expedient to premise somewhat of the Ecclesiastical persons in England IN the Government of the Church of England among the Ecclesiastical persons governing in the Englih Church is First the King of England who is as the Lawyers say Personae sacra mixta cum sacerdote The King is the supreme Bishop of England and at his Coronation by a solemn Consecration and Unction he becomes a Spiritual Person Sacred and Ecclesiastical for as he hath put upon him Corona Regni as an Embleme of his King-ship and power in Temporals so hath he Stola Sacerdotis commonly called Vestis Dalmatica as a Levitical Ephod to signify his Priesthood and power in Spirituals He is Supreme Governor in all Causes Ecclesiastical as well as Civil is Patron Paramount of all Ecelesiastical Benefices in England to whom the last Appeal in Ecclesiastical Affaires are made who alone hath power to nominate persons for all Bishopricks and chief Dignities as Deaneries and some Prebends in the Church c as more at large may be seen in the First part of the Present State of England Next to the King in the Church Government are the Bishops whereof two are called Primats Metropolitans or Archbishops that is chief Bishops the one of Canterbury the other of York each of which have besides their Peculiar Dioceses a Province consisting of several Dioceses and therein by Common Law a Prerogative of proving Wills and granting Administrations where the person dying had bona notabilia that is above 5 l. in Divers Dioceses or Jurisdictions Also by Grants of several Kings they have each one certain Priviledges Liberties and immunities in their own Estates Under these two Archbishops are 26 Bishopricks whereof 22 are reckoned in the Province of Canterbury and four in the Province of York So that there are besides the two Archbishops twenty four Bishops all which have the Title of Lords by reason of their Baronies annext to their Bishopricks and have precedence of all other Barons both in Parliament and other Assemblies amongst these precedes always the Bishop of London who by antient right is accounted Dean of the Episcopal Colledg of that Province and by vertue thereof is to signify the Pleasure of his Metropolitan to all the Bishops of the Province to execute his Mandates to disperse his Missives on all emergency of affaires to precide in Convocations or Provincial Synods during the necessary absence of the Metropolitan Next to London in Parliament precedes Durham and then Winchester all the rest of the Bishops take place according to the Seniority of their Consecrations The Function of an English Bishop consists in what he may act either by his Episcopal Order or by his Episcopal Jurisdiction By his Episcopal Order he may ordain Deacons and Priests he may Dedicate Churches and burying places may administer the Rite and Ceremony of Confirmation without whom none of these things may be done The Jurisdiction of a Bishop is either Ordinary or Delegated the Ordinary is what by the Law of the Land belongs to each Bishop in his own Diocess the Delegated is what the King is pleased to confer upon him not as a Bishop but as he is a Subject and a considerable Member of the Kingdom For all Clergymen are in England as antiently among Gods own People the Jews and amongst the Primitive Christians so soon as they were under Christian Emperors judged fit to enjoy divers temporal honours and employments as First to be in the Commission of the Peace for who so proper to make and keep Peace as they whose constant duty it is to preach Peace who so fit as they whose main business and study it is to reconcile those that are at variance and therefore since His Majesties happy Restauration as well as before divers grave discreet Divines have been made Justices of Peace and thereby not only the poor Clergy-men have been protected from the oppression of their causeless enemies but many differences have been composed without any Law-sute in a more Christian and less expensive way Secondly to be of His Majesties Privy Council where frequently Cases of Conscience may arise relating to State matters that will admit neither of delay nor publication and therefore after the pattern of that excellent Christian Emperor Constantine the Great our good Kings both before and since the Reformation have always admitted some spiritual persons to their Council Tables and Closet-debates Thirdly to be employed in publick Treaties and Negotiations of Peace and this both the Ancient and Modern practice will justify that none hath been more frequently and succesfully used in such Messages then the Ambassadors of Christ Fourthly to enjoy some of the great Offices of the Crown as to be Lord Chancellor Lord Treasurer c. And it hath been observed that in the late Kings Raign when the Bishop of London was Lord Treasurer that Office was executed with as much diligence faithfulness dexterity and content to the Subject as well as to the King as ever it had been by any of his late lay-Predecessors In the ordinary Jurisdicton of a Bishop as a Bishop may be considered either the Jurisdiction it self or what is instated in him by the Law of the Land for the better execution of that Jurisdiction The Jurisdiction it self is established partly by Statute Law as to Licence Physitians Surgeons and School-Masters to unite and consolidiate small Parishes to assist the Civil Magistrates in the execution of some Statutes concerning Ecclesiastical affairs to compel the payment of Tenths and Subsidies due from the Clergy to the King Partly by Common Law as upon the Kings Writ to certify the Judges touching legitimate and illegetimate Births and Marriages to require upon the Kings Writ the burning of an obstinate Heretick also to require the Kings Writ for imprisoning the Body of one that obstinately stands excommunicated 40 dayes And partly by Common and Ecclesiastical Law together as to cause Wills of the Deceased to be proved to grant Administration of Goods of such as dye intestate to give order for the gathering and preserving of perishable Goods where none is willing to administer to cause Account to be given of Administrations to collate Benefices to grant Institutions to Benefices upon the Presentations of other Patrons to command Induction to be given to order the collecting and preserving of the Profits of vacant Benefices for the use of the Successors to defend the Franchises and Liberties of the Church to visit their particular Diocesses once in three years and therein to inquire of the Manners Carriages Delinquencies c. of Ministers of Church-wardens of the rest of the Parishoners and amongst them especially of those that profess themselves Physitians Surgeons School-masters Midwives of Wardens of Hospitals how they perform their several Duties and trusts also of all others professing Christianity and offending either against Piety as by Blasphemy Idolatry Superstition Perjury Heresie Errors against the 39 Articles Schism Conventicles absence from Divine Service unlawful abstinence
from the Sacraments or else offending against Justice as the delaying of Legacies given to the poor or pious uses Dilapidations of Buildings or Goods belonging to the Church taking of Usury beyond the rate allowed by Statute Simony Perjury c. or by offending against Sobriety as Drunkenness Incest Adultery Fornication filthy Speech tempting of any ones Chastity Clandestine Marriages as for want of thrice publishing the Banes the want of Parents consent the want of witnesses which must be above two or marrying in a private place in an undue time before Eight in the morning and after Twelve of the Clock in the day c. Now for the better executing of this Jurisdiction the Law of England hath furnished the Bishops with a power of Ecclesiastical Censures whereof some may be inflicted both upon Lay-men and Church-men as Suspension from entring into the Church or else from receiving the Sacrament or greater Excommunications c. Others may be inflicted only upon Ecclesiastical Persons as Sequestration of their Ecclesiastical Profits Suspension sometimes ab Officio sometimes à Beneficio Deprivation and Deposition which is sometimes verbal by sentence pronounced against them and sometimes real by Degradation Here note that of all these Censures Excommunication is never inflicted but only for Contumacy as when a person being duly summoned will not appear or appearing will not obey the Orders of the Bishop The solemn manner of making a Bishop in England is as followeth When any Bishops See becomes vacant the Dean and Chapter of that Cathedral giving notice thereof to the King who is Patron of all the Bishopricks in England and humbly requesting that His Majesty will give leave for them to chose another the King hereupon grants to the Dean his Congè d' Eslire which in French wherein it was antiently penned signifies leave to elect then the Dean summons a Chapter or assembly of the Prebendaries who either elect the person recommended by His Majesties Letters or shew cause to the contrary Next the Election is certified to the party Elected who doth modestly refuse it the first and second time and if he refuse it a third time then that being certifyed to His Majesty another is recommended when the Election is accepted by the party it is certifyed to the King and the Archbishop of that Province whereupon the King gives his Royal Assent under the Great Seal of England which is exhibited to the Archbishop of the Province with command to confirm and consecrate him hereto the Archbishop subscribes Fiat Confirmatio and gives Commission under his Archiepiscopal Seal to his Vicar-General to perform all the Acts required for perfecting his Confirmation The Vicar-General then in the name of the Archbishop sends forth a Citation summoning all Opposers of the said Election or Person Elected to appear at a certain time and place especially assigned to make their objections This is done by an Officer of the Arches usually at Bow Church in Cheapsid London by Proclamation three times and then affixing the said Citation on the Church door for all people to read the said Officer returns an Authentick Certificate thereof to the Archbishop and Vicar-General At the day and place assigned for the appearance of the Opposers the Vicar General sits then the Proctor for the said Dean and Chapter exhibits the Royal assent and the Commission of the Archbishop which read and accepted by the Vicar-General the Proctor exhibits the Proxy from the Dean and Chapter and then presents the Elected Bishop and returns the Citation and desires the Opposers to be publickly called three times which being done accordingly he accuseth their contumacy and for penalty thereof desires that the business may proceed which the Vicar-General in a Schedule by him read and subscribed doth order Next the Proctor giving a summary Petition wherein is deduced the whole Process of Election and Consent desires a time to be assigned to prove it which the Vicar-General admits and decrees After which the Proctor exhibits the Royal Assent with the Elected Bishops Assent and the Certificate to the Archbishop and desires a term presently to be assigned to hear final sentence which the Vicar-General decrees Then the Proctor desires that all Opposers should be again called which being thrice publickly done and none appearing nor opposing they are pronounced contumacious and a Decree made to proceed to Sentence by a Schedule read and subscribed by the said Vicar-General Then the Elect person takes the path of Supremacy Simony and Canonical Obedience Next the Judge of the Arches reads and subscribes the Sentence after which usually there is an entertainment made for the Officers and others there present which being once done at the Sign of the Nags Head in Cheapside near the said Bow Church gave occasion to our adversaries of the Romish Church to affirm that Fable that there our first Bishops after the Reformation were consecrated When a Bishop is Elected and the Election confirmed he may give Institution and do his ordinary Jurisdiction and may sit in Parliament as a Lord thereof according to Sir Ed. Coke 4. Institut p. 47. After the Confirmation then according to the Kings Mandate is the solemn Consecration of the Elected Bishop which is done by the Archbishop with the assistance of two other Bishops in manner following Upon some Sunday or Holy-day after Morning Service the Archbishop beginneth the Communion Service after a certain Prayer appointed for this occasion one of the Bishops there present readeth the Epistle 1 Tim. 3. another readeth the Gospel John 21. then after the Nicene Creed and some Sermon the Elected Bishop vested with his Rochet or Linnen Garment is by two Bishops presented to the Archbishop or some other Bishop commissioned by him sitting in his Chair who demands the Kings Mandate for the Consecration and causes it to be read then the Elect Bishop takes the Oath of Supremacy and of Canonical Obedience to the Archbishop and after divers prayers and several Interrogatories put to the Bishop and his Answers the rest of the Episcopal Habit is put upon him and after more prayers the Elect Bishop kneeleth down and the Archbishop and Bishops there present lay their hands on his head and by a certain pious grave form of words they consecrate him Afterward the Archbishop doth deliver to the Bishop Elect a Bible with an other set form of words and so all proceed to the Communion Service and having received the Sacrament and the Blessing they retire from Church to dinner which is at the charge of the Bishop Elect and is usually very splendid and magnificent the greatest the Nobility Clergy Judges Privy-Counsellors c. honouring it with their presence the expence hereof with Fees of Consecration commonly amounting to Six or Seven hundred pounds This form and manner of consecrating Bishops is accordingly to the rule laid down in the Fourth Council of Carthage about the year 470 generally received in all the Provinces of the Western Church Note that by
our Order of Consecrating Bishops it is evident that Bishops are lookt upon as a distinct Order of themselves and not only as a different degree from the rest of the Presbyters as some would have it Next goes forth a Mandate from the Archbishop to the Archdeacon of his Province to instal the Bishop Elected confirmed and consecrated Then the said Bishop is introduced into the Kings presence to do his Homage for his Temporalties or Barony by kneeling down and putting his hands between the hands of the King sitting in a Chair of State and by taking of a solemn Oath to be true and faithful to His Majesty and that he holds his Temporalties of him Lastly the new Bishop compounds for the first Fruits of his Bishoprick that is agrees for his first years profits to be paid to the King within two years or more if the King please The Translation of a Bishop from one Bishoprick to another differs onely in this from the manner of making a Bishop that there is no Consâ—câ—ation The Translation of a Bishop to be Archbishop differs only in the Commission which is directed by His Majesty to four or more Bishops to confirm him Note that the difference between an Archbishop and a Bishop is that the Archbishop with other Bishops doth consecrate a Bishop as a Bishop with other Priests doth ordain a Priest The Archbishop visits the whole Province the Bishop only his Diocess The Archbishop can convocate a Provincial Synod the Bishop only a Diocesan Synod The Archbishop is Ordinary to and hath Canonical Authority over all the Bishops of his Province as the Bishop hath over all the Priests of his Diocess Several Bishops of England having Dioceses of a large extent it was provided by Stat. 26 Henry 8. that they should have a power to nominate some to the King to be with his approbation Suffragan or Subsidiary Bishops whereof see more in the first Part of the Present State of England Of these there are none at present in the Church of England but the next to the Bishops are now the Deans of Cathedral Churches Dean Chapter Antiently Bishops did not ordinarily transact matters of moment sine consilio Presbyterorum principalium who were then called Senatores Ecclesiae and Collegues of the Bishops represented in some sort by our Cathedrals whereof the Dean and some of the Prebends are upon the Bishops summons to assist him in Ordinations in Deprivations ab Officio Beneficio in condemnation of obstinate Hereticks in the greater Excommunications and in such like weighty affairs of the Church Upon the Kings Writ of Congè d' Eslire as before mentioned the Dean and Prebendaries are to elect the Bishop of that Diocess Cathedral and Collegiate Churches are as it were Seminaries or Seed-plots whereout from time to time may be chosen fit persons to govern the Church for having left the Country and living herein a Society together they learn experience they read men they by little and little put off the familiarity of the inferiour Countrey Clergy and thereby render themselves the more fit to be set over them in Government The Dean and Prebendaries during their required residence in their Cathedral or Collegiate Churches are to keep Hospitallity upon all Festivals to read Divinity in their turns which is now turned to Sermons or set speeches in the Pulpit at due time to administer the Lords Supper to frequent the Publick Divine Service to instruct the Country Clergy and direct them how and what to preach whereby they may best profit their Auditors In a word as they excel others in dignity and are therefore stiled Prelats so by their more eminent piety and charity they are to be examples and paterns to the inferiour Clergy In every Cathedral or Bishops See there is a Dean and divers Prebendaries or Canons whose number is uncertain Deans of the old Foundations founded before the suppression of Monasteris are brought to their Dignities much like Bishops the King first sending forth his Congè d' eslire to the Chapter they electing and the King granting his Royal assent the Bishop confirms him and gives his Mandate to install him Deans of the new Foundations upon suppression of Abbyes or Prinries transformed by Henry 8. in to Dean and Chapter are by a shorter course installed by virtue of the Kings Letters Patents without either Election or Confirmation Among the Canons or Prebendaries in the old Foundations some are Canonici actu having Prebendam sedile in Choro jus suffragii in Capitulo others are Canonici in herbis as they are called having right to the next Prebend that shall become void and having already a Stall in the Quire but no Vote in the Chapter A Prebend is properly the portion which every Prebendary of a Cathedral or Collegiate Church receiveth in the right of his place for his maintenance quasi pars vel portio prebenda Next in the Government of the English Church may be reckoned Archdeacons whereof there are 60 in all England Their Office is to visit two years in three and to enquire of Reparations and Moveables belonging to Churches to reform abuses in Ecclesiastical matters and to bring the more weighty affairs before the Bâ—shop of the Diocess and therefore he is called Alter Episcopi Oculus the other being the Dean as is mentioned in the first part of the Present State Moreover the Office of an Archdeacon is upon the Bishops Mandate to induct Clerks into their Benefices and thereby to give them possession of all the Profits beloging thereto Many Archdeacons have by Prescription their Courts and Officials as Bishops have whereof more hereafter After Archdeacons are the Archipresbyteri or Rural Deans so called perhaps at first for his oversight of some Ten Parish Priests their Office is now upon orders to convocate the Clergy to signifie to them sometimes by Letters the Bishops pleasure and to give induction for the Archdeacon living afar off Next are to be considered the Priests of every particular Parish who are commonly called the Rectors unless the predial Tythes are impropriated and then they are stiled Vicars quasi vice fungentes Rectorum Their Office is to take care of all their Parishioners Souls and like good Shepherds to handle every particular Sheep apart to Catechise the ignorant reduce the straying confirm the wavering convince the obstinate reprehend the wicked confute Schismaticks reconcile differences amongst Neighbours to exercise the power of binding and loosing of souls as occasion shall offer to read duly Divine Service to Administer the holy Sacraments to visit the Sick to Marry to Bury to render publick thanks after Child-bearing to keep a Register of all Marriages Christnings and Burials that shall happen within the Parish to read the Divine Sermons or Homilies appointed by Authority and if the Bishop think fit to read or speak by heart their own conceptions in the Pulpit Lastly Deacons whose Office is to take care of the Poor Baptise Read in
Moreover every Archdeacon hath his Court and Jurisdiction where smaller differences arising within his limits are pleaded Also the Dean and Chapter hath a Court and take cognizance of Causes happening in places belonging to the Cathedral Lastly there are certain peculiar Jurisdictions belonging to some certain Parishes the Inhabitants whereof are exempt sometimes from the Archdeacons Jurisdiction and sometimes from the Bishops Jurisdiction Causes belonging to Ecclesiastical Courts are Blasphemy Apostasie from Christianity Heresies Schisms Ordinations Institutions of Clerks to Benefices Celebration of Divine Service Rights of Matrimony Divorces general Bastardy Tythes Oblations Obventions Mortuaries Dilapidations Reparation of Churches Probate of Wills Administrations Simony Incests Fornications Adulteries Solicitations of Chastity Pensions Procurations Commutation of Pennance c. the cognizance whereof belongs not to the Common Law of England The Laws and Constitutions whereby the Ecclesiastical Government doth stand and the Church of England is governed are first general Canons made by general Councels also the Arbitria sanctorum Patrum the opinion of Fathers the grave Decrees of several Holy Bishops of Rome which the Kings of England from time to time have admitted Next our own Constitutions made antiently in several Provincial Synods either by the Legats Otho and Othobon sent from Rome or by several Archbishops of Canterbury all which are by 25 H. 8. of force in England so far as they are not repugnant to the Laws and Customs of England or the Kings Prerogative Then the Canons made in Convocations of later times as primo Jacobi and confirmed by his Royal Authority Also some Statutes enacted by Parliament touching Ecclesiastical affairs And lastly divers Customs not written but yet in use beyond the memory of man and where these fail the Civil Law takes place The manner of Tryals by these Laws and Customs are different from the Tryals at Common Law and are briefly thus First goes forth a Citation then Bill and Answer then by Proofs Witnesses and Presumptions the matter is argued pro and con and the Canon and Civil Laws quoted then without any Jury the definitive sentence of the Judge passseth and upon that Execution And this is the manner of trying Ecclesiastical Civil Causes but Ecclesiastical criminal Causes are tryed by way of Accusation Denunciation or Inquisition The first when some one takes upon him to prove the crime the second when the Churchwardens present and are nor bound to prove because it is presumed they do it without any malice and that the crime is notorious Lastly by Inquisition when by reason of common fame inquiry is made by the Bishop ex officio suo by calling some of the neighborhood to their Oaths or the party accused to his Oath ex officio so called because the Ecclesiastical Judge doth it ex officio suo which is very antient and was usual among the Jews so Joshua to Acan Fili mi tribue gloriam c. So God himself to Adam upon his first transgression and likewise afterward to Sodom but by the prevailing faction in the long Parliament this power was extorted from the Church the want whereof is one main cause of the great libertinisme and debauchery of the Nation Now the punishments inflicted by these Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Courts according to these Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Laws proceed in this manner First the party delinquent is admonish'd next goes forth minor Excommunicatio whereby he is excommunicated or excluded from the Church or if not from the Church yet from the Communion of the Lords Supper is disenabled to be Plaintiff in a Law Sute c. And this commonly for stubborness shewed by not appearing in the Ecclesiastical Court upon summons or not obeying the Orders of the Court which though in smallest matters yet may be a very great crime for Res praecepta quo facilior est observatu eo praecepti violatio est gravior cum fit magis spontanea as S. Austin observes of the first sin of Adam Any command by how much the easier it may be observed by so much the more grievous is the breach thereof because it is the more voluntary besides in contempts it is not so much the violation of the Law as of the Authority which ought to be resented And herein the Church of England proceedeth no otherwise than the State of England for so odious in the eye of the common Law of Enland is the contempt thereof that not only for Felonies but even in an Action of the case in an Action of a small Debt Account or Detinue if a man will not appear and submit himself to a Tryal at Law a Process of Outlawry is grounded against him and he being once Outlawed he is out of the protection of the Law Caput gerit lupinum saith Bracton an Outlaw'd was antiently lookt upon as a Wolf lawfully to be killed by any man that should meet him as most just that he who contemned the Law and therein the King should not have benefit by the Law nor protection from the King and at this day he is to loose all his Goods and Chattels The Reader will easily pardon this digression when he considers the general cry against Excommunications at this day This power of lesser Excommunication the Bishop may delegate to any grave Priest with the Chancellour Excommunicato major is not only an exclusion from the company of Christians in Spiritual Duties but also in Temporal affairs and this commonly for Heresie Schism Perjury Incest and such grievous crimes and that it may be done with the more solemnity and terror it is to be pronounced by the Bishop himself in his proper person and being so Excommunicated a man cannot in any Civil or Ecclesiastical Court be Plaintiff or Witness And in case any man be so stubborn as to continue 40 days excommunicated the Kings Writ de excommunicato capiendo is granted forth of the Chancery against him whereupon he is cast into prison without Bail there to lie till he hath satisfied for his offence Next there is Anathematismus to be inflicted only upon an obstinate Heretick whereby he is declared a publick Enemy of God and rejected and cursed and delivered over to eternal damnation and this to be done by the Bishop also in his own person assisted by the Dean and Chapter or twelve other grave Priests Lastly there is Interdictum whereby is prohibited all Divine Offices as Christian an Burial Administration of Sacraments c. in such a Place or to such a People and if this be against a People it follows them wheresoever they go but if against a Place only then the People of that Place may go to Divine Offices elsewhere Besides these general censures of the Church which respect Church Communion there is another which toucheth the body of the Delinquent called Publick Penance when any one is compelled to confess in publick his fault and to bewail it before the whole Congregation in the Church which is done in this manner the
be spared because it intimates a distinct interest between the King and His Subjects which is not onely false but very dangerous to be allowed of The King is Pater patriae the Money given to him is for our use and benefit if we are niggardly to him we injure ourselves c. The Bill for the Kings general Pardon hath but one reading in either House for this reason because they must take it as the King will please to give it so the Bill of Subsidies granted by the Clergy assembled in Convocation for the same reason When the Bill for the general Pardon is passed by the King the Answer is thus les Prelats Signeurs communes en ce Parlament assemblez au nom de tous vos autres sujets remercient tres humblement vostre Majeste prient Dieu vous donner en sante bonne vie longue All Acts of Parliament before the Reign of Henry 7. were passed and enrolled in French now in Engliâ—h Most of our antient Acts of Parliament run in this stile The King at the humble request of the Commons with the assent of the Prelates Dukes Earles and Barons hath ordained or enacted After it was thus The King by the Advice and Assent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and with the Assent of the Commons doth enact of later times it hath been thus Be it enacted by the Kings most excellent Majesty by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and of the Commons although the words of the Writ for summoning the Commons which ought to be the main rule is onely ad Consentiendum and not ad Consilium impendendum as it is in the Writ to the Lords and it is evident that the Commons in the late long Parliament made that an advantage for justifying their usurpations against the King in that point and so in another Parliament the Commons endeavoured to maintain that the Concurrence of the Lords was not always necessary in an Act of Parliament because 1 Edward 6. cap. 5. in passing that Act against transportation of Horses the Lords were casually omitted yet by the Register of the Lords House it appears that that Bill began first in the Lords House and there passed before the Commons took it in debate and therefore the Kings Council at Law is very curious in wording rightly all Acts before they are brought to the King and the Clerks of the Parliament as carefull in transcribing and registring them However it is to be wished that to prevent future mischief to this Nation some clauses in the late Act of Oblivion and Indemnity might be amended or at least explained and more especially about the beginning of that Act these words That all manner of Treasons c. since January 1637. and before June 1660. by vertue of any Authority from His late Majesty King Charles or His Majesty that now is be pardoned c. which words might possibly be foisted in designedly to insinuate as if according to that most absurd and Traiterous position of some of the Rebellious Members of the Long Parliament the Kings person or any commissionated by him could be guilty of Treason against the Kings Authority or against His two Houses of Parliament by pursuing of Rebels to bring them to Justice according to the Laws of the Land It were also to be desired that to prevent the great dishonour of making additional and explanatory Acts of Parliament so frequently as hath of late been done all considerable Bills of Publick concernment once read in either House of Parliament may before they be passed be exposed to the view of all comers as antiently among the Romans was usual to the end that any other person besides those of the two Houses may within the space of certain days freely propose in Writing or otherwise his exceptions additions alterations or amendments Sed haec obiter When those things for which the Parliament was summoned have been sufficiently treated and brought to a conclusion then the King doth usually adjourn prorogue or dissolve the Parliament in maner following The adjournments are usually made in the Lords House by the Lord Keeper in the Kings Name to what other day the King pleaseth and also to what other place if he think fit to remove them as sometimes hath been done and then all things already debated and read in one or both Houses continue to the next meeting in the same state they were in before the adjournment and so may be resumed In the like maner the Parliament is Prorogued but by a Prorogation there is a Session and then the Bills that were almost ready in both Houses for the Royal Assent not having it must at the reassembling of the Parliament begin anew The Speaker of the House of Commons upon notice given that it is the Kings pleasure that House shall also adjourn doth say with the assent of the House This House is adjourned When the Kings pleasure is to prorogue or dissolve the Parliament His Majesty commonly cometh in person with His Crown on his Head sendeth for all the House of Commons to come to the Bar of the Lords House and after the Kings answer to each Bill signified as aforementioned His Majesty usually makes a Solemn Speech the Lord Keeper another and the Speaker of the House of Commons a third then the Lord Keeper by the special command of the King doth pronounce the Parliament prorogued or dissolved Note That the King being head of the Parliament if his death doth happen during the sitting of the Parliament it is ipso facto dissolved Antiently after every Session of Parliament the King commanded every Sheriff to proclaim the several Acts and to cause them to be duly observed yet without that Proclamation the Law intended that every one hath notice by his representative of what is transacted in Parliament of later times since Printing became common that Custom hath been laid aside The Number of Persons that have have Place and Suffrage in both Houses To the Lords House belong 3 Dukes of the Royal Blood though one be infra aetatem 7 other Dukes 3 Marquises 56 Earls 9 Vicounts and 67 Barons in all 154. Then there are two Archbishops and 24 Bishops so that the Total is 180. But many being under age some sick and infirm others abroad in the Kings Service the ordinary number is about 100. To the House of Commons belong first for the 40 Shires of England two for each in all 80 Knights then one for each of the twelve Counties of Wales 12 Knights For 25 Cities in England two to each and London four in all 52 Citizens For the Cinque Ports 16 Barons for the two Universities two Burgesses for each For 168 Burroughs there are about 330 Burgesses for some few of those Burroughs send but one Burgess apiece Lastly in each of the 12 Counties of Wales there is one Burrough that sends only one Burgess so the total Number of the House of
now corruptly the Charter house it being heretofore a Covent of Carthusian Monks called in French des Chartreux This Colledge called also Suttons Hospital consists of a Master or Governor at present Sir Ralph Sidenham a Chaplain Doctor Thriscross a Master and Usher to instruct 44 Scholars besides fourscore decayed Gentlemen Souldiers and Merchants who have all a plentiful maintenance of Dyet Lodging Clothes and Physick c. and live altogether in a Collegiate manner with much cleanliness and neatness and the four and fourty Scholars have not onely all necessaries whilst they are here taught but if they become fit for the Universities there is allowed unto each one out of the yearly Revenues of this Colledge 20 l. yearly and duly paid for 8 years after they come to the University and to others fitter for Trades there is allowed a considerable Sum of money to bind them Apprentices There are moreover all sorts of officers expedient for such a Society as Physitian Apothecary Steward Cooks Butlers c. who have all competent Salaries This vast Revenue and Princely Foundation was the sole Gift of an ordinary Gentleman Mr. Thomas Sutton born in Lincoln-shire and 't was of such high Account as it was thought fit that by the Kings Letters Patents under the Great Seal divers persons of the highest Dignity and Quality in Church and State should alwayes be the Overseers and Regulators of this Society as the Archbishop of Canterbury the Lord Keeper Lord Treasurer and 13 others Besides there are in London divers endowed Schools which in France would be stiled Colledges as Paul's School foundded 1512. by John Collet Doctor of Divinity and Dean of Pauls for 153 Children to be taught there gratis for which purpose he appointed a Master a Sub-master or Usher and a Chaplain with large stipends for ever committing the oversight thereof to the Masters Wardens and Assistants of the Mercers in London for his father Henry Collet sometime Lord Mayor of London was of the Mercers Company This famous School was also lately burnt down and now is reedified in a far more magnificent commodious and beautiful manner the worthy Master thereof is Mr. Samuel Crumholm alias Cromlum There are in London divers other endowed Schools as Merchant-Taylors Mercers-Chappel c. a particular Account whereof the designed Brevity of this Treatise will not admit It would also make this Book too much swell to give an Account of the many richly endowed Hospitals Almes-houses Work-houses or Houses of Correction the many stately built Taverns Inns and Coffee Houses some whereof surpass all others in foreign parts and are worthy to be viewed by curious Travellers who may also find it worthy their pains to remarque the several spatious well-built Theaters which for variety of Scenes excellent Actors Language Designs Musick c. are hardly to be equalled Moreover they may observe the many well furnisht Markets the weekly Horse-fairs the great commodiousness of Hackney-Coaches of Sedans of Boats c. belonging to this famous City also to consider the City of Westminster and the Burrough of Southwark both which now seem to be swallowed up in London Within the Precincts of Westminster are many Magnalia several things are as remarkable as any aforementioned the antient stately Abby Church founded before the Norman Conquest by the Pious King Edward the Confessor and most richly endowed afterwards rebuilt from the ground by Henry the III. with that rare Architecture now seen wherein are the most magnificent Tombs and Monuments of our Kings and Queens and greatest Nobles of England To the East end of which is added a Chappel of King Henry the VII which for the most admirable artificial work without and within for a Monument of massy Brass most curiously wrought is scarce to be paralleld in the World This huge Fabrick stands where first was the Temple of Apollo and afterwards King Sebert the East Saxon King that first built St. Pauls aforementioned built here a Church to St. Peter Queen Elizabeth converted this Abbey into a Collegiate Church and therein placed a Dean 12 Secular Canons or Prebendaries Petty Canons and others of the Quire to the number of 30 ten Officers belonging to the Church as many servants belonging to the Collegiate Dyet two Schoolmasters 40 Scholars 12 Almes-men with plentiful maintenance for all besides Stewards Receivers Registers Collectors and other Officers the principal whereof is the high Steward of Westminster who is usually one of the prime Nobility and is at present the Lord Chamberlain The Dean is entrusted with the custody of the Regalia at the Coronation honored with a place of necessary service at all Coronations and a Commission of Peace within the City and Liberties of Westminster the Dean and Chapter invested with all manner of Jurisdiction both Ecclesiastical and Civil not onely within the City and Liberties of Westminster but within the Precincts of St. Martin le grand within the Walls of London and in some Towns of Essex exempted in the one from the Jurisdiction of the Bishop of London and in the other from that of the Archbishop of Canterbury For Ecclesiastical Causes and probate of Wills it hath a Royal Jurisdiction Dr. Richard Lloyd is Commissary from whom Appeal must be onely to the King in his High Court of Chancery who thereupon issueth out a Commission of Delegates under the Great Seal of England When the Convocation is adjourned from St. Pauls for the conveniency of being nearer to the Parliament to Westminster the Bishops first declare upon a Protestation made by the Dean there that they intend not thereby to violate that high Priviledge viz. That no Bishop or Archbishop may come there without leave of the Dean first obtained There is also a fair Publick Library free for all strangers to study both morning and afternoon alwayes in Term time Next this Church stood the Royal Palace and usual place of Residence for the Kings of England who ordinarily held their Parliaments and all their Courts of Judicature in their dwelling Houses as is done at this day at Madrid by the King of Spain and many times sate themselves in the said Courts of Judicature as they do still in their Court of Parliament A great part of this huge Palace was in the time of Henry the VIII destroyed by fire what remained hath still been employed for the use of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament and for the chief Courts of Judicature The great Hall where these are kept some say was built by King William Rufus others by King Richard the II. about 300 years agoe and for all dimensions is not to be equalled by any Hall in Christendom Moreover Strangers and Foreigners may take notice of the extraordinary commodiousness conveniency and situation of the present Royal Palace and usual place of Residence called Whitehall belonging heretofore to Cardinal Woolsey seated between a noble navigable River and a most delectable Park of the great Chamber there called the Banquetting-House
England in some difficult cases were not wont to give Judgment until they had first consulted the King or his Privy Council Moreover the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament have oft-times transmitted matters of high moment to the King and his Privy Council as by long experience and wisdom better able to judge of and by secrecy and expedition better able to transact some State Affairs then all the Lords and Commons together At present the King and his Privy Council take Cognisance of few matters that may well be determined by the known Laws and ordinary Courts of Justice but onely as aforesaid consult for the Publick Good Honour Defence Safety and Benefit of the Realm not medling with matters that concern Freeholds but matters of Appeal and sudden Emergencies The Lords of the Privy Council are as it were a part of the King incorporate with him and his Cares bearing upon their Shoulders that great weight that otherwise would lye wholly upon His Majesty wherefore of such high value and esteem they have always been that if a man did but strike in the House of a Privy Counsellor or elsewhere in his presence he was grievously Fined for the same and to conspire the death of any of them was made Felony in any of the Kings servants within the Check Roll and to kill one of them was High Treason A Privy Councellor though but a Gentleman shall have precedence of all Knights Baronets and younger Sons of all Barons and Viscounts The Substance of their Oath is That they shall according to their power and discretion Truly Justly and Evenly Counsel and Advise the King in all matters to be Treated in His Majesties Council that they shall keep secret the Kings Counsel c. By Force of this Oath and the Custom of the Kingdom of England a Privy Counsellor is made without any Patent or Grant and to continue onely during the Life of the King that makes him nor so long unless the King pleaseth Heretofore there hath been usually a Lord President of the Kings Privy Council a Dignity of so high Repute that by a Statute of Henry the Eight he is to take place in publick next to the Lord High Treasurer of England His Office was to speak first to business to report to His Majesty the Passages and State of businesses transacted at Council Table The last Lord President was the Earl of Manchester Father of the present Lord Chamberlaine To his Privy Councellors the King of England may declare or conceal from them whatsoever he alone judgeth fit and expedient qua in re saith the Excellent Sir Tho. Smith absolutissimum est hoc Regnum Angliae prae Venetorum Ducatu aut Lacedaemoniorum Principatu The King with the advice of his Privy Council doth publish Proclamations binding to the Subject provided that they are not contrary to Statute or Common Law In cases where the publick peace honour or profit of the Kingdom may be endangered for want of speedy redress there the King with his Privy Council usually make use of an absolute power if need be The Members of this most Honorable Council are such as his own free Will and meer Motion shall please to choose and are commonly men of the highest rank eminent for Estates Wisdom Courage Integrity c. And because there are few cases of moment so temporal but that they may some way relate to spiritual affairs therefore according to the general Rules of Policy and Government which God himself ordained amongst his chosen people the Jews the Privy Council as well as the great Council of Parliament is composed of Spiritual as well as Temporal persons some of the principal Bishops of England have in all times been chosen by His Majesty to be of his Privy Council The Lords of His Majesties Privy Council are at present these that follow His Royal Highness the Duke of York His Highness Prince Rupert Gilbert Lord-Archbishop of Canterbury Sir Orlando Bridgman Knight and Baronet Lord Keeper of the Great Seal John Lord Roberts Lord Privy Seal George Duke of Buckingham Mr. of the Horse to His Majesty James Duke of Monmouth James Duke of Ormond Lord Great Steward of His Majesties Houshold Henry Marquis of Dorchester Henry Earl of Ogle Thomas Earl of Ossory Robert Earl of Lindsey Lord Great Chamberlain of England Edward Earl of Manchester Lord Chamberlain of His Majesties Houshold· Awbrey Earl of Oxford John Earl of Bridgwater Robert Earl of Leceister Henry Earl of S. Albans Edward Earl of Sandwich Arthur Earl of Anglesey John Earl of Bath Groom of the Stole to His Majesty Charles Earl of Carlisle William Earl of Craven John Earl of Rothes His Majesties Commissioner in Scotland John Earl of Lotherdale Secretary of State in Scotland John Earl of Tweedale John Earl of Middleton Richard Earl of Carbury Lord President of Wales Roger Earl of Orrery Humphrey Lord Bishop of London Henry Lord Arlington one of His Majesties Principal Secretaries of State Francis Lord Newport Comptroler of His Majesties Houshold John Lord Berkley Lieutenant of Ireland Densel Lord Holles Anthony Lord Ashley Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Thomas Clifford Knight Treasurer of His Majesties Houshold Sir George Carteret Knight Vice-Chamberlain to His Majesty Sir John Trevor Knight one of His Majesties Principal Secretaries of State Sir Thomas Ingram Knight Chancellor of the Dutchy Sir William Morice Knight Sir John Duncom Knight Sir Thomas Chicheley Knight Master of the Ordnance These are all to wait on his Majesty and at Council Board sit in their Order bare-headed when His Majesty presides At all Debates the lowest delivers his opinion first that so he may be the more free and the King last of all declares his Judgment and thereby determines the mater in Debate The Time and Place of holding this Council is wholly at the Kings pleasure but it is most commonly held in the morning on Wednesday and Friday out of Parliament time and Term time and in the Afternoon in time of Parliament and Term. A Council is seldom or never held without the Presence of one of the Secretaries of State of whose Office and Dignity much more considerable in England than in other Nations take here this brief Account The Kings of England had antiently but one Secretary of State until about the end of Henry the Eight his Reign it was thought fit that weighty and important Office should be discharged by two Persons both of equal authority and both stiled Principal Secretaries of State In those days and some while after they sate not at Council Board but having prepared their business in a Room adjoyning to the Council-Chamber they came in and stood on either hand of the King and nothing was debated at the Table until the Secretaries had gone through with their Proposals But Queen Elizabeth seldom coming to Council that Method was altered and the two Secretaries took their places as Privy Counsellors which Dignity they have retained and enjoyed ever since and a
the Church assist the Priest at the Lords Supper by giving the Cup only After this brief account of Ecclesiastical persons somewhat may here not unfitly be added touching those persons who though not in holy Orders yet have a peculiar Relation to the Church and are quasi semi Ecclesiastici as first Patrons of Churches who by first building of Churches or first endowing them with Lands have obtained for them and their Heirs a right of Advowson or Patronage whose office and duty is to present a fit Clerk when the Church is void to the Bishop to be by him Canonically instituted and to protect the said Church as far as he can from all wrong and in case his Clerk prove unfit for the place to give notice thereof to the Bishop Next are the Oeconomi vel Ecclesiae Guardiani the Church wardens whose Office is to see that the Church be in good repair fitly adorned and nothing wanting for Divine Service Sacrament and Sermons that the Church yard be sufficiently mounded or inclosed that there be an exact Terrier of the Glebe Lands and if any thing belonging to the Church be detained to sue for the same to observe that all Parishoners come duly to Divine Service to require the penalty for absence to enquire after to admonish and to present to the Bishop scandalous livers to collect the Charity of the Parishoners for poor Strangers to declare and to execute the orders of the Bishop to see that none presume to vent his own conceptions in the Pulpit unless he hath a special licence so to do The Churchwardens are elected every Easter Week usually by the Parson and Parishoners if they so agree if not then one by the Parson and the other by the Parishioners There are also in greater Parishes joyned with the Church wardens Testes Synodales anciently called Synods-men now corruptly called Sides-men who are to assist the Church-wardens in enquiries into the lives of inordinate livers and in presenting men at Visitations Lastly the Sacristan corruptly the Sexton or Clark who is ordinarily to be chosen by the Parson only he ought to be twenty years old or above of good life that can read write and sing his office is to serve at Church the Priest and Church-wardens In the Church of England there are as in the antient primitive times three Orders Bishops Priests and Deacons None may be admitted Deacon before the age of 23 years unless he hath a Dispensation to be admitted younger None may be made a Priest till he be completely 24 years old None may be admitted Bishop till full 30 years old The Ordination of Priests and Deacons is four times the year upon four several Sundayes in the Ember or Failing Weeks that so all the Nation may at once in their joynt Prayers to God recommend them that are to receive Ordination which is performed by a Bishop in a solemn grave devout manner thus for Deacons After Morning Prayer there is a Sermon declaring the Duty and Office of Deacons and Priests then they being decently habited are presented to the Bishop by the Archdeacon or his Deputy whom the Bishop askes if he hath made due inquiry of them and then askes the people if they know any notable impediment or crime in any one of them after follow certain godly Prayers then a Collect Epistle and Gospel but before the Gospel the Oath of Supremacy is administred to every one of them and the Bishop putteth divers godly questions to them which being answered they all kneel and he laying his hands upon them severally doth ordain them Deacons then delivers to every one of them the New Testament and gives them authority to read the same in the Church then one of them appointed by the Bishop reads the Gospel and then all with the Bishop proceed to the Communion and so are dismissed with the Blessing pronounced by the Bishop The Ordination of Priests is partly in 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 and that 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 Vent Creator Spiritus in Meter to be sung then after another prayer they all kneeling the Bishop with the Priests present layeth his hands upon the head of every one severally and gives them Ordination in a grave set form of words different both from that of Bishops and that of Deacons the rest as in the ordaining of Deacons Of the Ecclesiastical Government of England and first of the Convocation FOr the Church legislative power or the making of Ecclesiastical Laws and consulting of the more weighty affairs of the Church the King by the advise of his Privy Council usually convokes a National Synod commonly called the Convocation which is summoned in manner following The King directeth his Writ to the Archbishops of each Province for summoning all Bishops Deans Arch-deacons Cathedrals and Collegiate Churches according to their best discretion and judgment assigning them the time and place in the said Writ whereupon the Archbishop of Canterbury directs his Letters to the Bishop of London as his Dean Provincial first citing himself peremptorily and then willing him to cite in like manner all the Bishops Deans Archdeacons Cathedral and Collegiate Churches and all the Clergy of his Province to that place and at the day prefixt in the Writ but directeth withal that one Proctor sent for each Cathedral and Collegiate Churche and two for the body of the inferiour Clergy of each Diocess may suffice The Bishop of London accordingly directs his letters to the Bishops of every Diocess of the Province citing them in like manner to appear and to admonish the Deans and Archdeacons to appear personally and the Cathedrals Collegiate Churches and inferiour Clergy of the Diocess to send their Proctors to the place and at the day appointed also to certifie to the Archbishop the names of all so summoned by them The place where the Convocation of Clergy in the Province of Canterbury hath usually been held was St. Pauls Church in London but of later times at St. Peters in Westminster in the Chappel of Henry the Seventh where there is as in Parliament a Higher and a Lower House or a House of Lords Spiritual and a House of Commons Spiritual The Higher House of Convocation in the Province of Canterbury consists of 22 Bishops whereof the Archbishop is President sittting in a Chair at the upper end of a great Table and the Bishops on each side of the same Table all in their Scarlet Robes The Lower House consists of all the Deans Archdeacons one Proctor for every Chapter and two Proctors for all the Clergy of each Diocess in all 166 persons viz. 22 Deans 24 Prebendaries 54 Archdeacons and 44 Clerks representing the Diocesan-Clergy The first day both houses being assembled the Higher chooseth
It is as antient as the Civility of the Nation though perhaps by another name This Court proceeds either ordinarily according to the Laws Statutes and Customes of the Nation and in Latin granting out Writs mandatory and remedial Writs of Grace or else according to Equity and Conscience and by English Bill so that the Chancery hath two Courts in one the equitable part is by Bills Answers and Decrees to examine Frauds Combinations Trusts secret uses c. to moderate the Rigour of the Laws and rescue men out of the hands of their Oppressors To relieve a man especially in three things viz. against Cheats unfortunate accidents and breaches of Trust Out of this Court issue out Writs or Summons for Parliaments Edicts Proclamations Charters Protections safe Conducts Writs of Moderata Misericordia when any person hath been amerced too high and for a reasonable part of Goods for Widdows and Orphans Patents for Sheriffs Writs of Certiorari to remove Records and false Judgements in inferiour Courts Writs of Audita Querela and Scire facias here are sealed and inrolled Letters Patent Treaties and Leagues with forreign Princes Deeds betwixt Party and Party touching their Lands and Estates or Purchasers taking recognizances and making of Extents upon Statutes and Recognizances for payment of Moneys or securing of Contracts Writs Remedial or Magisterial Commissions of Appeal Oyer and Terminer c. The Court of Common Pleas which are betwixt Subject and Subject hath its Original and Commissions from the Chancery and cannot hold Pleas without it For the Latin part of this Court are the 24 Cursitors and for the English part are the six Clerks The Court of Equity that proceeds not according to Law is no Court of Record and therefore binds onely the person not his Lands or Goods The Judge of this Court is the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England He is here the sole Judge whereas in other Courts there are three or four Judges but he may and doth often in cases of greater weight and difficulty in cases of Law call some of the other Judges to his assistance and therefore it is said this Office may be discharged by one that is no professed Lawyer as it was almost always antiently and so of later times by Sir Christopher Hatton and after by Doctor Williams Bishop of Lincoln to their great praise and commendation It is the highest Dignity in England that a Lay-man is capable of it is Summum ambientis animi quasi Solstitium and the Chancellor is Magistratuum omnium Antistes Antiently the Lord Chancellor had sometimes his Vicechancellor commonly called Keeper of the Great Seal but of later times they differ onely in name In France he that is made Chancellour is durante vita his place cannot be taken away although the Seales may It is said there that he is so to attend to the sole Interest of the King and People that he must not be sensible of any Relations or other consideration and therefore he may not put himself in mourning neither for his own Father nor for the King himself Chancellours have been in England as the learned Dugdale finds as soon as Christianity was embraced by the Saxons The Chancellor is said to be keeper of the Kings Conscience to judge secundum aequum bonum according to equity and conscience he is to moderate the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the exact rigour and letter of the Law whereunto other Judges are strictly tyed for the Princes of this Realm in imitation of the King of Kings governing the World by justice and mercy have erected two supreme Tribunals together at the upper end of Westminster-Hall one of Justice wherein nothing but the strict Letter of the Law is observed and the other of Mercy wherein the Rigour of the Law is tempered with the sweetness of Equity which is nothing else but Mercy qualifying the sharpness of Justice This Court being a Court of Conscience the less it is perplexed with the quirks of Lawyers the more it is guided by Conscience and Equity and therefore the Kings of England would have this Court superiour to the other Tribunals that so if any thing was done amiss by those following the Rigour of the Law here good by Conscience and Equity it might be amended wherein they followed the noble Pattern of the Great Constantine qui omnes suas leges imperfectas esse voluit ut inde subditi sui appellarent ad Episcopos and therefore in all former times the Judges of this Court were chosen out of the Clergy able Divines who by their skil in the Law of God and of Nations were best able to judge according to Moderation and Equity and most willing to execute accordingly also fittest to dispose of the Kings spiritual Benefices Besides when this High Office was given to Bishops and Clergy men in whom wealth and a publick Spirit being usually conjoyned what great publick Acts of Piety and Charity were done by them for this Nation to mention onely in Oxford What noble and rich foundations are Christ-church Magdalens New Colledge and Merton Colledge all founded by Bishops that were Chancellors and on the contrary since the places of Chancellor Treasurer Privy Seal c. have been usually in the Hands of Lay-men what one great work hath been done for the Publick but onely wealth heaped up for their own private Families The manner of Proceeding in this Court is much like that in the Courts of the Civil Law the Actions by Bill or Plaint the Witnesses examined in private the Decrees in Engliâ—h or Latin not in French No Jury of twelve men but all Sentences given by the Judge of the Court. The Chancellor or Lord Keeper hath twelve assistants antiently called Clerici or Magistri Cancellariae because they were usually in Holy Orders and all Doctors of Laws for Master and Doctor was antiently the same as at this day a Doctor in the Arts is called Magister in Artibus The first of these is called Master of the Rolls a place of great dignity and is in the gift of the King either for life or during His Majesties pleasure and this Officer hath jure Officii the gift of those considerable Offices of the six Clerks in Chancery hath the keeping of the Rolls hath the House of the converted Jews now called the Rolls and in the absence of the Chancellor heares Causes and makes Orders by Vertue of a Commission with two Masters and not jure Officii One reason why the Masters of Chancery were ever Civilians may be because for all cases almost imaginable some Law or case conformable thereunto may be fetched by a good Civilian out of that Law of Laws called the Civil Law Another may be because the Chancery more antient then in any other Court of England for all Original writs and Comissions whereupon the other Courts do ground all their proceedings do come from thence hath probably been taken from the Civil Law divers points
only of Beer and Ale for the City of London though it be a very moderate Imposition is farmed or rented of the King at above one hundred and twenty thousand pounds a year and about one fourth part of all that Excise throughout England Churches Parish Churches besides Chappels there were in all 130. that is double the Number of Churches parochial to be found in any City of Christendom the Mother Church whereof is dedicated to the memory of Saint Paul the only Cathedral of that Name in Europe and founded by Sebert a Saxon King about the year 610. in a place where had stood a Temple dedicated to Diana and afterward enlarged by Erkenwald the 4 th Saxon Bishop thereof and that old Fabrick being almost destroyed by Fire Mauritius another Bishop of London in One thousand eighty three began and finished a great part of the present magnificent Pile in the space of 20 years but the Quire and Tower were not finished till 1221 and then it was dedicated in a most solemn manner as was the Temple of Solomon the King the Bishops and a vast number from all Parts of the Nation assisting thereat It is seated on the highest part of all the City and was more conspicuous perhaps then any Cathedral Church in the World it was a structure for length height and antiquity surpassing all other Churches the length thereof was 690 Foot therein excelling by 20 foot St. Peters in Rome which for beauty proportion and divers other things excels all other Temples it was in height 102 foot and in breadth 130. The Church was built as other Cathedrals in a perfect Cross and in the midst of the Cross upon mighty high Arches was a Tower of Stone 260 foot high and on that a spire of Timber covered with Lead in height 260 foot more in all from the ground 520 foot above which was a â—ole of Copper Gilt of 9 foot in compass whereon stood the Cross 15 foot and a half high and almost 6 foot a cross made of oak covered with Lead and another cover of Copper over the Lead above all stood the Eagle or Cock of Copper Gilt four foot long and the breadth over the Wings 3 foot and a half In the year 1561. a part of this magnificent Pile was much wasted and the rest endangered by a fire begun in that stately Timber Spire by the negligence of a Plummer who left his Pan of Fire there whilest he went to Dinner as he confest of later years on his Death Bed But by the great Bounty and Piety of Queen Elizabeth of the Citizens of London and of all the Clergy of the Province of Canterbury it was again repaired in the space of Five years After which the Stone work decaying apace by reason of the corroding quality of the abundance of Sea-coal smoak the Learned and Pious Doctor Laud coming to be Bishop of London and after of Canterbury was so zealous and vigorous for upholding this most Ancient Church and Stately Monument of England and glory of the City of London that by the Kings favor and liberal contribution of Godly People maugre all opposition of the Puritans the work was so eagerly pursued that before the year 1640. the whole Body was finished with Portland Stone excellent against all smoak and weather and the Tower scaffolded up to the top with a purpose to take it all down and to rebuild it more fair and of a greater height with a stately Pinnacle at each corner because the Arches were not thought strong enough to support another Steeple and to place in that Tower the biggest and most tunable Bells in the World For performance whereof and for adorning the Church there was in the Chamber of London above One hundred and seventy thousand pounds all taken out soon after and employed in an Unnatural War by a stiff necked People against the best of Kings in which one single act a great part of the Citizens of London and of the Long Parliament became deeply guilty of a horrid Rebellion and detestable Sacriledge After the Murder or rather Martyrdom of the forementioned Archbishop the Skaffolds were taken away and sold with some of the Lead which covered this famous Structure and this House of God made a Stable for Horses by the Disloyal Army and almost all suffered to decay till the Restauration of the King who having a pious intent to set upon the repair thereof again it was all ruined by the late dreadful Conflagration in 1666. Which yet hath not so discouraged our gracious King and the rest of our Church Governors but that in a short time they intend to begin again the repair of the Mother Church of the Mother City of this Kingdom to the glory of God and high honor of this City and Nation for the speedy promoting whereof both King and Parliament City and Countrey Clergy and Laity high and low seem to stand engaged to lend their aid and assistance Of the forementioned Fire that was able to destroy such a vast solid Structure as the Cathedral of S. Paul a brief account may here be acceptable especially to Foreigners who have had imperfect relations thereof THe City of LONDON within the Walls was seated upon near Four hundred and sixty Acres of Ground whereon was built about Fifteen thousand Houses besides Churches Chappels Halls Colledges Schools and other Publick Buildings whereof about Four parts of five were utterly devoured in the late dismal Conflagration and about One part of five of the whole City and Suburbs counting therein Westminster and Southwark There were then destroyed Eighty seven Parochial Churches Six Consecrated Chappels all the Principal Publick Edifices as the forenamed Cathedral of S. Paul the great Guild-Hall wherein are held Nine several Courts belonging to the City the Royal Exchange the Custome-House most Halls of Companies c. whereof the whole damage is almost incredible In that one commodity of Books onely wherewith London abounded was lost as Judicious Stationers have computed One hundred and fifty thousand pounds for the loss fell most upon that and Three or four other cumbersome commodities not easie on a sudden to be removed viz. Wines Tobacco Sugars and Plumbs wherewith this City was furnished beyond any City in the World Yet in this vast Incendy not above Six or eight persons were burnt Of this dreadful Fire there were many concurrent occasions First The Drunkenness or Supine negligence of the Baker in whose House it began or of his Men. Next The dead time of the night wherein it began viz. between One and two of the Clock after Midnight when some were wearied with working others filled with drink all in a dead sleep Thirdly The dead time of the week being Saturday night when Traders were retired to their Countrey Houses and none but Children or Young Servants left behind Fourthly The dead time of all the year being then the long Vacation on the Second of September when Tradesmen were generally abroad
among the learned is very considerable saith of one Colledge of Oxford in his time what might be said of some others there and in Cambridge Non credo in orbe terrarum extra Angliam simile esse addam aut fuisse Magnae illic opes vectigalia c. Verbo vis dicam Unum Oxoniense Collegium rem inquisivi superat vel decem nostra The whole number of Students in Oxford that partake of the Revenues of the Colledges are about One thousand and of other Students about twice as many There were anciently in this University before the founding of Colledges Two hundred Hospitia Studiosorum Inns Hostels or Halls and as Armachanus Writes there were Thirty thousand Students and Twenty miles round Oxford were by the Kings of England set apart for Provision in Victuals for this City The Discipline of these Colledges and Halls is far more exact and excellent then in any Foreign University First All that intend to take any Degree are to take their Dyet and Lodging and have a Tutor constantly in some Colledge or Hall then they are to perform all Exercises to be subject to all Statutes and to the Head of the House Next they are to be subject to the cheif Magistrate of the University to perform Publick Exercise and to be subject to the Publick Statutes thereof They are to suffer themselves to be shut up by night in their several Houses They are never to be seen abroad out of their Chambers much less out of their Colledges without their Caps and Gowns an excellent order no where observed in Foreign Parts but in Spain Their Gowns are all to be black onely the Sons of the higher Nobility are herein indulged and all Doctors are honored with Purple or rather Scarlet Robes which anciently were allowed onely to Emperors or Kings but now in England besides the King all Peers in Parliament all Doctors in the Universities all Majors and Governors of Cities and all the Principal Judges are at certain times cloathed in Scarlet The Degrees taken in the University are onely two viz. Of Bachelar and Master for so they are anciently called as well in Divinity Law and Physick as in the Arts. At present the Degrees in those Three Professions are called Bachelars and Doctors onely in the Arts Bachelar and Master Yet is it not to be supposed That because in Musick one of the Liberal Arts he that takes the second Degree is usually now stiled a Doctor therefore to be preferred before a Master of Arts who is Doctor of all the Liberal Arts yet Men otherwise Learned have sometimes committed such Errors by their Ignorance in words and names Every year at the Act or time of compleating the Degree of Master both in the Three Professions and Arts which is always the Monday after the Sixth of July there are unless some extraordinary occasion hinders great Solemnities not onely for Publick Exercises but Feastings Comedies and a mighty concourse of Strangers from all parts to their Friends and Relations then compleating their Degrees whereby and by the set Fees it usually costs a Doctor of Divinity Law or Physick about One hundred pounds sterling and a Master of Arts 20 or 30 l. sterling In these Three Professions and in the Arts there proceed Masters or Doctors yearly about One hundred and fifty and every Lent about Two hundred Bachelars of Arts. The time required by Statute for studying in the University before the taking of the forementioned Degrees because it is much longer then what is required in any Foreign University shall here be set down more particularly To take the Degree of Bachelar in Arts is required four years and three years more for to be Master of Arts. To take the Degree of Doctor of Divinity the Student must necessarily first have taken the Degree of Master of Arts and then after seven years more he is capable of being Bachelar in Divinity and then four years more is requisite before the Degree of Doctor can be had To take the Degree of Doctor of Laws the more ordinary way is in three years after Master of Arts one may be capable of the Degree of Bachelar and in four years more of Doctor of Laws the like for Doctor in Physick The Exercises required for taking these Degrees are many and difficult enough yet not such but that may be performed in less time by any Men of good abilities But it was the Wisdom of our Ancestors so to order that before those degrees were conferred upon any and they allowed to practice they might first gain Judgment and Discretion which comes with Time and Years and perhaps that those of slower parts might by Time and Industry make themselves capable of that Honor as well as those of quicker abilities To speak now particularly of the Publick Schools in Oxford of the large Salary to each Publick Professor of the most famous Bodlean Library that for number of choice Books curious Manuscripts diversity of Languages liberty of Studying facility of finding of any Book equals if not surpasses the famous Vatican To speak of the curious Architecture and vast charges of the New Theater fabricked by the most ingenious Dr. Christopher Wren at the sole cost and charges of the most Reverend Father in God Gilbert the present Archbishop of Canterbury for the use of Scholastick Exercises and of that most excellent Printing Press there To speak of the beautiful solid Stone Buildings Chappels Halls Libraries large Revenues admirable Discipline of several Colledges To describe the most delightful Publick Physick Garden abounding with variety of choice Plants and surrounded with stately Stone Walls at the sole expences of the Right Honorable Henry Earl of Danby would require another Volume What hath been said of Oxford the like may be said of Her Sister Cambridge which for Antiquity Beautiful Colledges large Revenues good Discipline number of Students plenty of Diet and of all other things necessary for advancement of Learning if in complaisance she will at any time give place to Oxford yet at the same time will challenge precedence before any other University of the Christian World These are the two glorious Fountains of Learning to the fame whereof Foreigners come on Pilgrimage to offer up Honor and Admiration and yet even these had lately been like to be dried up by the over-heated Zeal of some ignorant Fanaticks These are the cheifest Store-houses of Lettered Men which sends forth yearly a great number of Divines Civilians Physitians c. to serve all parts of this Kingdom To supply these great Store-houses there are in several parts of England Grammar Schools whereof the principal are Pauls Westminster Winchester Eaton Merchant-Taylers the Charter-house all richly endowed to maintain Masters Ushers and a certain number of Scholars so that a childe once admitted into these Schools if he become capable may at length be preferred to be Scholar or Fellow in some Colledge of one of these Universities and will want little or no assistance