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A50824 The new state of England under Their Majesties K. William and Q. Mary in three parts ... / by G.M. Miege, Guy, 1644-1718? 1691 (1691) Wing M2019A; ESTC R31230 424,335 944

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in which S. Augustine the Monk the first Apostle of that People had a Conference or Consultation with the British Bishops More memorable in the following Times for giving the Title of an Earl to the Illustrious Family surnamed De Clare the addition of an Honour and a goodly Patrimony to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and at this time the Title of Marquess to the Duke of Somerset This Town is seated on the Lea much decay'd by the turning the High-way through Ware and having now but 3 Parish Churches Here however is kept the County Goal and 't is a well frequented Market on Saturdays The other Market-Towns are S. Albans Sat. Rickmansworth Sat. Barnet Mund. Berkhamsted Mund. Buntingford Mund. Watford Tue. Ware Tue. Hitching Tue. Hempsted Thu. Hatfield Thu. Hodsdon Thu. Baldock Thu. Bp. Stretford Thu. Stevenedge Frid. Tringe Frid. ●toudon Frid. Amongst which S. Alhans seated on the River Coln was so called from a famous Monastery here founded by Offa the great King of the Mercians in honour of St. Albans the Protomartyr of Britain a Citizen of Verulamium near adjoyning to it Out of the Ruins whereof decay'd by Age and destroy'd by War arose the present S. Albans the fairest and best traded Town in this County A Town which formerly injoy'd great Priviledges For Divine Worship it has now 3 Parish Churches and in one of 'em ly interred the Bodies of many Nobles slain in two Battels fought here between the Houses of York and Lancaster This Town has been dignifyed with the several Titles of Viscount Earl and Duke With the first Anno 1620 in the Person of Francis Bacon Viscount S. Albans Lord Verulam and Lord High Chancellour of England With the Title of Earl Anno 1628. in the person of Richard de Burgh and continued in his Son Ulick with whom it dyed till revived again Anno 1660. by King Charles II. in the person of Henry Jermin the last Earl of St. Albans Who dying without Issue King Charles advanced his Grace Charles Beauclare Earl of Burford to the Title of Duke by making him Duke of S. Albans Ware Hatfield and Hodsdon are all three seated on the Lea. The first a good Thorough-fare Town much improved since the High-Way was turned from Hartford hither Noted besides for the Channel cut from thence to London where it serves so many hundred Families with the Conveniency of that excellent Water called New River Water To which may be added another Observation the pleasantness and easiness of the Road from Ware up to London which being of a Sandy Soil proves seldom dirty but within a mile of London and is so filled with Towns and Gentlemens Houses from mile to mile that one would think the Suburbs of London on the North side fetch their beginning at Ware So strange is the Influence of this rich and populous City Hatfield is a Place of great Delight and Recreation but of chief note for that stately House called Hatfield House formerly one of the Kings of Englands Pallaces till it came in the possession of the Earls of Salisbury A House which for Situation Prospect Contrivance and Building for Air water and all other Accommodations is inferiour to none in England Not far from Hodsdon but nearer to Waltham Abby in Essex is Theoballs one of the Kings Royal Seats pleasantly situate among delightful Walks Gardens Groves and Springs First built by Sir William Cecil and afterwards beautifyed by his Son Robert both Lord Treasurers of England Barnet or high Barnet is pleasantly seated on a Hill and in the Road within ten miles of London Of some account for its Medicinal Waters but much more memorable for a bloody Battel fought here between the two Houses of York and Lancaster wherein the former prevailed Warford and Rickmansworth are both seated near the Coln And not far from the first Langley Abbey the Birth-place of that proud and high-spirited Pope Adrian IV. first known by Nicholas and surnamed Break-Spear Bishops-Stratford is a great Market Town seated near the River Stowr on the side of a Hill and much resorted unto On the East-side whereof are to be seen the Ruins of a Castle called the Castle of Waymour standing very steep in an Isle upon an artificial Mount with a dark and deep Dungeon in it which denotes some great Priviledges to have belonged unto it in former Times It was ruinated by King John Among the Market-Towns here I might have put in Royston part of which stands in this County but I refer you for it to Cambridgeshire In short this County which formerly was divided betwixt the Kings of Mercia and the East-Saxons and whose Inhabitants were part of the Catieuchlani as the Romans called them stands now divided betwixt the Dioceses of London and Lincoln Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire but four Members to serve in Parliament 2 by Hartford and 2 by St. Albans CHAP. X. Of Herefordshire Huntingtonshire and Kent Herefordshire HEREFORDSHIRE or the County of Hereford is an Inland County Which has for its Eounds Eastward Glocestershire and Worcestershire Westward Radnockshire and Brecknockshire in Wales Northward Shropshire and Southward Monmouthshire It s Length from North to South is about 35 miles its Breadth from East to West 30. The Whole divided into 11 Hundreds wherein 176 Parishes and but 8 Market-Towns This County was formerly part of Wales before it was by Conquest annexed to this Crown And then it was strengthened with no less than 28 Castles whereof there 's scarce any thing now remaining but their Ruins Here the Air is temperate and healthful and the Soil exceeding rich T is well cloathed with Wood and refreshed with Rivers the principal of which are the Wye Lug Arrow and Frome Two Things this County excels in its plenty of Fruit and the finest Wool in any part of England And amongst all sorts of Fruits the Red-streak Apple which makes the best sort of Cider is that which thrives here to admiration Hereford the chief Place hereof bears West-North-West from London and is distant from it 101 miles thus From London to Glocester 81 miles as you may see in Glocestershire then from Glocester to Ross 10 miles and to Hereford 10 more 'T is seated on the Banks of the River Wye and another that runs into it amongst rich● Meadows and plentiful Corn-fields Raised out of the Ruins of Ariconium a Place of good account in the time of the Romans It had once a strong and stately Castle built by the Normans which Time has now ruinated And now it is walled about having six Gates for entrance and 15 Watch-Towers for defence 'T was a Bishops See in the time of the Britains and restored to that Dignity by the Saxons Anno 680. Noted besides for giving first the Title of Earl then that of Duke and lastly that of Viscount now in the Person of the Right Honourable Edward D'Evreux Viscount Hereford c. Descended to him from his Ancestor Sir Walter
Kings and then a Place of larger extent than now it is Near the River stand the broken Walls of an old large Castle and in the midst of the Town is a Church the West-end whereof made of arched Work and imbowed over Head seems to be very ancient In short the Town is beautifull well frequented and full of fair Inns. It contains 3 Parish Churches and its Market which is on Saturdays iis well served with Corn and other Provisions As for honourary Titles the first that had any from hence was Elizabeth Viscountels of Kynelmalky in Ireland Created Countess of Guilford during life by Charles II. Anno 1660. Then in the Year 1671. the same King conferred the Title of Earl of Guilford upon John Maitland the late Duke of Lauderdale in Scotland And after them Francis North Lord Keeper of the Great Seal was advanced to the Peerage by being made Lord Guilford The other Market-Towns are Southwark Sat. Kingston Sat. Croydon Sat. Reygate Tue. Darking Thu. Farnham Thu. Ewel Southwark commonly pronounced Suthrick stands opposite to the City of London on the Banks of the Thames A Place which for number of Buildings and Inhabitants goes beyond most of the Cities in England But for its Streets and Buildings they are but ordinary except the broad Street which leads from the Bridge to St. George's Church A Street beautified with fair Buildings raised from the Ashes of frequent Conflagrations this Place has been afflicted with And here the Inhabitants drive a considerable Trade with the whole County this being the most convenient Place for the Surrey Carriers that come up for whose Accommodation here is Multitude of Inns. The principal Church here is that of St. Mary over Rey formerly a Priory of the B. Virgin Next to which is St. George's Church Here is also a famous Hospital called St. Thomas's Hospital founded by the Citizens of London for the Relief of impotent Persons The King's Bench and the Marshalsea are two other noted Places and but too well known to many To which add the Bear-Garden where Prizes are fought and the common People diverted with the Fighting of Dogs with Bears and Bulls In short though this Place be counted Part of London and under the Lord Mayor's Jurisdiction yet it does still injoy several of its ancient Priviledges peculiar to it self as holding of Courts within themselves and electing of Members of Parliament c. And because it lies in Surrey as London does in Middlesex I thought it not improper to bring i● into this List Kingston is situate ten Miles South-West from London on the Banks of the Thames over which it has a Bridge leading into Middlesex A Town heretofore famous for the Coronation of the Monarchs of the English Saxons whence it had the Name of Kingston or Kings Town whereas before it went by the Name of Moreford And for Distinctions-sake 't is called Kingston upon the Thames to difference it from Kingston upon Hull in Yorkshire A Place in former times well known for its Castle belonging to the Clares Earls of Glocester And as for its present State 't is yet a goodly Town well accommodated with Inns for the Reception of Strangers and of late something advantaged by the King's Residence in Summer at Hampton-Court in its Neighbourhood as it is by the County-Assizes which are frequently held here Croydon is a long Town ten miles South from London Seated near the Spring-head of the Wandle which falls into the Thames at Wandsworth and in a manner begirt with Hills well cloathed with Wood affording good Game to the Hunter and furnishing London with great store of Charcoal This Town has but few good Buildings the Houses in it being for the most part but mean and ordinary But it has the advantage of being graced with a fine large Church set out with a lofty Steeple and with a Summer-Pallace of the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Accommodated besides with an Hospital for the Relief of the Poor and a Free School for the Education of Youth From this Town to Farnham runs the Downs called Banstead Downs so noted for Hawking Hunting and Horse-racing And near the Town is a Bourn or Stream the Rising whereof has been sometimes observed to have been a Fore runner of some publick Calamity Reygate a good large Town is seated in the Vale called Holmes Dale and is now of chief note for the great plenty of excellent Fullers Earth which is digged up in its Neighbourhood Here is an ancient but ruinated Castle with a long Vault under Ground and a large Room at the end of it where if the Story be true the Barons met in Council in their War against King John Near this Town several Battels have been fought against the Danes which proved fatal to them Darking is situate on a Branch of the River Mole Where at the foot of White-Hill on which grow plenty of Box-trees the said River runs under Ground for above a Mile and rises again near Norbury The Place where it falls in is therefore called the Swallow Farnham seems to take its Name from the great Store of Fern that grows in its Neighbourhood It ly's on the edge of Surrey towards Hampshire watered by the River Wey and graced with an Episcopal Seat the usual Residence of the Bishops of Winchester Here King Alfred with a small Power had the good fortune to overcome the Danes of whom he made a great slaughter As for Ewel all I have to say is that it is but very mean and inconsiderable Other Places of Note in this County Richmond among the rest deserves the precedency A fair large and well built Town seatupon an easy ascent on the Banks of the Thames Whose pleasant and healthfull Situation has invited so many of the Gentry to be its Inhabitants Here King Henry VII built a stately Pallace which with Nonsuch and Otelands two other ●oyal Pallaces in this County has felt the sad effects of the Civil Wars in the Reign of Charles I. Here died several of the dearest Princes that ever England had Viz. King Edward III the Conquerour of France the beautifull Ann Wife to King Richard the Second and Daughter to the Emperour Charles the fourth the most wise Prince Henry the Seventh and the Wonder of her Sex the famous Queen Elizabeth Lambeth situate opposite to Westminster is a large Parish of chief note for being the Residence of the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury where he has a fine Pallace And though it is counted unwholsom to live in yet it is well inhabited and the Skirts of it graced with many Gentlemens and Citizens Houses Here Canute the last Danish King ended his Days among his Cups From Lambeth Westward you will find along the River Battersea Putney Moreclack three goodly Towns and at some distance from the River Newington Clapham and Wandesworth This last on the River Wandle which drives several Mills imploy'd by Londoners and of late much improved by the French Protestants that have
Ireland as a Name more sacred and replete with Majesty But the English never made a full and entire Conquest of that Kingdom till the latter end of Queen Elizabeths Reign upon the great Defection of the Irish Which ended in a total Overthrow of the Rebels then under the Conduct of Hugh O Neal Earl of Tiroen and the consequence of it according to the Rule That every Rebellion when 't is suppressed does make the Prince stronger and the Subjects weaker Which I hope will be the effect of the present Rebellion in that Kingdom But besides Great Britain and Ireland the King of England is possessed of Jersey Garnsey Alderney and Sark four Islands of good note especially the two first on the Coast of Normandy in France The same are holden in right of that Dukedom which was Conquered by Henry I of England and continued English till the Days of King John when Philip II of France surnamed Augustus seized on all the Estates the English had in France as Forfeitures Anno 1202. And since the French seized upon Normandy they have often attempted Jersey and Garnsey but always with repulse and loss So affectionate are the People to the English Government and jealous of the Priviledges they injoy under it which they could not hope for from the French In America the King of England is possessed of New-England Virginia Mary-Land New York Pensylvania Carolina and Hudsons-Bay Besides many noted Islands as New-found Land Jamaica Bermudos Barbados and amongst the Leeward Islands Nevis Antego Montserat Anguilla c. In Asia he has the Isle of Bombay near Goa which was Part of the present Queen Dowagers Portion besides Conveniencies for Traffick in India China and the Levant The same he has upon the Coast of Africk The King of England has a Claim besides to the Sovereignty of all the Seas round about Great Britain and Ireland and all the Isles adjacent even to the Shores of all the Neighbouring Nations Therefore all Foreiners Ships have anciently demanded Leave to Fish and to pass in these Seas and to this day lower their Top-Sails to all the Kings Ships of War Our Law faith the Sea is of the Liegeance of the King as well as the Land And accordingly Children born upon our four Seas as sometimes it does happen are accounted natural born Subjects of the King of England without being naturalized The King of England has moreover a Title to the Kingdom of France First Challenged by King Edward III as Son and Heir of Isabel the Daughter of King Philip the Fair and Sister of Lewis IX Philip V and Charles the Fair who reigned successively and died without Issue Male. To prosecute which Title he entred into France with an Army took upon him the Title of King of France and caused the Flower de luces to be quartered with the Lions of England which has been continued ever since amongst all his Successors The French opposing his Title by virtue of a pretended Salique Law disabling Women from the Succession to the Crown he overthrew in two great Battels with a small Force under the Conduct of the incomparable Edward the Black Prince his Son Duke of Aquitain Those were the Battels of Cressy and Poitiers the first being fought Anno 1343 in the Reign of Philip VI surnamed de Valois and that of Poitiers in the Reign of his Son King John who was taken Prisoner with Philip his Son and brought over into England But such is the Vicissitude of Humane Affairs that the English soon after lost all they had got in these Wars Calais excepted For Charles V of France the Son of John proved too hard for Richard II of England one of our unfortunate Kings the next Successor of King Edward III and his Grandson by Edward the Black Prince But Henry V his next Successor but one did so far pursue the Title of France that he won it after he had won the great Battle of Agincourt which happened Anno 1415. The Opportunity was great whether we consider the Weakness and distracted Condition of Charles VI then King of France or the very Distraction of the Kingdom at that time occasioned by the Faction of Burgundy against that of Orleans So that being sought to for Peace he granted it with these Conditions that upon his Marriage with the Lady Catharine Daughter to King Charles he should be made Regent of France during Charles his Life and after the Death of Charles the Crown of France and a●● its Rights should remain to King Henry and his Heirs for ever which was agreed to ●n ●oth sides And though Henry did not live ●o possess the Kingdom yet his Son Henry VI ●ad the fortune to be Crowned King of France in Paris which he held during the life of his Uncle John of Bedford an● Humfrey of Glo●ester After whose Deaths he not only lost France to the French but England and his Life to the Yorkish Faction Thus Charles VII Son of Charles VI after 〈◊〉 long and bloody War recovered from the English then divided at Home all their Possessions in France except Calais Which last remained under the English till Queen Maries Reign and was taken from her by Henry II of France And ever since Things have remained much in the same Posture the Kings of England with the Title to France and the French Kings with the Possession Nay we have had two Kings of late so passionately inamoured with the present French King that far from attempting to take the least Flower of his Crown from him have promoted his Greatness and encouraged his Rapines and unjust Usurpations The Scope whereof at last appeared to be no less than the Inslaving this Nation with the Assistance of France and far from raising the Glory of the English to make them an Object of Scorn and Contempt to the World But now we are blest with a wise just and magnanimous King three Vertues that have been long absent from the Throne of England we may hope shortly to see France if not Conquered again at least so humbled and weakened that it shall not be in her power to insult and incroach upon her Neighbours as she has in our Time to the Ruin and Desolation of the best Part of Europe 'T was a notable if not Prophetick Answer which an Englishman made to a French Officer who after the English had lost France asked him in a scoffing manner When they would return thither Whe● your Sins says he ●●re greater than ours As ba● as this Nation 〈◊〉 been 't is apparent the French have far outdone us in their Pride and Lewdness Cruelties and Usurpations So that I hope from the Disposition of the present Affairs of Europe the Time is come for France to give an Account thereof to God and Man I come now to the King of England's Titles which run thus at present joyntly with Queen Mary William and Mary by the Grace of God King and Queen of England Scotland France and Ireland
in Staffordshire and from thence runs through Darbyshire Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire where it falls into the Humber not far from Hull It waters in its course these three chief Places Nottingham Newark and Gainsborough The Humber is a Yorkshire River if that can be called a distinct River which has no Spring of its own but is more properly a Compound or rather a Mouth of several Rivers joyning into one Stream especially the Trent and the York Ouse the Dun and the Darewent The Town of Hull is seated upon it before which Place it widens it self much like the Severn at its Mouth to a great breadth and so falls into the Sea The Tees is another River of the North parting Yorkshire from the Bishoprick of Durham and running from West to East into the Sea The Tine famous for its Coal-trade parts for some Miles Durham from Northumberland running likewise from West to East Seaward by Newcastle therefore called Newcastle upon Tine The Twede is the furthest River Northward and that which parts England from Scotland At the Influx whereof into the Sea is seated Barwick called from this River Barwick upon Twede But besides these principal Rivers and many others of less note though several of them Navigable I cannot but mention those pleasant Rivulets and Brooks which are so numerous in this Country Whose clear and swift-running Streams add much to the Beauty and Fruitfulness of it CHAP. III. Of the Air of ENGLAND It s Temperateness and the Effects of it BY the Situation of ENGLAND so far North as it is one would think the Air should be pretty sharp here and at least colder than in France which lies South from it Whereas it is so Temperate Winter and Summer that the Winters are milder here and the Summers much more moderate In Winter-time the warm Vapours of the Sea on every side do so thicken the Air that it cannot so soon penetrate as the thin Air of hot Countries In Summer the frequent Interposition of Clouds often dissolving into Rain and the usual Blasts from the Sea allay those excessive Heats which both hot and cold Climates are troubled with in that Season for want of Wind and Rain Thus ENGLAND has the happiness of being seldom tired either with a long Frost in Winter or Drought in Summer On the contrary while Continents in the same Latitude and some of a much more Southern Situation ly under Snow pinched with a hard Frost it happens often that our Fields are here cloathed with Grass as in the Spring And whilst the Sun in Summer scorches the Plants and the Inhabitants themselves of hot Climates here it shines so kindly that it does but warm us by a moderate Heat which makes the Country so plentiful both of Corn and Pasture 'T is true on the other side the Air is nothing so pure nor the Weather so serene or regular as it is in Continents Most part of the Winter ENGLAND is under a Cloud often stuffed up with Fogs troubled with rainy Weather and except there happens a Frost but seldom injoying the Sun in its splendour Whence proceed those frequent Colds which are in a manner the original Cause of most of our Distempers and from the frequency of Rain Land-floods which drown the Countries where the Rivers swell out of their Channels and break over their Banks And yet as rainy as this Country is we seldom see here such impetuous Showers or rather Storms of Rain as hot Countries are subject to which often drown the fairest Hopes of the Husbandman For if they have Rain but seldom they have it by the great and sometimes with a Vengeance Whereas in England where it is more frequent it proves most commonly a gentle soaking Rain But there is another Inconveniency in the Weather here and that is its Changeableness and Irregularity according to the Wind that blows Which happens sometimes to be so frequent and sudden that in the space of 24 hours I have observed four different sorts of Weather proper enough for the four Seasons of the Year This I confess is an extraordinary Case But however such is the Mutableness of the Weather that it seldom holds out many Days in the same degree either of Warmth Coldness or Driness And of all Times of the Year the Month of March is the most subject to Change witness the usual Expression March Many-weather And yet this may be said for Changeableness of Weather that it creates Diversion by its Variety What is more comfortable in Winter than a warm Day after a fit of cold Weather and a cool Day in Summer after a fit of hot Weather The quickest and most refined Pleasures grow dull by their Continuance but Change sets an edge upon ' em And as glorious as the Sun appears in its greatest splendour I have oftentimes been weary of its undiscontinued Appearance for a long time together On the other side ENGLAND is nothing near so subject to Hail to Thunder and Lightning or to the Heavens darting of Thunderbolts as many other Regions which are frequently alarmed with those dreadful Meteors And if Nature be somewhat too prodigal of Moisture in this Country she is on the other side as careful to cure it Scarce a fit of Rain is over but comes a fit of Wind to dry up the Moisture and purify the Air. So that the most part of the Year is commonly divided betwixt these two Gods of the Heathens Jupiter and Aeolus The Wind that reigns most in ENGLAND is the Westerly Wind which blows from the vast Western Ocean perhaps three parts in four of the Year But when I say a Westerly Wind I don't mean only that which blows directly from the Cardinal Point but all the Collateral Points from South to North. An Easterly Wind especially in the Spring is lookt upon here to be fatal to Plants and if the Proverb be true to Man and Beast For high Winds and tempestuous Weather we have here two Times of the Year seldom free from it And those are the two Equinoxes in September and March But for Hurricanes and Earthquakes England of all the Countries in Europe is the least subject to ' em The Storm indeed which hapned on the 12th of January last was so very violent blew with such impetuous Gusts and proved so mischievous that it may pass for an Hurricane But it was such as the like has not been known here within the Memory of Man In short whatever be the Disadvantages of ENGLAND in point of Air in respect to other Countries the same is sufficiently countervailed by the Sweetness and Comforts of it as 't will further appear by the insuing Chapter CHAP. IV. Of the Products of ENGLAND both from the Land and Water and the Fruitfulness thereof 'T IS said of Henry the Seventh one of the wisest Kings that ever sat upon the Throne of England but whose Breeding had been low and private That being once pressed by some of his Council to pursue his
River Weland so that it stands upon three Counties the chief Part in Lincoln●hire another part in Rutland and that Part on this side the River in Northamptonshire Over which River some time since made narigable it has several Bridges A Town of good Antiquity from whence the Roman High-way or high Dike leadeth to the North. ●ut that which gives it most Renown is ●hat upon a Quarrel between the North ●●d South-Men in the University of Oxford ●he Scholars removed hither in the Reign of Edward III and here held publick Schools of ●ll sorts of Learning Nor did they return ●gain till they were commanded so to do by ●he King's Proclamation with Order that the Scholars in taking their Degrees should make ●ath not to read publickly at Stamford to ●he prejudice of Oxford Nevertheless the Town still flourished in Trade and Merchan●ize and the Inhabitants of it to this day ●rive a good Trade of Malt especially where●f great plenty is made here The Houses ●re built of free Stone which they have ●rom Ketton Quarry In short this Town ●onsists of several Streets begirt with a Wall ●nd containing six Parish Churches Dig●ify'd besides with the Title of an Earldom ●ow in the person of the Right Honourable Thomas Grey of Groby Earl of Stamford ●c Within half a mile of this Town in ●orthamptonshire stands Burgley House 〈◊〉 stately Building the Mansion-House of the Earl of Exeter Grantham situate on the River Witham is a Town of good account and well resorted unto Whose Church-Steeple is so very high that it seems crooked to the Eye of the Beholder Not far from hence towards Leicestershire is Belvoir Castle the Earl of Rutland's Seat so highly elevated though in a Vale that it yields a most admirable Prospect About this Castle is found the Astroit or Star-like Stone pointed with five beams or rays formerly of such an esteem that he thought the Victory infallible on his side that wore one about him Sleaford stands near the head of a River so called which runs into the Witham A large and well inhabited Town formerly strengthened with a Castle whose ruinous Walls are yet standing Market-Deeping is seated not far from Stamford on the Weland but in a fenny Ground Where Richard de Rulos Chamberlain to William the Conqueror for the hindering it Overflowing raised its Banks and built there on divers Tenements so that it became a great Village and is now an indifferent Town Bourn seated at the head of a Spring calle● Burnwell-head is a goodly Town of some not for being the Place where King Edmund wa● crowned Here are still to be seen the Rui● of a good Castle And not far from hence is Swinsted-Abbey one of whose Monks n●med Simon poisoned King John Ganesborough or Gainsborough in Lindse● Part is seated on the River Trent A larg● and well-built Town of a considerable Trade Where Sueno the Danish Tyrant was stabbe● to death by an unknown hand as a just Re●●ard for his many Outrages committed in the ●ountry Noted besides for giving the Title ●f Earl to the Right Honourable Wriothesly Noel the present Earl of Gainsborough Barton is seated on the River Humber al●ost over against Hull in Yorkshire Here 〈◊〉 a considerable Ferry into Yorkshire which ●s no small Advantage to the Town About this Place are abundance of Pewets Godwits Knots and Dotterels the last a simple kind of Bird yet much given to Imita●ing And 't is usually caught by Candle●ight in this manner The Fowler stands ●efore the Bird and if he put out an Arm ●he Bird stretches out a Wing if he put a ●eg or his Head forward the Bird does the ●ike Thus he imitates the Fowler 's Gesture ●o long till he drawing nearer and nearer by degrees at length casts his Net over him and takes him Grimsby is situate within half a Mile of the Humber where it falls into the Sea in a flat and marshy Ground This Town has formerly injoyed a good Trade before its Haven was choackt up and then it had two Markets a Week For the security of its Port it had a Castle which is likewise decayed And instead of two Churches it had now it contents it self with one which for largeness gives place to few Cathedrals Burton or Burton Stather is seated on the River Trent near its fall into the Humber On the other side of the Trent is the Isle of Axholm made so by the Trent and Dun with two or three lesser Rivers This Isle is in breadth from North to South 10 miles but in length not half so much and in that Circuit are seated several Towns The lower Part of it is flat and moorish yielding a sweet Shrub called by the Country people Gall. But the middle Part which is a rising Ground is fertile and among other Things does yield great store of Flax. Here is also Alabaster to be found Thongcaster a well-compacted Town stands o● the side of a Hill Of note for its ancien● Castle so called said to be built by Hengist the Saxon after he had beaten the Picts and Scots in Vortiger's Quarrel Who granted him so much Ground as an Ox-hide cut into Thongs would compass within which he erected the Castle Saltfleet is a Sea-Town much frequented by the Gentry in the Summer Season for the eating of Fish otherwise inconsiderable Alford a goodly Town is seated at the head of a Rivulet few miles from the Sea-side Waynfleet South of Alford is another good Town not far from the Sea but seated in a fenny Ground on a Wash or Dike which falls into the Sea Here is an excellent Fre● School founded by William of Waynfleet Bishop of Winton who also built Magdalen Colledge in Oxford Bullingbrook or Bolinbrook an ancient Town is seated on a low Ground at the Spring head of a River which falls into the Witham Of note for a Castle built here by William of Romara Earl of Lincoln But much more famous in succeeding Times for being the Birth-place of King Henry IV surnamed according to the fashion of those Times of Bullingbrook And almost ever since his Time it has been one of the Honours as we call it of the Kings of England but never made an honourary Title to any Family till King ●ames conferred it on Sir Oliver St. Johns Who ●possibly might affect to be thence denominated as fetching his Descent from the Lady Marga●et Beauchamp Grandmother to King Henry VII the Heir of the Lancastrian Family From him the Title fell to Oliver St. Johns his Grandchild by Pawlet his second Son Oliver Lord St. John the eldest Son being slain at E●ge-hill ●ight And from him to his Son the Right Honourable Paulet St. John the present Earl of ●ullingbrook Not far from Bullingbrook is Eresby which gives the Title of Baron to the Earl of ●indsey Horn-castle and Tatershall are both seated on the River Bane this last near its Influx into the Witham But Horn-castle is the most considerable Boston in Holland
the Prince of Orange's Forces coming this way from the West Which two days after was followed by his Desertion of that Place and soon after by the Desertion of the Crown and Government Moreover this City has been for several Ages honoured with the Title of an Earldom 1. in the persons of Patrick and William D'Evreux successively 2. In two Williams surnamed Long-Espèe the first a base Son of King Henry II. by Rosamond 3. In two Nevils both Richards by their Christen-names 4. In the person of George Duke of Clarence who married Isabel Daughter of Richard Earl of Warwick 5. In Edward eldest Son of King Richard III. 6. In Margaret Daughter of George Duke of Clarence created Countess of Salisbury by King Henry VIII And lastly in the Family that now injoy's it the first being Robert Cecil Lord of Essendine and Viscount Cranborn created Earl of Salisbury by King James I. Anno 1605. From whom is descended the present Earl James Cecil Lastly this City is a Place well inhabited and frequented injoying a good Trade And its Markets on Tuesdays and Saturdays are very considerable for all sorts of Provisions The other Market-Towns are Marlborough Sat. Malmsbu●y Sat. Chippenham Sat. Werminster Sat. Troubridge Sat. Cricklade Sat. Bradford Mund. Swindon Mund. Calne Tue. Auburn Tue. Lavington Wedn. Wilton Wedn. Highworth Wedn. Devizes Thu. Hindon Thu. Wooten-Basset Thu. Downton Frid. Amersbury Frid. Westbury Frid. Mere Marmister Among which Marlborough or Marleburgh is next to Salisbury the most considerable Town in this County The Town called anciently Cunetio in Antonine's Itinerarium as the River Kennet was upon which it stands but by the Normans in whose Time this Town revived out of the Ruins of the old it was named Marleburgh as being seated in a chalky Soil which in some Places is still called by the name of Marl. A Town stretched out from East to West upon the ascent of a Hill watered by the Kennet not far from the head of it and having the conveniency both of a Forest and Chase in its Neighbourhood the first called Savernake-Forest and the other Aldburn Chase It had once a Castle belonging unto John surnamed Sans Terre who afterwards was King of England The Castle still famous in our Law-Books for a Parliament there held in the Reign of King Henry III. in which were made the Statutes from hence called of Marleburgh for the suppressing of Tumults But King Charles 1. at this Coronation made it yet more notable in making it the Honour as it was the Neighbour of James Lord Ley Lord Treasurer created by that King Earl of Marlbourough Anno 1625. Which Title continued in three Persons more of his Name and Family and since the late Revolution was conferred by our present King upon the Right Honourable John Churchill the present Earl of Marlborough This Town has suffered very much by the frequent Misfortune of Fire under which it groans to this day Near unto this Place is a Village called Rockley from divers Stones like Rocks pitcht up on end Among which there sometimes breaks forth a violent Stream of Water called Hungersbourn by the Country-people by whom 't is reputed as the fore-runner of a Dearth Malmesbury another good Town stands in the North-West Parts of the County pleasantly seated on a Hill near the Spring of the River Avon over which it has six Bridges being almost incircled with that River Chippenham and Bradford are also seated on the Avon and Troubridge near it Amersbury or Ambresbury commonly pronounced Ambsbury on the other Avon near the Stone-henge and but 6 miles North of Salisbury Upon which River near the Confines of Hampshire you will find also the Town called Downton or Duncton Calne is situate on a River so called which runs from East to West into the Bristol Avon This Town is noted for the Provincial Synod held here in the Year 977 to determine the hot Disputes in those Times between the Monks and the Priests concerning Celibacy But whilst they were debating the Matter in hand the Convocation-house suddenly fell down by which Fall several were slain and many cruelly wounded Wilton is seated between two Rivers the Willy Northward and the Nadder Southward From the first it took its Denomination as the whole County from Wilton Once the chief Town thereof and a Bishops See honoured with the Residence of nine several Bishops But by translating the See to Salisbury and carrying thither withall the Thorough-fare into the West-Country which before was here it fell by little and little to decay So that it is at present but a mean Town Yet still a Borough-Town the Place where the Knights of the Shire are chosen and where the Sheriff keeps his monthly County-Courts Werminster of old Verlucio a Town in former Time of very good account is seated at the Springs of the River Willy otherwise called Willybourn Westbury and Devizes are two Borough-Towns that is such Towns as fend Burgesses to Parliament The first situate on the Broke a small River that falls into the Avon Devizes at the very head of another Stream bearing the Name of the Town which likewise do's empty it self into the Avon I pass by the rest as Inconsiderable to take notice of Clarendon a fine spacious Park lying near to and Eastward of Salisbury 'T is seated upon a Hill on which stand twenty Groves severally inclosed and each a mile in compass Adorned in Times past with a Royal House which in process of time is falnto ruin But more remarkable for that in the Reign of Henry the Second Anno 1164 here was made a certain Recognition and Record of the Customs and Liberties of the Kings of England before the Prelates and Peers of the Kingdom for the avoiding Dissentions between the Clergy the Judges and Barons of the R●●lm Which Act was called The Constitutions of Clarendon whereof so many as the Pope approved have been set down in the Tomes of the Councils and the rest omitted But that which has added more lustre to Clarendon is its being Dignify'd with the Title of an Earldom first in the person of Edward Hyde sometime Lord Chancellour of England who was created Viscount Cornbury in Oxfordshire and Earl of Clarendon by King Charles II Anno 1661. Upon whose Death at Rouen in Normandy Dec. 19th 1674 he was succeeded in his Title by his eldest Son Henry Hyde the present Earl of Clarendon To conclude this County which formerly was Part of the Kingdom of the West-Saxons and its Inhabitants part of the Belgae as the Romans called them is now in the Diocese of Salisbury Out of it are chosen besides the two Knights of the Shire no less than 32 Members to fit in Parliament Viz. two out of each of these following Towns New Sarum or Salisbury Wilton Downton Hindon Westbury Heytesbury Calne the Devizes Chippen ham Malmesbury Cricklade Great Bedwin Lurgershal Old Sarum Wootton Basset and Marlborough But we must not omit the famous Caves that ly in
Civil Affairs by a MAYOR with the Title of Lord prefixt given to no Mayor in England but that of London and of late to the Mayor of York In the Time of the Romans he was called Prefect of London in the Saxons time Port-greeve and sometimes Provost of London and after the Coming in of the Normans Bayliff 'T was King Richard I who in the Year 1189 being the first of his Reign changed the Name of Bayliff into that of Mayor a French Word originally which has continued ever since This great and mighty Magistrate is yearly chosen by the Citizens upon Michaelmas Day the 29th of September The Body out of which he is chosen are the 26 Aldermen all Persons of great Wealth and Wisdom at least ought so to be Those that chuse him are first the Livory-men or Members of the several Companies of Tradesmen within the City and at last the Aldermen which is done in this manner First the Livery-Men do usually put up four Candidates out of which they chuse two by the Plurality of Voices and out of these two the Court of Aldermen select whom they think fit And though they be free in their Choice yet commonly they have a regard for the Senior Alderman that has not been Lord Mayor and give him the Precedence The Mayor Elect being Proclaimed is sworn first at Guildhall and afterwards at Westminster There he swears to maintain the Priviledges of the People and here to be True to the King The Installation-Day is the 29th of October a Month after the Election The Solemnity of which Day upon his Account is so great that no Magistrate in Europe appears with so much state and grandure as the Mayor of London upon his Installation First he go's by water to Westminster in his Barge of state accompanied with the Aldermen in all their Formalities with their Scarlet Robes and Chains of gold hanging before their Breasts The Twelve Companies also in their several Barges ●et out with their Arms Colours and Screamers on both sides attend him in their furred Gowns In his way he is saluted from the Shore with the noise of great Guns and as he passes by Whitehall the King from thence viewing the Solemnity gives him and his Brethren a Mark of his Respect At last being landed at Westminster Bridge the several Companies march in order to their Hall and after them the Mayor and Aldermen with the Sword and Mace before them the Sword-bearer with his Cap of Maintenance on his head At their Entrance into the Hall the Hall is Intertained with the harmonious Musick of a Set of Hoboys marching in order before them and playing all the Way First they walk round the Hall where they pay their respects to each Court of Judicature and from the Hall they proceed to the Exchequer-Chamber where the New Lord Mayor is Sworn by the Barons This done they walk again in Procession round the Hall to invite the several Judges of each Court to Dinner at Guildhall And after this the whole Procession returns in the same manner by Water to Black-Friars From whence the Lord Mayor and Aldermen make their Cavalcade to Guildhall all mounted upon Horses richly Caparisoned the Livery-Men marching before in good order And now the Artillery men make their best appearance with their Buff-coats and Head-pieces But the most diverting Sight is that of the Pageants here and there in motion to divert the Spectators At last a most splendid Dinner to which besides the Judges many of the great Lords and Ladies the Privy Counsellours the forein Embassadors and oftentimes the King and Queen are invited concludes the Solemnity Such is the Magnificence of the Lord Mayor of London though always a Citizen and Tradesman being a Member of one of the 12 Companies Who for his great Dignity is usually Knighted by the King before the Year of his Mayoralty be expired unless he had received that Honour before whilst he was an Alderman as of late has been ●shal His Authority reaches not only all over this great City and part of the Suburbs except some particular Places but also on the Thames as far as the Mouth of it and Westward as far as Stanes-Bridge And so great is his Power that he may cause any Person inhabiting within London or the Liberties thereof to be Summoned to appear before him upon the Complaint of any Citizen and for Non-appearance may grant his Warrant to bring such Person before him For he has Power to determine Differences between Party and Party His Attendance whilst he is a Mayor is very considerable For besides his proper Servants first he has four principal Officers that wait on him as Lord Mayor who are reputed Esquires by their Places And those are the Sword-bearer the Common Hunt the Common Crier and the Water-Bayliff whose Places are very advantageous and purchased when vacant at a great rate from the Lord Mayor for the time being Besides them there is the Coroner 3 Sergeants Carvers 3 Sergeants of the Chamber 1 Sergeant of the Channel 4 Yeomen of the Waterside 1 Vnder Water-Bayliff 2 Yeomen of the Chamber 3 Meal-Weighers 2 Yeomen of the Wood-Wharf and several others Most of which have Servants allowed them with Livories Among which the Sword-bearer has a 1000 l. a Year allowed him for his Table in the Lord Mayor's House When he appears abroad on horseback which is his usual Appearance 't is with rich Caparison and always in long Robes sometimes of fine Scarlet-Cloth richly furred sometimes Purple and sometimes Puke with a black Velvet Hood over his Robes and a great Chain of Gold with a rich Jewel to it hanging from his Neck downwards Attended by several Officers walking before and on both sides of him He keeps an open Table all the Year to all Comers of any quality and so well furnished that it is always fit to receive the greatest Subject of England or of any other Potentate He has a Priviledge to hunt not only in Middlesex but also in Essex and Surrey and for this purpose has a Kennel of Hounds always maintained On the King's Coronation-Day he claims to be the chief Butler and bears the King's Cup among the highest Nobles of the Kingdom which serve on that Day in other Offices And upon the King's Death he is said to be the prime Person of England Therefore when King James I was invited to come and take the Crown of England Robert Lee then Mayor of London subscribed in the first place before all the Officers of the Crown and all the Nobility One Thing is observable which hapned not long since I mean four Mayors the City had in little more than half a Year viz. Sir John Shorter Sir John Eyles Sir John Chapman and Sir Thomas Pilkington For upon the Death of the first in September 1688 Sir John Eyles was made Lord Mayor and in October following the Charter being restored Sir John Chapman was chosen Lord Mayor Who dying in March following
absence to do whatever almost the Chancellour might do if he were present He keeps Judicial Courts wholly ruled by the Civil Law which all Members of the University are subject to And by Charter of Henry IV it is left to his Choice whether any Member in the University there inhabiting accused for Felony or High Treason shall be tried by the Laws of the Land or by the Laws and Customs of the University Though now where Life or Limb is concerned the Criminal is left to be tried by the Laws of the Land But in all Suits for Debts Accounts Contracts Injuries c. betwixt the Students he is the proper Judge and has Power to determine such Causes to Imprison to give corporal Punishment to excommunicate to suspend and to banish 'T is the Vice-Chancellor's Business to see that Sermons Lectures Disputations and other Exercises be performed that lewd people Hereticks c. be expelled the University and the Converse with Students that the Proctors and other Officers of the University duly perform their Duty that Courts be duly called and Law-Suits determined without delay In a word that whatever is for the Honour and Benefit of the University or may conduce to the Advancement of good Literature may be carefully obtained Next to the Vice-Chancellor are the two Proctors yearly chosen by turns out of the several Colledges These are to assist in the Government of the University more particularly in the business of Scholastick Exercises and taking Degrees in searching after and punishing all Violaters of Statutes or Priviledges of the University all Night-Walkers c. They have also the Oversight of Weights and Measures that Students may not be wronged Next in order is the Publick Orator Whose Charge is to write Letters according to the Orders of the Convocation or Congregation and at the Reception of any Prince or great Person that comes to see the University to make proper Harangues c. Then there is the Custos Archivorum or Keeper of Records Whose Duty is to collect and keep the Charters Priviledges and Records that concern the University to be always ready to produce them before the chief Officers and to plead the Rights and Priviledges of the University Lastly there is a Register of the Univerfity whose Office is to register all Transactions in Convocations Congregations Delegacies c. Besides the foresaid Officers there are certain publick Servants the chief whereof are the six Beadles and the Verger Three of the first are called Squire Beadles who carry large Maces of Silver gilt and the other three Yeomen Beadles whose Maces are of Silver but ungilt Their Office is always to wait on the Vice-Chancellor in publick doing what belongs to his Place and at his Command to seize any Delinquent and carry him to Prison to summon and publish the Calling of Courts or Convocations to conduct Preachers to Church and Lecturers to School c. But upon Solemnities the Verger appears with a Silver Rod in his hand and walking with the other six before the Vice-Chancellor is to observe his Commands and to wait on Grand Compounders c. I have already mentioned several great Priviledges granted by former Kings to this University That of sending two Burgesses to Parliament they hold from King James I. Another that no Victuals be taken by the King's Purveyors within 5 miles of Oxford unless the King himself comes thither is of a much more ancient Date But one of the most considerable is That granted by Charter of King Edward III whereby the Mayor of Oxford is to obey the Orders of the Vice-Chancellor and be in subjection to him Accordingly the Mayor with the chief Burgesses in Oxford and the High-Sheriff of Oxfordshire besides every Year in a solemn manner take an Oath given by the Vice-Chancellor to observe and conserve the Rights Priviledges and Liberties of the University of Oxford And every Year on the tenth of February being the Day of S. Scholastica a certain Number of the principal Burgesses publickly and solemnly do pay to each Colledge a Peny in token of their Submission to the Orders and Rights of the University Thus you have a short Description of Oxford as a City and an University My next Business is the Description of Cambridge Cambridge CAMBRIDGE the chief Town of Cambridgeshire and that from whence the Country is denominated bears from London North by East and is distant therefrom 44 miles thus From London to Waltham 12 to Ware 8 more thence to Puckeridge 5 to Barkway 7 and to Cambridge 12 more 'T is seated at the Confluence of two Rivers the Cam and the Grant which running from thence Northward in one Channel empty themselves in the Ouse 3 miles above Ely By these Rivers it is separated into two but unequal Parts but they have Communication by a Bridge It is a Place of a large Extent numbering 14 Parishes And according to Doctor Fuller's Observation in his Worthies of England 't is a Town within an University whereas Oxford is an University within a Town For in Cambridge the Colledges are not so surrounded with Streets as in Oxford but for the generality seated in the Skirts of the Town which afford them the better and more delightfull Walks and Gardens about them There are in Oxford as I said before 18 Indowed Colledges and 7 Halls In Cambridge there is but 12 Colledges and 4 Halls 'T is true they are all Indowed and generally so large that the Number of Students is commonly little different from that of Oxford The Names of them and of their Founders together with the Time of their Foundation you have in the following Table Colled Halls Founded by Anno. S. Peter's Colledge Hugh de Balsham Bishop of Ely 1284 Clare-Hall Rich. Badow Chanc. of the University 1326 Pembroke-Hall Mary S. Paul 1343 Gonvile Cajus Edmund de Gonvile and Cajus 1348 Trinity-Had Wil. Bateman Bishop of Norwich 1350 Corpus Christi H. of Monmouth D. of Lancaster 1351 King's Colledge King Henry VI. 1441 Queen's Colledge Margaret Wife to King Henry VI. 1448 Catharine Hall Robert Wood Lord Chancellor of the University 1475 Jesus Colledge John Alcock Chanc. of England 1496 Christs Colled S. John's Coll. Margaret Countess of Richmond 1505 Christs Colled S. John's Coll. Margaret Countess of Richmond 1508 Magdalen Coll. Tho. Audley Chanc. of England 1519 Trinity Colledge King Henry VIII 1546 Emanuel Colledge Sir Walter Mildmay Chancellor of the Exchequer 1582 Sidney and Sussex Francis Sidney Chancellor of Sussex 1598 The Degrees at Cambridge are usually taken as at Oxford except in Law and Physick For at Cambridge six Years after one has taken the Degree of Master of Art one may take the Degree of Batchelor and after five Years more that of Doctor The Batchelors of Arts compleat their Degree in Lent beginning at Ash-Wednesday And the first Tuesday of July is always Dies Comitiorum there called the Commencement wherein the Masters of Arts and the Doctors of all Faculties compleat
Pugnae est ubi Victus gaudet uterque Et tamen alteruter se superasse dolet For Men of other Studies Lindwood the Canonist Cosins and Cowel eminent in the Civil Laws Bracton Briton Dier and Coke as eminent for their Knowledge in the Laws of England Johannes de Sacro Bosco the Author of the Book of the Sphere Roger Bacon a noted Mathematician in the darker Times The Lord Bacon Viscount of S. Albans Sir Thomas More Lord Chancellour one of the Restorers of Learning to the Isle of Great Britain Sir Henry Savile of Eaton the Reviver of Chrysostom Sir Henry Spelman a learned Antiquary and a religious Assertor of the Churches Rights Cambden the Pausanias of the British Islands Matthew Paris Roger Hoveden Henry of Huntington William of Malmesbury Matthew of Westminster and Thomas of Walsingham all known Historians For Poetry Gower and Lydgate a Monk of Bury The famous Geosry Chaucer Brother in Law to John of Gaunt the great Duke of Lancaster Sir Philip Sidney and the Renowned Spencer Sam. Daniel and Michael Drayton That the Lucan and This the Ovid of the English Nation Beaumont and Fletcher not inferiour unto Terence and Plantus And lastly Ben. Johnson equal to any of the Ancients for the exactness of his Pen and the Decorum he kept in the Dramatick Poems never before observed on the English Theater CHAP. II. Of the English Names and of their Way of Computing CHristian Names says Cambden were first imposed for the Distinction of Persons Surnames for the Distinction of Families The first amongst the English are either Saxon as Edward Gilbert Henry Richard Walter William c. Or taken out of the Holy Writ as Abraham Jacob James Jsaac c. 'T is rare for the English to have two Christen Names together as they have in Germany But it is not unusual with them to christen Children by their Godfathers Surnames which is unpractised beyond Sea The Ancients took particular care to give their Children significative and good Names according to the Proverb Bonum Nomen Bonum Omen And the Pythagoreans affirmed the Minds Actions and Successes of Men to be according to their Fate Genius and Name In short such was Mens Superstition of old in this particular that they used a kind of Divination by Names called Onomantia which was condemned by the last General Council The Story of Augustus the Emperour is remarkable upon this Subject The Day before his Sea-fight at Actium the first Man he met was a poor Man driving his Ass before him Augustus demanded his Name and he answered Eutyches that is Happy-man then he asked his Asse's Name which proved to be Nicon that is Victor Augustus took it for a good Omen and having accordingly obtained the Victory there he built Nicopolis or the City of Victory and erected brazen Images of the Man and his Ass Alfonso IV. King of Castille had two Daughters by one of the Daughters of Henry II. King of England The Eldest Vrraca by Name was far surpassing her Sister Blanche in beauty Lewis VIII of France sent to Alfonso to demand one of the Daughters They were both presented to the Ambassadors Choice who inquiring of their Names preferred the Lady Blanche and made choice of her contrary to all expectation The Name of Vrraca though the more beautiful Lady proved unpleasing and that of the Lady Blanche signifying Fair and Beautiful carried it as a Name that would be more acceptable in France For my part though I am not so much a Pythagorean as to think a Mans Name should interpret his Fate yet I think it not amiss to name Children with Names of a happy signification as it was usual among the Primitive Christians were it but to stir them up to live according to their Names and not give themselves the lie As for the English Surnames they are generally Saxon some few Danish as Whitfeld and Wren The Whitfelds a very ancient Family came over with King Canute into England and their chief Br●nch is continued to this day in Northumberland with a good Estate In Q. Elizabeths Time there was a Whitfeld sent hither Embassadour from the King of Denmark But the Surnames now of best account in England are Local and so were many Names among the Romans Those you will find deduced from Places in Normandy or Countries adjacent being either the Patrimonial Possessions or native Places of such as served the Conqueror or came in after out of Normandy As Mortimer Albigny Percy Gournay Devereux Nevil Ferrers Montfort Courtney Cressy c. Or from Places in England and Scotland as Barkley Clifford Lumley Ratcliff Willoughby Douglas Some of which Local Names were formerly used with de prefixt but of late generally neglected or joyned to the Name as Darcy Devereux Others had at prefixed as At More At Wood At Down which has been removed from some and has been conjoyned to others as in these Atmore Atwood Atwells c. Many have also had their Names from Rivers as Trent Eden Swale Stoure From Trees near their Habitations as Oak Box Elder Beech. Some from their Situation in respect to adjoyning Places as North South East West according to the Greek Names Anatolius Zephyrius c. Others from several Parts of a House as Hall Parlour Cellar Lodge c. From Towns where they were born or from whence they came without being Lords or Possessors of them as Compton Egerton Or from several Denominations of Land and Water as Hill Wood Warren Field Ford Pool and Wells Among Foreiners several retained the Names of their Countries as Scot Picard Fleming French Lombard Poitevin German And these had commonly Le prefixt in Records and other Writings as Le Fleming Le Picard Next to these Local Names I shall take notice of those that have been assumed by some Families from Civil Honours and Dignities as King Duke Prince Lord Baron Knight and Squire probably because their Ancestors ha●acted such Parts or were Kings of the Bean Christmas Lords c. Agreeable to which are the old Greek and Roman Names Archelaus Augustulus Regulus Basilius Caesarius Flaminius though they were neither Kings Caesars Dukes or Priests Others have been assumed from Offices as Chamberlain Steward Page Cook Spencer Gardener Butler Porter Foster Parker Faulconer Fowler Forester Woodward Clark Sergeant c. From Ecclesiastical Functions as Bishop Abbot Priest Monk Dean Deacon But most of all from Trades as Taylor Smith Potter Fisher Baker Chapman Spelman c. Some from Parts of the Body as Head Arm Leg Foot Others from Qualities of the Body good or bad as Greathead Whitehead Strong Armstrong Long Low Short Fair and Bell in the same sense Fairfax and Whitelock in the same sense Thin Heile or healthful c. No more to be disliked than these Roman Names Romulus and Nero which signify Strong Capito Ped● Labeo Naso Longus Longinus Minutius Crispus Calvus Gracchus Salustius Cocles and the like Not a few got their Names from the Colour of their Complexions
the Reputation of their Monastery and makes it highly probable that S. Paul rather than S. Peter as others would have it was the first Founder of a Church in this Island But by reason of Persecutions or for want of a supply of Preachers Christianity did not flourish here till the Reign of Lucius the British King and the first Christian King in Europe Of whose imbracing Christianity the learned Bishop gives this Account from the Testimony of ancient Writers that the was first inclined thereto by the Persuasion of Eluanus and Eduinus two British Christians who were probably imploy'd to convince him But being workt upon on the other side by his Druids he would not come to any Resolution till he had sent to Rome for his further Satisfaction and to know how far the British Christians and those of Rome agreed Elentherus was then Bishop of Rome and the twelfth from the Apostles To whom he sent the foresaid Eluanus and Meduinus about the Year 180 presuming as he might reasonably then that the Christian Doctrine was there truly taught at so little distance from the Apostles and in a Place whither a Resort was made from all Parts because of its being the Imperial City For there was then no Imagination of S. Peter's having appointed the Head of the Church there nor a long time after in the British Churches as appears by the Contest of the British Bishops with Augustine the Monk King Lucius being satisfied upon the Return of his Embassadors from Rome imbraced the Christian Faith and received the Baptism So that by the piety of his Example and the diligence of the first Preachers Christianity soon spread over his Dominions and sometime after over all the Island And then the Britains had Bishops of their own without any Juridical Dependency from the See of Rome the British Church continuing a distinct and independent Church from all others But when the Heathen Saxons came to be possessed of this Part of the Island and the Natives forced to take shelter amongst the Mountains of Wales the Christian Faith fled with them and this Country was again darkened with Heathenism Till about the Year 596. Austin the Monk was sent by Pope Gregory the Great to preach the Gospel here By whose Diligence and Zeal the Work prospered so well that all the Saxons were by degrees converted to the Christian Faith and Austin made the first Arcsh-bishop of Canterbury but with a subjection to the Church of Rome Thus as the Errours crept on in the Roman the British Church grew infected with them and continued subject to the Power and Errours of Rome till King Henry VIII laid the Ground for a Reformation by his resuming the Power of the Christian British Kings his ancient Predecessors and removing by virtue of it the forfeited Primacy of Rome to the See of Canterbury But 't is Observable withall that this Ejection of the Pope's Authority was not done as in other Nations tumultuously and by the Power of the People but by the Counsel and Advice of godly and learned Divines assembled in Convocation by the King's Authority and ratified by the Three States in Parliament Thus the ancient Dignity and Supremacy of the Kings of England being restored and the Subjects delivered from the Spiritual Tyranny of the Pope of Rome the King and Clergy took this Occasion to inquire into and reform the great Abuses and Errours crept into the Church Whose Method in this Work begun in Henry's Reign and brought to perfection in his next Successor's Time Dr. Heylin sets forth in these Words The Architects says he in this great Work without respect unto the Dictates of Luther or Calvin looking only on God's Word and the Primitive Patterns abolished such Things as were repugnant unto either but still retained such Ceremonies in God's publick Worship as were agreeable to both and had been countenanced by the Practice of the Primitive Times A Point wherein they did observe a greater Measure of Christian Prudence and Moderation than their Neighbour Churches Which in a meer detestation of the See of Rome allowed of nothing which had formerly been in use amongst them because defiled with Popish Errors and Abuses utterly averting thereby those of the Papal Party from joyning with them in the Work or coming over to them when the Work was done Whereas had they continued an allowable Correspondency in these Extrinsecals of Religion with the Church of Rome their Party in the World had been far greater and not so much stomached as it is And this Opinion of his he backs with the Sentiment of the Marquess de Rhosne in this point after Duke of Sully and Lord High Treasurer of France one of the chief Men of the Reformed Party there Who being sent Embassador to King James from Henry IV. King of France admired the Decency of Gods publick Service in the Church of England Three Things principally are to be considered in point of Religion viz. The Doctrine the Manner of publick Worship and the Church Government As for the Doctrine of the Church of England 't is the same in all Points with other Reformed Churches as it appears by her Confession of Faith contained in the 39 Articles The Manner of publick Worship differs in nothing from them but in the Excellency of it So many admirable Prayers the English Liturgy contains sutable to all Occasions digested in a plain Evangelical Style without Rhetorical Raptures which are fitter for a designing Orator than an humble Addresser to the Mercy-Seat of God In short there is nothing wanting in the Church of England in order to Salvation She uses the Word of God the Ten Commandments the Faith of the Apostles the Creeds of the Primitive Church the Articles of the four first General Councils an excellent Liturgy the Administration of the Sacraments and all the Precepts and Counsels of the Gospel She attributes all Glory to God worships his most holy Name and owns all his Attributes She adores the Trinity in Unity the Unity in Trinity She teaches Faith and Repentance the Necessity of good Works the strictness of a holy Life and an humble Obedience to the Supreme Power Charity which is the grand Mark of the true Church is so essential to this that she do's not ingross Heaven to her self so as to damn all others into Hell For the publick Service and Worship of God she has Places Times Persons and Revenues set apart for that purpose and an uninterrupted Succession of Bishops to ordain Priests and Deacons and do all other Duties iucumbent to that Dignity Happy were it for England if all its Subjects would live in the Communion of this Church and not separate from it which is 〈◊〉 Thing more to be wished than hoped for But such is the designing and ambitious Spirit of Popery to weaken the Church of England ever since the Reformation lookt upon as the chiefest Bulwark against Popery that it has caused all our Distractions in order to fish
Democracy for ever all the World know's No Stone was left unturned and what came of it As soon as ever Opportunity served the very Presbyterians themselves joyned with the Royalists to bring in the exiled King and re-establish the ancient Government So soon the Nation grew sick of the Commonwealth and so strong was then the Current for Monarchy that without the shedding of a drop of Bloud the first was in a manner hissed out of the Nation and Monarchy restored with the greatest Pomp and Joy imaginable I set aside the Zeal of our English Clergy for Monarchy and their Influence upon the Laity The great Number alone of our Nobility and Gentry with their proportionable Ascendent upon the People makes me look upon it as a moral Impossibility for Commonwealth-Government ever to prevail here 'T is well known the Genius of Commonwealths is for keeping down the Nobility and extinguishing all those Beams of Royalty Therefore as 't is their Interest so I suppose it will be their Care to stick to Monarchy CHAP. VII Of the KING of ENGLAND And first of his Dominions Titles Arms his Ensigns of Royalty and Marks of Sovereignty THE King of England is otherwise called King of Great-Britain as being the sole Sovereign and supreme Head of this great and famous Island containing the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland besides the Principality of Wales Which Principality was first united by Conquest to the Crown of England Anno 1282 by King Edward I. Who overcame and slew in Battel Llewellen the last Sovereign Prince of Wales of the Race of Cadwallader the last King of the Britains After the Conquest thereof he took all the provident Care imaginable to secure it to the Crown but the Welsh seldom contained themselves within the bounds of true Allegiance till the Reign of Henry VII who was extracted from the Welsh Bloud In whose Successor's Reign Henry VIII they were made by Act of Parliament one Nation with the English subject to the same Laws capable of the same Preferments priviledged with the same Immunities and inabled to send Knights and Burgesses to the English Parliament So that the Name and Language only excepted there is now no Difference between the English and Welsh A very happy Union Scotland was also brought into Subjection by the same King Edward so that he received Homage of its King and Nobility and had there his Chancery and other Courts under a Viceroy But with much strugling they recovered at last their Liberty and set up a King of their own Robert Bruce who had the luck to be confirmed in it by the Defeat given to Edward II one of our unfortunate Kings 'T is true his Son King Edward III a most virtuous and valorous Prince changed the face of Affairs in Scotland and brought again the Scots to Obedience Insomuch that he excluded David the Son of Robert Bruce from the Crown then forced to fly into France and restored the House of Baliol to the Kingdom in the person of Edward Son of King John Baliol. Who upon his coming to the Crown did Homage to this King Edward as his Father had done to King Edward I. But 't was not long before the Scots quitted again their Subjection and Vassalage to the Crown of England the Roll of Ragman being treacherously delivered into their hands by Roger Mortimer Earl of March Which Roll contained a Confession and Acknowledgement of the Estates of Scotland subscribed by all their Hands and Seals whereby they owned the Superiority of the Kings of England not only in regard of such Advantages as the Sword had given them but as of their original and undoubted Right But setting aside this point of Vassalage the Kings of England are Kings of Scotland by a better Title For King James VI of Scotland and the first of England succeeded Q. Elizabeth in the Realm of England as the next Heir to the Crown Anno 1602 being descended by Mary Queen of the Scots his Mother from Margaret the eldest Daughter of Henry the VII King of England and Wife to James IV of Scotland And here the Wisdom and prudent Foresight of Henry is very remarkable Who having two Daughters bestowed the Eldest contrary to the Mind of his Council on the King of Scots and the younger on the French King that if his own Issue Male should fail as it did by the Death of his Grandson King Edward VI and that a Prince of another Nation must inherit England then Scotland as the lesser Kingdom should depend upon England and not England wait on France as upon the greater In which Succession of the Scots to the Crown of England the Prophecy of the fatal Stone received accomplishment I mean the Stone which the Scots lookt upon as their Palladium kept at Scone in Scotland the usual Place for the Coronation of the Scotish Kings upon which they received their Crown till the Removal of it unto Westminster by King Edward I. The Verses of old ingraven upon this Stone run thus Non fallat Fatum Scoti quocunque locatum Invenient Lapidem regnare tenentur ibidem Translated in old Meeter thus The Scots shall brook that Realm as natif Ground If Weirds fail not where ere this Stone is found Thus the Scots so often quelled and curbed by the English never subdued England but by this blessed Victory Ever since this happy Union Scotland has been deprived of its Kings Residence there who changed the worse Seat for the better But under the King there is a chief Governour appointed by his Majesty the Lord High Commissioner of Scotland who by that Title injoys the ordinary Power and Authority of a Viceroy In this manner Scotland has continued to this day a separate Kingdom governed by its own Laws 'T is true there have been several Attempts made to unite it into one Kingdom with England as Wales was by Henry VIII But hitherto they proved unsuccesfull So far we have cleared in few Words by History the whole Isle of Great Britain to the King of England with the numerous Islands about it the principal of which are the Isles of Shepey Thanet Wight Anglesey and Man The next that offers it self is the Kingdom of Ireland a great Part whereof was Conquered by the English about the Year 1172. in the Reign of Henry II and the Occasion thus Ireland being then divided amongst several ●petty Kings the King of Leinster was by the King of Meath driven out of his Kindom He fled to England for Refuge where applying himself to King Henry Henry resolved to attempt his Restauration which he did effectually and in the doing of it brought the best part of the Island under the English Subjection King John the Younger Son of Henry was the first who was Intituled Lord of Ireland Which Stile was granted him by Pope Urban III and continued to his Successors though in effect Kings thereof till the Year 1542 when Henry VIII was declared in an Irish Parliament King of
Defenders of the Faith Which last Title was given by Pope Leo X to King Henry VIII for a Book written by him against Luther in Defence of some Points of the Romish Religion and afterwards confirmed by Act of Parliament for Defence of the ancient Catholick and Apostolick Faith as it is now professed by the Church of England Whereas the King of France is called Most Christian and the King of Spain Most Catholick The Title of Majesty came not into use in England till the Reign of Henry VIII Instead whereof the Title of Grace now appropriated to the Dukes and the two Archbishops was given to former Kings and that of Highness to the foresaid King Henry till the Word Majesty prevailed When we speak to the King the Word Sir is often used besides Your Majesty according to the French Sire which is likewise applied ●o that King For the King's Arms or Ensigns Armorial He ●ears in the first place for the Regal Arms of ●rance Azure 3 Flower de luces Or quarter●d with the Arms of England which are Gules 〈◊〉 Lions passant Gardant in pale Or. In the se●ond place for the Royal Arms of Scotland a ●ion rampant Gules within a double Tressure ●unter flowred de luce Or. In the third place or Ireland Azure an Irish Harp Or stringed ●rgent In the fourth place as in the first To which has been added since the present King's ●ccession to the Crown another Lion in the ●iddle thus blazoned Azure a Lion rampant ●r between an Earl of Billets Or. And all this within the Garter the chief En●gn of that Order above which is an Helmet ●swerable to his Majesties Sovereign Juris●iction and upon this a Mantle The Mantle 〈◊〉 Cloth of Gold doubled Ermin adorned with 〈◊〉 Imperial Crown and surmounted for a Crest 〈◊〉 a Lyon Passant Gardant Crowned with the ●●ke The Supporters a Lyon Rampant Gardant 〈◊〉 Crowned as the former and an Vnicorn Ar●●t Gorged with a Crown thereto a Chain af●ed passing between his Fore-legs and re●xed over his Back Or. Both standing upon Compartment placed underneath and in the ●ce of the Compartment this Royal Motto ●en mon Droit that is God and my Right ●hich Motto was taken up by Edward the ●ird when he first claimed the Kingdom of ●ance Who also gave the Motto upon the ●●ter Honi soit qui mal y pense that is Shame to him that evil thereof thinketh The Arms of France are placed first as being the greater Kingdom and perhaps thereby to induce the French the more easily to ow● the English Title The Ensigns of Royalty such as Crowns Scepters Purple-Robe Golden-Globe and Holy Vnction the King of England has them all And so he has all the Marks of Sovereignty As the Power of making Treaties and League with forein States of making Peace or Wa● of sending and receiving Ambassadours Creating of Magistrates Convening the Parliament of Adjourning Proroguing and Dissolving the same when he thinks fit of conferring Title of Honour of pardoning some Criminals o● Coyning c. All which Marks of Sovereignty are by Law lodged in the Crown Accordingly the King of England without the Concurrence of his Parliament levies Me● and Arms for Sea and Land-Service and may if need require press Men for that purpose He has alone the Choice and Nomination of a●● Commanders and Officers the principal Direction and Command of his Armies and th● Disposal of all Magazines Ammunition Castles Forts Ports Havens Ships of War The Militia is likewise wholly at his Command And though he cannot of himself raise Mony upon his Subjects without his Parliament yet he ha● the sole Disposal of publick Moneys In the Parliament He has a Negative Voice that is he may without giving any Reason for it refuse to give his Royal Assent to an● Bill though passed by both Houses of Parli●ment and without his Assent such a Bill 〈◊〉 but like a Body without Soul He may at 〈◊〉 pleasure increase the Number of the House 〈◊〉 Peers by creating more Barons or summoning thither whom he thinks fit by Writ and of the House of Commons by bestowing Priviledges on any other Town to send Burgesses to Parliament He has the Choice and Nomination of all Counsellours and Officers of State of all the Judges Bishops and other high Dignities in the Church In short the King is the Fountain of Honour Justice and Mercy None but the King has the Sovereign Power in the Administration of Justice and no Subject has here as in France Haute Moyenne basse Jurisdiction that is High Mean or Low Jurisdiction So that the King only is Judge in his own Cause though he deliver his Judgement by the Mouth of his Judges By Him is appointed the Metal Weight Purity and Value of Coyn and by his Proclamation he may make any forein Coyn to be lawful Mony of England So tender is the Law for the Preservation of his Sacred Person that without any overt Act the very Imagining or intending the Death of the King is High Treason by Law And though by Law an Idiot or Lunatick Non Compos Mentis cannot commit Felony nor any sort of Treason yet if during his Idiocy or Lunacy he shall Kill or go about to Kill the King he shall be punished as a Traytor In point of Physick by an ancient Record it is declared That no Physick ought to be administred to the King without a Warrant signed by the Privy Council by no other Physician but what is mentioned in the Warrant and the Physicians to prepare it themselves with their own hands If there be occasion for a Surgeon he must be likewise authorized by a Warrant And such is the Honour and Respect the King of England receives from his Subjects that 〈◊〉 Prince in Christendom receives more Homage Not only all Persons stand bare in his presence but even in his absence where he has a Chai● of State All People at their first Address kneel to him and he is at all times served upon the Knee 'T is true the King of England is not free to act contrary to or to dispense with the known established Laws Neither can he of himself repeal a Law or make any new Law without the Concurrence of both Houses of Parliament A happy Impotency both to King and People For whilst the King keeps within the Bounds of the Law he can do no Wrong and the People can receive no Harm Had the late King but acted accordingly he might have been a most glorious Monarch instead of being now a general Object of Pity Far from being necessitated to creep under the shelter of a Proud Monarch he might have been a Curb to his Pride and the Refuge of many Nations that suffered Fire and Sword to advance what he called his Glory Three Crowns at once are too great a Sacrifice not to God but to a Mercenary Crew of Priests and Jesuits Tantum Religio potuit suadere Malorum As to the Rank and Reputation
Fee-simple make Leases and Grants and sue in her own Name without the King which is not in the power of any other Feme-covert or married Woman to do A Queen Dowager or Widow-Queen is still Respected as a Queen in her Widowhood and keeps a Court accordingly And though she should marry a private Gentleman as did Queen Catharine King Henry the Fifths Widow she does not lose her Dignity By the Sons and Daughters of England I mean the King's Children So called because all the Subjects of England have a special Interest i● Them though their Education and the Disposing of Them is only in the King The Eldest Son commonly called the Prince of Wales is born Duke of Cornwal and afterwards created Prince of Wales Upon his Birth he is by Law of full Age to sue for the Livery of the said Dukedom as if he were full a Years of Age. But so much of the Lands 〈◊〉 Demesns of it have been Alienated that h● Revenues are chiefly out of the Tin-Mines i● Cornwall Which with all other Profits of the Dutchy amount yearly to the Sum of 140● Pounds and the Prince's whole Revenues to about 20000 l. When King Edward I had compleated the Conquest of Wales He divided it into Seven Shires to which Henry VIII added five more out of the March Lands Over each of the Seven Shires King Edward placed a particular English Lieutenant and over the whole he designed a Vicegerent The Welch being disgusted at this He sent for his Queen then great with Child to Caernarvan where she was delivered of a Son Upon the News whereof the King assembled the Chief Men of that Nation and offered to name them a Governour born in Wales who could not speak one word of English and against whose Life they could take no just exception Such a one when they had all sworn to obey he named his young Son Edward Whereupon He created him Prince of Wales and since that time the Kings of England eldest Sons have been called Princes of Wales Whereas while Normandy was in the Power of the English which lasted till the Reign of King John they were stiled Dukes of Normandy The Investiture is performed by the Imposition of a Cap of Estate and a Coronet on the Princes Head as a Token of his Principality by delivering into his hand a Verge of Gold the Emblem of Government by putting a Gold Ring on his Finger in token that he must be a Husband to his Country and a Father to her Children and by giving him a Patent to hold the said Principality to Him and his Heirs Kings of England By which Words the Separation of it from the Crown is prohibited and the King keeps to himself an excellent Occasion of obliging unto Him his Son when he pleases In Imitation of which Custom John I King of Castille and Leon made his Son Henry Prince of the Asturias a Country so Craggy and Mountainous that it may not improperly be called the Wales of Spain And all the Spanish Princes ever since have been honoured with that Title The Mantle worn in Parliament by the Prince of Wales has for Distinctions sake one gard more than a Duke's his Coronet of Crosses and Flower de luces and his Cap of State indented His Arms differ from the Kings only by addition of a Label of three points And his peculiar Device is a Coronet beautified with three Ostrich Feathers inscribed with ICH DIEN that is I serve Alluding perhaps to that in the Gospel The Heir while he is a Child differs not from a Servant Which Device was born at the Battel of Cressy by John King of Bohemia serving there under the French King and there slain by Edward the Black Prince Since worn by the Princes of Wales and by the Vulgar called the Princes Arms. In short the King of England's Eldest Son has ever since been stiled Prince of Wales Duke of Aquitain and Cornwal and Earl of Chester and Flint these Earldoms being conferred upon him by Letters Patent As Eldest Son to the King of Scotland he is Duke of Rothsay and Seneschal of Scotland from his Birth Though he is a Subject yet the Law looks upon his Person as so Sacred that it is high Treason to imagine his Death or violate his Wife The Younger Sons of England depend altogether upon the King's Favour both for Titles of Honour and Revenues sutable to their Birch For they are not born Dukes or Earls but are so created according to the Kings Pleasure Neither have they as in France certain Appanages but only what Revenue the King pleases to bestow upon them They are indeed by Birth-right as well as the Prince of Wales Counsellors of State whereby they may fit themselves to manage the weighty Affairs of the Kingdom The Daughters are called Princesses And to violate them unmarried is High Treason The Title of Royal Highness is common to all the King's Children All Subjects ought to be uncovered in their Presence to kneel when they are admitted to kiss their hands and to be served on the Knee at Table unless the King be present Lastly all Persons of the Royal Bloud being a Lawful Issue have the Precedency of all others in England As for the King 's Natural or Illegitimate Sons and Daughters they are commonly created Dukes and Dutchesses and bear what Surname the King pleases to give them King Henry I. and Charles II. of blessed Memory are noted to have had the most of any CHAP. XII Of the Nine Great Officers of the Crown NEXT to the Royal Family the Great Officers of the Crown come of course to be Inquired into which are Nine in Number Viz. The Lord High Steward The Lord High Chancellor The Lord High Treasurer The Lord President of the Kings Council The Lord Privy Seal The Lord Great Chamberlain The Lord High Constable The Lord Earl Marshal The Lord High Admiral The Lord High Steward of England is the highest Officer under the King His Office not unlike that of the Mayre of the Pallace under the ancient Kings of France is to rule and govern the Kingdom under the King in Time of Peace and War during his Reign Which Power being thought too large and exorbitant for a Subject to have this Great Officer has been discontinned ever since Henry of Bullingbrock Son to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster afterwards King of England under the Name of Henry IV. Only at a Coronation also for the Trial of a Peer or Peeress for Treason or Felony or some other great Crime the King makes a High Steward for that Time Who during his Stewardship is called His Grace and bears a white Staff in his hand which he openly breaks when the Business is over and so ends his Office By virtue of his Office at a Coronation he sits Judicially at the King's Pallace at Westminster Where he receives the Bills and Petitions of all such Noblemen and others who by reason of their Tenure or otherwise
High Admiral of England an Office held by Patent and of so great a Trust that it has usually been given to Princes of the Royal Bloud For the Lord High Admiral is Intrusted with no less than the Management of all Maritime Affairs with the Government of the King's Navy with Power of Decision in all Causes Maritime aswell Civil as Criminal of all Things done upon or beyond the Sea in any Part of the World in all Ports and Havens upon the Sea-Coasts and all Rivers below the first Bridge next towards the Sea In short the Admiralty being in a manner a separate Kingdom from the rest the Lord High Admiral may be reputed at least the Viceroy thereof A Multitude of Officers high and low are under him both at Sea and Land some of a Military others of a Civil Capacity some Judicial others Ministerial And under him is held the High Court of Admiralty the Places and Offices whereof are in his Gift The last High Admiral of England was the late King when Duke of York For since he came to the Crown the Office was executed by Seven Lords Commissioners as it is to this day CHAP. XIII Of Their present Majesties King WILLIAM and Queen MARY With a brief Account of Their Accession to the Crown KING WILLIAM our present Monarch is the only Issue of the late Illustrious Prince William of Nassaw Prince of Orange and of the Deceased Princess Royal Mary eldest Daughter to King Charles I who was wedded to the foresaid Prince in the Year 1641. His Majesty was born in Holland Nov. 4th 1650 ten days after his Fathers Death and was Christened by the Names of William Henry William being his Fathers Name and Henry his Grandfathers The House of Nassaw is an Ancient and most Illustrious Family so called from Nassaw a Town and County in Weteravia a Province of Germany That Branch of it from whence the King is descended had their usual Seat at Dillenburg not far from Nassaw before they settled in the Low-Countries whence for Distinctions sake they were named the Earls of Nassaw of the House of Dillenburg Otho of Nassaw who died Anno 1190 was the Founder of the present Family of the Princes of Orange out of which descended Adolph Earl of Nassaw who was chosen Emperour in the Year 1292. By the Marriage of Engelbert the seventh Earl of this House with Mary Daughter and Heir of Philip Lord of Breda in Brabant that Town and Barony with many other fair Estates in the Netherlands was added to the Family And by the Marriage of Henry the tenth Earl of Nassaw Anno 1515. with Claude of Chalons Sister and Heir of Philibert Prince of Orange this Principality bordering upon Provence and Dauphene within the Dominions of France accrued to the Family So much the worse for having so ill an Neighbour as the present French King who has long since rapaciously seized upon it but left however what he could not take away the King 's just Title to it In short our Gracious King William is the 18th Earl of Nassaw beginning with Otho aforesaid and the 7th Prince of Orange of his Family beginning with Rene of Nassaw Son of Henry and Claude who succeeded Philibert his Uncle in the Principality of Orange A Family as much honoured for the personal Merit of the Princes of it as any other in Europe and to which the States of Holland ow the Liberty and Greatness they injoy All the World knows how great a Patron and Assertor of the Belgick Liberties against the Spaniard was the most noble and generous Prince William of Nassaw one of his Majestie● Ancestors And to pass by the generous Exploits of his noble Successors till the present King William 't is well known what his Majestly has done to rescue not only his Native Country but the best Part of Europe from its Oppressors It has been of late Years both at home and abroad the Maxim of some Princes to outvy each other in preying upon and destroying not only their Neighbours but their own Protestant Subjects by all Methods of Perfidiousness and Cruelty To establish or maintain their Tyranny they went about to introduce a general Ignorance For where Subjects part with their Reason 't is easy for them to part with their Liberty witness those miserable Inslaved Countries where Popery domineers On the contrary the House of Orange has always appeared against that ravenous and inhumane Principle And as if Providence had appointed them for a Check to Tyranny God has been pleased accordingly to bless their just Indeavours Never the Liberty of England and the Protestant Interest in general lay more at stake than it did in the late Reign 'T is plain there was a general Design to extirpate Herely in a Popish Sense and to inslave all Europe The Plot was laid in the Reign of blessed King Charles who with a shew of Proteslantism made the Way smooth for Popery At last when all Things were finely prepared to the hand of his next Heir King Charles go's off the Stage and his Brother to play the last Act enters and ascends the Throne No Prince more Courteous more Obliging or more Promising at first than He was to his new Subjects The Church of England Triumphed in his Exaltation and Addressed Him from all Parts of the Kingdom as their Tutela● Angel The People in general look'd upon him as an Incomparable Hero who would quickly make it his Business to pull down the Hector of France and to carry the Glory of England beyond all his Predecessors In short so great were the Hopes of this King that Edward III and Henry V the most glorious Monarchs of England were upon his Account to be hissed out of our English Chronicles No body dreamed of a Popish Catechism to be the first step to this Glory nor of an Army to be raised for the defence of it Under whose shelter besides a secret League with France the Prerogative began presently to swell above its Banks the Laws to be Overwhelmed the Liberty and Property of the Subject Invaded the Church of England Crushed that had raised the King to the Throne Popery crowing over all the Nation and to crown all their Hopes presto a Prince of Wales In short to speak in terms of War the Miner was fix'd and we must either Surrender or be Stormed This was our Condition when the Prince of Orange our present King undertook our Deliverance and effected it under God in a miraculous manner Upon whose Approach our Mass-Hero fled left us to shift for our selves and the Popish Party to the mercy of the Rabble This hapned Dec. 11th 1688 a fatal Year in this and the foregoing Age to Popery i● England In that state of Anarchy what could the Nation do less than provide for a Settlement under the gracious Influences of the Prince Which was accordingly done in as regular 〈◊〉 Way as the present state of Affairs would ●ow King James having thus deserted the
Piety and Sobriety Wardens of Hospitals Physicians Chirurgeons Schoolmasters and Midwives fall particularly under the Care of their Visitation Of the foresaid 26 Bishops there are two called Archbishops the one of Canterbury and the other of York These have a Superintendency over all the Church of England and in some measure over the other Bishops They have each of them his Province or Jurisdiction but that of Canterbury is much the greater of the two For of 26 Dioceses it takes up 22. Whereof 18 in England viz. Canterbury London Winchester Lincoln Exeter Hereford Salisbury Coventry and Lichfield Bath and Wells Oxford Chichester Ely Norwich Carlisle Worcester Gloc●ster Bristol Peterborough and four in Wales viz. S. Asaph Landaff Bangor and S. Davids Whereas the Province of York has but four Diocesses York Durham Chester and Carlisle besides that of the Isle of Man Each of these Archbishops is called Primate of England and Metropolitan of his Province Yet the first has some kind of Supereminency over the other and has Power to Summon him to a National Synod Next to the two Archbishops are the Bishops of London Durham and Winchester the Order of the rest being by no other Rule than the Priority of their Consecration The Bishop of London has the Precedency of all the other Bishops not only as being Bishop over the Metropolis of England but as Provincial Dean of Canterbury And upon the Vacancy of the Archiepiscopal See the Bishop of London has been usually translated to that See excepting the Case of Dr. William Sandcroft the present Archbishop of Canterbury who from Dean of Paul's was preferred to this Dignity by King Charles II. The Bishop of Durham has been a Count Palatine six or seven hundred Years The common Seal of his Bishoprick has been of a long time an Armed Knight holding in one hand a Naked Sword and in the other a Church He has also at this day the Earldom of Sadberg annexed long ago to this Bishoprick The Bishop of Winchester was anciently reputed Earl of Southampton and so stiled by Henry VIII in the Statutes of the Honourable Order of the Garter But that Earldom was soon after disposed of The Manner of making a Bishop in England is so solemn that it is not to be pretermitted When a Bishops See becomes vacant first the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral give notice of it to the King as the Patron of all the Bishopricks in England and humbly request his Majesty that He will give them Leave to chuse another Whereupon the King grants them his Conge d'eslire that is Leave to elect and withal does usually recommend unto them whom His Majesty thinks fit Then the Dean summons a Chapter that is the Prebendaries of the Cathedral who either elect the Person recommended by the Kings Letters or shew Cause to the contrary The Election being over it is certified to the Party elected Who does modestly refuse it the first and second time if a third time the same is certified to the King who recommends another When the Election is accepted it is certified to the King and the Archbishop of that Province The King thereupon gives his Royal Assent under the Great Seal of England which is exhibited to the Archbishop of that Province with Command to confirm and consecrate him Then the Archbishop subscribes Fiat Confirmatio and gives Commission under his Episcopal Seal to his Vicar General to perform all the Acts thereunto required Then a Citation comes forth from the said Vicar General in the Name of the Archbishop summoning all the People that have any Thing to object against the Party elected to appear at a certain Time and Place to make their Objections Which is done first by Proclamation three several times at Bow-Church and then the Citation is affixt on the Church door for all people to read At the Day and Place assigned for the Opposers Appearance the Vicar General sitting as Judge the Proctor for the Dean and Chapter exhibits the Royal Assent and the Commission of the Archbishop Which being read and accepted by the Vicar General the Proctor exhibits the Proxy from the Dean and Chapter presents the Bishop elect returns the Citation and desires the Opposers to be called in three times This being done accordingly and none appearing they are pronounced Contumacious and a Decree made to proceed to Sentence in the behalf of the Bishop elect Who thereupon takes the Oaths of Supremacy Simony and Canonical Obedience and then the Judge of the Arches reads and subscribes the Sentence After which there is usually an Entertainment made for the Officers and other there present And the Bishop elect being thus Confirmed may act as Bishop even before he is Consecrated Some time after this follows the Consecration For the Bishops are a distinct Order of themselves there being three Orders in the Church of England Bishops Priests and Deacons And as none may be admitted a Deacon without a Dispensation under the Age of 23 Years nor a Priest under 24 so none can be made a Bishop till he be full 30 Years of age And whereas Priests and Deacons when they take their respective Orders are said to be Ordained a Bishop when he takes the Episcopal Order is said to be Consecrated The Consecration is performed by the Archbishop of the Province or some other Bishop Commissioned by him with the Assistance of two other Bishops either in the Chappel of the Archbishop or of any other Bishop And it is done either upon a Sunday or Holy-day after Morning-Service Then the Archbishop or his Deputy begins the Communion-Service And after a certain Prayer appointed for this Occasion one of the Bishops present reads the Epistle 1 Tim. 3 another the Gospel John 21. Which is followed by the Nicene Creed and next to that a Sermon After Sermon the Bishop elect being vested with his Rochet or Linnen-Garment is by two Bishops presented to the Archbishop or his Deputy sitting in his Chair who demands the King's Mandate for the Consecration and causes it to be read That done the Bishop elect takes the Oath of Supremacy and of Canonical Obedience to the Archbishop After which they fall to Prayers Then the Bishop elect does Answer several Interrogatories that are put to him and after his Answers the rest of the Episcopal Habit is put upon him This done they Kneel down to Prayers again Which being ended the Bishop elect being upon his Knees the Archbishop and Bishops there present lay their Hands on his Head and by a pious grave Form of Words they Consecrate him Afterwards the Archbishop delivers a Bible to the Bishop elect with another set Form of Words Then they all proceed to the Communion and having received the Sacrament they depart with the Blessing Then the new Bishop treats at a spelendid Dinner the chief of the Nobility Clergy Judges Privy Counsellours c. Which Dinner with the Fees of Consecration does usually amount to five or six hundred
South empties it self into the Trent and so divides the County into East and West The Soil in the South and East Parts is very fruitful and yields both good Grass and Corn. But the North and West Parts being both Hilly and Stony with a black and mossy barren Ground are not so fertile Yet they are not without some rich Valleys and on the Hills themselves are bred abundance of very good though not very large Sheep For Fewel it is not beholden to Wood the Woods having been destroyed in a great measure by the Countries Iron-Works Lead-mines and Coal-Delfs But 't is so well stored with Coals that it supplies with this sort of Fewel many neighbouring Counties as Leicester Northampton Rutland and Lincoln Whose Inhabitants frequently bring Barley to sell at Darby and load themselves back with Coals For Buildings it affords not only good Clay for Bricks but also store of Free-Stone or durable Greet Stone and in many parts Lime-stone both useful in Building and for manuring the Ground Here is also Alabaster Crystal black and grey Marble not only very durable but such as polishes well As for Mill-Stones and Whet-stones here 's whole Quarries of 'em in the working whereof a great many hands are imployed before they come to be dispersed over the Nation But the chiefest Commodity of this Country is Lead which for goodness or Plenty yields to no Place in the World Famous for this is the Peak of Derbyshire as well as for its Quarries but particularly for its three wonderful Caves This Peak ly's amongst the Mountains in the North-West Parts and its three Caves of a wonderful vast height length and depth are known by the Names of Devils Arse Elden-hole and Pools hole From the Devils Arse a Water comes which is said to ebb and flow 4 times in an hour as the Well in the Peak Forest and to keep its just Tides Noted besides for the strange Irregularities of the Rocks within the Water Eldenhole is very spacious but wi●h a low and narrow entrance The Waters which trickle down from the top thereof do congeal into Stone and hang like Isicles in the root thereof Some are hollow within and grow Taper-wise very white and not unlike to Crystal But the greatest Wonder of all is that of Buxton-Wells Nine Springs arise out of a Rock in the compass of 8 or 9 Yards eight of which are warm and the ninth very cold These Springs run from under a square Building of Free Stone and about 300 foot off receive another hot Spring from a Well inclosed with four flat Stones near unto which another very cold Spring bubbles up These Waters are experimentally found good for the Stomach and Sinews and good to bathe in And now I come to Mineral Waters I cannot but mention Kedlaston Well Quarndon and Stanly Springs The first of which being in Kedl●ston Parish is noted for having cured as 't is said the Leprosy and for being singular in the Cure of old Ulcers Quarndon Springs are two Springs about a mile and a half from Derby much of the nature of Tunbridge-Waters in Kent and the Spaws in Yorkshire as strong of the Mineral and as effectual in the Operation As for Stanly-Spring 't is of the same nature but not so strong But about Wirksworth there 's a warm and a cold Spring so near each other that one may put one hand in the cold and the other in the warm Derby the Shire-Town from whence the County it self is denominated bears from London North and by West and is distant therefrom 98 miles thus From London to Leicester 78 as you may see in Leicestershire thence to Lougborough 8 and to Derby 12 more This Town is seated upon the West Bank of Derwent from whence probably the Name of Derby is extracted over which there is a fine Bridge of free Stone and upon the Bridge a Chappel called St. Maries Chappel But besides Derwent which empties it self but 6 miles lower into the Trent this Town has the Conveniency of a Brook rising Westward and running through it under nine several Bridges 'T is a large populous and rich Place few inland Towns equalizing it Here are five Parish Churches of which that of All-Saints is the fairest Whose Tower-Steeple in which are 8 tunable Bells built at the only Charge of the young Men and Maids about the Reign of Q. Mary is equalled for height and beauty by few in the Nation Here is also a fair Hall built not many years since of free Stone at the Counties Charge where the Assizes are constantly kept In short 't is a Place of good Trade and Resort no less famous for good Ale than Banbury for its Cakes and Cheese Here is chiefly a great Vent for Barley which they make into Malt and so sell it again in Cheshire Lancashire and the North of this County It s Market is on Fridays which is very great for Cattel Corn and all Provisions besides small Markets on Wednesdays and Saturdays Lastly this Town is dignify'd with the Title of an Earldom now in the person of the Right Honourable William Stanley Earl of Derby and Lord of the Isle of Man Descended to him from his Ancestor Thomas Lord Stanley and of Man created Earl of Derby by King Henry VII Anno 1486. Which Title was first injoy'd by the Earls of Ferrers and Derby and afterwards by several Princes of the Royal Family till it came as I said before to Thomas Lord Stanley by Creation The other Market Towns are Chesterfield Sat. Ashbourn Sat. Alfreton Mund. Bakewell Mund. Wirksworth Tue. Tideswal Wedn. Dronfield Thu. Bolsover Frid. Drawfield Amongst which Chesterfield is pleasantly seated in a good Soil for the most part on the South-side of a little Hill and that between two small Rivers A Town which by the Ruins of it does seem to be of good Antiquity and therefore likely to have had some more ancient Name now buried in its Ruins It was made a free Borough in the time of King John And hard by it was the Battel fought between King Henry III and his Barons in which Robert de Ferrers Earl of Derby being taken Prisoner lost his Estate and Dignity though not his Life But that wherein it has most cause to glory is that from an ordinary Market Town it is become the Seat of an Earldom the Stile and Title of Earl of Chesterfield being conferred by King Charles I. upon Philip Lord Stanhop of Shelford created Earl of Chesterfield Anno 1628. From whom it descended next by Henry his eldest Son to the Right Honourable Philip Lord Stanhop the present Earl of Chesterfield Wirksworth is so called from the Worth of the Lead-Works And 't is the greatest Lead-Market in England This County formerly Part of the ancient Kingdom of Mercia and its Inhabitants part of the Coritani is now in the Diocese of Lichfield Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire but two Parliament Men and these two by
large Town seated upon two Rivers the Skerne and a Rivulet that runs there into it Over the first which falls within 2 miles into the Tees it has a fair Stone-Bridge Not far from hence at Oxenhall are 3 Pits called Hell-Kettles of a wonderful depth supposed to come of an Earthquake that hapned in the Year 1179. 'T is said of Bishop Tunstall of this Diocese that he took a Goose which he markt and put into one of the Pits and the same Goose was found afterwards in the River Tees Bernard Castle is seated in a Bottom on the River Tees and adjoyning to Marwood Park 'T is but an indifferent Town and of chief note for Stockings here made Bishop Aukland is pleasantly seated on the side of a Hill between the Ware over which it has a Bridge and a Rivulet that runs into it This is a neat Town and noted for its good Air. But that which adds much to its Reputation is its stately Castle the Bishops Summer Pallace beautifully repaired by Dr. Cosins the late Bishop of Durham and a fine Chappel raised by the same Bishop from its Ruins Sunderland is a Sea-Town on the Mouth of the River Ware Called Sunderland because by the Working of the Sea it is in a manner pulled from the rest of the Land it being at high Water invironed on all sides with the Sea This is a noted Place for its Sea-Coal Trade but chiefly for giving the Title of Earl first to Emanuel Lord Scrope of Bolton and Lord President of the North created Earl of Sunderland by King Charles I. Anno 1627. Upon whose Death without lawful Issue the Title was bestowed by the same King upon Henry Lord Spencer of Wormleighton in the Year 1643. Who being slain the same Year at the first Newberry Fight the Title fell to Robert his Son and Heir the present Earl of Sunderland Stainthorp or Staindrop ly's but 5 miles East-North-East from Bernard Castle among Parks and on a Rivulet that runs from thence into the Tees And not far from it is another Castle called Raby-Castle which King Canute gave to the Church of Durham with the Lands about it But besides the said Market-Towns here is in the South-East Parts Stockton and Billingham noted for their strong Ale And further Northward Hartlepool that stands upon a Neck of Land shooting forth into the Sea which surrounds it on all sides except Westward On the Mouth of the River Tine you will find Sheals where the New-Castle Coal-Fleet takes its Cargo A little higher stands Jarrow noted for being the Birth place of the Venerable Beda And over against Newcastle Gateshead or Gateside the Receptacle of those numerous Men that work in the Coal-pits Men that rake their mean Subsistence from the very Bowels of the Earth This County was formerly called St. Cuthberts Patrimony from S. Cuthbert the Raiser of Durham whose Episcopal See was removed hither from Lindisfarn or Holy Island on the Coast of Northumberland A Saint for whom several of the Saxon Kings and after them Canute the Dane had so great a Veneration that upon him and his Successors in that See was all the Country between Tees and Tine conferred by Alfred King of England Which his Donation was confirmed and in part increased by his Successors Edward Athelstan and Canute the Dane So fortified it was with Priviledges and Royal Grants that at the coming in of the Norman Conquerour the Bishop was reputed for a Count Palatine and did ingrave upon his Seal an armed Knight holding a naked Sword in one hand and in the other the Bishops Arms. Nay it was once adjudged in Law that the Bishop was to have all Forfeitures and Escheats within the Liberties as the King had without In short the Bishops hereof had the Royalty of Princes having their own Courts of Judicature both for Civil and Criminal Causes and covning their own Coin But these exorbitant Priviledges and Immunities were in part impaired by a Statute under Henry VIII and altogether with the Lands and whole Rights thereof conferred upon the Crown by Act of Parliament in the last Year of the Reign of Edward VI. To conclude when England was divided into seven Kingdoms this County was Part of that of Northumberland And the Inhabitants of it as well as those of most part of the North besides were called Brigantes by the ancient ●omans Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire but two Members to serve in Parliament for which Durham has the Right of Election Essex ESSEX another Maritime County has for its Bounds Eastward the German Ocean Westward Hartfordshire and Middlesex Northward the County of Suffolk and Southward the County of Kent This is a pretty large County being in Length about 45 miles in Breadth 36. The Whole divided into 20 Hundreds wherein 45 Parishes and 21 Market-Towns The same is abundantly irrigated both with great and small Rivers For besides the Thames which severs it from Kent the Stower from Suffolk and the Lea from Middlesex here is the Coln the Chelmer the Crouch and the Roding with several others in all which are great plenty of Fish Here the Air is very Temperate but down in the Hundreds towards the Sea-side it is very Aguish The Soil for the most part is good and in some Parts so fruitful that according to the Author of Englands Remarqnes after 3 Years Glebe of Saffron the Land for 18 years more will yield plenty of Barley without any Manuring with Dung or the like and then bear Saffron again One Acre of this Ground which is most in the North Part of the County will yield 80 or 100 weight of moist Saffron in a Year which being dried is valued 2. pound sterling It s chief Commodities besides Saffron as aforesaid are Cloths Stuffs Hops and the best of Oysters Colchester the chief Place of it bears from London North-East and is distant from it 43 miles by common Computation Viz. 10 from London to Rumford 5 more to Burntwood 10 from thence to Chelmsford and to Colchester 18 more A Town of great Antiquity and built as some Authors write by Coilus the British Prince 124 years after Christ's Birth But yet more Remarkable for giving birth to ●ucius Helena and Constantine the first Christian King Empress and Emperour in the World Seated it is upon the Rise of a Hill stretching it self from East to West and watered by the River Coln from whence probably it came to be called Colchester And as it is but 6 miles distant from the Sea so its Situation must needs be upon all accounts both pleasant and commodious 'T is a fair and well-built Town forti●●ed with an old Roman Wall and having six Gates of entrance besides 3 Posterns Towards the East stands an old Castle within the Ruins of a Trench containing about two Acres In short there were in it 14 Parish Churches several of which are now reduced to ruin But it is still a Place of good
D'Evreux who on the Death of Robert D'Evreux Viscount Hereford and Earl of Essex succeeded in the Title of Viscount Anno 1646. Here are three Markets a Week viz. on Wednesdav Friday and Saturday And in point of Trade this Place is particularly noted for the Gloves here made and vended in great quantities in London and elsewhere The other Market-Towns are Bramyeard Mund. Pembridge Tue. Lidbury Tue. Kyneton Wedn. Webley Thu. Rosse Thu. Lemster Frid Among which Pembridge and Kyneton are seated on the River Arrow Rosse on the Wye and Lemster on the Lug. This last of chief note for the fine Wool which the Sheep in its Neighbourhood bear and likewise for its fine Wheat and Flower as Webley is for its good Ale At Kyneton a pretty large and well-built Town they drive a good I rade for narrow Cloths and the Market is counted the best for Corn Cattle Provisions and several other Commodities especially the Wednesdays before Christmas Easter and Whitsuntide Ledbury seated near the Malvern Hills in a rich Clay Ground is a well built Town and much inhabited by Clothiers who drive a good Trade here Among the Things remarkable in this County here is first by Snod-hill Castle a Quarry of excellent Marble And by Richards Castle in the North Part of the County a Well called Bone-Well wherein are always found sinall Fishes Bones but not a Fin to be seen Which Well being wholly cleansed of them yet will the like come again and no Man knows whether they be produced naturally or brought thither in Veins through the Earth Neither can I omit to relate the Story of Marsley Hill tho' I could scarce give credit to it were it not related both by Cambden and Speed two Authentick Authors This Hill in the Year 1571 removed it self with a roaring noise from the place where it stood and for 3 days together travelled from its old Seat It began this Motion on Saturday the 7th of February about 6 a Clock at Night and by 7 a Clock the next Morning it had gone about 200 Foot carrying with it Sheep in their Coats Hedge-rows and Trees whereof some stood and others were overthrown Kinnaston Chappel fell down in this Remove and two high Ways were turned about 300 Foot from their old Paths the East-Parts turned to the West the West turned to the East Pasturage being left in the place of Tillage and Tillage on the other side overspreading the Pasturage Thus about 26 Acres of Ground travelled 3 days together till being raised to a Hill 12 fadoms high there it rested This County which formerly was Part of the Kingdom of Mercia and its Inhabitants known among the Romans by the Name of Silures is now in the Diocese of Hereford Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire six Members of Parliament Viz. 2 out of Hereford 2 out of Lemster and 2 out of Webley Huntingtonshire HVNTINGTONSHIRE another Inland County but of a small extent is bounded on the East by Cambridgeshire on the North and West by Northamptonshire and on the South by Bedfordshire It contains in Length about 22 Miles and in Breadth 18. The Whole divided into four Hundreds wherein 79 Parishes and 6 Market Towns In former time this County was very Woody being counted a Forest and such as afforded excellent Game for Hunting from whence it took its Denomination But in the beginning of the Reign of Henry II. it was disforested being at present a very open Country and generally flat Only in some Parts it rises into little Hills best for the Plough as the Valleys are for Pasture which is counted as good here as any in England The East Part of it towards Cambridgeshire is something troubled with Fens which makes the Air not so good here as in other Parts of England Yet the Natives that dwell about them are healthfull and many of 'em long-lived but it is not so with Strangers In general this Country is very fertile both for Corn and Pasturage and is well watered with Rivers the chief whereof is the Owse One Thing it is peculiar in which is its plenty of Willows from whence it is nick-named the Willow-shire Huntington the chief Place of it bears from London North by West and is distant from it 48 Miles thus From London to Edmonton 6 to Waltham-Cross 6 more and 8 from thence to Ware from Ware to Puckeridge 4 to Royston 9 more and thence to Huntington 15. The same is pleasantly seated on a soft Ascent and on the North Banks of the River Owse over which it has a fair Stone-bridge which leads to Godmanchester It is a Town of great Antiquity and has formerly enjoyed great Priviledges Once so large and populous as to contain 15 Parish-Churches now reduced to four However it is still a Place of good Trade well inhabited and frequented being a Thorough-fare Town for Travellers to and from the North. Here is kept the County Goal and the County Assizes And its Market which is on Saturdays is well served with Provisions Of some Note besides for an Abbey founded here by Maud the Empress and Eustace Loveloft the Ruins of which and of a far more ancient Castle built by King Edward the Elder are yet to be seen This Town became an Earldom presently upon the Norman Conquest the Title of it injoyed by several Families before it came to George Lord Hastings created Earl of Huntington by King Henry VIII Anno 1529. From whom is descended in a right Line the Right Honourable Theophilus Hastings the present Earl of Huntington The other Market-Towns are St. Ives Mund. Yaxley Tue. Ramsey Wedn. St. Neots Thu. and Kimbolton Frid. Among which St. Ives and St. Neots two large and well-built Towns and of good Antiquity are seated on the Ouse each of them with a fair Stone-Bridge over it St. Ives so called from one Ivo a Persian Bishop who about the Year 600. travelled as 't is said through England preaching the Gospel and here ended his Days Whose Body in a short time after was removed to Bamsey Abbey This Town is much resorted to for Cattle by London Butchers St. Neots or St. Needs from Neotus a Monk of Glastenbury A Man no less holy than learned whose Body was translated hither from Neotstoke in Cornwal and in whose Honour Earl Elfrides Palace was converted into a Monastery This Town is beautified with a neat Church and a fine Steeple to it A little beneath it at a Place called Aileweston are two Springs the one fresh and the other brackish the first good for dim Sights the other for curing of Scabs and Leprosy Kimbolton a pretty fair Town seated in the bottom near Bedfordshire is of chief note for giving the Title of Baron to the Earl of Manch●ster whose Mansion is called the Castle of Kimbolton Ramsey is seated in the Fens among rich Grounds towards Cambridgeshire near the Meers of Ramsey and Whitlesey Which with the Rivers that plentifully water it
Breadth from East to West 32. The Who● divided into six Hundreds wherein 61 Parishe● and 26 Market-Towns The Number of Parish● but small in so large a quantity of Ground but that there are many Chappels of Ease equal to Parishes elsewhere for Multitudes of People Here the Air is sharp thin and piercing seldom troubled with Fogs And the Inhabitants accordingly are healthfull comely strong and long-lived not subject to many Diseases The Soil differs much according to its different nature and situation some Parts being Mountainous and of the Champain Country some very fruitfull some Mossy and the rest Moorish The Champain Country is very good for Wheat and Barley but that which lies at the bottom of the Hills is best for Oats From the Mosses which are not unlike the Irish Bogs some of them many Miles in Compass the common People get Turves for their Firing And sometimes they dig up Trees out of them which serve both for Building and Fewel Cambden seems to be of Opinion that they are subterraneous Trees growing under Ground as some other Plants do The Mountainous Part which lies Eastward is full of stony craggy and barren Hills bare of Wood and the Habitation of Foxes Conies Otters c. Amongst these Hills some are of a prodigious height especially Pendle-Hill on the top whereof grow's a peculiar Plant called Cloudsberry as coming from the Clouds But one thing besides is remarkable in this Hill that whenever the Top of it is covered with a Mist 't is an infallible Sign of Rain The Country in general is well watered with Rivers the chief whereof are the Mersey the Rible and the Lon all three running from East to West into the Irish Sea The Mersey Waters the South Parts and serves for a Boundary betwixt this County and Cheshire the Rible waters the middle and the Lon the North Parts Besides these Rivers and many others of less note here are several great Meers or Lakes as Merton and Winder or Wimander Meer This last divides part of Lancashire from Westmorland reaching about 10 miles in length and 3 or 4 in breadth It has as most Lakes in the North a clear pebbly Bottom whence the Saying that this Lake is all paved with Stone And it breeds great store of Fish particularly Trouts Pikes Pearches Eels and Skellies But there 's one sort of Fish peculiar to it and not to be found elsewhere except in Vlles Water another Lake bordering both upon Cumberland and Westmorland Charre is the Name of it and 't is a dainty Fish whereof many Pies are yearly sent abroad for Presents In short tho' this Country in general cannot be called a fruitfull Country yet what is good of it yields abundance of good Grass and Corn the fairest Oxen in England and in general all sorts of Provisions Fish and Fowl particularly here 's great plenty of and in the River Lon near Cockerfand Abbey is great store of Salmon To make Linnen here grows a great deal of Flax for Fewel the Country yields not only fat Earth but good Coals and for Building Quarries of good Stone Lancaster the Sh●re Town bears from London North-West and by North and is distant therefrom by common computation 187 miles thus From London to Stafford 104 for the particulars whereof I refer you to Staffordshire Then from Stafford to Stone 10 to Newcastle 6 more thence to Warington 20 to Wigan 14 more to Preston 14 more then to Garstang 10 and to Lancaster 15 more A Town pleasantly seated in a good Soil on the South-side of the ●iver Lon near its fall into the Sea From which River it came to be called Loncaster since turn'd into Lancaster as from Lancaster the whole County took the Name of Lancashire The Town not very well peopled nor much frequented There are in it several fair and long Streets from the Length whereof this Town I suppose might be called Longovicus by the Emperor Antonine And yet there is but one Parish-Church which indeed is large and fair It stands on the side of a Hill on the top of which is the Castle now made use of for the County Goal both for Debtors and Malefactors and for keeping the Assizes for the County Besides the Church and Castle two of the chief Ornaments of this Town here 's a fair Stone-Bridge over the Lon supported by five Arches To which add the Market-house or Town-hall where the Mayor and his Brethren keep their Courts It s Market which is kept on Saturdays is commonly well furnished with all sorts of Provisions but Fish and among the rest Salmon especially Lastly this Town is of sufficient Fame in the Annals of England for those noble Persons which have successively born the Titles of Earls and Dukes of it the greatest Princes in their time for Revenues of any Subjects in Christendom Of which House there have been four Kings of England all under the Name of Henry viz. Henry the fourth the fifth the sixth and the seventh The last by marrying with Elizabeth Daughter and Heir to Edward IV. of the House of York did happily unite the two Houses of York and Lancaster Whose Competition for the Crown of England under the Names of Red and White Roses had caused more Blood-shed than the Conquest of France by the English The Market-Towns of this County besides Lancaster are Manchester Sat. Leverpool Sat. Clitheroe Sat. Dalton Sat. Blackborn Mund. Poulton Mund. Cartmill Mund. Hornby Mund. Hawkshead Mund. Wigan Mund. Frid. Rochdale Tue. Chorley Tue. Ormskirk Tue. Kirkham Tue. Prescot Tue. Coln Wedn. Haslington Wedn. Warington Wedn. Preston Wedn. Frid. Sat. Bury Thu. Garstang Thu. Vlverston Thu. Besides Leigh and ●reat Eccleston whose Market-days I am ignorant of Manchester is seated upon a stony Hill in the South-East Parts of the County between the Rivers Irk and Irwell both which empty themselves not far off into the Mersey This Town called by Antonine the Emperour Mantunium was a Station of the Romans And it is to this day a Town much beyond Lancaster in beauty and populousness It s chief Ornaments are the Colledge and the Market-Place but above all the Collegiate Church beautified with a small Quire of excellent Workmanship Honoured besides with the Title of an Earldom in the person of the Right Honourable Charles Montague the present Earl of Manchester derived to him from his great Grandfather Henry Montague Viscount Mandeville created Earl of Manchester by King Charles I. Anno 1625. being then Lord Treasurer and President of the Council and afterwards Lord Privy Seal And lastly 't is a noted Place for its Linnen and Woollen Cloths as also for its Cottons which are held in great esteem Leverpool is the next Place of chief note in this County T is an excellent Sea-port commodiously seated at the fall of the River Mersey into the Sea where it affords a safe Harbour for Ships and a convenient Passage into Ireland To the immortal Praise of the Family of the Mores of Banck-hall
Bishops See since the Reign of Henry VIII For as it is no plausible Place either for health or pleasure so it stands out of the way for Trade Yet it shews two handsom Streets a large Market-Place and a fair Parish Church besides the Abbey Which last from a Monastery founded by Wolpher the Mercian King is now become a Cathedral And from that Monastery dedicated by him to St. Peter This Town formerly known by the Name of Medanshede came to be called Peterburgh or Peterborough Dignify●d with the Title of an Earldom in the person of Henry Mordant the present Earl of Peterborough devolved to him from his Father John Lord Mordant created Earl of Peterborough by King Charles I. Anno 1627. Oundle is pleasantly seated on the Banks of the Nen over which it has two Bridges A well built and uniform Town beautified with a fair Church a free School and an Alms-house Nigh unto Oundle Northwards and upon the same River stands Fotheringhay-Castle invironed on all sides with pleasant Meadows Noted for that here Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded Thrapston Higham-Ferrers and Wellingborow ly all three upon the Nen the first two on the Eastern the last on the Western Banks and each of them with a Bridge over the River Higham-Ferrers has a Free-School for the Education of Youth and an Alms house for the Relief of poor people and was anciently strengthned with a Castle whose Ruins are yet to be seen Wellingborow pleasantly seated upon the Ascent of a Hill is a large and well inhabited Town injoying a good Trade beautified with a fair Church and having the Convieniency besides of a Free School Not far from Rothwell or Rowel is Naseby which is said to stand on the highest Ground in England near which the Avon and the Nen two considerable Rivers have their Spring-heads A noted Town for the Battel fought here June 14th 1645 where the Kings Forces commanded by Prince Rupert were totally routed by General Fairfax Towcester situate in a Valley and on the Banks of a small River that empty's it self in the Ouse is a Place of good Antiquity Cambden takes it for the ancient Tripontium which took its Name from 3 Bridges the Roman Port-way which in many places between it and Stony-Stratford shews it self being cut through by three Streams or Channels which the Rivulet there divides it self into About the Year 917. it was so strongly fortified as to resist the furious Assaults of the Danes At present 't is but a small Town beautified however with a fine Church Near this Place Eastward is Grafton a Road-Town in this part of Northamptonshire with a fine Park adjoyning to it and a Mannor-house of great Antiquity most part whereof was burnt and pulled down in the long Intestine War Anno 1643. Memorable for the Marriage here consummated betwixt Edward IV. and the Lady Grey the first King o● England since the Conquest that married his Subject This was the ancient Seat of the Family de Wideville Earls of Rivers And Richard the last of the male Line dying Anno 1490. did by his Will bequeath it amongst other Lands to Thomas Grey Marquess of Dorset In which Name it continued till Henry VIII with whom it was exchanged for other Lands in Leicestershire and so has ever since continued in the Crown Of late become of more remark for giving the Title of Duke to his Grace Henry Fitz-Roy created Baron of Sudbury Viscount Ipswich and Earl of Euston Anno 1672 and Duke of Grafton five years after Brackley a Town of Note when it was in a manner the Staple Town in the County for Wool is seated near the Spring of the Ouse upon the edge of the County towards Buckinghamshire It contains two Parish-Churches and had formerly a Colledge now made use of for a Free-School Daventry and Kettering are seated each of 'em upon a Rivulet that falls into the Nen. The first a great Road-Town from London to the North-West Counties and from thence hither The last North-East from that is delightfully seated on an Ascent and has a Sessions-House for the Justices of Peace of the County who sometimes assemble here Rockingham a small Town is seated on the Weland A Town of note in former Time for its Castle long since demolished Lastly this County together with Rutland make up the Diocese of Peterborough In the Time of the Saxons it made part of the Kingdom of Mercia and its Inhabitants in the Romans Time part of the Coritani Out of it are chosen besides the two Knights of the Shire seven Members of Parliament Viz. 2 out of Northampton 2 out of Peterborough 2 out of Brackley and 1 out of Higham-Ferrers CHAP. XIII Of Northumberland Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire and Rutland Northumberland NORTHVMBERLAND a Maritime County and the furthest North in England is bounded on the East by the German Ocean on the West by Cumberland and the Cheviot Hills which part it from Scotland Northward by the River Twede which divides it also from Scotland and Southward by the Bishoprick of Durham from which severed in part by the River Tine It s Form is triangular contains in Length from North to South about 40 long Miles and in Breadth from East to West at the broadest 30. The Whole divided into six Wards wherein 460 Parishes and but 6 Market-Towns The Air of this County is sharp and piercing in Winter and sometimes troubled with deep Snows and pinching Frosts sutable to its Climate But yet 't is nothing near so sharp as the People And by my late Experience here wet Weather is not so sensible and searching as it is in Middlesex 'T is possible the warm Breaths that continually come out of its numberless Colepits helps with the Vapours of the Sea to take off the rawness of a cold dampish Air. For the Soil as this County is nearly related to Scotland so it is one of the worst Counties in England being for the most part rough and hilly and hard to be manured Yet in some Parts chiefly towards the Sea it is fertile enough But the greatest Riches of this Country lies in the Bowels of the Earth full of Coal-mines Which supply with Coals not only this Country where that Fewel is always bought at very easy rates but a good Part of England besides and London particularly for whose Use many hundred Sail of Ships have yearly from hence their Loading The Coal-Pits made use of to get up this Treasure are all square commonly 7 or 8 foot in diameter and timbered from top to bottom some 30 some 40 more or less but few above 50 fadoms deep A great Depth for Workmen to go and rake a Livelyhood And yet here is a Legion of such Men bred and born to it that spend most of their Life in this Land of Darkness in continual Danger besides that of the Rope of being crushed below by a Thrust sometimes in Danger of Water and in some places of Fire The Way to go down these
Nations came to be united under one Head So that upon the least Rupture this Town was sure to undergo the first brunts of the War It is large and populous and the Houses well built injoying a good Trade especially for Corn and Salmon Here one may have a good Salmon for 12 pence Lastly Barwick is like Newcastel a County of it self Dignified also with the Title of a Dukedom and that by the late King James in the person of James Fitz-James the present Duke of Barwick his natural Son ●inked with him in his Misfortunes Alnwick so called from the River Alne upon which it is seated about 8 miles from the Sea is an indifferent good Town Once strengthened with a great Castle which is now something ruinous However a noted Place for the Battel fought here between the English and the Scots in the Reign of Henry II where William King of Scots was taken Prisoner Hexam is situate West of Newcastel on the South-side of the River Tine Once a Bishoprick in the Infancy of the Saxon Church the Bishop whereof called Episcopus Hagulstadiensis according to Beda S. Eata the fifth Bishop of Lindisfarne or Holy Island was the first Bishop of this Place Succeeded by nine others till by the fury and rapine of the Danes it discontinued the Jurisdiction of it being added to the See of York But in the Reign of Henry VIII it was taken from that Archbishoprick and by Authority of Parliament united to the County of Northumberland whereby it became annexed to the Bishoprick of Durham Here was a most stately Church said to surpass most Minsters in England before a great part thereof was pulled down by the Scots Morpeth a goodly Town is situate on the River Wensbeck and fortified with a Castle Its Market is esteemed the best in the County for Provisions and living Cattel which from hence are dispersed to divers Parts of the Kingdom The Town of some note besides for giving the Title of Viscount to the Ea● of Carlisle Some miles South-west from it near a Town called Belsey on the River Pont stands Ogle● Castle formerly belonging to the Barons Ogle● and now to the Duke of Newcastle from hence stiled Earl of Ogle As for Weller 't is but a small Town seated on the side of a Hill near the Banks of the River Till which runs Northward into the Twede But its Market is great for Corn and other Provisions Of the Islands along the Sea-Coast of Northumberland Along the Coast of this Country you will find 3 principal Islands as you go from South to North viz. Cocket Farn and Holy Island Cocket is but a small Island lying not far from Wetherington Castle Farne Island something bigger lies North from Cocket 2 miles from Bamburg Castle North-East of which lie six smaller Islands hardly worth the naming Holy Island the biggest of the three and yet of no great extent is not far from Barwick This Island being in shape not unlike a Wedge runs out with a Neck of Land towards Northumberland And this is it which formerly was known by the Name of Lindisfarne in the dawning of Christianity among the Northumbers made a Bishops See by S. Aidan one of the first Apostles of these Parts Selected for that Dignity by that holy Man for the Solitude and Privacy of it which made it thought more fit and proper for Devotion Till at last by the religious Lives of so many pious Bishops Monks and others of the Clergy as did inhabit here it got the Name of Holy Island And here the See continued 353 years that is from the Year 637 to 990 under 22 Bishops hence called Bishops of Lindisfarne From whence the See was removed to Durham the Insolencies of the Danes who then terribly raged on these Coasts compelling these religious Men to forsake their Solitude The Air of this Island is so unhealthfull and the Soil ungratefull that it is but thinly peopled Fish and Fowl is the best Accommodation of it So that here is but one Town with a Church and Castle under which is a good Haven defended by a Block-house In short this County formerly a Part of the Kingdom of Northumberland and its Inhabitants part of the Ottadini as the Romans caded them is now in the Diocese of Durham Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire six Members of Parliament Viz. 2 by Newcastle 2 by Morpeth and 2 more by Barwick Lastly this County is noted for the Title of Duke and Earl it has given to several noble Personages but with frequent Interruptions As for the Title of Duke I find but one that has injoy'd it till of late viz. John Dudley Earl of Warwick and Lord Admiral● Duke of Northumberland beheaded by Quee● Mary Put that of Earl has gone through several Changes and different Families Th● Piercies are those who have injoy'd it the long est of any and yet not without some Interruption too The first of 'em that had the Title conferred upon him was Henry Piercy Lord Constable who took possession of i● Anno 1377. under the Reign of Richard II. Three of his Name and Family injoy'd it after him before John Nevil Lord Montague was advanced to this Honour by King Edward II who after six years resigned it to Henry Piercy that had been dispossessed of it Another Henry Piercy injoy'd it after him who died in the Year 1527. And 24 years after his Death the foresaid John Dudley Earl of Warwick was by Edward VI. created Duke of Northumberland viz. Anno 1551. Six Years after this the Title of Earl returned to the Piercies in the person of Thomas Earl of Northumberland In which Family it has continued ever since till the Year 1670 when Joceline Piercy died at Turin in Italy without Issue male At present we have a Duke of Northumberland his Grace George Fitz-Roy third Son to the Dutchess of Cleveland who in the Year 1674. was created by King Charles II. Baron of Pontefract Viscount Falmouth and Duke of Northumberland Nottinghamshire NOTTINGHAMSHIRE an Inland County is bounded Eastward with Lincolnshire from which it is separated a good way by the River Trent Westward with Derbyshire and some part of Yorkshire Northward with Yorkshire and Southward with Leicestershire It is of an oval Form doubling in length twice its breadth It s Length from North to South is about 40 miles the Breadth from East to West 20. The Whole divided into 8 Wapentakes or Hundreds 168 Parishes and 9 Market-Towns As for the Soil of this County part of it is Clay-Ground part sandy Ground and the rest Woody The South East Part being watered by the Trent and small Rivers that fall into it is the most fruitfull and this is the Clay Part. The Western where the Forest of Shirwood is so famous for Robin-Hood and his Companions is stocked not only with Wood but Pit-Coal well served besides with Game Besides the River Trent here are several small Streams whereby this Country
is a Well or Fountain which Euripus-like ebbs and flow's many tim● in a day In the same Place are Stones like Pyramids some of them 9 foot high and 14 thick pitched directly in a Row for a mile together and placed at equal distances from each other On the Banks of the Lowther is Lowther-Hall the Seat of Sir John Lowther Baronet Whose Family has there flourished so long a time that they reckon 30 Descents lineally from Father to Son and the greatest part of 'em Knights Neither do's the House only carry the Name of the Family but also the Park belonging to it the Parish and which is remarkable the very River with the Bridge over it To conclude this County formerly a Part of the Kingdom of the Northumbers and its Inhabitants part of the Brigantes as the Romans called them stands now divided betwixt the Dioceses of Chester and Carlisle Out of it are elected besides the two Knights of the Shire but two Members of Parliament and Appleby has the Right of Election As for honourary Titles this County began to be dignify'd with the Title of an Earldom in the Reign of Richard II. By whom Ralph Nevil Lord of Raby and Earl Marshal was created Earl of Westmorland Anno 1398. Which Title continued in his Family almost 200 years till it failed by the Death of Charles Nevil in the Year 1584. But it was revived by King James I. in the person of Francis Fane eldest Son of Mary descended from the said Nevils who was treated Earl of Westmorland and Baron of Burghersh Anno 1624. From whom it passed to Mildway-Fane and from him to the Ri●ht Honourable Charles Fane the present Earl of Westmorland Wilishire WILTSHIRE an Inland County is bounded on the East with Barkshire and Hampshire on the West with Somersetshire Northward by Glocestershire and Southward by Dorsetshire Called Wiltshire from Wilton once the chief Town of it as this is from the River Willy upon which it is seated It contains in Length from North to South at least 40 miles in Breadth from East to West 30. The Whole divided into 29 Hundreds wherein 304 Parishes and 23 Market-Towns A Country not only pleasant and delightsom but withall very plentifull It s Northern Part called North Wiltshire has very pleasant Hills and well cloathed with Woods The Southern Parts are more even and yield plenty both of Grass and Corn. But the Middle Parts called the Plains are most scant of Corn. Yet as they are wonderfull large and spacious reaching round about to the Horizon they feed such innumerable Flocks of Sheep that the Inhabitants find a● much profit by their Fleece and the gainful Trade of Cloathing as others do by their more fertile Grounds As for Rivers here is the Isis which with the Tame makes up the Thames The Kennet which runs Westward from this County through Barkshire into the Thames The Avon a Name common to many English Rivers which runs from North to South and then bending its Course to the Westward fal● into the Severn not far from Bristol Another Avon which takes its Course Southward and having washed Salisbury runs on through Hampshire where it falls near Christchurch into the Sea The Willy and the Nadder which joyning together into one Stream at Wilton near Salisbury fall there into the Avon Besides several lesser Streams among which is the Deverill which runs a mile under Ground Now before I proceed any further in my usual Method it will not be improper to take notice in this Place of two Remarkable Things in this County viz. the Wansdike and Stone-henge The first is a Dike running for many miles from West to East in the midst of this Shire and which according to the vulgar Opinion was cast up by the Devil upon a Wednesday from whence the Name of Wansdike But as Cambden observeth it was rather made by the West-Saxons for the dividing of their Kingdom from that of the Mercians this being the Place where they usually fought in order to stretch the Bounds of their Dominions Stone-henge the greater Wonder of the two and indeed the most admirable Rarity this Island affords is a stupendious Piece of Work It consists of huge Stones standing upright in three Ranks round like a Crown and laid overthwart one another some of which are 28 foot high and 7 broad Now the Question is how these Stones came hither For the whole Country round for some miles hardly affords a Stone either great or small and these seem too vast to be brought hither by Wagon Cart or any other Artifice Cambden therefore is of Opinion that they were made there by Art of pure Sand and some unctuous Cement the Ancients having had the Art of making Stone Thus the Cesterns of Rome were made of Sand digged out of the Ground which with the strongest kind of Lime wrought together became so hard that they seemed Stones Salisbury the chief Place of this County is reckoned 70 miles West-South-West from London thus From London to New Brentford 8 miles thence to Stanes 7 to Hartley-row 16 more from thence to Basingstoke 8 thence to Whitchurch 10 to Andover 6 more and from Andover to Salisbury 15. This is the City otherwise called New Sarum raised out of an old one known to the Romans by the Name of Sorbiodunum which was drily seated on a great Eminence being a Place only designed for Strength Yet it was for some time honoured with an Episcopal See and a fair Cathedral As to the present City 't is pleasantly seated among several Rivers whose Streams do commodiously water most of the Streets and almost incompassed with open Fields and Plains which take their Name from it In which Plains about 6 miles distance is to be seen the Stone-henge as before described In short this City for fair Buildings is inferiour to none and transcends all others for the benefit of Water almost every Street having a River running through the midst thereof among which the Avon is the principal The Streets are large and spacious accommodated with a fine Market-Place and adorned with a fair Building the Town-Hall But the greatest Ornament of this City and indeed one of the principal Ornaments of England is the Cathedral a most stately and magnificent Church Which being begun by Richard Poore Bishop of this See and finished in the Year 1258. by Bridport the third Bishop from him was dedicated to the honour of the Blessed Virgin This Church has 12 Gates 52 Windows and 365 Pillars great and small the first answering to the Number of Months the second to that of the Weeks and the third to the Number of Days in the Year It s Steeple has a lofty Spire which proudly shews it self from a great distance And which is remarkable an Imperial Crown stood at the very top of all which by a sudden Gust of Wind was thrown down to the Ground at the very time when the late King James was at Salisbury in order to oppose
to speak the Terms of Art in our own Language A Thing Judged impossible till we saw it performed What matchless and incomparable Pieces have we seen in our Time and where shall one see more sense in so few Words What Poetry has more Majesty and bears a greater sense than the English when it flows from a true Poet In point of Sweetness whereas the Italian swarms with Vowels and the Dutch with Consonants the English has the Advantage of them both in a happy Mixture 'T is true the Italian is an excellent Princely and pleasant Language but it wants Sinews and passes as silent Water The French is truly delicate but something too nice and affected the Spanish Majestical but terrible and boisterous the Dutch manly but harsh Now the English is both sweet and manly 'T is true there are in it some particular sounds unknown to the French Tongue which are indeed something harsh and uncouth in the mouth of a French Learner and yet very smooth when they run in their proper and natural Channel Viz. i long as in Vice ou and ow in Cloud Vow o and i as in God Lord bird and shirt pronounced with a mixt sound of the French o and a. But those which puzzle most of all the French Learner are the found of g before e and i and which is the same Thing of j Consonant before any Vowel as in ginger jack jest jil jog and jug of ch as in Chamber but chiefly of th called a t aspirate as in thanks thief thorough thunder c. In short such is the mixture of the English that one may frame his Speech majestical pleasant delicate or manly according to the Subject Of all which Advantages inherent to the English Tongue Foreiners are at last become very sensible For whereas they used to slight it as an Insular Speech not worth their taking notice they are at present great Admirers of it What remains is to answer the usual Objections against it whereby some People pretend to degrade it from the Worth of a Language viz. its Mixture and Mutability Mixture a Thing so very natural to Languages that none but the Hebrew if that is free from it The Latine it self had a great Mixture of Greek and Gothish The French consists of Latine Dutch and old Gallick The Spanish of Latine Gothish and Morisco And the German it self as Original as it is pretended to be has a taste of the Roman Empire and the bordering Neighbours As for its Mutability 't is at least as groundless an Objection For 't is well known that Languages as States have their Infancy and Age their Wax and Wane But now the English Tongue is come to so great Perfection now 't is grown so very Copious and Significant by the accession of the quintessence and life of other Tongues 't were to be wished that a stop were put to this unbounded Way of Naturalizing forein Words and that none hereafter should be admitted but with Judgement and Authority For the Truth is there is as much in it as is needful and as much as the English Soil is well able to bear I conclude according to the Title of this Chapter with an Account of the most famous Men of this Nation either for Souldiery or Learning extracted from Dr. Heylin's Cosmography Which will serve as a further Confutation of our Hypercritick Scaliger and other French conceited Authors since his Time who valuing no Nation but their own made it their Business to decry the English But I shall do it with my Author's Caution that is without mentioning the late great Men this Nation has bred that I may give no ground for Invidiousness The most valorous Souldiers of this Country when possessed by the Britains were Cassibelane who twice repulsed the Roman Legions though conducted by Caesar himself and had not a Party here at home been formed against him 't is like he had been still too hard for the Romans Prasutagus King of the Iceni Constantine the Great the first Christian Emperour Arthur One of the Worlds Nine Worthies In the Times of the Saxons Egbert the last King of the West-Saxons and the first of England Alfred his Grandson who totally united the Saxon Heptarchy into one Estate and subjected the Danes to his Commands though he could not expel them Edmund surnamed Ironside Guy Earl of Warwick After the Normans came in Richard and Edward the First so renowned in the Wars of the Holy Land Edward III and his Son Edward the black Prince duo Fulmina Belli famous in the Wars of France Henry V and John Duke of Bedford his Brother Montacute Earl of Salisbury Sir John Falstaff and Sir John Hawkwood who shewed their Valour both in France and Italy Hawkins Willoughby Burroughs Jenkinson Drake Frobisher Cavendish and Greenvile all famous Sea-Captains Scholars of most note Alcuinus one of the Founders of the University of Paris Beda who for his Piety and Learning obtained the Attribute of Venerabilis Anselm and Bradwardin Archbishops of Canterbury Men famous for the Times they lived in Alexander of Hales Tutor to Thomas Aquinas Bonaventure Wicleff and Thomas of Walden his Antagonist the first Parson of Lutterworth in the County of Leicester who valiantly opposed the Power and Errours of the Church of Rome And since the Reformation John Jewel Bishop of Salisbury to whose learned and industrions Labours in defence of the Religion here established by Law we are still beholden Dr. John Raynolds and Mr. Richard Hooker the first a Man of infinite Reading the second of as strong a Judgement Dr. Whitaker of Cambridge the Antagonist of the famous Bellarmine Dr. Tho. Bilson and Dr. Lancelot Andrews both Bishops of Winchester the Ornaments of their several Times Bishop Montague of Norwich a great Philologer and Divine Dr. John Whitgift and Dr. William Laud Archbishops of Canterbury But I cannot pass by the remarkable Story of the foresaid Dr. John Raynolds and William his Brother William was at first a Protestant of the Church of England and John trained up beyond Sea in Popery The first out of an honest Zeal to reduce his Brother made a Journey to him and they had a Conference Where it so fell out that each was overcome with his Brothers Arguments so that William of a Zealous Protestant became a virulent Papist and John of a strong Papist a most rigid Protestant A strange Accident and a rare subject for this excellent Epigram made upon it by Dr. Alabaster who had tried both Religions Bella inter geminos plusquam Civilia Fratres Traxerat ambiguus Religionis Apex Ille Reformatae Fidei pro partibus instat Iste Reformandam denegat esse Fidem Propositis Causae Rationibus alter utrinque Concurrere pares cecidere pares Quod fuit in Votis Fratrem capit alter-uterque Quod fuit in Fatis perdit uterque Fidem Captivi gemini sine Captivante fuerunt Et Victor Victi transfuga Castra petit Quod genus hoc
Charta the same all over England that is according to the King's Standard kept in the Exchequer by the Clerk or Comptroller of the Market The Weights now used throughout all England are of two sorts the one called Troy-Weight and the other Avoir du pois the first containing 12 Ounces and the other 16 in the Pound But then the Ounce Avoir du pois is lighter than the Ounce Troy by almost a 12th part For whereas in Troy-Weight the Ounce consists of 480 Grains the Ounce Avoir du pois containeth but 438 Grains By the Troy-Weight are weighed Pearls precious-Stones Gold Silver Bread all manner of Corn and Grain and this Weight the Apothecaries do or ought to use By Avoir du pois are weighed all Grocery Ware Flesh Butter Cheese Iron Hemp Flax Tallow Wax Lead Steel and all things whereof comes Waste In consideration whereof 112 Pound Avoir du pois goes to a Hundred-Weight and proportionably 56 pound to half a Hundred and 28 to a Quarter or Tod A Stone amongst London Butchers makes 8 pounds of this Weight but in the Country 't is for the most part 14. In Troy-Weight 20 Grains make a Scruple thus marked ℈ 3 Scruples a Drachm ʒ 8 Drachms an Ounce ℥ and 12 Ounces a Pound lb. In Avoir du pois Weight 16 Drachms make an Ounce 16 Ounces a Pound 28 Pound a Quarter 4 Quarters a Hundred and 20 Hundred a Tun. In Troy Weight 24 Grains of Wheat make a Peny-Weight Sterling 20 Peny-Weights an Ounce and 12 Ounces a Pound And when Wheat is at 5 Shillings the Bushel the Peny Wheaten Loaf is then by Statute to weigh 11 Ounces Troy and three half Peny White Loaves to weigh as much But the Houshold Peny-Loaf is to weigh 14 Troy Ounces and two thirds As for the Weight called Venice-Ounce used here as in other Countries by Silk-men there is no Standard of it nor is it allowed by Law This Ounce being but 13 Peny Weight and 12 Grains it falls out that 12 Ounces Venice is but 8 Ounces 4 peny Troy and 9 Ounces Avoir du pois Measares are either Applicative or Receptive that is such as Things are measured by outwardly or inwardly Of the first Sort there is first an Inch or fingers Breadth 4 whereof make a Hand-full and 12 a Foot Now 3 Foot makes a Yard and one Yard and a quarter an Ell. Five Foot makes a Geometrical Pace 6 a Fadom 16 and a half a Perch Pole or Rod. Forty Perches make a Furlong 8 Furlongs or 320 Perches an English Mile and 3 English Miles a French League whereof 3 go to a Degree But this observe by the way that by a Statute under the Reign of Henry VII an English Mile ought to be 1760 Yards or 5280 Foot that is 280 Foot more than the Italian Mile Now an Acre of Land in England consists of 40 Perches in length and 4 in breadth a Yard-Land commonly of 30 Acres and an Hide of Land of 100 Acres The Receptive Measure is two-fold that is either for liquid or dry Things For Liquid as a Pint which is subdivided into lesser Parts as half a Pint a Quartern or quarter of a Pint. Now 2 Pints make a Quart 2 Quarts a Pottle 2 Pottles a Gallon 8 Gallons a Firkin of Ale and 9 a Firkin of Beer Two Firkins of either sort make a Kilderkin and 2 Kilderkins a Barrel But still the Difference in the Number of Gallons as to Beer and Ale ought to be minded and allowed For as a Kilderkin of Beer contains 18 Gallons and one of Ale but 16 so a Barrel of Beer being double a Kilderkin contains 36 Gallons and one of Ale but 32. Now a Barrel and a half of Beer being 54 Gallons make a Hogshead 2 Hogshheads a Pipe or Butt and 2 Pipes a Tun. Note that a Barrel of Butter or Soap is the same with a Barrel of Ale As for Wine-Measures they fall so much short of those of Ale and Beer that Four Gallons of these make Five Gallous of Wine measure Thus they hold proportion as four to five Of these Gallons a Rundlet of Wine holds 18 half a Hogshead 31 and a half a Tierce 42 a Hogshead 63 a Punchion 84 a Pipe or Butt 126 a Tun 252. For dry Things such as Corn or Grain there is first the Gallon of a fize between the Wine and the Beer Gallon Two of these Gallons make a Peck 4 Pecks a Bushel 4 Bushels a Comb or Curnock 2 Curnocks a Quarter 10 Quarters a Last or Wey To conclude now with the Great Trade of England to Foreign Parts besides the several Companies I have took notice of in my Description of London there are other Companies or Societies of Merchants established for the promoting or incouraging of foreign Trade Which have Power and Immunities granted them to make Acts and Orders for the benefit of Commerce in general and of their Companies in particular Such are amongst others the Company of Merchant Adventurers the Russia Turky and East-India Companies and the Royal African Company Besides the Spanish French East-Land and Greenland Companies and the Company trading to Hudson's Bay the Priviledges and Trade of which last were lately confirmed by Act of Parliament The first being the Company of Merchant Adventurers is the most ancient of all having had their Original in the Reign of Edward I and their Continuance ever since Grounded at first upon the Exportation of Wool only being the prime and staple Commodity of England since converted into Cloathing and now including all manner of Drapery This Company is managed in England by a Governour Deputy and certain Assistants beyond Sea by a Deputy and certain Assistants The Russia Company had their Beginning in the Reign of Edward VI upon the Discovery made by the English of the North-East Passage to Archangel whereby they opened a great Trade in the Dominions of the ●zars of Moscovy removed hither from Narva upon the Baltick Their Charter was afterwards confirmed and inlarged by Queen Elizabeth The Turky-Merchants otherwise called the Levant Company from their Trade in the Levant was Incorporated by Queen Elizabeth and had their Charter Confirmed and Inlarged by King James I. But the greatest and most eminent Company is that which manages the East-India Trade which begun likewise in Queen Elizabeths Time Anno 1600. For the Managing whereof they imploy a joint Stock and have a great House in Leaden-Hall-Street called the East-India House By which Trade and Stock they have built a great Number of War-like Ships and brought hither those Indian Commodities which before were brought to us by the Portugueze being the first Discoverers of the East-India Passage So that by the East-India and the Levant Companies England and many other Countries by their second Transportation have ever since been supplied with those Rich Merchandizes which Italy Turky Arabia Persia India and China yield where they have their respective Agents On the Coast of Coromandel
in Trial of Heresy which toucheth a Mans Life If a Clergy-man Kills his Bishops or Ordinary the Law looks upon it as a Parricide and 't is Petty-Treason by Law Every Bishop may by Statute Law qualify six Chaplains which is as many as a Duke But if the Bishops Priviledges be so great the Archbishops are much greater especially his Grace of Canterbury's Who is the first Peer of the Realm and next to the Royal Family precedes not only all Dukes but all the great Officers of the Crown Though he holds his Place from the King yet in the King's Writs to him he is stiled Dei Gratia Archiepiscopo Cantuariensi and whereas other Bishops write Divina Permissione he writes himself Divina Providentia When he is Invested in the Archbishoprick he is said to be Inthroned It belongs properly to him to Crown the King and he had formerly the Power of appointing the Lent Preachers which is now in the Lord High Chamberlain The Bishop of London is accounted his Pravincial Dean the Bishop of Winchester his Chancellour and the Bishop of Rochester his Chaplain He has the Probate of all Wills in his Province and the Power of granting Letters of Administration where the Party at the time of his Death had 5 l. worth or above out of the Diocese wherein he died or 10 l. within the Diocese of London For all such as die Intestate within his Province he has Power to make Wills and to administer their Goods to the Kindred or to pious uses according to his Discretion In all Cases heretofore sued for in the Court of Rome he has Power to grant Licences and Dispensations either by himself or his Deputy called the Master of Faculties Provided the same be not repugnant to the Law of God or the King's Prerogative As to allow a Clerk to hold a Benefice in Commendam or Trust to allow a Son contrary to the Canons to succeed his Father immediately in a Benefice a Beneficed Clerk upon some Occasions to be Non-resident for some time a Clerk rightly qualified to hold two Benefices with Cure of Souls and a Lay-man to hold a Prebend c. whilst by Study he is preparing himself for the service of the Church He may also bestow one Dignity or Prebend in any Cathedral Church within his Province upon every Creation of a new Bishop And the new-created Bishop is also to provide a sufficient Benefice for one of the Archbishops Chaplains or to maintain him till it be effected He has the Prerogative with two other Bishops to Consecrate a new made Bishop to appoint Coadjutors to infirm Bishops to confirm the Election of Bishops within his Province to call Provincial Synods according to the King 's Writ directed to him to be Moderator in the Synods or Convocations and there to give his Suffrage last of all 'T is both his Power and Duty to Visit the whole Province and during the Vacancy of any Bishoprick within the same to appoint a Guardian of the Spiritualities So that to him belong all the Episcopal Rights and Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions of the Diocese as Visitations Institutions c. To decide all Differences in Ecclesiastical Matters he holds several Courts of Judicature for which I refer you to my Third Part. Lastly he may retain and qualify 8 Chaplains which is two more than any Duke is allowed The Archbishop of York has also the Precedence of all Dukes that are not of the Royal Bloud and of all great Officers of State except only the Lord Chancellour He is also stiled Primate of England and Metropolitan of his Province and has many of those Prerogatives and Priviledges which the Archbishop of Canterbury has within his own Province Each of the Archbishops is honoured as Dukes are with the Title of His Grace And whereas the Inferiour Bishops are stiled Right Reverend the Archbishops are in a Superlative manner stiled Most Reverend As to the Revenues of the English Bishops the best Bishopricks are those of Canterbury Durham and Winchester which yield a plentiful Income Amongst the rest some have but a Competency and others are not much better some worse than many Parsonages And yet I must say this to the eternal Praise of the Episcopal Order that they have done great Things for the Publick out of their Revenues For most of the great publick Works now ●●maining in England acknowledge their Being eather to the sole Cost and Charge or to the liberal Contributions of Bishops I mean not only Pallaces and Castles but Churches Colledges Schools Hospitals Alms-houses a great Number whereof have been founded and built by Bishops Nay that famous and chargeable Structure of London-Bridge stands to this day obliged to the liberal Contributions of an Archbishop In former Reigns when the Clergy were judged to be the fittest Persons to execute most of the chief Offices and Places of the Realm such Benefits and Advantages accrued thereby to this Kingdom that there are few Things of any great Consequence to the Welfare thereof but the Bishops and Prelates were the chief Actors therein The excellent Laws says an Author made by several of the Saxon Kings from whom we have our Common Laws and our Priviledges mentioned in Magna Charta were all made by the Persuasions and Advice of Bishops named in our Histories And 't was a Bishop of London at whose Request William the Conqueror granted to this City so large Priviledges that in a grateful Remembrance thereof the Lord Mayor and Aldermen did before the late dreadful Fire upon some solemn Days of their Resort to S. Paul's Church use to go in Procession about the Grave-stone where that Bishop lay interred The Union of the two Houses of York and Lancaster whereby a long and cruel Civil War was ended was by the Advice and Counsel of Bishop Morton then a Privy Counsellour And the happy Union of England and Scotland was brought to pass by the long Foresight of the Reverend Bishop Fox a Privy Counsellour in advising Henry VII to match his eldest Daughter to Scotland and his Younger to France But above all the Converting England to Christianity the Reforming of it when corrupted and the Defence of the Reformation against all Romish Writers is principally if not solely owing to Bishops and Prelates CHAP. XXIII Of the Dignify'd Clergy AS amongst the Laity the Gentry Keeps a middle Rank betwixt the Nobility and the Commonalty so amongst the Clergy of England there is a middle Station between the Episcopal Order and the inferiour Clergy Which Station is properly that of the Dignify'd Clergy as Deans Arch-Deacons and Prebendaries the Subject of this Chapter For a Supply of able and fit Persons to make Bishops or to assist Bishops a certain Number of eminent Divines both for their Piety and Learning were thought fit by our Fore-fathers to be placed in a Collegiate manner at every Cathedral or Episcopal See out of which Seminaries fit Persons from time to time might be chosen to govern the
Commissions Deeds and Recognizances which being made up in Rolls of Parchment gave Occasion for that Name From whence the ver● House where the same are Kept is also called 〈◊〉 Rolls which being founded at first for the converted Jews was after their Expulsion out of England annext for ever to the Office of Master of the Rolls Here are kept all the Rolls since the beginning of Richard the Third's Reign and the former Rolls in the Tower In this House the Master of the Rolls may Jure Off●cii and by vertue of a Commission hear Causes with two Masters and without the Chancellour He has in his Gift those considerable Offices of the Six Clerks in Chancery the Examiners Offices three Clerks of the Petty-bag and the six Clerks of the Rolls Chappel where the Rolls are kept In Parliament-time when he sits in the House of Lords he sits upon the Second Woolsack next to the Lord Chief Justice of Engand Next in degree to the Twelve Masters in Chancery are the Six Clerks aforesaid who keep their several Offices at a Place called the Six Clerks Office in Chancery-Lane and constantly Keep Commons together in Term-time Their Business is for the English part of this Court to inroll Commissions Pardons Patents Warrants c. that are passed the Great Seal They are also Attorneys for Plaintiffs and Defendants in Causes depending in this Court Under these are Sixty other Clerks viz. ten to each amongst which some get four or five hundred Pounds a Year and some more These also have their Under-Clerks who dispatch with them the Business of this Office For the Latine Part there is the Cursitors Office Kept near Lincolns Inn. Of these there are 24 whereof one Principal and two Assistants Their Business is to make out Original Writs for which purpose each of them has certain Counties and Cities allotted to him into which he makes out such Original Writs as are required These Clerks are a Corporation of themselves who execute their Offices by themselves or Deputies There are several Officers besides belonging to the Chancery As the Clerk of the Crown Who either by himself or Deputy is continually to attend the Lord Chancellour or Lord Keeper for special Marters of State and has a Place in the House of Lords He makes all Commissions of Peace of Oyer and Terminer Goal-Delivery and upon the Death or Removal of any Members of Parliament sitting makes all Writs for New Elections There is also a Protonotary whose Office is chiefly to dispatch Commissions for Embassies A Register of the Court of Chancery and two Registers for the Rolls The Clerk of the Hamper or Hanaper Who receives all the Mony due to the King for the Seals of Charters Patents Commissions and Writs In Term-time and at all times of Sealing he attends the Chancery-Court with all Sealed Charters Patents c. put up in Leathern Bags Instead of which Hampers were probably used in our Fore-fathers time and the Clerk called from thence Clerk of the Hamper Those Bags are delivered by the Clerk to the Comptroller of the Hamper Three Clerks of the Petty-Bag whose Office is to make all Patents for Customers Comptrollers all Conge d'Eslires first Summons of Nobility Clergy Knights Citizens and Burgesses to Parliament c. The six Clerks of the Rolls Chappel which togethe● with the Clerks of the Petty-bag are under the Master of the Rolls And so are the Two E●●caminers whose Office is to examine the Witnesses on their Oaths in any Suit on both sides A Clerk of the Patents another of the Reports and a Clerk or Secretary of the Presentation of Spiritual Benefices There is besides a Subpoena Office to issue out Writs or Summons for Persons to appear in Chancery Another Office for filing all Affidavits in the Court of Chancery Besides the Alienation Office to which are carried all Writs of Covenant and Entry whereupon Fines are levied and Recoveries suffered to have Fines for Alienation set and paid thereupon This Office is executed by 3 Commissioners who set those Fines The Warden of the Fleet or Keeper of the Fleet-Prison is a considerable Office His Business is to take care of the Prisoners there who are commonly such as are sent thither from this Court for Contempt to the King or his Laws though there are others upon the Account of Debts c. There is also a Sergeant at Arms whose Office is to bear a gilt Mace before the Lord Chancellour or Keeper Lastly whereas other Courts of Justice are never open but in Term-time this is at all times open For if a Man be wrongfully Imprisoned in the Vacation the Lord Chancellour may grant a Habeas Corpus and do him Justice according to Law as well in Vacation as in Term-time Which is not in the Power either of the King's Bench or Common-Pleas to do in the Vacation This Court likewise may grant Prohibitions at any time either in Term or Vacation CHAP. IV. Of the Court of Kings Bench. THis Court is called the Kings Bench because in it are handled all Pleas of the Crown as all manner of Treasons Felonies Misprision of Treason c. But it has Power besides to examine and correct all Errours in fait and in Law of all the Judges and Justices of the Realm in their Judgements and Proceeding in Courts of Record and this not only in Pleas of the Crown but in all Pleas real personal and mixt the Court of Exchequer excepted This Court has also Power to correct other Errours and Misdemeanors extrajudicial tending to the Breach of the Peace or Oppression of the Subject It grants Prohibitions to Courts Temporal and Ecclesiastical to Keep them within their proper Jurisdiction and may bail any Person for any Offence whatsoever If a Freeman in City Borough or Town Corporate be Disfranchised unjustly this Court may relieve the Party although he has no Priviledge in it This Court moreover has power to hold Plea by Bill for Debt Detinue Covenant Promise and all other personal Actions against any that is in the Marshals Custody or any Officer Minister or Clerk of the Court. For if they should be sued in any other Court they would be allowed the Priviledge of this in respect of their necessary Attendance here and lest there should be a failure of Justice they shall be Impleaded here by Bill though these Actions be common Pleas. Likewise the Officers Ministers and Clerks of this Court priviledged by Law may Implead others by Bill here in the foresaid Actions In short the Jurisdiction of this Court is general and extends all over England 'T is more uncontrolable than any other Court because the Law presumes the King to be there in person For anciently the Kings of England sat sometimes in this Court and that on a high Bench his Judges at his Feet on a low Bench. From whence some think this Court came to be called the King's Bench. However the Judicature always belonged to the Judges and in the King's
of the Back-Stairs Mr. James Worthington Mr. John Jones Mr. Peter van Lewen Mr. Daniel Pulse Mr. Hamlet Kirk Mr. Richard Bradley Grooms of the Great Chamber Mr. Randolph Sparrow Mr. William Snow Mr. John Viccars Mr. Rowland Pierce Mr. John Willson Mr. Matthew Clarke Physician Sir Charles Scarborow Kt. Apothecary Christian Harel Clerk of the Closet William Stanley D. D. Treasurer and Receiver General Richard Earl of Bellomont His Clerk Mr. Edward Godfrey Auditor General Edward Clarke Esq His Clerk Messengers Timothy Goodwin Richard Hancoc Porter of the Back Stairs David Harris Master of the Barges Mr. Christopher Hill Four and Twenty Watermen Officers and Servants of the Stables Master of the Horse Sir Edward Villiers Kt. Ecquerries Charles Goltstein Esq Henry Killigrew Esq Charles May Esq Pages of Honour John Broeckhuysen Esq George Fielding Esq Purveyor Anthony Rowe Esq Yeoman Rider John Lauze Esq Yeomen of the Carriages Mr. Joseph Hough Coachmen Wessel Bosshof Christopher Ronch Herman Vanswell Lender Snellard John Catchlove Grooms Thomas Clarke Thomas Millet Footmen Samuel Clarke John Trantur Benjamin Booth Robert Howe Isaac Grafar Jacob Finke William Causey Herman Bongurs Jacob van Woestine Benjam in Ramsey Chair-men Thomas Chamberlain Benjamin Cotton Oswald Fawne Robert Giddins Bottleman Henry Gardies Groom Farrier Andrew Snape Groom Saddler John Bignell Her Majesties Women Servants Groom of the Stole and Lady of the Robes Elizabeth Countefs of Derby Ladies of the Bed-Chamber Gertrude Marchioness of Hallifax Mary Marchioness of Winchester Mary Countess of Dorset Bridget Countess of Plimouth Frances Countess of Scarborough Maids of Honour Mrs. Eleonora Francklin Mrs. Stewart Walburt Howard Mrs. Mary Villiers Mrs. Mary Compton Mrs. Jane Martha Temple Mrs. Anne Greenvill Women of the Bed-Chamber Mrs. Anna van Goltstein Mrs. Cary Jesson Mrs. Dorothy Cason Mrs. Agnes Uygh Mrs. Rachel Wyndham Mrs. Martha Lockhar● Laundress Mrs. Elizabeth Worthington Seamstress and Stearcher Mrs. Dorothy Ireland Necessary Women Elizabeth Wiele Anne Dawhurst A List of the present Nobility and Bishops Where you find the Star prefixt the Title was conferred by His present Majesty Princes of the Blood PRince GEORGE of Denmark Duke of Cumberland * William Duke of Glocester his Son Dukes 13. Henry Howard Duke of Norfolk Earl Marshal o● England Charles Seymour Duke of Somerset Henry Cavendish Duke of Newcastle Charles Leons Duke of Richmond Charles Fitz-Roy Duke of Southampton Henry Fitz-Roy Duke of Grafton James Butler Duke of Ormond Henry Somerset Duke of Beaufert George Fitz-Roy Duke of Northumberland Charles Beauclair Duke of S. Albans James Fitz James Duke of Berwick Charles Pawlet Duke of Bolton Charles Schombergh Duke of Schombrgh Marquesses 3. George Savile Marquess of Hallifax William Herbert Marquess of Powis * Thomas Osborne Marquess of Carmarthen Lord President of the Council Earls 71. Aubre de Vere Earl of Oxford Charles Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury Anthony Grey Earl of Kent William Stanley Earl of Derby John Manners Earl of Rutland Theophilus Hastings Earl of Huntingdon William Russel Earl of Bedford Thomas Herbert Earl of Pembroke Edward Clinton Earl of Lincoln George Howard Earl of Suffolk Charles Sackvile Earl of Dorset Lord Chamberlain of the Houshold James Cecill Earl of Salisbury John Cecill Earl of Exeter John Egerton Earl of Bridgwater Philip Sidney Earl of Leicester George Compton Earl of Northampton Edward Rich Earl of Warwick William Cavendish Earl of Devonshire Lord Steward of the Houshold Basil Fielding Earl of Denbigh John Digby Earl of Bristol John Holles Earl of Clare Pawlet St. John Earl of Bolingbroke Charles Fane Earl of Westmorland Charles Mountague Earl of Manchester Thomas Howard Earl of Berkshire John Sheffield Earl of Mulgrave Thomas Savage Earl Rivers Robert Bertie Earl of Lindsey Lord Great Chamberlain of England Henry Mordant Earl of Peterborough Thomas Grey Earl of Stamford Charles Finch Earl of Winchelsea Evelyn Pierpoint Earl of Kingston Charles Dormer Earl of Carnarvan Philip Stanhope Earl of Chesterfield Thomas Tufton Earl of Thanet William Wentworth Earl of Strafford Robert Spencer Earl of Sunderland Robert Leke Earl of Starsdale Edward Mountague Earl of Sandwich Henry Hyde Earl of Clarendon Algernon Capel Earl of Essex Robert Brudenel Earl of Cardigan James Annesley Earl of Anglesey John Granvile Earl of Bath Edward Howard Earl of Carlisle William Craven Earl of Craven Thomas Bruce Earl of Ailesbury Richard Boyle Earl of Burlington Anthony Ashley Cooper Earl of Shaftsbury Edward Henry Lee Earl of Lichfield Thomas Lennard Earl of Sussex Lewis de Duras Earl of Feversham Charles Gerard Earl of Macclesfield Charles-Bodvile Roberts Earl of Radner William Paston Earl of Yarmouth George Berkeley Earl of Berkeley Daniel Finch Earl of Nottingham Laurence Hyde Earl of Rochester James Bertie Earl of Abingdon Baptist Noel Earl of Gainsborough Coniers D' Accie Earl of Holderness Other Windsor Earl of Plimouth Francis Ratcliff Earl of Derwentwater Henry Howard Earl of Stafford William Bentinck Earl of Portland Thomas Bellassise Earl of Falconberg * Charles Mordant Earl of Monmouth * Ralph Mountague Earl of Mountague * John Churchill Earl of Marlborow * Arthur Herbert Earl of Torrington * Richard Lumley Earl of Scarborough * Henry Booth Earl of Warrington Viscounts 9. Edward Devereux Viscount Hereford Francis Brown Viscount Mountague William Fiennes Viscount Say and Selc Francis Newport Viscount Newport Charles Townesend Viscount Townesend Thomas Thynne Viscount Weymouth Christopher Hatton Viscount Hatton Henry Sidney Viscount Sidney Henry Yelverton Vscount Longueville Barons 66. George Nevill Lord Abergaveny James Touchet Lord Audley Robert Bertie Lord Willoughby of Eresby John West Lord de la Ware Charles Berkely Lord Berkeley of Berkeley Thomas Parker Lord Morley Robert Shirley Lord Ferrers Charles Mildmay Lord Fitzwalter William Stourton Lord Stourton Ralph Eure Lord Eure. Philip Wharton Lord Wharton Thomas Willoughby Lord Willoughby of Parham William Paget Lord Paget Francis Howard Lord Howard of Effingham Charles North Lord North. James Bruges Lord Chandos Robert Carey Lord Hunsden Robert Sidney Lord Sidney of Penshurst Thomas Petre Lord Petre. Charles Gerard Lord Gerard. Henry Arundel Lord Arundel of Wardour Christopher Roper Lord Tenham Foulk Grevil Lord Brook Ford Gray Lord Gray John Lovelace Lord Lovelace John Pawlet Lord Pawlet William Maynard Lord Maynard Thomas Coventry Lord Coventry William Howard Lord Howard of Escrick Charles Mohun Lord Mohun Henry Herbert Lord Herbert of Cherbury Thomas Leigh Lord Leigh Thomas Jermin Lord Jermin William Byron Lord Byron John Vaughan Lord Vaughan Francis Carrington Lord Carrington William Widdrington Lord Widdrington Edward Ward Lord Ward John Culpeper Lord Culpeper Charles Boyle Lord Clifford of Lanesborough Robert Lucas Lord Lucas Henry Bellassise Lord Bellassise Edward Watson Lord Rockingham Robert Sutton Lord Lexington Marmaduke Langdale Lord Langdale John Berkeley Lord Berkeley of Stratton Charles Granvile Lord Granvile Francis Holles Lord Holles Charles Cornwallis Lord Cornwallis Thomas Crew Lord Crew John Arundel Lord Arundell of Trerice Hugh Clifford Lord Clifford of Chudleigh Peregrine Osborn Lord Osborn George
Clayton Kt. Borough of Rygate Sir John Parsons Kt. John Parsons Esq Borough of ●uilford Morgan Randyll Esq Foot Onslow Esq Borough of Gatton Sir John Thompson Bar. Thomas Turgis Esq Borough of Haslemere Geo. Rodeney Bridges Esq Denzill Onslow Esq Susser 20. Sir John Pelham Bar. Sir Will. Thomas Bar. City of Chichester Sir Thomas Miller Kt. Thomas May Esq Borough of Horsham John Machell Esq Thomas White Jun. Gent. Borough of Midhurst Sir William Morley Knight of the Bath John Lewkner Esq Borough of Lewes Thomas Pelham Esq Richard Bridger Esq Borough of Shoreham Sir Edward Hungerford Knight of the Bath John Pery Esq Borough of Bramber Nicholas Barbon Esq Dr. John Radcliffe Borough of Steyning Sir John Fagge Bar. Robert Fagge Esq Borough of East-Greensted The Honourable Thomas Sackvile Esq Sir Thomas Dyke Bar. Borough of Arundel William Morley Esq James Butler Esq Warwickshire 6. William Bromely Esq Andrew Archer Esq City of Coventry Richard Hopkins Esq John Stratford Esq Borough of Warwick The Right Honourable William Lord Digby William Colemore Esq Westmorland 4. The Right Honourable Sir John Lowther of Lowther Bar. Sir Christopher Musgrave of Musgrave Kt. and Bar. Borough of Appleby The Honourable William Cheyne Esq Charles Boyle Esq Wilthshire 34. The Right Honourable Edw. Viscount Cornbury Sir Walter S. John Bar. City of New Sarum Thomas Hoby Esq Thomas Pitt Esq Borough of Wilton Sir Richard Grubham How Kt. and Bar. Thomas Windham Esq Borough of Downton Sir Charles Raleigh Kt. Maurice Bockland Esq Borough of Hindon Robert Hide Esq Thomas Chaffyn Esq Borough of Westbury The Honourable Peregrine Bertie Esq Richard Lewys Esq Borough of Hytesbury William Ash Esq Will. Trenchard Esq Borough of Calne Henry Baynton Esq Henry Chivers Esq Borough of the Devizes Sir Tho. Fowles Kt. Walter Grubb Esq Borough of Chipenham Richard Kent Esq Alexander Popham Esq Borough of Malmesbury The Honourable Goodwin Wharton Esq Sir James Long Bar. Borough of Criclade Edmund Webb Esq Charles Fox Esq Borough of Great Bedwin The Right Honourable Anth. Viscount Falkland Sir Jonath Raymond Kt. Borough of Ludgersale Thomas Neale Esq John Deane Esq Borough of Old Sarum Sir Thomas Mompesson Kt. William Harvey Esq Borough of Wootton-Basset Henry St. John Esq John Wildman Jun. Esq Borough of Marlborough Sir John Ernle Kt. Sir George Willoughby Kt. Worcestershire 9. Sir John Packington Kt. Thomas Foley Esq City of Worcester Sir John Somers Kt. William Bromely Esq Borough of Droitwich The Right Honourable● Richard Earl of Bellemont ●hilip Foley Esq Borough of Evesham Sir James Rushout Bar. Edward Rudge Esq Borough of Bewdley Henry Herbert Esq Yorkshire 30. The Right Honourable Thomas Lord Fairfax Sir Joyn Kay Bar. City of York Robert Waller Esq Henry Thompson Esq Town of Kingston upon Hull John Ramsden Esq Charles Osborne Esq Borough of Knaresborough William Stockdale Esq Thomas Fawkes Esq Borough of Scareborough Will. Thompson Esq Francis Thompson Esq Borough of Rippon Sir Edm. Jenings Kt. Sir Jonath Jenings Kt. Borough of Richmond Sir Mark Milbanck Bar. Theodore Bathurst Esq Borough of Heydon Henry Guy Esq Matth. Appleyard Esq Borough of Boroughbrig Sir Henry Goodrick Kt. and Bar. Sir Bryan Stapleton Borough of Malton Sir William Strickland Bar. William Palmes Esq Borough of Thriske Thomas Frankland Esq Richard Staines Esq Borough of Aldborough Sir Mich. Wentworth Kt. Christopher Tancred Esq Borough of Beverly Sir Michael Wharton Kt. William Gee Esq Borough of North-Allerton Sir William Robinson Bar. Thomas Lascells Esq Borough of Pontefract The Honourable Henry Dawney Esq Sir John Bland Bar. BARONS of the Cinque-Ports 16. Port of Hastings The Honourable John Beaumont Esq Peter Gott Esq Town of Winchelsea Sir Robert Austin Bar. Samuel Western Esq Town of Rye Sir John Austen Bar. Sir John Darrel Kt. Port of New Rumney Sir Charles Sidley Kt. John Brewer Esq Port of Hythe Sir Philip Butler Bar. Will. Brockman Esq Port of Dover Thomas Papillon Esq James Chadwick Esq Port of Sandwich John Thurbarne Serjeant at Law Edward Brent Esq Port of Seaford William Campion Esq Henry Pelham Esq WALES 24. Anglesey 2. The Right Honourable Rich. Viscount Bulkely Town of Beaumaris Thomas Bulkely Esq Brecon 2. Sir Rowland Gwyn Kt. Town of Brecon Jeossery Jeffreys Esq Cardigan 2. Sir Carbety Price Bar. Town of Cardigan Hector Philips Esq Carmarthen 2. Sir Rice Rudd Bar. Town of Carmarthen Richard Vaughan Esq Carnarvan 2. Sir Wil. Williams of Vaynal Bar. Town of Carnarvan Sir Robert Owen Kt. Denby 2. Sir Richard Middleton Bar. Town of Denby Edward Brereton Esq Flint 2. Sir Roger Puleston Kt. Town of Flint Thomas Whitley Esq Glamorgan 2. Bussey Mansel Esq Town of Cardiffe Thomas Mansell Esq Merioneth 1. Sir John Wynne Kt. and Bar. Montgomery 2. Edward Vaughan Esq Town of Montgomery Charles Herbert Esq Pembroke 3. Sir Hugh Owen Kt. Town of Haverford-west Sir William Wogan Kt. Town of Pembroke Arthur Owen Esq Radnor 2. Richard Williams Esq Town of New Radnor Robert Harley Esq In all 513. A List of the Lords and others of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Council with the Clerks of the Council HIS Royal Highness Prince George Thomas Marquess of Camarthen Lord President Henry Duke of Norfolk Earl Marshal Charles Duke of Bolton Robert Earl of Lindsey Lord Great Chamberlain of England William Earl of Devonshire Lord Steward Charles Earl of Dorset Lord Chamberlain Aubrey Earl of Oxford William Earl of Bedford Thomas Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery John Earl of Bath Charles Earl of Macclesfield Daniel Earl of Nottingham Secretary of State William Earl of Portland Thomas Earl of Faulconberg Charles Earl of Monmouth John Earl of Marlborough Richard Earl of Scarborough Henry Earl of Warrington Ralph Earl of Montague Henry Viscount Sidney Henry Lord Bishop of London Francis Lord Newport Marquess of Winchester Lord Chief Justice Holt. Sir Robert Howard Sir Henry Capel Sir Henry Goodrick Sir John Lowther Vice-Chamberlain Richard Hampden Esq Hugh Boscawen Esq Thomas Wharton Esq Comptroller of the King's Houshold Edward Russel Esq William Harbord Esq Henry Powle Esq Master of the Rolls Lords Commissioners of the Privy Seal William Cheyne Esq Sir John Knatchbull Bar. Sir William Palteney Kt. The Clerks of the Council Sir John Nicholas Kt. Mr. Blathwait Mr. Mountague Mr. Coleing A List of the Lords Commissioners and other Officers of the Court of Chancery The Lords Commissioners Sir John Trevor Knight Sir William Rawlinson Knight Sir Geo. Hutchins Knight Masters of Chancery Henry Powle Esq Master of the Rolls whose S●cretary is Mr. John Rawlinson Sir William Child Sir John Hoskins Sir John Franklyn Sir Adam Oatley Sir Robert Legar Sir John Edgeburg Sir James Astrey Sir Miles Cook Roger Meredith Esq John Methwyn Esq Samuel Keck Esq The Six Clerks in Chancery Sir Rob. Marsham Kt. Sir W. Perkins Kr. ●hem Bridges Esq Littleton Powel Esq Rich. Garth Esq Basil Herne Esq The Cursitors Mr. Abraham Nelson Principal Mr. Mich. Terry Assistants Mr. Geo. Davies Assistants For Suffolk and
Lieutenant General Sir Henry Goodrick Kt. and Bar. Surveyor John Charleton Esq Clerk of the Ordnance Sir Thomas Littleton Kt. Keeper of the Stores Thomas Gardiner Esq Clerk of the Deliveries Philip Musgrave Esq Assistant Surveyor William Boulter Esq Treasurer or Pay-master Charles Bertie Esq Master Gunner Capt. Richard Leak Principal Engineer Sir Martin Beckman Kt. Keeper of the small Guns Mr. Charles Beaumont The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty and of the Admirals The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty The Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery The Earl of Carbery Sir Michael Wharton Bat. Sir Thomas Lee Bat. Sir John Chichley Bat. Sir John Lowther Bat. William Sacheveril Esq Admirals Sir Richard Haddock Kt. Henry Killigrew Esq Sir John Ashby Kt. A List of the Commissioners and other Principal Officers belonging to the Navy The Commissioners Sir Richard Haddock Kt. Charles Sergison Esq Sir John Tippet Kt. Sir Richard Beach Kt. The Treasurer Edward Russel Esq Comptroller Sir Richard Haddock Kt. Surveyor Sir John Tippet Kt. Clerk of the Acts Charles Sergison Esq Victuallers of the Navy Thomas Papilion Simon Macne John Agur Humphrey Ayles and James How Esquires Commissioners for Sick and Wounded Seamen and exchange of Prisoners of War Thomas Addison Esq Edward Leigh Esq Anthony Shepherd Esq John Starkey Esq Of the Martial Court THis Court you have too short an Account of in my Third Part Page 91. I therefore beg leave here to inlarge upon it 'T is called the Martial or Military Court or High Court of Chivalry otherwise the Court of Honour and in Latine Curia Militaris The Place anciently appointed for holding thereof was the King's Hall wherein the Constable and Earl Marshal of England sat as Judges Where any Plaintiff in case of Dignities or Matters of Arms or of any other Sute or Controversy concerning Nobility Gentility or Arms might sue the Defendant But now that great Office of Constable of England is hid aside the whole Power is vested in the Earl Marshal And the Present Possessor of that honourable Office is his Grace Henry Duke of Norfolk Earl Marshal of England Who has appointed the Hall in the Colledge of Arms to be the Place for Keeping the said Court. And upon Application made to him by any of the Nobility or Gentry of this Kingdom being abused in Matters of Honour and Arms may there have relief from his Grace Officers belonging to this Court Their Majesties Advocate William Odys Dr. of Laws Register of the Court Robert Plott Dr. of Laws Secretary and Seal-Keeper Francis Negus Esq Deputy-Register Mr. John Cheek Proctors Samuel Francklyn Esq Batchelour of Laws Mr. Ralph Suckley Mr. Everard Exton Batchelour of Laws Mr. John Hill Mr. Francis Nixon Mr. Robert Chapman Mr. Samuel Wiseman Mr. Keate Waller Marshal of the Court. Mr. John Curry A List of the Lords Lieutenants Bedford Earl of Bedford Berks Duke of Norfolk Bucks Earl of Bridgewater Cambr. Earl of Bedford Cheshire Earl of Warrington Cornwal Earl of Bath Cumberland Earl of Carlisle Derbysh Earl of Devon Devonsh Earl of Bath Dorcetsh Earl of Bristol Essex Earl of Oxford Gloc. and Heref. Earl of Maclesfield Hartfordsh Earl of Shrewsbury during the Minority of the Earl of Essex Huntingt Earl of Manchester Kent Earl of Winchelsey Lancashire Earl of Derby Leicestersh Earl of Rutland Lincolnsh Earl of Lindsey Middlesex Earl of Clare Monmouthsh Earl of Maclesfield Norfolk Duke of Norfolk Northampt. Earl of Monmouth Northumb. Earl of Scarborough Nottinghamsh Earl of Kingston Oxon Earl of Abington Salop Lord Visc Newport Somersetsh Lord Visc Fitz-Harding Southampton Duke of Bolton Staffordsh Lord Paget Suffolk Lord Cornwallis Surrey Duke of Norfolk Sussex Earl of Dorset and Middlesex Warwicksh Earl of Northampton Wiltshire Earl of Pembroke Worcestersh Earl of Shrowsbury York East-Riding Earl of Kingston York North Riding Earl of Falconberg York West-Riding Earl of Derby South and North Wales Earl of Maclesfield Governours of Garrisoned Places Barwick Christ Babington Esq Calshot Francis Pawlet Esq Carlisle Jeremiah Bubb Esq Chepstow Chester Sir John Morgan Cinque-Ports Col. John Beaumont Esq Dartmouth Nich. Roope Esq Graves-end William Selwyn Esq Guernsey Lord Hatton Holy Island Hull Marquess of Caermarthen Hurst-Castle Henry Holmes Jersey Lord Jermyn Isle of Wight Sir Robert Holmes Landguard-Fort Henry Killigrew Esq S. Maws Pendennis Earl of Bath Plimouth Earl of Bath Portland Portsmouth John Gibson Esq Scarborough Scilly Islands Sheerness Robert Crawford Esq Tinmouth Sir Edw. Villiers Tower of London Lord Lucas Upner Castle Robert Minors Esq Windfor Castle Duke of Norfolk Governours of Foreign Plantations Of Jamaica Earl of Inchqueen Virginia Lord Effingham New York Col. Sloughter Barbadoes James Kendal Col. Leeward Islands Col. Godrington As for New England the Governor is not yet setled Mary-Land Pensylvania and Carolina are governed by their respective Proprietors who have there their Deputies Their Majesties Embassadors Envoys and Residents Abroad At Vienna Lord Paget At Constantinople Sir William Hussey In Holland Lord Dursley Spain William Stanhop Esq Flanders John Eckart Esq Sweden William Duncomb Esq Denmark Robert Molesworth Esq Brandenburg James Johnston Esq Lunenburg and Brunswick Sir William Dutton Colt Swisserland Thomas Cox Esq Hamburg Sir Paul Rycaut Geneva Philibert Herbert Esq Agent in Germany Hugh Hughes Gent. Consuls in Foreign Parts At Venice Hugh Broughton Esq Cadiz S. Maries Sevil S. Lucar in Spain Wartin Nescomb Robert Godschall Walter Doleman E●● Alicant Genoua Leghorn Naples in Italy Thomas Kirk Esq Robert Serle Esq Sir George Davis Kt. Argiers in Barbary Thomas Baker Esq Foreign Ministers at present residing in their Majesties Court. Spain Don Pedro de Ronquillo Ambassador in Ordinary Portugal Don Simon de Soza de Magellanes Envoy Extraordinary Sweden Baron Leyonbergh Envoy Denmark Monsieur Alfeldt Envoy Holland The Heer Van Zitters Ambassador in Ordinary Brandenburg Monsieur Dankelman Envoy Lunenburg Baron de Schutz Envoy Extraordinary Savoy The President de la Tour Envoy Extraordinary Vienna Monsieur Hofman Resident A Scheme of the Sovereign and Knights Companions of the most Noble Order of the Garter ●●e King of Denmark The Sovereign The King of Sweden Prince George of Denmark * Elector of Brandenb Earl of Oxford Earl of Strafford Duke of Beaufort Earl of Bedford Duke of Southampton Earl of Mulgrave Duke of Newcastle Marquis of Caerm   Duke of Richmond Duke of Hamilton Duke of Somerset Duke of Northumb. Duke of Norfolk Earl of Peterborough Earl of Rochester Earl of Feversham Earl of Sunderland Duke of Ormond * Earl of Devonshire   A List of the Knights made by His Present Majesty King William Knights Baronets Hender Moulesworth Esq created Baronet July 19th 1689. Sir John Ramsden of Yorkshire Esq created Baronet Dec. 30. 1689. Sir William Robinson of Newby in Yorkshire Esq created Baronet Febr. 13th 1689. Knights Batchelours Anthony Keck Esq Counsellor at Law Knighted at Whitehall March 5th 1688. William Rawlinson Esq One of the Lords Commissioners of the Chancery Knighted at Whitehall March 5th