Fundo Erigo c. But in truth the Corporation is made by the King's Charter and the Founder is but an Instrument 9. The mony paid by some of the Governours in their private capacity is good but the payment was as Governours and so they are acquitted 2. a Rent was reserved which was a good consideration 3. a Bargain and Sale was to be upon Confidence and Trust 10. They may plead that they are seized in fore although then it be not in esse In Answer to the Precedents some are Explanatory and some Negatory ex Consuetudine Clericorum This being the Case it was argued shrewdly on the Plaintiff's side By Sir Francis Bacon Solicitor General Mr. Gualter of the Temple And Mr. Yelverton of Grays Inne And on the Defendants side the Hospital c. By Mr. Hubbard Attourney General Mr. Hutton Serjeant at Law Mr. Coventry of the Inner Temple But nevertheless an Adjournment was made of it from the Kings Bench to the Exchequer Chamber where it was solemnly argued by the Judges of the Land Sir Robert Hutton Sir Augustine Nicholls Sir John Doderidge Sir Humphrey Winoh Sir Edward Bromely Sir John Crooke Sir James Altham Sir George Snig Sir Peter Warberton Sir Laurence Tanfield Lord Chief Baron Sir Edward Coke Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. Sir Thomas Flemming Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench was then sick and so not present Here it was judged with the great applause of all that heard it for the Defendants the Governours of the Hospital The Plaintiff being but a man of ordinary quality was judged to have reason to be content with a tolerable provision for him sutable to his degree viz. he had allotted to him the Mannor of Turback in Lancashire consisting of a fair ancient House two Parks and large Demeans plentifully stored with Timber valued at 350 l. per Annum Rent of Assise together with a Rectory worth 100 l. per Annum in the same County and 300 l. by Will Thus was this great Difference at Law decided 1. For the Honour of the Protestant Religion that has produced such a Work of Piety and Charity as never was in the Christian World all things considered for it was the Erection of one Private man who bequeathed a mighty Estate to this pious Use 2. It was for the glory of the King to whom ex congruo condigno it was dedicated that it might bear his Name engage Him in its Institution and His Royal Successours in its future Patronage and Maintenance 3. For the increase of Piety that men in this Age be not deterred from Good Works 4. That Justice and Mercy might come together Righteousness and Peace kiss each other That every Person may have his due esteem we are to understand that much is owing to the lasting memory of Sir Edward Coke who like a firm Rock stood between that and danger he outweather'd the storm and broke the fury of interested and mercenary Eloquence At one time it was almost crushed by the hungry hopes and violence of some Self-seeking Courtiers which made that Oracle of Law more warm and positive in his Determinations He endeavoured and brought it to pass and he deserves a Monument of greater Honour among us than he found in the Church of Norwich And if it were lawful to annex the Succession of a Governour to any but the Royal Family 'T were pity the Name of so Honourable a Patron should ever be out of the List of the Right Honourable the Lords and Governours of the Charter-house Among those who were Enemies to this Religious design I find Sir Francis Bacon writing this following Advice to King James Vide Resuscit May it please your Majesty I Find it a positive Precept in the Old Law That there should be no Sacrifice without Salt The Moral whereof besides the Ceremony may be That God is not pleased with the Body of a good Intention except it be seasoned with that Spiritual Wisdom and Judgment as it be not easily subject to be corrupted and perverted For Salt in the Scripture is both a figure of Wisdom and lasting this cometh into my mind upon this act of Mr. Sutton which seemeth to me as a Sacrifice without Salt having the Materials of a good Intention but not powdred with any such Ordinances and Institutions as may preserve the same from turning corrupt or at least from becoming unsavory and of little use For though the choice of the Feoffees be of the best yet neither can they always live and the very nature of the work it self in the vast and unfit proportion thereof is apt to provoke a mis-imployment it is no diligence of theirs except there be a digression from that Model that can excuse it from running the same way that Gifts of the like condition have heretofore done For to design the Charter-house a Building fit for a Prince 's Habitation for an Hospital is all one as if one should give in Alms a rich embroydered Cloak to a Beggar And certainly a man may see tanquam quae oculis cernuntur that if such an Edifice with Six thousand pounds Revenue be erected into one Hospital it will in a small time degenerate to be made a preferment of some great Person to be Master and he to take all the sweet and the Poor to be stinted and take but the Crums as it comes to pass in divers Hospitals of this Realm which have but the names of Hospitals and are but wealthy Benefices in respect of the Mastership but the poor which is the propter quid little relieved And the like hath been the Fortune of much of the Alms of the Roman Religion in the Great Foundations which being begun in Vain-glory and Ostentation have had their Judgment upon them to end in corruption and abuse This Meditation hath made me presume to write these few Lines to your Majesty being no better than good wishes which your Majesties great Wisdom may make something or nothing of Wherein I desire to be thus understood that if this Foundation such as it is be perfect and good in Law then I am too well acquainted with your Majesties Disposition to advise any course of power or profit which is not grounded upon a right Nay further if the defects be such as a Court of Equity may remedy and cure Then I wish that as St. Peter's Shadow did cure Diseases so the very shadow of a good intention may cure the defects of that Nature But if there be a Right and Birthright planted in the Heir and not remediable by Courts of Equity and that Right be submitted to your Majesty whereby it is both in your power and grace what to do then do I wish that this rude Mass and Chaos of a good Deed were directed rather to a solid Merit and durable Charity than to a blaze of Glory that will but crackle a little in Talk and quickly extinguish And this may be done observing the Species of Mr. Sutton's
the good oversight of mine Executor or Executors the Constable of Newington and the Church-wardens there for the time being the same High-ways to be amended made and holpen within one year after my decease Item I give towards the amending of the Highways between Ashden and Walden in the County of Essex called Walden-lane One hundred pounds of lawful mony of England And towards the amending of the Highways between Great Lynton in the County of Cambridge and the said Town of Walden Threescore and six pounds thirteen shillings and four pence of lawful mony of England And I also give towards the amending of Horsheath-lane Threescore pounds of lawful mony of England All these works next before recited I will shall be overseen and guided by the two head-Constables thereunto next adjoyning the Treasurer of Walden and the Parsons of Ashden Hadstock and Horsheath and the Constables of the same Parishes for the time being And the same several Sums to be imployed and the said Highways so to be amended so far as the same Sums will extend within One year after my decease Also I give towards the amending of the Bridges and the ordinary Highways between Southminster and Maldon in the said County of Essex the Sum of One hundred pounds of lawful mony of England and the same Work to be overseen and guided by the two head-Constables thereunto next adjoyning and the Parsons or Vicars of Southminster and Maldon for the time being and the same mony to be so imployed and the Highways so amended within one year after my decease Item I give to Mr. Robert Dudley Alderman of Newcastle upon Tine or to his Children or to so many of his Children as shall be living at the time of my decease Thirty pounds of lawful mony of England which he oweth me And I will and do earnestly charge mine Executor or Executors to deliver into the Treasury or Chamber of the City of London One thousand pounds in currant mony of England with such care and foresight to be had that such Bonds or Assurances be taken of the Lord Maior and Aldermen of the same City that for the time shall be by learned Counsel in the Law as the same may be safe and for ever go and be converted to these uses following That is to say That the said thousand pounds be yearly lent and put forth to Ten young Merchant men not having any great Stocks of their own being young men and of honest life and conversation and towardly in their Trades that is to every one of them One hundred pounds for a year without paying any thing for the same And these Ten young Merchants to be chosen and appointed by the Lord Maior and Aldermen of the said City that for the time shall be and the Dean of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in London for the time being Provided as before that none have or continue the said hundred pounds so appointed above one year Item I will and give to the Children of Justinian Crome Draper sometimes dwelling in the City of Lincoln or to his Childrens children if any of them shall be living at my decease Twenty pounds of lawful mony of England to be equally divided amongst them I give also to the Wife and Children or Child of Martin Wathersine Dutchman sometime dwelling at the Sign of the White-Bear in Buttolph-lane London if any of them be living at the time of my death Ten pounds to be equally divided amongst them Item I give to the next Kinsman or Kinswoman of Henry Vavering Dutchman Smith sometimes dwelling in Barwick three pounds six shillings eight pence Item I give and bequeath unto Sir Francis Popham Knight as well in respect and good will which I bear unto his Wife being the Daughter of my late deceased dear Wife the Sum of Two thousand Marks of lawful mony of England upon condition nevertheless and so that the said Sir Francis Popham and the said Lady Anne his Wife give a sufficient discharge and a generall release to mine Executor or Executors as well for that summe as also for the receipt of all the rest of her part of portion of the plate money and houshould stuffe already paid and delivered to them or to their use as appeareth by severall bills or notes subscribed with my own hand which I do think to be the very true half and better half of the said plate mony and houshold-stuff part whereof was delivered by one John Fishborne my late Servant to Sir John Popham Knight late Lord Chief Justice of England at his late House in Chancery-lane The rest of the Houshold-stuff as Chairs Stools Bedsteeds Kitchin stuff Tables and such like was delivered by the said Fishborne to the said Sir John Popham's Servants at Newington One thousand pounds in mony paid in this sort viz. To Sir John Popham by his Servant Straker upon the said Sir John's Bill before marriage Three hundred pounds which Bill after the marriage I returned to the said Sir John Popham seven hundred pounds were paid to the said Sir John Popham upon the marriage by one Mr. Anthony Law late dwelling in Pater-noster-row London the better moiety of the plate due to Sir Francis Popham was by the appointment of the said Sir John Popham received by one Mr. Clark sometimes towards the said Sir John and now a Counsellor at the Law of the Middle-Temple as I ghess Item I give to my well-beloved friend Amy Popham Two hundred pounds to be paid to her at the day of her marriage or when she shall accomplish the age of Eighteen years Item I give to Francis Popham Mary Popham Elizabeth Popham Jane Popham and Anne Popham all Daughters of the said Lady Anne Popham One hundred pounds apiece which several Sums I will shall be paid them at the days of their marriage or when they shall accomplish the age of eighteen years And my will and meaning is that unless the said Sir Francis Popham and the said Lady Anne his wife do or shall give to mine Executor or Executors a general Acquittance or Release to the effect above-mentioned that then as well the said Legacy of Two thousand Marks so willed to be given to the said Sir Francis Popham and the Lady Anne his wife as also the other several Legacies given and bequeathed to every of the said Children of the said Sir Francis Popham and the Lady his wife shall remain and be to the use of mine Executor or Executors to be wholly disposed and given by them within one year after my decease partly to the amending of High-ways and partly to poor Maidens marriages and partly to the releasing of poor men that lie in Prison for Debt and partly to the poor people of mine intended Hospital when it shall please God that it shall be established and erected And where perhaps it is or may be supposed that the said Sir John Popham hath paid Three hundred pounds to Sir Rowland Hayward of the City of London
your memorial both eternal and blessed or if you had rather the whole Common-wealth But now I find my self too hold and too busie in thus looking to particularities God shall direct you and if you follow him shall Crown you Howsoever if good be done and that betimes He hath what he desired and your Soul shall have more than you can desire The Success of my weak yet hearty Counsel shall make me as rich as God hath made you with all your abundance God bless it to you and make both our Reckonings cheerful in the Day of our Common Audit Never man received Advice more kindly than Mr. Sutton and blessed God for the return of his Prayers in the Garden He never was inclinable to Dr. Willet's former Proposal upon these accounts he understood the Patrons of Chelsey Colledge were few nor was his design to be an additional Benefactor but a Founder Besides he plainly saw those Enemies to the work who thought they lay in secret and what was more he perceived it was look't upon with a jealous Eye by the Universities as a disparagement to them Then other Divines and Churchmen thought they were undervalued because the Fellows of this Foundation were likely to gain Priviledges prejudicial to them And lastly the Politick States-men did dislike the Project suspecting Court Divinity and History from a Colledge This is supposed to be the place meant by the Incomparable Cowley in his excellent Instructions towards the Institution of a Colledge Nor to add a City-Hospital could he be induced though much solicited the poor of those places being likely to be well provided for by the daily Legacies of such who were not in any capacity to do so great things as himself Being thus solicited by others to perform that which he had long since resolved within himself and having observed how many hopeful Youths miscarried for want of competent Means for their Education and how many ancient Gentlemen having the same tender Breeding with their Elder Brothers yet have but the slender Fortunes of a Younger Brother that they were too generous to begg not made for work whose ingenuous Natures were most sensible of want and least able to relieve it but were cast away and brought to misery for want of a comfortable Subsistence in their Old Age Therefore he resolved to prevent by his memorable Charity as far as he could these growing inconveniences The blind Devotion of former Ages had so abused the ends and designs of Charitable Works that King Edward the First as well as Theodosius the Emperour made a Law of Mortmain whereby it is made unlawful for any man to bestow Land of such a value to any Religious or Charitable use without licence from the King of Mortmain in Parliament This Law of Amortization in the Emperor's time much grieved many good men For St. Jerome thus complains to Nepotian I am ashamed to say it the Priests of Idols Stage-players and Common Harlots are made capable of Inheritance and receiving Legacies only Ministers of the Gospel are barred by the Law thus to do and that not by Persecutors but Christian Princes neither do I complain of the Law but am sorry we have deserved it To the same purpose is that of St. Ambrose Ep. 31. deploring the State of the Clergy Upon the account of this Law Mr. Sutton was forced to petition his Majesty K. James and the Parliament March 10. 1609. for leave and licence to erect and endow an Hospital in the Town of Hallingbury Bouchers in the County of Essex An Act of Parliament granted to Thomas Sutton Esq to erect an Hospital at Hallingbury in Essex c. HVmbly beseecheth your Majesty your loyal and dutiful Subject Thomas Sutton of Balsham in the County of Cambridge Esquire That it may please your most excellent Majesty and the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in this present Parliament assembled to enact ordain and establish And be it enacted ordained and established by the Authority aforesaid That in the Town of Hallingbury otherwise called Hallingbury Bouchers in the County of Essex there may be builded and erected at the costs and charges of your Suppliant one meet fit and convenient House Buildings and Rooms for the abiding and dwelling of such a number of poor people men and children as your Suppliant shall name limit and appoint to be lodged harboured abide and be relieved there And for the abiding dwelling and necessary use of one Schoolmaster and Vsher to instruct the sâ—m children in reading writing and Latin and Greek Grammar and of one Divine and godly Preacher to instruct and reach all the rest of the same House in the knowledge of God and his Word And of one Master to govern all these persons of in or belonging to the same House And that the same shall and may be called and named the Hospital of King James founded in Hallingbury in the County of Essex at the humble petition and at the only costs and charges of Thomas Sutton Esquire And that the right reverend Father in God Richard now Archbishop of Canterbury and his Successors Archbishops there Thomas Lord Ellesmere Lord Chancellor of England and such as after him shall succeed to be Lord Chancellors or Lord Keepers of the great Seal of England for and during the time they shall so continue or be in the same office Robert Earl of Salisbury Lord High Treasurer of England and such as after him shall succeed to be Lord Treasurers of England for and during the time they shall continue or be in the same Office The Reverend Father in God Launcelot Bishop of Ely and his Successors Bishops there Richard Bishop of Rochester and Dean of the Cathedral Church of Westminster and his Successors of and in the same Deanery of Westminster Sir Thomas Foster Knight one of the Iustices of your Majesties Court of Common Pleas usually holden at Westminster Sir Henry Hobart Knight your Majesties Attorney General John Overall Doctor of Divinity Dean of the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul in London and his Successors Deans there Henry Thursby Esquire one of the Masters of your Majesties Court of Chancery Thomas Fortescue Thomas Paget Geffrey Nightingale and Richard Sutton Esquires John Lawe and Thomas Browne Gentlemen and such others as shall be from time to time for ever hereafter chosen and nominated in and to the places and steads of such of them as shall decease by your Suppliant during his life And after his decease by the most part of them which then shall be Governors of the said Hospital to be and succeed in and to the place and places of him and them deceasing shall and may be the Governors of the said Hospital and of the Members Goods Lands Revenues and Hereditaments of the same at all times hereafter for ever And that the same Governors and Hospital shall for ever hereafter stand and be incorporated established and founded in name and in deed a body politique and corporate to have