one of the Daughters of Charls Brandon Duke of Suffolk and of Mary the French Queen King 〈◊〉 Sister Fol. 427. The late French King Henry the fourth had three Daughters the one married to the Duke of Savoy c This Marriage both for the time and person is mistaken also First for the time in making it to precede the match with Spain whereas the cross Marriages with Spain were made in the year 1612. and this with Savoy not trans-acted till the year 1618. Secondly for the Person which he makes to be the eldest Daughter of Henry the fourth and Elizabeth married into Spain to be the second whereas Elizabeth was the eldest Daughter and Christienne married into Savoy the second onely For which consult Iames Howels History of Lewis the 13. fol. 13. 42. Fol. 428. The story was that his Ancestors at Plough â—lew Malton an High-land Rebel and dis-comfited his Train using no other Weapon but his Geer and Tackle But Camden whom I rather credit tells us That this was done in a great fight against the Danes For speaking of the Earls of Arrol he derives the Pedigree from one Hay a man of exceeding strength and excellent courage who together with his Sons in a dangerous Battle of Scots against the Danes at Longcarty caught up an Ox Yoak and so valiantly and fortunately withal what with fighting and what with exhorting re-inforced the Scots at the point to shâ—ink and recoyl that they had the day of the Danes and the King with the States of the Kingdom adscribed the Victory and their own safety to his valor and prowess Ibid. But to boot he sought out a good Heir Gup my Lady Dorothy sole Daughter to the Lord Denny This spoken of Sir Iames Hay afterwards Viscount Doncaster and Earl of Carâ—â—sle who indeed married the Daughter and sole Heir of the L. Denny of Waltham But he is out for all that in his Gup my Lady her name being Honora and not Dorothy as the Author makes it And for his second Wife one of the Daughters of Henry Piercy E. of North-Humberland she was neither a Dorothy nor an Heiâ— And therefore we must look for this Gup my Lady in the House of Huntington that bald Song being made on the Marriage of the Lady Dorothy Hastings Daughter of George Earl of Huntington with a Scotish Gentleman one Sir Iames Steward slain afterward at â—â—â—ington by Sir George Wharton who also perisht by his Sword in a single Combate Fol. 429. Amongst many others that accompanied Hays expedition was Sir Henry Rich Knight of the Bath and Baron of Kensington Knight of the Bath at that time but not Baron of Kensington this Expedition being plac'd by our Author in the year 1616. and Sir Henry Rich not being made Baron of Kensington till the 20 year of King Iames Annâ— 1622. Fol. 434. The chief Iudge thereof is called Lordchief Iustice of the Common Pleas accompanied with three or four Assistants or Associates who are created by Letters Patents from â—he King But Doctor Cowel in his learned and laborious work called The Interpreter hath informed us otherwise This Iustice saith he speaking of the chief Justice of the Kings Bench hath no Patent under the Broad-Seal He is made onely by Writ which is a short one to this effect Regina Iohanni Popham Militi salutem Sciatis quod constituimus 〈◊〉 Iâ—stâ—ciarium nostrum Capitalem ad Placita coram nobis terâ—â—nandum durante bene placito nostro Teste c. For this he citeth Crompton a right learned Lawyer in his Book of the Iurisdiction of Courts And what he saith of that chief Justice the practice of these times and the times preceding hath verified in all the rest Fol. 450. She being afterwards led up and down the Kingâ— Army under oversight as a Prisoner but shewed to the people 〈◊〉 if reconâ—iled to her Son c. Not so for after the deatâ— of the Marquess D'Aucre she retired to Blois where 〈◊〉 liv'd for some years under a restraint till released by the Duâ—â— of Eâ—pâ—rnon and prtly by force pâ—rtly by treaty restorâ— again into power and favor with her Son which she improvâ—â— afterwards to an omne-regenâ—y till Richeleu her great Assistant finding himself able to stand without her and not enduring a Competitor in the Affairs of State mde her leave the Kingdom Fol. 45â— By his first Wife he had bâ—t one Sâ—n risâ—â—g no higher in Honor then Kâ—ight and Baronet Yet afâ—erwâ—â—ds he had preferment to the Govâ—rnment of Ulster Pâ—ovince in Ireland This spoken but mistakingly spoken of Sir George Vâ—lliers Father of the Duke of Buckingham and his eldest son For first Sir George Villiers had two sons by a former Wife that is to say Sir William Villiers Knight and Baronet who preferred the quiet and repose of a Countrey life before that of the Court and Sir Edward Villiers who by a Daughter of Sir Iohn St. Iohn of Lidiard in the County of Wilts was Father of the Lord Viscount Graâ—dâ—son now living And secondly It was not Sir William but Sir Edward Villiers who had a Government in Ireland as being by the Power and Favor of the Duke his halfâ— Brother made Lord President of Mâ—nster not of Vlster which he held till his death And whereas it is said fol. 466. that the Dâ—ke twiâ—teâ— himself and his Issue by inter-marriâ—ges with the best and most â—noble If the Author instead of his Issue had said his â—â—ndred it had been more properly and more truly spoken For the Duke liv'd not to see the Marriage of any one of his châ—ldren though a Contract had passed between his Daughter Mary and the Heir of Pembroke but he had so disposed of hâ—s Female Kindred that there were more Countesses and â—onorable Ladies of his Relations then of any one Family 〈◊〉 the Land Fol. 458. Henry the eighth created Anne Bullen 〈◊〉 of Pembroke before he marryed her The Author here â—â—eaks of the Creation of Noble Women and maketh that of â—nne Bullen to be the first in that kinde whereas indeed it as the second if not the third For Margaret Daughter 〈…〉 Fol. 4â—4 And that Comâ—t at Châ—ists birth was 〈…〉 But first the Star which appeared at the birth of our 〈◊〉 and conducted the wise men to Ierusalem was of condition too â—ubâ—ime and supernatural to be called a Comet and so resolved to be by allâ—learned men who have written of it And secondly had it been a Comet it could not possibly have portended the death of Nero there passing between the bâ—â—th of Chrâ—st and the death of that Tyrant about 〈◊〉 yearâ— too long a time to give unto the influences of thâ— strongest Comet So that although a Comet did presage thâ— death of Nero as is said by Tacitus yet could not that Comet be the 〈◊〉 which the Scriptures speak of Fol. 48â— Ferdinand meets at Franckford with the three 〈◊〉 Menâ—â— Colen and Trevours the other three Silesia Moravia and Luâ—atia
of the English Parliament till the time of King Iames. It s true that on the Petition of the Commons in the beginning of each Parliament the King was graciously pleas'd to indulge them a freedom of reasoning and debate upon all such points as came before them and not to call them to account though they delivered their opinions contrary to his sence and meaning But then it is as true withal that they used not to waste time in tedious Orations nor to declaim against the proceedings of the King and the present Government or if they did the Speaker held it for a part of his Office to cut them short and to reminde them of their duty besides such after-claps as they were sure to finde from an injured and incensed Soveraign But of this take along with you this short passage as I finde it in a letter written ab ignoto to King Charls in this very business of the Duke May it please your excellent Majesty to consider That this great opposition against the Duke of Buckingham is stirred up and maintained by such who either maliciously or ignorantly and concurrently seek the debasing of this free Mâ—narchy which because they finde not yet ripe to attempt against the king himself they endeavor it through the dukes sides These men though agreeing in one mischief yet are of divers sorts and humors Viz. 1. Medling and busie persons who took their first hint at the beginning of King Iames when the Vnion was treated of in Parliament That learned King gave too much way to those popular Speeches by the frequent proof he had of his great Abilities in that kinde Since the time of H. 6. these Parliamentary Discourses were never suffered as being the certain Symptoms of subsequent Rebellions Civil Wars aâ—d the dethroning of our Kings But these last twenty years most of the Parliament Men seek to improve the reputation of their Wisdoms by these Declamations and no honest Patriot dare oppose them lest he incur the imputation of a Fool or a Coward in his Countries cause But which is more the pride they took in their own supposed Eloquence obtain'd another priviledge for them that is to say The liberty for any man to speak what he list and as long as he list without fear of being interrupted whereof King Iames takes notice in his said Speech to both the Houses at White-Hall Nor did they onely take great delight in these tedious speeches but at first disperst Copies of them in writing and afterwards caused them to be printed that all the people might take notice of the zeal they had to the common liberty of the Nation and the edge they hed against the Court and the Kings Prerogative But to proceed Fol. 47. To ballance the Dukes enemies three persons his confederates were made Barons to compeer in the Lords house the Lord Mandevil the eldest son to the Earl of Manchester created by Patent Baron Kimbolton Grandison Son to the created Baron Imbercourt and Sr Dudly Carlton made Baron Tregate In which short passage there are as many mistakes as lines For first the Lord Mandevil was not created by Patent Lord Kimbolton that title together with the tite of Vicount Mandevil having been conferred upon his father by letter Patents in the 18. year of King Iames Anno 1620. whom afterwards King Charles in the first year of his Reign made Earl of Manchester The meaning of our Author is that Sr. Edward Montague commonly called Lord Mandevil was summoned to the Parliament by the Title of Lord Kimbolton as is the custom in such cases when the eldest sons of Earls are called to Parliament by the stile and Title of their Fathers Barony Secondly there never was any such Baron as the Baron Tregate Thirdly Sr. Dudly Carlton was not created Baron Tregat but Baron of Imbercourt that being the name of a Mannor of his in the County of Surry But fourthly Grandison son to the created Baron Imbercourt is either such a peece of negligence in not filling the blanks or of ignorance in not knowing that noble Person as is not often to be met with And therefore to inform both our Author and his Reader also I must let them know that William de Grandâ—son a noble Burgundian Lord allied to the Emperour of Constantinople the King of Hungary and the Duke of Bavaria was brought into England by Edmond Earl of Lancaster second son to King Henry the 3. by whose bounty he was endowed with fair possessions and by his power advanced unto the dignity of an English Baron The estate being much encreast by the Marriage of the Daughter and Heir of the Lord Tregoz fell by the Heir general to the Pateshuls of Bleâ—so in the County of Bedford and by a Daughter of that house to the house of the Beauchamps By Margaret the daughter and Heir of Sr. Iohn Beauchamp of Bletso the whole estate came by Marriage to Sr. Oliver St. Iohn from whose eldest son descended that Sr. Oliver St. Iohn whom Queen Elizabeth descended from the said Margaret by Iohn Duke of Somerset her second husband made Lord St. Iohn of Bletho in the first year of her Reign From Oliver St. Iohn the second son of the said Margaret estated by his mother in the Mannor of Lydiard Tregoz neer Highworth in the County of Wilts descended another Oliver St. Iohn the second son of Sr. Iohn St. Iohn of Lydiard Tregoz who having in defence of his Fathers Honour killed one Captain Best in St. Georges fields neer Southwark was fain to passe over into France where he remained untill his friends about the Queen had obtained his pardon To merit which and to avoid the danger which might happen to him by Bests acquaintances he betook himself to the wars of Ireland where he performed such signal service against the Rebels that passing from one command to another he came at last to be made Lord Deputy of Ireland at what time he was created viscount Grandison with reference to the first founder of the greatnesse of his House and family That dignity entailed on him and the heires males of his body and for want of Such Issue on the Heires males of Sr. Edward Villers begotten on the body of Mrs. Barbara St. Iohn the new Viscounts Neece according unto which remainder that Honnurable Title is enjoyed by that branch of the house of Villers But being the Title of Viscount Grandison was limited to the Realm of Ireland to make him capable of a place in this present Parliament he was created Lord Tregoz of Highworth to him and to the heires males of his body without any remainder Fol. 62. Carlton gone upon this Errand and missing the French King at Paris progressed a tedious journey after that Court to Nantes in Bohemia And here we have as great an Error in Geography as before in Heraldry there being no such Town as Nantes in Bohemia or if there were it had been too farre off and too unsafe a
place for a Summers progress It is Nantes in Bretaigne which he means though I am so charitable as to think this to be a mistake rather of the Printer than our Authors own With the like charity also I behold three other mistakes viz. the Emperor of Vienna fol. 137. and the Archdutchesse of Eugenia fol. 139. Balfoure Caselie for Bolsovey Castle fol 192. By which the unknowing Reader may conceive if not otherwise satisfied that Balfour Castle was the antient seat of the Balfours from whence Sr. William Balfour Lieutenant of the Tower that false and treacherous Servant to a bountifull Master derives his pedigree Eugenia which was a part of that Ladies Christian name to be the name of some Province and Vienna the usual place of the Emperors residence to be the name of an Empire But for his last I could alledg somewhat in his excuse it being no unusual thing for Principalities and Kingdomes to take Denomination from their principal Cities For besides the Kings of Mets Orleans and Soissons in France we finde that in the Constitutions of Howel Dha the Kings of England are called Kings of London the Kings of South-Wales Kings of Dyneuor and the King of North-Wales Kings of Aberfraw each of them from the ordinary place of their habitation For which defence if our Author will not thank me he must thank himselfe The mention of Nantes conducts me on to Count Shally's Treason against the French King who was beheaded in that City of which thus our Author Fol. 63. The Count upon Summons before the Privy Councel without more adoe was condemned and forthwith beheaded at Nantes the Duke Momerancy then under Restraint suffered some time after But by his leave the Duke of Monmorency neither suffered on the account of Shalley's Treason nor very soon after his beheading which was in the year 1626. as our Author placeth it For being afterwards enlarged and joyning with Mounsier the Kings Brother in some designe against the King or the Cardinal rather he was defeated and took prisoner by Martial Schomberg created afterwards Duke of Halwyn and being delivered over to the Ministers of Justice was condemned and beheaded at Tholouse Anno 1633. Ibid. Our Wine-Merchants ships were arrested at Blay-Castle upon the Geroud returning down the River from Burdeaux Town by order of the Parliament of Rouen That this Arrest was 〈◊〉 by Order of the Parliament of Rouen I shall hardly grant the jurisdiction of that Parliament being confined within the Dukedome of Normandy as that of Renes within the Dukedome of Bretaigne neither of which nor of any other of the inferior Parliaments are able to doe any thing Extra Sphaeram Activitatis suae beyond their several Bounds and Limits And therefore this Arrest must either be made by Order from the Parliament of Burdeaux the Town and Castle of Blay being within the jurisdiction of that Court or of the Parliament of Paris which being Paramount to the rest may and doth many times extend its power and execute its precepts over all the others Fol. 92. At his death the Court was suddenly filled with Bishops knowing by removes preferments would follow to many expected advancements by it Our Author speaks this of the death of Bishop Andrews and of the great resort of Bishops to the Court which ensued thereupon making them to tarry there on the expectation of Preferment and Removes as his death occasioned till they were sent home by the Court Bishops with the Kings Instructions But in this our Author is mistaken as in other things The Bishops were not sent home with the Kings Instructions till after Christmas Anno 1629. and Bishop Andrews dyed in the latter end of the year 1626. after whose death Dr. Neil then Bishop of Durham being translated to the Sea of Winchester Febr. 7. 1627. Dr. Houson Bishop of Oxon succeeded him in the Sea of Durham in the beginning of the year 1628. Doctor Corbet Dean of Christ-church being consecrated Bishop of Oxon the 17 day of October of the same year so that between the filling up of these Removes and the sending the Bishops home with the Kings Instructions there happened about 15 Moneths so that the great resort of Bishops about the Court Anno 1627. when they were sent back with the Kings Instructions was not occasioned by the expectation of such Preferments and Removes as they might hope for on the death of Bishop 〈◊〉 Fol. 105. In Michaelmas Term the Lady Purbeck daughter and heir to the Lady Hatton by her former Husband and Wife to the Viscount Purbeck Brother to the Duke passed the tryall for adultery c. Our Author is here out again in his Heraldry the Lady Purbeck not being Daughter to the Lady Hatton by her former Husband but by her second Husband Sr. Edward Coke then Attorny Generall and afterwards successively Chief Justice of either Bench. Yet I deny not but that she was an Heir and a rich marriage as it after followeth For being Daughter to Thomas Cecil Earl of Exeter she was married by the care and providence of her Grandfather the Lord Burleigh to Sr. William Newport who being the adopted sonne of the Lord Chancellor Hatton succeeded in his name as well as in his Lands In ordering of which marriage it was agreed on that the vast Debt which the Chancellor owed unto the Crown should be estalled to small Annual payments and that in lieu thereof Sr. William in defect of issue should settle on his wife and her Heires by any Husband whatsoever the Isle of Purbeck and some other of the out parts of his Estate By means whereof her Daughter Frances which she had by Sr. Edward Coke was heir to Corse Castle in the Isle of Purbeck and so much of the rest of the Lands of Hatton as the mother being a woman of great expence did not sell or aliene Fol. 106. The King for all his former Arrears of loan was put to it to borrow more of the Common Councel of London 120000. l. upon Mortgage on his own land of 21000. l. per an And here I think our Author is Mistaken also the Citizens not lending their money upon Mortgage but laying it out in the way of purchase Certain I am that many goodly Mannors lying at the foot of Ponfract-Castle and appertaining to the Crown in right of the Duchy of Lancaster were sold out-right unto the Citizens at this time and therefore I conclude the like also of all the rest But whether it were so or not I cannot chuse but note the sordid basenesse of that City in refusing to supply their King in his great Necessities without Sale or Mortgage especially when the mony was to have been expended in defence of the Rochellers whose cause they seemed so much to favour But for this and other refusals of this nature the Divine vengeance overtook them within few years after the long Parliament draining them of a Million of pounds and more without satisfaction for every
any till he found it out such wherein he is not like to finde many followers though the way be opened I know it is no unusuall thing for works of different Arguments publisht at severall times and dedicated to severall persons to be drawn together into one Volume and being so drawn together to retain still those particular Titles and Dedications which at first they had But I dare confidently say that our Historian is the first who writing a Book of the same Argument not published by peece-meal as it came from his hand but in a full and intire Volume hath filled his Sheets with so many Title-leaves and Dedications as we have before us For in this one Book taking in the History of Cambridge which is but an Appendix to it there are no fewer then 12 particular Titles beside the generall as many particular Dedications and no fewer then fifty eight or sixty of those By-Inscriptions which are addrest to his particular Friends and Benefactors which make it bigger by fourty Sheets at the least then it had been otherwise Nay so ambitious he is of encreasing the Number of his Patrons that having but four Leaves to come to the end of his History he findes out a particular Benefactress to inscribe it to Which brings into my minde the vanity of Vitellius in bestowing and of Roscius Regulus for accepting the Consular Dignity for that part of the day on which Cecina by Order and Decree of the Senate was degraded from it Of which the Historian gives this Note that it was Magno cum irrisu accipientis tribuentisque a matter of no mean disport amongst the People for a long time after But of this Argument our Author heard so much at the late Act in Oxford that I shall say no more of it at this present time 3. In the next ranck of Impertinencies which are more intrinsecal part of the substance of the work I account his Heraldry Blazons of Arms Dâ—scenis of noble Families with their Atchievements intermingled as they come in his way not pertinent I am sure to a Church-Hâ—storian unless such persons had been Founders of Episcopal Sees or Religious Houses or that the Arms so blazoned did belong to either Our Author tells us lib. 5. fol. 191. that knowledge in the Laws of this Land is neither to be expected or required in one of his profession and yet I trow considering the great influence which the Laws have upon Church-matters the knowledge of the Law cannot be so unnecessary in the way of a Clergy-man as the study of Heraldry But granting Heraldry to be an Ornament in all them that have it yet is it no ingredient requisite to the composition of an Ecclesiastical History The Copies of Battle-Abbey Roll fitter for Stow and Hollingsheâ—d where before we had them can in an History of the Church pretend to no place at all though possibly the names of some may be remembred as their Foundations or Endowments of Churches give occasion for it The Arms of the Knights-Errant billeted in the Isâ—e of Ely by the Norman Conqueror is of like extravagancy Such also is the Catalogue of those noble Adventurers with their Arms Issue and Atchievements who did accompany King Richard the first to the War of Palestine which might have better serv'd as an Appendix to his History of the Holy Warâ— then found a place in the main Body of an History of the Church of England Which three alone besides many intercalatious of that kinde in most parts of the Book make up eight sheets more inserted onely for the ostentation of his skill in Heraldry in which notwithstanding he hath fallen on as palpable Errors as he hath committed in his History For besides those which are observed in the course of this work I finde two others of that kinde in his History of Cambridge to be noted here For fol. 146. he telleth us That Alice Countess of Oxford was Daughter and sole Heir of Gilbert Lord Samford which Gilbert was Hereditary Lord Chamberlain of England But by his leave Gilbert Lord Samford was never the Heriditary Chamberlain of the Realm of England but onely Chamberlain in Fee to the Queens of England betwixt which Offices how vast a difference there is let our Authour judge And secondly The Honor of Lord Chamberlain of England came not unto the Earls of Oxford by that Marriage or by any other but was invested in that Family before they had attained the Title and Degree of Earls Conferred by King Henry the first on Aubrey de Vere a right puissant Person and afterwards on Aubrey de Vere his Son together with the Earldom of Oxford by King Henry the second continuing Hereditary in that House till the death of Robert Duke of Ireland the ninth Earl thereof and then bestowed for a time at the Kings discretion and at last setled by King Charls in the House of Lindsey But because being a Cambridge Man he may be better skild in the Earls of that County let as see what he saith of them and we shall finde fol. 162. That Richard Plantagenet Duke of York was the eighth Earl of Cambridge Whereas first Richard Duke of York was not Earl of Cambridge And secondly If he had been such he must have been the seventh Earl and not the eighth For thus those Earls are marshalled in our Catalogues of Honor and Books of Heraldry viz. 1. William de Meschines 2. Iohn de â—amalt 3. William Marquess of Iuliers 4. Edmond of Langley D. of York 5. Edward D. of York 6. Richard de Conisburgh yonger Brother of Edward 7. Iames Marquess Hamilton c. No Richard Duke of York to be found amongst them his Father Richard of Konisburgh having lost that Title by Attainder which never was restored to Richard his Son though most improvidently advanced to the Dukedom of York nor unto any other of that Line and Family 4. Proceed we in the next place to Verses and old ends of Poetry scattered and dispersed in all parts of the History from one end to the other for which he hath no precedent in any Historian Greek or Latine or any of the National Histories of these latter times The Histories of Herodotus Xenophon Thucydides and Plutarch amongst the Greeks of Caesar Livy Salust Taciâ—us and Sueâ—onius amongst the Latines afford him neither warrant nor example for it The like may be affirmed of Eusâ—bius Socrates Sâ—zomen Theodoret Russin and Evagrius Church Historians all though they had all the best choice and the most excellent Poets of the world to befriend them in it And he that shall consult the Histories of succeeding times through all the Ages of the Church to this present day will finde â—hâ—m all as barren of any incouragements in this kinde as the ancients were Nay whereas Bishop Godwin in his Annals gives us an Epitaph of two Verses onely made on Queen Iane Seymour and afterwards a Copy of eighteen verses on the Martyrdom of Arch Bishop Cranmer
Katheriâ—e Parr the Widow of King Henry the eighth and wife unto Sir Thomas Seimor the Lord here mentioned is generally charactered for a Lady of so meek a nature as not to contribute any thing towards his destruction Had the Dutchesse of Somerset been lesse impetious then she was or possest but of one half of that aequanimity which carryed Queen Katherine off in all times of her troubles this Lord might have lived happily in the armes of his Lady and gone in peace unto the grave We finde the like match to have been made between another Katherine the Widow of another Henry and Owen Tudor a private Gentleman of Wales prosperous and comfortable to them both though Owen was inferior to Sir Thomas Seimor both in Birth and Quality and Katherine of Valois Daughter to Charles the sixth of France far more superiour in her bloud to Queen Katherine Parr The like may be said also of the marriage of Adeliza Daughter of Geofry Earl of Lâ—vain and Duke of Brabant and Widow to King Henry the first marryed to William de Albeney a noble Gentleman to whom she brought the Castle and Honour of Arundel conâ—erred upon her by the King her former Husband continuing in the possession of their posterity though in severall Families to this very day derived by the Heirs general from this House of Albeney to that of the Fitz-â—lans and from them to the Howards the now Earls thereof Many more examples of which kinde foâ—tunate and succesful to each party might be easily â—ound were it worth the while Fol. 421. This barren Convocation is entituled the Parent of those Articles of Religion forty two in number which are printed with this Preface Articuli de quibus in Synodo Londinensi c. Our Author here is guilty of a greater crime then that of Scandalum Magnatum making King Edward the sixth of pious memory no better then an impious and leud Impostor For if the Convocation of this year were barren as he saith it was it could neither be the Parent of those Articles nor of the short Catechisme which was Printed with them countenanced by the Kings Letters Patents preâ—ixt before it For First the Title to the Articles runneth thus at large viz. Articuli de quibus in Synodo Londinensi Anno 1552 inter Episcopos alios eruditos viros convenerat ad tollendam opinionum dissensionem consensum verae Religionis firmandum Regia Authoritate in lucem editi Which title none durst have adventured to set before them had they not really been the products of that Convocation Secondly the King had no reason to have any such jealousie at that time of the major part of the Clergy but that he might trust them with a power to meddle with matters of Religion which is the only Argument our Author bringeth against those Articles This Convocation being holden in the sixth year of his Reign when most of the Episcopal Sees and Parochial Churches were filled with men agâ—eeâ—ble to his desiâ—es and generally conformâ—ble to the form of worship theâ— by Law established Thiâ—dly the Church of England for the first five years of Queen Elizabeth retained these Articles and no otheâ— as the publick tendries of the Church in poinâ—s of Doctrine which ceâ—tainly she had not done had they been reâ—ommended to her by a lesse Authoâ—ity then a Convocation Fourthly and lasâ—ly we have the testimony of our Author against himself who telling us of the Catechisme above mentioned that it was of the sanâ—e extraction with the Book of Articles addes afteâ—wards that being first composed by a single person it was perusâ—d and allowed by the Bishops and other learned men understand it the Convocation and by Royall Authority commended to all Subjecâ— and câ—mmanâ—ed to all School-masters to teach it their Scholars So that this Catechism being allowed by the Bishops and other learned men in the Convocation and the Articles being said to be of the same extraction it must needs follow thereupon that these Articles had no other Parent then this Convocation The truth is that the Records of Convocation during this Kings whole Reign and the first years of Queen Mary are very imperfect and defective most of them lost and amongst others those of this present year and yet one might conclude as strongly that my Mother died childless because my Christning is not to be found in the Parish Register as that the Convocation of this year was barren because the Acts and Articles of it are not entred in the Journal Book The Eighth Book OR The Reign of Queen MARY WE next proceed unto the short but troublesome Reign of Queen Mary in which the first thing 〈◊〉 occurs is â—ol 1. But the Commons of England who for many yeâ—â—s together had conn'd Loyalty by-heart out of the Staâ—â—â—e of the succession were so perfect in their Lesson that they would not be put out of it by this new started design In which I am to note these things first that he makes the Loyalty of the Commons of England not to depend upon the primogeniture of their Princes but on the Statute of Succession and then the object of that Loyalty must not be the King but the Act of Parliament by which they were directed to the knowledge of the next successor and then it must needs be in the power of Parliaments to dispose of the Kingdom as they pleas'd the Peoples Loyalty being tyed to such dispositions Secondly that the Statutes of Succession had been so many and so contrary to one another that the common people could not readily tell which to trust to and for the last it related to the Kings last Will and Testament so lately made and known unto so few of the Commons that they had neither opportunity to see it nor time to con the same by heart Nor thirdly were the Commons so perfect in this lesson of Loyalty or had so fixt it in their hearts but that they were willing to forget it within little time and take out such new lessons of disobedience and disloyalty as Wiat and his Partizans did preach unto them And finally they had not so well conn'd this lesson of Loyalty in our Authors own judgement but that some strong pretender might have taught them a new Art of Oblivion it being no improbable thing as himself confesseth to have heard of a King Henry the ninth if Henry Fitz-Roy the Duke of Somerset and Richmond had liv'd so long as to the death of King Edward the sixth Fol. 11. Afterwards Philpot was troubled by Gardiner for his words spoken in the Convocation In vain did he plead the priviledge of the place commonly reputed a part of Parliament I cannot finde that the Convocation at this time nor many years before this time was commonly reputed as a part of the Parliament That antiently it had been so I shall easily grant there being a clause in every letter of Summons by which the Bishops were required to attend in
Lactantius has it Posterity is too soon taught to follow the ill examples of their Predecessors And though he press it not so home as Clesselius did yet when the gap is once set open and the Hedge of Authority torn down bloodshed and war and other acts of open violence will come in of course So that we may affirm of this dangerous Doctrine as the Sorbonists once did of the Iesuites viz. Videtur in negotio sidei periculosa pacis Ecclesiae perturbativa magis ad destructionem quà m ad aedificationem But I have staid too long upon these first Notes I now proceed unto the rest Fol. 54. This Parliament being very active in matters of Religion the Convocation younger Brother thereunto was little employed and less regarded Our Author follows his design of putting matters of Religion into the power of Parliaments though he hath chosen a very ill Medium to conclude the point This Parliament as active as he seems to make it troubled it self so little with matters of Religion that had it done less it had done just nothing All that it did was the Repealing of some Acts made in the time of Queen Mary and setling matters in the same State in which she found them at her first coming to the Crown The Common Prayer Book being reviewed and fitted to the use of the Church by some godly men appointed by the Queen alone receiv'd no other confirmation in this present Parliament then what it had before in the last years of King Edward The Supremacy was again restor'd as it had been formerly the Title of Supreme head which seem'd offensive unto many of both Religioâ—s being changed into that of Supreme Governor nothing in all this done de novo which could entitle this Parliament to such activity in matters of Religion but that our Author had a minde to undervalue the Convocation as being little imployed and less regarded I grant indeed that the Convocation of that year did only meet for forms sake without acting any thing and there was very good reason for it The Bishops at that time were so â—enaciously addicted to the Church of Rome that they chose all except Anthony Kitchin of Landaffe rather to lose their Bishopricks then take the Oath of Supremacy So that there was little or no hope of doing any thing in Convocation to the Queens content in order to the Reformation of Religion which was then design'd had they been suffered to debate treat and conclude of such particulars as had relation thereunto But we shall see when things are somewhat better setled that the activity of the next Convocation will make amends for the silence and unsignificancy of this In the mean time I would fain know our Authors Reason why speaking of the Convocation and the Parlialiament in the notion of Twins the Convocation must be made the younger Brother Assuredly there had been Convocations in the Church of England some hundreds of years before the name of Parliament had been ever heard of which he that lists to read the collection of Councils published by that learned and industrious Gentleman Sir Henry Spelman cannot but perceive Fol. 71. This year the spire of Poles steeple covered with lead strangely fell on fire More modestly in this then when he formerly ascribes the burning of some great Abbeys to Lightning from heaven And so this steeple was both reported and believed to be fired also it being an ordinary thing in our Common Almanacks till these latter times to count the time among the other Eâ—oches of Computation from the year that St. Paul-steeple was fired with Lightning But afterwards it was acknowledg'd as our Author truly notes to be done by the negligence of a Plummer carelesly leaving his Coles therein â—â—nce which acknowledgement we finde no mention of this accident in our yearly Almanacks But whereas our Author finds no other Benefactors for the repairing of this great Ruine but the Queens bounty and the Clergieâ— Benevolence I must needs tell him that these were only accessories to the principall charge The greatest part hereof or to say better the whole work was by the Queen imposed on the City of London it being affirmed by Iohn Stow that after this mischance the Queens Majesty directed her Letters to Sâ—ow Suâ—veâ— the Maior willing him to take order for the speedy repairing of the same And in pursuance of that order besides what issued from the publick stock in the Chamber of London the Citizens gave first a great Benevolence and after that three Fifteens to be speedily paid What the Queen did in the way of furtherance or the Clergy of the Province of Canterbury in the way of help is to be lookt upon as their free voluntary Act no otherwise obliged thereto but as the publick Honour of the Church and State did invite them to it The Maior and City were the parties upon whom the command was laid as most concerned in the Repair of their own Cathedâ—al Which I thought good to put our Author in minde oâ— as a fault of omission only leaving such use as may be made of the Observation to the 〈◊〉 of others Fol. 71. Here I would fain be informed by some learned men in the Law what needed the restoring of those Children whose â—ather was condemned and died only for Heresie which is conceived a personal crime and not tainting the blâ—nd The Parliament this year had passed an Act for the Restitution in bloud of the children of Thomas Cranmer late Archbishop of Canterbury for which our Author as it seems can see no reason in regard he was condemned and died only for Heresie For though saith he this Archbishop was first accused of High-Treason yet it afterward was waved and he tryed upon Heretical opinions But in this our Author is mistaken For though Cranmer was condemned and died for Heresie yet he was not condemned for that only nor was the accusation for Treason wav'd as he saith it was but the conviction of him as an Heretick superadded to it Being accused of High-Treason for subscribing though unwillingly to the Proclamation of the Lady Iane he was committed to the Tower on the 15. of September and on the 13. of November following arraigned at the Guildhall in London and there convicted and condemned together with the said Lady Iane the Lord Guilford Dudley her Husband and the Lord Ambrose Dudley her Husbands Brother Of which four the Lady Iane and her Husband only suffered death on that condemnation the Lord Ambrose Dudley being reprieved for a better fortune and the Archbishop reserved for a moâ—e cruell death For the Queen finding it more satisfactory to the Court of Rome to have him burnt for an Heretick then hanged for a Traytor and being implacably bent against him for his activeness in the Divorce thought good to wave her first proceeding and to have him put to death for Heresie But the Attainder holding still good at the Common-Law there was great reason
false But I must needs say that there was small ingenâ—ity in acknowledging a mistake in that wherein they 〈◊〉 not been mistaken or by endeavouring to avoid a reputed Rock to run themselves on a certain Rock even the Rock of scandal For that the English Bishops had their vote in Parliament as a third 〈◊〉 and not in the capacity of temporal Barons will evidently appear by these reasons following For first the Clegy in all other Christian Kingdoms of theâ—e Noâ—thwest pâ—rts make the third Estate that is to say in the German Empire as appears by Thuanus the Historian lib. 2. In France as is affirmed by Paulus Aemilius lib. 9. in Spain as testifieth Bodinus in his De Bepub lib. 3. Foâ— which consult also the General History of Spain as in point of practice lib. 9 10 11 14. In Hâ—ngâ—ry as witnesseth Bonfinius Dec. 2. l. 1. In 〈…〉 by Thuanus also lib. 56. In Denmarkâ— as 〈◊〉 telleth us in Historia 〈…〉 observing antiently the same form and order of Government as was us'd by the Danes The like we finde in Camden for the Realm of Scotland in which antiently the Lords Spiritual viz. Bishops Abbots Priors made the third Estate And certainly it were very strange if the Bishops and other Prelates in the Realm of England being a great and powerful body should move in a lower Sphere in England then they doe elsewhere But secondly not to stand only upon probable inferences we finde first in the History of Titus Livius touching the Reign and Acts of King Henry the fifth that when his Funerals were ended the three Estates of the Realm of England did assemble together and declared his Son King Henry the sixth being an Infant of eight moneths old to be their Soveraign Lord as his Heir and Successor And if the Lords Spiritual did not then make the third Estate I would know who did Secondly the Petition tendred to Richard Duke of Glocester to accept the Crown occurring in the Parliament Rolls runs in the name of the three Estates of the Realm that is to say The Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons thereof Thirdly in the first Parliament of the said Richard lately Crowned King it is said expresly that at the request and by the consent of the three Estates of this Realm that is to say the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons of this Land assembled in this present Parliament and by Authority of the same it be pronounced decreed and declared That our said Soveraign Lord the King was and is the very and undoubted King of this Realm of England c. Fourthly it is acknowledged so in the Statute of 1 Eliz. cap. 3. where the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in that Parliament assembled being said expresly and in terminis to represent the three Estates of this Realm of England did recognize the Queens Majesty to be their true lawful and undoubted Soveraign Liege Lady and Queen Adde unto these the Testimony of Sir Edward Cooke though a private person who in his Book of the Jurisdiction of Courts published by order of the long Parliament chap. 1. doth expresly say That the Parliament consists of the Head and Body that the Head is the King that the Body are the three Eâ—tates viz. the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons In which words we have not only the opinion and tesâ—imony of that learned Lawyer but the Authority oâ— the long Parliament also though against it self Thoâ—e aged Bishops had been but little studied in their own concernments and betray'd their Rights if any of them did acknowledge any such mistake in châ—llenging to themselves the name and priviledges of the third 〈◊〉 Fol. 196. The Convocation now not sittingâ— and matters of Religion being brought under the cognizance of the Parliament their Wisdoms adjudged it not only convenient but necessary that some prime Clergy men might be consulted with It seems then that the setting up oâ— the new Assembly consisting of certain Lords and Gentlemen and two or more Divineâ— out of every County must be ascrib'd to the not sitting of the Convocation Whereas if that had been the reaâ—on the Convocation should have been first waâ—ned to reassemble with liberty and safe conducts given them to attend that service and freedom to debate such matters as conduced to the Peace of the Church If on those terms they had not met the substituting of the new Assembly might have had some ground though being call'd and nominated as they were by the Hoâ—se of Commons nothing they did could binde the Clergy further then as they were compellable by the power of the sword But the truth is the Convocation was not held fit to be trusted in the present Designs there being no hope that they would 〈…〉 change of the Goverâ—â—ent or to the abrogating of the Liturgy of the Church of England in all which the Divines of their own nomination were presum'd to serve them And so accordingly they did advancing their Presbyteries in the place of Episcopacy their Directory in the room of the Common Prayer Book their Confession to the quality of the Book of Articles all of them so short liv'd of so little continuance that none of them past over their Probationers year Finally having seâ—v'd the turn amus'd the world with doing nothing they made their Exit with far fewer Plaudites then they expected at their entrance In the Recital of whose names our Author craves pardon for omitting the greatest part of them as unknown to him whereas he might have found them all in the Ordinance of the Lords and Commons by which they were called and impowered to be an Assembly Of which pardon he afterwards presumes in case he hath not marshalled them in their Seniority because saith he Fol. 198. It â—avours something of a Prelatical Spirit to be offended about Precedency I â—ee our Author is no Changeling Primus ad extremum similis sibi the very same at last as he was at the first Certainly if it â—avour of a Prelatical Spirit to contend about Precedencies that Spirit by some Pythagorean Metempsychosis hath passed into the bodies of the Presbyterians whose pride had swell'd them in conceit above Kings and Princes Nothing more positive then that of Travers one of our Authors shining Lights for so he cals him Lib. 9. fol. 218. in his Book of Discipline Huic Discipline omnes Principes submittere Fasces suos necesse est as his words there are Nothing more proud and arrogant then that of the Presbyterians in Queen Elizabeths time who used frequently to say That King and Queens must lay down their Scepters and lick up the very dust of the Churrches feet that is their own And this I trow doth not savour so much of a Prelatical as a Papal Spirit Diogenes the Cynick affecting a vain-glorious poverty came into Plato's Chamber and trampled the Bed and other furniture thereof under his feet using these words Calco Platonis fastum
if all the Issue of King Iames the sixth were utterly extinguisheâ— coâ—ld not serve the turn For first the Lady Katherine Stuart Daughter to Iames the second from whom and not immediately from Iames the first he must fetch his pedigree was first Marryed to Robert Lord Boide Earl of Arran from whom being forcibly taken by her brother King Iames the third and marryed in her said Husbands life time Sir Iames Hamilton the especial favorite of that Kiâ—g she carryed with her for her Dower the Earldom of Arran The Children born of this Adulterous bed could pretend no Title to that Crown if all the Issue of Iames the first second and third should have chanc'd to fail And yet there was another flaw as great as this For Iames the Grand childe of this Iames having first marryed a Wife of one of the Noble Houses of Scotland and afterwards considering that Cardinall Betâ—n Arch-Bishop of St. Andâ—ews was the only man who managed the affairs of that Kingdome put her away and married a Neece or Kinswoman of the Cardinals his first Wife still living by whom he was the Father of Iohn the first Marquesse of Hamilton whose Grandchilde Iames by vertue of this goodly Pedigree pretended to the Crown of Scotland Fol. 149. M. Rogers in his Preface to the 39. Articles saith That since the suppression of Pâ—ritâ—ns by the Arch-Bishops Parker Grindal and Whitgift none will seems to be such That Archbishop Grindal was a suppressor of the Puritan Faction is strange to me and so I think it is to any who are verst in the actions of those times it being the generall opinion of our Historians that he fell into the Queens displeasure for being a chief Patron and promoter of it Certain it is that he wrote a large Letter to the Queen in defence of their prophesyings then which there could be nothing more dangerous to Church and State Nor does M. Rogers in his Preface to the 39. Articles tell us that he had any hand in the suppression of the Puritans it being affirmed by him on the contrary that they continued multiplying their number and growing strong even head-strong in bâ—ldnesse and schism till the dying day of this most Reverend Archbishop Fol. 151. But wâ—y to a forreign Title and not at as easie a rate to English as in Ireland he had tâ— all Sees there Our Authour makes a Quaery Why the Bishop appointed by the Pope to govern his party here in England should rather take his Title from Chalcedon in Greece then from any one of the Episcopal Sees in this Kingdom as well as they do in that of Ireland In answer whereunto though he gives us a very satisfactory reason yet I shall adde something thereunto which perhaps may not be unworthy of the Readers knowledge And him I would have know that at such time as Prince â—â—arles was in Spain and the Dispensation passed in the Court of Rome it was concluded in the Conclave that some Bishops should be sent into England by the Name of the Bishops of Salisbury Glocester Chester Durham sic de caeteris the better to manage and improve their encreasing hopes Intelligence whereof being given unto the Iesuites here in England who feared nothing more then such a thing one of them who formerly had free accesse to the Lord Keeper Williams acquaints him with this mighty secret assuring him that he did it for no other reason but because he knew what a great exasperation it would give the King and consequently how much it must incense him against the Catholicks Away with this Intelligence goes the Lord Keeper to the King who took fire thereat as well as he and though it was somewhat late at night commanded him to go to the Spanish Embassadour and to require him to send unto the King his Master to take some course that those proceedings might be stopt in the Court of Rome or otherwise that the Trâ—aty of the Match should advance no further The Lord Keeper findes the Embassadour ready to send away his packets who upon hearing of the News commanded his Carrier to stay till he had represented the whole businesse in a Letter to the King his Master On the receiving of which Letter the King imparts the whole businesse to the Popes Nuncio in his Court who presently sends hiâ— dispatches to the Pope acquainting him with the great inconveniences and unavoidable dangers of this new designe which being stopt by this devise and the Treaty of the Match ending in a Rupture not long after the same Jesuite came again to the Lord Keepers Lodging and in a fair and facetious manner thanked him most humbly for the good office he had done for that Society for brâ—aking the bearing off which blow all the friends they bad in Rome could finde no Buckler which Story as I heard from his Lordships own mouth with no small contentment so seemed he to be very well pleased with the handsomenesse of the trick which was put upon him Fol. 162. The German war made by Gustavus a pretension and but a pretension for liberty to the oppressed Princes Which Proposition as it stands is both true and false with reference to the beginning progresse and successe of his war For when he first undertook the conduct of it on the sollicitation of the Kings of England France and Denmark and many of the afflicted and disinherited Princes he cannot be supposed to entertain any other thoughts then to restore the Princes and free Cities to their former Rights for doing whereof his Army was defraid by the joynt charges and expence of the Confederates In order whereunto he caused the Inhabitants of all the Towns and Provinces which he had forced from the Emperours Forces before the overthrow of Tilly at the valley of Lipsick to take an Oath to be true unto the Liberty and Empire of Germany And hitherto his intents were reall not pretentionall only But after that great victory and the reducing of all Franconia and the lower Palatinate under his absolute command though he continued his pretensions yet he changed his purpose swearing the people of all degrees and ranks which submitted to him to be true from thenceforth to the King and Crown of Sweden This as it first discovered his ambition of the first designe which brought him over so was it noted that his affairs never prospered after receiving first a check from Wallenstein at the Siege of Noremberg and not long after his deaths wound and the battel of Lutzen Fol. 174. And now they revive the Sabbatarian controversie which was begun five years since Bradburn on the Sabbath day and directed to the King In this Discourse about the Sabbatarian Quarrels our Authour hath mistook himself in several particulars The businesse first is not rightly limn'd the coming out of Bradburns Book being plac'd by him in the year 1628. whereas it was not publisht until five years after But being publisht at that time and directed to the
and Wife to Roger Mortimer Earl of March from whom the House of York laid their claim to the Diadem But our Author is as good at the Pedigree of the House of the Beauforts as of that of Mortimer telling us That Cardinal Beaufort was not onely great Uncle to King Henry the sixth but Son to John of Gaunt and his Brother Cardinal of York The first two parts whereof are true but the last as false Cardinal Beaufort I am sure had no such Brother as our Author gives him for so he must be understood though the Grammar of the words will not bear so much sense namely a Cardinal of York unless it were King Henry the fourth whom Iohn of Gaunt had by Blanch of Lancaster his first Wife Iohn Earl of Somerset or Thomas Duke of Excester which two together with this Cardinal Beaufort he had by his last Wife Katherine Swinfort More Sons then these none of our Heralds or Historians give to Iohn of Gaunt and therefore no such Brother as a Cardinal of York to be found out any where for this Cardinal Beaufort except onely in our Authors Dreams Fol. 419. That in Anno 37. of Henry the eighth Letters Patents were granted to Lay-men to exercise all maner of Ecclesiastical Iurisdiction as the Kings Officers not the Bishops These are the words of Mr. Thomas in his Invective against the Bishops before mentioned and these our Author swallows without chewing not searching whether Mr. Thomas had rightly given the sense of that Act of Parliament or not but telling his in his gloss upon it That no Reason or Iustice are to be deduc'd from that Kings Actions more like an Atheist then a Christian either Ecclesiastical or Temporal But by the leave of good Mr. Thomas there can be no such matter gathered from that Statute of King Henry the eighth viz. That Letters Patents were granted to Lay-men to exercise all maner of Ecclesiastical Iurisdiction as the Kings Officers not the Bishops Before this time no man could be admitted to the Office of a Chancellor Vicar-General Commissary or Official in any Ecclesiastical Court or exercise any Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction except he were a single person and in Holy Orders To take away which curb and thereby to give the better incouragement to Students in the Civil Laws it was Enacted by this Statute that all such Ecclesiastical Officers whether made by the Kings Letters Patents as in the case of Sir Thomas Cromwel the Kings Vicar General or by any Arch-Bishop Bishop or Arch-Deacon within this Realm might from thencforth lawfully execute and exercise all maner of Iurisdiction commonly called Ecclesiastical Iurisdiction and all Censures and Coercions appertaining or in any wise belonging unto the same albeit such person or persons be Lay married or unmarried so that they be Doctors of the Civil Law lawfully created and made in any Vniversity Out of which premises if Mr. Thomas can conclude that such Lay-men so quallified to exercise Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction were the Kings Officers and not the Bishops he must have some new piece of Sandersons Logick which never was read in any of the Universities in which those lay persons did receive the Degree of Doctors Fol. 419. She was the right Heir apparent to her Brother and the onely right Issue to the Crown begotten no donbt in lawful Matrimony I dare not take upon me to dispute of Titles to the Crown but I dare take upon me to tell our Author that there was some doubt made by the most learned men of that time whether Queen Mary of whom he speaks were begotten and born in lawful Marriage All the Bishops in this Realm by a publick Writing under their Hands and Seals declared the Marriage of King Henry the eighth with Queen Maries Mother to be unlawful and so did the most eminent Divines in both the Universities as also in the Cathedrals Monasteries and other Conventual Bodies within this Realm The like declared also by several Universities in France and Italy under their publick Seals And so it was declared finally by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons assembled in â— full and free Parliament in which it was pronounced That the Marriage between the King and the Lady Katherine of Spain the Relict of his Brother was null and void to that it seems there was some doubting in this case though our Author makes no doubt of it at all Nor is it very certain neither that Queen Mary was the right Heir apparent to her Brother For if the Law of the Crown diffâ—r not from the Law of the Land in this particular which I leave unto our learned Lawyers she could not be the Heir to her Brother King Edward the sixth as being born of another Venter and consequently his Sister by the half blood onely Now as he makes no doubt of Queen Maries Title to the Crown so he makes the Title of Queen Elizabeth to be subject unto some dispute which all the Estates of the Realm convened in her first Parliament declared in the way of Recognition to be past disputing But I leave these inviduous Arguments and proceed to some other Fol. 429. Doctor Wren Bishop of Ely and Dean of the Kings Chappel had been accused of Misdemeanors in his Diocess amounting to Treason And being committed to the Tower there he hath lain ever since But fitst no misdemeanors how great soever can amount to a Treason nor ever was it so adjudged but onely in the Case of the Earl of Strafford Secondly There was no Evidence taken upon Oath to prove any of the misdemeanors which were charged upon him our Author confessing that after he had been Voted in the House of Commons unworthy and unfit to hold and exercise any Office or Dignity in Churh or Commonwealth there was no further speech of him or his Crimes Thirdly He was not committed to the Tower for any misdemeaners charged against him by those of his Diocess but for subscribing to the Protestation with the rest of the Bishops in the end of Dâ—cember 1641. who were committed at the same time also Fourthly He hath not remain'd there ever since his commitment neither but was discharged with the other Bishops about the end of February then next followâ—ng and about three or four Moneths after brought back again Anno 1642. without any Accusation brought against him either then or since Fol. 430. And then they adjourned until the twentieth of October and a standing Committee of the House of Commons consisting of fifty Members appointed during the Recess Of this Committee Mr. Iohn Pim was the principal Man without whom all the rest were Ciphers of no signification And by him there issued out an Order against Innovasions extended and intended also for taking down the Rails before the Communion-Table levelling the ground on which the said Table stood and placing the said Table in the middle of the Church or Chancell In which it is to be admired how eagerly this Order was pursued by