p. 20. g Athen. Oxon. p. 319. a Dr. Patrick's Supplement to History of Peterburg p. 337. Rochester b Angl. Sac. vol. 1. p. 329. c Vid. H. Spelman Gols in voce Excommunicatio a Iid. ibid. voce Ordale apud E. Brown in Append ad Fascic Rerum Expetend c. p. 903. b Orig. juridic passim c Sub hoc Titulo citatur Saepius in Monast. Angl. Salisbury d Bibl. Cott. Otho D. 7. e Vid. Vsserii Antiq. Eccles. Brit. p. 73. a Citat ab H. Wharton in Hist. Episc. London Winchester b Angl. Sac. vol. 1. p. 179. c. c Ath. Oxon. vol. 1. p. 380. Worcester a Vid. Catal. Libb Sept. ad finem Gram. Anglo Sax. p. 169 170 171. 177. b Praefat ad Angl. Sacr. vol. 1. p. 37. c Bibl. Cott. Tiberius A. 13. d J. pits p. 683. a Hist. Nat. Stafford p. 407. b Ath. Oxon. vol. 1. p. 88. c Praef. ad Angl. Sac. vol. 1. p. 52. York a Inter 15 Script p. 703. b Bibl. Cott. Otho D 7. Coll. Ben. Eborac c. a Antiq. Eccles. p. 25. b Titus A. 19. Cleopatra C. 4. Vitellius A. 2. c Claudius A. 3. d Galba E. 9. e Inter Cod. MSS. D. Com. Clarendon f Apud H. Wharton Hist. Episc. Lond. g Monast. Ang. Tom. 2. p. 57. Tom. 3. p. 164. a Vide Praefat. ad Angl. Sacr. vol. 1. p. 52. a Vid. I. Pits p. 142. H. Spelm. Gloss. p. 245. voce Fossa c. b Monast. Angl. Tom. 3. c Th. Fuller's Holy War ch 8. pag. 11. Archbishops of Canterbury a Angl. Sacr. vol. 1. p. 49. a 4 to Lond. 1681. b 8 vo Lond. 1607. c Of the Consecration of Bishops in the Church of England Fol. Lond. 1613. Latine Fol. Ibid. 1625 1646. a Consecration and Succession of Protestant Bishops 8vo Lond. 1664. b 4to Cantabr 1688. c De Praesul p. 223. Archbishops of York a MS. in Bibl. Cott. Ben. b Angl. Sacr. vol. â— p. 445. a Ibid. p. 362 369. b 4to Lond. 1590 c. c Hist. of Reform par 1. p. 8. d Hist. of Hen. 8. p. 78. Bishops a Vid. Chronic. Seriem Cancellar c. Eâ—it a D. Guil. Dugdale a Angl. Sacr. vol. 2. p. 273. b Ibid. p. 299 c. c Ibid. p. 351. d Ibid. p. 420 c. a Ibid. p. 457. Praefat. p. 22. b Ibid. p. 325. a MS. in Coll Novo Oxon. b Angl. Sac. vol. 2. p. 355. c 4to Lond. 1597. Oxon. 1690. a Vid. Ath. Oxon. vol. 1. p. 251. b Praef. ad Angl. Sac. vol. 1. p. 19. c Angl. Sacr. vol. 2. p. 359. a 4to Oxon. 1602. Lond. 1681. inter Collect D. Bates a Joh. Pits p. 803. b Hist. of Cambr. p. 94. 99. c H. Wharton Angl. Sacr. vol. 1. p. 382. d 4to Lond. 1573. e 8vo Lond. 1685. Inferiour Clergy a Bibl. Cott. Tiberius A. 8. b Hist. Antiq. Oxon. lib. 2. p. 34. a 4to Lond. 1628. inter Collect. Dr. Bates a See the Pref. to Tanners Notitia p. 22 23. a Vol. I. De Archiepiscopis Episcopis Ecclesiarum quas Monachi possiderunt a Critic Hist. of N. Test. par 1. p. 20. a In Notis ad Beda Hist. Eccles p. 260. Saxon. b Bibl. Cott. Otho B. 11. After the Conquest a Vid. Hist. Antiq. Oxon. lib. 1. ad ann 1381 1391. lib. 2. p. 61. a See Mr. 〈◊〉 Pref. to his Notitia pag. 8 9. b J. â—itâ— p 393. c Id. pag. 649 8â—1 8â—1 a Bibl. Cott. Cleopatra E. 4. a Hist. Synops. Bibl. Cott. p. 39 40. b T. Tanner in Praefat ad Notit Monast. pag. 5 6 20 21. a 8vo Lond. 1655. Monasticon Anglicanum b Fol. Lond. 1661 1673. a In 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad vol. 1. b Ath. Oxon vol. 2. p. a Ath. Oxon. vol. 2. p. 700. b Fol. Lond. 1693. See Mr. Tanner's Praef. p. 7 8. T. Tanner a 8vo Oxon. 1695. a D. Smith in Hist. Synops. Bibl. Cott. p. 38. Benedictines b Reynerâ— Apostolat Bened. p. 11. a J. Pits p. 552. b 8vo Rem 1619. c Vid. Vss. rij Hist. Eccles. Brit. p. 216. a Ath. Oxon. vol. 1. p. 415. C. Reyner b Fol. Duac 1626. c W. Semner Antiq. Canterb. p. 153. d Hist. Spnops Synops. Bibl. Cott p. 38. a Ath. Oxon. vol. 1. p. 515. vol. 2. p. 388. b Ibid. vol. 1. p. 473. Cistercians a V. J. Pits p. 297. a Cent. 3. cap. 81. b Vid. Monast. Angl. Tom. 1. p. 854. b. Canons of S. Augustine a J. Pits p. 492. b Id. p. 672. Mendicants c MS. in Bibl. Dec. Capit. Ebor. alibi d pag. 442. a Inter Opera ejus Tom. 1. Duac 1665. b Vid. Hist. Antiq. Oxon. lib. 1. p. 68. 71 c. Carmelites c J. Pits p. 493. a Id. p. 662. b Id. p. 686. c Mr. Tanner says he has seen his Collections for such a purpose a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad Monast. Angl. in fine a Vid. J. Caii de Antiq. Cantab. lib. 1. in princip b Hist. Antiq. Oxon. lib. 1. p. 3. Both the Vniversities a Id. ibid. lib. 2. pag. 77. b J. Pits pag. 743 744. c Comment in Cyg Cant. voce Granta Vid. ibid. voc Isidis vadum d Tho Key Assert Antiq Oxon. p. m. 5. a John Caii De Antiq. Cantab. lib. 1. b Pits p. 817. c Fuller's Hist. of Cambr. p. 15. a Vid. Hist. Antiq. Oxon. Lib. 2. p. 386 390. Lib. 1. p. 83. b Fol. Lond. 1632. c Hist. Ox. lib. 1. p. 42. a Bibl. Cott. Faustina C. 7. b Vid. Hist. Antiq. Oxon. lib. 1. p. 203 alibi c In princip Assert Antiq. Oxon. Thomas Key Hist. Oxon. lib. 1. p. 4. c. a Comment in Cygn Cant. voc Isidis vadum b J. Pits p. 683. a See his Apolog. lib. 2. §. 144. b 8vo Lond. 1568. 4to Ibid. 1574. a Ath. Oxon. vol. 1. p. 137. b Ibid. p. 293. c 8vo Hanov. 1605. a 4to Oxon. 1607. 8vo Ibid. Saepius b 4to Oxon. 1608. c T. Fuler's Hist of Cambr. p. 14. a Hist. Antiq. Oxon. lib. 2. p. 241. b 8vo Oxon. 1608. c 8vo Rome 1602. d Vid. Ath. Oxon. vol. 1. p. 498. a 4to Oxon 1668. b 4to Oxon. 1665. Lond. 1675. a Fol. Oxon. 1674. a Bp. Barlow's Rem p. 181 183 184. b Athen. Oxon. vol. 2. p. 605. c Ibid. p. 28. Cambridge a Vid. Joh. Caii Antiq. Cantab. lib. 1. p. 〈…〉 b Comment ad Cygn Cant. voce Granta c Hist. et Antiq. Oxon. lib. 2. p. 390. a J. Pits p. 635. b Antiq Eccles. Brit. p. 69 112 268. c Hist. et Antiq. Oxon. lib. 1. p. 36. a Hist. of Cambr. p. 65. 66. b Comment in Cygn Cant. voce Granâ—a a J. Pits p. 756. Fuller's Worthies p. 275. 276. in Norwich b 8vo Lond. 1568. 4to Ibid. 1574. c Edit 1586. a Bibl. Cott. Fâ—ustina C. 3. b 8vo Lond. 1568. c Impress Cantabr per Thâ—m Thomasium a 4to Lond. 1641. Vid. Hist. Oxon. lib. 1. p. 30. b Fol. Lond. 1655. c Cent. 7. lib. 2. ad An. 631. d Hist. Antiq. Oxon. lib. 1. p. 35 36 c. e Citat a Tho. Fuller in Hist. Cantab. p. 31 c. a Ibid. p. 139. And in his Worthies frequently Writers J. Boston a J. Pits p. 593. a T. Gale in Praesat ad 15. Script p. 1. b Th. Fuller's Worthies p. 166. in Lancaâ— Vide etiam ipsum Vsher. de Script Vernac p. 124. c Hist. Antiq Oxon. vol. 1. p. 58. d Vid. J. Pits p. 603. e Bale Edit Wesal fol. 185. J. Leland a J. Pits p. 743. b Vid. Ath. Oxon. vol. 1. p. 69. J. Bale a Cent 8. cap. 100. b Puller's Worthies p. 60. 61. in Suffolk c 4 to Ipsw Wesal 1549. d Fol. Basil. 1559. a H. Wharton in Praefat. ad Angl. Sac. vol. 1. p. 31. 47. b H. Spelm. Concil Tom. 1. p. 210. c 4 to Paris 1619. J. Pits a Athen. Oxon. vol. 1. p. 345 346 c. Hen. Wharton Praefat ad Angl. Sac. vol. 1. p. 15. b Pag. 775. c 4 to Lond. 1573. A. Wood. a Fol. Lond. 1691. 1692. T. Tanner
without his Vouchers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The first that attempted a formal History of our Reformation was Dr. Peter Heylyn who upon the return of Monarchy and Episcopacy publish'd his Book entitl'd Ecclesia Restaurata wherein he pretends to give a punctual account of the rise and progress of that great Work But the first Agitations in Religion as he calls them are very slenderly touch'd his Story beginning at the Year 1537. What he chiefly design'd by it I cannot well apprehend unless 't was to shew K. Charles the Second the Errors and Mistakes of our first Reformers and to direct him how to settle the Church on a better Foundation For he falls foul on all the Princes of those Times without any regard to their good or ill Wishes to the Protestant Interest He represents K. Edward the Sixth as one of ill Principles and Soft and Censures his Mother's Relations with a more than ordinary Freedom He intimates as if the Zwinglian Gospellers would have carri'd all before them had that Prince Liv'd and observes they were far too rife in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's Reformation when many were rais'd to great Preferments who were too much inclin'd to the Platform of Geneva On the other hand Queen Mary's Bloodiness is no where set off in so lively a Paint as where he tells us She admitted of a Consultation for burning the Body of her Father and cutting off the Head of her Sister 'T is a good Rule which a modern Critick gives his Historian That he should have a Regard to his own Birth and not forget the Respect due to the Memory of those Princes that have Govern'd his native Country As this should restrain a Man from exposing the Failures of such Governours in their own Persons so it ought to caution him against making too free with the Frailties of their Kindred and Councellors He concludes with the Act of Establishing the Government of the Church by Archbishops and Bishops in the Eighth Year of Queen Elizabeth whose famous Court of High Commission he calls the Principal Bulwark and Preservative of the Church of England If the Reader desires any further Character of this Writer and his History 't is given him by one who should be best acquainted with it He wrote says he Smoothly and Handsomly His Method and Style are good and his Work was generally more read than any thing that had appear'd before him But either he was very ill inform'd or very much led by his Passions and being wrought on by some Violent Prejudices against some that were concern'd in that Time he delivers many things in such a manner and so strangely that one would think he had been secretly set on to it by those of the Church of Rome Tho' I doubt not but he was a sincere Protestant but violently carri'd away by some particular Conceits In one thing he is not to be excused That he never vouch'd any Authority for what he wrote which is not to be forgiven any who write of Transactions beyond their own Time and deliver new things not known before The most of his Materials I guess were had from the Transcript which AB Laud caus'd to be made of all that related to the Story of the Reformation out of those eight large Volumes of Collections that are still in the Cottonian Library So that upon what Grounds he wrote a great deal of his Book we can only conjecture and many in their Guesses are not apt to be very favourable to him I know endeavours have been used to blunt the Edge of this Censure by one who has done all that a true Friend could do to place the Doctor and his Writings in a better Light But what would that kind Gentleman have said to a sharper Sentence pass'd by another Learn'd Prelate on this Book How would he have resented the telling the World that Dr. Heylin's representing our first Reformers as Fanaticks was an Angry and Scandalous injury to Truth and our Church This I confess is very hard Language but perhaps it may more easily be digested than refused The Defects of the foremention'd Author were abundantly supply'd in the more compleat History of our Reformation by Dr. Burnet the present Bishop of Salisbury whose first Volume was publish'd in the Year 1679. by Secretary Coventry's Order and Dedicated to K. Charles the Second In the Months of December and January in the Year following 1680. The Historian had the Thanks of both Houses of Parliament for what he had already done and was desired to proceed to the finishing of the whole Work which was done accordingly This History gives a punctual Account of all the Affairs of the Reformation from it 's first beginnings in the Reign of Henry the Eighth till it was finally compleated and setled by Queen Elizabeth A. D. 1559. And the whole is penn'd in such a Masculine Style as becomes an Historian and such as is this Author's Property in all his Writings The Collection of Records which he gives in the conclusion of each Volume are good Vouchers of the Truth of all he delivers as such in the Body of his History and are much more perfect than could reasonably be expected after the Pains taken in Q. Maries days to suppress every thing that carry'd the Marks of the Reformation upon it The Work has had so much Justice done it as to meet with a general Acceptance abroad and to be translated into most of the European Languages insomuch that even the most Picquant of the Author's Enemies allow it to have a Reputation firmly and deservedly establish'd Indeed some of the French Writers have cavill'd at it But the most eminent of them Mr. Varillas and Mr. Le Grand have receiv'd due correction from the Author himself It was no wonder to see some Members of the Roman Communion laying out their best endeavours to raise themselves a Name by so glorious a Service to their Church as the disparagement of this Writer and the disgracing his History might justly have been reckon'd But 't was a little unaccountable that the same Rancour should possess Men within the Pale of our Reform'd English Church and such as desired to be looked upon as Zealous maintainers of Her Honour and the Justice and Honesty of her Reformation The first of these was S. Lowth who pretended only to batter the Erastian Tenets in Mr. Hobbes's Leviathan But took occasion in the conclusion of his Book to Censure the Account Dr. Burnet had given of some of Arch-bishop Cranmer's singular Opinions This Gentleman had the confidence to assert That both our Historian and Dr. Stillingfleet had impos'd upon the World in that Particular and had unfaithfully joyn'd together in their endeavours to lessen Episcopal Ordination I am not now concern'd with his Charge against Dr. Stillingfleet who did him the Honour which he ought not to have hoped for to expose his Folly in a
THE ENGLISH Historical Library OR A Short View and Character Of most of the WRITERS Now Extant either in Print or Manuscript Which may be Serviceable to the Undertakers of a General History of this Kingdom By WILLIAM NICOLSON A. M. Arch-Deacon of Carlisle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Lucian de Conscrib Hist. LONDON Printed for Abel Swall and T. Child at the Unicorn in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCXCVI TO THE Most Reverend Father in God JOHN By Divine Providence Lord Arch-Bishop of YORK Primate and Metropolitan of ENGLAND MY LORD INstead of prefixing so great a Name to the following Papers I had thoughts of craving Your Grace's Patronage for some others which more nearly relate to the Affairs of Your own Province But I know not how these have gotten the start and tho' I may for the present have some Reason to vary my Subject I hope I may be allow'd to put those also under Your Protection hereafter I am deeply sensible of my own Insufficiency to perfect what is here begun without such Assistances as Your Grace above all others can best afford me My great distance from Libraries and the narrowness of my Acquaintance with our English Historians will render my best Performances very scanty and imperfect Yet if the Design be approv'd and meet with acceptance abroad I shall not despair of such helps as will rectify all my mistakes and supply the defects of this first Essay To this purpose I now humbly offer it to Your Grace's View and Censure being very ready to acknowledge all your Corrections as so many Particular Obligations and Honours conferr'd upon MY LORD YOUR GRACE's Most dutiful Son and Servant WILL. NICOLSON THE PREFACE A General History of this Kingdom is what our learned Men begin now so sensibly to want and so earnestly to desire that I do not question but Attempts will be made to gratify the prevailing Humour of the Times Though to me I confess the Prospect is a little discouraging Since the due observance of all the Rules which Lucian Father Le Moyne and others have laid down for the carrying on of such a work require so many Accomplishments that I am very much of the Jesuits opinion that their Historian is a Man not yet born nor will be before the year that discovers the perpetual motion and Philosopher's Stone 'T is not enough they tell us that he be what the Incomparable Translatour of Polybius observes of his Author a Soldier a Statesman and a Philosopher but he must be also a Divine a Lawyer an Oratour a Poet and a downright honest Countrey-Gentleman At least he must be plentifully stock'd with Wit or an Universal Disposition and unbounded Spirit that comprehends all that 's Great and Glorious in the several States and Empires of the whole World To these Intellectual Endowments we must add the great Moral one of his being Philalethes a Person of that just Integrity as not to be byass'd by Passion or Interest A Learned Writer has very lately observ'd That Private Affections ought not to accompany works of such a Publick Nature and yet how difficult a Lesson this is to Flesh and Blood himself has fairly shewn us when in the same Page he sticks not to affirm that his late Patron left more Collections of his own hand-writing than perhaps any Man either of this or the last Age ever did write So that for my share I know not where to look for this fine Person this Nonesuch of a Man who alone it seems is qualify'd to write a General History We have lately indeed had Proposals for the speedy publishing of an entire History of this Nation But I extremely suspect the Author when he appears abroad will not be able to stand this Test. The very Title of his Book which promises to bring down our Story from the Flood looks so like a Iest that I cannot but fear that we shall not have Alloy enough to qualify the mighty strain of Poetry that will run thorough the whole Work What Advances might be made this way by Leland Bale or Josceline I know not but I think all three of 'em have discover'd such frailties in themselves and such defects in their writings as are hardly consistent with the being able to finish an Vndertaking of this kind Nor do I at all believe Dr. Gale's great Mr. Selden to have been a Man of Accomplishments sufficient for such a Performance and I fansie the learned Doctor himself will be of my opinion when he has carefully perus'd his Preface to the Decem Scriptores his Spicilegium to Eadmerus and his Janus Anglorum Camden bewails the rashness and folly of his own Attempting such a Matter and seems to acknowledge that 't was Imprudence and want of thought which in his younger daies had led him into the Sare Mr. Milton and Sir William Temple design'd only to write Abridgments of our English Story and therefore they do not expect that what they have drawn up for a View of the Times before the Conquest should be receiv'd as a Complete General History even for so far as it reaches Their beating through these rough and dark ways of the Journey appears to be done in so much haste and affords so slender a Discovery of the road that it looks like the Tale of a Man in a fright one that has been scared with dismal Apprehensions of meeting with most monstrous Sprites and Hobgoblins in the Shades and Night he had pass'd thorough Before therefore I can have any tolerable hopes of seeing a work of this Grandeur carry'd on with success and to the purpose I must hear of its being undertaken by a Clubb of Men of Parts and Learning some whereof are Masters of our ancient Languages and others of the Modern Some vers'd in the Writings of the old Britains Romans Saxons and Danes and others thoroughly acquainted with the Historians since the Conquest some that know the Geography and others the Law of the Realm some that have been bred at Court and others in the Camp c. Nor would I have this Society to consist of such as the Bookseller only should assure me were Persons of these very Characters but I could wish it might be an Engagement mutually and generously enter'd into by Men of Leisure and Fortune as additional Accomplishments over and above all that we have mention'd Or else let me hope to see a College of Historians as Nobly endow'd here as that of the Antiquaries is in Sweden where the President has a yearly Salary allow'd him of six hundred Crowns and each of his Assessors three hundred When these Gentlemen have agreed on and finish'd their several Tasks they ought to be carefully perus'd by every particular Member of the Society as well as by him whose peculiar Province it shall be to inspect and supervise the whole To serve this imaginary Fraternity I have drawn together the following Papers which give the
Historiae Anglicanae which tho' only a very concise Epitome of our History is done with that great Judgment that it deserves a place among the best of our Writers on this Subject There have been some Additions made to this Treatise since the Doctor 's death in 1683. which whatever Relish they may have with some Readers are not to be laid to his Charge Others we hear are now engaged in the bold Work of Compiling General Histories of this Kingdom The most considerable of these are Sir John Marsham and James Tyrrel Esq and if the former writes with the true Spirit of his Father and the other with that of Archbishop Vsher his Grandfather we have good cause to hope for great things from them both There are also many Anonymous Historians whose Books are said to remain in several of our publick and private Libraries which ought to be referr'd to in this Chapter 'T is true the Numbers of these might be lessened if they were veiw'd by proper Persons before their Titles were sent abroad in our Catalogues whereas we are now told of Forty Nameless Authors who upon perusal prove only imperfect Copies of Paris Westminster Hoveden c. A few we are sure are not of this kind but appear to be of good value in themselves tho' of an unknown Authority Such are three Manuscripts of good Esteem in the Library at Lambeth sometimes quoted by Mr Wharton a Fourth referred to by Archbishop Vsher a Fifth and Sixth by Mr. Selden a Seventh now in the Possession of my worthy Friend Mr. Thoresby of Leedes in Yorkshire c. To which we might add a large Scrole of those that bear only the Names of such Monasteries as they were penn'd in But these may happen to be remember'd when we come more particularly to treat of the Registers and Records of those Religious Houses CHAP. VI. Of the Writers of Particular Lives of our Kings since the Conquest THE Historians that have been already mention'd in the foregoing Chapter have usually treated most Copiously of the Reigns of those Princes that rul'd in their own Times and are to be most especially consulted in such Transactions as may be suppos'd to have happen'd within the Compass of their own View and Observation Others have confin'd their Pens to the History of this or the other particular Monarch and from them if not manifestly under some Prejudices and Temptations either to Invective or Panegyrick we may expect the best and most comprehensive Account as far as their Subject carries them Of these I shall give the Reader as full a List as I can following the Succession down to the Union of the two Kingdoms William the First 's Conquest or Acquest of this Kingdom was a Revolution that appear'd so Great and Glorious that 't is a Wonder how we come to have so few Writers of his Story whose Labours have continu'd to this day For 't is plain our English-men have been as backward in paying this Complement to this Memory as they were in acknowledging his Title Among those that have done it William of Poictiers Pictaviensis is the largest and tho' a Foreigner and under some seeming Obligations to the King's Interests has so fairly acquitted himself as to find good Credit with the most of our Historians Archbishop Lanfranc is said to have written his Life also and he is observ'd to have been so well affected towards the English Nation tho' a Lombard himself and to have carry'd so even betwixt their New Governour and them that 't is very probable he would likewise approve himself an unbyass'd Author There 's a short Anonymous History of this Reign publish'd by Silas Taylor in the end of his Treatise of Gavel-kind He guesses the Author was a Monk of Battle-Abbey But I see no cogent Reason in the Tract it self to press such a Perswasion 'T is plain the Writer liv'd in the days of Henry the First and so might be sufficiently inform'd of the Truth of all he relates There was some time in the Library of Sir Kenelm Digby a Manuscript History of the Life and Death of the Conqueror said to have been written by Sir Walter Raleigh but my Informer reckons it amongst some other Pieces which he thinks unduly father'd upon that great Man But above all Sir William Temple has lately given us the most excellent and Judicious Account of this King's Reign and Policy the old Laws he preserv'd and the new ones he enacted his good Conduct and Success in his many Wars both in England and France several Instances of his Clemency and Wisdom c. Upon all which he makes such Reflections as become a Statesman and a Person so conversant in the Management of publick Affairs as that Author is known to have been William the Second was more Unfortunate both in his Life and Death than his Father and has also been so Unhappy as to have none to attempt the preserving his Memory in any special History that I have yet heard of Henry the First tho' he reign'd much longer than his Brother and Founded several Religious Houses in this Realm met with the like Treatment Unless we reckon Walter de Mopez's Book De Nâ—gis Curiâ—lluâ— to be something of that â—ind seeing a great many witty things relating to the History of this King are quoteâ— out of it by Mr. Camden That Author was Arch-deacon of Oxford and a Merry Good Fellow in the Reign of Henry the Second King Stephen's Memoirs were collected by Richard Prior of Hexbam whose Book is like to be preserv'd as long as the most durable of our English Records having had the Honour to make a part of the noble Edition of our Decem Scriptores Mr. Selden quotes another Anonymous Writer of his Life who seems to be a voluminous Author Henry the Second's long Contests with the haughty Archbishop Becket gave occasion to vast Numbers of Writers to engage on both sides So that we have several Pictures drawn of this King who is represented sometimes as a God and elsewhere as a Devil according as the Author favour'd the Court of England or Rome Gilbert Folioth Bishop of London who died before the end of this Reign A. D. 1187. was the earliest Stickler for the King against the Archbishop and wrote smartly in Defence of the Prerogative Royal and against the Papal and Prelatical Usurpations of those Times Will. Stephens or Fitz-Stephens the London Antiquary is said to be another Writer of this King's Life but I suspect the Truth of the Story Stow and others quote him sometimes as writing in the Reign of Henry the Second and that 's enough for Pits to conclude that he wrote his Life Prior Richard of Hexham is brought in for another as is also John Oxfordius Bishop of Norwich This last was sometime Dean of Salisbury and was certainly sent by King Henry to Rome to
14. Thomas Stapleton the Translator of Bede in whose Pair-royal of Thomas's this Gentleman makes as considerable a Figure as either Thomas the Apostle or Thomas Aquinas 15. Laurence Vade or Wade a Benedictine Monk of Canterbury who liv'd and dy'd we know not when or where unless perhaps he be the same Person with 16. An Anonymous Writer of the same Life who appears to have been a Monk of that Church and whose Book is now in Manuscript in the Library at Lambeth 17. Rich. James Nephew to Dr. Tho. James our Bodleyan Library-keeper a very industrious and eminent Antiquary who endeavour'd to overthrow the great Design of the foremention'd Authors in his Decanonizatio Thomae Cantuariensis suorum which with many other MSS. of his Composure is in the Publick Library at Oxford CHAP. IV. Histories of the Reformation and of our Church-Affairs down to the end of Queen Elizabeth's Reign THE first Man that engaged in the History of our Reformation was Mr. John Fox sometime Prebendary of Salisbury who dy'd at London in the Year 1587. His Acts and Monuments were first written in Latin for the Instruction of Foreigners and were so publish'd during his own Exile in the Reign of Queen Mary They afterwards grew into two large English Volumes which have had several Impressions and have at last been publish'd in three with fair Copper-Cuts In behalf of this last Edition the Publishers had well nigh prevail'd with King Charles the Second to revive Queen Elizabeth's Order and AB Parker's Canon for the having a Set of these Volumes in the Common Halls of every Archbishop Bishop Dean Archdeacon c. But that Project fail'd and came to nothing And indeed it would have look'd a little odly to have paid such a respect to the Works of an Author Qui Matri Ecclesiae Anglicanae non per omnia Amicus deprehenditur ut pote qui Puritanis faveret Ritibus Ecclesiae se non Conformem praestiterit The Design of the Author is to discover the Corruptions and Cruelties of the Romish Clergy together with the Sufferings and Constancy of the Reform'd and of the Maintainers of their Doctrins in all Ages of the Church which he has done so throughly that 't is no wonder to find those of the Papal Communion very much gall'd with his Writings Hence the Jesuite Parsons took such Pains to represent him as a Corrupter of Antiquity an impertinent Arguer c. And Nich. Harpsfield treated him as coursely in those six Dialogues of his which were printed beyond Seas in his Friend Alan Cope's Name during their true Author's residing in England It must be confess'd that these Volumes being large and penn'd in haste have some Mistakes in them that are not to be dissembl'd But in the main 't is an Honourable Character that one of the greatest Historians of our Age gives of them That having compared these Acts and Monuments with the Records he had never been able to discover any Errors or Prevarications in them but the utmost Fidelity and Exactness Indeed where his Stories are of a more modern Date and depend on common Reports or such Informations as were sent him from distant parts of the Kingdom the like exactness is not always to be look'd for since the Author 's hasty Zeal against the Papists furnish'd him with a large Stock of Faith and a readiness to avouch any thing that might effectually blacken them and their Religion One unlucky Tale occasion'd a deal of Trouble to a Clergy-man who very innocently reporting from him that one Greenwood had by Perjury taken off a Martyr in Queen Mary's Reign and came afterwards to a shameful End the said Greenwood was it seems present at the Sermon and brought an Action of Scandal against the Preacher However the Judge clear'd him at the Trial as only harmlesly quoting an Author without any malicious intent of slandering his Neighbour Such Slips as these were pretty numerous in some of the first Editions But as many of them as came to the Author's knowledge were rectified by himself and others have been corrected since his Death Several Papists were provok'd to write Counterparts to these Volumes wherein they pretended to set forth the Reformers in as bloody a Dress as Fox had painted Them and to draw up as large Kalendars of their own Martyrs The chief of these were 1. Maurice Chancey by some call'd Chamney and by others Chawney a famous Carthusian Friar in the Monastery of that Order near London who fled upon starting the Question of the King's Supremacy and dy'd in a voluntary Exile A. D. 1581. He wrote a large Account of the Sufferings of Sir Thomas Moor Bishop Fisher and others as also of Eighteen Monks of his own Order This Work bears the Title of Historia aliquot nostri saeculi Martyrum and is falsly subdivided into three several Books by John Pits 2. John Fenn sometime a Civilian of New College in Oxford and afterwards a Member of the University of Lovain who clubb'd with one John Gibbon a Jesuite for such another Martyrology which they publish'd under the Title of Concertatio Ecclesiae Catholicae in Anglia adversus Calvino-Papistas Puritanos This Book was afterwards enlarg'd by John Bridgwater or Aquaepontanus as he stiles himself another Jesuite who having corrected many faulty Particulars and added about a hundred new Martyrs dedicated his Edition to the AB of Triers 3. Thomas Worthington Doctor in Divinity and sometime President of the English College at Doway who dy'd in England A. D. 1626. His Book or Pamphlet for it consists only of Four Sheets bears the Name of Catalogus Martyrum pro Religione Catholica in Anglia occisorum ab Anno 1570. ad Ann. 1612. and is mostly taken out of the Book last mention'd 'T is chiefly valuable upon the Account of a Preliminary Discourse wherein the Author gives the History of our English Seminaries beyond Seas and the Success that has attended several Missions out of them 4. John Musheus sent from Doway into England where he liv'd A. D. 1612. somewhere in his Native County of York He is said to have drawn a Register of the Sufferings of all the Roman-Catholicks in the Northern parts of this Kingdom Nicolas Sanders deserves a peculiar Respect and ought to be consider'd by himself The short of his Story as we have it from his Nephew Pits is this He was born in Surrey Educated at Winchester and New College in Oxford where he was sometime Regius Professor of the Canon-Law He afterwards fled to Rome whence he attended Cardinal Hosius to the Council of Trent as also into Poland Russia c. At last Pope Gregory the 13th sent him as his Nuncio into Ireland where he dy'd about the Year 1580. He was an indefatigable Writer as well as Warrior for the Roman Cause and stuck at nothing that he thought might advance it Amongst
profess'd Enemy he will be sure to read it with a Curb upon his Faith He will critically weigh and examine his Author's Conclusions and Inferences And if he finds those good and logical he will yet suspend his Belief till Matters of Fact are attested by some other indifferent Authority And lastly where Miracles and Revelations are in Vogue and carry a Price he will attentively consider whether the Penman will not be a Gainer by having his Story credited And whether he 's not in hazard of wanting some part of his daily Bread if it miscarries In such a Case a complaisant Respect to the Fashions of a Country may prevail upon a Man to be silent and say nothing but Reason will direct him what to think By these Rules we are to judge of the Lives of those Saints which have been taken notice of in some of the foregoing Chapters as well as of those Religious Persons that are here to follow I mean those good Bishops and other pious Ecclesiasticks of a lower Form of Sanctity and second-rate Merit who though they have not the Honour to come in the Kalendar are acknowledg'd to have done the Church very eminent Services in their several Generations The Lives of these are not very numerous At least they are but a few that have come to my Knowledge In the ancient British and Saxon Churches all that were worth the having their Names register'd by an Ecclesiastical Historian are Saints of some degree or other and are all to be had in the Catholick Almanack where Joseph of Arimathea Venerable Bede Bishop Erkenwald c. who are sometimes Saints and sometimes only Confessors or Reverend old Church-men have the Days of their several Obits assign'd them Having therefore nothing more to write of the Lives of the Holy Men of these Ages I shall take my leave of them with the Observation of a witty Author on some following Times which I think may be as applicable to these One may wonder says he that the World should see most Visions when it was most blind and that that Age most barren in Learning should be most fruitful in Revelations After the Conquest we have several Ecclesiastical Champions that have had a very profound Respect paid them by their Cotemporary Writers and yet could never arrive at a legal Canonization These as many of 'em that is as have had their Lives penn'd by such particular Historiographers as I have heard of were mostly either Archbishops or Bishops To which a third Class of inferiour Clergy-men shall be added to be inlarg'd by those that have better opportunities than I have had of making just and full Enquiries The Archbishops of Canterbury have always presided in the British Church tanquam Papae alterius Orbis and therefore in their Lives well written we may justly expect the most considerable part of our Ecclesiastical History During the Contests betwixt the Crown of England and the Court of Rome it was commonly the mishap of these Primates to side with the latter which brought them sometimes into disgraceful Circumstances with their Sovereigns but made their Memories precious in the esteem of those bigotted Monks to whose Lot it fell to write their Elogies Hence we have already met with Anselm Edmund and Thomas among the Saints and must here mennion such of their Successors as have had particular Pens engag'd in their Service tho' never so much as honour'd with even the diminutive Saintship a Beatification Simon Sudbury who was beheaded by the Rebels in Wat. Tyler's Insurrection is the first that I can meet with of this kind And we have only a Fragment of his Life written by one William Chartham It tells us that 't was prophesy'd such an untimely Death should befal him because when Bishop of London he met some Pilgrims on their way to Canterbury designing to pay their Devotion to St. Thomas's Shrine and advised them to let the Journey alone assuring them Quod illa Indulgentia plenaria quae apud Cantuarios fore sperabatur nullius commodi fuerat vel valoris Such Doctrin as this in his Life-time and the sealing his Loyalty to his Prince with his Blood at his Death ought indeed to be remember'd with Honour That of Henry Chicheley the pious Founder of All-Soul's College in Oxford is written by Arth. Duck and was lately publish'd with some others of the like kind by Dr. Bates John Morton's was written and publish'd by Dr. Budden Principal of New-Inn-Hall who had in this Primate as noble a Subject as any Historian could well treat on He had approv'd himself a most faithful Servant to Henry the Sixth a true Subject to Edward the Fourth and an admirable Counsellor to Henry the Seventh who gain'd the English Sceptre chiefly by his Management and had therefore good Reason to bestow a Crosier upon him Since the Reformation so much of Archbishop Parker's Life as related to his Consecration has been enquir'd into by several worthy Patriots of our Church provok'd to it by the impudent and senseless Fable of the Nags-Head Tavern The first that engag'd in this Controversy was Fran. Wilson who from the Register-books of the Diocess of Canterbury discover'd the Villanies and stop'd the Mouths of those Romanists that had first started this Slander The Dispute was again renew'd a little before the Restoration of King Charles the Second and then our Church's Cause was as happily asserted by Bishop Bramhal afterwards Primate of Ireland In the late Reign the University of Cambridge thought it a proper Season to publish an Account of that whole Procedure from the Original Record in the Library of Bennet College which they order'd to be printed with two excellent Sermons upon the same Subject preach'd by Mr. Edwards a Member of that University Archbishop Whitgift's many sharp Conflicts with the Nonconformists together with the other Occurrences of his Life are recorded by Sir George Paul a Writer much commended by Bishop Godwine The Metropolitical Church of York has had several Prelates whose high Birth and Extraction besides their other personal Endowments has advanc'd them to considerable Posts of Honour and Trust in the State and these will alwayes invite the best Historians of the Age to attempt their Characters Geoffry Plantagenet Natural Son to Henry the Second had great variety of Fortune being promoted by his Brother King Richard the First and driven out of the Kingdom by another of his brethren King John His Story is given us at large by Gyraldus Cambrensis who says he did not think fit to put its Author's Name to it there being belike some of his warm Truths in it which the Times would not bear In the Catalogue of his own Labours he tells us that 't was a Book quod nec in cunabulis aut celsitudine generis nec in Divitiis aut Fortunae blanditiis spes ponenda exemplum praebens Rich. Scroop Brother to the Earl of