An Impartial RELATION Of the whole Proceedings AGAINST St. Mary Magdalen COLLEDGE In OXON In the Year of our LORD 1687. CONTAINING Only Matters of Fact As they Occurred Printed in the Year 1688. A TABLE A Narrative of the Election of Dr. Hough President of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge Oxon 1687. Page 1 A Copy of the King's Mandate to the Fellows of Magdalen Colledge 3 A Copy of Magdalen Colledge's Petition ibid. A Copy of the Lord Sunderland's Letter to the Fellows 4 The Case of the Vice-President and Fellows of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in Oxon in their Election of a President ibid. A Copy of a Letter to the Duke of Ormond April the 18th 1687. 5 A Copy of the Bishop of Winton's Letter to the President of the Council ibid. A Copy of the Citation to the Vice-President and Fellows for to appear at White-hall June the 6th 1687. 6 The Answer of the Vice-President and other Fellows of Magdalen Colledge in Oxon who were deputed by the said Colledge to the Question propounded by the Right Honourable and Right Reverend the Lords Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Affairs VIZ. Why they did not Obey His Majesty's Letter requiring them to Elect and Admit Mr. Anthony Farmer President of the said Colledge ibid The Fellows Reasons why they Elected not Mr. Farmer c. 8 Copies of Letters and Certificates delivered to the Lords Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Affairs June 27 1687. 9 Some Clauses of particular Statutes to which the Case relates 11 Part of the Oath which every Fellow takes when admitted 12 A Copy of Dr. Hough's Deprivation by His Majesty's Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Affairs c. ibid. A Copy of Dr. Aldworth's and Dr. Fairfax's Suspension 13 A Copy of the King's Inhibition to Magdalen Colledge ibid. A Copy of His Majesty's Mandate for the Bishop of Oxon to be President 14 A Copy of the Lord Sunderland's Letter to the Seniour Fellow of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in the Vniversity of Oxon or in his absence to the Seniour Fellow residing there ibid. A Copy of the Bishop of Oxon's Letter to the Seniour Fellow of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in the Vniversity of Oxon or in his absence to the Seniour Fellow residing there 15 An Account of what passed at Christ's Church Oxon September the 4th 1687. ibid. A Copy of the Petition offer'd at Oxford Sept. the 4th 1687. 16 A Copy of the Address which the Fellows of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge gave to the Lord President of the Council Sept. the 6th 1687 and which was delivered His Majesty at the Bath 17 A Copy of a Letter directed to Dr. Bayly Fellow of Magdalen Colledge Oxon supposed to be Written by Mr. W P ibid. The Answer to the aforementioned written Letter Dated October the 3d 1687. 18 Some Queries sent to the Fellows of Magdalen Colledge from Windsor Sept. 15. 1687. 20 An Answer to several Queries to the Vice-President and Fellows of Magdalen Colledge in Oxon sent from Windsor Dated the 25th of September 1687. ibid. An Account of the Visitation of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in Oxon 22 Dr. Fairfax's Case before the Commissioners at Oxon Oct. 22. 1687. 27 Dr. Hough's Protestation 28 A Copy of Dr. Stafford's and Dr. Fairfax's Plea 29 Dr. Fairfax's Expulsion 31 His Protestation ibid. The Fellows Submission which they offered and was refused by the Lords Commissioners 33 The Suspension of Mr. George Fulham 34 The Lord Bishop of Chester's Speech ibid. The Form of the Submission tendred by their Lordships but was refused by the Fellows 37 The Expulsion of Dr. Charles Aldworth and twenty four Fellows 39 The Decree that Incapacitates them from receiving any Benifices ibid. The Expulsion of fourteen Demies by the Bishop of Oxon 40 The Bishop of Winton's LETTER to the Lord President of the Council My Honoured Lord THE Obligation I have upon me as Visitor of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in Oxon occasions this Address For I am inform'd that great endeavours are used with his Majesty to recommend one Mr. Farmer who is not at present nor ever was Fellow of the Colledge to be President of it which is directly contrary to the Statutes of the Founder as I am confident some who promote Mr. Farmer 's interest cannot be ignorant of And were there not many Persons now actually Fellows and several who have been in particular the Bishop of Man and Dr. Jesop very eminent for Learning and Loyalty and every way quallified according to the Statutes I should not press your Lordship to lay the Concern of the Colledge which hath upon all occasions exprest its Zeal and forwardness in Defence of the Crown and as I particularly know in the great Affairs of the Succession before his Majesty who I hope will leave them to their Rules as the Statutes which have hitherto excepting in the times of Rebellion been concientiously observed and which will be the heighest satisfaction to the truly Loyal University and promote his Majesty's Service which has always been the Endeavour of Your Lordships Most Humble Servant ERRATA PAge 3. line 2. read all and singular p. 5. in the Letter to the Duke of Ormond l. 1. r. and Fellows of p. 7. l. 39. read April 18th p. 11. l. 27. r. before he can give his Vote in p. 12. l. 8. r. if it shall happen that p. 26. l. 38. for which r. what p. 30. l. 27. dele which Letters is as follows p. 37. l. 13. Paper all A NARRATIVE OF THE Election of D r Hough President to S t Mary Magdalen Colledge OXON 1687. THE Presidentship of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in the University of Oxon being void by the death of Dr. Henry Clerk late President of the same the Vice-President gave notice to all the Fellows present in the Chappel on Thursday the 31 of March 1687 where it was unanimously agreed to proceed to the Election of a President on Wednesday the 13 of April following at Nine of the Clock in the Morning in the Chappel And in order thereto the Vice-President caused a Citation to be fix'd on the Chappel-Door of the said Colledge signifying the Vacancy Time and Place of the Election according to the direction of the Statutes But before the day of Election being credibly informed that his Majesty had been pleased to grant his Letters Mandatory in behalf of Mr. Anthony Farmer they most humbly represented to his Sacred Majesty in their Petition bearing Date April 9th That the said Mr. Farmer was uncapable by their Statutes of being President and therefore did most humbly pray his Majesty to leave them to a Free Election or recommend such a Person to them as was capable by their Statutes Monday April 11th his Majesty's Letters Mandatory were delivered by the hands of Mr. Robert Chernock Master of Arts and Fellow of the said Colledge directed to the Vice-President and Fellows of Magdalen Colledge in Oxon requiring them forthwith to Elect the said Mr. Farmer and admit him President Which Letter the
and Consciences according to Your Majesty's late most Gracious Toleration and our Founder's Statutes or to Recommend such a Person who may be more Serviceable to Your Majesty and to this Your Majesty's Colledge And Your Petitioners shall ever Pray c. A Copy of the Lord Sunderland's Letter to the Fellows Gentlemen THe King being given to understand That notwithstanding his late Mandate sent to you for Electing Mr. Farmer to be President of your Colledge you have made choice of another person His Majesty commands me to tell you He is much surprised at these Proceedings and expects you should send me an Account of what passed on that Occasion and whether you did receive His Majesty's said Letters Mandate before you chose Dr. Hough I am GENTLEMEN Your Affectionate and Humble Servant Sunderland The CASE of the Vice-President and Fellows of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in Oxon. in their late Election of a President UPon the Notice of the Death of Dr. Henry Clark Late President of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in Oxon the Vice-President called a Meeting of the Fellows in order to appoint a day for the Election of a new President The 13th of April was the day prefix'd with power to prorogue the Election to the 15th as they should see cause beyond which time it was not in their power to defer the same This being agreed a Citation or Praemonition was fix'd upon the Chappel-door of the Colledge signifying the same and summoning all the absent Fellows to repair home to the ensuing Election as the Statute in that case directs After this upon the 11th of April they receiv'd His Majesty's Letter in behalf of Mr. Farmer requiring them to elect and admit him President But he having never been Fellow of that Colledge nor New-Colledge in which are the only Persons capable of being chosen by the Statutes and wanting likewise such personal Qualifications as are required in the Character of a President they did not imagine it was or could be His Majesty's Pleasure that they should act so directly contrary to the express Words of their Statutes to which they are strictly and positively sworn But did humbly conceive they were bound in Duty to believe that His Majesty had been mis-informed in the Character and Capacity of Mr. Farmer And therefore on the 15th of April the last of those days within which they were confin'd to finish the Election they proceeded to a choice and having first received the Blessed Eucharist and taken an Oath as the Founder enjoyns to choose a Person so qualified as is there specified they did elect the Reverend Mr. John Hough Batchellor in Divinity who is a Person every way qualified by the Satutes of the said Colledge And if it shall be objected that His Majesty did in His Letter for Mr. Farmer graciously dispense with all the Statutes that rendered him uncapable of being elected and that therefore they might have obeyed without breach of their Oaths They humbly beg leave to represent that there is an express Clause in that Oath which every Man takes when he is admitted Fellow of the Colledge wherein he swears not to procure accept or make use of any Dispensation from his Oath or any part thereof by whomsoever procured or by what Authority soever granted As to their former practice when they have elected in obedience to the King's Letter heretofore it has been always in such cases where the persons recommended have been every way qualified for the Office by their Statutes in which cases they always have been and ever will be ready to comply with His Majesty's pleasure it not being without unspeakable regret that they disobey the least of His Commands They know how intirely their welfare depends upon the Countenance of their Prince nor doth any thing more deeply affect and grieve their Souls then when they find themselves reduc'd to this unfortunate necessity of either disobeying his Will or violating their Consciences by notorious Perjuries A Copy of a Letter to the Duke of Ormond April 18th 1687. May it please your Grace WE the President and of Magdalen Colledge in Oxon sensible of the Benefits and Honour we enjoy under your Grace's Patronage and how much it imports us to have your Advice in all the Difficulties wherewith we are press'd having as we fear displeased His Majesty in our Election of a President do humbly beg leave to represent to your Grace a true state of our Case and hope you will please to inform the King how uncapable we were to perform His Commands His Majesty was pleased on the Death of Dr. Henry Clark President of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge to Command us by His Letter to elect and admit Mr. Anthony Farmer in that Office a Person utterly uncapable of it by our Statutes as we are ready to make appear in many particulars and since we have taken a positive Oath of obedience to them and that exclusive to all Dispensations whatsoever we humbly conceive we could not obey that Command in favour of Mr. Farmer unless he had brought those Qualifications with him which our Founder requires in the Person of the President and being confined as to the time of Election we have been forced to proceed to the choice of one who has approved his Loyalty in the whole course of his Life and whom we think suitably qualified for the place May it therefore please your Grace to interpose with His Most Sacred Majesty for us that that we may not lye under the weight of His Displeasure for not being in a capacity for obeying his Commands We know him to be a Prince of eminent Justice and Integrity and cannot think he will value any instance of Duty to himself which manifestly breaks in upon the obligation of our Consciences And your Grace's extraordinary unblemish'd Loyalty to the Crown and that regard which we assure our selves our Most Honoured Lord and Chancellor has to the Peace and Welfare of this Place induceth us to presume your Grace will omit no endeavours to set before His Majesty the true Reason and Necessity of our Proceedings That God Almighty protect your Grace shall be the daily Prayers of May it please your Grace c. A Copy of the Citation to the Vice-President and Fellows for to appear at White-Hall June the Sixth 1687. By His Majesty's Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes and for the Visitation of the Universities and of all and every Cathedral and Collegiate Churches Colledges c. COmplaint having been made unto Us that the Vice-President and Fellows of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in Oxon have refused to comply with His Majesty's Letters Mandatory for electing and admitting Mr. Anthony Farmer President of the same Colledge in the room of Dr. Clark deceased and that notwithstanding his Majesty's Leters they have elected Mr. John Hough President of the said Colledge You and either of you are hereby requir'd to Cite Summon the said Vice-President Fellows requiring'em or such of the said Fellows as
kissing the said Mrs. Mortimer which he being a stranger she permitted him to do but in doing of it he the said Mr. Anthony Farmer put his Tongue in her mouth which was such a rudeness that she immediately went out of his company and would not come nigh him any more Martha Mortimer XI BEing in company with William Hopkins of Abbington the 12th of June last 1687. I heard him declare That himself with one Mr. Farmer of the University of Oxon and some others did in a Frolick at an unseasonable time of night take away the Town-Stocks from the place where they constantly stood and carried them in a Cart a considerable way and threw them into a Pool commonly call'd Mad Hall's Pool Witness my hand the day and year above-written Charles Peacock Some Clauses of particular Statutes to which the Case relates IN their Statutes concerning their Election of a President his Character is thus described That he must be a man of good Reputation and good Life and circumspect both in Spiritual and Temporal Affairs In the same Statutes the Oath which every Fellow is obliged to take before he can give in the Nomination of a President is this Viz. That he will name one or two of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge or of those who have been Fellows there or have left their places upon a legal and credible account Or that he will name one or two of the Fellows of St. Mary Winchester Colledge commonly called New-Colledge in Oxon or of those who have been formerly Fellows there and have left their places upon a credible account After this the thirteen Seniour Fellows swear That out of the two thus nominated they will with all speed Elect one to exercise the Office of a President whom in their Consciences they think most proper and sufficient most discreet most useful and best qualified for it either without any regard to Love Hatred Favour Fear c. as in the formentioned Statute is more largely expressed Part of the OATH which every Fellow takes when Admitted Item I Do Swear that I will not procure any Dispensation contrary to my aforesaid Oath or to any part thereof nor contrary to the Statutes and Ordinances to which they relate or any one of them nor will I endeavour that such Dispensations be procured by any other or others publickly or privately directly or indirectly And if it shall that any Dispensation of this sort shall be procured or freely granted or obtained of what Authority so ever it be whether in general or particular under what form of Words soever it be granted I will neither make use of it nor in any sort consent thereunto So help me GOD. A Copy of Dr. Hough's Deprivation by His Majesty's Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Affairs c. WHereas it appears to us that Mr. John Hough B. D. hath been unduly Elected President of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in the University of Oxon we have thought fit upon mature consideration thereof That the said Election be declared void and the said Mr. John-Hough be amoved from the said Presidentship and accordingly we do hereby declare and decree That the said Election is void and do amove the said Mr. John-Hough from the place of President of the said Colledge Given under Our Seal this 22d Day of June 1687. A Copy of Dr. Aldworth's and Dr. Fairfax's Suspension WHereas Charles Aldworth Doctor of Laws Vice-President of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge Oxon and the Deputys Fellows of the same House have been Convein'd before Us for their Contempt in not Obeying His Majesty's Letters Mandatory for Electing and Admitting Mr. Anthony Farmer President of the said Colledge and the said Dr. Aldworth and Deputies having been heard thereupon We have thought fit to declare pronounce and decree That the said Dr. Aldworth shall for the said Contempt be Suspended from being Vice-President of the said Colledge And that Henry Fairfax Doctor of Divinity one of the Fellows of the said Colledge shall for the said Contempt be Suspended from his Fellowship and accordingly we do hereby Suspend Dr. Charles Aldworth from being Vice-President of the said Colledge and the said Dr. Henry Fairfax from his Fellowship in the said Colledge Given under Our Seal the 22d Day of June 1687. A Copy of the King's Inhibition to Magdalen Colledge JAMES REX TRusty and Well-beloved We Greet you well Whereas We are informed That a Sentence or Decree lately made by Our Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Affairs touching an Election in that our Colledge hath not been Obeyed Our Will and Pleasure is No Elelection or Admission be made of any person or persons whatsoever into any Fellowship Demyship or other Place or Office in Our said Colledge till We shall signifie Our further Pleasure any Statute Custom or Constitution to the contrary notwithstanding And so expecting Obedience herein We bid you Farewel Given at Our Court at Windsor the Eighteenth of July 1687 in the Third Year of Our Reign By His MAJESTY's Command Sunderland A Copy of His Majesty's Mandate for the Bishop of Oxon to be President JAMES REX TRusty and Well-boleved We Greet you well Whereas the place of President of Our Colledge of St. Mary Magdalen is now void Our Will and Pleasure is That We do hereby Authorize and Require you forthwith upon receipt hereof to Admit the Right Reverend Father in God Samuel Lord Bishop of Oxon into the said place of President to hold and enjoy the same with all the Rights Priviledges and Profits Emoluments and Advantages thereunto belonging any Statute or Statutes Custom or Constitution to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding wherewith We are Graciously pleased and do accordingly hereby Dispense in his behalf And so expecting your ready Obedience herein We bid you Farewel By His Majesty's Commmand Sunderland Given at Our Court at Windsor Aug. 14th 1687 in the Third Year of Our Reign A Copy of the Lord Sunderland's Letter to the Seniour Fellow of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in the University of Oxon or in his absence to the Seniour Fellow residing there THe King having been pleased by His Letters Mandatory to require the Fellows of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge to Admit the Lord Bishop of Oxon President of that Colledge His Majesty Commands me to let you know That immediately upon the receipt hereof he would have you Assemble the Fellows and Communicate to them His Majesty's said Letters And I am further Commanded to tell you That His Majesty expects a ready Obedience to be paid to His Pleasure herein I desire you would send me an Account of your Proceedings as soon as you can that I may acquaint His Majesty with it I am Yours Sunderland A Copy of the Bishop of Oxon's Letter to the Seniour Fellow of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in Oxon or in his absence to the Seniour Fellow residing there SIR YOu will receive herewith His Majesty's Mandate to Admit me President of your Colledge of St. Mary Magdalen in Oxon together with a Letter of
my Lord Sunderland pursuant to His Majesty's Commands I am indisposed as I have been for some time and not in a condition as yet to Travel and therefore my request to you is That upon receipt of the King's Pleasure you would do me the Favour to Admit me by Proxy i. e. Either the next Seniour Fellow under your self resident or either of my Chaplains Mr. William Wickins or Mr. Thomas Collins whom I depute in my stead which is as valid in Law as if I were present my self and is the most usual and customary Practice And by so doing you will oblige Your very Loving Friend and Brother Samuel Oxon. OXON Sept. 4 th 1687. The Lord Sunderland sent an Order to the Fellows of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge to attend the King at Christ-Church at three in the Afternoon They attended accordingly King WHat 's your name are you Dr. Pudsey Dr. P. Yes may it please your Majesty K. Did you receive my Letter Dr. P. Yes Sir we did K. Then you have not dealt with me like Gentlemen you have done very uncivilly by me and undutifully Here they all kneeled and Dr. Pudsey offered a Petition which His Majesty refused to receive And said K. Ye have been a stubborn turbulent Colledge I have known you to be so these 26 years You have affronted me in this Is this your Church of England Loyalty One would wonder to find so many Church of England men in such a business Go home and shew your selves good Members of the Church of England Get you gone know I am your King I will be obey'd and I command you to be gone Go and admit the Bishop of Oxon Head Principle What d' ye call it of the Colledge One stood by said President I mean President of the Colledge Let them that refuse it look to it they shall feel the weight of their Soveraign's Displeasure The Fellows going out of the Lodgings were call'd back K. I hear you have admitted a Fellow of the Colledge since you receiv'd my Inhibition Is this true Have you not admitted Mr. Holden Fellow Dr. P. I think he was admitted Fellow But we conceive Mr. Cra. May it please Your Majesty there was no new Election or Admission since Your Majesty's Inhibition but only the Consummation of a former Election They always Elect to one years Probation then the Person Elected is received or rejected for ever K. The Consummation of a former Election 't was downright Disobedience and 't is a fresh aggravation Get you gone home I say again go get you gone and immediately repair to your Chappel and Elect the Bishop of Oxon or else you must expect to feel the weight of my hand The Felows offered again their Petition on their Knees K. Get you gone I will receive nothing from you till you have obey'd me and admitted the Bishop of Oxon. Upon which they went immediately to their Chappel Dr. Pudsey proposing whether they would obey the King and elect the Bishop of Oxon They answered in their turns They were as ready to obey His Majesty in all things that lay in their power as any of the rest of His Subjects But the Electing the Bishop of Oxon being directly contrary to their Statutes and the positive Oaths they had taken they could not apprehend it in their power to obey Him in this Matter A Copy of the Petition offer'd at Oxford Sept. 4th 1687. To the King 's Most Excellent Majesty c. Humbly sheweth THat upon the 27th of August we receiv'd Your Majesty's Letters Mandatory Dated August 14th requiring us to admit the Right Reverend Father in God Samuel Lord Bishop of Oxon to be our President and dispensing with all Statutes and Constitutions to the contrary It is an unexpressible Affliction to us to find our selves reduced to such an extremity that either we must disobey Your Majesty's Royal Command contrary to our own Inclinations and that constant course of Loyalty which we have shew'd in all instances hitherto upon all occasions whatsoever or else break our Founder's Statutes and deliberately perjure our selves For our Founder hath obliged us under Oath when we came in Fellows inviolably to observe his Statutes and one Clause therein injoyns us never to admit or make use of Dispensation granted by any Authority whatsoever whereby we may be absolved from the same In this Statute for the Election of a President he commands us upon Oath to Elect such a Person into the place of President within 15 days after the vacancy who either is or has been Fellow of our own or New-Colledge Which we represented to Your Majesty in our humble Petition sign'd April 9th wherein we offered our selves ready to Elect any Person capable of the same who Your Majesty should be pleased to recommend and having waited the utmost time limited by our Statutes and receiv'd no Answer to that effect we did then according to the exigence of our Statutes having first taken the Holy Eucharist and our several Oaths to that purpose nominate and Elect such a Person as we in our Consciences did believe to be every way qualified for that Place By which Act of ours we have conveyed all that right to him which our Founder hath intrusted us with and it does not lie in our power to admit any other Our Founder in another Statute obligeth us under the pain of Perjury a dreadful Anathema and eternal Damnation not to suffer any of his Statutes to be altered infringed or dispensed with and commands us under the same Sacred Obligations not to execute any Orders or Decree whatsoever contrary or repugnant to the said Statutes by which said Statutes and Oaths we are utterly incapacitated to admit the said Reverend Father in God to be our President May it please Your Sacred Majesty to give us leave to lay this our Case and our selves withal submission at Your Royal Feet most earnestly beseeching Your Sacred Majesty to extend to us Your humble Petitioners that Grace and Tenderness which Your Majesty hath vouchsafed to all Your other Subjects and not to believe us guilty of any obstinacy or undutifulness Crimes which our Souls abhor but to receive us into Your Majesty's Grace and Favour the greatest temporal Blessing which our Hearts can wish And Your humble Petitioners shall always as in Duty bound pray to Almighty God to bless Your Majesty with a long and happy Reign over us and afterwards to receive You to an immortal Crown of Glory A Copy of the Address which the Fellows of St. Mary Magdalen gave to the Lord President of the Council Sept. 6th 1687 and which was delivered His Majesty at Bath WE Your Majesty's most humble and most dutiful Subjects the Fellows of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in Oxon being deeply afflicted with the late sense of Your Majesty's heavy Displeasure grounded as we in all reason humbly presume upon a most unkind misrepresentation of our Actions in relation to an Election of a President into Your Majesty's said
Colledge Do humbly beg leave to prostrate our selves at Your Royal Feet offering all real Testimonies of Duty and Loyalty And as we have never fail'd to evince both our Principles and Practices to be truly Loyal in obedience to the Commands of Your Royal Brother and Your Sacred Self in matters of the like Nature So whatsoever way Your Majesty shall be pleased to try our readiness to obey Your Royal Pleasure in any instance that does not interfere with and violate our Consciences which Your Majesty is studious to preserve we shall most gladly and effectually comply therewith A stubborn and a groundless resistance of Your Royal Will and Pleasure in the present and all other Cases being that which our Souls eternally abhor as becomes Your Majesty's most Loyal and most Obedient Subjects c. A Copy of a Letter directed to Dr. Bayly Fellow of Magdalen Colledge Oxon. supposed to be Writ by Mr. W P Sir UPon an inquiry made of your present Fellows of Magdalen Colledge I am inform'd that you are a person eminent in that Learned Body for your Temper Prudence and good Conduct in Affairs and therefore very fit to be address'd to by me who do not send you this to trapan you and your Brethren but out of a passionate concern for your interest to perswade you either to a compliance with His Majesty's Letters Mandatory or to think among your selves of some expedient to prevent the ruin of your Colledge and your selves And to offer it to His Majesty's Royal Consideration that the Order for the Quo Warranto against the Colledge may be recall'd before it be too late for you cannot be sensible how highly His Majesty is incens'd against you neither can you give one instance whether ever that sort of proceeding was judged against the Crown Your Cause most think it very hard but you are not in Prudence to relye on the goodness of your Cause but to do what the present instant of Affairs will permit and in patience to expect a Season that will be more auspicious to Persons of your Character Every Mechanick knows the temper of His present Majesty who never will receive a baffle in any thing that he heartily espouseth and that he doth this your selves have had too late and manifest an instance to doubt of his zeal 〈◊〉 the Affair Where there are so many Statutes to be observed 't is impossible but some must be broken at one time or another and I am informed by the Learned of the Law that a failure in any one point forfeits your Grant and lays your Colledge open to the Royal disposal I could give many other prudent Arguments that might possibly incline you to a speedy endeavour of putting an end to your Troubles almost at any rate but I shall suggest this one thing to you that your fatal overthrow would be a fair beginning of so much aimed at Reformation first of the University then of the Church and administer such an opportunity to the Enemy as may not perhaps occur in His Majesty's Reign I am Your affectionate Servant c. The Answer to the aforementioned written Letter Dated Oct. 3d. 1687. THE inclosed Paper is a Copy of a Letter which by the charitable purpose of it seems to be writ by you who have been already so kind as to appear on our behalf and are reported by all that know you to imploy much of your time in doing good to Mankind and using your Credit with His Majesty to undeceive him in any wrong impressions given him of his conscientious Subjects and where his Justice and Goodness have been thereby abused to reconcile the Persons injur'd to His Majesty's Favour and secure them by it from Oppression and Prejudice In this confidence I presume to make this application to you desiring your excuse for not subscribing it For if you did write the Letter you know to whom it was directed and if you did not I hope your Charity will induce you to make such use of your light you have by it into the Affairs of our Colledge as to mediate for us with His Majesty to be restored to his good opinion as the only thing which is desired by us who are zealous above all earthly things for his Felicity and Glory We are not conscious of ever giving His Majesty any just Offence as it will appear with you when you shall have perused the enclosed Papers and have therefore no reason to fear the issuing out of a Quo Warranto against us And though you are pleased to apprehend it no instance can be given of a Judgment against the Crown upon the process of that Writ The Learned in the Law tell me there is nothing more common and whereof many Cases are reported by Kellaway from Page 128 to Page 152 of his Book of Reports And I think I have heard of a Case in Coke's ninth Report of the Abbess of Prata Marcella which evinces the same wherein also there is a recital of Judgment given against Roger Mortimer for the King upon a Quo Warranto in Court of Eyre revers'd for Errour in the King's-Bench We hope though we have many Statutes it will be found that we have not wilfully transgress'd any of them for all our present Troubles are derived to us from our adherence to them and our fear to offend God and blemish our Consciences by departing from them His Majesty is intentionally righteous and just in all his Proceedings He will never knowingly invade any Man's Property as He was solemnly pleased to declare in his Excellent Speech made in Council on the 6th of February 1684 at his Accession to the Government which is again repeated in His gracious Declaration for Liberty of Conscience of the 4th of April last past It is upon His Sacred inviolable and Royal Word and Promise we must depend not doubting but when His Majesty shall be rightly inform'd of our Case in reference to both His Mandatory Letters to our Colledge His Anger towards us will be totally extinguished Our compliance to the first which was Mr. Farmer 's Election would have involv'd us in the guilt of manifest Perjury and the wilful violation of our Statutes And we are confident his Maiesty would never have granted the second on the behalf of my Lord Bishop of Oxon if he had known we were then possess'd of a President duly Elected according to our Statutes and confirmed by the Bishop of Winton our Visitor as the Statutes require and if he is thereby invested with a Lay-Freehold under the protection of his Majesties Laws which we cannot undo or attempt to invade without subjecting our selves to Suits at Law and doing an apparent injury to the President who doth not conceive himself to be affected with the Sentence of the Lords Commissionets to which he was no Party whereby his Place is declared void without any Citations Summons or hearing of him I believe no instance can be given of a Quo Warranto brought against a
Colledge or Hall in the Universities from the first foundation of them to this day or any other Ecclesiastical Corporation for the Abuses of some Constitutions or Franchises in them and the Misdemeanours of particular Persons will not destroy a Colledge And if the Corporation of a Colledge should be dissolv'd the Revenues thereof will return to the Founders Heirs and not divolve to the Crown And if our Colledge must be the first Example of that kind we shall be better justified by the strict Observation of our Statutes at least to God and our own Consciences than we could have been by a voluntary and deliberate Breach of them It was Loyalty and Conscience that in the Reign of King Charles the First made thirty four of our forty Fellows and most of the Scholars of our Foundation rather quit their Places and embrace Misery and Ruine than to submit to the Government of the Usurpers of the Crown And in Monmouth's Rebellion the same Inducements prevailed on us to raise a Company at our own charges under the command of one of our Fellows to engage against him And we hope that these and many other the like instances which may be given of the Loyalty and Zeal of our Society to the Royal Family will be received as Evidences thereof and that our good and gracious Soveraign will not exclude us from that Liberty of Conscience which he was pleas'd to extend to all his Subjects SIR I am Your most Affectionate Servant Some QUERIES sent to the Fellows of Magdalen Colledge from Windsor September 15. 1687. First WHether waving your Election of the Bishop of Oxon you cannot without violence to your Conscience signifie to his Majesty or the above Reverend Bishop your willingness to admit the Lord Bishop President of your Colledge Secondly Whether it be not more Interest to the Protestant Religion to have a suspected Popish President than to have all the places of the Colledge refilled by the Kings sole Authority with Popish Novices and Priests Thirdly Whether you are not under a mistake in thinking you should render your selves more acceptable to the Protestant Nobility and Gentry by your being turned out of your Fellowships by Injustice and Violence as you conceive or rather will not they be very cautious how they receive you into their Families for fear of giving of Offence Fourthly Whether his Majesty as Supream Visitor of the University cannot place or displace there ad libitum or whether you have a right notion of the Proceedings which have been practised against you Whether you suppose that the Lords Commissioners proceeded against you as Lords Commissioners or Visitors Which Notion I am sure will overthrow some bodies Plea and Exception against their Authority Fifthly Whether you acted like men skilled in business when you refused Mr. Pen's Mediation who you may be sure had good Authority for what he did You could not but know that man and therefore must needs be fore-armed against any Wiles that could be offered to you Whether an unanimous Subscription for an Expedient which indeed I think you ought not to refuse in good manners since the King was pleased to propose it presented to his Majesty by Mr. Pen or another Favourite would prevent the destruction of the best Foundation in Europe Lastly Whether you be not drawn beyond your Knowledge by some hot-headed Advisers which never consider the present state of his Majesty's Court of Justice An Answer to several Queries to the Vice President and Fellows of Magdalen Colledge in Oxon sent from Windsor dated the 25th of September 1687. To the First WE cannot without violence to our Consciences and deliberate Perjury admit any person to be President of our Colledge that is not elected thereunto and qualified according to our Statutes whereby the Bishop of Oxon is in no sort capable nor is there any Memorial in all our Register of any admission of a President without Election but of one Dr. Nicholas Bond whose case was as followeth viz. Upon the death of Dr. Lawrence Humphreys about the 30th or 32th of Queen Elizabeth's Reign the Queen recommended Dr. Bond being a Fellow of our Colledge to be Elected President Many of the Fellows inclin'd in their judgment to Elect one Smith another of the Fellows and at their meeting for Election the Contention was so great that they rose without Electing and the Obstinacy continued till the place became laps'd And there being no provision in our Statutes to direct us what to do in such a Case the Queen by her Letters Patents Constituted the said Dr. Bond to be President and therein declared That her Majesty being inform'd that the Fellows had neglected to make Election of a President in due time as their Statutes required and those Statutes having made no provision for such an Omission She out of her Princely care for the place and indulgence for those persons who had been guilty of that neglect did by advice of the Bishop of Winton their Visitor Constitute Dr. Bond their President with protestation nevertheless that She did not thereby pretend to supersede their Statutes or invade their Right of Election which was thereby invested in them but took this course as the only means left to supply their Defect of Election To the Second We must not make our selves guilty of deliberate Perjury for any considerations whatsoever both in respect to our Consciences and that we may not by such a Breach upon our Statutes expose our Constitution to a Forfeiture nor do Evil that Good may come on it To the Third We conceive we shall be more acceptable to all good men for acting honestly according to our Consciences than for voluntarily and unjustly departing from our Right To the Fourth We pretend not to make it a Question whether his Majesty by his Authority Royal as Supream Visitor can grant a Commission for Visitation of any Colledge that has a Local Visitor by their Statutes and are not Royal Foundations But we are advised that no Commission can be granted under the Great Seal to Visitors to place and dis-place Members of Colledges whose places are Freeholds ad libitum or discretum but they must proceed according to legal discretion that is by the Laws and Statutes of the Land and the Local Statutes of the Colledge And places concern'd for the Headships and Fellowships of Colledges are Temporal Possessions and cannot be impeach'd by Summary Proceedings One Dr. Thomas Loveney President of our Colledge was deprived in Queen Elizabeth's time by the Bishop of Winton the Legal Visitor thereof Establish'd by Royal Authority and he appeal'd to the Queen but by the advice of all the Judges it was held that the Queen by her Authority as Supream Visitor could not meddle in it but he must bring Westminster-Hall because Deprivation was a Cause meerly temporal The King has a great Authority Spiritual as well as Temporal but no Commissioners can be authorized by the Crown to proceed in any Commission under
Dated October the 22d in these words My Lords I have been Summon'd and appeared in this Cause before the Lords Ecclesiastical at White-Hall with whom your Lordships are now joyn'd in Commission and then gave in my Answer I have nothing to add to it and find no reason to retract it Henry Fairfax Bish Will you admit of the Bishop of Oxford Dr. Fairf I am Suspended Bish Have you done no Collegiate-Act since your Suspension Dr. Fairf My Lord I have gone into the Hall and laid in my Chamber I did not think their Lordships when they suspended me ever intended that I should not eat drink or sleep Bish If your Suspension was off would you submit to the Bishop of Oxford Dr. Fairf Truly my Lord I cannot do it Then all the Fellows were called into Court. The President being withdrawn the Bishop put the Question to all the Fellows viz. Whether they would assist at the Admission of the Bishop of Oxford to be installed President by vertue of the King's Mandate To which was answered by all the Fellows to this effect except Dr. Pudsey and Dr. Tho. Smith who answered doubtfully and Chernock that he would assist That they were under Oaths to the contrary and therefore could not do it Then all were ordered to withdraw and Dr. Pudsey being called in alone they asked him concerning the Manner and Form of Installing a President which he instructed them in The Court Adjourn'd till Two in the Afternoon AS soon as they met a Letter from the E. of Sunderland to Dr. Pudsey was read dated the 2d of August signifying That the Society in answer to his Majesty's Letter commanding them to admit the Bishop of Oxford agreed unanimously in this Answer That the place was full Their Lordships were pleased to ask the Fellows singly Whether that was their Answer And as many as were there owned that it was During this Examination the President came into Court and having waited until it was ended and their Lordships at a Pause he made his Application to them My Lords if your Lordships please to give me leave I would gladly speak a few words They were all pleased to put off their Hats and say he might Whereupon he said My Lords you were pleased this Morning in pursuance to a Decree of the Lords Commissioners at London to deprive me of my place of President of this Colledge and to strike my Name out of the Buttery-book I do hereby protest against all your Proceedings and against all that you have done or hereafter shall do in prejudice of me and my Right as Illegal Unjust and Null and therefore I appeal to my Soveraign Lord the King in his Courts of Justice Upon which the Strangers and young Scholars in the Room gave a HVM which so much incensed their Lordships that notwithstanding all the Protestations the President and Fellows could make the President in particular offering to purge himself by Oath that he was no way accessary to or abetting of it and declared that he was heartily ashamed and troubled at it yet the L.C.J. was not to be pacified but charging it upon the President bound him in a Bond of 1000 l. and Security to the like value to make his Appearance at the Kings-Bench-Bar the 12th of Nov. After this was read the Answer the Fellows returned to his Majesty upon his Command to them upon the 4th of Sept. to elect the Bishop of Oxford the Answer was under the hand of a publick Notary subscribed by all the Fellows then present except Mr. Chernock The Bishop of Chester was pleased to charge the Fellows of Unmannerliness for sending such an Answer to their Prince after such a manner So they Adjourned till Tuesday the 25th at Eight in the Morning TUESDAY the 25th of October WHen the Court met Dr. Stafford offered a Paper in answer to what was objected on Friday that a Mandate implied an Inhibition which their Lordships having perused would not suffer to be read publickly but askt the Fellows whether they would sign it bidding them to do it at their peril Then the Fellows had leave to withdraw into the Hall and not being satisfied that it was necessary to sign a Plea which their Lordships refused to have argued they returned the Paper into the Court subscribed only by Dr. Fairfax and Dr. Stafford The latter after some debate desired to withdraw but Dr. Fairfax stood to it A Copy of Dr. Stafford's and Dr. Fairfax's PLEA To the Right Reverend and Right Honourable his Majesty's Commissioners for the Visiting of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in Oxford May it please your Lordships ON Friday last in the afternoon you seem'd to insist very much on this viz. That his Majesty in commanding the Fellows of the said Colledge to Elect Mr. Farmer President did thereby inhibit them to Elect any other Person whatsoever which has not yet been made appear to be Law either out of the Books of Civil Canon or Common Law. Neither is it agreeable to Reason that a Command to Elect a Person uncapable should include in it an Obligation not to Elect a Person capable that being a kind of contradiction in ternimis Yet this being granted it cannot in the least affect the said Fellows or invalidate their Election of Dr. Hough notwithstanding his Majesties Mandate in behalf of Mr. Farmer who being incapable of the place the Fellows cannot be said to be guilty of any Disobedience or Disloyalty in proceeding to the Election of another Person who was quallified according to Statute being forced to make an Election For they are oblig'd by the Statutes of their Colledge when call'd together to Elect a President or any Officer under pain of perpetual Expulsion from the Colledge to meet and make an Election which punishment they incur ipso facto who either refuse to meet when so call'd or being met to nominate or elect a person into the Office void as appears by the Statutes of the said Colledge Titulo de numero Scholdrium electione Praesidentis Now according to the Founders direction in the said Statute on the 15th of April last the Fellows were call'd together by the Vice-President to Elect a President in the place of Dr. Clark deceas'd and the Oath desired to be taken before the Election was administred by the Vice-President to them whereby they are oblig'd to nominate and elect a person that either is or has been Fellow of Magdalen Colledge or New Colledge in Oxon which Oath when the Fellows had taken it was not in their power to elect Mr. Farmer and yet they were then oblig'd to make an Election under pain of perpetual a motion from the Colledge as appears by the forecited Statute And it cannot be imagin'd that his most Sacred Majesty did expect that the Fellows should be either perjur'd or forfeit their Right to their Fellowships rather than disobey his Command his Majesty having most graciously declar'd that Conscience ought not to be forced and that none of
Vice-President read in the Chappel of the said Colledge between the hours of four and five of the Clock in the same day after Evening-Service before the Fellows of the Colledge there present and asked them Whether they in Obedience to his Majesty's Letters would forthwith Elect and Admit Mr. Farmer President Who all agreed in consideration to Mr. Farmer 's not being Qualified and the danger of Expulsion to any of the Fellows that should be absent from the Election and that the time of Election according to the Citation was so near to defer their Answer till Wednesday following Whereupon the Vice-President required all the Fellows to be present in the Chappel the said Wednesday Morning at nine of the Clock All the Fellows being then met the Vice-President read the Statute De Electione Presidentis and the Statute 5 Eliz. against corrupt Elections was read also after which the Vice-President read the King's Letter in behalf of Mr. Farmer and the second time demanded an Answer of the Fellows thereto Their Answer was to this effect That having a Petition now lying before his Majesty they ought not to proceed to Election till they had received his Majesty's Answer to the same And thereupon they all agreed except Mr. Charnock that the Election should be deferred which was accordingly done until the next Morning nine of the Clock Thursday April 14th at nine a Clock in the Morning all the Fellows being met the Vice-President told them That the Election of a President had been deferred upon account of their Petition to his Majesty in Answer to which they had not then received his Majesty's Pleasure that the next day was the utmost time they could defer the Election by the Statutes and therefore it was necessary they should come to some Resolution he told them farther That the King had commanded them to Elect Mr. Farmer and asked their Sense therein Which was unanimous except Mr. Charnock that the Election should be deferred till the next morning eight of the Clock and in order thereunto the Sacrament to be administred first and accordingly it was Adjourned Friday April 15th at eight a Clock in the Morning the Vice-President and Fellows being met Dr. Tho. Smith and Capt. Bagshaw two of the Fellows acquainted the rest from my Lord President of the Counsel That in Answer to their Petition his Majesty having sent his Letter to the Colledge expected to be Obeyed After which the Vice-President read again the King's Letter to them and asked Whether in Obedience thereunto they would Elect and Admit Mr. Farmer President They answered That they desired they might proceed to an Election Then the Vice-President having proposed Whether having received his Majesty's Pleasure in Answer to their Petition they would make any further Address The Vice-President Dr. Fairfax Dr. Pudsey and Dr. Tho. Smith were for a second Address but all the rest declared immediately for proceeding to the Election Then the Vice-President proposed Whether they would go to an Election Viva voce or by Scrutiny The Vice-President Mr. Thompson and Mr. Charnock were for proceeding to an Election Viva voce all the rest were for going to an Election by Scrutiny except Dr. Tho. Smith who was not for going to Election until the King should again be Petitioned This therefore being their Sense That they ought to proceed to the Election of a President according to the Statutes and this the last day limited for Election In order thereunto the holy Sacrament was solemnly taken by all except Mr. Charnock Then the Statute De Electione Praesidentis and 5 Eliz. against corrupt-Elections was read by the Vice-President Every one took the Oath prescribed in the Statutes to be taken in order to the Nomination of a President except Mr. Thompson and Mr. Charnock who refused it And the 2 Senior Fellows were sworn Scrutators in the Scrutiny of the whole Society For the Nomination of a President Mr. Hough and Mr. Maymard had each of them the major part of all the Voices and were accordingly pronounced by the Seniour Scrutatour Nominati in Ordine ad Electionem Praesidentis Then the thirteen Seniour Fellows being met to Elect one of these two President and every one of them sworn according to the Statute eleven of them Elected Mr. Hough who was accordingly pronounc'd President of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in Oxon. by the Seniour Scrutatour in the presence of all the Fellows and Mr. Maynard was appointed by the thirteen Seniour Fellows to present the said President Elect to the Visitour in order to his Admission After this Mr. Thompson and Mr. Charnock declared Viva voce for Mr. Farmer according to his Majesty's Letter Saturday April 16th Mr. Hough President Elect was presented to the Visitour by Mr. Maynard who at the same time delivered to his Lordship an Instrument under the Colledge Seal containing the Proceedings of the Election after a sight whereof Mr. Hough was Sworn and Admitted President by his Lordship according to the Statutes Sunday April 17th Mr. Hough at his return to the Colledge took the same Oath again before the Society and afterwards as President took his Seat in the Chappel at four a Clock Prayers in the Afternoon A Copy of the King's Mandate to the Fellows of Magdalen Colledge JAMES REX TRusty and Well-beloved We greet you well Whereas we are well satisfied of the Piety Loyalty and Learning of our Trusty and Well-beloved Anthony Farmer Master of Arts of that your Colledge of St. Mary Magdalen We have thought fit hereby effectually to recommend him to you for the place of President of our said Colledge now void by the Death of Doctor Clark late President thereof willing and requiring you forthwith upon receipt hereof to Elect and Admit him the said Anthony Farmer into the said place of President with all singular the Rights and Priviledges Emoluments and Advantages thereunto belonging any Statute Custom or Constitution to the contrary notwithstanding wherewith We are Graciously pleased to Dispence with in this behalf And so not doubting of your Compliance herein We bid you Farewel Given at Our Court at White-Hall the Fifth Day of April 1687 in the Third Year of Our Reign A Copy of Magdalen Colledge's Petition To the King 's Most Excellent MAJESTY The Humble Petition of the Vice-President and Fellows of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in Oxon. Most Humbly sheweth WE have been credibly Informed That Mr. Anthony Farmer who was not of our Foundation has obtained Your Most Excellent Majesty's Recommendation to be President of Your Majesty's Colledge in the room of Dr. Henry Clark Deceased We therefore with all Submission as becomes Your most Dutiful and Loyal Subjects most humbly Represent to Your Sacred Majesty That the said Mr. Farmer is a Person in several respects Uncapable of that Character according to our Founder's Statutes And do most earnestly beseech Your Majesty as Your Majesty shall judge fittest in Your most Princely Wisdom either to leave us to the discharge of our Duty
they shall depute in their behalf to appear before Us in the Council-chamber at White-Hall upon Monday the Sixth of the next Month of June at Four in the Afternoon to answer to such Matters as shall be objected against them concerning the Premises and of the due execution thereof You are to certifie Us then and there To Thomas Atterbury and Robert Eldows Or to either of them Given under our Seal the 28th of May 1687. The Answer of the Vice-President and other Fellows of Magdalen-Colledge in Oxon who were deputed by the said Colledge to the Question propounded by the Right Honourable and Right Reverend the Lords Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Affairs Viz. Why they did not obey His Majesty's Letter requiring them to Elect and Admit Mr. Anthony Farmer President of the said Colledge THE said Vice-President and other deputed Fellows answered and said That the said Colledge of St. Mary Magdalen in Oxon is a Body Corporate governed by Local Statutes granted and confirmed to them by His Majesty's Royal Predecessor King Henry the 6th for Him and His Heirs and Successors under the Great Seal of England which are also since confirmed by several other Letters Patents of others of His Majesty's Royal Predecessors under the Great Seal of England That by the said Statutes of the Colledge to the observation of which each Fellow is sworn it is ordered that the Person elected President thereof shall be a Man of good Life and Reputation of approved Understanding and good Temper Discreet Provident and Circumspect both in Spiritual and Temporal Affairs And at the time of Election of a President the said Fellows are bound by the said Statutes to take an Oath that they shall nominate none to that Office but such as are or have been Fellows of the said Colledge or of New-Colledge in Oxon or if they are not actually Fellows at that time of Election that they be such as have left their Fellowships in their respective Colledges upon credible accounts And when two qualified persons shall be nominated at the time of Election by the greater number of all the Fellows to the said Office of President the thirteen Seniors also swear that they will Elect one of them whom in their Consciences they think most proper and sufficient most discreet most useful and best qualified for the Place without any regard to love hatred favour or fear And every Fellow when he is first admitted into his Fellowship in the said Colledge swears that he will inviolably keep and observe all the Statutes and Ordinances of the Colledge and every thing therein contained so far as does or may concern him according to the plain literal and grammatical sense and meaning thereof and as much as in him lies will cause the same to be kept and observed by others and that he will not procure any Dispensation contrary to his aforesaid Oath or any part thereof nor contrary to the Statutes and Ordinances to which it relates or any of them nor will he endeavour that such Dispensation shall be procured by any other or others publickly or privately directly or indirectly And if it shall happen that any Dispensation of this sort of whatsoever Authority it shall be whether in general or particular or under what form of Words soever it be granted that he will neither make use of it nor in any sort consent thereunto That upon Notice of the Death of Dr. Clark Late President of the said Colledge the Vice-President called a Meeting of the said Fellows in order to the appointing a day for the Election of a new President and the 13th of April was the time prefix'd with power to prorogue the same as they should see cause till the 15th beyond which time they could not statutably defer their Election and in pursuance thereof a Citation or Premonition was fix'd upon the Chappel-door of the said Colledge signifying the same and by which the absent Fellows were Summoned to repair home as the Statute in the Case requires And the said Vice-President and other deputed Fellows farther say that on the 11th of April aforesaid they received His Majesty's Letters Mandatory to Elect and Admit the said Mr. Anthony Farmer President of the said Colledge But forasmuch as the said Vice-President and Fellows apprehended the right of Election to be in them and believed His Majesty never intended to dispossess them of their Rights And forasmuch as the said Mr. Farmer had never been Fellow either of Magdalen or New-Colledge in Oxon and had not those Qualifications which in and by the said Statutes of the Colledge are required in the Character of a President as they in their Consciences did or do verily believe and in regard that they could not comply with His Majesty's Letter without the violation of their Oaths and hazard of their legal Interest and Property wherewith they are by their Statutes possessed and which by their Oaths they are bound to maintain they represented the same by their humble Petition to His Majesty And having deferred their Election of a President to the last day limited by their Statutes then they proceeded to Election and having first received the Eucharist and taken the said Oaths as the Statutes enjoyn to choose a Person so qualified as is before expressed they did Elect the Reverend Mr. John Hough B. D. and one of the Fellows of their Colledge a Person every way qualified to be President who has been since confirmed by the Bishop of Winton their Visitor as the Statutes of the said Colledge direct And that they might not lye under His Majesty's Displeasure by their Proceedings they did on the 19th of April make an humble representation thereof to His Majesty by his Grace the Duke of Ormond Chancellor of the University of Oxon setting forth their indispensable obligations to observe their Founder's Statutes All which Matters the Vice-President and other deputed Fellows do humbly offer to your Lordships and pray to be dismissed with your Lordships favour The Fellows Reasons why they Elected not Mr. Farmer c. WHereas the Vice President and other deputed Fellows of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in Oxon have in their Answer to your Lordships set forth that by the Statutes of the said Colledge it is ordered That the Person to be elected President thereof should be a man of good Life and Reputation and of good Manners and Temper and likewise that Mr. Anthony Farmer hath not those Qualifications which in and by the said Statutes are requir'd in the Character of a President as they in their Consciences did and do verily believe They humbly crave leave to represent to your Lordships some of those Reasons which induced them to such belief viz. That Mr. Farmer did mis-behave himself in Trinity Colledge in Cambridge That he received Admonition from the Master of the Colledge in order to his Expulsion which remains in the Register of the said Colledge under his own hand That having left Cambridge he taught School at Chippenham in
nor can be a President so long as I live and obey the Statutes of the Colledge and therefore I do not think fit to give up my Right the Keys and Lodgings Bish Ch. We may demand them of you as Visitors Pr. My Lords we never deliver up the Keys to the Bishop of Winton and we own no greater Visitatorial Power than his he hath the King's Authority 'T is by Verttue of a Royal Charter that we live together and enjoy the benefit of this Place that impower'd our Founder to give us a Rule and obliged us by Oath to act suitable unto it and the Bishop of Winton is hereby constituted to be our Visitor and all this we own from the King's Authority The Bishop of Winton is our ordinary Visitor the King I presume our extraordinary But your Lordships know it hath been controversed Whether the King can visit a private Colledge or not The Authority of the President is made by delivering up the Statute-Book and Keys and therefore I look upon them as an essential Badge of my Office. But I humbly beg that I may ask your Lordships one Question Your Lordship is pleased to demand of me to give up these things Does your Lordship own my Right For if not which is it your Lordships would have me give up Bish Ch. No we look upon you as an Intruder Pr. If I am an Intruder the Bishop of Winton made me one and I thank God for it My Lords the time we have been allowed for this appearance has been very short but one day betwixt it and the Citation We are men ignorant in the Laws and I must confess it of my self in particular that I have endeavoured to give your Lordships a plain and satisfactory Reply to such Questions as your Lordships have been pleased to put to me It is very probable that through ignorance and inadvertency I may express my self unwarily If so I beseech your Lordship let no advantage be taken of it my intention has been always to express my self with all imaginable Duty to the King and Respects to your Lordships If I have done otherwise I beseech your Lordships Candor in a favourable Interpretation of what I said that nothing may be taken amiss where all was dutifully intended And now my Lords thus far have I appear'd before you as Judges I now address to you as Men of Honour and Gentlemen I beseech you to represent me as dutiful to His Majesty to the last Degree as I always will be so far as my Conscience permits me to the last moment of my Life and when I am dispossest here I hope your Lordships will interceed that I may no longer lie under His Majesty's Displeasure or be frown'd upon by my Prince which is the greatest Affliction can befall me Upon this the President was ordered to withdraw and after a little time he and the Fellows were called in again Then the Bishop repeated this Question Bish Ch. Dr. Hough Will you deliver up the Keys and quiet possession of the Lodgings to the Person whom His Majesty has appointed President To which no Answer was return'd The Bishop repeated a Second time Pr. My Lords I have neither seen nor heard any thing to induce me to it Bish Ch. Dr. Hough Will you deliver up the Keys and quiet possession of the Lodgings to the Person whom His Majesty has appointed President Whereupon the King's Proctor stood up and accused Dr. Hough of Countumacy then the Bishop of Chester admonish'd him in these Words three times Bish Ch. Dr. Hough I admonish you to depart peaceably out of the Lodgings and to Act no longer as President or pretended President of this Colledge Which being so done they struck his Name out of the Book and admonish'd the Fellows and others of the Society that they should no longer submit to his Authority SATURDAY October 22d 1687. OXON Dr. Fairfax's CASE before the Commissioners AT the first Sessions Doctor Fairfax purposely absented himself but Mr. Atterbury making Affidavit he was in Town and that he advised him to appear the Doctor accordingly did so the next day The Doctor being called in alone and the Doors immediately shut he begg'd of their Lordships some Company might be let in because as all had observed the Bishop in his Speech at the opening their Commission promised to transact every thing in the face of the World. The Bishop complained of the Crowd The Doctor then desired to fetch in but Two or Three at length but One and him at the Door viz. The Colledge Steward a Publick Notary Bar. Jen. You must not think to prescribe to the Court. Bish Ch. What 's the Cause of your Contempt in not appearing at either Sessions yesterday Dr. Fair. No Contempt my Lord but for these ensuing Reasons First I thought my Suspension above had eased me of that trouble The Doctor tendring a Copy of it which was read by the Commissioners The Doctor insisted very much on the Reasonâ— their Lordships at White-Hall gave for his Suspension viz For not obeying His Majesty in Electing Mr. Farmer he tendring a Copy of Articles made good against him and yet their Lordships ordered his Suspension to be fix'd on the Colledge-Gates five days after that famous Hearing Second Reason for his Non-appearance that upon the first day of the ensuing Term he intended to meet the Lord Chief Justice at his Court of King's-Bench for relief against the Sentence his Fellowship being a Free-hold witness Coveny's Case Bish Ch. You will find but little Favour there Dr. Fair. My Lord in Courts of Judicature I only expect Justice and turning to the Lord Chief Justice I have my self said he been above four years in all the Courts of Westminster-Hall and found excellent Justice and I will see how it is now L. Ch. Just You shall have Justice Dr. Fair. But your Lordship may save me the labour of two Journeys and my Charges by improving your Lordship's deserved Interest with my Lords Commissioners there and get them now to take off my Suspension It is ill travelling at this time of year and besides I am not rich Bar. Jen. To sue in Westminster-Hall requires a Purse Dr. Fair. My Lord I did not say I was poor L. Ch. Just You must make your Supplication and Submission to the King. Dr. Fair. My Lord they tell me that this business lyes in your Lordship's Court and only there besides the trouble I am otherwise to give your Lordship What a noise will the cause make that Dr. Fairfax is suspended for this very reason viz. not obeying the King in Electing Anthony Farmer such a Virtuoso and under correction your Lordships are obliged to take off my Suspension to take off the shame from that Body whose number by a Common Adjunct you your selves have lately increas'd Bar. Jen. We must not endure these Reflections on the Court. Bish But will you submit to this Visitation Then Dr. Fairfax read a Paper subscribed by him
worse without the usual Salvo to His Majesty's Supreme Power When he had spoken it there followed such a Tumultuous Seditious and Insolent HUM which if you your selves had not applauded or at least consented to it was impossible but that you would have discovered some of those Mutineers However since his Carriage and Language gave occasion to it 't was thought fit that he onely should be obnoxious and accordingly he was bound over On Tuesday we our selves caused the Bishop of Oxon to be Installed by his Proxy after which we proposed to you Whether being now Installed you would submit to him licitis honestis To which you gave an Answer under your Hands in the Affirmative You then also desired of us to represent your Case favourably to His Majesty giving all assurance of your Loyalty and Obedience But this assurance of Submission lasted not long for on Thursday being required of us to Subscribe such a Submission to His Majesty as we thought agreeable to your Duty you required time to consult of it and after deliberation Sign'd such a Paper which seem'd rather to be a Protestation against your former Submission than an Acknowledgment of your Crime Vpon this we might justly then have proceeded to an Expulsion but we thought fit in compassion to you to take a Journey to London and acquaint His Majesty with your Disobedience and ungrateful Behaviour His Majesty was extreamly amaz'd that His Clemency should be despised but yet to your comforts be it spoken His Patience and Goodness extends as far as your Provocations can But if you still persist in your Obstinacie those that are too Tall to Stand and too Stuborn to Bend deserve to be Broken. And now I think I have said enough to let you know that the Figg-leaves you have so artificially stiched together are not sufficient to cover your Nakedness I wish to God you had the same tenderness for your Concern as His Majesty's Commissioners have for you But if you still persist to oppose the Royal Power of the King we who are come to vindicate the Right and Honour of His Majesty resolved to discharge our Consciences and Duties to God and the King without any respect of Popularity that 's but the Paradise of Fools and Scorn of Wise Men and therefore as for us we have no more regard to Peoples dislike than what they dream By reason therefore of your late Hypocritical Submission the Commissioners has thought fit upon mature consideration to draw up an Instrument which shall be read to you to which if you shall immediately subscribe before you leave the Room we shall leave you to His Majesty's Pardon And this we expect from you all except Mr. Tho. Smith and Mr. Charnock with whose Behaviour the King is so well satisfied that he expects no more from them Then all the Fellows being called in their Lordships tendred a Form of Submission to them to be Signed Which take as followeth To the KING 's Most Excellent MAJESTY The Humble Petition and Submission of the Fellows of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in the University of Oxon whose Names are Subscribed WE Your Maiesties most humble Petitioners have a deep sense of being justly fallen under Your Majesties Displeasure for our disobedience and contempt to Your Majesty and to the Authority of Your Majesties Commissioners and Visitors We do in all humility prostrate our selves as Your Majesties Fear humbly begging Your Pardon for our said offences and promising that we will for the future behave our selves more dutifully and as a Testimony thereof we do acknowledge the Authority of Your Majesties said Visitors and the Justice of their Proceedings And we do declare our entire Submission to the Lord Bishop of Oxon as our President To which Paperall except Dr. Thomas Smyth and Mr. Chernock refused to Subscribe Dr. Aldworth as Vice President was first call'd in to sign the Paper which had been read to all the Fellows Vice President My Lords we desire time to consider of it and to give our answer in Writing Bish Ch. No You must every one Sign or refuse as you are called Bar. Jennor There is no answer to be given but ay or no. They all moved again for time but 't was refused V. Pr. My Lords this is the first time of my appearance before your Lordships since your sitting here and therefore I pray to be heard My Lords I am as ready to comply with the King's pleasure as any man living neither do I know that we have ever in this place been disobedient to the King where it was in our power to obey His Commands Our Founder in the first clause of the Oath we take at this Election has provided that no one shall be President of His Colledge but who was bred in it or in the Colledge where he himself was bred Now for us who have Elected Dr. Hough a Person qualified according to our Statutes who has been Installed Sworn Confirm'd and Approv'd of in all the ways and manner prescribed in the Statutes for us My Lords to accept and admit of a Stranger and a Forreigner in his place is to the best of my understanding a giving up the Rights of the Colledge to other uses then the Founder designed it Here he was interrupted Bish Ch. Your Statutes are over-rul'd by the King's Authority V. Pr. My Lords Your Lordships sit here as the Visitors which implies there are certain Laws and Statutes we are bid to observe and by which we are to be govern'd and if it shall appear to your Lordships that we have acted conformably to these Statutes I hope we shall neither incur the Kings displeasure nor your Lordships The whole Tenour of our Statutes run That we should inviolably maintain our Rights and observe the Rules of our Founder He has laid his Curse upon us if we vary from them Here he repeated the words of the Founder Ordinamus sub paenâ Anathematis indignationis Omnipotentiis Dei c. Item sub interminatione Divini Judicis interdicimus Bish Ch. Are you not to obey the King as well as the Founders Statutes V. Pr. My Lord I ever did obey the King and ever will Our Statutes which we are sworn to observe are confirm'd by several Kings and Queens before and since the Reformation and as we keep them are agreeable to the Kings Laws both Ecclesiastical and Civil and so long as we live up to them we obey the King. Bish Ch. Your Statutes were never confirm'd by His Present Majesty Dr. John Smyth My Lord Neither have they been repealed by His Majesty and what is not repeal'd is confirm'd Then their Lordships pressing to sign or refuse the Vice President said V. Pr. My Lords I 'll then deal plainly in regard to my Oath and the Statutes to the right of all our Successours and of Dr. Hough whom I believe to have been as fairly Elected and as legally possessed as ever any since the Foundation of the Colledge I cannot
Statutes of the Mass Then the Decree of the 22d of June was read declaring the President 's Election Null and Void Bish Ch. Did you know of this Commission c. Pr. Yes my Lord I have heard of it Bish Ch. Why then did you not obey it Pr. I was never Cited before their Lordships nor was either heard by them in Person or Proxy and I think I am the onely instance that is extant of any man that was ever depriv'd of a Free-hold wherein he was legally invested and of which he was quietly possess'd without being Summon'd or Heard Here mention was made of Dr. Fairfax's Suspension Pr. My Lord He is absent and if your Lordships give me leave I have somewhat to say on his account your Lordships may please to observe in that Decree that the reason given why Dr. Fairfax was Suspended from his Fellowship was because he had not obeyed his Majesty's Command in not Electing Mr. Anthony Farmer President of the Colledge Now the Charge of Immorality given in against Mr. Farmer by the Colledge Delegates was made out and their Lordships fully satisfied in it on the 29th of July notwithstanding which this Decree for Suspension of Dr. Fairfax was fix'd on the Colledge-Gates August 2d Bish Ch. The King hath for the most part recommended to the Presidentship of this Colledge Pr. I am the Twentieth President and onely four of that number hath been recommended by the Kings and Queens of England whereof three were every way qualified for that Office. Bish Ch. Who were those Pr. My Lord there was one in the time of Edward the Sixth one in Queen Elizabeth's and two in the late King's Reign Bish Ch. Was there never a one in King Charles the First 's Reign Pr. Not that we know of Bish Ch. What think you of Dr. Oliver Pr. It doth not appear to us my Lord that he ever had a Mandate Bish Ch. But it appears to us and that I will bring you one to swear that he had a Mandate Pr. The truth is we have lost the Register of Dr. Oliver's Election and Admission the Register betwixt the Year 1640 or thereabouts and 60 being taken away by those who were turn'd out of the Colledge at that time but I believe my Lord we are able to prove that he was Elected and Admitted according to Statute Bish Ch. Was Dr. Clark a Statutable Person Pr. Yes my Lord. Bish Ch. Do not the Statutes require that he should be in Orders was he in Orders Pr. My Lord the Statutes onely require that he should be Doctor of Divinity Physick Law or Master of Arts There is indeed one Statute which says The President or Seniour Fellow should Read Prayers upon such certain Days from whence we conclude that the Founder suppos'd we might have a President that might not be in Orders and in such a case he takes care that the Seniour Fellow should do his Duty Mr. Char. My Lord will you be pleased to ask Dr. Hough whether Dr. Clark was Married or not Pr. No Sir he was a Widdower Then a Petition was read from the Society to his Majesty signed the 9th of April and presented the 10th to the Earl of Sunderland by the hands of Dr. Thomas Smith and Captain Bagshaw wherein 't was set forth that having heard that his Majesty would recommend Mr. Farmer to them a person uncapable they did humbly beseech him either to leave them to a free Election or to recommend a qualified person Bish Ch. Was this the Petition Answer Yes Bish Ch. Why then did you not stay for his Majesty's Answer Pr. My Lord We did till the very last day wherein we are limited to finish the Election and my Lord Sunderland returned in the King's name this Answer That his Majesty expected to be obeyed Now my Lord we did no longer defer the Election because our Statutes enjoyn us within such a time and we staid to the utmost Nor could we chuse the person his Majesty did recommend knowing him to be so unfit as we afterward made him appear to be The Society was therefore to proceed to the Election of another person and did agree on such as you see Bish Ch. A Mandate always implies an Inhibition Pr. My Lord I cannot conceive that Bish Ch. But I can and if you question it here 's the King's Councel ready to argue it Pr. My Lord Whilst the person his Majesty recommends appears duly qualified for the place it seems indeed to imply that we should not proceed to the Election of another but when he is known to be utterly uncapable it seems to be the same as if there were no Letter at all Some other things and questions less material were put and then the Court was Adjourned to Saturday the 22d nine in the morning to the common Room the Hall being as they said too publick and incommodious SATURDAY October 22d 1687. As soon as their Lordships met in the common Room and the Society before them the first word was Withdraw and after a little time the President was called in alone Bish Ch. DO you submit to the Decree of the Commissioners whereby the Election is declared Null Pr. As to that Decree of the Lords above it is a Nullity in its self from the beginning to the end as it relates to me I never having been Cited nor having ever appeared before them either in Person or by Proxy Besides my Cause it self was never before them their Lordships never inquiring or asking one queston concerning the Legality or Statutableness of my Election for which reasons as I am informed that Decree was of no Validity against me according to methods in the Civil Law But if it were I am possessed of a Free-hold according to the Laws of England and the Statutes of the Society having been Elected as Unanimously and with as much Formality as any one of my Predicessors Presidents of this Colledge and afterwards Admitted by the Lord Bishop of VVinton our Visitor as the Statutes of the Colledge require and therefore I can't submit to that Sentence because I think I cannot be depriv'd of my Free-hold but by course of Law at VVestminster-hall or by being some ways incapacitated by the Founder's Statutes Bish Ch. Will you deliver up the Keys of the President 's Office and Lodgings to the use of that Person whom the King has appointed your President as the Statutes require Pr. I will immediately do it if that appear Bish Ch. Turn to that part of the President 's Oath where he promiseth to submit quietly if he shall be Expelled either for his on Fault vel ob aliam Causam Pr. My Lord That Statute onely concerns me if I am Expelled for any fault committed by me Bish Ch. Vel ob aliam causam Pr. Then my Lord to be short here is no cause at all Bish Ch. I ask you again Will you deliver up the Keys to the President whom his Majesty hath appointed Pr. There neither is
his Subjects should be molested in the enjoyment of their Rights and Priviledges c. Now that our Proceedings at the Election cannot lay any imputation of our Disobedience or Disloyalty upon us will thus be made appear Either we had the power to Elect a President or we had not if we had not to what end or purpose did his Majesty command us to elect one if we had our power was either restrain'd to Persons so and so quallified or we were at liberty to chuse whom we pleas'd but we could not do the latter as appears by our Statutes and therefore we could not elect Mr. Farmer being not invested with any power to elect a Person unquallified And if we had so done our Election would have been null and void in it self and the Person elected liable to be turn'd out by our Visitor As for the Decree of his Majesty's Commissioners in pursuance of which your Lordships have admonish'd Doctor Hough to receed from the place of President and quietly to resign the Keys of his Office and have struck his Name out of the Colledge-Book we humbly conceive it to be null and void in it self to all intents and purposes Dr. Hough being thereby depriv'd of Freehold for life of which he was duly and legally possest without ever being call'd to defend his Right or any Misdemeanour objected against him Wherefore we humbly beg leave of your Lordships that Dr. Hough may be permitted to defend his Right and Title to the Presidentship at Common Law before any other Person is put in possession of the place Thomas Stafford Hen. Fairfax After this Mr. Wiggins Chaplain to the Bishop of Oxford was called in who delivered a Paper impowering him as Proxy to be Installed President for his Lord which being read together with the King's Mandate for the Bishop of Oxon which Letters is as follows The question was put to two or three of the Seniours Whether they would assist at this Instalment which they refusing the Court Adjourned to the Chappel where the Bishop of Chester put Mr. Wiggins into the President 's Stall where he took the Oath which the Statutes enjoyn the President at his Admission and the Oaths of Alegiance and Supremacy the latter of which he was ordered to take upon his Knees which he accordingly did Then their Lordships conducted him to the Door of the President 's Lodgings where knocking three times and the Door not being opened they returned to the Common Room and Commission'd Atterbury and a Tipstaff to fetch a Smith to force it open which was done their Lordships being present all this while None of the Fellows except Mr. Chernock assisting or being so much as present at either of these performances Then the Commissioners being returned to the Common Room Dr. Fairfax desired leave at their leisures to speak which was granted Dr. Fairf My Lords your Lordships have been doing of what I can by no means consent to Bish Ch. You are big to be delivered of your own destruction Will you submit to the Bishop of Oxon as now installed President by vertue of the King's Mandate Dr. Fairf I will not I cannot because we have a Statutable and legal President already Then the same Question was put to the Society which being a business of moment they desired time till the Afternoon to consider it Then the Court Adjourned till Three a Clock at which time the Answer was given in by the Society except Dr. Fairfax who had given his in the Morning That whereas His Majesty hath been pleased by his Royal Authority to cause the Right Reverend Father in God Samuel Bishop of Oxon to be Installed President we whose Names are hereunto Subscribed do submit as far as is lawful and agreeable to the Statutes of the Colledge and no way prejudicial to the Right and Title of Dr. Hough This Answer was accepted except the last Clause which the Lord Chief Justice and Barron Jenner declared as Judges to be insignificant since nothing they could do could any way invallidate Dr. Hough's Title but left them still at liberty to be Witnesses for him or any other way be serviceable to him in the recovery of his Right Upon this assulrance the Society was prevailed with to cave out the last Clause Then all were commanded to withdraw And Dr. Fairfax being called in the Bishop asked him what he meant by his Paper abovementioned Date October the 22d and whether he did submit to the Authority of the Court Dr. Fairf As I have denied it above so I do here Then the Court was opened and the Doctor complained before them all that he was twice Closseted and being asked Whether he would obey the Court and Bishop of Oxon he plainly denied both Upon which the Buttery-Book was called for and the Bishop of Chester commanded his Name to bo struck out And this Sentance passed Viz. Forasmuch as you have denied the Authority of the Court and refused to obey the Bishop of Oxon whom the King hath made your President and taken Commons after your Suspension We declare your place void and command you quietly to depart the Colledge within fourteen days Dr. Fairf My Lords all the huge Calamities that have befallen me are of the sole account of a Religious and Consciencious Observation of our Pious Founder's Statutes whose Bread I have eaten almost this Thirty Years L. C. J. No Speeches besides if you have any Papers instead of reading them leave them in the Court. Then with much ado the Doctor prevailed with them to let him read his Protestation which he left in the Court. I Henry Fairfax Fellow of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge do under my former Answer heretofore made and to the intent it may appear that I have not consented nor agreed to any thing done against me and to my prejudice I protest that your Sentence given here against me is Lex nulla and so far as it shall appear to be aliqua I do say it is iniqua injusta and that therefore I do from it as iniqua injusta appeal to our Soveraign Lord the King in his Courts of Justice as the Laws Statutes and Ordinances of the Land will permit in that behalf Subscribed Oct. 25 1687. Henry Fairfax This Protestation was over-ruled and a Copy of the Sentence denyed though most earnestly desired at the instance of Dr. Hedges and Mr. Vice-Chancellor two days after At the close of the Sessions their Lordships declared that they were very well satisfied with the Answer the Soiety had given them and though before they had laid a Libel to their charge yet that Night they declared they had met with nothing from them but Civility and that they should receive the same from them that they had shewn themselves men of excellent tempers this day and before and that they would represent it faithfully above to their advantage and that if it any way lay in their power to serve them they should be very ready to do
it Then they Adjourned till Wednesday-Morning ordering them to bring in their Answer to the following Questions I. What Gifts and Provisions have you for Entertainment of Strangers II. What is the Value of it III. How is it applied IV. And where is the Place of Entertainment WEDNESDAY Octob. 26 1687. IN the Morning they made it apper to their Lordships very satisfactorily that they were obliged to give in Charity-money 2 l. 3 s. 4 d. and that besides that they gave communibs annis almost 100 l. as appeared by a Paper they then delivered in Upon this their Lordships were pleased to expatiate upon their generous Bounty and Liberality saying the Complement of this Account was groundless and that it would induce the King to a better belief of them in all other matters Then a Petition of Dr. Rogers late Organist was given in desiring to be restored which was read but several Misdemeanours being proved against him it was thrown out and he advised to rest satisfied with 30 pound per annum which the Colledge had bestowed on him when they turn'd him out of his Place THURSDAY Octob. 27 1687. THis Morning they received a List of Leases c. which had been renew'd two years last past Mr. Chernock the new Convert asked their Lordships Whether those Leases stood good which had been Sealed since Dr. Hough's Election The Lord Chief Justice answer'd Yes for Corporations always stick by their Seals Then their Lordships perused the Colledge Registers and finding nothing in them to object against they were returned and the Court Adjourned till the Afternoon At which time their Lordships told them That having received no Express from above as they expected they would Adjourn till Friday at Eight in the Morning FRIDAY Octob. 28 1687. THe Commissioners being Seated all were commanded to withdraw then only the Fellows were called in and the Bishop of Chester said they had represented them fairly to the King but that His Majesty expected some farther Submissiion which they advised them to make by acknowledging their contempt to His Sacred Majesty in Person and to His Letters and that they should promise to behave themselves Loyal for the future and that they should some ways own the proceedings and legality of the Court and implore His Majesty's Pardon and lay themselves at His Feet The Fellows making a little pause the Bishop of Chester told them they might Word it themselves or if they thought fit Mr. Tucker should assist them in a Form. Then all the Fellows withdrew into the Hall and drew up the following Answer May it please your Lordships WE have endeavoured in all our Actions to express our duty in all humility to His Majesty and being conscious to our selves that in the whole Conduct of the business before your Lordships we have done nothing but what our Oaths and Statutes indispensably oblige us to we cannot make any Declaration whereby we acknowledge that we have done any thing amiss having acted according to the Principles of Loyalty and Obedience so far as we could without doing violence to our Consciences or prejudice to our Rights one of which we humbly conceive the Electing a President to be from which we are sworn upon no account whatsoever to depart We therefore humbly beg your Lordships to represent this favourably with our utmost Duty to His Majesty whom God grant long and happily to Reign Upon their Lordships perusing of the answer they expressed their dislike of it saying it did not come up to the Address sent to his Majesty at Bath which was read to this it was replyed that they hoped their behaviour since had been every way answerable to what they had therein promised Then their Lordships said that it did not come up to what they delivered in on Tuesday Dr. Bayly My Lords we have acted conformable to our selves and truly my Lords I cannot possibly confess any crime Bish We do not expect of you to confess any Capital crime only to make some acknowlegment Mr. Fulham My Lord We were ordered to address our selves as having acted in contempt of his Majesties Authority which my Lord I look upon as so great a crime that on no account I would be guilty of it My Lord we have indeavoured to obey His Majesty to the utmost of our power and seeing your Lordships were pleased to accept our answer on Tuesday I humbly conceive your Lordships Honour is engaged that nothing further be required of us Bish You are a very forward speaker and abound in your own sense Mr. Fulh My Lord I hope Your Lordship will give me leave to speak when our Fortunes are so considerably at stake Then Dr. Bayly desired of their Lordships to give him leave to explain what he meant by the word Submit in his Answer on Tuesday because saith he I hear your Lordships understood more then was meant and least your Lordships should go away under a mistake by the word Submit in the former Answer I did not intend any future Obedience to the Bishop of Oxford but meant it in reference to the Kings Authority inasmuch as I did not oppose or resist the Bishop of Oxford's instalment Upon this a fresh question was put to the Fellows whether they would obey the Bishop of Oxford as their President in licitus honestis to which all except one or two answered they could not obey the Bishop of Oxford as their President Then Mr. Fulham was particularly asked the question Mr. Fulham Dr. Hough being duely Elected and admitted President doth thereby obtain a right which I am not satisfied he hath any way forfeited and therefore can obey no person as President Bish Ch. Will you obey the Bishop of Oxford as in Possession Mr. Fulh I cannot because the Bishop hath not lawful Possession Then he was asked wherein Mr. Fulh He hath not Possession in due form of Law nor by proper Officers I am informed that the proper Officers to give possession of a Freehold is the Sheriff with a Posse Comitatus L. C. J. Pray who 's the best Lawyer you or I Your Oxford Law is no better then your Oxford Divinity If you have a mind to a Posse Comitatus you may have one soon enough Mr. Fulh My Lords I intended nothing but respect to your Lordships and have indeavoured to speak and behave my self with due reverence and I hope your Lordships will put a favourable construction on what I said Then all were commanded to withdraw and the Buttery-Book was called for and after that Mr. Fulham was sent for in and by the Bishop of Chester suspended as followeth Bish of Ch. Mr. George Fulham We have thought fit to Suspend you from the Proffits of your Fellowship during His Majesties Pleasure for your contempt and opprobrious Language Then they Adjourned till Wednesday the 16th of November Ordering the absent Fellows to be sent for home against that time So they immediately went for London WEDNESDAY November the 16th 1687 at Nine