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
Piety and Sobriety Wardens of Hospitals Physicians Chirurgeons Schoolmasters and Midwives fall particularly under the Care of their Visitation Of the foresaid 26 Bishops there are two called Archbishops the one of Canterbury and the other of York These have a Superintendency over all the Church of England and in some measure over the other Bishops They have each of them his Province or Jurisdiction but that of Canterbury is much the greater of the two For of 26 Dioceses it takes up 22. Whereof 18 in England viz. Canterbury London Winchester Lincoln Exeter Hereford Salisbury Coventry and Lichfield Bath and Wells Oxford Chichester Ely Norwich Carlisle Worcester Glocâ—ster Bristol Peterborough and four in Wales viz. S. Asaph Landaff Bangor and S. Davids Whereas the Province of York has but four Diocesses York Durham Chester and Carlisle besides that of the Isle of Man Each of these Archbishops is called Primate of England and Metropolitan of his Province Yet the first has some kind of Supereminency over the other and has Power to Summon him to a National Synod Next to the two Archbishops are the Bishops of London Durham and Winchester the Order of the rest being by no other Rule than the Priority of their Consecration The Bishop of London has the Precedency of all the other Bishops not only as being Bishop over the Metropolis of England but as Provincial Dean of Canterbury And upon the Vacancy of the Archiepiscopal See the Bishop of London has been usually translated to that See excepting the Case of Dr. William Sandcroft the present Archbishop of Canterbury who from Dean of Paul's was preferred to this Dignity by King Charles II. The Bishop of Durham has been a Count Palatine six or seven hundred Years The common Seal of his Bishoprick has been of a long time an Armed Knight holding in one hand a Naked Sword and in the other a Church He has also at this day the Earldom of Sadberg annexed long ago to this Bishoprick The Bishop of Winchester was anciently reputed Earl of Southampton and so stiled by Henry VIII in the Statutes of the Honourable Order of the Garter But that Earldom was soon after disposed of The Manner of making a Bishop in England is so solemn that it is not to be pretermitted When a Bishops See becomes vacant first the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral give notice of it to the King as the Patron of all the Bishopricks in England and humbly request his Majesty that He will give them Leave to chuse another Whereupon the King grants them his Conge d'eslire that is Leave to elect and withal does usually recommend unto them whom His Majesty thinks fit Then the Dean summons a Chapter that is the Prebendaries of the Cathedral who either elect the Person recommended by the Kings Letters or shew Cause to the contrary The Election being over it is certified to the Party elected Who does modestly refuse it the first and second time if a third time the same is certified to the King who recommends another When the Election is accepted it is certified to the King and the Archbishop of that Province The King thereupon gives his Royal Assent under the Great Seal of England which is exhibited to the Archbishop of that Province with Command to confirm and consecrate him Then the Archbishop subscribes Fiat Confirmatio and gives Commission under his Episcopal Seal to his Vicar General to perform all the Acts thereunto required Then a Citation comes forth from the said Vicar General in the Name of the Archbishop summoning all the People that have any Thing to object against the Party elected to appear at a certain Time and Place to make their Objections Which is done first by Proclamation three several times at Bow-Church and then the Citation is affixt on the Church door for all people to read At the Day and Place assigned for the Opposers Appearance the Vicar General sitting as Judge the Proctor for the Dean and Chapter exhibits the Royal Assent and the Commission of the Archbishop Which being read and accepted by the Vicar General the Proctor exhibits the Proxy from the Dean and Chapter presents the Bishop elect returns the Citation and desires the Opposers to be called in three times This being done accordingly and none appearing they are pronounced Contumacious and a Decree made to proceed to Sentence in the behalf of the Bishop elect Who thereupon takes the Oaths of Supremacy Simony and Canonical Obedience and then the Judge of the Arches reads and subscribes the Sentence After which there is usually an Entertainment made for the Officers and other there present And the Bishop elect being thus Confirmed may act as Bishop even before he is Consecrated Some time after this follows the Consecration For the Bishops are a distinct Order of themselves there being three Orders in the Church of England Bishops Priests and Deacons And as none may be admitted a Deacon without a Dispensation under the Age of 23 Years nor a Priest under 24 so none can be made a Bishop till he be full 30 Years of age And whereas Priests and Deacons when they take their respective Orders are said to be Ordained a Bishop when he takes the Episcopal Order is said to be Consecrated The Consecration is performed by the Archbishop of the Province or some other Bishop Commissioned by him with the Assistance of two other Bishops either in the Chappel of the Archbishop or of any other Bishop And it is done either upon a Sunday or Holy-day after Morning-Service Then the Archbishop or his Deputy begins the Communion-Service And after a certain Prayer appointed for this Occasion one of the Bishops present reads the Epistle 1 Tim. 3 another the Gospel John 21. Which is followed by the Nicene Creed and next to that a Sermon After Sermon the Bishop elect being vested with his Rochet or Linnen-Garment is by two Bishops presented to the Archbishop or his Deputy sitting in his Chair who demands the King's Mandate for the Consecration and causes it to be read That done the Bishop elect takes the Oath of Supremacy and of Canonical Obedience to the Archbishop After which they fall to Prayers Then the Bishop elect does Answer several Interrogatories that are put to him and after his Answers the rest of the Episcopal Habit is put upon him This done they Kneel down to Prayers again Which being ended the Bishop elect being upon his Knees the Archbishop and Bishops there present lay their Hands on his Head and by a pious grave Form of Words they Consecrate him Afterwards the Archbishop delivers a Bible to the Bishop elect with another set Form of Words Then they all proceed to the Communion and having received the Sacrament they depart with the Blessing Then the new Bishop treats at a spelendid Dinner the chief of the Nobility Clergy Judges Privy Counsellours c. Which Dinner with the Fees of Consecration does usually amount to five or six hundred
each of these Towns Lanceston Liskerd Liskil or Liswithieâ— Truro Bodmin Hâ—lston Saltash Camelford Weâ— and East Lowe Grampond Penrin Tregny Bâ—â—ney S. Ives Fouay S. Germains S. Michaeâ— Newport S. Mawes and Kellington When this County was under the Earls oâ— Cornwal they gave great Immunities and Liâ—erties to those that workt in the Mines And when this Earldom reverted to the Crown in King Edwards Time he gave it to his Son surnamed the Black Prince advancing that Title to that of a Dukedom and erected a Lord Warâ—â—en of the Stanneries to have the Government thereof Since which time the eldest Sons of the Kings of England whether it be by Birth or by the Death of their elder Brothers are ipso facto Dukes of Cornwal as they are Earls of Chester without any Creation being at age to sue their Livery how young soever Of the Isles of Scilly West of Cornwal about 24 miles distant â—ies a Cluster of small Islands called by us the Isles of Scilly by the Dutch Sorlings and by the ancient Greeks Hesperides from their Western Situation Cassiterides from the Tin-Mines they found amongst them They are reckoned to be 145 in Number most of 'em very fruitful in Corn and Pasturage and plentifully stored with Conies Cranes Swans Heâ—ons and other wild Fowl Scilly which communicates its Name to the rest was formerly counted the chief of these â—slands But now S. Maries has got the preâ—minency being about 8 miles in circuit the biggest and most fertile of all having the conveniency of a large and commodious Harbour and fortified with a strong Castle built in the Reign of Q. Elizabeth These Islands after the Romans had forsaken their Holds in Britain returned again into the power and possession of the Natives From whom it was subdued and added to this Crown by Athelstane the eighth King of England and since that time governed as a part of Cornwal CHAP. VII Of Cumberland Derbyshire and Devonshire Cumberland CVMBERLAND is a Maritime County in the North-West Parts of England Bounded on the East by Northumberland and Westmorland on the West by the Irish Sea on the North by Scotland on the South by Westmorland and Lancashire It s Length from North to South is about 5â— miles its Breadth from East to West some thing less than 40. The Whole divided noâ— into Hundreds but Wards five in Number wherein 58 Parishes and 15 Market Towns This Country is generally Mountainous and some of the Hills both very high and steeâ— Those of most note are Skiddaw Haraknot Black coum and Wry-nose On the Top of this last on the high Way-side are placed 3 stones caled the Shire-stones standing within a foot oâ— each other one in this County another iâ— Westmorland and the third in Lancashire As for Rivers and Meres here is abundance â—â— them the principal River known by the Namâ— of Eden Here the Air is pretty sharp and piercing though the Country be something sheltered bâ— the Northern Hills And as hilly as this Country is yet the Hilâ— thereof are not so barren but that they feed great Flocks of Sheep and other Cattel whilst â—ts fruitful Valleys bear good Crops of Corn and its rich Meadows excellent Pasture The Sea and Rivers on the other side strive â—n a manner to furnish it with plenty of Fish and wild Fowl And which is remarkable here they have Muscles that bear a sort of Pearl But besides Rivers here are a great many Meers or Lakes yielding great plenty of Fish but chiefly Vlles Water bordering both upon Cumberland and Westmorland In the Bowels of the Earth not only Coals for Fewel but also Lead and Copper are found in great plenty Of all the Counties in England this shews the most Roman Antiquities The principal of which is the Picts Wall a prodigious Stone-wall built by the Romans for their security against the Incursion of the raging Picts the track whereof in many places is yet to be seen This Wall was 8 foot broad and 12 high reaching cross the Country from Carlisle to Newcastle that is from Sea to Sea at least 80 miles Thus it ascended and descended over great Crags and high Hills with Watch-Towers erected at every thousand Paces in which Souldiers were kept for its Defence At Salkeld on the Eden is a Trophy of Victory erected called by the Inhabitants Long Meg and her Daughters This Monument consists of â—7 Stones each 10 foot above ground and one of them namely Long Meg is 15 foot high Carlisle the chief Place of this County bears from London North-North-West and is distant from it 235 miles thus From London to Buckingham 44 for the particulars of which I refer you to Buckinghamshire to Coventry 30 more from thence to Lichfield 20 to Stoâ— 16 more thence to Warington 32 to â—anâ—â—ster 45 to Kendall 16 more and from thence to Carlisle 32. A City pleasantly seated on the South Bank of the River Eden within few miles of its faâ— into the Sea being watered besides East anâ— West with two lesser Rivers the Pettrel anâ— Canda at their fall into the Eden So that it iâ— in a manner surrounded with three Rivers except towards the South This is a Town oâ— great Antiquity flourishing even in the time oâ— the Romans upon whose Departure it suffered much by the Scots and Picts Afterward being utterly defaced by the Danes it lay dejected for about 200 years till William Rufâ—â— rebuilt it After him Henry the First hiâ— Brother and Successor made it a Bishops See Thus by degrees it recovered it self being now a fine City well inhabited and a Place of good Trade chiefly for Fustians It is begirt with fine Walls fortified with a Castle and Cittadeâ— beautified with a Cathedral of curious Workmanship and dignify'd with the Title of an Earldom at this time injoy'd by the Right Honourable Edward Howard Earl of Carlisle c. Derived to him from his Father Charles Howarâ— created Earl of Carlisle by King Charles II. Anno 1661. And the said Charles Son and Heâ—â— of Sir William Howard was great Grand-chilâ— of the Lord William Howard third Son of Thomas Duke of Norfolk In the Year 1663. hâ— was sent Embassador Extraordinary by the saiâ— King Charles to the Courts of Moscovy Sweden and Denmark And some Years after hâ— was sent again with the same Character tâ— the King of Sweden to whom he carried the Garter The other Market Towns are Egremont Sat. Ravenglas Sat. Keswick Sat. Alston-Moor Sat. Abbey-holm Sat. Cockermouth Mund. Perth Tue. Wigton Tue. Brampton Tue. Bootle Wedn. White-Haven Thu. Ireby Thu. Kirkswald Thu. Longtown Thu. Amongst which Perith or Penrith seated between Eimont a River on the South-side and Lowther another River on the West is counted the second Town of note in this County being large well built and inhabited by Tradesmen but Tanners especially Cockermouth a goodly Town is so called from its Situation on the River Cocker near its fall into the Derwent by which two
Invention worth our taking notice To Insure for example 100 l. upon a Brick-house the Rates are 6 Shillings for one Year 12 for two Years 18 for three Years and double for a Timber-house But if any Insure for four Years there is a Discount allowed for paying down the Mony so that he pays but three Years and a Quarter and proportionably five for seven seven for eleven Years Insurance And as often as the House is Burnt or Demolished by reason of Fire within the Term Insured the Mony Insured on the House is to be paid but if only Damaged then to be Repaired at the Charge of the Office For the security of which Payment the Office has a Fund to the Value of 60000 l. in Ground-Rents of Inheritance which is above 2600 l. per annum to answer Losses and Damages and settled on Twelve Gentlemen Trustees by many of the most eminent Counsel at Law This Ingenious and Usefull Invention was first put into practice about 8 Years since and has deservedly met with good Incouragement insomuch that there are now above 7300 Houses Insured The Office is kept on the Back-side of the Royal-Exchange and at the Rainbow Coffee-house by the Inner-Temple Gate in Fleetstreet Now to put a present stop as far as is possible to any suâ—den Fire there are belonging to the Office a great many stout and lusty Servants in Livery with Badges dwelling in several parts of the City and always to be ready on all Occasions of sudden Fires Who in such Cases do commonly expose themselves to the utmost Hazards and with great Dexterity labour to suppress the Fire There is also another Office of Insuring of Houses called the Friendly Society by a mutual Contribution agreed to by the Trustees That every Member of that Society shall pay yearly at the Office before hand only one shilling four pence for every 100 l. secured upon Timber-houses by way of Praemium By this Office there are likewise a great many Houses secured To conclude the Arms of the City of London are Argent a Cross Gules with the Swerd of St. Paul CHAP. XIX Of OXFORD and CAMBRIDGE FROM the great hurry of Trade in London I come now to the quiet Seats of the Muses the two famous Universities of the Land Oxford and Cambridge Oxford OXFORD or Oxon the principal Place of Oxfordshire which from hence takes its Denomination bears from London West-North-West and is distant therefrom 47 miles thus From London to Vxbridge 15 to Beaconfield 7 more thence to Wickham 5 to Stoken-Church 5 more from thence to Wheatly-Bridge 9 and to Oxford 6 more 'T is finely seated for health for pleasure and plenty at the Influx of the Charwell into the Isis where this divides it self into several Streams wherewith and the Charwell most part of the City is incompassed But for the Conveniency of its Inhabitants here are several Bridges This is so ancient a City as to fetch her Original from the Time of the Britains So large as to contain 13 Parish-Churches besides the Cathedral And so beautifull that whether one looks on the compacted Uniformity of private Houses or the Magnificence of the publick Structures it must be allowed to be a fair and goodly City Besides the Glory of being a most famous University it is honoured with a Bishops See founded by King Henry VIII Anno 1541. and has been dignify'd above 500 years successively with the Title of an Earldom in twenty of the noble Family of the Veres The first that injoyed it was Aubrey de Vere created Earl of Oxford by Henry II. Anno 1155. In whose Line it continues to this day in the person of the Right Honourable Aubrey de Vere the present Earl of Oxford As it is an University this may be said oâ— it in general without immodesty and 〈◊〉 hope without dislike or envy That for thâ— stateliness of the Schools and publick Library the bravery and beauty of particular Coledges all built of fair and polished Stone the liberal Indowments of those Houses and notable Incouragements of Industrâ— and Learning in the Salary of the Professoâ— in most Arts and Sciences it is not to 〈◊〉 parallelled in the Christian World and for thâ— Number of Students and the well ordering of them by good Laws and Ordinances not to be equalled by any but her Sister Cambidge That Oxford has been for many Ages a Place of publick Studies is a Thing past all doubt But it is true withal that there has been a Time of Decay when this City sharing with the rest of the Land in those common Calamities brought by the Saxons and Danes the Muses were dispersed and shifted for themselves Alfred the learned Saron King of England was he that recalled them who having intirely subjected the irksom Danes to his Government made it his business to restore this University and repair the Ruins thereof And the better to invite Students to Oxford he sent thither his Son Ethelward which drâ—â—â— the young Nobles from all Parts to Oxford This came to pass about the latter end of the ninth Century Then Oxford began to flourish again and by degrees to grow to what it is But as now in Leyden and many other forein Universities so anciently in Oxford the Students lived in Citizens Houses having only Meeting Places to hear Lectures and Disputations and that without any distinction of Habit. After that there were divers Houses now called Halls for Students only to live together in Society as now the Inns of Court and of Chancery at London Amongst which some afterwards Indowed by the bounty of divers Patrons of Learning who thought best to settle for ever plentitiful Revenues in Lands and Houses in order to maintain such Students as by merit and worth should from time to time be chosen and to settle large Salaries for Professors to inftruct 'em and for a Head to govern them according to certain Statutes and Ordinances made by the said Patrons or Founders And these are the Colledges whereof the first thus Indowed in Europe were Vniversity Baliol and Merton Colledges In short there are in Oxford 18 of such Indowed Colledges and 7 Halls In which Halls the Students live with the same Discipline as those in the Colledges but upon their own Means except certain Exhibitions or annual Pensions annext to one or two of them The Names of the Colledges and their Founders together with the Time of their Foundation you have in the following Table Colledges Founded by Anno Vniversity King Alfred 872. Baliol Jo. Balâ—ol Knight and Deb. his Wife 1263. Merton Walter de Merton Clerk 1267. Exeter Wa'ter Stapleton Earl of Exeter 1316. Oriel King Edward II. 1324. Queens Robert Eaglesfield Clerk 1340. New Colledge William of Wickham Bishop of Winton 1349. Lincoln Richard Fleming Bishop of London 1427. All Souls Henry Chichley Archbishop of Canterbury 1438. Magdalen William of Wainfleet Bishop of Winchester 1458 â—azen Nose Wil. Smith Bishop of Lincoln and Sir Richard Sutton
to speak the Terms of Art in our own Language A Thing Judged impossible till we saw it performed What matchless and incomparable Pieces have we seen in our Time and where shall one see more sense in so few Words What Poetry has more Majesty and bears a greater sense than the English when it flows from a true Poet In point of Sweetness whereas the Italian swarms with Vowels and the Dutch with Consonants the English has the Advantage of them both in a happy Mixture 'T is true the Italian is an excellent Princely and pleasant Language but it wants Sinews and passes as silent Water The French is truly delicate but something too nice and affected the Spanish Majestical but terrible and boisterous the Dutch manly but harsh Now the English is both sweet and manly 'T is true there are in it some particular sounds unknown to the French Tongue which are indeed something harsh and uncouth in the mouth of a French Learner and yet very smooth when they run in their proper and natural Channel Viz. i long as in Vice ou and ow in Cloud Vow o and i as in God Lord bird and shirt pronounced with a mixt sound of the French o and a. But those which puzzle most of all the French Learner are the found of g before e and i and which is the same Thing of j Consonant before any Vowel as in ginger jack jest jil jog and jug of ch as in Chamber but chiefly of th called a t aspirate as in thanks thief thorough thunder c. In short such is the mixture of the English that one may frame his Speech majestical pleasant delicate or manly according to the Subject Of all which Advantages inherent to the English Tongue Foreiners are at last become very sensible For whereas they used to slight it as an Insular Speech not worth their taking notice they are at present great Admirers of it What remains is to answer the usual Objections against it whereby some People pretend to degrade it from the Worth of a Language viz. its Mixture and Mutability Mixture a Thing so very natural to Languages that none but the Hebrew if that is free from it The Latine it self had a great Mixture of Greek and Gothish The French consists of Latine Dutch and old Gallick The Spanish of Latine Gothish and Morisco And the German it self as Original as it is pretended to be has a taste of the Roman Empire and the bordering Neighbours As for its Mutability 't is at least as groundless an Objection For 't is well known that Languages as States have their Infancy and Age their Wax and Wane But now the English Tongue is come to so great Perfection now 't is grown so very Copious and Significant by the accession of the quintessence and life of other Tongues 't were to be wished that a stop were put to this unbounded Way of Naturalizing forein Words and that none hereafter should be admitted but with Judgement and Authority For the Truth is there is as much in it as is needful and as much as the English Soil is well able to bear I conclude according to the Title of this Chapter with an Account of the most famous Men of this Nation either for Souldiery or Learning extracted from Dr. Heylin's Cosmography Which will serve as a further Confutation of our Hypercritick Scaliger and other French conceited Authors since his Time who valuing no Nation but their own made it their Business to decry the English But I shall do it with my Author's Caution that is without mentioning the late great Men this Nation has bred that I may give no ground for Invidiousness The most valorous Souldiers of this Country when possessed by the Britains were Cassibelane who twice repulsed the Roman Legions though conducted by Caesar himself and had not a Party here at home been formed against him 't is like he had been still too hard for the Romans Prasutagus King of the Iceni Constantine the Great the first Christian Emperour Arthur One of the Worlds Nine Worthies In the Times of the Saxons Egbert the last King of the West-Saxons and the first of England Alfred his Grandson who totally united the Saxon Heptarchy into one Estate and subjected the Danes to his Commands though he could not expel them Edmund surnamed Ironside Guy Earl of Warwick After the Normans came in Richard and Edward the First so renowned in the Wars of the Holy Land Edward III and his Son Edward the black Prince duo Fulmina Belli famous in the Wars of France Henry V and John Duke of Bedford his Brother Montacute Earl of Salisbury Sir John Falstaff and Sir John Hawkwood who shewed their Valour both in France and Italy Hawkins Willoughby Burroughs Jenkinson Drake Frobisher Cavendish and Greenvile all famous Sea-Captains Scholars of most note Alcuinus one of the Founders of the University of Paris Beda who for his Piety and Learning obtained the Attribute of Venerabilis Anselm and Bradwardin Archbishops of Canterbury Men famous for the Times they lived in Alexander of Hales Tutor to Thomas Aquinas Bonaventure Wicleff and Thomas of Walden his Antagonist the first Parson of Lutterworth in the County of Leicester who valiantly opposed the Power and Errours of the Church of Rome And since the Reformation John Jewel Bishop of Salisbury to whose learned and industrions Labours in defence of the Religion here established by Law we are still beholden Dr. John Raynolds and Mr. Richard Hooker the first a Man of infinite Reading the second of as strong a Judgement Dr. Whitaker of Cambridge the Antagonist of the famous Bellarmine Dr. Tho. Bilson and Dr. Lancelot Andrews both Bishops of Winchester the Ornaments of their several Times Bishop Montague of Norwich a great Philologer and Divine Dr. John Whitgift and Dr. William Laud Archbishops of Canterbury But I cannot pass by the remarkable Story of the foresaid Dr. John Raynolds and William his Brother William was at first a Protestant of the Church of England and John trained up beyond Sea in Popery The first out of an honest Zeal to reduce his Brother made a Journey to him and they had a Conference Where it so fell out that each was overcome with his Brothers Arguments so that William of a Zealous Protestant became a virulent Papist and John of a strong Papist a most rigid Protestant A strange Accident and a rare subject for this excellent Epigram made upon it by Dr. Alabaster who had tried both Religions Bella inter geminos plusquam Civilia Fratres Traxerat ambiguus Religionis Apex Ille Reformatae Fidei pro partibus instat Iste Reformandam denegat esse Fidem Propositis Causae Rationibus alter utrinque Concurrere pares cecidere pares Quod fuit in Votis Fratrem capit alter-uterque Quod fuit in Fatis perdit uterque Fidem Captivi gemini sine Captivante fuerunt Et Victor Victi transfuga Castra petit Quod genus hoc
Democracy for ever all the World know's No Stone was left unturned and what came of it As soon as ever Opportunity served the very Presbyterians themselves joyned with the Royalists to bring in the exiled King and re-establish the ancient Government So soon the Nation grew sick of the Commonwealth and so strong was then the Current for Monarchy that without the shedding of a drop of Bloud the first was in a manner hissed out of the Nation and Monarchy restored with the greatest Pomp and Joy imaginable I set aside the Zeal of our English Clergy for Monarchy and their Influence upon the Laity The great Number alone of our Nobility and Gentry with their proportionable Ascendent upon the People makes me look upon it as a moral Impossibility for Commonwealth-Government ever to prevail here 'T is well known the Genius of Commonwealths is for keeping down the Nobility and extinguishing all those Beams of Royalty Therefore as 't is their Interest so I suppose it will be their Care to stick to Monarchy CHAP. VII Of the KING of ENGLAND And first of his Dominions Titles Arms his Ensigns of Royalty and Marks of Sovereignty THE King of England is otherwise called King of Great-Britain as being the sole Sovereign and supreme Head of this great and famous Island containing the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland besides the Principality of Wales Which Principality was first united by Conquest to the Crown of England Anno 1282 by King Edward I. Who overcame and slew in Battel Llewellen the last Sovereign Prince of Wales of the Race of Cadwallader the last King of the Britains After the Conquest thereof he took all the provident Care imaginable to secure it to the Crown but the Welsh seldom contained themselves within the bounds of true Allegiance till the Reign of Henry VII who was extracted from the Welsh Bloud In whose Successor's Reign Henry VIII they were made by Act of Parliament one Nation with the English subject to the same Laws capable of the same Preferments priviledged with the same Immunities and inabled to send Knights and Burgesses to the English Parliament So that the Name and Language only excepted there is now no Difference between the English and Welsh A very happy Union Scotland was also brought into Subjection by the same King Edward so that he received Homage of its King and Nobility and had there his Chancery and other Courts under a Viceroy But with much strugling they recovered at last their Liberty and set up a King of their own Robert Bruce who had the luck to be confirmed in it by the Defeat given to Edward II one of our unfortunate Kings 'T is true his Son King Edward III a most virtuous and valorous Prince changed the face of Affairs in Scotland and brought again the Scots to Obedience Insomuch that he excluded David the Son of Robert Bruce from the Crown then forced to fly into France and restored the House of Baliol to the Kingdom in the person of Edward Son of King John Baliol. Who upon his coming to the Crown did Homage to this King Edward as his Father had done to King Edward I. But 't was not long before the Scots quitted again their Subjection and Vassalage to the Crown of England the Roll of Ragman being treacherously delivered into their hands by Roger Mortimer Earl of March Which Roll contained a Confession and Acknowledgement of the Estates of Scotland subscribed by all their Hands and Seals whereby they owned the Superiority of the Kings of England not only in regard of such Advantages as the Sword had given them but as of their original and undoubted Right But setting aside this point of Vassalage the Kings of England are Kings of Scotland by a better Title For King James VI of Scotland and the first of England succeeded Q. Elizabeth in the Realm of England as the next Heir to the Crown Anno 1602 being descended by Mary Queen of the Scots his Mother from Margaret the eldest Daughter of Henry the VII King of England and Wife to James IV of Scotland And here the Wisdom and prudent Foresight of Henry is very remarkable Who having two Daughters bestowed the Eldest contrary to the Mind of his Council on the King of Scots and the younger on the French King that if his own Issue Male should fail as it did by the Death of his Grandson King Edward VI and that a Prince of another Nation must inherit England then Scotland as the lesser Kingdom should depend upon England and not England wait on France as upon the greater In which Succession of the Scots to the Crown of England the Prophecy of the fatal Stone received accomplishment I mean the Stone which the Scots lookt upon as their Palladium kept at Scone in Scotland the usual Place for the Coronation of the Scotish Kings upon which they received their Crown till the Removal of it unto Westminster by King Edward I. The Verses of old ingraven upon this Stone run thus Non fallat Fatum Scoti quocunque locatum Invenient Lapidem regnare tenentur ibidem Translated in old Meeter thus The Scots shall brook that Realm as natif Ground If Weirds fail not where ere this Stone is found Thus the Scots so often quelled and curbed by the English never subdued England but by this blessed Victory Ever since this happy Union Scotland has been deprived of its Kings Residence there who changed the worse Seat for the better But under the King there is a chief Governour appointed by his Majesty the Lord High Commissioner of Scotland who by that Title injoys the ordinary Power and Authority of a Viceroy In this manner Scotland has continued to this day a separate Kingdom governed by its own Laws 'T is true there have been several Attempts made to unite it into one Kingdom with England as Wales was by Henry VIII But hitherto they proved unsuccesfull So far we have cleared in few Words by History the whole Isle of Great Britain to the King of England with the numerous Islands about it the principal of which are the Isles of Shepey Thanet Wight Anglesey and Man The next that offers it self is the Kingdom of Ireland a great Part whereof was Conquered by the English about the Year 1172. in the Reign of Henry II and the Occasion thus Ireland being then divided amongst several â—petty Kings the King of Leinster was by the King of Meath driven out of his Kindom He fled to England for Refuge where applying himself to King Henry Henry resolved to attempt his Restauration which he did effectually and in the doing of it brought the best part of the Island under the English Subjection King John the Younger Son of Henry was the first who was Intituled Lord of Ireland Which Stile was granted him by Pope Urban III and continued to his Successors though in effect Kings thereof till the Year 1542 when Henry VIII was declared in an Irish Parliament King of
eldest Sons Marquesses younger Sons Barons Vicounts eldest Sons Earls younger Sons Barons eldest Sons Vicounts younger Sons Barons younger Sons But 't is to be observed that all Dukes that are not Princes of the Bloud are preceded by these four Great Officers of the Crown though they be but Barons viz. the Lord Chancellour the Lord Treasurer the Lord President of the Privy Council and the Lord Privy Seal I leave out the Lord High Steward of England because none of this Office is continued beyond the present Occasion As for the Lord Great Chamberlain of England the Lord High Constable the Lord Marshal the Lord High Admiral the Lord Steward of the King's Houshold and the Lord Chamberlain of the King's Houshold they sit above all of their Degree only The Nobility of England have at all times injoyed many considerable Priviledges Though neither Civil nor Common Law allow any Testimony to be valid but what is given upon Oath yet the Testimony of a Peer of England given in upon his Honour without any oath is esteemed valid And whereas the law allows any one of the Commonalty arraigned for Treason or Felony to challenge 35 of his Jury without shewing Cause and others by shewing Cause a Peer of the Realm cannot challenge any of his Jury or put any of them to their Oath the Law presuming that they being Peers of the Realm and judging upon their Honour cannot be guilty of Falshood Favour or Malice In Criminal Causes a Peer cannot be tried but by a Jury of the Peers of the Realm who are not as other Juries to be put to their Oath but their Verdict given in upon their Honour sufficeth All Peers of the Realm being lookt upon as the King 's constant Counsellors their Persons are at all Times priviledged from Arrests except in Criminal Cases Therefore a Peer cannot be Outlawed in any Civil Action and no Attachment lies against him The only Way for satisfaction from a Peer is by Execution taken forth upon his Lands and Goods and not by Attachment or Imprisonment of his Person So tender is the Law of the Honour Credit Reputation and Persons of Noblemen that there is a Statute on purpose called Scandalum Magnatum to punish all such as by false Reports â—ring any scandal upon them They are exempted from all Attendance at Leets or Sheriffs Turns where others are obliged to take the Oath of Allegiance And whereas for the suppressing of Riots the Sheriff may raise the Posse Comitatus yet he cannot command any Peer of the Realm to attend that Service In Civil Causes they are not to be Impanelled upon any Jury or Inquest de facto though in a Matter between two Peers and if a Peer be returned upon any such Jury there lies a special Writ for his Discharge They are upon no Case to be bound to their good Behaviour or put to swear they will not break the Peace but only to promise it upon their Honour which was ever counted so sacred as upon no terms to be violated Every Peer of the Realm summoned to Parliament may constitute in his lawful absence a Proxy to Vote for him which none of the Commons may do And any Peer in a Place of Trust is free to make a Deputy to act in his absence whilst he attends the Person of the King Where a Peer of the Realm is Defendant no Day of Grace is to be granted to the Plaintiff the Law presuming that a Peer of the Realm must always be ready to attend the Person of the King and the Service of the Commonwealth Therefore he ought not to be delayed any longer than the ordinary Use of the Court but tâ— have expedition of Justice In any Civil Trial where a Peer of the Realâ— is Plaintiff or Defendant there must be at leasâ— one Knight returned of the Jury Otherwisâ— the Array may be quashed by Challenge In all Cases wherein the Priviledge of the Clergy is allowed to other Men and in divers Cases where that Priviledge is taken away from them a Peer of the Realm upon his Request shall be for the first time adjudged as a Clerk Convict though he cannot read And that without burning in the Hand loss of Inheritance or Corruption of Bloud In case of Amerciaments of the Peers of the Realm upon Non-Suits or other Judgments a Duke is to be amerced but Ten Pounds and all others under Five This to be done by their Peers according to Magna Charta though it has been often done of late by the King's Justices A Peer of the Realm being sent for by the King to Court Parliament Council or Chancery has the Priviledge passing by the King's Park or Forest both coming and returning to Kill one or two Deer An Earl has 8 Tun of Wine Custom-free and the rest proportionably All Peers of the Realm have a Priviledge of Qualifying a certain Number of Chaplains to hold Plurality of Benefices with Cure of Souls But it must be with a Dispensation first obtained from the Archbishop and the same ratified under the Great Seal of England Thus a Duke may qualify six Chaplains a Marquess and Earl five a Viscount four and a Baron â—hree A Peer of the Realm has also the Priviledge â—f Retaining six Aliens whereas another may â—ot Retain above four These are the chief Priviledges belonging to â—e Nobility of England which are great and â—onsiderable And yet none of them ever had the Priviledge of the Grandees of Spain to be covered in the King's Presence except Henry Ratcliff Earl of Surrey 'T is true the Princes of the Bloud have often had the honour of being covered but then it was by the King 's gracious Command not by virtue of any constant Priviledge Neither are our Noblemen exempted as in France from Tailles and Contributions but always bear a share proportionable And in case of a Poll-Act they are usually thus Rated according to their several Degrees of Honour Viz. Â l. s. d. A Duke 50 00 00 A Marquess 40 00 00 An Earl 30 00 00 A Viscount 25 00 00 A Baron 20 00 00 Those of their Sons which have attained to 16 Years of Age are thus taxed As. Â l. s. d. The Eldest Son of A Duke 30 00 00 The Eldest Son of A Marquess 25 00 00 The Eldest Son of An Earl 20 00 00 The Eldest Son of A Viscount 17 00 00 The Eldest Son of A Baron 15 00 00 A Younger Son of A Duke 25 00 00 A Younger Son of A Marquess 20 00 00 A Younger Son of An Earl 15 00 00 A Younger Son of A Viscount 13 06 00 A Younger Son of A Baron 12 00 00 The Nobles to bear up their Rank have generally great and plentiful Estates some of them beyond those of several Princes beyond Sea And till the Civil Wars in the Reign of Charles I. they lived with suitable splendour and Magnisicence Keeping a plentiful Table and a numerous Attendance with several Officers delighting in
not to be made up by new Creations but be suffered to diminish as appears by their Patent And yet the very Founder King James I transgressed the first his Rule by creating 203. Charles his next Successor made 455. But King Charles II outdid them both by creating near upon 900 during his Reign At this time there are reckoned above 700 living Sir Nicholas Bacon of Suffolk was the first Baronet created whose Successor is therefore stiled Primus Baronettorum Angliae No Honour is ever to be created between Barons and Baronets As for the other two Degrees of Knighthood they are but Personal and not Hereditary so that the Honour dies with the Person Knighted and descends not to his Son Knights of the Bath are so called from their Bathing the Night before the Creation within the Lists of the Bath The first of this sort were made by Henry IV but now they are usually made at the Coronation of a King or Queen or Creation of a Prince of Wales They wear a Scarlet Ribbon Belt-wise and take place of Knights Batchelours but come after Baronets There are but a few Knights of this Order Knights Batchelours are the lowest sort of Knights and the most common Anciently this Degree was in greater esteem than it is at the present when it was only conferred upon Sword-men for their military Service who from the Gilt Spurs usually put upon them were called in Latine Equites Aurati Whereas now a days this Honour is also bestowed upon Gown-men viz. Lawyers and Physicians And all the Ceremony used in their Creation is their Kneeling down before the King and His Majesties lightly touching them on the shoulder with a naked Sword Anciently there was another Sort of Knights now disused I mean the Knights Bannerets who were Knighted in the Field This Order was accounted very honourable had the precedency of the Knights of the Bath and bore their Arms with Supporters which was not allowed to any under this Degree Next to Knights are the Esquires so called from the French Escuyer this from the Latine Scutiger which Name was given of old to him that attended a Knight in time of War and carried his Shield Whereas Esquire with us is a meer Title of Dignity next to and below a Knight and signifies a Gentleman or one that beareth Arms as a Testimony of his Nobility and Gentry They who by right claim this Title now are all the younger Sons of Noblemen and by the Common Law of England their very eldest Sons are Esquires and no more Next are the Esquires of the King's Body the eldest Sons of Noblemens younger Sons Knights eldest Sons and their elder Sons for ever Next Esquires created by the King by putting about their Necks a Collar of S's and bestowing on them a pair of Silver Spurs Those that are reputed or lookt upon as equal to Esquires tho none of them be really so are several Magistrates and Officers in the King's Court as Judges Sergeants at Law Sheriffs Mayors Justices of the Peace Counsellors at Law and the principal Commanders of an Army So Heads of Houses in the Universities Doctors of Law Physick and Musick usually take place next to Knights and before ordinary Gentlemen Lastly Gentlemen are properly such as are descended of a good Family bearing a Coat of Arms without any particular Title And these we call Gentlemen born But Use has so far stretched the signification of this Word both high and low that every Nobleman nay the King himself may be called a Gentleman And on the other side any one that without a Coat of Arms has either a liberal or genteel Education that looks Gentleman-like whether he be so or not and has wherewithall to live freely and handsomely is by the Courtesy of England usually called a Gentleman Others by their Offices are lookt upon as such particularly most of the King 's Menial Servants and the principal Officers in Noble-mens Families c. The Military Profession which has been always counted Noble seems to give the very meanest Professors of it a Title to this Quality But it is more particularly adapted to two distinct Bodies of the King's Guards the one called Gentlemen Pensioners who gard his Person within Doors and the other the Gentlemâ—n of the Guard by whom is meant his Body of Horse Guards who gard the Kings Person on horseback without Doors As in Germany all Noblemens so in England all Gentlemens Arms descend to all the Sons alike Only the eldest Son bears Arms without difference which the younger may not Besides above 700 Knights Baronets and the few Knights of the Bath there are reckoned to this day above 1400 ordinary Knights and 6000 Esquires and Gentlemen whose younger Brothers in all may make up at least 12000 all over England And the Land in the Possession of them all has been computed to amount at least to four Millions yearly The Law of England which is so Favourable to the Nobility has not a proportionable Regard for the Gentry For whether they be Knights Esquires or Gentlemen they are all reckoned by law even Noblemens Sons amongst the Commons of England So that the eldest Son of a Duke though by the Courtesy of England stiled an Earl shall be Arraigned if charged with a Crime by the Title of Esquire only and tried by a Jury of Common Free-holders In Parliament he can sit only in the House of Commons if elected unless he be called by the King 's Writ to the House of Lords Knights are distinguished in England by the Title of Sir prefixt to their Christen names And Gentlemen have no other Title but that of Master when spoken of and that of Sir when spoken to But if one writes to an Esquire the Direction ought to be thus as To Thomas Whitfield Esquire The Epithet of Honourable is usually given to any Knight Esquire or Gentleman distinguished by some eminent and personal Worth CHAP. XXI Of the Commonalty of England BY the Commonalty I mean Yeomen Merchants Artificers Tradesmen Mariners and all others getting their Livelyhood after a Mechanick Way Yeomen are such amongst the Commonalty who having Land of their own to a good value Keep it in their own hands husband it themselves and live with their Families upon it They are therefore by the Law called Freeholders because they hold Lands or Tenements Inheritable by a perpetual Right to them and their Heirs for ever Their Number is great in England and many of them have Estates fit for Gentlemen Forty or Fifty pounds a Year is veâ—â—â—ordinary 100 or 200 l. a Year in some Counties is not rare in Kent there are those who have 1000 l. and some more per Annum Which is not easy to be found amongst Men of this Rank any where else in Europe And whereas Husbandry is commonly lookt upon as the most innocent Life and the freest from the Corruption and Cheats that attend other Professions therefore the Law of England has a better
of them and then asks the People if they Know any notable Impediment or Crime in any of them Then follow certain godly Prayers with the Collect and Epistle appointed for this Solemnity After which the Oath of Supremacy is administred to every one of them and the Bishop puts divers godly Questions to them Which being answered they all Kneel and he laying his Hands upon them severally does Ordain them Deacons Then he delivers to every one of them the New Testament and gives them Authority to read the same in the Church Whereupon the Bishop appoints one of them to read the Gospel This done they with the Bishop proceed to the Communion and so are dismissed with the Blessing pronounced by the Bishop The Ordination of Priests is much after the same manner Only the Epistle and Gospel are different and after the Questions and Answers made the Bishop puts up a particular Prayer for them Which being ended he desires the Congregation to recommend them to God secretly in their Prayers for doing of which there is a competent time of general Silence Then follows Veni Creator Spiritus in Meter to be sung And after another Prayer they all Kneeling the Bishop with one or two of the grave Priests there present lays his Hands upon the Head of every one of them severally and so gives them Ordination in a grave set Form of Words different both from that of Bishops and that of Deacons The rest is the same as in the Ordaining of Deacons What the Office of a Parish-Priest is is so well known that I need not insist upon it His Orders he has from the Bishop but the Benefice he holds from the Patron Now we call those Patrons of Churches who by first building of Churches or first indowing them with I ands have obtained for them and their Heirs a Right of Advowson or Patronage Who when the Church is void is to propose a fit Clerk to the Bishop to be by him Canonically Instituted As to the Revenues of the Inferiour Clergy they are as in all Places unequally divided So that some Parsons have a very plentiful some but a competent and others but a small Maintenance some two or three hundred pounds per Annum or more others one hundred or thereabouts and some much short of that Which besides the Glebe-Land is mostly raised by way of Tythes and the Duties paid for Christenings Marriages and Funerals The Plurality of Benefices that is the Priviledge of holding more Livings than one allowed by the Church of England for the Incouragement of worthy and eminent Divines makes room for many Curates So we call those who officiate in those Churches where such as hold Plurality of Livings do not Keep their Residence These Curates are such Clergy-men as they think fit to appoint in their places with such an Allowance as is agreed upon amongst themselves The Condition of Vicars is much the same as that of Curates if not worse These properly officiate in those Livings which are called Impropriations of which there are in England no less than 3845. For above a third part of the best Benefices of England being anciently by the Popes Grant appropriated to Monasteries towards their Maintenance were upon the Dissolution of the Monasteries made Lay-fees Which Benefices ever since have been accordingly provided not with the best Allowances nor with the best of the Clergy Amongst the Priviledges of the Clergy this is one of the principal that all Deans Arch-Deacons Prebendaries Rectors and Vicars may some by themselves others by Proxy or by Representative sit and vote as Commons Spiritual in the Lower House of Convocation No Subsidies or other Tax to the King might formerly be laid upon them without their own Consent first had in Convocation And indeed the Clergy paying to the King the first Fruits that is the first Years Profits of all Spiritual Benefices and yearly the Tenth of all the said Benefices 't was thought but reasonable they should be exempted from all other Taxes Though to give the Laity good Example they have often laid upon themselves Subsidies and other great Taxes The Glebe-Lands and Spiritual Revenues of Clergy-men being held in pura perpetua Eleemosyna that is as the Law calls it in Frankalmoine are exempted from arraying and Mustering of Men or Horses for the War And as by their Function they are prohibited to wear any Arms therefore they cannot serve personally in War But they serve their Country otherwise by being our Leaders in our Spiritual Warfare Neither can any Clergy-man be compelled to undergo any other Personal Functions or Services in the Common-wealth For if any Man by reason of his Land be liable to be elected to any Servile Office if he takes Orders he is free and there lies a Writ purposely to free him Clergy-Men are not obliged to appear at Sheriffs Turns or Courts-Leet there to take their Oath of Allegiance By Magna Charta no Clergy-man ought to he Fined or Amerced according to his Spiritual Means but according to his Temporal Estate and to the Crime committed The Goods of Clergy-men are discharged by the Common Law of England from Tolls and Customs of Average Pontage Murage and Panage for which they have the King 's Writ to discharge them provided they don 't trade with them All Clergy-men are free from the King's Purveyors Carriages Post c. for which they may demand a Protection from the King with the Clause Nolumus As to the whole Number of the Clergy in England besides the two Archbishops and the twenty four Bishops there are 26 Deans of Cathedral and Collegiate Churches 576 Prebendaries 9653 Rectors and Vicars besides as many more Curates and others in holy Orders In point of Learning and good exemplary Life England I dare say is outdone by no Clergy in the Christian World If amongst the Inferiour Clergy there be some ignorant lewd Livers the dignified Clergy and the Episcopal Colledge are generally Men noted both for their great Piety and deep Learning And the late Scuffle they had with the Romanists in so difficult a Juncture as King James his Reign as it has sufficiently shewn the greatness of their Parts and the Depth of their Learning so it expressed to the World their strong and invincible Zeal for the Protestant Religion and the gross Mistake of Dissenters that lookt upon them as broad-faced Papists Nothing troubles me more than to see some of the Clergy so much infatuated as to indeavour to defeat as far as in them lies the late signal Providence that rescued us so wonderfully from Popery and Slavery I do not reflect upon those who remain quiet under their Scruples of Conscience and are not so far disturbed in their Mind as to disturb the Government But to see some so low-spirited as to fall a hugging their old Enemies the French and admire them as their Tutelar Angels who were but 'tother Day the greatest Object of their Scorn and Contempt this affords
Hoods lined with Taffety if they be of Oxford or white Minever Furr if of Cambridge and all round black Velvet Caps Besides the Advocates here are also ten Proctors to manage other Mens Causes Who wear Hoods lined with Lambs-Skin if not Graduates but if Graduates Hoods proper to the Degree According to the Statutes of this Court all Arguments made by Advocates and Petitions by the Proctors are to be made in Latine All Process of this Court runs in the Name of the Judge To this Court belong two principal Officers that attend it Viz. an Actuary who sets down the Judges Decrees registers the Court Acts and sends them in Books to the Registry Then a Register whose Office is by himself â—or Deputy to receive all Libels or Bills Allegations and Exhibits of Witnesses to file all Sentences and keep the Records of the Court. Next to which is the Beadle an inferiour Officer who carries a Mace before the Judge â—nd calls the Persons that are cited to appear All Places and Offices belonging to this Court are in the Arch-Bishops Gift The Audience Court is a Court of equal Authority with the Arches tho inferiour both in Antiquity and Dignity The Original of this Court was thus The Arch-Bishop of Canterbury heard many Causes extrajudicially at home in his own Pallace but before he would finally determine any thing he did usually commit them to be discussed by certain Men learned in the Civil and Canon Laws who thereupon were called his Auditors till at last those Causes were committed to One thence named Causarum Negotiorumque Audientiae Cantuariensis Auditor seu Officialis And with this Office was joyned heretofore the Arch-Bishops Chancery which properly meddles not with any point of contentious Jurisdiction or deciding of Causes between Party and Party but only of Office as the Granting the Custody of the Spiritualities during the Vacation of Bishopricks Institution to Benefices Dispensing with Banes of Matrimony c. But this is now distinguished from the Audience The Prerogative Court is the Court wherein all Wills are proved and all Administrations taken that belong to the Arch Bishop by his Prerogative that is where the Deceased had Goods of any considerable value out of the Diocese wherein he died And that Value is usually 5 l. except it be otherwise by Composition between the Arch-Bishop and the Bishop as in the Diocese of London where it is 10 l. If any Contention arise between Two or more touching any such Will or Administration the Cause is properly debated and decided in this Court The Judge whereof is termed Judex Curiae Praerogativae Cantuariensis the Judge of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury Who is attended in the Court by a Register or his Deputy whose Office is to set down the Decrees and Acts of the Court to Keep the Records all Original Wills and Testaments of Parties deceased that have left Bona Not abilia c. His Office is commonly called the Prerogative Office now Kept in the Deans Court near St. Paul's Church-yard where for a moderate Fee one may have a Copy of any such Testament And Under the Register are Six Clerks severally appointed for such and such Counties This Court formerly held in the Consistory of St. Pauls is now Kept in the Common-Hall at Drs. Commons next Day after the Arches in the Afternoon All Places belonging to this Court are in his Grace's Gift The Archbishop of York has also the like Court which is termed his Exchequer but far inferiour to this in Power and Profit He has also an Audience Court For Civil Affairs that concern the Church the highest Court is the Court of Delegates A Court which consists of Commissioners delegated or appointed by the King's Commission to sit upon an Appeal to Him in the Court of Chancery and is granted in three Cases First when a Sentence is given in any Ecclesiastical Cause by the Archbishop or his Official Secondly when any Sentence is given in any Ecclesiastical Cause in Places exempt Thirdly when Sentence is given in the Admiralty in Suits Civil and Marine by order of the Civil Law The Judges are appointed by the Lord Chancellour under the Great Seal of England pro illa vice and upon every Cause or Business there is a new Commission and new Judges according to the nature of the Cause As sometimes Bishops Common-Law Judges Noblemen Knights and Civilians sometimes Bishops and Civilians at other times Common Law Judges and Civilians and sometimes Civilians only This Court is Kept in the same Place as the former the next Day after the Prerogative-Court in the Afternoon Here the Citations and Decrees run in the King's Name and to this Court belongs a standing Register From this Court lies no Appeal in common Course But the King may and sometimes does grant a Commission of Review under the Great Seal The Court of Peculiars is about certain Parishes that have Jurisdiction within themselves for Probate of Wills c. being exempt from the Ordinary and the Bishops Courts 'T is an ancient Priviledge of the See of Canterbury that wheresoever any Mannors or Advowsons do belong to it they forthwith become exempt from the Ordinary and are reputed Peculiars And there are reckoned in his Province no less than 57 such Peculiars So the King's Chappel is a Royal Peculiar exempt from all Spiritual Jurisdiction and reserved to the Visitation and immediate Government of the King himself who is supreme Ordinary Besides these Courts serving for the whole Province every Bishop has his Court held in the Cathedral of his Diocese Over which he hath a Chancellour anciently termed the Church-Lawyer who being skilled in the Civil and Canon Law sits there as Judge But if his Diocese be large he has in some more remote Place a Commissary whose Authority is only in some certain Places of the Diocese and certain Causes limited to him by the Bishop in his Commission These are called Consistory Courts Every Arch-Deacon besides has his Court and Jurisdiction where smaller Differences arising within his Limits are pleaded The Dean and Chapter of every Cathedral or Collegiate Church have also a Court wherein they take Cognizance of Causes happening in Places belonging to the Cathedral The proper Matters belonging to Ecclesiastical Courts are Ordinations Institution of Clerks to Benefices Celebration of Divine Service Tythes Oblations Obventions Mortuaries Dilapidations Reparation of Churches Rights of Matrimony Divorces general Bastardy Probate of Wills Administrations Pensions Procurations Commutation of Penance c. the Cognizance whereof does not belong to the Common Law Also Apostacy from Christianity Simony Heresy Schisms Blasphemy Fornication Incests Adulteries The Manner of Trials here is different from those at Common Law as thus First goes forth a Citation then a Bill and Answer after that they proceed to Proofs Witnesses and Presumption the Matter being argued pro and con and the Canon and Civil Laws quoted Upon which the definitive Sentence of the Judge passeth without any Jury