Tyranical Power he went about to establish in the Hands of our Prelates over the Worship of God and the Souls and Goods of Men overturning from the Foundation the whole Order of our Kirk and how large an entry he did make for the grossest Novations afterward which hath been a main Cause of this Combustion This is the last Shot against these Canons and me for them And I conceive this is no great thing For Arbitrary Government is one thing And 't is quite another that wheresoever there is no Penalty expresly set down it is provided that it shall be Arbitrary as the Ordinary shall think fittest which are the words of the Canon For since no Law can meet with all particulars some things must of necessity be left Arbitrary in all Government though that be perfectest and happiest that leaves least Nor is it an unheard of thing to find something Arbitrary in some Canons of the Church which are very antient As in the Council of Eliberis the Punishment of him who was absent from the Church three Sundays was that he should be Abstentus and barred from the Church for some small time that his negligence in the Service of God may seem to be punished But this small Time being not limited is left to Arbitrary Discretion So likewise in the Council of Valence An. 374. The giving of the Sacrament to such as had vowed Virginity and did afterwards Marry was to be deferr'd as the Priest saw Reason and Cause for it and that sure is Arbitrary The like we find in the third Council of Carthage where the Time of Penance according to the quality of the Sin is left to the Discretion of the Bishop And these Councils were all within the fourth Century By all which it is apparent that in Church as well as in State some things may be left Arbitrary and have been in Better and Wiser Times than these of ours Nay 't is confest by one that Writes almost as well as Junius Brutus that there is an Arbitrary Power in every State somewhere and that no Inconvenience follows upon it And the Council of Ancyra inflicting Censures upon Presbyters first and then Deacons which had fallen in time of Persecution yet gives leave to the Bishop to mitigate the Penance at his Discretion Again 't is manifest by the care taken in the preceeding Canons that here 's little or nothing of moment left Arbitrary And then the Ordinary will fall into an Excess more dangerous to himself than his Arbitrary Punishment can be to him that suffers it if he offer to Tyrannize For this Clause wheresoever it is inserted in Canon or Statute as it is in the Statutes of very many Colledges stands but for a Proviso that Disorderly persons may not think they shall escape Punishment if they can cunningly keep off the Letter of the Law And yet so that the Arbitrary Punishment be Regulated by that which is expressed in the Canons or the Statutes for Omissions or Commissions of like nature And therefore that which is inferred upon all this Charge and the Particulars in it Namely That I went about to establish a Tyranical Power in the Hands of their Prelates either over the Worship of God or the Souls and Goods of Men is utterly false and cannot be proved to follow out of any of the Premises Not over the Goods of the People For no Prelate not invested with Temporal Power can meddle with them so that were there any Canon made for that it would be void of it self Nor over the Souls of Men for they are left free in all things save to commit Sin and Disorder which to repress by Canons is and hath been the Church way Much less over the Worship of God For these Canons have laboured nothing so much as to Honour and Establish that in Decency and Uniformity And as for that which follows That these Canons over-turn from the Foundation the whole Order of their Kirk 'T is more than I believe will be proved that they have over-turned any good Order in their Church much less Foundations Though it may be thought by some and perhaps justly that there is so little Order in their Church and that so weakly founded that it may be over-turned with no great stress And for the large Entry made for the Gross Novations afterwards you see what it is And when you have considered the Gross Novations which are said to come after I hope you will not find them very Gross nor any way fit to be alledged as a main Cause of this Combustion Now follows ART III. The third and great Novation which was the Book of Common-Prayer Administration of Sacraments and other parts of Divine Service brought in without Warrant from our Kirk to be Vniversally received as the only Form of Divine-Service under the highest pains both Civil and Ecclesiastical Now we are come to the Arraignment of the Liturgy and the Book of Common-Prayer and this they say was brought in without Warrant from their Kirk If this be true it was the fault of your own Prelates and theirs only for ought I know For though I like the Book exceeding well and hope I shall be able to maintain any thing that is in it and wish with all my Heart that it had been entertained there yet I did ever desire it might come to them with their own liking and approbation Nay I did ever upon all Occasions call upon the Scottish Bishops to do nothing in this Particular but by Warrant of Law And farther I professed unto them before His Majesty that though I had obeyed his Commands in helping to Order that Book yet since I was ignorant of the Laws of that Kingdom I would have nothing at all to do with the manner of introducing it but left that wholly to them who do or should understand both that Church and their Laws And I am sure they told me they would adventure it no way but that which was Legal But they go on And say this Book Is found by our National Assembly besides the Popish Frame and Forms in Divine Worship to contain many Popish Errors and Ceremonies and the Seeds of manifold and gross Superstitions and Idolatries and to be repugnant to the Doctrine Discipline and Order of our Reformation to the Confession of Faith Constitutions of General Assemblies and Acts of Parliament Establishing the true Religion That this was also Canterbury's Work we make manifest This is a great Charge upon the Service-Book indeed But it is in Generals and those only affirmed not proved And therefore may with the same case and as justly be denied by me as they are affirmed by them And this is all I shall say till they bring their Proofs And though this be no more Canterbury's Work than the Canons were yet by their good will I shall bear the burden of all And therefore before they go to prove this great Charge against the Service-Book
in their Cause and medled in decernendo in determining and that before-hand what the Prelats should do and sometimes in Commanding the Orthodox Prelats to Communicate with the Arrians This they refused to do as being against the Canons of the Council of Nice And then his Answer was Yea but that which I will shall go for Canon But then we must know withal that Athanasius reckn'd him for this as that Antichrist which Daniel Prophesied of Hosius also the Famous Confessor of those Times condemned in him that kind of medling in and with Religion And so doth St. Hilary of Poictiers Valentinian also the Younger took upon him to judge of Religion at the like presuasion of Auxentius the Arrian but he likewise was sharply reproved for it by St. Ambrose In like manner Maximus the Tyrant took upon him to judge in Matters of Religion as in the Case of Priscillian and his Associates But this also was checkt by St. Martin Bishop of Tours Where it is again to be observed that though these Emperours were too busie in venturing upon the determination of Points of Faith yet no one of them went so far as to take Power from the Synods and give it to the Senate And the Orthodox and Understanding Emperours did neither the one nor the other For Valentinian the Elder left this great Church-work to be done by Church-Men And though the Power to call Councils was in the Emperour And though the Emperours were sometimes personally present in the Councils and sometimes by their Deputies both to see Order kept and to inform themselves yet the decisive Voices were in the Clergy only And this will plainly appear in the Instructions given by the Emperor Theodosius to Condidianus whom he sent to supply his place in the Council of Ephesus which were That he should not meddle with Matters of Faith if any came to be debated And gives this Reason for it Because it is unlawful for any but Bishops to mingle himself with them in those Consultations And Basilius the Emperour long after this in the Eighth General Council held at Constantinople ãâã 870. affirms it of the Laity in general That it is no way lawful for them to meddle with these things But that it is proper for the Patriarchs Bishops and Priests which have the Office of Government in the Church to enquire into these Things And more of this Argument might easily be added were that needful or I among my Books and my Thoughts at liberty And yet this crosses not the Supremacy which the King of England hath in Causes Ecclesiastical as it is acknowledged both by the Church and Law For that reaches not to the giving of him Power to determine Points of Faith either in Parliament or out or to the acknowledgment of any such Power residing in him or to give him Power to make Liturgies and publick Forms of Prayer or to Preach or Administer Sacraments or to do any thing which is meerly Spiritual But in all things which are of a mixed Cognizance such as are all those which are properly called Ecclesiastical and belong to the Bishops External Jurisdiction the Supremacy there and in all things of like Nature is the Kings And if at any time the Emperour or his Deputy sit Judge in a Point of Faith it is not because he hath any right to judge it or that the Church hath not Right but meerly in case of Contumacy where the Heretick is wilful and will not submit to the Church's Power And this the Hereticks sometimes did and then the Bishops were forced to Appeal thither also but not for any Resolution in the point of Faith but for Aid and Assistance to the just Power of the Church I cannot but remember a very Prudent Speech utter'd in the beginning of the late preceding Parliament and by that Lord who now made this The occasion was A Lord offer'd to deliver a Message from the King before he was formally brought into the House and his Patent shew'd This Lord who thinks Church-Ceremonies may so easily be alter'd stood up and said He would not be against the delivery of the Message he knew not how urgent it might be but desired withal that it might be enter'd that this was yielded unto by Special leave of the House For that saith he though this be but a Ceremony yet the Honour and Safety of the Priviledges of this Great House is preserved by nothing more than by keeping the Ancient Rights and Ceremonies thereof intire And this I think was very wisely spoken and with great Judgment And could my Lord see this in the Parliament and can he not see it in the Church Are Ancient Ceremonies the chief Props of Parliamentary Rights and have they no use in Religion to keep up her Dignity yea perhaps and Truth too The House of Parliament is I confess a Great and Honourable House But the whole Church of Christ is greater And it will not well beseem a Parliament to maintain their own Ceremonies and to kick down the Ceremonies of the National Church which under God made all their Members Christians Most sure I am they cannot do it without ossence both to State and Church and making both a Scorn to Neighbouring Nations Now in the close of all my Lord tells his Fellow Peers and all others in them That if they shall thus wound the Consciences of their Brethren the Separatists they will certainly offend and sin against Christ. Soft and fair But what shall these Lords do if to Humour the Consciences of those Brethren some weak and many wilful and the cunning misleading the simple they shall disgrace and weaken and perhaps overthrow the Religion they profess Shall they not then both wound their own Consciences and most certainly sin against Christ Yes out of all doubt they shall do both Now where it comes to the wounding of Consciences no question can be made but that every Man ought first to look to his own to his Brethrens after A Man must not do that which shall justly wound his Brother's Conscience though he be his Brother in a Separation and stand never so much a-loof from him But he must not wound his own to preserve his Brother from a wound especially such a one as happily may cure him and by a timely pinch make him sensible of the ill Condition in which he is As for these Men God of his Mercy give them that Light of his Truth which they want and forgive them the boasting of that Light which they presume they have And give them true Repentance and in that Sense a wounded Conscience for their breaking the Peace of this Church And forgive them all their Sins by which they still go on with more and more violence to distract this Church And God of his Infinite Goodness preserve this Church at all times and especially at this time while the Waves of this Sea of Separation
sadness I was much concerned at the Envy and undeserved Hatred born to me by the Lord Keeper I took into my Hands the Greek Testament that I might Read the portion of the day I lighted upon the XIII Chapter to the Hebrews wherein that of David Psal. 56. occurred to me then grieving and fearing The Lord is my helper I will not fear what man can do unto me I thought an Example was ãâã to me and who is not safe under that Shield Protect me O Lord my God Januar. 31. A Commission passed under the Broad Seal of England constituted me among others a Judge Delegate in a Suit of Dilapidation between the Rev. Father in God Richard Neile Lord Bishop of Durham and Francis James Son and Heir of his Predecessor I attended the Execution of this Commission from Two to Five a Clock in the Afternoon on Saturday in the great Chamber at Doctors Commons Februar 1. Sunday I stood by the most Illustrious Prince Charles at Dinner He was then very merry and talked occasionally of many things with his Attendants Among other things he said that if he were necessitated to take any particular Profession of Life he could not be a Lawyer adding his Reasons I cannot saith he defend a bad nor yield in a good Cause May you ever hold this Resolution and succeed most Serene Prince in Matters of greater moment for ever prosperous Februar 4. Wednesday my Conference held with Fisher the Jesuit May 24. 1622. and put in writing at the Command of King James having been before Read to the King was this day put into the Press being Licensed by the Bishop of London I had not hitherto appeared in Print I am no Controvertist May God so Love and Bless my Soul as I desire and endeavour that all the never to be enough deplored distractions of the Church may be composed happily and to the Glory of his Name This day I waited on the Duchess of Buckingham That Excellent Lady who is Goodness it self shewed me a Form of Devotions which another Woman unknown to me had put into her Hands I Read it All was mean in it nothing extraordinary unless that it was more like to Poetry Febr. 6. Friday my Lord Duke of Buckingham told me of the Reconciliation the day before made with the Lord Keeper Febr. 10. Shrove-Tuesday at the Commons Sentence in my Lord of Durham's Case Febr. 12. Thursday the Parliament was to begin but was put off to Monday the 16 of February Febr. 15. Sunday I Assisted at the Consecration of Dr Harmer Bishop of St. Asaph Febr. 16. Dies Lunae erat Dux Richmondiae subitâ Paralysi correptus mortuus est Hoc fatum rejecit Parliamentum in 19 Februarii Febr. 16. Munday The Duke of Richmond being seized suddenly with the Palsie died This accident put off the Parliament to the 19 of February Februar 18. Wednesday my Lord Duke of Buckingham told me of the Reconciliation and Submission of my Lord Keeper and that it was confessed unto him that his Favour to me was a chief Cause Invidia quo tendis c. At ille de novo foedus pepigit Februar 19. Thursday The Parliament began Februar 20. Friday The Convocation began Februar 22. Will. Fulwell Mr. of Arts of Qu. Coll. in Cambridge made Deacon Februar 24. Tuesday The Duke of Buckingham's Relation of the Negotiation with Spain about the Prince's Marriage to both Houses of Parliament Febr. 29. Sunday In the Evening the Duke of Buckingham's Coach overthrown between Exeter-House and the Savoy The Spanish Embassador lay there No Omen I hope more than that they thought to Soyl him Secretary Conway was in the Coach with him Mr. Bond came into the help and told it me March 7. Mid-Lent-Sunday I Preached at White-Hall March 14. Passion-Sunday I Preached at Westminster March 17. Lord Keeper his Complementing with me Will. Fulwell made Priest March 22. Munday Dismal day The Accident of my Lord of Rutland giving Not Content to the Form consented to in the Parliament House being the only Voice dissenting March 23. Tuesday The Censure of Morley Waterhouse and the Printer about the Petition against my Lord Keeper That Afternoon the King declared to the Committee that he would send a Messenger presently into Spain to signifie to that King that his Parliament advised him to break off the Treaties of the Match and the Palatinate and to give his Reasons of it and so proceed to recover the Palatinate as he might Bonfires made in the City by the forwardness of the People for Joy that we should break with Spain O quoties tenuit me illud Psal. LXVII 31. Dissipa gentes quae bella volunt Sed spero quia coacti March 24. Wednesday Initium Regis Jacobi The Earl of Oxford practising a Tilt fell and brake his Arm. That Night inter horas 6. 7. a great Eclipse of the Moon March 25. Thursday The Recess of the Parliament for a Week Anno 1624. March 26. Good-Friday Viscouut Mansfeild running at Tilt to practice with the shock of the meeting his Horse weaker or resty tumbled over and over and brake his own neck in the place the Lord had no great harm Should not this day have other Imployment March 27. Saturday Easter-Even my Speech with my Lord Duke of Buckingham about a course to ease the Church in times of Payment of the Subsidy now to be given His Promise to prepare both the King and the Prince March 28. Easter-day Richard Earl of Dorset died being well and merry in the Parliament House on Wednesday the 24. Quà m nihil est vita Hominis Miserere nostri Deus His Grand-father Thomas Earl of Dorset died suddenly at the Council-Table His Grand-mother rose well and was dead before Dinner His Father Robert lay not above two days And now this Man Sir Edward Sackvill ...... March 29. Easter-Munday I went and acquainted my Lord Keeper with what I had said to my Lord Duke He approved it and said it was the best Office that was done for the Church this Seven Years And so said my Lord of Durham They perswaded me to go and acquaint my Lord's Grace of Canterbury with what I had done I went His Grace was very angry Asked what I had to do to make any Suit for the Church Told me never any Bishop attempted the like at any time nor would any but my self have done it That I had given the Church such a wound in speaking to any Lord of the Laity about it as I could never make whole again That if my Lord Duke did fully understand what I had done he would never indure me to come near him again I answered I thought I had done a very good Office for the Church and so did my Betters think If his Grace thought otherwise I was sorry I had offended him And I hoped being done out of a good Mind for the support of many poor Vicars abroad in the Country who must needs sink under Three
21. Dies erat Martis Carnivale Misit D. Buckinghamiae ut ad se venirem Tum in Mandatis mihi dedit ut c. Feb. 23. Die Jovis Quaesivi Ducem apud Chelsei Ibi primò vidi nuper Natum Haeredem ejus Carolum Ducem non inveni Redij dein inveni ãâã ejus me quaerentem Cum eo propero in Aulâ invenio Quid à me factum narro Febr. 24. Die Veneris S. Matthiae Cum eo fui in AEdibus suis per Horas fere tres ubi suâ manu c. aliquid ut adderem jussit Dicto obsequutus sum proximo Die attuli Feb. 25. Feb. 26 Dominicâ primâ Quad. Concionem quam habui in initio Parlamenti Regio Mandato Typis jam excusam in manus Serenissimi Regis Caroli dedi Vesperi Feb. 27. Die Lunae Periculum Regis Caroli ab Equo qui fractis duobus Ephippiorum cingulis Ephippio unà cum Sessore in ventrem devoluto tremens constitit donec Rex salvus c. Martij 1. Dies erat Mercurij Festum S. Davidis Clamor incaepit in Domo Inferiori Parlamenti Nominatim contra Ducem Buckinghamiae ob moratam Navim dictam The St. Peter of Newhaven post Sententiam latam Perpetuae in Domo illâ agitationes erant à die illo Martij 6. Resignavi Rectoriam de Ibstock quam habui in Commendam Martij 11. Proposuit in Domo Dr. Turner Medicus Quaesita Septem vulgò dicta Quaeres contra Ducem Buckinghamiae Non alio tamen nixas Fundamento quam quod ex Famâ quidem Publicâ ut dixit petijt Dies erat Saturni Martij 16. Die Jovis Proposuit quidam è Belgia Nomine Joh. Oventrout se viam ostensurum quî Occidentalis-India excuteret Jugum Hispaniae se Regi nostro Carolo subderet Res refertur ãâã Comiti de Totnes Baroni Conway Secretario Principali quia dixit Stratagema suum à Religione non minimas vires petiturum adjungor ego Proposuit Senex quaedam de Aricâ capiendâ Nec qui capi potuit ullis Argumentis edocuit nisi quòd velit dividi Incolarum animos in causâ Religionis immisso illic Catechismo Hidelbergiae Dimisimus Hominem nec Sapientiores redimus Anno 1625. March 27. Midlent Sunday I Preached at White-Hall I ascended the Pulpit much troubled and in a very melancholy moment the Report then spreading that his Majesty King James of most Sacred Memory to me was Dead Being interrupted with the dolours of the Duke of Buckingham I broke off my Sermon in the middle The King died at Theobalds about three quarters of an hour past Eleven in the forenoon He breathed forth his Blessed Soul most Religiously and with great constancy of Faith and Courage That day about five a Clock Prince Charles was Solemnly Proclaimed King God grant to him a Prosperous and Happy Reign The King fell Sick March 4. on Friday The Disease appeared to be a Tertian Ague But I fear it was the Gout which by the wrong application of Medicines was driven from his feet to his inward vital parts April 1. Friday I received Letters from the Earl of Pembroke Lord Chamberlain to the King and therein a Command from his Majesty King Charles to Preach a Sermon before himself and the House of Peers in the Session of Parliament to be held on the 17 day of May next following Apr. 3. Sunday I delivered into the Duke of Buckingham's hands my short Annotations upon the Life and Death of the most August King James which he had commanded me to put in writing April 5. Tuesday I Exhibited a Schedule in which were wrote the Names of many Church-Men marked with the Letters O. and P. The Duke of Buckingham had commanded to digest their Names in that method that as himself said he might deliver them to King Charles April 9. Saturday The Duke of Buckingham whom upon all accounts I am bound for ever to Honour signified to me that a certain Person moved through I know not what envy had blackened my Name with his Majesty King Charles laying hold for that purpose of the Error into which by I know not what Fate I had formerly fallen in the business of Charles Earl of Devonshire 1605. Decemb 26. The same day I received in Command to go to the Right Reverend the Bishop of Winchester and learn from him what he would have done in the Cause of the Church and bring back his Answer especially in the matter of the Five Articles c. April 10. Sunday after Sermon was done I went to the Bishop who was then in his Chamber at Court I acquainted him with what I had received in Command He gave to me his Answer From thence we went together to hear Prayers in Somerset-House Having heard Prayers we afterwards saw there the Body of the late King James which rested there till the day of his Funeral Rites April 3. Wednesday I brought back to the Duke of Buckingham the Answer of the Bishop of Winchester At the same time the Duke made known to me what the King had determined concerning his Clerk of the Closet the Right Reverend the Bishop of Durham and about his Successor in that Office April 17. Easter-day The Bishop of Durham being Sick I was appointed but at the desire of the said Bishop by the Right Honourable the Earl of Pembroke Lord Chamberlain of the Household to wait upon his Majesty in the Quality of Clark of the Closet which place I Executed till the first of May. April 23. Burton presented his Paper to the King May 11. The Marriage was Celebrated at Paris between his Majesty King Charles and the most Illustrious Princess Henrietta Maria of France Daughter of Henry IV. May 7. Saturday we Celebrated the Funeral of King James May 1. Early in the Morning the Duke of Buckingham went towards the Sea-side to pass over into France to meet Queen Mary I wrote Letters to the Duke that day which might follow after him For he went in great haste May 17. The Parliament was put off till the last day of May. May 18. I took a short Journey with my Brother to Hammersmith that we might there see our common Friends It was Wednesday May 19. Thursday I sent Letters the second time to the Duke of Buckingham then staying for a while at Paris May 29. Sunday I gave a third Letter into the hands of the Bishop of Durham who was to Attend the King that he might deliver them to the Duke of Buckingham at his first Landing May 30. Munday I went to Chelsey to wait upon the Dutchess of Buckingham May 31. Tuesday The Parliament was a second time put off till Munday the 13. of June King Charles set forward toward Canterbury to meet the Queen June 5. Whitsunday in the Morning just as I was going to Prayers I received Letters from France from the most Illustrious Duke of Buckingham June 6. I wrote an Answer next Morning After
Epiphaniae dies Veneris nocte ãâã avi Matrem meam diu ante defunctam lecto meo astitisse deductis paululum stragulis hilarem in me aspexisse laetatus sum videre eam aspectu tam jucundo Ostendit deindè mihi Senem diù ante defunctum quem ego dum vixit novi amavi Jacuisse videbatur ille humi laetus satis sed rugoso vultu Nomen ei Grove Dum paro salutare evigilavi Januar. 8. Dies erat Lunae ãâã visum Ducem Buck. Gavisus est in manus dedit Chartam de Invocatione Sanctorum quam dedit ei Mater Illi vero nescio quis Sacerdos Jan. 13. Dies erat Saturni Episcopus Lin. petiit reconciliationem cum ãâã Buckinghamiae c. Januar. 14. Die Solis versùs manè somniavi Episcopum Lin. nescio què advenisse cum catenis ferreis sed redeuns liberatus ab iis equum insiluit abiit nec assequi potui Januar. 16. Die Martis Somniavi Regem venatum ãâã quòd quum esuriit abduxi eum de improviso in Domum Fran. Windebanck Amici mei Dum parat comedere ego dum alii aberant Calicem ei de more porrigebam Potum attuli non placuit Iterum adduxi sed poculo argenteo Dicit Serenissimus Rex Tu ãâã me semper è vitro bibere Abeo iterum evigilavi Januar. 17. Die Mercurij Ostendi Rationes Regi cur Chartae Episcopi Winton defuncti de Episcopis quòd sint Jure Divino praelo tradendae sint contra illud quod miserè in maximum damnum Ecclesiae Anglicanae Episcopus Lincoln significavit Regi sicut Rex ipse mihi antea narravit Febr. 7. Dies erat Cinerum Concionatus sum in Aulâ ad White-Hall Feb. 9. Die Veneris nocte sequente somniavi me morbo scorbutico laborasse repentè Dentes omnes mihi laxos fuisse unum praecipuè in inferiori maxillâ vix digito me retinere potuisse donec opem peterem c. Feb. 20. Die Martis Incaepit Jo. Fenton ãâã pruriginis ãâã c. Febr. 22. Die Jovis Iter suscepi versus Novum Mercatum ubi tum Rex fuit Martij 3. Dies Saturni erat Cantabrigiam concessi unà cum Duce Buckinghamiae Cancellario istius almae Academiae alijs Comitibus Baronibus Incorporatus ibi fui sic primus qui praesentatus fuit Illustrissimo Duci tum sedenti in domo Congregationis ipse fui Habitus ibi fuit ab Academicis Dux insignis Academicè celebriter Redimus Martij 6. Die Martis Rediit Rex è Novo Mercato ego versùs Londinum Martij 8. Die Jovis Veni Londinum Nocte sequente somniavi me reconciliatum fuisse Ecclesiae Romanae Hoc anxiè me habuit miratus sum ãâã unde accidit Nec solum mihi molestus fui propter Errores illius Ecclesiae sed etiam propter scandala quae ex illo lapsu meo multos egregios doctos viros in Ecclesiâ Anglicanâ onerarent Sic turbatus insomnio dixi apud me me statim iturum confessione factâ veniam ab Ecclesiâ Anglicanâ petiturum Pergenti obviam se dedit Sacerdos quidam voluit impedire Sed indignatione motus me in viam dedi Et dum fatigavi me morosis cogitationibus evigilavi Tales impressiones sensi ut vix potui credere me somniâsse Martij 12. Die Lunae cum Rege concessi Theobaldas Redij die proximo Martij 13. Martij 17. Die Saturni Vigiliâ Palmarum Horâ noctis ferè mediâ sepelivi Carolum Vicecomitem Buckinghamiae Filium natu maximum tum unicum Georgij Ducis Buckinghamiae AEtdtis ãâã fuit Anni unius ferè quatuor mensium Mortuus est Die Veneris praecedente Anno 1626. March 26. Sunday D. B. sent me to the King There I gave to the King an account of those two Businesses which c. His Majesty thanked me March 29. King Charles spoke to both Houses of Parliament but directed his Speech chiefly to the Lower House both by himself and by the Right Honourable the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal in the Palace at White-Hall He also added much concerning the Duke of Buckingham c. In the Convocation held that Day there was much debating concerning the Sermon which Gabriel Goodman Bishop of Glocester had Preached before the King on the Sunday preceding being the fifth Sunday of Lent April 5 Wednesday The King sent in the Morning commanding the Bishops of Norwich Litchfeild and St Davids to attend him I and the Bishop of Litchfeild waited upon him the Bishop of Norwich being gone into the Country We received the King's Commands about c. and returned April 12. Wednesday at 9. in the Forenoon we met together viz. the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Bishops of Winchester Durham and St Davids being commanded by the King to consult together concerning the Sermon which Dr Goodman the Bishop of Glocester had Preached before his Majesty on the 5th Sunday in Lent last past We advised together and gave this Answer to the King That some things were therein spoken less cautiously but nothing falsely That nothing was innovated by him in the Doctrine of the Church of England That the best way would be that the Bishop should preach the Sermon again at some time to be chosen by himself and should then shew how and wherein he was misunderstood by his Auditors That Night after 9. a Clock I gave to the King an account of what I had received in command on the 5th of April and of other things relating thereto Among the rest concerning restoring Impropriations The King spoke many things very graciously therein after I had first discoursed of the manner of effecting it April 14. Friday The Duke of Buckingham fell into a Fever April 19. Wednesday The Petition of John Digby Earl of Bristol against the Duke of Buckingham was read in the House of Lords It was very sharp and such as threatens Ruin to one of the Parties April 20. Friday King Charles referred the Cognisance of that whole matter as also of the Petition of the Earl of Digby to the House of Parliament April 21. Saturday the Duke of Buckingham sent to me to come to him There I first heard what Sir John Cook the King's Secretary had suggested against me to the Lord Treasurer and he to the Duke Lord be merciful to me thy Servant April 22. Sunday The King sent for all the Bishops to come to him at 4. a Clock in the Afternoon We waited upon him 14. in number Then his Majesty chid us that in this time of Parliament we were silent in the Cause of the Church and did not make known to him what might be Useful or was Prejudicial to the Church professing himself ready to promote the Cause of the Church He then commanded us that in the Causes of the Earl of Bristol and Duke of Buckingham we should follow the direction of our own Consciences being led by Proofs
Bed and drawing aside the Cloaths a little looked pleasantly upon me and that I was glad to see her with so merry an aspect She then shew'd to me a certain Old Man long since deceased whom while alive I both knew and loved He seemed to lye upon the ground merry enough but with a wrinkled Countenance His Name was Grove While I prepared to salute him I awoke Januar. 8. Munday I went to visit the Duke of Buckingham He was glad to see me and put into my hands a Paper concerning the Invocation of Saints which his Mother had given to him a certain Priest to me unknown had given it to her Januar. 13. Saturday The Bishop of Lincoln desired reconciliation with the Duke of Buckingham c. Januar. 14. Sunday towards Morning I Dreamed that the Bishop of Lincoln came I know not whether with Iron Chains But returning loosed from them leaped on Horseback went away neither could I overtake him Januar. 16. Tuesday I Dreamed that the King went out to Hunt and that when he was hungry I brought him on the suddain into the House of my Friend Francis Windebank While he prepareth to eat I in the absence of others presented the Cup to him after the usual manner I carried Drink to him but it pleased him not I carried it again but in a silver Cup. Thereupon his Majesty said You know that I always drink out of Glass I go away again and awoke Januar. 17. Wednesday I shew my Reasons to the King why the Papers of the late Bishop of Winchester concerning Bishops that they are Jure Divino should be Printed contrary to what the Bishop of Lincoln had pitifully and to the great detriment of the Church of England signified to the King as theKing himself had before related to me Febr. 7. Ash Wednesday I Preached at Court at White-Hall Febr. 9. Friday The following Night I Dreamed that I was troubled with the Scurvey and that on the sudden all my Teeth became loose that one of them especially in the lower Jaw I could scarce hold in with my Finger till I called out for help c. Febr. 20 Tuesday John Fenton began the cure of a certain Itch c. Febr. 22. Thursday I began my Journey towards New-Market where the King then was March 3. Saturday I went to Cambridge with the Duke of Buckingham Chancellor of that famous University and other Earls and Lords I was there incorporated and so I was the first who was presented to the most Illustrious Duke then sitting in the Congregation House The Duke was treated by the University in an Academical manner yet splendidly We returned March 6. Tuesday The King returned from New-Market and I with him toward London March 8. Thursday I came to London The Night following I dreamed that I was reconciled to the Church of Rome This troubled me much and I wondred exceedingly how it should happen Nor was I aggrieved with my self only by Reason of the Errors of that Church but also upon account of the Scandal which from that my fall would be cast upon many Eminent and Learned Men in the Church of England So being troubled at my Dream I said with my self that I would go immediately and confessing my fault would beg pardon of the Church of England Going with this resolution a certain Priest met me and would have stopped me But moved with indignation I went on my way And while I wearied my self with these troublesome thoughts I awoke Herein I felt such strong impressions that I could scarce believe it to be a Dream March 12. Munday I went with the King to Theobalds I returned next day March 13. March 17. Saturday the Eve of Palm-Sunday about mid-night I buried Charles Viscount Buckingham the Eldest and then only Son of George Duke of Buckingham He was then about a year and four months old He died on the Friday before Anno 1627. Martij 25. Dies erat Paschatis Concionatus sum in Aulâ c. Martij 27. Die Martis sequente nocte somnium habui quale sequitur ãâã quaedam data erant Dominae Dorotheae Wright viduae Georgij W. Militis familiaris mei Legatae erant 430 minae ampliùs Datae à Consanguineo quodam Viduae Filiis Nomine Farnham Ad instantiam Viduae quum Legata solvere Executor aut negavit aut distulit Literas obtinui ab Illustrissimo Duce Buckinghamiae in gratiam Viduae Dux enim erat Magister Equitum dictus Georgius W. sub eo fuit inter Ministros Regis quùm Literas jam in manibus haberem daturusque eram Viduae ut mitteret in Hiberniam ubi Executor degebat hac nocte apparuit mihi in somnis Georgius W. Miles per biennium antè ad minimum mortuus visus est mihi valdè habilis hilarisque satis Dixi quid pro Viduâ Liberis ejus tum egi Cogitabundus paulisper respondit Executorem sibi dum in vivis esset satisfecisse pro Legatis illis Et statim inspectis quibusdam Chartis in museolo suo adjacente addidit iterum ita esse Et insuper mihi in aurem dixit me causam esse cur Episcopus Lin. non iterum admitteretur in gratiam in Aulam Apr. 4. Die Mercurij Quùm Rex Serenissimus Carolus absolvebat D. Dun circa lapsus quosdam in Concione habitâ Die Solis Apr. 1. Quod gratiosissimè mihi tum dixit literis nunquam delendis cum summâ Gratiarum actione Deo Regi in corde scripsi Apr. 7. Dies erat Saturni Dum Aulam petij ut Regiae coenae servus intersim è Rhedâ exeuns titubante pede praeceps ruebam graviori casu nunquam sum lapsus sed miserante Deo contusâ ãâã Coxendice idque leviter evasi Apr. 24. Dies erat Martis ãâã ad me missae sunt Exceptiones quas exhibuit A. B. C. contra Concionem Doctoris Sibthorp quae sequuntur Apr. 29. Die Solis Factus sum Serenissimo Regi Carolo à Consiliis Secretioribus In honorem ãâã bonum Regni Ecclesiae oro ãâã Deus Maij 13. Die Pentecostes Concionem habui coram ãâã c. Anno 1627. March 25. Easter-day I Preached at Court c. March 27. Tuesday That Night I had the following Dream Some Legacies had been given to the Lady Dorothy Wright the Widow of Sir George Wright my Acquaintance The Legacies amounted to above 430 l. being bequeathed by a certain Kinsman named Farnham to the Widow and her Children When the Executor denied or deferred to pay the Legacy I had at the desire of the Widow obtained Letters in her behalf from the Duke of Buckingham for the Duke was Master of the Horse and the said Sir George W. was employed under him in the King's Service when I had now those Letters in my Hands and was about to deliver them to the Widow that she might send them into Ireland where the Executor dwelt this Night Sir George Wright appeared to
B. and me Maij 18. Whitson-Munday At Greenwich my Account to the Queen put off till Trinity-Sunday Maij 24. then given her by my self And assurance of all that was desired by me c. May June and July In these Months the Troubles at the Commission for the Treasury and the difference which hapned between the Lord Cottington and my self c. Julij 11. Saturday and Julij 22. Wednesday Two sad meetings with K. B. and how occasioned Julij 12. Sunday At Theobalds the Soap business was ended and setled again upon the new Corporation against my offer for the Old Soap-boylers yet my offer made the King's Profit double and to that after two Years the new Corporation was raised how 't is performed let them look to it whom his Majesty shall be pleased to trust with his Treasurer's Staff In this business and some other of great consequence during the Commission for the Treasury my old Friend Sir F W forsook me and joyned with the Lord Cottington Which put me to the exercise of a great deal of patience c. August 16. Sunday-night Most extream Thunder and Lightning The Lightning so thick bright and frequent I do not remember that I ever saw Septemb. 2. Wednesday I was in attendance upon the King at Woodstocke and went thence to Cudsden to see the House which Dr John Bancroft then Lord Bishop of Oxford had there built to be a House for the Bishops of that See for ever He having built that House at my perswasion Septemb. 3. Thursday I went privately from the Bishop of Oxford's House at Cudsden to St John's in Oxford to see my building there and give some directions for the last finishing of it And returned the same Night staying there not two Hours Septemb. 23. Wednesday I went to Saint Pauls to view the building and returned that Night to Croydon Septemb. 24. Scalding Thursday Septemb. 29. The Earl of Arundel brought an Old Man out of Shropshire He was this present Michaelmas-day shewed to the King and the Lords for a Man of 152 or 153 Years of Age. Octob. 26. Munday This Morning between four and five of the Clock lying at Hampton-Court I dreamed that I was going out in haste and that when I came into my outer Chamber there was my Servant Will Pennell in the same Riding Suit which he had on that day sevennight at Hampton-Court with me Methoughts I wondred to see him for I left him sick at home and asked him how he did and what he made there And that he answered me he came to recieve my Blessing and with that fell on his knees That hereupon I laid my Hand on his Head and Prayed over him and therewith awaked When I was up I told this to them of my Chamber and added that I should find Pennell dead or dying My Coach came and when I came home I found him past Sense and giving up the Ghost So my Prayers as they had frequently before commended him to God Novemb. 15. Sunday at Afternoon the greatest Tide that hath been seen It came within my Gates Walks Cloysters and Stables at Lambeth Novemb. 21. Saturday Charles Count Elector Palatine came to White-Hall to the King This Month the Plague which was hot in some parts of France and in the Low-Countries and Flanders began at Greenwich God be merciful unto us Novemb. 30. Saint Andrew's day Munday Charles Prince Elector Palatine the King's Nephew was with me at Lambeth and at solemn Evening Prayer Decemb. 1. Many Elm-Leaves yet upon the Trees which few Men have seen Decemb. 14. Munday Charles Prince Elector came suddenly upon me and dined with me at Lambeth Decemb. 25. Christmas-day Charles Prince Elector Received the Communion with the King at White-Hall He kneeled a little beside on his left Hand He sate before the Communion upon a Stool by the wall before the Traverse and had another Stool and a Cushion before him to kneel at Decemb. 28. Munday Innocent's-day about ten at Night the Queen was Delivered at St. James's of a Daughter Princess Elizabeth I Christend her on Saturday following Jan. 2. Feb. 2. Tuesday Candlemas-day My nearer care of J. S. was professed and his promise to be guided by me And absolutely setled on Friday after Feb. 5. Feb. 14. Sunday-night my Honest Old Servant Rich. Robinson dyed of an Apoplexy Feb. 28. I Consecrated Doctor Roger Manwaring Bishop of Saint Davids March 6. Sunday William Juxon Lord Bishop of London made Lord High Treasurer of England No Church-Man had it since Henry 7. time I pray God bless him to carry it so that the Church may have Honour and the King and the State Service and Contentment by it And now if the Church will not hold up themselves under God I can do no more Anno 1636. April 7. Thursday The Bill came in this day that two dyed of the Plague in White-Chappel God bless us through the Year An extream dry and hot April and May till the middle of June Maij 16. Munday The Settlement between L. M. St. and me God bless me c. Maij 17. Tuesday I Visited the Dean and Chapter of St. Pauls London c. Maij 19. Thursday the Agreement between me and L. K. Ch. which began very strangly and ended just as I thought it would Junij 21. Tuesday My Hearing before the King about my Right to Visit both the Universities Jure Metropolitico It was Ordered with me The Hearing was at Hampton-Court Junij 22. Wednesday The Statutes of Oxford finished and Published in Convocation Aug. 3. Wednesday-Night towards the Morning I Dreamed that L. M. St. came to me the next Day Aug. 4. and shewed me all the Kindness I could ask And that Thursday he did come and was very Kind towards me Somniis tamen haud multum fido Aug. 19. Friday I was in great danger of breaking my Right Leg. But God be Blessed for his Providence only delivered me Aug. 29. Munday King Charles and Queen Mary entred Oxford being to be there entertain'd by me as Chancellor of the University Aug. 30. On Tuesday I entertained them at St. John's Colledge It was St. ãâã his Day and all passed happily Charles Prince Elector Palatine and his Brother Prince Rupertus was there These two were present in Convocation and with other Nobles were made Masters of Arts. Aug. 31. Wednesday They left Oxford And I returned homewards the Day after Having first entertained all the Heads of Houses together Octob. 14. Friday Night I Dreamed marvelously that the King was offended with me and would cast me off and tell me no cause why Avertat Deus For Cause I have given none Novemb. 4. Friday Night the most extream Wind that ever I heard and much Hurt done by Sea and by Land Twice or thrice since Thunder and Lightning and Hail Novemb. 20. Sunday Night my fearful Dream Mr. Cobb brought me word c. Decemb. 24. Saturday Christmas-Eve That night I Dreamed I went to seek Mr. St. and
I had formerly sent them above 700 Volumes Aug. 1. Thursday His Majesty came back from his Northern Journey to Theobalds and to White-Hall on Saturday Aug. 3. Many Varieties since the Assembly held and ended in Scotland The Bishops thrust out The Parliament there yet sitting Octob. 11. 12. Friday and Saturday The Spanish Navy was set upon by the Hollanders in the Downs The Fight began to be hot when they were past Dover They were in all near 60 Sail. The Spaniards suffered much in that Fight not without our dishonour that they should dare to begin the Fight there But this is one of the effects of the Scottish daring Decemb. 2. Munday A. Sh. my Chyrurgeon in trust gave me great and unexpected ease in my great Infirmity But after the weakness continued Decemb. 5. Thursday The King declared his Resolution for a Parliament in case of the Scottish Rebellion The first Movers to it were my Lord Deputy of Ireland my Lord Marquess Hamilton and my self And a Resolution Voted at the Board to assist the King in extraordinary ways if the Parliament should prove peevish and refuse c. Decemb. 27. Friday Being St John's-day at Night between 12 and 2 of the Clock next Morning the greatest wind that ever I heard blow Many of the poor Watermen at Lambeth had their Boats tumbled up and down as they lay on the Land and broken to pieces One of my Servants went into London and durst not come home the Evening was so foul And it was God's great Blessing both on him and me For that Night the shafts of two Chimneys were blown down upon the Roof of his Chamber and beat down both the Lead and the Rafters upon his Bed where had he been that Night he must have perished At Croydon one of the Pinnacles fell from the Steeple and beat down the Lead and the Roof of the Church near 200 foot square Januar. 24. Friday At Night I dreamed that my Father who died 46 Years since came to me and to my thinking he was as well and as chearful as ever I saw him He asked me what I did here And after some Speech I asked him how long he would stay with me He answered he would stay till he had me away with him I am not moved with Dreams yet I thought fit to remember this Januar. 25. Saturday St. Paul's A very blustering and a tempestuous day Januar. 26. Sunday I received the Queen's Gracious Assurance of her favour in the business which his Majesty had committed to me with others c. February 9. Sunday A large passage inserted and afterwards blotted out Anno 1640. April 13. Munday The Parliament sat down called about the Rebellion of Scotland April 14. Tuesday The Convocation began at Saint Pauls April 24. Friday The hot Contestation in the Lords House which should have precedence the King's Supply or the Subjects Grievance Voted in the upper House for the King May. 5. Tuesday The Parliament ended and nothing done The Convocation continued May 9. Saturday A Paper posted upon the Old-Exchange animating Prentices to sack my House upon the Munday following May 11. early H W From this place four Pages together in the Original are in part burned in the form of a Crescent This damage was done to the Book while it was in Mr Prynne's hands before it was produced as Evidence against the Arch-Bishop at his Trial. For in the following History at March 13 1643. The Arch-Bishop saith I know into whose Hands my Book is fallen but what hath been done with it I know not This is to be seen some passages in that Book are half burnt out whether purposely or by chance God knoweth And the like words of the Arch-Bishop occur afterwards at July 29 1644. That passage of Febr 11 1640. urged against the Arch-Bishop out of his Diary is more than half burnt out as is to be seen whether of purpose by Mr Prynne or casually I cannot tell yet the passage as confidently made up and read to your Lordships as if nothing were wanting It is indeed undeniably evident to any one who compareth the Original with Prynne's Printed Copy that this Accident had befallen the Book before Prynne had caused it to be Transcribed for the Press Yet he taketh no notice of it but filleth up the places with such Words as himself pleaseth and publisheth the whole without any distinction of his own Additions I have partly from Prynne partly from my own conjecture supplied the mutilated places as well as I could but have included all such suppletory Words in Crotchets that so the Reader may easily distinguish those Words which are yet to be Read in the Original from those which are not and may judge whether the several places be aptly filled up May 11. Munday-night At Midnight my House a t Lam beth was beset with 500 of these Rascal Routers I had notice and stren gthened the House as well as I could and God be thanked I had no harm t hey continued there full two hours Since I hav e for tified my House as well as I can and hope all may be safe But yet Libels are continually set up in all places of Note in the City My deliverance was great God make me thankful for it Maij 21. Thursday One of the Chief being taken was Condemned at Southwark and Hanged and Quartered on Saturday Morning following Maij 23. But before this May 15. Some of these mutinous People came in the day time and brake the White-Lyon Prison and let loose their Fellows both out of that Prison and the King's-Bench and ãâã other Prisoners also out of the White-Lyon Maij 29. Friday The Convocation sate after the ending of the Parliament till May 29. and then ended having made in that time 17. Canons which I hope will be useful to the Church Maij. 29. The Bishop of Glocester Godfrye Goodman suspended for notorious Scandal to the Church in refusing first to subscribe the Canons and after to profess a Reservation He had long before been suspected as inclining to Popery The Canons were all voted Nemine dissenti ente save this Bishop who had in general consented before Julij 10. Friday I took my Oath to the new Canons at the Council-Table and so did my Lord Bishop of London and after him the Bishop of Glocester submitted himself and took the Oath and was released out of Prison by the King's Command Julij 22. Tuesday I Christned the King's young Son Henry at Oatlands The Queen was there happily Delivered of him Julij 8. On Wednesday being the Day of the Solemn Fast about 6. of the Clock in the Evening Aug. 20. Thursday His Majesty took his Journey towards the North in haste upon Information that the Scots were entred the Munday before into England and meant to be at New-Castle by Saturday The Scots entred Aug. 20. Aug. 22. Saturday A vile Libel brought me found in Covent-Garden Ani mating the Apprentices
Master with all Duty and Faithfulness and without any known or wilful Disservice to the State there-while And this I did with as true and free a Heart as ever any Man did that served a King And I thank God my care was such for the Publick that it is well known I much neglected my own private Fortunes there-while The more was I amazed at the first apprehension of this heavy and undeserved Charge Upon this Charge I was commanded to withdraw But I first desired leave to speak a few words And I spake to this effect That I was heartily sorry for the Offence taken against me and that I was most unhappy to have my Eyes open to see that day and mine Ears to hear such a Charge But humbly desired their Lordships to look upon the whole course of my Life which was such as that I did verily perswade my self not one Man in the House of Commons did believe in his Heart that I was a Traytor Here my Lord the Earl of Essex interrupted me and said That Speech of mine was a Scandal put upon the whole House of Commons that they should bring me up charged with so high a Crime which themselves did not believe I ãâã desired then that I might be proceeded with in the Antient Parliamentary way of England This the Lord Say excepted against as if I would prescribe them how they should proceed So I withdrew as I was commanded and was presently called in again to the Bar and thence delivered to Mr. James Maxwell the Officer of the Black Rod to be kept in safe Custody till the House of Commons should farther Impeach me Here I humbly desired leave that I might go home to fetch some Papers necessary for my Defence This was granted me with some difficulty and Mr. Maxwell was commanded to Attend me all the while I should stay When I was gone to Lambeth after some little discourse and sad enough with my Steward and some private Friends I went into my Chappel to Evening Prayer The Psalms for that day gave me much comfort and were observed by some Friends then present as well as by my self And upon the Comfort I then received I have every day since unless some urgent Business prevented me Read over both these Psalms and God willing purpose so to do every day of my Life Prayers being ended I went with Mr. Maxwell as I was commanded Hundreds of my Poor Neighbours standing at my Gates to see me go and Praying ãâã for my safe return to my House For which I blessed God and them CAP. II. AND because here I am sure to find my self being now Imprisoned I will begin farther off and shew briefly why and how this Malignity pursued and overtook me When I was first Bishop of London His Majesty expressed a great desire which he had to settle a Liturgy in the Church of Scotland and this continued in agitation many Years And what my part was therein I shall clearly and ingenuously set down hereafter when I come to Answer the Scottish Accusations of me in that behalf or the Articles of the Parliament here one of which relates to them In the Year 1633. His Majesty went into Scotland and was Crowned there I attended his Majesty in that Service The Parliament then sitting in Scotland was very quick about some Church Affairs and the King was much unsatisfied with some Men and their Proceedings At his Majesty's Return in the same Year I was by his special Grace and Favour made Arch-Bishop of Canterbury 19 Septembris The debate about the Scottish Liturgy was pursued a-fresh and at last it was resolved by the King that some Scottish Bishops should draw up a Liturgy as near that of England as might be and that then his Majesty would have that Confirmed and Setled for the use of that Kingdom This Liturgy was carefully considered of and at last Printed and Published An. 1637. It seems the Bishops which were trusted with this business went not the right way by a General Assembly and other Legal Courses of that Kingdom But what way soever was taken or in whomsoever there was a failure this was certain in the Event The Bishops were deceived in their expectation of a peaceable admission of that Service-Book The King lost the Honour and Safety of that Settlement And that Kingdom such a Form of God's Service as I fear they will never come near again And that People by cunning and factious practices both at home and from hence were heated into such a Phrensie as will not easily be cured And 't is well if we their Neighbours run not mad for Company These violent Distempers continued from the Publishing of this Service-Book in the Year 1637. till the Year 1638. Then they grew up into a formal Mutiny And the Scottish Subjects began to Petition with Arms in their Mouths first and soon after in their Hands His Majesty was often told that these Northern Commotions had their Root in England His Majesty's Goodness was confident upon the Fidelity of his Subjects of both Nations and would not believe that of either which was most true of a powerful Faction in both Till at last after much intercourse and mediation lost and cast away the King was so betray'd by some of his own Agents that the Scots appeared upon their Borders in a formal Army His Majesty went with an Army to Barwick There after some stay a Pacification was made and his Majesty returned to White-Hall Aug. 3. 1639. Now during all this time from the Publishing of this Service-Book to this Pacification I was voyced by the Faction in both Nations to be an Incendiary a Man that laboured to set the two Nations into a bloody War Whereas God knows I laboured for Peace so long till I received a great check for my labour And particularly at the beginning of these Tumults when the Speech of a War first began in the Year 1638. openly at the Council-Table at Theobalds my Counsels alone prevailed for Peace and Forbearance in hope the Scots would think better of their Obedience But their Counsels were fomented to another end as after appeared The Pacification being made was in Terms as followeth The Articles of the Pacification 1. The Forces of Scotland to be disbanded and dissolved within Eight and Forty Hours after the Publication of his Majesty's Declaration being agreed upon 2. His Majesty's Castles Forts Ammunitions of all sorts and Royal Honours to be delivered after the Publication so soon as his Majesty can send to receive them 3. His Majesty's Ships to depart presently after the delivery of the Castles with the first fair Wind and in the mean time no interruption of Trade or Fishing 4. His Majesty is Graciously pleased to cause to be restored all Persons Goods and Ships detained and arrested since the first of November last past 5. There shall be no Meetings Treatings Consultations or Convocations of his Majesty's Lieges but such
as are warrantable by Act of Parliament 6. All Fortifications to desist and no further working therein and they to be remitted to his Majesty's Pleasure 7. To restore to every one of his Majesty's Subjects their Liberty Lands Houses Goods and Means whatsoever taken and detained from them by whatsoever means since the aforesaid time The Copy of the Act of the Pacification as it passed under his Majesties Hand and includes these Articles above written is as follows Ch. R. WE having considered the Papers and humble Petitions presented unto us by those of our Subjects of Scotland who were admitted to attend our pleasure in the Camp and after a full Hearing by Our Self of all that they could say or alledge thereupon having communicated the same to Our Council of both Kingdoms upon mature deliberation with their unanimous Advice We have thought fit to give them this Just and Gracious Answer That though We cannot condescend to Ratifie and Approve the Acts of the pretended General Assembly at Glasgow for many Grave and Weighty Considerations which have happened both before and since much importing the Honour and Security of that true Monarchical Government Lineally descended upon Us from so many of Our Ancestors Yet such is Our Gracious Pleasure That notwithstanding the many disorders committed of late We are pleased not only to confirm and make good whatsoever Our Commissioner hath granted and promised in Our Name But also We are further Graciously pleased to declare and assure That according to the Petitioner's humble desires all Matters Ecclesiastical shall be determined by the Assemblies of the Kirk and Matters Civil by the Parliament and other inferiour Judicatories Established by Law which accordingly shall be kept once a Year or as shall be agreed upon at the General Assembly And for setling the general distractions of that Our Ancient Kingdom Our Will and Pleasure is that a free General Assembly be kept at Edinburgh the sixth day of August next ensuing where We intend God willing to be personally present And for the Legal Indiction whereof We have given Order and Command to Our Council and thereafter a Parliament to be holden at Edinburgh the 20th day of August next ensuing for Ratifying of what shall be concluded in the said Assembly and setling such other things as may conduce to the Peace and Good of Our Native Kingdom and therein an Act of Oblivion to be passed And whereas We are further desired that Our Ships and Forces by Land be recalled and all Persons Goods and Ships restored and they made safe from Invasion We are Graciously pleased to Declare that upon their disarming and disbanding of their Forces dissolving and discharging all their pretended Tables and Conventicles and restoring unto Us all Our Castles Forts and Ammunitions of all sorts as likewise Our Royal Honours and to every one of Our Good Subjects their Liberty Lands Houses Goods and Means whatsoever taken and detained from them since the late pretended General Assembly We will presently thereafter recall Our Fleet and retire our Land-Forces and cause Restitution to be made to all Persons of their Ships and Goods detained and arrested since the aforesaid time Whereby it may appear that Our intention in taking up of Arms was no ways for Invading of Our Native Kingdom or to Innovate the Religion and Laws but meerly for the Maintaining and Vindicating of Our Royal Authority And since that hereby it doth clearly appear that We neither have nor do intend any alteration in Religion or Laws but that both shall be maintained by Us in their full integrity We expect the performance of that Humble and Dutiful Obedience which becometh Loyal and Dutiful Subjects and as in their several Petitions they have often professed And as We have just Reason to believe that to Our peaceable and well-affected Subjects this will be satisfactory so We take God and the World to witness that whatsoever Calamities shall ensue by Our necessitated suppressing of the Insolencies of such as shall continue in their disobedient Courses is not occasioned by us but by their own procurement This Pacification was not much sooner made by the King than it was broken by the Scots For whereas it was agreed by the Seventh Article and is repeated in the Body of the Pacification That every one of his Majesties good Subjects shou'd enjoy their Liberty Lands Houses Goods and Means whatsoever taken and detayned from them since the aforesaid time The * Lord Lindsay in the Name of the rest made a Protestation either in the Camp at Dunns or at the Cross in Edinburgh that no Bishop or Clergyman was included in this Pacification which yet in manifest and plain Terms extended it self to all the Kings good Subjects And this Protestation was so pursued as that it obtained and no Clergyman was relieved in any the Particulars Upon this and other Particulars agitated in Parliament amongst them his Majesty thought fit to look to himself and examine their Proceedings farther To this end he often called his Council and in particular made a Committee of eight more particularly to attend that service They were the Lord Bishop of London then Lord Treasurer the Lord Marquis Hamilton the Earl of Northumberland Lord Admiral the Earl of Strafford Lord Deputy of Ireland the Lord Cottington Sir Henry Vane and Sir Francis Windebanck Secretaries and my self to which was after added the Earl of Arundel Lord Marshal And though I spake nothing of these Scottish Businesses but either openly at Council-Table or in presence of all or so many of this Committee as occasionally met and so had Auditors and Witnesses enough of what I did or said yet it was still cast out among the ãâã that I was a chief Incendiary in the Business Where yet had I said or done any thing worse than other there wanted not Sir Henry Vane to discover it At this Committee many things were proposed diversly for the Aid and Assistance of the King and many Proposals rejected as Illegal At last the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland propos'd the calling of a Parliament Much was not said against this but much said for it Nor indeed was it safe for any Man to declare against it after it was once publickly moved So a Parliament was resolved on and called against April 13. 1640. At that time it sat down and many Tumultuary Complaints were made by the Scots against the Bishops and Church Government in England and with great vehemency against my self All this while the King could get no Money to Aid him against the Scottish Rebellion At last after many Attempts Sir Henry Vane told the King plainly that it was in vain to expect longer or to make any other overture to them For no Money wou'd be had against the Scots Hereupon his Majesty called all his Lords of Council together and upon Maij 5. being Tuesday at Six in the Morning they met in the Council-Chamber I by the mistake of the Messenger was warned
to be there at Seven in the Morning as if need be I can prove by sufficient Witness and at that Hour I came By this accident I came late and found a Resolution taken to Vote the dissolution of that Parliament and the Votes entred upon my Lord Cottington being in his Speech when I came into the Council-Chamber All Votes concurred to the ending of that Parliament save two The Persons dissenting were the Earls of Northumberland and Holland I co-operated nothing to this breach but my single Vote Yet the very next day Libels were set up in divers parts of the City animating and calling together Apprentices and others to come and meet in St. George's Fields for the Hunting of William the Fox for the Breach of the Parliament This setting up of Libels and animation of the baser People continued I acquainted his Majesty and the Council with it But upon Munday night following being May 11. Five Hundred of them came about my House at Lambeth to offer it and me violence By God's Merciful Providence I had some Jealousie of their intent and before their coming left the best Order I could to secure my House and by the Advice of some Friends went over the water and lay at my Chamber in White-Hall that Night and some other following So I praise God no great hurt was done One young Fellow only had a little hurt with a Dag who was after taken and Executed Thus you see how the malignity of the Time fastned and continued upon me For this Libelling in a very base and most unworthy manner continued against me But not one of them charged me with any one Particular save the breaking of the Parliament of which I was not guilty During this Parliament the Clergy had agreed in Convocation to give his Majesty six Subsidies payable in six Years which came to Twenty Thousand Pound a Year for six Years but the Act of it was not made up His Majesty seeing what lay upon him and what fears there were of the Scots was not willing to lose these Subsidies and therefore thought upon the continuing of the Convocation though the Parliament were ended but had not opened those Thoughts of his to me Now I had sent to dissolve the Convocation at their next sitting haste and trouble of these businesses making me forget that I was to have the King 's Writ for the Dismissing as well as the Convening of it Word was brought me of this from the Convocation-House while I was sitting in Council and his Majesty present Hereupon when the Council rose I moved his Majesty for a Writ His Majesty gave me an unlooked for reply Namely that he was willing to have the Subsidies which we had granted him and that we should go on with the finishing of those Canons which he had given us power under the Broad Seal of England to make And when I replyed it would be excepted against in all likelyhood by divers and desired his Majesty to Advise well upon it The King Answered me presently That he had spoken with the Lord Keeper the Lord Finch about it and that he assured him it was Legal I confess I was a little troubled both at the difficulties of the Time and at the Answer it self that after so many Years faithful Service in a business concerning the Church so nearly his Majesty would speak with the Lord Keeper both without me and before he would move it to me And somewhat I said thereupon which pleased not but the Particulars I do not well remember Upon this I was Commanded to sit and go on with the Convocation At first some little Exception was taken there by two or three of the Lower House of Convocation whether we might sit or no. I acquainted his Majesty with this doubt and humbly besought him that his Learned Council and other Persons of Honour well acquainted with the Laws of the Realm might deliver their Judgment upon it This his Majesty Graciously approved and the Question was put to them They answer'd as followeth under their Hands The Convocation being called by the King 's Writ under the Great Seal doth continue until it be dissolved by Writ or Commission under the Great Seal notwithstanding the Parliament be Dissolved 14. Maij 1640. Jo. Finch C. S. H. Manchester John Bramston Edward Littleton Ralph Whitfield John Bankes Rob. Heath This Judgment of these great Lawyers setled both Houses of Convocation So we proceeded according to the Power given us under the Broad-Seal as is required by the Statute 25 H. 8. Cap. 19. In this Convocation thus continued we made up our Act perfect for the gift of six Subsidies according to Ancient Form in that behalf and delivered it under Seal to his Majesty This passed Nemine Refragante as may appear apud Acta And we followed a President in my Lord Arch-Bishop Whitgift's time An. 1586 who was known to be a Pious and a Prudent Prelate and a Man not given to do boisterous things against the Laws of the Realm or the Prerogative of the Crown but one that went just and fair ways to both Nor did this Grant lye dead and useless for divers Processes are yet to be seen for the fetching in of that which was so Granted to the Queen's use in case any Man refused payment Together with this Act for Subsidies we went on in deliberation for certain Canons thought necessary to be added for the better Government and more setled Peace of the Church which began to be much disquieted by the proceedings of some Factious Men which have since more openly and more violently shewed themselves In the Debates concerning these Canons I dare be bold to say never any Synod sate in Christendom that allowed more freedom either of Speech or Vote The Canons which we made were in number seventeen and at the time of the Subscription no Man refused or so much as checked at any one Canon or any one Branch in any one of them Saving a Canonist or two who excepted against two or three Clauses in some of the last of the Canons which concerned their Profit and their Carriage towards the Clergy in which they were publickly and by joint consent over-ruled in the House And excepting Godfrey Goodman Lord Bishop of Glocester who was startled at the first Canon about the Proceedings against the Papists This Canon is very express for the use of all good and Christian means to bring them out of their Superstitious Errors and to settle them in the Church of England This Canon would not down with my Lord of Glocester And the Morning before the Subscription was to be he came over to Lambeth to me and after great expressions of his dislike I gave him the best Counsel I could that he would keep himself out of that scandal which his refusing to Subscribe would bring both upon his Person his Calling and the Church of England in these broken times especially But I fell so short of
After they had continued at York till Octob. 28. the King and the Lords returned and the Parliament sate down Novemb. 3. Great Heats appear'd in the very beginning On Wednesday Novemb. 10. Tho. L. ãâã Earl of Strafford was accused by the House of Commons of High Treason and Committed by the Lords to Mr. James Maxwell the Officer of the House And upon general Articles sent up He was upon Wednesday Novemb. 25. committed to the Tower It is thought and upon good Grounds that the Earl of Strafford had got Knowledge of the Treason of some Men and that he was preparing to accuse them And this Fear both hastned and heated the proceedings against him And upon Dec. 4. being Friday his Majesty at the great Importunity of some Lords of his Council gave way that his Council should be examined upon Oath in the Earl of Strafford's Case and I with others was examined that very Day There were great Thoughts of Heart upon this Business and somewhat vapoured out at Mens Tongues but the thing was done Now at and after the breaking up of the late Parliament Sir Hen. Vane at the private Committee concerning the Scotch Affairs before mentioned instead of setting down the Heads of the several Businesses then Treated of Writ down what every Man said at the Committee though it were but Matter of deliberation and debate Afterwards by a cunning conveyance between his Son who had been Governour in New-England and himself this Paper or a Copy of it was delivered to some Members of the House of Commons and in all probability was the Ground of that which was after done against the Lord Strafford my self and others and the Cause why the King was so hard pressed to have the Lords and others of his Council examined was that so Sir Henry Vane might upon Oath avow the Paper which his Son had seen and shewed and others be brought to witness as much had Truth and their Memories been able to say as much as his Paper After the examination of me and others concerning these Particulars there arose great and violent Debates in the House of Commons against the Bishops and particularly their Votes in Parliament After that Decemb. 16. 1640. they Voted against the late Canons as containing in them many Matters contrary to the fundamental Laws and Statutes of the Realm to the Rights of Parliaments to the Property and Liberty of the Subject and matters tending to Sedition and of dangerous Consequences I was made the Author of all and presently a Committee put upon me to inquire into my Actions and prepare a Charge The same Morning in the Upper-House I was Named as an Incendiary in an Accusation put in by the Scottish Commissioners For now by this Time they were come to that Article of the Treaty which reflected upon me And this was done with great noise to bring me yet further into Hatred with the People especially the Londoners who approved too well the Proceedings of their Brethren the Scots and debased the Bishops and the Church Government in England The Articles which the Scots put into the Upper House by the Hands of their Lords Commissioners against me Decemb. 15. were read there Decemb. 16. I took out a true Copy as it follows here And though I was to make no answer then till the House of Commons had digested them and taken as much out of them as as they pleased to fill my intended Charge withall yet because I after found that the House of Commons insisted upon very few of these particulars if any I thought my self bound to vindicate my Innocency even in these Particulars which shall now appear in their full strength against me if they have any in Wise and Learned Mens Judgments CAP. III THe Novations in Religion which are universally acknowledged to be the main Cause of Commotions in Kingdoms and States and are known to be the true Cause of our present Troubles were many and great besides the Books of Ordination and Homilies First some particular alterations in matters of Religion pressed upon us without Order and against Law contrary to the Form established in our Kirk Secondly a new Book of Canons and Constitutions Ecclesiastical Thirdly a Liturgy or Book of Common-Prayer which did also carry with them many dangerous Errours in matters of Doctrine Of all these we challenge the Prelate of Canterbury as the prime Cause on Earth I shall easily grant that Novations in Religion are a main Cause of Distempers in Commonwealths And I hope it will be as easily granted to me I am sure it should that when great Distempers fall into Kingdoms and Common-wealths the only way to ingage at home and get Credit abroad is to pretend Religion which in all Ages hath been a Cloak large enough to cover at least from the Eyes of the Many even Treasons themselves And For the present Troubles in Scotland Novations in Religion are so far from being known to be the true Cause as that it is manifest to any Man that will look upon it with a single Eye that Temporal Discontents and several Ambitions of the great Men which had been long a working were the true cause of these Troubles And that Religion was call'd in upon the bye to gain the Clergy and by them the Multitude For besides that which was openly spoken by the right Honourable James then Earl of Carlile that somewhat was a brewing in Scotland among some discontented there which wou'd break out to the Trouble of this Kingdom 't is most apparent there were many discontents among them Some whereof had no relation at all to Religion and were far antienter than the Troubles now began and were all Legally proved against the Lord Balmerino who was condemned of high Treason before any of these Stirs began For there were Grievances as they said propounded in the Convention Anno 1628. about Coyning and their black Money which they say were slighted again in the Parliament held 1633. Murmuring also there was as if the Articles and Parliament were not free Great Clamour likewise was there against the Bishops Power in choosing the Lords of the Articles though that Power belonged unto them by the fundamental Laws of that Kingdom As much against the Act of Revocation and the Taxations which yet were voluntarily offer'd and miscalled on purpose to edge the People As also for Applying as they said these Taxations to wrong uses With all which and more Religion had nothing to do Nay this discontented Party grew so High and so Bold that a very Base and Dishonourable Libel was made and spread against the King Anno 1633. by these and the like Pretences to alienate the Hearts of the People from him Of this Libel if one Hagg were the Authour Balmerino was the Divulger and so prov'd And though it be true that then also some things were to be done against the Church-government yet their
Novations now spoken of were not then on Foot So that it is evident enough to any Man that will see that these Commotions had another and a higher cause than the present pretended Innovations And if his Majesty had played the King then he needed not have suffered now Besides they are no Fools who have spoken it freely since the Act of Oblivion for the Scottish Business was passed that this great League before mentioned between the discontented Party of both Kingdoms was Consulted on in the Year 1632. and after the King 's being in Scotland Anno 1633. it went on till they took occasion another way to hatch the Cockatrice Egg which was laid so long before But they say these Novations were great besides the Books of Ordination and Homilies So the Books of Ordination and Homilies were great Novations Had they then in Scotland no set Form of Ordination I promise you that 's next Neighbour to no Ordination and no Ordination to no Church formal at least And therefore if this be a Novation among them its high time they had it And for the Homilies if they taught no other Doctrine than was established and current in the Church of Scotland they were no Novations and if they did contain other Doctrine they might have Condemned them and there had been an end Howsoever if these Books be among them in Scotland they were sent thither in King James his Time when the Prelate of Canterbury neither was nor could be the prime cause on Earth of that Novation The other Novations which they proceed unto are first some particular Alterations in matters of Religion pressed upon them without Order and against Law To this I can say nothing till the particular Alterations be named Only this in the general be they what they will the Scottish Bishops were to blame if they pressed any thing without Order or against Law And sure I am the Prelate of Canterbury caused them not nor would have consented to the causing of them had he known them to be such The two other Novations in which they instance are the Book of Canons and the Liturgy which they say contain in them many dangerous Errours in Matter of Doctrine To these how dangerous soever they seem I shall give I hope a very sufficient and clear answer and shall ingenuously set down whatsoever I did either in or to the Book of Canons and the Liturgy and then leave the ingenuous Reader to judge how far the Prelate of Canterbury is the prime cause on Earth of these Things ART I. AND first that this Prelate was the Author and Vrger of some particular Things which made great disturbance amongst us we make manifest first by Fourteen Letters Subscribed W. Cant. in the space of two Years to one of our pretended Bishops Ballatine wherein he often enjoyns him and our other pretended Bishops to appear in the Chappel in their Whites contrary to the Custom of our Kirk and to his own Promise made to the pretended Bishop of Edinburgh at the Coronation That none of them after that Time should be more pressed to wear those Garments thereby moving him against his Will to put them on for that time Here begins the first Charge about the Particular Alterations And first they Charge me with Fourteen Letters written by me to Bishop Ballantyne He was then Bishop of Dunblain and Dean of His Majesties Chappel Royal there He was a Learned and a Grave Man and I did write divers Letters to him as well as to some other Bishops and some by Command but whether just fourteen or no I know not But sure I am their Love to me is such that were any thing worse than other in any of these Letters I should be sure to hear of it First then They say I injoyned wearing of Whites c. surely I understand my self a great deal better than to injoyn where I have no Power Perhaps I might express that which His Majesty Commanded me when I was Dean of his Majesty's Chappel here as this Reverend Bishop was in Scotland And His Majesty's Express Command was that I should take that care upon me that the Chappel there and the Service should be kept answerable to this as much as might be And that the Dean should come to Prayers in his Form as likewise other Bishops when they came thither And let my Letters be shewed whether there be any Injoyning other than this and this way And I am confident His Majesty would never have laid this Task upon me had he known it to be either without Order or against Law Next I am Charged that concerning these Whites I brake my Promise to the Bishop of Edinburgh Truly to the uttermost of my Memory I cannot recall any such Passage or Promise made to that Reverend and Learned Prelate And I must have bin very ill advised had I made any such Promise having no Warrant from his Majesty to ingage for any such thing As for that which follows that he was moved against his will to put on those Garments Truly he expressed nothing at that time to me that might signifie it was against his Will And his Learning and Judgment were too great to stumble at such External Things Especially such having been the Ancient Habits of the most Reverend Bishops from the descent of many Hundred Years as may appear in the Life of St. Cyprian And therefore the Novation was in the Church of Scotland when her Bishops left them off not when they put them on In these Letters he the Prelate of Canterbury directs Bishop Ballantine to give Order for saying the English Service in the Chappel twice a day For his neglect shewing him that he was disappointed of the Bishoprick of Edinburgh promising him upon his greater care of these Novations advancement to a better Bishoprick For the direction for Reading the English Service it was no other than His Majesty Commanded me to give And I hope it is no Crime for a Bishop of England by His Majesties Command to signifie to a Bishop in Scotland what his pleasure is for Divine Service in his own Chappel Nor was the Reading of the English Liturgy any Novation at all in that place For in the Year 1617. I had the Honour as a Chaplain in Ordinary to wait upon King James of Blessed Memory into Scotland and then the English Service was Read in that Chappel and twice a Day And I had the Honour again to wait upon King Charles as Dean of His Majesties Chappel Royal here at his Coronation in Scotland in the Year 1633 And then also was the English Service Read twice a Day in that Chappel And a strict Command was given them by His Majesty that it should be so continued and Allowance was made for it And none of the Scots found any fault with it at that time or after till these Tumults began And for Bishop Ballantyn's missing the Bishoprick of Edinburgh and my promising him
another upon his better Care of his Majesties Commands I gave him both the Answers and the Reason and the Promise which His Majesty gave me and Commanded me to write to him It follows That I taxed him that is Bishop Ballantine for his boldness in Preaching the sound Doctrine of the Reformed Kirks against Mr. Michell who had taught the Error of Arminius in the Point of the Extent of the Merit of Christ. They should do well to shew my Letter and then I will answer punctually to any thing in it In the mean time I do not know that ever Mr. Michell Preached Arminianism For that Christ died for all Men is the Universal and constant Doctrine of the Catholick Church in all Ages and no Error of Arminius And are the express words of Scripture it self in more places than one And the Synod of Dort called purposely about the Errours of Arminius allows this for Orthodox Christum Mortuum esse pro omnibus And for my part I wish with all my heart that this had been the greatest Error of Arminius But yet whether I taxed that worthy Prelate for this or no I know not This I know that if I did tax him he deserved it And for Bishops even of divers Churches to write one to another about Points of Divinity yea and sometimes to tax one another too as their Judgments lead them hath been usual in all Times and Places The next Charge is That I bid him send up a List of the Names of the Counsellors and Senators of the Colledge of Justice who did not Communicate in the Chappel in a Form which was not received in our Kirk And that I commended him when I found him Obsequious to these my Commandments telling him that I had moved the King the Second time for the Punishment of such as had not received in the Chappel Here I must desire again that this Letter of mine may be produced For I have cause enough to suspect some material Change in the Matter or Form of my Words Howsoever if they be justly set down I answer That if this be one of the Things which made great Disturbance amongst them they would be greatly disturbed with a very little For first I writ nothing in this but what I was expresly Commanded by His Majesty And I have His Majesties Warrant under His Hand to keep a Correspondence with that Bishop of Dunblain that from time to time he might receive His Majesties Direction by me for the Ordering of all those Things And howsoever the thing it self is no more than as if His Majesty should Command all his Counsellors and Judges here once in the Year at least to receive the Communion in his Chappel at White-Hall And if you say 't is more because it was to Communicate in such a Form as was not received in the Church of Scotland under Favour that is not so neither For this Form here spoken against was to receive it Kneeling And to receive the Sacrament Kneeling was an Article of the Synod of Perth made in a General Assembly and Confirmed by Act of Parliament Both then in force when my Letters were written And therefore either this Form was received in their Kirk which is here denied Or else there was little Obedience in their Kirk and Kirk-Men either to General Assembly or Parliament As for that which comes fluttering after That I commended him when I found him Obsequious I had reason to do it For whatsoever is said here it was to the Kings Commands not to mine And the Reason why I writ that I had moved the King a Second time for the Punishment of such as disobeyed was because the Bishop had written unto me that if some were not Checked or Punished none would obey And 't is true too that I took occasion once and a second time but upon Second Letters of his to the same effect to move the King But only by shewing His Majesty what was written by him that was upon the place and trusted with the Office Nor did I ever meddle farther in those Businesses than by laying before His Majesty what was written to me to that end Leaving the King as it became me to Judge both of the Motion and the Person that made it as in his Princely Wisdom he thought fit The next thing is that in these Letters I did upbraid him Bishop Ballantine that is that in his First Synod at Aberdeen he had only disputed against our Custom in Scotland of Fasting sometimes on the Lord's Day And that I did Presumptuously Censure their Kirk that in this we were opposite to Christianity it self and that amongst us there was no Canon at all More of this stuff may be seen in the Letters themselves And my humble desire is that the Letters may be seen For whatsoever account is made of this Stuff it was once and in far better times of the Church valued at a better rate And I shall not be ashamed of any Stuff contained in any of my Letters to this Bishop or any other let them be produced when they please But what then is this Stuff 'T is that I upbraid this worthy Prelate about their Custom in Scotland of Fasting sometimes on the Lord's Day And censure their Church presumptuously as opposite herein to Christianity Surely I do not use to upbraid meaner Men than the Bishop is much less presumptuously to censure a Church If I thought as I do that ãâã in an Errour for only disputing against that which he should have reformed I conceive it was no upbraiding As for the Custom in Scotland of Fasting on the Lord's-Day It is not only sometimes as is here expressed but continually when they have any Solemn Fast the Lord's-Day is the Day for it And if I did Write that that was opposite to Christianity it self I doubt it is too true For it is against the Practice of the whole Church of Christ And that which is so must oppose Christianity it self And this I find That as Apostolical Universal Tradition settled the Lord's-Day for Holy and Publick Worship So from the very Apostles times the same general Tradition hath in all times accounted it unlawful to Fast upon that Day And if an Ordinary Fast were not Lawful upon that Day much less was a Solemn Nor is there any thing more clear in all Antiquity For in the Canons of the Apostles which if they be not theirs are very antient If a Priest did fast upon the Lord's day he was to be deposed and if a Layman he was to be Excommunicated And S. Ignatius tells us if any Man fast upon the Lords Day he is Christ's Interfector a Murtherer of Christ And that I am sure is against Christianity it self Tertullian professes 't is altogether unlawful The Council of Gangra held An. 324. decreed against it and set an Anathema upon it and that not only when it is done in contempt of the Day
was it from all suspition of being so much as built like an Antient Church Now since his Majesty took down these Galleries and the Stone-wall to make St. Giles's Church a Cathedral there certainly my Command took them not down to make way for Altars and Adoration towards the East which I never commanded in that or any other Church in Scotland The Charge goes on ART II. The second Novation which troubled our Peace was a Book of Canons and Constitutions Ecclesiastical obtruded upon our Kirk found by our General Assembly to be devised for Establishing a Tyrannical Power in the Persons of our Prelates over the Worship of God and over the Consciences Liberties and Goods of the People and for Abolishing the whole Discipline and Government of our Kirk by General and Provincial Assemblies Presbyteries and Kirk-Sessions which was setled by Law and in continual practice from the time of Reformation This Charge begins with a General and will come to Particulars after And first it seems they are angry with a Book of Canons Excellent Church-Government it seems they would have that will admit of no Canons to direct or controul their Liberty And if they mean by obtruding upon their Church that the Canons were unduly thrust upon them because that Book was Confirmed by the King's Anthority then 't is a bold Phrase to call it Obtruding For if His Majesty that now is did by his Sole Authority Command the present Book of Canons to the Church of Scotland he did but Exercise that Power which King James challenged did in the right of his Crown belong to him As appears manifestly by a Letter of his to the Prelates of Scotland then Assembled at Perth That Royal Letter is large but very worthy any Mans Reading and is to be seen in the Relation of those Proceedings But because they speak of my Novations if they mean that this Book of Canons was Obtruded upon their Church by me Or if it were found in a Just Synod and upon fair Proceedings to Establish a Tyrannical Power of the Prelates over the Worship of God or the Consciences Liberties or Goods of the People Or for Abolishing any thing that was setled by Laws they had Reason both to be troubled and to seek in a Dutiful manner first rightly to inform His Majesty and then to desire a Remedy from him But if the Book of Canons did really none of these things as for ought I yet know it did not and as I hope will appear when they come to Particulars then this will be no longer a Charge but a Slander And howsoever if any thing in those Canons were Ordered against their Laws it was by our invincible Ignorance and their Bishops fault that would not tell us wherein we went against their Laws if so we did And for my own part I did ever advise them to make sure in the whole Business that they attempted nothing against Law But if their late General Assembly in which they say these things were found to be against Law did proceed Unwarrantably or Factiously as the most Learned Men of that Kingdom avow it did the less heed must and will in future times be given to their Proceedings But before they come to Particulars they think fit to lay Load on me and say That Canterbury was Master of this Work is manifest by a Book of Canons sent to him written upon the one side only with the other side blank for Corrections Additions and putting all in better Order at his pleasure Which accordingly was done as may appear by the Interlinings Marginals and filling up of the Blank Pages with Directions sent to our Prelates I was no Master of this Work but a Servant to it and Commanded thereunto by His Sacred Majesty as I have to shew under his Hand And the Work it self was begun in His Majesties Blessed Fathers Time For the Bishops of Scotland were gathering their Canons then And this is most manifest by a Passage in the Sermon which my Lord the Arch-Bishop of S. Andrews Preached before the General Assembly at Perth An. 1618 when I was a private Man and had nothing to do with these things The words are these And when I least expected these Articles that is the five Articles of Perth were sent unto me not to be proponed to the Church but to be inserted amongst the Canons thereof which were then in gathering touching which Point I humbly excused my self c. So this Work was begun and known to that Church long before I had any thing to do with it And now when it came to be Perfected I did nothing but as I was Commanded and Warranted by His Majesty But indeed according to this Command I took a great deal more pains than I have thanks for as it too often falls out with the best Church-Men To this end 't is true a Book of Canons was not sent me but brought by my Lord the Bishop of Ross and delivered to me And if it were written on one side only and left Blank on the other for Corrections or Additions I hope there 's no sin in that to leave room and space for me to do that for which the Book was brought to me As for that which follows it hath less fault in it For they say it was for my putting all in better Order And I hope to put all in better Order is no Crime Censurable in this Court. And whatever they of Scotland think that Church did then need many things to be put in better Order and at this Day need many more Yea but they say this should not be done at my pleasure I say so too Neither was it For whatsoever I thought fit to correct or add in the Copy brought to me I did very humbly and fairly submit to the Church of Scotland And under those Terms delivered it back to the Bishop which brought it with all the Interlinings Marginals and fillings up of Blank Pages and the best Directions I was able to give them And all this was in me Obedience to His Majesty and no Wrong that I know to the Church of Scotland I am sure not intended by me Neither are these Interlinings or Additions so many as they are here insinuated to be for the Bishops of Scotland had been very careful in this Work All which would clearly appear were the Book produced Yet the Charge goes on against me still And that it was done by no other than Canterbury is evident by his Magisterial way of Prescribing and by a new Copy of these Canons all written with S. Andrews own hand precisely to a Letter according to the former Castigations and Directions sent back to procure the King's Warrant unto it which accordingly was obtained By no other Hand than Canterburies is very roundly affirmed How is it proved Why by two Reasons First they say 't is evident by his Magisterial way of Prescribing An Excellent Argument The Book of Canons was delivered to me
St. Paul He that speaks in the Church in an unknown tongue speaks not unto Men for they understand him not yet he speaks to God and doubtless doth not mock him for he edifies himself and in the Spirit speaks Mysteries neither of which can stand with the mocking of God Now say they As there is no word of all this in the English Service so doth the Book in King Edward's Time give to every Presbyter his liberty of Gesture which yet gave such offence to Bucer the Censurer of the Book and even in Cassander his own Judgment a Man of great Moderation in Matters of this kind that he calleth them Nunquam-satis-execrandos Missae gestus and would have them to be abhorred because they confirm to the Simple and Superstitious ter-impiam exitialem Missae fiduciam As there is no word of all this in the English Service so neither is there in the Book for Scotland more or other or to other purpose than I have above expressed For the Book under Edw. 6. at the end of it there are some Rules concerning Ceremonies and it doth give liberty of Gesture to every Presbyter But it is only of some Gestures such as are there named Similes not of all But if any will extend it unto all then I humbly desire it may be Piously and Prudently considered whether this confusion which will follow upon every Presbyters Liberty and Choice be not like to prove worse than any Rule that is given in either Book for Decent Uniformity And yet say they these Gestures for all this Liberty given gave such offence to Bucer the Censurer of the Book that he calls them Nunquam-satis-execrandos Missae gestus the never sufficiently execrable Gestures of the Mass. First 't is true Bucer did make some Observations upon that Common-Prayer-Book under Edw. 6. And he did it at the intreaty of Arch-Bishop Cranmer And after he had made such Observations upon it as he thought fit he writ thus to the Arch-Bishop Being mindful how much I owe to your most Reverend Father-Hood and the English Churches that which is given me to see and discern in this business I will subscribe This done your most Reveverend Father-hood and the rest of your Order that is the rest of the Bishops may judge of what I write Where we see both the care of Bucer to do what was required of him and his Christian Humility to leave what he had done to the judgment of the then Governours of this Church By which it appears that he gave his Judgment upon that Book not as being the Censurer of it as these Men call him but as delivering up his Animadversions upon it to that Authority which required it of him Much less was it such a Censure as must bind all other Men to his Judgment which he very modestly submits to the Church Howsoever this has been the common Error as I humbly conceive of the English Nation to entertain and value Strangers in all Professions of Learning beyond their desert and to the contempt or passing by at least of Men of equal worth of their own Nation which I have observed ever since I was of ability to judge of these things But be this as it may These Men have Notoriously corrupted Bucer For they say he calls them Nunquam-satis-execrandos Missae gestus referring the Execration to the Ceremonial Gestures But Bucer's words are Nunquam-satis-execrandae Missae gestus referring the Execration to the Mass it self not to the Gestures in it of bowing the Knee or beating the Breast or the like which in themselves and undoubtedly in Bucer's Judgment also are far enough from being Execrable As for that which follows and which are Bucer's words indeed That These Gestures or any other which confirm to the simple ter impiam exitialem Missae fiduciam as he there calls it the thrice impious and deadly Confidence of the Mass are to be abhorred there 's no doubt to be made of that Unless as Cassander infers well out of Luther and Bucer both they be such Ceremonies as Impeach not the free Justification of a Sinner by Faith in Christ and that the People may be well instructed concerning the true use of them Now all this at the most is but Bucer's Speech against such Ceremonies and in such time and place must be understood too as are apt to confirm the simple People in their Opinion of the Mass. But such Ceremonies are neither maintained by me nor are any such Ordered or Established in that Book Therefore this Charge falls away quite from me and Bucer must make his own Speeches good For my own part I am in this point of Ceremonies of the same Mind with Cassander that Man of great Moderation in Matters of this kind as my Accusers here call him And he says plainly a little after in the same place concerning Luther's and Bucer's Judgment in these things Quanquam est quod in istis viris desiderem though I approve them in many things yet there is somewhat which I want in these Men. But the Charge goes on 3. The Corporal Presence of Christ's Body in the Sacrament is also to be found here For the Words of the Mass-Book serving to that purpose are sharply censured by Bucer in King Edward's Lyturgy and are not to be found in the Book of England and yet are taken in here Almighty God is in called that of his Almighty Goodness he may vouchsafe so to Bless and Sanctifie with his Word and his Spirit these gifts of Bread and Wine that they may be unto us the Body and Blood of Christ. The change here is made a work of God's Omnipotency The words of the Mass ut fiant nobis are Translated in King Edward's Book that they may be unto us which is again turned into Latin by Alesius ut fiant nobis They say the Corporal Presence of Christ's Body in the Sacrament is to be found in this Service-Book But they must pardon me I know it is not there I cannot be my self of a contrary Judgment and yet suffer that to pass But let 's see their proof The words of the Mass-Book serving to that purpose which are sharply censured by Bucer in King Edward's Liturgy and are not to be found in the Book of England yet are taken into this Service-Book I know no words tending to this purpose in King Edard's Liturgy fit for Bucer to censure sharply and therefore not tending to that purpose For did they tend to that they could not be censured too sharply The words it seems are these O Merciful Father of thy Almighty Goodness vouchsafe so to Bless and Sanctifie with thy Word and Holy Spirit these thy Gifts and Creatures of Bread and Wine that they may be unto us the Body and Blood of thy most dearly beloved Son Well if these be the words how will they squeeze Corporal Presence out of them Why first the Charge here is made a
which comes next An Evil therefore which hath issued not so much from the Personal Disposition of the Prelates themselves as from the innate Quality and Nature of their Office and Prelatical Hierarchy which did bring forth the Pope in Ancient times and never ceaseth till it bring forth Popish Doctrine and Worship where it is once rooted and the Principles thereof fomented and constantly followed They tell us here that this Conformity with Rome is an Evil that issues not so much from the Personal Disposition of the Prelates themselves as from the innate Quality and Nature of their Office Conformity with Rome in any Error or Superstition is doubtless an Evil but that it issues from the Nature of a Bishop's Office cannot be For that Office is to Preach Christ and to govern the Church of Christ according to his Laws If any Bishop break this 't is his Personal Error and most unnatural to his Office to which if he adhere he can neither teach nor practise Superstition Therefore certainly what Error soever comes is from his Person not his Office And 't is great Ignorance to call this Evil an innate Quality of the Office when the Office is a thing of Institution not of Nature and therefore cannot possibly have any innate Quality in it But since they will needs have it thus let us invert it a little and see how it will fit them against their King more than it can fit the Bishops for the Pope For if we should say as perhaps we may too truly that the dangerous Positions which too many of the Presbyterian Faction publickly maintain and in Print proceed not so much from the Personal Disposition of the Presbyterians themselves as from the innate Quality and Nature of their Presbyteries and their Antimonarchical Party I believe it would trouble them to shape a good Answer to it unless they will admit of that which I before have given But then if they do this they Charge themselves with falshood in that which they lay upon the Bishops Office Next they tell you that this Prelatical Hierarchy did bring forth the Pope in Ancient times But truly I think they are thus far deceived The Hierarchy cannot be said to bring forth the chief parts of it self Now the Patriarchs of which the Bishop of Rome was one if not Prime in Order were the Principal parts of the Hierarchy Therefore the Hierarchy cannot well be said to bring them forth But suppose it be so that the Pope were brought forth by the Bishops what fault is there in it For the Pope was good both Nomine Re in name and in being as they were at first For thirty of them together were Martyrs for Christ And the Church of Rome was famous for her Faith over the World in the very Apostles times Rom. 1. And if either the Popes or that Church have degenerated since that is a Personal Crime and not to be imputed to the Office And therefore these Men do very ill or very ignorantly to affirm that this Office of Episcopacy never ceases till it bring forth Popish Doctrine and Worship For in all the time of these thirty Popes there was no Doctrine brought forth which may justly be accounted Superstitious or called Popery For the last of those thirty died in the Year 309. ..... And they cannot be ignorant that Bishop Jewell on the behalf of the Church of England challenged the Current of the Fathers for full Six Hundred Years to be for it against Rome in very many and main Points of Popery And therefore I may well say there was no Popery in the World when the Thirtieth Pope died Well if this Evil do not arise from the Hierarchy yet it doth From the Antipathy and Inconsistence of the two Forms of the Ecclesiastical Government which they conceived and not without Cause one Island joyned also under one Head and Monarch was not able to bear The one being the same in all the Parts and Powers which it was in the time of Popery and still is in the Roman Kirk The other being the Form of Government received maintained and practised by all the Reformed Kirks wherein by their own Testimonies and Confessions the Kirk of Scotland had amongst them no small Eminency Sure these Men have forgotten themselves For they tell us immediatly before that this Evil of bringing forth Popish Doctrine and Worship proceeds from the very Office of a Bishop And now they add and from the Antipathy of these two Forms of Church Government Doth the Bishops Office produce Popery And doth the Antipathy between the Presbytery and Episcopacy produce Popery too So then belike in these Men's Judgments both Bishops and they which oppose Bishops produce Popery And if that be true Popery must needs increase that is produced on all sides An Evil then there is though perhaps not this which issues from that Antipathy and Inconsistence of these two Forms of Ecclesiastical Government which they say we Prelates of England conceived and not without Cause one Island joyned also under one Head and Monarch was not able to bear And that Evil was as I conceive the continual Jarrs and Oppositions which would daily arise among His Majesties Subjects of both Kingdoms concerning these different Forms of Government And these would bring forth such Heart-burnings and Divisions among the People that the King might never be secure at home nor presume upon united Forces against a Foreign Enemy And this is Evil enough to any Monarch of two divided Kingdoms especially lying so near in one Island Now if the Bishops of England did conceive thus and as our Adversaries here confess not without Cause Then certainly by their own Confession the Prelates of England had Reason to use all just endeavours to remove and take away this Inconsistence that the Form of the Ecclesiastical Government might be one in one Island and under one Monarch that so Faction and Schism might cease which else when they get Opportunity find a way to rent the Peace of Kingdoms if not Kingdoms themselves And this Island God of his Mercy preserve it is at this time in great hazard to undergo the fatality of it in a great measure The next is a manifest untruth For though there be as is said an Inconsistence between the Governments which makes one Island under one King unable to bear both in the different parts of the Island or at least unsafe while it bears them Yet neither is Episcopacy in all the Parts and Powers of it that which it was in time of Popery and still is in the Roman Church And this is most manifest to any Man that will but look upon what Power the Prelates had before and what they have since the Statute of the Submission of the Clergy in Hen. 8. time Beside all those Statutes which have since been made in divers Particulars to weaken their Power Nor is the other Form of Government received
maintained and Practised in all other Reformed Churches unless these Men be so strait Laced as not to admit the Churches of Sweden and Denmark and indeed all or most of the Lutherans to be Reformed Churches For in Sweden they retain both the Thing and the Name and the Governours of their Churches are and are called Bishops And among the other Lutherans the Thing is retained though not the Name For instead of Bishops they are called Superintendents and instead of Archbishops General Superintendents And yet even here too these Names differ more in sound than in sense For Bishop is the same in Greek that Superintendent is in Latin Nor is this change very well liked by the Learned Howsoever Luther since he would change the Name did yet very wisely that he would leave the Thing and make choice of such a name as was not altogether unknown to the Ancient Church For St. Augustine mentions it as plainly and as fully as any of these As for the Eminency which they say their Kirk of Scotland had amongst them I envy it not but God bless it so that it may deserve Eminence and have it And now we are come to the close of all in which their desire is expressed This also we represent to your Lordships most serious Consideration That not only the Fire-brands may be removed but the Fire may be provided against that there be no more Combustion afterwards Decemb. 15. 1640. Ad. Blayer Their request is That not only the Bishops whom they are pleased to call the Fire-brands which indeed themselves and their Adherents are but the Office or Episcopacy it self which they call the Fire may be provided against That there may be no combustion after This I as heartily wish as any Man can but see as little cause to hope for For what hope can there be against after-Combustion while the Fire which they themselves have kindled while they call other Men Incendiaries burns on still and is like to fasten upon the very Foundations to the eating of them out Yet I desire here that the Justice and the Indifferency of these Men may be well considered and that in two things The one in the Cause it self For Episcopacy is settled by Law here Nay it is many ways woven into the Laws and Customs of this Realm And their great Complaint is that their Presbyteries which they say are established by their Law were offer'd to be supprest So they are angry that their Presbyteries should be touch'd against their Law but Episcopacy must be destroyed though it be never so much against our Law The other piece of their Justice is Personal to me For here at one and the same time and in this one and the same Charge they do by Consequences lay load on me as if I had invaded their Laws while they invade ours avowedly and dare present this their Invasion as well as that by Arms in full and open Parliament of England to have their Will in the one and their Reward for the other Now if these two Forms of Ecclesiastical Government by Episcopacy and by Presbyteries be inconsistent under one Monarch as they themselves here confess then I were I at liberty would humbly beseech the Lords to consider First whether these men have any shew or colour of Justice in this their demand Secondly whether that Form of Church-Government which hath come down from the Apostles continued to this Day is established by the Laws and usage of this Kingdom ever since it was Christian be not fitter for them to embrace and settle than that Form which is but of Yesterday and hath no acquaintance at all with our Laws nor is agreeable with Monarchy And lastly when the Bishops are taken away and a Parity the Mother of confusion made in the Church and the Church-Lands Sacrilegiously made a Prey which I have long feared is not the least Aim of too many whether then the Temporal Lords shall not follow after And whether their Honour will not then soon appear too great and their Means too full till a Lex Agraria will pass upon them and lay them level with them whom some of them Favour too much And when these things are considered God Bless them whom it most concerns to lay it to Heart betimes if Time be not slipped already Here having answer'd to all which the Scots have laid in against me I would have the Scotch Service inserted and Printed The Book lyes by me very exactly translated into Latin And so I hope this Tract shall be CAP. V. AND now having answered and I hope sufficiently to all the Particulars in the Charge of the Scots against me I must return to the History again as I left it Where I told you the House of Commons were very angry with the late Canons and joyning this Accusation of the Scots to such Articles as they in their Committee had framed against me upon Decemb. 18. 1640. they accused me of High Treason â as is before expressed and I was committed to Custody to Mr. James Maxwell the Officer of the Vpper House When they had lodg'd me here I was follow'd with sharpness in both Houses upon all Occasions of any Complaint made against the proceedings at Council-Table Star-Chamber High-Commission or any place or thing in which I had ought to do Nothing omitted by some cunning Agents which might increase the Rage and Hatred of the People against me The chief Instruments herein were the Brownists and they which adhered unto them who were highly offended with me because I hindred and Punished as by Law I might their Conventicles and Separation from the Church of England And though I pitied them as God knows from my very Heart yet because necessity of Government forc'd me to some Punishment their Malignity never gave me over Among and above the rest there were three Men Mr. Henry Burton a Minister Benificed in Friday-street in London Dr. John Bastwick a Phisician and Mr. William Pryn a Common Lawyer who were censured Junii 14. 1637. in the Star-Chamber for notorious Libels Printed and Published by them against the Hierarchy of the Church They were then and there Sentenced to stand in the Pillory and lose their Ears and because they should not stay farther to infect London they were sent away by Order of that Court Mr. Burton to Garnsey Dr. Bastwick to Silly and Mr. Pryn to Jersy In the giving of this Sentence I spake my Conscience and was after commanded to Print my Speech But I gave no Vote because they had fallen so personally upon me that I doubted many Men might think Spleen and not Justice led me to it Nor was it my Counsel that advised their sending into those remote Parts The Brownists and the preciser Part of the Kingdom were netled at this and the Anger turned upon me tho' I were the Patient all along For they had published most venomous Libels against me and I did but shew such as came
of the said pretended Canons enjoyned to be taken by all the Clergy and many of the Laity of this Kingdom I Composed no Book of Canons The whole Convocation did it with unanimous Consent So either I must be free or that whole Body must be guilty of High-Treason For in that Crime all are Principals that are guilty Accessory there is none Neither did I publish or put in Execution those Canons or any of them but by Lawful Authority And I do humbly conceive and verily believe there is nothing in those Canons contrary either to the King's Prerogative the Fundamental Laws of the Realm the Rights of Paliament the Propriety and Liberty of the Subjects or any matter tending to Sedition or of dangerous consequence or to the establishment of any vast or unlawful Power in my self and my Sucessors Neither was there any Canon in that Convocation surreptitiously passed by any practice of mine or without due Consideration and Debate Neither was there any thing in that Convocation but what was voted first and subscribed after without fear or compulsion in any kind And I am verily perswaded there never sate any Synod in Christendom wherein the Votes passed with more freedom or less practice than they did in this And for the Oath injoyned in the sixth Canon as it was never made to confirm any unlawful or exorbitant Power over his Majesty's Subjects so I do humbly conceive that it is no Wicked or Ungodly Oath in any respect And I hope I am able to make it good in any learned Assembly in Christendom that this Oath and all those Canons then made and here before recited and every Branch in them are Just and Orthodox and Moderate and most necessary for the present Condition of the Church of England how unwelcom soever to the present Distemper 6. He hath traiterously assumed to himself a Papal and Tyrannical Power both in Ecclesiastical and Temporal Matters over his Majesty's Subjects in this Realm of England and other places to the Disinherison of the Crown Dishonour of his Majesty and Derogation of his Supreme Authority in Ecclesiastical Matters And the said Arch-Bishop claims the King 's Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction as incident to his Episcopal and Archiepiscopal Office in this Kingdom and doth deny the same to be derived from the Crown of England which he hath accordingly exercised to the high contempt of his Royal Majesty and to the destruction of divers of the King's Liege-People in their Persons and Estates I have not assumed Papal or Tyrannicl Power in matters Ecclesiastical or Temporal to the least Disinherison Dishonour or Derogation of his Majesty's Supream Authority in matters Ecclesiastical or Temporal I never claimed the King's Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction as incident to my Episcopal or Archiepiscopal Office in this Kingdom Nor did I ever deny that the exercise of my Jurisdiction was derived from the Crown of England But that which I have said and do still say concerning my Office and Calling is this That my Order as a Bishop and my Power of Jurisdiction is by Divine Apostolical Right and unalterable for ought I know in the Church of Christ. But all the Power I or any other Bishop hath to exercise any the least Power either of Order or Jurisdiction within this Realm of England is derived wholly from the Crown And I conceive it were Treasonable to derive it from any other Power Foreign or Domestick And for the Exercise of this Power under his Majesty I have not used it to the Contempt but to the great Advantage of his Royal Person and to the Preservation not the Destruction of his People Both which appear already by the great Distractions Fears and Troubles which all Men are in since my Restraint and which for ought I yet see are like to increase if God be not exceeding Merciful above our Deserts 7. That he hath traiterously endeavoured to alter and subvert God's true Religion by Law established in this Realm and instead thereof to set up Popish Superstition and Idolatry and to that end hath declared and maintained in Speeches and Printed Books divers Popish Doctrines and Opinions contrary to the Articles of Religion established by Law He hath urged and injoyned divers Popish and Superstitious Ceremonies without any warrant of Law and hath cruelly persecuted those who have opposed the same by Corporal Punishment and Imprisonment and most unjustly vexed others who refused to conform thereto by Ecclesiastical Censures of Excommunication Suspension Deprivation and Degradation contrary to the Law of the Kingdom I never endeavoured to alter or subvert God's true Religion established by Law in this Kingdom or to bring in Romish Superstition Neither have I declared maintained or Printed any Popish Doctrine or Opinion contrary to the Articles of Religion established or any one of them either to the end mentioned in this Article or any other I have neither urged nor injoyned any Popish or Superstitious Ceremonies without warrant of Law nor have I cruelly persecuted any Opposers of them But all that I laboured for in this particular was that the external Worship of God in this Church might be kept up in Uniformity and Decency and in some Beauty of Holiness And this the rather because first I found that with the Contempt of the Outward Worship of God the Inward fell away apace and Profaneness began boldly to shew it self And secondly because I could speak with no conscientious Persons almost that were wavering in Religion but the great motive which wrought upon them to disaffect or think meanly of the Church of England was that the external Worship of God was so lost in the Church as they conceived it and the Churches themselves and all things in them suffered to lye in such a base and slovenly Fashion in most places of the Kingdom These and no other Considerations moved me to take so much care as I did of it which was with a single Eye and most free from any Romish Superstition in any thing As for Ceremonies all that I injoyned were according to Law And if any were Superstitious I injoyned them not As for those which are so called by some Men they are no Innovations but Restaurations of the ancient approved Ceremonies in and from the beginning of the Reformation and setled either by Law or Custom till the Faction of such as now openly and avowedly separate from the Church of England did oppose them and cry them down And for the Censures which I put upon any I presume they will to all indifferent Men which will Understandingly and Patiently hear the Cause appear to be Just Moderate and according to Law 8. That for the better advancing of his Traiterous Purpose and Designs he did abuse the great Power and Trust his Majesty reposed in him and did intrude upon the Places of divers great Officers and upon the Right of divers his Majesty's Subjects whereby he did procure to himself the Nomination of sundry
by his Majesty in the presence of a Secretary of State and commanded to speak my Judgment and my Conscience And I did so And declared clearly against any Bishops of the Roman Party his coming into the Kingdom to reside or exercise any Jurisdiction here And I gave then for my Reason the very self-same which is since Published by the ãâã of Commons in their Remonstrance A different and inconsistent Church within a Church which ever brought hazard upon the State And in this Judgment I persisted and never permitted much less countenanced any Popish Hierarchy to settle in this Kingdom but hindred it by all the ãâã and means I could 11. He in his own Person and his Suffragans Visitors Surrogats Chancellors or other Officers by his Command have caused divers Learned Pious and Orthodox Preachers of Gods Word to be Silenced Suspended Deprived Degraded Excommunicated or otherwise grieved and vexed without any just and lawful Cause whereby and by divers other Means he hath hindred the Preaching of God's Word caused divers of his Majesty's Loyal Subjects to forsake the Kingdom and increased and cherished Ignorance and Prophaneness amongst the People That so he might the better facilitate the way to the effecting of his own Wicked and Trayterous Designs of altering and corrupting the True Religion here Established I have neither by my self nor by my Command to my Officers Silenced Suspended Deprived Degraded or Excommunicated any Learned Pious and Orthodox Preachers nor any other but upon Just Cause Proved in Court and according to Law And I think it will appear that as few be the Cause never so Just have been Suspended or Deprived in my Diocess as in any Diocess in England Nor have I by these Suspensions hindred the Preaching of Gods Word but of Schism and Sedition as now appears plainly by the Sermons frequently made in London since the time of Liberty given and taken since this Parliament first began Nor have I caused any of his Majesty's Subjects to forsake the Kingdom but they forsook it of themselves being Separatists from the Church of England as is more than manifest to any Man that will but consider what kind of Persons went to New-England And whereas in their late Remonstrance they say The high Commission grew to such excess of Sharpness and Severity as was not much less than the Romish Inquisition and yet in many Cases by the Arch-Bishops Power was made much more heavy being assisted and strengthned by Authority of the Council-Table I was much troubled at it that such an Imputation from so great a Body should be fastned on me And therefore first I considered that my Predecessors were all or most of them strengthned with the same Authority of the Council-Table that I was And therefore if I did use that Authority to worse ends or in a worse manner than they did I was the more to blame Therefore to satisfie my self and others in this particular I did in the next place cause a diligent search to be made in the Acts of that Court which can deceive no Man what Suspensions Deprivations or other Punishments had past in the Seven Years of my Time before my Commitment Then I compared them with every of the Three Seven Years of my immediate Predecessor for so long he sat and somewhat over and was in great esteem with the House of Commons all his Time and I find more by Three Suspended Deprived or Degraded in every Seven Years of his Time than in the Seven Years of my Time so cryed out upon as you see for Sharpness and Severity even to the equasling of that Commission almost to the Romish Inquisition So safe a thing it is for a Man ãâã Imbarque himself into a Potent Faction and so hard for any other Man be he never so intire to withstand its Violence 12. He hath ãâã endeavoured to cause Division and Discord between the Church of England and other Reformed Churches And to that end hath Suppressed and Abrogated the Priviledges and Immunities which have been by his Majesty and his Royal Ancestors granted to the French and Dutch Churches in this Kingdom And divers other ways hath expressed his Malice and Disaffiction to these Churches that so by such Disunion the Papists might have more advantage for the Overthrow and Extripation of both I never endeavoured to set Division between the Church of England and other Reformed Churches And if I had so done it had been a very Unchristian and unworthy Act but yet no Treason as I conceive And for the Priviledges and Immunities granted by his Majesty and his Royal Progenitors to the French and Dutch Churches in this Kingdom I did not seek to Suppress or Abrogate any of them which kept Conform to their first Toleration here much less did I labour by any Disunion betwixt them and us to advantage the Papists to the overthrow of both But this I found that they did not use their Priviledges with that Gratitude and Fairness to his Majesty the State and Church of England as they ought to have done And hereupon I acquainted his Majesty and the Lords in full and open Council with what I conceived concerning that business As Namely 1. That their living as they did and standing so strictly to their own Discipline wrought upon the Party in England which were addicted to them and made them more averse than otherwise they would have been to the present Government of the Church of England 2. That by this means they lived in England as if they were a kind of God's Israel in Egypt to the great Dishonour of the Church of England to which at first they fled for Shelter against Persecution And in that time of their Danger the Church of England was in their Esteem not only a true but a glorious Church But by this Favour which that Church received it grew up and incroached upon us till it became a Church within a Church and a kind of State within a State And this I ever held dangerous how small beginning soever it had And that upon two main Reasons The one because I find the Wisdom of God against it For he says plainly to his prime People One Law and especially for Divine Worship shall be to him that is home-born and to the Stranger that Sojourns among you Exod. 12. And the other because I find the Wisdom of this State against it For this Parliament in their Remonstrance give the self-same Reason against the Papists but must hold good against all Sects that labour to make strong and inlarge themselves The Words are these Another State moulded within this State independent in Government contrary in Interest and Affection ãâã corrupting the Ignorant or Negligent Professors of our Religion and closely Vniting and Combining themselves against such as are sound in this posture waiting for an Opportunity c. And the Words are as true of the one Faction as the other and
I ever pressed the Argument alike against both as I can prove by good Witness if need be And I pray God this Faction too little feared and too much nourished among us have not now found the Opportunity waited for 3. That they live here and enjoy all freedom and yet for the most part scorn so much as to learn the Language or to converse with any more than for advantage of Bargaining And will take no Englishman to be their Apprentice nor teach them any of their Manufactures which I did then and do still think most unreasonable 4. That for Religion if after so many descents of their Children born in the Land and so Native Subjects these Children of theirs should refuse to Pray and Communicate with the Church of England into whose bosom their Parents fled at first for succour I thought then and do still that no State could with safety or would in Wisdom endure it And this concerning their Children was all that was desired by me As appears by the Act which my Vicar General made concerning those Churches at Canterbury Sandwitch and Maidstone in my Diocess and the Publication of this Act in their Congregations by their own Ministers in this Form following I am commanded to signifie unto you that it is not his Majesty's intent nor of the Council of State to dissolve our Congregations And to that end his Majesty is content to permit the Natives of the first degree to continue Members of our Congregations as before But the Natives in this Church after the first descent are injoyned to obey my Lord Arch-Bishop his Injunction which is to conform themselves to the English Discipline and Liturgy every one in his Parish without inhibiting them notwithstanding from resorting sometimes to our Assemblies And my Lord Arch-Bishop of ãâã means notwithstanding that the said Natives shall continue to contribute to the Maintenance of the Ministry and Poor of this Church for the better subsisting thereof And promiseth to obtain an Order from the Council if need be and they require it to maintain them in their Manufactures against those which would trouble them by Informations Now that which I injoyned the French and Dutch Churches was to a syllable all one with this in all parts of my Province where these Churches resided As at South-hampton and Norwich And I have a Letter to shew full of thanks from the Ministers and Elders of the French and Walloon-Churches at Norwich All which is far from an endeavour to suppress any just Priviledges and Immunities which these Churches had in England or ought to have in any well-governed Kingdom And since this time I have not only seen but gotten the very Original Letter of Queen Elizabeth of Happy Memory written to the Lord Treasurer Pawlet specifying what Order she would should be taken with and for these Churches The Letter is Signed with her Majesty 's own Hand and Signet and gives them not half so much Liberty I do not say as they take but as I have been ever most content to give them For the Queen in these Letters allows them nothing contrary to her Laws and therefore nothing but our Liturgy in their own Language not another Form of Divine Service and Discipline much different from it This was the Wisdom of those times which I pray God we may follow The Queen's Letter follows in these words Elizabeth RIght Trusty and right well-beloved Cozen we greet you well Whereas in the time of our Brother and Sister also the Church of the late Augustine Fryars was appointed to the use of all the Strangers reparing to the City of London for to have therein Divine Service considering that by an Universal Order all the rest of the Churches have the Divine Service in the English Tongue for the better edifying of the People which the Strangers Born understand not Our Pleasure is that you shall Assign and Deliver the said Church and all things thereto belonging to the Reverend Father in God the Bishop of London to be appointed to such Curates and Ministers as he shall think good to serve from time to time in the same Churches both for daily Divine Service and for Administration of the Sacraments and Preaching of the Gospel so as no Rite nor Use be therein observed contrary or derogatory to our Laws And these our Letters shall be your sufficient Warrant and Discharge in that behalf Given under Our Signet at Our Palace of Westminster the ...... of February the Second Year of our Reign To our Trusty and right well beloved Cousin and Counsellor the Marquess of Winchester High Treasurer of England 13. He hath maliciously and Trayterously Plotted and endeavoured to stir up War and Enmity betwixt his Majesty's two Kingdoms of England and Scotland and to that purpose hath laboured to introduce into the Kingdom of Scotland divers Innovations both in Religion and Government all or the most part tending to Popery and Superstition to the great Grievance and Discontent of his Majesty's Subjects of that Nation And for their refusing to submit to such Innovations he did trayterously Advise his Majesty to Subdue them by Force of Arms And by his own Authority and Power contrary to Law did procure sundry of his Majesty's Subjects and inforced the Clergy of this Kingdom to contribute toward the Maintenance of that War And when his Majesty with much Wisdom and Justice had made a Pacification betwixt the two Kingdoms the said Arch-Bishop did presumptuously censure that Pacification as Dishonourable to his Majesty and by his Counsel and Endeavours so incensed his Majesty against his said Subjects of Scotland that he did thereupon by Advice of the said Arch-Bishop enter into an offensive War against them to the great ãâã of his Majesty's Person and his Subjects of both Kingdoms I did not Endeavour to stir up War between his Majesty's two Kingdoms of England and Scotland but my Counsels were for Peace As may appear by the Counsel which I gave at Theobalds in the beginning of these unhappy Differences For there my Counsel only put a stay upon the Business in hope his Majesty might have a better Issue without than with a War And if I were mistaken in this Counsel yet it agreed well with my Profession and with the Cause which was differences in Religion which I conceived might better be composed by Ink than by Blood And I think it cannot easily be forgotten that I gave this Counsel For my Lord the Earl of Arundel opposed me openly at the Table then and said my Grounds would deceive me And my Lord the Earl of Holland came to me so soon as we were risen from Counsel and was pleased to say to me that I had done my self and my Calling a great deal of Right and the King my Master the best Service that ever I did him in my Life And Mr. Patrick Male of his Majesty's Bed-chamber when he heard what I had done came and gave me
a great deal of Thanks in the Name of that Nation Nor did I labour to introduce into the Kingdom of Scotland any Innovations in Religion or Government Neither do all or the most part or indeed any of those pretended Innovations tend to Popery or Superstition as hath before been sufficiently proved Neither did I upon their refusal to submit to these Advise his Majesty to Subdue them by force of Arms but the Counsels which I gave were open either at the Committee or the Council-Table Neither did I by my own Power and Authority contrary to Law procure any of his Majesty's Subjects or inforce the Clergy of England to contribute to the maintenance of that War But the Subsidies which were given to his Majesty at that time were given freely and in open Convocation and without any practice of my self or any other as appears by what I have formerly laid down But because so much noise hath been made against me both in the Scottish Charge before answered and in this Article about Popish Innovations in that Service-Book and that I laboured the introducing both of it and them I think it fit if not necessary to set down briefly the Story what was done and what I did and by what Command in all that Business And it follows Dr. John Maxwel the late Bishop of Ross came to me from his Majesty it was during the time of a great and dangerous Fever under which I then laboured It was in the Year 1629. in August or September which come that time is Thirteen Years since The Cause of his coming was to speak with me about a Liturgy for Scotland At his coming I was so extream Ill that I saw him not And had Death which I then expected daily as did my Friends and Physicians also seized on me I had not seen this heavy time After this when I was able to sit up he came to me again and told me it was his Majesty's Pleasure that I should receive Instructions from some Bishops of Scotland concerning a Liturgy for that Church and that he was imployed from my Lord the Arch-Bishop of St. Andrews and other Prelates there about it I told him I was clear of Opinion that if his Majesty would have a Liturgy setled there it were best to take the English Liturgy without any variation that so the same Service-Book might be established in all his Majesty's Dominions Which I did then and do still think would have been a great Happiness to this State and a great Honour and Safety to Religion To this he replyed that he was of a contrary Opinion and that not he only but the Bishops of that Kingdom thought their Country-men would be much better satisfied it a Liturgy were framed by their own Clergy than to have the English Liturgy put upon them yet he added that it might be according to the Form of our English Service-Book I answered to this that if this were the Resolution of my Brethren the Bishops of Scotland I would not entertain so much as Thoughts about it till I might by God's Blessing have Health and Opportunity to wait upon his Majesty and receive his farther directions from himself When I was able to go abroad I came to his Majesty and represented all that had passed His Majesty avowed the sending of Dr. Maxwell to me and the Message sent by him But then he inclined to my Opinion to have the English Service without any alteration to be established there And in this Condition I held that Business for two if not three Years at least Afterwards the Scottish Bishops still pressing his Majesty that a Liturgy Framed by themselves and in some few things different from ours would relish better with their Countrymen They at last prevailed with his Majesty to have it so and carried it against me notwithstanding all I could say or do to the contrary Then his Majesty Commanded me to give the Bishops of Scotland my best Assistance in this Way and Work I delayed as much as I could with my Obedience and when nothing would serve but it must go on I confess I was then very serious and gave them the best help I could But wheresoever I had any doubt I did not only acquaint his Majesty with it but Writ down most of the Amendments or Alterations in his Majesty's Presence And I do verily believe there is no one thing in that Book which may not stand with the Conscience of a right Good Protestant Sure I am his Majesty approved them all and I have his Warrant under his Royal Hand for all that I did about that Book And to the end the Book may be extant and come to the view of the Christian World and their Judgment of it be known I have caused it to be exactly Translated into Latin and if right be done it shall be Printed with this History This was that which I did concerning the Matter and Substance of this Service-Book As for the way of Introducing it I ever advised the Bishops both in his Majesty's Presence and at other times both by Word and by Writing that they would look carefully to it and be sure to do nothing about it but what should be agreeable to the Laws of that Kingdom And that they should at all times be sure to take the Advice of the Lords of his Majesty's Council in that Kingdom and govern themselves and their Proceedings accordingly Which Course if they have not followed that can no way reflect upon me who have both in this and all things else been as careful of their Laws as any Man who is a Stranger to them could be And in a Letter of mine after my last coming out of Scotland thus I wrote to the late Reverend Arch-Bishop of S. Andrews Septemb. 30. 1633. concerning the Liturgy That whether that of England or another were resolved on yet ãâã should proceed Circumspectly Because his Majesty had no intendment to do any thing but that which was according to Honour and Justice and the Laws of that Kingdom And a Copy of this Letter I have yet by me to shew And for the truth of this Narration I know His Majesty and my Lord of Ross himself will avow it And here I take leave to acquaint the Reader That this was no new Conceit of His Majesty to have a Liturgy framed and Canons made for the Church of Scotland For he followed his Royal Father King James his Example and Care therein who took Order for both at the Assembly of Perth An. 1618. And now to return again to the Article There is one Charge more in it and that 's concerning the Pacification made the ãâã Year The Article says I did Censure it as Dishonourable and Advise for a new War But I did neither That which I spake was openly at the Council-Table and in His Majesty's presence And it was this There arose a debate at the Table about these Affairs and the Pacification and I
into the Hands of the Parliament His Words are concerning the Government and Liturgy of the Church his Majesty is willing to declare that he will refer that whole Consideration to the Wisdom of his Parliament which he desires them to enter into speedily that the present Distractions about the same may be composed But desires not to be pressed to any single Act on his part till the whole be so digested and setled by both Houses that his Majesty may clearly see what is fit to be left as well as what is fit to be taken away So here they are made Masters of all and in a time of great exasperation against the Clergy and the Bishops and their Votes being newly thrust out of the House So God bless the poor Church of England for I very much fear this can bode no good The same Day being Munday there came an Order from the Lords that the Twelve Bishops which were Committed Decemb. 30. might put in Bayl if they would and that they should have their Hearing upon Friday Febr. 25. They were glad Men procured their Bayl and went out of the Tower on Wednesday Febr. 16. This Order of the Lords was known to the House of Commons well enough yet they would take no Notice of it nor offer to stay the Bishops But on Wednesday after they were sure the Bishops were come forth and gone to their several Lodgings they sent a Message to the Lords that they desired the Bishops might be presently remanded to safe Custody or else they might and would Protest against their Lordships for Breach of the Priviledges of their House Because being Impeached by them the Lords had Bayled them without acquainting them first with it in a Parliamentary way This Message was very high and so delivered by Mr. Denzil Hollis The Lords yielded And the poor Bishops were brought back again to the Tower the next Morning Febr. 17. But with an Order that they should not pay new Fees and with a Promise that their Cause should be heard on Saturday Febr. 19. I will not so much as dispute any Priviledge of the House of Commons and I presume the Lords were not willing to break any This I am sure of that as this Business was carried though the Bishops had a great Indignity and Scorn put upon them yet that which was put upon the Lords was far greater and might certainly have been carried in a smoother way on all Hands On Saturday Febr. 19. according to appointment the Twelve Bishops were all at the House and at the Bar Mr. Glin pressed the Charge of High Treason against them in the Name of the House of Commons The Bishops said not much but their Counsel were very earnest that they might be presently Heard But they were not admitted to speak And so the Business was put off to Thursday Febr. 24. That Night when the Commons were returned into their own House there was a Motion made to proceed against the Bishops by Bill and not in the other Ordinary Way CAP. XIII ON Sunday Feb. 20. there came a tall Gentleman by the Name of Mr. Hunt to my Lodging in the Tower to speak with me I was then in my Bed-Chamber speaking with Mr. Edward Hide one of the House of Commons I went forth to speak with this Mr. Hunt When I came he professed that though he was unknown to me yet he came to do me service in a great Particular And Prefaced it farther that he was not set on to come to me by any States-Man or by any of the Parliament nor did expect any Reward but only was desirous to serve me I wondred what the matter should be Then he drew a Paper out of his Pocket and gave it me to read It contained four Articles fairly Written and drawn up against me to the Parliament All of them were touching my near Conversation with Priests and my endeavour by them to subvert Religion in England He told me when I had read them that the Articles were not yet put into the House They were subscribed by one Willoughby who he said was a Priest but now turned and come away from them I asked him what Service it was that by this he could do to me He said he left me to think on that but professed he looked for no advantage to himself I conceived hereupon this was some piece of Villany and bad him tell Willoughby from me that he was a Villain to subscribe such a Paper and for the Articles let him put them into the Parliament when he pleased Mr. Hunt desired me to take nothing ill from him for he meant me Service I reply'd that he came to me Civilly and used me in Speech like a Gentleman But Willoughby was in this as I had called him I left him and his Paper and returned to Mr. Hide into my Bed-Chamber There I told him and my Servant Mr. Richard Cobb all that passed And they were glad I gave him so short and so harsh an Answer and did think as I my self did that it was a Plot to intrap me After they were gone I sat thinking with my self and was very Sorry that my Indignation at this base Villany had made me so hasty to send Hunt away and that I did not desire Mr. Lieutenant of the Tower to seize on him till he brought forth this Willoughby I am since informed that this Hunt is a Gentleman that hath spent all or most of his Means and I verily believe this was a Plot between him and Willoughby to draw Money from me to conceal the Articles in which way had I complyed with him I had utterly undone my self But I thank God for his Mercy to me I am Innocent and defy in this Kind what any Man can truly say against me On Friday Mar. 4. the two Bishops which were at Mr. Maxwell's namely Thomas Moreton Bishop of Duresme and Robert Wright Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield having formerly Petitioned were present in the House of Commons to speak for themselves and they did so At the same time the Petition of the other ten Bishops which were in the Tower which was sent into that House upon the Example of the other two was read After this a Committee was named to draw up a Bill But what it shall contain is not yet known So herein they departed not from their former Resolution On Sunday Mar. 6. after I came from Sermon I walked in a large Room of which I had the use before I went to Dinner And after I had walked a pretty while expecting some Company upon the sudden as I walked on I heard a great Crack as loud as the Report of a small Dag to my thinking And the Noise being near me I had a conceit that one of the Boards brake under me but it was a Tendon of my right Leg which brake asunder God knows how For I was upon plain Boards and had no uneven step
nor slip not so much as a turning of my Foot aside upon any Chink This Tendon or part of the main Sinew above my Heel brake just in the same Place where I had unhappily broken it before Febr 5 1627. as I was waiting upon King Charles to Hampton-Court But I recovered of it and could go strongly upon plain Ground God be merciful unto me now that he is pleased to humble me yet farther and to take from me the use of my Limbs the only Comfort under him in the midst of my Afflictions And this Lameness continued two whole Months before I was able to go down Stairs to take any Air to refresh my self and long after before I received any competent Measure of Strength CAP. XIV ST Leonards Foster-Lane London is in the Gift of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Mr William Ward the Incumbent had resigned and besides was Censured by a Committee in Parliament for Innovations and I know not what One Mr George Smith was tender'd it seems to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster How things were carried there I know not but they let their Living fall in Lapse to the Lord Bishop of London His six Months likewise were suffered to slide over and the Benesice was lapsed to me as Arch-Bishop of Canterbury about March the ãâã In all this time Mr Ward had not the Providence to seek to the King for remedy or to the Original Patrons whose Presentation at any time before the Bishop had filled the Church was as I am inform'd good in Law This Benefice being now in my dispose the Precise part of the Parish Petition the Parliament for the aforesaid Mr. George Smith and by the means of my Lord Kimbolton a great Patron of such Men obtain this Order following Die Jovis 17 Martij 1641. UPon the reading of the Petition of the Parishioners of St. Leonards Foster-Lane London it is Ordered by the Lords in Parliament that Mr George Smith elected and approved by the Dean of Westminster and the Parishioners of ãâã Leonards Foster-Lane be especially recommended to the Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury his Grace from this House that the said Mr Smith may be forthwith Presented to the Parish-Church of the said St Lawrence John Brown Clericus Parliament This Order was brought me by the Church-Wardens and some of the Parish on Saturday March 19. I was sorry for the honest Incumbent's sake Mr Ward and troubled in my self to have such an Order sent me Especially considering that the Lords former Order though as I was informed against all Law yet was so moderate as to suffer me to Nominate to Benefices so that the Men were without Exception I put them off till Monday In the mean time I advised with my Learned Councel and other Friends All of them agreed in this That it was a great and a violent Injustice put upon me yet in regard of the Time and my Condition they perswaded me to give way to their Power and Present their Clerk On Munday Mar. 21. they repaired to me again I sent them to my Register to draw a Presentation according to the Order of Parliament and advised them while that was in drawing to send Mr. Smith to me One of them told me very boldly that it was not in the Order of Parliament that Mr. Smith should come to me and another told me that Mr. Smith would not come to me Upon this unworthy Usage of me I dismissed them again having first in Obedience to the Order Sealed and set my Hand to the Presentation ready for delivery when Mr. Smith came for it The next Morning these men repair again to the Lords House and on Wednesday Mar. 23. procure another Order strictly commanding me forthwith to deliver the Presentation to the Parishioners This Order being setled the Earl of Holland made a Motion and put the Lords in Mind that I lay under a heavy Charge and had long lain so That it would be Honourable for the Parliament to bring my Cause to Hearing that so I might receive Punishment if I were found to deserve it or otherwise have some end of my Troubles There was a great dispute among my Friends Quo Animo with what Mind this Lord moved it especially then when almost all my Friends in both Houses were absent Howsoever I took it for the best desiring nothing more than an end and therefore sent a Gentleman the next Day to give his Lordship Thanks for his Nobleness in remembring me And if he did it with an Ill Mind God forgive him and preserve me But whatsoever his Lordship's Intent was his Motion after some Debate begat a Message to the House of Commons to ripen my Business but it dyed again and nothing done The Order last above written concerning Mr. Smith the Parishioners brought to me the same Day in the Afternoon It happened that the Lord Primate of Armagh was then with me I shewed him the Order and he blessed himself to see it yet advised me to obey as my other Friends had done I farther desired him to stay and hear my Answer to them which was this That I knew not what Report they had made of me and my Obedience to the Lords and that therefore I would give their Lordships in Writeing an Account of my Proceedings but would deliver the Presentation to Mr. Smith when he came The Lord Primate cryed shame of them to their Faces So they went away On Thursday March 24. in an humble Petition I informed the Lords how ready I was to obey Only desired that Mr. Smith might come to me that I might see his Orders and examine his Sufficiency to both which I stood bound both in Conscience and by Law Upon reading of this Petition some Lords said Mr. Smith was an unmannerly Fellow not to come to me But the Lord Kimbolton told them he was a very worthy Man and that he might go to me afterward but it was fit their Order should be obeyed And the Earl of Warwick added that I desired Mr. Smith might come to me only that I might pick a Quarrel with him to frustrate the Order of the House Upon this there followed Instantly a Peremptory Order commanding me to present Obedience So Mr. Smith was left to come to me afterwards if he pleased and he came not at all which was as good as if he had come to have his Sufficiency examined for that which he had already in possession But how worthy and fit he proved I refer to all honest Men that heard him afterwards Upon this Order according to the former Advice of my Friends I delivered the Presentation to the Churchwardens and Parishioners and if any thing proved amiss in the Man as after did in a high Measure or hurtful in the thing it self I humbly besought God to have Mercy on me and to call for an Account of them who laid this pressure upon me CAP. XV. BEfore this time the Rectory of
Two Hundred And the Arms I bought of my Predecessor's Executors only some I was forced to mend the Fashion of Arms being changed He left to defend that large House but six Swords six Carbines three Halberds and two half Pikes Though the Order formerly made by the Lords required necessary defence for the House should be left But it seems Captain Royden's Order now given was stricter for he was towards me and my House very Civil in all things This day Sept. 1. 1642. the Bishops were Voted down in the House of Commons And that Night there was great Ringing and Bonfires in the City which I conceive was cunningly ordered to be done by Alderman Pennington the new Lord Mayor chosen in the room of Sir Richard Gurney who was then in the Tower and put out of his Office by the Parliament And my Mind gives me that if Bishops do go down the City will not have cause to joy in it About this time the Cathedral Church of Canterbury was grosly Prophaned yet far worse afterward All-Hallows Bredstreet was now fallen void and in my Gift and September 9. there came an Order from the House of Peers for me to give it But having Six Months Respite by Law I delayed it for that time which created me much trouble from the Parishioners who often sollicited me About the Tenth of this Month the Bishops were Voted down in the Vpper House So it seems I must live to see my Calling fall before me Upon Saturday Octob. 15. it was Resolved upon the Question That all Rents and Profits of all Arch-Bishops Bishops Deans and Chapters and other Delinquents should be Sequestred for the Use and Service of the Common-Wealth According to which Ordinance all the Profits of my Arch-Bishoprick were taken away from me and not one Penny allowed me for Maintenance Nay whereas this Order was not made till a full Fortnight after Michaelmas yet so hard a hand was carried over me as that my Rents due at Michaelmas were seized on to the use of the Parliament By which means my Estate was as good as Sequestred almost from our Lady-day before more than two parts of three of the Rents being payable only at Michaelmas An Order came from the House Octob. 24. that no Prisoner should keep above two Servants nor speak with any Man but in the presence and hearing of his Warder My Case for the former Branch of this Order differ'd from all other Prisoners For they lay in several Warders Houses in which they might be fitted by the Servants of the House for Ordering their Dyet but I was in a Prison-lodging void of all Comfort and Company And therefore upon Octob. 27. which was the very next day after the Order was shewed to me I humbly besought the Lords for a Cook and Butler beside the Two which were to attend me in my Prison by Reason of my Age and Infirmities which though with difficulty yet I humbly thank their Lordships was granted me Octob. 28. On Wednesday Novemb. 2. I Dreamed that Night that the Church was undone and that I went to St Johns in Oxford where I found the Roof off from some part of the College and the Walls ready to fall down God be merciful Upon Wednesday Novemb. 9. about Five of the Clock in the Morning Captain Brown and his Company entred my House at Lambeth to keep it for Publick Service Hereupon I Petitioned the Lords the same day for the safety of the Library of my own Study and of such Goods as were in my House All which was very Honourably granted unto me by a full Order of the Lords that very day with a strict Charge that they which were there employed in the Publick Service should take special care that all the fore-named things should be preserved in safety Either this day or the day before Mr Holland and Mr Ashurst two of the House of Commons came accompanied with some Musketeers and entred my House and searched for Mony and took away Seventy and Eight Pound from my Receiver Mr Walter Dobson and said it was for the Maintenance of the Kings Children God of his Mercy look favourably upon the King and bless his Children from needing any such poor Maintenance Novemb. 16. Wednesday an Order forbidding the Prisoners Men to speak one with another but in the presence of the Warder and to bar them the liberty of the Tower Only this Order was so far inlarged Novemb. 22. that any of them might go out of the Tower to buy Provision or other Necessaries On the 24th of this Month the Souldiers at Lambeth-House brake open the Chappel-doors and offer'd violence to the Organ but before much hurt was done the Captain heard of it and stayed them Upon the Death of Sir Charles Caesar the Mastership of the Faculties fell into my gift but I could not dispose of it by Reason of the Order of Parliament of Octob. 23. 1641. but with their Approbation Therefore I Petitioned the Lords that I might give it to ãâã Aylet or Dr Heath both then Attendants in that Honourable House well knowing it would be in vain to Name any other And the Lords sent me an Order to give it to ãâã Aylet and I did it accordingly The Vicaridge of Horsham in Sussex was in my gift and fell void At the intreaty of Sir John Conniers then Lieutenant of the Tower I Petitioned the House that I might give it to Mr. Conniers the Lecturer at Bow But before my Petition came to be delivered the House had made an Order against him upon complaint from Horsham of his disordered Life so busie were that Party of Men to complain of all Men who were not theirs in Faction and such ready admittance had both they and their Complaints in both Houses For my part the Man was a Stranger to me and inquiring after him as well as a poor Prisoner could I heard no ill of him for his Life Nevertheless hearing how the Lords were possessed against him I forbare the sending of that Petition and sent another for my own Chaplain ãâã William Brackstone But he was refused yet no exception taken against him for Life or Learning nor indeed could any be Upon the ãâã of the same Month ãâã Layton came with a Warrant from the Honourable House of Commons for the Keys of my House at Lambeth to be delivered to him that Prisoners might be brought thither I referred my self to God that nothing might trouble me But then I saw it evident that all that could should be done to break my patience Had it not been so some body else might have been sent to Lambeth and not Layton who had been Censured in the Star-Chamber to lose his Ears for a base and a most virulent Libel against Bishops and the Church-Government Established by Law In which Book of his were many things which in some Times might have cost him dearer
of the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury be hereby Sequestred by and unto the Parliament And William Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Suspended ab Officio Beneficio omni omnimodâ Jurisdictione Archiepiscopali until he be either Convicted or Acquitted of High Treason for which he stands now Accused and whatsoever Livings Dignities or Ecclesiastical Promotions in the said Arch-Bishop's Gift or Collation are or hereafter shall be void shall henceforth be Instituted and Inducted unto by the Arch-Bishop's Vicar General or any other having Authority in this behalf upon the Nomination and Recommendation of both Houses of Parliament during the time of the Suspension and Seque stration aforesaid And upon this Ordinance it is Ordered and be it so Ordained by the Lords and Commons in Parliament that the said Ed. Corbet be and is hereby Nominated and Recommended forthwith upon sight hereof to be Admitted Instituted and Inducted by the Vicar General aforesaid or any other having Authority in this behalf into the said Rectory of Chartham Ratione suspensionis Domini Gulielmi Archiepiscopi Cantuariensis Temporalium Archiepiscopatûs in Manibus Supremae Curiae Parliamenti jam existentium the same belonging unto their Gift And it is hereby farther Ordained by the Lords and Commons in Parliament that during the Suspension and Sequestration aforesaid the Jurisdiction of the said Arch-Bishop shall be Executed and Exercised by his Vicar General and other his inferiour Judges and Officers as formerly the same hath been This Ordinance was laid as a great Punishment upon me But I humbly thank both Houses for it as for the greatest Benefit they have bestowed on me since my Troubles especially since the Sequestration of my Jurisdiction Novemb. 2. 1641. For it appears before in this History how ever since that time I have been troubled for every Benefice which hath fallen in my Gift disinabled to prefer any Friend or Chaplain of my own were he never so worthy And which is worse by much forced to admit such Men how unworthy so-ever as were by them Nominated to me or else fall under a Contempt of their Ordinances and such Arbitrary Punishment as they shall thereupon load me with Whereas now I am freed both from the Trouble and the Sin of admitting unworthy Persons into the Church-Service and leave them to the Business and the Account for it On Sunday Junij 11. One came and Preached at the Tower his Name I could not learn In his Sermon after he had liberally railed on me he told the Auditory that Mr. Pryn had found a Book in my Pocket which would discover great things This to inflame the People against me Et si non satis insanirent suâ sponte instigare This is Zealous Preaching God forgive their Malice An Ordinance passed on Munday Junij 12. that the Synod of Divines formerly Named by both Houses not chosen by the Clergy should begin to sit on the first of July following And they did begin to sit that day Dr. Twiss in the Chair and he made the Latin Sermon The Names of these Synodical Men are to be seen in the Ordinance Printed Junij 12. Where any Man that will may see a great if not the greater part of them Brownists or Independents or New-England-Ministers if not worse or at the best refractory Persons to the Doctrine or Discipline or both of the Church of England Established by Law and now brought together to Reform it An excellent Conclave But I pray God that befal not them which Tully observes fell upon Epicurus Si quae corrigere voluit deteriora fecit He made every thing worse that he went about to mend I shall for my part never deny but that the Liturgy of the Church of England may be made better but I am sure withal it may easily be made worse And howsoever it would become this Synod well to remember that there is a Convocation of the English Prelates and Clergy lawfully Chosen and Summoned and by no Supream or Legal Authority as yet dissolved And can there be two National Synods at one time but that one must be irregular Belike we shall fall to it in the Donatists way They set up Altare contra Altare in Africk and these will set up Synodum contra Synodum in England And this without God's Infinite Mercy will bring forth a Schism fierce enough to rent and tear Religion out of this Kingdom Which God for the Merits and Mercies of Christ forbid A Committee of the House of Commons sent Mr. Dobson my Controwler to me to the Tower to require me to send them word under my Hand what Originals I had of the Articles of Religion Established 1562 1571. This was on Wednesday July 12. And I returned by him the same day this Answer in Writing with my Name to it The Original Articles of 1571. I could never find in my Paper-Study at Lambeth or any where else And whether any Copy of them were ever left there I cannot tell The Original Articles of 1562. with many Hands to them I did see and peruse there But whether the Bishops Hands were to them or not I cannot remember This Answer satisfied them but what their Aim was I cannot tell unless they meant to make a search about the two first Lines in the twentieth Article concerning the Power of the Church in these words The Church hath Power to decree Rites or Ceremonies and Authority in Controversies of Faith Which words are left out in divers printed Copies of the Articles and are not in the one and twentieth Article of Edw. 6. nor in the Latin Copy of the Articles 1571. But in the Original Articles of 1562. the words are plain and manifest without any Interlining at all If this were their Aim 't is probable we shall see somewhat by what their Synod shall do concerning that Article On Tuesday August 3. my Servant Mr. Edw. Lenthrop came to me and told me that the day before he met with Sir K. Digbye who had the leave to go out of Prison by the Suit of the French Queen and to Travel into France But before he took his Journey he was to come before a Committee and there he said he had been It seems it was some Committee about my Business for he told Mr. Lenthrop and wished him to tell it me that the Committee took special notice of his Acquaintance with me and Examined him strictly concerning me and my Religion whether he did not know that I was offer'd to be made a Cardinal and many other such like things That he Answer'd them That he knew nothing of any Cardinal-ship offer'd me And for my Religion he had Reason to think I was truly and really as I professed my self for I had laboured with him against his return to the Church of Rome Which is true and I have some of my Papers yet to shew But he farther sent me word that their Malice was great against me though he
hated it perhaps it might have been better with me for worldly safety than now it is But it can no way become a Christian Bishop to halt with God Lastly If I had any purpose to blast the True Religion Established in the Church of England and to introduce Popery sure I took a very wrong way to it For my Lords I have stayed as many that were going to Rome and reduced as many that were already gone as I believe any Bishop or other Minister in this Kingdom hath done and some of them Men of great Abilities and some of them Persons of great Place And is this the way my Lords to introduce Popery I beseech your Lordships consider it well For surely if I had blemished the True Protestant Religion I could not have setled such Men in it And if I had purposed to introduce Popery I would never have reduced such Men from it And though it please the Author of the Popish Royal Favourite to say That scarce one of the swaying Lord Prelats is able to say that ever he Converted one Papist to our Religion yet how void of Charity this Speech of his is and how full of Falshood shall appear by the number of those Persons whom by Gods Blessing upon my Labours I have setled in the True Protestant Religion Established in England And with your Lordships leave I shall Name them that you may see both their Number and their Condition though I cannot set them down in that order of time in which I either Converted or Setled them 1. And first Hen Birk-head of Trinity Coll. in Oxford was seduced by a Jesuit and brought up to London to be conveyed beyond the Seas His Friends complained to me I had the happiness to find him out and the blessing from God to settle his Conscience So he returned to Oxford and there continued 2. 3. Two Daughters of Sir Rich Lechford in Surrey were sent to Sea to be carried to a Nunnery I heard of it and caused them to be brought back before they were got out of the Thames I setled their Consciences and both of them sent me great thanks since I was a Prisoner in the Tower 4. 5. Two Scholars of St John's Coll. in Cambridge Topping and Ashton had slipped away from the College and here at London had got the French Embassadour's Pass I have the Pass to shew I found means to get them to me and I thank God setled both their Minds sent them back to their College Afterwards hearing of Topping's Wants I allowed him Means till I procured him a Fellowship And he is at this time a very hopeful Young Man as most of his time in that University a Minister and Chaplain in House at this Present to the Right Honourable the Earl of Westmerland 6. 7. 8. Sir William Web my Kinsman and two of his Daughters and the better to secure them in Religion I was at the Charge their Father being utterly decayed to Marry them to two Religious Protestants and they both continued very constant And his Eldest Son I took from him placed him with a careful Divine maintained him divers Years and then setled him with a Gentleman of Good Worth 10. 11. The next in my remembrance was the Lord Maio of Ireland who with another Gentleman whose name I cannot recal was brought to me to Fulham by Mr. Jefford a Servant of his Majesty's and well known to divers of your Lordships 12. The Right Honourable the Lord Duke of Buckingham was almost lost from the Church of England between the continual cunning Labours of Fisher the Jesuit and the Perswasions of the Lady his Mother After some Miscarriages King James of ever Blessed Memory Commanded me to that Service I had God's Blessing upon me so far as to settle my Lord Duke to his Death And I brought the Lady his Mother to the Church again but she was not so happy as to continue with us 14. The Lady Marchioness Hamilton was much solicited by some Priests and much troubled in Mind about it My Lord spake with me of it and though at that present I was so overlaid with Business that I could not as I much desired wait upon that Honourable Person my self yet I told my Lord I would send one to his Lordship that should diligently attend that Service and that I would give him the best direction I could And this I did and God be thanked she dyed very quietly and very Religiously and a good Protestant And my Lord Marquess told me he had acknowledged this Service of mine to an Honourable Lord whom I now see present 15. Mr. Chillingworth's Learning and Abilities are sufficiently known to all your Lordships He was gone and setled at Dowaye My Letters brought him back and he Lived and Dyed a Defender of the Church of England And that this is so your Lordships cannot but know For Mr. Pryn took away my Letters and all the Papers which concerned him and they were Examined at the Committee 16. 17. Mr. Digby was a Priest and Mr. James Gentleman a School-master in a Recusant's House This latter was brought to me by a Minister as far as I remember in Buckinghamshire I converted both of them and they remain setled 18. Dr. Hart a Civilian Son to a Neighbour of mine at Fulham He was so far gone that he had written part of his Motives which wrought as he said that Change in him I got sight of them shewed him wherein he was deceived had God's Blessing to settle his Conscience and then caused an able Divine to Answer his Motives and give him the Copy 19. There were beside these Mr. Christopher Seburne a Gentleman of an Ancient Family in Hereford-shire and Sir William Spencer of Yarnton in Oxfordshire The Sons and Heirs of Mr. Wintchome and Mr. Williscot whom I sent with their Friends good liking to Wadham-College in Oxford and I received a Certificate Anno 1638. of their continuing in conformity to the Church of England Nor did ever any of these relapse again to Rome but only the Old Countess of Buckingham and Sir William Spencer that ever I heard of And if any of your Lordships doubt of the Truth of any of these Particulars I am able and ready to bring full proof of them all And by this time I hope it appears that one of the swaying Prelats of the time is able to say he hath Converted one Papist to the Protestant Religion And let any Clergy Man of England come forth and give a better account of his Zeal to this present Church And now my Lords with my most humble Thanks for your Lordships favour and patience in hearing me I shall cease to be farther troublesom for the present not doubting but I shall be able to Answer whatever shall be particularly objected against me After I had ended this Speech I was commanded to withdraw As I went from
appears by a Sermon of mine appointed to be Preached at the opening of the Parliament in the Year 1625. My Words are these If you would have indeed a flourishing both State and Church The King must trust and indear his People and the People must Honour Obey and Support their King c. This I hope is far enough from derogating from any Law And if I should privately have spoken any thing to him contrary to this which I had both Preached and Printed how could his Majesty have trusted me in any thing CAP. XXIV THis brought this tedious Day to an End And I had an Order the same Day to appear again on Saturday March 16. 1643. with a Note also from the Committee which were to Charge me that they meant then to proceed upon part of the Second Additional Article and upon the Third Original and the Third and Fifth Additional Articles The Second Additional Article is written down before And here follow the rest now mentioned to be next proceeded upon 3. The third Original is He hath by Letters Messages Threats Promises and divers other ways to Judges and other Ministers of Justice Interrupted and Perverted and at other Times by the means aforesaid hath endeavoured to Interrput and Pervert the Course of Justice in his Majesty's Courts at Westminster and other Courts to the Subversion of the Laws of this Kingdom whereby sundry of his Majesty's Subjects have been stopped in their just Suits and deprived of their Lawful Rights and subjected to his Tyrannical Will to their utter Ruine and Destruction The Third and Fifth Additionals follow 3. That the said Arch-Bishop to advance the Canons of the Church and Power Ecclesiastical above the Law of the Land and to Pervert and hinder the Course of Justice hath at divers Times within the said Time by his Letters and other undue Means and Solicitations used to Judges opposed and ãâã the granting of his Majesty's Writs of Prohibition where the same ought to have been Granted for Stay of Proceedings in the Ecclesiastical Court whereby Justice hath been delayed and hindered and the Judges diverted from doing their Duties 5. That the said Arch-Bishop about Eight Years last past being then also a Privy-Counsellor to his Majesty for the End and Purpose aforesaid caused Sir John Corbet of Stoak in the County of Salop Baronet then a Justice of Peace of the said County to be Committed to the Prison of the Fleet where he continued Prisoner for the space of half a Year or more for no other Cause but for calling for the Petition of Right and causing it to be Read at the Sessions of the Peace for that County upon a just and necessary Occasion And during the Time of his said Imprisonment the said Arch-Bishop without any Colour of Right by a Writing under the Seal of his Arch-Bishoprick granted away Parcel of the Glebe-Land of the Church of Adderly in the said County whereof the said Sir Jo. Corbet was then Patron unto Robert Viscount Kilmurry without the consent of the said Sir John or the then Incumbent of the said Church which said Viscount Kilmurry Built a Chappel upon the said Parcel of Glebe-Land to the great prejudice of the said Sir John Corbet which hath caused great Suits and Dissentions between them And whereas the said Sir John Corbet had a Judgment against Sir James Stonehouse Knight in an Action of Waste in his Majesty's Court of Common Pleas at Westminster which was afterward affirmed in a Writ of Error in the King's Bench and Execution thereupon Awarded yet the said Sir John by means of the said Arch-Bishop could not have the Effect thereof but was committed to Prison by the said Arch-Bishop and others at the Council Table until he had submitted himself unto the Order of the said Table whereby he lost the benefit of the said Judgment and Execution The Third Day of my Hearing In the Interim between the 13th and this 16th of March upon some strict Charge to look to the Tower my Solicitor was not suffer'd to come in to me Whereupon so soon as I was setled at the Bar before the Evidence began to be open'd I spake to the Lords as follows My Lords I stand not here to complain of any thing or any Man but only am inforced to acquaint your Lordships with my sad Condition Your Lordships have appointed my Secretary to be my Solicitor and given him leave to assist me in the turning of my Papers and to warn in such Witnesses and to fetch me the Copies of such Records as I shall have occasion to use And I humbly desire your Lordships to consider that my self being Imprisoned and so utterly disinabled to do these things my self it will be absolutely impossible for me to make any Defence if my Solicitor be denyed to come to me as now he is This was granted and the Hearing adjourned till Munday following and I humbly thanked their Lordships for it CAP. XXV The Fourth Day of my Hearing THE fourth Day of my Hearing was Munday March 18. and was only my Answer to the third Day 's Charge and the only time in which I was not put to answer the same Day The first Charge of this Day was about St. Pauls And first out of my Diary where I confess it one of my Projects to repair that Ancient Fabrick And three strict Orders of the Lords of the Council for the demolishing of the Houses Built about that Church One was Novemb. 21. 1634. The demolishing of the Houses commanded by this before Jan. 6. for one and for the rest by Midsummer Another was Mar. 26. 1631. a Committee appointed with Power to compound with the Tenants and with Order to pull down if they would not Compound The third was Mar. 2. 1631. which gives Power to the Sheriffs to pull down if Obedience be not yielded To this I confess I did when I came first to be Bishop of London Project the Repair of that Ancient and famous Cathedral of St. Paul ready to sink into its own Ruins And to this I held my self bound in general as Bishop of the Place and in particular for the Body of the Church the Repair of which is by the Local Statutes laid upon the Bishop And the Bishop was well able to do it while he enjoyed those Lands which he had when that Burthen was laid upon him But what Sacrilegious Hands despoiled that Bishoprick of them 't is to no purpose to tell And truly my Lords since I am in this present Condition I humbly and heartily thank God that St. Pauls comes into my Sufferings and that God is pleased to think me worthy to suffer either for it or with it any way Though I confess I little thought to meet that here or as a Charge any where else And so God be pleased as I hope in Christ he will to Pardon my other Sins I hope I shall be able Humane Frailties always set aside
he is a Juror And according to this I gave Mr. Browne my Answer And howsoever the Attachment goes of Course out from the Commission and not from me The second Charge of this Day was about the Censure which fell on the Inhabitants of Beckington in Sommersetshire about their refusing to remove the Communion-Table according to the Order of their Diocesan About which were produced three Witnesses to whose Evidence I shall Answer in order 1. The first was William Longe who says he was Foreman of the Jury when these Men were Indicted for a Riot and that as he conceives the Parson spake with the Judge about it which caused a sudden Verdict The Parson of the Place spake with the Judge and he conceives that produced a sudden Verdict First he doth but conceive so and that can make no Proof If it did make Proof 't is only against the Parson not against me And if the Parson speaking of it did say as Mr. Longe affirms he did That this Riot was like a Waldensian or Swisserland Commotion He must answer for his own Distempered Language me it cannot concern 2. The second Witness was George Longe He says The Bishop of Bath Commanded the Communion-Table to be removed and set at the upper end of the Chancel that the Church-Wardens refusing were Excommunicated But he says withal that they Appealed to the Arches and had remedy Then he adds farther that the Bishop proceeded again but the Church-Wardens would not remove it saying it was an Innovation and against Law But my Lords 't is neither And therefore these Church-Wardens were in a great Contempt against their Bishop to the ill Example of all that Country And that it is no Innovation against Law appears by the Injunctions of Queen Elizabeth where it is Commanded Expresly to be set there The Words are The Holy Table in every Church not Cathedrals only shall be decently made and set in the place where the Altar stood Now all Men know that with us in England the Altar stood North and South at the upper end of the Chancel And to set it East and West had been cross the place where the Altar stood and not in it And this being Law in the beginning of the Reformation cannot now be an Innovation When they came to me again as they say they did if I then told them they deserved to be laid by the Heels for the Contempt of their Bishop under Favour my Lords I spake Truth And give me leave I beseech you to tell you this It began to be a General Complaint not of the Bishop of Bath only but of other Bishops also that they could do little or no Service in their several Countries by reason of the Inhibitions which issued out of my Courts to stay their Proceedings And I wanted no good Friends in Court to tell the King as much when any thing was complained of By this I was brought into great straights Deny Appeals I might not Frequent granting in my Courts destroyed in a manner the Bishops Jurisdictions In this difficulty seeing the wilfulness of these Men and knowing they had received full benefit by their Appeal once already in the same Case I did refuse to hear any more of it unless there were new Matter but yet left them free to Appeal to the Delegats For Mr. Hughes the Parson there if he gave ill Words or laid violent Hands on any of his Neighbours it concerns not me Let him answer for what he hath said or done 'T is farther said That Mr. Hughes was with me at Windsor and had Letters from me to the Lord Chief Justice Finch But this Witness delivers not this upon his own knowledge I sent no Letter by him nor did he see me send by any other So this is meerly a Report and he doth not so much as tell from whom Yea but then he says that Mr. Morgan a Man inward with the Judge told him that the Judge told him that the little Man had put a spoke in their Cart and thereupon as he conceives the Petty-Jury was Changed Here are if your Lordships mark them two great Proofs The one is the Witnesses Report of Mr. Morgan's Report that the Judge had said so of me But why is not Mr. Morgan produced to clear this The other is not the Knowledge but the Conceit only of the Witness He conceives which I am Confident cannot sway with your Lordships for a Proof Besides were Mr. Morgan never so inward with that Judge yet it follows not that he must know all And if that Judge did mean me for Name me he did not he did me the more wrong For I never desired any thing of any Judge him or other but what was according to Law Nay I so expressed my self as that if by mistake or misinformation I had desired any thing which was not according to Law I humbly desired my Motion might be as if it had never been made 3. The third Witness is Mr. Jo. Ash. That which this Gentleman says is That Sir John Lambe told that the Man which came about that Business could have no Appeal admitted without me and that if he would be so troublesome he should be laid by the Heels I have given your Lordships an Account why he could not have an Appeal without me He had had the benefit of an Appeal before in the same Cause And for this Witness he delivers no knowledge of his own but only he says the Man imployed related it to him So 't is a Relation no Proof He says the Penance was injoyned them in three Churches And truly my Lords their Disobedience to their Bishop was great but if the Penance injoyned were too heavy it was the Act of their own Bishop not mine Then he says that the Lord Finch told him another powerful Hand was upon him intimating me First this is no knowledge of the Witness but a Speech of the Lord Finch Secondly if the Lord Finch did say so of a powerful Hand he wronged me much but himself more to confess he could be drawn awry in Judgment Thirdly this Witness says not that he named me but that he Intimated me I pray your Lordships Judgment what a forward Witness this Man is that can upon Oath deliver what is Intimated and of whom He says farther That upon Petition to Sir William Portman for some Assistance the Bishop of Bath laid all upon me and that when himself came to me at the Tower since my Restraint I told him the Bishop of Bath did like an Obedient Bishop to his Metropolitan For this my Lords here is no Proof that the Bishop laid this Business upon me but Sir William Portman's Report Sir William is a worthy Gentleman why is not he produced Why is not the Bishop that is said to lay all upon me brought into the Court that he may clear himself and me if he said it not or that I may make him ashamed if he said it For 't is
opened it so wide in the other when we moved to defend our selves and our Proceedings Where I humbly desire this Passage of the Law may be considered In the Case of depraving the Common-Prayer Book so much Scorned and Vilified at this Day and for not coming to Church The Words of the Law are For due Execution hereof the Queens most Excellent Majesty the Lords Temporal and all the Commons in this present Parliament Assembled do in God's Name earnestly require and Charge all the Arch-Bishops and Bishops and other Ordinaries that they shall endeavour to the uttermost of their Knowledge that the due and true Execution hereof may be had throughout their Diocesses and Charges as they will answer before God c. Now if I do not this here 's an apparent Breach of the Law And if I do it against this common and great Depraver of this Book then the Judge who by this Law should assist me Cries O the Bishop and this Answer I gave Mr. Browne when he Summ'd his Charge against me The Fifth Charge of this Day was Mr. John Ward 's Case in a Suit about Symony in the High Commission He says for he also is in his own Cause That upon a pretence of a Lapse by Symony I procured a Presentation from the King to the Church of Dinnington His Majesty trusted me with the Titles which did accrew to him in that kind and because Symony had been so rife Commanded me to be careful I might not betray this Trust and therefore the Symony being offer'd to be proved I procured his Majesties Presentation for Tryal of the Title And this I conceive was no Offence Though this be that which he calls the heaviness of my Hand upon him He farther says That I sent to the Bishop of Norwich to admit the King's Clerk the Church being void 7. Junij 1638. Nor do I yet see my Lords what Crime it is in me trusted especially as before to send to the Bishop to admit when the Church is void Many Lay Patrons do that upon Allegation of Symony before Proof And Mr. Bland produced as a Witness also says that the Lord Goring prevailed with the Lord Bishop of Norwich not to admit And I hope an Arch-Bishop and trusted therein by his Majesty may as lawfully write to the Ordinary for Admission of the King's Clerk as any Lay-Lord may write against it But Mr. Ward says nothing to this of the Lord Goring but adds That Sir John Rowse prevented this Admission by a Ne admittas Junij 12. And that thereupon I said it was to no purpose for us to sit there if after a long Tryal and Judgment given all might be stopped If I did say so I think it is a manifest Truth that I spake For it were far better not to have Symony tryed at all in Ecclesiastical Courts than after a long Tryal to have it called off into Westminster-Hall to the double Charge and trouble of the Subject But if the Law will have it otherwise we cannot help that Nor is this Expression of mine any Violation of the Law Then he says a Letter was directed from the Court of the High Commission to the Judges to revoke the Ne admittas and that I was forward to have the Letter sent How forward soever I was yet it is confessed the Letter was sent by the Court not by me And let the Letter be produced it shall therein appear that it was not to revoke the Ne Admittas but to desire the Judges to consider whether it were not fit to be revoked considering the Church was not void till Junij 14. And it hath been usual in that Court to Write or send some of their Body to the Temporal Judges where they conceive there hath been a Misinformation or a mistake in the Cause the Judges being still free to judge according to Law both for the one and the other And here he confesses the Writ of Ne admittas was revoked by three Judges and therefore I think Legally But here he hopes he hath found me in a Contradiction For when I writ to the Bishop of Norwich Junij 7. 1638. I there said the Church was void whereas this Letter to the Judges says it was not void till Junij 14. But here is no Contradiction at all For after the Tryal past and the Symony proved the Church is void to so much as the Bishop's giving of Institution and so I writ Junij 7. But till the Sentence was pronounced in open Court and Read the Church was not void as touching those Legalities which as I humbly conceive do not till then take place in Westminster-Hall And the Reading of the Sentence was not till Junij 14. However if I were mistaken in my own private Letter to the Bishop yet that was better thought on in the Letter from the High Commission to the Judges He says lastly That upon a Quare Impedit after taken forth it was found that the King had no Right Why my Lords if different Courts judge differently of Symony I hope that shall not be imputed to me In the Court where I sate I judged according to my Conscience and the Law and the Proof as it appeared to me And for Dr. Ryve's his Letter which he says was sent to the Cursitor to stop the Ne admittas Let Dr. Ryves answer it The Witness himself confesses that Dr. Ryves says the Command to the Cursitor was from the Lord Keeper not from me And here ends the Treason against Mr. Ward and till now I did not think any could have been committed against a Minister Then follow'd the Case of Ferdinando Adams his Excommunication and the Suits which followed it As it will appear in the Witnesses following which were four 1. The first was Mr Hen. Dade the Commissary then before whom the Cause began And he confesses He did Excommunicate Adams for not blotting out a Sentence of Scripture which the said Adams had caused to be written upon the Church-Wall as in many Churches Sentences of ãâã are written But he tells your Lordships too that this Sentence was My House shall be called the House of Prayer but ye have made it a Den of Thieves The Commissary's Court was kept as usually it is at or toward the West-end of the Church And just over the Court Adams had written this Sentence upon the Wall meerly to put a scorn and a scandal though I hope an unjust one upon that Court He was commanded to blot it out He would not because it was Scripture as if a Man might not Revile and Slander nay speak Treason too if he will be so wicked and all in Scripture-Phrase Witness that lewd Speech lately utter'd To your Tents O Israel c. Upon this he was Excommunicated and I cannot but think he well deserved it For the Suit which followed against Mr. Dade in the Star-Chamber the Motion that Mr. Attorney would leave him to the common Prosecutor
making of that which was done so long before is the Task lying now upon me to answer which with your Lordships honourable Favour I shall in all Humbleness Address my self unto Before these Words were well out of my Mouth Mr. Nicolas with much earnestness interposed That he hoped their Lordships would not indure that the Solemn Votes of both Houses should be called into Question by any Delinquent and was sure the House of Commons would not endure it Upon this the Lords presently gave their Resolution that I might not speak to any thing that was declared by Votes but was to answer only to the Fact whether I made the Canons or no. To this with leave humbly asked I replyed That if I might not answer to the Votes I must yield the Evidence which I could not do And that if I might answer I must dispute the Votes which their Lordships resolved I should not do That then I was in a Perplexity and must necessarily offend either way And therefore humbly besought them to consider not my Case only but their own too For I did conceive it would concern them in Honour as much as me in Safety That no Charge might be brought against me in that great Court to which I should not be suffered to make answer Or else that they in Honour would not judge me for that to which my Answer is not suffer'd to be given With this that all these Canons were made in open and full Convocation and are Acts of that Body and cannot be ascribed to me though President of that Synod but are the Joynt Acts of the whole Body So by me they were not made which is my Answer And according to this I framed my Answer to Mr. Brown's Summary of my Charge both hinting the Canons in general and concerning the Instance before given about the Bishop of Gloucester But though I was not allowed there to make any farther Answer in defence of these Canons Nor can hold it fit to insert here so long an Answer as these Votes require I humbly desire the Courteous Reader if he please to look upon the Answer which I have made to a Speech of Mr. Nathaniel Fynes in the House of Commons against these Canons In which Answer I humbly conceive I have satisfied whatsoever these Votes contain against them Howsoever I cannot but observe this in present The Words in the Sixth Original Article are as they are above Cited That the late Canons contain Matters contrary to the King's Prerogative the Laws c. But in the Ninth Additional all the rest of the Exceptions are in against them but these Words about the King's Prerogative are quite left out I would fain know if I could what is the Reason of this Omission in these added Articles Is it for Shame because there was a purpose to Charge me as Serjeant Wild did in his Speech the first Day that I laboured to advance the King's Prerogative above the Law To advance it and yet made contrary Canons against it which is the way to destroy it What pretty Nonsense is this Or is it because the framers of these Additionals whom I conceive were some Committee with the help of Mr. Pryn thought the time was come or coming in which the King should have no more Prerogative Or if there be a third Reason let them give it themselves This was all concerning the Canons Then followed the sixth Original Article about my assuming of Papal Power where Mr. Brown in Summing up of his Charge was pleased to say that no Pope claimed so much as I had done But he was herein much mistaken For never any Pope claimed so little For he that claimed least claimed it in his own right which was none whereas I claimed nothing but in the King 's right and by vertue of his Concession Between which there is a vast Latitude The first Proof upon this Article was read out of certain Letters sent unto me by the Vniversity of Oxford I being then their Chancellor Which great Titles were urged to prove my assuming of Papal Power because I did not check them in my Answers to those Letters 1 The first Title was Sanctitas tua which Mr. Nicolas said was the Pope's own Title But he is deceived For the Title was commonly given to other Bishops also clean through the Primitive Church both Greek and Latin He replied in great heat as his manner it seems is that 't is Blasphemy to give that Title Sanctitas in the Abstract to any but God And though by the Course of the Court I might not answer then to the Reply yet now I may And must tell Mr. Nicolas that 't is a great Presumption for him a Lawyer and no Studied Divine to Charge Blasphemy upon all the Fathers of the Primitive Church 'T is given to St. Augustine by Hilarius and Euodius and in the Abstract And which is the Charge laid to me St. Augustine never checks at or finds fault with the Title nor with them for writing it And St. Augustine himself gives that Title to Euodius answering his Letters which I was not to do to theirs And after that to Quintianus Neither is any thing more common than this Stile among the Fathers as all Learned Men know And 't is commonly given by St. Gregory the Great to divers Bishops Who being Pope himself would not certainly have given away his own Title had it been peculiar to him to any other Bishop Nor would any of the Fathers have given this Epithete to their Brethren had any savour of Blasphemy been about it But there is a two-fold Holiness the one Original Absolute and Essential and that is in God only and incommunicable to any Creature The other Derivative and Relative and that is found in the Creatures both Things and Persons Or else God should have no Saints no Holy Ones For no Man can be said to be Sanctus Holy but he who in some degree hath Sanctitatem Holiness residing in him And this I answered at the present But according to Mr. Nicolas his Divinity we shall learn in time to deny the Immortality of the Soul For Immortality in the Abstract is applied to God only 1 Tim. 6. Who only hath Immortality Therefore if it may not in an under and a qualified Sense by Participation be applied to the Creature the Soul of Man cannot be Immortal 2 The Second Title is Spiritu Sancto effusissimè plenus My Lords I had sent them many Hundred Manuscripts and in many Languages upon this in Allusion to the gift of Tongues and it was about Pentecost too that I sent them the Luxuriant Pen of the University Orator ran upon these Phrases which I could neither fore-see before they were written nor remedy after And finding fault could not remedy that which was past Besides all these Letters were in Answer to mine I was to answer none of theirs That might have made me work enough had I
see it Flourish in another Hundred Years 't is that which I cannot hope for now He says there was a Reference to the Councel on both sides and that under that Reference the Business dyed And if it dyed then what makes it here before the Resurrection Yea but says Mr. Nicolas here 's Agitation about the submitting of the Sword which is the Emblem of Temporal Power But neither to Foreign nor Home Power but only to God and that in the place and at the performance of his Holy Worship At which time and place Christian Kings submit themselves and therefore cannot stand upon the Emblems of their Power Nor would the Lords of the Council have made either Order or Reference had there been any thing of danger or against Law in this kind of submitting Mr. Yorke was produced as another Witness but said just the same with Marsh and so the same Answer served him Then followed a Charge about the Charter of York to be renewed and that I did labour to have the Arch-Bishop of York his Chancellor and some of the Residentiaries named in it to be Justices of Peace within the City To prove this Alderman Hoyle is produced Who says There was an Order of the Council about this but cannot say that I procured it So far then this Proof reaches not me For the Bishop his Chancellor and some of the Residentiaries to be Justices of Peace within the City If I were of this Opinion as then advised I am sure there 's no Treason in it and I believe no Crime And under your Lordships Favour I could not but think it would have made much Peace and done much Good in all the Cities of England where Cathedrals are Lastly he says There was a Debauched Man committed about breach of the Sabbath and being casually smother'd I should say they deserved to be Hanged that Killed him Concerning this Man he lost his Life that 's confessed His Debauchery what it was is not proved And were he never so disorderly I am sure he was not without Legal Tryal to be shut up into a House and smother'd That is against both Law and Conscience And the Officers then in being had reason to smother the Business as much as they could And it may be deserved somewhat if not that which this Alderman says I said to his best Remembrance For so and with no more certainty he expressed it This I am sure I said That if the Bishop ãâã any of the Church had been then in their Charter the Poor Man's Life had not been lost The Fourth Charge was just of the same Nature concerning the Charge of Shrewsbury For this there were produced two Witnesses Mr. Lee and Mr. Mackworth But they make up but one between them For Mr. Lee could say nothing but what he acknowledges he heard from Mr. Mackworth And Mr. Mackworth says first That the Schoolmaster 's Business was referred to other Lords and my self That 's no Crime and to my knowledge that has been a troublesom business for these Thirty Years He says I caused that there should go a Quo Warranto against the Town This is but as Mr. Owen informed him so no proof Beside 't is no Crime being a Referee if I gave legal Reason for it Nor is it any Crime that the Bishop and his Chancellor should be Justices within the Town As is aforesaid in the Case of York Considering especially that then many Clergy-Men bare that Office in divers Counties of England He adds that an Old Alderman gave Fifty Pound to St. Pauls But out of what Consideration I know not nor doth he speak And if every Alderman in the Town would have given me as much to that use I would have taken it and thanked them for it Then he says There was an Order from all the Lords Referees for setling all things about their Charter So by his own Confession the whole Business was transacted publickly and by Persons of great Honour and nothing charged upon my Particular If Mr. Owen sent me in a Butt of Sack and after put it upon the Town Account for so he also says Mr. Owen did ill in both but I knew of neither And this the Councel in their Reply said they urged not in that kind Lastly the Charter it self was Read to both Points of the Bishops and his Chancellors being Justices of Peace within the Town and the not bearing up of the Sword To both which I have answer'd already And I hope your Lordships cannot think his Majesty would have passed such a Charter Or that his Learned Councel durst have put it to him had this thing been such a Crime as 't is here made The next Charge was out of my Diary at March 5 1635. The words are William Juxon Lord Bishop of London made Lord High Treasurer of England No Church-Man had it since H 7 time I pray God bless him to carry it so that the Church may have Honour and the King and the State Service and Contentment by it And now if the Church will not hold up themselves under God I can do no more I can see no Treason in this nor Crime neither And though that which I did to help on this Business was very little yet Aim I had none in it but the Service of the King and the Good of the Church And I am confident it would have been both had not such troublesom Times followed as did Then they instanced in the Case of Mr. Newcomen But that Cause being handled before they did only refer the Lords to their Notes And so did I to my former Answers Then followed the Case of Thorn and Middleton which were Fined in the High Commission about some Clergy-Mens Business Thorne being Constable The Witnesses in this Case are Three 1. The first is Huntford if I took his Name right And for the Censure of these Men he confesses it was in and by the High Commission and so no Act of mine as I have often pleaded But then he says that I there spake these words That no Man of their Rank should meddle with Men in Holy Orders First he is in this part of the Charge single and neither of the other Witnesses comes in to him Secondly I humbly desire the Proceedings of the High Commission may be seen which are taken out of our hands For so far as I can remember any thing of this Cause the Minister Mr. Lewis had hard measure And perhaps thereupon I might say that Men of their Rank should not in such sort meddle with Men in Holy Orders But to tax the proceedings of a violent busie Constable was not to exempt the Clergy from Civil Magistracy Upon this he falls just upon the same words and says that I utter'd them about their offering to turn out a Corrector from the Printing-House This Corrector was a Minister and a well deserving Man The Trust of the Press was referred to the High-Commission Court And
just Grievances is not the least Cause of my present Condition In which my Case though not my Abilities is somewhat like Cicero's For having now for many Years defended the Publick State of the Church and the Private of many Church-Men as he had done many Citizens when he by prevailing Factions came into danger himself ejus Salutem defendit nemo no Man took care to defend him that had defended so many which yet I speak not to impute any thing to Men of my own Calling who I presume would have lent me their just Defence to their Power had not the same Storm which drove against my Life driven them into Corners to preserve themselves The First Instance was in Mr. Shervil's Case in which Mr. John Steevens tells what I said to the Councel Pleading in the Star-Chamber which was that they should take care not to cause the Laws of the Church and the Kingdom to clash one against another I see my Lords nothing that I spake was let fall nor can I remember every Speech that passed from me he may be happy that can But if I did speak these Words I know no Crime in them It was a good Caveat to the Councel for ought I know For surely the Laws of Church and State in England would agree well enough together if some did not set them at Odds. And if I did farther say to the then Lord Keeper as 't is Charged that some Clergy-Men had sat as high as he and might again which I do not believe I said yet if I did 't is a known Truth For the Lord Coventry then Lord Keeper did immediately succeed the Lord Bishop of Lincoln in that Office But though I dare say I said not thus to the Lord Keeper whose Moderation gave me no Cause to be so round with him yet to the Councel at the Bar I remember well upon just occasion given that I spake to this Effect That they would forbear too much depressing of the Clergy either in their Reputation or Maintenance in regard it was not impossible that their Profession now as high as ours once was may fall to be as low as ours now is If the Professors set themselves against the Church as some of late are known to have done And that the sinking of the Church would be found the ready way to it The Second Instance was about calling some Justices of the Peace into the High-Commission about a Sessions kept at ãâã 1. The First Witness for this for Three were produced was Mr. Jo. Steevens He says That the Isle where the Sessions were kept was joyned to the Church If it were not now a part of the Chuch yet doubtless being within the Church-Yard it was Consecrated Ground He says That Sessions were kept there heretofore And I say the more often the worse He says That I procured the calling of them into the High-Commission But he proves no one of these Things but by the Report of Sir Rob Cook of Gloucestershire a Party in this Cause He says again that They had the Bishop's License to keep Sessions there But the Proof of this also is no more than that Sir Rob. Cook told him so So all this hitherto is Hearsay Then he says the 88. Canon of the Church of England was urged in the Commission Court which seems to give leave in the close of the Canon that Temporal Courts or Leets may be kept in Church or Church-Yard First that Clause in the end of the Canon is referred to the Ringing of Bells not to the Profanations mentioned in the former part of that Canon Nor is it probable the Minister and Church-Wardens should have Power to give such leave when no Canon gives such Power to the Bishop himself And were it so here 's no Proof offered that the Minister and Church-Wardens did give leave And suppose some Temporal Courts might upon urgent Occasion be kept in the Church with leave yet that is no Warrant for Sessions where there may be Tryal for Blood He says farther That the Civilians quoted an Old Canon of the Pope's and that that prevailed against the Canon of Our Church and Sentence given against them All those Canons which the Civilians urged are Law in England where nothing is contrary to the Law of God or the Law of the Land or the King's Prerogative Royal And to keep off Profanation from Churches is none of these Besides were all this true which is urged the Act was the High-Commissions not mine Nor is there any thing in it that looks toward Treason 2. The Second Witness is Mr. Edward Steevens He confesses that the Sentence was given by the High-Commission and that I had but my single Vote in it And for the Place it self he says The Place where the Sessions were kept was separated from the Isle of the Church by a Wall Breast-high which is an evident Proof that it was formerly a Part of that Church and continued yet under the same Roof 3. The Third Witness is Mr. Talboyes who it seems will not be out of any thing which may seem to hurt me He says The Parish held it no part of the Church Why are not some of them examined but this Man's Report from them admitted They thought no harm he says and got a License But why did they get a License if their own Conscience did not prompt them that something was Irregular in that Business He says he was informed the Sessions had been twice kept there before And I say under your Lordships Favour the oftner the worse But why is not his Informer produced that there might be Proof and not Hearsay Upon this I said so he concludes That I would make a President against keeping it any more If I did say so the Cause deserved it Men in this Age growing so Bold with Churches as if Profanation of them were no Fault at all The Third Instance concerned Sir Tho. Dacres a Justice of Peace in Middlesex and his Warrant for Punishing some disorderly Drinking The Witnesses the two Church Wardens Colliar and Wilson two plain Men but of great Memories For this Business was when I was Bishop of London and yet they agree in every Circumstance in every Word though so many Years since Well what say they It seems Dr. Duck then my Chancellor had Cited these Church-Wardens into my Court Therefore either there was or at least to his Judgment there seemed to be somwhat done in that business against the Jurisdiction of the Church They say then That the Court ended Dr. Duck brought them to me And what then Here is a Cause by their own confession depending in the Ecclesiastical Court Dr. Duck in the King's Quarters where I cannot fetch him to Testifie no means left me to know what the Proceedings were and I have good cause to think that were all the Merits of the Cause open before your Lordships you would say Sir Tho. Dacres did not all according to
think my Lord Arch-Bishop hath done no Good Work in all his Life but these Men will object it as a Crime against him before they have done With this Charge about the Statutes it was let fall and I well know why It was to heat a Noble Person then present That I procured my self to be chosen Chancellour of that Vniversity If I had so done it might have been a great Ambition in me but surely no Treason But my Lords I have Proof great store might I be enabled to fetch it from Oxford that I was so far from endeavouring to procure this Honour to my self as that I laboured by my Letters for another And 't is well known that when they had chosen me I went instantly to his Majesty so soon as ever I heard it and humbly besought him that I might refuse it as well foreseeing the Envy that would follow me for it and it did plentifully every way But this for some Reasons his Majesty would not suffer me to do Then were objected against me divers Particulars contained in those Statutes As First the making of new Oaths The Charters of the Vniversity are not new and they gave Power to make Statutes for themselves and they have ever been upon Oath The next Illegality is That Men are tied to obey the Proctors in Singing the Litany This is Ancient and in use long before ever I came to the Vniversity and it is according to the Liturgy of the Church of England established by Law Thirdly The Statute of Bannition from the Vniversity But there is nothing more ancient in the Vniversity Statutes than this Fourthly That nothing should be propased in Convocation but what was consented unto among the Heads of Colleges first which was said to be against the Liberty of the Students The young Masters of Arts void of Experience were grown so tumultuous that no Peace could be kept in the Vniversity till my worthy Predecessor the Right Honourable William Earl of Pembroke setled this Order among them As he did also upon the same Grounds settle the present way of the choice of their Proctors In both which I did but follow and confirm for so much as lay in me the Good and Peaceable Grounds which he had laid in those two Businesses And Mr. Brown who in the summing up of my Charge urged this against me mainly mistook in two things The one was that he said this Inhibition of Proposals was in Congregations Whereas it was only in Convocations where more weighty Businesses are handled The other was that this stay of Proposals was made till I might be first acquainted with them No it was but till the Heads of Colleges had met and considered of them for avoiding of tumultuary Proceedings And when my Honourable Predecessor made that Order it was highly commended every where and is it now degenerated into a Crime because it is made up into a Statute Fifthly That some things are referred to Arbitrary Penalties And that some things are so referred is usual in that Vniversity and many Colleges have a particular Statute for it Nor is this any more Power than Ordinary School-Masters have which have not a Statute-Law for every Punishment they use in Schools And in divers things the old known Statute is that the Vice-Chancellour shall proceed Grosso Modo that is without the regular Forms of Law for the more speedy ending of Differences among the Scholars Sixthly That the Statute made by me against Conventicles is very strict But for these that Statute is express De Illicitis Conventiculis and I hope such as are unlawful may be both forbid and punished Besides it is according to the Charter of Richard the Second to that Vniversity The Seventh was the Power of Discommoning But this also hath ever been in Power and in Usage in that Vniversity as is commonly known to all Oxford-Men And no longer since than King James his time Bishop King then Vice-Chancellor Discommuned Three or Four Towns-Men together Next That Students were bound to go to Prison upon the Vice-Chancellors or Proctors Command This also was Ancient and long before my coming to the Vniversity And your Lordships may be sure the Delegacy appointed by themselves would not have admitted it had it not been Ancient and Usual Lastly about the stay of granting Graces unless there were Testimony from the Bishop of the Diocess This was for no Graces but of such as Live not Resident in the Vniversity and so they could not judge of their Manners and Conversation And for their Conformity to the Church of England none as I conceive can be a fitter Witness than the Bishop of the Diocess in which they resided And my Lords for all these thus drawn up by some of their own Body I obtained of his Majesty his Broad Seal for Confirmation And therefore no one thing in them is by any Assumption of Papal Power as 't is urged but by the King's Power only Then followed the Seventh Charge about the Statutes of some Cathedral Churches First my Lords for this I did it by Letters-Patents from the King bearing Date Mar. 31. Decimo Caroli and is extant upon Record And all that was done was Per Juris Remedia and so nothing intended against Law nor done that I know They had extream need of Statutes for all lay loose for want of confirmation and Men did what they listed And I could not but observe it for I was Dean of Gloucester where I found it so In seeking to remedy this I had nothing but my Labour for my Pains and now this Accusation to Boot The Particulars urged are That I had Ordered that nothing should be done in these Statutes Me inconsulto And I had great Reason for it For since I was principally trusted in that work by his Majesty the King if any Complaint were made would expect the account from me And how could I give it if other Men might do all and I not be so much as consulted before they passed 2. That I made a Statute against letting Leases into three Lives But first my Lords the Statute which makes it lawful to let Leases for One and Twenty Years or three Lives hath this limitation in it that they shall not let for any more Years than are limited by the said Colleges or Churches Now in Winchester Church and some other the old local Statute is most plain that they shall let no Lease into Lives Let the Dean and Prebendaries Answer their own Acts and their Consciences as they can And in those Statutes which I did not find pregnant to that purpose I did not make the Statute absolute but left them free to renew all such Leases as were Anciently in Lives before And this give me leave to say to your Lordships without offence If but a few more Leases be granted into Lives no Bishop nor Cathedral Church shall be able to subsist And this is
considerable also that as the state of the Church yet stands the Laity have the benefit by the Leases which they hold of more than five parts of all the Bishops Deans and Chapters and College Revenues in England And shall it be yet an Eye-sore to serve themselves with the rest of their own This Evidence Mr. Browne whose part it was to summ up the Evidence against me at the end of the Charge wholly omitted For what Cause he best knows The next Charge was about my Injunctions in my Visitation of Winton and Sarum for the taking down of some Houses But they were such as were upon Consecrated Ground and ought not to have been built there and yet with caution sufficient to preserve the Lessees from over-much dammage For it appears apud Acta that they were not to be pulled down till their several Leases were expired And that they were Houses not built long since but by them and that all this was to be done to the end that the Church might suffer no dammage by them And that this demolition was to be made Juxta Decreta Regni according to the Statutes of the Kingdom Therefore nothing injoyned contrary to Law Or if any thing were the Injunction took not place by the very Tenor of that which was charged Mr. Browne omitted this Charge also though he hung heavily upon the like at St. Pauls though there was satisfaction given and not here The Ninth Charge was my intended Visitation of both the Vniversities Oxford and Cambridge For my Troubles began then to be foreseen by me and I Visited them not This was urged as a thing directly against Law But this I conceive cannot be so long as it was with the King's Knowledge and by his Warrant Secondly because all Power of the King's Visitations was saved in the Warrant and that with consent of all parts Thirdly because nothing in this was surreptitiously gotten from the King all being done at a most full Council-Table and great Councel at Law heard on both sides Fourthly because it did there appear that three of my Predecessors did actually Visit the Vniversities and that Jure Ecclesiae suae Metropoliticae Fifthly no Immunity pleaded why the Arch-Bishop should not Visit for the instance against Cardinal Poole is nothing For he attempted to Visit not only by the Right of his See but by his power Legatin from the Pope whereas the University Charters are Express that such power of Visitation cannot be granted per Bullas Papales And yet now 't is charged against me that I challenged this by Papal Power Mr. Browne wholly neglected this Charge also which making such a shew I think he would not have done had he found it well grounded The Tenth Charge was my Visitation of Merton College in Oxford The Witness Sir Nathaniel Brent the Warden of the College and principally concerned in that business He said First that no Visitation held so long But if he consult his own Office he may find one much longer held and continued at All-Souls College by my worthy Predecessor Arch-Bishop Whitgift Secondly he urged that I should say I would be Warden for Seven Years If I did so say there was much need I should make it good Thirdly That one Mr. Rich. Nevil Fellow of that College lay abroad in an Ale-House that a Wench was got with Child in that House and he accused of it and that this was complained of to me and Sir Nath. Brent accused for Conspiring with the Ale-Wife against Nevil I am not here to accuse the one or defend the other But the Case is this This Cause between them was publick and came to Hearing in the Vice-Chancellor's Court Witnesses Examined Mr. Nevil acquitted and the Ale-Wife punished In all this I had no Hand Then in my Visitation it was again complained of to me I liked not the business but forbare to do any thing in it because it had been Legally Censured upon the place This part of the Charge Mr. Browne urged against me in the House of Commons and I gave it the same Answer Lastly when I sate to hear the main Business of that College Sir Nathaniel Brent was beholding to me that he continued Warden For in Arch-Bishop Warham's time a Predecessor of his was expelled for less than was proved against him And I found that true which one of my Visitors had formerly told me namely That Sir Nathaniel Brent had so carried himself in that College as that if he were guilty of the like he would lay his Key under the Door and be gone rather than come to Answer it Yet I did not think it fit to proceed so rigidly But while I was going to open some of the Particulars against him Mr. Nicolas cut me off and told the Lords this was to scandalize their Witnesses So I forbare Then followed the last Charge of this day concerning a Book of Dr Bastwick's for which he was Censured in the High-Commission The Witnesses in this Charge were three Mr. Burton a Mortal Enemy of mine and so he hath shewed himself Mrs. Bastwick a Woman and a Wife and well Tutoured For she had a Paper and all written which she had to say though I saw it not till 't was too late And Mr. Hunscot a Man that comes in to serve all turns against me since the Sentence passed against the Printers for Thou shalt commit Adultery In the Particulars of this Charge 't is first said That this Book was written Contra Episcopos Latiales But how cunningly so-ever this was pretended 't is more than manifest it was purposely written and divulged against the Bishops and Church of England Secondly that I said that Christian Bishops were before Christian Kings So Burton and Mrs. Bastwick And with due Reverence to all Kingly Authority be it spoken who can doubt but that there were many Christian Bishops before any King was Christian Thirdly Mr. Burton says that I applied those words in the Psalm whom thou may'st make Princes in all Lands to the Bishops For this if I did err in it many of the Fathers of the Church mis-led me who Interpret that place so And if I be mistaken 't is no Treason But I shall ever follow their Comments before Mr. Burton's Fourthly Mrs. Bastwick says that I then said no Bishop and no King If I did say so I Learned it of a Wise and Experienced Author King James who spake it out and plainly in the Conference at Hampton-Court And I hope it cannot be Treason in me to repeat it Fifthly Mrs. Bastwick complained that I committed her Husband close Prisoner Not I but the High-Commission not close Prisoner to his Chamber but to the Prison not to go abroad with his Keeper Which is all the close Imprisonment which I ever knew that Court use Lastly the pinch of this Charge is that I said I received my Jurisdiction
to see what I did at Oxford 1. There the first Witness is Sir Nathaniel Brent And he says The standing of the Communion-Table at St. Mary's was altered I have answered to this Situation of the Communion-Table already And if it be lawful in one place 't is in another For the Chappel of Magdalen College and Christ-Church Quire he confesses he knows of no Direction given by me to either Nor doth he know whether I reproved the things there done or no. So all this is no Evidence For the Picture of the Blessed Virgin at St. Mary's Door as I knew nothing of it till it was done so never did I hear any Abuse or Dislike of it after it was done And here Sir Nathaniel confesses too that he knows not of any Adoration of it as Men passed the Streets or otherwise When this Witness came not home they urged the Statute of Merton College or the Vniversity where if I took my Notes right they say I enjoyned Debitam Reverentiam And as I know no fault in that Injunction or Statute so neither do I know what due Bodily Reverence can be given to God in his Church without some Bowing or Genuflection 2. The Second Witness was Mr. Corbett He says that when decent Reverence was required by my Visitors ãâã one of my Articles he gave Reasons against it but Sir Jo. Lambe urged it still First my Lords if Mr. Corbett's Reasons were sufficient Sir Jo. Lambe was to blame in that but Sir Jo. Lambe must answer it and not I. Secondly it may be observed that this Man by his own Confession gave Reasons such as they were against due Reverence to God in his own House He says that Dr. Frewen told him from me That I wished he should do as others did at St. Mary's or let another Execute his place as Proctor This is but a Hearsay from Dr. Frewen who being at Oxford I cannot produce him And if I had sent such a Message I know no Crime in it He says that after this he desired he might enjoy in this Particular the Liberty which the King and the Church of England gave him He did so And from that Day he heard no more of it but enjoyed the Liberty which he asked He says Mr. Channell desired the same Liberty as well as he And Mr. Channell had it granted as well as he He confesses ingenuously that the Bowing required was only Toward not to the Altar And To the Picture at St. Mary's Door he says he never heard of any Reveverence done to it And doth believe that all that was done at Christ-Church was since my Time But it must be his Knowledge not his Belief that must make an Evidence 3. The Third Witness was one Mr. Bendye He says There was a Crucifix in Lincoln College Chappel since my time If there be 't is more than I know My Lord of York that now is when he was Bishop of Lincoln worthily bestowed much Cost upon that Chappel and if he did set up a Crucifix I think it was before I had ought to do there He says there was Bowing at the Name of Jesus And God forbid but there should and the Canon of the Church requires it He says there were Latin Prayers in Lent but he knows not who injoyned it And then he might have held his Peace But there were Latin Sermons and Prayers on Ash-Wednesday when few came to Church but the Lent Proceeders who understood them And in divers Colleges they have their Morning-Prayers in Latin and had so long before I knew the University The last Thing he says was That there were Copes used in some Colleges and that a Traveller should say upon the sight of them that he saw just such a thing upon the Pope's Back This Wise Man might have said as much of a Gown He saw a Gown on the Pope's Back therefore a Protestant may not wear one or entring into S. Pauls he may cry Down with it for I saw the Pope in just such another Church in Rome 4. Then was urged the conclusion of a Letter of mine sent to that Vniversity The Words were to this Effect I desire you to remember me a Sinner Quoties coram ãâã Dei ãâã The Charge lay upon the Word Procidatis which is no more than that when they there fall on their Knees or Prostrate to Prayer they would remember me In which Desire of mine or Expression of it I can yet see no Offence No nor in coram Altare their Solemnest time of Prayer being at the Communion Here Mr. Brown Aggravated the things done in that University And fell upon the Titles given me in some Letters from thence but because I have answered those Titles already I refer the Reader thither and shall not make here any tedious Repetition Only this I shall add That in the Civil Law 't is frequent to be seen that not Bishops only one to another but the great Emperours of the World have commonly given that Title of Sanctitas vestra to Bishops of meaner place than my self to say no more But here Mr. Brown in his last Reply was pleased to say This Title was not given to any Bishop of England First if I had my Books about me perhaps this might be refuted Secondly why should so Grave a Man as he so much Disparage his own Nation Is it impossible be my Unworthiness what it will for an English Bishop to deserve as good a Title as another Thirdly be that as it may if it were as certainly it was Lawfully given to other Bishops though they not English then is it neither Blasphemy nor Assumption of Papal Power as was Charged upon it From Oxford Mr. Serjeant went to Cambridge And I must be Guilty if ought were amiss there too For this Fifth Charge were produced three Witnesses Mr. Wallis Mr. Greece and Mr. Seaman Their Testimonies agreed very near So I will answer them together First they say That at Peter-House there were Copes and Candlesticks and Pictures in the Glass-Windows and the like But these things I have often answered already and shall not repeat They say the Chief Authors of these things were Dr. Wren and Dr. Cosens They are both living why are they not called to answer their own Acts For here 's yet no shew of Proof to bring any thing home to me For no one of them says that I gave direction for any of these No says Mr. Serjeant but why did I tolerate them First no Man complained to me Secondly I was not Chancellor and endured no small Envy for any little thing that I had occasion to look upon in that place And thirdly this was not the least Cause why I followed my Right for Power to visit there And though that Power was confirmed to me yet the Times have been such as that I did not then think fit to use it It would have but heaped more Envy on me who bare too much already As
for Mr. Greece who hath laboured much against me in all this Business God forgive him and while he Inherits his Father's ill Affections to me God preserve him from his Father's End From Cambridge he went to the Cathedrals and first to Canterbury Here the Charge is Bowing versus Altare the two Witnesses two Prebendaries of that Church Dr Jackson and Dr Blechenden And first Dr Jackson says the Bowing was versus Altare So not to but toward the Altar and Dr Blechenden says it was the Adoration of the High Majesty of God to whom if no Altar were there I should Bow Dr Jackson says this Bowing was to his Grief Strange I avow to your Lordships and the World no Man did so much approve all my Proceedings in that Church as he And for this Particular he never found the least fault with it to me and if he conceal his Grief I cannot ease it He says this Bowing was not in use till within this Six or Seven Years Sure the Old Man's Memory fails him For Dr. Blechenden says the Communion-Table was railed about and Bowings before it when he came first to be a Member of that Church and saith upon his Oath that 's above Ten Years ago And that it was practised before their new Statutes were made and that in those Statutes no Punishment is infticted for the Breach or not Performance of this Reverence I could tell your Lordships how often Dr Jackson hath shifted his Opinions in Religion but that they tell me their Witnesses must not be Scandalized As for the Statutes my Secretary Mr Dell who copied them out testified here to the Lords that I left out divers Superstitions which were in the Old Book and Ordained many Sermons in their rooms The next Cathedral he instanced in was Winchester But there 's nothing but the old Objections Copes And the wearing of them is warranted by the Canon and Reverence at coming in and going out of the Church And that great Kings have not in better Ages thought much to do And they did well to instance in the College of Winchester as well as the Church for 't is confessed the Injunction sent thither requires that the Reverence used be such as is not dissonant from the Church of England So this may be a Comment to the other Injunctions But for the Copes in Cathedrals Mr. Brown in his last Reply was not satisfied For he said the Canon mentioned but the wearing of one Cope Be it so But they must have that before they can wear it And if the Canon enjoyn the wearing of one my Injunction might require the providing and using of one Besides if there be no Popery no introduction to Superstition in the having or using of one then certainly there can be none in the having of more for the same use The Superstition being lodged in the misuse not in the number From the Cathedrals Mr. Serjeant went to view some Parish-Churches And First 't is Charged That in a Parish-Church at Winchester two Seats were removed to make way for Rayling in of the Communion-Table But for ought I know this might have been concealed For it was liked so well that they to whom the Seats belonged removed them at their own Charges that the other might be done The next instance was in St Gregory's Church by S Pauls The Charge was the Placing of the Communion-Table Altar-wise To the Charge it self Answer is given before The Particulars which are new are these The Witness Mr Wyan He says the Order for such placing of the Table was from the Dean and Chapter of S Pauls And S Gregory's is in their peculiar Jurisdiction So the Holy-Table was there placed by the Ordinary not by me He says next That the Parishioners appealed to the Arches but received an Order to Command them and the Cause to the Council Board That it was a full Board when the Cause was heard and his Majesty present And that there I maintained the Queens Injunction about placing the Communion-Table In all this here 's nothing Charged upon me but maintenance of the Injunction And I had been much to blame if I should not have maintained it He says Sir Henry Martin came and saw it and said it would make a good Court Cupboard If Sir Henry did say so the Scorn ill became either his Age or Profession though a Court Cupboard be somewhat a better Phrase than a Dresser God forgive them who have in Print called it so He says That hereupon I did say that he which spake that had a Stigmatical Puritan in his Bosom This Man's Memory serves him long for Words This was many Years since and if I did speak any thing sounding this way 't is more like I should say Schismatical than Stigmatical Puritan But let him look to his Oath and which Word soever I used if Sir Henry used the one he might well hear the other For a prophane Speech it was and little becoming a Dean of the Arches He says that soon after this Sir Henry was put out of his Place Not very soon after this for I was at the time of this Business as far as I remember Bishop of London and had nothing to do with the disposing of his Place After when I came to be Arch-Bishop I found his Patent was void neither could Sir Henry himself deny it And being void and in my Gift I gave it to another He says farther That it was urged that this way of Placing the Communion Table was against the Word of God in Bishop Jewel and Mr Fox his Judgment and that I replied it were better they should not have these Books in Churches than so to abuse them First for ought I yet know and in these straights of time the Books I cannot come at their Judgment rightly understood is not so Secondly Though these two were very worthy Men in their Time yet every thing which they say is not by and by the Doctrine of the Church of England And I may upon good reason depart from their Judgment in some Particulars and yet not differ from the Church of England As in this very Particular the Injunction for placing of the Table so is the Act of the Queen and the Church of England And I concieve the Queen then upon the Act of Reformation would not have enjoyned it nor the Church obeyed it had it been against the Word of God Thirdly if I did say That if they could make no better use of Jewel and the Book of Martyrs it were better they had them not in the Churches They gave too great occasion for the Speech For they had picked divers things out of those Books which they could not master and with them distempered both themselves and their Neighbours And yet in hope other more Modest Men might make better use of them I never gave Counsel to have those Books removed nor is that so much as Charged but said only thus That if no better use
would be made of them then that last Remedy but never till then This last Passage Mr. Brown insisted upon The taking of good Books from the People But as I have answered there was no such thing done or intended only a Word spoken to make busie Men see how they abused themselves and the Church by misunderstanding and misapplying that which was written for the good of both Lastly it was urged He said that the Communion-Table must stand Altarwise that Strangers which come and look into these Churches might not see such a Disproportion The Holy Table standing one way in the Mother-Church and quite otherwise in the Parochial annexed And truly to see this could be no Commendation of the Discipline of the Church of England But howsoever Mr. Clarke the other Witness with Wyan and agreeing with him in the most says plainly that it was the Lord of Arundel that spake this not I And that he was seconded in it by the Lord Weston then Lord Treasurer not by me The last Charge of this Day was a passage out of one Mr Shelford's Book p. 20 21. That they must take the Reverend Prelates for their Examples c. And Mr. Pryn Witnessed the like was in the Missal p. 256. Mr. Shelford is a meer Stranger to me his Book I never read if he have said any thing Unjust or Untrue let him answer for himself As for the like to that which he says being in the Missal though that be but a weak Argument yet let him salve it Here this Day ending I was put off to Saturday June 1. And then again put off to Thursday June 6. which held CAP. XXXIV My Twelfth Day of Hearing THis Day Serjeant Wild instead of beginning with a new Charge made another long Reply to my Answers of the former Day Whether he found that his former Reply made at the time was weak and so reputed I cannot tell But another he made as full of premeditated Weakness as the former was of sudden Mr. Pryn I think perceived it and was often at his Ear but Mr. Serjeant was little less than angry and would on I knew I was to make no Answer to any Reply and so took no Notes Indeed holding it all as it was that is either nothing or nothing to the purpose This tedious Reply ended Then came on the First Charge about the Window of Coloured Glass set up in the New Chappel at Westminster It was the History of the coming down of the Holy-Ghost upon the Apostles This was Charged to be done by me and at my Cost The Witnesses Mr. Brown imployed in setting up the Window and Mr Sutton the Glasier These Men say that Dr Newell Sub-Dean of Westminster gave Order for the Window and the setting of it up but they know not at whose Cost nor was any Order given from me So here 's nothing Charged upon me And if it were I know nothing amiss in the Window As for the Kings Arms being taken down as they say Let them answer that did it Though I believe that the King's Arms standing alone in a white Window was not taken down out of any ill meaning but only out of necessity to make way for the History The Second Charge was the Picture of the Blessed Virgin set upon a New-Built Door at S Marys in Oxford Here Alderman Nixon says That some Passengers put off their Hats and as he supposes to that Picture But my Lords his Supposal is no Proof He says that the next day he saw it But what did he see Nothing but the putting off the Hat For he could not see why or to what unless they which put off told it They might put off to some Acquaintance that passed by He farther says he saw a Man in that Porch upon his Knees and he thinks praying but he cannot say to that But then if the Malice he hath long born me would have suffer'd him he might have stayed till he knew to whom he was Praying for till then 't is no Evidence He says he thinks that I Countenanced the setting of it up because it was done by Bishop Owen But Mr Bromfeeld who did that Work gave Testimony to the Lords that I had nothing to do in it He says there was an Image set up at Carfax Church but pulled down again by Mr Widdows Vicar there But this hath no relation at all to me This Picture of the Blessed Virgin was twice mentioned before And Sir Nath Brent could say nothing to it but Hearsay And Mr Corbet did not so much as hear of any Abuse And now Alderman Nixon says he saw Hats put off but the wise Man knows not to what Nor is there any shew of Proof offer'd that I had any Hand or Approbation in the setting of it up Or that ever any Complaint was made to me of any Abuse to it or dislike of it And yet Mr. Brown when he gave the Summ of the Charge against me insisted upon this also as some great Fault of mine which I cannot yet see In the next Charge Mr. Serjeant is gone back again to White-Hall as in the former to Oxford The Witnesses are Mrs. Charnock and her Daughter They say they went being at Court into the Chappel and it seems a Woman with them that was a Papist And that while they were there Dr. Brown one of the King's Chaplains came in Bowed toward the Communion-Table and then at the Altar kneeled down to his Prayers I do not know of any Fault Dr. Brown committed either in doing Reverence to God or Praying and there And yet if he had committed any Fault I hope I shall not answer for him I was not then Dean of the Chappel nor did any ever complain to me They say that two Strangers came into the Chappel at the same time and saw what Dr. Brown did and said thereupon that sure we did not differ much and should be of one Religion shortly And that the Woman which was with these Witnesses told them they were Priests First this can no way Relate to me for neither did these Women complain to me of it nor any from them Secondly if these two Men were Priests and did say as is Testified are we ever a whit the nearer them in Religion Indeed if all the difference between Rome and us consisted in outward Reverence and no Points of Doctrine some Argument might hence be drawn but the Points of Doctrine being so many and great put stop enough to that Thirdly if Recusants Priests especially did so speak might it not be said in Cunning to Discountenance all External Worship in the Service of God that so they may have opportunity to make more Proselytes And 't is no small Advantage to my knowledge which they have this way made And this was the Answer which I gave Mr. Brown when he Charged this upon me in the House of Commons Here before they went any farther Mr. Serjeant Wilde
I wrought cunningly to introduce that Religion by Inches And that they Prayed for me First my Lords the Opinion of Enemies is no Proof at all that I am such as they think me And secondly this is a Notable and no unusual piece of Cunning for an Enemy to destroy by commending For this was the ready way and I doubt not but it hath been Practised to raise a Jealousie against me at home thereby either to work the Ruin of my Person or utterly to weaken and disable me from doing harm to them or good for the Church of England Besides if the Commendation of Enemies may in this kind go for Proof it shall be in the power of two or three Practising Jesuits to destroy any Bishop or other Church-Man of England when they please At last he told a Story of one Father John a Benedictin that he asked him how Church-Livings were disposed in England and whether I had not the disposing of those which were in the King's Gift And concluded that he was not out of hope to see England reduced to Rome Why my Lords this is not Father John's hope alone for there is no Roman-Catholick but hath some hope alive in him to see this day And were it not for that hope there would not have been so many some desperate all dangerous Practices upon this Kingdom to Effect it both in Queen Elizabeth's time and since But if this I know not what Father John hope so what is that to me 3. The third Witness was Mr. Anthony Mildmaye A Man not thought on for a Witness till I called for his Brother Sir Henry But now he comes laden with his Brother's Language He says just as Sir Henry did before that there were two Factions in Rome the Jesuits and they abhorred me but the other the Secular Priests they wished me well as he was informed First this is so one and the same Testimony that any Man that will may see that either he informed his Brother or his Brother him Secondly here 's nothing affirmed for it is but as he was informed And he doth not tell you by whom It may be my Lords it was by his Brother Then he says This was to make my self Great and tells a Tale of Father Fitton as much to the purpose as that which Mr. Challoner told of Father John But whatsoever either of these Fathers said it was but their own Opinion of me or Hearsay neither of which can prove me guilty of any thing Thus much Mr. Anthony made a shift to say by Five of the Clock at Afternoon when I came to make my Answer And this as I have sufficient Cause to think only to help to shoar up his Brother's Testimony But in the Morning when he should have come as his Brother did he was by Nine in the Morning so Drunk that he was not able to come to the Bar nor to speak Common Sense had he been brought thither Nobile par Fratrum The Second Charge was the Consecration of two Churches in London St Catharin Cree-Church and St Giles in the Fields The Witnesses two 1. The first Witness was one Mr Willingham And he says ãâã I came to these Churches in a Pompous manner But all the Pomp that he mentions is that Sir Henry Martin Dr Duck and some other of the Arches attended me as they usually do their Diocesans in such Solemnities He says he did curiously observe what was done thinking it would one Day be called to an Account as now it is So this Man himself being Judge looked upon that Work with Malevolent Eye and God preserve him from being a malitious Witness He says That at my approach to the Church Door was read Lift up your Heads O ye Gates and be ye lift up ye everlasting Doors and the King of Glory shall come in Psal 24. And this was urged over and over as a jeer upon my Person But this Place of Scripture hath been anciently used in Consecrations And it relates not to the Bishop but to God Almighty the true King of Glory who at the Dedication enters by his Servant to take Possession of the House then to be made his He says that I kneeled down at my coming in and after used many Bowings and Cringings For my kneeling down at my entranee to begin with Prayer and after to proceed with Reverence I did but my Duty in that let him scoffingly call it Cringing or Ducking or what he please He says farther That at the beginning I took up Dust and threw it in the Air and after used divers Curses And here Mr Pryn put Mr Nicolas in mind to add that Spargere Cinerem is in the Form of Consecration used in the Pontifical And Mr Brown in his summary Account of my Charge laid the very Consecration of these Churches as a Crime upon me and insisted on this particular But here my answer to all was the same That this Witness had need look well to his Oath for there was no throwing up of Dust no Curses used throughout the whole Action Nor did I follow the Pontifical but a Copy of Learned and Reverend Bishop Andrews by which he Consecrated divers Churches in his time and that this is so I have the Copy by me to Witness and offered them to shew it Nor can this howsoever savour any way of Treason No said Mr Brown but the Treason is To seek by these Ceremonies to overthrow the Religion Established Nor was that ever sought by me And God of his Mercy Preserve the true Protestant Religion amongst us till the Consecration of Churches and Reverence in the Church can overthrow it and then I doubt not but by God's Blessing it shall continue safe to the Worlds End He says also That I did pronounce the Place Holy I did so And that was in the Solemn Act it self of the Consecration according to the usual Form in that behalf And no Man will deny but that there is a Derivative and a Relative Holiness in Places as well as in Vessels and other Things Dedicated to the Honour and Service of God Nor is any thing more common in the Old Testament and 't is express in the New both for Place and Things 1 Cor 9. Then it was urged at the Bar That a Prayer which I used was like one that is in the Pontifical So in the Missal are many Prayers like to the Collects used in our English Liturgy so like that some are the very same Translated only into English and yet these confirmed by Law And for that of Psal. 95. Venite Procidamus c. then also excepted against that hath been of very ancient use in the Liturgies of the Church From which Rejecimus Paleam numquid Grana We have separated the Chaff shall we cast away the Corn too If it come to that let us take heed we fall not upon the Devil 's Winnowing who labours to beat down the Corn 't is not the Chaff
that Troubles him S Luc 22. Then they urged my Predecessor Arch-Bishop Parker That he found Fault with the Consecration of New Churches I answered then upon Memory that he did not find fault simply with Consecrations of Churches but only with the Superstitious Ceremonies used therein And this since upon perusal of the Place I find to be true For after he had in some sort Commended the Popes for taking away some gross and superstitious Purgations he adds that yet for want of Piety or Prudence their later Pontifical and Missal-Books did outgo the Ancient In Multitudine Ceremoniarum peragendi Difficultate Taedio ãâã amentiâ So these were the things he found fault with not the Consecration it self which he could not well do himself being then a Consecrated Bishop 2. The Second Witness was Mr. Hope He says That he agrees with the former Witness and saw all and the throwing up of the Dust c. Since he agrees with the former Witness I give him the same Answer Yet with this Observation upon him and his Oath The former Witness says that at the beginning of this Action I took Dust and threw it up This Man agrees with him and saw all and almost in the very next Words confesses he was not there at the beginning Not there Yet he saw it My Lords if you mark it this is a wholsom Oath He says That then the Church-Yard was Consecrated by it self It was ever so the one Act must follow the other though both done the same Day For the Places being different the Act could not pass upon them at the same time Then he said there were Fees required and a good Eye had to the Money This is a poor Objection against me If the Officers did exact any Money without Rule or beyond President let them answer for it But for that which was said to belong to me I presently gave it to the Poor of the Parish And this Mr. Dell my Secretary then present attested to the Lords Lastly he said they were not New Churches Let him look to his Oath again for 't is notoriously known they were both New Built from the Ground and St. Giles not wholly upon the Old Foundation The Third Charge was laid on me only by Mr. Nieolas and without any Witness It was That I out-went Popery it self for the Papists Consecrated Churches only but I had been so Ceremonious that I had Consecrated Chappels too My Lords the use of Chappels and of Churches in regard of God's Service is the same Therefore if Consecration be fit for the one it must needs be for the other And the Consecrations of Chappels was long before Popery came into the World For even Oratories Newly Built were Consecrated in or before Eusebius his Time And he Flourished about the Year of Christ 310. So ancient they are in the course of Christianity and for any Prohibition of them there is neither Law nor Canon in the State or Church of England that doth it The Chappels they instance in are Three First they say I Consecrated a Chappel of the Right Honourable the Lord Treasurer Weston's I did so and did no harm therein As for the touch given by the way upon that Honourable Person he is gone to God I have nothing to do with it Secondly they Instanced in a Chappel of Sir John Worstenham's Building 'T is true I Consecrated that too but that was a Parish-Church Built in the Place where he was born and it was in my Diocess and so the Work proper for me The Third Instance was in my own Chappel in my House at Aberguilly when I was Bishop of St. Davids the Room lay waste and out of Repair and I fitted it at my own Cost and Consecrated it into a Chappel that House having no Oratory before Here they farther aggravated many circumstances As First that I named it at the Dedication The Chappel of S. John the Baptist. I did so Name that Chappel in Memory of the College where I was Bred which bears the same Name but I dedicated it to God and his Service And to give the Names of Angels and Saints to Churches for distinction sake and for the Honour of their Memory is very Ancient and Usual in the Church as appears in S. Augustin and divers others of the Fathers but Dedicated only to God Which in the midst of Superstitious times the School it self confesses So yet no Offence Secondly That I did it upon the 29th of August And why might I not do it that Day as well as upon any other But resolving to Name the Chappel as I did I the rather made choice of that Day both because it was the Day of the Decollation of S John the Baptist and because as upon that Day God had wonderfully Blessed me in the Hearing of my Cause concerning the Presidentship of S. John's College in Oxford by King James of ever blessed Memory So yet no Offence Thirdly there was a Paper read and Avowed to be mine in which was a fair description of Chappel Furniture and Rich Plate and the Ceremonies in use in that Chappel and Wafers for the Communion At the reading of this Paper I was a little troubled I knew I was not then so Rich as to have such Plate or Furniture and therefore I humbly desired sight of the Paper So soon as I saw it I found there was nothing in it in my Hand but the Indorsement which told the Reader plainly that it was the Model of Reverend Bishop Andrews his Chappel with the Furniture Plate Ceremonies therein used and all Things else And this Copy was sent me by the Household Chaplain to that Famous Bishop This I laid open to the Lords and it would have made any Man ashamed but Mr. Pryn who had delivered upon Oath that it was a Paper of my Chappel Furniture at Aberguilly contrary to his Conscience and his own Eye-sight of the Paper And for ãâã I never either gave or received the Communion but in Ordinary Bread At Westminster I knew it was sometimes used but as a thing indifferent As for the Slur here given to that Reverend Dead Bishop of Winchester it might well have been spared he deserved far better usage for his Service to the Church of England and the Protestant Cause The Fourth Charge was the Publishing the Book of Recreations And it was ushered in with this Scorn upon me That I laboured to put a Badge of Holiness by my Breath upon Places and to take it away from Days But I did neither the King commanded the Printing of it as is therein attested and the Warrant which the King gave me they have And though at Consecrations I read the Prayers yet it was God's Blessing not my Breath that gave the Holyness And for the Day I ever laboured it might be kept Holy but yet free from a Superstitious Holyness And First it was said That this was done of
Right yet was Committed This is more than I know or believe yet if it were so it was done by the High-Commission Court not by me He says next that he could never be quiet But I am sure my Lords the Church for divers Years could never be in quiet for him and his Associates Lastly they say some Passages against Arminianism were left out of two Letters one of Bishop Davenants and the other of Bishop Halls sent to be Printed First here is no Proof at all offer'd that I differ'd in any thing from the Doctrine expressed in those Letters And Secondly for the leaving out of those passages it was it seems done to avoid kindling of new flames in the Church of England And it appeared on the other side of the Paper which was produced against me and so Read to the Lords that these Passages were left out by the express Order from those Bishops themselves under Bishop Hall's own Hand and with Thanks to Dr Turner then my Chaplain for his Letter to them And here this days Business ended And I received Command to attend again the Twentieth of the same Month. CAP. XXXVII The Fifteenth Day of my Hearing THis day I came again to the House A day or two before as now also the Landing place at Westminster was not so full of People and they which were there much more civil towards me than formerly My Friends were willing to perswade me that my Answer had much abated the edge of the People saving from the violent and factious Leaders of the Multitude whom it seems nothing would satisfie but my Life for so I was after told in plain terms by a Man deeply interessed in them when I presently saw Quaterman coming towards me who so soon as he came fell to his wonted Railing and asked aloud what the Lords meant to be troubled so long and so often with such a base Fellow as I was they should do well to Hang me out of the way I heard the Words with grief enough and so left them and him in the Hands of God My Servants were earness to have me complain to the Lords I remembred my late Complaint about the Pamphlets had no redress and so forbare it They notwithstanding out of their Zeal complained to Mr. Lieutenant of the Tower who presently went forth and said he would school him But I hearkned no more after it When I came to the Bar Mr Nicolas began with great violence and told the Lords the business grew higher and higher against me What the Business did will after appear but I am sure he grew higher and higher and from this time forward besides the violence of Expression gave me such Language as no Christian would give a Jew But God I humbly thank him blessed me with Patience and so I made my Ears Obedient That which made him say the Business grew higher and higher was this Upon my often calling to have the Oaths at the Coronation of King James and King Charles compared some of them repaired again to my Study at Lambeth to search for all such Copies of Coronation-Books as could there be found In this diligent and curious search For Mr. Pryn's Malice made it they found some Papers concerning Parliaments no other I praise God for it than such as with indifferent construction might I hope well pass especially considering what occasion led me and what Command was upon me And as I have been told by Able and Experienced Men they would have been nothing had they been found in any but this troublesom and distracted time about the Rights of Parliaments as 't is said Howsoever I was most unfortunate they should be now found and I had not left them a Being but that I verily thought I had destroyed them long since But they were unhappily found among the heaps of my Papers And so An Answer to the Remonstrance made June 17 1628. which is Sixteen Years since was made the First Charge against me And the Second Charge was A Paper concerning a Declaration Jan 28 1628. To both which I then Answer'd but because these are urged more than once to help fill the People with new Clamour and because they are more closely pressed against me at the last day of my Hearing and because Mr. Brown in his Summary Charge laid and charged all these Papers together to avoid tedious repetition I will also make my whole and entire Answer together when that time comes The Third Charge of this day was A Letter of a Jesuit to his Superiour found in my Study dated Mar 1628. Let the Letter be dated when it will I hope the Arch-Bishop may get and keep the Letters of any Jesuits or others How shall I be able to know or prevent their Plots upon the Religion by Law Established if this may not be done Yet this I desire all Men to take notice of that this Letter was not directed to me I was then Bishop of London The Letter was found in a search But when by all possible care taken by the High-Commission the Author could not be found I had as I humbly conceive great Reason to keep it And I then humbly desired the whole Letter might be Read There was in it that Arminianism as 't was urged was their Drug and their Plot against us c. The Jesuit seeing a Fire kindling about these Opinions might write what he pleased to help on his Cause Yet this Drug which he says is theirs is the received Opinion of all the Lutherans and they too Learned Protestants to use their Drugs And if it be their Drug why do the Dominicans so Condemn it Nay why doth the Master of the Sentences and the School after him for the most determin rigidly against it And whereas 't is said That these Men had Instruments at the Duke's Chamber Door That belongs not to me I was not Porter there As for that Power which I had called by Mr. Nicolas the Command of his Ear I used it as much as I could to shut such Instruments thence Beside 't is barely said no Proof at all offer'd that such Instruments were about the Duke's Chamber-Door Other Papers were found in my Study above sixty at the least expressing my continued Labours for some Years together to Reconcile the divided Protestants in Germany that so they might go with united Forces against the Romanists Why are not these produced too Would not Christianity and Justice have my Innocence cleared as well as my Faults accused The Fourth Charge was Bishop Mountagues Preferment The Parliament they say called him in Question and the King called in his Book yet in Affront to the Parliament that he was preferr'd by me No It was then publickly known in Court whether now remembred or no I cannot tell that he was preferred by my Lord Duke but being a Church Business the King Commanded me to signifie his Pleasure to the Signet Office And the Docket which is
all the Proof here made mentions him only by whom the Kings Pleasure is signified not him that procures the Preferment So the Docket in this Case no Proof at all The Fifth Charge was a Paper Intituled Considerations for the Church Three Exceptions against them The Observation of the King's Declaration Art 3. The Lecturers Art 5. And the High-Commission and Prohibitions Art 10 11. The Paper I desired might be all Read Nothing in them against either Law or Religion And for Lecturers a better care taken and with more Ease to the People and more Peace to the Church by a Combination of Conformable Neighbouring Ministers in their turns and not by some one Humorous Man who too often mis-leads the People Secondly my Copy of Considerations came from Arch-Bishop Harsnet in which was some sour Expression concerning Emanuel and Sidney Colleges in Cambridge which the King in his Wisdom thought fit to leave out The King's Instructions upon these Considerations are under Mr. Baker's Hand who was Secretary to my Predecessor And they were sent to me to make Exceptions to them if I knew any in regard of the Ministers of London whereof I was then Bishop And by this that they were thus sent unto me by my Predecessor 't is manifest that this account from the several Dioceses to the Arch-Bishop and from him to his Majesty once a Year was begun before my time Howsoever if it had not I should have been glad of the Honour of it had it begun in mine For I humbly conceive there cannot be a better or a safer way to preserve Truth and Peace in the Church than that once a Year every Bishop should give an account of all greater Occurrences in the Church to his Metropolitan and he to the King Without which the King who is the Supream is like to be a great Stranger to all Church Proceedings The Sixth Charge was about Dr Sibthorp's Sermon that my Predecessor opposed the Printing of it and that I opposed him to Affront the Parliament Nothing so my Lords Nothing done by me to oppose or affront the One or the Other This Sermon came forth when the Loan was not yet settled in Parliament The Lords and the Judges and the Bishops were some for some against it And if my Judgment were Erroneous in that Point it was mis-led by Lords of great Honour and Experience and by Judges of great knowledge in the Law But I did nothing to affront any 'T is said that I inserted into the Sermon that the People may not refuse any Tax that is not unjustly laid I conceive nothing is justly laid in that kind but according to Law Gods and Mans. And I dare not say the People may refuse any thing so laid For Jus Regis the Right of a King which is urged against me too I never went farther than the Scriptures lead me Nor did I ever think that Jus Regis mentioned 1 Sam 8 is meant of the Ordinary and just Right of Kings but of that Power which such as Saul would be would assume unto themselves and make it right by Power Then they say I expunged some things out of it As first The Sabbath and put instead of it the Lords Day What 's my Offence Sabbath is the Jews Word and the Lords-Day the Christians Secondly about Evil Counseilors to be used as Haman The Passage as there Expressed was very Scandalous and without just Cause upon the Lords of the Council And they might justly have thought I had wanted Discretion should I have left it in Thirdly that I expunged this that Popery is against the first and the second Commandment If I did it it was because it is much doubted by Learned Men whether any thing in Popery is against the first Commandment or denies the Unity of the God-head And Mr. Perkins who Charges very home against Popery lays not the Breach of the first Commandment upon them And when I gave Mr. Brown this Answer In his last Reply he asked why I left out both Why I did it because its being against the second is common and obvious and I did not think it worthy the standing in such a Sermon when it could not be made good against the first But they demanded why I should make any Animadversions at all upon the Sermon It was thus The Sermon being presented to his Majesty and the Argument not common he committed the Care of Printing it to Bishop Mountain the Bishop of London and four other of which I was one And this was the Reason of the Animadversions now called mine As also of the Answer to my Predecessors Exceptions now Charged also and called mine But it was the Joint Answer of the Committee And so is that other Particular also In which the whole Business is left to the Learned in the Laws For though the Animadversions be in my Hand yet they were done at and by the Committee only I being puny Bishop was put to write them in my Hand The Seventh Charge was Dr Manwaring's Business and Preferment It was handled before only resumed here to make a Noise and so passed it over The Eighth Charge was concerning some Alterations in the Prayers made for the Fifth of November and in the Book for the Fast which was Published An 1636. And the Prayers on Coronation Day 1. First for the Fast-Book The Prayer mentioned was altered as is Expressed but it was by him that had the Ordering of that Book to the Press not by me Yet I cannot but approve the Reason given for it and that without any the least approbation of Merit For the Abuse of Fasting by thinking it Meritorious is the thing left out whereas in this Age and Kingdom when and where set Fastings of the Church are cryed down there can be little fear of that Erroneous Opinion of placing any Merit in Fasting 2 Secondly for the Prayers Published for the Fifth of November and Coronation Day The Alterations were made either by the King himself or some about him when I was not in Court And the Books sent me with a Command for the Printing as there altered I made stay till I might wait upon his Majesty I found him resolved upon the alterations nor in my judgment could I justly except against them His Majesty then gave Warrant to the Books themselves with the alterations in them and so by his Warrant I commanded the Printing And I then shewed both the Books to the Lords who Viewed them and acknowledged his Ma jesty ' Hand with which not his Name only but the whole Warrant was written And here I humbly desired three things might be observed and I still desire it First with what Conscience this passage out of my Speech in the Star Chamber was urged against me for so it was and fiercely by Mr. Nicolas to prove that I had altered the Oath at the King's Coronation because the Prayers appointed for the Anniversary of the Coronation were
he calls Rome Monstrum Abominandum Howsoever I conceive all this is nothing to me 5. The Fifth Instance was a Book which they said was Licensed by Dr. Weeks And if so then not by my Chaplain But upon perusal I find no License Printed to it nor to any of the other but only to Sales which is answered 6. The Sixth Instance was in Bishop Mountague's Books the Gagg and the Appeal Here they said that Dr. White told Dr. Featly that five or six Bishops did allow these Books But he did not name me to be one of them Then Mr. Pryn urged upon his Oath that these Books were found in my Study And I cannot but bless my self at this Argument For I have Bellarmine in my Study Therefore I am a Papist Or I have the Alcaron in my Study Therefore I am a Turk is as good an Argument as this I have Bishop Mountague's Books in my Study Therefore I am an Arminian May Mr. Pryn have Books in all kinds in his Study and may not the Archbishop of Canterbury have them in his Yea but he says there is a Letter of the Bishops to me submitting his Books to my Censure This Letter hath no date and so belike Mr. Pryn thought he might be bold both with it and his Oath and apply it to what Books he pleas'd But as God would have it there are Circumstances in it as good as a Date For 't is therein expressed that he was now ready to remove from Chichester to Norwich Therefore he must needs speak of submitting those his Books to me which were then ready to be set out which were his Origines Ecclesiasticae not the Gagg nor the Appeal which are the Books Charged and which were Printed divers Years before he was made a Bishop and my Receit indorsed upon it is Mar. 29. 1638. And I hope Mr. Nicolas will not call this the Colour of an Answer as he hath called many of the rest given by me 7. The Seventh Instance was in a Book Licensed by Dr. Martin then my Chaplain in London-House This Book Mr. Pryn says was purposely set out to Countenance Arminianism as if it had been some Work of Moment whereas it was answered twice in the Queens Time If Dr Martin did this 't is more than I remember nor can I so long after give any Account of it But Dr Martin is Living and in Town and I humbly desired he might be called to answer He was called the next Day and gave this Account The Account is wanting a Space left for it but not filled up Mr. Pryn says farther that after this he Preached Arminianism at S. Paul's Cross. Why did not Mr. Pryn come then to me and acquaint me with it Which neither he nor any Man else did And I was in Attendance at Court whither I could not hear him And the Charge which came against him upon the next Days Hearing was this and no more That one then Preached at the Cross Vniversal Redemption but he that gave Testimony knew him not only he says one told him 't was Dr Martin 8. The last Instance was of a Bible commonly Sold with a Popish Table at the end of it This is more than I know or ever heard till now nor was any Complaint ever brought to me of it And I cannot know all things that are done abroad for Gain for that will teach them to conceal as well as move them to act Yet one of the Popish Heads mentioned in that Table was Confirmation which is commanded in our Church Liturgy and ratified by Law Here this day ended and I was ordered to appear again July 4. That Day I received a Note under Mr. Nicolas his Hand that they meant to proceed upon the 8 9 10 11 12 and 14th Original Articles and the Sixth and Seventh Additionals The last Warrant for other Articles came under Serjeant Wild's Hand and Mr. Nicolas signing this it seems mistook For the Eighth and Ninth Original Articles are in part proceeded on before Now they go forward with these and then on to the rest which I will write down severally as they come to them The same Day being Thursday all my Books at Lambeth were by Order of the House of Commons taken away by Mr. ....... Secretary to the Right Honourable the Earl of Warwick and carried I know not whither but are as 't is commonly said for the use of Mr Peters Before this time some good Number of my Books were delivered to the use of the Synod the Ministers which had them giving no Catalogue under their Hands which or how many they had And all this was done contrary to an Order of the Lords bearing Date Novemb. 9. 1642. for the safe keeping of my Books there And before I was Convicted off any Crime This Day also I received an Order which put off my Hearing to the next Day CAP. XXXIX The Seventeenth Day of my Hearing THis Day I appeared again And the First Charge against me was that I had preferred none to Bishopricks Deaneries prebends and Benefices but Men Popishly affected or otherwise unworthy And some they named 1. As First Dr Manwaring Disabled by the Parliament 2. Secondly Mr Mountague Excepted against by Parliament But for these no Proof was now brought They referred themselves to what was said before and so do I. And where they go to prove only by Dockets I desire it may still be remembred that the Docket is a full Proof who gave Order for drawing the Bill at the Signet Office But no Proof at all who procured the Preferment 3. Thirdly Bishop Corbet But the Earl of Dorset got my Lord Duke of Buckingham to prefer him to make way for Dr. Duppa his deserving Chaplain into christ-Christ-Church Nor was any thing Charged against Dr Corbet but that he was preferred by me 4. Fourthly Bishop Pierce Against whom there was no Proof offered neither And he is living to answer it if any be 5. Nor was there now any Proof offered against Bishop Wren who was named also at the least not till he was made a Bishop So if I did prefer him it seems I did it when nothing was laid against him And if after he had his Preferment he did any thing unworthily that could not I foresee and he is living to answer it 6. The Sixth was Bishop Lindsy a Man known to be of great and universal Learning but preferred by the then Lord Treasurer Portland not by me Him they Charged with Arminianism The Witnesses two The First Mr. Smart he is positive He was his Fellow Prebendary at Durham There was Animosity between them And Smart not able to Judge of Arminianism Secondly Mr. Walker who could say nothing but that he heard so much from some Ministers and Dr. Bastwick So here is as Learned a Man as Christendom had any of his time Debased in this great and Honourable Court by Ignorance and a Hearsay And that when the Man is gone
is Dead and cannot answer for himself Thus far I can for him without medling with any his Opinions He was very Honest and very Learned and at those Years he was of might deserve more than a Poor Benefice 16. Here Mr Pryn came in again and Testified very boldly that I gave many Benefices which were in the Gift of the Master of the Wards And all Preferments only to such Men as were for Ceremonies Popery and Arminianism For the First of these two the Business was thus There arose a Difference between the then Lord Keeper Coventry and the Lord Cottington then Master of the Wards about the disposing of those Benefices It grew somewhat high and came to Hearing by the King himself His Majesty upon Hearing gave the right of Sealing to the Lord Keeper but for the time till more might appear reserved the Giving to himself that he might have some of those lesser Preferments to bestow on such Ministers as attended upon his Navy then at Sea I never gave any one of these Benefices in my Life And that this Story is of Truth the Lord Cottington is yet living and can Witness it And this very Answer I gave to Mr. Brown who in summing up the Charge laid this also upon me and without mentioning what Answer I gave to it For the Second that I preferred none but such Men. 'T is known I preferred Bishop Hall to Exeter Dr. Potter to Carlile Dr. Cook to Bristol first and then to Hereford That I gave Dr. Westfield the Archdeaconry of S. Albans that I was Dr. Fells means for christ-Christ-Church and Dr. Higgs his for the Deanery of Litchfield that I setled Dr. Downing at Hackney and Mr. Herrick at Manchester when the Broad Seal formerly given him was questioned That I gave two of my own Benefices to Mr. Palmer and Mr. Taylor two of the now Synod an Hospital to Dr Jackson of Canterbury and a Benefice to his Son in Law at his Suit I could not Name all these upon the sudden yet some I did and no one of them guilty of this Charge in the least Mr. Brown in his Summary said I could name but one or two And when in my Answer made in the House of Commons I specified more among which Mr Palmer was one Mr. Brown said in his Reply that Mr Palmer had indeed his Benesice of my giving so himself told him but it was at the Entreaty of a great Noble-Man Say it were Mr. Palmer was then a stranger to me Some body must speak and assure me of his Wants and Worth or I cannot give But if upon this I give it freely is it worth no thanks from him because a Noble-Man spake to me Let Mr. Palmer rank this Gratitude among his other Vertues 17. From hence they stepped over into Ireland and objected my preferring of Dr Chappel to be Master of the College at Dublin Here the first Witness is Mr. Walker He says that all his Scholars were Arminians This is a great sign but not full Proof He says that Dr. Chappel was at First fierce against them but afterward changed his Mind Dr. Featly said the like of Dr. Potter Some say Arminius himself was at first Zealous against those Opinions but studying hard to confute them changed his own Mind Take heed Mr. Walker do not Study these Points too hard For my own part Dr. Chappel was a Cambridge Man altogether unknown to me save that I received from thence great Testimony of his Abilities and fitness for Government which that College then extreamly wanted And no Man ever complained to me that he favoured Arminianism The other Witness was Dr. Hoyle a Fellow of the College in Dublin He says that the Doctor did maintain in that College Justification by Works and in Christ-Church Arminianism In this he is single But if it be true why did not the Lord Primate of Armagh Punish him for he says he knew it That he opposed some things in the Synod And it may be there was just Cause for it Lastly he says the late Lord Deputy liked not the Irish Articles but gave them an Honourable Burial as he says the Lord Primate himself confessed I am a stranger to all this nor doth Dr. Hoyle charge any thing against me but says that they which did this were supposed to have some Friend in England And surely their Carriage was very ill if they had none 18. Then were Letters read of my Lord Primate's to me in which is Testified my Care of the Patrimony of that Church And then a Paper of Instructions given by me to the Lord Deputy at his first going into that Kingdom For the First though it be thrust in here among matters of Religion yet I pray your Lordships to consider 't is about the Patrimony of that Church only And I thank them heartily for producing it For in this Letter is a full confession of my Lord Primate's that the motion of getting the Impropriations from his Majesty formerly objected against me proceeded from him as I then pleaded And the Letter was read For the Second my Lord Deputy a little before his first going into Ireland asked me what Service I would command him for the Church there I humbly thanked him as I had reason and told him I would bethink my self and give him my Thoughts in Writing These are they which are called Instructions They are only for the good of that poor Church as your Lordships have heard them This was all and herein my Lord shewed his Honour and I did but my Duty Though I very well understand why this Paper is produced against me After this they proceeded to the Eleventh Original Article which follows in haec Verba 11. He in his own Person and his Suffragans Visitors Surrogates Chancellors or other Officers by his Command have caused divers Learned Pious and Orthodox Preachers of God's Word to be Silenced Suspended Deprived Degraded Excommunicated or otherwise Grieved and Vexed without any just and lawful Cause whereby and by divers other means he hath hindred the Preaching of God's Word caused divers of his Majesty's Loyal Subjects to forsake the Kingdom and Increased and Cherished Ignorance and Prophaneness among the People that so he might the better facilitate the way to the effecting of his own Wicked and Traiterous Design of Altering and Corrupting the true Religion here Established 1. The First Instance to make good this Article was a Repetition of some Lecturers before-named But when they thought they had made Noise enough they referred the Lords to their Notes and so did I to my former Answers 2. The Second Instance was out of some Articles of Bishop Mountague and Bishop Wrenn and their Account given to me Bishop Wrenn Art 16 Speaks of the Afternoon Sermons being turned into Catechising And Art 5 of his Account I take it that no Lecture in his Diocess after c. It was made plain to the Lords that this was spoken of some single and factious
Lecturers and that they had their Lectures Read by a Company of Learned and Orthodox Ministers by turns As appeared by the Munday Sermon at Burye during that Learned Bishop's time Nor were any forbid to Preach in the Afternoon so the Catechising were not omitted before it or with it And the Bishop is Living to Answer it if ought were then done amiss by him In all which he did nothing as any Deputy or Surrogate of mine but as Diocesan of the Place As for the Yearly Account to the King according to his Royal Instructions in that behalf though it were pressed here again to multiply noise yet nothing being new I gave my Answer as before and to that I refer my self 3. The Third Answer was concerning Mr. Lee of Wolverhampton The Evidence was a Letter of my Secretary Mr. Dell written by my Command to my Visitors there to this Effect That whether there were Cause or no they should either punish Mr. Lee or bring him into the High-Commission Had the Words or the Sense been thus they might well say It was hard for the Judge before whom the Party was to Answer to write thus But I called to have the Letter read again and the Words were these If there were found against him that which might justly be Censured then they should punish c. And the Reason why this strict care was taken was because the Dean of Windsor his Ordinary complained unto me that Mr. Lee's Carriage was so Factious there that he could contain him in no Order If he were a Man after this approved at Shrewsbury as Mr Walker witnesses I hope the Proceedings at Wolverhampton did him good But my Lords had it so fallen out that my Secretary had forgotten my Instructions and himself too and expressed himself amiss shall that slip of his had it been such be imputed to me I believe your Lordships would not willingly answer for every Phrase of your Secretaries Letters which yet you command them to write 4. The last Instance was the Sentence in the High-Commission against Mr Barnard for Words about Pelagian Errors and Popery First if he were Sentenced in the High-Commission it was the Act of the Court and not mine as has been often said Secondly no Proof is offer'd that he was Sentenced for those Words only Thirdly the Recantation howsoever refused by him as Mr. Pryn says it was makes mention of four Points for which he was Censured of which these words are one But not the words themselves but his Unjust and Scandalous Application of them to me which deserved them not And lastly Dr Cumber Master of Trinity College in Cambridge was Prosecutor against him which Office so Grave and Worthy a Man would not I suppose have undertaken had there not been great and just Cause for it Hence they proceeded to the Sixth Additional Article which follows in these Words That whereas divers Gifts and Dispositions of divers Summs of Money were heretofore made by divers Charitable and well disposed Persons for the buying in of divers Impropriations for the Maintenance of Preaching the Word of God in several Churches the said Arch-Bishop about Eight Years last past wilfully and maliciously caused the said Gifts Feoffments and Conveyances made to the uses aforesaid to be overthrown in his Majesty's Court of Exchequer contrary to Law as things dangerous to the Church and State under the specious pretence of buying in Appropriations whereby that Pious Work was suppressed and trodden down to the great Dishonour of God and Scandal of Religion This Article is only about the Feoffments That which I did was this I was as then advised upon such Information as was given me clearly of Opinion that this was a cunning way under a Glorious pretence to overthrow the Church-Government by getting into their power more dependency of the Clergy than the King and all the Peers and all the Bishops in all the Kingdom had And I did conceive the Plot the more dangerous for the fairness of the pretence and that to the State as well as the Church Hereupon not maliciously as 't is charged in the Article but Conscientiously I resolved to suppress it if by Law it might be done Upon this I acquainted his Majesty with the thing and the danger which I conceived would in few Years spring out of it The King referred me to his Attorney and the Law Mr. Attorney Noye after some pause upon it proceeded in the Exchequer and there it was by Judicial Proceeding and Sentence overthrown If this Sentence were according to Law and Justice then there 's no fault at all committed If it were against Law the fault what e're it be was the Judges not mine for I solicited none of them And here I humbly desired that the Lords would at their leisure read over the Sentence given in the Exchequer which I then delivered in but by Reason of the length it was not then read Whether after it were I cannot tell I desired likewise that my Councel might be heard in this and all other points of Law 1. The First Witness was Mr. Kendall He says that speaking with me about Presteen I thanked God that I had overthrown this Feoffment 2. The Second Witness Mr. Miller says he heard me say They would have undone the Church but I have overthrown their Feoffment These two Witnesses prove no more than I confess For in the manner aforesaid I deny not but I did my best in a Legal way to overthrow it And if I did Thank God for it it was my Duty to do so the thing being in my Judgment so pernicious as it was 3. The Third Witness was Mr. White one of the Feoffees He says that coming as Councel in a Cause before me when that Business was done I fell bitterly on him as an underminer of the Church I remember well his coming to me as Councel about a Benefice And 't is very likely I spake my Conscience to him as freely as he did his to me but the Particulars I remember not nor do I remember his coming afterwards to me to Fulham nor his offer to change the Men or the Course so the thing might stand For to this I should have been as willing as he was and if I remember right there was order taken for this in the Decree of the Exchequer And his Majesty's Pleasure declared that no Penny so given should be turned to other use And I have been and shall ever be as ready to get in Impropriations by any Good and Legal way as any Man as may appear by my Labours about the Impropriations in Ireland But this way did not stand either with my Judgment or Conscience 1. First because little or nothing was given by them to the present Incumbent to whom the Tythes were due if to any that the Parishioners which payed them might have the more cheerful Instruction the better Hospitality and more full Relief for their Poor 2. Secondly because most of the Men they
put in were Persons disaffected to the Discipline if not the Doctrine too of the Church of England 3. Thirdly because no small part was given to School-Masters to Season Youth ab Ovo for their Party And to Young Students in the Universities to purchase them and their Judgments to their side against their coming abroad into the Church 4. Fourthly because all this Power to breed and maintain a Faction was in the Hands of Twelve Men who were they never so Honest and free from Thoughts of abusing this Power to fill the Church with Schism yet who should be Successors and what use should be made of this Power was out of Humane reach to know 5. Because this Power was assumed by and to themselves without any Legal Authority as Mr. Attorney assured me He farther said that the Impropriation of Presteen in Radnorshire was specially given to St Antolins in London I say the more the pity considering the poorness of that Country and the little Preaching that was among that poor People and the plenty which is in London Yet because it was so given there was care taken after the Decree that they of St Antolins had consideration and I think to the full He says that indeed they did not give any thing to the present Incumbents till Good Men came to be in their Places Scarce one Incumbent was better'd by them And what then In so many places not one Good Man found Not one Factious enough against the Church for Mr White to account him Good Yet he thinks I disposed these things afterwards to Vnworthy Men. Truly had they been at my disposal I should not wittingly have given them to Mr. White 's Worthies But his Majesty laid his Command upon his Attorney and nothing was done or to be done in these things but by his direction For Dr. Heylin if he spake any thing amiss concerning this Feoffment in any Sermon of his he is Living to Answer it me it concerns not Mr. Brown in the Summ of the Charge omitted not this And I Answer'd as before And in his Reply he turned again upon it that it must be a Crime in me because I projected to overthrow it But under favour this follows not For to project though the word Projector sound ill in England is no more than to forecast and forelay any Business Now as 't is lawful for me by all good and fit Means to project the Settlement of any thing that is good so is it as lawful by good and Legal means to project the overthrow of any thing that is cunningly or apparently Evil. And such did this Feoffment appear to my Understanding and doth still As for reducing of Impropriations to their proper use they may see if they please in my Diary whence they had this another Project to buy them into the Churches use For given they will not be But Mr. Pryn would shew nothing nor Mr. Nicolas see any thing but what they thought would make against me Here this day ended and I was Commanded to Attend again July 15. But was then put off to July 17. which day held CAP. XL. The Eighteenth Day of my Hearing THis day they charged upon me the Twelfth Original Article which follows in these words He hath Trayterously endeavoured to cause Division and Discord between the Church of England and other Reformed Churches and to that end hath Suppressed and Abrogated the Priviledges and Immunities which have been by his Majesty and his Royal Ancestors granted to the French and Dutch Churches in this Kingdom and divers other ways hath expressed his Malice and Disaffection to those Churches that so by such dis-union the Papists might have more advantage for the overthrow and extirpation of both The First Charge is That I deny them to be a Church For they say that I say plainly in my Book against Fisher that No Bishop no Church Now 't is well known they have no Bishops and therefore no Church The Passage in my Book is an Inference of ãâã Jerom's Opinion no Declaration of my own And if they or any other be agrieved at St. Jerom for writing so they may Answer him Mr. Nicolas added that this was seconded by Bishop Mountague's Book which Mr. Pryn carefully witnessed was found in my Study and Licensed by Dr. Braye Is this Argument come again that Bishop Mountague's Book was in my Study Leave it for shame But they have now left me never a Book in my Study so I cannot make them any fuller Answer without viewing the place than themselves help me to by their own Confession Which is that he adds this Exception that none but a Bishop can Ordain but in Casu Necessitatis which is the Opinion of many Learned and Moderate Divines Yet this is very considerable in the Business whether an inevitable Necessity be cast upon them or they pluck a kind of Necessity upon themselves The Second Charge is out of a Letter of mine to Bishop Hall upon a Letter which he had formerly sent me In which it seems is something about the Case of Necessity in point of Ordination which they say I disliked And it seems I disliked upon good ground For he had given me power under his Hand to alter what I would in that which he sent unto me I would not take that power but writ back to him what passages I thought might be better expressed if it could agree with his Judgment also Hereupon he sent me another Letter of Jan. 18. 1639. In which he altered those things which I put to his farther Consideration Could any thing be more fairly carried And this Letter was read to the Lords Yea but they say I disliked the giving of this Title Antichrist to the Pope No I did not simply dislike it but I advised Bishop Hall if he thought it good not to affirm it so positively And the Reason I gave was this That King James being pressed upon a great occasion that he had maintained that the Pope was Antichrist which might much trouble if not quite cross some Proceedings much desired by that Prudent King His Majesty made Answer I maintain it not as a point of Faith but as a probable Opinion And for which I have more grounds than the Pope hath for his Challenge of Temporal Power over Princes Let him recall this Opinion and I 'll recall that This I writ to the Bishop but left him free to do what he pleased Here Mr. Nicolas fell extream foul upon me in so much that I could not but wonder at their patience which heard him Among other Titles bestowed upon me many and gross he called me over and over again Pander to the Whore of Babylon I was much moved and humbly desired the Lords that if my Crimes were such as that I might not be used like an Arch-Bishop yet I might be used like a Christian And that were it not for the Duty which I owe to God and my
own Innocency I would desert my Defence before I would indure such Language in such an Honourable Presence Hereupon some Lords shewed their dislike and wished him to leave and pursue the Evidence Mr. Brown in summing up the Charge made this a great matter The denial of the Pope to be Antichrist But I did not deny it nor declare any Opinion of my own And many Protestants and those very Learned are of Opinion that he is not 'T is true I did not I cannot approve foul Language in Controversies Nor do I think that the calling of the Pope Antichrist did ever yet Convert an Understanding Papist And sure I am Gabriel Powel's Peremptoriness to say no worse in this Point did the Church of England no Good no Honour in Foreign parts For there he affirms That he is as certain that the Pope is Antichrist as that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and Redeemer of the World As for the thing it self I left it free to all Men to think as their Judgment guided them As appears by the Licensing of Dr. Featly's Sermons where he proves the Pope in his Opinion to be Antichrist Where he calls him also the Whore of Babylon Which surely I should never have suffer'd to be Printed had I been her Pander And for Bishop Hall I only told him what King James had said and left him to make what use he pleased of it The Third Charge was out of a Paper which Bishop Hall about the time when he wrote his Book in defence of Episcopacy sent unto me containing divers Propositions concerning Episcopal Government In which either he or I or both say for that Circumstance I remember not That Church-Government by Bishops is not alterable by Humane Law To this I answer'd that Bishops might be regulated and limited by Human Laws in those things which are but Incidents to their Calling But their Calling so far as it is Jure Divino by Divine Right cannot be taken away They charge farther that I say this is the Doctrine of the Church of England And so I think it is For Bishop Bilson set out a Book in the Queen's time Intituled The Perpetual Government And if the Government by Bishops be Perpetual as he there very Learnedly proves thorough the whole Book it will be hard for any Christian Nation to out it Nor is this his Judgment alone but of the whole Church of England For in the Preface to the Book of Ordination are these words From the Apostles time there have been three Orders of Ministers in the Church of Christ Bishops Priests and Deacons Where 't is evident that in the Judgment of the Church of England Episcopacy is a different not Degree only but Order from Priesthood and so hath been reputed from the Apostles times And this was then Read to the Lords And the Law of England is as full for it as the Church For the Statute in the eighth of the Queen absolutely confirms all and every part of this Book of Ordination Where also the Law calls it The high Estate of Prelacy And Calvin if my old Memory do not fail me upon those words of St. John As my Father sent me so send I you c. says thus upon that place Eandem illis imponit Personam ac idem Juris assignat And if our Saviour Christ put the same Person upon the Apostles and assigned to them the same Right which his Father gave him it will prove a sour work to throw their Successors the Bishops out of the Church after Sixteen Hundred Years continuance And in the mean time cry out against Innovation For either Christ gave this Power to his Apostles only and that will make the Gospel a Thing Temporary and confined to the Apostles Times Or else he gave the same Power though not with such Eminent Gifts to their Successors also to propagate the same Gospel to the end of the World as St. Paul tells us he did Ephes. 4. Now all the Primitive Church all along gives Bishops to be the Apostles Successors and then it would be well thought on what Right any Christian State hath be their Absolute Power what it will to turn Bishops out of that Right in the Church which Christ hath given them The Fourth Charge was an Alteration made in a Brief for a third Collection for the distressed Ministers and others in the Palatinat The Queen of Bohemia was pleased to do me the Honour to write to me about this and because two Collections had been before her Majesty desired that this third might be only in London and some few Shires about it I out of my desire to relieve those distressed Protestants and to express my Duty to the Queen became an humble Suitor to his Majesty that this Collection also might go thorough England as the rest had done And 't is acknowledged by all that this I did Now the Witnesses which Accuse me for some Circumstances in this business are two 1. The First is Mr. Wakerly He says that Mr. Ruly who was employed by the Queen of Bohemia about this Collection was roughly used by me upon occasion of this Clause put into the Brief and which he says I caused to be altered This first is a bold Oath for Mr. Wakerly was not present but Swears upon Hearsay Secondly what kindness I shewed him and the Business is mentioned before and if for this kindness he had been practising with Mr. Wakerly about the Brief as I had probable Reason to suspect I cannot much be blamed if I altered my Countenance towards him and my Speech too which yet these Witnesses for the other agrees in this have no Reason to call rough Carriage only upon Mr. Ruly's unthankful Report He says That these words the Antichristian Yoak were ãâã out First this is more than I remember and the Briefs I had not to compare nor is there any necessity that two Briefs coming for the same thing with some Years distance between should agree in every Phrase or Circumstance Secondly if I did except against this passage it was partly because of the fore-recited Judgment of King James of which I thought his Son King Charles ought to be tender And partly because it could move nothing but Scorn in the common Adversary that we should offer to determine such a Controversie by a Broad Seal I remember well since I had the Honour to sit in this House the naming of Tithes to be due Jure Divino cast out the Bill A Prudent Lord asking the Peers whether they meant to determine that question by an Act of Parliament The other part of the Clause which they say was altered was the Religion which we with them profess Whence they infer because with them was left out that I would not acknowledge them of the same Religion which follows not For we may be and are of the same Religion and yet agree not with them in those Opinions in
thus That God would preserve the Prince in the true Religion of which there was cause to fear Could this Prayer have any other Operation upon the People than to make them think his Majesty was careless in the Education of the Prince especially in point of Religion And this was so Grievous and Graceless a Scandal cast upon a Religious King as nothing could be greater Upon the matter it was the shew of a Prayer for the Prince but was indeed to destroy the King in the Hearts of his People And had I not there consented to his Punishment I had deserved to be punished my self Mr. Brown when he repeated the Summ of the Evidence laid this Charge upon me but spake not one Word to my Remembrance of this Answer given to it The Ninth Charge That I did Extol Queen Mary's Days The Proof for it was taken out of the Preface to the Statutes of the Vniversity of Oxford I took a great deal of pains about those Statutes and might justly have expected Thanks for it not such an Accusation But as for the Preface it was made and Printed at Oxford I medled not with it I could trust the University with little if not with the making of a Preface If they have done any thing amiss in it let them answer it The Passage was about certain Offers made to amend those Confused Old Statutes both in Ed. 6. and Queen Mary's Days but no Effect came of the pains then taken Recruduit Labor says the Preface So that this I can answer for them There 's not a Word spoken of Religion but of Manners only and that as much in relation to the Times of Princes following as Hers. For the Words to my remembrance are Interim optandâ Temporum Foelicitate c. And that Interim cannot be restrained to Queen Mary's Days only but must include the whole Interim or middle distance of Time to that present in which I setled the Body of their Statutes that is all Queen Elizabeth's and King James his Days which I think no Man can deny was Optanda Temporum Foelicitas Here Mr. Nicolas confessed there was no down-right Proof against me That was his Phrase But he added that was not to be expected in such a Work of Darkness Then he produced a Paper found in my Study Printed at Rome So were divers of my Books Printed there What of this They may Print what they will at Rome I cannot hinder it And I may have and keep whatever they Print no Law forbidding it Then he shewed a Letter sent unto me from Mr. Graves The Gentleman is at this present Fellow of Merton College in Oxford a great Traveller and a Man of great Worth As far as I remember his Letter came to me from Alexandria It was fit to be sent and kindly received as by me it was I desired it might be read Then were mentioned Sir William Boswell's Letters and the Papers sent by Andreas ab Habernfeld about a great Plot to destroy the King and Religion and that I concealed these Papers I might have been amazed at the Impudence of this Charge above all the rest Diaboli Impudentia the Devils Impudence and no less as S. Augustin speaks in another Case Did I conceal these Papers First the same Day that I received them I sent them by an Express to his Majesty I had a speedy Answer from his Majesty and that I returned with equal speed to his Majesty's Agent Sir William Boswell as I was commanded And this Mr. Pryn and Mr. Nicolas knew For Mr. Pryn took all these Letters and Papers from me when he searched me at the Tower and out of them made his Book called Rome's Masterpiece Excepting the Slanders which he hath Jugled in of his own So soon as his Majesty came home I humbly besought him that he would be pleased to appoint a time and call some Lords to him to hear and examine the Business and this Examination continued till I was Committed What was after done I cannot account for Besides my Lords it appears by those Paprs that my Life was sought for because I would not give way to the Change of Religion and Mr. Pryn himself hath Printed this and yet now Mr. Nicolas from his Testimony presses these Papers against me But the King and the Lords and both Secretaries of State then present can witness that I took all the Care and Pains above-mentioned to have it sifted to the Bottom Notwithstanding all this Mr. Nicolas falls upon this Plot again upon the next Day of my Hearing as if nothing had been said unto it And was so shameless as to say that I followed this Business so long as I thought the Plot was against the Puritans But so soon as I found it was against the Papists I kept it secret till Mr. Pryn discovered it in his search of my Papers Where First there 's no one Word in all the Papers to make me or any Man think the Puritans were concerned in it And Secondly I did not sleep upon the Receipt of these Papers till I had sent them to his Majesty But I had reason to keep the Papers as safe as I could considering how much they justifie me against these foul Calumnies put upon me Then followed the Charge of Sancta Clara's Book alias Monsieur St Giles So they expressed it and I must follow the way they lead me First then they Charge that I had often Conference with him while he was writing his Book Intituled Deus Natura Gratia No he never came to me till he was ready to Print that Book Then some Friends of his brought him to me His Suit then was That he might Print that Book here Upon Speech with him I found the Scope of his Book to be such as that the Church of England would have little Cause to thank him for it And so absolutely denyed it Nor did he ever come more at me after this but twice or thrice at most when he made great Friends to me that he might Print another Book to prove that Bishops are by Divine Right My Answer then was that I did not like the way which the Church of Rome went in the Case of Episcopacy And howsoever that I would never give way that any such Book should be Printed here from the Pen of a Romanist and that the Bishops of England were able to defend their own Cause and Calling without calling in Aid from Rome and would in due time Maintenance he never had any from me nor did I then know him to be a Priest Nor was there any Proof so much as offered in contrary to any of this 2. Secondly they did specially except against a Passage in the Licenser and another at the end of the Book The Book was Printed at Lions where I could not hinder the Printing either of the whole or any part This might have been something had I Licensed it here But that I constantly denyed 3. Thirdly
is upon the bare Circumstance of Quomodo How Christ is present in the Sacrament As for that which was said in the beginning of this Charge That Rome is a True Church I ever did and ever must grant it that such it is Veritate Entis in the Truth of it's Entity and Being For as I have said against Fisher Ens Verum Being and True are convertible one with another And every thing that hath a Being is truly that Being which it is in truth of Substance but a Right or an Orthodox Church I never said it was either in Doctrine or Manners As a Thief is a true Man in Verity of his Essence that is he is a Creature indued with Reason but it doth not therefore follow that he is a true Man Veritate Moris in his Life and Conversation And this I answered first to the Lords and after to Mr. Brown's Summary Charge who in his last Reply said two things First That when I said Rome was a True Church I spake it generally without this Distinction But this is quite beyond the Proof for no Witness says so Besides it is manifest by distinction of Fundamentals from other Doctrines acknowledged by both the Witnesses that I did not speak it absolutely but plain enough to any ordinary Understanding Secondly which I was very sorry to hear from so grave a Man he added That there was no Truth of a Church but in the Verity of Doctrine and Manners and that in Veritate Entis a Company of Turks were a True Church Now God be merciful to us whither are we posting 'T is known that the Greek Word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which signifies Church signifies also in Heathen Authors any kind of Company or Congregation of Men Turks if you will But in Ecclesiastical Writers and among all Christians the Word Church is used only and so ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã too for a Company of Men which profess the Faith of Christ and are Baptized into his Name And will any Man say that a Company of Turks are such a Church in Veritate Entis in the Verity of this Being as all the World knows Papists are Or if he will not speak de Ente tali but change the Suppositum he may say what he please But I was very much troubled to hear this and from him I had almost forgot that Mr. Nicolas here pressed the Authority of the Homilies upon me again where 't is said That the Bishop of Rome and their Adherents are not the true Church But the Answer is easie For I say as the Homily doth and as it means too in that place Namely that the Church of Rome is not the true that is not the Catholick Church nor the Head thereof But there is a great deal of difference between the Church and a Church The one is the General the other a Particular The Church it cannot be A Church it is and a true one too in the Sense before specified Upon occasion of this Mr. Nicolas his Mouth was open again and said That at the beginning I reckon'd up some that I had Converted But if this were my Opinion and that if this might stand for good I might Convert the Devil and all My Ears had been so beaten with his Language that I was patient and left him to insult And to help on this business while he was in these loud Expressions the E. of Pembrook came to Mr. Burton to the Bar and in my hearing desired him to repeat the Testimony he had given which Mr. Burton did and his Lordship seemed to be much pleased with it Not long before when the News was come hot to the House that York was taken when I came at Five in the Afternoon to make my Answer I was no sooner come to the Bar but the same Lord came and sat just before me and there with much Joy told Mr. Lieutenant the News I presume he did it in favour to me because he thought it would put me in very good Heart being then instantly to begin to make my Answer God forgive this Lord for I have deserved in my time far better of him if he understood himself or any Man else The next Charge was out of Dr. Packlinton's Altare Christianum p. 49 50. where he speaks they say for I now have not his Book of a Happiness that the Bishops of England can derive their Succession from St. Peter which in great Scorn Mr. Nicolas called the Archbishop's Pedigree First If there be any Crime in this Dr. Pocklinton is to Answer it not I. Secondly He may scorn what he will but Wise Men know 't is a great Honour to the Church of England and a great Stopple in the Mouths of the Romanists that her Bishops can derive their Calling successively from St Peter especially considering how much they stand upon personal Succession Thirdly Dr. Pocklinton in this says no more for me and the Bishops than St. Augustin urged for himself and his Brethren against the Donatists in the same words save that St. Aug. begins at St. Peter and descends to his own time and the Dr. begins at his own time and ascends to St. Peter But it seems an Upstart Clergy without a Calling will serve Mr. Nicolas well enough The Sixth Charge was That Books were written of purpose to maintain these Opinions and such Men as writ them only preferred He named Mr. Shelford Mr. Butterfield Dr. Cosins and Dr. Pocklinton This hath been Clamoured upon already if any have set out unworthy Books they may be called to account for it I hope I shall not answer for all the Divines in the Kingdom They whom I preferred were Worthy and Able Men and it will not be in the Power of Mr. White 's Centuries to Blast a Man of them among any that know them For these that are named Mr. Shelford I know not Mr. Butterfield I saw punished in the High-Commission Neither of them preferred that I know The two last by whomsoever they were preferred deserved all the Preferment they had and more The Seventh Charge is out of my Diary at June 15 1632. where 't is said that I preferred Mr Secretary Windebank my old Friend And here Mr. Nicolas laid all the Correspondency open which he said that Gentleman had with the Popes Agents with Priests and Jesuits and when he had made him this way as foul as he could then I must be guilty of all for preferring such a Man to the King This Gentleman was indeed my ancient Friend In my many Years Acquaintance with him I saw nothing in him but Honesty and Worth If when he was preferred he deceived my Opinion he is living to answer for himself Many in all Ages have been preferred to Princes which do not answer the Hopes and Desires of them which prefer them and yet they not made answerable for them neither But whether he did fail in any Publick Trust or no I am not his Judge
was my Complaint general that my Papers were Seized but that the Papers prepared for my Defence were taken from me and not restored when I needed them and Petitioned for them He said my Third Complaint was That many of the Witnesses produced against me were Separatists I did indeed complain of this and I had abundant Cause so to do For there was scarce an active Separatist in England but some way or other his Influence was into this Business against me And whereas the Gentleman said the Witnesses were some Aldermen and some Gentlemen and Men of Quality That 's nothing for both Gentlemen and Aldermen and Men of all Conditions the more 's the pity as the Times now go are Separatists from the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England Established by Law And I would to God some of my Judges were not My Fourth Complaint he said was of the excessive Number of the Witnesses And he added that if I would not have so many Witnesses I should not have given occasion for it by Committing so many Crimes But First whether I have committed so many Crimes as are urged against me is yet in Question And Secondly 't is one thing to give Cause and another thing to give Occasion For an Occasion may be taken when 't is pretended as given And so I hope it will be found in my Case But the thing here mistaken is That these are all said to be Legal Witnesses whereas almost all of them have at some time or other been before me as their Judge either at Star-Chamber or Council-Table or High-Commission or as Referee And then I humbly desire it may be considered First how impossible it is for a Judge to please all Men. Secondly how improbable it is that Witnesses displeased should be indifferent in their Testimony And Thirdly how hard it is to convince a Man by such interessed Witnesses now upon the matter becoming Judges of him that Judged them And as S. Augustin speaks Quomodo potest how is it possible for one that is Contentious and Evil to speak well of his Judge From these Generals the Gentleman passed to the Particulars of the Charge and he caused the 7 8 9 10 11. Original Articles and the 7. Additional to be read That done he divided the Charge into two main Heads The one an Endeavour in me to subvert the Laws of the Kingdom And the other a like Endeavour to alter the true Protestant Religion into Popery The Evidence given in the Lords House began at the Laws and ended in Religion but this Gentleman in his Summ both there and here began with Religion and ended with the Laws The Charge concerning Religion he said would bear two Parts the Ceremonial and the Substantial part of Religion 1 And he professed he would begin at the Ceremonial where having First charged in general the Statute of the 3 and 4 of Ed. 6. 6. 10. for the destruction of Images he gave these particular Instances following to shew my Intention to alter Religion 1. The setting up of Coloured Glass with Pictures in the Windows of my Chappel the Communion-Table Altar-wise Candlesticks thereon with Reverence and Bowings 2. A Bible in my Study with the Five Wounds of Christ wrought upon the Cover in Needle-Work 3. Three Pictures in my Gallery The Ecce Homo the Four Latin Fathers and the History S John 10. of the True Shepherd entring in by the Door and the Thief by the Window 4. The Crucifix hung up in the Chappel at White-Hall on Good-Friday And what happened there upon Dr Brown's coming in and doing Reverence 5. The Copes and Bowings used in Cathedral Churches since my time 6. The Ceremonies used at his Majesty's Coronation 7. The Abuses in the Universities especially Oxford 1. The Titles given me from thence 2. Divers Particulars in the new Statutes 3. Images countenanced there by me in divers Chappels 4. The Picture of the Virgin Mary at S Mary's Church-Door 5. Nothing to be done without me in Congregations 8. The Ceremonies in some Parish-Churches and some punished for neglect of them Instances in some of Beckinton some of Lewis and in Mr Chancy of Ware 9. That I preferred no Men but such as were active for the Ceremonies 10. Passages expunged out of Books if contrary to these Courses as that in Dr. Featly's Sermons concerning Images 11. Bibles with Pictures in them 12. The severe Punishment of Mr. Workman of Gloucester only for a Sermon against Images 13. Words spoken to take Bishop Jewell's Works and the Book of Martyrs out of some parish-Parish-Churches 14. The Consecration of Cree-Church and S. Giles in the Fields In all which as I humbly conceive here 's nothing especially my Answers being taken to them that can co-operate to any alteration of Religion Nor is there any Treason were all that is urged true 2 From hence Mr. Speaker this worthy Gentleman passed over from the Ceremonies to those things which he said concerned the Substance of Religion In which the Particulars which he Charged were these 1. A doubtfulness if not a denyal of the Pope's being Antichrist 2. Dislike of the Name the Idol of Rome 3. The alteration of some passages in the Publick Prayers appointed for Novemb. 5. and the Coronation Day 4. The Antichristian Yoak left out of the Brief for the Palatinat with an expression as if we and those Reformed Churches were not of the same Religion 5. That Men were punished for Praying for the Queen and the Prince 6. That the Church of Rome is a true Church 7. That the Communion-Table or Altar is the Chief Place For there 's Hoc est Corpus meum 8. Restraint of all Books against Popery Instances in a Book of Bishop Carleton's One tendred by Sir Edward Hungerford Dr. Clarke's Sermons Dr. Jones None called in but Sales That I my self did expunge some Passages out of a Sermon of Dr. Sibthorp's Popish Books seized re-delivered to the Owners That for these I must answer for my Chaplains since John Arch-Bishop of York was fined for his Commissary's Act against the Bishop of Durham who having a Patent could not so easily be put out of his Place as I might change my Chaplains 9. Three Ministers in my Diocess suspended for not reading the Book of Recreations on the Lord's Day 10. The Feoffment for buying in of Impropriations overthrown to the hindrance of Preaching and Scandal to Religion 11. Incroachment upon the Lord Chamberlain for naming of Chaplains to the King and upon the Master of the Wards for giving of Benefices 12 Familiarity with Priests and Jesuits S. Clara and Monsieur S. Giles 13. The Testimonies of Mr. Challonor Sir Henry Mildmay and his Brother Mr. Anthony what Opinion was held of me beyond the Seas for my cunning introducing of Popery 14. That an Offer was made unto me to be a Cardinal And thus far this Gentleman proceeded in points of Religion But because there hath passed divers things done at
of the Arch-Bishop passed in the House of Commons November 13. 1644. But yet the Business was not done for the Lords stuck at it Some of which having not extinguished all the Sparks of Humanity began to find themselves Compassionate of his Condition not knowing how soon it should or might be made their own if once disfavoured by the Grandees of that Potent Faction For the Ordinance having been Transmitted to the House of Peers and the House of Peers deliberating somewhat long upon it it was Voted on December 4. That all Books Writings and Evidences which concerned the Tryal should be brought before the Lords in Parliament to the end that they might seriously and distinctly consider of all Particulars amongst themselves as they came before them But meaning to make sure work of it they had in the mean time after no small Evaporations of Heat and Passion prepared an Ordinance which they sent up unto the Lords importing the displacing of them from all those Places of Power and Command which they had in the Army Which being found too weak to hold they fall upon another and a likelier Project which was to bring the Lords to sit in the Commons House where they were sure they should be inconsiderable both for Power and Number And to effect the same with more speed and certainty they had recourse to their Old Arts drawing down Watkins with his General Muster of Subscriptions and putting a Petition into his Hands to be tendred by him to the Houses that is themselves Wherein it was required amongst other things That they should vigorously proceed unto the Punishment of all Delinquents and that for the more quick dispatch of Publick Business of State the Lords would please to Vote and Sit together with the Commons On such uncertain Terms such a ticklish Tenure did they then hold their Place and Power in Parliament who so officiously complied with the House of Commons in depriving the Bishops of their Vote and the Church's Birth-Right And this was it which helped them in that time of need And yet not thinking this device sufficient to fright their Lordships to a present compliance Strowd was sent up with a Message from the House of Commons to let them know That the Londoners would shortly bring a Petition with 20000 Hands to obtain that Ordinance By which stale and common Stratagem they wrought so far on some weak Spirits the rest withdrawing themselves as formerly in the Case of the Earl of Strafford that in a thin and slender House not above six or seven in number it was pass'd at last The day before they pass'd the Ordinance for Establishing their New Directory which in effect was nothing but a total Abolition of the Common-Prayer-Book and thereby shewed unto the World how little hopes they had of setling their new Form of Worship if the Foundation of it were not laid in the Blood of this Famous Prelate who had so stoutly stood up for it against all Novellism and Faction in the whole course of his Life It was certified by some Letters to Oxon and so reported in the Mercurius Aulicus of the following Week That the Lord Bruce but better known by the Name of the Earl of Elgin was one of the Number of those few Lords which had Voted to the Sentence of his Condemnation The others which concurred in that fatal Sentence being the Earls of Kent Pembroke Salisbury and Bullingbrook together with the Lord North and the Lord Gray of Wark But whatsoever may be said of the other six I have been advertised lately from a very good Hand that the said Lord Bruce hath frequently disclaimed that Action and solemnly professed his detestation of the whole Proceedings as most abhorrent from his Nature and contrary to his known Affections as well unto his Majesty's Service as the Peace and Preservation of the Church of England This Ordinance was no sooner passed but it revived many of those Discourses which had before been made on the like occasion in the Business of the Earl of Strafford Here we have a new-found Treason never known before nor declared such by any of his Majesty's Justices nor ever brought to be considered of by the King and his Parliament but only Voted to be such by some of those Members which sate at Westminster who were resolved to have it so for their private Ends. The first Example of this kind the first that ever suffered Death by the Shot of an Ordinance as himself very well observed in his Dying Speech upon the Scaffold though purposely omitted in Hind's Printed Copy to which now he hastneth For the passing of the Ordinance being signified to him by the then Lieutenant of the Tower he neither entertained the News with a Stoical Apathy nor wailed his Fate with weak and Womanish Lamentations to which Extreams most Men are carried in this Case but heard it with so even and so smooth a Temper as shewed he neither was ashamed to Live nor afraid to Die The time between the Sentence and Execution he spent in Prayers and Applications to the Lord his God having obtained though not without some difficulty a Chaplain of his own to Attend upon him and to assist him in the work of his Preparation though little Preparation needed to receive that Blow which could not but be welcome because long expected On the Evening before his Passover the Night before the dismal Combat betwixt him and Death after he had refreshed his Spirits with a moderate Supper he betook himself unto his Rest and Slept very soundly till the time came in which his Servants were appointed to Attend his Rising A most assured sign of a Soul prepared The fatal Morning being come he first applied himself to his private Prayers and so continued till Pennington and others of their Publick Officers came to conduct him to the Scaffold which he ascended with so brave a Courage such a chearful Countenance as if he had mounted rather to behold a Triumph than be made a Sacrifice and came not there to Die but to be Translated And though some Rude and Uncivil People Reviled him as he pass'd along with opprobrious Language as loth to let him go to the Grave in Peace yet it never discomposed his Thoughts nor disturb'd his Patience For he had profited so well in the School of Christ that when he was reviled he reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not but committed his Cause to him that Judgeth Righteously And as he did not fear the Frowns so neither did he covet the Applause of the Vulgar Herd and therefore rather chose to read what he had to speak unto the People than to affect the ostentation either of Memory or Wit in that dreadful Agony Whether with greater Magnanimity than Prudence I can hardly say As for the matter of his Speech besides what did concern himself and his own Purgation his great care was to clear his Majesty and the Church of England from
Prayer come as from the Publick Spirit of the Church when it is but the Bishop or his Chaplain or some private Spirit that frames them If this be my Lord's meaning far be it from me or any other to impose any Form of set Prayers upon the Church But it is one thing to Impose and quite another to Compose a set Form of Prayer Impose none can but Just Authority Compose all together cannot but some one or more must be singled out to take that pains And all or most may approve what one or few have compiled When it is so approved then it can no more be said to proceed from any private Spirit of this or that Man be it the Bishop or his Chaplain but from the Spirit and Power of the Church My Lord himself being a Prudent Man hath had the Happiness to make Motions in Parliament which have taken the House been approved and Orders drawn up upon them When the Order is so agreed on no Man may say it is an Order of my Lord 's private Spirit but the Order of the House and approved by the publick Spirit and imposed by the Publick Authority of the State And therefore to me it seems strange that my Lord who understands these things so well should neither like of a set Form of Prayers Composed by private Men nor by a certain number of Men and after publickly Confirmed Sure this would make any Man think my Lord likes none however he minces it But my Lord goes farther and says This Injunction is an Vsurpation of Power over the Churches of Christ and over the Gifts and Graces which Christ hath given unto Men which the Apostles never exercised nor would assume And yet they might much better have done it And the same Reasons might have been alledged for it that are now This turns such Forms instead of being Directions into Superstition It seems by this for I am most willing to take my Lord 's Meaning at the fairest that my Lord can digest some set Forms of Prayer but he would have no Injunction upon them So he that would use them might and he that would not might choose and this in short time would bring meer confusion into the Church of God which I hope is not my Lord's Intention to do Besides my Lord cannot but know that this Injunction for our set Form of Service comes not from the Churches Direction and Constitution though her Wisdom and Piety framed it but from the Authority and Power of King and Parliament So that all the Arguments which his Lordship brings here against the Church are equally if not more set against the King and the Parliament Well Why then is not an Injunction of set Form of Prayers fit Why my Lord tells you First because it is an Vsurpation of Power over the Churches of Christ. 'T is indeed an Act of Power but no Usurpation The Church Directing and the Soveraign Enacting ever had this Power since States became Christian. And should I have called it an Vsurpation of Power his Lordship I fear would have called it Treason against the King's Supremacy But I doubt my Lord would have the Churches free from Regal Power having ought to do with them durst he speak out Secondly because it 's an Vsurpation of Power over the Gifts and Graces which God hath given unto Men. Not so neither For whatsoever Gifts or Graces God hath given unto Men they may all have time place and occasions enough to use them to God's Glory and the Comfort of themselves and others and yet in the Publick Service of God submit to that set Form of God's Worship which is enjoyned for Unity and Decency in that External Service So this lays no restraint upon the Gifts and Graces of pious and religious Men But it keeps off bold ignorant and audacious Men from foming out their own shame to the great disorder and scandal of the Church of Christ. As we may see at this day now that Injunction begins to be but a little loosed what Froth and base Stuff is preached to the Consciences of Men. And yet these Men which preach thus scandalously talk of Gifts and Graces none more Thirdly because the Apostles never Exercised nor would Assume this Power of enjoyning a set Form and yet they might better have done it But how doth my Lord know the Apostles never Exercised nor would Assume this Power Out of all doubt the Apostles did Exercise and Assume many things which are not come down to our knowledge And since the Apostles did enjoyn a Form of Doctrine to the Church of Rome and delivered it too And since St. Paul enjoyned the Church at Philippi to walk by a set Rule for a Rule it cannot be unless it be set that so they might learn to mind the same things Phil. 3. And a Form of Ordination by imposition of Hands 1 Tim. 5. for such Persons as should instruct the People in these things And this with a stiff Injunction v. 21. And a Form of wholesome words 2 Tim. 1. And since St. John the Baptist taught his Disciples to pray St. Luke 11. and that it was by some set Form of Prayer I have some Reason to think First because if they did Pray by the Motion of the Spirit only St. John could not teach them that but the Spirit only So either St. John taught them not at all to pray which I hope this Lord will not say against a plain Text. Or else he taught them some set Form which was in his power and theirs to teach and learn Secondly because Christ's Disciples seem to intimate so much For they desire Christ to teach them to pray as St. John taught his Disciples And Christ instantly granting their Request taught them a set Form of Prayer Therefore it is more than probable that St. John taught his so too though the Form be not Recorded in Scripture Upon all which laid together it is probable enough by my Lord's leave that the Apostles did Exercise some set Form that at least which Christ taught them And Assumed Power to enjoyn it upon their Followers But herein yet the Apostles are somewhat beholding to this Lord that he re-allows they might better have done it than any now-adays Well I will not dispute what they might better have done sure I am it may and ought to be done now Fourthly because the same Reasons might then have been alledged for it that are now The same might but not all the same In particular the Church was small then and might with ease be Ordered in comparison of the great Congregations that are now But especially the Apostles and Apostolical Men were then present and could in another manner and with a greater Power than Men now adays both Judge and Order the Gifts and Graces of other Men to the avoiding of confusion in the Church which God by his Apostles would none of Besides the Apostles and some others in
best that can be said of it is that it is a pretty fine thing if it were to the purpose But to come nearer to the Business I would have his Lordship remember that Christ taught his Apostles a set Form of Prayer St. Luc. 11. And I believe they were so religiously Dutiful as that they would not beg of Christ to teach them to Pray and when he had taught them then neglect or not practise the very Form he taught If my Lord can think this of the Apostles he may I cannot Nor can I think that Christ taught them this Form to be used as Crutches till their Legs were grown stronger For our Saviour doth not say till ye be stronger and have better Gifts Pray as I teach you but simply and absolutely when you Pray say Our Father c. That is say these very Words this very Form And what Will my Lord say that Christ taught them this Form to maintain them in Insufficiency Or did he make Crutches for their Lameness Or thereby prohibit the use of their Legs This Speech savours of more Profaneness than well become such a Professor His Lordship speaks better of them in another place There he can say there never were nor ever will be Men of so great Abilities and Gifts as they were Endued withal And I think he dares not say I am sure nor he nor any Man living can prove that the Apostles when their Gifts were at fullest did neglect or not use this Form of Prayer which Christ taught them Therefore either to use a set Form of Prayer is not to use Crutches or if it be 't is to use the same or the like Crutches which Christ made and his Apostles used And they will better beseem any good Christians to use than his own Legs be they never so good And for the set Prayers of the Church this I think I am sure of That the Men which are cry'd up by my Lord to have such excellent Gifts and Graces are in as much need of these Crutches as other Men. In the mean time my Lord every way shews his Love to the set Liturgy of the Church that makes nothing of it but Crutches which a Man if the Bath cure him would gladly hang up and leave behind him I well hoped to have found that my Lord had entertained more moderate thoughts of things appertaining unto Religion But since he himself thus proclaims it otherwise let us see how he goes forward without these Crutches This I confess I am not satisfied in yet will farther say thus much Here are with your Lordships some Bishops Men of great Parts able to Offer up this Worship unto God in the use of those ãâã which God hath endued them with And certainly they ought to serve him with the best of their Abilities which they have received Let them make use of their own Gifts nay let them but profess that they account not themselves bound to use Forms nor to this Form they use more than any other but that it is free for them to conceive Prayer or to help themselves by the use of any other Form they please as well as this prescribed And let them practise the same indifferently that so it may be manifest the Fault rests in the person and not in the Service In the negligence of him that may offer better if he will not in the Injunction of that which is offered And I will not refuse to come to Prayers For I take the Sin then to be personal and to reside in the Person Officiating only Now my Lord goes on farther and tells us That there are with your Lordships some Bishops Men of great Parts able to offer this Worship unto God c. Indeed my Lord goes far here and I am glad to hear that any Bishops can please him Are Bishops even as such Members of Antichrist so I am sure my Lord and his Followers have accounted them and their Libels Print them for such every Day and now can any Offer this Worship unto God which his Lordship would have Why then my Lord can be pleased I see that even in this Church God should be Worshiped by the Members of Antichrist Or if not then in this Passage he grosly Dissembles But what is this Worship which his Lordship would have Why it is to Pray in Publick and not by a set Form enjoyned but in the use of those Gifts which God hath Endued them with And it is most undoubtedly true which follows that they ought to serve God with the best of the abilities they have received But 't is as true that Bishops and all Ministers else ought to serve God with the best Abilities which the Church of Christ can furnish them with And I presume I shall not wrong any my Brethren not those of the greatest Parts If I say as I must that those Bishops and other Divines which Composed the set Form of our Service and enjoyned it too as far as their Power reached were Men of as great Piety and Learning and all other good Parts as any now living And it can be no Disparagement much less any fault or dulling of their own Gifts for the best of Bishops to use the set Forms ordered by them And the Phrase which my Lord uses is somewhat unusual To offer this Worship unto God We are said indeed to offer up our Prayers unto God and by so doing to Worship Honour and Serve him and him alone in that But to offer Worship to God I think is an improper Phrase at least And Psal. 110. the People are said to offer their Free-Will-Offerings with an Holy Worship or in the Beauties of Holiness And though perhaps his Lordship will not allow of this Translation yet so far he may as to see the use of the Phrase And in the Beauties of Holiness which keeps close to the Original will please him less Since a Barn with them is as good as a Church And no Church Holy with them but that which is Slovenly even to Nastiness But then 't is void of all Superstition Next my Lord proposes some Conditions which being observed his Lordship will not refuse to come to Common-Prayer I 'll examine these then For I would have all just Demands of his granted that he may come The First is Let these Bishops and others I suppose he means make use of their own Gifts Well let them on God's Name in that Dutiful Peaceable and Orderly Way make use of their own Gifts not crossing what the Church justly prescribes Secondly Let them but profess that they account not themselves bound to use Forms This Condition is somewhat hard For if they shall acknowledge they hold themselves bound to no Forms they must be bound to no Order And how Bishops will keep the Church in Order if they will be bound to observe none themselves I cannot tell Besides if they shall profess this they must profess against the constant
and continued Practice of the whole Church of Christ. Thirdly Let them profess they are not bound to this Form they use more than any other but that it is free for them to conceive Prayer c. Harder and harder For they stand bound not only by Church-Ordinance but by Injunction and Command of the State in Parliament strictly to observe this Form And they are therefore bound to this Form more than any other And therefore so long as this Act of Parliament remains in force with what Honour or Conscience can this Lord who seems to stand so much upon Law ask this at the Bishops Hands that they should profess that they are not bound to any Forms Nor to this more than any other when his Lordship must needs know they are bound to this and no other and that by an Act of Parliament Besides What a Coil hath been kept by some of this Lord's Favourites against Innovations of Religion as contrary to Law No Rails to fence the Holy Table from Prophanation Though that be no Ceremony nor forbidden by Law No coming up to it or the steps of the Chancel to receive the Communion though most decent and in ancient usage and forbidden by no Law that I know No Reverence to God himself at coming in or going out of his Temple though that of the Psalmist began the ancient Liturgies of the Church and is continued in our O come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our maker c. Psal. 95. The Communion-Table must not stand North and South though the Queens Injunction commanded it to be set just in that Place in which the Altar then stood So they innovate themselves and then cry out of Innovation And if this Lord's Doctrin be good let 's have no Injunction for North and South and all 's well But then we must have no Injunction for East and West neither For if there be an Injunction East and West is Superstition as well as North and South But then if my Lord would have all free what would he have in this Particular Why First he would have it free for these Men to conceive Prayer Let them in due time and place conceive Prayer on God's Name But let them not make publick Abortion in the Church 'T is an over-hasty Mother that brings forth so soon as she has Conceived And yet Extemporary Men out-run these Mothers and Conceive and bring forth their unnatural Monsters both at once Next he would have these Men to help themselves by the use of any other Forms they please as well as this which is prescribed So then belike these great Men of Gifts in my Lord's Eye are not so perfect in the Spirit but that they may need helps And if my Lord be so indifferent that these may help themselves by the use of any other Forms as well as this which is prescribed let him be as fair at least to the Church that made him a Christian as to others and give Men leave to help themselves by the use of this Form which is prescribed as well any other And if it be the Injunction only that sticks in his Stomach I am sorry he should shew himself so Guilty of the great Sin of Disobedience Fourthly Let them practise the same indifferently that so it may be manifest the Fault rests in the Person and not in the Service c. This is his Lordship's last Condition And either I am dulled with this Business or the Expression is somewhat obscure But I will take it as right as I can It seems my Lord would not refuse coming to the Prayers of the Church for the Personal Fault of him that Officiates And that 's well It seems likewise that to manifest this whether the Sin lies in the Person that offers or in the Service that is Offered up his Lordship would have an indifferent practice of that which is enjoyned and other Forms And that 's stark naught For by this we shall have no certain Service of God for the People It shall ãâã and perhaps more dangerously than is fit not only in different Parishes but in the same Congregation at different times And were not this so yet I cannot assent to my Lord in this that these Men he means can so easily offer better if they will and that when they do not it is their Negligence that is the only Cause And besides it is useless For it is known already to sober Minds that the Fault when any arises in that Work is neither in the Service which is very good nor in the Injunction which is very Lawful but in the Person which Officiates if he do not his Duty And so there is no need of a confused practising of divers Forms indifferently to manifest that which is known already And if my Lord brings no worse Sins about him when he comes to Church than he will find Faults in the Liturgy he may safely come to Church and be a Happy Man in so doing And I might well doubt of my Lord's meaning herein for himself is jealous of his Auditors Therefore he adds I know not whether I express my self clearly to be understood in this or not and it may seem to be a nice Scrupulosity Give me leave therefore to endeavour to clear it by an Instance or two Truly my Lord takes himself right For neither hath he expressed himself very clearly nor is the matter so material in it self but that it may be as it seems a very nice Scrupulosity and altogether unable to warrant his Lordship's Separation from the Prayers of the Church Yet since my Lord desires to clear it by an Instance or two I shall be well content to hear and consider of them His First Instance is In the time of the Law when God appointed himself to be Worshipped by Offerings and Sacrifices the Shadows and Types of those Truths which were to come If a Poor Man which had not Ability to bring a Bullock or a Ram or a Lamb had brought a pair of Turtle Doves or two Young Pigeons it would have been in him an acceptable Service But if a Man of Ability who had Herds and Flocks should out of Negligence or Covetousness have spared the Cost of a Bullock or Ram and brought Young Pigeons his Service would have been rejected and himself punished How much more would the Service have been Abomination if Men should have taken Authority to have enjoyned all to bring no other but Turtles or Young Pigeons because some were not able to do more In one kind there might be a tolerable and lawful use of that which otherways used especially if generally enjoyned would have been most unlawful God will be Worshipped with the Fat and best of the Inwards the best of Mens Gifts and Abilities which he that worships or officiates in Worshipping is to do at his own Peril And if it be left free unto him the Worship may be Lawful to him that
apply this term unto are the Brownists as they call them by another Name and they know their Tenents The truth is they differ with us in no Fundamental Point of Doctrine or saving Truth I know Here then my Lord is ãâã to say that all that he hath hitherto said is so far from making him the greatest Separatist in England that it cannot argue him to be any at all For my part I would to God it were so But let 's examine whether it be so or not First then this I humbly conceive is certain That he whoever he be that will not Communicate in Publick Prayers with a National Church which serves God as she ought is a Separatist But the Church of England as it stands established by Law serves God as she ought Therefore my Lord by his general absenting himself from her Communion in Prayers is a Separatist And this is by his own confession For he says a little before and that expresly that this is a Separation which every Man must make that will keep himself pure from other Mens Sins And I cannot doubt but his Lordship hath made that which he says he must make All that can be said for my Lord herein is this First That my Lord Charges the Church of England with Corruptions in the Worship of God and such Corruptions as he must Separate from her But is it sufficient for a Separation for a particular Man barely to say there are such Corruptions in the Liturgy when he doth neither prove them to be such nor so much as name them what they are Surely no. And I think these Gnats which his Lordship strains at may be swallowed without any Offence to God or Man So far are they from being a just Cause of Separation Therefore for all this my Lord is a Separatist Yea but my Lord charges upon the Church of England that she injoyns her Liturgy upon all Men by a certain Number of Men usurping Authority to themselves and imposing this Injunction under the name of the Church I have made answer already to this Power of the Church to compose a set Form for publick Service and I hope made it manifest that this Authority is not usurped And then that can be no just Cause of a Separation Nay I must doubt whether if such Authority were usurped by some Church-Men in any National Church the injoyning of the Service after it is made supposing always that it contain no Idolatry or Fundamental Error be for the Injunction alone a sufficient Warrant to my Lord or any other to Separate Therefore my Lord 's forsaking the publick Service of the Church upon no better Grounds than these makes him a Separatist by his own Confession without any Man calling him so As for his Lordship's being the greatest Separatist in England I have at the beginning of this Tract clearly related to the uttermost of my Memory what and upon what occasion I spake of his Lordship in this kind But whether I said it or not my Lord for ought I see will hardly escape being so For he is the greatest Separatist from the Church that absents himself with most will and least cause And this if I mistake not is my Lord's Case for he separates with most will that says Men must and ought to Separate And upon least Cause because as yet he hath Named none at all but Corruptions in general which any Man may say and the Injunction of a set Form which is no cause Therefore for ought I yet see it may truly be said of his Lordship that he is the greatest Separatist in England Especially if you add to this how busie and active his Lordship is and for many Years hath been to promote this Cause of Separation And I have some very good grounds to think that his Lordship hath been and is the great Cause and enlarger of all the Separation that now is in Church Affairs And of all the Disobedience thereby bred or cherished against Soveraign Power Next my Lord appeals to my Lords the Bishops and tells them that they know that they whom they usually apply this Name Separatist unto are the Brownists as they call them by another Name I know not all things which the rest of my Learned Brethren the Bishops know Yet I think both they and I know this that the Name Separatist is a common Name to all Hereticks or Schismaticks that separate for their Opinions sakes either from the Catholick or from any particular Orthodox Church And if my Lord himself who it seems is well acquainted with them or any of my Lords the Bishops do know that this Name is usually applyed to the Brownists be it so That I am sure is not material unless it be for that which my Lord closes this passage withal Namely that my Lords the Bishops know the Tenents of the Brownists and that the truth is they differ from us in no Fundamental Point of Doctrine or Saving Truth that his Lordship knows I doubt not but my Lords the Bishops know the Tenents of the Brownists so far forth at least as they be Tenents and not varied from and so far as they are their General Tenents to which all or most of them agree And so far as they are plain and univocal Tenents and not such as shall equivocate with the very Faith it self But such Tenents of the Brownists as these are it may be all my Lords the Bishops know not Now if the Truth be as my Lord says it is for ought he knows that the Brownists differ from us in no Fundamental Point of Doctrine or saving Truth Then out of all doubt Majus peccatum habent their Sin and my Lord 's too is the greater that they will so Uncharitably and with so great Heat and setled Violence and to the great scandal of Religion first separate themselves from and now labour utterly to overthrow that Church which by my Lord 's own Confession here differs not from them in any Fundamental Point of Doctrine or saving Truth For sure if they differ not from us we differ not from them But this is only Argumentum ad Hominem and is sufficient to convince this Lord I think in his own way But I doubt the Truth is quite another thing Namely that the Church of England is very Orthodox and that the Brownists or Separatists call them as you will do Separate upon false and unchristian Opinions And that besides Matters of Opinion and breach of Charity they do differ from us in some Fundamental Points of Doctrine and saving Truth My Lord a little before tells us of Corruptions in the Liturgy of the Church but names none And should I charge the Brownists with difference from the Church in Fundamental Points of Doctrine and yet name none I should run into the same fault for which I there taxed my Lord I shall therefore give some Instances of some of their Opinions and then leave the indifferent Reader to judge whether
rage so horribly And as for this Lord God forgive him and I do and I hope this Church will Amen In Turri Lond Dec. 3. 1641. S. S. Trinitati sit Laus Gloria in AEternum Arch-Bishop LAUD's ANNUAL ACCOUNTS OF HIS PROVINCE PRESENTED TO THE KING IN The beginning of every Year With the KING 's Apostills or Marginal Notes Transcribed and Published from the Originals Together with the KING's INSTRUCTIONS TO THE Arch-Bishops Abbot and Laud Upon which These ACCOUNTS were formed AND The last Account of Arch-Bishop Abbot to the King concerning his Province LONDON Printed for ãâã ãâã at the Rose and Crown in St Paul's Church-Yard M DC XCV INSTRUCTIONS Sent from the King to Arch-Bishop Abbot in the Year 1629. Carolus Rex INstructions for the most Reverend Father in God our right Trusty and right intirely well beloved Councellor George Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury concerning certain Articles to be observed and put in execution by the several Bishops in his Province I That the Lords the Bishops be commanded to their several Sees to keep Residence excepting those which are in necessary Attendance at Court II That none of them Reside upon his Land or Lease that he hath Purchased no ron his Commendam if he should have any but in one of the Episcopal Houses if he have any And that he waste not the Woods where any are left III That they give charge in their Triennial Visitations and all other convenient times both by themselves and the Arch-Deacons that the Declaration for the setling all Questions in difference be chiefly observed by all Parties IV That there be a special care taken by them all that the Ordinations be Solemn and not of unworthy Persons V That they take great care concerning the Lecturers in these special Directions following 1 That in all Parishes the Afternoon Sermons may be turned into Catechizing by Questions and Answers when and wheresoever there is no great cause apparent to break this ancient and profitable Order 2 That every Bishop Ordain in his Diocess that every Lecturer do read Divine Service according to the Liturgy Printed by Authority in his Surplice and Hood before the Lecture 3 That where a Lecture is set up in a Market-Town it may be read by a company of Grave and Orthodox Divines near adjoyning and in the same Diocess and that they Preach in Gowns and not in Cloaks as too many do use 4 That if a Corporation maintain a single Lecturer he be not suffered to Preach till he profess his willingness to take upon him a Living with cure of Souls within that Corporation and that he actually take such Benefice or Cure as soon as it shall be fairly procured for him VI That the Bishops do countenance and encourage the Grave and Orthodox Divines of their Clergy and that they use means by some of their Clergy that they may have knowledge how both Lecturers and Preachers behave themselves in their Sermons within their Diocess That so they may take Order for any abuse accordingly VII That the Bishops suffer none but Noblemen and Men qualified by Learning to have any Private Chaplain in his House VIII That they take special Care that Divine Service be duly frequented as well for Prayers and Catechizing as for Sermons And take particular note of all such as absent themselves as Recusants or otherwise IX That every Bishop that by our Grace Favour and good Opinion of his Service shall be nominated by us to another Bishoprick shall from that Day of Nomination not presume to make any Lease for Three Lives or One and Twenty Years or concurrent Lease or any way make any Estate or cut any Woods or Timber but meerly receive the Rents due and so quit the place For we think it an hateful thing that any Man leaving the Bishoprick should almost undo the Successor And if any Man shall presume to break this Order we will refuse him at our Royal Assent and keep him at the Place which he had so abused X We Command you to give us an Account every Year the Second Day of January of the performance of these our Commands Dorchester Arch-Bishop Abbot's Account of his Province for the Year 1632. sent to the King May it it Please your most Excellent Majesty THE Year is at an end redit Orbis in Orbem moritura ruit perituri Machina Mundi But the Account of the Church Affairs for the last Year must not be forgotten To speak generally unto the Articles heretosore propounded by your Majesty it is enough to say that the Bishops for ought it appeareth unto me have lived at home and in their Episcopal-Houses Saving only my Lord of St. Davids who by his Wives Sickness but especially by a Law Suit which concerneth him for all that he hath as he informeth was constrained to keep here But now that vexatious Suit being ended he promiseth to repair home and there to reside that there shall be no just Occasion of Complaint against him Of Arminian Points there is no dispute And Ordinations of Ministers for ought that I can learn are Canonically observed The Rules for Lecturers are strictly kept Care is had that Divine Service is Religiously read and frequented saving by certain Separatists about London who for their Persons are contemptible but fit to be punished for their wilful Obstinacy which we do with Moderation Yet yielding them Means to confer with Learned Men which we hope will prevail with some of them And so it may be said of the rest of the Articles that I find no noted Transgression of them There is not in the Church of England left any inconformable Minister which appeareth And yet the Lord Bishops of London and Lincoln have been forced to deprive Two or Three whom no time can Tame nor Instruction conquer according to the rule Immedicabile Vulnus Ense recidendum est There was one Burges a Physician who opened his Mouth wide against the repairing of St Pauls Church but he hath been so castigated that as I trust very few others will be encouraged to walk in his ways and to Blaspheme so Holy a Work There hath been these Two last Years past mention made of Papists frequenting Holy-Well or St. Winifred's Well in Wales and the Bishop of St Asaph doth not forget to touch it again in these Words There hath been there all this Summer more than ordinary concourse of People and more bold and open practice of Superstition Where it is not to be forgotten that at that Well a great part of the Powder Treason was hatched And therefore my humble Opinion is that serious Letters should be directed from your Majesty or Privy Council to the Lord President of Wales and his Fellow Commissioners that at Summer next some course should be taken for the repressing of this Confluence being indeed no better than a Pilgrimage The Lady Wotton in Kent hath set up a bold Epitaph upon her Lord's Tomb and
will not be perswaded to take it down We have therefore called her into the High-Commission where by excuse of Sickness she hath not yet appeared But at the next Term God willing we intend to proceed with her which is but necessary for the avoiding of Scandal in the Country These few are the most observable things whereof I can give your Majesty any reckoning And if there were any thing else worthy the reporting I should not conceal it But there being nothing more it may be the great comfort of your Majesty that in so large and diffuse a Multitude both of Men and Matters upon strict Examination there is so little exorbitancy to be found Lambeth Jan 2. 1632. Your Majesty's Humble Servant G CANT INSTRUCTIONS Sent from the King to Arch-Bishop Laud in the Year 1634. Ex Registro Laud Fol 217. Charles R. INstructions for the most Reverend Father in God our right Trusty and right entirely Beloved Counsellor William Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury concerning certain Orders to be observed and put in Execution by the several Bishops of his Province I That the Lords the Bishops respectively be commanded to their several Sees there to keep Residence excepting those who are in necessary Attendance at our Court. II That none of them Reside upon his Land or Lease that he hath Purchased nor on his Commendam if he hold any but in one of his Episcopal Houses And that he wast not the Woods where any are left III That they give Charge in their Triennial Visitations and at other convenient times both by themselves and the Arch-Deacons that our Declaration for setling all Questions in difference be strictly observed by all Parties IV That there be a special care taken by them all that their Ordinations be Solemn and not of unworthy Persons V That they likewise take great care concerning the Lecturers within their several Diocesses for whom we give the special Directions following 1 That in all Parishes the Afternoon Sermons be turned into Catechizing by Question and Answer when and wheresoever there is not some great Cause apparent to break this ancient and profitable Order 2 That every Bishop take care in his Diocess that all Lecturers do read Divine Service according to the Liturgy Printed by Authority in their Surplices and Hoods before the Lecture 3 That where a Lecture is set up in a Market-Town it may be read by a Company of Grave and Orthodox Divines near adjoyning and of the same Diocess and that they ever Preach in such seemly Habits as belong to their Degrees and not in Cloaks That if a Corporation do maintain a single Lecturer he be not suffered to Preach till he profess his willingness to take upon him a Living with Cure of Souls within that Corporation and he do actually take such Benefice or Cure so soon as it shall be fairly procured for him VI That the Bishops do countenance and encourage the Grave and Orthodox Divines of their Clergy and that they use means by some of the Clergy or others to have knowledge how both Lecturers and Preachers within their several Diocesses behave themselves in their Sermons that so they may take present Order for any abuse accordingly VII That the Bishops suffer none under Noblemen and Men qualified by Law to have or keep any Private Chaplain in his House VIII That they take special care that Divine Service be diligently frequented as well for Prayers and Catechism as Sermons and that particular notice be taken of all such as absent themselves as Recusants or otherwise IX That no Bishop whatsoever who by our Grace and good Opinion of his Service shall be nominated by us to another Bishoprick shall from the Day of that our nomination presume to make any Lease for Three Lives or One and Twenty Years or Concurrent Lease or any way renew any Estate or cut any Wood or Timber but meerly receive the Rents due and quit the Place For we think it a hateful thing that any Man's Preferment to a better Bishoprick should almost undoe the Successor And if any shall presume to break this Order we will refuse him at our Royal Assent and keep him at the Place which he hath so abused X That every Bishop give his Metropolitan a strict Account yearly of their Obedience to our late Letters prohibiting them to change any Leases from Years into Lives and that they fail not to certifie if they find that the Dean or Dean and Chapter or any Arch-Deacon or Prebendary c. within their several Diocesses have at any time broken our Commands in any particular contained in the aforesaid Letters XI That every Bishop to whom in regard of the small Revenues of his Bishoprick we either have already or shall hereafter not only give Power but Command to receive and hold as in Commendam any Lease expired or near expiring and belonging to their See or any Ecclesiastical Benefice or Benefices or other Promotion with Cure or without being in his or their own Gift by Letters given under our Signet and sent to those Bishops respectively do likewise give an Account yearly to his Metropolitan that he doth not put any of the aforenamed Benefices or other Preferment out of his Commendam to give to any Son Kinsman Friend or other upon any pretence whatsoever thereby to frustrate our gracious Intentions to those several Sees and the Succeeding Bishops therein XII That every Bishop respectively do likewise in his yearly Account to his Metropolitan give notice of any notable Alteration or other Accident within his Diocess which may any ways concern either the Doctrine or the Discipline of the Church established XIII That whereas John Bancroft Dr. in Divinity and Bishop of Oxford hath very worthily at his own proper Cost and Charges Built a House for himself and the Bishops of Oxford successively by our both leave and encouragement upon the Vicarage of Cuddesden near Oxford which Vicarage is in the Patronage and Gift of him and his Successors And whereas our farther Will and Pleasure is that the said House together with the Vicarage aforesaid shall ever be held in Commendam by the Bishops of Oxford successively That therefore the said Bishop for the time being do yearly give his particular Account of his holding both the House and Benefice aforesaid to the end that we and our Successors may upon all occasions be put in mind of keeping that House and Vicarage to the See of Oxford at all times of change when or howsoever that Bishoprick shall become void XIV Lastly we Command every Bishop respectively to give his Account in Writing to his Metropolitan of all these our Instructions or as many of them as may concern him at or before the Tenth day of December yearly And likewise that you out of them make a Brief of your whole Province and present it to us every Year by the Second day of January following that so we may see how the Church is Governed and our Commands
Obeyed And hereof in any wise fail you not Jan. 19. 1634. Comput Angl. A Memorial of the Arch-Bishop's Annual Account to the King's Majesty of his Province for the Year 1635. Ex Registro Laud fol 241. WHereas his Majesty in his late Instructions to the Lords the Bishops hath amongst other things commanded that every Bishop respectively should give an Account in Writing to his Metropolitan of all those Instructions or so many of them as may concern him at or before the Tenth day of December yearly And likewise that the Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury his Grace do make out of them a Brief of his whole Province and present it to his Sacred Majesty every year by the second day of January following My Lord Arch-Bishop in Obedience to the said Commands did present an Account in Writing to his Majesty how those Prudent and Pious Instructions for the Good and Welfare of the Church of Christ in this Kingdom have been obeyed and performed by the several Bishops within his Province of Canterbury for the Year of our Lord God 1634. Which Account by his Grace's Command is Registred amongst the other Acts of his Province by his principal Register And that in farther Obedience to the said Instructions his Grace delivered another Brief in Writing of his said Province for this present Year of our Lord God 1635. unto Sir John Cooke Knight one of the Principal Secretaries of State to be presented to his Majesty by the time aforesaid but by Reason of his the said Secretary's Sickness it is mislaid or lost and so hath not been presented to his Majesty nor any Observation by the King put upon it which loss notwithstanding the Lord Arch-Bishop commanded instead of Registring the Brief it self that this Memorial of the loss of it should be Registred Martij 14. 1635. W Cant. W. S. A. C. NOtwithstanding this Memorial the Arch-Bishop's Account for the Year 1635. is very happily come to my Hand after this manner My very Worthy Friend Sir Will. Cooke of Broom in Norfolk sent me a Letter dated Nov 6 1681. that being Executor to an Uncle of his then lately Deceased in Suffolk he found in his Study a Bundle of Original Papers of Arch-Bishop Laud which are the Annual Accounts here following from 1632. to 1639. with a Letter to me in the Words following May it please your Grace c. vide infra The Writer of this Letter Mr Thomas Raymond a very Ingenious Gentleman was as Sir Will C tells me bred up under Sir Will. Boswell Embassadour in Holland and was after Governour to the present Earl of Peterborough in his Travels And was after his Return as I have heard one of the Clerks of his Majesty's Privy Council possibly under Sir Jo Cooke Principal Secretary by which Means these Papers might come into his Hands The Originals are all Signed by the Arch-Bishop that of 1632. by G. Cant. being Abbot's last and the rest W Cant. being Arch-Bishop Lauds all which are Apostilled in the Margin with the King 's own Hand except only that of 1635. which it seems by Secretary Cook 's default never came to the King's view I found also among Arch-Bishop Laud's Papers Duplicates of the Accounts for 1634 6 7 8 and 9. with the King's Notes also Copied in the Margin And 3 of them scil the 3 last are Registred in Registr Laud f. 215. 254. 289. Mr. Raymond's Letter to my Lord Arch-Bishop Sancroft concerning the following Papers May it please your Grace THE inclosed Papers being of Ecclesiastick Concern and true and mighty Evidences of the abundant Love and Care of a Blessed King for the good of the Church as well as that of a most Pious and Learned Prelate your Grace's Predecessor I thought my self bound both in Duty and Prudence to Transmit them to your Grace as to their proper place both for use and safety And this I have endeavoured to do in the carefullest manner I could and do implore your Grace's Pardon for this intrusion beseeching most humbly Almighty God to grant your Grace multos annos in all Health and Prosperity so much conducing to the good of his Church amongst us And withdrawing my self unto my wonted Solitude do crave the great Honour to be esteemed as I am ready to approve my self Della mia povera Capanna 18 di Novembre 78. Your GRACE's Most Humble and Most Faithful Servant THO. RAYMOND Arch-Bishop Laud's Account of his Province sent to the King for the Year 1633. with the King 's Apostills in the Margin May it please Your most Sacred Majesty ACcording to Your Royal Commands I do here upon the Second of January 1633. Comput Aglic present my Accompt of both the Diocess and Province of Canterbury concerning all those Church Affairs which are contained within your Majesty's most gracious Declaration and Instructions Published out of your most Princely and Religious Care to preserve Unity in Orthodox Doctrine and Conformity to Government in this your Church of England And First for my own Diocess of Canterbury I hear of many things amiss but as yet my time hath been so short that I have had no certain knowledge of any thing fit to certifie save only that some of my Peculiars in London are Extreamly out of order For the Bishoprick of London it is certified that my Lord the now Bishop hath not received complaint against any of his Clergy since his coming to that See which was since Michaelmas last For all the former part of this First Year I must give your Majesty Accompt for my self being then Bishop there And First having heretofore after long patience and often conference proceeded against Nathaniel Ward Parson of Stondon in Essex to Excommunication and Deprivation for refusing to subscribe to the Articles established by the Canon of the Church of which I certified the last Year I have now left him still under the Censure of Excommunication I did likewise convent Mr John Beedle Rector of Barnstone in Essex for omitting some parts of Divine Service and refusing Conformity But upon his submission and promise of reformation I dismissed him with a Canonical Admonition only Since my return out of Scotland Mr John Davenport Vicar of St Stephens in Coleman-street whom I used with all Moderation and about Two Years since thought I had setled his Judgment having him then at advantage enough to have put extremity upon him but forbare it hath now resigned his Vicarage declared his Judgment against Conformity with the Church of England and is since gone as I hear to Amsterdam For Bath and Wells I find that the Lord Bishop hath in his late Visitation taken a great deal of pains to see all your Majesty's Instructions observed And particularly hath put down divers Lecturers in Market-Towns which were Beneficed Men in other Bishops Diocesses Because he found that when they had Preached Factious and Disorderly Sermons they retired into other Countries where his Jurisdiction would not reach to punish them
His Lordship hath likewise sent up a List of Romish Recusants which were presented at his last Visitation which he saith are for the most part but of mean Condition and those not many considering the greatness of the County In this Diocess the Town of Mawling and that whole Deanery were very much out of Order but the Arch-Deacon by my Lord the Bishop's Command hath setled them My Lord likewise brought Mr Throgmorton the Vicar of Mawling into the High Commission where he submitted himself and received a Canonical Admonition I likewise certifie your Majesty that the Bishop complains that the Cathedral Church suffers much for want of Glass in the Windows and that the Church-Yard lies very undecently and the Gates down and that he hath no Power to remedy these things because the Dean and Chapter refuse to be visited by him upon pretence that their Statutes are not confirmed under the Broad Seal with some other circumstances with which I shall acquaint your Majesty more at large Concerning this Diocess whereas your Majesty's Instructions require that Lecturers should turn their Afternoon Sermons into Catechizing by way of Question and Answer some Persons and Vicars make a question whether they be bound to the like Order because Lecturers only be named as they pretend But your Majesty's Expression is clear for Catechizing generally and my Lord the Bishop will presently settle this doubt There is one Mr Elms in that Diocess who being not qualified by Law keeps a School-Master in his House and useth him as a Chaplain to preach a Lecture upon Sundays in the Afternoon in the Church of Warmington But by this time if the Bishop keep his promise that abuse is Rectified The Bishop complains that the Peculiars of his Diocess wherein he hath no Power are much out of Order and I easily believe it But the Remedy will be hard because I know not in whom the Peculiars are but shall inform my self His Lordship farther certifies that he hath suppressed a Seditious Lecture at Repon and divers Monthly-Lectures with a Fast and a Moderator like that which they called Prophesying in Queen Elizabeth's Time as also the Running Lecture so called because the Lecturer went from Village to Village and at the end of the Week Proclaimed where they should have him next that his Disciples might follow They say this Lecture was ordained to Illuminate the Dark Corners of that Diocess My Lord of St Davids is now Resident in his Diocess and hath so been ever since the last Spring and professes that he will take great care hereafter to whom he gives holy Orders His Lordship certifies That he hath Suspended a Lecturer for his Inconformity and that they have but few Romish Recusants The Bishop of St Asaph returns That all is exceeding well in his Diocess save only that the Number and Boldness of some Romish Recusants increaseth much in many Places and is incouraged by the Superstitious and frequent Concourse of some of that Party to Holy-Well otherwise called St Winifreds Well Whether this Concourse be by way of Pilgrimage or no I know not but I am sure it hath long been complained of without Remedy My Lord the Bishop certifies that he hath not one Refractory Nonconformist or ãâã Minister within his Diocess and that there are but two Lecturers and that they both are Licensed Preachers My Lord the Bishop of Lincoln signifies That the Company of Mercers in London trusted with the Gift of one Mr Fishburn set up a Lecturer in Huntingdon with the allowance of Forty Pounds per An. to Preach every Saturday Morning being Market-Day and Sunday in the Afternoon with a Proviso in his Grant from them that upon any dislike they may have of him he shall at a Month or a Fortnights Warning give over the Place without any relation to Bishop or Arch-Bishop My most humble Suit to your Majesty is that no Lay Man whatsoever and least of all Companies or Corporations may under any Pretence of giving to the Church or otherwise have Power to put in or put out any Lecturer or other Minister His Lordship likewise complains of some in Bedfordshire that use to wander from their own Parish-Churches to follow Preachers Affected by themselves of which he hath caused his Officers to take special care As for the placing of the Communion-Table in Parish-Churches his Lordship professes that he takes care of it according to the Canon These two last are no part of your Majesty's Instructions yet since his Lordship hath been so careful to report them to me I take it my Duty to express that his Lordship's care to your Majesty These two Diocesses are void and I had no Certificat before the Death of the Bishops All the Bishops above mentioned which are all that have yet certified do agree that all other things in your Sacred Majesty's Instructions contained are carefully observed and particularly that of avoiding factious medling with the prohibited Questions From any of the rest of the Bishops within my Province I have not as yet received any Certificat at all namely Salisbury Norwich Worcester Oxford Bristol Winchester Chichester Glocester Exeter So I humbly submit this my Certificat W. CANT The Lord Bishop of Ely certifies that he hath had special Care of your Majesty's Instructions and that he doth not know that they are broken in his Diocess in any point Jan. 2. 1633. W. CANT The Arch-Bishop's Account of his Province to the King for the Year 1634. May it please Your most Excellent Majesty I Am at this time in Obedience to your Sacred Majesty's Commands to give you an Account how your prudent and pious Instructions for the Good and Welfare of the Church of Christ in this your Kingdom have been obeyed and performed by the several Bishops within my Province of Canterbury which with all Humility and Obedience I here present as followeth And First I represent to your Majesty That I have this Year partly by my Vicar-General and partly by the Dean of the Arches visited seven Diocesses beginning as I am bound by the Ecclesiastical Laws at my own Metropolitical Church of Canterbury and that Diocess that I might first see what was done at Home before I did curiously look abroad into other Bishops Jurisdictions And not to conceal Truth from your Majesty I found in my own Diocess especially about Ashford-side divers professed Separatists with whom I shall take the best and most present Order that I can some of them and some of Maidstone where much Inconformity hath of late Years spread being already called into the High Commission where if they be proved as guilty as they are voiced to be I shall not fail to do Justice upon them I conceive under favour that the Dutch Churches in Canterbury and Sandwich are great Nurseries of Inconformity in those Parts Your Majesty may be pleased to remember I have complained to your self
about Catechizing in the Afternoon of which he will take great Care that it my be remedied And I find by his Lordship's return to me that there are divers obstinate Recusants in those parts which I presume are certified to your Majesty's Judges according to Law The Bishop of London visited his Diocess this Year the City and Middlesex in Person the rest by his Chancellour by reason of his necessary attendance upon your Majesty In this his Visitation he found divers complaints about Inconformity to the Church Discipline but the Proofs came home only against Four Three Curates and a Vicar The Vicar upon Submission hath time given him till the next Term to settle himself and reduce his Parishioners And two of the Three Curates did presently submit themselves and promise constancy in their Obedience to the Church The Third Curate one Philip Saunders of Hutton in Essex being Refractory was Suspended and hath since forsaken the Diocess It seems he means to settle himself where he may hope to find more Favour For Norwich the Bishop certifies that he hath put down some Lectures where Factious Men performed them and particularly that he hath Suspended one Bridges Curate of St Georges Parish in Norwich for transgressing your Majesty's Declaration in his Lectures but hath of late freed him from that Suspension upon humble submission made and promise not to offend hereafter And farther that he hath lately heard complaint of Mr Ward of Ipswich for some Words uttered in Sermons of his for which he is now called into the High-Commission He farther Certifies that he hath Suspended one Enoch Grey for unsound Doctrine Preached by him And that one Simon Jacob alias Bradshaw and Ralph Smith two Wanderers went up and down Preaching here and there without Place of Aboad or Authority And that upon his Summoning them to appear they are run out of that Diocess Your Majesty's Instructions in other things have as he certifieth been carefully observed both by himself and his Clergy The Bishop of Ely certifies that for any thing that hath been made appear to him all your Majesty's Royal Injunctions for the good of the Church have been carefully observed throughout his Diocess And he promises to carry a watchful Eye as he hath ever done concerning all such Lecturers as are or shall at any time be in his Diocess For St. Davids the Bishop is now gone and setled in his Diocess whence he hath not been absent two Months these two Years He promiseth to be very careful whom he Ordains The Lecturers in those parts are not many yet of late he hath been driven first to Suspend and afterwards to dismiss one Roberts a Welch Lecturer for Inconformity And one or two others that have with their giddiness offered to distemper the People he hath likewise driven out of his Diocess But his Lordship complains grievously and not without Cause that divers Impropriators in those parts have either pulled down the Chancels or suffered them to fall to the great debasing of their Churches and leaving them so open and cold as that the People in those mountainous parts must endure a great deal of hardness as well in the Churches as in their way to them The Bishop of St. Asaph professes he hath little to return And that it is a great part of his Comfort in that remote place that the whole Diocess in a manner is peaceable and obedient as well to your Majesty's Instructions as other things which concern the Church That they are not any where troubled with Inconformity But heartily wishes that they might be as well acquitted from Superstition and Prophaneness The Bishop of Landaff certifies That this last Year he Visited in Person and found that William Erbury Vicar of St. Maries in Cardiff and Walter Cradocke his Curate have been very disobedient to your Majesty's Instructions and have Preached very Schismatically and Dangerously to the People That for this he hath given the Vicar a Judicial Admonition and will further proceed if he do not submit And for his Curate being a bold ignorant young Fellow he hath Suspended him and taken away his License to serve the Cure Among other things he used this base and Unchristian passage in the Pulpit That God so loved the world that for it he sent his Son to live like a Slave and dye like a Beast He farther Certifies that one William Newport Rector of Langua in Monmouthshire hath pulled down the Partition betwixt the Chancel and the Church and sold part and disposed the rest to his own use with some other violences to the great prophanation of that place For which the Bishop desires leave to bring him into the High Commission The Bishop of Glocester Certifies That he is forced to Ordain some very mean Ministers in his Diocess to supply Cures as mean yet he professeth that to his knowledge he never gave Holy Orders to any unworthy Person And further he saith that he hath put down some Lecturers and set up othersome which he conceives he did without offence being done upon different occasions but saith that he doth neither know nor can probably conjecture that there is any one unconformable Man in all his Diocess Which if it be true is a great clearing of those parts which have of late been so much suspected This Bishoprick is void For the Diocess of Oxford I find the Bishop very careful and that he hath according to his Promise made to your Majesty built a House at Cuddesden a Vicarage in his own Diocess and Gift which he now holds in Commendam Which House he humbly desires by your Majesty's Favour may be annexed to the See of Oxford which never yet had any House belonging to it And for your Instructions they have all been observed within his Diocess save that he doubts some few Lecturers of whom he will make present Inquiry and hath already suppressed Two which were not performed as they ought viz. at Dadington and Woodstocke My Lord of Chichester Certifies all very well in his Diocess save only in the East part which is far from him he finds that some Puritan Justices of the Peace have awed some of the Clergy into like Opinions with themselves which yet of late have not broken out into any publick Inconformity The Bishop of Peterborough hath Visited his Diocess this last year and begun so well to look to all good Orders that I hope things will go very well there But I find he is beholding to his Predecessors who took very good care in former Years concerning your Majesties Instructions This is all the Return which I have this year to make to your Majesty having received no Accompt at all from these Bishops following viz. Worcester Coventry and Lichfield and Bangor So I humbly submit my Certificat W. Cant. The Arch-Bishop's Account of his Province to the King for the Year 1635. ACcording to your Royal Commands I
he hath made stay of that they may be reduced into Years for the good of that See which abundantly needs it My Lord Bishop of Winchester Certifies that there is all Peace and Order in his Diocess and that himself and his Clergy have duly Obeyed your Majesty's Instructions But he Informs that in the Parish of Avington in Hampshire one Vnguyon an Esquire is Presented for a new Recusant as also Three others whereof Two are in Southwark These Three Bishops for their several Diocesses respectively make return that all Obedience is yielded to every of your Majesty's Instructions The late Bishop of St Davids now of Hereford hath in his time of Residence taken a great deal of pains in that See and hath caused Two to be questioned in the High Commission and Suspended one Roberts a Lecturer for Inconformity Three or four others which were Suspended he hath released upon hope given of their Obedience to the Church and hath absolutely deprived Two for their exceeding Scandalous Life He complains much and surely with cause enough that there are few Ministers in those poor and remote places that are able to Preach and Instruct the People My Lord the Bishop informs that that County is very full of Impropriations which makes the Ministers poor and their Poverty makes them fall upon Popular and Factious courses I doubt this is too true but it is a Mischief hard to cure in this Kingdom yet I have taken all the care I can and shall continue so to do From the rest of the Bishops of my Province I have received no Certificat this Year viz. Covent and Litchfield Worcester Bangor So I humbly submit this my Certificat W. CANT The Arch-Bishop's Accounts of his Province to the King for the Year 1636. May it please your Sacred Majesty ACcording to your Royal Commands expressed in your late Instructions for the good of the Church I do here most humbly present my Yearly Account for my Diocess and Province of Canterbury for this last Year ending at Christmass 1636. And First for my own Diocess I have every Year acquainted your Majesty and so must do now that there are still about Ashford and Egerton divers Brownists and other Separatists But they are so very mean and poor People that we know not what to do with them They are said to be the Disciples of one Turner and Fennar who were long since apprehended and imprisoned by Order of your Majesty's High Commission Court But how this part came to be so infected with such a Humour of Separation I know not unless it were by too much connivence at their first beginning Neither do I see any Remedy like to be unless some of their chief Seducers be driven to Abjure the Kingdom which must be ãâã by the Judges at the Common Law but is not in our power I have received Information from my Officers that the Walloons and other Strangers in my Diocess especially at Canterbury do come orderly to their Parish Churches and there receive the Sacraments and Marry c. according to my Injunctions with that limitation which your Majesty allowed There have been heretofore many in Canterbury that were not conformable to Church Discipline and would not kneel at the Communion but they are all now very Conformable as I hear expresly by my Officers and that there is no falling away of any to Recusancy There hath been a Custom that some Ministers thereabouts have under divers pretences lived for the most part at Canterbury and gone seldom to their Benefices which hath given a double Scandal both by their absence from their several Cures and by keeping too much Company and that not in the best manner I have seen this remedied in all save only one Man and if he do not presently Conform I have taken order for his Suspension In the Diocess of London I find that my Lord the Bishop there now by your Majesty's Grace and Favour Lord High Treasurer of England hath very carefully observed those Instructions which belong to his own Person And for the Diocess his Lordship Informs me of three great Misdemeanours The one committed by Dr Cornelius Burges who in a Latin Sermon before the Clergy of London uttered divers insolent passages against the Bishops and Government of the Church and refused to give his Lordship a Copy of the Sermon so there was a necessity of calling him into the High Commission Court which is done The second Misdemeanour is of one Mr Wharton a Minister in Essex who in a Sermon at Chelmesford uttered many unfit and some scurrilous things But for this he hath been Convented and received a Canonical Admonition And upon his sorrow and submission any farther Censure is forborn The third Misdemeanour which my Lord complains of is the late spreading and dispersing of some Factious and Malicious Pamphlets against the Bishops and Government of the Church of England And my Lord farther Certifies that he hath reasonable ground to perswade him that those Libellous Pamphlets have been Contrived or Abetted and dispersed by some of the Clergy of his Diocess and therefore desires me to use the Authority of the High Commission for the further discovery of this Notorious practice to prevent the Mischiefs which will otherwise ensue upon the Government of the Church This God willing I shall see performed But if the High Commission shall not have Power enough because one of those Libels contains Seditious Matter in it and that which is very little ãâã of Treason if any thing at all then I humbly crave leave to add this to my Lord Treasurer's Motion and humbly to desire that your Majesty will call it into a higher Court if you find Cause since I see no likelyhood but that these Troubles in the Church if they be permitted will break out into some Sedition in the Common-wealth My Visitation is yet depending for this Diocess and by reason of the Sickness I could not with safety hold it nor think it fit to gather so much People together but God willing I shall perform that Duty so soon as conveniently I may and then Certifie your Majesty at the next return what shall come under mine own view In this Diocess I find by my Lord's Report from his Officers that there are divers Recusants in several parts of the Country and that some of them have been seduced away from the Church of England within these two or three Years For all things else I receive no complaint thence save only of three or four Ministers that are negligent in Catechising and observe it not at all or but in the Lent only But I shall call upon the Bishop to see this remedied and to be as vigilant as he can against any farther increase of Recusants From Bath and Wells I have received a very good and happy Certificat both that all your Majesty's Instructions have been exactly performed throughout that whole Diocess And
some places refusing so to do Now because this is not Regulated by any Canon of the Church his Lordship is an humble Suitor that he may have Direction herein And truly I think for this Particular the People will best be won by the Decency of the Thing it self and that I suppose may be compassed in a short time But if your Majesty shall think it fit that a quicker way be held I shall humbly submit From the Lord Bishop of this Diocess I have received no Particular but in General thus That all your Majesty's Instructions are now observed there without repugnance for ought either Chancellor or any other Officer of his hath informed him My Lord the Bishop of this See certifies That your Majesty's Instructions are carefully observed and that there are only two Lecturers in the City of Worcester both very conformable and that they shall not longer continue than they are so And that the one of them preaches on Sundays in the Afternoons after Chatechizing and Service in the Parish-Churches and ending before Evening Prayers in the Cathedral I may not here forbear to acquaint your Majesty that this Sunday Lecture was ever wont to be in the Cathedral and that it is removed because the City would suffer no Prebendary to have it And Evening Prayers in their Parish-Churches must needs begin betimes and their Catechizing be short and the Prayers at the Cathedral begin very late if this Lecture can begin and end in the space between But if it can be so fitted I think the Dean and Chapter will not complain of the remove of the Lecture to a Parish-Church For these Three Diocesses my Lords the Bishops Certifie that all your Majesty's Instructions are carefully observed neither do any of them mention any thing amiss in the general either for Doctrine or Discipline Only the Bishop of Exeter hath sent me up two Copies of the late Libel Intituled News from Ipswich which were sent thither to a Stationer with Blank Covers These Five Diocesses following I have Visited this Year by my Vicar General and other Commissioners And for Hereford I find not many things amiss though the often change of the Bishop there which hath of late hapned hath done no good among them But some pretensions there are to certain Customs which I conceive were better broke than kept And I shall do my best to reform them as I have Opportunity and humbly beg your Majesty's Assistance if I want Power For St. Davids the Bishop is now there and will take the best care he can to see all things in Order But there is one Matthews the Vicar of Penmayn that preaches against the keeping of all Holy-Days with divers other as Fond or Prophane Opinions The Bishop hath inhibited him and if that do not serve I shall call him into the High-Commission Court Baronet Rudde is in this Diocess the Son of a late Bishop there who is a sober Gentleman He hath Built him a Chappel and desires the Bishop to Consecrate it But his Lordship finding one of your Majesty's Instructions to be that none should keep a Chaplain in his House but such as are qualified by Law which he conceives a Baronet is not hath hitherto forborn to Consecrate this Chappel as being to be of small use without a Chaplain and humbly craves direction herein what he shall do I humbly propose to your Majesty whether considering the Charge this Gentleman hath been at and the ill Ways which many of them there have to Church it may not be fit to Consecrate this Chappel and then that he may have a License to use the Minister of the Parish or any other lawfully in Orders Always provided that he use this Chappel but at times of some necessity not making himself or his Family strangers to the Mother-Church and that there be a Clause expressed in the License for recalling thereof upon any Abuse there committed and that this License be taken either from the Bishop under his Seal or from the Arch-Bishop of the Province For Landaff there is very little found amiss Only the Bishop complains that whereas Mr. Wroth and Mr. Erbury are in the High-Commission for their Schismatical proceedings the slow prosecution there against them makes both them persist in their By-ways and their Followers judge them Faultless But for this I humbly present to your Majesty this Answer That now the loss of two Terms by reason of the Sickness hath cast the Proceedings of that Court as well as of others behind-hand And there is no Remedy where all things else stay as well as it In the Diocess of St. Asaph there is no Complaint but the usual That there is great resort of Recusants to Holy-Well and that this Summer the Lady Falkland and her Company came as Pilgrims thither who were the more observed because they travelled on Foot and Dissembled neither their Quality nor their Errand And this Boldness of theirs is of very ill construction among your Majesty's People My humble Suit to your Majesty is That whereas I complained of this in open Council in your Majesty's presence you would now be graciously pleased that the Order then resolved on for her Confinement may be put in execution For Bangor I find that Catechising was quite out of use in those remote parts the more the Pity But the Bishop is now in hope to do much good and sees some Reformation in that particular already And I would say for this and the other Diocesses in Wales that much more good might be done there in a Church-way if they were not overborn by the Proceedings of the Court of the Marches there And this present Year in this Diocess of Bangor my Commissioners for my Metropolitical Visitation there complain unto me that the Power which belongs to my place hath been in them very much wronged and impeached by that Court And I do most humbly beseech your Majesty in your own good time to give this my Cause a Hearing if it take not a fair end without that trouble For Rochester the Bishop God comfort him is very ill of a Palsy and that I fear hath made him forget his Account Neither hath the Bishop of Glocester sent me any but why I know not And for Bristol that See is void For this Diocess I have likewise received no Account But I fear that whereas the Bishop was lately complained of to your Majesty for making Waste of the poor Woods there remaining he is not over-willing to give an Accotnt of that Particular Nor of the gross Abuse committed in the Cathedral Church by the Lady Davis who I most humbly beseech your Majesty may be so restrained as that she may have no more Power to commit such horrible Profanations And so I most humbly submit this my Yearly Account of my Province of Canterbury to your Majesty's Princely Wisdom W CANT The Arch-Bishop's Account of
such Conditions and Rules as my Lord their Bishop hath prescribed them Only that at Bungay is inhibited for a time at the entreaty of some of their own Company and for Misdemeanours in it As for the single Lecturers my Lord hath had a special Eye over them Your Majesties Letters requiring the Mayor Sheriffs and Aldermen c. to repair on Sundays to Divine Service and Sermons at the Cathedral in Norwich are very well observed by the most of them But Complaint is brought to the Bishop against one Thomas King who is held a factious and a dangerous Man and he frequently absents himself from the Cathedral and it is doubted that his ill Example will make others neglect their Duties Divine Service both for Prayers Catechism and Sermons is diligently frequented and that beyond what could suddainly be hoped for in such a Diocess and in the midst of the humorousness of this Age. Of those which stood under Episcopal Censure or that fled to avoid Censure there are not above three or four which have submitted themselves Yet his Lordship hath had patience notwithstanding a peremptory Citation sent out hitherto to expect them But now must proceed to Deprivation or suffer Scorn and Contempt to follow upon all his Injunctions Nevertheless herein he humbly craves direction and so do I if it please your Majesty to give it His Lordship likewise very carefully and necessarily as I conceive craves direction for these Particulars following 1. Divers Towns are depopulated no Houses left standing but the Mannor House and the Church and that turned to the Lord's Barn or worse use and no Service done in it though the Parsonages or Vicarages be presentative 2. In other Towns the Church is ruined and the Inhabitants thrust upon Neighbouring Parishes where they fill the Church and pay few or no Duties 3. At Carrowe Close by Norwich there are twelve Houses some of them fair reputed to be of no Parish and so an ordinary receptacle for Recusant Papists and other Separatists to the great prejudice of that Neighbouring City 4. At Lanwood near New-Market and in Burwell the Mother Church stands but the Roof suffered to decay within the Memory of Man and the Bells sold and the Hamlet quite slipt out of all Jurisdiction ãâã That Church was an Impropriation to the Abby of Ramsey and is now in Sir William Russell's Hands 5. The Churchyards in many places are extreamly Annoyed and Profaned especially in Corporate Towns And at St. Edmonds-Bury the Assizes are Yearly kept in a remote side of the Churchyard and a common Ale-House stands in the middle of the Yard The like abuses by Ale-Houses Back-doors and throwing out of Filth with something else not fit to be related here are found at Bungay At St. Maries ad Turrim in Ipswich at Woodbridge and at Norwich the Sign-Posts of two or three Inns stand in the Church-yard Of remedy for these Abuses the Bishop is utterly in despair unless your Majesty be pleased to take some special Order for them Because they which have these Back-doors into Church-yards or common Passages will plead Prescription and then a Prohibition will be granted against the Ecclesiastical Proceedings 6 Lastly his Lordship Certifies that divers not only Churches but Town-ships themselves are in danger of utter ruin by a breach of the Sea And there was provision made by Act of Parliament in the Seventh Year of your Majesty's Royal Father of Blessed Memory for redress of it But nothing being since done it will now cost five times as much to remedy as then it would But the Bishop is in good hope great good may yet be done if your Majesty will be graciously pleased to appear in it upon such Humble Petition as he and I shall make to Your Majesty The Bishop of this Diocess assures me that all things are in very good Order there And indeed I think the Diocess is well amended within these few Years his Lordship having been very careful both in his Visitations and otherwise This Year by reason of the return of divers that were Captives in Morocco and having been Inhabitants of those Western Parts there arose in my Lord the Bishop a Doubt how they having renounced their Saviour and become Turks might be readmitted into the Church of Christ and under what Penitential Form His Lordship at his last being in London spake with me about it and we agreed on a Form which was afterwards drawn up and approved by the Right Reverend Fathers in God my Lords the Bishops of London Ely and Norwich and is now setled by your Majesty's Appointment and I shall take care to see it Registred here and have given Charge to my Lord of Exon to see it Registred below to remain as a President for future times if there should be any more sad Examples of Apostacy from the Faith Whereas your Majesty hath lately been graciously pleased to grant the ordering of the Woods of Shotover and Stowe by Lease to the Lord Bishop of Oxford his Lordship assures me that there is a great deal of Care taken and a great deal of Charge laid out by him and his Tenant for the Preservation and well ordering of the Woods there He hath likewise been very careful concerning Recusants within that Diocess But saith that divers of them pretend and shew their Exemptions that they should not be troubled for matters concerning their Religion in any Ecclesiastical Courts which hath made his Lordship forbear till your Majesty's Pleasure be farther known For Lectures there are none in that Diocess save one at Henly upon Thames Preached by the Incumbent an orderly Man and in the Peculiars at Tame and Banbury but they are out of the Bishop's Jurisdiction My Lord Bishop of this See hath taken great care in his first Visitation and if he continue that care as I doubt not but he will he will quickly settle that Diocess into better Order But he complains of the Dean and Chapter for whose Benefit he hath lately made many good Injunctions that they will not consent that Twenty Pounds per An. ordered by their Statute for the Repairing of High-Ways may be turned to the necessary supply of their Quire in regard that 100 l. per An. is lately given by Dr. White towards the Repair of the same High-Ways But this and other things if your Majesty thinks fit I can easily alter when I come to revise their Statutes or by a Command from your Majesty in the mean time He farther complains that his Predecessor Bishop Wright now Bishop of Lichfield detains in his custody all the Writings belonging to Cromhall the Lease which your Majesty by your Royal Letters commanded should expire and return to the Bishoprick And sure if this be so it is very fit he be commanded to restore them out of Hand Lastly he complains that they of the preciser Faction do every Day endeavour to disquiet the People and that by
strange Inventions And at present they give out that the Liturgy Printed for Scotland hath in it sundry Notorious Points of Popery c. Which troubles the People and doth much harm otherwise The like is certified me from the Bishop of Exon concerning Rumours raised in those Parts My Lord Bishop of Chichester is in a Quartan-Ague besides his old Diseases of the Stone and the Gout I pray God comfort him But I do not hear from him that there is much amiss in that Diocess The Bishop of this Diocess certifies me that your Majesty's Instructions are in all things carefully observed and he hath used the utmost Diligence he can in reclaiming of Recusants and such as will not conform themselves he hath taken a strict Course to have them proceeded withal and granted Significavits against divers In this Diocess my Lord's Words are That there is nothing but common Peace and universal Conformity My Lord of Landaff hath been very careful for the setling of the Rights and Profits of this Bishoprick and God hath Blessed his Endeavours therein And for the Government he professes that in his late Visitation he hath not found one Schismatical Minister or Non-Conformist in the Diocess The Bishop of this See was Consecrated but a little before Michaelmas last and by your Majesty's leave hath not been yet in his Diocess and so for this broken part of the Year is able to give no Account My Lord the Bishop Certifies that he is less troubled with Non-Conformists since Mr Wheatly of Banbury gave over his Lecture at Stratford within that Diocess And that during this heavy Visitation at Worcester he hath caused the Lectures to cease in that Town The Bishop of this See hath not had his Health of late and is now come to Town to seek to recover the same for wich he humbly craves your Majesty's Favourable Construction But he Certifies me that all your Majesty's Instructions are duly observed within that Diocess From the Bishops of Lichfield and Glocester I have not received any Certificates And so with my Prayers for your Majesty's long Life and Happy Reign I humbly submit this my Account for the Year last past 1637. W. CANT The Arch-Bishop's Account of his Province to the King for the Year 1638. May it please your Most Sacred Majesty ACcording to my bounden Duty and your Majesty's Commands expressed in your Instructions for the good of the Clergy I here present my Account for the Year last past 1638. And First to begin with my self and my own Diocess I have been careful to obey all your Majesty's particular Instructions both for the residing upon my Houses and preserving of my Woods c. There was one Bedle a Minister of Essex came into this Diocess and at Harbledown near Canterbury the Curate there being dead Preached very disorderly three hours together at a time and got himself many ignorant followers But so soon as ever he was enquired after by my Officers he fled the Country and I purpose God willing to speak with the Chancellor of London concerning him I do not find that there is either any increase or decrease of Papists or Puritans in the Diocess But the Separatists about Ashford are very busie miserable poor and out of that bold against all Church Censure so that without some Temporal Assistance from the Judges we know not what to do And this I have often and humbly represented Yet two notorious Separatists being call'd in question are fled the Country and one of them brake Prison At Tenterden some People are somewhat refractory but the Archdeacon assures me he hath great hope to reduce them which I shall be glad of The Strangers at Canterbury do reasonably well obey my Injunctions for coming to our Churches and I shall give them all Incouragement holding it fitting to keep a moderate Hand with them In the Diocess and City of London there was like to be some distraction both among the Ministers and the People occasioned at first by some over-nice Curiosities Preached by one Mr. Goodwin Vicar of St. Stephens in Coleman-street concerning the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness in the Justification of a Sinner But the differences arising about it were timely prevented by Convention of the Parties dissenting And so God be thanked that Business is at peace There is but one noted refractory Person that stands out in that Diocess and he is now under Suspension My Lord the Bishop's Certificate informs me that there are a great many Recusants within that Diocess and that in some ãâã their Children are not brought to be Baptized in the Church which I shall require the Bishop to take special care of This Diocess being now in my Charge I do humbly certifie your Majesty that one part of Buckinghamshire and some places in Lincoln and Leicestershires are somewhat disorderly But I do not find any Man presented unto me for any wilful Refractoriness save one whom Ih ave caused to be called into the High Commission Court There are in Lincolnshire many miserable poor Vicarages and Curateships Might your Majesty's Reign be so blest as that they might in time find some relief But this is quite beyond Episcopal Power In this Diocess my Lord hath taken care of all your Majesty's Instructions and assures me that there is no Lecture in any Market Town within his Diocess except at Henley which is performed by their own Minister a discreet Man As for that which was begun by private Persons in the Chappel of your Majesty's Mannor House at Woodstocke and might have been of very dangerous both Example and Consequence the Bishop hath carefully suppressed it by your Majesty's Gracious Command upon his Petition There is no Complaint in this Diocess but only of one Mr. Ephraim Hewet of Wraxhall in Warwickshire who hath taken upon him to keep Fasts in his Parish by his own appointment and hath contemned the decent Ceremonies commanded by the Church My Lord the Bishop proceeds against him and intends either to reform or punish him In this Diocess the Bishop assures me that all things go very orderly and well saving that divers Impropriators suffer willing Ruins as he conceives in the Churches which belong unto them wherein he humbly craves both Advice and Aid that it may be remedied There was one Mr. Workeman sometimes a Lecturer at Glocester and for Inconformity in a very high degree put from that place by Sentence of the High Commission Court Since that this Man hath been received into the House of one Mr. Kyrle of Wallford and lived there without any Cure or other known Imployment The Bishop hearing of him and resolving to call him in Question if he did not Conform himself he hath suddenly left that Diocess and is gone God knows whether There were some other Complaints put up which I certified to the Bishop But his Lordship hath given me a fair
Answer and assures me that by his care and vigilancy they shall all be rectified and that out of hand My Lord informs me that in his Predecessor Bishop Whites absence he living most commonly at London being your Majesty's Almoner there was cut down and wasted above a Thousand Loads of Wood. For all other businesses they are in good condition within that Diocess saving that my Lord the Bishop humbly craves leave hereby to represent a great grievance to your Majesty which concerns the Bishoprick the Dean and Chapter and all other Clergy Men or indeed rather all your Majesty's Liege People inhabiting within the Isle of Ely In this Diocess the Bishop found out one Jeffryes who commonly Administred the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist being either not in Holy Orders at all or at least not a Priest So soon as he was discovered he slipt out of the Diocess and the Bishop thinks that he now serves in a Peculiar under the Dean and Chapter of Wells I will send thither to know the certainty and see the abuse punished if I can light upon the Person The Bishop further Certifies me that there are very many within that small Diocess who stand Excommunicate and divers of them only for not payment of Fees And again that many of these are not able to pay them I think it were not amiss that once every Year in Lent the Chancellor were commanded to take an Account of all the Excommunicats in the Diocess and to cause all to be Absolved that shall be fit for Absolution and particularly to see that no Man be suffered to continue Excommunicated where nothing but Poverty hinders the payment of Duties or other Fees The Bishop likewise informs me that Monuments even of obscure and mean Persons are grown very common in those Parts and prejudicial both to the Walls and Pillars and Liberty of Churches which the Bishop opposes as much and as fairly as he can But all is too little There were in this Diocess the last year but two Refractory Ministers known to the Bishop Mr. Wroth and Mr Erbury The former hath submitted but the other would neither submit nor satisfie his Parishioners to whom he had given publick offence so he resigned his Vicarage and hath left thereby the Diocess in peace For this Diocess the Bishop humbly craves your Majesty's Pardon for his longer stay in London than ordinary and professes his Excuse formerly made to your Majesty to be most true viz. That he was forced to it by extremity of Sickness falling upon him in those parts and forcing his change of Air. That Diocess hath been a little out of quiet this year by some Mens medling with those nice Questions which your Majesty hath forbidden should be commonly preached in the Pulpit But the Relation being somewhat imperfect I shall inform my self farther and then give your Majesty such Account as I receive In this Diocess the Bishop Certifies me two considerable things and both of them are of difficult Cure The one concerns his Bishoprick where every thing is let for Lives by his Predecessors to the very Mill that Grinds his Corn. The other concerns the Diocess in general where by Reason of the Poverty of the Place all Clergy-Men of Hope and Worth seek Preferment elsewhere And he tells me plainly some weak Scholars must be Ordained or else some Cures must be left altogether unsupplied My Lord of Glocester confesseth he hath been absent from his Diocess a good part of this Year being kept from his Dwelling-Houses by the Infection at Glocester which just Cause of Absence he humbly submits to your most gracious Majesty Concerning that Diocess the Bishop speaks not much more But the Arch-Deacon at his Visitation finding the Clergy conformable gave them this grave and fitting Admonition viz. That no Man should presume his conformity should excuse him if in the mean time his Life were Scandalous Which was very necessary for that Place and these Times And the Arch-Deacon certifies farther that there are divers which as far as they dare oppose Catechising and but for fear of losing the Livings would almost go as far as Burton and Bastwick did which is his own expression under his Hand My Lord the Bishop there complains much of the Decay of his Houses and the impoverishing of that Bishoprick by some of his Predecessors And this partly by letting of long Leases before the Statute restrained it and partly by a coarse exchange of some Lands in former times This latter cannot now be helped but for the decay of his Houses if he pursue that faculty which I granted to his immediate Predecessor he may help a great part of that decay without much charge And this God willing I shall put him in mind to do and give him the best assistance that I can by Law For the Churches in that Diocess which are very many my Lord acknowledges that they are in very decent and good order generally The only thing which he saith troubles his Diocess is that the People have been required to come up and receive at the Rail which is set before the Communion-Table and that heretofore many have been Excommunicated or Suspended for not doing so For the thing it self it is certainly the most decent and orderly way and is practised by your Majesty and by the Lords in your own Chappel and now almost every where else And upon my knowledge hath been long used in St Giles his Church without Cripplegate London with marvellous Decency and Ease and yet in that Parish there are not so few as Two Thousand Communicants more than within any Parish in Norwich Diocess And when your Majesty had the Hearing of this Business in the now Bishop of Ely's Time you highly approved it And therefore I presume you will be pleased to command that the present Bishop continue it and look carefully to it And whereas they plead that many stood suspended for it the Bishop of Ely in whose Time it was doth assure me that in above One Thousand Three Hundred Parishes there were not Thirteen either Excommunicated or Suspended for refusing of this In this Diocess the Bishop gives a fair Account to all your Majesty's Instructions so that I have cause to hope that that Diocess is in reasonable good Order Only he complains that his Predecessors have Leased out part of his House at Lichfield which puts him to very great Annoyance But he is entring into a Legal way for redress of his Abuse in which I presume your Majesty will give him all fair and just Assistance if he shall be forc'd to crave the same My Lord the Bishop came but lately to this See and hath not as yet found much amiss The Bishop of that Diocess is Dead and no other yet setled so I can have no Account from thence this Year These Four Bishops Certifie that all things are orderly and well
within their several Diocesses And so with my Prayers for your Majesty's long Life and happy Reign I humbly submit this my Account for the Year last past being 1638. January 2d ãâã W. Cant. The Arch-Bishop's Account of his Province to the King for the Year 1639. In Dei Nomine Amen May it Please your most Sacred Majesty ACcording to your Royal Commands expressed in your Instructions for the good of the Church I here most humbly Present this my Account for the Year finished now at Christmas 1639. And First to begin with my own Diocess The great thing which is amiss there and beyond my Power to remedy is the stiffness of divers Anabaptists and Separatists from the Church of England especially in and about the Parts near Ashford And I do not find either by my own Experience or by any Advice from my Officers that this is like to be remedied unless the Statute concerning Abjuration of your Kingdom or some other way by the Power of the Temporal Law or State be thought upon But how fit that may be to be done for the present especially in these broken Times I humbly submit to your Majesty's Wisdom having often complained of this before Many that were brought to good Order for receiving of the Holy Communion where the Rails stand before the Table are now of late fallen off and refuse to come up thither to receive But this God willing I shall take care of and order as well as I can and with as much speed And the same is now commonly fallen out in divers other Diocesses There was about half a Year since one that pretended himself a Minister who got many Followers in Sandwich and some Neighbouring Parishes but at last was found to have gone under three Names Enoch Swann and Grey and in as several Habits of a Minister an ordinary Lay-Man and a Royster. And this being discovered he fled the Country before any of my Officers could lay hold on him Upon this occasion I have commanded my Commissary and Arch-Deacon to give Charge in my Name to all Parsons and Vicars of my Diocess that they suffer no Man to preach in their Cures but such as for whom they will Answer as well otherwise as for the point of Conformity which I hope will prevent the like abuse hereafter In this Diocess the last Year there was some heat struck by opposite Preaching in the Pulpit between one Mr Goodwin Vicar of St Stevens in Coleman-street and some other Ministers in the City concerning the Act of Believing and the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness in the Justification of a Sinner And the Peoples Minds were much perplexed hereabouts This business was quieted by my Lord the Bishop and his Chancellour and a Promise of Forbearance made Yet now lately Mr Goodwin hath preached again in the same way and the same Perplexity is like to be caused again thereby in the City Yet my Lord the Bishop is in hopes to settle this also quietly wherein he shall have the best Assistance I can give him The Arch-Deacons in this Diocess and others are too negligent in giving their Bishops due Information of such things as are committed to their Charge Mr Joseph Simonds Rector of St Martin's Ironmonger-lane is utterly fallen from the Church of England and hath abandoned his Benefice and gone beyond the Seas and so was deprived in September last past Mr Daniel Votyer Rector of St Peter's in Westcheap hath been likewise convented for divers Inconformities and promised Reformation as Mr Simonds also did but being now called into the High Commission Order is taken for the Officiating of his Cure till it shall appear whether he will desert it or no for he also is gone beyond the Seas Mr George Seaton Rector of Bushy in the County of Hertford is charged with continual Non-residency and other Misdemeanours little beseeming a Clergy-man But of this neither my Lord nor my self can say more to your Majesty till we see what will rise in Proof against him My Lord the Bishop of this Diocess gives me a very fair Account of all things regular therein saving that the Popish Recusants which he saith are many in that Diocess do yearly increase there and that this may appear by the Bills of Presentment in his Annual Inquisitions My Lord the Bishop informs me that he hath been very careful in point of Ordination as being a Bishop near the University and to whom many resort for Holy Orders at times appointed by the Church But he complains that having refused to give Orders to Twenty or Thirty at an Ordination most of them have addressed themselves to other Bishops and of them received Orders not only without Letters Dimissory but without such Qualification as the Canon requires In this Case I would humbly advise your Majesty That my Lord the Bishop may enquire and certifie by what Bishops these Parties so refused by him were Admitted into Holy Orders that so they may be admonished to be more careful for the future and that this Abuse may not find Encouragement and increase For Popish Recusants they have been proceeded against in this Diocess according to Law saving only such of them as have pleaded and shewed your Majesty's Exemption under your Great Seal from being question'd in any Ecclesisiastical Court for matters concerning their Religion I find by the Bishop's Certificate that he hath constantly resided upon his Episcopal Houses but saith that he cannot have his Health at Eccleshall and hath therefore since resided in his Palace at Lichfield but with very little Comfort by reason of Inmates left as his Lordship saith upon the Church's Possession His Lordship adds That he hath an ancient Palace at Coventry in Lease but with reservation of the Use thereof in case the Bishop shall at any time come to live there Here he means to reside for a time if it stand with your Majesty's good liking For Popish Recusants his Lordship saith they are presented and prosecuted according to the Law This Diocess my Lord the Bishop assures me is as quiet uniform and conformable as any in the Kingdom if not more And doth avow it that all which stood out in Suffolk as well as Norfolk at his coming to that See are come in and have now legally subscribed and professed all Conformity and for ought he can learn observe it accordingly Yet his Lordship confesseth that some of the Vulgar sort in Suffolk are not conformable enough especially in coming up to Receive at the Steps of the Chancel where the Rails are set But he hopes by fair means he shall be able to work upon them in time His Lordship adds That some have Indicted a Minister because he would not come down from the Communion Table to give them the Sacrament in their Seats But this your Majesty hath been formerly acquainted with by the Minister's Petition which you were graciously pleased to command me to underwrite
and send to the Lord Chief Justice who rides that Circuit which I did accordingly and hope your Majesty will be pleased to take Care that there may be some Settlement in this Particular My Lord the Bishop of Ely informs me That Sir John Cutts a Gentleman near Cambridge keeps a Chaplain being not thereto as he conceives qualify'd by Law Sir John pretends that he keeps him as a Curate to the Parson The Case may it please your Majesty is this In the Town of Childerly there were of old two Parishes Magna Parva The one was long since wasted and lost the other remains Presentative But the whole Town is depopulated except the Knight's House and the Church is gone upon the decayed Walls whereof stand mean Houses of Office as Brewhouse Stable c. Upon this Rectory the Knight ever provides to have a Titular Incumbent who now is one Mr Rainbowe a Fellow of S Magdalen College in Cambridge and Houshold Chaplain to the Earl of Suffolk What Allowance the Knight makes him is not known Tithes he takes none The Knight and his Family go to no other Church But he hath a Chappel which he saith was Consecrated by Bishop Heton and produces an Instrument with Seal purporting that on such a day at Childerly Bishop Heton did Consecrate a Chappel by saying Service there himself and having a Sermon Now upon colour hereof the Knight entertains a Stipendary who is termed his Chaplain and pays him a Stipend but he is neither appointed nor payed by the Incumbent The Bishop questioning the whole business hath required him to attend me to know whether such a Consecration be to be allowed of And if it be then whether I will allow of a Chappel in that place instead of a Parish Church now diverted to other profane Uses Of this I shall take the best care I can by advice of the ablest Civilians And in the mean time certifie your Majesty that the Bishop hath reason to be as strict in this as he may because there is a good Rectory devoured by this means and that almost in the view of the University of Cambridge I likewise find by my Lord the Bishop's Account that there are divers Particulars of moment and very fit for redress presented to him in his late yet being his first Visitation and most of them in the University and Town of Cambridge As namely that Emanuel Sidney and Corpus Christi Colleges have certain Rooms built within the Memory of Man which they use for Chappels to all Holy Uses yet were never Consecrated That most of the Church-Yards within the Town of Cambridge are annoyed and profaned with Dwelling-Houses and Shops and part of them turned in Gardens where by digging the Bones of the Dead have been displaced with divers other Profanations as namely the Church-Yards of St Michaels St Marys St Bennets and of St Botolphs And farther that in most of the Chancels of the Churches in Cambridge there are common Seats over-high and unfitting that place in divers Respects In all which businesses the Bishop hath been very tender both out of his respect to his Mother the University of Cambridge and because divers of the Benefices in Cambridge are Impropriations belonging to some Colleges there yet is pleased to ask my Direction herein as I most humbly do your Majesty's And herein if your Majesty so please I think it may be fit to consider well of the ill Example if Three College Chappels shall be used without any Consecration And for the Profanations and disorderly Seats I think if an Admonition would amend them it were well given But if that prevail not the High-Commission may order it if your Majesty so please And I hope my Lord the Bishop should not have had all this to do at his first coming into that Diocess if I could have held my Metropolitical Visitation of that See before this time From performance of which Duty I have been bold heretofore to acquaint your Majesty what hath hindred me There are also divers poor Cures within Six or Seven Miles round about Cambridge which are served by some Fellows or other Members of Colleges within the University who being many of them Stipendaries go or send thither upon Sundays and perchance on Holy-Days to read Service but are absent all the rest of the Week from all necessary Duties of their Cure And by this means the Parishioners want such necessary help and comfort in all time of Sickness either of them or their Families Against this I have taken the best care I can in Oxford But how to effect it in Cambridge I understand not so well being not acquainted with the course of that University There hapned also in the Town of Tadlow a very ill Accident on Christmas-day 1638. by reason of not having the Communion-Table railed in that it might be kept from Profanations For in Sermon time a Dog came to the Table and took the Loaf of Bread prepared for the Holy Sacrament in his Mouth and ran away with it Some of the ãâã took the same from the Dog and set it again upon the Table After Sermon the Minister could not think fit to Consecrate this Bread and other fit for the Sacrament was not to be had in that Town and the Day so far spent they could not send for it to another Town So there was no Communion And this was Presented by Four Sworn Men of the Town aforesaid Lastly it was likewise Presented to the Bishop that about Forty Years ago one Sir Francis Hind did pull down the Church of St Etheldred in Histon to which then appertained a Vicarage Presentative and forc'd the Parishioners to thrust themselves upon another small Church in the said Town to the great wrong of the Parishioners thereof And that the Lead Timber Stones Bells and all other Materials were sold away by him or imployed to the Building of his House at ãâã And that now it is called in question the People not being able of themselves to re-edifie the Church can get no redress against the Descendents from the said Sir Francis because the Heir was a Child and in Wardship to your Majesty There is notice come to my Lord the Bishop of some Brownists in that part of his Diocess adjoyning to Wales which Schismatically preach dangerous Errours and stir up the People to follow them And when they hear of any Enquiry made after them they slip out into another Diocess But the Bishop promises to do his best to order them But howsoever your Majesty may hereby see how these Schisms increase in all parts of your Dominions This Diocess is in good order and there was lately given Ten Pounds per Annum for Four Solemn Sermons to be preached Annually for ever which the Bishop hath ordered very well In this Diocess Catechising in the Afternoon by Question and Answer is generally well observed though some Men do preach also in the Afternoon
In this Particular the Bishop craves to receive Direction whether he shall command them to Catechise only and not Preach because your Majesty's Instructions seem to be strict in this point I think your Majesty may be pleased to have the Ministers to preach if they will so that they do first Catechise orderly by Question and Answer and afterwards preach upon the same Heads to the People for their better understanding of those Questions Besides some Knights and Esquires keep Schoolmasters in their Houses or Scholars to converse with or dyet the Vicar where his Maintenance is little And this they say is not to keep a Chaplain which your Majesty's Instructions forbid Yet most of these read or say Service in their Houses which is the Office of a Chaplain But they read not the Prayers of the Church according to the Liturgy Established The Bishop craves direction in this also And I think it be very necessary that the Bishop proceed strictly and keep all such that they read or say no Prayers but those which are allowed and established by the Church in the Book of Common Prayers There are not observed more than Seven or Eight throughout the whole Diocess which seem refractory to the Church and they have made large professions of their Conformities which the Bishop will settle so soon as he can But this he saith he finds plainly that there are few of the Laity Factious but where the Clergy misleads them And this I doubt is too true in most parts of the Kingdom They have in this Diocess come to him very thick to receive Confirmation to the number of some Thousands There were two Lectures held this last Year the one at Wainfleet and the other at Kirton in Lindsey where some two or three of the Ministers which read the Lecture were disorderly Among the rest one Mr. Show preached very Factiously just at the time when your Majesty was at Barwicke and his Fellow Lecturers complained not of him Hereupon the Chancellor having notice of it called him in question and the business was so foul and so fully proved that the party fled the Country and is thought to be gone for New-England Some other small Exorbitances there are which the Chancellor complains of But there is hope that this Example will do some good among them In this Diocess one Mr. Coxe upon Hosea 4. 4. preached a Sermon to prove that the Church of England did not maintain the Calling of Bishops to be Jure Divino which Sermon troubled those Parts not a little My Lord the Bishop after he had had Speech with him sent him to me When he came it pleased God so to bless me that I gave him satisfaction and he went home very well contented and made a handsome Retractation voluntarily of himself and satisfied the People In the skirts of this Diocess in Shropshire there was a Conventicle St. of mean Persons laid hold on and Complaint was made to the Council of the Marches And the Lord President of Wales very Honourably gave notice of it both to the Lords and my self and they were remitted to receive such Censure as the Laws Ecclesiastical impose upon them These Bishops do all Certifie that every thing is well in their several Diocesses concerning the Particulars contained in your Majesty's Instructions and otherwise The like is Certified by the Lord Bishop of Chichester saving that of late there hath hapned some little disorder in the East parts of that Diocess about Lewis which we are taking care to settle as well as we can And for Non-Conformists he saith that Diocess is not so much troubled with Puritan Ministers as with Puritan Justices of the Peace of which latter there are store And so with my Prayers for your Majesty's long and happy Reign I humbly submit this my Account January 2. 1639. W. Cant. H. W. WHen I wrote the Preface to this first Volume I had intended to reserve what follows as well as the immediately preceding Papers viz the Arch-Bishop's Annual Accounts of his Province for the Second Volume as not believing there would be any room for them in this But the Book having now fallen much short of the number of Sheets by me at first computed I have thought fit to cause these Memorials to be here adjoyned that so this Volume might be thereby increased to a convenient Bulk I made choice of these rather than any other Papers for this purpose because they contribute very much to the more perfect knowledge of the great Transactions of those Times both in Church and State and do indeed constitute a part of the History of the Life and Actions of the Arch-Bishop and are often referred to by him in the preceding History The Original Accounts of the Arch-Bishop to the King concerning his Province Apostilled in the Margin with the King 's own Hand are now in my Custody The Accounts indeed are not wrote in the Arch-Bishop's own Hand that being not thought fair enough by himself to be presented to the King's view upon that occasion but very fairly wrote by his Secretary or some other employed by him But the Notes or Apostils added by the King to them and therewith remitted to the Arch-Bishop are wrote in the King 's own Hand which is fair enough although the Orthography be vitious a matter common to many Learned Men of that time and even to the Arch-Bishop himself which yet however I have caused to be retained as having observed that the Arch-Bishop had caused the King's Orthography to be Literally followed in those Transcripts which he ordered his Secretary and Registrary to make of them either to be kept for his own use or to be inserted in his Publick Register ROME's MASTER-PIECE OR THE Grand Conspiracy of the POPE AND HIS JESUITED INSTRUMENTS TO Extirpate the Protestant Religion Re-establish Popery Subvert Laws Liberties Peace Parliaments BY Kindling a Civil War in Scotland and all his Majesty's Realms and to Poison the King himself in case he Comply not with them in these their execrable Designs Revealed out of Conscience to Andreas ab Habernfield by an Agent sent from Rome into England by Cardinal Barbarino as an Assistant to Con the Pope's late Nuncio to prosecute this most Execrable Plot in which he persisted a principal Actor several Years who discovered it to Sir William Boswell his Majesty's Agent at the Hague 6 Sept 1640. He under an Oath of Secresie to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury among whose Papers it was casually found by Mr Prynn May 31 1643. who Communicated it to the King As the greatest Business that ever was put to him Together with The ARCH-BISHOP's NOTES The Lord both will bring to Light the hidden things of Darkness and will make manifest the Counsels of the Hearts and then shall every man have Praise of God 1 Cor IV 5. It is Ordered by the Committee of the House of Commons in Parliament concerning Printing this first
such Proceeding in this Case The very Parties that tendred this Cap presuming some good Inclination in him to accept it and to the Romish Church which he maintains to be a True Church wherein Men are and may be saved And the Second Proffer following so soon at the Heels of the First intimates That the First was in such sort entertained by him as rather encouraged than discouraged the Party to make the Second And his Second Consultation with the King concerning it insinuates That the King rather enclined to than against it or at leastwise left it arbitrary to him to accept or reject it as he best liked As for his Severity in prosecuting Papists it appears by his Epistle to the King before his Conference with the Jesuit Fisher where he useth these Speeches of his Carriage towards them God forbid that I should perswade a Persecution in any kind or practise it in the least against Priests and Jesuits For to my remembrance I have not given him or his so much as cross Language Therefore he is no great Enemy to them The Second thing which may seem strange to others is this That the Pope's Legat and Jesuits should ever hate or conspire his Death unless he were an utter Enemy to all Popery Papists and the Church of Rome which admits an easie Answer The Truth is the Bishop being very pragmatical and wilful in his Courses could not well brook pragmatical peremptory Jesuits who in Popish Kingdoms are in perpetual Enmity with all other Orders and they with them they having been oft banished out of France and other Realms by the Sorbonists Dominicans and other Orders no Protestants writing so bitterly against these Popish Orders as themselves do one against the other yea the Priests and Jesuits in England were lately at great Variance and persecuted one another with much Violence This is no good Argument then that the Arch-Bishop held no Correspondence with Priests and other Orders and bare no good Affection to the Church of Rome in whose Superstitious Ceremonies he outstripped many Priests themselves What Correspondency he held with Franciscus de Sancta Clara with other Priests and Dr Smith Bishop of Calcedon whom the Jesuits persecuted and got Excommunicated though of their own Church and Religion is at large discovered in a Book entituled The English Pope and by the Scottish Common-Prayer Book found in the Arch-Bishop's Chamber with all those Alterations wherein it differs from the English written with his own Hand some of which smell very strongly of Popery As namely his blotting out of these Words at the Delivery of the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee and feed on him in thy Heart by Faith with Thanksgiving Take and drink this in remembrance that Christ's Blood was shed for thee c. and leaving only this former Clause the better to justifie and imply a Corporal Presence of Christ in the Sacrament The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for thee preserve thy Body and Soul unto everlasting Life And this Popish Rubrick written with his own Hand The Presbyter during the time of Consecration shall stand AT THE MIDDLE OF THE ALTAR where he may with more Ease and Decency USE BOTH HIS HANDS than he can do if he stand at the North-end With other Particulars of this kind Moreover in his Book of Private Devotions written with his own Hand he hath after the Romish Form reduced all his Prayers to Canonical Hours And in the Memorials of his Life written with his own Hand there are these suspicious Passages among others besides the Offer of the Cardinal's Cap Anno 1631. Jun. 21. 26. My nearer Acquaintance began to settle with Dr. S. God bless us in it Junii 25. Dr. S. with me at Fulham cum Ma. c. meant of Dr. Smith the Popish Bishop of Calcedon as is conceived Jun. 25. Mr. Fr. Windebank my old Friend was Sworn Secretary of State which Place I OBTAINED FOR HIM of my Gracious Master King Charles What an Arch-Papist and Conspirator he was the Plot relates and his Flight into France for releasing Papists and Jesuits out of Prison and from Executions by his own Warrants and imprisoning those Officers who apprehended them confirms About this time Dr Theodore Price Sub-dean of Westminster a Man very intimate with the Arch-Bishop and recommended specially to the King by him to be a Welch Bishop in Opposition to the Earl of Pembrook and his Chaplain Griffith Williams soon after died a Reconciled Papist and received Extream Vnction from a Priest Noscitur ex comite August 30. 1634. he hath this Memorial Saturday at Oatlands the Queen sent for me and gave me Thanks for a Business with which she trusted me her Promise then that she would be my Friend and that I should have immediate Address to her when I had occasion All which considered together with his Chaplains Licensing divers Popish Books with their expunging most Passages against Popery out of Books brought to the Press with other Particulars commonly known will give a true Character of his Temper that he is another Cassander or middle Man between an Absolute Papist and a real Protestant who will far sooner hug a Popish Priest in his Bosom than take a Puritan by the Little Finger An absolute Papist in all matters of Ceremony Pomp and external Worship in which he was over-zealous even to an open ãâã Persecution of all Conscientious Ministers who made Scruple of them if not half an one at least in Doctrinal Tenets How far he was guilty of a Conditional Voting the breaking up the last Parliament before this was called and for what end it was summoned this other Memorial under his own Hand will attest Decemb 5. 1639. Thursday the King declared his Resolution for a Parliament in case of the Scottish Rebellion The first Movers to it were my Lord Deputy of Ireland my Lord Marquess Hamilton and my self And A RESOLUTION VOTED AT THE BOARD TO AS-SIST THE KING IN EXTRAORDINARY WAYS IF THE PARLIAMENT SHOULD PROVE PEEVISH AND REFUSE c. But of him sufficient till his Charge now in preparation shall come in Observations on and from the Relation of this PLOT FRom the Relation of the former Plot by so good a Hand our own Three Realms and all Foreign Protestant States may receive full Satisfaction First That there hath been a most cunning strong execrable Conspiracy long since contrived at Rome and for divers Years together most vigorously pursued in England with all Industry Policy Subtilty Engines by many active potent Confederates of all sorts all Sexes to undermine the Protestant Religion re-establish Popery and alter the very Frame of Civil Government in all the King's Dominions wherein a most dangerous visible Progress hath
Time to write it again out of my scribled Copy but I dare trust the Secresie in which I have bound him To others I am silent and shall so continue till the thing open it self and I shall do it out of Reasons very like to those which you give why your self would not divulge it here In the last place you promise your self That the Condition you are in will not hinder me from continuing to be the Best Friend you have To this I can say no more than that I could never arrogate to my self to be your Best Friend but a poor yet respective Friend of yours I have been ever since I knew you And it is not your Change that can change me who never yet left but where I was first forsaken and not always there So praying for God's Blessing upon you and in that Way which He knows most necessary for you I rest Lambeth March 27 1636. Your very Loving Friend To serve you in Domino I have writ this Letter freely I shall look upon all the Trust that ever you mean to carry with me that you shew it not nor deliver any Copy to any Man Nor will I look for any Answer to the Quaeries I have herein made If they do you any good I am glad if not yet I have satisfied my self But leisure I have none to write such Letters nor will I entertain a Quarrel in this wrangling Age and now my Strength is past For all things of moment in this Letter I have pregnant places in the Council of Trent Thomas Bellarmin Stapleton Valentia c. But I did not mean to make a Volume of a Letter Endorsed thus with the Archbishop's own Hand March 27 1636. A Copy of my Answer to Sir Ken Digby's Letters in which he gives me an account of his Return to the Ro Communion The Testimony of the Reverend Mr Jonathan Whiston concerning the Opinion had of the Archbishop at Rome and with what Joy the News of his Death and Suffering was there received I Do remember that being Chaplain to the Honourable Sir Lionel Tolmach Baronet about the Year 1666. I heard him relate to some Person of Quality how that in his younger days he was at Rome and well acquainted with a certain Abbot which Abbot asked him Whether he had heard any News from England He answered No. The Abbot replied I will tell you then some Archbishop Laud is Beheaded Sir Lionel answered You are sorry for that I presume The Abbot replied again That they had more cause to rejoice that the Greatest Enemy of the Church of Rome in England was cut off and the Greatest CHAMPION of the Church of England silenced Or in Words to that purpose In witness whereof I have hereunto set my Hand this 28th Day of September 1694. Jona Whiston Vicar of Bethersden in Kent The Testimony of the Learned and Worthy John Evelyn Esq Fellow of the Royal Society concerning the same Matter I Was at Rome in the Company of divers of the English Fathers when the News of the Arch-Bishop's Suffering and a Copy of his Sermon made upon the Scaffold came thither They read the Sermon and commented upon it with no small Satisfaction and Contempt and looked upon him as one that was a great Enemy to them and stood in their Way whilst one of the blackest Crimes imputed to him was his being Popishly affected John Evelyn FINIS BOOKS Printed for RICHARD CHISWELL SCriptorum ãâã Historia Literaria a Christo nate usque ad seculum xiv facili ãâã Digesta Qua de Vita illorum ac Rebus Gestis de Secta Dogmatibus ãâã Style de Scriptis Genuinis Dubiis Suppositiis Ineditis Deper ditis Fragmentis Deque Variis Operum Editionibus perspicue Agitur Accedunt Scriptores Gentiles Christianae Religionis ãâã Cujusvis Seculi Breviarum Inseruntur suis Locis Veterum ãâã Opuscula Fragmenta tum Graeca tum Latina hactenus inedita Premissa denique ãâã quibus plurima ad Antiquitatis Ecclesiasticae Studium spectantia Traduntur Opus indicibus necessariis Instructum Authore Gulielmo Cave SS Theol. ãâã ãâã Windesoriensi Accedit Hen. Whartoni Appendix ab ineunte Secula xiv ad Annum usque MDX VII ãâã Disquisitiones Criticae de Variis per Diversa ãâã ãâã Bibliorum Editionibus Quibus Accedunt Castigationes Theologi Cujusdam Parisiensis ad Opusculum Is Vossii de Sybillinis Oraculis Ejusdem responsionem ad Objectiones nuperae Critica Sacra 4to Censura Celebriorum Authorum sive tractatus in quo Varia Virorum ãâã de Claris. Cuiusque Seculi Scriptoribus Judicia traduntur Unde Facilimo ãâã Lector ãâã queat quid in singulis quibusque istorum Authorum Maxime Memorabile sit qucnam in pretio apud Eruditos ãâã Habiti Fuerunt Opera Thomae Pope-Blunt Baroneti Fol V Cl Gulielmi Camdeni Illustrium ãâã ad G. Camdenum Epistolae cum Appendice Varii Argumenti Accesserunt Annalium Regni Regis Jacobi ãâã Apparatus ãâã de Antiquitate Dignitate Officio Comitis Marescali Angliae Premittitur G. Camdeni Vita Scriptore Thoma Smitho S T D Ecclesiae Anglicanae Presbytero 4to Jacobi Usserii Armachani Archiepiscopi Historia Degmatica Controversiae inter Orthodoxos ãâã de Scripturis Sacris Vernaculis nunc primum Edita Accesserunt ejusdem Dissertationes duae de Pseudo-Dionysii seriptis de ãâã ad Laodiceos antehac ãâã Descripsit Digessit notis atque auctario Locupletavit Henricus Wharton A M Rev in Christo Pat ac ãâã Archiepisc Cantuariensi a sacris Domesticis 4to 1690. Anglia ãâã sive Gollectio Historiarum Antiquitus Scriptarum de Archiepiscopis ãâã Angliae a Prima Fidei Christianae susceptione ad Annum 1540. in duobus Voluminibus per Henricum Whartonum Fol. 1691 Some Remarks upon the Ecclesiastical History of the Ancient Churches of ãâã By Peter Allix D D Treasurer of Sarum 4to his Remarks upon the Ecclesiastical History of the Ancient Churches of the Albigenses 4to Dr Burnet's now Lord Bishop of Sarum Vindication of the Ordinations of the Church of England 4to History of the Rights of Princes in disposing of Ecclesiastical Benefices and Church Lands ãâã 8vo Life of William Bedel D D Bishop of Kilmore in Ireland together with the Copies of certain Letters which passed between Spain and England in matter of Religion concerning the general Motives to the Roman Obedience Between Mr James ãâã a late Pensioner of the Holy Inquisition in Sevil and the said William Bedel 8vo Some Passages of the Life and Death of John late Earl of Rochester 8vo A Collection of Tracts and Discourses from 1678 to Christmas 1689 inclusive In 2 Volumes 4to Examination of the Letter writ by the late Assembly-General of the Clergy of France to the ãâã inviting them to return to their Communion together with the Methods proposed by them for their Conviction 8vo Pastorall Letter to the Clergv of his Diocess concerning the
Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy to K William and Q Mary 4to Ten several occasional Sermons since 1690. The Jesuits Memorial for the intended ãâã of Ergland under their first Popish Prince Written by Father Parsons 1596. And prepared to be proposed in the first Parliament after the Restoration of Popery for the better Establishment and Preservation of that Religion Published from the very Manuscript Copy that was presented by the Jesuits to the ãâã K James the Second and found in his Closet With an Introduction and some Animadversions by Edward Gee Chaplain to their Majesties 8vo Dr Cumberland now Lord Bishop of ãâã his Essay towards the Recovery of the Jewish Measures and Weights comprehending their ãâã by help of Antient Standards compared with ours of England useful also to state many of those of the Greeks and Romans and the Eastern Nations 8vo Dr Patrick now Lord Bishop of Ely his Parable of the Pilgrim written to a Friend the sixth Edition 4to 1681. Hearts-Ease or a Remedy against all Troubles with a consolatory Discourse particularly directed to those who have lost their Friends and Relations To which is added two Papers printed in the time of the late Plague The sixth Edition corrected 12mo 1695. Answer to a Book spread abroad by the Romish Priests ãâã The Touch ãâã of the Reformed Gospel wherein the true Doctrine of the Church of England and many Texts of the Holy Scripture are faithfully explained 1692. 8vo Nine several occasional Sermons since the Revolution 4to Exposition of the Tea Commandments 8vo A Vindication of their Majesty's Authority to fill the Sees of the deprived Bishops in a Letter ãâã by ãâã B 's refusal of the Bishoprick of Bath and Wells 4to A Discourse concerning the unreasonableness of a new Separation on Account of the Oaths to the present Government With an Answer to the History of Passive Obedience so far as relates to them 4to A Vindication of the said Discourse concerning the Unreasonableness of a New Separation from the Exceptions made against it in a Tract called A brief Answer to the said ãâã c. 4to ãâã Or a Discourse concerning the Earth before the Deluge wherein the Form and Properties ascribed to it in a Book intituled The Theory of the Earth are excepted against and it is made appear That the Dissolution of that Earth was not the Cause of the Universal Flood Also a New Explication of that Flood is attempted By Erasmus Warren Rector of ãâã in ãâã 4to The Present State of Germany By a Person of Quality 8vo Memoris ãâã to the Royal Navy of England for Ten Years determined December 1688 By ãâã ãâã ãâã 8vo ãâã of what ãâã in Christendom from the War begun 1672. to the Peace concluded 1679 8vo ãâã Historical Collections The Third Part in two Volumes Containing the Principal Matters which happened from the Meeting of the Parliament Nov 3 1640. to the end of the Year 1644. Wherein is a particular Account of the Rise and Progress of the Civil War to that Period Fol 1692. A Discourse of the Pastoral Care By Gilbert Burnet Lord Bishop of Sarum 1692 The Character of Queen Elizabeth Or A full and clear Account of her Policies and the Methods of her Government both in Church and State her Vertues and Defects Together with the Characters of her Principal Ministers of State and the greater part of the Affairs and Events that happened in her time By Edmund Bohun Esq 1693. 8vo The Letters of the Reverend Father Paul Councellor of State to the most Serene Republick of Venice and Author of the Excellent History of the Council of Trent 1693. An Impartial History of the Wars in Ireland In Two Parts From the time that Duke Schomberg landed with an Army in that Kingdom to the 23 d. of March 1691 2. when their Majesties Proclamation was published declaring the War to be ended Illustrated with Copper Sculptures describing the most important Places of Action By George Story an Eye-witness of the most remarkable Passages 4to 1693. Linguae Romanae Dictionarium ãâã Novum Or A New Dictionary in Five Alphabets ãâã English Words and Phrases before the Latin 2 Latin Classic 3 Latin Proper Names 4. Latin Barbarous 5. Law-Latin Cambridge 4to 1693. Dr John Conant's Sermons 1693. 8vo Of the Government of the Thoughts By Geo Tully ãâã of York 8vo 1694. Origo Legum Or A ãâã of the Origine of Laws and their Obliging Power as also of their great Variety and why some Laws are immutable and some not but may suffer change or cease to be or be suspended or abrogated In Seven Books By George Dawson Fol. 1694. Four Discourses delivered to the Clergy of the Diocess of Sarum ãâã I The Truth of the Christian Religion II The Divinity and the Death of Christ. III The Infallibility and Authority of the Church IV. The Obligations to continue in the Communion of the Church By Gilbert Lord Bishop of Sarum 8vo 1694. A brief Discourse concerning the Lawfulness of Worshipping God by the Common-Prayer In Answer to a Book intitused A brief Discourse of the ãâã of Common-Prayer-Worship By John Williams D D 4to 1694. A true Representation of the absurd and ãâã Principles of the Sect commonly known by the Name of the ãâã 4to 1694. Memoirs of the most ãâã Thomas ãâã Archbishop of Canterbury Wherein the History of the Church and the Reformation of it during the Primacy of the said Archbishop are greatly illustrated and many singular Matters relating thereunto now first published In Three Books Collected ãâã from Records Registers Authentick Letters and other Original Manuscripts By John ãâã M. A. Fol. 1694. A Commentary on the First Book of Moses called Genesis By Simon Lord Bishop of Ely 4to 1695. Hacket's Life of Arch-Bishop Williams Par. 1. pag 64. Par. 2 pag. 115. Par. 2 pag. 65 66. ãâã 2. pag. 85. Pag. 86. 115. c. Pag. 129. Pag. 131. Pag. 230. L. C. Baron Atkin's Speech to the Lord Mayor Octob 1693. pag 4 5. Epist Ded. Rushworth also promised to Publish such an exact History of the Trial of this Arch-Bishop as he had done of that of the Earl of Strafford Collect. Par. 3. vol. 2. pag. 833. but never did effect it ãâã Clause is ãâã omitted by Prynne Hence may be corrected an Error of Dr Heylin and ãâã who following him relate that Dr Laud held the Presidentship of St Johns in Commendam with the Bishoprick of St Davids All these Passages concerning his Conference with Fisher and setling the Marquess and Countess of Buckingham in Religion are omitted by Prynne * Livimus * al. ãâã * An Account of this Conference is in my hands but wrote very Partially in favour of Dr Preston and prejudice of Dr White H W These may be found in Heylin's Life of Laud. p 162. * These Words are most maliciously omitted by Prynne â Bargrave Pestis Fames * It is a very noble and fair Volum in Fol.
his Reports W. S. A. C. A short Introduction The Charge upon what it consists The Titles of the several parcels of the Articles upon which the Charge against the Arch-Bishop was made up The ãâã upon his Councel by Reason of the mixt Charge without distinguishing what was intended to ãâã a Treason what a ãâã The two Points presented by Councel in writing to be ãâã upon for his Defence in point of Law The first only admitted The Method proposed The three General Charges Two General Questions to be insisted upon In maintenance of our first ãâã upon the first Question The uncertainty of what was or was not Treason produced the Law of 25 Ed. 3. The Parliament of 25 Ed. 3. by Reason of that Law called Parliamentum Benedictum and that no Law had deservedly more Honour than Magna Charta The Act of 25 Ed. 3. the Rule in Parliament to judge Treasons by Parliament Roll 1 H. 4. num 144. the Prayer of the Commons Parliament Roll 5 H. 4. num 12. Case Earl of Northumberland â Treasons particularly Enacted after 25 Ed. 3. still reduced to that Law Treasons made in the divided time of R. 2. reduced per Stat. 1 H. 4 cap. 10. Made in the time of H. 8. reduced 1 Ed. 6. cap. 12. Made in the time of Ed. 6. reduced by the Act of 1 Mariae cap. 10. â From 1 H. 4. to this day no Judgment in Parliament given of any Treason not contained in that Law This Law in all times the Standard to Judge Treasons by Treasons declared per Stat. 25 Ed. 3. cap. 2. â Stat. 25 Ed. 3. may admit no construction by Equity or Inference to make other Treason than thereby declared Reasons why not Viz. Instances where it would not Stat. 3 H. 5. cap. 6. 1 M cap. 6. Cok. Collections ãâã of the ãâã â 2. Question Mildmay's case 6. Report Coke fol. 42. â Objection Answer â Parliament Roll 28 H. 6. num 28. to 47. In the Case of the Duke of Suffolk Articles Cardinal Woolsey in Parliament 21 H. 8. Indictment K. Bench Ligham 23 H. 8. Empson 1 H. 8. â Answer to the second General Charge of endeavouring to subvert Religion Stat. 5. R. 2. C. 5. 2 H. 5. C. 7. â Stat. 1 Ed. 6. C. 12. 1 Mar. C. 12. Answer to the third general Charge labouring to subvert and incense the King against Parliaments Articles against the Duke of Ireland and others 11 R. 2. â 14 Article Answer to the particular Articles insisted upon ãâã in the Charge The first Particular Differences between the Matters charged the Fact made Treason by the Statute 3 Jac. C. 4. The second Particular Number of Crimes below Treason or Felony cannot make a Treason Power ãâã declare ãâã per Stat. 25. ãâã 3. c. 2. Wherein we conceive there is no power to declare an Offence below a Felony to be a Treason â â Earl Strafford â Whatsoever hath been hitherto placed in the Margin of this Argument was transcribed from Mr. Hern's own Copy But this which followeth I transcribed from a loose Note wrote by an unknown hand and affixed to this place H. W. Concerning the Proviso in 25 Ed. 3. last mentioned it is observable That Mr. Lane in the Lord Strafford's Tryal saith That that Clause of Provision 25 Ed. 3. is quite taken away by 6 Hen. 8. Cap. 4. 20. So that no Treason is now to be reckoned but what is literally contained in 25 Ed. 3. See for this Whitlock's Memoirs pag. 43. See also Burnet's Hist. Reform Part II. pag. 253. about the Repeal of Treasons Octob. 22. 1644. Octob. 28. ãâã 1. Novemb. 2. Novemb. 6. Novemb. 11. My Defence in the House of Commons 1. 2. 3. 4. * Quomodo potest malus litigator landare ãâã Aug. Epist. 166. I. II. * Cont. Fisher p. 211. * An. 45. Ed. 3. * Tacit. L. 6. Annal. * Annum jam agens septuagesimum secundum Novemb. 13. 1644. Novemb. 16. Novemb. 22. Novemb. 23 Novemb. 29. Novemb. 28. Decemb. ãâã Decemb. 16. 1644. Decemb. 17. Decemb. 24. Decemb. 25. Jan. 2. ãâã Jan 3. 1 Pet. 2. 23. Judg. 16. 30. Exod. 12. ãâã John 19. 11. Dan. 3. * This Sea ãâã Copy Luk. 6. 39. â In this way Hind's Copy Job 11. 48. Act. 6. 12. Act. 12. 3. Esa. 1. 15. Psal. 9. 12. Heb. 10. 31. Sir John Clotworthy * So Lord Hind's Copy * hath The shorter Lines both here and afterwards are Abbreviations of so many several parts of the Will made by W. S. A. C. * f. each * f Rich. Cobb ãâã cunctis liberalium Artium Disciplinis eruditum pro Magistro teneamus quasi Comparem velut alterius Orbis Apostolicum ãâã Capgr in vit S. Anselmi Gu. ãâã de Gestis Pontific Anglor p. 223. ãâã prima Sedes Archiepiscopi habetur qui est totius Angliae Primas ãâã Id. Ibid. p. 195. * Hieron Lamas in Summa p. 3. c. 3. in 1 Cor. 10. 3. in 1 Cor. ãâã 24. Integritatis Custodes Recta sectantes De vera Relig. c. 5. ãâã 2. 12. Anno 1445. Anno. 1446. Anno 16. Rich. 2. cap. 5. Lib. XIX An. 1374. Statutum de An. 27 Eliz. St. Hilary l. 10. de Trin. p. 165. Cor. 13. 8. The Definition or Description of a Sectary is wanting in the Original H. W. * Prov. 1. 8. c. 6. 20. Nec aliae Preces omnino dicantur in Ecclesiâ nisi quae à prudentioribus traditae vel ãâã in Synodo ãâã ne fortè aliquid ãâã Fidem vel per Ignorantiam vel per minus Studium sit compositum Concil Milevita 2 can 12. 23. Rom. 6. 17. Phil. 3. 16. 1 Tim. 5. 22. 2 Tim. 1. 13. St. Luke 11. 1. v. 2. St. Chrysost. in Rom. 8. 26. 1 Eliz. c. 1. Acts 15. 24 29. v. 28. St. Luc. 11. 2. In his Speech against the Bishops Votes in Parliament p. 3. Psal. 110. 3. In decoribus Sanctitatis Ar. Mant. Ibid. 1. 2. 3. Psal. 95. 6. 4. Levit. 5. 7. * Apud Ainsworth in Levit. 20. 3. Levit. 7. 25. Levit. 17. 4. 9. 10. * 'T is Fallacia Accidentis For it is not in or of the nature of Prayer that it should be in a negligent Form set down or negligently performed but a meer accident and a bad one 1 Cor. 1. 21. * In the Church of Africa when the Arian Heresie began the Church had suffered so much by the Preaching of Arius the Presbyter that they made a Law not to suffer any Presbyter ãâã Preach at all at least not in the Mother Church and in the Bishop's Presence As may be seen in Socrates l. 5. Hist. c. 22. And though this may seem a ãâã Cure yet when the Disease grew Masterful and ãâã the Church did not refuse to use it 'T is Vniversal for Time For it is testified by Dionysius the Areopagite if those Works be his De Ecclesia Hierar P 77 Edit Gr Lat. and he was one of the
and Soul diers to fall up on me in the King's absence Sept. 21. I received a Letter from John Rockel a M an both by Name and Person unknown to me He was among the Scots as he tra velled through the Bishoprick of Durham he heard them inveigh and rail at me exceedingly and that they hoped Shortly to see me as the Duke was Slain by one least suspected His Letter was to advise me to look to my self Septemb. 24. Thursday A great Council of the Lords were called by the King to York to consider what way was best to be taken to get out the Scots and this day the Meeting began at York and continued till Octob. 28. Octob. 22. Thursday The High Commission sitting at St. Pauls because of the Troubles of the Times Very near 2000 Brownists made a Tumult at the end of the Court tore down all the Benches in the Consistory and cryed out they would have no Bishop nor no High Commission Octob. 27. Tuesday Simon and Jude's Eve I went into my upper Study to see some Manuscripts which I was sending to Oxford In that Study hung my Picture taken by the Life and coming in I found it fallen down upon the Face and lying on the Floor the String being broken by which it was hanged against the Wall I am almost every day threatned with my Ruine in Parliament God grant this be no Omen Novemb. 3. Tuesday The Parliament began the King did not ride but went by Water to Kings Stairs and thorough Westminster-Hall to the Church and so to the House Novemb. 4. Wednesday The Convocation began at St. Pauls Novemb. 11. Wednesday Thomas Vis count Wentworth Earl of Straffor d Accused to the Lords by the House of Commons for High Treason and restrained to the Usher of the House Novemb. 25. Wednesday He was sent to the Tower Decemb. 2. Wednesday A great Debate in the House that no Bishop should be so much as of the Committee for preparatory Examinations in this Cause as accounted Causa Sanguints put off till the next day Decemb. 3. Thursday The Debate declined Decemb. 4. Friday The King gave way that his Council should be Examined upon Oath in the Earl of Strafford's Case I was Examined this day Decemb. 16. Wednesday The Canons Condemned in the House of Commons as being against the King's Prerogative the Fundamental Laws of the Realm the Liberty and Propriety of the Subject and containing divers other things tending to Sedition and of dangerous Consequence Upon this I was made the Author of them and a Committee put upon me to enquire into all my Actions and to prepare a Charge The same Morning in the Upper House I was na med as an Incendiary by the Scot tish Commissioners and a .... Complaint promised to be drawn up to morrow Decemb. 18. Friday I w as Accu sed by the House of Commons for High Trea son without any particular Charge laid against me which they said should be prepared in convenient time Mr. Denzell Hollys was the Man that brought up the Message to the Lords Soon after the Charge was brought into the Upper-House by the Scottish Commissioners tending to prove me an Incendiary I was presently committed to the Gentleman Us her but was permitted to go in his Company to my House at Lam beth for a Book or two to Read in and such Papers as pertained to my Defence against the Scots I stayed at Lambeth till the Evening to avoid the gazing of the People I went to Evening Prayer in my Chappel The Psalms of the day Psal. 93 and 94. and Chap. 50. of Esai gave me great Comfort God make me worthy of it and fit to receive it As I went to my Barge hundreds of my poor Neighbours stood there and prayed for my safety and return to my House For which I bless God and them Decemb. 21. Munday I was Fined 500 l. in the Parliament House and Sir John Lambe and Sir Henry Martin 250 l. a piece for keeping Sir Robert Howard close Prisoner in the Case of the Escape of the Lady Viscountess Purbecke out of the Gate-House which Lady he kept avowedly and had Children by her In such a Case say the Imprisonment were more than the Law allow what may be done for Honour and Religion sake This was not a Fine to the King but Damage to the Party Decemb. 23. Wednesday The Lords Ordered me to pay the Money presently which was done Januar. 21. Thursday A Parliament Man of good Note and Interessed with divers Lords sent me word that by Reason of my patient and m oderate Carriage since my Commit ment four Earls of great power in the Upper-House of the Lords were not now so sharp against me as at first And that now they were resolved only to Se quester me from the King's Coun cil and to put me from my Arch Bishoprick So I see what Justice I may expect since here is a Resolution taken not only before my Answer but before my Charge was brought up against me Febr. 14. Sunday A. R. And this if I Live and continue Arch-Bishop of Canterbury till after Michaelmas-day come Twelve-month Anno 1642. God bless me in this Febr. 26. Friday This day I had been full ten weeks in restraint at Mr. Maxwell's House And this day being St. Augustin's day my Charge was brought up from the House of Commons to the Lords by Sir Henry Vane the Younger It consisted of fourteen Articles These Generals they craved time to prove in particular The Copy of this General Charge is among my Papers I spake something to it And the Copy of that also is among my Papers I had Favour from the Lords not to go to the Tower till the Munday following March 1. Munday I went in Mr. Maxwell's Coach to the Tower No noise till I came into Cheapside But from thence to the Tower I was followed and railed at by the Prentices and the Rabble in great numbers to the very Tower Gates where I left them and I thank God he made me patient March 9. Shrove-Tuesday ........ was with me in the Tower and gave great engagements of his Faith to me March 13. Saturday Divers Lords Dined with the Lord Herbert at his new House by Fox-Hall in Lambeth Three of these Lords in the Boat together when one of them saying he was sorry for my Commitment because the buil ding of St. Pauls went slow on there-while the Lord Brooke replied I hope some of us shall live to see no one stone left upon another of that Building March 15. Munday A Committee for Religion setled in the Upper-House of Parliament Ten Earls ten Bishops ten Barons So the Lay-Votes shall be double to the Clergy This Committee will meddle with Doctrine as well as Ceremonies and will call some Divines to them to consider of the Business As appears by a Letter hereto annexed sent by the Lord Bishop of Lincoln to some Divines to attend this Service Upon
the whole matter I believe this Committee will prove the National Synod of England to the great dishonour of this Church And what else may follow upon it God knoweth March 22. Munday The Earl of Strafford's Trial began in Westminster-Hall and it continued till the end of April taking in the variation of the House of Commons who after a long Hearing drew a Bill of Attainder against him Anno 1641. March 25. Thursday A. Sh. performed his Promise to the uttermost May 1. Saturday The King came into the Upper-House and there declared before both Houses how diligently he had hearkned to all the Proceedings with the Earl of Strafford and found that his fault what-ever it was could not amount to High Tre ason That if it went by Bill it must pass by him and that he could not with his Con science find him Guilty nor would wrong his Conscience so fa r. But advised them to pro ceed by way of Misdemeanour and he would concur with them The same day after the King was gone a Letter was Read in the Upper-House from the Scots in which they did earnestly desire to be gone It was moved for a present Conference with the House of Commons about it The Debate about it was very short yet the Commons were risen beforehand Maij 12. Wednesday The Earl of Strafford beheaded upon Tower-Hill June 23. Wednesday I acquainted the King by my Lord of London that I would resign my Chancellorship of Oxford and why June 25. Friday I sent down my Resignation of the Chancellorship of Oxford to be published in Convocation July 1. Thursday This was done and the Earl of Pembroke chosen Chancellor by joint consent August 10. Tuesday The King went Post into Scotland the Parliament sitting and the Armies not yet dissolved Septemb. 23. Thursday Mr Adam Torles my Ancient Loving and Faithful Servant then my Steward after he had served me full forty two Years dyed to my great loss and grief Octob. 23. The Lords in Parliament Sequestred my Jurisdiction to my inferior Officers and Ordered that I should give no Benefice without acquainting them first to whom I would give it that so they might approve This Order was sent me on Tuesday Novemb. 2. in the Afternoon Novemb. 1. News came to the Parliament of the Troubles in Ireland the King being then in Scotland where there were Troubles enough also Novemb. 25. Thursday The King at his return from Scotland was sumptuously Entertained in London and great joy on all hands God prosper it Decemb. 30. Thursday The Arch-Bishop of York and eleven Bishops more sent to the Tower for High Treason for delivering a Petition and a Protestation into the House that this was not a free Parliament since they could not come to Vote there as they are bound without danger of their Lives Januar. 4. Tuesday His Majesty went into the House of Commons and demanded the Persons of Mr Denzill Hollis Sir Arthur Haslerig Mr John Pym Mr John Hampden and Mr William Stroude whom his Attorney had the day before together with the Lord Kimbolton Accused of High Treason upon seven Articles They had Information and were not then in the House they came in after and great stir was made about this Breach of the Priviledges of Parliament Febr. 6. Saturday Voted in the Lords House that the Bishops shall have no Votes there in Parliament The Commons had passed that Bill before Great Ringing for joy and Bonfires in some Parishes Febr. 11. Friday The Queen went from Greenwich toward Dover to go into Holland with her Daughter the Princess Mary who was lately Married to the Prince of Orange his Son But the true Cause was the present Discontents here The King accompanied her to the Sea Febr. 14. His Majesties Message to both Houses Printed by which he puts all into their Hands so God bless us Febr. 14. An Order came that the Twelve Bishops might put in Bail if they would and that they should have their Hearing upon Friday February 25 They went out of the Tower on Wednesday February 16 and were sent in again February 17 the House of Commons on Wednesday-night protesting against their coming forth because they were not in a Parliamentary way made acquainted with it Feb. 20. Sunday There came a tall Man to me under the Name of Mr Hunt He professed he was unknown to me but came he said to do me service in a great particular and prefaced it that he was not set on by any States-Man or any of the Parliament So he drew a Paper out of his Pocket and shewed me 4. Articles drawn against me to the Parliament all touching my near conversation with Priests and my Endeavours by them to subvert Religion in England He told me the Articles were not yet put into the House they were subscribed by one Willoughby who he said was a Priest but now come from them I asked him what Service it was he cou'd do me He said he looked for no advantage to himself I conceived hereupon this was a piece of Villany And bad him tell Willoughby he was a Villain and bid him put his Articles into the Parliament when he will So I went presently into my inner Chamber and told Mr Edward Hide and Mr Richard Cobb what had befallen me But after I was sorry at my Heart that my Indignation at this base Villany made me so hasty to send Hunt away and that I had not desir'd Mr Lieutenant to seize on him till he brought forth this Willoughby Feb. 25. Friday The Queen went to Sea for Holland and her Eldest Daughter the Princess Mary with her March 6. Sunday After Sermon as I was walking up and down my Chamber before Dinher without any Slip or Treading awry the Sinew of my Right Leg gave a great crack and brake asunder in the same place where I had broken it before Feb 5 ãâã Orders about Stisted Anno 1642. It was two Months before I could go out of my Chamber On Sunday Maii 15 I made shift between my Man and my Staff to go to Church There one Mr Joslin Preached with Vehemency becoming Bedlam with Treason sufficient to hang him in any other State and with such particular Abuse to me that Women and Boys stood up in the Church to see how I could bear it I humbly thank God for my Patience All along things grew higher between the King and the Parliament God send a good Issue Maij 29. Four Ships came into the River with part of the Ammunition from Hull August 22. Munday the King set up his Standard at Nottingham August 24. The Parliament having committed Three Officers of the Ordinance and sent two new ones in the room This day they brake open all the Doors and possessed themselves of the Stores August 27. Saturday Earl of Southampton and Sir Jo. Culpepper sent from the King to have a Treaty for Peace refused unless the King would take down his Standard and recall his Proclamation which