said Messuages Tenements or Hereditaments of the said now Lord North according to the true meaning of the said several Deeds And that it shall and may be lawful at all times hereafter to and for the said Dudley Lord North his Heirs Tenants and Assigns and all others inhabiting and possessing the said Mansion-house or any other the said Messuages Tenements or Hereditaments of the said Lord North for themselves their servants and workmen to have free ingress and regress into and from the Orchards Gardens or other places of the said Hospital where it shall be needful to survey repair cleanse amend and new make the said Pipes Conduits Cocks Chanels and Water-courses and all other Pipes Conduits Cocks Chanels and Water-courses that hereafter shall be erected or placed within the precinct of the said Hospital for the conveying of Water unto the said Mansion-house or other the Messuages Tenements or Hereditaments of the said now Lord North or any of them and to that purpose to subvert and digg up the Soil of the said Orchards Gardens or other places of the said Hospital where it shall be needful Provided also A Proviso for the Viscountess Maidstone and be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that this Act or any thing therein contained shall not in any wise extend unto the Mansion-house of the Right honourable Elizabeth Viscountess of Maidstone scituate and being in Charter-house Church-yard near unto the said Hospital nor to any the Buildings Outhouses Gardens or Grounds therewith used or thereto pertaining nor to any Mansion-houses Buildings or Grounds therewith used of any other person or persons within or near the precinct of the said Church-yard or Hospital and not conveyed or mentioned to be conveyed by the said Thomas Sutton to the said Governours by the said Indenture of Bargain and Sale But that it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Viscountess of Maidstone and all and every other person and persons whatsoever to hold and enjoy the said several Mansion houses and Premisses therewith used or thereto pertaining together with all ways and passages with Carts or otherwise and all Liberties Profits Easements Water and Water-courses Pipes Cocks and Passages for Water and liberty to digg cleanse amend and new make such Pipes Cocks and Water-courses as fully and as amply as if this Act had never been had nor made Ego Henricus Elsyinge Armiger ' Clericus Parliamentorum virtute brevis dicti Domini nostri Regis de Certiorando mihi direct ' his annexat ' certifico superius hoc scriptum verum esse tenorem Actus Parliamenti supradicti in eo brevi mencionat ' In cujus rei testimonium Sigillum nomenque meum apposui atque subscripsi Dat' secundo Die Julii Anno regni dict' Domini nostri Regis Caroli quarto H. Elsyinge Cler ' Parl. Nos autem separales tenores brevis scedulae predict ad requisition ' Gubernatorum terrarum possessionum revencionum bonorum Hospitalis predict duximus Exemplificand ' per presentes In cujus rei testimonium has literas nostras fieri fecimus Patentes Teste meipso apud Westmonasterium Decimo octavo die Julii Anno Regni nostri quarto Cesar Car. Examinat ' per nos Rob. Riche Edw. Clarke Clericos Irrotulat ' Rotul ' Patent ' Cur ' Cancellar ' Domini Regis Caroli infra script ' de Anno Regni ejusdem Regis Angliae c. Quarto Now all things are fixed and settled according to the admirable Ends they were designed for every one enjoying the benefit and refreshments of our Noble Founder's Charity Ezra 6.9 Day by day we have our Portions without fail that we may offer Sacrifices of sweet Savour unto the God of Heaven and pray for the Life and Prosperity of our most gracious King and the Happiness of our Noble Governours The Names of the present Governours 1. The most Reverend Father in God Gilbert Lord Arch-bishop of Canterbury 2. The Lord Chancellor of England 3. The Duke of Buckingham 4. The Duke of Monmouth 5. The Duke of Ormond 6. Lord Chamberlain 7. Lord Treasurer 8. Earl of Bridgewater 9. Earl of Craven 10. Earl of Shaftsbury 11. Lord Bishop of Winchester 12. Lord Bishop of Rochester 13. Lord Robarts 14. Mr. Secretary Coventry 15. Sir William Wild. 16. Martyn Clifford Esquire Thus the Government of this Foundation is fixed upon the most Honourable Grandees of our State and the most Reverend Prelates of our Church they who sit at the Helm of our Kingdom and are graciously pleased to steer and guide this goodly Ship of Renowned Sutton's Charity And here we may note the great Wisdom of our Founder who made choice of men of Honour and Power who were able to maintain his Foundation by their Interest and to grace it with their Honour When any of these Noble Lord happen to decease another is chosen within two months by the voices of the Major part The Patent runs thus TO all whom these Presents shall come the Governours of the Lands Possessions Revenues and Goods of the Hospital of King James founded in the Charter-house within the County of Middlesex at the humble Petition and only Costs and Charges of Thomas Sutton Esquire send greeting in our Lord GOD everlasting Whereas _____ one of the Governours of the Lands Possessions Revenues and Goods of the Hospital of King James aforesaid lately died and departed this life by means whereof his room and place of a Governour did become and yet is and continueth void Know ye therefore that the said Governours according to the true intent and meaning of the Letters Patent of our late Soveraign Lord King James for the Foundation of the said Hospital bearing date the Two and twentieth day of June in the Ninth year of his Reign do elect nominate and appoint _____ to be henceforth one of the Governours of the Lands Possessions Revenues and Goods of the said Hospital of King James founded in the Charter-house within the County of Middlesex at the humble Petition and only Costs and Charges of Thomas Sutton Esquire in the room and place of a Governour so being void as aforesaid by the death of the said _____ _____ to be and continue in the room and place and to have exercise and enjoy the said room and place of one of the Governours of the Lands Possessions Revenues and Goods of the Hospital aforesaid according to the true intent and meaning of the said Letters Patent In witness whereof the said Governours have hereunto set their Common Seal and every one of them his particular Seal c. The Members that are kept and maintain'd in the Hospital chiefly consist of old Gentlemen and Children 1. FOurscore ancient Men who have been formerly in the Wars and been serviceable to their King and Country or else decay'd Merchants whose Estates have been swallowed up in the Deep or aged and poor Housholders who have formerly lived in a fair esteem in the World who have a long
Mount Carmel The ascent to this Hill is so difficult that it is reckon'd an Emblem of the way to Heaven so high so steep it is and craggy Nature has bestowed upon this Monastery a double Entrance the one is call'd the Carthusian Bridge where two hilly Banks raise themselves to an incredible height and joyn at the top The other is full of danger and wonders being a wearysome and uneasie passage four miles long between two rocky and mountainous risings Hither came these seven Converts with much pains and difficulty under the happy conduct of the aforesaid Bishop and here was to be the Plantation of Bruno's Piety and Holiness The Bishop gravely pronounces En Vester hic locus And then they kneel down and offer up the Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving to Almighty God The Reasons why a Mountain was made choice of rather than a Valley to be the Habitation of this Order are many for say they we are now nearer Heaven here the Patriarchs of old did inhabit when Abram went to Sacrifice he ascended the Mountain and thus did Lot when he escap't the anger of the Lord Moses went up to the Mountain to receive the Law here lived Elias and the Sons of the Prophets This Mountain they compare to Mount Sinai because here Bruno gave them their Rules and Constitution sometimes to Mount Oreb for the renown of their Zeal and Charity to Seir because they are fortunate and have spread over most parts of Christendom to Moriah mons visionis because there the Holy Father beheld the Seven Stars to Mirre mons amaritudinis because of their severe discipline and rigour of life to Mount Sion Tabor and Olivet c. These are the usual Comparisons chiefly founded upon their Marginal Notes of Humour and Fancy As for the number Seven it must not pass without some figurative Comment These are the Seven Angels with the Seven Trumpets Rev. 8.6 to declare War and Destruction to the sinful World The Seven Steps that were seen in Ezekiel's Vision the Seven Candlesticks to enlighten the World and lastly the Eyes of the Lamb. I shall not farther take notice of their playing with this wise number but proceed to their Orders They are obliged to wear Shirts made of Hair never to feed upon flesh on Fridays to eat nothing but bread and water to live asunder in particular Cells and thither to have their Diet singly brought them except on some certain Festival days when they dine together not to entertain any Converse with each other but upon statutable times none to go out of the Monastery but the Superior and Procurator and they only to solicit the concerns of the Covent from this rigorous way of Life some imagine the name of their Order to be derived from Caro tusa now Cartuse from their Austerities and Mortification of the Flesh Their Habit is a white loose Coat with a Cowl of the same but when they go abroad they have a Case of black Stuff over it their Heads are shaved just as the Benedictines are Their particular Cells are low built and do contain three or four several Rooms on the ground-floor only having behind each of them a little Garden environed with a high Wall their Diet is brought to them by Lay-brothers and put in at a little Door in the Wall near the entrance thereof unto which there is a Lock the Key whereof is kept by him that serves them At the Hours of Publick Prayers they meet in the Quire Women are not permitted to come within the Precincts of their Monastery nor a man to speak with any of them without special license given by the Superior The Lay Brothers are not shaven but their Hair on the Head is cut short and round their Habit being the same with the Monks saving the Scapular which reacheth but a little below the middle and is girt close to them Which Institution by Bruno was as Polydore affirms in the Year 1080. but others upon better grounds affirm in 1084. As to their Diurnal and Nocturnal Offices they observe the Rule of St. Benedict As for their Number they have not anciently exceeded Thirteen in any one Convent they often glory in this Number upon these Accounts As first because it includes the Decalogue and Trinity then it bears an allusion to Jacob and his Sons as also to our Blessed Saviour and his twelve Disciples This Order frequently I find listed under the Patronage of St. John the Baptist CHAP. III. Of their Transplantation and Number in England 1. Coenobium Withamense THey first were brought hither by King Henry the Second Anno 1181. and the Seven and twentieth year of his Reign at which time he founded a Monastery for them at Witham in Somersetshire whereof Hugh Bishop of London was the first Prior. This Convent was founded to the Honour of the Blessed Virgin St. John the Baptist and All Saints 2. Hentonense In the Four and twentieth of Henry the Third the Lady Ela Countess of Salisbury at Henton in Wiltshire 3. La Salutation Mere Dieu That at the Charter-house For this I design a particular Chapter 4. Beauvaleense In the time of Edward the Third 1343. Nicholas Cantilupe Lord of Ilkeston founded a Religious House for Carthusian Friers at a place called Fair valley in Nottinghamshire 5. Coenobium Sanctae Annae In the Reign of Richard the Second 1381. we find another founded by William de la Souche called the Monastery of St. Anne near Coventry 6. Kingstonense In the same Kings Reign Michael de la Pool Lord of Wingfield Founded another of these Convents at Kingston upon Hull in Yorkshire 1378. 7. Mont-Gracense In the time of Richard the Second Thomas de Holland Duke of Surrey Earl of Kent and Lord of Wake founded another at a place called Mount-grace in Yorkshire And dedicated it to the Assumption of the Mother of God 8. Eppeworthense At Eppeworth beyond the Isle of Axiholme in Lincolnshire was erected the fourth Carthusian Monastery of this King's Reign wherein they did most flourish it was built for the Honour of the Visitation of the Mother of God 9. Sheenense Anno Dom. 1514. Henry the Eighth erected the last Monastery of the Carthusians hard by his own Mannor House Sheen in the County of Surrey and called it The House of Jesus of Bethlehem of Sheen CHAP. IV. Of the Charter-house or Carthusian Monastery near Smithfield With an Account of the particular occasion and Author of the Foundation THE Founder hereof was the brave and renowned Man at Arms Sir Walter de Manny Lord of the same place and born in the Diocess of Cambray now one of the Seventeen United Provinces He was first Banneret and then made by King Edward the Third the 46 th Ashmole Inst Gart. Knight of the Garter not as Speed one of the Founders His Arms three Cheverons Sable the Field Or. I shall begin with the first mention of him in our Chronicles and so trace him down to this
did purchase the same unless such other person and persons do pursue their Title Claim or Interest by way of Action or lawful Entry within ten years after the end of this present Session of Parliament Saving to the King's Majesty Exceptions and Savings his Heirs and Successors all such Estate Right Title and Interest as his Majesty had or might have had unto any the said Mannors Lands Tenements and Hereditaments before the said Indenture made other than for or by reason of any Alienation in Mortmain And saving to all and every other person or persons Bodies Politique and Corporate and their Heirs and Successors other than the Heirs of the said Thomas Sutton and other than such person and persons from whom the said Thomas Sutton purchased the said Hospital House Mannors Lands Tenements or Hereditaments or any of them their Heirs Issues and Assigns and Persons claiming by from or under them respectively and other than such Person and Persons as shall claim the title of Alienation in Mortmain of any the said Mannors Lands Tenements and Hereditaments all such Estate Right Title Claim Custome Interest and Demand whatsoever as they or any of them have or shall have in as large and ample manner and form to all intents and purposes as if this Act had never been had nor made The Governours disabled to convey the Hospital House or Lands to the King And be it further enacted and established by the Authority aforesaid That the said Governours and their Successors shall be from and after the end of this present Session of Parliament for ever wholly and utterly disabled in Law to make do levy or suffer any Act or Acts Thing or Things whereby or by means whereof the said Hospital House Mannors Lands Tenements or Hereditaments or any part of them or any of them shall or may be aliened assured given granted demised charged or in any sort conveyed or come to the possession of our said Soveraign Lord the King All conveyances to the King of any the Hosâ—ital Lâ—â—… us to be vâ—â—…d his Heirs or Successors And that all Alienations Assurances Gifts Grants Leases Charges and Conveyances whatsoever from and after the end of this present Sâ—ssion of Parliament to be done sufferâ—â— or made to our said Soveraign Lord the King his Heirs or Successors by the said Governours or their Successors of or out of the said Hospital House Mannors Lands Tenements or Hereditaments or of or out of any part or parcel of them or any of them shall be from and after the end of this present Session of Parliament utterly void and of none effect to all intents constructions and purposes any former Law Statute Act Ordinance or other matter or thing to the contrary notwithstanding The Governours disabled to make any Estates but for 21 years or under or for one two or three lives or for any years determinabâ—e upon one two or three lives by Indenture in possession and not in Reversion at the usual Rent or more or the tâ—ue yearly value thereof And be it further enacted and established by the Authority aforesaid that the said Governours and their Succesors and every of them be also from henceforth for ever wholly and utterly disabled in Law to make do levy or suffer any act or acts thing or things whereby or by means whereof the said Hospital-house Mannors Lands Tenements or Hereditaments or any of them or any part of them or any of them shall or may be aliened assured given granted demised charged or in any sort conveyed to any Person or Persons Bodies Politique or Corporate other than Leases and Demises by Indenture of the said Mannors Lands Tenements and Hereditaments and every or any of them other than the said Hospital-house Orchards Gardens Backsides or any of them or any part of them or any of them now used for the habitation or use of or for the Master Preacher Schoolmaster Vsher poor Scholars and poor People of the said Hospital or any of them for the term of One and twenty years or under in possession and not in reversion or for one two or three lives or for any number of years determinable upon one two or three lives in possession and not in reversion and whereupon such yearly rent or more shall be reserved to the Governours of the said Hospital and their Successors during the continuance of every such Lease as is now reserved upon any demise thereof or otherwise the true yearly value thereof and other than Grants by Copy of Court Roll according to the Customes of the several Mannors respectively An Exception by granting by Copy of Court Roll. Provided nevertheless that it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Governours and their Successors to grant reasonable and convenient Annuities Rents or Fees to such person or persons as shall be Officers Ministers or needful Attendants concerning the affairs of the said Hospital only for life or at will So as the number of the Officers Ministers or needful Attendants be not increased above the Number which now is as fully and amply as they should or might have done as if this Act had never been had or made A Proviso for the Lord North. Provided always and be it enacted that this Act or any thing herein before contained shall no way extend to give any title to the said Hospital in or unto the Mansion-house now in possession of the Right Honourable Dudley Lord North or of his Assigns at or near the East end of the said Hospital nor unto any the Buildings Edifices Courts Gardens Orchards or Grounds thereunto belonging or therewith used or enjoyed nor unto any other the Messuages Tenements or Hereditaments of the said Lord North being within or near the Scite or Precinct of the said Hospital But that it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Lord North his Heirs Tenants and Assigns for ever hereafter to hold and enjoy against the Governours Master and other the Owners or Possessors of the said Hospital in the Charter-house now and for the time being the said Mansion-house and Premises and all ways and passages by Cart or otherwise Easements Waters Water-courses Chanels Pipes Conduits Cocks Liberties Profits and Hereditaments to the same or any of them belonging or therewith or with any of them now used or enjoyed or the which by the true meaning of any Grant Covenant Clause or Agreement contained in one Deed of Feoffment made by Edward Lord North unto Sir William Peter Knight and others bearing date the Sixth day of November in the Fifth year of the Reign of the late Queen Elizabeth and in one other Deed made by Roger late Lord North and others to the Right Noble Prince Thomas late Duke of Norfolk bearing date the last day of May in the Seventh year of the Reign of the said late Queen Elizabeth were meant and intended to belong unto or to be enjoyed with the said Mansion-house or any other the
Free from disquiet and complaint Which trouble and distract the busie head Such peaceful paths his Infancy did tread Here the great Cowley's Poet and his Saint Was taught the Elements of Speech and Piety Cowley he was the Subject of thy Pen That Pen which did bewail the end Of thy most dear and most lamented Friend For thou didst but desire when he was snatch't from us frail men A modest portion of his sacred fire Yet some may say thy Charity was blind Because it has thy modesty outran For thou hast prov'd so kind T'embalm and bless that very man Who left Religion and his Friend behind 'T is true alas had he not stept aside But in his Mothers bosom dy'd Had his Muse not wanton been Nor fled unto Loretto's shrine He might have long since this begun From smaller Numbers his eternal Song 16. Here our first James that wore the Brittish Crown Weary'd with acclamations and the toyl Of travel to unite this long divided Isle Enter'd withall the Noble Train he â—ed Within these walls three nights he laid his thoughtful head Until he did advance into the Town Until another Palace was prepar'd As Princes came from far to view the Throne Of Mighty Solomon So Scotland's King mov'd many a tedious mile Drawn with the Fame of this Great Pile He came and saw more than ever he had heard 17. Exactly on the South I saw A comely Structure shew its head And when I question'd whose abode It was I heard the Law And Gospels read I saw twice forty Elders drawing nigher I heard the Musick of the sacred Quire And then I knew it was the House of God 18. The Image of thy boundless Soul Where e're our gazing eyes do roul Is the fair object of our view To Youth untaught to number years To active youth well near its prime In glorious Visions it appears The Aged too still dream of you Although they 're e'en worn out with time Here Innocence and Piety Are fed and nurst by Charity Here the tender Plants do grow A handsome and a graceful show There the tall and Aged Oake In patience waits the fatal stroke Which as it falls must lye Until it approach Eternity 19. Sickness and death are almost strangers here No ill-foreboding Comet dare appear Whilst Nedham's nigh they cannot kill No Carthusian blood can spill In vain they tempt his known and mighty skill In vain they make a needless strife All that belongs to human life To every Limb to every Nerve To fortifie repair and long preserve He knows it all And then for shame why do we call The Seat of Health an Hospital H 'as trac'd the Infant from the womb Through all his changes to the Tomb H 'as planted here the Tree of Life that Fate Has no Comission for to enter Here no contagious ills dare venture While this great Aesculapius guards the Gate 20. He that Robs thy Treasury of Love Shall feel the Scourge of Heaven above And as to Scripture if we strive to add 'T is thought a Crime a most as bad For then our Benefactions are in vain We empty Cockles in the boundless Main To thee alone Great Sir we pay this Right Of Thanks Thy arge and crowded Store Will entertain no more No not the Widow's Mite And yet thy Charity 's not bestow'd in vain For many Ages hence it will be found again Thy Bread is cast upon and covers all the Main 20. The Influence of thy mighty Zeal Does warm these Northern parts Dissolves the Ice and softens all our hearts Thy Love amazes all the Roman Spyes It warms our Clime and dazles all our Eyes And what is more in this fair solitude Thou by a Miracle Dost now instruct and feed a multitude So that if Saints above can understand and see How things are acted in this Vale of Misery Thy Charity to us must still encrease For there they say 't will never cease Though all thou hadst on Earth was given Yet thou hast Blessings to bestow On us poor Mortals here below As thou art made Lord Almoner of Heaven The CONTENTS Of the Old Foundation AN Account of the Rise and Original of the Carthusian Order Cap. 1. Page 1. Of the Rules and Constitution of the Order c. 2. p. 7. Of their Transplantation and Number in England c. 3. p. 12. Of the Charter-house or Carthusian Monastery near Smithfield c. 4. p. 15. Of their Fabulous Miracles c. 5. p. 22. King Edward the Third's License or Grant for the Foundation of the Monastery p. 30. Bulla Urbani Papae p. 32. Of the New Foundation Sutton's Life p. 37. The Occasions of his growing Rich p. 40. Knott the Jesuit's unjust Censure of him p. 45. Sutton's Death and Funeral Solemnities p. 54. Bishop Hall's incomparable Letter to stir him up to Charity p. 59. An Act of Parliament to erect the Hospital at Hallingbury in Essex p. 69. King James's Letters Patent to alter the Scituation p. 85. Ecclesiastical Preserments in the Governour 's disposal p. 87. Simon Baxter Heir in Law to the Founder enters an Action of Trespass against the Governours p. 88. The Casâ—â—â—…atea on both sides p. 89. Sir Francis Bacon's Letter to King James to overthrow the Foundation p. 96. The Opening of the House p. 109. An Establishment made whereby all the Officers and Members in the House are to be regulated p. 110. Concerning Assemblies and Committees p. 116. The Election and Duty of a Master p. 120. Of the Preacher p. 123. Of the Physician p. 125. The Register and Solicitor p. 126. The Receiver p. 129. The Maâ—ciple p. 130. Schoolmaster and Usher p. 135. The Auditor p. 141. Allowances to the Members p. 145. A Confirmation of the King's Letters Patent by an Act of Parl. for the removal of the Hospital p. 154. The first List of Governours p. 70. The names of the present Governours p. 176. A Patent for a Governour p. 177. Of the number and nature of the Members maintained p. 181. The Warrant for a Pensioner p. 182. How to obtain a place for an old Man or Youth p. 189. A Warrant for a Lad p. 190. An Account of the encrease and present state of the Revenues of the House p. 193. The Founder's Will p. 200. Orders for the Pensioners p. 231. Ordinis Carthusiani Monachus F. H. Van. Houe fec Of the Old FOUNDATION OF THE Charter-House CHAP. I. An Account of the Rise and Original of the Carthusian Order IN the year of our Lord 1082 at what time Gregory the Seventh was Bishop of Rome and in the Sixteenth year of the Reign of King William the Conqueror we are told there hapned in Paris a very strange and wondrous accident the Relation whereof I find much after this manner Bruno a German born at Cologne of an ancient and worthy Family by his studious life and successful endeavours obtained so great a reputation among learned Men that he was at length prevailed with to visit France where he was
his Noble and Magnificent Benefaction Edv. 3. Anno 11o. He was sent Ambassadour to the French King which was no mean Imployment for him either as he was a Gentleman or a Stranger In this Voyage he couragiously lands his men on the Isle of Agnes on purpose to revenge the Death of some English men who not long before were slain by the Inhabitants when they came for fresh water Here he made a general slaughter and takes the Earl of Flanders his Brother Captain of the Island Prisoner His next martial performance was in company of Henry Earl of Derby Duke of Lancaster into Gascoign and Guyen where these two only attended with Five hundred men at Arms and some few Archers did mighty things vanquisht the Enemy and recover'd many walled Towns and Castles It chanced that the Countess of Montfort Sister to Louis Earl of Flanders like an undaunted Virago put on Armour and leads and encourages her People to repell the common Foe She desires aid of the King of England and hath it granted under the conduct of no less a man than the Lord Walter de Manny Not long after the King himself fighting with the French that he might not be known in Person puts himself and the Prince under the Colours and Defence of the same Invincible Warriour This may suffice for a small description of his Strength and Valour I shall now proceed to the occasion of this singular Instance of his Piety and Beneficence He lived in an Age wherein all things seemed as wonderful as himself Ann. 1345. on the Conversion of St. Paul a great Earthquake shook Germany wherewith many Villages and Castles fell down likewise Stones mixt with Rain fell out of the Air Moreover the same day many publick and private Houses fell at Venice afterwards the Earth was shaken more or less fifteen days whereof it hapned that almost all Women with Child were delivered before their time And after this a noysom Pestilence called Inguinaria invaded the People the venom of the Disease was so deadly that scarce one in an hundred escaped alive It began first in Scythia there raged along the Coasts of the Sea Pontus and Hellespont at length through Greece and Illyria it came into Italy 1346. A great Vapour coming from the North-part to the great fear of the Beholders was seen in the Air and fell on the Earth And the same year certain small Beasts in great number fell from the Element in the East through whose corruption and stench there ensued a great Plague which for three years reigned over the whole World First creeping into Asia from India was vehement in England Florence Germany and all Europe The Jews were thought guilty of it by poisoning Fountains and therefore they were burned every where 1349. The Eighth of the Calends of Febr in Noricum on that side it is joyned with Pannonia Illyrium Dalmatia Carinthia and Istria there was a great Earthquake in the Evening which lasted forty days Six Cities and Castles were overthrown and swallowed up In London the Plague was so vehement that in a place called Charter-house-yard were buried of the better sort of People Sixty thousand says Cambden in his Britannia Middlesex p. 311. Ibi floruit opulenta Carthusianorum aedes à Gualtero Manny Hannonio posita Qui summa cum laude sub Edv. 3. bello Gallico meruit Celeberrimúmque fuit eo loco ante Caemeterium in quo grassante peste 1349. Londino sepulta fuerunt plusquam quinquaginta hominum millia quod inscriptione ibi in aere pâ—steris fuit testatum In this dismal time it pleased God to stir â—p the heart of this Noble Knight to have respect to the danger that might fall in the time of this Pestilence then begun in England if the Churches and Church-yards in London might not suffice to bury the multitude Wherefore he purchased a piece of ground near St. John's street called Spittle-Croft without the Barrs in West-Smithfield of the Master and Brethren of St. Bartholomew Spittle containing Thirteen Acres and a Rod and caused the same to be Enclosed and Consecrated by Ralph Stratford Bishop of London at his own proper Cost and Charges In which place in the year following Stow reports were buried more than Fifty thousand Persons as is affirmed by the King's Charter and by this following Inscription which he read upon a Stone Cross sometime standing in the Charter-house-yard An. Dom. M. CCC XL. IX Regnante magna Pestilentiâ consecratum fuit hoc coemeterium In quo infra septa praesentis Monasterii sepulta fuerunt mortuorum corpora plusquam quinquaginta millia praeter alia multa abhinc usque ad praesens Quorum animabus propitietur Deus Amen Here not long after he caused a Chappel to be built wherein Offerings were made and Masses said for the Souls of so many Christians departed And afterwards Ann. 1371. he founded an House of Carthusian Monks which he built in Honour of the Salutation of the Mother of God as may be seen at large in the King's Charter and the Pope's Bull which I have annexed This Pestilent Disease continued in one place or another till the Year 1357. at which cessation the Bishop of Norwich the Earl of Northampton Earl of Stafford Sir Richard Talbot and Sir Walter de Manny sailed over into France to make a Peace which they did for a year only But after many long and happy years when the Prince of Wales eldest Son to Edward the Third dy'd at Bourdeaux the Prince with his Wife and other Son Richard came over into England then in the year 1371. dy'd our worthy Heroe at London and was buried in the Monastery of the Chartreux which he had built leaving behind him only one Daughter married to John Earl of Pembroke Thus departed the generous Soul of this pious Founder thus he desired to sleep in peace among his Carthusians in the Fields as 〈◊〉 M. ss terms them in the Cott. Libr. and left such a Monument of his Bounty to Posterity that I suppose it no Crime to make this Honourable mention of Him For at the Dissolution of Religious Houses this was valued at Six hundred forty two pounds four pence half penny If any person be offended at what is said because he lived in a dark and gloomy Age I refer him to the Preface of that great Man Cambden in his Britannia Sunt ut audio qui Monasteria eorum Fundatores à me memorari indignantur dolentuâ— audio sed cum bonâ illorum gratiâ dixerim iidem indignentur imo forsan oblivisci vèlint majores nostros Christianos fuisse nos esse cum non alia Christianae eor um pietatis in Deum devotionis certiora illustriora uspiam extiterint monumenta nec alia fuere plantaria unde Christiana Religio bonae literae apud nos propagentur utcunque saeculo corrupto averruncanda filix in illis plus nimio succreverit CHAP. V. Of their Fabulous Miracles AS we
possessionem inducendi defendendi Inductos amotis quibuslibet detentoribus ab iisdem ac faciendi ipsis Priori Conventui de ipsorum Beneficiorum Fructibus redditibus proventibus congruas portiones ad ipsius Archiepiscopi vel Ordinarii arbitrium super quo ipsius Archiepiscopi Ordinarii conscientiam oneramus taxandas ex quibus si sint Ecclesiae Parochiales perpetuiâ—l icarii per Priorem qui erit pro tempore conventum dictae domus ad Beneficia eadem praesentandi commodè sustentari jura Episcopalia solvere alia iis incumbentia onera sustentare Contradictores Authoritate nostrâ appellatione postposita compescendo non obstantibus si aliquis super provisionibus sibi faciendis de hujusmodi vel aliis Beneficiis Ecclesiasticis in illis partibus Speciales vel Generales Apostolicae Sedis vel Legatorum ejus Literas impetravit estamsi per eas ad inhibitionem reservationem decretum vel alià s quomodolibet sit processam Quas Literas Processus habttos quos per eos post unionem hujusmodi habert conttgerit ad dicta Beneficia volumus extendi Sed nullum per hoc iis quoad assecutionem aliorum beneficiorum praejudicium generari quibuslibet Privilegits Indulgentiis Literis Apostolicis Generalibus vel Specialibus quorumcunque tenerum existant per quae praesentibus non expressa vel totaliter non inserta effectus earum impediri valeat quom â—olibet vel differri de quibus quorumque totis tenoribus habenda sit in Literis nostris mentis specialis plenam liberam tenore praesentium potestatem concedimus Datum Romae Apud Sanctam Marinum trans Tyberim pridié Idus Decembris Pontificatûs nostri Anno primo An Account of Sutton's Foundation with his Life and Death THOMAS SUTTON Esquire Founder of King James his Hospital in the Charter-house was born at Knaith in Lincolnshire in the year of our Lord 1531. which was the Four and twentieth year of Henry the Eighth Though he was born rather to give Honour to his Family than to borrow any from it yet his Blood was conveighed to him through many noble Saxon Veins in Cheshire Lancashire and Worcestershire For notwithstanding the Danish and the Norman Conquests yet in the time of the latter we find one of this Family Sherif in those Parts a Person of a fair and honourable esteem in the World And this advantage a Man well descended has above all others unless he degenerate that the Great Actions of his Ancestors will not let him sleep until he has outdone the Original The Course of this Ancient Family like the River Alpheus a while ran silently under Ground while at last it sprang up in Lincolnshire in the time of Henry the Seventh under Dudley as notorious for Cruelty and Exactions as our Founder is for Mercy and Compassion His Father was Edward Sutton Son of Thomas Sutton Servant to Edward the Fourth His Mother was Jane Stapleton the Daughter of Robert Stapleton Esquire of the most Generous and Worthy Family of the Stapleton's in Yorkshire Ancestours not so low that his Descent should be a shame to his Vertues nor yet so great but that his Vertue might be an Ornament to his Birth Mr. Cox afterwards Dr. Cox Almoner to King Edward the Sixth and Bishop of Ely under Queen Elizabeth brought him up three years at Eaton four years in Magdalen and Jesus Colledges in Cambridge to each of whose Children surviving at his Death Mr. Sutton gave 10 l. for a Legacy and as a thankful Acknowledgment of the Benefits he received from those places of good Learning he nobly bequeathed 500 to each Colledge Soon after he was placed in Lincolns-Inne as a Student that he might want no part of Learning becoming a Gentleman Not long after almost tired with a Sedentary life desire of Travel increasing with his Knowledge he went to visit Forreign Nations and obtained the perfection of several Languages Half of a year he tarries in Spain two in Italy one in France and then he passes into Holland and the Low-Countries from whence after a year or two spent in the Italian Wars for he was at the Sacking of Rome under the Duke of Bourbon he returned accomplish't with experience and observation Then he was admitted to the Earl of Warwick and the Earl of Leicester's service To the former he was a Steward to the latter a Secretary and to both he approved himself so able and faithful that they declared him fit for more Publique Imployments as after appear'd by their helping him to Farm the Northern Coal-mines and that upon no other Security than his own Word He was quickly spy'd out by his wise and noble Soveraign Queen Elizabeth one who knew where to bestow her Favours and who deserved her Bounty by her he was made Master of the Ordnance at Barwick which Office he enjoyed Fourteen years in token whereof there are two Pieces of Ordnance carved in Stone and set upon the Chimney-piece in the great Hall in the Charter-house Then he was chosen Pay-Master to the Northern Army and afterwards one of the Commissioners for the Sequestration of the Lands of the Northern Rebels in opposition to whom he shewed himself a wise Man in disposing so advantageously of the Berwick Forces And a valiant Man in his Actions and Conduct Some years after he became Victualler to the Navy and some Garrisons in the Low-Countries one of which was Ostend which by the help of some Fishermen he relieved very strangely and to his own great Advantage to which Town he left in his Will 100 l. Lastly he was a Commissioner for Prizes under the Earl of Nottingham Lord High Admiral of England who gave him Letters of Mart against the Spaniard from whom he took a Ship richly laden worth Twenty thousand pounds Having by these profitable Imploys laid the Foundation of a good Estate upon some mis-understanding between him and the Northern Nobility he retires to London to enjoy and improve it where his Riches increased and came upon him like a Tyde by the just Arts and Methods which he used He brought with him to London the Reputation of a mighty monied Man insomuch that it was reported That his Purse returned from the North fuller than Queen Elizabeth's Exchequer here he was made a Freeman Citizen and Girdler of London His Payments were thought as sure as her Pensions the readiness of his money and the fairness of his dealing laid the grounds of a mighty Reputation for now he is look't upon by all men he has the first refusal of the best Bargains of Sales and Mortgages which were more frequent in a dead time of Money as that was Here possibly he got acquaintance with several Lords Servants whom he remembers in his last Will and piously relieves them He was also resorted to by Citizens for mony and indeed Mr. Sutton became the Banker of London being called upon so much that he was perswaded to help
your memorial both eternal and blessed or if you had rather the whole Common-wealth But now I find my self too hold and too busie in thus looking to particularities God shall direct you and if you follow him shall Crown you Howsoever if good be done and that betimes He hath what he desired and your Soul shall have more than you can desire The Success of my weak yet hearty Counsel shall make me as rich as God hath made you with all your abundance God bless it to you and make both our Reckonings cheerful in the Day of our Common Audit Never man received Advice more kindly than Mr. Sutton and blessed God for the return of his Prayers in the Garden He never was inclinable to Dr. Willet's former Proposal upon these accounts he understood the Patrons of Chelsey Colledge were few nor was his design to be an additional Benefactor but a Founder Besides he plainly saw those Enemies to the work who thought they lay in secret and what was more he perceived it was look't upon with a jealous Eye by the Universities as a disparagement to them Then other Divines and Churchmen thought they were undervalued because the Fellows of this Foundation were likely to gain Priviledges prejudicial to them And lastly the Politick States-men did dislike the Project suspecting Court Divinity and History from a Colledge This is supposed to be the place meant by the Incomparable Cowley in his excellent Instructions towards the Institution of a Colledge Nor to add a City-Hospital could he be induced though much solicited the poor of those places being likely to be well provided for by the daily Legacies of such who were not in any capacity to do so great things as himself Being thus solicited by others to perform that which he had long since resolved within himself and having observed how many hopeful Youths miscarried for want of competent Means for their Education and how many ancient Gentlemen having the same tender Breeding with their Elder Brothers yet have but the slender Fortunes of a Younger Brother that they were too generous to begg not made for work whose ingenuous Natures were most sensible of want and least able to relieve it but were cast away and brought to misery for want of a comfortable Subsistence in their Old Age Therefore he resolved to prevent by his memorable Charity as far as he could these growing inconveniences The blind Devotion of former Ages had so abused the ends and designs of Charitable Works that King Edward the First as well as Theodosius the Emperour made a Law of Mortmain whereby it is made unlawful for any man to bestow Land of such a value to any Religious or Charitable use without licence from the King of Mortmain in Parliament This Law of Amortization in the Emperor's time much grieved many good men For St. Jerome thus complains to Nepotian I am ashamed to say it the Priests of Idols Stage-players and Common Harlots are made capable of Inheritance and receiving Legacies only Ministers of the Gospel are barred by the Law thus to do and that not by Persecutors but Christian Princes neither do I complain of the Law but am sorry we have deserved it To the same purpose is that of St. Ambrose Ep. 31. deploring the State of the Clergy Upon the account of this Law Mr. Sutton was forced to petition his Majesty K. James and the Parliament March 10. 1609. for leave and licence to erect and endow an Hospital in the Town of Hallingbury Bouchers in the County of Essex An Act of Parliament granted to Thomas Sutton Esq to erect an Hospital at Hallingbury in Essex c. HVmbly beseecheth your Majesty your loyal and dutiful Subject Thomas Sutton of Balsham in the County of Cambridge Esquire That it may please your most excellent Majesty and the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in this present Parliament assembled to enact ordain and establish And be it enacted ordained and established by the Authority aforesaid That in the Town of Hallingbury otherwise called Hallingbury Bouchers in the County of Essex there may be builded and erected at the costs and charges of your Suppliant one meet fit and convenient House Buildings and Rooms for the abiding and dwelling of such a number of poor people men and children as your Suppliant shall name limit and appoint to be lodged harboured abide and be relieved there And for the abiding dwelling and necessary use of one Schoolmaster and Vsher to instruct the sâ—m children in reading writing and Latin and Greek Grammar and of one Divine and godly Preacher to instruct and reach all the rest of the same House in the knowledge of God and his Word And of one Master to govern all these persons of in or belonging to the same House And that the same shall and may be called and named the Hospital of King James founded in Hallingbury in the County of Essex at the humble petition and at the only costs and charges of Thomas Sutton Esquire And that the right reverend Father in God Richard now Archbishop of Canterbury and his Successors Archbishops there Thomas Lord Ellesmere Lord Chancellor of England and such as after him shall succeed to be Lord Chancellors or Lord Keepers of the great Seal of England for and during the time they shall so continue or be in the same office Robert Earl of Salisbury Lord High Treasurer of England and such as after him shall succeed to be Lord Treasurers of England for and during the time they shall continue or be in the same Office The Reverend Father in God Launcelot Bishop of Ely and his Successors Bishops there Richard Bishop of Rochester and Dean of the Cathedral Church of Westminster and his Successors of and in the same Deanery of Westminster Sir Thomas Foster Knight one of the Iustices of your Majesties Court of Common Pleas usually holden at Westminster Sir Henry Hobart Knight your Majesties Attorney General John Overall Doctor of Divinity Dean of the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul in London and his Successors Deans there Henry Thursby Esquire one of the Masters of your Majesties Court of Chancery Thomas Fortescue Thomas Paget Geffrey Nightingale and Richard Sutton Esquires John Lawe and Thomas Browne Gentlemen and such others as shall be from time to time for ever hereafter chosen and nominated in and to the places and steads of such of them as shall decease by your Suppliant during his life And after his decease by the most part of them which then shall be Governors of the said Hospital to be and succeed in and to the place and places of him and them deceasing shall and may be the Governors of the said Hospital and of the Members Goods Lands Revenues and Hereditaments of the same at all times hereafter for ever And that the same Governors and Hospital shall for ever hereafter stand and be incorporated established and founded in name and in deed a body politique and corporate to have
Alderman as a Debt due unto him upon the Bonds of John Dudley and Thomas Dudley I protest before God that I paid the whole three hundred pounds to the said Sir John Popham in this sort to be paid over to the said Sir Rowland Heyward viz. Two hundred pounds by my Servant John Fishborne and One hundred pounds by one Henry Best Scrivener near Temple bar There was a demand made by Alderman Duckets Executors for Four hundred pounds owing to the said Alderman upon the Bonds of John Dudley and Thomas Dudley for Copper for the use of the Earl of Leicester which the said Earl transported into Spain which Debt was paid to the said Alderman For I my self was a Messenger from the said Earl to the said Alderman to let him understand that Mr. Bainham my Lords special Officer and Receiver should discharge them presently after it was discharged the said Alderman demanded interest for the forbearing of the 400 l. which as I remember Thomas Dudley discharged Mr. Justice Owen as I remember who had the doing in the Testament of Ald. Ducket promised to deliver in the said Bond to Sir John Popham then being Attorney which I do believe he did And whereas Mr. John Gardiner brother to my late wife by his last Will and Testament did give unto Anne Dudley now wife to Sir Francis Popham one hundred pounds to be paid to her at the day of her marriage the same hundred pounds was and is paid by me at or before the day of her marriage viz. In a Chain of Gold being fourscore and seventeen pounds ten shillings in Gold and for the fashion paid to Master Padmore Goldsmith in London fifty shillings which compleats the hundred pounds for the which amongst other things which I delivered in trust I have no acquittance Item I give to Mr. Jeffery Nightingale Esquire the Sum of Forty pounds of lawful mony of England Also I give to my Cosen William Stapleton Son of Sir Richard Stapleton Knight One hundred Marks Item I give unto the Children of Sir Francis Willoughby Knight One hundred pounds of lawful mony of England to be equally distributed amongst them Item I give unto John Law one of the Procurators of the Arches London Two hundred pounds And to Mr. Tbomas Brown Ten pounds to make him a Ring Item I give to the Wife and Children of John Gardiner my late Wifes Nephew if they be living after my decease being the Mother and two Sons Two hundred Marks to be equally divided amongst them Item I give to the poor people of Hadstock to be distributed amongst them by the Churchwardens and Constables there for the time being Twenty pounds Item I give to the poor people of Littlebury and to the poor people of Balsham to be distributed as afore to either Town Twenty pounds Item I give to the Parson and Church-wardens of Balsham aforesaid for the time being to buy a Bell withal to be hanged up in the Steeple to amend the Ring there Twenty pounds Item To the poor of Southminster Twenty pounds Item To the poor of Little Hallingbury Twenty pounds Item To the poor of Dunsby in the County of Lincoln Twenty pounds Item I give to Robert Wright Poulterer of Little Hallingbury Five pounds Item I give to Widow Aske late Wife of Robert Aske of London Goldsmith Twenty pounds which she oweth me Item My will and meaning is that there shall no Interest or Increase for mony be taken after my decease so as he or they by whom any Sums of mony are or shall be owing do pay the principal Debt within one half year next after my decease Item I give and bequeath to the poor Prisoners within the Prisons of Ludgate New-gate the two Compters in London the Kings Bench and the Marshalsea the Sum of two hundred pounds to be paid and divided among the same Prisoners by even and equal portions Item I give to Susan Price at the day of her marriage Forty pounds Item I give to one Collins of the Town of Cursal in Essex Five pounds Item I give to my good friends Mrs. Heyward and Mrs. Low either of them Ten pounds Item I give to Margaret Woodhal my God-daughter the Sum of Twenty pounds Item I give to all other my God-children Five pounds a piece Item I give and bequeath to the Master and Fellows as the Corporation of Jesus Colledge in Cambridge the Sum of Five hundred Marks of lawful mony of England to be imployed used and bestowed for or in some perpetuity for and to the use benefit and behalf of the said Colledge Master Fellows and Scholars in such sort manner and form as by the discretion of the Bishop of Ely for the time being the Vice-chancellor of Cambridge for the time being the Master and Fellows of the said Colledge for the time being and my Executors hereafter named or the Survivor or Survivors of them if they be living when the bestowing of the said Sum shall come in question shall be thought best and most convenient Item I give and bequeath the Master and Fellows as thâ—â—â—…oration of Magdalen Colledge in Cambridge the Sum of Five hundred pounds to be imployed used or bestowed for or in some perpetuity for and to the use benefit and behalf of the said Colledge Master and Fellows and Scholars there in such sort manner and form as by the discretion privity and consent of the Vicechancellor in Cambridge for the time being the Master of Trinity Colledge in Cambridge for the time being and the Master and Fellows of the said Magdalen Colledge for the time being shall be thought best and most convenient And I will that my great Chain of Gold and all my Jewels of what kind soever they be shall be sold by mine Executors and Supervisors hereafter named towards the better and speedier payment of my Legacies and performance of this my last Will and Testament And my will and meaning is that all the Legacies by me in this my Testament and last Will given and bequeathed and for the payment of much whereof there is no certain time set down shall be paid within Two years next after my decease at the furthest Also I give for and towards the building of mine intended Hospital Chappel and School-house the Sum of Five thousand pounds if I do not live to see it performed in my life time And I desire in the Name of God my Feoffees and my Executor or Executors within two years after my decease or sooner if they may conveniently if it please not God I live to see and cause the same my determination to be performed and accomplished to see and cause the same to be performed and accomplished Also I give the residue of the years which I shall have at the time of my decease in one Close called the Withies lying within the Town and Fields of Cottingham in the County of York to the Maior and Aldermen of Beverly or to the Governour of the same Town and