Euridicus Euric or Theodoric for by those Names he is called Anno Dom. 466. made them be digested into writing These Levigild Aera 608 amended and they had their fullest Vigor from the Kings Chindaswind and Recaswind and these are used in Spain and that part of France called Gallia Narbonensis anciently Braccata containing Savoy Dauphin Province and Languedoc The next Laws for Antiquity are the Burgundian Gundebald or Gundebaud The Burgundian Laws who was made tributary to Clouis King of France Anno Dom. 501. having setled Burgundy under his Jurisdiction did appoint saith (u) Lib. 2. c 33. Gregory Turonensis milder Laws for the Burgundians lest he might oppress the Romans and Lindenbrogius notes That his Laws agree with the Responses of Papinian though (w) De Impietate Duellici examinis Agobard in his Book to Lewis the Emperor complains of the unjustness of one branch of them in admitting Duel when Proof might otherwise be had However here it appears they were made by his Authority The next are the Laws of the Alemans Baiuvarians and Francks * all which took their beginning from Theoderic the First (x) Spehaan 's Gloss Lex Baioriorum Lex Baiuvariorum Baioriorum Boiorum containing Franconia now Bavaria and Bohemia according to some Son of Clouis the First who founded the French Kingdom Anno 511. having triumphed over the Almains and being converted to Christianity he took the Name of Lewis when he was in Catalonia he called to him wise Men skilled in the Ancient Laws of his Kingdom and he himself indicting he commanded the Laws of those Nations according to every ones Customs to be written adding rescinding and changing them according as Christian Religion required and those which for the ancient Pagan Rites he could not alter himself Childebert the Second begun and Clotharius the Second perfected and Dagobert the great made them better and to every Nation concerned in them Lex Aalmannorum he gave them in writing As to that part which is called the Lex Alamannorum they were amended by Clotharius the Second Son of Chilperic and his Princes viz. Thirty three Bishops Thirty four Dukes Seventy two Earls and the rest of the People as appears by the Title so that this by an Act of the King and great Council and the former by the Kings themselves are recorded to be appointed or made Lex Francorum As to the Law of the Francs not the Salic Law which is of later date we find no more mention of them after they were digested by Theodoric the first till the time of Charles the Great who and his Son published Laws by the Name of Capitularies which Ann. 840. were writ by Ansegisus Abbas Lobiensis and Benedictus Levita so that here is no mention but of the Kings and Emperors sole establishing these Laws Lex Longobardorum The Longobards now Lombards in Italy were a Colony of the Saxons who were removed into Pannonia or Hungary and by Narses General to Justinian about the year 550 were called into Italy to assist the Emperor against Totila King of the Goths whom Narses totally routed in Italy and these Longobards (y) Warnefridus Hist Longobard lib. 4. c. 44. seated themselves there and established a Kingdom and Rotharis their King reduced the Laws which they held only by Use and Memory being mostly such as the Saxons had used into writing and caused the Book of them toâ—be called an Edict which was about 70 years after their setling in Italy the succeeding Princes Grimoald Luitprandus Rachis and Aistulphus and after Charles the Great Latharius and Pipin added and amended them Sir Henry Spelman (z) Glosser tit LL. Longobard saith that betwixt our Laws and those of the Longobards there is a great Agreement in the Laws Rites Words and other Particulars but saith our Ancestors brought out of Germany their Customs not written but according to the custom of the Lacedaemonians and the Ancient Nations of the North retained them in their memories only In the Laws of Henry the First Lex Ripuariorum we find the Ripuarian Laws which were made for those of Luxenburg Gelderland and Cleves not only approved but some of them are word for word in his Laws as Sir Henry Spelman notes As to the Salic Law the Francs a People of Germany The Salick Law passing the Rhine subdued a great part of Gaul and in the third year of Pharamond four of the Nobles of the Nation reviewed all the Originals of Causes according to the Salic Law There are two Prologues to these Laws the first names the four Noblemen that digested them the second saith names the Anno Dom. 798. The Lord Charles the Noble (a) Anno Dom. 798. Dom. Carolus Rex Francorum incliâ—â—s hunc libellum tractatâ—s Legis Salicae seribere ordinavit King of the Francs ordained the writing of that Book of the Salic Law In the Laws of King Henry the First Sir Henry Spelman notes That many things are taken out of the Salic Laws as he instanceth in the 87 and 89 Chapters where the Words are used and Punishments are appointed secundum Legem Salicam according to the Salic Law I shall now set down something in general of our Country Law (b) Glâ—sser Lex Anglorum The English Saxon Laws from Germany Sir Henry Spelman observes That the Laws of the English in Britain seem to take their Original from the German Manners or Customs but he knows not who first introduced them It is known that there came into England upon the Invitation of Vortigern the Jutes or Goths Angela is a Town near Flemshurg a City of Sleswick perhaps our Flamburgh in Yorkâ—â—ire had its Name from some that inhabited that City the Angli or English and the Saxons tho all here obtained the Names of Saxons The Jutes setled in Kent and the Isle of Wight The Saxons in Essex Middlesex and Sussex and so on the Sea Coast to Cornwall and were called the West Saxons The Angli possessed the East and North parts which were called Mercia Those of Kent had their Laws The tripartite Division of the Saxon Laws but after being swallowed up in the West-Saxon Kingdom they were subject to their Laws The Angli used the Mercian Laws till the Danes over-running the Provinces of East-England and of the North Humbers brought in their Customs not differing very much from the Laws they had before from hence sprung the threefold Division of Laws viz. the (c) West-Seaxna Laga Myrcna Laga Dene Laga West-Saxon Laws the Mercian Laws and the Danish Laws The first Laws we have an account of were made by Ethelbert King of Kent Anno 561. and the next by Ina King of the West Saxons who began to Reign Anno 712. and the next by Offa King of the Mercians of which Laws I have spoke before The Danish Laws were such as were not only used in Denmark but in Normandy Danish Laws
Religion (s) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Polit. lib. 5. c. 11. saith It is not foolishly and impertinently to be pretended whereby we may infer it is to be sincere and Cordial So Pomponius (t) In Philipp◠Laetus tells us That Philippus Arabs covered his Wickedness and Cruelties by feigning himself a Christian and relaxing their Persecutions and he reigned but five Years and He and his Sons were massacred by his Soldiers at Verona Indeed it cannot be expected otherwise but that the Judgment of God and the Indignation of Men should fall upon such Dissimulation and Hypocrisie For however Princes or private Persons may lacker over their specious Religiousness yet in some times or places it will appear so thin that it will be discovered and at best it will bear no resemblance with pure Gold Foyl It must not be denied That Princes have a larger Latitude than others to conceal their Sentiments of Religion or to set the fairest Gloss upon it as being to guide their Actions in this matter as well as in secular Affairs suitable to the Interests of State But every one will likewise acknowledge that a Prince The Credit a Prince gains that is truly Religious who useth in this as well as other matters a generous plain dealing is valued more by this Standard Coin without Alloy than those are who make as the States of Holland do their Third in Silver mixed with four parts of adulterate Metal pass for currant Sterling Coyn. Among just Men such a Prince that deals candidly with God and the World will find infinite more credit than any Tinsel heart will do But I must pass to another of the Florentine's Paradoxes (u) Discourse lib. 1. cap. 12. 〈◊〉 's Opinion of the Bencht of the Heathen Religion he saith The Pagan World was kept principally in Obedience by the belief they had in the Responses of Oracles as that of Jupiter Ammon at Delos or Apollo's at Delphos c. or by the Prognosticks of the Augurs and that when once Men began to sleight these they neither believed God nor the Devil but became as ungovernable as unchained Slaves and in another (w) Id. lib. 2. c. 5. place adds That the cause why the Force and Power of Christians is less than that of the Grecians and Romans was in the difference of their Religion For that the Christian Religion makes the Honour of the World contemptible and of little Estimation whereas the Gentiles esteemed Honour to be the Soveraign good which to obtain they had an exceeding great Fierceness and Hardiness in all their Deeds and Enterprizes and that the Heathen Religion promiseth no Happiness but to such as having fought for their Prince Country and Commonweal were loaded with Glory and worldly Honour whereas the Christian Religion promiseth blessings to such as are humble and contemplative and to those which despise most the Goods and Honours of this World and further adds That the Christian Religion hath conducted and brought the World into that Weakness and Feebleness we see it in delivering it as a Prey to the wicked and barbarous People because all Christians to take the way to Paradise dispose and arm themselves rather to receive Blows than to give or take Vengeance So that to him it seems That the thing which makes Christians so effeminate and cowardly proceeds only from this That they esteem more of an Idle and Contemplative than an Active Life In answer to all which I do own The Answer That the Oracles and Augurs had some Influence upon the People but we must likewise yield That they were often Instruments and Tools fitted by Princes to carry on some designs to give Courage to their Soldiers and disheartning to their Enemies and that God in the Machine was oftentimes a Prince's Spring that lay there As to the Rites and Ceremonies whatever Power they had to influence Mens Minds to Obedience and Duty to Governours and to stimulate and excite them to great and glorious Actions the same Motives and Inducements we may find in the Christian Religion and better bottomed That there is something else besides bare Forms Modes and Schemes of Religion that ought to be countenanced and cherished by Princes and which is very conducive not to make any Comparisons to the support of Government I will now endeavour to prove First therefore let us consider what is related of Numa Concerning Numa Pompilius It is said he appointed divers Ordinances concerning Priests and several Ceremonies whereof several Rolls were found in his (x) Livius lib. 40. Decad. 4. Sepulcher Anno V. C. 574. in the Consulship of Lucius Manilius in a Stone Coffin one part Latin and the other Greek These Books being seven in all by order from the Consuls and Senate were perused by Quintus Petilius who made such a Report of them that according to Livy they were decreed to be burnt as of no great account and besides judged pernicious and damageable to the Commonwealth by bringing that Religion into Use which was like to bring great (y) Cum animadvertisset pleraque dissolvendam Religionem esse Ibid. alterations in the present Rites Valerius Maximus gives something a different account for he saith the Greek Books only (z) De disciplina sapientiae quia aliqua ex parte ad solvendam Religionem pertinere existimabantur noluerunt enim prisei viri quicquam in hac asservari civitate quo animi hominum a deorum cultu avocarentur Lib. 5. de Religione num 12. of the Discipline of Wisdom were burnt for that they were judged in some respects to dissolve Religion For saith my Author the Ancients would preserve nothing in this City by which the Minds of Men might be withdrawn or led aside from the Worship of the Gods From this Story I shall first mark obiter that it seems for want of the engraving these Institutions of Numa concerning Religion in Brass as the Roman Laws were though the successive Priests had the ordering them ever since yet there was that alteration made in that long interval of time in the Rites and Ceremonies from what he had instituted that to have reduced them to their practice was like to un-hinge all their present Ecclesiastical Polity and so the Senate Consuls and Priests thought it more adviseable to burn and annihilate them than to disorder the present Establishment Secondly We may note that the Senate and Consuls took care that nothing should be exposed to the People how sacred a Relique soever that might enervate or debilitate Religion Now we may further note out of a judicious (a) Dionys Halicarnassaeus lib. 11. Historian That Numa built a Temple to Faith where he established many Ceremonies to induce People to reverence Faith The good things Numa established in order to Government and to fear Perjury and ordained likewise upon Controversies happening among Parties they should be bound to go to the same Temple and there with certain
subsequent Acts of Parliament supplied all Defects and all the Limitations of that absolute Power which accrued by Conquest being the free Concession of himself and his Successors which appears in their Grants by way of Charter as I shall hereafter have occasion to enlarge upon it is most evident that the King's Power is absolute where no Law (f) D. Digs Unlawfulness of Resisting can be produced to the contrary and no special Case can be determined by the Subject to the Kings disadvantage and though the Kings succeeding the Conquest to sweeten Subjection quaedam jura pactis minuerunt and these Acts of Grace were confirmed by Promise and Oath No Contract betwixt King and Subjects whereby they may exact an Account yet we find no Footsteps of any security given that should endanger the Person or Regal Authority by giving to their Subjects any legal Power to unking them if they should not perform Covenant Nor could it be rational to expect such for they knew full well if they should not break such Promises yet a Pretence that they did so as we have known it was alledged concerning the Coronation Oath might upon the first opportunity create a Civil War Therefore their Subjects had as little reason to accept as the Kings had to offer so pernicious a Security as would bring both Parties into such a sad Condition For if Rebellion were to be allowed in any Case that Case would be always pretended and though the Prince were Just Wise and Religious yet ambitious Men to compass their own Ends would impute to him Oppression Weakness or Irreligion as the World knows by too sad Experience was verified in King Charles the Martyr who taking his measures of others Sincerity by the rule of his own Heart suffered pretences of publick Good to grow up to insolent Tumults and at last to Rebellion and notwithstanding his Exemplary Practice in his publick Devotions was traduced to have but handsomly dissembled and favoured another Religion in his Heart and at last brought before a crew of Regicides impeached of breach of Trust Tyranny and I know not how many horrid Crimes against his Subjects who yet died the Peoples Martyr and the Royal Asserter of their Liberties and Priviledges which all his Subjects found to expire with him the greatest Arbitrariness and cruellest Tyranny being during their Power exercised by the new Common-wealth Men that ever was read of in any History Those who read Books among those of the Sect of Libertines in Politicks and so much magnify the great name of Liberty of the Subject and co-ordinate Powers Writers who lived under Common-wealths no Guides to us converse most in Greek and Latin Authors who lived under Commonwealths and so were profuse in the commendation of their Country Government against Usurpers or else these admired Authors were (g) Jus Regium p. 134. Stoicks who out of a selfish Pride equalled themselves not only to their Kings but to their own Gods even as our Quakers who pretend a Light within them a more sure guide to them than the Law Now the same reason they had to commend their form of Government We have more reason to commâ—nd our Government than the Romans or Grecians theirs and so much more as Monarchy is preferrable to Aristocracy we in England have reason to commend our Constitution where our Kings are truly the Fathers of their Country and if they would ballance the convenience or inconvenience of either Government they would soon discover it For whereas they say that the Doctrine of Non-resistance is the readiest Motive to establish Tyranny It is much more certain and experimentally known that the Leaders of the Rabble always prove such and that the Distractions of a civil War which ordinarily are occasioned by the pretence of reforming something amiss in the Governours and Competitions betwixt Persons for Soveraignty destroy more than the Lusts of any one Tyrant can do which made Lucan a Republican and of the Pompeian Party conclude after a sad review of the continual Civil Wars betwixt Sylla and Marius Caesar and Pompey without touching upon what followed under the Triumvirs Foelices Arabes Medique Eoaque tellus Qui sub perpetuis tenuerunt Regna Tyrannis And if he preferred even the Tyranny or absoluteness of those Kings before the State of Civil Wars how much more have we reason to submit and that chearfully to the most easy Yoak of the Sovereignty of our Princes We need not be solicitous that their unaccountableness to their Subjects shall prompt them to Tyranny because we have good Security as strong as humane Wisdom ever invented that we shall live happily under that Constitution which our Fore-fathers enjoyed the Benefit of in an high Degree The Security we have that no Arbitrary Government can be exercised in England never distrusting the sound temper of the Policy For first our Kings swear at their Coronations to preserve the Laws Liberties Properties and Religion Secondly If they should command illegal things the Executors of them are responsible to Parliamentary Inquisitions Lastly the Interest of the King is the same with that of the Subject as to their Prosperity and Misery so that a King will always consult the good of his Subjects which made (h) Praeestis hominibus sed hominum causa nec domini modo Arbitri rerum sed Tutores Administratores estis Collata est in sinum vestrum a deo hominibus Respublica sed nempe in sinum ut foveatur Epist Dedicat ad Imp. Reges Principes Lipsius tell the Sovereigns That they govern over Men but for their good and are not only Lords and Judges of Matters but Tutors and Administrators That the Government of the Commonweal by God and Men is placed in their Bosoms or Laps but so as to be cherished and protected there To conclude this discourse We have heard of or seen the sad Calamities the Republican Rebellion brought upon all his Majesties Dominions when the mild Government of King Charles the First was altered to the most Bloody and Tyrannical one of his rebellious Subjects that any Age could parallel and we have had Experience of the merciful Government of his Royal Son and Successor and have lived to see all the Establishments of Usurpers brought to Confusion We have seen a formidable Rebellion burst forth in our Magnanimous King James the Second's Reign which had been forming seven Years before utterly overthrown in two Months and we cannot peruse Histories but we must meet with infinite Examples of the sad devastations such Rebellions bring to their Country and the unsuccessfulness of them Therefore I would earnestly advise all Malecontents never to make their Country's Ruine and the slain Carcasses of their Countrymen the Steps by which they must ascend the Scaffolds or the Rounds of the Ladders they must mount the Gallows which without a Prince's Clemency are the sure Rewards of all Rebels and their certain Fate CHAP.
Manners or Government of the Britans before the Romans Arrival we can find very little of them but what is related of the Druids Peter Ramus in his Book de moribus Veterum Gallorum hath Collected out of the antientest Authors a parallel betwixt the Customs of the Gauls the Germans and Britans there being found in Caesar and Strabo's description of their manner of Living strength of Body Temperance Marriages Habitations and many other Particulars a great affinity of which I shall touch some Particulars hereafter At present I shall speak of the original of the Gauls and of the Druids Discipline and Government of the Gauls and Britans The fabulous Berosus published by John Annius of Viterbium a City in Tuscany saith that Dis or Pluto was the Founder of the Celtick Colonies Celto Gallatia comprehended what was within the River Rhine the Alpes the Mediterranean Sea the Pyrenean Hills Gascoign and the Brittish Ocean and Ptolomy (h) 2. Geog. 2. Quâ—drip Pausan l. 1. comprized all Europe under the name of Celtica This Berosus calls this Dis Samothes and makes him Son of Japhet Caesar countenanceth that of Dis from whence he saith they reckon by Nights The best Authority we have for the Samnothei is that of Laertius (i) In vitis Philos who saith that amongst the Celtae and Gauls the Semnothei as saith Aristotle in his Book of Magick and Sotion in his Twenty third Book of Succession were But there is no mention of their being skilled in Laws Divine and Humane as the fabulous Berosus saith Here Stephen in his notes upon Laertius thinks them to be called Semnothei for having the worshipful Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in their Mouths or that they themselves were accounted amongst Men as a kind of worshipful Gods (k) In Achaicis So in Pausanias we meet with the Chappels of the Goddesses whom the Athenians stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Worshipful Ramus (l) De moribus veterum Gallorum p. 71 72. De Gall. Imp. lib. 1. out of Berosus saith Philosophy proceeded in the beginning from the Semnothei of the Gaules and that Magus succeded him then Sarson their third King who saith Stephanus Forcatulus reduced the Laws of his Grandfather and Father into one Volume and with severe Threats gave order for the keeping of them and Ramus saith he was the first that appointed the Study of Learning Their fourth King he makes Druis or Druidus from whence the Druids of whom I shall hereafter discourse and their fifth Bardus whose Glory is celebrated by the Bards their Poets and Orators (m) Lib. 15. De Oirgine Gallorum Marcellinus out of Timagenes makes the Aborigines of Gaul to be the Celtae and some part of them to be Peopled by the Dorienses who followed the elder Hercules and possessed the Ocean Shore So Marseilles a City of France was a Greek Colony of the Phocians The Drasidae were another part of the Indigenae or home-bred People and others saith he Q. Whether he mean Britain and Ireland have flowed hither from the remote Isles and from the tract of Land beyond the Rhine and some few after the Destruction of Troy flying from the Grecians being every where dispersed seated themselves in the empty Countries Where we may note by the by that then the Opinion of the Trojans setling in several Countries was believed But Marcellinus saith Quod etiam nos legimus in monumentis incisum the Inhabitants do affirm which he had also seen cut in their Monuments that Hercules the Son of Amphitrio having overcome Geryon the cruel Tyrant of Spain and Turiscus of the Gauls begot upon their noble Women several Sons and called them by the names of the Countries they commanded Also that some came from Phocaea in Asia flying the cruelty of Harpalus the President of Cyrus I am larger upon this Matter because the Britains had the Doctrine and Discipline of the Druids in Perfection as hereafter I shall shew and we find in Caesar a great part of Britany once under the Government of Divitiacus King of the Soissons a People of France and often the customs of the Gauls Britains and Germans are compared or their Manners are near a-kin as appears by Caesar Tacitus Strabo and others Concerning the Laws of Samothes we find nothing in ancient Authors for that of Basingstoke (n) Seldeni Janus Ang. c. 3. Count Palâ—â—â—n is but a very modern Authority that Samothes defined the Spaces or Intervals of all time not by the number of Days but of Nights and he observed Birth-days and the Commencements of Months and Years in that order that the Day should come after the Night Only I cannot but observe that both Caesar saith the same thing of the Gauls and Tacitus of the Germans and the Britains do yet observe it So we call the seventh Night for the seventh Day in our usual Speech such or such a day Senight which is agreeable to Nature and Scripture where we find the Evening and the Morning were the first Day and so Aristotle reckons Privation as the first of the three Principles I pass by the rest of the Story of Phranicus who about nine hundred years after Samothes if we will believe Jeofrey of Monmouth being to reside in Pannonia intrusts the Druids with the Government of Britain and how Brutus the Grand-Child of Aeneas got the Kingdom and about six Hundred Years after Dunwallo Molmatius being King made Laws according to our Jeofery and Ralph Monk of Chester that their Ploughs Temples and Roads that led to Cities should have Priviledge to be places of Refuge and many other things which Gildas mentions and Polydore Virgil hath gathered and how he was buried in Troynovant near the Temple of Concord which (o) Britanniae Speculum Norden will have to be the Temple of London All these wanting the Confirmation of sound Authority as also doth the whole Series of Brittish Kings and the Title of the Trojan Laws that Brutus brought in for there is but one specially mentioned that the Eldest Son should inherit the whole Right and Estate of their deceased Father This indeed might be taken from Herodotus (p) In Euterpe that writes it of Hector Son and Heir of Priamus and this if we believe the Brittish Story was sometimes broken as when the three Brothers Locrinus Camber and Albanactus divided the Land betwixt them as also the Shares that Fenix and Porrix Brennus and Belinus had It is no wonder that we have no better account of those Ages since we find in (q) Neque sas esse exisâ—â—mant ea literis mandare cum in reliquis sere rebus public is privatisque rationibus Graecis literis utantur Caesar That the Druids committed not their Learning to Writing but taught a certain number of Verses and some spent twenty Years in the Discipline and (r) Quamvâ—â— literarum secreta ignoraverint attamen celebrabant carminibus Antiquos suns Deos
by whose Council and Advice the Kings used in the making Laws are the Witan Wites From Wita which Womner renders Optimas Princeps Sapiens a Nobleman Prince or Wiseman from witan to know and understand So in the Laws of King Ina we read Gethungenes Witan a famous noble or renowned Wite from Gethungen So in the version of Bede by King Alfred Witum is rendred Counsellors so by Sapientes when we meet with it in any Authors that render Witan by it we are to understand not only Judges but sometimes Dukes Earls Prapositi Provosts Thegns the King's Officers or Ministers So in the Charter (i) Histor Privileg Eccl. Eliensis fol. 117. b. of King Edgar to the Church of Ely Anno 970. Alferre Egelwinc and Brithnoth are called Dukes and Hringulph Thurferth and Alfric are called Ministri The first of which in another Charter is called Alderman and the other by the name of Sapientes Upon perusal and collating several Transcripts of Deeds and Councils I am of opinion that where Wites or Sapientes are used for Princes Noblemen and great Personages those are to be understood that were called to the Kings Council had command over Countries as Lord Lieutenants or were Members of the great Councils So that they were of the most wise and knowing of the great Princes Dukes Earls and Barons and where it doth not seem to import such great Men of Birth then it signifies Judges Which as to the first seems to be clear by what is said in the Auctuary (k) Lamb. fol. 147. tit de Heretochiis Qui Heretoches â—pud Angloâ—voâ—abantur se Barones Nobiles insignes sapientes vocati ductores excercituum c. to the 35 Law of Edward the Confessor where it is said There were other Powers and Dignities appointed through the Provinces and all the Countries and several Shires which are called by the English Heretoches in King Ina's Laws Here Thegne i. e. Noble Ministers or Officers and when he reckons up those who were to be understood by this name Heretoges he calls them Barons Nobles and famous Wisemen called Generals or great Officers in the Army and as to the latter Signification Doctor Brady hath sufficiently cleared it in Adelnoth's Plea against the Monks of Malmsbury where it is said that in the Presence of the King subtili disceptatione a Sapientibus suis i. e. Regis audita where by Sapientes must be understood the King's Judges Alderman Alderman or Ealderman was both a general Name (l) Spelman 's Glossary given to Princes Dukes Governours of Provinces Presidents Senators and even to Vice-Roys as also to particular Officers hence Aldermannus totius Angliae like my Lord Chief-Justice Aldermannus Regis Comitatus Civitatis Burgi Castelli Hundredi c. of whose Offices it is not easy particularly to define This being so copiously discoursed of by Sir Henry Spelman I shall refer the Reader to him The word Thane or Thegen was used by the Saxons in their Books variously sometimes it signified a stout Man Thane Soldier or Knight other times Thanus (m) Cyninges Thegen Med mera Thegen Woruld Thegen Maesse Thegen Somner Dial. Regius signified the Kings great Officer a Nobleman or Peer of the Realm other times a Thane or Nobleman of lower degree sometimes we meet with secular or Lay Thanes other times Spiritual Thanes or Priests Some Thanes were as the King's Bailiffs Praefects Reeves of which Doctor Brady gives account in his Argum. Antinorm Page 283. In several of the Councils we find no particular orders denominated but only a division of the whole into the Clergy Clergy and Laity and Laity So in the Council that Sir H. Spelman (n) Spelm. 1. Tom. Concil tells us Ethelbert King of Kent held 685. with Bertha his Queen and Eadbald his Son and the Reverend Bishop Austine Communi concilio tam Cleri quam Populi and the rest of the Optimates Terrae at Christmass having called a Common-Council of the Clergy and People by which it is apparent that both the Clergy o and Laity there understood are comprehended under the name Optimates Terrae the Nobility of Land So in King Ina's Laws as I shall hereafter particularize the command is given to Godes Theowas Gods Servant and eales folces all People So King Edmund held a great Council at Easter in London of Gods (p) Egther ge godcundra hada ge woruld cundra Order and the Secular Order or Worlds Order which Brompton (q) Mandavit omnibus Majoribus Regnorum veniunt Wintoniam Clerus Populus renders Laici in another part of King Edward's Laws So the Majores Regnorum of King Edgar are commanded to come and then it is said There came to Winchester the Clergy and People those were the Majores Regnorum The like was frequently used after the Conquest so at the Coronation of Henry the First Matthew Paris speaks of the gathering of the Clergy and all the People and then saith Clero Angliae Populo universo The Clergy answering him and all the Magnates and in another place Clero Populo favente the Clergy and People favouring Further we find in a great Council held by the King Anno 1102. 2 H. 2. (r) Omnes Principes Regni sui Ecclesiastici secularis ordinis Flo. Wigor fol. 651. lin 21. all the chief Men of his Kingdom of the Ecclesiastic and secular Order So that Plebs Populus Vulgus Incola where by way of Antithesis or contra-Opposition they are used do signify the Clergy and Laity or Lay-Princes not the common People After the Conquest we meet with the Word Regnum sometimes and other times Regnum Sacerdotium As to the first the Sence is to be understood best in the Quadripartite History (s) Quadrilog lib. 1. c. 26. of the Life of Thomas Becket where it is said the King called to Clarendon Regnum universum all the Kingdom and then saith To whom came the dignified Clergy and the Nobles which Matt. Paris puts out of all doubt by the enumeration that he makes of all that appertained to the Kingdom to be the Arch-Bishops Bishops Abbats and Priors Installed and the Earls and Barons So the meaning is best understood of the words in the last Chapter of Magna Charta that the Arch-Bishops Bishops Abbats Priors Earls Barons Knights and free Tenents and all of the Kingdom gave a fifteenth part of their Moveables and in other places after the Barons it is said Omnes alii de Regno nostro qui de nobis tenent in Capite concerning which the most Learned Doctor Brady hath given plentiful Proofs Magnates Proceres By the words Magnates Proceres frequently found in the Councils after the Conquest are to be understood the Arch-Bishops Bishops Abbats and Priors for the Clergy and the Earls and Barons for the Laity only unless afterwards that Dukes were included However they were used always to contra-distinguish
a se primo essent ordinata Eadmer tells us That when the Archbishop of Canterbury presided in a general Council of the Bishops the King permitted him not to appoint or forbid any thing but such things as were agreeable to his will and by himself were first ordained Also he saith in all his Dominions he would allow no Bishop of Rome to be accounted Apostolic but whom he commanded to be received nor any to receive his Bulls or Breves unless they were first shown to him I have in the beginning of this Chapter spoken something of the Mutations that William the Conqueror made in the Constitution of the Government of England concerning which I shall only note That the Conqueror took all the care that a great Commander and Conqueror of a great Nation could do for securing his Conqests (p) Pictav fol. 197. C. Ingulph 512. a lin 7. What the Conqueror did to secure his Conquest by building Fortresses and Castles within the City of London and placing Norman Garrisons and French Governours or Castellanes in the Castles in the Country and giving them great Estates and carrying the chief of the English Nobility with him as Hostages into Normandy and imposed his Laws as Pictavensis relates (q) Id. fol. 2â—6 a. 207 c. 2â—8 a. b. and though he who was Chaplain to the Conqueror speak of the Conqueror's smooth behaviour to the English ordering things as he saith prudently justly and mildly some to the Profit and Dignity of the City some to the advantage of the whole Nation and other some to the benefit of the Churches of the Land and whatever Laws he dictated he established with excellent reason and adds That no French-man (r) Nulli tamen Gallo datum est quod Anglo â—uiquam injuste fuecit ablatum Idem fol. 208. c. had any thing given him which was unjustly taken from any Englishman which last Ordericus Vitalis omits though in other things he follows Pictavensis exactly yet Pictavensis writing but to the Fourth of his Reign Anno 1070. as is noted by Ordericus we must look upon them as incompetent Witnesses of the severity the Conqueror after used when he had secured his Conquest So that what is urged by some of the Conqueror's lenity and his little change of Laws and Government is to be understood of those times while he was unsafe in his Conquests and doth not so interfere as they would make the World believe How he comported himself after he had secured his Conquest with the assertion of those who from credible Authors speak of his treating the English as a Conquered People For Pictavensis (s) Jure Belli possedit fol. 206. a. saith that he possessed the Country by the rights of War Ordericus (t) Adjutoribus suis inclytas Angliae Regiones distribuit ex insimis Normannorum Clientibus Tribunos Centuriones ditissimos erexit Orderic Vit. 251. Vitalis saith That having circumvented the two great Earls of Mercia and slain Edwin and imprisoned Morcas then he began to shew himself and gave the best Counties of England to his Assistants and of the lowest of the Norman Clients or very mean People he made very rich Colonels and Captains as he particularizes there and in another (u) Fundos eorum cum omnibus divitiis obtinâ—imus Id. fol. 853. place That having overthrown by Force and Arms the English Saxons they obtained their Lands and all their Riches Malmsbury (w) Malmsb. fol. 52. a. num 40. Vix aliquis Princeps de progenie Anglorum esset in Anglia sed omnes ad servitutem moerorem redacti essent ita ut Anglieum vocari opprobrjum saith That there was no Englishman Duke or Bishop or Abbat but Strangers do gnaw the Riches and very Bowels of England So (x) Hen. Hunt fol. 210 b. num 10. About the continuing the English Saxons but changing their Tenures Services c. Hen. of Huntingdon saith there was scarce any Prince of the Progenie of the English but all are reduced to Servitude and Sorrow so that it is a disgrace to be called an Englishman and Gervase of Canterbury saith That he used both Ecclesiastick and Secular Rights or Laws as he pleased tam Ecclesiastica Jura quam secularia sibi usurpavit As to King William's displacing of the Saxons I find in the Transcript of Doomsday-Book that I have for Yorkshire that very many enjoyed the same Lands they did in Edward the Confessors time but I remember no where that I do not find them hold of some Norman Lords which is agreeable to what Dr. Brady writes but I refer the Discourse of those to my Antiquities of Yorkshire if God give me life and ability to publish them As to the Conqueror's changing the holding of Lands here to the (y) Spelman Gloss Feodam Feudal Tenure used in Normandy begun by the Germans Longobards Francks and others and of which something seems to be hinted in the English Saxon Laws all Authors do conclude that the Conqueror brought the exacter use at least of them into England and divided the whole Land into several Knights-fees whereof there are reckoned 700 Tenants in Capite besides Bishops Abbats Priors and great Church-men and the Laws of King Edward that the Conqueror permitted to be used were either most of them Penal Laws from which he got profit or such as are properly his own and were efficacious for the preservation of the Peace and establishment of Government as the 52 55 56 58 59 64. whereof the 55 58 and 59. are Feudal How William the Conqueror brought in his other Norman Laws Dr. Brady in his Preface to the Norman Story hath at large discoursed so that in Justice I must refer the Curious Reader to his elaborate work and to Mr. Selden in his Second Book of his Janus Anglorum Of the Great Councils in William the Second's time IN the Reign of William Rufus we find few Great Councils So that Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury complains (a) Eadmer Hist Nov. lib. 1. fol. 24. lin 8. to him when he was preparing to pass into Normandy that since he was King there had been no General Council of the Bishops nor of several years before so that Christianity was much decayed The first great Council I have met with is that of Winchester (b) Idem fol. 20. num 30. Anno D. 1093. 5 W. Rusi The Contest betwixt William the Second and Anselm This Council is only thus expressed Rex adunato Wintoniae conventu Nobilium without specifying either Ecclesiasticks or Laicks In this Council the King declared Anselm Archbishop and he did Homage to him (c) Idem p. 26. num 10.6 Gul. 2. This Anselm sought leave of the King that he might go to Rome to receive the Pall from Pope Vrban whom the King did not own for Pope but Clement This and some other Matters occasioned sharp words and unkindness from the King to Anselm the King absolutely denying
Magnatibus Proceribus dicti Regni nostri colloquium habere tractatum Tibi praecipimus firmiter injungentes quod facta Proclamatione in proximo Comitatu tuo post receptionem hujus Brevis nostri tenendo die loco praedicto duos Milites gladiis cinctos magis idoneos discretos Comitatus praedicti de qualibet Civitate Comitatus illius duos Cives de quolibet Burgo duos Burgenses de discretioribus magis sufficientibus libere indifferenter per illos qui Proclamationi hujusmodi interfuerint juxta formam Statutorum inde editorum provisorum eligi nomina eorundem Militum Civium Burgensium sic electorum in quibusdam Indenturis inter te illos qui hujusmodi Electioni interfuerint inde conficiendis sive hujusmodi electi praesentes fuerint vel absentes inseri eosque ad dictum diem locum venire facias ita quod iidem Milites plenam sufficientem potestatem pro se Communitate Comitatus praedicti Cives Burgenses pro se Communitate Civitatum Burgorum praedictorum divisim ab ipsis habeant ad faciendum consentiendum his quae tunc ibidem de communi Concilio dicti Regni nostri favente Deo contigerint ordinari super negotiis ante dictis Ita quod pro defectu potestatis hujusmodi seu propter improvidam Electionem Militum Civium aut Burgensium praedictorum dicta negotia infecta non remaneant quovis modo Nolumus autem quod tu nec aliquis alius Vicecomes dicti Regni nostri aliqualiter sit electus Et Electionem illam in pleno Comitatu factam distincte aperte sub Sigillo tuo Sigillis eorum qui Electioni illae interfuerint nobis in Cancellariam nostram ad dictum dâ—em locum certifices indilate remittens nobis alteram partem Indenturarum praedictarum praesentibus consutam una cum hoc Brevi Teste meipso apud Westmonast THE King to the Sheriff Greeting Whereas by the Advice and Consent of our Council Advice of Privy Council for certain difficult and urgent business concerning us and the State and defence of our Kingdom of England and the English Church we have ordained a certain Parliament of ours to be held at our City of c. the day c. next ensuing and there to have conference Conference with Prelates c. and to treat with the Prelates Great Men and Peers of our said Kingdom We command and straitly enjoyn you Proclamation at County-Court that making Proclamation at the next County Court after receipt of this our Writ to be holden the day and place aforesaid Two Knights girt with Swords c. you cause two Knights girt with Swords the most fit and discreet of the County aforesaid and of every City of that County two Citizens Two Citizens and of every Burrough Two Burgesses two Burgesses of the discreeter and most sufficient Indifferently chosen by those present at the Proclamation according to Statutes to be freely and indifferently chosen by them who shall be present at such Proclamation according to the tenure of the Statutes in that case made and provided Their Names inserted in Indentures betwixt the Sheriff and the Electors and the names of the said Knights Citizens and Burgesses so chosen to be inserted in certain Indentures to be then made between you and those that shall be present at such Election whether the parties so elected be present or absent and shall make them to come at the said day and place To cause them to come at the Day and Place The Knights from the County the Citizens and Burgesses from their Cities Burroughs to have full power to do and consent so that the said Knights for themselves and for the County aforesaid and the said Citizens and Burgesses for themselves and the Commonalty of the aforesaid Cities and Burroughs may have severally for them full and sufficient power to perform and to consent to those things which by the favour of God shall there happen to be ordained by the Common Council of our said Kingdom concerning the businesses aforesaid Lest for want of that Power or improvident Election the Business be undonâ— so that the business may not by any means remain undone for want of such power No Sheriff to be chosen or by reason of the improvident Election of the aforesaid Knights Citizens and Burgesses Election to be in full County But we will not in any case you or any other Sheriff of our said Kingdom shall be elected The Indentures to be sealed by the Sheriff and Electors And at the day and the place aforesaid the said Election made in the full County Court A Counterpart tacked to the VVrit returned into the Chancery you shall certify without delay to us in our Chancery under your Seal and the Seals of them which shall be present at that Election sending back unto us the other part of the Indenture aforesaid affiled to these Presents together with this Writ Witness our self at Westminster SECT 7. Concerning the Speaker and the Privileges of the House of Commons IT is not my design to treat of all things relating to the Constitution My Design not to controvert the Privileges of the House of Commons but to shâ—w the gradual Alterations Laws and Customs of the House of Commons there are several useful Books extant which are fit for the Honourable Members of the House to consult What I most aim at is to shew what the Ancient Usage hath been and how from time to time things have been refined to the Mode and State they are now in and I hope those great Spirits that honour their Countries with their Service will pardon one that designs nothing more than to give them a Profile of the whole Model both in the days of our remotest Ancestors and what it was in more Modern times under just and undoubted Soveraigns as also how much it was transformed when the pretended House of Commons being confederated with a successful Army murthered their Soveraign voted away the House of Lords and assumed the Title of the Supream Authority of the Nation of which last I shall treat in the next Chapter The Members being according to the Kings Command come to the place appointed sometimes the Soveraign with the Lords in their Robes have rid in State to the Parliament which is generally yet observed in Scotland and Ireland The Solemnity at the Opening of the Parliament However at the opening of the Parliament the King is seated on his Throne under the Canopy with his Royal Crown on his Head the Chancellor standing something backward on his Right-hand and the great Officers as Lord Treasurer Lord President of the Kings Council Lord Privy Seal Great Chamberlain the Lord Constable Marshal Lord Admiral Lord Steward and Kings Chamberlain attend on either side the State or in their Seats
the rest and leave all in unsecurity How can saith he Justice banish (t) MS. Speech at the end of the Parliament Anno 1559. Justices of Peace to be active Enormities when her Ministers are slothful making no account of any of the Common Causes of their Country and under the notion of being accounted quiet men they seek only ease profit and pleasure to themselves and to be sustained by other mens care and labour whereas the Horse-Master provideth for the good Government of his Horse Bits or Brakes according to the hardness or tenderness of his Mouth If continues he in the richest soil the usefullest and delightfullest Flowers The necessity of punishing evil Men. Shrubs and Fruits be planted and no care be taken to weed out what would choak and over-grow them what pleasure or benefit could be had of all ones cost and labour a crop of weeds would soon such out all the nourishment from their roots over-shadow them from the cherishing Sun and smother the curious Plants so that they would soon dye and wither Therefore is there a great need of chusing able careful and active Gardiners to howe and root out all such rank Weeds In another (u) MS. Speech second Parl. 1562. Speech after advising great care in chusing Officers as Justices of Peace c. that have the Execution of the Laws he tells the noble Assembly That sharp Laws should be made for banishing sloth and corruption A Visitation of the Justices of Peace proposed and adviseth there should be through the Kingdom Biennial or Triennial Visitations of all the Temporal Officers and Ministers that ought to see to the Execution of the Law by Commission to try the Offences of those that have not seen to the due Execution of the Laws according to the Office and charge committed to them as in Church-Visitations and that a Roll should be kept See something of this nature 2 H. 5. 8. wherein all the Justices names should be set down to every Offence he hath caused to be punished that it might appear who is diligent and that those that are negligent might be removed to their perpetual Ignominy and such pains set upon them as by Law may be Another time (w) MS. Speech Star-chamber 1568. he urgeth that it ought to be considered whether it be a greater Cruelty to execute the Penal Laws so as thereby a few shall be unwhipped and many hanged or some shall be whipped and thereby few hanged In another (x) MS. Speech second Session of Parliament 1571. I find this swasive It would be strange to make Laws to reform manners and prune away the ill branches and Members of the Commonweal and then to â—ye them in boxes and books it were better to have no Laws than them not Executed for besides other inconveniences it breeds contempt of Laws and Law-makers (y) Idem A Prince continueth he that is careful of the discharge of his great Office leaveth nothing undone meet for him to do for the Execution of the Laws making choice of Persons of most Credit and best understanding through the Kingdom to whom for the great trust he reposeth in them he giveth Authority by Commission to Execute a great part of the Law Therefore the Burthen of all Enormities Absurdities and Mischiefs that grow in the Commonwealth for the not executing of Laws must needs light upon those Persons that have Authority to execute them and if remisness be if the Prince should be driven to commit the Execution of the Laws to those who in respect of Practice and gain would see them executed with all severity what a burthen would that bring to the Realm In this manner Queen Elizabeth caused the Execution of her Laws to be recommended both to the Justice of Assize and to the Members of Parliament that at their recess they might take care to see them put in Execution As a close to this Chapter and an Introduction to the next I shall give a short account of the Laws in the Saxons time that were made by several Kings for the preservation of the Peace and of how great value the due keeping of the Peace was The Sixth Law of King Ina appoints that he that fights in the Kings (z) Cuninges hus Palace shall lose all his Goods and it shall be at the Kings pleasure whether he shall be Capitally punished or not it also ordains several Mulcts of Money for fighting in the (a) Mynster Church in an Aldermans House or the House of a (b) Gefolgylden hus Country-man And the next Law is against Theft and in the 13th against Thieves and Robbers from the number of Seven if they be 35 they are counted a (c) Klothum Troop if more an (d) Herge Army and so in the 26th Law appoints a Reward for apprehending (e) Theoffes onfeng a Thief So in the 46th Law of the Peace violated in (f) Burghbryce a Town of the Kings or a Bishops 120 s. and so proportionable in the Town of an Alderman of the Kings (g) Cyninges Thegnes Minister or any Land-holders (h) Land hebbendes Town So in the 15th Law of King Alfred 150 s. punishment is laid upon his that (i) De gefeohtum fights in the presence of an Archbishop and 100 if in the presence of a Bishop or alderman and in the next against the stealing a Mare or Cow the price and 40 s. Mulct and in the 26th against (k) Mansliht mid blothe Man-slaying in Companies to pay the price of his Head and all present 30 s. a piece and in the 35th against breaking the Peace in a Town as before fore The 38th Chapter is long That no Man assault his Enemy in his House till he hath (l) Aeâ—hon be him ribtes bidde demanded right of him which if he deny he may besiege him seven Days but not (m) Be gefeobte assault the House and if he yield he must keep him Thirty Days and then restore him to his Friends This care was taken to pre\vent Bloodshed There are many particulars besides worth observing in this as well ad the 40th Chapter (n) Be wundum against wounding I shall speak of that of King Edward hereafter The first Law of King Aethelstan is against Theft that is manifest where the (o) The of thâ—at thâ—ebbendse thing stolen is found in the Thieves Hand hand gefangen sy and so of other particulars worth reading The Third Law of King Edmund prohibits any Man-killer to come into the Prince's presence altho' his Servant till he have made satisfaction (p) Aef he on daedâ—ote ga swa Bisceop him Tace his serift him wisâ—ge for the Crime as it is appointed him by the Bishop and he makes Seven particular Laws together against Man-killing those that assault other in Towns holy places c. and the several punishments prefacing these Laws thus That to him and the Clergy
well as Interests Some and those the wisest favouring (n) Alii Principum partibus alii Patriciorum Factionibus student Tacitus their Prince others the Patriots as they call them and study Factions Yea the very heads of several Companies and Societies often bandy one against another by emulations first and after by siding into Parties so that it is observable that by their natural proneness to Factions where nothing but Rivers low and high grounds have divided the Inhabitants those local distinctions have been sufficient to discriminate them into Parties So it happened betwixt the Inhabitants of the Pyroeus and Athens also at Syracuse betwixt the City and Cittadel At Rome betwixt the Cis and Trans-Tyberini So at (o) Monstrelate lib. 1 Paris the Inhabitants on one side the Seyne were for the Faction of Orleance and the other for Burgundy The like we have known between London and Southwark and Westminster and London A judicious (p) Humane Prudence Author saith A great City is the fittest Engine to turn an old Monarchy into a new Commonwealth and the reason is obvious for Corporations and Cities are so many Republicks within a Monarchy which when by their Combinations in numerous swarms they attcque they much endanger though being composed of the Loyal as well as Factious after they have found the tyranny of their fellow Citizens and the difference betwixt the mild Rule of their Princes and the Arbitrary one of their fellows they mostly return to their Senses and Allegiance again CHAP. XLIII Of the Symptoms and Diagnostick signs of Sedition and Faction THE learned (a) Apud Japonios Campana est quae quoties Regno magnae instant Seditiones Tumultusque suapte sponte pulsatur Phonarg lib. 2. sect 3. c. 14. Athanasius Kircher in his curious Book or Sounds tells us That in Japan there is a Bell which toleth of its own accord so often as great Seditions and Tumults are forming or beginning in the Kingdom And in Spain in a Town called Vibilla in the Diocess of Caesar Augusta (b) Lib. 2. de Fascinatione cap. 14. Varius tells us there is a Bell which they call Miraculous for that some Months before any mischief or calamity befalls Christendom it sounds by it self without any one that is known to ring it as in several calamitous periods he mentions As to matter of fact though attested by grave Authors I shall not make any enquiry whether the Relations be true or not But if God Almighty had vouchsafed such a vertue to every Parish Bell it might supersede all enquiries into the signs of approaching Sedition and Faction Yet I question whether it would enable Governours to prevent them for the most would be apt to conclude That as they were by a supernatural Power or from the Deity appointed to be the presages of Factions and Seditions so they would conclude that God Almighty had destined such Commotions and would be the more ready to promote and push them forward Shepherds of People saith the ingenious (c) Essays Descriptions of the Signs particularly Chancellor had need know the Kalenders of Tempests in the State There are certain hollow blasts of winds and secret swellings of Seas that forerun them and so there are in States First Hatred Hatred to the Government is a certain sign of intended Sedition It is not easie to be conceived saith Seneca (d) Neseis quâ—ta rabâ—es oriatur â—hi supra modum olia crevâ—runt De Clementia how great a Rage may arise when the hatred is over-grown it is then ready to teem and the Poison will break forth Therefore Cicero saith No Government can be lasting which is much feared be it grounded or ungrounded for (e) Quem quisque odit pâ—riisse expetit Cic. de Officiis 2. men naturally hate whom they fear and whomsoever one hates on such an occasion he wisheth his destruction Secondly Contempt This secret hatred acquires an efficaciousness by Contempt for Fear is slow and undaring but Contempt puts on the Armor Fear is an extinguisher of an Attempt and a Prince is in Sanctuary while his Enemies fear but when a Factious man is emboldened to contemn his Prince he shaketh off fear and consequently reverence This happens most to mild Princes and criminally merciful by which they do themselves and the (f) Plebâ— Reverentiam omnem excutiunt licentiâ—â— prâ—bent peccandi Arist Polit lib. 6. c. 4. publick great harm liberty is thereby taken of trangressing and the Reverence of the People is thereby laid aside (g) Augetur crescit quicquid in honore est desiâ—it minuit quiequid in contemptu Dio in Nerva While Honour to the Prince lodgeth in the Subjects breasts the veneration to him daily encreaseth but when he is once contemned his Authority and Power sinks in the Socket For Reverence is that wherewith Princes are girt of God and when Discords Quarrels and Factions are carried openly and audaciously it is a sign that reverence to Government is lost In Tiberius's time Greedy after News when Julius Flâ—rus headed the Gallick Rebellion (h) Cuncta in mâ—jus credita mulâ—i prasentium odio cupidine muationis suis quoque periculis â—atabantur 3. Annal. Tacitus gives us an account how the Male-contents at Rome received the news of it whereby we may learn some Symptoms of Seditions For all things saith he done by Florus were believed to be worse many for the hatred they bore to the present management and out of the desire of changes even rejoyced in their own dangers Thirdly Libels Other great signs of Troubles and Factions are sholes of Libels and licentious discourses against the State spreading false News to the disadvantage of it the often running up and down of such and the greedy embracing them for Seditious Tumults and Seditious Fame are but Brothers and Sisters The Presses are pestered with Seditious Pamphlets deluding abusing flatterring enticing terrifying or (l) Address Part. 3. affrighting according as they may be serviceable to the Faction they wish for The Illustrious Saint and Martyr felt the heat and suffered the scorchings of those Tongues set on fire by Hell and after of those Pamphlets sparks and flakes which raised that fatal fire in his three Kingdoms and when the Kings Ministers his Judges Officers Civil and Military were represented in the most odious manner that malice could invent with a thousand false and ridiculous Lies of fear of Popery and Arbitrary Government which was and ever will be the burden of those Syrens Songs it was easie to discover the approaching Storm and an evident Symptom of a distempered People on the Tiptoes of Frenzy The grave (m) Occultis primum sâ—rmonibus ut vetita solent mox vago rumore apud imperitiâ—imi cujusque promptas aâ—es aut rursum apâ—d turâ—idos eoquâ— nova cvpientes Tacâ— 2. Annaâ— Historian describes secret murmurers and spreaders of false News thus That they begin with
the Instruments 2. Of Cures performed And 3. Of things Remarkable Written by Johannes Scultetus a famous Physician and Chirurgeon of Vlme in Suevia Faithfully translated into English by E. B. The Compleat Chymist or A new Treatise of Chymistry teaching by a short and easie Method all its most necessary Preparations Written in French by Nicholas Glasier Apothecary in Ordinary to the French King and the Duke of Orleans and from the Fourth Edition revised and augmented by the Author and now faithfully Englished by a Fellow of the Royal Society Il Nepotismo di Roma or The History of the Pope's Nephews from the time of Sixtus the Fourth Anno 1471. to the Death of the late Pope Alexander the Seventh Anno 1667. In two Parts Written Originally in Italian and Englished by W. A. fellow of the Royal Society The Present State of Egypt or A new Relation of a late Voyage into that Kingdom performed in the Years 1672. and 1673. by Fr. Vansleb R. D. Wherein you have an Exact and true Account of many rare and wonderful Particulars of that Ancient Kingdom Englished by M. D. R. D. The History of the Government of Venice wherein the Policies Counsels Magistrates and Laws of that State are fully related and the Use of the Ballotting Box exactly described Written in the Year 1675. by the Sieur Amelott de la Houssaâ—e Secretary to the French Ambassador at Venice The Present State of the Ottoman Empire In three Books Containing the Maxims of the Turkish Policy their Religion and Military Discipline Illustrated with divers Figures Written by Sir Paul Ricaut then Secretary to the English Ambassador there and since Consul at Smyrna The Memoires of Philip de Comines Lord of Argenton Containing the History of Lewis the Eleventh and Charles the Eighth Kings of France with the most Remarkable Occurrences in their particular Reigns from the Year 1404. to 1498. Revised and corrected from divers Manuscripts and Ancient Impressions by Dennis Godfrey Counsellor and Historiographer to the French King and from his Addition lately printed at Paris newly translated into English A Relation of three Embassies from His Majesty Charles the Second to the Great Duke of Muscovy the King of Sweden and the King of Denmark Performed by the Right Honourable the Earl of Carlisle in the Year 1663. and 1664. By an Attendant on the Embassies The Secret History of the Court of the Emperor Justinian Written by Procopius of Caesarea Faithfully rendred into English The History of the late Revolutions of the Empire of the Great Mogul together with the most considerable Passages for many Years in that Empire with a new Map of it To which is added An Account of the Extent of Industan the Circulation of the Gold and Silver of the World to discharge it self there as also the Riches Forces and Justice of the same and the Principal Cause of the Decay of the States of Asia By Monsieur F. Bernier Physician of the Faculty of Montpelier Englished out of French by H. O. Secretary to the Royal Society The Voyage of Italy or A Compleat Journey through Italy In two Parts With the Character of the People and the Description of the Chief Towns Churches Monasteries Tombs Libraries Pallaces Villas Gardens Pictures Statues and Antiquities As also of the Interest Government Riches Force c. of all the Princes with Instructions concerning Travel By Richard Lassels Gent. who travelled through Italy five times as Tutor to several of the English Nobility and Gentry The History of France under the Ministry of Cardinal Mazarine viz. from the Death of King Lewis the Thirteenth to the Year 1664. Wherein all the Affairs of State to that time are exactly related by Benjamin Priolo and faithfully Englished by Chr. Wase Gent. The History of the Twelve Caesars Emperors of Rome Written in C. Suetonius Tranquillus Newly translated into English and illustrated with all the Caesars Heads in Copper Plates The Compleat Gentleman or Direction for the Education of Youth as to their Breeding at home and Travelling abroad By J. Gailliard Gent. who hath been Tutor abroad to several of the Nobility and Gentry The Annals of Love containing Select Histories of the Amours of divers Princes Courts pleasantly related Deceptio Pisus or Seeing and Believing are two things A pleasant Spanish History faithfully translated In two Books The Loves of sundry Philosophers and other Great Men. Translated out of French The Novels of Dom Francisco de Quevedo Villegas Knight of the Order of St. James faithfully Englished Whereunto is added The Marriage of Belphegor an Italian Novel Translated from Machiavel A Relation of the Siege of Candia from the first Expedition of the French Forces under the Command of M. de la Fuillada Duke of Koannez to its Surrender Sept. 27. 1669. Written in French by a Gentleman who was a Voluntier in that Service and faithfully Englished The Present State of the Greek and Aâ—menian Churches Anno Christi 1678. By Sir Paul Ricault late Consul at Smyrna and Fellow of the Royal Society The Rights of the Bishops to judge in Capital Cases in Parliament cleared Being a full Answer to two Books lately published the first entituled A Letter from a Gentleman to his Friend c. the other A Discourse of the Peerage and Jurisdiction of the Lords Spiritual in Parliament endeavouring to shew the contrary A Resolution of Conscience touching Impositions Suffragium Protestantium Wherein our Governours are justified in their Impositions and Proceedings against Dissenters Meisner also and the Verdict rescued from the Cavils and Seditious Sophistry of the Protestant Reconciler By the Right Reverend Father in God the Lord Bishop of St. Davids The Living Temple or A design'd Improvement of that Notion That a Good Man is the Temple of God By John Howe M. A. sometimes Fellow of M. Coll. Oxford A Friendly Conference between a Minister and a Parishioner of his inclining unto Quakerism c. With the Vindication of it from the Exceptions of Thomas Ellwood in the pretended Answer to the said Conference Thirteen Sermons preached before King Charles the Second in His Exile by the late Reverend Henry Byam D. D. Rector of Luckham Canon of Exeter and one of His Majesty's Chaplains in Ordinary With the Testimony given of him at his Funeral by Hamnet Ward D. D. Counsel and Directions Divine and Moral in plain and familiar Letters of Advice from a Divine of the Church of England to a young Gentleman his Nephew soon after his Admission into a College in Oxford The Christian's Defence against the Fears of Death with seasonable Directions how to prepare our selves to die well Written originally in French by the late Reverend Divine of the Protestant Church of Paris Char. Drelincourt And translated into English by M. D' Assigny B. D. A Discourse of Natural and Moral Impotency By Joseph Truman B. D. Aminta the famous Italian Pastoral translated into English Paradise Regained a Poem in four Books To which is added Samson
his two Sons Proclus and Euristhenes to an equal share in the Lacedemonian Throne The like observations are to be made in the Succession of Ptolomaeus Lagus and Ptolomaeus Phisco In the Sons of Severus in the Succession of Sinesandus who killed his brother Suintill rightful Heir of Spain and that of Sforza and Francis Duke of Milain and thousands more in all which either the Usurpers or the Kingdoms that obeyed them perished utterly or were brought to great ruine In Britain the whole nation of the Picts were extirpated by the endeavour of that People to hinder Keneth Son of Alpinus from possessing the Kingdom as right Heir of Fergusiana Sister of Mordred their King In England the Usurpation of Harold upon the Right of Edgar opened the passage to William the Conqueror The Usurpations of William Rufus and Henry the First upon their Brother Robert and of King Stephen upon the Empress Maud were accompanied with great effusion of Blood So that a great part of the ancient Norman Nobility both such as resided there or were transplanted hither were slain or grievously harassed The Usurpation of King John upon his Nephew Arthur caused great disquiets during his Reign and the effects lasted a great while after The removal of King Richard the Second by Henry the Fourth occasioned those lasting Wars and most miserable devastations betwixt the Houses of York and Lancaster during which Usurpation before the Crown was setled upon Edward the Fourth Historians reckon no less than seventeen pitched Battels and eight Kings and Princes of the Blood slain and put to death and that forty six Dukes and Earls besides innumerable Barons and Gentlemen and above 200000. common People were slain and destroyed in the space of Sixty Years To which we may add the cruel death of Edward the Fifth and his Brother by their bloody Unckle and his own miserable end and the calamitous fall of the Lady Jane Grey and her Noble Relations All which Princes although for the supporting their unjust Claims Invasions and Usurpations of the Crown they procured Parliamentary concurrence and popular Establishments yet after so great effusion of blood could not in reality transfer the Right from the next Heir of the blood but at last all centred again in the Right Heir ERRATA PAge 7. line 31. for Babarous read Barbarous for und r. and l. 24 for wins r. wires p. 13. l. 6. for Resumption r. Presumption p. 17. l. 5. for who r. where p. 44. l. 45. for removeable r. removal p. 47. l. 27. for purity r. parity p. 63. l. 26. for Herds r. Hords p. 81. l. 18. for third r. fifth p. 83. l. 46. for than r. not p. 92. marg l. 5. for mediocrita r. mediocriter and below for ad Clement r. ad Cluentem p. 133. l. 48. after before r. l. p. 141. l. 36. dele That p. 150. l. 28. for Peace r. Grace p. 152. l. 27. for 68. r. 6. E. 1. p. 160. l. 43. for Sarson r. Sarron p. 162. l. 12. for Fenix r. Ferrix l. 48. after rewards add he p. 167. l. 18. after find add 4 p. 176. l. 5. for implied r. imployed l. 32. for Frameae r. Framiae p. 180. l. 46. for Wargild r. Weregild p. 181. l. 10. for many r. money p. 194. marg l. 17. for King Edward's r. King Edmund's p. 197. l. 41. for Northrigena r. Northwigena p. 199. l. 19. for Markesus r. Markerus p. 216. l. 11. for Silvanset r. Silvanect p. 222. l. 36. for Aubert r. Hubert p. 245. l. 18. for Bochan r. Boetian p. 266. l. 3. for whereas r. where l. 18. for Mauleveren r. Mauleverer p. 291. l. 36. for Hull r. Hall p. 321. l. 13. dele having p. 335. l. 12. for Privileges r. Prerogatives p. 341. l. 8. for Salteyn r. Salveyn p. 376. l. 33. for dies twice r. diu p. 380. l. 24. for ele r. aelc and in marg for vpp r. App. p. 387. l. 6. for lye r. tye p. 389. l. 5. after finishing add a Period l. 7. for almost r. all most l. 13. for Bretan r. â—â—â—â—an l. 14. for sorda r eorda p. 400. l. 28. for albe r. able p. 419. l. 2. for Hisparians r. Hipparians l. 3. for Cleotimac r. Cleotimas l. 17. for Peleponensian r. Peleponesian and for Ob r. Obe p. 427. for Fifthly Sixthly and Seventhly r. Fourthly Fifthly Sixthly p. 430. l. 13. for keep r. help p. 437. l. 24. for hopes r. hops p. 446. l. 37. for end r. and. p. 452. l. 31. for Fung r. Fangs p. 459. l. 1. for Brats r. Brutâ— p. 461. l. 7. for Colbar r. Cobbam l. 25. for Rebellious r. Rubellius p. 462. l. 43. for rare r. race p. 467. l. 28. for Praeter r. Praetor p. 468. l. 1. for discovered r. described p. 469. l. 11. for milder r. middle A Catalogue of Books Printed for and Sold by Robert Clavel at the Peacock in St. Paul's Church-yard Books in Folio A Companion to the Temple or a Help to Devotion in the Use of the Common Prayer divided into Four Parts 1. Of Morning and Evening Prayer 2. Of the Litany with the Occasional Prayers and Thanksgivings 3. Of the Communion-Office with the Offices of Baptism Catechism and Confirmation 4. Of the Occasional Offices viz. Matrimony Visitation of the Sick c. The whole being carefully corrected and now put into one Volume By Thomas Comber D. D. Praecentor of York A Practical and Polemical Commentary or Exposition upon the Third and Fourth Chapters of the latter Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy By Thomas Hall B. D. A Course of Divinity or An Introduction to the Knowledge of the True Catholick Religion especially as professed by the Church of England In Two Parts The one containing the Doctrine of Faith the other the Form of Worship By Matthew Scrivener Etymologicon Linguae Anglicanae seu Explicatio Vocum Anglicarum Etymologica ex propriis Fontibus scil ex Linguis duodecim Anglo-Saxonica seu Anglica prisca notata A. S. Runica Gothica Cimbrica seu Danica antiqua notata Run Dan. Franco-Theotisca seu Teutonica vetere notata Fr. Th. Danica recentiori notata Dan. rec Belgica notata Belg. Teutonica recentiori notata Teut. Cambro-Britannica notata C. Br. Franco-Gallica notata Fr. Italica notata It. Hispanica notata Hisp Latina notata Lat. Graeca notata Gr. Authore Stephano Skinner M.D. The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors sent by Frederick Duke of Holstein to the Great Duke of Muscovy and the King of Persia begun in the Year 1633. and finished in 1639. Containing a compleat History of Muscovy Tartary Persia and other adjacent Countries with several Publick Transactions reaching near the present Times In Seven Books Whereto are added the Travels of John Albert de Manstelslo a Gentleman belonging to the Ambassie from Persia into the East-Indies containing a particular Description of Indosthan the Mogull's Empire the Oriental Islands Japan China and the Revolutions which hapned in those Countries within these
few Years In Three Books The Whole illustrated with divers accurate Maps and Figures Written originally in Italian by Adam Oliarias Secretary to the Embassie Rendred into English by John Davies of Kidwelly The Second Impression The History of the Execrable Irish Rebellion trac'd from many preceding Acts to the Grand Eruption October 23. 1641. and thence pursued to the Act to Settlement in 1662. The Journals of all the Parliaments during the Reign of Queen Elizabeth both of the House of Lords and House of Commons Collected by Sir Simon D' Ewes of Stow-Hall in the County of Suffolk Knight and Baronet Revised and published by Paul Bowes Esq of the Middle Temple I Ragguagli di Parnasso or Advertisements from Parnassus in Two Centuries With the Politick Touchstone Written originally in Italian by that Famous Roman Traâ—ano Bocalini And now put into English by the Right Honourable Henry Earl of Monmouth Cosmography and Geography In Two Parts The First containing the general and absolute Part of Cosmography being a Translation from that eminent and much-esteemed Geographer Varenius wherein are at large handled all such Arts as are necessary to be understood for the true knowledge thereof To which is added the much wanted Schemes omitted by the Author The Second Part being a Geographical Description of the World taken from the Notes and Works of the Famous Monsieur Sanson late Geographer to the French King To which is added about One hundred Cosmographical Geographical and Hydrographical Tables of several Kingdoms and Isles in the World with their Chief Cities Sea-Ports Bays c. Drawn from the Maps of the said Sanson Illustrated with Maps The Annals of King James and King Charles the First of ever Happy Memory containing a faithful History and impartial Account of the Great Affairs of State and Transactions of Parliaments in England from the Tenth Year of King James 1612. to the Eighteenth of King Charles 1642. Wherein several material Passages relating to the late Civil Wars omitted in former Histories are made known A perfect Copy of all the Summons of the Nobility to the Great Councils and Parliaments of this Realm from the Forty ninth of King Henry the Third until these present Times With Catalogues of such Noblemen as have been summoned to Parliament in Right of their Wives and of such other Noblemen as derive their Titles of Honour from the Heirs Female from whom they are descended and of such Noblemens Eldest Sons as have been summoned to Parliament by some of their Fathers Titles Extracted from Publick Records by Sir William Dugdale Knight Garter Principal King at Arms. The History of the Affairs of Europe in this present Age but more particularly of the Republick of Venice Written in Italian by Baptista Nani Cavalier and Procurator of St. Mark Englished by Sir Robert Honywood Knight The History of Barbadoes St. Christophers Mevis St. Vincents Antego Martinico Monserrat and the rest of the Caribby-Islands in all Twenty eight In Two Books The First containing the Natural the Second the Moral History of those Islands Illustrated with several Pieces of Sculpture representing the most considerable Rarities therein described The Works of the Famous Nicolas Machiavell Citizen and Secretary of Florence Written originally in Italian and now faithfully translated into English A Compleat Treatise of Preternatural Tumors both General and Particular as they appear in Humane Bodies from Head to Foot To which also are added many excellent and Modern Historical Observations concluding most Chapters in the whole 〈…〉 Discourse The Present State of the Ottoman Empire from the Year 1623. to the Year 1677. Containing the Reigns of the Three last Emperors viz. Sultan Morat or Amurat the Fourth Sultan Ibrahim and Sultan Mahomet the Fourth his Son the Thirteenth Emperor By Sir Paul Ricaut late Consul at Smyrna The History of the Cardinals of the Roman Church from the time of their first Creation to the Election of Pope Clement the Ninth With a full Account of his Conclaves In three Parts Written in Italian by the Author of the Nepotismo di Roma The World Surveyed or The Famous Voyages and Travels of Vincent le Blanc of Marcelles into the East and West Indies Persia Pegu Fez Morocco Guinny and through all Africa and the Principal Provinces of Europe A General Collection of Discourses of the Virtuosi of France upon Questions of all sorts of Philosophy and other Natural Knowledge Made in the Assembly of the Beaux Esprits at Paris by the most Ingenious Persons of that Nation Englished by G. Havers In two Volumes A Treatise of the Sibyls giving an Account of the Names and Numbers of them of their Qualities the Form and Matter of their Verses and of their Books Written in French by David Blondell Englished by Jo. Davis of Kidwelly Tracts written by John Selden Esq of the Inner Temple The first entituled Jaâ—â— Anglorum Facies altera Rendred into English with large Notes thereupon by Redman Westcoat Gent. The second England's Epinomis The third Of the Original of Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions of Testaments The fourth Of the Disposition or Administration of Intestate Estates Printed for Tho. Basset and R. Chiswell and sold by R. Clavell Basilica Chymica Praxis Chymiatrica or Royal and Practical Chymistry augmented and enlarged By John Hartman To which is added His Treatise of Signatures of Internal Things or a true and lively Anatomy of the Greater and Lesser World as also the Practice of Chymistry of John Harâ—man M. D. augmented and enlarged by his Son with considerable Additions All faithfully Englished by a Lover of Chymistry The Compleat Chymical Dispensatory in Five Books treating of all sorts of Metals Precious Stones and Minerals of all Vegetables and Animals and Things that are taken from them as Musk Civet c. How rightly to know them and how they are to be used in Physick with their several Doses The like Work never extant before Being very proper for all Merchants Druggists Chirurgeons and Apothecaries and such Ingenious Persons as study Physick or Philosophy Written in Latin by Dr. John Scroder that most Famous and Faithful Chymist and Englished by William Rowland Doctor of Physick The Royal Pharmacopaea Galenical and Chymical according to the Practice of the most Eminent and Learned Physicians of France and published with their several Approbations By Moses Charâ—as the King 's Chief Operator in his Royal Garden of Plants Faithfully Englished and illustrated with several Copper Plates An Abridgment of divers Cases and Resolutions of the Common Law Alphabetically digested under several Titles By Henry Rolls Serjeant at Law Published by the Lord Chief Baron Hales and approved by all the Judges The Reports of Sir George Croke Knight In three Volumes in English Allowed of by all the Judges The second Edition carefully corrected by the Original Les Reports de Henry Rolle Serjeant del ' Ley de divers Cases en le Court del ' Banke le Roy en le Temps del ' Reign de Roy Jaques Colligees