church almost at their pleasure What says our Author to this Marry saith he I am not so well skilled in Historical Horsemanship as to know whom his Grace designed for the Rider of the Church at that time fol. 74. Strange that a man who undertakes to write an History should professe himself ignorant of the names of those who governed the businesse of the times he writes of But this is only an affected ignorance profest of purpose to preserve the honour of some men whom he beholds as the chief Patrons of the Puritan Faction For aftâ—â—wards this turn being served he can finde out who they were that then governed businesses and rid the Church almost at their pleasure telling us fol. 138 that the Earl of Leicester interpos'd himself Patron-general to the non-subscribers and that he did it at the perswasion of Roger Lord North. Besides which two we finde Sir Francis Knollys to be one of those who gave countenance to the troubles at Frankforâ— at such time as the Faction was there hottest against the Liturgy and other Rites and â—eremonies of the Church of England Who being a meer kinsman of the Queens and a Privy Counsellor made use of all advantages to pursue that project which being 〈◊〉 on foot beyond sea had been driven on here and though Leicester was enough of himself to rid the Church at his pleasure it being fitted with such helps Sir Francis Walsingham and many more of that kind which the times then gave him they drove on the faster till he had almost plung'd all in remedilesse Ruine But our Author hath not done with these Articles yet for he tels us of this Clause that it was Ibid. Omitted in the English and Latin Artiâ—â—â—â—â— set forth 1571 when they were first ratified by Actâ—â— Our â—uthor doth so dream of the power of Parliaments in matters of Religion that he will not suffer any Canon or Act of Convocation to be in sorce or obligatiory to the subject till confirmed by Parliament But I would fain know of him where he finds any Act of Parliament
himself possibly â—an be And therefore I must not by â—â—â—obeying my Pâ—ince commit a certain â—in in preventing a pâ—obable but contingent inconveniency This if it were good Doctâ—ine then when both the Author and the Book weâ—e crâ—ed up even to admiration is not to be reâ—â—â—ted as falâ—e Doctâ—ine now truth being constant to 〈◊〉 not varying nor altering with the change of times Bâ—t oâ—r Author will not sâ—op here he goes on and saith Ibid. Mâ—â—y moderate men are of opinion that this abuse of the Lord-day was a principal procurer of Gods anger 〈◊〉 poured out on this Land in a long and bloudy Civil 〈◊〉 And moderate peâ—haps they may be in apparel 〈…〉 the like civil acts of life and conversation but 〈…〉 moderate enough in this Observation For who hath kâ—â—wn the minde of the Lord or who hath been his Counsâ—ll◠〈…〉 the great Apostle But it is as common with some men of the newest Religions to adscribe 〈…〉 judgements to some special Reasons as 〈…〉 the Key which opens into his Cabinet 〈…〉 as iâ— they were admitted to all 〈…〉 in the 〈…〉 Heaven before that dreadful 〈◊〉 oâ— the year 1562. and 1565. the constant 〈◊〉 of the Chappels in his Majesties Houses most 〈◊〉 the Cathedral and some of the Paâ—ochial Churches and â—inally a Declaration of the King Anno 1633. â—ommending a Conâ—ormity in the Parish Churches to their own Cathedrals They on the other side stood chiefly upon disâ—ontinuâ—nce but urged withall that some Rubâ—â—â—ks in the Common-Prayer-Book seemed to make for them So that the Question being reduced to a matter of â—act that is to say the Table must 〈◊〉 this way or it must stand that way I would fain know how any condescension might be made on either 〈…〉 to an accommodation or what our Moderatâ—â— would have done to at one the differences Suppoâ—e him â—â—tting in the Chair the Arguments on both 〈…〉 â—nd all the Audience full of expectation 〈…〉 would carry it The Moderator Fuller of old Meâ—â—y-Tales then ordinary thus resolves the businesse that he had heard it commended for a great piece of wisdom in Bishop Andrews That wheresoever he was a Parson a Dean or a Bishop he never troubled Parish Colledge or Diocess with pressing other Ceremonies upon them then such which he found used there before his coming thither that King Iames finding the Archbishop of Spalato in a resolution of â—â—eâ—â—ioning all such Leases as had been made by his 〈◊〉 in the Savoy gave him this wise Counsell Relinque res sicut eas invenisti That he should leave things as he found them that the sâ—id King being told by a great person of the invertâ—d situation of a Chappel in Cambridge 〈◊〉 â—nswer that it did not matter how the 〈◊〉 stood so their hearts who go thither were 〈…〉 in Gods service But for his part he liked 〈◊〉 of the Resolution of Dr. Prideaux when wearied with the Businesses of the Councel-Table and the High Commission But as he was soon hot so he was soon cool'd And so much is observed by Sir Edward Deering though his greatest adversary and the first that threw dirt in his face in the late long Parliament who telleth us of him that the roughness of his uncourtly Nature sent most men discontented from him 〈◊〉 so that he would often of himself â—inde wayes and means to sweeten many of them again when they least looked for it In this more modest then our Author who gives us nothing of this Pâ—elate but his wants and weaknesses But of this Reverend Prelate he will give cause to speak more hereafter Let us now on unto another of a different judgement his proâ—est enemy Mr. Prin of whom thus our Author Fol. â—57 Mr. William Prinne was borne about Bath in Glocestershire c. and began with the writing of some Orthodox books In this story of Mr. Prinne and his suffeâ—ings our Author runs into many errors which either his love unto the Man or zeal to the good cause or carelesness of what he writes have brought upon him For first Bath is not in Glostershire but a chief City in the County of Somerset Secondly though I look on Mr. Prinne so far forth as I am able to judge by some Books of his not long since published as a man of a far more moderate spirit then I have done formerly yet can I not think his first Books to have been so Orthodox as our Author makes them For not to say any thing of his Perpetuity his Books entituled Lame Giles his Haltings Cozens Cozening Devotions and his Appendix to another have many things repugnant to the Rules and Canons of the Church of England No 〈◊〉 Champion against bowing at the name of Iesus nor greater enemy to some Ceremonies here by Law 〈◊〉 In whicâ— paâ—â—iculars iâ— our Author tâ—iâ—k him to be Orthodox he declares himself to be no true Son of the Church of England Thirdly the Book called Histrio-Mastix was not writ by Mr. Prinne about three years before his 〈…〉 as our Author telleth us for then it must be wâ—it or publisht Anno 1634. whereas indeed that Book was published in Print about the latter end of 1632. and the Author censur'd in Sâ—ar-Chamber for some pâ—ssâ—ges in iâ— abouâ— the latter end of the year 1633. Otheâ—wise had it been as our Author telleth us the punishment 〈…〉 the offence and he must suffer for â— Book which was not publisht at that â—ime and peâ—haps not wâ—itten But our Author hâ—th a special facâ—lty in this kinde which few writers 〈◊〉 For â—s he post-dateth this Histrio-Mastix by making it come into the 〈…〉 after it did so he ante 〈◊〉 a Book of Dâ— White then Lord Bishop of Ely which he makes to be publisht two yeaâ—s sooner then indeed it wâ—s Thâ—t book of his entituled A Treatise of the Sabbath came noâ—â—ut â—ill Michaelmas Anno 1635. though placed by ouâ— Authoâ— as then written Anno 1633. for which see fol. 144. Next unto Mr. Prinne in the coâ—â—se of his Censure comes the Bishop of Lincoln the 〈◊〉 whereof we have in our Author who having left a 〈…〉 somewhat which he thinks not â—it to make known to all gives some occasion to suspect that the matter was far woâ—se on the Bishops side then perhaps it was And therefore to prevent all further misconstructions in thi◠〈◊〉 I will lay down the story as I finde it thus viz. The Bishops purgation depending chiefly upon the testimony of one Prideon it hapned â—hat the 〈◊〉 after one Elizabeth Heaâ—on was delivered of a base childe and laid to this Prideon The Bishop finding his great witness charged with such a load of filth 〈…〉 would invalidate all his 〈…〉 valid the Bishop could easily prognosticate his own ruine therefore he bestirs himself amain and though by order of the Justices at the publick Session at Lincoln Prideon was charged as the reputed father the Bishop by his two Agents Powel and Owen
false But I must needs say that there was small ingenâ—ity in acknowledging a mistake in that wherein they 〈◊〉 not been mistaken or by endeavouring to avoid a reputed Rock to run themselves on a certain Rock even the Rock of scandal For that the English Bishops had their vote in Parliament as a third 〈◊〉 and not in the capacity of temporal Barons will evidently appear by these reasons following For first the Clegy in all other Christian Kingdoms of theâ—e Noâ—thwest pâ—rts make the third Estate that is to say in the German Empire as appears by Thuanus the Historian lib. 2. In France as is affirmed by Paulus Aemilius lib. 9. in Spain as testifieth Bodinus in his De Bepub lib. 3. Foâ— which consult also the General History of Spain as in point of practice lib. 9 10 11 14. In Hâ—ngâ—ry as witnesseth Bonfinius Dec. 2. l. 1. In 〈…〉 by Thuanus also lib. 56. In Denmarkâ— as 〈◊〉 telleth us in Historia 〈…〉 observing antiently the same form and order of Government as was us'd by the Danes The like we finde in Camden for the Realm of Scotland in which antiently the Lords Spiritual viz. Bishops Abbots Priors made the third Estate And certainly it were very strange if the Bishops and other Prelates in the Realm of England being a great and powerful body should move in a lower Sphere in England then they doe elsewhere But secondly not to stand only upon probable inferences we finde first in the History of Titus Livius touching the Reign and Acts of King Henry the fifth that when his Funerals were ended the three Estates of the Realm of England did assemble together and declared his Son King Henry the sixth being an Infant of eight moneths old to be their Soveraign Lord as his Heir and Successor And if the Lords Spiritual did not then make the third Estate I would know who did Secondly the Petition tendred to Richard Duke of Glocester to accept the Crown occurring in the Parliament Rolls runs in the name of the three Estates of the Realm that is to say The Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons thereof Thirdly in the first Parliament of the said Richard lately Crowned King it is said expresly that at the request and by the consent of the three Estates of this Realm that is to say the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons of this Land assembled in this present Parliament and by Authority of the same it be pronounced decreed and declared That our said Soveraign Lord the King was and is the very and undoubted King of this Realm of England c. Fourthly it is acknowledged so in the Statute of 1 Eliz. cap. 3. where the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in that Parliament assembled being said expresly and in terminis to represent the three Estates of this Realm of England did recognize the Queens Majesty to be their true lawful and undoubted Soveraign Liege Lady and Queen Adde unto these the Testimony of Sir Edward Cooke though a private person who in his Book of the Jurisdiction of Courts published by order of the long Parliament chap. 1. doth expresly say That the Parliament consists of the Head and Body that the Head is the King that the Body are the three Eâ—tates viz. the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons In which words we have not only the opinion and tesâ—imony of that learned Lawyer but the Authority oâ— the long Parliament also though against it self Thoâ—e aged Bishops had been but little studied in their own concernments and betray'd their Rights if any of them did acknowledge any such mistake in châ—llenging to themselves the name and priviledges of the third 〈◊〉 Fol. 196. The Convocation now not sittingâ— and matters of Religion being brought under the cognizance of the Parliament their Wisdoms adjudged it not only convenient but necessary that some prime Clergy men might be consulted with It seems then that the setting up oâ— the new Assembly consisting of certain Lords and Gentlemen and two or more Divineâ— out of every County must be ascrib'd to the not sitting of the Convocation Whereas if that had been the reaâ—on the Convocation should have been first waâ—ned to reassemble with liberty and safe conducts given them to attend that service and freedom to debate such matters as conduced to the Peace of the Church If on those terms they had not met the substituting of the new Assembly might have had some ground though being call'd and nominated as they were by the Hoâ—se of Commons nothing they did could binde the Clergy further then as they were compellable by the power of the sword But the truth is the Convocation was not held fit to be trusted in the present Designs there being no hope that they would 〈…〉 change of the Goverâ—â—ent or to the abrogating of the Liturgy of the Church of England in all which the Divines of their own nomination were presum'd to serve them And so accordingly they did advancing their Presbyteries in the place of Episcopacy their Directory in the room of the Common Prayer Book their Confession to the quality of the Book of Articles all of them so short liv'd of so little continuance that none of them past over their Probationers year Finally having seâ—v'd the turn amus'd the world with doing nothing they made their Exit with far fewer Plaudites then they expected at their entrance In the Recital of whose names our Author craves pardon for omitting the greatest part of them as unknown to him whereas he might have found them all in the Ordinance of the Lords and Commons by which they were called and impowered to be an Assembly Of which pardon he afterwards presumes in case he hath not marshalled them in their Seniority because saith he Fol. 198. It â—avours something of a Prelatical Spirit to be offended about Precedency I â—ee our Author is no Changeling Primus ad extremum similis sibi the very same at last as he was at the first Certainly if it â—avour of a Prelatical Spirit to contend about Precedencies that Spirit by some Pythagorean Metempsychosis hath passed into the bodies of the Presbyterians whose pride had swell'd them in conceit above Kings and Princes Nothing more positive then that of Travers one of our Authors shining Lights for so he cals him Lib. 9. fol. 218. in his Book of Discipline Huic Discipline omnes Principes submittere Fasces suos necesse est as his words there are Nothing more proud and arrogant then that of the Presbyterians in Queen Elizabeths time who used frequently to say That King and Queens must lay down their Scepters and lick up the very dust of the Churrches feet that is their own And this I trow doth not savour so much of a Prelatical as a Papal Spirit Diogenes the Cynick affecting a vain-glorious poverty came into Plato's Chamber and trampled the Bed and other furniture thereof under his feet using these words Calco Platonis fastum
be true or false I am not able to sâ—y but being generally believ'd I have set it down also Bâ—t my other story is more serious intended for the satisfaction of our Author and the Reader both It was in Nobember Anno 1639. that I receiv'd a message from the Lord Archbishop to attend him the next day at two of the clock in the afternoon The Key being tuâ—n'd which opened the way into his Study I found him sitting in a chair holding a paper in both hands and his eyes so fixt upon that paper that he observ'd me not at my coming in Finding him in that posture I thought it fit and manners to retire again But the noise I made by my retreat bringing him back unto himself he recall'd me again and told me after some short pawse that he well remembred that he had sent for me but could not tell for his life what it was about After which he was pleas'd to say noâ— without tears standing in his eyes that he had then newly receiv'd a letter acquainting him with a Revolt of a Person of some Quality in North-Wales to the Church of Rome that he knew that the increase of Popery by such frequent Revolâ—s would be imputed unto him and his Brethren the Bishops who were all leâ—st guilty of the same that for his part he had done his utmost so far forth as it might consist with the Rules of Prudence and the Pâ—eservation of the Church to suppress that party and to bring the chief sticklers in it to condign punishment to the truth whereof lifting up his wet eyes to Heaven he took God to witness conjuring me as I would answer it to God at the day of Judgement that if ever I came to any of those places which he and his Brethren by reason of their great age were not like to hold long I would imploy all such abilities as God had given me in suppressing that party who by their open undeâ—takings and secret practices were like to be the ruinâ— of this flourishing Church After some words of mine upon that occasion I found some argument to divert him from those sad remembrances and having brought him to some reasonable composedness I took leave for the present and some two or three dayes after waiting on him again he then told me the reason of his sending for me the time before And this I deliver for a truth on the faith of a Christian which I hope will over-ballance any Evidence which hath been brought to prove such Popish inclinations as he stands generally charg'd with in our Authors History Fol. 217. However most apparent it is by many passages in his life that he endeavoured to take up many controversies betwixt us and the Church of Rome And this indeed is Novum Crimen that is to say a crime of a new stamp never coyn'd before I thought that when our Saviour said Beati Pacifici it had been sufficient warâ—ant unto any man to endevour Peace to build up the breacheâ— in the Church and to make Ierusalem like a City which is at Vnity in it self especially where it may be done not only salva charitare without breach of charity but salvâ fide too without wrong to the faith The greatest part of the Controversies betwixt us and the Church of Rome not being in the Fundamentals oâ— in any Essential Points in the Christian Religion I cannot otherwise look upon it but as a most Christian pious work to endeavour an atonement in the Sâ—perstructures But hereof our Author seems to doubt first whether 〈◊〉 endeavours to agree and compose the differences be lawâ—ul or not and secondly whether they be possible As for the lawfulness thereof I could never see any reason produc'd against it nor so much as any question made of it till I found it here against the possibility thereof it hath been objected that such and so great is the pride of the Church of Rome that they will condescend to nothing And therefore if any such composition or agreement be made it must not be by their meeting us but our going to them But as our Author sayes that many of the Archbishops equals adjudg'd that design of his to be impossible so I may say without making any such odious Comparisons that many of our Authors betters have thought otherwise of it It was the petulancy of the Puritans on the one side and the pragmaticalness of the Iesuits on the other side which made the breach wider then it was at the first and had those hot spirits on both sides been charm'd a while moderate men might possibly have agreed on such equal terms as would have said a sure Foundation for the Peace of Christendom Now that all those in the Church of Rome are not so stiffly wedded to their own opinions as our Author makes them appears first by the testimony of the Archbishop of Spalato declaring in the High Commission a little before his going hence that he acknowledged the Articles of this Church to be true or profitable at the least and none of them Heretical It appears secondly by a Tractate of Franciscus de Sancta Clara as he calls himself in which he putteth such a gloss upon the nine and thirty Articles of the Church of England as rendreth them not inconsistent with the Doctrines of the Church of Rome And if without prejudice to the truth the Controversies might have been compos'd it is most probable that other Protestant Churches would have sued by their Agents to be included in the Peace if not the Church of England had lost nothing by it as being hated by the Calvinists and not lov'd by the Lutherans But our Author will not here desist so soon hath he forgotten his own rule made in the case of Mr. Love and therefore mustereth up his faults viz. 1. Passion though an human frailty 2. His severity to his predecessor easing him before his time and against his will of his Iurisdiction 3. His over-medling in State-matters 4. His imposing of the Scottish Liturgy Of all which we have spoke so much upon other occasions that is to say num 246. 251. 289. 259. and therefore do not count it necessary to adde any thing here And so I leave him to his rest in the Bosom of Abraham in the land of thâ— Living From the Archbishop of Canterbury I should proceed to Dr. Williams Archbishop of York but that I must first remove a Block which lies in my way Our Author having told us of the making and printing the Directory is not content to let us see the cold entertainment which it found when it came abroad but letâ— us see it in such terms as we did not look for Fol. 222. Such saith he was call it constancy or obstinacy love or doating of the generality of the Nation on the Common Prayer that the Parliament found it fit yea necessary to back their former Ordinance with a second Assuredly the generality of the people of
was I from making any Aâ—theme to be sung of the three Kings of Colen as that I maâ—e iâ— when I first saw it to be torn in pieces and I my selâ— cut it out of the old Song Books belonging to the Choristers School with a Penknife that lay by at my very first coming to reside in that Colledge But sure I was that no such Antheme had been sung in the Qâ—ire during all my time of attendance there nor for ought that any the eldest persons of the Church and Town could tell or ever heard to the contrary for fifâ—y or threescore years before and more 9. That there was indeed an ordinary Knife I confess provided and laid ready among other things belonging to the Administration of the Communion for the cutting of the Bread and divers other uses in the Church Vestry that when the under Officers there had any occasion to use a Knife they might not be put to go to seek one abroad But that it was ever consecrated or so called otherwise then as Mr. Smart and some of his Followers had for their pleasure put that appellâ—tion upon it I never heard nor I believe any body â—lse that lived here among us There were divers other Articles of this nature in the Bill of Complaint whereof Mr. Smart could not prove any one to which I gave the like Answers as I did here to these but Mr. Fullers History makes no mention of them 10. Touching Mr. Smarts Sermon I made answer and submitted his censure to the prudent and religious consideration of the Lords whether he was not justly condemned to be scandalous and seditious by his preaching thereof and I represented many passages in it disagreeable to the Laws of God and his Church and repugnant to the publick Statutes of Parliament 11. For which after we had begun â—o question him in the High Commission Court at Durham where we endeavoured to reduce him to a better mind and to an unity with the Church against which he had so injuriously and intemperatly declaimed I had no further hand or meddling with the prosecution of this maâ—ter in other Courts against him more then that I wrote at the speciall instance of Judge Yelverton a Letter in his behalf to the Archbishop of York and the Commissioners there which I procured the Dean and most of the Prâ—bendaries of Durham to sign and subscribe with me earnestly intreating for him that upon any due sence of his â—ault he might be quietly sent back to us again in hope that he would hereafter live in better peace and concord with us as he promised both judge Yelverton and us to do then he had done before 12. The cruell usage and imprisonment that he suffered whereof Mr. Fuller taketh speciall notice and makes a Marginall mark at it was as I have been credible assured nothing else but a faire and gentle treatment of him in an Officers House at York to whom he was committed for a while and paid little for it Iâ— is the Historians mistake here to say he was carryed â—rom York to Lambeth for he was at his own request sent from Lambeth to York the Fine thâ—t was seâ— up 〈◊〉 him he never paid and by his own wilfull loss of his Church-livings he gained a larger maintenance living at his ease and pleasure by the contribution that he got as a suspended and silenc'd Pâ—eacher though the truth was that having had a Prebend and a Benefice many years together in the Bishoprick of Durham and being alwaies in health he neglected preaching so much at them both and elsewhere besides that he was seldom noted to preach above two Sermons in a year who though he demanded many thousand poundâ— at the Parliament yet by Mr. Fullers leave the Parliament gave him none nor ordered either my self nor any other that he impeacht ever to pay him a Groat only upon Doctor Carrs death who had bâ—en put into hiâ— Prebend place he was sent by the Lords tâ— his Vicâ—rage and his Prebend again which he had little â—â—ill to take because he â—ound but little profit in comparisoâ— of what he hoped to be had by them in the mean while he took up divers great summâ— of monâ—y from some of his Partisans in London and made them believe that the Parliament would pay them all with advantage 13. There is another Marginall Note in Mr. Fuller referring as he saith to my due praise and commendation whereof he makes one part to be that I joyned not with the French Proâ—estants at Charâ—nton since I got over hither into France but I would that he and all the World should know it I never refused to joyn with the Protestants either there or any where else in all â—hings wherein they joyn with the Church of England Many of them have been here at our Church and we have been at theirs I have buried divers of our peopâ—e at Châ—renton and they pâ—rmit us to make use of their pecuâ—iar and decent Saeâ—eâ—erie here in Paris for â—hâ—t purpose which if they did not we â—hould be â—orced to bury our Dead in a Diâ—ch I have Baptized many of their Children at the request of their own Ministers with whom I have good acquaintance and find them â—o be very deserving and learned men great Lovers â—nd Honoureâ—s of our Church notwithstanding the loss which She hath lately received in externall Matâ—ers wherein we are agreed that the Essence of true Religion doth not consist Many of their people and of the best sort and quality among them have frequented our publick Prayers with great reverence and I have delivered tâ—e holy Communion to them according to our own Order which they observed religiously I have Married divers persons of good Condition among them and I have presented some of thâ—ir Sâ—hâ—llars to be ordained Deacons and Priests 〈◊〉 by our own Bishops whereof Monsieur De Tarenne's Chaplain is one and the Duke De la Force's Chaplain another and the Church at Charenton apâ—â—â—ved of it and I preached here publickly at their Ordination Besides I have been as often aâ— I had â—are time from attending our own Congregation to pray and sing Psalmes with them and to heare both the Weekly and the Sunday Sermons at Charenton whither two of my Children also pensioned here in a Protestant Family at Paris have daily repaired for that purpose with the Gentlewoman that governed them All which is abundantly enough to let the World know and see here as it doth what a vain and rash man Mr. Fuller is in his History wherein he hath done Injury to many more besides me some dead and some alive who I hope will represent his unfaithfulness in his own Country both to himself and to others I am only beholden to him for telling the tâ—uâ—h of me in one particular which is that I have by Gods blessing reduced some and preserved many others from communicating with the Papists defending the Truth of our own Religion as I have
have read that he called in any of the Scyâ—hick Nations to assist him against the Saracens so there was no reason why he should The Saracens in his time had neither extended their Conquests nor wasted his Empire so far Northwards as to necessitate him to invite any such Rake-Hâ—ll Rabble of Scythâ—ans to oppose their proceedings By doing whereof he must needs expose as great a part of his Dominioâ—s to the spoil of the Scythians as had been wasted and in part conquered by the Saracens I read indeed That Cosâ—oâ—s one of the Kings of Persia the better to annoy Herâ—â—lius in those parts of the Empire which were dearest to him hired a compounded Army of Sâ—laves Avares Gepidâ— and others neighboring near unto them to invade Thrace and lay siege unto Constantinople the Imperial Seat to curb whose Insolencies and restrain their further progress into the heart of that Countrey Heraclius hired another Army compounded of the like Scythick Nations which in those days passed under the common name of the Chasnari and it was very wisely done For by that means he did not onely waste those Barbarous Nations all of them being his very bad Neighbors in warring one against another but reserved his own Subjects for some other occasions And as it was done wisely so was it done as lawfully also there being no Law of God or Man which prohibits Princes when they are either invaded by a foreign Enemy or overlaid by their own Subjects to have recourse to such helps as are nearest to them or most like to give them their Assistance Which point our Author prosecutes to a very good purpose though he mistake himselfe in the instance before laid down The Irish were then upon the point of calling the French unto their aid under pretence that their own King was not able to protect them against the Forces of those men who had conâ—iscated their Estates and were resolved upon their final extermination And had the King upon the first rising of the Scots poured in an Army of the Danes to waste their Countrey and fall upon them at their backs as Heraclius poured in the Câ—snari upon the Selaves Avares and the rest of that Rabble he had done his work and he had done it with half the charge but with more security then the bare ostentation of bringing an English Army to the Borders of Scotland did amount unto Which as he might have done with less charges so I am sure he might have done it with far more security The Danes being Lutherans fear nothing more then the grouth of the Calvinian party and therefore would have fought with the greater Zeal and the fiercer Courage on the very merit of the cause And having no confederacies or correspondencies with the Scots in order to Liberty or Religion as the Scots had with too many of the people of England the King might have relied upon them with a greater confidence then he could do on a mixt Body of his own in which the Puritan party being more pragmatical might have distempered all the rest Such aids were offered him by his Uncle of Denmark when the two Houses had first armed his people against him But he refused them then for fear of justifying a Calumny which cunningly had been cast upon him of admitting Foreign Nations into the Kingdom to suppress the Liberties of the people and to change their Laws Afterwards when he sought for them then the could not have them the Houses no less cunning hiring the Swedes to pick a Quarrel with the Danes the better to divert that King from giving assistance to his Nephew in his greatest needs But the consideration of this mistake in my Author about the Scythians hath ingaged me further in this point then I meant to have been I go on again Fol. 1002. But the Members were not well at ease unlâ—sse some settlement were made for them by Orders and Ordinances c. â— Nor were they at ease till they had made the like settlement for some others beside themselves Some sequestred Divines conceiving that all things were agreed on between the King and the Army had unadvisedly put themselves into their Benefices and outed such of the Presbyterians as had been placed in them by the Committee for Plandered Ministers or the Committees in the Countrey And on the other side divers Land-holders in the Countrey conceiviâ—g that those Ministers who had been put into other mens livings could not sue in any Court of Law for the Tythes and Profits of those Churches for want of a Legall Title to them did then more resolutely then ever refuse to make payment of the same For remedy of which two mischiefs the Independent Members having setlâ—d themselves by Orders and Ordinances concur with the Presbyterian Members to settle their Brethren of the Clergy in a better condition then before And to that end they first obtained an Ordinance dated the 9. of August Anno 1647. in which it is declared That every Minister put or which shall be put into any Parsonage Rectory Vicarage or Ecclesiasticall Living by way of Sequestration or otherwise by both or either the Houses of Parliament or by any Committee or other person or persons by Authority of any Ordinance or Order of Parliament shall and may sâ—e for the Recovery of his Tythes Rents and other duties by vertue of the said Ordinance in as full and ample manner to all intents and purposes as any other Minister or other person whatsoever This being obtain'd to keep in awe the Landholders for the time to come they obtained another Ordinance dated the 23 of the same Moneth for keeping the poor sequestred Clergy in a far greater awe then the others were by which iâ— was Ordered and Ordained That all Sheriffs Mayors Bayliffs Justices of the Peace Deputy Lieutenants and Committees of Parliament in the several Counties Cities and places within this Kingdom do forthwith apprehend or cause to be apprehended all such Minister as by authority of Parliament have been put out of any Church or Chappell within this Kingdom or any other person or persons who have entred upon any such Church or Chappell or gained the possession of such Parsonage Houses â—ithes and profits thereunto belonging or have obstructed the payment of Tithes and other profits due by the Parishioners to the said Ministers there placed by Authority of Parliament or Sequestrators appointed where no Ministers are setled to receive the same and all such persons as have been Aiders Abettors or Assisters in the Premises and commit them to prison there to remain until such satisfaction be made unto the severall Ministers placed by the said Authority of Parliament for his or their damages sustained as to the said Sheriffs Mayors c. shall appear to be just c. So little got the Sequestred Clergy by their Petition and Addresse to Sir Thomas Faâ—rfâ—x that their condition was made worse by it then it was before in that the Acts of the Committees