Defenders of the Faith Which last Title was given by Pope Leo X to King Henry VIII for a Book written by him against Luther in Defence of some Points of the Romish Religion and afterwards confirmed by Act of Parliament for Defence of the ancient Catholick and Apostolick Faith as it is now professed by the Church of England Whereas the King of France is called Most Christian and the King of Spain Most Catholick The Title of Majesty came not into use in England till the Reign of Henry VIII Instead whereof the Title of Grace now appropriated to the Dukes and the two Archbishops was given to former Kings and that of Highness to the foresaid King Henry till the Word Majesty prevailed When we speak to the King the Word Sir is often used besides Your Majesty according to the French Sire which is likewise applied â—o that King For the King's Arms or Ensigns Armorial He â—ears in the first place for the Regal Arms of â—rance Azure 3 Flower de luces Or quarterâ—d with the Arms of England which are Gules 〈◊〉 Lions passant Gardant in pale Or. In the seâ—ond place for the Royal Arms of Scotland a â—ion rampant Gules within a double Tressure â—unter flowred de luce Or. In the third place or Ireland Azure an Irish Harp Or stringed â—rgent In the fourth place as in the first To which has been added since the present King's â—ccession to the Crown another Lion in the â—iddle thus blazoned Azure a Lion rampant â—r between an Earl of Billets Or. And all this within the Garter the chief Enâ—gn of that Order above which is an Helmet â—swerable to his Majesties Sovereign Jurisâ—iction and upon this a Mantle The Mantle 〈◊〉 Cloth of Gold doubled Ermin adorned with 〈◊〉 Imperial Crown and surmounted for a Crest 〈◊〉 a Lyon Passant Gardant Crowned with the â—â—ke The Supporters a Lyon Rampant Gardant 〈◊〉 Crowned as the former and an Vnicorn Arâ—â—t Gorged with a Crown thereto a Chain afâ—ed passing between his Fore-legs and reâ—xed over his Back Or. Both standing upon Compartment placed underneath and in the â—ce of the Compartment this Royal Motto â—en mon Droit that is God and my Right â—hich Motto was taken up by Edward the â—ird when he first claimed the Kingdom of â—ance Who also gave the Motto upon the â—â—ter Honi soit qui mal y pense that is Shame to him that evil thereof thinketh The Arms of France are placed first as being the greater Kingdom and perhaps thereby to induce the French the more easily to owâ— the English Title The Ensigns of Royalty such as Crowns Scepters Purple-Robe Golden-Globe and Holy Vnction the King of England has them all And so he has all the Marks of Sovereignty As the Power of making Treaties and League with forein States of making Peace or Waâ— of sending and receiving Ambassadours Creating of Magistrates Convening the Parliament of Adjourning Proroguing and Dissolving the same when he thinks fit of conferring Title of Honour of pardoning some Criminals oâ— Coyning c. All which Marks of Sovereignty are by Law lodged in the Crown Accordingly the King of England without the Concurrence of his Parliament levies Meâ— and Arms for Sea and Land-Service and may if need require press Men for that purpose He has alone the Choice and Nomination of aâ—â— Commanders and Officers the principal Direction and Command of his Armies and thâ— Disposal of all Magazines Ammunition Castles Forts Ports Havens Ships of War The Militia is likewise wholly at his Command And though he cannot of himself raise Mony upon his Subjects without his Parliament yet he haâ— the sole Disposal of publick Moneys In the Parliament He has a Negative Voice that is he may without giving any Reason for it refuse to give his Royal Assent to anâ— Bill though passed by both Houses of Parliâ—ment and without his Assent such a Bill 〈◊〉 but like a Body without Soul He may at 〈◊〉 pleasure increase the Number of the House 〈◊〉 Peers by creating more Barons or summoning thither whom he thinks fit by Writ and of the House of Commons by bestowing Priviledges on any other Town to send Burgesses to Parliament He has the Choice and Nomination of all Counsellours and Officers of State of all the Judges Bishops and other high Dignities in the Church In short the King is the Fountain of Honour Justice and Mercy None but the King has the Sovereign Power in the Administration of Justice and no Subject has here as in France Haute Moyenne basse Jurisdiction that is High Mean or Low Jurisdiction So that the King only is Judge in his own Cause though he deliver his Judgement by the Mouth of his Judges By Him is appointed the Metal Weight Purity and Value of Coyn and by his Proclamation he may make any forein Coyn to be lawful Mony of England So tender is the Law for the Preservation of his Sacred Person that without any overt Act the very Imagining or intending the Death of the King is High Treason by Law And though by Law an Idiot or Lunatick Non Compos Mentis cannot commit Felony nor any sort of Treason yet if during his Idiocy or Lunacy he shall Kill or go about to Kill the King he shall be punished as a Traytor In point of Physick by an ancient Record it is declared That no Physick ought to be administred to the King without a Warrant signed by the Privy Council by no other Physician but what is mentioned in the Warrant and the Physicians to prepare it themselves with their own hands If there be occasion for a Surgeon he must be likewise authorized by a Warrant And such is the Honour and Respect the King of England receives from his Subjects that 〈◊〉 Prince in Christendom receives more Homage Not only all Persons stand bare in his presence but even in his absence where he has a Chaiâ— of State All People at their first Address kneel to him and he is at all times served upon the Knee 'T is true the King of England is not free to act contrary to or to dispense with the known established Laws Neither can he of himself repeal a Law or make any new Law without the Concurrence of both Houses of Parliament A happy Impotency both to King and People For whilst the King keeps within the Bounds of the Law he can do no Wrong and the People can receive no Harm Had the late King but acted accordingly he might have been a most glorious Monarch instead of being now a general Object of Pity Far from being necessitated to creep under the shelter of a Proud Monarch he might have been a Curb to his Pride and the Refuge of many Nations that suffered Fire and Sword to advance what he called his Glory Three Crowns at once are too great a Sacrifice not to God but to a Mercenary Crew of Priests and Jesuits Tantum Religio potuit suadere Malorum As to the Rank and Reputation
in Yorkshire Tinmouth Castle in Northumberland and Holy Island near the Coast of that County S. Maries Castle among the Isles of Scilly Pendennis in Cornwal and Portland Castle in Dorsetshire Besides the Islands of Jersey and Garnsey on the Coast of Normandy The Number of Men in each of those Garrisons is uncertain for it is greater or lesser as Occasion serves Most of them are unregimented Companies These together with the Royal Guards being the standing Land-Forces in Their Majesties Pay there is for the Paying of them first a general Officer called the Pay-Master General who has several Clerks under him Next is the Commissary General of the Musters who has a Deputy Commissary in London besides eight other Deputy-Commissaries who have their distinct Circuits in the Country for Mustering the Forces which lye in the several Garrisons There is also a Secretary at War with several Clerks and a Messenger under him Which three considerable Offices are kept at the Horse-Guard Moreover there is a Judge Advocate a Scout-Master General an Adjutant General and a Marshal of the Horse besides a Chirurgeon General Amongst Their Majesties Land Forces we may reckon the Militia or Train Bands of every County as being wholly at the King's Disposal and bound to Assist Him upon all Occasions within the Bounds of the Realm In Queen Elizabeth's Time a general Muster was made by her Order of all Men able to bear Arms from the Age of 16 to 60 who then amounted to three Millions of Men whereof six hundred Thousand fit for War But in Time of Peace the Matter is so regulated that there is not above one hundred thousand Horse and Foot actually Inrolled for the Defence of the Realm The Management whereof is in the hands of the Lord Lieutenants of the several Counties of England who are usually of the principal Rank amongst the Peers of the Realm chosen for that purpose by the King and so created by his Commission They have Power by Act of Parliament to charge any Person with Horse Horsemen and Arms that has 500 l. a Year or 6000 l. personal Estate and with a Foot Souldier any Person that has 50 l. yearly Revenue or 600 l. personal Estate Those that have meaner Estates are to joyn two or three together either to find a Horse and Horseman or a Foot Souldier according to their Estates They have also Power to Arm Array and Form the Forces into Companies Troops and Regiments and to make their Officers by giving them Commissions and upon any Rebellion or Invasion to lead and imploy the Men so Armed within their respective Counties or into any other County as the King shall give Order They name their Deputy Lieutenants and present them to the King for his Confirmation Who are to be of the principal Gentry of the Country and have the same Power as the Lord Lieutenant in his absence To find out Ammunition and other Necessaries there is a Tax of 70000 l. a Month upon the whole Kingdom whereof the Lord Lieutenants or Deputies or any three or more of them may levy a Fourth Part of each Mans Proportion in it And when occasion shall be to bring the Militia into actual Service the Persons so charged are to provide each Souldier respectively with pay in hand for a Month at the rate of 2 shill a Day for a Horseman and 12 pence for a Foot Souldier For Repayment of which Mony and the satisfaction of the Officers for their Pay during the time aforesaid Provision is to be made by the King out of the publick Revenue and till the same be actually performed none can be charged with another Months Pay These Forces are always to be in readiness with all Things necessary at the beat of Drum or sound of Trumpet to appear muster and be at certain times trained and disciplined Now to give speedy notice of an approaching Invasion there are all over England high Poles erected upon eminent Places both Inland and Maritime with Pitch-barrels fastened on the Top known by the name of Beacons Which being set on fire one by the sight of another the whole Kingdom has thereby notice in few Hours of the approaching Danger Whereupon the Militia to secure the Kingdom makes haste to the Sea-Coasts As for the present Army which God has lately blest with a glorious Victory carrying with it the Reduction of Ireland and I hope a Fate upon France it was lately Computed to be near Fifty thousand strong Horse Foot and Dragoons consisting of English Irish French Danish and Dutch Forces I wish for the satisfaction of the Reader that I could give a particular and exact Account of this brave and gallant Army But rather than do it imperfectly I beg the Reader 's leave to decline it And so I come to the Maritime Power of England Which consists in general of about 130 Men of War besides Fireships Yachts Hulks Ketches Sloops Hays and Smacks and several other Vessels for Tenders and Victuallers The Men of War are divided into six Rates or Ranks Built in several Places but most at Woolwich Chatham Deptford Blackwall Harwich and Portsmouth The following List gives you the Names of them according to their Rates in the Alphabetick Order with the Year when they were built also the Number of Tuns Men and Guns each of them commonly carries abroad in Time of War Those whose Names be in the Roman Letter are the Thirty that were built by an Act of Parliament made in the Year 1676. First Rates Ships Built An. Tuns Men. Guns S. Andrew 70 1313 730 96 Britannia 82 1620 815 100 Charles 67 1229 710 96 Royal Charles 72 1531 780 100 Royal James 75 1422 780 100 London 70 1328 730 96 S. Michael 69 1101 600 90 Royal Prince 70 1403 780 100 Royal Sovereign  1605 815 100 Rebuilt     Second Rates Albemarle 81 1462 660 90 Catharine 64 1050 540 82 Coronation 85 1475 660 90 Duke 82 1546 660 90 Dutchess 79 1475 660 90 S. George 22 891 460 72 Neptune 83 1475 660 90 Ossory 82 1300 660 90 Rainbow 17 868 410 64 French Ruby  868 570 80 Sandwich 79 1395 660 90 Triumph 23 891 460 70 Vangard 78 1357 660 90 Victory Rebuilt 63 1029 530 82 Unicorn 33 823 410 64 Windsor Castle 78 1462 660 90 Third Rates Berwick 79 1089 460 70 Breda 79 1050 460 72 Burford 79 1174 460 70 Cambridge  941 420 70 Captain 78 1164 460 72 Defiance 75 881 420 70 Dreadnought 53 732 355 62 Dunkirk 51 662 340 60 Eagle 79 1057 460 70 Edgar 68 994 445 72 Elizabeth 79 1151 460 70 Essex 79 1068 460 70 Exeter 79 1070 460 70 Expedition 78 1057 460 70 Grafton 79 1184 460 70 Hampton Court 78 1105 460 70 Harwich 74 993 420 70 Hope 78 1058 460 70 Kent Rebuilt 79 1064 460 70 Lenox 78 1096 460 70 Lyon Rebuilt 58 717 340 60 Mary 49 777 355 62 Monk 59 703 340 60 Monmouth
large Town seated upon two Rivers the Skerne and a Rivulet that runs there into it Over the first which falls within 2 miles into the Tees it has a fair Stone-Bridge Not far from hence at Oxenhall are 3 Pits called Hell-Kettles of a wonderful depth supposed to come of an Earthquake that hapned in the Year 1179. 'T is said of Bishop Tunstall of this Diocese that he took a Goose which he markt and put into one of the Pits and the same Goose was found afterwards in the River Tees Bernard Castle is seated in a Bottom on the River Tees and adjoyning to Marwood Park 'T is but an indifferent Town and of chief note for Stockings here made Bishop Aukland is pleasantly seated on the side of a Hill between the Ware over which it has a Bridge and a Rivulet that runs into it This is a neat Town and noted for its good Air. But that which adds much to its Reputation is its stately Castle the Bishops Summer Pallace beautifully repaired by Dr. Cosins the late Bishop of Durham and a fine Chappel raised by the same Bishop from its Ruins Sunderland is a Sea-Town on the Mouth of the River Ware Called Sunderland because by the Working of the Sea it is in a manner pulled from the rest of the Land it being at high Water invironed on all sides with the Sea This is a noted Place for its Sea-Coal Trade but chiefly for giving the Title of Earl first to Emanuel Lord Scrope of Bolton and Lord President of the North created Earl of Sunderland by King Charles I. Anno 1627. Upon whose Death without lawful Issue the Title was bestowed by the same King upon Henry Lord Spencer of Wormleighton in the Year 1643. Who being slain the same Year at the first Newberry Fight the Title fell to Robert his Son and Heir the present Earl of Sunderland Stainthorp or Staindrop ly's but 5 miles East-North-East from Bernard Castle among Parks and on a Rivulet that runs from thence into the Tees And not far from it is another Castle called Raby-Castle which King Canute gave to the Church of Durham with the Lands about it But besides the said Market-Towns here is in the South-East Parts Stockton and Billingham noted for their strong Ale And further Northward Hartlepool that stands upon a Neck of Land shooting forth into the Sea which surrounds it on all sides except Westward On the Mouth of the River Tine you will find Sheals where the New-Castle Coal-Fleet takes its Cargo A little higher stands Jarrow noted for being the Birth place of the Venerable Beda And over against Newcastle Gateshead or Gateside the Receptacle of those numerous Men that work in the Coal-pits Men that rake their mean Subsistence from the very Bowels of the Earth This County was formerly called St. Cuthberts Patrimony from S. Cuthbert the Raiser of Durham whose Episcopal See was removed hither from Lindisfarn or Holy Island on the Coast of Northumberland A Saint for whom several of the Saxon Kings and after them Canute the Dane had so great a Veneration that upon him and his Successors in that See was all the Country between Tees and Tine conferred by Alfred King of England Which his Donation was confirmed and in part increased by his Successors Edward Athelstan and Canute the Dane So fortified it was with Priviledges and Royal Grants that at the coming in of the Norman Conquerour the Bishop was reputed for a Count Palatine and did ingrave upon his Seal an armed Knight holding a naked Sword in one hand and in the other the Bishops Arms. Nay it was once adjudged in Law that the Bishop was to have all Forfeitures and Escheats within the Liberties as the King had without In short the Bishops hereof had the Royalty of Princes having their own Courts of Judicature both for Civil and Criminal Causes and covning their own Coin But these exorbitant Priviledges and Immunities were in part impaired by a Statute under Henry VIII and altogether with the Lands and whole Rights thereof conferred upon the Crown by Act of Parliament in the last Year of the Reign of Edward VI. To conclude when England was divided into seven Kingdoms this County was Part of that of Northumberland And the Inhabitants of it as well as those of most part of the North besides were called Brigantes by the ancient â—omans Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire but two Members to serve in Parliament for which Durham has the Right of Election Essex ESSEX another Maritime County has for its Bounds Eastward the German Ocean Westward Hartfordshire and Middlesex Northward the County of Suffolk and Southward the County of Kent This is a pretty large County being in Length about 45 miles in Breadth 36. The Whole divided into 20 Hundreds wherein 45 Parishes and 21 Market-Towns The same is abundantly irrigated both with great and small Rivers For besides the Thames which severs it from Kent the Stower from Suffolk and the Lea from Middlesex here is the Coln the Chelmer the Crouch and the Roding with several others in all which are great plenty of Fish Here the Air is very Temperate but down in the Hundreds towards the Sea-side it is very Aguish The Soil for the most part is good and in some Parts so fruitful that according to the Author of Englands Remarqnes after 3 Years Glebe of Saffron the Land for 18 years more will yield plenty of Barley without any Manuring with Dung or the like and then bear Saffron again One Acre of this Ground which is most in the North Part of the County will yield 80 or 100 weight of moist Saffron in a Year which being dried is valued 2. pound sterling It s chief Commodities besides Saffron as aforesaid are Cloths Stuffs Hops and the best of Oysters Colchester the chief Place of it bears from London North-East and is distant from it 43 miles by common Computation Viz. 10 from London to Rumford 5 more to Burntwood 10 from thence to Chelmsford and to Colchester 18 more A Town of great Antiquity and built as some Authors write by Coilus the British Prince 124 years after Christ's Birth But yet more Remarkable for giving birth to â—ucius Helena and Constantine the first Christian King Empress and Emperour in the World Seated it is upon the Rise of a Hill stretching it self from East to West and watered by the River Coln from whence probably it came to be called Colchester And as it is but 6 miles distant from the Sea so its Situation must needs be upon all accounts both pleasant and commodious 'T is a fair and well-built Town fortiâ—â—ed with an old Roman Wall and having six Gates of entrance besides 3 Posterns Towards the East stands an old Castle within the Ruins of a Trench containing about two Acres In short there were in it 14 Parish Churches several of which are now reduced to ruin But it is still a Place of good
Charta the same all over England that is according to the King's Standard kept in the Exchequer by the Clerk or Comptroller of the Market The Weights now used throughout all England are of two sorts the one called Troy-Weight and the other Avoir du pois the first containing 12 Ounces and the other 16 in the Pound But then the Ounce Avoir du pois is lighter than the Ounce Troy by almost a 12th part For whereas in Troy-Weight the Ounce consists of 480 Grains the Ounce Avoir du pois containeth but 438 Grains By the Troy-Weight are weighed Pearls precious-Stones Gold Silver Bread all manner of Corn and Grain and this Weight the Apothecaries do or ought to use By Avoir du pois are weighed all Grocery Ware Flesh Butter Cheese Iron Hemp Flax Tallow Wax Lead Steel and all things whereof comes Waste In consideration whereof 112 Pound Avoir du pois goes to a Hundred-Weight and proportionably 56 pound to half a Hundred and 28 to a Quarter or Tod A Stone amongst London Butchers makes 8 pounds of this Weight but in the Country 't is for the most part 14. In Troy-Weight 20 Grains make a Scruple thus marked ℈ 3 Scruples a Drachm Ê’ 8 Drachms an Ounce â„¥ and 12 Ounces a Pound lb. In Avoir du pois Weight 16 Drachms make an Ounce 16 Ounces a Pound 28 Pound a Quarter 4 Quarters a Hundred and 20 Hundred a Tun. In Troy Weight 24 Grains of Wheat make a Peny-Weight Sterling 20 Peny-Weights an Ounce and 12 Ounces a Pound And when Wheat is at 5 Shillings the Bushel the Peny Wheaten Loaf is then by Statute to weigh 11 Ounces Troy and three half Peny White Loaves to weigh as much But the Houshold Peny-Loaf is to weigh 14 Troy Ounces and two thirds As for the Weight called Venice-Ounce used here as in other Countries by Silk-men there is no Standard of it nor is it allowed by Law This Ounce being but 13 Peny Weight and 12 Grains it falls out that 12 Ounces Venice is but 8 Ounces 4 peny Troy and 9 Ounces Avoir du pois Measares are either Applicative or Receptive that is such as Things are measured by outwardly or inwardly Of the first Sort there is first an Inch or fingers Breadth 4 whereof make a Hand-full and 12 a Foot Now 3 Foot makes a Yard and one Yard and a quarter an Ell. Five Foot makes a Geometrical Pace 6 a Fadom 16 and a half a Perch Pole or Rod. Forty Perches make a Furlong 8 Furlongs or 320 Perches an English Mile and 3 English Miles a French League whereof 3 go to a Degree But this observe by the way that by a Statute under the Reign of Henry VII an English Mile ought to be 1760 Yards or 5280 Foot that is 280 Foot more than the Italian Mile Now an Acre of Land in England consists of 40 Perches in length and 4 in breadth a Yard-Land commonly of 30 Acres and an Hide of Land of 100 Acres The Receptive Measure is two-fold that is either for liquid or dry Things For Liquid as a Pint which is subdivided into lesser Parts as half a Pint a Quartern or quarter of a Pint. Now 2 Pints make a Quart 2 Quarts a Pottle 2 Pottles a Gallon 8 Gallons a Firkin of Ale and 9 a Firkin of Beer Two Firkins of either sort make a Kilderkin and 2 Kilderkins a Barrel But still the Difference in the Number of Gallons as to Beer and Ale ought to be minded and allowed For as a Kilderkin of Beer contains 18 Gallons and one of Ale but 16 so a Barrel of Beer being double a Kilderkin contains 36 Gallons and one of Ale but 32. Now a Barrel and a half of Beer being 54 Gallons make a Hogshead 2 Hogshheads a Pipe or Butt and 2 Pipes a Tun. Note that a Barrel of Butter or Soap is the same with a Barrel of Ale As for Wine-Measures they fall so much short of those of Ale and Beer that Four Gallons of these make Five Gallous of Wine measure Thus they hold proportion as four to five Of these Gallons a Rundlet of Wine holds 18 half a Hogshead 31 and a half a Tierce 42 a Hogshead 63 a Punchion 84 a Pipe or Butt 126 a Tun 252. For dry Things such as Corn or Grain there is first the Gallon of a fize between the Wine and the Beer Gallon Two of these Gallons make a Peck 4 Pecks a Bushel 4 Bushels a Comb or Curnock 2 Curnocks a Quarter 10 Quarters a Last or Wey To conclude now with the Great Trade of England to Foreign Parts besides the several Companies I have took notice of in my Description of London there are other Companies or Societies of Merchants established for the promoting or incouraging of foreign Trade Which have Power and Immunities granted them to make Acts and Orders for the benefit of Commerce in general and of their Companies in particular Such are amongst others the Company of Merchant Adventurers the Russia Turky and East-India Companies and the Royal African Company Besides the Spanish French East-Land and Greenland Companies and the Company trading to Hudson's Bay the Priviledges and Trade of which last were lately confirmed by Act of Parliament The first being the Company of Merchant Adventurers is the most ancient of all having had their Original in the Reign of Edward I and their Continuance ever since Grounded at first upon the Exportation of Wool only being the prime and staple Commodity of England since converted into Cloathing and now including all manner of Drapery This Company is managed in England by a Governour Deputy and certain Assistants beyond Sea by a Deputy and certain Assistants The Russia Company had their Beginning in the Reign of Edward VI upon the Discovery made by the English of the North-East Passage to Archangel whereby they opened a great Trade in the Dominions of the â—zars of Moscovy removed hither from Narva upon the Baltick Their Charter was afterwards confirmed and inlarged by Queen Elizabeth The Turky-Merchants otherwise called the Levant Company from their Trade in the Levant was Incorporated by Queen Elizabeth and had their Charter Confirmed and Inlarged by King James I. But the greatest and most eminent Company is that which manages the East-India Trade which begun likewise in Queen Elizabeths Time Anno 1600. For the Managing whereof they imploy a joint Stock and have a great House in Leaden-Hall-Street called the East-India House By which Trade and Stock they have built a great Number of War-like Ships and brought hither those Indian Commodities which before were brought to us by the Portugueze being the first Discoverers of the East-India Passage So that by the East-India and the Levant Companies England and many other Countries by their second Transportation have ever since been supplied with those Rich Merchandizes which Italy Turky Arabia Persia India and China yield where they have their respective Agents On the Coast of Coromandel
the better in troubled Waters Yet whatever have been the Effects of it hitherto God has wonderfully defeated their Designs Insomuch that this Church formerly scattered and eclipsed in the Reign of Charles I restored but afterwards undermined by Charles II and lately threatned with utter Ruin by his immediate Successor is now by the special Providence of God in a Hourishing Condition under the happy Influence of our present King William the Restorer of our Laws Religion and Liberties As for the Spirit of Persecution which the Church of England has been charged with in relation to Dissenters it cannot be justly laid to her Charge For whatever has been done in that Case was but according to Law and the Penal Laws were made as all Statute-Laws in a regular Manner by the Votes of Parliament the Representatives of the People as well Dissenters as others 'T is true the Church-Party proved the most predominant And yet in point of Execution the sober part of the Church were always very tender and none but hot Men amongst them ready for Execution Influenced thereto by the Court which far from designing the Dissenters Union with the Church used the Rigour of the Law to create an implacable Hatred betwixt the afflicting Church and the suffering Body of the Dissenters Which had a sutable Effect For these imbittered what with Fines what with Imprisonments tho according to Law failed not to clamour on all sides against the persecuting Spirit of the Church of England and against those bloudy Laws as they used to call ' em The Sense of their present state made them forget what they had done when they usurped the Regal Power and how busy they were to imprison to banish to sequester With Grief I rake up these old Sores and nothing but a just Desire of righting both Parties could have extorted this from me But now the Dissenters have got Liberty of Conscience by a late Act of Parliament with the ready Concurrence of the Church-Party in both Houses I hope there 's no Ground left for Animosities between the Church and Them And if the Presbyterians who are the nearest to the Church of England and the greatest Party among Dissenters now they have seen so much of her incomparable Learning and invincible Stedfastness to the Protestant Religion and Interest would but shake off their groundless Prejudices and prefer the happiness of a Reunion before the Danger of a Schism what a Blessing it would prove to this Nation is almost unconceivable 'T is not long since the Church was their Sanctuary when they expected no Mercy from a late King who came to the Throne full of Resentment and Indignation against them Tho afterwards to compass his own Ends he tacked about and killed them almost with Kindness And why they should now separate from a Church which was so lately their Refuge when they crowded the very Church-Men out of Church it is past my Understanding For the Church of England is the same still Were they but so well-minded as to make the least step towards a Reunion I am assured the Church of England would be very forward to meet them Rather than they should continue their Separation and be Accountable to Gods Tribunal for it I am more than confident she would readily part with such Ceremonies as give 'em most offence But it is feared they would not be satisfied with those small Condescensions They are for more substantial Things which for Peace sake I shall forbear to name and leave for the Reader to guess The main Points wherein they differ from the Church of England is the Church Government and the publick Worship They hold that the Church was governed in the beginning by Presbyters or Elders and that it should be so governed still not by Bishops upon which account they got the Name of Presbyterians They except both against the latitude of the Bishops Power and the largeness of their Revenues as if neither of them could be used by the Clergy with Christian Moderation But it is more probable the unshaken fidelity of Bishops to Monarchy which many of the Dissenters were never very fond of sticks most in their Stomack For publick Worship they use no Liturgy wherein they differ from the Protestanâ— Churches beyond Sea They look upon Seâ— Forms as dead Prayers and delight only oâ— Extemporal Therefore the Lord's Prayer iâ— in a manner exploded by the rigid Sort oâ— them Yet one would think when their Minister prays before the Congregation his Prayer â—s a set Form to such as pray with him The Surplice the Sign of the Cross the bowing â—t the Name of Jesus and the kneeling at the Communion are to them so many Sins They deal plainly with God at least in outward appearance and are resolved as far as 〈◊〉 see to serve him without Ceremony Great Predestinarians many of 'em are and very strict Observers of the Sabbath In short their apparent Soberness in Conversation and Zeal in their Devotion has so increased their Number that they are lookt upon as the chief Party amongst all the Dissenters Next to whom both in their Opinions and Number are the Independents or Congregationalists So called for that they will have every particular Congregation to be ruled by their own Laws without dependence upon any other in Church-Matters For they prefer their own Gathered Churches in private Places to the publick Congregations in Churches which in contempt they call by the name of â—ceeple-Houses In most Things else they â—â—mp with the Presbyterians Except those particular Tenets some of 'em have intertainâ—d which for brevities sake I forbear to enumerate The riged sort of 'em called Brownists â—efuse to Communicate with any of the Reformed Churches The Anabaptists are so called from Rebaptiâ—ing those who coming to their Communion â—ere baptized in their Infancy For one of their chief Tenets is against Pedobaptism or baptizing of Children They hold besides â—hat Lay-people may preach As for those blaspheâ—ous Opinions their Fore-fathers have been charged with I hope few of the modern And baptists in England are guilty of them The Millenarians or Fifth-Monarchy-Men are so called from their Expectation of Christ's temporal Kingdom here on Earth for a thousand Years And this they ground upon several Places of Scripture which from a Spiritual they wrest into a Carnal Sense The Quakers are a sort of Enthusiasts so called because they use to quake and groan when they wait for the Spirit Whereas the Spirit of God is a Spirit of Peace and Quietness not to be found in Fire Earth-quakes and Whirl-winds but in the soft and still Voice They reject all Ministerial Ordinances and rail against premeditated Preaching oâ— Praying The Holy Scripture is no Rule for 'em to go by but Inspiration and the Light they pretend to is all in all with them So that any Man or Woman in their Meetings that fancies first to be seized with the Spirit is free to stand up for a Teacher to the
divest him of his whole Authority To this purpose we have still fresh before us the Example of the late King of Portugal who for a few Acts of Rage fatal to very few Persons was put under a Guardianship and kept a Prisoner till he died and his Brother the present King made Regent in his place Which it seems was at least secretly approved by most of the Crowned Heads of Europe and even our Court gave the first Countenance to it Though of all others King Charles II. had the least Reason to do it since it justified a Younger Brother's supplanting the Elder But the Evidence of the Thing carried it even against Interest These are my Authors Arguments which I thought fit to insist upon to justify the Nations taking up Arms for the Defence of their Laws Religion and Property against the late King 's actual and bare-faced Subverting the whole Frame of this most happy and blessed Government A Government which has made many Kings glorious beyond the Great Nimrod of France and their People happy beyond all other Nations A Government which allows enough to a King that cares not to be a Tyrant and enough to the People to keep them from Slavery When the King's Prerogative do's not interfere with the Liberty of the People or the Peoples Liberty with the Kings Prerogative that is when both King and People keep within their own Sphere there is no better framed Government under the Sun Here is Monarchy without Slavery a great King and yet a free People And the Legislative-Power being lodged in the King Lords and Commons joyntly 't is such a Monarchy as has the main Advantages of an Aristocracy in the Lords and of a Democracy in the Commons without the Disadvantages or Evils of either The Government of England being thus constitued I see no Ground there is for passive Obedience where the Kings Commands are visibly contrary to Law and destructive of the Constitution The Measures of Power and consequently of Obedience must be taken from the express Laws of the State or from Immemorial Customs or from particular Oaths which the Subjects swear to their Princes And in all Disputes between Power and Liberty Power must always be proved for Liberty proves it self that being founded only upon a Positive Law this upon the Law of Nature Now 't is plain the Law of Nature has put no Difference or Subordination amongst Men except it be that of Children to their Parents or of Wives to their Husbands So that with relation to the Law of Nature all Men are born Free and this Liberty must be still supposed intire unless so far as it is limited by Contracts Provisions and Laws And as a private Person can bind himself to another Man by different Degrees either as a common Servant for Wages or as an Apprentice appropriate for a longer Time or as a Slave by a total giving himself up to another so may several Bodies of Men give themselves upon different Terms and Degrees to the Conduct of others And as in those Cases the general Name of Master may be equally used tho the degrees of his Power are to be judged by the nature of the Contract so in these all may carry the same Name of King and yet every ones Power is to be taken from the Measures of that Authority which is lodged in him and not from any general Speculations founded on some equivocal Terms such as King Sovereign or Supream But this has been of late so learnedly argued that I shall wave any further Discussion of this Matter This only I shall add that the King of England is by the moderate Assertors of this Monarchy called Pater Patriae and Sponsus Regni By which Metaphorical Characters the King and his Subjects come within the Relation of a Father and Children or within that of a Husband and Wife which is proper enough to represent the Nature and Mildness of the English Government Others make King and Subject to be no other Relation than that of Gardian and Ward Ad tutelam namque says Fortescue Legis Subditorum ac eorum Corporum Bonorum Rex hujusmodi erectus est the King being ordained for the Defence or Gardianship of the Laws of his Subjects and of their Bodies and Goods I have done and now I proceed to a further Description of this Monarchy 'T is Free and Independent that is not holden of any Earthly Potentate or any ways obliged to do Homage for the same as the Kingdom of Naples holden of the Pope by the King of Spain and that of Scotlund which held in Capite of the Crown of England Whereas the Kingdom of England owns no Superiour upon Earth A Monarchy that justly challenges a Freedom from all Subjection to the Emperour or Laws of the Empire For tho the Roman Emperors were anciently possessed of this Country and got by force of Arms the Possession of it yet upon their quitting the same the Right by the Law of Nations returned to the former Owners pro Derelicto as the Civilians speak The same is also free from all manner of Subjection to the Pope of Rome and consequently from those several Inconveniencies and Burdens which ly upon Popish Kingdoms As Taxes paid to that Bishop Provisions and Dispensations in several Cases to be procured from the Court of Rome and Appeals thither in Ecclesiastical Suits 'T is an Hereditary Monarchy and such as allow's of no Interregnum free therefore from those Mischiefs and Inconveniencies which frequently attend such Kingdoms as are Elective Though it is granted at least it seems apparent by History that England has been an Elective Kingdom especially in the Time of the Saxons When upon the King's Death those Persons of the Realm that composed the then Parliament assembled in order to the chusing of another And tho one or other of the Royal Bloud was always chosen yet the next in lineal Succession was often set aside as is evident from the Genealogies of the Saxon Kings But however it was in those and after Times certain it is that ever since King Henry VII the Crown has run in a course of lineal Succession by Right of Inheritance Till the late King having forsaken the Government and abdicated the Kingdom the Crown with the general Consent of the Nation was set upon the Head of the Prince of Orange our present King joyntly with the Princess the next Heir to King James and the Succession settled as will appear afterwards And upon William and Mary our Gracious King and Queen may the Crown long flourish To conclude whatever be the Bent and Inclination of some Men amongst us for a Commonwealth the Generality of the Nation is so much for Monarchy that it is like so to continue as long as the World indures In that Eclipse of Monarchy which hapned before the Restauration of King Charles II how busy then the Commonwealth Party was to provide against its Return and to settle here
King Who in such Case usually make choice of such a Person among the Nobility as is fit for that Station whose private Interest is to preserve the Kings Life and Authority and to whom least benefit can accrue by his Death or Diminution Thus in the Case of Edward VI the Duke of Somerset his Uncle by the Mothers side was made Lord Protector during the Kings Minority And when this Rule has not been observed as in the Minority of Edward V it has proved of very ill consequence But this is observable withall that when thâ— King comes to be 24 Years of Age he may bâ— his Letters Patents under the Great Seal aâ—cording to a Statute made in the Reign of Heâ—ry VIII revoke and utterly null whatsoeveâ— has been Enacted in Parliament during his Mâ—nority When the King was Absent upon any so reign Expedition as several of our Kings have been with good success the Custom was for merly to constitute a Vicegerent by Commission under the Great Seal with the Titâ— of Lord Warden or Lord Keeper of the Kingdom and sometimes that of Protector And such was the Latitude of his Power that except wearing of the Crown he was as great aâ— the King But sometimes the Kingdom durinâ— the King's Absence has been committed to thâ— Care of several Noblemen During the Absence of Henry VIII in France which hapned two several times the Queeâ— was made Regent And so is at this time oâ—â— Gracious Queen Mary during his Majesties so reign Expedition So in case of the Kings Incapacity to govern either through Age or Weakness or by reason of some Incurable Disease a Gardian 〈◊〉 Regent is constituted to govern the Kingdom for Him Such a one was John Duke of Lâ—â— caster in the latter Days of King Edward 〈◊〉 appointed by the King himself who then what with Age and Weakness what with Sickness and Grief for the untimely Death of 〈◊〉 dear Son the Black Prince was much decayâ— both in Body and Mind I come now to the Succession to the Crâ—â— Which is not in England as in France Turâ—â— and amongst Barbarians by excluding Females from the Crown For the Crown of England in its natural Course descends from Father to Sâ—n for want of Sons to the eldest Daughter and her Heirs for want of Daughter to the Brother and his Heirs for want of Brother to the Sister and her Heirs In short upon the Death of the King or Queen upon the Throne the next of Kindred though born out of the Dominions of England or of Parents not Subjects of England is immediately King or Queen before any Proclamation or Coronation And contrary to the Descent of Estates among Subjects the Half Blood inherits as in the Case of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth who succeeded King Edward the Sixth though they were his Sisters only by the Father's side But the Government being lately Dissolved by King James his Misgovernment as well as Abdication the Crown was settled in this manner by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons assembled at Westminster in the Month of December Anno 1689. First upon William and Mary then Prince and Princess of Orange during their Lives and the Life of the Survivor of Them but the sole and full Exercise of the Regal Power to be only in and executed by the said Prince of Orange in the Names of the said Prince and Princess during their joynt Lives And after their Deceases the said Crown and Royal Dignity to be to the â—eirs of the Body of the said Princess And for default of such Issue to the Princess Anne of Denmark and the Heirs of her Body And for default of such Issue to the Heirs of the Body of the said Prince of Orange Upon which the said Prince and Princess now King and Queen of England c. did accept thâ— Crown and Royal Dignity of the Kingdoms oâ— England France and Ireland and the Dominions thereunto belonging And for preventing all Questions and Divisions in this Realm by reason of any pretended Titles to the Crown and for preserving a Certainty in the Succession thereof the Settlement of the Crown as aforesaid was Confirmed by an Act of the Insuing Parliament which passed the Royal Assent Dec 16. 1689. With this excellent Proviso That Whereas it hath been found by Experience that it is Inconsistent with the Safety and Welfare of this Protestant Kingdom to be Governed by a Popisâ— Prince or by any King or Queen Marrying Papist all and every Person and Persons thaâ— is are or shall be Reconciled to or shall holâ— Communion with the See or Church of Rome or shall profess the Popish Religion or shalâ— Marry a Papist shall be Excluded and be soever Uncapable to Inherit Possess or Injoy thâ— Crown and Government of this Realm and Ireland and the Dominions thereunto belonâ—ing or any Part of the same or to Have Usâ— or Exercise any Regal Power Authority or Jâ—risdiction within the same And in all and 〈◊〉 very such Case or Cases the People of theâ— Realms shall be and are hereby Absolved 〈◊〉 their Allegiance and the said Crown and Government shall from time to time Descend 〈◊〉 and be Injoy'd by such Person or Persons â—â—ing Protestants as should have Inheritâ—â— or Injoyed the same in case the said Pâ—â—son or Persons so Reconciled holding Coâ—munion or Professing or Marrying as afoâ—â—said were naturally Dead By which Act further Confirmed and Asserted by the Act of Recognition passed in the last Session of Parliament the Crown is by Law for ever Insured into Protestant Hands and all Pretence of Popish Succession Nulled and Invalidated CHAP. XI Of the Royal Family Particularly of the Queen and the Sons and Daughters of England THe Queen of England is either a Sovereign or Queen Consort or else Queen Dowager When the Queen is Sovereign as were Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth the two Daughters of Henry VIII and Sisters of Edward VI. he is invested with all the Regal Power and â—cts as Sovereign And whoever she does marry â—o far from following her Husbands Condition â—he is her Husbands Sovereign as Queen Mary â—as Philip's The Case indeed of our present Queen Mary is â—ifferent She is a Sovereign joyntly with her â—usband King William but the Administration 〈◊〉 the Government and the sole Executive Power â—â—lodged only in the King during their Joynt â—â—ves Except the Time of his Majesties Absence 〈◊〉 his foreign Expedition during which Her â—jesty is Vested by a late Act of Parliament with the Administration and acts as Queen Regent A Queen Consort without Sovereignty is Reputed however the Second Person in the Kingdom and Respected accordingly The Law sets so high a value upon Her as to make it High Treason to conspire her Death or to violate her Chastity She has her Royal Court and Officers apart with a large Dower to maintain her Greatness And though she be an Alien born yet without Denization or Naturalization she may purchase Lands in
Maâ—sties a bold Thing I confess for my Pen to â—â—dertake but such as I can make it it may â—ake us the more sensible of our Happiâ—ess The King is a Prince perhaps the best qualiâ—ed for a Throne He is Great without Pride â—rue to his Word Wise in his Deliberations â—ecret in his Counsels Generous in his Atâ—â—mpts Undaunted in Dangers Valiant withâ—â—t Cruelty Unchanged under all Events He â—ves Justice with Moderation Government â—ithout Tyranny Religion without Persecuâ—â—on and Devotion without Hypocrisy or Suâ—rstition How often has he exposed his Life through â—re and Sword for a sinking Commonwealth â—ll at last he rescued it from the open Violence of one King and the Undermining of another No Temptation could draw him away from 〈◊〉 generous Principle nothing but true Greatneâ— could make him Great To Save us here when we were at the Britâ— of Ruin designed for a Prey to those two Inseparable Monsters Popery and Slavery He hâ—ventured his Life by Sea and Land By Sea 〈◊〉 the worst Season of the Year in the face 〈◊〉 Two great Monarchs his Professed Enemies anâ— upon an Element which at his first setting oâ— seemed to Declare against Him By Land hâ—ving a great Army to oppose many Hardshiâ— to undergo Uncertainties to struggle with tâ—â— Romish consecrated Daggers and Poyson to pâ—vent Undaunted he went through all and without shedding of Blood restored of a suâ—den two languishing Nations France thâ— laughed at the Attempt was amazed at thâ— Success and her superfine Politicks blushed 〈◊〉 the sight of this But that which is admirable is to see a Prinâ— of a Temper so even as neither to be disheaâ—ned with Hardships and Misfortunes nor pâ— up with Success Always the same though â—â—der various Circumstances which is a trâ— Symptom of a great Soul Whereas Mutahiâ—ty is the proper Character of a mean aâ—cowardly Soul sometimes huffing other timâ— sneaking sometimes ready to tear his Sâ—â—jects to pieces at other times fawning upâ—â— them From those great Things His Majesty 〈◊〉 done hitherto one may guess at his next â—â—tempt assoon as Ireland is reduced The Freâ— King's Invasions and Devastations and his hâ—rid Persecution of his Protestant Subjects 〈◊〉 â—hings not to be forgotten Manet alta mente â—â—stum and I am much mistaken if the wild 〈◊〉 at last don't meet with a Hercules Che va â—â—no va sano As for the Queen She is the Glory of her â—ex the fairest and yet the best natured â—incess in the World Humble and affable in â—er Conversation never seen in any Passion â—ways under a peculiar Sweetness of Temper â—loved of her Friends admired by her Eneâ—ies Moderate in her Pleasures full of Zeal 〈◊〉 her Devotions and of Charity towards Peoâ—le in Distress A professed Enemy to Idleâ—ess and as great a Lover of Vertue and Knowâ—dge In a word She is a Princess of many â—â—traordinary Vertues and Excellencies withâ—ut any appearance of Vanity or the least mixâ—â—re of Vice So that we have under this Government â—â—e fairest Prospect imaginable of a suture Hapâ—iness And after several weak and inglorious â—eigns we are like in this with Gods Blesâ—ing if we be not wanting to our selves to â—e once more the Delight of our Friends and 〈◊〉 Terrour to our Enemies CHAP. XIV The Vnreasonableness of the Disaffected Party under Their Majesties Gracious Government UNder our happy Circumstances of 〈◊〉 gentle and easy Government of seeing our Laws and Property Restored wâ— want nothing but Union to compleat our Happiness But instead of it we have Men amongst us that are already sick of it some Churchmen some Dissenters besides the generality of Roman Catholicks These indeed have the most reason to grumble who by losing King James have loâ—â— their greatest Hopes Yet if they do seriously consider what Indulgence they met with when they expected nothing but Vengeance they ought to rest satisfied and blush at their bloody Principles What have they suffered for all their Clamours Threats Insults and Outrages during the Reign of King James Scarce a Man hurt amongst them and but a few Houses pulled down by the Rage of the Mobile incouraged thereto by the Desertioâ— of King James when he left us without anâ— form of Government Ever since they have injoy'd the same Protection with the otheâ— Subjects of this Kingdom whatever has beeâ— maliciously suggested and published beyond Seâ— to the contrary and have been no where at least with Authority hindered in their Devotions So very Indulgent the King has been hitherto to his greatest Enemies But suppose King James had prevailed they would have had indeed Popery Triumphant fine Processions Monks in their proper Habits and our Saviour walking the Streets in a Box. But what 's all this to Property A Belly full of domineering Popery makes many an empty Belly for Slavery always attends it The Church of Rome is an hungry Church and the Princes of her Communion know best how to squeeze their Subjects Whilst they work upon the â—ody she works upon the Soul They pull one way she another and so they divide the Spoil making a Prey of the People every where Therefore if the English Papists understand their true Interest as their Wise Ancestors did they ought to stand for the English Liberty as â—ong as they can have any Indulgence in matter of Religion But besides the Roman Catholicks which are â—â—deed the most excusable in this Case who â—ould have imagined that Protestants should be â—anable of lessening themselves their own Hapâ—iness in this Change And amongst them â—senters disgusted but for what Because 〈◊〉 King has declared Himself particularly for 〈◊〉 Church of England I bear a Love to Disâ—â—ters as Christians and Protestants and Soâ—er People for the generality But they cannot â—pect to be blameless as long as Envy and Reâ—nge two Passions very opposite to Contenâ—ness and Meekness do so far possess some of â—â—em as never to be pleased till they get the â—â—ff in their hands Time was when they desired â—hing more but the Liberty of Serving God in their Way without Molestation This Liberty they got since this Change by Act of Parliament with the ready Concurrence of the Church of England Members and the King's Assent to it but now it won't serve their turn If nothing will please them but to see a Church run down that stood alone at the Gap in the late Reign that so learnedly baffled all the Popish Writers and was therefore by a Roman Decree to be stript of all and destroyed when the Dissenters were much in favour in that Court God forbid they should ever be pleased The King knows who are the best Friends to the Crown and upon whom he may safely rely He loves all his Subjects but perhaps not all alike The Mischief is that some of our Churchmen are also out of Humour or rather out of order One lies sick of a Scruple of Conscience another languishes in love with King James a third is e'en distracted betwixt
eldest Son is Frederick the Heir apparent born in the Year 1671 and the two others are Christiern and Carolus The Duke of Glocester is the only Son and Heir of their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Denmark He was born July 24th 1689 and on the 27th he was Christened at Hampton-Court by the Lord Bishop of London and named William the King and the Earl of Dorset Lord Chamberlain of His Majesties Houshold being Godfathers and the Lady Marchioness of Hallifax Godmother CHAP. XIX Of the Nobility of England THE English Nobility is divided into five Degrees Viz. Duke Marquess Earl Viscount and Baron And they are called the Peerage of England because they are all Peers the Barons as well as the rest They have also all of them the Title of Lord. All these Honours are given by the King who is the sole Fountain of Honour and whatever Title a Subject of England receives from any forein Prince is not only Insignificant here but Unwarrantable by Law All Noblemen at their Creation have two Ensigns which signify two Duties Their Heads are adorned in token that they are to assist their King and Country with good Counsel in time of Peace and they are girt with a Sword as being to support the King and defend the Kingdom with their Lives and Fortunes in time of War A Duke is created by Patent Cincture oâ— Sword Mantle of State Imposition of A Cap and Coronet of gold on his head and a Vergâ— of gold put into his hand A Marquess and aâ— Earl by Cincture of Sword a Mantle of State with a Cap and Coronet put upon him by the King himself and a Patent delivered into his hand Viscounts and Barons are made by Patent and these sometimes by Writ whereby they are called to sit in the House of Lords All the Peers have Coronets but with these Distinctions A Baron has six Pearls upon the Circle a Viscount the Circle of Pearls without number an Earl has the Pearls raised upon Points and Leaves low between a Marquess a Pearl and a Strawberry-leaf round of equal height and a Duke Leaves without Pearls Only the Dukes of the Royal Blood bear like the Prince of Wales a Coronet of Crosses and Flower de Luce. Which is the same with the King 's excepting the Arches Globe and Cross on the top of the King's Crown But the greatest Distinction amongst the Nobles is their Parliament Robes in their several Gards on their Mantles and short Cloaks about their Shoulders For a Baron has but two Gards a Viscount two and a half an Earl three a Marquess three and a half and a Duke four Besides that the Mantle of a Duke Marquess and Earl is faced with Ermine that of a Viscount and Baron with plain white Furr Dukes were at first so called a ducendo being anciently Generals and Leaders of Armies in time of War Marquesses from their Government of Marches and Frontire-Countries Earls in Latine Comites because they had the Government of Counties Viscounts in Latine Vice-Comites as being Assistants or Deputies in the Government of Counties Barons according to Bracton quasi Robur Belli the safety of the King and People in Time of War depending upon their Courage and Skill in Martial Affairs Anciently a Duke was made so for Term of Life then held by Lands and Fees till Dukes came to be Titular and Hereditary In those Times likewise there was no Earl but had a County or Shire for his Earldom who for the support of his State had the third Peny out of the Sheriffs Court issuing out of all Pleas of that County whereof he was Earl Also those Barons only were accounted Peers of the Realm that held of the King per integram Baroniam which consisted of 13 Knights Fees and one third part that is of 400 Marks each Knights Fee being 20 l. And whoever had so much was wont to be summoned to Parliament But then 100 Marks was as much as 2000 pounds at this day as may be guessed by comparing the Prices of Things 'T is true King Henry III after he had with much ado suppressed his Barons called by Writ unto Parliament only such great Men as had continued loyal or were like so to be Which Example being followed by his Successors they only were accounted Peers of the Realm that were so called by the King 's special Writ Till Barons came to be made by Patent as well as by Writ and at last most by Patent which makes it hereditary But there are Barons in England that have noâ— share in the Peerage as such viz. the Barons of the Exchequer and the Barons of the Cinque-Ports Such as these the Earls Palatines and the Eath of England Marches had anciently under them and such there are yet in Cheshire The chieâ— Burgesses of London were also called of oâ— Barons All Dukes Marquesses and Earls at this day have their respective Titles from some Shire or part of a Shire Town or City Castle Park or Village Except two Earls whereof one is Officiary and the other Nominal the first being the Earl Marshal of England and the last the Earl Rivers who takes his Denomination from an Illustrious Family Barons are so denominated from their chief Seat or a Castle belonging to the Family Which is not to be divided amongst Daughters if there be no Sons but must descend to the eldest Daughter None of these Honours can be lost but these two Ways Either by want of Issue male except where the Patent extends to Issue female as sometimes it does Or else by some heinous Crime and then it cannot be restored to the Bloud but by Act of Parliament A Duke has the Title of Grace given him and the other Peers that of Lordship on Honour Accordingly we commonly give to these the Epithet of Right Honourable All Dukes and Marquesses Sons are called Lords by the Courtesy of England and the Daughters Ladies I say by the Courtesy of England for the Law makes no such Distinction but looks upon all as Commoners that have no Right to sit in the House of Peers Of an Earl none but the eldest Son is called Lord though all the Daughters be Ladies And as for the Issue of Vicounts and Barons none of their Sons is Lord nor of the Daughters Lady A Dukes eldest Son is called Lord Marquess and the younger Sons by their Christen-names with the Title of Lord prefixt as Lord William Lord Thomas c. A Marquesses eldest Son is called Lord of a Place and the younger Sons as those of a Duke that is by their Christen-names with the Title of Lord prefixt as Lord William Lord Thomas An Earl's eldest Son is born as a Viscount and called Lord of a Place In point of Precedency this is the Rule Af-the Princes of the Bloud the first amongst the Nobility are the Dukes and these are thus followed Viz. Dukes Marquesses Dukes eldest Sons Earls Marquesses eldest Sons Dukes younger Sons Vicounts Earls
Woman upon Marriage does not only lose the Power over her Person Will and Goods but she must part with her very Name and ever after use her Husband's Surname contrary to the Custom of some other Countries One Thing more there is yet which evidences the great Subjection of a Wife to her Husband And that is the Punishment inflicted upon a Woman that has Killed her Husband which is to be Burnt alive the Offence being counted Petty-Treason by Law that is as great a Crime as the Killing of his Father or Master Yet in some things the Law is very favourable to the female Sex of England As for Example if a Wife bring forth a Child begotten before Marriage by another Man than her present Husband her Husband is bound to own the Child and that Child shall be his Heir at Law So literally we take the Saying Pater est quem Nuptiae demonstrant If a Husband be a long time absent from his Wife though it be for some Years and his Wife bring forth a Child during his Absence he must father that Child in case he lived all the while in this Island or to speak the Words of the Law inter quatuor Maria. And if that Child be her first-born Son and her Husband's Estate Intailed or left without Will that Child shall be Heir to it Another Priviledge of English-Women is that the Wife having no Joynture settled before Marriage may challenge after her Husband's Death the third part of his yearly Rents of Land during her Life and within the City of London a third Part of all her Husband's Moveables for ever If there be many Children the rest comes to the eldest if not to the next Heir at Law And if she do not approve of the Division she may claim the Right of being Indowed with the best of the Land to a third part But if the Law be so favourable in some Cases to married Women Custom or rather the good Nature of Englishmen makes their Condition much happier Whose Respect and Tenderness for them is generally so great that every where they give 'em the Precedency and put them the least of any Nation upon Drudgery and Hardship Women are not here mewed up as in Italy and Spain and that mischievous Passion of Jealousy has got so little footing here that the Nation is little troubled with its troublesom Influences or fatal Consequences In short married Women have here more Liberty than any where else Their chief Care is of the House and Houshold according to the ancient Custom of the Greek Wives which is indeed the proper Office of a Wife as the Husband 's is to mind his Concerns abroad And such is generally their Carriage to their Husbands and their mutual Tenderness for them that where the Law gives them nothing the dying Husband often leaves all behind him to the Disposal of his Wife Except in London where a peculiar Order is taken by the City agreeable to the Civil Law A Knight's Wife is by the Courtesy of England counted and called a Lady If her Husband die before her and she take afterwards 〈◊〉 Husband of a lower estate still she shall be â—alled Lady with the surname of her first husband and not of the second Which is by â—he Courtesy of England and according to â—adies of a higher Rank as I have before obâ—erved In point of real Estate 't is Observable that â—f the Wife be an Heiress and bring to her Husband an Estate in Land that Land descends â—o her eldest Son and if she has no Sons â—ut only Daughters it is divided amongst â—hem But if she dies without Issue the â—and goes immediately to the next Heir at Law Only the Husband shall enjoy the Proâ—â—es thereof during his Life if so be that he â—â—d a Child alive of her Body that had been heard once to cry And this also is called the Courtesy of England As to what I said before touching real and personal Estates in case of Matrimony the same is to be understood in the sense of the Common Law where there is no private Contract For whatever Contract or Covenants were made before the Marriage betwixt the husband and the Wife either by themselves â—y their Parents or Friends they take place â—nd are of force to be Kept according to the Validity thereof Lastly the Wife in England is accounted 〈◊〉 much one with her Husband that she cannot be produced as Witness for or against her Husband And so strong is the Tie that joyns them together that they may not be wholly Separated by any Agreement between themselves but only by a Judicial Sentence Now there is a twofold Separation both called by the name of Divorce The one in case of Adultery a Mensa Thoro Which is nothing else but a living asunder without a liberty-to Remarry whilst either Party is alive Whereas the other is a Vinculo Matrimonii from the Bond of Matrimony whereby each Party is free to Remarry And this is allowed upon a Nullity of the Marriage or upon some essential Impediment as Consanguinity or Affinity within the Degrees forbidden Precontract Impotency or such like Of which Divines reckon fourteen according to these Verses Error Conditio Votum Cognatio Crimen Cultus Disparitas Vis Ordo Ligamen Honestas Si sis Affinis si forte Coire nequibis Si Parochi duplicis desit praesentia Testis Raptave sit Mulier c. But sometimes in case of Adultery this plenary Divorce has been allowed of in private Cases by Act of Parliament CHAP. XXVI Of Children and Servants FRom the Condition of Women in England I come now to that of Children and Servants As to the first a Father in England has a more absolute Authority over his Children than is usual in our Neighbour Countries Here a Father may give all his Estate Unintailed from his Children and all to one Child the Consideration whereof is apt to keep his Children in aw and within the bounds of filial Obedience But commonly the eldest Son inherits all Lands and the younger Children Goods and Chattels by which is meant the Personal Estate Among the Nobility and Gentry the eldest Son 's Wife's Portion does usually go for the Portions of his Sisters and the younger Sons are put out to some Profession The Reason why the eldest Son is so well provided beyond the rest of the Children is that he may be the better able to bear up the Honour of the Family which in course â—alls to the share of the Eldest For when all is done Titular Honour without Means is commonly lookt upon but as an empty Shadow But if there be no Son the Lands as well as Goods are equally divided among the Daughters A Son at the Age of 14 his Father being dead may chuse his Gardian and may claim his Land holden in Socage that is such Lands as Tenants hold by or for certain inferiour Services of Husbandry to be performed to the Lord of
of the House or to speak irreverently of the Court of Parliament in Time of Parliament several have been sent for by the Sergeant to answer it to the House and Committed Dec. 1641. it was Resolved that the setting of any Gards about this House without the Consent of the House is a Breach of the Priviledge of this House and that therefore such Gards ought to be dismissed Which Resolve was followed by three others Nemine Contradicente The first that the Priviledges of Parliament were broken by his Majesties taking notice of the Bill for suppressing of Souldiers being in agitation in both Houses and not agreed on The second that his Majesty in propounding a Limitation and provisional Clause to be added to the Bill before it was presented to Him by the Consent of both Houses was a Breach of the Priviledge of Parliament The third that His Majesty expressing his Displeasure against some Persons for Matters moved in the Parliament during the Debate and preparation of that Bill was a Breach of the Priviledge of Parliament And whereas in January following the King did come to the House of Commons in a warlike manner with armed Men some posted at the very Door of the House and others in other Places and Passages near it to the Disturbance of the Members then fitting and treating in a peaceable and orderly manner of the great Affairs of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and His Majesty having placed himself in the Speakers Chair did demand the Persons of divers Members of the House to be delivered unto him It was thereupon declared by the House that the same is a high Breach of the Rights and Priviledges of Parliament and inconsistent with the Liberty and Freedom thereof and therefore the House doth conceive they could not with safety of their own Persons or the Indemnities of the Rights and Priviledges of Parliament sit there any longer without a full Vindication of so high a Breach of Priviledge and a sufficient Gard wherein they might conside Lastly both Houses of Parliament are the proper Judges of their respective Priviledges and the inferiour Courts have nothing to do with it CHAP. II. Of the King's Privy Council NEXT to the Court of Parliament which is the great Wheel that gives motion to the rest is the Kings Privy Council A Court of great Honour and Antiquity Incorporated as it were to the King Himself and bearing part of his Cares in the great Bufiness of the Government Insomuch that upon their Wisdom Care and Watchfulness depends the Honour and Welfare of His Majesties Dominions in all Parts of the World For according to their Oath they are chiefly to Advise the King upon all Emergencies to the best of their Judgment with all the Fidelity and Secrecy that becomes their Station And as the King has the sole Nomination of them so 't is his main Interest to make choice of such eminent Persons as are best able with their Wisdom Experience and Integrity to â—nswer those great Ends they are appointed for They ought to be Persons of several Capacities that nothing be wanting for good Counsel and Advice in a Court from whence in a great measure depends the Safety Honour and Welfare of the King and Kingdom Generally they are pickt out amongst the Nobility and for Things that relate to Church Affairs the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London use to be Members thereof In the late Kings Reign not only Popish Lords were admitted contrary to Law but in defiance as it were of the Nation a Traytor by the Law and the worst of Counsellours a mercurial hot-headed Jesuit whose pernicious Counsels and Influences proved accordingly fatal to King James and all the Popish Party As for the Number of Privy Counsellours 't is at His Majesties pleasure Anciently they used to be but twelve or thereabouts but since their Number has increased sometimes to forty The Privy Council is kept in the Kings Court or Pallace and the King himself do's commonly sit with them The usual Days for their sitting is Wednesdays and Fridays in the Morning out of Parliament or Term-time and in the Afternoon in Parliament or Term-time But upon extraordinary Occasions the King calls them together at any time Accordingly they wait on His Majesty in the Council-Chamber and fit at the Council Board in their Order bare-headed when the King presides To whom His Majesty declares what He thinks fit and desires their Advice in it At all Debates the lowest Counsellour delivers his Opinion first that so he may be the more free and the King last of all by declaring his Judgment determines the Matter 'T is with the Advice of the Privy Council that the King puts out Proclamations Orders and Declarations which being grounded upon Statute or Common Law are binding to the subject And upon any sudden Emergency â—herein the publick Safety may be Indangered â—or want of speedy Redress the King and Council may take a latitude of Power sutable 〈◊〉 the Occasion Formerly the Council heard and determiâ—ed Causes between Party and Party But of â—te lest private Causes should hinder the Publick they seldom meddle with them but leave â—em to the Kings Courts of Justice There are two distinct and important Offices â—longing to this Court. The first is the Lord Presidents who is one of the Nine Great officers of the Crown He is called Lord Preâ—â—dent of the Privy Council because by his office he is in a manner the Director of it â—Tis he that reports to the King when His â—ajesty has been absent from the Council the â—ate of the Businesses transacted there The other Great Office is that of Secretary â—mmonly called a Secretary of State which â—rmerly was single till about the end of Henry III. his Reign Who considering the Imâ—rtance of this great and weighty Office â—ought fit to have it discharged by two Perâ—â—ns of equal Authority and therefore both â—ed Principal Secretaries of State In those Days and some while after says 〈◊〉 Chamberlain they sat not at Council-board 〈◊〉 having prepared their Business in a Room joyning to the Council-Chamber they came 〈◊〉 and stood on either hand of the King â—d nothing was debated at the Table until 〈◊〉 Secretaries had gone through with their Proposals Which Method afterwards was altered in Q. Elizabeths Reign who seldom coming to Council ordered the two Secretaries to take their places as Privy Counsellours which has continued ever since And a Council is seldom or never held without the presence of one of them at the least Besides the publick Concerns of the Nation most of which pass through their hands they are also concerned with Grants Pardons Dispensations c. relating to private Persons For in their hands are lodged most of the Subjects Requests to be represented to the King whereupon they make Dispatches according to His Majesties Directions In short so great is their Trust and their Imployment of that great latitude that it requires their
the Garter 219 Knights Baronets 223 Knights of the Bath 224 Knights Batchelours Ibid. Knights Banerets 229 L. LAnd-Forces 177 Language of the English 12 English Laws 59 Lent-Preachers 171 The Lord Lieutenant's Power 179 Way of Living among the English 31 M. MAritime Power 181 Earl Marshal of England 131 Master of the Horse 161 Master of the Houshold 149 150 Master of the Wardrobe 160 Master of the Robes 162 Master of the Revels 163 Master of the Ceremonies 164 Maundy Thursday the Ceremony of that Day 173 English Measures 53 Merchants 229 Militia 178 Millenarians 70 Mint-Officers 51 N. ENglish Names 21 Nobility of England their Creation and Distinction 210 c Their Priviledges 215 Noble Women 258 O ORder of the Garter 219 Ordination of Priests and Deacons 251 Ordnance its Office and Officers 194 c. Original of the English 1 c. Oxford Regiment 168 P. PArsons 250 Patrons of Churches 252 Pledging the Original of it 43 Post-Office 47 Poverty a description thereof 230 Power of the King by Sea and Land 113 Prebendaries 248 Prerogative of the King 109 Presbyterians 68 President of the Council 129 Prince of Wales 122 Prince George 208 Princess Ann ibid. Privy Purse 162 Privy Seal 129 Proclamation of the King 98 Pursuivants 163 Q. QVakers 70 Sovereign Queen of England 121 Queen Mary's Character 143 Queen Consort 122 Queen Dowager 122 The present Queen Dowager 207 R. ENglish Recreations 39 Recusants 71 Reformation of the Church of England 63 Regency 117 Religion of England 61 Religion alters the Temper of Men 71 Revenues of the King of England 115 Revenues of the present King Queen 199 Revenues of the Clergy 253 Revenues of the Bishops 244 Rural Deans 249 S. SCotlands Union with England 85 c. Sergeants at Arms 163 Servants 266 Act of Settlement 119 Sextons 257 Ship-yards and their Officers 190 Sidesmen 257 Marks of Sovereignty 94 High Steward of England 126 Lord Steward of the King's Houshold 148 Succession to the Crown 118 T. TEmper of the English 4 Tenure in Villenage 268 Title of the King to the Crown of France 89 Tobacco the Benefits of it 38 The great Trade of England 55 Train-Bands see Militia The English way of Travelling 46 The Lord High-Treasurer 128 Treasurer of the King's House 150 V. S. VAlentines Day 45 Vestry 258 Vicars 253 The Vnreasonableness of the present disaffected Party 144 W. WAles its Union with England 84 Wardrobes of the King 160 Weights used in England 52 Women 258 Laws concerning them 260 261 Y. YAchts 186 Yeomen 228 Yeomen of the Gard 167 The Table FOR THE THIRD PART A ALdermen 73 Alienation Office 53 Apprentices Laws concerning them 112 Aâ—â—zes 80 Attachment 95 B. BAyliffs 74 Benefit of the Clergy 58 C. CHancery see Court Circuâ—ts 80 Clerk of the Market 72 Commission of Assize 81 Commission of Nisi-prius ib. Commission of Peace 82 Commission of Oyer Terminer ib. Commission of Gaol-delivery ib. Committees 30 c. Common Pleas see Court Constables 77 Convocation 96 Coroners 71 Privy Council 43 County Court 68 Court of Chancery 49 Court of King's Bench 55 Court of Common Pleas 59 Court of Exchequer 62 Court of Dutchy of Lancaster 66 Court of Admiralty 91 Court of Marshalsea 94 Court of Requests 94 Court Martial 91 215 Court Leet 75 Court Baron 76 Courts of Conscience 94 Prerogative Court 102 Court of Arches 100 Court of Audience 102 Court of Delegates 103 Court of Peculiars 104 Court of the Lord Mayor of London 106 Court of Aldermen at Lond. 107 Court of Common Council 108 Court of Goal-Delivery 110 Court of the London Sheriffs 111 Court of the Chamberlain ib. Court of the Orphans 114 Cursitors Office 52 H. HEadboroughs 77 House of Lords 11 House of Commons 12 Hustings 109 J. GRand Jury 70 L. A List of the Kings Houshold Officers and Servants 135 A List of the Gentlemen of the King's Bedchamber 144 A List of the Genâ—l Pensioners 152 A List of the Yeomen of the Guard Officers 153 A List of the Officers of the four Troops of Horse ib. A List of the Officers of the Oxford Regim 158 A List of the Officers of the Foot-guards 159 A List of the Chappel Royal 161 A List of the Queens Houshold 163 A List of the Nobility 168 A List of the Bishops 174 A List of the House of Commons 175 A List of the Privy Council 191 A List of the Lords Commissioners and Officers of the Court of Chancery 193 A List of the Judges and Officers of the C. of Kings Bench 19â— A List of the Judges and Officers of the C. of Common Pleas 200 A List of the Judges and Officers of the C. of Exchequer 203 A List of the Judges and Officers of the Dutchy of Lancast 206 A List of the Attorney aâ—â— Solicitor General Sergeants and Council at Law ib. A List of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury 208 A List of the Officers of the Custom 209 A List of the Officers of the Excise 210 A List of the Officers of the General Post-Office 211 A List of the Officers of the Mint 212 A List of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty 213 A List of the Admirals 214 A List of the Commissioners other Officers belonging to the Navy ib. A List of the Officers of the Martial Court 215 A List of the Lords Lieutenants 216 A List of the Governours of Foregn Plantations 219 A List of the Consuls in Foreign Parts 220 A List of the Foreign Ministers residing here ibid. A List of the Knights of the Garter 221 A List of the Knights made by K. William 222 A List of the Deans in England Wales 225 A List of the Colledge of Civilians 226 A List of the Colledge of Physicians 230 A List of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London 232 A List of the Lieutenancy of London 234 A List of the Governours of the Charterhouse 236 A List of the Chancellor Vice-Chancellor Heads of Colledges and Halls Proctors Orator and Professors in Oxford University 237 A List of the Chancellor Vice-Chancellor Heads of Colledges and Halls Proctors Orator and Professors in Cambridge 239 M. MAster 's of Chancery 50 Master of the Rolls 51 Mayors 73 P. PAper-Office 47 Parliament of England 1 Pie-powder Court 96 Privy Council 43 Q. QVarter Sessions 70 S. SEcretaries of State 45 Sheriffs 67 Sheriffs Turn 68 Signet-Office 47 Speaker of the House of Lords 10 Speaker of the House of Commons 14 Stewards 75 Subpoena Office 53 Swainmote 95 T. TRial of Malefactors 83 W. WArden of the Fleet 54 ERRATA PART I. Page 4. line 12. read Wiltshire p. 7. l. 10. dele of and l. 12. r. third p. 29. l. 5. r. Lincoln p. 81. in the list 1. Burntwood p. 89. l. 11. r. be p. 116. l. 10. r. Rockingham p. 291. l. 25. r. 1209. p. 302. r. only Grocer's Hall p. 324. l. 6. r. 25. p. 329. l. 13. r. 9000. p. 331. l. 16. r. manner p. 341.
is scarce any Country whose Fields are better stored with all sort of Corn the Pastures with Cattel the Woods and Forrests Parks and Warrens with wild Beasts only for Recreation and Food the Air with Birds and Fowls the Seas and Rivers with Fishes and the Mines with Coals and Metals On the other side there is scarce a Country so little troubled with hurtful and ravenous Beasts with venomous Serpents or noisom Flies and Vermine Wolves which of all ravenous Beasts are the most pernicious and destructive of Cattel have been so wonderfully extirpated out of this Land that I cannot omit the History of it I know it has been a Tradition of old Writers that England never had any Wolves at all and that being brought hither from other Places they would not live But History tells us the contrary here being abundance of them till King Edgar commuted for 300 Wolves the yearly Tribute paid him by the Prince of Wales Which made the Welch so industrious and active in Wolf-hunting that the Wolves were in time quite rooted out of the Land the Welch protesting at last they could find no more of ' em Whereby 't is come to pass that whereas in other Countries they are at the Charge and Trouble of guarding their Sheep and housing them by night here they are left feeding in the Fields day and night secure from any Danger unless it be sometimes from Men-Wolves or Sheep-stealers And yet I am credibly informed that in some Places as Warwickshire among the rest some Wolves from time to time have been discovered But as it happens but seldom so upon the least notice the Country rises amain as it were against a common Enemy there being such a hue and cry after the Wolf that it is hard for him to escape the Posse Comitatus CHAP. V. Of the COUNTRY in particular And first of Barkshire Bedfordshire Buckinghamshire in the Alphabetick Order With an Account of what is most remarkable in each Barkshire BARKSHIRE BERKSHIRE or BERKS is an Inland County 'T is bounded on the North by the Thames and Isis which part it from Oxfordshire On the South by Hampshire Eastward by Surrey and Westward by Wiltshire and Glocestershire It contains in Length from East to West about 45 Miles in Breadth from North to South 25. The whole divided into 20 Hundreds wherein 140 Parishes and 12 Market-Towns The Country is very pleasant the Air sweet and the Soil fruitful Next to the Isis and the Thames which water the North Parts of it the Kennet is the principal River which runs into the Thames at Reading and yields excellent Trouts especially about Hungerford Reading the County-Town lies 32 Miles West from London thus viz. to Colebrook 15 from thence to Maidenhead 7 and 10 more to Reading A Town commodiously seated at the fall of the Kennet into the Thames over which Rivers it has several Bridges and that over the Kennet is the fairest The Town is well inhabited and contains 3 Parish Churches Of great Resort and Trade especially for its Cloth and Malt here made Here the County Assizes are usually kept and its Market is on Saturday The other Market-Towns are Windsor Sat. Vantage Sat. Abington Mund. Frid. Faringdon Tues Ockingham Tues Wallingford Tues Frid. Maidenhead Wed. Hungerford Wed. East-Isley Wed. Newbury Thurs Lainborn Amongst which Wallingford and Abington are two Towns of great Antiquity and such as have flourished in their time but since gone to decay The first being the Guallena of the Ancients and then the chief Town of the Attrebatii was afterwards also among the West Saxons the chief Town of this County A Mile in compass at that time within the Walls fortified with a strong Castle and adorned with 12 Parish Churches But in the Year 1348 so desolated by a Plague that there is now but one Church left hardly Inhabitants enough to keep that in repair and nothing of the Walls left as not much of the Castle but the Tract and Ruins of ' em However as it is seated upon the Thames over which it has a Bridge it makes shift to support it self by its Trade of Maulting and its Commodiousness for Transporting Corn and other Commodities to London And so doth Abington which lies North-West from it at the fall of the Ouse into the Isis Noted for giving the Title of an Earldom to the Right Honourable James Bertie the present Earl of Abington Baron Norreys c. Windsor on the Thames is chiefly remarkable for its Castle the finest Royal Pallace of England and the only Castle of six this County has formerly had which is now remaining Which being seated on a great Eminence with a stately and spacious Terrass before it injoys a pure Air and a delicate Prospect Famous for being the Place where the Ceremony of the Knights of the Garter is solemnized on St. George's Day Newbury and Hungerford are both seated on the River Kennet few Miles distant from each other The first of chief note for the Batteâ— fought here in the long Civil Wars called Newbury Fight where King Charles I. remained victorious And the last for having the best Trouts and Craw-Fish in all England This County formerly a Part of the ancient Kingdom of the West-Saxons the Inhabitants whereof called Attrebatii by the ancient Romans is in the Diocese of Salisbury Dignified with the Title of an Earldom in the person of the Right Honourable Thomas Howard the present Earl of Barkshire Viscount Andover c. Devolved to him from his Brother Charles and to Charles from their Father Thomas Howard created Earl of Barkshire Anno 1625. Which Title had been injoyed before him by another Family but in the Person only of Francis Norris created Earl of Barkshire by King James I. Anno 1620 who died few Years after without Issue Male. Out of this County are chosen besides the two Knights of the Shire seven Members to sit in Parliament Viz. 2 from Reading 2 from Windsor 2 more from Wallingford and 1 from Abington Bedfordshire BEDFORDSHIRE another Inland County is bounded Eastward by Hartfordshire and part of Cambridgeshire Westward by Buckinghamshire Northward by Northampton and Huntington Shires Southward by Middlesex and the South Parts of Buckinghamshire It contains in Length from North to South not above 24 Miles in Breadth but 12 and in Circumference 72. The Whole divided into nine Hundreds wherein 116 Parishes and 10 Market-Towns Here the Air is very temperate the Country for the most part Champion and the Soil ferile especially the North part of it Noted shiefly for yielding the best Barley in Engâ—and Next to the River Ouse which waters the North Parts of it the Ivel is the chief which falls into the Ouse A memorable Thing is recorded of this River Ouse which I am unwilling to pretermit At a Place near Harwood on New Years Day 1399 just before the War began between the Two Houses of York and Lancaster this River suddenly stood still and ceased
in which S. Augustine the Monk the first Apostle of that People had a Conference or Consultation with the British Bishops More memorable in the following Times for giving the Title of an Earl to the Illustrious Family surnamed De Clare the addition of an Honour and a goodly Patrimony to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and at this time the Title of Marquess to the Duke of Somerset This Town is seated on the Lea much decay'd by the turning the High-way through Ware and having now but 3 Parish Churches Here however is kept the County Goal and 't is a well frequented Market on Saturdays The other Market-Towns are S. Albans Sat. Rickmansworth Sat. Barnet Mund. Berkhamsted Mund. Buntingford Mund. Watford Tue. Ware Tue. Hitching Tue. Hempsted Thu. Hatfield Thu. Hodsdon Thu. Baldock Thu. Bp. Stretford Thu. Stevenedge Frid. Tringe Frid. â—toudon Frid. Amongst which S. Alhans seated on the River Coln was so called from a famous Monastery here founded by Offa the great King of the Mercians in honour of St. Albans the Protomartyr of Britain a Citizen of Verulamium near adjoyning to it Out of the Ruins whereof decay'd by Age and destroy'd by War arose the present S. Albans the fairest and best traded Town in this County A Town which formerly injoy'd great Priviledges For Divine Worship it has now 3 Parish Churches and in one of 'em ly interred the Bodies of many Nobles slain in two Battels fought here between the Houses of York and Lancaster This Town has been dignifyed with the several Titles of Viscount Earl and Duke With the first Anno 1620 in the Person of Francis Bacon Viscount S. Albans Lord Verulam and Lord High Chancellour of England With the Title of Earl Anno 1628. in the person of Richard de Burgh and continued in his Son Ulick with whom it dyed till revived again Anno 1660. by King Charles II. in the person of Henry Jermin the last Earl of St. Albans Who dying without Issue King Charles advanced his Grace Charles Beauclare Earl of Burford to the Title of Duke by making him Duke of S. Albans Ware Hatfield and Hodsdon are all three seated on the Lea. The first a good Thorough-fare Town much improved since the High-Way was turned from Hartford hither Noted besides for the Channel cut from thence to London where it serves so many hundred Families with the Conveniency of that excellent Water called New River Water To which may be added another Observation the pleasantness and easiness of the Road from Ware up to London which being of a Sandy Soil proves seldom dirty but within a mile of London and is so filled with Towns and Gentlemens Houses from mile to mile that one would think the Suburbs of London on the North side fetch their beginning at Ware So strange is the Influence of this rich and populous City Hatfield is a Place of great Delight and Recreation but of chief note for that stately House called Hatfield House formerly one of the Kings of Englands Pallaces till it came in the possession of the Earls of Salisbury A House which for Situation Prospect Contrivance and Building for Air water and all other Accommodations is inferiour to none in England Not far from Hodsdon but nearer to Waltham Abby in Essex is Theoballs one of the Kings Royal Seats pleasantly situate among delightful Walks Gardens Groves and Springs First built by Sir William Cecil and afterwards beautifyed by his Son Robert both Lord Treasurers of England Barnet or high Barnet is pleasantly seated on a Hill and in the Road within ten miles of London Of some account for its Medicinal Waters but much more memorable for a bloody Battel fought here between the two Houses of York and Lancaster wherein the former prevailed Warford and Rickmansworth are both seated near the Coln And not far from the first Langley Abbey the Birth-place of that proud and high-spirited Pope Adrian IV. first known by Nicholas and surnamed Break-Spear Bishops-Stratford is a great Market Town seated near the River Stowr on the side of a Hill and much resorted unto On the East-side whereof are to be seen the Ruins of a Castle called the Castle of Waymour standing very steep in an Isle upon an artificial Mount with a dark and deep Dungeon in it which denotes some great Priviledges to have belonged unto it in former Times It was ruinated by King John Among the Market-Towns here I might have put in Royston part of which stands in this County but I refer you for it to Cambridgeshire In short this County which formerly was divided betwixt the Kings of Mercia and the East-Saxons and whose Inhabitants were part of the Catieuchlani as the Romans called them stands now divided betwixt the Dioceses of London and Lincoln Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire but four Members to serve in Parliament 2 by Hartford and 2 by St. Albans CHAP. X. Of Herefordshire Huntingtonshire and Kent Herefordshire HEREFORDSHIRE or the County of Hereford is an Inland County Which has for its Eounds Eastward Glocestershire and Worcestershire Westward Radnockshire and Brecknockshire in Wales Northward Shropshire and Southward Monmouthshire It s Length from North to South is about 35 miles its Breadth from East to West 30. The Whole divided into 11 Hundreds wherein 176 Parishes and but 8 Market-Towns This County was formerly part of Wales before it was by Conquest annexed to this Crown And then it was strengthened with no less than 28 Castles whereof there 's scarce any thing now remaining but their Ruins Here the Air is temperate and healthful and the Soil exceeding rich T is well cloathed with Wood and refreshed with Rivers the principal of which are the Wye Lug Arrow and Frome Two Things this County excels in its plenty of Fruit and the finest Wool in any part of England And amongst all sorts of Fruits the Red-streak Apple which makes the best sort of Cider is that which thrives here to admiration Hereford the chief Place hereof bears West-North-West from London and is distant from it 101 miles thus From London to Glocester 81 miles as you may see in Glocestershire then from Glocester to Ross 10 miles and to Hereford 10 more 'T is seated on the Banks of the River Wye and another that runs into it amongst richâ— Meadows and plentiful Corn-fields Raised out of the Ruins of Ariconium a Place of good account in the time of the Romans It had once a strong and stately Castle built by the Normans which Time has now ruinated And now it is walled about having six Gates for entrance and 15 Watch-Towers for defence 'T was a Bishops See in the time of the Britains and restored to that Dignity by the Saxons Anno 680. Noted besides for giving first the Title of Earl then that of Duke and lastly that of Viscount now in the Person of the Right Honourable Edward D'Evreux Viscount Hereford c. Descended to him from his Ancestor Sir Walter
Breadth from East to West 32. The Whoâ— divided into six Hundreds wherein 61 Parisheâ— and 26 Market-Towns The Number of Parishâ— but small in so large a quantity of Ground but that there are many Chappels of Ease equal to Parishes elsewhere for Multitudes of People Here the Air is sharp thin and piercing seldom troubled with Fogs And the Inhabitants accordingly are healthfull comely strong and long-lived not subject to many Diseases The Soil differs much according to its different nature and situation some Parts being Mountainous and of the Champain Country some very fruitfull some Mossy and the rest Moorish The Champain Country is very good for Wheat and Barley but that which lies at the bottom of the Hills is best for Oats From the Mosses which are not unlike the Irish Bogs some of them many Miles in Compass the common People get Turves for their Firing And sometimes they dig up Trees out of them which serve both for Building and Fewel Cambden seems to be of Opinion that they are subterraneous Trees growing under Ground as some other Plants do The Mountainous Part which lies Eastward is full of stony craggy and barren Hills bare of Wood and the Habitation of Foxes Conies Otters c. Amongst these Hills some are of a prodigious height especially Pendle-Hill on the top whereof grow's a peculiar Plant called Cloudsberry as coming from the Clouds But one thing besides is remarkable in this Hill that whenever the Top of it is covered with a Mist 't is an infallible Sign of Rain The Country in general is well watered with Rivers the chief whereof are the Mersey the Rible and the Lon all three running from East to West into the Irish Sea The Mersey Waters the South Parts and serves for a Boundary betwixt this County and Cheshire the Rible waters the middle and the Lon the North Parts Besides these Rivers and many others of less note here are several great Meers or Lakes as Merton and Winder or Wimander Meer This last divides part of Lancashire from Westmorland reaching about 10 miles in length and 3 or 4 in breadth It has as most Lakes in the North a clear pebbly Bottom whence the Saying that this Lake is all paved with Stone And it breeds great store of Fish particularly Trouts Pikes Pearches Eels and Skellies But there 's one sort of Fish peculiar to it and not to be found elsewhere except in Vlles Water another Lake bordering both upon Cumberland and Westmorland Charre is the Name of it and 't is a dainty Fish whereof many Pies are yearly sent abroad for Presents In short tho' this Country in general cannot be called a fruitfull Country yet what is good of it yields abundance of good Grass and Corn the fairest Oxen in England and in general all sorts of Provisions Fish and Fowl particularly here 's great plenty of and in the River Lon near Cockerfand Abbey is great store of Salmon To make Linnen here grows a great deal of Flax for Fewel the Country yields not only fat Earth but good Coals and for Building Quarries of good Stone Lancaster the Shâ—re Town bears from London North-West and by North and is distant therefrom by common computation 187 miles thus From London to Stafford 104 for the particulars whereof I refer you to Staffordshire Then from Stafford to Stone 10 to Newcastle 6 more thence to Warington 20 to Wigan 14 more to Preston 14 more then to Garstang 10 and to Lancaster 15 more A Town pleasantly seated in a good Soil on the South-side of the â—iver Lon near its fall into the Sea From which River it came to be called Loncaster since turn'd into Lancaster as from Lancaster the whole County took the Name of Lancashire The Town not very well peopled nor much frequented There are in it several fair and long Streets from the Length whereof this Town I suppose might be called Longovicus by the Emperor Antonine And yet there is but one Parish-Church which indeed is large and fair It stands on the side of a Hill on the top of which is the Castle now made use of for the County Goal both for Debtors and Malefactors and for keeping the Assizes for the County Besides the Church and Castle two of the chief Ornaments of this Town here 's a fair Stone-Bridge over the Lon supported by five Arches To which add the Market-house or Town-hall where the Mayor and his Brethren keep their Courts It s Market which is kept on Saturdays is commonly well furnished with all sorts of Provisions but Fish and among the rest Salmon especially Lastly this Town is of sufficient Fame in the Annals of England for those noble Persons which have successively born the Titles of Earls and Dukes of it the greatest Princes in their time for Revenues of any Subjects in Christendom Of which House there have been four Kings of England all under the Name of Henry viz. Henry the fourth the fifth the sixth and the seventh The last by marrying with Elizabeth Daughter and Heir to Edward IV. of the House of York did happily unite the two Houses of York and Lancaster Whose Competition for the Crown of England under the Names of Red and White Roses had caused more Blood-shed than the Conquest of France by the English The Market-Towns of this County besides Lancaster are Manchester Sat. Leverpool Sat. Clitheroe Sat. Dalton Sat. Blackborn Mund. Poulton Mund. Cartmill Mund. Hornby Mund. Hawkshead Mund. Wigan Mund. Frid. Rochdale Tue. Chorley Tue. Ormskirk Tue. Kirkham Tue. Prescot Tue. Coln Wedn. Haslington Wedn. Warington Wedn. Preston Wedn. Frid. Sat. Bury Thu. Garstang Thu. Vlverston Thu. Besides Leigh and â—reat Eccleston whose Market-days I am ignorant of Manchester is seated upon a stony Hill in the South-East Parts of the County between the Rivers Irk and Irwell both which empty themselves not far off into the Mersey This Town called by Antonine the Emperour Mantunium was a Station of the Romans And it is to this day a Town much beyond Lancaster in beauty and populousness It s chief Ornaments are the Colledge and the Market-Place but above all the Collegiate Church beautified with a small Quire of excellent Workmanship Honoured besides with the Title of an Earldom in the person of the Right Honourable Charles Montague the present Earl of Manchester derived to him from his great Grandfather Henry Montague Viscount Mandeville created Earl of Manchester by King Charles I. Anno 1625. being then Lord Treasurer and President of the Council and afterwards Lord Privy Seal And lastly 't is a noted Place for its Linnen and Woollen Cloths as also for its Cottons which are held in great esteem Leverpool is the next Place of chief note in this County T is an excellent Sea-port commodiously seated at the fall of the River Mersey into the Sea where it affords a safe Harbour for Ships and a convenient Passage into Ireland To the immortal Praise of the Family of the Mores of Banck-hall
this Town has been very much improved and beautified at their Charge and Industry Here is a Town-house erected upon Pillars and Arches of hewn Stone and underneath an Exchange for the Merchants Among its Antiquities a Castle on the South-side which commands the Pool built by King John during his stay here for a Wind to Ireland and on the West-side upon the River the Tower being a stately and strong Pile of Building Preston near to Leverpool is a fair large well inhabited and frequented Borough-Town Seated on the North-side of the Rible over which it has a very fair Stone-bridge In this Town are held the Court of Chancery and Offices of Justice for Lancaster as a County Palatine Not far from Preston aforesaid is a small Town from the River on which it is situate called Rible-Chester which has been esteemed and called the richest Town in Christendom No doubt but it has been a Place of great account in the Time of the Romans if we consider the many Statues pieces of Coin Altars Pillars Inscriptions and other Pieces of Antiquity that have been often digged up here Wigan is another Town of note in this Country Seated on the River Dowles and much inhabited by Braziers Pewterers Diers Weavers of Rugs Coverlets and Tackling for Bedding Of special note for the choicest Coal in England called Caunel but most of all for a burning Well not far from it Warington a good large Town is seated on the River Mersey over which there 's a fine Stone-bridge which leads to Cheshire Dignify'd of late with the Title of an Earldom in the person of the Right Honourable Henry Booth Earl of Warington and Baron De la Mere. Poulton Bury and Rochdale lie not far asunder the first on the Irwell and Rochdale on the River Rock in a Vale. Coln is situate on a little Hill near the Eastern Confines of the-County Blackborn near the Derwent Ormskirk not far from Merton Meer Kiâ—kham near the Mouth of the Rible Garstang near the Wire and Hornby on the Lon. This last noted for its Castle called Hornby-Castle the ancient Seat of the Lord Morley and Mounteagle Hawkshead is placed in a hilly and woody Country Clitheroe towards Pendle-hill Dalton in a Champain Country not far from the Sea and Vlverston commonly called Ouslon on a small Stream which empties it self not far off into the Sea or an Arm thereof near Lever-Sand Lastly this County formerly a Part of the Kingdom of Northumberland and its Inhabitants part of the Brigantes as the Romans called them is now in the Diocess of Lincoln It was made a County Palatine by King Edward the Third And out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire 12 Members of Parliament Viz. two out of each of these Towns Lancaster Leverpool Preston Wigan Clitheroe and Newton Leicestershire LEICESTERSHIRE an Inland County is bounded on the East by the Counties of Lincoln and Rutland on the West by Warwickshire Northward by Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire and Southward by Northamptonshire It s Length from East to West is about 30 miles its Breadth from North to South about 25. The whole divided into six Hundreds wherein 192 Parishes and 12 Market-Towns The Air in this County is mild and wholsom and the Inhabitants accordingly are healthy and long-lived The Soil in the South-East parts especially is extream fertile for all sorts of Grain but chiefly Peas and Beans and has also rich Pastures feeding Cattel and Sheep in great Numbers whose Wool for its fineness is had in great esteem But the North-West part is generally barren and in some places rocky and stony About the Forest of Charwood where is Bardon-Hill is great store of Lime-Stone wherewith they manure their Ground For Fewel this Country is but thinly cloathed with Wood especially in the South-East Parts But this Defect is sufficiently supply'd by the great plenty of Pit-coal digged up in the North Parts Here are a great many small Rivers but none of any long Course besides the Stower and the Wreak Leicester the County Town bears from London North-North-West and is distant therefrom 78 miles thus Viz. from London to Northampton 54 for the particulars of which I refer you to Northamptonshire from Northampton to Harborough 12 and from thence to Leicester 12 more It is pleasantly seated in a good Air and rich Soil on the Banks of the Stower of old called Leir that washes its North and West Parts and over which it has two Bridges Once a Bishops See and in those Days beautified with a fair Collegiate Church a magnificent Abbey and a strong Castle all decay'd and ruined by the iniquity and injury of the Times As to the present State of it it is indifferent large containing 3 Parish Churches has several good Buildings and is well inhabited In short 't is in as good plight both for Trade and Buildings as most Towns are that want a navigable River And its Market which is on Saturdays is well served with Provisions and Country Commodities Noted besides for giving the Title of Earl to the Right Honourable Philip Sidney the present Earl of Leicester Derived to him from his Father Robert Son and Heir of Robert Sidney Viscount Lisle created Earl of Leicester and Baron of Penthurst by King James the first Anno 1618. Which Robert was descended of a Sister of Robert Dudley the last of many Earls of Leicester before him The other Market-Towns are Ashby Sat. Hinkley Mund. Mont-Sorel Mund. Melton-Mowbray Tue. Harborough Tue. Bosworth Wedn. Loughborow Thu. Waltham Thu. Hallaton Thu. Lutterworth Thu. Billesden Frid. Among which Ashby or Ashby de la Zouche is seated between two Parks on the Borders of Derbyshire In whose Neighbourhood is Cole Overton noted for its Pit-coals Hinkley stands on the Borders of Warwickshire beautified with a fair and large Church and a lofty Spire-Steeple Mont-Sorrel is seated on a great Eminency near the Stowr over which it has a Bridge Of some note formerly for its famous Castle that stood on a steep and craggy Hill but is long since demolished At Barrow near adjoyning is digged up excellent Lime much commended for its binding Melton-Mowbray is situate in a fertile Soil on the banks of the Wreak over which it has two Stone-bridges Harborough on the Borders of Northamptonshire and the banks of the Weland which parts the two Counties Bosworth is loftily seated on a Hill and in a fertile Soil Noted for the bloody Battle fought at Redmore near adjoyning betwixt Richard III. and his Successor Henry VII Which decided the long-depending Differences betwixt the Houses of York and Lancaster giving the Crown from Richard to Henry descended from the latter House Richard being slain in this Battle his Body was ignominiously cast cross a Horse's back naked and torn in pieces and meanly buried in the Grey-Friars of Leicester Which being afterwards destroy'd the Stone-Chest wherein the Corps lay serves now in an Inn for a drinking Trough for Horses Loughborow a good
Division stands on both sides of the River Witham within few Miles of its fall into the Sea This is a considerable Town of good Antiquity and a Place of Trade well inhabited and resorted unto Over the River it has a very fair high wooden Bridge It s Market Place is fair and spacious And the Church of special Note for its fine-built Tower exalted to that height as to serve as a Land-mark to Mariners Kirkton is situate on a sandy Ground rising in that flat Country A Town so called from its Church which is a fair Structure built Cathedral like in the form of a Cross with a broad Steeple in the middle Of some note besides for its excellent Pippins But there is another Kirkton in Lindsey Crowland ly's some Miles East of Market-Deeping and upon the same River which is the Weland A Town seated so low among Fenâ— and miry Ground that there is no coming to it but by the North and East side and that by narrow Causeways not admitting oâ— Carts Hence came the Proverb that 〈◊〉 the Carts that come to Crowland are shod wiâ—â— Silver It consists of 3 Streets severed each from other not unlike Venice by Water-Courses running between and on the Banks which are raised up and preserved by Piles are set Willow-Trees Their Cattel are kept a good distance from the Town and when they go to milk their Cows they go in small Skerries or Boats Here they take in the Pools or watery Places a world of Fish and Fowl of which they make good profit In short the Ground about this Town is so very rotten that one may thrust a Pole in to it 30 foot And in a Place called Hollanâ— there it is so wet that as one stands upoâ— it the Earth will shake under his Feet anâ— he will be ready to sink into it Here are alâ— many Quick-sands which have a wonderful force both to draw to them and to holâ— fast whatever they draw Spalding a pretty Town and a Place oâ— good Trade stands also on the Weland buâ— nearer its Influx into the Ocean some mileâ— North of Crowland That is not far from the Washes the neighbouring Sea so calleâ— for its frequent Inundations in these Parts Dunington also situate in a Flat and waterish like Spalding is a considerable Place foâ— the great quantities of Hemp and Provisionâ— here sold To conclude this County which now is in the Diocese of Lincoln was part of the â—ncient Kingdom of Mercia in the Time of the Heptarchy and its Inhabitants part of the Coritani in the Time of the Romans Out of it are chosen besides the two Knights of the Shire ten Members of Parâ—iament Viz. Two out of each of these following Towns Lincoln Stamford Grantham Boston and Grimsby CHAP. XII Of Middlesex Monmouthshire Norfolk and Northamptonshire Middlesex MIDDLESEX a small Inland County is bounded on the East with Essex from which 't is parted by the River Lea on the West with Buckinghamshire from which 't is severed by the Coln and the Shire-Ditch on the North with Hartfordshire and on the South with the Thames which parts it from Surrey and Kent Called Middlesex from its Situation as lying between the East-Angles and the West-Saxons It contains in Length from East to West about 24 miles in Breadth from North to to South 18. The Whole divided into seven Hundreds wherein 203 Parishes and 6 Market-Towns For Sweetness of Air or Fruitfulness of Soil this County may compare with any Shire iâ— England From the Hills that are about it as Hampsted Highgate Harrow-Hill c. thâ— Prospect of the whole is seen in this not unlikâ— to Zoar in Egypt London the chief Place hereof but withal the Metropolis and the Glory of the Kingdom is too great to be crowded here withiâ— the narrow Compass of these short Descriptions Therefore I refer you to the Conclusion of this Part and so proceed to The Market-Towns besides London and Westminster Brentford Tue. Stanes Frid. Vxbridge Thu. Edgeware Thu. Brentford in the Western Road 7 or 8 mileâ— from London is divided into Old and New Brentford both so called from Brent a smalâ— River that falls here into the Thames Oâ— most renown in former times for the gooâ— Success Edmund Ironside King of England haâ— here against the Danes Anno 1016 which comâ— pelled them to raise the Siege of London Noâ— of most note for being the Thorough-fare bâ— twixt London and the Western Countries thâ— Passage up and down by Water for the eaâ— of Travellers and a well frequented Market Once dignify'd with the Title of an Earldoâ— in the person of Patrick Ruthen Earl of Forâ— in Scotland Created Earl of Brentford by Kinâ— Charles I. Anno 1644. Stanes upon the Thames is a large weâ— inhabited and frequented Town It lies oâ— the West Road of England and has a Bridgâ— over the River that leads into Surrey Vxbridge is another good Town that lies North of Stanes on the River Coln which parts as I said before this County from Buckinghamshire And as it is seated in the high Road from London to Oxford so it is well accommodated with Inns and Houses of Intertainment As for Edgeware 't is but a small Town But besides these four Market-Towns the flourishing City of London has such an Influence over all its Neighbourhood that it swarms all over with pretty Towns not only in Middlesex but even in Surrey In Middlesex as Islington Highgate Hampsted Chelsey Kensington Fulham Hamersmith Thistleworth Hounslow c. most of them graced with the Seats of divers Noblemen Gentlemen and Citizens Among which Kensington of late has the honour of injoying some part of the Year Their Majesties Presence as Hamersmith the Queen Dowager's Hounslow famous for its adjoyning Heath and the notable Incampments made there in the late Reign in order to bring in Popery But as Providence was pleased to order it the Thames swallowed the Tiber and the cold Northern Heresy proved too hard for the hot-headed Jesuit Besides Kensington-House here are in this County no less than five Royal Houses viz. Whitehall and S. James in Westminster Hampton-Court Enfield and Hanworth Lastly this County which formerly was Part of the Kingdom of the East-Saxons and its Inhabitants part of the Trinobantes as the Romans called them is now in the Diocese of London Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire six Members of Parliament viz. 4 out of London and 2 out of Westminster As for honourary Titles I know not by what popular Errour the Citizens of London reckoned the Lord Mayor elect for Earl of Middlesex But whatever Ground it had now it has none to stand on since that Title was bestowed first on Lionel Lord Cranfield Lord Treasurer of England created Earl of Middlesex by King James I. Anno 1622. Which continued in his Son James and died with Lionel Brother of James But in the Year 1675. it was revived by King Charles II. in the person
of the Kings of England when all Christendom in the Council of Constance was divided into Nations the English was one of the Principal and not Subaltern having its Voice of equal ballance with the Nations of France or Italy In those General Councils the Emperor of Germany was counted Major Filius Ecclesiae the King of France Minor Filius and the King of England Filius tertius adoptivus Whereas with submission methinks it had been more proper especially in such Assemblies to look upon the King of England as Primogenitus Ecclesiae the Eldest Son of the Church out of respect to the British King Lucius who as I said before was the first King in the World that imbraced Christianity In those Councils the King of France had place next the Emperour on his right hand the King of England next on his left hand and the King of Scotland next before Castille However the King of England acknowledges no Precedence to any Monarch but only to the Emperour and that upon the Score of Antiquity For the Crown of England is free and independent and therefore has been declared in Parliaments long since to be an Imperial Crown CHAP. VIII Of the Solemn Proclamation and Coronation of the King of England THE Kings of England are both Proclaimed and Crowned with so much Solemnity that it won't be improper to describe the Manner of it it being a Solemnity not at all disagreeable to the Design of this Work I begin with the Proclamation which is the first Step to the Crown And being we are upon the New State of England I shall describe the Manner how the present King William and Queen Mary were Proclaimed at Whitehall-Gate within Temple-Bar in Cheap-sideâ— and the Royal Exchange Which happened oâ— the 13th of Febr. Anno 1688 9. The Lords and Commons being then Assembled at Westminster came to the Banquetting-House where they presented the Princâ— and Princess of Orange the Instrument in Writing agreed upon for Declaring Their Highnesse KING and QUEEN of England France and Ireland with all the Dominions and Teâ—tories thereunto belonging and received Their Consent thereto About 11 of the Clock the said Lords and Commons came down to Whitehall Gate preceded by the Speakers of their respective Housâ—â— viz. the Marquess of Hallifax Speaker 〈…〉 Lords and Henry Powle Esq Speaker of 〈…〉 mons each of them attended by a 〈…〉 Arms in order to see Their Majesties 〈…〉 Being come down to the Gate there they found the Heralds of Arms the Sergeants at Arms the Trumpets and other Officers all in readiness being assembled by Order from the Duke of Norfolk Earl Marshal of England And Sr. Thomas S. George Knight Garter Principal King of Arms having received a Proclamation in Writing with an Order from the Lords House to the King's Heralds and Pursuivants of Arms for Publishing or Proclaiming the same forthwith the Persons concerned disposed themselves in Order before the Court-Gate for making the said Proclamation The Trumpets having sounded a Call three several times the last of which was answered by a great Shout of the vast Multitudes of People there assembled the Noise ceasing the said Garter King of Arms read the' Proclaimation by short Sentences or Periods Which was thereupon proclaimed aloud by Robert Devenish Esq York Herald being the Senior Herald in these Words VVHEREAS it has pleased Almighty God in his great Mercy to this Kingdom to vouchsafe as a Miraculous Deliverance from Popery and Arbitrary Power and that our Preservation is due next unto God to the Resolution and Conduct of His Highness the Prince of Orange whom God has chosen to be the Glorious Instrument of such an Inestimable Happiness to us and our Posterity And being highly sensible and fully persuaded of the Great and Eminent Vertues of her Highness the Princess of Orange whose Zeal for the Protestant Religion will no doubt bring a Blessing along with Her upon the Nation And whereas the Lords and Commons now Assembled at Westminster have made a Declaration and presented the same to the said Prince and Princess of Orange and therein desired Them to Accept the Crown who have Accepted the same accordingly We therefore the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons Together with the Lord Mayor and Citizens of London and others of the Commons of this Realm Do with a full Consent Publish and Proclaim according to the said Declaration William and Mary Prince and Princess of Orange to be KING and QVEEN of England France and Ireland with all the Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging Who are accordingly so to be owned deemed accepted and taken by all the People of the aforesaid Realms and Dominions who are henceforward bound to acknowledge and pay unto Theâ— all Faith and true Allegiance Beseeching God by whom Kings Reign to bless KING WILLIAM and QVEEN MARY with long and happy Years to Reign over us God save King William and Queen Mary Jo. Brown Cleric Parliamentorum Which being ended and the Trumpeâ— sounding a Flourish was answered by several repeated Shouts of the People And Direction being given to proclaim the same with in Temple-Bar in Cheap-side and at the Royal-Exchange the Proceeding marched in this manner I. The several Beadles of the Liberties of Westminister II. The Constables of the said Liberties all on foot with the high-Constable on horseback III. The Head-Bayliff of Westminster and his Men all on horseback with white Staves to clear the Way IV. A Class of Trumpets nine in all on horse-back the six first riding two and two and the three last together Followed by the Sergeant-Trumpeter carrying his Mace on the Shoulder V. A Pursuivant of Arms single a Pursui â—ant and a Sergeant at Arms and next an â—ther Pursuivant and 〈◊〉 Sergeant at Arms. The Pursuivants in â—heir rich Coats of the â—oyal Arms and each â—f the Sergeants carryâ—â—g his Mace on his Shoulder all of them on horse-back VI. Four Heralds of Arms one after another each with a Sergeant at Arms on his left hand carrying his Mace on the Shoulder and the Heralds being all in their rich Coats of the Royal Arms. VII Garter King of Arms in his rich Coat of Arms carrying the Proclamation Accompany'd with Sr. Tho. Duppa Kt. Gentleman Vsher of the Black Rod in his Crimson Mantle of the Order of the Garter and his Black Rod of Office likewise on Horseback VIII The Speaker of the House of Lords in his Coach Attended by Sr. Roger Harsnet eldest Sergeant at Arms with his Mace IX The Speaker of the House of Commons in his Coach Attended by John Topham Esq Sergeant at Arms to the said House with his Mace X. The Duke of Norfolk Earl Marshal and Primier Duke of England in his Coachâ— with his Marshal's Staff in his hand XI The Peers in order in their Coaches XII The Members of the House of Commons in their Coaches In this Order they proceeded towards Temple-Bar And being come as far as the May-pole in the Strand two
Right of Patronage called Patronage Paramount Insomuch that if the mean Patron or the Ordinary or the Metropolitan present not in due time the Right of Presentation comes at at last to the King As for the Bishopricks the King only has the Patronage of them For none can be chosen Bishop but whom he nominates in his Conge d'Estire and a Bishop Elect cannot be Consecrated or take possession of the Revenues of the Bishoprick without the King 's special Writ or Assent In short as the King is the only Sovereign and Supream Head both in Church and State so there lies no Appeal from Him as from some other States and Kingdoms beyond Sea either to the Pope of Rome or to the Emperor But indeed the greatest and safest of the Kings Prerogatives is as the present King wrote in a late Letter to his Council of Scotland to Rule according to Law and with Moderation The Dispensing Power so much contended for in the late Reign by the Court-Party as a Branch of the Kings Prerogative and as vigorously opposed by some true Patriots is â—ow quite out of Doors by the Act of Settlement which makes it plainly Illegal And as to that divine Prerogative which the Kings of England claimed as a Thing de Jure divino I mean the Curing of the King 's Evil only by the King 's laying his hands on the Sick assisted with a short Form of Divine Service it is now laid aside as a Traditional Errour at least a Doctrine not fit to be trusted â—o So that the French King is at this time the only Monarch that pretends to this Miraculous Priviledge Our Historians derived it here from King Edward the Confessour who lived so holy a Life that as they say he received Power from above Intailed to his Royal Successors for ever to cure this stubborn Disease But now 'c is lookt upon as a Doctrine not so fit for Protestants as bigotted Papists to whom no Miracle is amiss I come now to the King's Power with relation to forein Parts Which I shall describe as near as I can first as Defensive secondly as Offensive In the first Sense England if well united is of all the States in Europe the least subject to an Invasion especially since the Conjunction of Scotland The whole Island is naturally so well senced with the Ocean and when Occasion requires so well garded by those moving Castles the King's Ships of War the strongest and best built in the whole World The Kingdom besides is so abundantly furnished with Men and Horses with Provisions and Ammunition and Mony the Sinews of War that nothing but our intestine Divisions can make us a Prey to the greatest Potentates of Europe tho united together As for the King's Power abroad not only our Neighbours but the most remote Places have sufficiently felt it and this at a time when Scotland and Ireland were usually at enmity with Him 'T is true since the Reign of Qâ— Elizabeth what with our Distractions at home and the Weakness or Effeminacy of some of one Kings England has either been Idle or taken up with Intestine Broils Only in Cromwel's Time we humbled the Hollanders scowred the Algerines kept the French and the Pope in aw and took Jamaica from Spain Our greatest Exploits were upon our own selves when being unhappily involved in Civil Wars for several Years together we destroy'd one another with a fatal Courage Then were computed about two hundred thousand Foot and fifty thousand Horse to be in Arms on both sides which had they been imploy'd abroad might have shaken the greatest part of Europe And here I cannot but with an aking heart apply the Words of Lucan Heu quantum potuit Coeli Pelagique parari Hoc quem Civiles fuderunt Sanguine Dextrae In English thus How much both Sea and Land might have been gained By their dear Bloud which Civil Wars have drained Of so martial Spirit the English are and their fear of Death so little that as Dr. Chamberlain has well observed no Neighbourâ—â—ation scarce durst ever abide Battle with â—hem either by Sea or Land upon equal Terms â—nd now we are ingaged in a just War both with Ireland and France under a Prince of â—o great Conduct and Courage incouraged by â—â—s Parliament assisted and faithfully served by the greatest General now in Europe I cannot but hope well from our Armies both by Seu and Land if our provoked God do not fight against us The next Thing that offers it self to our Consideration is the King of England's Court which for State Greatness and good Order besides the constant Concourse of Nobility and Gentry resorting thither when there is no Jealousy between the King and his People is one of the chief Courts of Europe It is as an Author says a Monarchy within a Monarchy consisting of Ecclesiastical Civil and Military Persons the two last under their proper Government To support the Grandure of this Court and the other Charges of the Crown in time of Peace the Kings of England have always had competent Revenues Which never were raised by any of those sordid Ways used in other Countries but consist chiefly in Domains or Lands belonging to the Crown in Customs and Excise Anciently the very Domains of the Crown and Fee-Farm Rents were so considerable that they were almost sufficient to discharge all the ordinary Expences of the Crown without any Tax or Impost upon the Subject Then there was scarce a County in England but the King had in it a Royal Castle a Forest and a Park to Receive and Divert Him in his Royal Progresses A piece of Grandure which no King else could boast of But upon the Restauration of King Charles the Crown Revenues being found much Impaired and the Crown Charges increasing upon the growing Greatness of our Neighbours the French and Dutch the Parliament settled upon the King a Yearly Revenue of Twelve Hundred Thousand Pounds by several Imposts besides the Domains and other Profits arising to the Crown in Tenths and First-Fruits in Reliefs Fines Amerciaments and Confiscations And the whole Revenue improved to that degree that in the late Reign it was judged to amount to near two Millions Which is a Fair Revenue in Time of Peace In Time of War the Parliament supplies the King according to his Occasions by such Taxes to be raised upon the Nation as they think most convenient CHAP. X. Of the Government of England by Regency Also of the Succession to the Crown THere are three Cases wherein the Kingdom of England is not immediately governed by the King but by a Substitute Regent And those are the Kings Minority Absence or Incapacity The King is by Law under Age when he is under twelve Years old And till he has attained to that Age the Kingdom is governed by a Regent Protector or Gardian appointed either by the King his Predecessor or for want of such Appointment by the Three States assembled in the Name of the Infant
High Admiral of England an Office held by Patent and of so great a Trust that it has usually been given to Princes of the Royal Bloud For the Lord High Admiral is Intrusted with no less than the Management of all Maritime Affairs with the Government of the King's Navy with Power of Decision in all Causes Maritime aswell Civil as Criminal of all Things done upon or beyond the Sea in any Part of the World in all Ports and Havens upon the Sea-Coasts and all Rivers below the first Bridge next towards the Sea In short the Admiralty being in a manner a separate Kingdom from the rest the Lord High Admiral may be reputed at least the Viceroy thereof A Multitude of Officers high and low are under him both at Sea and Land some of a Military others of a Civil Capacity some Judicial others Ministerial And under him is held the High Court of Admiralty the Places and Offices whereof are in his Gift The last High Admiral of England was the late King when Duke of York For since he came to the Crown the Office was executed by Seven Lords Commissioners as it is to this day CHAP. XIII Of Their present Majesties King WILLIAM and Queen MARY With a brief Account of Their Accession to the Crown KING WILLIAM our present Monarch is the only Issue of the late Illustrious Prince William of Nassaw Prince of Orange and of the Deceased Princess Royal Mary eldest Daughter to King Charles I who was wedded to the foresaid Prince in the Year 1641. His Majesty was born in Holland Nov. 4th 1650 ten days after his Fathers Death and was Christened by the Names of William Henry William being his Fathers Name and Henry his Grandfathers The House of Nassaw is an Ancient and most Illustrious Family so called from Nassaw a Town and County in Weteravia a Province of Germany That Branch of it from whence the King is descended had their usual Seat at Dillenburg not far from Nassaw before they settled in the Low-Countries whence for Distinctions sake they were named the Earls of Nassaw of the House of Dillenburg Otho of Nassaw who died Anno 1190 was the Founder of the present Family of the Princes of Orange out of which descended Adolph Earl of Nassaw who was chosen Emperour in the Year 1292. By the Marriage of Engelbert the seventh Earl of this House with Mary Daughter and Heir of Philip Lord of Breda in Brabant that Town and Barony with many other fair Estates in the Netherlands was added to the Family And by the Marriage of Henry the tenth Earl of Nassaw Anno 1515. with Claude of Chalons Sister and Heir of Philibert Prince of Orange this Principality bordering upon Provence and Dauphene within the Dominions of France accrued to the Family So much the worse for having so ill an Neighbour as the present French King who has long since rapaciously seized upon it but left however what he could not take away the King 's just Title to it In short our Gracious King William is the 18th Earl of Nassaw beginning with Otho aforesaid and the 7th Prince of Orange of his Family beginning with Rene of Nassaw Son of Henry and Claude who succeeded Philibert his Uncle in the Principality of Orange A Family as much honoured for the personal Merit of the Princes of it as any other in Europe and to which the States of Holland ow the Liberty and Greatness they injoy All the World knows how great a Patron and Assertor of the Belgick Liberties against the Spaniard was the most noble and generous Prince William of Nassaw one of his Majestieâ— Ancestors And to pass by the generous Exploits of his noble Successors till the present King William 't is well known what his Majestly has done to rescue not only his Native Country but the best Part of Europe from its Oppressors It has been of late Years both at home and abroad the Maxim of some Princes to outvy each other in preying upon and destroying not only their Neighbours but their own Protestant Subjects by all Methods of Perfidiousness and Cruelty To establish or maintain their Tyranny they went about to introduce a general Ignorance For where Subjects part with their Reason 't is easy for them to part with their Liberty witness those miserable Inslaved Countries where Popery domineers On the contrary the House of Orange has always appeared against that ravenous and inhumane Principle And as if Providence had appointed them for a Check to Tyranny God has been pleased accordingly to bless their just Indeavours Never the Liberty of England and the Protestant Interest in general lay more at stake than it did in the late Reign 'T is plain there was a general Design to extirpate Herely in a Popish Sense and to inslave all Europe The Plot was laid in the Reign of blessed King Charles who with a shew of Proteslantism made the Way smooth for Popery At last when all Things were finely prepared to the hand of his next Heir King Charles go's off the Stage and his Brother to play the last Act enters and ascends the Throne No Prince more Courteous more Obliging or more Promising at first than He was to his new Subjects The Church of England Triumphed in his Exaltation and Addressed Him from all Parts of the Kingdom as their Tutelaâ— Angel The People in general look'd upon him as an Incomparable Hero who would quickly make it his Business to pull down the Hector of France and to carry the Glory of England beyond all his Predecessors In short so great were the Hopes of this King that Edward III and Henry V the most glorious Monarchs of England were upon his Account to be hissed out of our English Chronicles No body dreamed of a Popish Catechism to be the first step to this Glory nor of an Army to be raised for the defence of it Under whose shelter besides a secret League with France the Prerogative began presently to swell above its Banks the Laws to be Overwhelmed the Liberty and Property of the Subject Invaded the Church of England Crushed that had raised the King to the Throne Popery crowing over all the Nation and to crown all their Hopes presto a Prince of Wales In short to speak in terms of War the Miner was fix'd and we must either Surrender or be Stormed This was our Condition when the Prince of Orange our present King undertook our Deliverance and effected it under God in a miraculous manner Upon whose Approach our Mass-Hero fled left us to shift for our selves and the Popish Party to the mercy of the Rabble This hapned Dec. 11th 1688 a fatal Year in this and the foregoing Age to Popery iâ— England In that state of Anarchy what could the Nation do less than provide for a Settlement under the gracious Influences of the Prince Which was accordingly done in as regular 〈◊〉 Way as the present state of Affairs would â—ow King James having thus deserted the
a King De Jure and a King De Facto But those Diseases I thank God are not so Epidemical as to indanger a Convulsion in the State There are excellent and approved Remedies for them in the Pastoral Letter of the present Bishop of Salisbury and in the Collection of Papers but particularly in the late Book put out by that eminent Divine Dr. Sherlock to which for brevity sake I referâ— the Diseased But if Reason cannot Time I hope will wear out their Distempers And so I bid them Farewell CHAP. XV. Of the present KING and QVEEN's Court. THeir Majesties Court is composed of two distinct Bodies one of Laymen another of Churchmen I shall begin with the first not out of any Disrespect to the second but because this seems to me the most proper and natural Method The Court-Laymen are subdivided into two distinct Parts Civil and Military But before we descend to Particulars 't is to be observed I. That the Court wherever it is has within it self a certain Latitude of Jurisdiction called the Verge of the Court which is every way within 12 miles of the chief Tunnel of the Court except London which is exempted by Charter II. That the King's Court or Pallace where is Majesty resides is counted so sacred a Place â—at not only Striking of any one there in â—assion is severely forbidden but also all Ocâ—asions of Striking The first by the ancient â—aws of England was punished with Death â—â—d Loss of Goods And to this day whoâ—â—er presumes to strike another within the Palâ—ce where the King's Person resides and does 〈◊〉 draw blood by his Stroke is liable â—thout His Majesties Pardon to lose his right Hand to be Fined at the King's Will and ly in Prison till the Fine be paid And further to deter any one from presuming to Strike in the King's Court the Punishment for it is executed with great Ceremony III. That as great as the Court is yet it falls much short of what it has been formerly whether we consider the prodigious Plenty the Court lived in or the Greatness of the Houshold The Diminution whereof was first occasioned by the Troubles in the Reign of Charles I continued by Charles his Son and made greater by the late King James Before the Troubles aforesaid this Court went far beyond all others in Plenty and Magnificence no less than 86 Tables being kept here furnished in all with about 500 Dishes each Meal with all Things sutable A Profuseness I confess becoming the Times when the English were more addicted to Feasting than they are at present But to come to the present State of the Court the King's Houshold is managed in chief by these three principal Officers whose respective Salaries I have annexed Viz.  Wages Board-wages The Lord Steward 100 00 00 1360 00 00 The Lord Chamberlain 100 00 00 1100 00 00 The Master of the Horse 1200 00 00  Under whom are almost all the King's Officers and Servants The Lord Steward is the Principal Officer oâ— the King's Houshold To whom the State oâ— the House is committed to be ruled by hiâ— Discretion and all his Commands in Court to be obeyed and observed His Authority reaches over all Officers and Servants of the King's House except those of the King's Chamber the Stable and the Chappel He is a White-Staff Officer and the White-staff is taken for a Commission In the King's Presence he holds it up in his hand and at other times when he goes abroad 't is carried by a Footman bare-headed Upon the King's Death he breaks his Staff over the King's Herse and thereby discharges all Court-Officers under him By his Office without any Commission he judges of all Treasons Murders Felonies and Bloudsheds committed in the Court or within the Verge Which is much for the King's Honour that where His Majesty is no Justice should be sought but immediately from his own Officers At the beginning of Parliaments he attends the King's Person and at the end he adjusts the Parliament Expences c. To take the Accounts for all Expences of the King's Houshold there is a Place at Court called the Compting-House And in this House is kept that ancient Court of Justice called the Green Cloth of a Green Cloth whereat the Court sits The Officers that sit in the Compting-House and at the Board of Green Cloth with their respective Salaries are Besides the Lord Steward in chief  Wages Board-wages The Treasurer and Cofferer of the Houshold 223 14 08  The Comptroller 107 17 06 1092 02 06 The Master of the Houshold 66 13 04 433 06 08 Two Clerks of the Green Cloth and Two Clerks Comptrollers each 44 06 08 455 13 04 Amongst which the Lord Steward the Treasurer and the Comptroller are usually of the King 's Privy Council and the two last are also White-Staff Officers Their Office in the Compting House is there to sit day by day to take as I said before the Accompts for all Expences of the King's Houshold to make Provisions for it to make the Payments and such Orders as they think fit for the Servants In short to Them is committed the Charge and Government of the King's House with Power to correct all the Servants therein that shall any way offend and to keep the Peace not only within it but within the Verge of the Court. And whereas the King's Servants are free from Arrest the Creditors of such as are backward to pay have no other way for Payment but to make their application to the Board of Green Cloth which upon hearing of the Matter take care to see Justice done to the Creditors In the Lord Steward's Absence the Treasurer has power with the Comptroller and Steward of the Marshalsea by virtue of their Office and without Commission to hear and determine Treasons Felonies and other Crimes committed within the King's Pallace and that by Verdict of the King's Houshold And if any Servant within the Check-Roll be found guilty of Felony he is incapable of the Benefit of the Clergy The Comptroller's Office is to Comptrol the Accounts of the Green Cloth The Cofferer pays the Wages to the King's Servants above and below Stairs and for the Houshold Provisions according to the Allowance and Direction of the Green Cloth He has also a particular Charge and Oversight of the inferiour Officers of the King's House The Master of the Houshold surveys the Accounts of the House The Clerks of the Green Cloth sum up all Bills of Comptrolment Parcels and Brievements And the two Clerks Comptrollers do let and allow them But besides the foresaid Officers belonging to the Compting House and Green Cloth there are inferiour Officers and Servants relating to the same Viz.  Per Annum  Wages Board-wages Two Yeomen each 05 00 00 73 00 00 Two Grooms each 02 13 04 54 15 00 A Messenger 02 13 04 37 06 08 In the inferiour Offices below Stairs all under the Lord Steward there is
in Trial of Heresy which toucheth a Mans Life If a Clergy-man Kills his Bishops or Ordinary the Law looks upon it as a Parricide and 't is Petty-Treason by Law Every Bishop may by Statute Law qualify six Chaplains which is as many as a Duke But if the Bishops Priviledges be so great the Archbishops are much greater especially his Grace of Canterbury's Who is the first Peer of the Realm and next to the Royal Family precedes not only all Dukes but all the great Officers of the Crown Though he holds his Place from the King yet in the King's Writs to him he is stiled Dei Gratia Archiepiscopo Cantuariensi and whereas other Bishops write Divina Permissione he writes himself Divina Providentia When he is Invested in the Archbishoprick he is said to be Inthroned It belongs properly to him to Crown the King and he had formerly the Power of appointing the Lent Preachers which is now in the Lord High Chamberlain The Bishop of London is accounted his Pravincial Dean the Bishop of Winchester his Chancellour and the Bishop of Rochester his Chaplain He has the Probate of all Wills in his Province and the Power of granting Letters of Administration where the Party at the time of his Death had 5 l. worth or above out of the Diocese wherein he died or 10 l. within the Diocese of London For all such as die Intestate within his Province he has Power to make Wills and to administer their Goods to the Kindred or to pious uses according to his Discretion In all Cases heretofore sued for in the Court of Rome he has Power to grant Licences and Dispensations either by himself or his Deputy called the Master of Faculties Provided the same be not repugnant to the Law of God or the King's Prerogative As to allow a Clerk to hold a Benefice in Commendam or Trust to allow a Son contrary to the Canons to succeed his Father immediately in a Benefice a Beneficed Clerk upon some Occasions to be Non-resident for some time a Clerk rightly qualified to hold two Benefices with Cure of Souls and a Lay-man to hold a Prebend c. whilst by Study he is preparing himself for the service of the Church He may also bestow one Dignity or Prebend in any Cathedral Church within his Province upon every Creation of a new Bishop And the new-created Bishop is also to provide a sufficient Benefice for one of the Archbishops Chaplains or to maintain him till it be effected He has the Prerogative with two other Bishops to Consecrate a new made Bishop to appoint Coadjutors to infirm Bishops to confirm the Election of Bishops within his Province to call Provincial Synods according to the King 's Writ directed to him to be Moderator in the Synods or Convocations and there to give his Suffrage last of all 'T is both his Power and Duty to Visit the whole Province and during the Vacancy of any Bishoprick within the same to appoint a Guardian of the Spiritualities So that to him belong all the Episcopal Rights and Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions of the Diocese as Visitations Institutions c. To decide all Differences in Ecclesiastical Matters he holds several Courts of Judicature for which I refer you to my Third Part. Lastly he may retain and qualify 8 Chaplains which is two more than any Duke is allowed The Archbishop of York has also the Precedence of all Dukes that are not of the Royal Bloud and of all great Officers of State except only the Lord Chancellour He is also stiled Primate of England and Metropolitan of his Province and has many of those Prerogatives and Priviledges which the Archbishop of Canterbury has within his own Province Each of the Archbishops is honoured as Dukes are with the Title of His Grace And whereas the Inferiour Bishops are stiled Right Reverend the Archbishops are in a Superlative manner stiled Most Reverend As to the Revenues of the English Bishops the best Bishopricks are those of Canterbury Durham and Winchester which yield a plentiful Income Amongst the rest some have but a Competency and others are not much better some worse than many Parsonages And yet I must say this to the eternal Praise of the Episcopal Order that they have done great Things for the Publick out of their Revenues For most of the great publick Works now â—â—maining in England acknowledge their Being eather to the sole Cost and Charge or to the liberal Contributions of Bishops I mean not only Pallaces and Castles but Churches Colledges Schools Hospitals Alms-houses a great Number whereof have been founded and built by Bishops Nay that famous and chargeable Structure of London-Bridge stands to this day obliged to the liberal Contributions of an Archbishop In former Reigns when the Clergy were judged to be the fittest Persons to execute most of the chief Offices and Places of the Realm such Benefits and Advantages accrued thereby to this Kingdom that there are few Things of any great Consequence to the Welfare thereof but the Bishops and Prelates were the chief Actors therein The excellent Laws says an Author made by several of the Saxon Kings from whom we have our Common Laws and our Priviledges mentioned in Magna Charta were all made by the Persuasions and Advice of Bishops named in our Histories And 't was a Bishop of London at whose Request William the Conqueror granted to this City so large Priviledges that in a grateful Remembrance thereof the Lord Mayor and Aldermen did before the late dreadful Fire upon some solemn Days of their Resort to S. Paul's Church use to go in Procession about the Grave-stone where that Bishop lay interred The Union of the two Houses of York and Lancaster whereby a long and cruel Civil War was ended was by the Advice and Counsel of Bishop Morton then a Privy Counsellour And the happy Union of England and Scotland was brought to pass by the long Foresight of the Reverend Bishop Fox a Privy Counsellour in advising Henry VII to match his eldest Daughter to Scotland and his Younger to France But above all the Converting England to Christianity the Reforming of it when corrupted and the Defence of the Reformation against all Romish Writers is principally if not solely owing to Bishops and Prelates CHAP. XXIII Of the Dignify'd Clergy AS amongst the Laity the Gentry Keeps a middle Rank betwixt the Nobility and the Commonalty so amongst the Clergy of England there is a middle Station between the Episcopal Order and the inferiour Clergy Which Station is properly that of the Dignify'd Clergy as Deans Arch-Deacons and Prebendaries the Subject of this Chapter For a Supply of able and fit Persons to make Bishops or to assist Bishops a certain Number of eminent Divines both for their Piety and Learning were thought fit by our Fore-fathers to be placed in a Collegiate manner at every Cathedral or Episcopal See out of which Seminaries fit Persons from time to time might be chosen to govern the
the Fee He is free to consent to Marriage and may by Will dispose of Goods and Chattels At the Age of 15 he ought to be Sworn to his Allegiance to the King at 21 he is said to be of full Age. Then he is free to make any Contracts and to pass by Will both Goods and Lands which in other Countries may not be done till the Age of 25 called Annus Consistentiae A Daughter at the Age of 7 Years may consent to Marriage but at 12 she is free to retract or confirm it If she confirms it then the Marriage is good and she may make a Will of Goods and Chattels At 21 she may Contract or Alienate her Lands by Will or otherwise Servants in England are either tied to a certain Number of Years or only by the Year these being free to quit their Service at such a Warning as is agreed upon between the Master or the Mistris and the Servant By those that are tied to a certain Number of Years I mean Apprentices the usual Time for their Apprentiship being 7 Years This is the most Servile Condition in England considering the Lash they ly under together with their long and strict Confinement under Articles And whereas other Servants receive Wages for their Service these commonly do pay a Sum of Mony to their Masters for their Prenticeship The Condition of other Servants is much easier all over England For besides that few undergo the Hardship that Prentices do they may be free at the Years end giving 3 Months Warning and if a Servant do not like one Master he may go to another where perhaps he may find more favour or advantage But before a Person ventures upon such a Servant 't is civil first to get his former Masters Leave and prudential to have from him a testimony of his faithfulness and diligence Now there are so many Degrees of Serâ—ants in England that if some live meanly there are others who live genteely and some of these so splendidly as to keep Servants of their own In great Families where a Person of quality makes a proper Figure and has a sutable Attendance there is a necessary Subordination of Servants so that the Inferiour Servants may be at the beck of their Superiour Officers to answer the several parts of their respective Duties Thus a great Man lives like a Prince and Keeps a Court of his own In general it may be said no Country is more favourable than England to Servants who generally live here with more ease and less Subjection and have larger Salaries than any where else The truth is if we consider the nature of a Servant how by going to Service he devests himself of what is dearest to Mankind his Liberty and Subjects his Will to another who sometimes proves magget-headed cruel or tyrannical I think it but reasonable to have a tender Regard for good Servants For this amongst other Things was that great Man of Spain Cardinal Ximenes so noted in his time who proved so bountiful and so generous a Master to his Servants that History to this day does admire him for it As for stubborn and unruly Servants the Law of England gives Masters and Mistresses Power to correct them and Resistance in a Servant is punished with severe Penalty But for a Servant to Kill his Master or Mistris is so high a Crime that it is counted Petty Treason or a Crime next to High Treason Since Christianity prevailed here England admits of no forein Slaves In forein Plantations indeed the English as other Nations buy and sell Negro's as Slaves But a forein Slave brought over into England is upon Landing ipso facto free from Slavery though not from ordinary Service 'T is true there has been a sort of Tenure here called a Tenure in Villenage and the Tenant Villain who was in effect a Bond-man to the Lord of the Land For the Lord might take Redemption of him to marry his Daughter and to make him free He might put him out of his Lands and Tenements Goods and Chattels at his Will and might beat and chastise but not maim him Now such Villains are out of date though the Law concerning them stands unrepealed to this day Servorum Nativorum says Spelman apud nos sublata est Conditio quas ideo possidebant Terras vel Praedia hodie libere tenent sub antiquae Servitutis Consuetudinibus And Sir Edward Coke out of Fortescue has this Note Impius Crudelis judicandus qui Libertati non favet for which he gives this as the Reason of it Anglia Jura in omni Casu dant favorem Libertati the Laws of England in all Cases stand for Liberty The End of the Second Part. THE THIRD PART OF THE New State OF ENGLAND Under Their MAJESTIES K. William and Q. Mary CONTAINING A Description of the several Courts of Judicature Viz. The highest Court of Parliament Privy Council and all other Courts with a Catalogue of the present Officers in Church and State London Printed in the Year 1691. THE NEW STATE OF ENGLAND PART III. Of the Courts of Judicature CHAP. I. Of the Parliament of England THE High Court of Parliament being the Great Council of England the Supreme Court of Judicature and One of the most August Assemblies the World is the Court that I am to speak in the first place It came to be called Parliament from the French Parlement and this from their Verb Parler to speak or talk together The same is taken in a two-fold Sense First as it includes the Legislative Power of England as when we say an Act of Parliament In which Acceptation it includes the King Lords and Commons each of which have a Negative Voice in making Laws so that without their joynt Consent no Law can by either abrogated or made Secondly in a Vulgar Sense as when we say the King and Parliament or the King has called a Parliament by which is meant the Two Houses viz. the House of Lords and the House of Commons This Court is a Body Corporate consisting according to the first Acceptation of the Word of the Three Estates of the Realm And though the Name Parliament by which it is now called be not probably older than the Conquest by William Duke of Normandy yet 't is made plain by ancient Records and Precedents that the former Kings of England even in the Saxons-time had from time to time great National Councils much of the same nature as our Parliaments In the Saxons Time says Lambard the great Council of the Nation consisted of the King Lords and Commons It is most apparent says Prinn by all the old Precedents before the Conquest that all our ancienâ— Councils were nothing else but Parliaments called by different Names in several Ages till at lasâ— that of Parliament was fixed upon them and that our Kings Nobles Senators Aldermen Wisemen Knights and Commons were usuall present and voted there as Members and Judge The same is averred
Parliament dispenses with that Act. Neither can any be legally chosen that is not of full Age that is 21 Years old at least And reason good for if no Man under that Age can dispose of his Estate much less should he have any share in the supream Power of the Nation to judge vote or dispose of the Estate of the Realm Yet the Practice in the House of Commons has often been otherwise in the House of Lords but seldom Whoever stands to be Elected must be a Native Englishman or at least must be Naturalized by Act of Parliament No Alien Denizated ought to sit here None of the Judges can be chosen that sit in the Bench Common Pleas or Exchequer because they are Assistants in the Lords House But any that have Judicial Places in other Courts Ecclesiastical or Civil being no Lords of Parliament are Eligible No Sheriff nor Clergy-man can be chosen a Member of Parliament Not the first because his personal Attendance is required within his Bayliwick during the time of his Sheriffalty Nor the last because he is of another Body viz. the Convocation and the Clergy of the Convocation-House are no Part or Member of the Parliament A Man attainted of Treason or Felony c. is not Eligible For he ought to be magis idonâ—us discretus sufficiens But a Person Outlawed in a Personal Cause may be a Burgess And tho the Common Law do's disinable the Party yet the Priviledge of the House being urged prevails over the Law Anciently the Elected Members had a competent Allowance from the respective County City or Borough for which they served in Parliament A Knight of the Shire was allowed 4 shill and a Citizen or Burgess 2 shill a Day which in those Days was a considerable Sum. But then the Sessions were but short sometimes but eight Days sometimes less seldom above three or four Weeks and yet during that short space of time several great and weighty Affairs were dispatched Which as some think were prepared to their hand by the King and Council as it is now practised in Sweden by the 40 Counsellors of State and in Scotland by the Lords of the Articles And if they did only debate upon such Things as the King did propose a little Time might serve well enough to do it But it do's not appear to be so by what passed Feb. 9. 1597 39 Eliz. When the Queen gave her Royal Assent to 24 publick and 19 private Bills but refused 48 Bills more which had passed both Houses Certain it is that there was less Canvassing and more Plainness in those Days than there is at present The Place of Meeting for this honourable Assembly is in whatsoever City Town or House the King pleases But of latter times it has been ufually at the Kings ancient Palace at Westminster the Lords in a Room by themselves and the Commons not far from them in another Room which formerly was S. Stephens Chappel When the Day prefixt by the King in his Writs of Summons is come His Majesty usually comes in person to the House of Lords cloathed with his Royal Robes the Crown upon his head and the Sword of State before Him At the upper end of the Room is placed a Chair of State under a Canopy upon which His Majesty sits Then all the Temporal Peers appear in their Scarlet Robes every one according to his Degree and the Spiritual Lords in their Episcopal Habit which they do all the Sessions On the Kings right hand next the Wall are placed on a Form the two Arch-Bishops next below on another Form the Bishops of London Durham and Winchester then upon other Forms on the same side all the rest of the Bishops sit according to the priority of their Consecration The Lord Chancellor or Keeper when there is one stands behind the Cloth of State or fits on the first Wool-sack before the Chair of State with his Great Seal and Mace by him On the Kings left hand are placed the Treasurer President of the Council and Lord Privy Seal of they be Barons above all Dukes but those of the Royal Family if not Barons then they sit uppermost on the Wool-sacks And on the same side sit the Dukes Marquesses or Earls according to their Creation Cross the House below the Wool-sacks the first Form is that which the Viscounts sit upon and upon the next Forms the Barons all in order The King being thus seated in his Throne with this noble Appearance of the Peers of the Realm all standing uncovered his Majesty sends for the Commons from their Room where they are assembled Who being come at least part of them stand at the Bar of the Lords House Whereupon the King makes a short Speech to both Houses concerning such Matters as He thinks fit to lay before them for the Good of the Kingdom Amongst which that of a Supply of Mony is most commonly one in order to answer the extraordinary Charges of the Crown The King having ended his Speech the Chancellor or Lord Keeper did formerly use by the Kings Appointment to inlarge upon it with all the Rhetorick and Logick the Matter could bear to dispose both Houses to a Compliance with the King But His present Majesty has declined that Method and being a Prince of few Words gains more upon rational Men by his concise and plain Way of Delivery as the more agreeable to a true generous Nature than perhaps he might with all the Windings and Turnings of artificial Rhetorick Then the Speaker of the House of Lords commands in the Kings Name the Commons to assemble in their House there to chuse one of their Members for their Speaker and to present him such a Day to His Majesty Upon which the King withdraws and the Commons presently re-assemble themselves in the Lower House in order to chuse one of their Members for Speaker Sometimes as in the last Session the Speaker is chosen by the Kings Command before fore His Majesty delivers his Speech to both Houses of Parliament After the Speaker is chosen and the Choice approved by the King His Majesty leaves both Houses to their private Debates upon the Subject of his Speech and do's no more appear amongst them that Session in his Royal Robes except upon the passing of any Act or at the Close of the Session whether it be by Adjournment Prorogation or Dissolution 'T is true upon any extraordinary Debate in the House of Lords 't is customary with the Kings of England to assist at the same not to argue upon it or to influence the House one way or other but only to hear the Arguments of the House upon the Matter in Debate But then the King appears without his Crown and Robes and every Peer sits except when he speaks to the House as if the King were not there The House of Lords otherwise called the House of Peers or the Vpper House consists of 189 Members Viz. 163 Temporal Lords whereof 14 Dukes 3 Marquesses
Commissions Deeds and Recognizances which being made up in Rolls of Parchment gave Occasion for that Name From whence the verâ— House where the same are Kept is also called 〈◊〉 Rolls which being founded at first for the converted Jews was after their Expulsion out of England annext for ever to the Office of Master of the Rolls Here are kept all the Rolls since the beginning of Richard the Third's Reign and the former Rolls in the Tower In this House the Master of the Rolls may Jure Offâ—cii and by vertue of a Commission hear Causes with two Masters and without the Chancellour He has in his Gift those considerable Offices of the Six Clerks in Chancery the Examiners Offices three Clerks of the Petty-bag and the six Clerks of the Rolls Chappel where the Rolls are kept In Parliament-time when he sits in the House of Lords he sits upon the Second Woolsack next to the Lord Chief Justice of Engand Next in degree to the Twelve Masters in Chancery are the Six Clerks aforesaid who keep their several Offices at a Place called the Six Clerks Office in Chancery-Lane and constantly Keep Commons together in Term-time Their Business is for the English part of this Court to inroll Commissions Pardons Patents Warrants c. that are passed the Great Seal They are also Attorneys for Plaintiffs and Defendants in Causes depending in this Court Under these are Sixty other Clerks viz. ten to each amongst which some get four or five hundred Pounds a Year and some more These also have their Under-Clerks who dispatch with them the Business of this Office For the Latine Part there is the Cursitors Office Kept near Lincolns Inn. Of these there are 24 whereof one Principal and two Assistants Their Business is to make out Original Writs for which purpose each of them has certain Counties and Cities allotted to him into which he makes out such Original Writs as are required These Clerks are a Corporation of themselves who execute their Offices by themselves or Deputies There are several Officers besides belonging to the Chancery As the Clerk of the Crown Who either by himself or Deputy is continually to attend the Lord Chancellour or Lord Keeper for special Marters of State and has a Place in the House of Lords He makes all Commissions of Peace of Oyer and Terminer Goal-Delivery and upon the Death or Removal of any Members of Parliament sitting makes all Writs for New Elections There is also a Protonotary whose Office is chiefly to dispatch Commissions for Embassies A Register of the Court of Chancery and two Registers for the Rolls The Clerk of the Hamper or Hanaper Who receives all the Mony due to the King for the Seals of Charters Patents Commissions and Writs In Term-time and at all times of Sealing he attends the Chancery-Court with all Sealed Charters Patents c. put up in Leathern Bags Instead of which Hampers were probably used in our Fore-fathers time and the Clerk called from thence Clerk of the Hamper Those Bags are delivered by the Clerk to the Comptroller of the Hamper Three Clerks of the Petty-Bag whose Office is to make all Patents for Customers Comptrollers all Conge d'Eslires first Summons of Nobility Clergy Knights Citizens and Burgesses to Parliament c. The six Clerks of the Rolls Chappel which togetheâ— with the Clerks of the Petty-bag are under the Master of the Rolls And so are the Two Eâ—â—caminers whose Office is to examine the Witnesses on their Oaths in any Suit on both sides A Clerk of the Patents another of the Reports and a Clerk or Secretary of the Presentation of Spiritual Benefices There is besides a Subpoena Office to issue out Writs or Summons for Persons to appear in Chancery Another Office for filing all Affidavits in the Court of Chancery Besides the Alienation Office to which are carried all Writs of Covenant and Entry whereupon Fines are levied and Recoveries suffered to have Fines for Alienation set and paid thereupon This Office is executed by 3 Commissioners who set those Fines The Warden of the Fleet or Keeper of the Fleet-Prison is a considerable Office His Business is to take care of the Prisoners there who are commonly such as are sent thither from this Court for Contempt to the King or his Laws though there are others upon the Account of Debts c. There is also a Sergeant at Arms whose Office is to bear a gilt Mace before the Lord Chancellour or Keeper Lastly whereas other Courts of Justice are never open but in Term-time this is at all times open For if a Man be wrongfully Imprisoned in the Vacation the Lord Chancellour may grant a Habeas Corpus and do him Justice according to Law as well in Vacation as in Term-time Which is not in the Power either of the King's Bench or Common-Pleas to do in the Vacation This Court likewise may grant Prohibitions at any time either in Term or Vacation CHAP. IV. Of the Court of Kings Bench. THis Court is called the Kings Bench because in it are handled all Pleas of the Crown as all manner of Treasons Felonies Misprision of Treason c. But it has Power besides to examine and correct all Errours in fait and in Law of all the Judges and Justices of the Realm in their Judgements and Proceeding in Courts of Record and this not only in Pleas of the Crown but in all Pleas real personal and mixt the Court of Exchequer excepted This Court has also Power to correct other Errours and Misdemeanors extrajudicial tending to the Breach of the Peace or Oppression of the Subject It grants Prohibitions to Courts Temporal and Ecclesiastical to Keep them within their proper Jurisdiction and may bail any Person for any Offence whatsoever If a Freeman in City Borough or Town Corporate be Disfranchised unjustly this Court may relieve the Party although he has no Priviledge in it This Court moreover has power to hold Plea by Bill for Debt Detinue Covenant Promise and all other personal Actions against any that is in the Marshals Custody or any Officer Minister or Clerk of the Court. For if they should be sued in any other Court they would be allowed the Priviledge of this in respect of their necessary Attendance here and lest there should be a failure of Justice they shall be Impleaded here by Bill though these Actions be common Pleas. Likewise the Officers Ministers and Clerks of this Court priviledged by Law may Implead others by Bill here in the foresaid Actions In short the Jurisdiction of this Court is general and extends all over England 'T is more uncontrolable than any other Court because the Law presumes the King to be there in person For anciently the Kings of England sat sometimes in this Court and that on a high Bench his Judges at his Feet on a low Bench. From whence some think this Court came to be called the King's Bench. However the Judicature always belonged to the Judges and in the King's