past if he had had no other work but to fence and ward off the Blows made at him Then six Proctors they swear against him Articles in the King's-Bench and procure the Writ of Supplicavit against him a Writ seldom granted against any in these Days as we are told by the Compleat Sollicitor p. 73 74. He says he remembers that about eight Years ago in the days of Usurpation for his Book was printed Anno. Dom. 1666. a troublesome malicious Priest sued one namely a Supplicavit against some of his Neighbours but he had not heard of any since and the Parties craving it should take their Corporal Oath that it is not desired for any Malice Hatred or Envy to the Party surely if the said six Proctors swore it they swore it freely heartily and clearly Besides tho 't is a Writ rarely granted yet when it is granted it is more rarely granted against any but common Rogues and Villains common Barretors and Man-Catchers Is there greater Indignity than to be crucified amongst Thieves and Rogues It has been the Lot of his Betters tho the Defendant offered an Affidavit in his behalf made before Judg Dolben by three Worthy Citizens and desired with all Humility that as the Bench had heard of one side Affidavits against him that they would please to leave one Ear open to hear some Affidavits for him and some Pleas in his Defence intending to insist upon the Statute of 2 Edw. 6. 1. which if it be in force then the Ecclesiastical Courts sit not legally nor can they be called by Names bad enough and if that Statute be not in force then why did the Lord Chief Justice Pemberton insist upon it so lately at the King's-Bench Bar and also Mr. Rotherham for their Client Mr. Weald of Much-Waltham in Essex about the time that the last Parliament sate at Westminster telling the Lord Chief Justice Scroggs that he would not urge it warmly or Words to the like Effect because he perceiv'd his Lordship was not prepar'd at that time to give an answer to that Statute or Words to the like Effect A moot-Case belike then and a hard Case to bind a Man to the Good-Behaviour or threaten him with a Jaile when not wiser in the construction of the force of a Statute than the Lord Chief Justice But nothing would be admitted to be pleaded in the Defendants Defence but utrum horum that is not false Latin whatsoever quisquis is Sad choice alas Bail or a Jail There is no fence against a Flail They that will hear but of one Ear here shall be made to hear on both Ears one Day the Day of Judgment And tho Mr. Shepherd in his Office of a Justice of the Peace pag. 83. says that in taking a Recognizance upon a Supplicavit the ordinary Sum is ten or twenty Pounds and difficultly enough too to be procured by a poor Rogue tho a great Rogue yet since the time and Sum is Arbitrary and in the Breast of the Justices no less than a hundred Pounds must Mr. Hickeringill be bound in for affronting the Men of Doctors-Commons if the Proctors swore through-stitch nay one of the Bench stood stifly for 200 Pounds that the Principal should Recognize but in that he was over-ruled and four Sureties in 50 l. apiece whereas a poor common-Rogue could hardly have procur'd two Manucaptors Ay Ay he that will have Honour must sometimes pay for his Ambition But as if all these troubles were too little for the Defendant besides the Weekly Affronts By the Weekly News-mongers in their Tantivy-Pamphlets not to mention those familiar little friendly Courtships and Caresses of Villain Rogue Colchester-Hick the great Scribler of the Nation Daring Nat. Thompson reports him to be convict of Perjury tho Nat. hides his viler Head for the same and dare not give an appearance for himself and his Consort to Mr. Godfrey Woodward Attorney who has long been prepar'd for him if he could come at him for villifying and aspersing such a Man as Mr. Hickeringill with so pernicious and false a Slander all the Kingdom over But these are small Matters loss of Reputation and to be called and accounted a common Rogue common Barretor common Villain a small matter Oh! But in the Neck of all comes me decima unda the tenth Wave an Action of 5000 l. thick brought by a great Bishop too of great Interest great Power great Friends great Parts great Learning and great all over against a poor Priest or younger Brother a Minorite to Reform him if any Body could tell how and make him better Nay it will be dangerous this whole long Year for Mr. Hickeringill to say as did the Emperour at a General Council when at the first setting out and opening thereof the good Fathers were gravell'd and at a loss where first to begin to 'mend the Ecclesiastical Frame being so horribly out of Frame â Minoritis cries one of the great Ones very politickly no quoth the Emperour rather a Majoritis let us first begin to 'mend the great Ones The Naked Truth with ease we tear Not such as Vizor-Masques do wear For Vizors sconce and skreen Men here But will not always last I fear This fam'd Trial came on March 8 1681. at the Nisi prius Bar before the Lord Chief Justice Sir Francis Pemberton The Jury by the Sheriff of the County of Essex were thus return'd viz. Essex ss Nomina Jur. inter Henr. Epis Lond. qui tam c. Quer. Et Edmond Hickeringill Cler. Defend Andreas Jenner de Dunmow Magnâ Bar. Ricardus Everard de Waltham Magnâ Bar. Edwardus Smith de Thoydonmount Bar. Willielmus Appleton de Shenfield Bar. Johannes Bramston de Roxwell Miles Balnei Marcus Guyon de Coggeshall Magnâ Miles Johannes Marshal Miles Willielmus Maynard de Waltham Stow Ar. Willielmus Glascock de Farnham Ar. Jacobus Milbourn de Dunmow Magnâ Ar. Alexander Prescot de Mountnessing Ar. Willielmus Pert de eâd. Ar. Samuel Hare de Leigh Ar. Anthonius Abdey de Kelvedon Ar. Ricardus Ballet de Hatfield Broad-Oak Ar. Johannes Meade de Wenden Ar. Johannes Tendring de Baddow Magnâ Ar. Willielmus Petre de Stanford Rivers Ar. Henricus Paschal de Baddow Magnâ Ar. Henricus Humfreys de Westhamingfield Ar. Ricardus How de Ingate-stone Ar. Ricardus Stanes de Altâ Ongar Ar. Aurelius Piercey Wiseman de Wimbish Ar. Edwardus Taverner de Canfield Ar. None of the Jury were challenged by either side Most of the Gentlemen first named in the Pannel appear'd and serv'd being sworn a little Councel tremblingly made a shift to read the Heads of the Declaration viz. The Declaration in English faithfully translated out of the Lawyers Latin was to this Effect viz. Trinity Term xxxiii R. R. Carol. 2. HENRY Bishop of London one of the Prelates of this Realm of England as well for our Soveraign Lord the King as for himself complaineth of Edmond Hickeringill Clerk in the Custody of the Marshal of the Marshalsea for that whereas in
against all the rest of the Company who are so positive in what they heard and then swore unto unanimously and constantly like honest Men when no Persuasions no Motives no Temptations could alter them for they had all been tamper'd with and Mr. Edgar Mr. Hill and Daniel Howlet were subpoena'd for the Plantiff But all would not do to win them for the Bishop's side and make them face about 7. Lastly What Jury alive except this could against the Evidence of so many substantial Witnesses credit one single Creature that was so infamous First For deserting his Flock that he swore to feed and was bound by Oath by Law of God and Man Justice Conscience Equity and Christianity to look after and mind the Cure of them and take the Care and Charge but neglected by him three Quarters of a Year together and whilst the Fleece grows he is hired to another Flock staying till Summer till the Wooll be grown before he goes down to clip them Secondly Infamous because he had forsworn himself before this time as the Right Honourable the Earl of Lincoln there in Court testified upon his Oath When Harris was his Chaplain and having often broke his Word with the Earl and told him many a Lie he was not willing any more to trust him upon the Security of his bare Word whereupon Harris takes up a Greek Testament that lay upon the Table and solemnly imprecates by all the Mercies and Benefits that he should receive by the Contents of that Holy Book he would return to the Earl at furrhest on the next Saturday and so be ready the next day to officiate except Sickness prevented But the Gentleman came not home till the Tuesday following and then came with Tears in his Eyes that is as the Earl upon his Oath explain'd it drunk maudline-drunk And the Earl said it was some considerable time and not till his Servants took notice of it to him that Weeping was the certain Symptom of his being in Drink that as other Men rant and tear and swear when they are drunk this little Episcopal Tool always wept when he was drunk Whereupon the Earl one time when he saw him weep ask'd him What ail'd him Harris answered That he had a Sister an Apprentice in the Exchange and that he had heard sad News of her namely that her Mistress and she had quarrell'd and had some hard Words together Another time he said he wept because he had an Vncle lately dead This was over-night but the next day when the Earl ask'd him of the Quarrel betwixt his Sister and her Dame and of the Death of his Vncle at another time Harris star'd at him and ask'd his Lordship what he meant by these Matters for he could not imagine what the Earl should mean by such Questions he said indeed he had a Sister an Apprentice he had an Vncle but never heard of his Death nor at the other time of the said Female-Bickering And as for the Solemn Oath that he had took and broke he told the Earl There was a Cause for his Stay for he was in pursuit of a Girl whom he intended also to marry and he was as good as his Word in that for this Episcopal Implement has her much good may she do him Body and Bones But would any Jury that were not of Tory-Consciences credit the single Testimony of this Bishop's Engine when it was prov'd that he abandon'd all his Interest that he expected in the Mercies and Benefits of the Gospel and the Merits of our blessed Redeemer for a Fit of Wooing or in pursuit of a Wench Or set a profligate Clergy-man in competition with six honest substantial Laymen and Men of unstained Honesty and Reputation except the Tories are Eagle-sighted nimble and quick to foresee the Inundation of Popery that they senslesly imagine is coming tumbling in apace But I hope God will preserve his Majesty with longer Life than any of his Father's Children that as he is the Alpha he may be the Omega the last as well as the first of his Father's Children Thus I prophesy as I would have it not I confess according to the Course of Nature nor according to the bloody Principles and bloody Plots of Papists who as it is undoubtedly known even by them that ridicule the Popish Plot never spare any Prince that is not at least in Heart Heretical and of whose Inclination they have not good Assurance longer than they think good or can come at him I say the Jury possibly were quicker-sighted than other Mortals and could foresee the speedy Appearances of approaching Popery if all be Gospel and infallible that comes from a Clergy-man tho he be as lewd and bad as the Irish Friar Teague O Divelly but Lay-men are not to be believed against a Clergy-man this is the Council of Trent right just right nor to have the Benefit of the Clergy You must not expect it Gentlemen never look for it you Lay-men till you come to be hang'd From a Tory-Jury Good Lord deliver us That 's as honest a Letany as that Letany that used to be read or sung just before the Mass I do not mean that Letany where 's Harris with his Innuendo the Popish Suffer me to explain my self do not lie at catch and at snap I do not mean that Letany wherein was the Suffrage now blotted out and thought by the Wise who think themselves wise enough to make our Prayers for us in spite of our Teeth to be omitted and left out for fear no doubt of displeasing his Holiness namely From the Bishop of Rome and all his vile Enormities good Lord deliver us But since neither the Act of Vniformity nor the Common-prayer-Book does license us as once it did to pray so against the Popeâ— yet I will take liberty without asking leave of an Act of Uniformity or a Common-prayer-Book to pray From a Tory Jury of forlorn desperate and hardned Consciences Good Lord deliver us I once thought the Defendant might have ventur'd his Life in the hands of this Genteel Jury one Moyety Knights I 'le assure you but as Coleman said at the Gallows when his Devil fail'd him There is no Truth in Men. When Power and Interest does but plead against it there is no Oath so sacred but some sort of Judges and Jury-men will break it without any regard Ay ay the honest Lord Chief Justice Hale is dead and gone in his Room seldom comes a better came Sir Will. Scroggs but as thought unmeet discharged but to mend the Market who comes there who comes next Sir Francis Pemberton the present Judg in this Cause With whom we will as he did conclude this Trial for I have enough on 't if you knew all whatever the Reader has Sir Francis summing up the Evidence and directing the Jury to this effect namely That this Action was brought by the Bishop of London against Mr. Hickeringill upon the Statute Scandal Magnat for speaking scandalous Words of
the disguize of Truth and the defeat of many an honest Cause These Quirks the Rabble that use them are useless in the Vnited Provinces where every Man pleads his own Cause of which the same Sun that views the first Process sees the End and Determination before it sleeps in the Ocean Whereas we labour with our nice Pleadings Quirks and Tricks Writs of Errors Pleas Rejoynders and Demurrers eternally A Man was Indicted quia furatus est Equum because he stole a Horse in Holland he had dy'd for it but with us the Indictment was quash'd for lack of Form there wanted Forsooth the Word Felonicè and therefore ill 29. Ass 45. A Man was Indicted that he was communis Latro a common Thief and the Indictment was held vicious because too general never coming on to the particular Proof A Man Murder'd another but the Indictment by the Clerks oversight or worse was only Interfecit and was quash'd for want of the Word Murdravit Thousands of Instances might be given of pretty Quirks and Niceties that are now made such essential parts of the Law that he is accounted the Man of Law that is most nimble at them to take a Cause with a Why not Tick-Tack as if some design had been to make the Law like Sives and Cullenders full of Holes for the nonce But some may say then What shall become of the Vermine the Locusts and the Catterpillars that like those Plagues of Egypt eat up evary green thing in the Land How now Is this good Behaviour Is Sampson bound or bound with Wit hs of smal Cords made on purpose to be broken Explain your self who do you mean by the Vermine the Locusts and the Caterpillars that eat up every green thing in the Land and is the great plague-sore thereof Who do you mean Sir You that are so blunt and such a plain Dealer do you mean those Throngs about Temple-Bar and Chancery-Lane those Crouds of Pen and Inkhorns that a Man can scarce stir there without being justled or run down by them or their Coaches Speak out who do you mean by the Vermine of the Land the Locusts and the Caterpillars Why then really truly and plainly I call those Locusts and Caterpillars and Vermine that live on the Sweat of other Men's Brows and of the sweet Labour and Industry of the painful Husbandman and Country-man who if they were not Fools would agree their Quarrels over a good Fire and a Pot of Ale by the Men of their Neighbourhood for it must come to that at last and why not as well at first before the Estate be wasted time consum'd with Danceing Attendance to Vermine But what shall the Locusts and Caterpillars do Ask Mr. Wilson who tells you in his Description of the new Plantation called Carolina that there is good Air room enough for the Locusts and Caterpillars those unprofitable Insects and Devourers Room enough for the He 's and She 's let them go there and work and Engender why should not Spiders spin And yet with Heraclitus his good leave the Defendant did if it were worth the mentioning in his pleading this Cause this Tick-tack which might as well have been kept secret but that Heraclitus will not be pleased without it For the Declaration is only un'Prelat not un'Magnat and though the Plantiff does declare as Episcop-Lond and un'Prelat yet said the Defendant it does not appear by the Declaration that the Plantiff is un'Magnat and therefore not within the Statute For the Defendant said further that he had consulted the Records of those times whereby the meaning of the Words Bishop and Prelate in those days is best cleared and does not find that ever by Prelates or Bishops is meant Magnates or le Grantz or le Seignieurs and therefore Scandalum Praelatorum nor Scandalum Episcoporum can possibly by that Statute be meant Scandalum Magnatum 25. Edw. 3. The Proceedings and Judgment of Death against Sir William de Thorp Chief Justice for Bribery and brought into Parliament which the King caused to be read Overtment devent les grantz de Parlement c. openly before the Great Men coram Magnatibus that could not be the Bishops Abbots Priors nor Prelates for they were always withdrawn in those days out of the House of Lords in Judgments or Inquest upon Life and Death as this was For the Chief Justice was hang'd for his Bribery right and good reason Cave cave 42. Edw. 3. Sir John de Lee Steward of the King's House was charged in Parliament for several Misdemeanors Et Apres manger vindrent les Prelats Duc's Counts c. After Dinner came the Prelates Dukes Counts c. Here being but a Misdemeanor the Prelates were present it not being in a Question of Life or Death 50. Edw. 3. Alice Perrers was accused for Breach of an Ordinance so is the Record but it was really a Statute which in those Days was called an Ordinance Fait venir devant ' les Prelats les Seignieurs du Parlement Which also was not in a Question of Blood and therefore the Prelates are nam'd as well as the Magnates or les Seigneurs Many Instances of this Nature may be given wherein Prelates were never signified by the words Magnates le Grants or le Seignieurs or Peers For they are tried as all Men ought to be by Magna Charta per Pares by their Peers or Equals and being tried by their Peers that is Commoners they therefore are Commoners not Peers of the Realm as the other Magnates le Seignieurs and le Grantz are And therefore tho the Bishop of London be Magnas as he is a Privy-Councellor and a Great Officer of the Realm yet the Declaration not mentioning any such thing the Defendant urg'd that it was deficient but the Judg over-rul'd him therein Yet 28. Edw. 3. Roger of Wigmore Cousin and Heir of Roger Mortimer Earl of March desires that the Attainder made 4. Edw. 3. against the said Mortimer might be examin'd Et dont le dit Seignieur le Roy vous charge Counts Barons les Piers de son Royalme c. The Lord the King charged the Counts Barons and Peers of his Realm to examine the said Attainder and give righteous Judgment But if the Prelates were meant by Counts Barons and Peers then they also were to examine the Attainder by that Command of the King But they had nothing to do with Attainders it being against their own Canon-Law and Oath of Canonical Obedience as they afterwards declared in another Case to be seen in the Rolls of Parliament 5. Edw. 3. In a Parliament called for Breach of the Peace of the Kingdom away went the Prelates out of the Parliament saying What had they to do with such Matters Et les dits Counts Borones autres Grants per eus mesmes And the Counts Barons and other great Men went by themselves c. to consult c. So in the same Parliament upon Judgment given against Sir John Grey for
I have made to your Lordship that all Differences as well as the Action of Scandalum Magnatum brought against me by your Lordship may be amicably composed before the utmost Extremity be tried If I had spoke the Words modo formâ as they are laid in your Declaration I know not whether upon any Submission your Lordship would find Mercy enough to remit them But my Lord if you will vouchsafe me a Hearing with or without your own Witness or Witnesses I doubt not but he or they will evidence my Innocence that I never spoke the Words as they are laid but without any Interruption or Intermission in a continued Discourse I did explain and explain and express what horrid Plot it was which I said your Lordship had a hand in viz. against my righteous Name and Reputation in the Barretry And that those ungrateful Words of Impudent and Ignorant which are odious if considered abstractly had reference only to a Discourse we had of a printed Paper your Lordship recommended to the Clergy of Essex in your last Visitation and amongst other things the Observation of the Canons of 40 by Name disallowed by 13. Car. 2. 12. Which Statute if your Lordship knew not I said you were ignorant thereof or if you knew it it was impudent to confront the said Act of King and Parliament opposing your Sence against theirs All which my Lord are not scandalous taken together nor against the Statute if true but the last Words were very rashly and irreverently spoken and I am so far from justifying the Irreverence and Indecency of the Expressions what Provocation soever I might have that I will give your Lordship what Satisfaction your Lordship shall reasonably require with all Humility and Contrition And I am the rather hopeful of the good Success of this my humble Submission because I hope your Lordship intended nothing else in bringing the Action but only to bring me to Acknowledgment of the Irreverence of the Expressions and not with a design to enrich your self by any Money of mine or undoing me and my Family Yet my Lord I doubt not but to make it appear if you will admit me to your Lordship that the Action against me is ill laid and that you wlil certainly be non-suited tho it be no Policy to tell your Lordship how and wherein at this time of Day However it will approve me ingenuous towards your Lordship and that I do as industriously avoid a Conquest as well as all Contest with your Lordship and that this Submission proceeds from nobler Principles than Fear can suggest But I have had so ill Success in all my former Applications to your Lordship that I have but little Faith or Hope in the Success of this however nothing on my part shall be wanting to an Accommodation And since Almighty God in Mercy does not send a Thunderbolt for every rash Oath or every irreverent Word against his holy Name your Lordship I faintly hope will after his Example find Mercy and Grace enough to remit My Lord Your Lordship 's humble Servant EDM. HICKERINGIL Now let the Reader judg whether any soft Concession or Submissions can mollify this sort of Men Flints will break upon a Feather-Bed but the Bishop and his Clerks near the Isle of Scilly are harder than Flint harder than the Adamant or the nether Milstone What Advantage did Sir Francis Pemberton the Lord Chief Justice take at the Defendant's ingenuous Concessions which were more than needed in the Case For there are not any Words laid in the Declaration if never so true and well-prov'd that are actionable or within that Statute but are justifiable as they were spoken And upon a Writ of Error it will appear for the Oath of the Judges is to have no respect of Persons in Judgment That the Words in all the three several Counts are not actionable nor scandalous and if so then all this Noise is like the Shearing of Hogs a great Cry and a little Wooll To say His Lordship is very ignorant 't is too true and if he be wise he will confess it as aforesaid St. Paul did and so Socrates and all the wise Men before or since Agur or Solomon one of them says I am more brutish than any Man I have not the Vnderstanding of a Man That Danger is over the other is easy For to say in sensu conjuncto nay in sensu diviso That his Lordship is a bold Man A Souldier should be so much more when he is a Souldier of Christ much more when he mounts so high as to be a Prelate he had need be bold or daring because of the many Oppositions he must expect to encounter The Apostle bids us stand to our Arms and put on the whole Armor of God and stand and when we have done all to stand Aristotle and all the Philosophers make Fortitude to be one of the four Cardinal Vertues I never heard it was scandalous before to say a Man is bold and daring if it had on the contrary been said his Lordship is fearful a Coward and then Then then indeed the Scandal magnat would be greatly scandalous and within the Statute and the Action would well lie but not to say His Lordship is a bold daring Man though you add a bold daring impudent Man for sending some Heads of Divinity in a printed Paper contrary to Law Is it not Impudence to live in the Practice and Office Episcopal acting contrary to those Methods Rules and Rubricks commanded in the Statutes by King and Parliament and contrary to the Common-Prayer Book and Act of Uniformity Yes you must say for a Bishop cannot plead Ignorance nor Frailty for then his Lordship would indeed be very ignorant The Defendant is the Man that will prove if any Body have the Face to deny it and when Time shall serve that there is a Bishop within a Mile of an Oak that has liv'd in the Practice and Office Episcopal acting contrary to those Methods Rules and Rubricks commanded in the Statute by King and Parliament and Common-Prayer Book and Act of Uniformity As for Instance He that confirms all Comers Hand over Head without Exception without Examination without Certificate without knowing that they are Baptiz'd or Catechis'd is not this abominable bold daring and impudent No great Man if he be a Subject is too great for the Law not too great to be corrected reform'd and better taught not too great for King and Parliament and their Statutes It is Treason to deny this Truth What shall Confirmation of which the Papists make a Sacrament and Protestants make an Ordinance and Statute-Law be slubber'd over against the very Design of it be slubber'd over by confirming such as have neither Sureties there nor any Witness nor any God-Father or God-Mother nor any Minister to testify that ever they were baptized O abominable What is bold daring and impudent if this be not The Canon Law says Episcopus non potest statuere contra
and Venice-Treacle is made of the Flesh of the most poysonful and Italian Vipers But said Mr. Hickeringill the Mischiefs Extortions and Oppressions of the King's Subjects are apparent and many and great and daily committed by you in defiance of the Statutes But show but one Good you do or have done in the memory of Man or that any Chronicle or History mentions to be done by any Ecclesiastical Court and then I may acknowledg your Ecclesiastical Fabrick to be of God's making or he used words to the like effect Jur ' octav die Febr. Anno R. R. Caroli secundi c. tricessimo quarto coram W. DOLBEN Jer. Ives Jos Ashhurst Samuel Wells LET all unbyass'd men and honest Citizens who know these Gentlemen know their Quality their good Reputation whether it be more probable that they who have no livelihood at stake by such Affidavits to win or lose or wreck their malice and spleen men of Conscience and Honour should attest the Truth of matter of Fact the truth whereof above Twenty more substantial Citizens can and are ready if needful to attest Or Six Proctors of Doctors Commons whose constant use or rather abuse is to cheat and oppress by injuries and Extortions in illegal Fees and contrary to Law And whether they are not likely to have impudence enough to wrest a mans words to a contrary sence and the worst sence when they have Impudence enough to commit daily such said Extortions and Oppressions in illegal Feein defiance of the Statutes of this Realm Nay how little they regard the Statute of 5 and 6 Edward the 6. and 16th made against buying of Places and Offices shall in good time be made more apparent Yet nothing would serve Sir Francis Pemberton Chief Justice and Mr. Justice Jones c. But Mr. Hickeringhil must find Bayl or go to Jayl nor would they suffer any Affidavit to be read in Mr. Hickeringhill's Behalf the Chief Justice absolutely refusing it and saying I will hear nothing in your defence but find Bayl or I 'll commit you or words spoke to the like effect Sir Francis Pemberton had never bin the Successor of Scroggs if he had not given good testimony and assurance that he is a Wise Man and one that knows his cue But as wise as he is it would have been no blemish to his great Wisdom to have heard Affidavits and Pleas in Mr. Hickeringhil's Defence especially nothing being attested against him of such pernicious consequence and that by Proctors too whose malice to the Defendant and inveteracy was so notorious to every man it might at least create a Jealousie that the Articles on which the Supplicavit was founded might possibly be sworn unto out of heat malice hatred rage or revenge nay most notoriously probably it might be so That 't is a wonder the Judges to whom God has given two Ears and who are sworn in the Oath of a Judge to have no respect of persons in Judgment Oh dreadful Oath and that which made Judge Hales tremble when he thought thereof though he had less cause than others so to be afraid for he made Conscience of his Oath and neither the whispers of Courtiers nor the Kings private Letters would he regard in a Cause of Justice 't is a wonder I say that since one single word added or left out might alter the sence and meaning of Mens words they would suffer no testimony to be heard in behalf of the Defendant But against him as many as you please And it is the harder measure because it is usual to delay the sending out the Writ of Supplicavit so seldom granted at all against any man especially a Man of Estate till first he be summon'd to shew cause if he can why such a Writ should not be granted and most especially not accustomed to be so hastily granted against a Divine and also a man of known and visible Estate from which there was no fear he should fly for the penalty of 100 Pound and all for words too that are not worth a Louse if they had been spoken as the Proctors swore them But if they were spoken to the same effect that the other Gentlemen and Citizens have attested upon Oath and the same that several Citizens and Gentlemen then and there present can also attest then the words are not so much as sawcy but may safely be spoken in and to any lawful Court in Westminster-Hall upon occasion Much more in and to a Court which whether it be a lawful Court is out of Question if the Statute 2. Edward 6. be in force which no Judge yet ever did take upon him in Westminster-Hall to declare to be Repealed for Judges are but to declare the Law not to make Laws nor repeal them that is the work of a Higher Power And if that Statute be Repealed 't is strange that Sir Francis Pemberton should so urge that Statute as aforesaid to Sir William Scroggs so lately upon the Bench and he then at the Bar during the Sessions of the last Parliament at Westminster Sir Francis saying That he fore bore to urge it warmly because he suppos'd that his Lordship was not prepared at that time to give that Statute an answer or words to the like effect Which if he did say openly at the Kings-Bench Bar or words to the like effect then it is beyond all Contradiction that Sir Francis Pemberton whilst at the Bar did question the legality of their Courts Ecclesiastical as now managed as well as much nay more and more dangerously to them then Mr. Hickeringill did And if it be question'd whether he did urge the said Statute 2 Edw. 6. 1. as aforesaid for his Client Mr. Weild of Much-Waltham the said Mr. Weild and also divers others are ready to attest the Truth thereof if any body dare deny so publick a Truth And let any indifferent impartial and unbiast men judge whether it be not hard measure to be sent to Jayl or which is as bad find Bail and all about the decision of a point of Law so disputable and questionable that Lawyers of known and great worth and Learning without exception as any other has urged that Statute so lately in Westminster-hall and confessed that he thought the Chief Justice was not then prepared to give it an Answer I wonder what Answer Sir Francis Pemberton will give it now He is Chief-Justice it may very probably nay ought before him to come in question when so many of the Kings Subjects are excommunicated in those Ecclesiastical Courts and Forty Days after its publication sent to Jayle For if that Statute be in force the Ecclesiastical Fellows are guilty of a Premunire nay worse nor can scarcely any name or punishment be great enough for them or bad enough But since the said Chief Justice said he would hear no Plea's in the Defendants Defence nor suffer any Affidavits to be read or heard in his Defence God Help To Divert the Reader I 'le
here make bold with a Friend and reprint the last Verses of the late New Satyr call'd the Mushroom in the Post-script thereof namely To serve a turn of State a Renegade That has his Conscience God and King betrayd Sometimes a base Interpreter is made Though he an Atheist be in Masquerade And in rich robes through villany array'd Yet this Apostacy who dare upbraid The Villian struts it and seems not afraid Suborners tho' are shown in Cavilcade To publick-wrath may liable be made Oh! then the Villain will for all be payd Then where 's your gay-Apostate Renegade I have heard of a certain Prince not in Utopia but in Europe that said So long as I can make Bishops and Judges whom I list I 'le have what Religion and what Law I list If He had also said and what Juries I list nay Essex-Juries if I list He had nickt the business and instead of saying our Goods our Estates our Lives our Wives our Children our Lands and Liberties are our own it would be questionable whether we might say our Souls are our own but worse than the Tantivee-Preacher For He only said Caesar shall have your Goods your Bodies your Lands your Children and your Wives c. Caesar shall have all All is Caesars on the outside of your Souls But they belong to God God shall have your Souls And if he would make his word good we would clap up the bargain immediately and upon that Condition that He will make it good That God shall have our Souls Let Caesar take our Wives our Lands our Children our Bodies nay our Lives and the sooner the better we shall not grutch the Exchange But Hard very Hard is Mr. Hickeringill's Case with these Ecclesiastical Fellows who are either very ignorant or very impudent thus boldly and daringly to confront the Kings Laws and shall fare better in Westminster-Hall then the man that reproves them yet how industriously has our wise Ancestors fenc't against these Plagues of Mankind Promoters Turbidum hominum Genus as Coke calls them Instit l. cap. 88. 18. Eliz. 5. 28. Eliz. 5. Jac. 14. In which last about 30 old obsolete Statutes Snares with which Promoters catcht men were at once repealed and yet says Coke notwithstanding all these Statutes against Promoters Four mischiefs still remain'd I could have told him one more that makes Five mischiefs but 21. Jac. 28. did some good against this sort of Cattle who under the reverend Mantle of Law and Justice instituted for protection of the Innocent and the good of the Commonwealth t is Cokes own words Inst l. 3. c. 88. did vex and depauperize the Subject will men never take warning and commonly the poorer sort for malice mark that or private ends and never for love of Justice Shall Honesty and Ingenuity always be out of fashion and under the Hatches and vile tims-serving Slaves against their own Consciences Slaves always keep above Deck Where do we live that pimping bawdy scurrilous Poetasters shall impunè Libel the Honourable Peers and Patriots of the Kingdom and the most glorious City in the Universe And as that bold daring and impudent Hackney-Muse in his late Satyr like a Judge arraigns cundemns and deprives them of their Priviledges and Immunities to his utmost granted and confirmed by so many Kings and Parliaments through feign'd suggestions of his own For thus he Rhymes Customes to steal is such a trivial thing That 't is their Charter to defraud their King All hands unite of every Jarving Sect They cheat the Country first and then infect They for Gods cause their Monarchs dare dethrone Our Sacriligious Sects their Guides outgo And Kings and Kingly Power would overthrow What 's this but to be a Make-bate what 's this but to hang men up in effigie for fancies of his own making What must we still down of our knees and beg Pardon and another Act of Indempnity from every Rascally Pamphleteer and beggarly Hirelings that would fain make our wounds bleed afresh would gladly trouble the waters that are quiet in hopes of good fishing to make up their Hungry mouths and greedy mawes Any thing any method to make the World believe that the Citys Charter is already forfeited or deserves so to be And then money more Money and put it where in a Bottomless Bagg that will hold none you may as well fill a Sive with water as make debaucht Torys rich whose lusts would beggar exhaust and consume the Indies Is Libels the way then nay to Libel the most Loyal best disciplin'd best govern'd best built most glorious most sober most potent most rich and most populous City of the World And this by every Sneaking Rascally dull and Insipid Rhithmer and Pamphleteer the World is at a fine-pass when instead of bringing Buckets to allay and quence every vile Incendiary throws weekly sire-balls to kindle if possible our heats into a flame And instead of curing our distempers and wounds or of endeavours to heal our breaches must men be countenanced to make them rancor more Is that the way As if they studied like some Arithmaticians by the Rule of false Positions to gain a conclusion they most wish for and most especially ayme at namely Substraction and Division But he that sits in the Heavens has hitherto laught them to scorn and hath discovered their sham's and has had their fallcies in derision The Hire of these Pampleteers may prove one day to be as Tory Hilanders call their Booty Black-meal mock not when the Mosse-trooping trade breaks them or their necks Search Histories consult the Past-times and then tell me if there can be worse fools in Nature then some that call themselves Polititians How have they been bassled disappointed and beloved with their own Politick Wyles Shams and Gimcracks or could have devised a shorter cut or a neerer way to stop their own Wind-pipes and ruine themselve and their posteries Except they should have made a noose of their own Bedcords and yet like Rogues that are branded might safely swear that they had got the Law in their own hands more shame for the branded Rogues to Glory in that that is their shame as well as Bane But these are sad and melancholy Contemplations and therefore to recreate the Reader I 'le relate a foolish story or a slory of a fool a Country Bumpkin who having been at London at his return home his Inquisitive neighbours ask't him what news at London News Quoth Hob I know none but that they say Sir Francis Pemberton is made Lord chief Justice Scroggs Scroggs with a murrain cryes the neighbours thou talks like a fool or whether he was Party per pale as much Knave as Fool some questioned If he had said Sir Francis Pemberton had been made Lord chief-chief-Justice Hales the wonder had been the greater and the non-sense not more unwelcome Scroggs quoth a a likely business Scroggs and be naught to him This 't is to want good breeding Scroggs and be hang'd to him
to the Grave they are dangerous steps for you believe Me. The CONCLVSION THIS Letter is the Quintessence and Epitome of the whole Book and may for a shift serve those that will not or cannot find leisure to read the whole Book and though writ raptim and in haste yet though I say it that should not say it worthy for the matter to be writ in Letters of Gold and transmitted to all Posterity the Subject is so Good so seasonable and so needful to be handled For however it happen to work doubtfully upon Teagues and Irish-Tories and slavish prostituted and Hackney-Pamphleteers whose only Religion is their Gain yet I doubt not but it has sufficient Vertue in it to Convert all English Tories and Tantivees that are not sworn-slaves and make them perfect WHIGGS whose Numbers increase daily they are never the fewer for me and this Contest with the Bishop and multiply wonderfully and so will still when things are well-consider'd and impartially-weighed according to our ancient Honourable safe and most excellent English Frame and Constitution of Government Our Kings are Kings of France but God forbid they should be like the French King then indeed as the Tantivee-Preacher ratled it our very Souls would not be our own nor scarcely would God be suffered quietly to enjoy them as his share but All would be Caesars our Estates our Libertiet our Children our Lands our Lives and our Wives And then what shall we have nay what shall God have If All be Caesars such Tantivee-Fops and senceless Preaching-Sots deserve to be hang'd and till some of them be so served or made Exampels of we shall never be freed of these ENGLISH Incendiaries Tory-Pulpiteers and Tory Pamphleteers but be ruin'd twice in an Age with one and the same Plagues and Pests And work as Negroes do in Barbadoes by day for their Masters and at night lie with their Wives to get slaves for their Masters too And is it not better to have no Charters no Priviledges then to serve a weary Apprentyship and give Money to boot for our Freedom and yet hold them by no surer Tenure then till a Courtier be displeas'd or wants Money And as for Ecclesiastical Courts if 16 Car. 1. 11. be in force and was never repealed and that the 13 Car. 2. 12. repealing 17 Car. 1. can never be construed to Repeal 16 Car. 1. Then what force have they or Power toward impose or inflict any pain penalty c. nor did they or durst they inflict any pain or penalty as loath to venture 100 l. for every offence nor did they censure any till 13 Car. 2. 12. repealed 17 Car. 1. 11. but if it did not repeal 16 Car. 1. 11. as it is evident upon the Parliament Roll it is 16 Car. 1. 11. that repeals the branch of 1 Eliz. I think they have brought their Hogs to a Fine Market and stand liable for all the mischief they have done to Souls to Bodies and to Bones I believe some in the Parliament at least did intend to repeal 16 Car. 1. 11. but if it be as it is a great mistake it is fatal and not to be remedied but by a PARLIAMENT and if ever they should be so bold and daring as to inflict any penalty upon me have at them for the 100.l Besides I doubt not but 1 Edw. 6. 2. is in force for though it is repeal'd by 1 Mar. 2. yet that 1 Mar. 2. is repeal'd by 1 Jacob. 25. and Samson is unbound again Remoto Impedimento Revivescit and herewith agreeth the Book-Case in 15. Ed. 3. tit Petition Placit 2. Coke mag chart 686. 'T is true that 4 Jacob two questions were moved first whether any Bishops made especially since the first day of that first Sessions of Parliament 1 Jacob. were lawful or no. 2. Whether the Proceedings in the Ecclesiastical-Courts being made under the name Stile and Seal of the Bishop were warranted by Law The Chief Justices agreed that 1 Edw. 6. 2. was in force for though the Act 1. Eliz. 1. Revive the 25. Hen. 8. 20. Which Empowers Bishops to Act as formerly and consequently or obliquely the 1 Ed. 6. 2. is struck at yet can any man in his right wits imagine that it is either true or safe that a Statute should be repealed obliquely and by consequence without the least thought thereof in the Legislators this would be of most dangerous consequence But the Legislators could not think of repealing that which was actually and expresly at that time repealed already by 1. Mar. 2. nor of repealing the Ed. 6. 2. by 1. and 2. Phil. and Mar. 8. which was repealed already by 1 Mar. and 1. 2. Phil. Mar. that does not repeal 1 Ed. 6. 2. by name and consequents will not do nor inferences this is tricks and wiredrawing to defeat a Statute-Law by finess or nicety of Wit or Lawyers-Criticisms And therefore there is no need of flying to 1 Eliz. 1. for the repeal af 1. 2. Phil. Mar. 8. yet the Judges generally extrajudicially were of another opinion The case deserves the Resolution of the Judges in open-Court or in a Parliament or both an extrajudicial Judgment then has been in Jan 4 and 1 July 1637 and the Judges gave their opinions as the Bishops best liked Dr. Laud especially but the same Judges also to please him were for the Legallity of Ship-money and customes unsetled by Parliament see Appendix of Dr. Godolphins Abridgment of Laws and Coke Instit C. 2. p. 685. 686. the Lord Coke was overawed by the High-Commission Court now the Law is not in awe though the Gentleman that gives this Narrative of the said Tryall did not take it in short-hand he that has so vast a memory shall not need nor yet is willing to be known to be the Author of these observations not that there is a a word or line in this book that he is not prompt and at hand and to chuse willing to justifie if any dare be so bold daring and impudent or so very ignorant as to oppose these profitable and well known truths backt with the Gospel and the Law Ha Let me have no grumbling you may Whisper Point make Dumb-shows and Signs but I will have no grumbling aloud But he is not willing to put his Name to this Book as Author yet nevertheless according to the Common-Custome of Learned Authors that Preface their works with their own Pictures or Effigies they shall not need neither some of them are not so handsomâ— no more then the course face of this Blunt Author Nevertheless the Author to humour the Common vanity gave me leave to give you part of his Effigies or a halfe-face of him pourtray'd as followeth not in his first but last Page of his book if you be Oediposses you may soon unriddle the aenigma the Author has a soul so great I 'le say no more on 't but as for his fancy and invention the whole Creation is so immediately at