comâ—… by indirect means and not by merit to them Bellarmine also was of no poor and base extraction but better than his Fellows for which reason he was created Cardinal by Clement the Eight Hunc eligimus saith he quia est nepos optimi sanctissimi Poâ—…tificis because he was the Nephew of Marcellus the Second who said that he could not see how any could be saved who sate in the Pontifical Chair Non video quomodo qui locum hunc altissimum tenent salvari possunt After those heats of disputation were over Mr. Heylyn took a Journy to London where he waited on Bishop Lâ—…d then Bishop of Bath and Wells who had heard of all the passages that had hapned at Oxford of which Mr. Heylyn gave a more perfect account to his Lordship who was pleased to read over the Supposition at which Dr. Prideaux was so highly offended but the good Bishop on the other side commended it and encouraged Mr. Heylyn in his Studies saying that he himself had in his younger dayes maintained the same Positions in a disputation in St. Johns Colledge that Mr. Heylyns Hypothesis could not be overthrown in a fair way exhorting him to continue in that moderate course And that as God had given him more than ordinary gifts so he would pray to God that he and others might employ them in such a way and manner as might make up the breaches in the Walls of Christendom Mr. Heylyn to clear himself from the suspicion of Popery which Dr. Prideaux had most unjustly branded him with in November next following Preached before the King on those words Joh. 4. ver 20. Our Fathers Worshipped on this Mountain c. In which Sermon he declared himself with such smart zeal and with as quick Judgment against several errors and corruptions in the Church of Rome that his Sermon was otherwise resented by the King and Court then his supposition by the Kings Professor at Oxon. And when that clamour was revived again by his Enemies that he had some inclinations to the Romish Religion he gave such satisfaction in his third and fourth Sermon Preached at White-Hall in the year 1638. Upon the Parable of the Tares on these words Matth. 13. vers 26. Tunc apparuerunt Zizania Then appeared the Tares also that some of the Court did not stick to say that he had done more towards the Subversion of Popery in those two Sermons than Dr. Prideaux had done in all the Sermons which he had ever Preached in his Life For that Doctor was a better disputant than a Preacher and to give him his due a right Learned Man in his place of Regius Professor yet withal so Dogmatical in his own points that he would not abide to be touched much less contradicted by Mr. Heylyn Non aliam ob causam nisi quod Virtus in vtroque summa fuit More especially being a Great Man at that time very popular in the University profoundly admired by the Junior Masters and some of the Seniors inclined to Puritanism his own Colledge then observed to be Communis pestis Adolescentum the Common Nursery of West Country Men in Puritan principles so that Mr. Heylyn could expect no favour nor fair dealing in the way of his disputation when it ran contrary to the Professors humor After these Academical contests growing weary of Obs and Sols in Scholastical disputations which was ever opposite to his Genius and for this purpose being unwilling to be alwaies Cloystred up within the Walls of a Colledge where he must be tied to such Exercises besides a Man of an Aiery and active Spirit though studious and contemplative would not be perpetually devoted to a Melancholly recluse Life also emulation and envy the two inseperable evils that accompany Learned Men in the same Society hath frequently stirred up animosities and factions among them That I have known some ingenious persons for this reason have been wearied out of a Collegiat Life resolved therefore he was to Marry and alter the condition of his Life which he thought would prove more agreeable to the content and satisfactiof his mind Neque aliud probis quam ex Matrimonio solatium esse saith the good Author because Marriage is the only comfort of minds honestly given accordingly a fair Fortune was offered to him a Wife with a thousand pounds Portion and a Gentlewoman of a very Ancient Family and of as excellent Education Mrs. Letitia High-Gate third Daughter of Thomas High-Gate of Heyes Esq one of his Majesties Justices of Peace for the County of Middlesex who in his younger dayes whilst his Elder Brother was alive had been Provost Marshal General of the Army under the Earl of Essex at the action of Cales and of Margery Skipwith his Wife one of the Daughters of that Ancient Family of the Skipwiths in the County of Leicester of which Family still there is a Worthy person living Sir Thomas Skipwith Knight a Learned Serjeant in the Law Which said Thomas High-Gate the Father beforementioned was second Son of that Thomas High-Gate who was field Marshal General of the English Forces before St. Quintine under the Command of the Earl of Pembrook Anno Dom. 1557. And of Elizabeth Stoner his Wife a Daughter of the ancient Family of the Stoners in the County of Oxon. To this young Gentlewoman Mrs. Letitia High-gate aforesaid Mr. Heylyn was no stranger for his Elder Brother Mr. Edward Heylyn had married some years before her eldest Sister His Seat was at Minster-Lovel in Oxfordshire where his Son to whom Dr. Heylyn was Uncle now liveth viz. Hen. Heylyn Esq an ancient Collonel and an excellent Commander in the Army of King Charles the First and a most accomplished Gentleman in all respects to the honour of his Family Another of the Sisters of Mrs. Letitia High-gate married Robert Tirwhit Esq one of the ancient Family of the Tirwhits in the County of Lincoln Master of the Buck-hounds in the Reign of King Charles the First a Place of honour and of great Revenue Finally to the honour of that Family Sir Henry Bard of Stanes Knight who afterward was created Viscount Lord Bellamount did marry the Daughter of Sir William Gardiner whose Lady and Mrs. Letitia High-gate were Sisters Children that unfortunate Lord who is mentioned in the Marquesse of Worcesters Apothegmes for a brave Commander and Governour of Camden House in the time of War did attend his sacred Majesty all the time of his Exile until the Treaty at Breda when he was sent as I have heard on some Ambassage into the Eastern Countries where travelling in Arabia deserta for want of a skilful Guide was swallowed up in the Gulf of Sands These were the Relations and many others of Quality which I forbear to mention of Mrs. Letitia High-gate And whereas the late Writer disparages the young Gentlewoman that her Portion was never paid I am sure he has done her that Wrong which he can never recompence for her Elder
Book of Nature and Scripture This Knowledge excelleth all other and without it who knoweth not the saying Omnem Scientiam magis obesse quam prodesse si desit scientia optimi that all other Knowledge does us more hurt than good if this be wanting Notwithstanding he met with some discouragements to take upon himself the Profession of a Divine for what reasons it is hard for me to conjecture but its certain at first he fonnd some reluctancy within himself whether for the difficulties that usually attend this deep mysterious Science to natural reason incomprehensible because containing many matters of Faith which we ought to belâ—…eve and not to question though now Divinity is the common mystery of Mechanicks to whom it seems more easie than their manual Trades and Occupations or whether because it drew him off from his former delightful Studies more probably I believe his fears and distrusts of himself were very great to engage in so high a Calling and Profession and run the hazards of it because the like Examples are very frequent both in Antiquity and modern History however so timerous he was upon this account lest he should rush too suddenly into the Ministry although his abilities at that time transcended many of elder years that he exhibited a Certificate of his Age to the President of the Colledge and thereby procured a Dispensation notwithstanding any local Statutes to the contrary that he might not be compelled to enter into holy Orders till he was twenty four years old at which time still his fears did continue or at least his modesty and self-denyal wrought some unwillingness in him till at last he was overcome by the Arguments and powerful Perswasions of his Learned Friend Mr. Buckner after whose excellent Discourses with him he followed his Studies in Divinity more closely than ever having once tasted the sweetness of them nothing can ravish the Soul more with pleasure unto an Extasie than Divine Contemplation of God and the Mysteries in his holy Word which the Angels themselves prye into and for which reason they love to be present in Christian Assemblies when the Gospel is preached as the Apostle intimates to us That by continual study and meditation and giving himself wholly to read Theological Books he found in himself an earnest desire to enter into the holy Orders of Deacon and Priest which he had conferred upon him at distinct times in St. Aldates Church at Oxon by the Reverend Father in God Bishop Howson At the time when he was ordained Priest he preached the Ordination Sermon upon the words of our Saviour to St. Peter Luke 22. 32. And when thou art converted strengthen thy Brethren An apposite Text upon so solemne Occasion Being thus ordained to his great satisfaction and contentment the method which he resolved to follow in the Course of his Studies was quite contrary to the common Rode of young Students for he did not spend his time in poring upon Compendiums and little Systems of Divinity whereby many young Priests â—…hink they are made absolute Divines when perhaps a Gentleman of the â—…ish doth oftentimes gravel them in an ordinary Argument But he fell upon the main Body of Divinity by studying Fathers Councils Ecclesiastical Histories and School-men the way which King James commended to all younger Students for confirming them in the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England that is most agreeable to the Doctrine of the Primitive Church By this time his Book of Geography in the first Edition bought up by Scholars Gentlemen and almost every Housholder for the pleasantness of its reading was reprinted and enlarged in a second Edition and presented again to his Highness the Prince of Wales who not only graciously accepted the Book but was pleased to pass a singular Commendation upon the Author But afterward the Book being perused by his Royal Father King James the second Solomon for Wisdom and most Learned Monarch in Christendom the Book put into his Majesties hand by Dr. Young then Dean of Winton and Mr. Heylyn's dear Friend the Kings peircing Judgement quickly spyed out a fault which was taken no notice of by others as God always endows Kings his Vice-gerents with that extraordinary gift the Spirit of discerning above other Mortals Sicut Angelus Dei est Dominus meus Rex saith the holy Scripture as an Angel of God so is my Lord the King who lighting upon a Line that proved an unlucky Passage in the Author who gave Precedency to the French King and called France the more famous Kingdom with which King James was so highly displeased that he presently ordered the Lord Keeper to call the Book in but this being said in his Anger and Passion no further notice was taken of it in the mean time Dr. Young took all care to send Mr. Heylyn word of his Majesties displeasure the News of which was no small sorrow to him that he was now in danger to lose the Kings Favour Nil nisi peccatum manitestaque culpa falenda est Paenitet ingenij judiciique mei that Mr. Heylyn could have wished them words had been left out Dr. Young advised him to repair to Court that by the young Prince's Patronage he might pacifie the Kings Anger but not knowing whethâ—… the Prince himself might not be also offended he resided still in Oxford and laid open his whole grief to the Lord Danvers desiring his Lordships Counsel and best advice what Remedy he should seek for Cure according to the good Lord's Counsel he sent up an Apology to Dr. Young which was an Explanation of his meaning upon the words in question and then under Condemnation The Error was not to be imputed to the Author but to the Errata of the Printer which is most ordinary in them to mistake one word for another and the grand mistake was by printing is for was which put the whole Sentence out of joynt and the Author into pain if it had been of a higher Crime than of a Monosylable it had not been pardonable for the intention of the Author was very innocent Quis me deceperit error Et culpam in facto non scelus essemeo The words of his Apology which he sent up to Dr. Young for his Majesties satisfaction are these that followeth That some Crimes are of a nature so injustifiable that they are improved by an Apology yet considering the purpose he had in those places which gave offence to his sacred Majesty he he was unwilling that his Innocence should be condemned for want of an Advocate The Burdens under which he suffered was a mistake rather than a Crime and that mistake not his own but the Printers For if in the first Line of Page 441. was be read instead of is the Sense runs as he desired it And this appears from the words immediately following for by them may be gathered the sense of this corrected reading When Edward the third quartered the Arms of France and England he gave
few days after Mr. Heylyn was presented by the King to the Rectory of Hemingford in the County of Huntington Soon after he applyed himself to the Bishop of Lincoln for Institution which was not only denyed him but the Bishop more boldly than did befit his Lordship disputed his own Title against his Soveraign and fell upon Mr. Heylyn with most foul opprobrious Language because he presumed to defend the Kings right against his Lordship which he proved by the Instruments of Conveyance made from the other Party at which the Bishop was the more highly offended with him that such a young Divine should have so great knowledge of the Law and especially to argue the Case with his Lordship But this was not the main business Latet Anguis in herba there was a Snake in the Garden for his Lordship had a subtile design under disguise or otherwise he would have easily waved his right of presentation pro hac vice to pleasure the King in the preferment of his Chaplain or at least preserving his own right bestowed the Living upon Mr. Heylyn But then here lyeth the matter his Lordship had been crossed in his wonted method that is to give with one hand and take away with the other which he could not for shame do with a Kings Chaplain For when he bestowed a Living upon any Person as he had many in his Gift being both Lord Bishop and Lord Keeper he would tye the Incumbent to pay an annual pension out of it to be disposed to such charitable and pious uses as he thought fit so that the stream of his Charity flowed out of other mens Purses and not his own at the best he robbed Peter to pay Paul which the Incumbents felt by dear Experience whom he kept at a low pittance that for the most part they lived but poorly for the heavy Taxations laid upon them By this means he had more Penâ—…ers than all the Noble men and Bishops in the Land together And though he made no particular benefit to himself out of those Livings then his Name cryed up for a noble Benefactor in all other things to fill his own Coffer he was so covetous and extremely tenacious that he would never let go what once he had laid hold on for at the same time he was both Bishop Dean Lord Keeper Parson of Walgrove and held the poor Prebendary of Asgarby in which last I have the honour to succeed his Lordship The King hearing the News of Mr. Heylyn's rough Entertainment at Bugden how his Royal Presentation was slighted and his Chaplain with ill words abused was not a little offended with the Bishop on whom he had heaped so many Dignities one upon another both in Church and State I will not say undeservedly if his Lordships Loyalty and Integrity had been answerable to his other great Abilities But his Majesty was pleased for the comfort of his poor Chaplain so disapointed and badly treated by the Bishop to send him this gracious Message by the Attorny general Mr. Noy not usual with Kings to private Persons That he was sorry he had put him to so much charge and trouble at Bugden but it should not be long before he would be out of his Debt Nor long it was for within a Week after a Prebendship in the collegiate Church of Westminster where the Bishop of Lincoln was Dean fell void by the Death of Mr. Darrel which the King bestowed upon Mr. Heylyn and with it sent a most gracious message by Mr. Noy again That he bestowed that Prebendary on him to bear the charges of his last Journy but he was still in his Debt for the Living So that he is now entred into one of the fairest Preferments that hath all the accommodations and pleasures which a Scholars heart can wish a learned Society a well furnished Library a magnificent Church that hath an excellent Quire in it for a Chorus of heavenly Voices the one enough to stir up the coldest heart to Devotion and the other to the veneration of Antiquity where so many ancient Monuments of Kings and Queens in Henry 7. Chappel have their Sepulture The most accurate pile of building in Europe by some called the wonder of the World near which the Courts of Judicature the High Court of Parliament and not far from thence his Majesty's Pallace-royal at White-hall that if one would converse with all sorts of famous Men Divines Lawyers States-men and other Persons of Quality he could not find out a Place more sutable to the hearts desire besides situated healthfully upon a firm gravelly Foundation and pleasantly on the River Thames about whose Banks may be seen along that River for many Miles most princely Buildings stately Palaces fair Towers and Fields as an old German Poet describeth whose Verses are thus translated by the Doctor himself in his Cosmography Tot campos silvas tot regia tecta tot hortos Artifici excultos dextra tot vidimus arces Ut nunc Ausonio Thamesis cum Tibride certet He saw so many Woods and princely Bowers Sweet Fields brave Palaces and stately Towers So many Gardens dress'd with curious Art That Thames with Tyber strives to bear a Part. Therefore Mr. Heylyn was happily disappointed of his former Expectations as Providence ordained to embrace a more noble Preferment that he might say now rejoycingly as Chaerea did Ecquis me vivit hodie fortunatior cui tam subito tot congruerint commoda Or rather in the Scripture words The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places yea I have a goodly Heritage for certainly he could not be seated in a better manner all those delightful conveniences considered and yet to add more pleasure to them he spared no cost to beautifie and enlarge his Prebends house in the mean time his Wife lived in the Country with his Brother Mr. Edward Heylyn at Minster Lovel in Oxfordshire and sometimes with his Uncle Raynton at Shilton in Barkshire a man of a good Estate who was afterward High Sheriff of the same County So soon as he was settled in his Prebends house several of his Friends about Town came to visit him and give him joy Amongst others of most noble Acquaintance that he had gained by his frequent attendances in White-hall the right Honourable Lord Falkland was pleased first to honour him with a Visit and brought along with him a Miles gloriosus one Mr. Nelson an old Sea-Captain with whom his Lordship seemed to be mightily delighted for his new way of Discovery to find out the Longitude of the Sea with which the Captain had troubled all the Mathematicians about Town who generally dissented from his Opinion that at last by his Majesties Order the decision of this Sea-question was referred to Mr. Heylyn as a Person thought fit to determin it but he could neither satisfie the Captain nor the Lord with any further answer at present than That his Majesty was mistaken in him for his skill and knowledge did lye more in
extollebantur Therefore the Parsonage of Houghton in the Bishoprick of Durham worth near 400 l. per Annum being made void by the Preferment of Dr. Lindsel to the Sea of Peterborough the King bestowed upon Mr. Heylyn which afterward he exchanged with Dr. Marshal Chanter of the Church of Lincoln for the Parsonage of Alresford in Hampshire that was about the same value to which exchange Mr. Heylyn was commanded by his Majesty that he might live nearer the Court for readiness to do his Majesty service Neither was he envyed for this or his other Preferments because every one knew his merits was the only cause of his promotion For men of eminent Worth and Vertue when they are advanced saith my Lord Bacon Their Fortune seemeth but due to them for no man envyeth the Payment of a Debt That as his Majesty was pleased most graciously to express upon his loss of the Living by the Bishop of Lincoln so according to his Royal Promise he doubly repayed that Debt by a Living of twice the value into which he was no sooner instituted and inducted but he took care for the Service of God to be constantly performed by reading the Common-prayers in the Church every morning which gave great satisfaction to the Parish being a populous Market Town and for the Communion Table where the blessed Sacrament is consecrated he ordered that it should be placed according to ancient Custom at the East end of the Chancel and Railed about decently to prevent base and profane usages and when the Chancel wanted any thing of Repairs or the Church it self both to be amended Having thus shewed his care first for the house of God to set it in good order the next work followed was to make his own dwelling-house a fit and convenient Habitation that to the old Building he added a new one which was far more graceful and made thereto a Chappel next to the Dining-room that was beautified and adorned with Silk hangings about the Altar in which Chappel himself or his Curate read Morning and Evening-prayeâ—… to the Family calling in his Labourers and Work-folks for he was seldom without them while he lived saying that he loved the noise of a Work-mans Hammer For he thought it a deed of Charity as well as to please his own fancy by often building and repairing to set poor people a work and encourage painful Artificers and Tradesmen in their honest Callings He built a Hall in the middle of the House from the very Foundation upon the top whereof was a high Tower of Glass on one side of the Hall a fair Garden with pleasant Walks Cypress Trees and Arbours on the other side upon the Front a spacious Court at the Gate of which next the Street a high wooden Bridge that went cross over the Street into the Church-yard on which himself and Family went to Church to avoid the dirty common way which was almost unpassable Besides he made many new Conveniences to the Out-houses and Yards belonging to them all which was no small charge to his Purse for I have heard him say it cost him several hundreds of Pounds in Alresfords-house where he in a manner buried his Wifes Portion yet after his Death his Eldest Son was unreasonably sued for dilapidations in the Court of Arches by Dr. Beamont his Fathers Successor but the Gentleman pleaded his Cause so notably before Sir Giles Swet then Judge of the Court that he was discharged there being no reason or justice he should be troubled for dilapidations occasioned by the long War when his Father was unjustly turned out of his House and Living After so much cost bestowed upon Alresford and his Prebend-house in Westminster he constanly resided in one of those places where he kept good Hospitality and took care to relieve the Poor following also his wonted studies not only in History but Fathers Councils and Polemical Divinity the better to prepare himself for a new encounter with the old Professor Dr. Prideaux for he resolved to go on in his Universitâ—… Degrees notwithstandiug his removal from Oxon and to perform those Exercises required in that Case in which he always came off with credit and applause Being now to take his Degree of Batchelor in Divinity in July An. Dom. 1630. Upon these words Mat. 4. 19. Faciam vos fieri Piscatores hominum Upon the Sunday after he preached the Act Sermon upon this Text Mat. 13. 14. But while men slept his Enemy came and sowed Tares among the Wheat and went his way Where he made a seasonable Application of this Subject as the Times then stood of the danger of Lay-Feofees in buying up Impropriations A godly project it appeared at the first sight but afterwards a Tare fit to be rooted up Pulchra Laverna Da mihi fallere da justum sanctumque videri The Pretension of those Feofees seemed to be very just and pious but their Intention and Practice was quite contrary by planting many pentionary Lectures in many places where the Preachers were Non-conformists from whom could be expected no better fruits than the overthrow of Episcopal Government The words of Mr. Heylyn's Sermon as to this particular are as followeth For what is that which is most aimed at in it but to cry down the standing Clergy of this Kingdom to undermine the publick Liturgy by Law established to foment factions in the State Schisms in the Church and to have ready Sticklers in every place for the advancement of some dangerous and deep design And now we are fallen upon this point we will proceed a little further in the proposal of some things to be considered The Corporation of Feofees for buying in Impropriations to to the Church doth it not seem in appearance to be an excellent piece of Wheat a noble and gracious part of Piety Is not this Templum Domini Templum Domini But blessed God that men should thus draw near to thee with their mouths and be so far from thee in their hearts For what are those entrusted in the management of this great business Are they not most of them the most active and best affected men in the whole Cause magna partium momenta and chief Patrons of this growing Faction And what are those that they prefer Are they not most of them such men as are and must be serviceable to their dangerous Innovations And will they not in time have more Preferments to bestow than all the Bishops of the Kingdom And so by consequence a greater number of Dependents to promote their Interest Yet all this while we sleep à nd slumper and fold our hands in sloth and see perhaps but dare not note it High time it is assuredly you should be awaked and rouse your selves upon the apprehension of so near a danger If we look further upon this new devise and holy project it being observed as Fuller saith that those who hold the Helm of the Pulpit always steer the peoples hearts as they please The Feofees
the Lords Commissioners met again on February the 8th following before whom the Bishop put in his Plea about the Seat or Great Pew under Rich. 2. from which he had disgracefully turned out the Prebends and possest it wholly to himself or the use of those Strangers to whom he had a special favour thinking scorn that honoured Society should sit with him a Bishop But the Prebends Advocate proved their Right of sitting there by these particulars First their original Right Secondly their derivative Right Thirdly their possessory Right How excellently he managed their Cause and what a mean defence the Bishop made for himself would be too tedious and impertinent to insert here concerning none but the Church of Westminster Finally upon hearing the matters on both sides it was ordered by general consent of the Lords Commissioners That the Prebends should be restored to their old Seat and that none should sit there with them but Lords of the Parliament and Earls eldest Sons according to the ancient custom But what were those differences about a Seat to the Disputes risen at that time about the Sabbath In the History of which Dr. Heylyn was then engaged and in a short time he perfected it to satisfie the scrupulous minds of some misguided Zelots who turned the observation of the Lords-day into a Jewish Sabbath not allowing themselves or others the ordinary Liberties nor works of absolute necessity which the Jews themselves never scrupled at Against which sort of Sabbatarians the Doctor published his History of the Sabbath The Argumentative part of that Subject was referred to Dr. White Bishop of Ely the Historical part of it to Dr. Heylyn Huic nostro tradita est provincia Both of their Books never answered to this day but pickird at by Mr. Palmer and Mr. Cawdrey two Divines of the Smectymnian Assembly and by some other sorry Writers of less account But the foundation and superstructure both in the logical and historical Discourses of those two Pillars of our Church stand still unmovable the latter though an Historian upon the Subject does fully answer all the material Arguments of the Adversaries side brought out of Scripture as well as History Neither doth the Bishop nor the Doctor in the least encourage or countenance in all their Writings any Profaneness of the Day when Christian Liberty is abused to Licentiousness Nor on the other side would they have the Religious Observation of the Day brought into superstition For Sunday amongst some I have known hath been kept as a Fast Day contrary to the ancient Opinion and Practice of the primitive Church who judged it a Heresie and not an Act of Piety Nefas est die Dâ—…minica jejunare that the day should be spent from Morning to Evening so strictly in preaching and praying in repetition upon repetitions in doing works of superogation which God never required at their hands nor any Christian Church commanded to make the Sabbath a burden that ought to be a Christians delight is new Divinity among the reformed Churches in Geneva it self before and after Divine Service the People are at liberty for manly Recreations and Exercises Upon complaint made before Lord chief Justice Richardson of some disorders by Feasts Wakes Revels and ordinary pastimes on Sundays perticularly in the County of Somerset His Majesty ordered that the Bishop of Bath and Wells should send a speedy account of the same The Bishop called before him seventy two of the Orthodox and ablest Clergy men among them who certified under their several hands that on the Feasts dayes which commonly fell upon Sundayes the service of God was more solemnly performed and the Church was better frequented both in the forenoon and afternoon then upon any Sunday in the year To decry the clamours of the Sabbatarians a Lecture read by Doctor Prideaux at the Act in Oxon Anno 1622. was translated into english in which he solidly discoursed both of the Sabbath and Sunday according to the judgment of the ancient Fathers and the most approved Writers of the Protestant and Reformed Churches This Lecture was also ushered with a preface In which there was proofe offered of these three propositions First that the keepiug holy one day of seven is not the moral part of the fourth Commandement Secondly that the alteration of the day is only an humane and ecclesiastical constitution Thirdly that still the Church hath power to change the day and transfer it to some other The name of Prideaux was then so sacred that the Book was greedily bought up by those of the Puritan faction but when they found themselves deceived of their expectation The Book did cool their colors and abate their clamour Since our Saviours reproof of the Jews for their superstitious fear of transgressing the traditions and Commanddements of their Fathers by which they kept the Sabbath with more rigour than God had commanded they are now bent upon the other extreme as Buxtorf tells us so hard a thing it is to keep a medium between two extreams Quanto voluptatis isti percipiunt saith he tanto se devotius Sabbatum colere statuunt The more pleasures they take on the Sabbath day the more devoutly they thought that they keep the Sabbath So that the rigid Sabbatarian hath no example of Jew or Christian and I am sure no Command of God in Scripture nor President in Antiquity or Ecclesiastical History but will find there the Lords-day is from Ecclesiastical Institution I speak not this I abhor it to animate or the least encourage people in looseness and debauchery to neglect the Duties of Religion or the Worship and Service of God upon this holy day which they ought as they tender their Souls with singular Care and Conscience to observe but hereby I think my Father in Law is justified though his own Book is best able to vindicate himself that his Opinion is orthodox both according to the Doctrine of the Church of England and the judgement and practice of Protestant Churches that the Lords-day should be Religiously observed and yet withal the lawful liberties and urgent necessities of the People preserved and not to be so tied up and superstitiously fearful that they dare not kindle a Fire dress Meat visit their Neighbours sit at their own Door or walk abroad no nor so much as talk with one another except it be in the Poets words Of God Grace and Ordinances As if they were in heavenly Trances To which I may add a more smart and witty Epigram upon the scruple and needless disatisfaction in them not onlâ—… about the Sabath but our Church and Religion in those Verses of Dr. Heylyn to Mr. Hammond L' Estrange as followeth A learned Prelate of this Land Thinking to make Religion stand With equal poise on either side A mixture of them thus he tryed An Ounce of Protestant he singleth And then a Dram of Papist mingleth With a Scruple of a Puritan And boyled them in his Brain pan But
for such as shine in a more eminent Sphere in the holy Hierarchy to have tendred these particulars to consideration which since they either have not done or that no visible effect hath appeared thereof I could not chuse but cast my poor Mite into the Treasury which if it may conduce to the Churches good I shall have my wish and howsoever shall be satisfied in point of Conscience that I have not failed in doing my duty to this Church according to the light of my understanding and then what happens to me shall not be material And thus again most humbly craving pardon for this great presumption I subscribe my self My Lord Your Lordships most humble Servant to be commanded PETER HEYLYN Soon after a Convocation was called by his Majesties Writ and during the time of their siting while he lived he seldom was without Visitors from them who constantly upon occasion came to him for his Advice and Direction in matters relating to the Church because he had been himself an ancient Clerk in the old Convocations Many Persons of Quality besides the Clergy for the reverence they had to his Learning and the delight they took in his Company payed him several Visits which he never repayed being still so devoted to his studies that except going to Church it was a rare thing to find him from home I happened to be there when the good Bishop of Durham Dr. Cousins came to see him who after a great deal of familiar discourse between them said I wonder Brother Heylyn thou art not a Bishop for we all know thou hast deserved it To which he answered much good may it do the new Bishops I do not envy them but wish they may do more than I have done Although he was but a Presbyter I believe their Lordships thought him worthy of their holy Order I am sure he was reverenc'd by some of them as St. Jerome was by St. Augustine Quamvis Episcopus major est Presbitero Augustinus tamen minor est Jeronimo The one of which was an old Presbyter the other a young Bishop but both of incomparable Learning and Vertues The old Presbyter writeth thus to St. Austin the great Bishop of his time In scripturarum campo juvenis non provoces senem Nos nostra habuimus tempora nunc te currente longa spatia transmeante nobis debitur otium For the good Doctors indefatigable pains and continued industry he was second to none For his Writings and Sufferings in the Cause of Monarâ—…by and Episcopacy he did spend himself and was spent For the sad Persecutions he suffered in the time of War his Enemies hunting â—…fter his Life as Ahaziahs Captains did for the man of God the woful shifts and straits he was put to to secure himself from violence how many times he narrowly escaped death from the hands of his Enemies as a Bird out of the Snare of the Fowler What fears and distractions were often upon him that he might say O si nescissem Literas I would to God I had not known a Letter of the Book for his Learning and Loyalty were the cause of all his Calamities yet notwithstanding he lived in an ungrateful Age that no respect was shewed to him or his But he returned only to his own in Peace which he enjoyed a little while before the War and less time after the Churches setlement It hath been the Lot many times of great Scholars to be neglected which made his Enemies rejoyce and not a little insult over him to see him only passed by and of all others remain in Statu quo in the same Condition he was in before which after the happy revolution of publick affairs neither Law nor Justice could hinder him of I will not say of him as the Cardinal did of Melancton that most Learned Divine of the Reformation O ingratam Germaniam quae tanti viri tantosque labores non pluris aestimet It fa redalso ill with Luthers Memory after his Death whose Widdow hoping some favours would be shewed to her for his merits was shamefully disappointed Praeter viduitatis incommoda quae mutiplicia experta est magnam ingratitudinem multorum pro quibus sperans benesicia ob ingentia mariti in Ecclesiam merita turpiter frustrata est So ordinary it is foâ—… men of admired worth who have done publick service either in Church or State to be soonest forgotten Now having run through the principal circumstances of this Reverend mans Life it behoves us to say something of his Person Conversation Qualities and the memorable Accidents hapning before the time of his Death and so leave his Memory among worthy men For his Person he was of a middle Stature a slender spare man his Face oval of fresh complexion looking rather young than old his Hair short and curl'd had few or no gray hairs his Eyes quick and sparkling before he had the ill fortune to loose his Sight His natural Constitution being hot and dry It was conceived by skilful Oculists his Brain heated with immoderate study burnt up the Christaline humor of his Eyes And this was most probable he being continually engaged in writing either for Church or State his Brain was like a Laboratory kept hot with study decayed his Eyes if there be any truth in the Naturalists Observation magna cogitatio obcaecat abducto intus visu And this he look'd upon as the saddest affliction that ever befel him in his whole Life Yet no doubt he was comforted with the words which he had often read in Socrates of Anthony the good Monk unto Dydimus that learned man of Alexandria Let it not grieve thee at all saith he O noble Dydimus that thou art bereaved of thy corporal Eyes and carnal sight for though you want such Eyes as commonly are given to Flyes and Gnats yet hast thou greatly to rejoyce that the Eyes wherewith the Angels do behold their Maker wherewith God is seen of Men are not taken from thee Our blessed Saviour said the light of the Body is the Eye for without these two Luminaries which God hath placed in the Microcosm of man None can be said in this World to live a true happy Day who are under such a continual Night of Darkness but that the intellectual Light of the Soul the Candle of the Lord within us supplies that miserable defect with a far greater felicity by extraordinary endowments of the mind which Seneca calls melior pars nostri and it is the best part of man indeed though all the Members and Parts of our Bodies are so excellently compacted together by the Wisdom of the Creator and have such a necessary depence upon one another for the exercise of their several Offices that the Compositum of Man cannot be complete without them and chiefly the Eye being the guide of the whole Body hath preheminence over the rest of the Members saith the Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because by it we