â—…o the utmost of his power he had exercised his Pen in the defâ—…nce both of the Crown Scepter and Miter his Soul then transported with joy that he should survive the usurped powers and see with his old bad eyes the King settled upon his Fathers Throne and peace upon Israel In the Evening after the Ceremonies of the Coronation were over while the Ordinance was playing from the Tower it happened to thunder violently at which some persons who were at supper with him seemed much affrighted I very well remember an expression of his upon the same according to the Poets word Intonuit laetus that the Ordinance of Heaven answered those of the Tower rejoycing at the solemnity with which the Company being exceedingly pleased there followed much Joy and Mirth Thus being settled in Westminster he fell upon the old work of building again and repairing which is the costly pleasure of Clergy men for the next Generation because building is like planting the chief benefit of which accrues to their Successors that live in another Age as Cicero said of them who took delight in planting Oake-Trees Serunt Arbores quae prosiâ—…t alteri saeculo He enlarged his Prebends House by making some convenient Additions to it perticularly he erected a new Dining Room and beautified the other Rooms all which he enjoyed but for a little time of which he made the best use while he lived to serve his God and seek after the Churches good in which work he was as industrious after his Majesties happy Restauration as he was before to testifie his Religious zeal and care that all things might run on in the old right Channel for which reason he writ a fervent Letter to a great States-man of that time earnestly pressing him to advise the King that a Convocation might be called with the present Parliament which was a thing then under question his Letter is as followeth Right Honourable and my very good Lord I Cannot tell how welcom or unwelcom this Address may prove in regard of the greatness of the Cause and the low Condition of the Party who negotiates in it But I am apt enough to perswade my self that the honest zeal which moves me to it not only will excuse but endear the boldness There is my Lord a general speech but a more general fear withal amongst some of the Clergy that there will be no Convocation called with the following Parliament which if it should be so resolved on cannot but raise sad thoughts in the hearts of those who wish the peace and happiness of this our English Sion But being Bishops are excluded from their Votes in Parliament there is no other way to keep up their honour and esteem in the Eyes of the People than the retaining of their places in Convocation Nor have the lower Clergy any other means to shew their duty to the King and keep that little freedom which is left unto them than by assembling in in such meetings where they may exercise the Power of a Convocation in granting Subsidies to his Majesty though in nothing else And should that Power be taken from them according to the constant but unprecedented practice of the late long Parliament and that they must be taxed and rated with the rest of the Subjects without their liking and consent I cannot see what will become of the first Article of Magna Charta so solemnly so frequently confirmed in Parliament or what can possibly be left unto them of either the Rights or Liberties belonging to an English Subject I know it is conceived by some that the distrust which his Majesty hath in some of the Clergy and the diffidence which the Clergy have one of another is looked on as the principle cause of the Innovation For I must needs behold it as an Innovation that any Parliament should be called without a meeting of the Clergy at the same time with it The first year of King Edward the Sixth Qeen Mary and Queen Elizabeth were times of greater diffidence and distraction than this present conjuncture And yet no Parliament was called in the beginning of their several Reigns without the company and attendance of a Convocation though the intendments of the State aimed then at greater Alterations in the face of the Church than are now pretended or desired And to say truth there was no danger to be feared from a Convocation thâ—…ugh the times were ticklish and unsetled and the Clergy was divided into sides and Factions as the Case then stood and so stands with us at the present time For since the Clergy in their Convocations are in no Authority to propound treat or conclude any thing more than the passing of a Bill of Subsidies for his Majesties use untill they are impowered by the Kings Commission The King may tye them up for what time he pleaseth and give them nothing but the opportunity of entertaining one another with the News of the Day But if it be objected That the Commission now on foot for altering and explaining certain passages in the publick Liturgy shall either pass instead of a Convocation or else is thought to be neither competable nor consistent with it I hope for better in the one and must profess that I can see no reason in the other For first I hope that the selecting of some few Bishops and other learned men of the lower Clergy to debate on certain points contained in the Common Prayer-Book is not intended for a Representation of the Church of England which is a Body more diffused and cannot legally stand by their Acts and Councils and if the Conference be for no other purpose but only to prepare matter for a Convocation as some say it is not why may not such a Conference and Convocation be held both at once For neither the selecting of some learned men out of both the Orders for the composing and reveiwing of the two Liturgies digested in the Reign of King Edward the Sixth proved any hindrence in the calling of their Convocation which were held both in the second and third and in the fifth and sixth years of the said Kings Reign Nor was it found that the holding of a Convocation together with the first Parliament under Queen Elizabeth proved any hinderance to that Conference in disputation which was designed between the Bishops and some learned men of the opposite Parties All which considered I do most humbly beg your Lordship to put his Majesty in mind of sending out his Mandates to the two Arch Bishops for summoning a Convocation according to the usual Form in their several Provinces that this poor Church may be held with some degree of veneration both at home and abroad And in the next place I do no less humbly-beseech your Lordship to excuse this freedom which nothing but my zeal to Gods Glory and my affection to this Church could have forced from me I know how ill this present Office doth become me and how much better it had been
in this Case that most Writers are in love with their Paper-works but the World should first judge whether there is any excellency or real worth in them otherwise it is a fond fancy Narcissus like for any one to be inamoured with his own Shaddow But that which is worse than all this I perceive the Writer is not consistent with himself but a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the Poets words difficilis facilis juâ—…undus acerbus es idem Because one while he plays the Satyrist against the Fanaticks and afterward turns Factor for the Papists whose cause he could not plead better to please the holy Fathers of the Ignatian Society founded since Luther's time than to render the Name of Protestant odious ` A Name ` saith he that imports little in it of `the positive part of Christianity God forbid and let us then put this into our Litany Lord have mercy upon our Souls who profess our selves to be Protestants and not Papists if the positive part of Christianity be wanting among us For by Name what doth he or can he mean but our Religion and Christian Profession For the Name of Protestant it self is but Thema simplex I may say vox praeterea nihil no more is Catholick Christian Orthodox or any other Name Nomina imponuntur rebus Names are given to things to diversify and distinguish them one from another or else how are they significative of themselves While he goes about to unchristian the Name Protestant or at least makes it Terminus diminuâ—…ns a very slighty Name indeed he endeavours to overthrow the true Protestant Religion For ever since the first Reformation and change of Religion wrought among us by our just and necessary separation from communion with the Church of Rome we and our Fore-fathers have constantly gone under the Name of Protestants though originally I acknowledge this Name was taken up by those Princes of Germany who adhering to Luther's Doctrine made their Protestation at Spires the imperial Chamber and afterward set forth the Augustane Confession since which time the Church of England having cast off the Papacy this Name hath been the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or remark of distinction betwixt us and Papists Our Kings and Princes not only acknowledging the same but have defended the Protestant Religion his most sacred Majesty whose Life God long preserve among us in most or all his Speeches unto his High Court of Parliament hath graciously declared to secure and defenâ—… the Protestant Interest and Religion His Royal Father the most glorious Martyr of our Church but two days before his Death told the Princess Elizabeth That he should die for the maintaining the true Protestant Religion and charged her to read Arch-Bishop Laud's Book against Fisher to ground her against Popery And why were the Jesuiâ—…s so active about his Death that some of them became Agitators in the Independant Army but because it was agreed before by the Pope and his Council saith Dr. du Moulin that there was no way for advancing the Catholick Cause in England but by making away the King of whom there was no hope to turn from hiâ—… Heresie because he was a Protestant I cannot omit Arch-Bishop Laud's words at the time of his Tryal before the Lords Anno Dom. 1643. Saith he Not to trouble your Lordships too long I am so innocent in the business of Religion so far from all practice or so much as thought of practice for any alteration unto Popery or any blemishing of the true Protestant Religion established in England as I was when my Mother first â—…are me into the World In his Speech upon the Scaffold before his Death he saith thus of the King I shall be bold to speak of the King our gracious Soveraign He hath â—…een mâ—…d traduced for bringing in of Popery â—…ut on my Conscience of which I shall give God a very present account I know him to be as free from this Charge as any Man living and I hold him to bâ—… as sound a Protestant according to the Religion by Law established as any Man in this Kingdom And now hath not this Name Protestant which imports our Religion been owned by all our Judges and Lawyers the Lord chief Justice speaking of Papists If they cannot saith he at this time live in a Protestant Kingdom with security to their Neighbours but cause such fears and dangers and that for Conscience sake then let them keep their Conscience and leave the Kingdom Mr. Justice Wild in like manner Had such a thing as this been acted by us Protestants in any Popish Country in the World I doubt there would not have been scarce one of us left a live I might bring in here Sir William Jones Mr. Finch Mr. Recorder of London And truly if we are ashamed of our Name we may be of our Religion and cannot blame Popish Plots to subvert it if we hold not funâ—…lamentals which are the positive parts of Christianiâ—…y The Jesuit hawketh not for â—…parrows his zeal to destroy our Religion carries him through Fire and Water Sea and Land over Rocks and Mountains to gain a Proselyte according to those Verses I find in Pareus alluding to the Pharisee and Hor the Poet. Impiger extremos Jesuita excurrit ad Indos Per mare discipulum quaerens per saxa per ignes Juventumque facit se duplo deteriorem Sea Land Fire craggy Rocks and Indian Shore A Jesuit's frantick zeal transports him o're One Romish Proselyte to make once made Child of the Devil twice then before he 's said Nay he hath the patience to stay at home and there no dull Stoick can excel him in this Vertue if he be once commanded by his Superior he will obey though his work be no other saith Mapheus than to water a dry log of Wood for a year together he will not presume to ask the reason why but does it Then how much more ready is he to propagate the Gatholick Cause and in order thereto adventure upon any action if it be to the hazard of his Life while he is commanded by his Father General at Rome and the Congregatio de Propaganda fide What will not he undertake to extirpate the Name of Protestant and think he does God Service for if positive Christianity be not imported in it then we are Negatives we are Jews Infidels Pagans and cannot be denominated Christians for Positive and Negative are contradicentia there can be no reconciling or tacking them together and accoâ—…ding to my Logick a Contradiction is omnium oppositorum fortissima the strongest and most forcible of all oppositions But I would know what are the Principles of Protestantisâ—… that are so contradictory to Christianity they must be either credenda or facienda matters relating to Faith or Christian practice Do we hold any points of Faith contrary to the Primitive Catholick Church Or deny Obedience to the Commands of God either in his Law or Gospel
giving counsel in such matters as they saw occasion I beleive not Certain I am that it is and hath been otherwise in point of practice And that the Bishops sitting as Peers in an English Parliament were never excluded before this time from any such assistance as by their Gravity and Learning and other abilities they were enabled to give in any dark or difficult business though of blood and death which were brought before them As for the Councel of Toledo it saith nothing to their disadvantage the Canon is si quis sacerdotum discursor in alienis periculis extiterit apud Ecclesiam proprium perdat gradum that if any Priest shall intermedle in Cases endangering the Life of others let him be degraded Hereupon I conclude as to the present business in hand that the Bishops were to be admitted to all preparatory Examination because their counsel and assistance would have tended rather to the preservation than conduced to the endangering of the Parties Life I saw about that time saith he a little Manuscript Tract entituled De jure paritatis Episcoporum that is to say of the right of the Peerage of the Bishops in which their Priviledges were asserted as to that particular But they not willing to contend in a business which seemed so little to concern them or else not able to strive against the present stream which seemed to carry all before it suffered themselves to be excluded at that time without protesting to the contrary or interposing in defence of their ancient Rights And this I look on as the first degree of their Humiliation For when it was perceived that a business of sogreat consequence might be done in Parliament without their counsel and consent it opened a wide gap unto their Adversaries First to deprive them of their Votes and after to destroy even the Calling it self But this was not the main point which the Commons aimed at they were resolved to have a close Commitee to take Examination in the business of the Earl of Strafford and were not willing any Bishops should be of it for fear lest favouring the Earls cause or person they might discover any part of those secret practices which were had against him and thereby fortifie and prepare him for his just defence when the Cause should come unto a Tryal Thus far the Doctor writ of this Subject when he lived in Lacyes Court at Abingdon What he presented to the Bishops themselves at the time of Strafford's Tryal concerning the right of Peerage deserved a rare commendation especially at that conjuncture of time that he could command his Parts and Pen of a sudden to write on this Subject or any other if there was need that did conduce to the publick good either of Church or State and above all make a quick dispatch in accomplishing what he had once undertaken and begun a Vertue for which Q. Curtius praiseth Alexander among other excellent qualities Nullam virtutem regis istius magis quam celeritatem laudaverim I can commend no Vertue more in this King than speed So Lucan of Caesâ—…r Nam Caesar in omnia praeceps Nilactum credens si quid superesset agendum But for those quick dispatches the Doctor endured many tedious waitings at the backs of Commitee men in that Parliament especially in the business of Mr. Pryn about his Histrio-mastix for which he was kept four days under Examination because he had furnished the Lords of the Privy Council with matters out of that Book which Mr. Pryn alledged was the cause of all his sufferings having joyned him in a Petition with the Lord Arch-Bishop as the chief Agents and Contrivers of the troubles he had undergone Great hopes had the Committee by his often dancing attendance after them to sift the Doctor if they could gather any thing by his speeches whether the Arch-Bishop had moved him to draw up those Exceptions against Pryn's Book which he denyed or at least was not bound to confess for as he was faithful to his Soveraign so he would never prove himself unfaithful to his chief Minister both in Church and State For they would have been glad of any matter to put into their charge against that worthy Prelate against whom Mr. Pryn and others of his Enemies never ceased prosecuting till the Parliament took of his head and the Ax having once tasted of Blood had a keen Appetite for more went on to the Supreme Head of all Whilst the Doctor was thus harassed before the Commitees his old Friend the Bishop of Lincoln in great favour with them and the whole Parliament was set at liberty from his Imprisonment and returned from the Tower to the Church after so long a time of his suspension and indevotion to say his Prayers and hear his Brother Peter Heylyn preach in his course at the Abby in Westminster Where notwithstanding the holiness of that place to which his Lordship had no regard or reverence but only to the Name and Thing of it he was resolved publickly to revenge himself for old done deeds that ought to have been forgotten by disturbing the Doctor in his Sermon before all the Congregation contrary to the Laws of this Realm and with Reverence to his Lordship against all good Manners and the common Rules of Civility Mala meus furorque Vecors In tantam impulerit culpam Cat. Strange That a Bishop could not rule his passions for one hour when no provocation was given by the Doctor whose Sermon from the beginning to the end of it throughout the whole Discourse was pacificatory exhorting Christians to Moderation Love and Charity among themselves for the preservation of the publick Peace although they differed in some Opinions For satisfaction of the Reader I will set down the Doctors own words viz. Is it not that we are so affected with our own Opinions that we condemn whosoever shall opine the contrary and so far wedded to our own Wills that when we have espoused a quarrel neither the Love of God nor the God of Love shall divorce us from it Instead of hearkning to the voice of the Church every man hearkens to himself and cares not if the whole miscarry so that himself may bravely carry out his own devices Upon which stubborn hight of Pride what Quarrels have been raised What Schisms in every corner of this our Church To enquire no further some rather putting all into open tumult than that they would conform to a lawful Government derived from Christ and his Apostles to these very Times At the speaking of which words the Bishop of Lincoln sitting in the great Pew which was before the Seat of Contention knocked aloud with his staff upon the Pulpit saying No more of that point No more of that point Peter To whom the Doctor readily answered without hesitation or the least sign of being dashed out of Countenance I have a little more to say my Lord and then I have done Which was as followeth viz. Others coming into
Mr. Baxter makes a hideous cry As Murder it self cannot be concealed no more can those Actions that border upon it but Divine Vengeance will pursue whosoever is guilty of either which the very Heathen took notice of when he saith Raro antecedentem scelestum deseruit pede paena claudo The innocent Doctor is falsly accused of words but now his Accuser is truly arraigned and upon his indictment found guilty of bloody deeds For he that is a Partizan with cruel men or an Abettor and Encourager of them is certainly a Pertaker with them and not only an Accessary to the Fact but a Principal as in all Sanguinary Causes according to our Statute Laws there are no Accessaries but Principals and I am sure in Foro poli or the Court of Heaven such Offenders are alike But the Man is still alive What then the intention of killing him and their leaving him for dead is a breach of the sixth Commandment as if it were actual homicide Murther was intended Mr. Baxter standing by not once reproving Hurdman but setting him thereon by his own example calling the Major Rogue I say it had been Murther with all cruelty to the height if the poor man had dyed because it is against the Law of Arms after a Battel fought to kill our Enemy in cold blood And as the Case now stands aggravated with all the Circumstances alledged Mr. Baxter can no ways acquit himself because he cannot be ignorant of this Rule Nullum Praeceptum consistit in indivisibili that no Precept of Gods Law is tyed up to one single or individual act but has a greater latitude in it as all kinds of Murther is forbidden whether of the bea rt tongue or hand unmercifulness cruelty revenge hatred malice is Murther Whosoever hateth his Brother saith the Apostle he is a Murtherer and you know that no Murtherer hath eternal Life in him Also every Precept of Gods Law is both affirmative and negative under the affirmative all duties that possibly can be reduced to it are implyed and under the negative which is of greater force because it binds ad semper as the Schools say all things which come within the verge of it as cruelty inhumanity c. are absolutely forbidden Mr. Baxters personal presence gave countenance to the bloody action much more in being a delightful Spectator of it which ought to have been abhorred by him Nero himself could not behold bloody Tragedies though he commanded them saith the Historian Et jussit scelera Nero non spectavit Much more barbarous actions are hateful to the Eyes of all Christians that Constantine after his Conversion by publick Edict did forbid all monstrous and bloody Spectacles in the Amphitheater For a Minister of Jesus Christ as he calls himself who preaches against hardness of heart to be so cruel hearted himself as not to pity a poor Christian weltring in his blood and wounds for the cause only of his King and Country to shew no mercy nor Cristian compassion towards him not so much as we would do to a Turk or an Infidel but call him Rogue Popish Rogue violently pulling from his Neck the Kings Picture and seeing him dragg'd up and down in the Fields by merciless Souldiers Honesco referens It was a more lamentable sight than the Spectacula nefranda when Christians were torn in pieces by wild Beasts in the Roman Theater I must therefore say to Mr. Baxter as the High-priest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Are these things so I sincerely wish from my heart that he may and I hope he will repent and ask God and the Major forgiveness which is the lest part of pennance and satisfaction he can perform for so heinous an Offence and till then with what confidence can Mr. Baxter preach to his Auditors being a silenced Minister both by the Laws of the Land and his own Conscience that must needs fly in his face and sorely exagitate him as it was once the Case of Origen who sinned not maliciously but out of fear and cowardice to save his life This Scripture struck him to the heart Why doest thou preach my Laws and takest my Covenant in thy mouth whereas thou hatest to be reformed and hast cast my words behind thee If Mr. Baxter will look out of his broken Church History into true Ecclesiastical History he shall find Origen's Repentance set forth by Suidas for a most excellent Example to imitate He was called Syntacticus for compiling many Books in which Mr. Baxter does strive to follow him in writing many Books full of Errors but not so learnedly erreth as Origen did and and probably if he will not leave the odious quality of abusing reverend and worthy men his Books may hereafter run the same fortune with Origens to be publickly condemned For He cannot forbear railing upon Dr. Heylyn after he hath laid in his Grave near twenty years Speaking of the late Wars saith he Not only Lads that knew it not but Heylyn the great Reproacher of Reformers would make men believe that it was Presbyterians in England that began the strife and War What Heylyn There be many Heylyns in England which of them So profest an Enemy he is to Degrees because he was himself I hear never a Graduate or an University-man that he is a Despiser of those Dignities in others For his insolency in this kind and errors in other matters he was once soundly swinged by the Doctor and the Correction put an end to all the Epistolary Controversies between them that he was fain then to lower his Top-sail and durst never appear in the Doctors time top and top gallant In revenge of which and therein he thinks he hath done a great Act not to call him so much as Peter Heylyn Mr. Heylyn or Good-man Heylyn nay he will not allow him a Christian Name because he will be out of Charity with him both alive and dead This is the man that prefesseth so much mortification humility and self-denyal Yet no man swelleth with more spiritual pride Mare Adriatico superbior But why is Heylyn a Reproacher of the Reformers I cannot tell unless this be accounted a reproach which rather tendeth to his credit that he is an impartial Writer of Histories relating the naked Truth of things without respect of Persons and chiefly because he utterly dislikes such a Reformation of Religion that is carried on in a popular and tumultuary way which I think cannot be justifiable neither by Law Reason nor Scripture nor by all the Learning Mr. Baxter hath or ever shall have to prove the contrary I appeal to the ancient Fathers and the primitive Christians in the first Centuries whether this was judged by them an approvable way of Reformation that is effected by the vulgar sort who are not competent Judges of Religion but by the Authority of the Christian Magistrate with the advice and good counsel of the Clergy which is the only regular and most Scriptural
extollebantur Therefore the Parsonage of Houghton in the Bishoprick of Durham worth near 400 l. per Annum being made void by the Preferment of Dr. Lindsel to the Sea of Peterborough the King bestowed upon Mr. Heylyn which afterward he exchanged with Dr. Marshal Chanter of the Church of Lincoln for the Parsonage of Alresford in Hampshire that was about the same value to which exchange Mr. Heylyn was commanded by his Majesty that he might live nearer the Court for readiness to do his Majesty service Neither was he envyed for this or his other Preferments because every one knew his merits was the only cause of his promotion For men of eminent Worth and Vertue when they are advanced saith my Lord Bacon Their Fortune seemeth but due to them for no man envyeth the Payment of a Debt That as his Majesty was pleased most graciously to express upon his loss of the Living by the Bishop of Lincoln so according to his Royal Promise he doubly repayed that Debt by a Living of twice the value into which he was no sooner instituted and inducted but he took care for the Service of God to be constantly performed by reading the Common-prayers in the Church every morning which gave great satisfaction to the Parish being a populous Market Town and for the Communion Table where the blessed Sacrament is consecrated he ordered that it should be placed according to ancient Custom at the East end of the Chancel and Railed about decently to prevent base and profane usages and when the Chancel wanted any thing of Repairs or the Church it self both to be amended Having thus shewed his care first for the house of God to set it in good order the next work followed was to make his own dwelling-house a fit and convenient Habitation that to the old Building he added a new one which was far more graceful and made thereto a Chappel next to the Dining-room that was beautified and adorned with Silk hangings about the Altar in which Chappel himself or his Curate read Morning and Evening-prayeâ—… to the Family calling in his Labourers and Work-folks for he was seldom without them while he lived saying that he loved the noise of a Work-mans Hammer For he thought it a deed of Charity as well as to please his own fancy by often building and repairing to set poor people a work and encourage painful Artificers and Tradesmen in their honest Callings He built a Hall in the middle of the House from the very Foundation upon the top whereof was a high Tower of Glass on one side of the Hall a fair Garden with pleasant Walks Cypress Trees and Arbours on the other side upon the Front a spacious Court at the Gate of which next the Street a high wooden Bridge that went cross over the Street into the Church-yard on which himself and Family went to Church to avoid the dirty common way which was almost unpassable Besides he made many new Conveniences to the Out-houses and Yards belonging to them all which was no small charge to his Purse for I have heard him say it cost him several hundreds of Pounds in Alresfords-house where he in a manner buried his Wifes Portion yet after his Death his Eldest Son was unreasonably sued for dilapidations in the Court of Arches by Dr. Beamont his Fathers Successor but the Gentleman pleaded his Cause so notably before Sir Giles Swet then Judge of the Court that he was discharged there being no reason or justice he should be troubled for dilapidations occasioned by the long War when his Father was unjustly turned out of his House and Living After so much cost bestowed upon Alresford and his Prebend-house in Westminster he constanly resided in one of those places where he kept good Hospitality and took care to relieve the Poor following also his wonted studies not only in History but Fathers Councils and Polemical Divinity the better to prepare himself for a new encounter with the old Professor Dr. Prideaux for he resolved to go on in his Universitâ—… Degrees notwithstandiug his removal from Oxon and to perform those Exercises required in that Case in which he always came off with credit and applause Being now to take his Degree of Batchelor in Divinity in July An. Dom. 1630. Upon these words Mat. 4. 19. Faciam vos fieri Piscatores hominum Upon the Sunday after he preached the Act Sermon upon this Text Mat. 13. 14. But while men slept his Enemy came and sowed Tares among the Wheat and went his way Where he made a seasonable Application of this Subject as the Times then stood of the danger of Lay-Feofees in buying up Impropriations A godly project it appeared at the first sight but afterwards a Tare fit to be rooted up Pulchra Laverna Da mihi fallere da justum sanctumque videri The Pretension of those Feofees seemed to be very just and pious but their Intention and Practice was quite contrary by planting many pentionary Lectures in many places where the Preachers were Non-conformists from whom could be expected no better fruits than the overthrow of Episcopal Government The words of Mr. Heylyn's Sermon as to this particular are as followeth For what is that which is most aimed at in it but to cry down the standing Clergy of this Kingdom to undermine the publick Liturgy by Law established to foment factions in the State Schisms in the Church and to have ready Sticklers in every place for the advancement of some dangerous and deep design And now we are fallen upon this point we will proceed a little further in the proposal of some things to be considered The Corporation of Feofees for buying in Impropriations to to the Church doth it not seem in appearance to be an excellent piece of Wheat a noble and gracious part of Piety Is not this Templum Domini Templum Domini But blessed God that men should thus draw near to thee with their mouths and be so far from thee in their hearts For what are those entrusted in the management of this great business Are they not most of them the most active and best affected men in the whole Cause magna partium momenta and chief Patrons of this growing Faction And what are those that they prefer Are they not most of them such men as are and must be serviceable to their dangerous Innovations And will they not in time have more Preferments to bestow than all the Bishops of the Kingdom And so by consequence a greater number of Dependents to promote their Interest Yet all this while we sleep à nd slumper and fold our hands in sloth and see perhaps but dare not note it High time it is assuredly you should be awaked and rouse your selves upon the apprehension of so near a danger If we look further upon this new devise and holy project it being observed as Fuller saith that those who hold the Helm of the Pulpit always steer the peoples hearts as they please The Feofees
where he had run through so hard a Task with the Regius Professor though he missed Windsor took this occasion to make himself merry as the Poet did musa jocosa mea est Ov. And so fell into this vein of Poetry When Windsor Prebend late disposed was One ask'd me sadly how it came to pass Potter was chose and Heylyn was forsaken I answer'd 't was by Charity mistaken But this Fancy was soon turned into a mournful Elegy by the death of his noble Friend the Attorny General Mr. Noy whose memory he could never forget for the honour of delivering to him the gracious message from his Majesty and for the intimacy he was pleased to bear to him as a bosom friend that he imparted to the Doctor all the affairs of State and transactions of things done in his time which made him so perfect an Historian in this particular and shewed him his papers manuscripts and laborious Collections that he had gathered out of Statutes and ancient Records for the proof of the Kings Prerogative particularly before his death at his house in Brainford where the Doctor kept Whitsontide with him in the year 1634. he shewed to him a great wooden Box that was full of old Precedents for levying a Naval aid upon the Subjects by the sole Authority of the King whensoever the preservation and safety of the Kingdom required it of them Mr. Hammond L' Strange acknowledges that Mr. Noy was a most indefatigable plodder and searcher of old Records The learned Antiquary Mr. Selden though no friend to the King nor Church confesses in his excellent book entituled Mare Clausum That the Kings of England â—…sed to levy mony upon the Subjects without the help of Parliament for the providing of Ships and other necessaries to maintain that Soveraignity which anciently belonged to the Crown Yet the honest Attorny General for the same good service to the King and Country is called by Hammond Le Strange The most pestilent vexation to the Subjects that this latter Age produced So true is the old Proverb some may better steal a Horse than others look on For it is usual with many not to judge according to the merits of the cause but by the respect or disrepect they bear to the Person as the Comedian once said Duo cum idem faciunt saepe possis dicere Hoc licet impune facere huic illi non licet Non quod dissimilis res sit sed quod qui facit When two does both alike the self same Act One suffers pain the other for the Fact Not the lest shame or punishment and why Respect of persons makes Crimes differently The death of Mr. Noy the more sadly afflicted the Doctor to lose so dear a Friend and an entire Lover of learned men during whose time no unhappy differences brake out betwixt the Dean of Westminster and the Prebends of that Church but all things were carried on smoothly by his Lordship because he knew well that Dr. Heylyn had a sure Advocate in Court both in behalf of himself and his Brethren if they stood in need of help that no sooner this worthy person departed the World but the Bishop so extremely tyrannized over the Prebendaries infringing their Priviledges violating their Customes and destroying their ancient Rights that for the common preservation of themselves and their Successors they were forced to draw up a Charge against his Lordship consisting of no less than thirty six Articles which were presented by way of complaint and petition of redress to his sacred Majesty who forthwith gave order for a Commission to be issued out unto the Arch-Bishops of Canterbury and York the Earl of Manchester Lord Privy Seal Earl of Portland the Lord Cottington the two Secretaries of State Sir John Cook and Sir Francis Windebank Authorizing them to hold a Visitation of the Church of Westminster to examine the particular charges made against John Lord Bishop of Lincoln and to redress such grievances and pressures as the Prebends of the said Church suffered by his misgovernment The Articles were ordered by the Council Table to be translated into Latin by Dr. Heylyn which accordingly he performed to avoid the common talk and scandal that might arise if exposed to the publick veiw of the vulgar on April 20. A. D. 1634. the Commission bore date which was not executed but lay dormant till December 1635 the Bishop expecting the business would never come to a hearing he raged more vehemently dispossessed the Prebends of their Seats refused to call a Chapter and to passe their Accounts conferred holy Orders in the said Church without their consent contrary to an ancient Priviledge which had been inviolably retained from the first foundation of the Church he permitted also Benefices in their gift to be lapsed unto himself that so he might have absolute power to dispose them to whom he pleased Quo teneam nodo With many other grievances which caused the Prebends to present a second Petition to his Majesty humbly beseeching him to take the ruinous and desperate estate of the said Church into his Princely consideration Upon which the former Commission was revived a day of hearing appointed and a Citation fixed upon the Church door of Westminster for the Bishops and Prebends to appear on Jan. 27. Upon the 25th instant The Prebends were warned by the Subdean to meet the Bishop in Jerusalem Chamber where his Lordship foreseeing the Storm that was like to fall upon his head carried himself very calmly towards them desiring to know what those things were that were amiss and he would presently redress them though his Lordship knew them very well without an Informer to which Dr. Heylyn replyed that seeing they had put this business into his Majesties hands it would ill become them to take the matters out oâ—… his into their own Therefore on Jan. 27th both Parties met together before the Lords in the Inner-star Chamber where by their Lordships Order the whole business was put into a methodical course each Mâ—…day following being appointed for a day of hearing till a Conclusion was made of the whole affair On February the 1st The Lords Commissioners with the Bishop and Prebends met in the Council-Chamber at White-hall where it was first ordered that the Plaintifs should be called by the name of Prebends supplicant Secondly they should be admitted upon Oath as Witnesses Thirdly they should have a sight of all Registers Records Books of account c. which the Bishop had kept from them Fourthly that the first business they should begin with should be about their Seat because it made the difference or breach more visible and offensive to the World than those matters which were private and domestick And lastly it was ordered that the Prebends should have an Advocate to plead their Cause defend their Rights and represent their Grievances Accordingly the Prebends unanimously made choice of Dr. Peter Heylyn for their Advocate The business now brought on so fairly
the Lords Commissioners met again on February the 8th following before whom the Bishop put in his Plea about the Seat or Great Pew under Rich. 2. from which he had disgracefully turned out the Prebends and possest it wholly to himself or the use of those Strangers to whom he had a special favour thinking scorn that honoured Society should sit with him a Bishop But the Prebends Advocate proved their Right of sitting there by these particulars First their original Right Secondly their derivative Right Thirdly their possessory Right How excellently he managed their Cause and what a mean defence the Bishop made for himself would be too tedious and impertinent to insert here concerning none but the Church of Westminster Finally upon hearing the matters on both sides it was ordered by general consent of the Lords Commissioners That the Prebends should be restored to their old Seat and that none should sit there with them but Lords of the Parliament and Earls eldest Sons according to the ancient custom But what were those differences about a Seat to the Disputes risen at that time about the Sabbath In the History of which Dr. Heylyn was then engaged and in a short time he perfected it to satisfie the scrupulous minds of some misguided Zelots who turned the observation of the Lords-day into a Jewish Sabbath not allowing themselves or others the ordinary Liberties nor works of absolute necessity which the Jews themselves never scrupled at Against which sort of Sabbatarians the Doctor published his History of the Sabbath The Argumentative part of that Subject was referred to Dr. White Bishop of Ely the Historical part of it to Dr. Heylyn Huic nostro tradita est provincia Both of their Books never answered to this day but pickird at by Mr. Palmer and Mr. Cawdrey two Divines of the Smectymnian Assembly and by some other sorry Writers of less account But the foundation and superstructure both in the logical and historical Discourses of those two Pillars of our Church stand still unmovable the latter though an Historian upon the Subject does fully answer all the material Arguments of the Adversaries side brought out of Scripture as well as History Neither doth the Bishop nor the Doctor in the least encourage or countenance in all their Writings any Profaneness of the Day when Christian Liberty is abused to Licentiousness Nor on the other side would they have the Religious Observation of the Day brought into superstition For Sunday amongst some I have known hath been kept as a Fast Day contrary to the ancient Opinion and Practice of the primitive Church who judged it a Heresie and not an Act of Piety Nefas est die Dâ—…minica jejunare that the day should be spent from Morning to Evening so strictly in preaching and praying in repetition upon repetitions in doing works of superogation which God never required at their hands nor any Christian Church commanded to make the Sabbath a burden that ought to be a Christians delight is new Divinity among the reformed Churches in Geneva it self before and after Divine Service the People are at liberty for manly Recreations and Exercises Upon complaint made before Lord chief Justice Richardson of some disorders by Feasts Wakes Revels and ordinary pastimes on Sundays perticularly in the County of Somerset His Majesty ordered that the Bishop of Bath and Wells should send a speedy account of the same The Bishop called before him seventy two of the Orthodox and ablest Clergy men among them who certified under their several hands that on the Feasts dayes which commonly fell upon Sundayes the service of God was more solemnly performed and the Church was better frequented both in the forenoon and afternoon then upon any Sunday in the year To decry the clamours of the Sabbatarians a Lecture read by Doctor Prideaux at the Act in Oxon Anno 1622. was translated into english in which he solidly discoursed both of the Sabbath and Sunday according to the judgment of the ancient Fathers and the most approved Writers of the Protestant and Reformed Churches This Lecture was also ushered with a preface In which there was proofe offered of these three propositions First that the keepiug holy one day of seven is not the moral part of the fourth Commandement Secondly that the alteration of the day is only an humane and ecclesiastical constitution Thirdly that still the Church hath power to change the day and transfer it to some other The name of Prideaux was then so sacred that the Book was greedily bought up by those of the Puritan faction but when they found themselves deceived of their expectation The Book did cool their colors and abate their clamour Since our Saviours reproof of the Jews for their superstitious fear of transgressing the traditions and Commanddements of their Fathers by which they kept the Sabbath with more rigour than God had commanded they are now bent upon the other extreme as Buxtorf tells us so hard a thing it is to keep a medium between two extreams Quanto voluptatis isti percipiunt saith he tanto se devotius Sabbatum colere statuunt The more pleasures they take on the Sabbath day the more devoutly they thought that they keep the Sabbath So that the rigid Sabbatarian hath no example of Jew or Christian and I am sure no Command of God in Scripture nor President in Antiquity or Ecclesiastical History but will find there the Lords-day is from Ecclesiastical Institution I speak not this I abhor it to animate or the least encourage people in looseness and debauchery to neglect the Duties of Religion or the Worship and Service of God upon this holy day which they ought as they tender their Souls with singular Care and Conscience to observe but hereby I think my Father in Law is justified though his own Book is best able to vindicate himself that his Opinion is orthodox both according to the Doctrine of the Church of England and the judgement and practice of Protestant Churches that the Lords-day should be Religiously observed and yet withal the lawful liberties and urgent necessities of the People preserved and not to be so tied up and superstitiously fearful that they dare not kindle a Fire dress Meat visit their Neighbours sit at their own Door or walk abroad no nor so much as talk with one another except it be in the Poets words Of God Grace and Ordinances As if they were in heavenly Trances To which I may add a more smart and witty Epigram upon the scruple and needless disatisfaction in them not onlâ—… about the Sabath but our Church and Religion in those Verses of Dr. Heylyn to Mr. Hammond L' Estrange as followeth A learned Prelate of this Land Thinking to make Religion stand With equal poise on either side A mixture of them thus he tryed An Ounce of Protestant he singleth And then a Dram of Papist mingleth With a Scruple of a Puritan And boyled them in his Brain pan But
when he thought it would digest The Scruple troubled all the rest Notwithstanding this scrupulosity in them the World knows their hypocritical Practices under all those zealous Pretences how light they are in the Ballance and how extraordinary a thing it is to find from their hands downright honesty and plain dealing they are too much like the Scribes and Pharisees who by godly shews of long Prayers sad Countenances Justification of themselves that they were the only Righteous and all others Sinners played the Hypocrites most abominably to deceive the vulgar sort they made Religion a meer mock and empty show 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith our Saviour to be seen like Stage-players in a Theater Nam tota actio est histrionica as Erasmus well observeth their whole carriage was dramatick to make a feigned Pageantry and Ostentation of Piety Yet John Lord Bishop of Lincoln in compliance with this Sect out of discontent and revenge because deprived of the great Seal and commanded by the King to retire from Westminster transformed himself into one of these Angels of new Light and made himself the Archangel and Head of their Party First of all by writing his pretended Letter to one Titly Vicar of Grantham against the holy Communion Table standing Altar-wise to which Dr. Heylyn made a sudden and sharp reply in his Book entituled A Coal from the Altar to which the Bishop within a Twelve-month after he took time enough for the Work did return an Answer under the Title of The Holy Table Name and Thing pretending withal that this was written long ago by a Minister in Lincolnshire against Dr. Cole a Divine in Queeu Marys Reign No sooner the King heard of this new Book but he sent a Command to Dr. Heylyn to write a speedy Answer to it and not in the least to spare the Bishop Neither did the Doctor baulk the grand Sophos but detected all his false Allegations and answered them that were true which the Bishop had wrested to a contrary sense if we will look into the Doctors Book called by him Antidotum Lincolniense All this while the Bishop as it must be confest being a man of Learning writ against his own Science and Conscience so dear is the passion of revenge to gratifie which some men wilfully sin against the Light of their own Souls therefore the Bishop according to the Apostles word was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 condemned of himself For look upon him in the point of practice and we shall find the Communion Table was placed Altar-wise in the Cathedral Church of Lincoln whereof he was Bishop and in the Collegiate Church of Westminster of which he was Dean and lastly in the private Chappel of his own house as Dr. Heylyn saith in whieh it was not only placed Altar-wise but garnished with rich Plate and other costly Utensils in more than ordinary manner By all which the Bishop needed no further refutation of his Book than his own Example that in those places where he had Authority the Holy Table did not stand in Gremio and Nave of the Quire as he would have it fixed but above the Steps upon the Altar close to the East end of the Quire ex vi catholicae consuetudinis according to the ancient manner and custom in the Primitive Catholick Church But hinc illae lachrymae ever since this mischief followed his Book that in most Country Churches to this day the Table is set at the hither end of the Chancel whithout any Traverse or Rails to fence it Boys fling their Hats upon it and that which is worse Dogs piss against it Country Juries write their Parish accounts Amerciaments By-Laws c. all which is a most horrible profanation and not to be suffered But now John Lord Bishop of Lincoln who would have removed the holy Communion Table from its proper place and had displaced his Prebends of their ancient Seat was himself at this time Anno Dom. 1637. thrown out of his Episcopal Chair by sentence of the Star-Chamber for endeavouring to corrupt the Kings Evidence in a Cause of Bastardy brought before his Majesties Justices of Peace at Spittle Sessions in the County of Lincoln which business afterward came to a hearing before the Lords in Star-Chamber by whose definitive sentence the Bishop was suspended ab Officio Beneficio deprived of all his Ecclesiastical Preferments deeply fined and his Complices with him and afterward committed to the Tower of London where he continued Prisoner for three years and in all that space of time his Lordship did never hear Sermon or publick Prayers to both which he was allowed liberty but instead thereof he studied Schism and Faction by his own Example and his Pen disguisedly During the time of his Lorships Imprisonment Dr. Heylyn was chosen Treasurer for the Church of Westminster in which Office he discharged himself with such diligence and fidelity that he was continued in it from year to year till the Bishops release out of tâ—…e Tower and his removal back again to Westminster While he was Treasurer he took care for the repairs of the Church that had been neglected for many years First of the great West-Isle that was ready to fall down was made firm and strong and of the South-side of the lower West-Isle much decayed he caused to be new timbred boarded and leaded but chiefly the curious Arch over the preaching place that looketh now most magnificently he ordered to be new vaulted and the Roof thereof to be raised up to the same height with the rest of the Church the charge of which came to 434 l. 18 s. 10 d. He regulated also some disorders of the Quire perticularly the exacting of Sconses or perdition mony which he divided among them that best deserved it who diligently kept Prayers and attended upon other Church Duties Whilest he was Treasurer his Brethren the Prebendaries to testifie their good affections to him presented him to the Parsonage of Islip near Oxford a very good Living worth about 200l per Annum then by the death of Dr. King made void but by reason of the distance from Alresford though standing most conveniently to taste the sweet pleasures of the University he thought fit to exhange it for another nearer hand the Rectory of South-warnborough in the County of Hampshire that was in the gift of St. Johns Colledge in Oxon to which exchange he was furthered by the Arch-Bishop who carried a great stroke in that Colledge of which he had been President It pleased God soon after to visit him and his Family at Alresford with a terrible fit of Sickness of which none escaped the Disease was so contagious but the Cook 's boy in the Kitchen who was then Master Cook for the whole Family and he performed his part so well in making their broths and other necessaries that he was the best Physitian among the Doctors for by his Kitchen Physick the Sick was cured No sooner Dr. Heylyn recovered of the
distemper but he betook himself from his Bed to his Book and fell upon a more than ordinary piece of study The History of the Church of England since the Reformation An easie matter for others to tread the Path when he had found out the Way Though he is dead he yet speaketh and the truth of things without respect of persons not to ingratiate himself with the Parliament and Presbyterian party to make our Religion it self Parliamentary which Papists and Presbyterians affirm he spared no pains nor cost to search into old Records Registers of Convocation Acts of Parliament Orders of Council Table and had the use of Sir Robert Cottons Library to take out what Books he pleased leaving a pawn of Mony behind for them In all his other Writings what a faithful Historian he hath appeared to the World is sufficiently known and will be shewed in this particular In the mean while let not men be too credulous of anothers Transcriptions that are under question an verbum de verbo expressum extulit Whether they are copyed out exactly from the originals wherein lyes the main controversie in matter of fact which I am not bound nor other men to believe till we are convinced by our own Eyes besides it is an inglorious encounter to fight with a mans Ghost after he has been dead near twenty years with whom the late Historian nor any other whilst he was living durst venture with him in the point The Heathens scorn'd to rake in the Ashes of the dead but as Tacitus says of Agricola ut in loco Piorum manibus destinato placide quiescat that he might rest without disturbance in the place appointed for Souls However the Doctors Learning and Fidelity in History is so publickly known that it is not in the power of any Scot or English Aristarchus to blast his good Name And let this suffice at present Magnus Aristarcho major Homerus erat Whilst he was so intent upon the History of Reformation he found little encouragement to go on in these studies for the discontents that boyled in this Nation and the Commotions then begun in Scotland upon pretence of the Common-prayer imposed upon them And a mere pretence indeed it was for herein was nothing done but with the consent and approbation of their own Scottish Bishops who made what Alterations in the Liturgy they pleased to which they had his Majesties Royal Assent but the blame was wholly laid upon the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury who only commended the Book to them spe quidem laudabili sed eventu pessimo as the learned Dr. Bates said the success being improsperous though the enterprise commendable the Arch-Bishop unjustly censured for it he caused Dr. Heylyn to translate the Scotch Liturgy into Latin and his Lordship intended to set out his own Apology with the Book to vindicate himself from those aspersions thrown upon him that the World might be satisfied with his Majesties Piety and Goodness and his Lordships own care and readiness to serve that Nation but their hasty Rebellion to which they were ever precipitant put an end to the Bishops Apology and the Doctors Translation Hamilton whom Dr. Burnet doth so highly applaud had a party that not only opposed this Liturgy but betrayed the King on all occasions nay some of the Bed-Chamber who were Scots were grown so sawcy and impudent that they used to ransack the good Kings Pockets when he was in Bed to transcribe such Letters as they found and send the Copies to their Country-men in the way of Intelligence To speak the matter in a word he was grown of Scots in Fact a King though not in Title His Majesty being looked on by them as a Cypher in the Arithmatick of State The Scotch Covenanters after the unhappy War was begun called it Bellum Episcopale the Bishops War raised only to uphold their Hierarchy but the truth is as the Doctor proveth Though Liturgy and Episcopacy were made the occasions yet they were not the causes of the war Religion being but the Vizard to disguise the business which Covetousness Sacriledge and Rapine had the greatest hand in for the King resolving to revoke all grants of Abby Lands the Lands of Bishopricks and Chapters and other Religious Corporations which have been vested in the Crown by Act of Parliament were conferred on many of the Nobility and Gentry in his Fathers Minority when he was under Protectors whence the Nobility of Scotland made use of discontented and seditious Spirits under colour of the Canons and Common prayer to embroyl that Kingdom that so they might keep their Lands and hold up their Power and Tyranny over the people To appease the Tumults in Scotland and quench the sparks of Sedition that began to kindle in England the King called a Parliament and issued out his Writ for Clerks in Convocation at which time the Doctor was chosen by the Colledge of Westminster their Clerk to sit in Convocation where he proposed a most excellent expediency which would be of happy use if still continued for the satisfaction of some scrupolous Members in the House of Commons about the Ceremonies of our Church That there might be a mutual conference by select Commitees between the House of Commons and the lower House of the Convocation that the Clergy might give the Commons satisfaction in the point of Ceremonies and all other things relating to the Church which motion from him was well accepted and generally assented thereto And no doubt a most happy success would have followed upon it not only to take away all scruples but to beget a Reverence and Love from the Commons to the Clergy by such a mutual Conference and Conversation But this Parliament being then suddenly dissolved put a period to that and all other business at the news of which brought unexpectedly to the Doctor while he was bufie then at the election for the School of Westminster his pen fell from his hand himself struck dumb with admiration Obstupuit steteruntque comae vox fancibus haesit A sad and unfortunate day it was saith the Doctor and the news so unpleasing brought hiâ—… by a friend whilst he was writing some dispatches it so astonished him though he â—…ad heard some inkling of it the night before that suddenly the Pen fell out of his hand and long it was before he could recollect his Spirits to give an answer The Convocation usually endeth in course the next day after the dissolution of Parliament But the Doctor well knowing that one great end of calling Parliaments is to raise the King money for the publick concerns he therefore went to Lambeth and showed the Arch-Bishop a preced ent in the reign of Queen Elizabeth for granting subsidies or a benevolence by Convocation to be levyed upon the Clergy without the help of a Parliament whereby the Kings necessities for mony might be supplyed and so it successfully fell out the Arch-Bishop acquainting the King with this present expediency
of the Founders in each University by changing Prayers for the Souls first by them intended into a commemoration of their bounties as was practised All dispositions of this kind must vary with their changes which befall the Church or else be alienated and estranged to other purposes I know it must needs be some discouragement to you to read to Walls or to pray in publick with so thin a company as hardly will amount to a Congregation but withal I desire you to consider that magis minus as Logicians say do not change the species of things that quantities of themselves are of little efficaâ—…y if at all of any and that he who promised to be in the midst of two or three when they meet together in his Name hath clearly shewed that even the smallest Congregations shall not want his presence and why then should we think much to besâ—…ow our pains where he vouchsafeth his prâ—…sence or think our labour ill bestowed if some few only do pertake of the present benefiâ—… And yet no doubt the benefit extends to more than the Parties present for â—…ou know well that the Priest or Minister is not only to pray with but for the People that he is not only to offer up the Peoples Praâ—…ers to Almighty God but to offer up his own Prayers for them the benefit whereof may charitably be presumed to extend to as well as it was intended for the absent also And if a whole Nation may be represented in a Parliament of â—…our hundred persons and they derive the blessings of peace and comfort upon all the Land why may we not conceive that God will look on three or four of this little Parish as the representation of the whole and for their sakes extend his Grace and Blessing unto all the rest that he who would have saved that sinful City of Sodom had he â—…ound but ten righteous persons in it may not vouchsafe to bless a less sinful people upon the Prayers of a like or less number of pious and religious persons When the High Priest went into the Sanctum Sanctorum to make attonement for the Sins of the People went he not thither by himself None of the people being suffered to enter into that place Do not we read that when Zacharias offered up Incense which figured the Prayers of the Saints within the Temple the people waited all that while in the outward Courts or find we any where that the Priest who offered up the daily Sacrifice and this comes nearest to our Case did ever intermit that Office by reason of the slackness and indevotion of the people in repairing to it But you will say there is a Lyon in the way there is danger in it Assuredly I hope none at all or if any none that you would care for The Sword of the Committee had as sharp an edge and was managed with as strong a malice as any Ordinance of a late date can impower men with Having so fortunately escaped the danger of that why should you think of any thing but despising this as Tully did unto Mark Antony Catilinae gladios contempsi non timebo tuos Why may you not conclude with David in the like sense and apprehensions of Gods preservation that he who saved him from the Bear and from the Lyon would also save him from the Sword of that railing Philistine And you may see that the Divine Providence is still awake over that poor remnant of the regular and othodox Clergy which have not yet bowed their knees to the Golden Calves of late erected by putting so unexpectedly a Hook into the Nostrils of those Leviathans which threatned with an open mouth to devour them all I will not say as Clemens of Alexandria did in Case much like that it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to indulge too much to apprehension of this nature in matters which relate to Gods publick Service All I shall add is briefly thus that having presented you with these considerations I shall with greediness expect the sounding of the Bell to morrow morning and in the mean time make my prayers to Almighty God to direct you in this business as may be most for his glory your own particular comfort and the good of this people with which expressions of my Soul I subscribe my self Your most affectionate Friend and Brother in Christ Jesus Peter Heylyn After this good Letter Mr. Huish went on in his Prayers as formerly and this little Church withstood all the batteries and fierce assaults of its Enemies who were never able to demolish it or unite it to St. Ellens so well had the Doctor managed the business for the publick good and the benefit of the Parish for as to his own particular he might have spared that pains and charge having as we said before a Chappel in his own house where he constantly used the Common-prayer for his Family devotions being no lover of other Forms much less of extemporary Effusions for the impertinencies tautologies and irreverent expressions that usualy attends them though such Prayers are most admired by the Vulgar because some of them think themselves excellently gifted that way as the Doctor tells us a story of a Puritan Tradesman Meeting â—…ne time saith he by chance my old Chaâ—…r-fellow Mr. L. D. at Dinner my Chamber-fellow being the only Scholar in the company was requested to say Grace which he did accordingly and having done the Tradesman lifting up both his Hands and Whites to Heaven calls upon the company saying dearly beloved Brethren let us praise God better and thereupon began a long extempore Grace of his own conceiving But to return again As he had a respect to the Cause of the Church so he was careful of his own concern to answer Dr. Bernard an Irish Dean but now Chaplain to Oliver one of his Almoners and a Preacher in Grays-Inn who had put forth a Book entituled The Judgement of the late Primate of Ireland c. in reply to which the Doctor published Respondet Petrus and an Apendix in answer to certain passages of H. L' Est. History of the Reign of King Charles In the one he treateth learnedly about the Sabbath the other relating to the Lord Primate the Articles of the Church of Ireland and the Earl of Strafford to neither of which his Adversaries could make a Reply but instead thereof Dr. Bernard endeavoured to procure an Order froâ—… Olivers Privy-Council to burn the Book which caused a common report that Dr. Heylyn's Book of the Sabbath was publickly burnt but according to the old saying Fama est mendax for the Book never saw the Fire nor any Answer to it and if it had been martyr'd in the Fire it would have proved more for the Authors credit than disgrace as Tacitus tells us in the like Case of Cremutius Cordus whose Book was decreed by the Senate to be burnt punitis Ingeniis saith he gliscit authoritas when good Wits are punished their