Second State or Nobility of England p. 405. to p. 457. and therein of their Degrees Priviledges Precedence State Revenues c. p. 417. A Catalogue of all the Peers of England according to their Precedence p. 439. Of the Third State or Commons of England p. 457. Of Knights Esquires Gentlemen Yeomen Citizens Handycrafts c. p. 472. Of the Liberties and Properties of the English Subjects p. 493. Of the Women in England p. 497. Of the Children p. 509. Of the Servants p. 513. OF ENGLAND ENgland the better part of the best Iland in the whole World antiently with Scotland called Britain and sometimes Albion was about 800 years after the Incarnation of Christ by special Edict of King Egbert descended from the Angles a people of the Lower Saxony named Angle or Englelond thence by the French called Angleterre by the Germans Engeland and by the Inhabitants England It is situated between the Degrees 16 and 21 Longitude equal with Normandy and Britany in France and between 50 and 57 Northern Latitude equal with Flanders Zeland Holland Lower Saxony and Denmark The longest day in the most Northern part is 16 hours 44 minutes and the shortest 7 hours 16 minutes It is in length 386 miles in breadth 279 in compass by reason of the many Bayes and Promontories about 1300 miles in shape triangular contains by computation about 30 Millions of Acres about the thousandth part of the Globe and 333d part of the habitable earth almost ten times as big as the United Neatherlands five times as big as the Spanish Neatherlands less than all Italy by almost one half and in comparison of France is as 30 to 82. The Aire is far more mild and temperate if not more healthy than any part of the Continent under the same Climat By reason of the warm vapours of the Sea on every side and the very often Winds from the huge Western Sea the Cold in Winter is less sharp than in some parts of France and Italy though more Southern By reason of the continual blasts from Sea the Heat in Summer is less scorching than in some parts of the Continent that lies more Northern As in Summer the gentle Winds and frequent Showres qualifie all violent Heats and Droughts so in Winter the Frosts do only meliorate the cultivated Soyle and the Snow keep warm the tender Plants It is blessed with a very fertile wholsome Soyle watered abundantly with Springs and Streams and in divers parts with great Navigable Rivers few barren Mountains or craggy Rocks but generally gentle pleasant Hills and fruitful Valleys apt for Grain Corn or Wood. The excellency of the English Soyle may be learnt as Varro advised of old from the Complection of the Inhabitants who therein excell all other Nations or else from the high value put upon it by the Romans and the Saxons who â—ookt upon it as such a precious â—pot of ground that they thought it worthy to be fenced â—n like a Garden Plot with a mighty Wall of fourscore miles â—n length viz. from Tinmoâ—th on the German Sea to Solwey Frith on the Irish Sea whereby the Caledonian Bores might be excluded and with a monstrous Dike of fourscore and ten miles viz. from the Mouth of the River Wy to that of the River Dee whereby the Cambrobritan Foxes might be kept out lastly the excellency of her Soyle may also be learnt from those transcendent Elogies bestowed on her by Antient and Modern Writers calling England the Granary of the Western World the Seat of Ceres c. That her Valleys are like Eden her Hills like Lebanon her Springs as Pisgah and her Rivers as Jordan That she is a Paradise of Pleasure and the Garden of God O fortunata omnibus terris beatior Britannia te omnibus coeli ac soli ditavit Natura tibi nihil inest quod vitae offendat tibi nihil deest quod vita desiderat ita ut alter orbis extra orbem poni ad delicias humani generis videaris O happy and blessed Britanie above all other Countries in the World Nature hath enricht thee with all the blessings of Heaven and Earth Nothing in thee is hurtful to Mankind nothing wanting in thee that is desirable in so much that thou seemest another World placed besides or without the great World meerly for the delight and pleasure of Mankind As it is divided from the rest of the World so by reason of its great abundance of all things necessary for the life of Man it may without the contribution of any other part of the World more easily subsist than any of its Neighbouring Countries Terra suis contenta bonis non indiga mercis First for Food what plenty every where of Sheep Oxen Swine Fallow Deer and Coneys what plenty of Hens Ducks Geese Turkeys Swans Peacocks Phesants Partridges Woodcocks Snipes Plovers Quailes Herons Bustards Heath Cocks or Grouse Thrushes or Throstles Black-birds Veldevers Nightingales Pigeons and Larks What plenty of Salmon Trouts Carps Tench Lampreys Pikes Perches Eeles Crevish Flounders Plaice Shads Mullets What great abundance of Herrings Pilchards Oysters Lobsters Crabs Mackerel Whitings Soles Smelts Sprats Prawnes Ruffes c. What great plenty of Apples Pears Plums and Cherries How doth England abound with Wheat Barly Pulse Beans and Oates with excellent Butter and Cheese with most sorts of Edible Roots and Herbs It wants not Red Deer Hare Goats c. It wants not Wild-Ducks Wild-Geese Puffins Snipes God-wits and many other kind of Sea-fowl It wants not Apricocks Peaches Nectarins Grapes Figgs Melons Quinces c. Walnuts and Hasel-nuts Lastly for Drinks England abounds with Beer Ale Sider Perry and in some places with Metheglin Now of all these things there is such a constant continuance by reason of the Clemency of the Climat that scarce the least Famine which frequenteth other Countries hath been felt in England these 300 years Then for Rayment England produceth generally not onely very Fine Wooll which makes our Cloth more lasting than other Countrey Cloth and better conditioned against Wind Weather but also such great abundance of Wooll that not onely all sorts from the highest to the lowest are clothed therewith but so much hath been heretofore transported beyond the Seas that in honour of the English Wooll that broughâ— heretofore such plenty of Golâ— into the Territories of Charleâ— the puissant and bold Duke of Burgundy where the Staple for English Wooll was then keptâ— he instituted that famous Military Order of the Golden Fleece aâ— this day in highest esteem with the whole House of Austria This abundance and cheapness of Wooll in England proceeds not onely from the goodness of the Soyle but also from the freedom from Wolves and temperateness of Heat and Cold which in other Countries creates a great charge of a constant guarding their Sheep and housing them by Night and sometimes by Day Also for advancing the Manufacture of Cloth that necessary Earth called Fullers Earth
as it will when the Dominical Letter is D. and the Golden Number 16 then Easter will be on the 22 March as was this year 1668. But the Romish Church following new Rules for finding of Easter it happens sometimes that their Easter is full 5 weeks before ours and sometimes with ours but never after ours for Pope Gregory the 13th in the year 1582 having observed that upon exact account the year contained above 365 dayes not full 6 hours as had been from the time of Julius Caesar hitherto reckoned but only 5 hours 49 minutes and 16 seconds and that this difference of almost 11 minutes in the space of about 134 years maketh one whole day which not considered since the Regulation of Easter had brought back the year at least 10 dayes insomuch that the Vernal Equinox which was at first on the 21 of March was now on the 11th of March by reason whereof sometimes 2 Full Moons past between the Equinox and Easter contrary to the Primitive Institution thereof which was that Easter should alwayes be observed on the Sunday following the first â—ull Moon after the Vernal Equinox Pope Gregory then having observed these inconveniences resolved at once to take away 10 dayes and that out of the Moneth of October by calling the 5th day thereof the 15th and that for that year those Festivals which fell in those 10 dayes which by reason of the Vintage time were but few should be celebrated upon the 15 16 and 17th dayes of that Moneth And that the Equinox might never retrocede for the future it was then provided that every 400 years 3 Bissextile years should be left out that is in the years 1700 1800 and 1900 and so again in 2100 2200 and 2300 leaving the year 2000 to have its Bissextile and so every 400th year The English Nation as all other States that with-drew themselves from under the Bishop of Rome's Usurped Authority before the said year 1582 except Holland and Zealand observe still the Antient Account made by Julius Caesar 43 years before the Birth of Christ and is therefore called the Old Style or Julian Account the other observed by those still under the Romish Yoke is called the New Style or Gregorian Account and is by reason of the aforesaid 10 dayes taken away 10 dayes before ours for the beginning of Moneths and for all Fixt Festivals but various for all Moveable Festivals Easter and the other Moveable Feasts in England are most certainly thus found Shrove-Tuesday is alwayes the first Tuesday after the first New Moon after January except that New Moon happen on a Tuesday then the next is Shrove-Tuesday and the Sunday following is Quadragesima and the Sixth Sunday after is Easter Day and the Fifth Sunday after Easter is Rogation Sunday and the Thursday following being 40 dayes after the Resurrection is Ascention day 10 dayes after which or 50 dayes after Easter is Pentecoste or Whit sunday and the Sunday following is Trinity Sunday Which Computation of the Church of England agrees with all the Eastern Christian Churches for they and we find Easter by the Rules which were generally received by all Christendom Anno 532 and ever since till 1582 it was altered by the Pope as aforesaid yet cannot it be denied but that this old Computation is become erroneous for by our Rules two Easters will be observed within one year as in the last year 1667 and not one Easter to be observed this year as this Author observed the last year in his Proposals to the Parliament Advent Sunday hath a peculiar Rule and is alwayes the Fourth Sunday before Christmass Day or the nearest Sunday to St. Andrews whether before or after The year in England according to the Cycles of the Sun and Moon and according to Almanacks begins on the First of January but the English Church and State begins the year from the day of Christs Incarnation viz. on the 25 of March which also is observed in Spain yet the Portugues as divers Countries in Africa begin their year on the 29th of August the Venetians on the first of March according to the Epact the Grecians on the longest day as the old Romans did on the shortest day which two last seem to have most reason as beginning just at the Periodical day of the Suns return The Natural day consisting of 24 hours is begun in England at Midnight and counted by 12 hours to Midday and again by 12 hours to next Midnight whereas in Italy Bohemia Poland and some other Countries their Account 〈◊〉 from Sun-setting by 24 of thâ— Clock to the next Sun-setting and at Noremberg and Wirtenberg in Germany according to the old babylonian Account they begin at the first hour after Sun-rising to count one of the Clock and so again at the first hour after Sun-set Probably there was a time when those Names of Number now in use amongst all Civilized Nations were unknown and Men applied their Fingers of one or both hands to those things they desired to keep account of and thence it may be that the Numeral words are but Ten in any Nation and in some Nations but Five and then they begin again as after decem undecim duodecim c. The Hebrews and the Greeks instead of Numeral Words used the Letters of their Alphabets beginning again after the Tenth Letter The Latines made use onely of 7 of their Capital Alphabet viz MDCLXVI all comprehended in this Figure O and all made use of in the same order in the late year 1666 which never did happen before or ever will happen again The English as all the Western Christian World till about 400 years ago used only Numeral Words in all Writings but since use the Figures 1 2 3 c. which the Christians learnt first of the Maures or Arabs and they of the Indians Nomina quasi Notamina Names were first imposed upon Men for distinction sake by the Jews at their Circumcision by the Romans at the 9th day after Birth and by the Christians at the Baptisme of such signification for the most part that might denote the future good hope or good wishes of Parents toward their Children The English Names of Baptisme are generally either Saxon as Robert Richard Henry William Edward Edmund Edwin Gilbert Walter Leonard c. Which are all very significative or else out of the Old and New Testament as John Thomas James Abraham Isaack Jacob c. Names super-added to the Christian Names the French call Sur noms i. e. supernomina The Hebrews Greeks and most other Antient Nations had no Surnames fixt to their Families as in these dayes but counted thus for example among the Hebrews Melchi Ben Addi Addi Ben Casam c. So the Britaines Hughe ap Owen Owen ap Rhese c. so the Irish Neal mac Con Con mac Dermoti c. As Christian Names were first given for distinction of Persons so Surnames for distinction of Families About Anno 1000 the
is no where else produced in that abundance and excellency as in England Beside there is in England great plenty of excellent Leather for all sorts of uses nor wants it Hemp and Flax at least not ground fit to produce them For Building it wants not Timber nor Iron Stone nor Slate Brick nor Tiles Marble nor Alablaster Mortar nor Lime c. Lead nor Glass For Firing either Wood Sea-Coal or Pit-Coal almost every where to be had at reasonable rates For Shipping no where better Oak no where such Knee Timber as they call it or Iron to make serviceable and durable Guns For War for Coach for Highway and Hunting no where such plenty of Horses also for Plow Cart and Carriages insomuch as Mules and Asses so generally made use of in France Italy and Spain are utterly despised in England Moreover England produceth besides a mighty quantity of Tinne Lead and Iron some Brass Copperas Allome Salt Saffron and divers other beneficial Commodities it wants not Mines of Silver yielding more in their small quantities of Ore and so richer than those of Poâ—osi in the West Indies whence the King of Spain hath most of his Silver those yielding usually but one Ounce and a half of Silver in one hundred Ounces of Ore whereas these in Wales Cornwall Lancashire and the Bishoprick of Durham yield ordinarily 6 or 8 Ounces per Cent. â—ut these lying deep are hard â—o come unto and Workmen â—ear which is otherwise in Poâ—osi Vineyards have been heretoâ—ore common in most of the â—outhern and Middle Parts of England and Silks might be â—ere produced as it was once â—esigned by King James but a great part of the Natives prone to Navigation supplying England at a very cheap rate with all sorts of Wine Silks and all other Forreign Commodities it hath been found far better Husbandry to employ English Ground rather for producing Wooll Corn and Cattle for which it is most proper In a word though some Countries excel England in some things yet in general there is no one Countrey under Heaven whose Aire is better stored with Birds and Fowls Seas and Rivers with Fishes Fields with all sorts of â—orn the Pastures with Cattel the Forests Parks and Woods with Wild Beasts onely for Recreation and Food the Mines with Metals Coals and other Minerals where are fewer ravenous and hurtful Beasts fewer venemous Serpents or noisome Flies fewer Droughts Inundations or Dearths fewer Unwholsom Serenes Pestilential Aires Tempestuous Hurricanes or Destructive Earthquakes lastly where there is a greater abundance of all things necessary for mans life and more especially for all kind of Food insomuch that it hath been judged that there is yearly as much Flesh and Beer consumed in England by over plentiful Tables as would well serve three times the number of People Add to all this that being encompassed with the Sea and well furnisht with Ships and abundance of Commodious and excellent Havens and Ports it excels for safety and security which is no small praise all the Neighbouring Countries if not all the Countries in the World It hath been possest by five several Nations and coveted by many more and no wonder so fair and rich a Lady should have many Lovers it being a Countrey as was said of the Tree in the midst of Paradise good for food pleasant to the eyes and to be desired whereas Scotland Wales Biscay Switzerland and other like Countries continue still in the possession of their Aborigines of the first that laid claim unto them none since judging it worth their pains to dispossesse them The first Inhabitants of England are believed to be the Britains descended from the â—auls subdued afterward by â—he Romans who by reason of â—â—eir troubles nearer home â—ere constrained to abandon this Countrey about 400 years afâ—er Christ whereupon the Picts â—ahabitants of Scotland invaâ—â—ng the Britains they call to â—â—eir aid the Saxons who chaâ—ng away the Picts soon made themselves Masters of the Britains but these not able to enâ—ure the heavy yoke of the â—axons after many Battels and Attempts to recover their lost Liberties and Countrey retired â—r were driven most of them â—nto the two utmost Western â—arren and mountainous parts of this Countrey called afterwards by the Saxons Walishland instead of Gaulishland as the Germans still call Italy Walishland because inhabited by the Cisalpine Gauls and the French call our Countrey of Britains Le Pais de Gales The Saxons solely possest of all the best part of this Isle were for a long time infested and for some time almost subdued by the Danes and afterwards wholly by the Normans who drave not out the Saxons but mixed with them so that the English blood at this day is a mixture chiefly of Normaâ— and Saxon not without 〈◊〉 tincture of Danish Romish and Britain Blood The English Tongue being aâ— present much refined exceedingly copious expressive and significant by reason of a liberty taken by the Natives of borrowing out of all other Languages whatever might conduce thereunto is as their blood a mixture chiefly of the Old Saxon a Dialect of the Teutonick and the Old Norman a Dialect of the French not without some savour of the Britains Romans and Danes Languages The Romans possessing England caused their Tongue the Latine once to be generally used in this Countrey The Saxons succeeding introduced their Language wheresoever they seated themselves The Normans afterwards getting possession of England caused the Norman or French Tongue to be learnt at School by the Saxons and for a long time had all Lawes Pleadings Sermons c. in French The Latine Tongue at present is made use of in Court Rolls Processes of Courts in Charters Commissions Patents Writs Bonds c. The Names of all Shires Cities Towns and Villages Places and Men in England are generally Saxon and so are most Nouns Appellative and a great part of the Verbs In French or rather Norman are still written the Common Laws and learnt by young Students thereof Also some Pleadings and all Mootes and Law Exercises are wholly French In Parliaments the King doth in French signifie his assent or dissent to all Bills The Natives of England by reason of the Temperate Climat Mild Aire not rendred unequal by high Mountains nor unhealthy by many Marshes plenty of wholsome food and the use of Beer rather than Wine pour la belle taille le beau teinct au visage as the French say for a just handsome large proportion of body for clear complexions and pleasing features do surpasse all the Nations of the World The English are generally great Flesh-eaters although by the nearness of the Sea and abundance of Rivers and Fish-ponds there is no want of Fish In former times their Table was in many places covered four times a day they had Breakfasts Dinners Beverages and Suppers and every where set Dinners and Suppers until in the late troubles wherein many eminent families were much impoverisht a
c. In the Kings Court not only striking is forbidden but also all occasions of Striking and therefore the Law saith Nullas Citationes aut summonitiones licet facere infra Palatium Regis apud Westm vel alibi ubi Rex residet The Court of the King of England for Magnificence for Order for Number and Quality of Officers for rich Furniture for Entertainment and Civility to Strangers for plentiful Tables might compare with the best Court of Christendom and far excel the most Courts abroad of one whereof see the Description made by an ingenious Person beyond Sea writing to a Friend of his at Court there Annon in Inferno es Amice qui es in Aula ubi Daemonum habitatio est qui illic suis artibus humanâ licet effigie regnant atque ubi Scelerum Schola est Animarum jactura ingens ac quicquid uspiam est perfidiae ac doli quicquid crudelitatis ac inclementiae quicquid effraenatae superbiae rapacis avaritiae quicquid obscaenae libidinis ac faedissimae impudicitiae quicquid nefandae impietatis morum pessimorum totum illic acervatur cumulatissimè ubi stupra raptus incestus adulteria ubi inebriari jurare pejerare Atheismum profiteri palam principum nobilium ludi sunt ubi fastus tumor ira Liver faedaque cupido cum sociis suis imperare videtur ubi criminum omnium procellae virtutumque omnium inerrabile naufragium c. But the Court of England on the contrary hath been and is hoped ever will be accounted as King James adviseth in his Basilicon Doron a Pattern of Godliness and all Honesty and Vertue and the properest School of Prowess and Heroick Demeanour and the fittest Place of Education for the Nobility and Centry The Court of England hath for a long time been a Pattern of Hospitality to the Nobility and Gentry of England All Noblemen or Gentlemen Subjects or Strangers that came accidently to Court were freely entertained at the plentiful Tables of His Majesties Officers Divers Services or Messes of Meat were every day provided Extraordinary for the Kings honour Two hundred and forty Gallons a day were at the Buttry Barr allowed for the Poor besides all the broken Meat Bread c. gathered into Baskets and given to the Poor at the Court Gates by 2 Grooms and 2 Yeomen of the Almonry who have Salaries of His Majesty for that Service Moreover the Court is an eminent Pattern of Charity and Humility to all that shall see the performance of that Antient Custom by the King and the Queen on the Thursday before Easter called Maundy Thursday wherein the King in a solemn manner doth wash the Feet cloth and feed as many poor Old Men as His Majesty is years old bestowing on every one Cloth for a Gown Linnen for a Shirt Shooes and Stockings a Joul of Salmon a Pol of Ling 30 Red and 30 White Herrings all in clean Wooden Dishes 4 Six Penny Loaves of Bread and a Purse with a 20 s. Piece of Gold The Magnificence and abundant plenty of the Kings Tables hath caused amazement in all Forreigners when they have been informed that yearly was spent of gross Meat 1500 Oxen 7000 Sheep 1200 Veals 300 Porkers 400 Sturks or young Biefes 6800 Lambs 300 Flitches of Bacon and 26 Boares Also 140 Dozen of Geese 250 Dozen of Capons 470 Dozen of Hens 750 Dozen of Pullets 1470 Dozen of Chicken For Bread 36400 Bushels of Wheat and for Drink 600 Tun of Wine and 1700 Tun of Beer Moreover of Butter 46640 Pounds together with Fish and Fowl Venison Fruit Spice proportionable This prodigious plenty caused Forreigners to put a higher value upon the King and caused the Natives who were there freely welcome to encrease their affection to the King it being found as necessary for the King of England this way to endear the English who ever delighted in Feasting as for the Italian Princes by Sights and Shews to endear their subjects who as much delight therein The Court of the Queen Consort of England THe Queens Court sutable to the Consort of so great a King is Splendid and Magnificent Her Majesty hath all Officers and a Houshold apart from the King for the maintenance whereof there is settled 40000 l. per annum For the Ecclesiastique Government of her Court there is first the Grand Almoner Father Howard Brother to the Duke of Norfolk He hath the superintendency over all the Ecclesiastiques belonging to the Queen The next is the Dean of the Chappel Doctor Goodwin The Third is the Treasurer of the Chappel Besides there are 4 Almoners and 4 Preachers 11 Franciscan Monks all Portuguez 6 Benedictins all English divers Persons belonging to the Musick of the Chappel to serve at the Altars Porters c. For the Civil Government of Her Majesties Court she hath a Council consisting of Persons of High Worth and Dignity whereof there are 12. 1. The Lord Vicount Cornbury her Lord Chamberlain 2. The Earl of Manchester 3. Earl of Sandwich 4. Lord Brunkard her Chancellour 5. Sir Richard Beclin her Secretary 6. Mr. Harvey Treasurer of her Houshold 7. Sir William Killigrew her Vice-Chamberlain 8. Mr. Montague her Atturney-General 9. Mr. Montague Brother to the Earl of Manchester her Sollicitor General 10. Mr. Montague Son to Lord Montague of Boughton 11. Sir Charles Harbord 12. Sir Henry Wood. Of Her Majesties Bed-Chamber are six Ladies of high rank first the Countess of Suffolk is her Groom of the Stole next are the Dutchess of Buckingham the Countesses of Castlemaine Bath Mairshal and Falmouth Her Majesty hath six Maids of Honour to wait at other times these must be all Gentlewomen unmarried over whom there is placed a Governess called The Mother of the Maids of Honour who is at present the Lady Sanderson The Maids are Mrs Cary Mrs Boynton Mrs Wells Mrs Price c. There are also 4 Dressers viz. the Ladies Scroop Freyser Killegrew and Mrs Le Guard moreover one Laundress Mrs Nun one Seamstress Mrs Chivens There are five Gentlemen Ushers of the Privy Chamber Sir William Courtney c. Five Gentlemen Ushers Daily Waiters Six Pages of the Back Stairs Eight Grooms of the Privy Chamber Two Carvers two Sewers two Cupbearers all Persons of quality Seven Gentlemen Ushers Quarter Waiters Four Pages of the Presence Master of Her Majesties Horse is Mr. Montague Son to the Lord Montague of Boughton To her Stable belong 4 Queries Persons of worth and 13 Grooms and 3 Messengers c. Of the Court of the Queen Mother THe highest Office in Her Majesties Court is that of Lord Chamberlain and Steward of Her Majesties Revenue enjoyed at present by Henry Lord Germin Earl of St. Albans whose Salary is and a Table of Dishes Monsieur Vantelet Vice-Chamberlain whose Salary is 200 l. per annum The third place is Her Majesties Chancellour enjoyed at present by Sir J. Winter Sir Henry Wood and Sir Robert Long whose Salary is and a Table of Dishes The