to prey for himself where ere they could find their Quarry Ambrosius set upon the Saxons whiles Uter sought out Vortigern This brought a fourth pretender into the list as forward and fortunate as either of them who had he been as skilful to keep as he was to get a Victory he might possibly by turning Fortune round have made her so giddy that she could not in a short time have been able to bear up as after she did and fix her self upon one side This was Pascentius the second Son of Vortigern who mov'd with like Zeal to preserve his Father as his elder Brother was to preserve his Country joyned with the Saxons and set upon Ambrosius to divert Uter and if possible to have contracted the War into a narrower room at that place now called Aymesbury but in the first place Ambrosebury in memory of K. Ambrosius his being slain there where they met with so like assurance and not unlike courage that the hopes on either side seem'd evenly poys'd But the Battel ending with the lives of the two great Undertakers Ambrosius and Pascentius the one just ready to step into the Throne the other not well fixed in it who went into the other World with a sufficient train of Followers to shew what rank they held in this Uter enter'd not only without resistance but without a Rival which added no less to his Greatness then to his Security This one would have thought had been sufficient to have unravel'd all his Glory and to have rendred him not only lost to all the World but to himself too But as the Palm-tree is therefore figurative of Victory because the more it is depressed the stronger it bears up against the weight is laid upon it so he less sensible of his own then his Armies weakness caus'd himself to be carried in his Litter to them and that unexpected conquest of his own infirmities so animated their activity that finding they must either leave all their Bodies dead upon the place or his in case they did not make themselves Masters of the Day they tarried not to expect the Assault but gave it whereby turning the surprise upon the other side they slew Ten thousand of their best men and forced the rest to seek safeguard under the protection of their new landed Forces who taught by the experience of former Battels lost how necessary 't is to joyn to Courage caution had strongly fortified themselves within an inaccessable Rampart which he indeavouring to force lost his Victory as unexpectedly as he got it and with it his own amongst many other lives falling like the fierce Creature from which he took his Name whose Image 't is thought he bore upon his Shield to shew his descent from the Roman Emperours as our Kings since have continued it amongst the Royal Banners of England to shew their descent from him THE THIRD DYNASTY OF ENGLISH OF ENGLISH SUccessors to the Romans were the English a People of so ancient an Extract that he that will trace their Original must follow it as Berosus doth into the Flood for as they were ever famous by Sea so they deduce their Pedigree from the Universal Deluge (a) Whom the â—ermans worshipt for their God of War as the Romans Mars Woden their Common Ancestor being descended in a direct Line from (b) From whom the German Language is call'd the Tentonick Theutones the Grandchild or (c) Lanquet Gambrivius the first Inventer of good Ale and Beer which they have lov'd but too well ever since he was the third in descent from (d) From whom they were call'd Germans Manus Son of (e) From whom the German Language came to be call'd the Twich or Tutch Tongue Tuisco the eldest Son of Gomer the first Son of Japheth third Son of Noah whom Moses remembers by the name of Aschenaz from whom the Hebrews call the Germans (f) Illust Poliolb fol. 70. Aschenims Thus their own Records will have them to be some of the most renown'd Reliques of the Old World however Tacitus who began to live near about the time Christ died by what mis-understanding I know not makes no mention of them otherwise than under the Common Name of Cimbri But probable 't is that in respect they possess'd that part of Germany which lyes betwixt the Rhene and the River Albis over which the Romans never pass'd being by (g) Ptol. lib. 5. c. 18. Ptolomey's Reckoning near a third part of the whole he had not the good hap to attain to any near acquaintance with them At their first Arrival here they design'd to change the Name of Britain into Nova Saxonia or rather Saxonia Transmarina they themselves passing under the general Name of Saxons so call'd from their (h) Lipsius Seaiâ—es a sort of short Swords or rather long Knives that they wore under their Arming Coats So much more remarkable amongst the unadvised Britains in that they made a most fatal Proof of the dangerous use of them by the loss of no less than three hundred Lives at one Interview amongst whom were divers of the best Quality of their Nation who were inhumanely butcher'd at a Parley where they met unarm'd in that desert place now call'd Stonenge in Wiltshire by some suppos'd to be the Monument of that days Treachery for which there can be no excuse but that of the Poet Virtus an dolus quis in Hoste requirat But after they got the entire possessâ—on of the whole they chang'd their minds and as some say in honour of Engist the first Invader they turn'd the Name of Britain into Engistland or as others say complying with the Angles the greatest People amongst them call'd it Anglelond which since we term England They were divided into three distinct Tribes differing as in Countrey so in Name The first call d JUTES or as Bede calls them VITES these before they came hither inhabited the Mountains that divide Germany from Italy in the first place and afterwards fixt themselves in the Cimbrian Cbersoness since call'd Juitland their portion here was most of the South part of the Isle being thereupon term'd South-sex toward that Island which from them was call'd the Isle of Vites or Wight The second Tribe was call'd ANGLES who possessing the South part of the Chersoness gave name to the Town of Angolen These were the greatest Scept both for fame and power who taking up much of the East all the North and most of the North-west part of this Isle being four parts of seven in the whole the rest took its denomination from them and fell under the general appellation of (i) Which in the Ventonick Tongue signifâ—es the Sâ—aight or Narrow Land Angleland or England The third Tribe which afterwards devorred the other two were those most properly call'd Saxons and for distinction sake from the rest of their own Countrey (k) Aâ— Holiz quod Silvâ—â— Ligâ—â—â— sigâ—â—ficat HOLY SAXONS in respect of their woody Countrey
fancy comes off and spoils the painting that lay under it But if the principal reason of his leaving out the h which might be the more excusable in respect it has been taken to be an ominous letter to this Nation were to make that Sybilla lingua as he calls the Welch Tongue more smooth and polite why then did he not leave out the two it 's also the continuance whereof makes his Etymology subject to an unanswerable objection in point of Novelty for that there is no ancient word any where to be found that has a double t in it as his Brittannia has Now if both the tt's and the h had been omitted it had then been Bri-tannia which as it is less constrained so it is more acceptable to every common Reader but especially to those that are Natives For that Bri linguâ vernaculâ signifies Honos and so the name of Brittains would have implyed as much as the Honorable Nation in which sence I could be content to rest my self without farther search if the Criticks would have allowed his Tania to have been Greek for Regio but this being modestly doubted by the learned Spelman and utterly denied by the famous Causabon who took it so ill to have a Greek word obtruded upon him that he never heard of before that amongst his excellent Epistles yet extant there is one letter purposely not to say passionately written to Mr. Camden upon this subject by which he requires him to prove it Greek if he could I must conclude as by his returning no answer to that bold Challenge I suppose he himself did that it was not the least of his learned mistakes However the Greeks were beholding to him for the honour intended them whilst by that single termination of Tania he indeavours to prove them the only Godfathers to many other great Nations besides this of ours viz. those of Aquitania and Turditania no mean People and those of Lusitania yet greater with those of Mauritania and Turgitania more famous then they and yet there is another Kingdom which it seems he forgot that could more certainly have proved their Denomination from the Greeks that is the great Kingdom of Batania which before the Greeks possest it was called the Kingdom of Bastian in the Land of Palestine Neither has he made mention of another greater perhaps then all these put together to wit that mighty Empire of the Chynenses who in their native Tongue call their Country Taine which comes as near Tania in sound as may be but nearer yet in the sense Taine importing as much as the Realm or Region 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Take we then Tania to be heathen Greek as he puts it yet it will seem strange that a people so rich in words as the Greeks were should borrow half an Etymology of such a barbarous People as they took the Britains to be and stranger 't is that the Britains if we suppose they gave themselves the name should call themselves Blew Noses though they were so as well might they have named themselves Cornuti from their custom of wearing the skins of Beasts with the Horns upon their heads after the fashion of their Neâ—ghbours not to say their Ancestors the Germans And in like manner and for like reason might the Germans have been called Brittanni upon the account of Painting it being as much in use with them as with those here with this difference only that they painted the skins of the Beasts they wore these their own skins That the Original Names of Nations have been derived from some observation or remark of the first Nomenclators upon the Natures and Customs that seem'd to them most singularly notable will I think be agreed by every body as that the Galeates or Gauls were so named from their * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Milk-like Complexions in like manner as the Moors were from their black and swarthy Visages †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Sarmatians under which denominaâ—ion passed those of Poland Russia Muscovy and the hither Tartary took their names from their ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lizard-like Eyes As the Numidians anciently call'd Nomades from their being generally Herdsmen or Feeders of Cattle The Tuscans and Sabins were indebted for their names to the Time of their Sacrifices as the Artotyritae to the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in respect they offered Bread and Cheese to their Gods Infamy of theirs The Persians were so called with respect to their Habits or Garments as the Saxons our Ancestors from their Seaxes or Skeens Some have been denominated from what they usually eat or drank as the Pharmacotrophi in Asia from their feeding on venomous Creatures and the Cremyones from their drinking broth made of Onions And why may not the Britains be as well suppos'd to have taken their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Drink known to be peculiar unto them and so singularly famous that Aeschylus Sophocles Archilocus Aristotle Theophrastus Helannicus Athinaeus and all the Classick Greek Authors have made more or less mention of it the last of which being the first Author wherein we find the express word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Authority being a known Critick may go far in the matter Now he calls this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Vinum hordeaccum Barley Wine which Sophocles renders 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cervisia which word may indifferently be taken for Ale or Beer and Archilocus tells us that no People in the World but the Trojans whom some will have to be Ancestors to the Britains ever us'd the same or any kind of drink like it Caesar affirms that all other Nations of the known World drank Wine or Water only but the Britains saith he who yet have Vines enough make no other use of them but for Arbours in their Gardens or to adorn and set forth their houses drinking a high and mighty liquor different from that of any other Nation made of Barley and Water which being not so subtil in its operation as Wine did yet warm as much and nourish more leaving space enough for the performance of many * Efficit egregios nâ—bilis Ala viros great Actions before it quite vanquisht the Spirits Now as the Britains were fam'd for this Ale of theirs so the Ale â—t self was afterwards no less renown'd as Theophrastus and Helannicus both affirm for a certain Root that they usually put into it from whence 't is supposed it took its Denomination as the Britains theirs from it This Root was called by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which sounds something better then Brith-Tania by the Laâ—ins call'd after their manner Britannia as †Nat. Hist lib. 25.3 Pliny tells us who cryes it up as the most approv'd Drink in the World against those Diseases call'd by the Greeks Stomacace and Scelotyrbe pâ—oceeding
Insolence of the one and the Cowardliness of the other But Severus to render himself more grateful to the Britains and to shew them that he had more of the Julius in his Nature then the Severus brought over with him this Coel the Princeps Juventutis whom he knew they long'd to see being the next of blood to the last King some say his Son whom the Romans call'd Calius who under the colour of being sent for Breeding to Rome had been kept there as an Hostage from the time of Marius his first entring upon the Government Long it was not before he had beaten back the Picts but before he could make ready the Laurel to present to the Old Emperour his Master he impatient of the Glory was arriv'd in Person who finding the Picts retir'd into their Fastnesses very wisely depopulated all the Country round about and so leaving out that which was not worth the trouble of keeping he secur'd the rest by that wonderful Work call'd the Picts Wall After this he establish'd Coell in the Government over the Britains and appointed the Propraetor Licinius Prisons whom he had purposely call'd from the Jewish Wars to be assistant to him by whose advice Coel set up a Municipal form of Government in all the Cities and great Towns something like that of the Romans and sent abroad Judges into the Country with Commission of Oyer and Terminer in all matters Criminal and Civil Now because the People were of different Nations and bred under different Laws part Britains and part Romans they observ'd this Rule to punish all Romans by Roman Magistrates all Britains by British only herein they gave respect to the Romans to submit that all Process should be in Latin which at first the Vulgar sort of Britains could not wel digest because they understood nothing of it but sympathy of Manners and continuation of Commerce introduc'd at last such an affection to the Language that they became not only knowing in the Tongue but very Critical in that knowledge arriving at a degree of Eloquence and that led them to a perfection in the (g) Of which they were wholy Ignorant before Liberal Sciences and in a very little time they were effeminated with all the Arts of that wanton Nation but as bad causes many times produce good effects so out of this Dunghill sprung that Flower the Luce which garnish'd the Temples of the succeeding King who meeting with an Age that affected new Notions suffer'd himself to be carry'd away in the Croud till happily and perhaps unexpectedly he arriv'd at last at the Doctrine of Christianity CYMBELIN date of accession 156 THE time ascrib'd by the British Historians to the 3 last Kings if there be no mistake in the Computation could take up no less then the Reigns of Six Emperours Titus Domitian Nerva Trajan Adrian and Antonius the two first of which were perhaps more unkind to the Britains then to any other of their Subjects but the two next permitted them the benefit of their own Kings the two last the priviledge of their own Laws but more beholding were they yet to the Emperor Aurelius who if he were not a real Christian as some (h) Hâ—linshed lib. 5. cap. 9. Historians believe him to be was yet as 't is reported of King Agrippa almost perswaded to be so in that he frankly priviledged all those of that perswasion and permitted this King to be the first profess'd Believer of any Prince in the World whereupon his Country-men chang'd his name of Cymbelin into that of Levermawr i. e. the Great Light upon which the Romans call'd him Lucius a Name that seems to have been written with the Beams of the Sun to the Intent it might be legible throughout all the Ages of the World in honour of which Emperor the said King entituled the first Canons that ere he made Leges Romanas Casaris Now however this was the first Christian King that ever was not excepting with reverence to the Writers of their Legend be it spoken either (i) Abdia Hist Apost lib. 9. Euseb lib. 1. cap. 13. Gundafer K. of India converted by St. Thomas or (k) Nicet Choniat in Andron Com. l. 2. Abagar K. of Edessa converted by Letters as they say from our Saviour himself Yet we must not take the Aera of Christianity within this Isle from the date of his Conversion Since Gildas whose Authority is not to be question'd deduces it tempore summo Tiberii which falls out not to be above five years after Christs Passion who by the Dionysian Accompt suffered in the eighteenth year of the Reign of that l) Whom Tertullian would have be thought a Christian himself distinct 80. c. in illis Clem. Prop. Tyrant However those that think not fit to look so far back do yet admit presidenti Arvirago and to this even the Roman Historians that liv'd near about the same time give some probable Testimony for what else can be understood by that strange (m) Lipsius interprets it Christianity Superstition of the Jews wherewith (n) Sueton. vit Ner. Suetonius complains that Pomponia the Wife of A. Plantius Lieutenant to Claudius here was infected Judaism being thought by the Romans to differ from Christianity in Specie only and most of our (o) Oildas Simon Metaphrastes Suriuâ— Cambden c. Antiquaries of the best Credit do affirm St. Peter to have been preaching here near about the same time So that the Conversion of Lucius may be esteemed rather happy then early who meeting with such a calm season as did not nip the Bud of his Devotion before it was fully blown it was no marvel having taken root so long before it sprung up so suddenly if so be we may call that growth sudden which yet rose by visible degrees to that perfection it attained to in his time for it is worthy the noting how the Britains by Conversation with the Romans became knowing first in the use of Arms after in the practise of Arts and Sciences natural civil moral and metaphisical In Cunobelin's time they refin'd their Money In the time of Marius they learn'd the Art of Fortifications The last King before this Instructed them in the Rules of Philosophy This in the Rudiments of Religion reducing it after into practise as divers of our Ecclesiastical Writers inform us by establishing with his Royal Authority A. B. and Bishops in the Church instead of those Flamins and Arch-Flamins which were before in the Paganish Temples wherein the British Church had the start of all other Christian Churches in the World in point of honour as well as Order There being no Constat of so high a Title as that of (p) Vsher primord Malmesbury Arch-Bish in any of the Eastern Churches at that time from whom those of Rome and all the Western Churches had theirs many years after which shews that his pious purpose was not to suffer Religion to loose any part of that State and
Astrology Tacitus to their exquisite skill in (d) The Art of Inspection into the Intrals of Beasts Extispacy the Metaphysicks of those times Pliny to their Judgment in Physick Suetonius and divers others to their perfection in Magick both Onomantical and Pneumatological in both which they were very famous The (e) Camdens Anagr. fol. 168. Onomanty was a Mystery something like if not the same with that the Jewish Rabbins call'd Bresith and affirm'd to be first reveal'd by God himself to Moses and after by him communicated to the LXX but by what means transmitted to the (f) The Phoemetans spoke the Language Druids is not certain unless by Correspondence with the Magi of the East For that they were acquainted with the Books of Moses and as he were learned in all the Learning of the Egyptians is not to be doubted In this was lodg'd all the (g) Vid. Archangel in Dogmat Cabalist cap. 19. Learning of Numbers whereby they took their Measures of good and bad Omens and accordingly to direct all their great Actions as believing there was in the Mystery of Numbers a Power predominant over all Persons and Things And accordingly we find they preferr'd one Number above all the rest as believing the Fate of their Nation lay conceal'd in the womb of it this was the Number 6 which was the just measure of the most ancient name of the Isle AABION as likewise of their Common Progenitor MESECH and of his Sire JAPHET to whom he was the 6th Son accordingly they divided the whole Isle into 6 parts that is to say following the British Historians Loegria since properly call'd England which they divided into two parts i. e. as we find in Dion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the higher and the lower part this latter call'd afterwards by the Romans Pars Maritima the other Pars Interior The second Division was Albania since call'd Scotland divided likewise into the High-land and Low-land the Inhabitants of the Low-land were those the Romans call'd Caledonii and we properly Scots Those of the High-land were the famous Picts The third Division was that of Cambria since call'd Wales divided into the South and North Country i. e. Demetia and Venedotia as the Romans call'd it or as we find it (h) Vide Seldens Book of Tythes cap. 9. pag. 149. elsewhere Dextralis and Sinistralis Britannia Now what the reason was that they pitch'd upon an even Number since all the Numbers that were of old esteem'd Sacred were odd is not certainly known But some think it was because this of all others was the most perfect Number being the true measure of Time there going just 60 times 6 dayes and 6 over upon the whole to make up a compleat Year as we have since learn'd by the Julian Accompt which probably Caesar had first from their Scholars the Gauls Others conceive they had some respect to the Geometrical Form of the Isle it self which is a Triangle that hath three Sides and three Angles but most like it is that they were herein guided by the number of their Gods whereof they worshipt 6 only But be the reason what it will we find by Observation since that the Energie of this Number hath been more predominant in all the Changes and Alterations that have hapned in the various disposal of the Scepter of this Isle than any other For taking the whole time in pieces since there hath been any mention of Kings here and you will find just 6 Periods or Intervals of Time that the Aboriginal Natives rul'd here each Space containing only 6 Descents The first Space made up of those the Romans called BRITANNI or unmixt Britains being those that had the first and intire Rule without Interruption till their Arrival The second Sort were those whom they stil'd BRITANNICI i. e. Roman Britains such as were made up of their own Nation either born here or that had made some great Atchievment here The third Sort were call'd BRITONES which were properly the Camber Britains then taking a general view of the whole Series of Succession from that to our Times and it will appear there hath been just 6 Dynasties of 6 several Nations that is to say Britains Romans Saxons Danes Normans Scots And some have been so curious as to observe that each of their several (i) Brutus Caesar Eugist Caâ—â—te Victor Jaacob Chiefs had but just 6 Letters in his Name which 6 Master-Builders like those Politick Creatures the Bees who make up their Cells with Poligons of 6 sides have rear'd their Empire upon 6 great Pillars i. e. 1 Rex 2 Prelati 3 Proceri 4 Nobiles 5 Milites 6 Civites and adorn'd it with 6 different kinds of Law i. e. 1 Common Law 2 Statute Law 3 Civil Law 4 Canon Law 5 the Law of Merchants 6 Martial Law And observing the same Rule in the Structure of the Church as of the State have ordain'd 6 Orders of Priesthood as a Medium betwixt the Greek Church that have but 5 and the Roman that hath 9 These were 1 Clerks 2 Sub-Deacons 3 Deacons 4 Priests 5 Bishops 6 Archbishops who in the Primitive and purer times of Christianity are supposed to have taken their turnâ— to officiate daily in the Churches Service dividing the Natural day into 6 parts whereof each had four hours for his Devotion The Pneumatilogical Magick was that which was more properly call'd the Doctrine of (k) Picard in Ciltopaedia Spirits because it was perform'd by secret Intelligences inforc'd with unusual Conjurations Sometimes drawn from the mouth of a Teraphius a way much in use amongst the Jews and by them taught to the People of (l) Melancthon Camarâ—â— fol. 422. Asia and from thence brought as 't is conceiv'd by the Phoeniâ—iam hither Sometimes by the advantage of (m) Divination â—er Speculum Catoptromantical Inspection in imitation as 't is thought by the Learned (n) Poliolb l. 1. Selden of the Caballistick Doctours when they consulted the Urim and Thummim By this Faculty they could disclose it seems the greatest Secrets of Nature and deduce the knowledge of hidden forms to strange and wonderful effects beyond what the Natural Chymistry of humane Understanding could ever extract out of the choicest Elements of Reason Of this kind the Roman Historians Record wonderful Instances but amongst the rest I take that to be the most notable Example when in the beginning of (o) Suâ—tâ—nius Vespatians reign at such time as Civilis rais'd the Rebellion amongst the Batavi the Druids foretold the Removal of the Romans out of this Isle who then had but begun to settle their Possessions here They foretold likewise the Translation of their (p) Tacitus Empire to the Trans-Alpine Nations which has a conceipt so remote and seemingly then so extravagant that it was altogether slighted by Tacitus as a thing ridiculous to believe the first part of which Prophecy was not fulfill'd in near 400 years after
unquestionable Authority that there is no less to be imputed to the vertue of the Faith of that Age then to the Patriarch's care that they perisht not in the universal Deluge The Britains having perhaps a better Constat of (l) Girald Camd. Matt. Westm Whites Hist Brit. Lib. 3. N. 14. these then the Jews had of those yet either deriv'd from the Authority of Tradition by how much they were left as a Legacy to succeeding Ages and lost nothing of their value in many hundred years afâ—er they were first deliver'd being the Original after which the great Legislator of the Saxons King Elfred copied his Breviary of Statues as the learned (n) Lamb. de Leg. Anglic. Lambert acknowâ—edges or which is of more Authority as himself confesses in his Title Page which very Breviary is said to be the Foundation of that we call our Common Law at this day however by reason of frequent Transcriptions Additions and Amendments like that of the Ship at Argos it seems to be new and another thing Now for the rest of the Acts of this King though perhaps they are not to be justifi'd as those written by Thucidides Zenophon Polibius or Caesar who were themselves Actors of the things as well as in the times they wrote Yet they have the Testimony of some Reliques which like those two (o) Procop. de b ll Vandelic Lib. 8. Pillars erected at Tingis that shew'd there had been some Colonies of the Jews there although no mention be made thereof in any of their own Writings support the honour of his memory beyond contradiction Such were those stupendious Works of his commonly call'd the four great Causeys that crossed the whole Isle erroneously suppos'd to be first undertaken by the Romans whereas they were begun by (p) Caxton Polichronicon Hollinshed him and only finish'd by them The first by him nam'd Fordd-y-Brenin or The Kings High-way leading from the Corner at Totnes in his own Country pass'd through the whole County of Devon the Counties of Somerset Gloucester Warwick and Leicester and ending at Lincoln this the Romans call'd the Fosse The second anciently called Guthelin-street because it was reported to have been finisht by that King beginning at Dover running out as far as Worcester and from thence was carried to Cardigan in Wales this the ancient Britains called Peunguys the Romans Via Consularis those of later times Watlin-street or Werhem-street The third call'd (q) See Hollinsheds Description fol. 113. cap. 19. Erming-street by the Saxons or rather (r) i. e. Mercurii Columna Irmanhull-street began at St. Davids in Wales and cross'd over all the Countries betwixt that and Southampton where it ended this the Britains call'd Croesfordd and the Romans Via Praetoria The fourth began a little of one side of Worcester and pass'd on by York to Tinmouth call'd Kikeneldis or Icknild-street which I take to be its primitive denomination And to these that Reverend (s) Seld. Poliolb Cant. 8. Monument aged now above 2080 years the shame and glory of the present Age dedicated by him to the (t) Attae Rhwyscoll i. e. All power M. S. in archive Oxon. Destinies or Holy Powers that rul'd the World and by the Romans at the arrival of Claudius consecrated to the honour of the great Goddess Diana and by King Lucius upon the first entertainment of Christianity to that great Apostle of the Gentiles St. Paul To this King likewise is ascrib'd the honour of Founding those rather ancient then great Foundations of * Fabian Blackwell and Guild-hall heretofore parcels of his Court the first continued perhaps ever since as the great Mercatorium or Staple for Trade the last as the great Orseddfaine or Tribunal of Justice both for City and Country He has the repute likewise of being Founder of those two ancient Buildings in the West Malmesbury and the Vyes the first having the stamp of his Name yet upon it But if the Reader be not dispos'd to believe any part of this or the other Kings Legend I shall conclude as I find a very reverend Author doth in the like case (u) Malmesbury de Oest Reg. Aug. Lib. 5. Mihi debetur Collectionis gratia Sibi habeat electionis materiam BELIN date of accession 3562 THE next Dynast in order of Fame as well as in repute of Order was this King whom the Britains make the common Root of that great Stock that hath adorned their Pedigrees with so many flourishing Branches being the most Splendid of all their Princes in that he was in like manner esteem'd by them to be a Representative of Apollo as Apollo was by the Ancients thought to be a Type of Christ This appears by the stile they gave him which I take to be one of the Attributes of that God calling him Belin Tucadre i. e. The Healing King or Healing God For it was a Policy much in fashion in elder times and as it seems as well understood by the British as any other Gentile Princes to take the advantage of assimulating themselves to that Deity which was most ador'd by their People to beget the greater reverence to their Majesty and accordingly in honour of the memory of this man who by some Writers is called (f) The Golden Belin. Belin or Pelinor and by others (g) Belin the Great Belinvaure all the successive Kings were styl'd * As appears by the Names of the following Kings Belin as the Egyptian Kings were styl'd I harach and the Roman Emperours Caesar The Vulgar turned Belin into Bren and the Latin Writers following that mistake changed Belinus into Brennus whereby it hath so hapned that he is by many Historians supposed and as they think with sufficient probability to be the same Brennus that was so terrible to the Romans Amongst those that deny it some doubt whether there were ever any such Persons as the one or the other Others take the word Bren or Belin to be only terms of Majesty and not Names which is an Opinion that calls in question all the best Pedigrees of Wales And some there are who from the difference of the Names infer a difference of Persons taking advantage thereby to discredit the Authority of Jeffery of Monmouth by seeming to uphold it who makes Brennus and Belinus to be two Brothers and Sons of Malmud but those that support the Credit of the Personality of Belinus and are willing he should be the same with the famous Brennus that Sackt Rome suppose there needs no better 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to illustrate the matter then that accompt we have from the Oracle of Delphos which saith that the same Brennus came 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the very farthest parts of the West which Catullus explains Britain and whether he meant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the greater or the lesser Britain according to that Division made by Ptolomy either makes good the conjecture as being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
Bowl once put besides its Byass goes the further from its Mark the more 't is inforced THE FIFTH DYNASTY OF NORMANS OF NORMANS THE Normans so call'd by the French in respect of the Northern Clime from whence they came heretofore call'd * Dionis Patav l. 8. c. 4. Scandia since Norwey were another Branch of the antient Cimbri seated near the frozen Sea whose Country being too barren to nourish so fruitful a People they disonerated their Multitudes wheresoever force could make way for them Some stragling as far as the Mediterranian others farther Southward some few lost in the Frozen Sea attempting the Desert Isles far Northward but most following the Sun infested their Southern Neighbours About the time of Charles the Great they began to grow very troublesome by their frequent Pyracies making several Inroads into England but especially into France pressing so hard upon Lewis the Holy that he was fain to empty all his frontier Garrisons and quitting the Maritime draw them into the interior and more considerable parts of his Empire as the Spirits are drawn to the heart upon all Commotions to preserve life Their Successes in Germany England Scotland and Holland having made them so bold that they doubted not to advance as far as Paris where after divers disputes with Charles the Bald Charles le Grosse and Charles the Simple which concluded with an honourable Composition they six'd their two Chiefs Hastang and Rollo in the most fertile and best parts of that goodly Country the first being made Earl of Charters the last Duke of Neustria from him call'd afterwards Normandy the seventh in descent from whom was Duke William better known to us here by the Name of The Conquerour who with like confidence and not unlike Injustice invaded England as his Ancestors did France pretending a Donation of the Soveraignty from his near Kinsman King Edward the Confessor confirm'd as he alledged by his last Will and Testament in the presence of most of the English Nobility a pretence that could have been of no validity had it not been back'd by more then humane Power to disinherit Edgar Atheling who as being of the whole English Blood was rather Heir to the Kingdom then to the King and so by no Law could have his Right collated to a Stranger but the use he made of it was to convince the World that he had more Reason not to say Right to demand than Harold to detain the Crown who having put Prince Edgar besides the Succession desied the Justice of all Mankind as he was an Usurper and so it was a design worthy his Sword who had so fortunately vanquish'd even before he wrote Man those great difficulties at home given by the Opposition of Domestick Rivals no less puissant and populous then Harold to put him at least out of Possession But that which seems strange and was questionless a great surprize upon Harold was the conjunction of the Peers of France in an Action that was so apparently hazardous to the greatness of their own State every addition to so near and dangerous a Neighbour grown long before too powerful being a kind of diminution unto them whereof there can be no probable Cause assign'd beyond their natural affectation of Glory and wantonness of Courage but that Influence which the Conquerors Father in Law Baldwin Earl of Flanders had by being then Governour of the King and Kingdom of France who not only ingaged most of the grtatest Persons there as the Duke of Orleance the Earls of Champaigne Blois Brittain Ponthieue Maine Nevers Poictiers Aumale and Anjou but drew in the * Henry IV. Emperour himself and many of the German Princes to side with him This Preparation being such as it was it cannot be thought that the English lost any honour by mingling blood with men of that Quality and Condition the sound of whose Names was perhaps little less terrible then that of their Arms much less takes it from the reputation of their Courage to have heâ—d up the dispute but for one day only having fought it out as they did till the number of the slain so far exceeded that of the living as made the Conqueror doubt there would not be enough left to be conquer'd Who knows not that Fate made way for the Normans where their Swords could not guiding them by a Series of Successes near about the same time to the expectation of an universal Empire having but a little before made themselves Lords of Apulia Calabria Scicily and Greece and inlarged their Conquests as far as Palestine But what we allow to the Courage we must take from the Wisdom of the English that being subdued they continued Nescia vinci vexing the Conqueror after they had submitted to him by such continual Revolts as suffered him not to sheath his Sword all his Reign or if he did urged him to continue still so suspicious of their Loyalty that he was sorc'd alway to keep his hand upon the hilt ready to draw it forth having not leisure to intend what was before established much less to establish what he before intended So that they put upon him a kind of necessity of being a Tyrant to make good his being a King Yet such was the moderation of his mind that he chose rather to bind them stricter to him by the old Laws then to gall them with any new guarding his Prerogative within that Cittadel of the Burrough Law as they call'd it from whence as often as they began to mutiny he batter'd them with their own Ordnance and so made them Parties to their own wrong and however some that design'd to pre-occupate the grace of Servitude gave him the ungrateful Title of Conqueror which he esteem'd the greatest misfortune his good Fortune had brought upon him thereby to proclaim his Power to be as boundless as his Will which they took to be above all Limitation or Contradiction yet we find he suffered himself to be so far conquer'd by them that instead of giving to he took the Law from them and contentedly bound himself up by those which they call'd St. Edward's Laws which being an Abbreviation of the great triple Code of Danique Merke and West-Sexe Laws was such a form of Combination as he himself could not desire to introduce a better and if any thing look'd like absolute 't was his disarming them when he found them thus Law-bound hand and foot After which he erected divers Fortresses where he thought fit dispos'd all Offices of Command and Judicature to such as he could best confide in and by that Law of Cover feu obliging them to the observation of better hours of Repose then they had formerly been us'd to gave himself more rest as well as them As for his putting the Law into a Language they understood not whereby they were made more learn'd or less litigious then they were before it was that the Lawyers only had cause to complain of whose practise at the first perhaps was a
is said to have been transformed into a kind of Copper-colour And having to that brazen face of his such an Iron heart as deem'd nothing too difficult for him to attempt they were easily perswaded to joyn themselves with him whiles he threw himself upon dangers seemingly invincible so seemingly unconcern'd as if he had known or at least believed that he earrled the Fate of the three Nations upon the point of his single Sword So that it is no marvel after a long Series of Successes both in Ireland and Scotland where his very name like that of Caesars made his way to Victory having at the last got the better of the King himself in the fatal Battel of Worcester whom yet with a Politick Modesty he denied to have been defeated by his but as he said by an Arm from Heaven he should be so hardy as with the same Club he wrested out of Hercules hand to dash out the Brains of the Infant Common-wealth not then full five years old making himself the sole Administrator of all its Goods and Chattels to wit the Moneys raised by sale of Crown and Church Lands the growing benefit of all Forfeitures Confiscations and Compositions together with the annual Rent of Ninety thousand pounds per mensem over and besides which he had advantage of all the queint Projections then on foot as the years rent laid on Houses built upon new Foundations in and about London the Contributions for the distressed Protestants in Savoy the Collections of the Committee of Propagation as 't was call'd who were to take care for the planting the Gospel in the dark Parts of the World being no inconsiderable Levies These I take to have been the personal Estate of the Common-wealth To the real Estate of Inheritance which he principally aim'd at viz. the Soveraignty and Dominion of the three Kingdoms by Sea and Land since he could make no better Title then as the first Occupant by his Primier Seisin which in effect was none other but plain Disseism so long as the right Heir was alive against whom there could be no bar by Fine or Recovery whilst he continued beyond the Seas the Learned Knaves about him advised him to intitle himself to it by Act of Parliament Now forasmuch as by the first Instrument of Government it was Articled that there should be a Parliament once in three years two whereof he had already call'd that had neither pleas'd him nor were pleas'd with him the first being so bold to question his Authority the next himself he resolv'd now to appear like the Grand Seignior with his Bashaws about him and accordingly he chose several Prefects of Provinces whom he call'd by the name of Major Generals whose business it was first to keep down the unreconcileable Cavaliers secondly to new mould the Linsey-wolsey Covenanters many of whom about this time began to be corrupted with Principles of Honesty and lastly to reform the Elections of Burgesses so that he might with no less satisfaction then safety call as a little after he did the third Parliament whom yet he vouchsafed not the honour of that Name but to shew them how little he feared any Battery of their Ordinance permitted them to be nick-nam'd The Convention a strange Pack made up on purpose for the strange Game he was to play of all Knaves but Knaves as it appear'd afterward of different Complections These having fram'd another Instrument of Government Indeavours to make the Protector King pressed him by their humble Petition and Advice as they term'd it with not unlike flattery and falshood as M. Anthony did Caesar to legitimate his Usurpation by taking upon him the Title of King The Lawyers that were of his Common-Council urg'd him to it for that as they said there was no other way left for him to guard the Laws or for the Laws to guard him The States-men that were of his Privy-Councel provok'd him to it by the Example of Brutus the Roman Liberator whose folly they said it was that having murther'd Caesar he did not set up himself or some other King though by some other name since as he could not be ignorant that such abortive Liberty as he had given life to must needs prove the Parent of a lasting servitude so he might foresee that Caesar had so ingrafted himself into the Body Politick that one could not be separate from the other without the destruction of both and as he had need of Forces so had they of a Head and better one craz'd then none at all His nearest Friends and Relations press'd him upon the point of Honour Neither could there be a readier Argument to perswade him to take upon him to be a Prince then to tell him he was descended from Princes For who knew not that his great Ancestor Cradoc Vraych Vras Earl of Ferlix having as the Herauld said married the Princess Tegaire Daughter and Heir of Pelinor King of Great Britain many hundred of years before either the Norman or Saxon Conquerors could pretend to any thing so that now the Question was not so much with what right he could make himself King of England as by what right he had been so long kept out of it In this confusion of Counsels it came to his own turn at last to advise himself and accordingly he weighed all their Arguments and taking the last first into consideration he easily over-pass'd the honour of his Extraction for two Reasons First for that his was not the chief Family of Wales and secondly for that he was not the Chief of his Family Besides common Fame had debas'd him by an odd kind of Disparagement which however perhaps mistaken took much from the dignity of his Person as being believ'd to have been an ordinary Brewer though it prov'd to be as Daniel observes by Jaques D' Artevile the great Stickler of Flanders in Edward the Third his time a Brewer of more then of Beer Neither did he much more regard the point of Law for that he knew it to be no otherwise binding then as a silken Cord which upon any force used to it is apt to flip and let go its hold That which mov'd him most was the point of State rais'd out of that pinching President of Brutus yet there was an unanswerable scruple rested upon that too to wit How it could be reasonable for him to expect to hold them in with a twine thread of voluntary Submission who had so lately by his own advice broken the strong bond of Allegiance and which yet he durst not object to any but himself he foresaw his Death would make way for some of his Fellow Regicides to usurp by his own Example as much upon his Successors to the disseisin of those who call'd him Father as he had done by disinheriting the Sons of the true Father of his Country This shewing him that the thing call'd Chance would have its share in despight of all his wisdom and providence and that there was