and Unity of his Church against the Errors Schisms and Persecutions of its Enemies whether Papists Socinians or Disciplinarians His Book upon the Creed is a mixture of all these excellent Ingredients insomuch that whoever would be acquainted with the Sence of the Greek and Latine Fathers upon the Twelve Articles of our Faith as also with Positive Polemical and Philological Theology he will not find either his labour lost or his time mispended if he peruse what our learned Doctor has writ upon that Subject But neither Learning or Innocency are a sufficient safe-guard against the assaults of mischievous and malicious men many of whom combined together to render Dr. Heylyn as infamous in his Name as they had before made him improsperous in his Estate And to that purpose they used their utmost endeavours to have one of his Books burned called Respondet Petrus by an Order from Olivers Council-Table For Dr. N. Bernard Preacher of Grays-Inn putting out a Book entituled The Iudgment of the Lord Primate of Ireland c. our Reverend Doctor being therein accused for violating his Subscription and running cross to the publick Doctrine of the Church or England as also being taxed with Sophistry Shamelesness and some other things which he could not well endure either from the Dead or the Living he returned an Answer to it against which Articles were presently formed and presented to the then Council-Table and the common Rumor went that the Book was publickly burnt A fame as the Doctor says that had little truth in it though more colour for it than many other charges which had been laid upon him He was in London when he received the first notice of it and though he was persuaded by his friends to neglect the matter as that which would redound to his honour and knew very well what Sentence had been passed by Tacitus upon the Order of Senate or Roman Consul for burning the Books of Cremutius Cordus the Historian Neque aliud externi Reges aut qui eâdem saevitiâ usi sunt nisi dedecus sibi atque illis gloriam peperere i. e. they gained nothing but ignominy to themselves and glory to all those whose Books they burnt yet our Doctor was rather in that particular of Sir Iohn Falstaff's mind not liking such grinning honour and therefore rather chose to prevent the Obloquy than boast in it To which purpose he applied himself to the Lord Mayor of London and a great Man in the Council of State and receiving from them a true information of what had passed he left his Solicitude being quite freed from all fear and danger About this time it was that the King Church and Church-men were arraigned and traduced by many voluminous Writers of the Age and the Doctor being solicited to answer them by Letters Messages and several personal Addresses by men of all Orders and Dignities in the Church and of all Degrees in the Universities was at last overcome by their Importunities the irresistible Intreaties of so many Friends having something in them of Commands And the first Author whose Mistakes Falsities and Defects he examined was Mr. Thomas Fuller the Church-Historian who intermingling his History with some dangerous Positions which if reduced into practice would overthrow the Power of the Church and lay a probable Foundation for Disturbances in the Civil-State the Doctor made some Animadversions on him by way of Antidote that so if possible he might be read without danger Another was Mr. Sanderson's long History of the Life and Reign of King Charles I. whose errors being of that nature as might mis-guide the Reader in the way of Knowledg and Discourse our Doctor rectified him with some Advertisements that so he might be read with the greater profit It would swell these Papers into too great a bulk if I should give a particular account of the Contests that this Reverend man had with Mr. Harington Mr. Hickman and Mr. Baxter the last of which was so very bold as to disgorge himself upon the whole Clergy of England in his Grotian Religion which caused in our Doctor as he tells his Brethren the old Regular Clergy So great an horror and amazement that he could not tell whether or no he could give any credit to his Senses the words sounding loud in his ears and not sinking at first into his heart Neither Did Mr. Baxter arraign the whole Clergy in general but more particularly directed his Spleen against Dr. Heylyn whose name he wish'd afterwards he had spared But it was whilst he was living he has made more bold with him since he was dead and that for no other reason that I can learn but for exposing the Follies Falshoods and uncharitableness of a daring and rash Writer who never returned one word of Answer besides Railing and Reproaches unto what our Doctor Published against him And having made mention of these Authors against whom our excellent Doctor appeared in the Lists it may not perhaps be deemed unacceptable to those Readers who are either unable to buy or unwilling to read the Books written against them to transcribe some particular passages which may be a farther testification of the zeal of this great Scholar for the King and Church And the first relating to the King shall be about the Coronation it being a piece of new State-Doctrine that the Coronation of the King should depend upon the consent of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament For in the Form and Manner of the Coronation of King Edward VI. described in the Catalogue of Honour set forth by Thomas Mills of Canterbury Anno Dom. 1610 we find it thus The King being carried by certain Noble Courtiers in another Chair unto the four sides of the Stage was by the Archbishop of Canterbury declared to the people standing round about both by Gods and mans Laws to be the Right and Lawful King of England France and Ireland and proclaimed that day to be Crowned Consecrated and Anointed unto whom he demanded Whether they would Obey and Serve or not By whom it was again with a loud cry answered God save the King and ever live his Majesty The same we have in substance both in fewer words in the Coronation of King Iames where it is said The King was shewed to the people and that they were required to make acknowledgment of their Allegiance to his Majesty by the Archbishop which they did with Acclamations But assuredly says Dr. Heylyn the difference is exceeding vast between Obeying and Consenting between the peoples acknowledging their Allegiance and promising to Obey and Serve their Lawful Sovereign and giving their Consent to his Coronation as if it could not be performed without it This makes the King to be either made or unmade by his people according to the Maxim of Buchanan Populo jus est imperium cui velit deferat than which passage there is nothing in all his Books more pestilent or seditious Neither is another Position any less
his Age by which means he obtained a Dispensation notwithstanding any Local Statutes to the contrary that he should not be compelled to enter into Holy Orders till he was Twenty four years of Age according to the time appointed both in the Canons of the Church and the Statutes of the Realm And such were his fears to enter upon the Study as well as undertake the profession of Divinity that it was not without great Reluctance and Difficulty on his own part as well as many weighty Arguments and Persuasions of a very Learned and Reverend person Mr. Buckner that he applied himself unto Theology Thus Moses pleaded his Inability and notwithstanding the express command of the Almighty refused to be sent upon the Divine Embassie persevering in his unseasonable modesty till God threatned him with his Anger as he had before encouraged him with his promises But as the difficulties in Divinity made Mr. Heylyn for some time to desist so the sweetness and amabilities of that Study allured him to undertake the Profession And therefore he received the Orders of Deacon and Priest but at distant times in St. Aldates Church in Oxon from the Right Reverend Bishop Howson And when he was Ordained Priest he Preach'd the Ordination Sermon upon those words of our Blessed Saviour to St. Peter Luke 22. 32. And when thou art converted strengthen thy Brethren What course and method he observed in his Theological Studies he tells of with his own Pen When I began my Studies in Divinity I thought no course so proper and expedient for me as the way commended by King Iames which was that young Students in Divinity should be excited to study such Books as were most agreeable in Doctrine and Discipline to the Church of England and to bestow their time in the Fathers and Councils Schoolmen Histories and Controversies and not to insist too long upon Compendiums and Abbreviators making them the grounds of their Study and opened at the charges of Bishop Montague though not then a Bishop For though I had a good respect to the memory of Luther and the name of Calvin as those whose Writings had awakened all these parts of Europe out of the ignorance and superstition in which they suffered yet I always took them to be men men as obnoxious unto Error as subject to humane Frailty and as indulgent too unto their own Opinions as any others whatsoever The little knowledge I had gained in the course of Stories had pre-acquainted me with the Fiery Spirit of the one and the Busie Humor of the other thought thereupon unfit by Arch-Bishop Cranmer and others the chief Agents in the Reformation of this Church to be employed as Instruments in that weighty Business Nor was I ignorant how much they differed fsom us in their Doctrinals and Forms of Government And I was apt enough to think that they were no fit Guides to direct my Judgment in order to the Discipline and Doctrine of the Church of England to the establishing whereof they were held unuseful and who both by their Practices and Positions had declared themselves Friends to neither The Geography was in less than three years Re-printed and in this second Edition Enlarged and again Presented by him to the Prince of Wales and by him received with most affectionate Commendations of the Author But it met with a far different entertainment from K. Iames. For the Book being put into the hands of that learned Monarch by Dr. Young Dean of Winton who thereby designed nothing else but the highest kindness to Mr. Heylyn the King at first expressed the great Value he had for the Author but unfortunately falling on a passage wherein Mr. Heylyn gave Precedency to the French King and called France the more Famous Kingdom King Iames became very much offended and ordered the Lord Keeper that the Book should be call'd in The good Dean gave notice to Mr. Heylyn of his Majesties Displeasure advising him to repair to Court and to make use of the Princes Patronage as the best lenitive to prevent the rankling of this wound lest it festered and became incurable But he rather chose to abide at Oxon acquainting the Lord Danvers with the business and requesting his Advice and Intercession and sending afterward an Apology and Explanation of his meaning to Doctor Young the substance of which was That some crimes are of a nature so unjustifiable that they are improved by an Apology yet considering the purpose he had in those places which gave offence to his Sacred Majesty he was unwilling that his Innocence should be condemn'd for want of an Advocate The burthen under which he suffered was rather a mistake than a crime and that mistake not his own but the Printers For if in the first line of page 441. was be read instead of is the sense runs as he design'd it And this appears from the words immediately following for by them may be gathered the sense of this corrected reading When Edward the Third quartered the Arms of France and England he gave Precedency to the French first because France was the greater and more famous Kingdom Secondly That the French c. These Reasons are to be referr'd to the time of that King by whom those Arms were first quartered with the Arms of England and who desired by this honor done unto their Arms to gain upon the good opinion of that Nation for the Crown and Love whereof he was a Suitor For at this time besides that it may seem ridiculous to use a Verb of the present Tense in a matter done so long ago that Reason is not of the least force or consequence the French having so long since forgot the Rights of England and our late Princes claiming nothing but the Title only The place and passage so corrected I hope says Mr. Heylyn I may without detraction from the Glory of this Nation affirm That France was at this time the more famous Kingdom Our English Swords for more than half the time since the Norman Conquest had been turned against our own Bosoms and the Wars we then made except some fortunate Excursions of King Edward the First in France and King Richard in the Holy Land in my conceit were fuller of Pity than of Honor. For what was our Kingdom under the Reign of Edward the Second Henry the Third Iohn Stephen and Rufus but a publick Theatre on which the Tragedies of Blood and civil Dissentions had been continually acted On the other side the French had exercised their Arms with Credit and Renown both in Syria Palestine and Egypt and had much added to the Glory of their Name and Nation by Conquering the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily and driving the English themselves out of all France Guyen only excepted If we look higher we shall find France to be the first Seat of the Western Empire and the Forces of it to be known and felt by the Saracens in Spain the Saxons in Germany and the Lombards
in Italy at which time the Valour of the English was imprisoned in the same Seas with their Island And therefore France was at that time when first the Arms were quartered the more famous Kingdom 'T is true indeed since the time of those victorious Princes those Duo Fulmina Belli Edward the Third and the Black Prince his Son the Arms of England have been exercised in most parts of Europe Nor am I ignorant how high we stand above France and all other Nations in the true fame of our Atchievements France it self divers times over-run and once Conquered the House of Burgundy upheld from Ruine the Hollanders Supported Spain Awed and the Ocean Commanded are sufficient testimonies that in pursuit of Fame and Honor we had no Equals That I was always of this opinion my Book speaks for me and indeed so unworthy a person needs no better an Advocate in which I have been no where wanting to commit to memory the honorable performances of my Countrey The great Annalist Baronius pretending only a true and sincere History of the Church yet tells the Pope in his Epistle Dedicatory that he principally did intend that work pro Sacrarum Traditionum Antiquitate Authoritate Romanae Ecclesiae The like may I say of my self though not with like imputation of Imposture I promised a Description of all the World and have according to the measure of my poor Abilities fully performed it yet have I apprehended withal every modest occasion of enobling and extolling the Soâ—â—ers and Kings of England Besides that I do not now speak of England as it now stands augmented with by the happy Addition of Scotland I had had it from an Author whom in poverty of reading I conceived above all exception viz. Cambden Clarencieux that general and accomplish'd Scholar in the fifth part of his Remains had so informed me If there be error in it 't is not mine but my Authors The Precedency which he there speaks of is in General Councils And I do heartily wish it would please the Lord to give such a sudden Blessing to his Church that I might live to see Mr. Cambden Confuted by so good an Argument as the sitting of a General Council Thus Mr. Heylyn was the interpreter of his own words and by these demonstrations of his integrity King Iames's indignation was appeased and his own fears were ended Only he took care to have these offensive words blotted out of his Book as the Dean of Winton advised him In the year 1625. he took a Journey with Mr. Levet of Lincolns-Inn into France where he visited more Cities and made more Observations in the space of five weeks for he staid there no longer than many others have done in so many years The particulars of this Journey he put in Writing and some years after gratified his Countrey with the Publication of it together with some other very excellent Remarks made by him when he attended upon the Earl of Danby to the Isles of Guernsey and Iersey Anno Dom. 1628. Had King Iames lived to have perused that Book Mr. Heylyn had needed no other Advocate to have restored him to his Princely Favour and Protection For never was the Vanity and Levity of the Monsieurs and the Deformity and Sluttishness of their Madames more ingeniously exposed both in Prose and Verse than in the Account that he gives of his Voyage into France On April 18. 1627. he opposed in the Divinity-School and the 24th day following he answered pro Forma upon these two Questions viz. An. Ecclesia unquam fuerit invisibilis An Ecclesia possit errare Both which he determined in the Negative And in stating of the first he fell upon a different way from that of Doctor Prideaux in his Lecture de Visibilitate Ecclesiae and other Tractates of and about that time in which the visibility of the Protestant Church and consequently of the Renowned Church of England was no otherwise proved than by looking for it into the scattered Conventicles of the Berengarians in Italy the Waldenses in France the Wickliffs in England and the Hussites in Bohemia which manner of proceeding not being liked by Mr. Heylyn because it utterly discontinued that Succession in the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy which the Church of England claims from the Apostles he rather chose to look for a continual Visible Church in Asia Aethiopia Greece Italy yea and Rome it self as also in all the Western Provinces then subject to the power of the Popes thereof And for the proof whereof he shewed 1. That the Church of England received no Succession of Doctrine or Government from any of the scattered Conventicles before remembred 2. That the Wickliffes together with the rest before remembred held many Heterodoxies in Religion as different from the Establish'd Doctrine of the Church of England as any point that was maintained at that time in the Church of Rome And 3. That the Learned Writers of that Church and Bellarmin himself among them have stood up as cordially and stoutly in maintenance of some Fundamental points of the Christian Faith against Socinians Anabaptists and Anti-Trinitarians and other Hereticks of these Ages as any of the Divines and other Learned men of the Protestant Churches which point Mr. Heylyn closed with these words viz. Vtinam quod ipse de Calvino sic semper errasset nobilissimus Cardinalis And this so much displeased the Doctor of the Chair that so soon as our young Divine had ended his Determination he fell most heavily upon him calling him by the most odious names of Papicola Bellarminianus Pontificius c. bitterly complaining to the younger part of his Audients unto whom he made the greatest part of his Addresses of the unprofitable pains he had took amongst them if Bellarmin whom he had laboured to decry for so many years should now be honored with the Title of Nobilissimus The like he did within a few days after Tantaene animis coelestibus irae when the Respondent became prior Oppenent loading him with so many Reproaches that he was branded for a Papist before he understood what Popery was And because this Report should not prepossess the minds of some great Persons the Disputant went to London and after the Lord Chamberlain had ordered him to Preach before the Kings Houshold Arch-Bishop Laud then Bishop of Bath and Wells took notice of the passages that had happened at Oxford But Mr. Heylyn told him the story at large and for a farther testimony of his Judgment and Innocency gave him a Copy of his Supposition which when it was perused the Disputant waited on him and his Lordship made him to sit down by him and after enquiry made into the course of his Studies told him That his Supposition was strongly grounded and not to be over thrown in a fair way of Scholastick Arguing That he would not have him be discouraged by noise and clamour That he himself had in his younger days maintained the same Positions in