Port or lofty looks or in all or in none Admitting the most and worst you can of these particulars would you have men that shine in a higher Orb move in a lower Sphere than that in which God has placed them Or being rank'd in Order and Degree about you would you not have them keep that distance which belongs to their Places Or because you affect a Parity in the Church would you have all men brought to the same Level with your self without admitting Sub and Supra in the Scale of Government If they were your Fathers in God why did not you look upon them with such reverence as becomes Children If your Superiors in the Lord why did not you yield them that subjection which was due unto them If fix'd in Place and Power above you by the Laws of the Land only and no more than so why did not you give obedience to those Laws under which you lived and by which you were to be directed Take heed I beseech you Mr. Baxter that more Spiritual Pride be not found in that heart of yours than ever you found worldly and external Pride in any of my Lords the â—â—â—hops and that you do not trample on them with greater insolence Calco platonis Fastum sed majori Fastu as you know who said in these unfortunate days of their Calamity than ever they expressed toward any in the time of their Glory Were it my case as it is yours I would not for ten thousand worlds depart this life before I had obtained their pardon and given satisfaction to the world for these horrible Scandals 3. As for those persons that were heartily affected with Episcopacy and dissatisfied with the extinction of an Order so sacred and venerable there was this way found out to quiet their diâ—contents viz. to persuade them that Bishops and Presbyters were of equivolent importance and comprehended under the same name in the Holy Scriptures But grant says this their Champion that they be so who that pretends to Logick can dispute so lamely as from a Community of names to infer an Identity or Sameness in the thing so named Kings are called Gods in Holy Scripture and God does frequently call himself by the name of King yet if a man should thence infer that from this Community of names there arises an Identity or Sameness between God and the King he might worthily be condemned for so great a Blasphemer St. Peter calls our Saviour Christ by the name of Bishop and himself a Presbyter or Priest or an Elder as we unhandsomly read it yet were it a sorry piece of Logick to conclude from hence that there is no distinction between an Apostle and an Elder the Prince of the Apostles and a simple Presbyter or between Christ the Supreme Pastor of his Church and every ordinary Bishop Lastly take it for granted that Bishops have an Identity or Sameness in Name Office Ordination and Qualification with Presbyters it will not follow convertibly that Presbyters have the like Identity or Sameness of Qualification Ordination Name and Office which the Bishop hath My reason is because a Bishop being first Regularly and Canonically to be made a Priest before he take the Order and Degree of a Bishop hath in him all the Qualifications the Ordination Name and Office which a Presbyter has and something further superadded as well in point of Order and Iurisdiction which every Presbyter hath not So that altho every Bishop be a Priest or Presbyter yet every Presbyter is not a Bishop To make this clear by an example in the Civil Government When Sir Robert Cecil Knight and principal Secretary of State was made first Earl of Salisbury and then Lord Treasurer continuing Knight and Secretary as he was before it might be said that he had an Identity or Sameness in Name Office Order and Qualification with Sir Iohn Herbert the other Secretary yet this could not be said reciprocally of Sir Iohn Herbert because there was something superadded to Sir Robert Cecil viz. the Dignity of an Earl and the Office of Lord Treasurer which the other had not So true is that of Lactantius Adeo argumenta ex absurdo petita ineptos habent exitus It is ordinary for Arguments built upon weak grounds to have worse Conclusions And a better Instance cannot be given of this than in the Retortion that Mr. Selden made to one in the House of Commons who disputed against the Divine Right of Episcopacy His argument was this 1. That Bishops are Iure Divino is of Question 2. That Archbishops are not Iure Divino is out of Question 3. That Ministers are Iure Divino there is no Question Now if Bishops which are questioned whether Iure Divino shall Suspend Ministers which are Iure Divino I leave it to you Mr. Speaker Which Mr. Selden whether with greater Wit or Scorn is hard to say thus retorted on him 1. That the Convocation is Iure Divino is a Question 2. That Parliaments are not Iure Divino is out of Question 3. That Religion is Iure Divino is no Question Now Mr. Speaker that the Convocation which is questioned whether Iure Divino and Parliaments which out of Question are not Iure Divino should meddle with Religion which questionless is Iure Divino I leave to you Mr. Speaker There are some other Points relating to Episcopacy which Dr. Heylyn has long time since cleared and determined And if some of our pretending States-men had considered and read what was written upon those Subjects their time and pains would have been more profitably spent to the honor and security of this Church and Kingdom than in raising doubts and scruples which had long before been so clearly stated and resolved For 1. As for Bishops sitting in Parliament to Vote in Causes of Blood and Death this the Doctor evinced not only in the Tract entituled De Iure paritatis Episcoporum but in his Observations upon Mr. L'Estrange's History where he says that altho the ancient Canons disable Bishops from Sentencing any man to Death yet they do not from being Aâ—sistants in such cases from taking Examinations hearing Depositions of Witnesses or giving Counsel in such matters as they saw occasion The Bishops sitting as Peers in the English Parliament were never excluded from the Earl of Strafford's Trial from any such Assistances as by their Gravity and Learning and other Abilities they were enabled to give in any dark and difficult business tho of Blood and Death which were brought before them 2. With the like solid reasoning the Doctor has evinced the Bishops to be one of the Three Estates For not to mention what he says upon this Argument in his Stumbling-Block of Disobedience That they have their Vote in Parliament as a Third Estate not in capacity of Temporal Barons altho they are so as Mr. Selden evinces and an Act of Parliament Stat. 25. Edw. III. will evidently appear from these following Reasons For
too late standing in the world to be accounted the first Broacher of those Doctrinal Points which have such warrant from the Scriptures and were so generally held by the ancient Fathers both Greek and Latine till St. Austins time defended since that time by the Iesuites and Franciscans in the Church of Rome by all the Melancthonian Divines among the Lutherans by Castalio in Geneva it self by Bishop Latimer and Bishop Hooper in the time of K. Edward VI by some of our Confessors in Prison in the days of Qu. Mary by Bishop Harsnet in the Pulpit by Dr. Peter Baroe in the Schools in the Reign of Qu. Elizabeth by Hardem Bergius the first Reformer of the Church and City of Emden and finally by Anastasius Velvanus A. D. 1554. and afterward by Henricus Antonii Iohannes Ibrandi Clemens Martini Cornelius Meinardi the Ministers generally of the Province of Vtrecht by Manaus the Divinity Professor of Leyden by Gellius Succanus in the Province of Friezeland before the name of Iacob van Harmine was heard of in the world And if it be objected that the whole stream of Protestant Divines who were famous either for Piety or Learning embraced the Calvinian Doctrines to this also the Doctor gives a satisfactory answer in many places of his learned Writings The Reader may please to consider 1. That this being granted to be a truth we are rather to look upon it as an infelicity which befel the Church than as an argument that she concurr'd with those Divines in all points of judgment That which was most aimed at immediately after the Reformation and for a long time after in preferring men to the highest dignities of the Church and chief places in the Universities was their zeal against Popery and such a sufficiency of learning as might enable him to defend those Points on which our separation from the Church of Rome was to be maintained and the Queens Interest most preserved The Popes Supermacy the Mass with all the Points and Nicities which depended on it Iustification by Faith Marriage of Priests Purgatory the Power of the Civil Magistrate were the Points most agitated And whoever appeared right in those and withal declared himself against the corruptions of that Church in point of Manners was seldom or never looked into for his other Opinions until the Church began to find the sad consequences of it in such a general tendency to Innovation both in Doctrine and Discipline as could not easily be redress'd 2. In answer to the fâ—re-mentioned objection It is recorded in St. Marks Gospel cap. 8. that the blind man whom our Saviour restored to sight at Bethsaida at the first opening of his eyes saw men as Trees walking ver 24. i. e. walking as Trees quasi dicat homines quos ambulantes video non homines sed arbores mihi viderentur as we read in Maldonate By which words the blind man declared saith he se qauidem videre aliquid cum nihil antè videret imperfectè tamen videre cum inter homines arbores distinguere non posset More briefly Estius upon the place Nondum ita clarè perfectè video ut discernere possim inter homines arbores I discern somewhat said the poor man but so imperfectly that I am not able to distinguish between Trees and Men. Such an imperfect sight as this the Lord gave many times to those whom he recovered out of the Egyptian darkness who not being able to discern all Divine Truths at the first opening of the eyes of their understandings were not to be a Rule and Precedent to those that followed and lived in clearer times and under a brighter Beam of Illumination than others did What grounds were laid down by this excellent person for Unity and Charity in the Worship of God and in the Doctrine and Government of the Church may be seen in these words to Mr. Baxter Unity and Charity in the ancient simplicity of Doctrine Worship and Government no man likes better than my self bring but the same affections with you and the wide Breach that is between us in some of the Causes which we manage on either side will be suddenly closed but then you must be sure to stand to the word Ancient also and not keep your self to simplicity only If Unity and Charity will content you in the ancient Doctrine in the simplicity thereof without subsepuent mixtures of the Church I know no Doctrine in the Church more pure and Ancient than that which is publickly held forth by the Church of England in the Book of Articles the Homilies and the Catechism authorized by Law of which I may safely affirm as St. Austin does in his Book Ad Marcelinum His qui contradicit aut a Christi fide alienus est aut est Haereticus i. e. He must either be an Inâ—idel or an Heretick who assents not to them If Vnity and Charity in the simplicity of Worship be the thing you aim at you must not give every man the liberty of worshiping in what Form he pleaseth which destroys all Vnity nor Cursing many times instead of Praying which destroys all Charity The ancient and most simple way of Worship in the church of God was by regular Forms prescribed for the publick use of Gods people in the Congregations and not by unpremeditated undigested Prayers which every man makes unto himself as his fancy shall lead him And if set Forms of Worship are to be retained you will not easily meet with any which hath more in it of the ancient simplicity of the Primitive Times than the English Liturgy And if ancient simplicity of Government be the point you drive at what Government can you find more pure or Ancient than that of Bishops of which you have this Character in the Petition of the County of Rutland where it is said to be That Government which the Apostles left the Church in that the Three Ages of Martyrs were governed by that the thirteen Ages since have always gloried in by their Succession of Bishops from the Apostles proving themselves Members of the Catholick and Apostolick Church that our Laws have established that so many Kings and Parliaments have protected into which we were Baptized as certainly Apostolical as the Lords day as the distinction of Books were written by such Evangelists and Apostles as the Conâ—ecration of the Eucharist by Presbyters c. An ample commendation of Episcopal Government but such as exceeds not the bounds of Truth or Modesty Stand to these grounds for keeping Vnity and Charity in the ancient simplicity of Doctrine Worship and Government in the Church of God and you shall see how chearfully the Regal and Preâ—atical Party will joyn hands with you and embrace you with most dear affections But you tell me That if I will have men in peace as Brethren our Union must be Law or Ceremonies or indifferent Forms This is a pretty Speculation but such as would not pass for
13th year of his Age sent to London by his Father to be under the Cure of Dr. Turner Husband to that Gentlewoman that had a hand in the Death of Sir Tho. Overbury who keeping him to a strict Diet and frequent Sweatings sent him back into the Country after four Months time But his Distemper again returning he was fain once more to apply himself unto his old Doctor before a Cure could be completed Upon his return to Burford he found his old Master dead and was committed to the Care of a Successor viz. Mr. Davis a Reverend good man who notwithstanding his long discontinuance from School found his Scholar not to have mis-spent or mis-employed any time that gave him the least Relaxation from his Distemper and therefore placed him Third in the â—ppermost Form Mr. Davis spared no diligence that might tend to the cultivating of a Plant so flourishing and hopeful making him fit for the University by having him but twelve Months under his Tuition A kindness so gratefully resented by our Doctor that he dedicated to him one of his Books called Ecclesia Vindicata and had it not been for the misfortune of the War had given better Testimonies of a thankful and generous mind in preferring him to some considerable Benefice or Dignity in the Church He was the beginning of December 1613. in the 14th year of his Age sent to Oxford and placed under the Tuition of Mr. Ioseph Hill an antient Batchelor in Divinity once one of the Fellows of Corpus Christi College but then Commoner of Hart-Hall by whom Mr. Walter Newberry afterward a zealous Puritan was made choice of to instruct him in Logick and other Academical Studies as far as the tenderness of his Age rendred him capable And he made such progress in them that upon the 22d of Iuly 1614. he stood Candidate for a Demies place in Magdalen College having no other Recommendations than Sir Iohn Walters then Attorney General to the Prince and afterward Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer Grand-Father to that worthy Gentleman Sir William Walter now of Sarsden in the County of Oxford Baronet Dr. Langton President of the College put Mr Heylyn the Eighth upon the Roll which was the first place of the second Course but it succeeded not till the year following being then Elected First upon the Roll and having very much endeared himself to the President and Fellows by a facetious Latine Poem upon a Journey that he made with his two Tutors unto Woodstock But immediately after his admission into that noble Foundation he fell into a Consumption which constrained him to retire to his Native Air where he continued till Christmas following He was a year after his Admission made Impositor of the Hall in which Office he acquitted himself with so much Fidelity that the College-Dean continued him longer in it than any ever before by which means he contracted a great deal of Hatred and Enmity from those Students that were of his own standing being called by them the Perpetual Dictator But he diverted the violence of the Storm by the assiduity of his Studies and particularly by Composing an English Tragedy called Spurius which was so well approved of by some learned persons of that Foundation that the President caused it to be privately acted in his own Lodgings In Iuly 1617. he obtained his Grace for the degree of Batchelor of Arts but was not Presented to it till the October following by reason of the absence of one of his Seniors holding it unworthy to prejudice another person for his own Advancement After the performance of the Lent-Exercises for his Degree he fell into a Fever which increasing with great violence at last turned into a Tertian Ague and caused him again to retreat unto his Countrey Air which he enjoyed till the middle of Iuly following and then according to the College Statutes which require that Exercise to be performed every long Vacation by some Batchelor of Arts he began his Cosmographical Lectures and finished them in the end of the next August His Reading of those Lectures drew the whole Society into a profound admiration of his Learning and Abilities insomuch that before he had ended them he was admitted Fellow upon Probation in the place of one Mr. Love And that he might give a Testimony of his grateful mind for so unexpected a Favour he writ a Latine Comedy call'd Theomachia which he Composed and Transcribed in a Fortnights space On Iuly 29. 1619. he was admitted in verum perpetuum Socium and not long before was made Moderator of the Senior Form which he retained above two years And within that compass of time he began to write his Geography accordingly as he designed when he Read his Cosmographic-Lectures which Book he finish'd in little more than two months beginning it Feb. 22. and completing it the 29th of April following At the Act Ann. Dom. 1620 he was admitted Master of Arts the honor of which Degree was the more remarkable because that very year the Earl of Pembroke Chancellor of the University signified his pleasure by special Letters that from that time forward the Masters of Arts who before sate bare should wear their Caps in all Congregations and Convocations unto which Act of Grace his Lordship was induced by an humble Petition presented to him by the Regent Masters in behalf of themselves and Non-Regents as also by Dr. Prideaux then Vice-Chancellor who being pre-acquainted with the business gave great encouragement to proceed onward in it and lastly by the indefatigable pains of one Master Clopton junior of Corpus-Christi-Colledge who was the principal Solicitor in that Affair His Geography was committed by him to the perusal of some Learned Friends and being by them well approved he obtained his Fathers consent for the Printing of it which was done accordingly November 7. 1621. The first Copy of it was presented by him to King Charles the First then Prince of Wales unto whom he Dedicated it and by whom together with its Author it was very graciously received being introduced into the Princes Presence by Sir Robert Carre one of the Gentlemen of his Highnesses Bed-Chamber and since Earl of Ancram unto whose Care Master Heylyn was commended by the Lord Danvers then at Cornbury by reason of some bodily Indisposition But after this Sun-shine of Favour and Honor darted on him by the Prince there followed a Cloud which darkened all his Joys for in a few months after his Father died at Oxon with an Ulcer in his Bladder occasioned by the Stone with which he had been for many years grievously afflicted His Body was conveyed to Lechlade in Glocestershire where he was buried near his Wife who died six years before him of a Contagious Fever and lay in the Chancel of that Parish-Church Septemb. 15. 1622. he received Confirmation from the hands of Bishop Lake in the Parish Church of Wells and in a short space after exhibited a Certificate to Doctor Langton concerning
the History of St. George Patron of the most noble Order of the Garter A business as he tells the King in his Epistle Dedicatory of so intricate and involved a nature that he had no Guide to follow nor any Path to tread but what he had made unto himself Neither had that Task ever come to perfection had not so able an hand undertaken it whose industry and abilities were superior to every thing but themselves Many enemies the Book met withal when it came first to light But 't is more easie to load learned Authors with Railing and Reproaches than to Encounter and Confute their Arguments The Historian had the honor to be introduced by the Bishop of London into his Masters Bed-Chamber unto whom he presented his Book which his Majesty graciously accepted and held some conference with the Author about the subject-matter contained in it He also gave Copies of the History to all the Knights of the Order that were then attending at Court who all used him with respect suitable to his merits except the Earl of E. who called him a begging Scholar of which words he was afterward very much ashamed when the incivility unbecoming a Nobleman and Courtier came to the knowledge of those that were of hiw own Quality Against this History Doctor Hackwel appeared in Print of which the King was presently informed and sending for Mr. Heylyn commanded him to consider the Arguments of his Antagonist and withal sent him to Windsor to search into the Records of the Order This occasioned a second Edition of the History wherein were answered all the Doctors Arguments and Allegations but no Reply made to his Invectives which were too frequently interspersed in the Book of that learned Writer of whom Mr. Heylyn heard no more till his very excellent Book about the Supposed Decay of Nature came out in a new Edition wherein there was a Retractation made of those passages that related to St. George Mr. Heylyn began now to conceive some hopes of not being any longer unkindly dealt withal by the hand of Fortune having a Presentation given him by one Mr. Bridges to the Parsonage of Meysie-Hampton in the Diocess of Glocester unto the Bishop of which he made Application but found him already pre-engaged to further the pretended Title of Corpus Christi College in Oxon. However his Lordship promised not to give Institution to any person till the Title was cleared advising Mr. Heylyn to leave his Presentation with him and to enter a Caveat in his Court But he who was false to God and his Mother-Church could never be faithful to those engagements thich 〈◊〉 made to man the one he deserted by turning Papist being the only Bishop of the English Hierarchy who renounced a Persecuted Church to embrace the Errors and Idolatries of the Roman Communion And as for his promises to Mr. Heylyn those he violated giving one Mr. Iackson who was presented by C.C.C. Institution so soon as ever he requested it This engaged our young Married Divine in a tedious Suit at Law which occasioned him great trouble and that which he could not well at that time undergo vast charge and expence especially if we consider the bad success that attended it For by reason of the absence of many of the Iury and the supply of Tales who attended upon the Trial as Water-men wait for a Fare together with the Tergiversation or rather Treachery of one of his Council upon whose Wisdom and Integrity the Client most relied the Cause went against him though affirmed by all Standers-by and by the Council himself the night immediately preceding the Trial to be as fair and just an Action as ever was brought to Bar. But indignus es felictate quem fortuitorum pudet It was not the first time that a poor man was oppressed and a righteous Cause miscarried And God ever rewards the quiet submission of his faithful Servants to his wise and unsearchable Providence with far more valuable Blessings than those which he deprives or with-holds from them Ioseph had never met with those signal honors and dignities in Pharaohs Court had not he been first sold by his Brethren for a Bond-slave into Egypt Neither was this the only disappointment he met with in his way to Preferment For not long after Preaching at Court in his second Attendance his Majesty expressed a very high opinion of him to many noble Lords about him and in a few months after gave him a Presentation to the Rectory of Hemingford in the County of Huntington But this also missed of the desired effect which his Majesties Bounty and Mr. Heylyns necessities required For the Bishop of Linclon unto whom he made Application with his Presentation would not allow the King to have any Title to the Living so that the poor man was fain to return to London re infectâ The Bishop was much offended as well as surprized that a young Divine should have so comprehensive a knowledg of the Law For he made good the Kings Right upon the passages of the Conveyances of the other party But the King soon understood the entertainment his Chaplain met with at Bugden and sent him this gracious Message That he was sorry he had pâ—t him to so much charge and trouble but it should not be long before he would be out of his debt And he soon performed his Royall promise for within a week after he bestowed on him a Prebeâ—dship of Westminster void by the death of Dr. Darrel to the extreme vexation of his Lordship who was then Dean of the same Church And that which added to the honor of this Preferment was his not only being the same day iniâ—iated into the friendship of the Attorney-General Mr. Noye but the condescending Message that came along with the Royal Gift viz. That he bestowed that Prebendship on him to bear the charges of his last Iourney but he was still in his debt for the Living When Moses was deserted by his Parents for fear of Pharaohs fury God was pleased to provide him a Saviour and a Nurse and he was taken out of the Bul-rushes and fed and preserved in despight of all his enemies Being possessed of this Preferment he began the repairing and beautifying of his House with many other things so far as his narrow contracted Fortune would permit him And the first honorable Visit that he received in his new Habitation was from the learned Lord Falkland who brought along with him one Captain Nelson that pretended a new Invention viz. The Discovery of the Longitude of the Sea The Captain had imparted his design to many learned Mathematicians who by no means could approve of or subscribe to his Demonstrations But the King referr'd him to Mr. Heylyn who told that noble Lord That his Majesty was mistaken in him his skill and knowledg lying more in the Historicaâ— than Philosophical part of Geography His Lordship seem'd much offended with the answer conceiving that out of a supercilious disdain of
in the 20th Article which thus runs in terminis viz. Habet Ecclesia Ritus sive Ceremonias statuendi Ius in Fidei Controversiis Authoritatem c. But the Regius Professor was as little pleased with these Questions and the Respondents stating of them as he was with the former And therefore that he might the more effectually expose him he openly declared how the Respondent had falsified the publick Doctrine of the Church and charged the Article with that Sentence viz. Habet Ecclesia Ritus sive Ceremonias c. which was not to be found in the whole Body of it and for the proof thereof he read the Article out of a Book which lay before him beginning thus Non licet Ecclesiae quicquam instituere quod verbo Dei scripto adversetur c. To which the Respondent reaâ—iâ—y answered That he perceived by the bigness of the Book which lay upon the Doctors Cushion that the Article he read was out of the Harmony of Confessions publish'd at Ceneva Anno Dom. 1612. which therein followed the Edition of the Articles in the time of King Edw. 6. Anno Dom. 1552. in which that Sentence was not found but that it was otherwise in the Articles agreed on in the Convocation Anno Dom. 1562. to which most of us had subscribed in our several places but the Professor still insisting upon that point and the Respondent perceiving the greaâ—est part of his Auditory dissatisfied he called to one Mr. Westly who had formerly been his Chamber-Fellow in Magdalen College and desired him to fetch the Book of Articles from some Adjacent Booksellers which being observed by the Professor he declared himself very willing to decline any farther Debate about that business and to go on directly in the Disputation But the Respondent was resolved to proceed no further Vsque dum liberaverit animam suam ab istâ calumniâ as his own words were till he had freed himself from that Imputation And it was not long before the coming of the Book put an end to the Controversie out of which he read the Article in English in his verbis The Church hath power to decree Rites and Ceremonies and Authority in Controversies of Faith c. which done he delivered the Book to one of the Auditors who desired it of him the Book passing from one hand to another till all were satisfied And at this point of time it was that the Bishop of Angolesme Lord Almoner to the Queen left the Schools professing afterward That he could see no hope of a fair Disputation from so foul a beginning It has been laid to Doctor Heylyn's charge that at this time he was Hissed because he excluded King and Parliament from being parts of the Church But he never deny'd either to be parts of the Diffusive Body of the Church but only to be parts of the Church Representative which consists of the Bishops and Clergy in their several Councils For neither King nor Parliament are Members of the Convocation as he then proved and asserted The Articles ascribe to the Church of England Represented in a National Council power of decreeing Rites and Ceremonies and Authority of determining Controversies in Faith as well as other Assemblies of that nature And this neither deserved nor met with any Hiss Perhaps a Hiss was then given but it was when the Regius Professor went to prove that not the Convocation but the High Court of Parliament had power of ordering matters in the Church in making Canons ordaining Ceremonies and determining Controversies in Religion And he could find no other medium to make it good but the Authority of Sir Edw. Coke in one of the Books of his Reports An Argument unto which the Respondent returned no other Answer than Non credendum est cuique extra suam Artem upon which immediately he gave place to the next Opponent which put an end to the heats of that Disputation But it did not so to the Regius Professors passion against Dr. Heylyn For conceiving his Reputation somewhat lessened in the eye of the world he gave an account in a paper of the whole transaction that tended very much to the Doctors disgrace as well as his own Justification But Dr. Heylyn well knew upon what bottom he stood and therefore in his own Vindication caused the Professor to be brought before the Council-Table at Woodstock where he was publickly rebuked for the mis-representations that he had made of him And upon the coming out of the Kings Declaration concerning Lawful Sports Dr. Heylyn took the pains to translate the Regius Professors Lecture upon the Sabbath into English and putting a Preface before it caused it to be Printed A performance which did not only justifie his Majesties proceedings but abated much of that opinion which Dr. Prideaux had amongst the Puritanical Faction in those days Pass we now from the University the School of Learning and Study to the Court the Seat of Breeding and Business where Dr. Potter afterward Dean of Worcester presented to the King a very learned Treatise called Charity Mistaken and for a reward of his great Abilities had a Prebendship of Windsor design'd for him which was then likely to become vacant by the promotion of the Bishop of Glocester to the See of Hereford Many of Dr. Heylyn's Friends were very zealous with the King on his behalf especially Dr. Neile then Archbishop of York But his Lordship stuck faster to his Bishoprick than he did to his Principles and so the business ended But whilst it was in agitation it occasioned this merry Epigram from our young Doctor who was conceived by every one to have missed that Prebendship upon the supposed Vacancy When Windsor Prebend late disposed was One ask'd me sadly how it came to pass Potter was chose and Heylyn was forsaken I answered 't was Charity Mistaken But the Doctors Juvenile humor was presently converted iuto a far less pleasing passion For Mr. Attorney-General Noye left this world for a better very much to the sorrow but much more to the loss of Dr. Heylyn He kept his Whitsontide in 1634. with the Doctor at Brentford where he used all imaginable arguments and intreaties to dissuade him from going to Tunbridge-Waters the following Vacation importuning him to accompany him to Alresford where he would be certain to find a better Air and a more careful Attendance But we are very often wise to our own hurt and stand in that light which would guide us to safety and felicity But whatsoever damage our Doctor sustained by the loss of so invaluable a Friend some persons else have gained well by it having two large Manuscripts of Mr. Noys own hand-writing The one contains the Collections he made of the Kings maintaining his Naval power accroding to the practice of his Royal Predecessors The other about the Priviledges and Jurisdictions of Ecclesiastical Courts These two Books Doctor Heylyn had a sight of from Mr. Noye about two months before the death of that
learned man And it would be a generous act and highly conducive to the honor of Mr. Noy's memory as well as the Kings and Churches interest if such Treasures were communicated to the benefit of all his Majesties Subjects which are now only useful to some single persons Neither was this all the trouble that Dr. Heylyn met with at this â—ime For some enemies then living added to the sorrow and disturbance that he had for his departed Friend The grievances which the Collegiate Church of Westminster suffered under the Government of Iohn Lord Bishop of Lincoln then Commendatory-Dean thereof became so intolerable that our Doctor was constrained for the common safety of that Foundation to draw up certain Articles no less than 36. against his Lordship by way of charge which he communicated to Dr. Thomas Wilson Dr. Gabriel Moore and Dr. Ludovicus Wemmys Prebendaries of the said Church who embarqu'd themselves in the same bottom with him and resolved to make complaint by way of Petition which was drawn up and presented to the King by all four together in the Withdrawing-Chamber at Whitehal March 31. 1634. And a Commission was issued out thereupon to the Archbishops of Centerbury and York the Earl of Manchester Lord Privy-Seal Earl of Portland Lord high Treasurer the Lord Bishop of London Lord Cottington and the two Secretaries of State viz. Sir Iohn Coke and Sir Francis Windebank authorizing them to hold a Visitation of the Church of Westminster to examine particular charges made against Iohn Lord Bishop of Lincoln and to redress such Grievances and Pressures as the Prebendaries of the said Church suffered by his Mis-government The Articles were returned to Dr. Heylyn to be put in Latine and the Commission bore date April 20. But the whole thing lay dormant till December 1635. at which time the Bishop began again to rage in his Province of Westminster dispossessing the Prebendaries of their Seats neglecting to call the Chapter to pass accounts conferring Orders in the said Church within the space of a month permitting a Benefice in the gift of the said Church and lying within his Diocess to be lapsed unto himself with many other Grievances which caused the forementioned Prebendaries to present a second Petition to his Majesty Humbly beseeching him to take the ruinous and desperate estate of the said Church into his Princely consideration as 't is worded in the Petition it self Upon which the former Commission was revived and delivered to the Lords whom it did concern and a Citation fixed upon the Church-doors of Westminster accordingly Upon Ianuary 25. they were warned by the Sub-Dean to meet the Bishop in Ierusalem-Chamber where amongst other matters his Lordship desired to know what those things were that were amiss that so he might presently redress them To whom Dr. Heylyn replied That seeing they had put the business into his Majesties hands it would ill become them to take it out of his into their own Ian. 27. both parties met before the Lords in the Inner Star-Chamber where the Commission was tendred and accepted and the whole business put into a methodical course each following Monday being appointed for the day of hearing till the whole was concluded Feb. 1. The Commissioners with the Plaintiffs and Defendant met in the Council-Chamber at Whitehal where it was ordered that the Plaintiffs should be called by the name of Prebendaries-Supplicant That they should be admitted upon Oath as Witnesses That they should have a sight of all Registers Records Books of Accounts c. That the first business that they should proceed in should be that of the Seat because that made the breach or difference more visible and offensive to the world than those matters that were more private and domestick and finally that the Prebendaries-Supplicant should have an Advocate who should plead their Cause defend their Rights and represent their Grievances And the person that they unanimously made choice of was Dr. Peter Heylyn Feb. 8. the Dean put in his Plea about the Seat or great Pew under Richard the II. and the Advocate being appointed by the Prebendaries-Supplicant to speak in the defence of their common Interest in the Seat now controverted and of which the Bishop of Lincoln had most disgracefully dispoâ—sessed them he made choice to represent to the Lord Commissioners 1. Their Original Right 2. Their Derivative Right and lastly their Possessory Right Their Original Right he proved from the Charter of their Foundation from Queen Elizabeth their Foundress who declared by Act of Parliament made in the first year of her Reign the Abbey of St. Peter in Westminster fell into her hands and that being seized thereof and of all the Lands thereunto belonging she did by her Letters Patents erect the said dissolved Abbey into a Collegiate Church consisting of a Dean and twelve Prebendaries and that the said Dean and Prebendaries should be both in re nomine unum corpus corporatum one only Body Politick that they should have a perpetual Succession a Common Seal and that they should Call Plead and be Impleaded by the name of the Dean and Chapter of the Collegiate Church of St. Peter in Westminster So that by this Donation the Dean hath no propriety in the said Church his own Stall excepted but is joynt-Owner with the Prebendaries of the Site and Soil Nor did the Queen bestow upon them the Church alone but bestowed it joyntly upon them una cum omnibus antiquis privilegiis libertatibus ac liberis consuetudinibus and those to be enjoyned in as full a manner as ever tho Abbot and Convent did before enjoy the same By which it appears that all the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Church of Westminster is vested joyntly in the Dean and Chapter and not in the Dean alone For as the Dean and Chapter are one Body so they make one Ordinary and as one Ordinary have a common and joynt Power to dispose of Seats Their Derivative Right he proved from their Original Right For the Queen giving the Dean and Prebendaries with their Successors all Rights Possessions Privileges and Immunities they need only to prove their Succession in the Church of St. Peter and then whatever Right was in their Predecessors Original must be on them derived As for their Possessory Right he desired their Lordships pardon if he should fail in the proof of it For the Book of the Chapter-Acts was missing which was very necessary in order to it And although one offered to take his Oath that the Bishop of Lincoln never saw it yet the Oath was so desperate that either the person who offered to take it had an hand in making away the Book or else that he durst swear whatever the Bishop of Lincoln said or asserted But being deprived of that Evidence he proceeded to Testimony where he did not make use of such Witnesses as were summoned by the Dean viz. Colâ—ege-Servants and Tenants who were obnoxious to him but indifferent men that were no way
Friends to the Complainants but only to the Truth some of them Bishops some Doctors in Divinity all of them of unquestion'd Credit and such as spake upon certain and affirmative knowledge Finally the Advocate than whom never any Orator or Lawyer did better acquit himself urged that however things were in time past yet the Bishop by his Non-Claim had pre-judged himself and that the possession of the Prebendaries since his Lordship became Dean of Westminster was sufficient to create a Right though they had never any right before And this he made good by particular Cases and Decisions in the Civil Canon and Common Laws First for the Civil Law it was determined by the Laws of the twelve Tables That a continued and quiet possession which any man had gained in a Personal Estate for one year only or for two years together in matters Real which they call Immovable should create a Right those times being thought sufficient for any man to put in his Claim And so it held in Rome many hundred years till that upon some inconveniences which did thence arise it pleased Iustinian to set out his Edict which is still extant in the 7th Book of his Code and in that Edict to Decree That a possession of three years in matters Personal should beget a Right and as for Real Estates it was determined that a possession of ten years inter praesentes and twenty years inter absentes should conclude as much And in almost all Nations Christened the same Law has continued to this very time So that if this be applied to my Lord of Lincoln he is gone in Civil Law For being resident here continually for fifteen years together he never made his Claim to the Seat in question and so has lost his Right if ever he had any Next for the Canon Law it yields as many ruled Cases and Decisions by which to regulate this point as the former But the Advocate instanc'd only in one The Church of Sutry in Tuscany being void the Canons go to the Election of a Bishop and make choice of one whom they desire to have confirmed The Clergy of the Convents about the City interpose their Claim and make it manifest Eos Electionibus trium Episcoporum qui immediatè praefuerunt c. interfuisse i. e. that they were present at the Election of the three last Bishops and did give their Voices The Pope thereupon determined that seeing the Witnesses on the Canons part did seem to differ among themselves Et quod negativam quodammodo astruere satagebant and that they went about to prove the Negative viz. that the said Clerks had no Voices in the three last Elections or were not present in the same which negative proof it seems was taken for a strange attempt And seeing on the other side that it was manifest how the said Clerks were present at the three last Elections and had their Voices in the same the former Election was made void and the said Clerks put into that possession which they had before A Case says Dr. Heylyn that is very parallel to our present business we claiming that if not before yet in the time of the three last Deans we had possession of this Seat and therefore are to be restored unto that possession out of which we had been cast by my Lord of Lincoln Lastly for the Common Law however there is nothing against which the Laws do provide more carefully than the preventing or removing of a Force nor any thing wherein they do proceed with more severity than in punishing of the same yet by the Laws it is enacted that they which keep their possessions by Force in any Lands or Tenements whereof they or their Ancestors or they whose Estate they have in such Lands or Tenements have continued their Possession by the space of three years or more be not endangered by any former Statutes against Force Forcible Entries and Forcible Detainers So careful are the Laws to preserve Possession that in most cases they do prefer it before Right at least till Right be cleared and Judgment be pronounced in favour of it And albeit in the Common Laws there is no ruled Case in the present business as being meerly of Ecclesiastical Cognizance and Jurisdiction yet in the Common Law there is one Case which comes very near it and 't is briefly this If there be two Ioynt-Tenants or Tenants in Common of certain Lands and one of them doth expel or put forth the other out of Possession of the said Lands by force he that is so expelled may either bring his Writ of Assize of Novel Disseisin and so recover treble dammages or have his Action of Trespass of Forcible Entry against his Companion that did so expel him and thereupon shall have a Writ of Restitution This Case is very near ours as before is said the Dean and Prebendaries being Ioint-Tenants or Tenants in Common of the Seat in question out of which we are expelled forcibly by my Lord of Lincoln and now desire the benefit of the Law for our Restitution But says the Advocate my Lord objects that the Prebendaries are in subjection to him that they swear Canonical Obedience to him and therefore should not sit in the same Seat with him But to both we answer with an Absque hoc we are not in subjection to him for we are made Ioynt-Governors with him in every thing pertaining to the Church and in the Statutes are entituled Primarii principes viri and are to be Assistants to him and Associates with him in the common Government of the same Nor do we swear Canonical Obedience to him as is pretended We only make Oath that we shall give him dignam debitamque Reverentiam and that we swear to give to all Officers So that if Digna Reverentia is â—o be construed Canonical Obedience we owe Canonical Obedience to the Arch-Deacon the Treasurer the Sub-Dean and Steward as well as to the Bishop of Lincoln Much more was spoken by Dr. Heylyn vivâ voce in this matter which will be too tedious to be inserted in his Life But when he had ended his Speech the Lord Commissioners expected that the Bishop would have made a Reply but after a long pause he said no other words than these If your Lordships will hear that young fellow prate he will presently persuade you that I am no Dean of Westminster But upon hearing the proofs of both sides it was ordered by general consent of the Lord Commissioners that the Prebendaries should be restored to their old Seat and that none should sit there with them but Lords of the Parliament and Earls Eldest Sons according to the antient custom After this there was no Bishop of Lincoln to be seen at Morning-Prayer in the Church and seldom at Evening Feb. 15. the Lord Commissioners went on in hearing the particulars of the second Petition and so they proceeded from one Monday to another till Monday April 4. and then adjourned
till the 25th of the same month upon which day the business was again re-sumed and the Bishop of Lincoln appeared not so well to the Lord Commissioners except those of the Laity who were apparently inclined to favour him and therefore those of the Clergy thought it neither fit nor safe to proceed to Sentence and upon that the Commission was put off sine die The Advocate 's Activity in this Affair procured him a great deal of enmity and ill-will both in Court and Countrey as every mans Zeal will do that will be true to his Principles and faithful in his Station For whoever does impartially administer or peremptorily demand publick Justice will as certainly be exclaimed of as a Patient will cry out of that Chirurgeon that Launces a gangren'd or fester'd Wound But Dr. Heylyn gained these two advantages by his zeal in this business viz. That he justified the Priviledges of the Prebendaries out of whose Revenues the Bishop kept a plentiful Table inviting to it the chiefest of the Nobility Clergy and Gentry the Prebendaries having no other advantages by his Hospitality than to fill their bellies with the first Course and then after the manner of great mens Chaplains to rise up and wait till the coming in of the second And the other was that by his frequent and extempore Debates before the Lords Commissioners he was at last brought to such an habit of speaking that Preaching became more easie and familiar to him than it had been in the first part of his life I will not as I before promised mention all the Grievances that were complained of concerning that great person One thing more it may not be amiss to insert in these Papers and that is Dr. Heylyn's Refusal to sit in the Choire of Westminster according to Academical Decrees For the Bishop of Lincoln having taken a Resolution that the twelve Prebendaries should sit in the Choire according to their Degrees in the Vniversity our Doctor remonstrated against it giving these Reasons for his Refusal 1. In the Charter of the Foundation of that Church the Prebendaries are distinguished by Primus Secundus Tertius c. as now by Prima Secunda Tertia Praebenda c. according unto which account both in the Treasurers Book and in the Chanters I am reckoned as the sixth Prebendary and do preach accordingly as Successor to Edmund Schambler the Sextus Prebendarius here first established 2. In the same Charter of the Foundation William Young being of no Degree is placed before Gabriel Coodman Master of Arts which makes it evident there was no purpose that for the after-times the Order of Academical Degrees should be observed in marshalling the Prebendaries places 3. The Statutes of the College give to the new succeeding Prebendaries the Stall and House belonging to their Predecessors in the same Prebend according to these words thereof Succedâ—nt Prebendarii praedecessoribus suis in eâdem praebenda tam in Stallo loco voce in Capitulo quam in domo eidem Praebendae annexis By which it is apparent that the Stalls as well as Houses are annexed to the Prebendaries But the Prebendaries by this Statute take not their places in the Chapter-House by any such Seniority as is pretended nor have two several Chapter-Acts been found of any force to sever the Houses from the Prebendaries and therefore not their Stalls neither 4. His Majesties Letters Patents whereby I claim whatsoever I hold in Westminster give me Praebendam illam quae vacat per mortem G. Darrel which was the sixth Prebend cum omnibus juribus praeheminentiâ—s with all Rights and Pre-eminences thereunto belonging and so by consequence the sixth Stall also as the pre-eminenee appertaining to it 5. The Mandat in those Letters Patents is that I be installed fully and absolutely in the same Prebend which was then vacant In eandem Praebendam plenariè installari faciatis as the Patent goes which is not done at all either plenariè or in eandem if this order hold 6. The Mandat issuing out with the said Letters Patents is that I be Installed prout moris est according to the antient custom But such a custom by sitting according to degrees of Schools was never yet known in Westminster nor in any Church out of the University that I can hear of and is not kept in many Colleges of the University which I am sure of therefore that clause reflects upon such a custom as hath formerly been used in Westminster and hath both the Statute and the Charter for the ground thereof 7. Your Lordship did determin the last Chapter that the way of sitting by Prima Secunda Tertia Praebenda c. was most agreeable to Statute and that if any man should take his place accordingly he could not be hindred from so doing to which determination there was then a full assent in Chapter and divers of the Prebendaries have since sate accordingly 8. Whereas your Lordship took a Corporal Oath at your Admission into this Deanery to govern this Collegiate Church ex his Statutis according to the tenor of these very Statutes which are now in use and that the Prebendaries have all of them taken a several Oath faithfully to observe the same Statutes and whereas the Statute is most plain that the new Prebendaries are to have the Stalls of their Predecessors in the same Prebend I cannot see how prossibly this new order can stand with the same Statute and so by consequence with out Oaths who have sworn to keep them 9. Upon this new order there will follow such confusion in the Church that upon the coming in of a new Prebendary the greatest part of the company will be still troubled to remove their Stalls higher or lower from one side to another according as the New-comer is in Seniority and so instead of order we shall bring disorder into our Church 10. This new order is an Innovation never before known in this Church and hath no ground in Statute or in Custom which as your Lordship noted is optimus Insterpres Legis but is quite contrary thereunto Unto which Statute and his Majesties Letters Patents I refer my self humbly desiring that these just reasons of my refusal to yield to such an order as neitheâ— stands with Statute or with Custom nor any other true ground of Reason may find a favourable Interpretation and Admission Whilst these hot contests continued out came our Doctors History of the Sabbath the Argumentative or Scholastick part of which subject was refer'd to Bishop White of Ely the Historical part to Dr. Heylyn who had before that time given ample Testimony of his knowledge in the antient Writers The History is divided into two parts The first whereof begins with the Foundation of the World and carries on the story till the destruction of the Temple at Ierusalem The second begins with our Saviour Christ and his Apostles and is drawn down to the year 1633. It was Written Printed and Presented to the
in Scotland and the Archbishop of Canterbury designing to put out an Apology for vindicating the Liturgy that he had recommended to that Kirk desired our Doctor to translate it into Latine that being published with the Apology the world might be satisfied in his Majesties Piety as well as his Graces care as also that the rebellious and perverse temper of the Scots might be apparent unio all who would raise such tumults upon the recommendation of a Book that was so venerable and Orthodoxâ— Our Reverend Doctor undertook and compleated it but the distemper and troubles of those times were the occasion that the Book went no farther than the hands of that learned Martyr In Feb. 1639. Dr. Heylyn was put in Commission of the Peace for the County of Hampshire into which he was no sooner admitted but he occasioned the discovery of an horrid Murther that had been committed many years before in that Country April following he was elected Clerk of the Convocation for the College of Westminster At which time the Archbishop of Canterbury sending a Canon to that Assembly for the Suppressing the further growth of Popery and bringing Papists to Church our Reverend Doctor moved his Grace that the Canon might be enlarged for the greater satisfaction of the people as well as the protection of the Church viz. That all persons entrusted with Care of Souls should respectively use all possible Care and Diligence by open Conferences with the Parties and by Censures of the Church in inferior Courts as also by Complaints unto the Secular Powers to reduce all such to the Church of England as were misled into Popish Superstition This and much more was offered by Dr. Heylyn as may be seen more at large in his Life of the Archbishop And about the same time he drew up a Paper wherein he offered a mutual Conference by select Committees between the House of Commons and the Lower House of Convocation And this he did that the Representatives of the Clergy might give satisfaction to the Commons in point of Ceremonies and in other matters relating to the Church if the motion was accepted but if refused that they might gain the advantage of Reputation among knowing and wise persons But the unhappy Dissolution of the Parliament prevented all things of this nature The news of which was so unwelcome and amazing to Dr. Heylyn that being then busied at the Election for the School at Westminster the Pen felâ— out of his hand and it was not without some difficulty before he could recollect his thoughts in the business about which he was engaged The Convocation according to usual custom had expired the next day after the Parliament had not our Reverend man gone to Lambeth and there displayed to the Archbishop the Kings necessities and acquainted him with a precedent in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth for granting Subsidies or a Benevolence by Convocation to be taxed and levied without help of Parliament Upon which proposal the Convocation was adjourned till Wednesday May 13. on which day the Bishops met in full Convocation and a Commission was sent down to the Lower-House dated May 12 which enabled the Prelates and Clergy then Assembled to treat of and conclude upon such Canons as they conceived necessary for the good of the Church The greatest part of the Clergy very much scrupled this matter conceiving the Convocation to end with the Parliament But our Reverend Divine being well skill'd in the Records of Convocations shew'd the distinction between the Writ for calling a Parliament and that for assembling a Convocation their different Forms the independence of one upon the other as also between the Writ by which they were called to be a Convocation to make Canons and do other business He proved also that although the Commission was expired with the Parliament yet the Writ continued still in force by which they were to remain a Convocation till they were Dissolved by another Writ With this distinction he satisfied the greatest part of those who scrupled to sit after the Parliaments Dissolution But the King proved the best Casuist in the case who being acquainted with these scrupulosities called the most learned in the Laws to consult about them by whom it was determined That the Convocation being called by the Kings Writ notwithstanding the Dissolution of the Parliament was to be continued till it was Dissolved by the Kings Writ And this was subscribed by Finch Lord Keeper Littleton Lord Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas Banks Attorney-General Whitfield c. It will be too tedious to insert into these Papers all the Debates that were in this learned Assembly most of them are to be seen in the Life of the Archbishop Suffice it to acquaint the Leader that few or none of those propositions which either concerned the Institution Power or Priviledges of Sovereign Kings or related to the Episcopal Power Doctrine or Discipline of the English Church but were either first proposed or afterward drawn up by Dr. Heylyn though he ouâ— of his great modesty and worth ascribes them to other persons It was the Clerk of the Church of Westminster who was placed on purpose by the Prolocutor to speak last in the Grand Committee for the Canon of Uniformity and to answer all such Arguments as had been brought against any of the Points proposed and were not answered to his hand It was he who made a proposition for one uniform Book of Articles to be used by all Bishops and Arch-deacons in Visitations to avoid the confusion that happened in most parts of the Church for want of it those Articles of the Bishops many times everting those of the Arch-Deacons one Bishop differing from another the Successors from the Predecessors and the same person not consistent to those Articles which himself had published by means whereof the people were much disturbed the Rules of the Church contemned for their multiplicity unknown by reason of their uncertainty and despised by reason of the inconstancy of those that made them The motion back'd by these Reasons did so well please the Prolocutor with the rest of the Clergy that they desired the Doctor in pursuit of his own project to undertake the Compiling of the said Book of Articles and to present it to the House with all convenient speed It was the same learned man who took into consideration the great Excesses and Abuses which were crept in and complained of Ecclesiastical Courts the redress and Reformation of which Grievances was brought within the compass of these seven Heads 1. Concerning Chancellors Patents and how long their virtuâ— was to continue 2. That Chancellors were not alone to censure the Clergy in sundry cases 3. That Excommunication and Absolution were not to be pronounced but by a Priest 4. Concerning Commutations and the way of disposing of them 5. Concerning Concurrent Iurisdictions 6. Concerning Licences to Marry 7. Against Vexatious Citations Some other things were proposed and designed but never put in
execution there being intended an English Pontifical which was to contain the Form and Manner of the Coronation of King Charles I. and to serve as a standing Rule to succeeding Ages on the like occasions Another Form to be observed by all Archbishops and Bishops for consecrating Churches Church-yards and Chappels And a third for reconciling such Penitents as either had done open Pennance or had revolted from the Faith of Christ to the Law of Mahomet Which three together with the Form of Confirmation and that of ordering Bishops Priests and Deacons which were then in force were to make up the whole Body of the Book intended But the troubles of the times increasing it was thought expedient to defer the prosecution of it till a fitter conjuncture And yet notwithstanding all the storms that were then rising this excellent person went through the Book of Articles the compiling of which gave no obstruction to him from attending the service of the Committee upon all occasions And for the better Authorizing of the Articles he placed before every one of them in the Margin the Canon Rubrick Law Injunction or other Authentick Evidence upon which they were grounded Which being finished were by him openly read in the House and by the House approved and passed without any alteration only that exegatical or explanatory clause in the fourth Article of the fourth Chapter touching the reading of the Communion-Service at the Lords Table was desired by some to be omitted which was done accordingly Finally it was Dr. Heylyn who proposed a Canon for enjoyning the said Book to be only used in Parochial Visitations for the better settling of Uniformity in the outward Government and Administration of the Church and for preventing of such just Grievances as might be laid upon the Church-Wardens and other sworn men by any impertinent inconvenient or illegal Enquiries in the Articles for Ecclesiastical Visitations Neither were these the only Fruits of his labours and travels in this business there being six Subsidies granted to the King and the Bishops and Clergy in Convocation upon the 20th of May received his Majesties Letters Sealed with his Royal Signet and attested by his Sign Manual which required and authorized them to proceed in making Synodical Constitutions for levying of those Subsidies which had been before granted And this was easily done there being nothing to be altered but the changing of the name of Subsidy into that of Benevolence Friday May 29. the Canons were formally subscribed unto by the Bishops and Clergy no one dissenting except the Bishop of Glocester who died in the Communion of the Roman Church and was all that part of his life in which he revolted from the Church of England a dear Favourite and Servant of Oliver Cromwel unto whom he dedicated some of his Books for which he was voted worthy of Suspension by the Convocation and was accordingly Suspended by the Archbishop of Canterbury Which being done the Convocation was dissolved Proceed we now from the Active to the more Passive part of Dr. Heyly's life For the Long Parliament the Churches as well as the Kings Scourge began to sit at Westminster and a general Rumor was spread both in City and Country that our Doctor being conscious to himself of many Crimes durst not stand the brunt of their displeasure and therefore had made use of his heels as his best weapons of defence being run away out of a fear and foresight of an approaching storm When these rumors were raised he was at his Parsonage of Alresford from whence he hastened with all conveniâ—nt speed confuting the Calumny by shewing himself the very next day after his coming to London in his Gown and Tippet in Westminster-Hall And upon a Vote passed in the House of Lords that no Bishop should be of the Committee for the Preparatory Examinations in the Cause of the Earl of Strafford under colour that they were excluded from acting in it by some antient Canons as in cause of Blood our learned Divine did thereupon draw up a brief Discourse entituled De jure Paritatis Episcoporum now inserted in the Re-printed Volume of his Works which he presented unto many of the Bishops to assert all their Rights of Peerage and this of being of that Committee among the rest which either by Law or antient custom did belong unto them The Parliament began their Session Novemb. 3. 1640. and upon the 9th of December following upon the Complaint of Mr. Pryn our Doctor was called before the Committee of the Courts of Justice who accosted him with that fierce fury that no one could have withstood the Torrent but one whose Soul was fortified with Innocence equal to his Courage The Crime objected against him was that he had been a subservient Instrument under the Archbishop of Canterbury all the sufferings of Mr. Pryn having read the Histriomastix out of which he had furnished the Lords of the Council and many other persons with matter to proceed against its Author But our Doctor made a bold and just Defence for himself telling his Accusers That the Task was imposed upon him by Royal Authority which he would readily prove if they would have so much patience as to allow him time for that purpose Great hopes they had to squeeze something out of him concerning his being engaged in it by the Archbishop but he was too wary to be ensnared by any of their Artifices and being faithful to his Friend and Patron was kept four days under Examination suffering for the two first the brutish Rage of the People more perhaps than St. Paul did at Ephesus for that blessed man did not adventure himself amongst those Savages But our poor Doctor was tossed up and down by the fury of an ungovern'd multitude and railed at as he passed through them by their leud and ungoverned tongues But God who sets bounds to the Waves of the proud Ocean rebuked their rage and rescued him from their malice But alas what civility can be expected from the ill-bred Rabble unto Clergy-men when they themselves like the Eagle in the Greek Apologue wound one another with Arrows feathered with their own Plumes For four days after he had received order to appear before the Committee he preach'd his turn in the Abbey at Westminster and in the midst of his Sermon was insufferably affronted by the Bishop of Lincoln who knocking the Pulpit with his Staff cried out aloud No more of that Point No more of that Point Peter This happened to the poor man in very ill circumstances for it occasioned new clamours and animated his enemies to proceed on with greater violence against him But notwithstanding all their united malice he held out bravely sending the whole passage of his Sermon as he designed to Preach it both to his Friends at Court and Enemies in Parliament and taking Sir Robert Filmore with some other Gentlemen that were his Auditors out of the Church along with him to his House where he immediately sealed
most parts of Italy being grown so despicable that Fool and Christian are become Synonymous Since then says the Doctor they have no mind to be called Christians no reason to be called Catholicks let us call them as they are by the name of Papists considering their dependence on the Popes decisions for all points of Faith But then he tells of another Faction that make as ill an use of the Title Holy as the Papists do of the name Catholick that are holy in the sense of Corah and his Factious Complices who made all the Congregation holy and all holy alike He gives also an excellent account of the Presbyterian and Independent platforms and proves against both of them that the Churches Government is not Democratical and against the Papists that 't is not Monarchical but in the judgment of the purest Antiquity Aristocratical In a word he shews how both the Eastern and Western Churches opposed the Popes Supremacy forced Celibacy of Priests Transubstantiation Half-Communion Purgatory Worshiping of Images and Auricular Confession Of which last Doctrine he at large states the whole business about it from Bishop Morton shewing how it ought to be free in regard of Conscience and possible in regard of Performance But then withal he asserts the Efficacy and Power of the Sacerdotal Absolution proving it not only Declarative but Authoritative and Iudicial as also the Right that every National Church has to decree Rites and Ceremonies for the more orderly officiating in Gods Publick Worship and the procuring of a greater degree of Reverence to the Holy Sacraments In the belief of these Doctrines this great Scholar lived and died And with what confidence can any one rake in his Grave and asperse his Memory not only with things which he never opined but with those which his soul ever abhorr'd But if there can be any accession to the degrees of Bliss in the other world I doubt not but his Rewards are advanced and grow more massie with the persecutions which his name suffers upon earth Our Blessed Saviour himself was not out of the reach of malevolent tongues when his Body was laid in the Grave being then called a Deceiver by his Murtherers And thrice welcome are those aspersions and mis-constructions that make us conformable to so glorious a pattern Spiteful and inconsiderate men do ever judg rashly of things and persons taking a great pleasure to assault the Innocence and undermine the Reputations of those that are more upright and vertuous than themselves But against these things 't is commonly said and as commonly believed that some persons and those too of the most illustrious Quality have been perverted from the Protestant Faith to Popery by reading some of Dr. Heylyn's Books and particularly his Ecclesia Restaurata or History of the Reformation And Dr. Burnet in the first Volume of his History upon the same Subject has done all he can to confirm the world in the belief of that injurious imputation For after a short commendation of our Doctors stile and method it being usual with some men slightly to praise those at first whom they design to lash more severely afterward he presumes to tell his Reader That either Doctor Heylyn was very ill informed or very much led by his Passions and he being wrought on by most violent prejudices against some that were concerned in that time delivers many things in such a manner and so strangely that one would think that he had been secretly set on to it by those of the Church of Rome tho I doubt not he was a sincere Protestant but violently carried away by some particular conceits In one thing he is not to be excused That he never vouch'd any Authority for what he writ which is not to be forgiven any who write of Transactions beyond their own time and deliver new things not known before So that upon what ground he wrote a great deal of his Book we can only conjecture and many in their ghesses are not apt to be very favourable to him This Objection containing many particulars in it will require as many distinct Answers in the Vindication of the Doctors Honor and Writings and more especially of his History of the Reformation And first if it be true that any have embraced the Roman Faith by reading of that Book we may conclude them very incompetent Judges in matters of Religion who will be prevailed on to change it upon the perusal of one single History and especially in the Controversies between VS and the Papists which do not so very much depend upon matters of Fact or upon an Historical Narration of what occurrences happened in England in the Reigns of any of our preceding Princes but upon Doctrines of Faith viz. what we are to believe or dis-believe in order to our pleasing of God in this life and our being eternally blessed with him in the next Altho Iunius and others have by their reading of Holy Writ found the efficacy of it upon their hearts and from profligate Atheists have become Gods faithful Servants yet the blessed Doctrine of the Bible has through the depravation of mans Nature had a quite contrary efficacy upon other persons being just like wholsom meat which administers health and vigor unto Atheletick and sound Bodies but infeebles nature and feeds the diseases of those that are sickly and distempered Let the History of the Reformation be never so fatal to unwary and less intelligent Readers yet it was writ with an intent to justifie the Reformation and that upon such just and solid Reasons as might sufficiently endear it to all knowing men as its Author tells his Majesty Bonae res neminem scandalizant nisi malam mentem says one of the Antients Some men have such inveterate Diseases that no Physick can do them good and some Stomachs are so foul that Antidotes are turned by them into poison If any one was ever unsetled in Protestantism by reading of Ecclesia Restaurata it was only accidental his perversion being to be ascribed either to the ignorance or weakness of his Judgment or to the stubbornness of his Will or some other evil principle of his Mind It cannot proceed from any intrinsick evil quality in that or any other Book of Doctor Heylyns which abound with unanswerable Arguments to establish the Discipline and Doctrine of the Church of England against its professed Enemies of Rome and Geneva But our Doctors own words will be a sufficient defence of him unto all equal and unprejudic'd Judgments In the whole carriage of this work I have assumed unto my self the freedom of a just Historian concealing nothing out of Fear nor speaking any thing out of Favour delivering nothing for a Truth without good Authority but so delivering that Truth as to witness for me that I am neither biassed by Love or Hatred nor overswayed by partiality and corrupt affections I know 't is impossible in a work of this nature to please
first the Clergy in all other Christian Kingdoms of these North-West Parts make the Third Estate that is to say in the German Empire as appears by Thuanus the Historian lib. 2. In France as is affirmed by Paulus Aemilius lib. 9. In Spain as testifieth Bodinus de Republ lib. 3. For which also consult the general History of Spain as in point of practice lib. 9 10 11 14. In Hungary as witnesseth Bonfinius Decl. 2. lib. 1. In Poland as is verified by Thuanus also l. 56. In Denmark as Pontanus tells us in Historia rerum Danicarum l. 7. The Swedes observing anciently the same Form and Order of Government as was used by the Danes The like we find in Cambden for the Realm of Scotland in which anciently the Lords Spiritual viz. Bishops Abbots and Priors made the Third Estate And certainly it was very strange if the Bishops and other Prelates in the Realm of England being a great and powerful Body should move in a lower Sphere in England than they do elsewhere But 2dly Not to stand only upon probable inferences we find first in History touching the Reign and Acts of Henry V. That when his Funerals were ended the Three Estates of the Realm of England did assemble together and declared his Son King Henry VI. being an Infant of eight Months old to be their Sovereign Lord as his Heir and Successor And if the Lords Spiritual did not then make the Third Estate I would fain know who did Secondly The Petition tendred to Richard Duke of Glocester to accept the Crown occurring in the Parliament Rolls runs in the name of the Three Estates of the Realm that is to say the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons thereof Thirdly In the said Parliament of the said Rich. Crowned King it is said expresly That at the request and by the consent of the Three Estates of this Realm that is to say the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons of this Land Assembled in this present Parliament and by Authority of the same it be Pronounced Decreed and Declared That our Sovereign Lord the King was and is the very and undoubted King of this Realm of England c. Fourthly It is acknowledged in the Statute of 1. Eliz. c. 3. where the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in that Parliament Assembled being said expresly and in terminis to represent the Three Estates of this Realm of England did recognize the Queens Majesty to be their true lawful and undoubted Sovereign Liege Lady and Queen Add unto these the Testimony of Sir Edward Cooke tho a private person who in his Book of the Iurisdiction of Courts published by Order of the Long Parliament c. 1. doth expresly say That the Parliament consists of the Head and the Body that the Head is the King that the Body is the Three Estates viz. the Lords Spiritual Temporal and the Commons In which words we have not only the Opinion and Testimony of that learned Lawyer but the Authority of the Long Parliament also tho against it self I hope the perusal of these things will be no less acceptable to the sober Reader than the transcribing of them has been unto my self which I have done to the end as well of informing my Country-men about the Rights of the Crown and Privileges of the Church and Clergy as to shew that Dr. Heylyn had a zeal according unto knowledg and was not less zealous for knowledge-sake And the Doctor having thus stood up in the defence of Monarchy and Hierarchy both in their prosperous and adverse condition when the black Cloud was dispelled and a fair Sun-shine began to dawn upon these harrassed and oppressed Islands by the Return of his Sacred Majesty this excellent man having in his mind Tullies Resolution Defendi Rempub. Adolescens non deseram Senex thought it unbecoming him to desert the Church in any of its pressing needs and therefore when the door of Hope began to open he busied his active and searching mind in finding out several expedients for the restoring and securing of its Power and Privileges in future Ages against the attempts of Factious and Sacrilegious men And the first thing that he engaged in was to draw up several Papers and tender them to those Persons in Authrority who in the days of Anarchy and Oppression had given the most signal Testimonies of their Affection to the Church In which Papers he first shewed what Alterations Explanations c. were made in the Publick Liturgy in the Reigns of King Edward VI. Queen Elizabeth and King Iames that so those who were intrusted with so sacred a Depositum might be the better enabled to proceed in the Alteration and enlargement of it as they afterward did and as it now stands by Law Established in this Church Secondly Whereas in the first year of King Edward VI. it was enacted that all Arch-Bishops Bishops c. should make their Processes Writings and Instruments in the Kings name and not under their own Names which Act was afterward extended unto Ordinations as appears by the Form of a Testimonial extant in Sanders's Seditious Book De Schismate Anglicano and whereas the Act was repealed in the last year of Queen Mary and did stand so repealed all the Reign of Queen Elizabeth but was by the activity of some and the incogitancy of others revived again in the first year of King Iames but lay dorment all the Reign of that Prince and during the first ten years of King Charles I. after which it was endeavoured to be set on foot by some disturbers of the Publick Peace upon which the King having it under the hand of his Judges that the proceedings of the Arch-Bishops Bishops c. were not contrary to the Laws of the Land inserted their Judgment about it in a Proclamation for indemnifying the Bishops and the satisfying of his loving Subjects in that Point therefore Dr. Heylyn considering that what the Judges did was extrajudicial and that the Kings Proclamation expired at his Death solicited the concerns of the Church in this Affair viz. that the Act so pasâ—ed as before is said in the first of King Iames might be repealed that so the Bishops might proceed as formerly in the exercise of their Jurisdiction without fear or danger Thirdly Whereas in the 16. year of Charles I. there passed an Act that no Arch-Bishop Bishop c. should minister any Corporal Oath unto any Church-Warden Sideman or any other person whatsoever with many other things whereby the whole Episcopal Jurisdiction was subverted except Canonical Obedience only and all proceedings in Courts Ecclesiastical in Causes Matrimonial Testamentory c. were weakened and all Episcopal Visitations were made void as to the ordinary Punishments of Heresie Schism Non-conformity Incest Adultery and other Crimes of Ecclesiastical Cognizance therefore Dr. Heylyn stated the Case and in a Petition drawn up by him prayed that for the restoring of the Episcopal Jurisdiction the Clauses of that Act
and the penalties thereunto annexed might be wholly abrogated and annulled But the most remarkable Effort of his zeal for the Church after the Kings Restauration was the Application made by him to the great Minister of State in those days that there might be a Convocation called with the Parliament What good effects were produced by his endeavours in that particular let the Reader judg when he has perused the following Letter with which the Reverend Doctor saluted that powerful Statesman Right Honorable and my very good Lord I Cannot tell how welcome or unwelcome this Address may prove in regard of the greatness of the Cause and the low condition of the Party who negotiates in it But I am apt enough to persuade my self that the honest zeal which moves me to it not only will excuse but endear the boldness There is my Lord a general Speech but a more general Fear withal amongst some of the Clergy that there will be no Convocation called with the following Parliament which if it should be so resolved on cannot but raise sad thoughts in the hearts of those who wish the peace and happiness of our English Sion But being the Bishops are excluded from their Votes in Parliament there is no other way to keep up their Honor and Esteem in the eyes of the people but the retaining of their places in the Convocation Nor have the lower Clergy any other means to shew their duty to the King and keep that little freedom which is left unto them then by assembling in such Meetings where they may exercise the Power of a Convocation in granting Subsidies to his Majesty tho in nothing else And should that Power be taken from them according to the constant but unprecedented practice of the late Long Parliament and that they must be taxed and rated with the rest of the Subjects without their liking and consent I cannot see what will become of the first Article of Magna Charta so solemnly so frequently confirmed in Parliament or what can possibly be left unto them of either of the Rights or Liberties belonging to an English Subject I know 't is conceived by some that the distrust which his Majesty hath in some of the Clergy and the Diffidence which the Clergy have of one another is looked on as the principal cause of the Innovation For I must needs behold it as an Innovation that any Parliament should be called without a meeting of the Clergy at the same time with it The first year of King Edward VI. Qu. Mary and Qu. Elizabeth were times of greater diffidence and distraction than this present Conjuncture And yet no Parliament was called in the beginning of their several Reigns without the company and attendance of the Convocation tho the intendments of the State aimed then at greater alterations in the face of the Church than are now pretended or desired And to say the truth there was no â—anger to be feared from a Convocation tho the times were ticklish and unsettled and the Clergy was divided into Sides and Factions as the case then stood and so stands with us at this present time For since the Clergy in their Coâ—vocations are in no Authothority to propound treat or conclude any thing more than the passing of a Bill of Subsides for his Majesties use until they are impowred by the Kings Commission the King may tie them up for what time he pleases and give them nothing but the opportunity of entertaining one another with the news of the day But if it be objected that the Commission now on foot for altering and explaining certain passages in the Publick Liturgy that either pass instead of a Convocation or else is thought to be neither competable nor consistent with it I hope far better in the one and must profess that I can see no reason in the other For first I hope that the selecting of some few Bishops and other learned men of the lower Clergy to debate on certain Points contained in the Common-Prayer-Book is not intended for a Representation of the Church of England which is a Body more diffused and cannot legally stand bound by their Acts and Counsets And if this Conference be for no other purpose but only to prepare matter for a Convocation as some say it is not why may not such a Conference and Convocation be held both at once For neither the selecting of some learned men out of both the Orders for the composing and reviewing of the two Liturgies digested in the Reign of King Edward VI. proved any hindrance in the calling of those Convocations which were held both in the second and third and in the fifth and sixth of the said Kings Reign Nor was it found that the holding of a Convocation together with the first Parliament under Queen Elizabeth proved any hindrance to that Conference or Disputation which was designed between the Bishops and some learned men of the opposite parties All which considered I do most humbly beg your Lordship to put his Majesty in mind of sending out his Maâ—dates to the two Archâ— Bishops for summoning a Convocation according to the usual Form in their several Provinces that this poor Church may be held with some degree of Veneration both at home and abroad And in the next place I do no less humbly beseech your Lordship to excuse this freedom which nothing but my zeal for Gods glory and my affection to this Church could have forced from me I know how ill this present office does become me and how much fitter it had been for such as shine in a more eminent Sphere in the holy Hiâ—rarchy to have tendered these Particulars to consideration Which since they either have not done or that no visible effect hath appeared thereof I could not chuse but cast my poor Mite into the Treasury which if it may conduce to the Churches good I shall have my wish and howsoever shall be satisfied in point of Conscience that I have not failed of doing my duty to this Church according to the light of my understanding and then what happens unto me shall not be material And thus again most humbly craving pardon for this presumption I kiss your Lordships hands and subscribe my self My Lord Your Lordships most humble Servant to be commanded Peter Heylyn Having thus surveyed the most important Occurrences of Dr. Heylyn's Life I doubt not but every judicious and impartial Reader will be convinced at once of his vast Abilities and Acquirements in the large Circle of Learning and Sciences of his immovable Integrity in the Protestant Religion and of his indefatigable Industry and Service to the just Interests both of the Crown and Mitre For tho I will not say as St. Paul does of his Son Timothy that there was no man like-minded yet no one had more hearty and unbiassed affections no man did more naturally care for this Church and Kingdom than Dr. Heylyn and at that time too when he expected nothing for his
passenger is said to have poured into his wounds both Oil and Wine i. e. Oil to cherish and refresh it and Wine to cleanse it Oleum quo foveatur vinum quo mordeatur He had not been a skilfuâ— Chirurgeon if he had done otherwise And the Doctor being to contend with so many and malicious Adversaries had been a very unwary writer had he made no distinction but accosted them all after one and the same manner The grand Exemplar of Sweetness Candor and Ingenuity used the severest invectives against the hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees Certainly one Plaister is not medicinal to all kind of sores some of which may be cured with Balm when others more corrupt aud putrified do require a Lancing And thus did this Reverend man deal with the enemies of the King and Church insomuch that he received thanks from the Ministers of Surrey and Bucks in the name of themselves and that party for his fair and respectful language to them both in his Preface to his History of the Sabbath and conclusion of the same To conclude unless good words may receive pollution by confuting bad principles and describing bad things nothing of any rude or uncharitable language can be found in any of the Writings of Dr. Heylyn But as all men have not abilities to write Books so neither to pass sentence on them when written And yet whatever hard censures the Doctors Books have met with in the world I am persuaded his most inveterate enemies who will have but so much patience as to peruse impartially this Account given of his Life will believe that one who had acted written and suffered so much in the defence of the King and Church might have met with some Rewards or Respects in some measure suitable to his merits But God Almighty and wise Providence had otherwise ordered the Event of things purposing no doubt that this excellent person who had for the greatest part of his pilgrimage encountred with the spite and threatnings oppositions and persecutions of those who had subverted Monarchy in the State and Order and Decency in the Church should notwithstanding the Kings Restauration have administred to him another Trial of his passive Fortitude and that was to wrestle with the neglects and ingratitude of his Friends Indeed some Right Reverend Fathers in the Church amongst whom Bishop Cousins ought not to be passed over in silence protested not their wonder only but their grief that so great a Friend and Sufferer for the Royal Family and Church should like the wounded men in the Gospel be passed by both by Priest and Levite and have no recompence for his past Services besides the pleasure of reflecting on them But the States-men of those days rank'd the Doctor with the Milites emeriti the old Cavaliers of whose Principles there could be no fear and of whose Services there could be no more need But notwithstanding all the frowns of Fortune yet he could say his Nunc Dimittis with more sensible joy and chearfulness than he was able to do for many of the precedent years having the satisfaction to live I cannot say to see till the King was restored to his Throne and the Church to its Immunities and Rights Yea let them take all forasmuch as my Lord the King is come again in peace unto his own House The Doctor had nothing given him but what neither Law nor Justice could detain from him and that was the former Preferments that he had in the Church from the profits and possession of which he had been kept above seventeen years And with those he contentedly acquiesced and not unlike some of the old famous Romans after they had done all the Services they could for their Country returned home to their poor Wives and little Farms yoking again their Oxen for the Plough when they had fettered their enemies in Chains Above all this excellent Scholar enjoyed the inward peace and tranquillity of his own mind in that he fought a good fight kept the Faith finished his course discharged his Duty and Trust and had been counted worthy to suffer the loss of all things except his Conscience for the best of Princes and the most righteous of Causes in the world And I pray God grant that an old observation which I have somewhere met withal may not be verified either as to the concerns of Dr. Heylyn or any of the old Royallists viz. It is an ill sign of prosperity to any Kingdom where such as deserve well find no other recompence than the peace of their own Consciences But alas all these unkindnesses and neglects were trivial to the irreparable loss of his eye-sight of which he found a sensible and gradual decay for many years and therefore was the better enabled to endure it But about the year 1654. tenebrescunt videntes per foramina those that looked out of the windows were darkened and he was constrained to make use of other mens eyes but not in the sense as great persons do to guide him in the Motions of his Body tho not in the Contemplations of his Mind Like good old Iacob his eyes were dim and he could not see but there was this difference between them that the Patriarchs eyes were grown dim by reason of Age but Dr. Heylyns were darken'd with Study and Industry As the whole frame of his Body was uniform comely and upright his Stature of a middle size and proportion so his Eye naturally was strong sparkling and vivacious and as likely to continue useful and serviceable to its Owner as any mans whatsoever But by constant and indefatigable Study which for many years he took in the night being hurried up and down with a successive crowd of Business in the day either the Crystalline humor was dried up or the optick Nerves became perforated and obstructed by which means the Visive Spirits were stop'd and an imperfect kind of Cataract was fixed in his eyes which neither by inward Medicines nor outward Remedies could ever be brought to that maturity and consistence as to be fit for cutting Detestabilis est caecitas si nâ—mo oculos perdiderit nisi cui eruendi snnt No punishment would be more dreadful than blindness if none lost their eyes but those that had them pulled out by tortures and burning basons But this Sors Letho dirior omni this heavy affliction was by God laid upon Dr. Heylyn to exercise his Faith to quicken Devotion to try his Patience and to prepare him for his merciful Rewards Animo multis modis variisque delectari licet etiamsi non adhibeatur Aspectus Loquor autem de docto homine erudito cui vivere est cogitare Sapientis autem cogitatio non fermè ad investigandum adhibet oculos advocatos etenim si nox non adimit vitam beatam cur dies nocti similis adimat A man may recreate himself various ways altho his sight fail if he be knowing and learned For a wise man will entertain himself