principal Articles and main branches of it Fuller It is an hard question and yet perchance more dangerous than difficult to answer but the reason I dare alledge is this Even so Father because it pleased thee Let me add that such conscientious observers thereof which have proved unsuccessefull may esteem their losses as Sweet-Bryar and Holy-Thistle and more cordially comfort themselves in such sanctified afflictions than the Infringers of their Charter could content themselves in their successefull oppression I cannot part from this point till I have inserted that Sir Robert Cotton one who had in him as much of the Gentleman Antiquarie Lawyer good Subject and good Patriot as any in England was the Author in his short view of the long reign of King Henry the third who made the observation of those most successefull Kings by whom the Grand-Charter was most conscienciously observed Dr. Heylin Our Author proceeds Fol. 88. The poor Jews durst not goe into France whence lately they had been solemnly banished but generally disposed themselves in Germany and Italy The poor Iews are more beholding to our Author for his commiseration than the high Royalists as he cals them in the former passage But poor or rich they might have passed safely into France had they been so minded For though he tell us that they had been solemnly banished out of France before this time yet either such banishment was repealed or temporary only or as I rather think not so much as sentenced Certain I am our learned Brerewood upon a diligent enquiry hath found it otherwise than our Author doth letting us know That the first Countrey in Christendome whence the Jews were expelled without hope of return was our Countrey of England whence they were banished Anno 1290. by King Edward the first and not long after out of France Anno 1307. by Philippus Pulcher. Not out of France first out of England afterwards as our Author would have it Fuller I wonder any good Christians would be offended with me for pittying them by the name poor Iews If any High royalist as I fear there is too many be in low Estate would it were as well in my power to relieve as to pitty them Till when they shall have my prayers that God would give them patience and support them in their deepest distresse The Author will find that though the Great General and Final banishment of the Jews out of France was Anno 1307. under Philip the Fair yet formely there had been Edicts for their Exile thence Dr. Heylin Our Author proceeds Fol. 100. Thus men of yesterday have pride too much to remember what they were the day before An observation true enough but not well applyed The two Spencers whom he speaks this off were not men of yesterday or raised out of the dirt or dunghill to so great an height but of as old and known Nobility as the best in England insomuch that when a question grew in Parliament whether the Baronesse de Spencer or the Lord of Aburgaveny were to have precedency it was adjudg'd unto de Spencer thereby declar'd the ancientest Barony of the Kingdome at that time then being These two Hughâ—he â—he Father was created Earl of Winchester for term of life and Hugh the Son by marrying one of the Daughters and co-heirs of Gilbert de Clare became Earl of Glocester Men more to be commended for their Loyalty than accused for their pride but that the King was now declining and therefore it was held fit by the prevalent faction to take his two supporters from him as they after did Fuller The two Spencers fall under a double consideration and are beheld in History for their extraction either as Absolutely in themselves Comparatively with others Absolutely they were of honourable parentage and I believe the Elder might be born a Baron whose Baronry by the Heir general is still extant in Mildmay Fane Earl of Westmorland and from the younger House of a Male Heir the Lord Spencer of Wormelayton now Earl of Sunderland doth as I have seen in his Pedigree derive himself Comparatively So were they far inferiour to most of those great persons over whom they insulted being originally Earls and some of them of Royall extraction Again the Two Spencers may and ought by an Historian to be considered as to be 1. Commended for their Loyalty 2. Condemned for their Insolency On the first account they deserve just praise and it is probable enough that they finde the lesse Favour from some Pens for being so Faithfull to so unfortunate a Soveraigne The latter cannot be excused appearing too plain in all our Histories Dr. Heylin Our Author proceeds Fol. 113. The Lord Chancellor was ever a Bishop If our Author by this word ever understands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 most commonly or for the most part he is right enough but then it will not stand with the following words viz. as if it had been against equity to imploy any other therein And on the other side if he take the word ever in its proper and more natural sense as if none but Bishops had ever been advanced unto that office he doth not onely misinform the Reader but confute himself he having told us fol. 31. of this present book that Thomas Becket being then but Archdeacon of Canterbury was made Lord Chancellor and that as soon as he was made Archbishop he resign'd that office But the truth is that not onely men in holy Orders but many of the Laity also had attained that dignity as will appear to any who will take the pains to consult the Catalogue of the Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal in the Glossary of Sir Henry Spelman in which appear not onely some of inferior dignity as Deans Archdeacons House-hold Chaplains but many also not dignified with any Ecclesiastical Title or Notification and therefore in all probability to be looked on as meer Lay-men Counsellors and Servants to the Kings in whose times they lived or otherwise studied in the Laws and of good affections and consequently capable of the place of such trust and power Fuller May the Reader take notice that this complaint was made by the Commons in the 11th of Edward the 3d Anno 1336. Now Ever I here restrain to the oldest man alive then present in Parliament who could not distinctly remember the contrary from the first of King Edward the first who began his Reign 1272. so that for full 64. years an uninterrupted series of Bishops except possibly one put in pro tempore for a moneth or two possessed the place of Chancellors This complaint of the Commons occasioned that the King some three years after viz. in the fifteenth year of his reign conferred the Chancellors place on a Layman But it was not long before things returned to the old channel of Clergy-men and so generally for many years continued with some few and short interpositions of Lay-men Dr. Heylin Our Author proceeds Fol. 116. This year viz. 1350.
alive to present it intire defecated from the calumniations of his Adversaries and therefore impossibilities are not to be expected from me Yet am I not such an Admirer of Wickliffe but that I beleeve he did defend some grosse Errors and it had been no wonder if it were but had been a miracle if it had not been so considering the frailty of flesh darknesse of the Age he lived in and difficulty of the Subject he undertook But because the Animadvertor referres to something following in my fifth Book I will also reserve my self for his Encounter in time and place appointed Dr. Heylin Our Author proceeds Fol. 152. He lies buried in the South Isle of St. Peters Westminster and since hath got the company of Spencer and Drayton Not Draytons company I am sure whose body was not buried in the South-Isle of that Church but under the North wall thereof in the main body of it not far from a little dore which openeth into one of the Prebends houses This I can say on certain knowledge being casually invited to his Funeral when I thought not of it though since his Statua hath been set up in the other place which our Author speaks of Fuller I follow the Information in his Epitaph on his Tombe near the South dore in Westminster Abbey Doe Pious Marble let the Readers know What they and what their Children owe To DRAITONS name whose sacred Dust We recommend unto thy trust Preserve his Memory and protect his Story Remain a lasting Monument of his Glory And When thy Ruine shall disclaim To be the Treasurer of his name His name which cannot dye shall be An Everlasting Monument to thee Have Stones learnt to Lye and abuse posterity Must there needs be a Fiction in the Epitaph of a Poet If this be a meer Cenotaph that Marble hath nothing to doe with Draitons Dust but let us proceed Dr. Heylin Our Author proceeds Fol. 153. The right to the Crown lay not in this Henry but in Edmund Mortimer Earl of March descended by his Mother Philippa from Lionel Duke of Clarence elder son to Edward the third I shall not now dispute the Title of the House of Lancaster though I think it no hard matter to defend it Fuller I think it is not onely difficult but impossible except the Animadvertor can challenge the Priviledge of the Patriarch Iacob to crosse his Hands and prefer the younger before the Elder Child in succession Again the Title of Lancaster may be considered either 1. As it was when Henry the fourth first found it 2. As it was when Henry the sixth last left it The latter of these was countenanced with many Laws corroborated with three descents and almost threescore years possession Know Reader my words are of the right where it was when Henry the fourth first seized the Crown and then he had not a Rag of Right to cover his Usurpation Instead of justifying whereof let us admire Gods free Pleasure in permitting the House of Lancaster to last so long his Iustice in assisting York afterwards to recover their Right and his Mercy at last in uniting them both for the happinesse of our Nation Dr. Heylin And much lesse shall I venture on the other controversie viz. whether a King may Legally be depos'd as is insinuated by our Author in the words foregoing Fuller If seems the Animadvertor finds little in my Book above ground for his purpose to cavil at because fain to Mine for my insinuations But let the Reader judge whether any man alive can from those my words the right lay not in this Henry but in Mortimer Earl of March infer an INSINUATION that Kings may legally be deposed This Insinuation must be in Sinu in the Bosom of the Animadvertor which never was in the breast of the Author More perspicacitie must be in the Organ than perspicuity in the Object to perceive such an Insinuation Dr. Heylin But I dare grapple with him in a point of Heraldry though I finde him better studied in it than in matter of History And certainly our Author is here out in his own dear Element Edmund Mortimer Earl of March not being the Son but Husband of the Lady Philippa Daughter of Lionel Duke of Clarence and Mother of Roger Mortimer Earl of March whom Richard the second to despite the house of Lancaster declared Heir apparent to the Kingdome of England 'T is true this Edmund was the Son of another Philippa that is to say of Philip Montacute wife of a former Roger Earl of March one of the founders of the Garter So that in whomsoever the best Title lay it lay not in this Edmond Mortimer as our Author makes it Fuller It is a meer casual slip of my Pen Edmund for Roger and this is the first time I crave the Benefit of this Plea in my defence Dr. Heylin Our Author proceeds Fol. 154. This is one of the clearest distinguishing Characters betwixt the Temporal and Spiritual Lords that the former are to be tryed per Pares by their Peers being Barons of the Realm Not shall I here dispute the point whether a Bishop may not challenge to be tryed by his Peers but whether the Bishops were not Barons and Peers of the Realm Our Author intimates that they were not but I think they were Fuller From a late Insinuation the Animadvertor now proceeds to a new Intimation of mine utterly unextractable from my words But know it never came into my minde to think that Bishops were not Peers who to my power will defend it against any who shall oppose it Dr. Heylin And this I think on the authority of the learned Selden in whom we finde that at a Parliament at Northampton under Henry the second the Bishops thus challenge their own Peerage viz. Non sedemus hic Episcopi sed Barones Nos Barones vos Barones Pares hic sumus that is to say We sit not here as Bishops onely but as Barons We are Barons and you are Barons here we sit as Peers Which last is also verified in terminis by the words of a Statute or Act of Parliament wherein the Bishops are acknowledged to be Peers of the Land And for further proof hereof Iohn Stratford Archbishop of Canterbury if I remember it aright being fallen into the displeasure of King Edward the third and denyed entrance into the House of Peers made his Protest that he was Primus par Regni the first Peer of the Realm and therefore not to be excluded from his place and Suffrage Fuller This indeed is one of the most ancient and pregnant Evidence of our Bishops sitting as Peers in Parliament But I suspect it may be mis-improved by the Back-friends to Bishops that they sate there onely in the Capacity of Peers and not a THIRD ESTATE Dr. Heylin But of this Argument enough if not too much as the case now stands it being an unhappy thing to consider what they have been formerly and what they are
for a brace of notorious falshoods and see who will shed a tear to quench the fire As for the Apparition to Thomas Fuller of Hammersmith seeing afterwards the Animadvertor twitteth me therewith we will till then defer our Answer thereunto Dr. Heylyn Less opposition meets the preaching of St. Ioseph of Arimathea though it meeteth some For notwithstanding that this Tradition be as generall as universally received as almost any other in the Christian Church yet our Author being resolved to let fly at all declares it for a piece of Novel superstition disguis'd with pretended Antiquity Better provided as it seems to dispute this point than the Ambassadours of Castile when they contended for precedency with those of England in the Council of Basil who had not any thing to object against this Tradition of Iosephs preaching to the Brittains although the English had provoked them by confuting their absurd pretences for St. Iames his preaching to the Spaniards Fuller I never denyed the Historicall ground-work but the Fabulous varnish of Arimathean Ioseph here preaching My words run thus Church-History Pag. 6. Part 12. Yet because the Norman Charters of Glassenbury refer to a Succession of many antient Charters bestowed on that Church by severall Saxon Kings as the Saxon Charters relate to Brittish Grants in Intuition to Joseph's being there We dare not wholly deny the substance of the Story though the Leaven of Monkery hath much swollen and puffed up the circumstance thereof And to the impartiall peruser of the connexion of my words Novell Superstition disguised with pretended Antiquity relate not to the substance of the Story but as it is presented unto us with fictitious embellishments And here I foretell the Reader what he shall see within few pages performed namely that after the Animadvertor hath flung and flounced and fluttered about to shew his own activity and opposition against what I though never so well and warily have written at last he will calmly come up and in this controversie close with my sense though not words using for the more credit his own expressions Dr. Heylyn For first our Author doth object in the way of scorn that fol. 6. The relation is as ill accoutred with tacklings as the Ship in which it is affirmed that St. Phillip St. Joseph and the rest were put by the Iews into a Vessell without Sails or Oars with intent to drown them and being tossed with tempests in the midland Sea at last safely landed at Marcelles in France and thence afterwards made for England No such strange piece of Errantry if we mark it well as to render the whole truth suspected Fuller Not by way of scorn Sir but by way of dislike and distrust The more I mark it the more strange piece of Errantry it seemeth so that I cannot meet with a stranger Dr. Heylyn For first we find it in the Monuments of elder times that Acrisius King of Argos exposed his daughter Danae with her young son Perseus in such a vessell as this was and as ill provided of all necessaries to the open Seas who notwithstanding by divine providence were safely wafted to those parts of Italy which we now call Puglia Fuller Monuments of elder times What be your Acts if these be your Monuments Ask my fellow if I be a thief ask a Poeticall Fable if a Monkish Legend be a lyar And what if Danae the self-same forsooth which had a golden shoure rained into her lap crossed from Argos in Peloponesus to Apulia now Puglia almost in a streight line and the narrowest part of the Adriatick This doth not parallel the improbability of Ioseph his voyage in an un-accoutred Ship from some Port in Palestine to Marselles the way being ten times as far full of flexures and making of severall points which costs our Sea-men some months in sailing though better accommodated I confess Gods power can bring any a greater distance with cordage of cobweb in a nut-shell but no wise man will make his belief so cheap to credit such a miracle except it be better attested Dr. Heylyn And secondly for the middle times we have the LIKE story in an Author above all exception even our Author himself who telleth us lib. 6. fol. 265. of our present History that King Athelstane put his brother Edwin into a little Wherry or Cock-boat without any tackling or furniture thereunto to the end that if the poor Prince perished his wickedness might be imputed to the waves Fuller Thanks for the jeer premised I am not the Author but bare Relater of that story obvious in all our English Chronicles Nor is the story LIKE to that of Ioseph's except he had been drowned in his Waftage to Marelles as this exposed Prince Edwin was in our Narrow Seas whether wilfully or casually not so certain his corps being taken up in Flanders The resemblance betwixt stories chiefly consists in similitude of success And what likeness betwixt a miserable death and a miraculous deliverance Dr. Heylyn Our Author objecteth in the next place that no writer of credit can be produced before the Conquest who mentioneth Joseph 's comming hither For answer whereunto it may first be said that where there is a constant uncontrolled Tradition there is most commonly the less care taken to commit it to Writing Fuller Less care implyeth some care whereas here no care but a pannick silence of all Authors Brittish Saxon and Christian for a thousand years together Secondly the Animadvertor might have done well to have instanced in any one Tradition seeing he saith it is most commonly done which is constant and uncontrolled yet attested by no creditable Author and then let him carry the cause Dr. Heylyn Secondly that the Charters of Glassenbury relating from the Norman to the Saxâ—n Kings and from the Saxons to the Brittains being all built upon St. Ioseph's comming hither and preaching here may serve instead of many Authors bearing witness to it And thirdly that Frier Bale as great an enemy to the unwarrantable Traditions of the Church of Rome as our Author can desire to have him hath vouch'd two witnesses hereunto that is to say Melkinus Avalonius and Gildas Albanus whose Writings or some fragments of them he may be believed to have seen though our Author hath not Fuller Nor the Animadvertor neither Bale doth not intimate that he ever saw any part of them and he useth to Cackle when lighting on such Eggs. But we collect from him and other Authors that no credit is to be given to such supposititious fragments Dr. Heylyn As for some circumstances in the story that is to say the dedicating of Iosephs first Church to the Virgin Mary the burying of his body in it and the inclosing of the same with a large Church-yard I look upon them as the products of Munkish ignorance accommodated unto the fashion of those times which the writers liv'd in There is scarce any Saint in all the Calendar whose History would not be subject to the like
Brimpton though not cleaving the pin touch the mark in this point Unde Anglis regnantibus laus CANTABRIGIENSIS PROVINCIAE splendide florebat Yet the dignity being but tempory and disposable at the Princes pleasure in reward of new Services the Kentish had it afterward bestowed on them and for a long time enjoyed it Dr. Heylin Our Author proceeds Fol. 141. It did not afterwards embolden him to the anticipation of the Crown attending till it descended upon him He speaks this of King Edward the Confessor who had he tarryed till the Crown had descended on him might possibly have found a place amongst the Confessors but not amongst the Kings of England For the truth is the right title to the Crown was at that time in Edward surnamed the Outlaw the eldest son of Edmund Ironside who flying into Hungary to avoid the fury of the Danes married the Kings sister of that Country and was by her the Father of Edgar Atheling and of Margaret wife to Malcolm Conmor King of the Scots But these being absent at that time Emma the Mother of Prince Edward and Widow to Canutus the Dane took the oportunity to set her son upon the Throne as being not onely half-brother to King Edmund Ironside but also half-brother and consequently nearest Kinsman to Canutus the second which if it were a good descent will plead almost as strongly for King Harald as it did for him Fuller My words are true and not subject to just exception which I confined onely to King Edward his relation to his own brethren The legend of his life reports him to be crowned when unborn in his Mothers Belly and having six elder Brethren by the same father King Ethelred 1. Ethelstan 2. Egbert 3. Edmond 4. Edred 5. Edwy 6. Edgar Some of which came to the Crown others died in their minority King Edward though thus pre-crowned did not endeavor to ante-date his possession of the Throne before his elder Brethren but waited till the title as it was derived unto him from his father descended on him Otherwise I advocate not for Him if He took it from any other who had more right to it than himself Dr. Heylin But by what means soever he got the Crown he deserved to weare it Fuller I cannot cordially close with the Animadvertors expression herein being sensible of no Desert which in this Case is not attended with a true Title For who shall judge of the desert of Competitors If the person himself then every usurper will cry up his own worthinesse If his party they will make him most meriting whom they favour most in their fancies This will unsettle all States cassat all Titles and cause much distraction But believing no Il at all intended in these his words let us proceed Dr. Heylin Our Author telleth us ibid. That whereas formerly there were manifold Laws in the Land made some by the Britains others by the Danes others by the English c. He caused some few of the best to be selected and the rest as captious and unnecessary to be rejected from whence they had the name of the Common Laws That the Common-Law was so call'd because compounded of the Saxon British and Danish Lawes which were before of force onely in such places where the Danes Britans and Saxons had the greatest sway though it be easie to be said will be hard to be proved The Britains at that time liv'd under their own Princes and were governed by their own Lawes and so they were for a long time after so that King Edward having no dominion over them could not impose a Law upon them Nor was it propable that he should borrow any of their Laws or impose them on his natural Subjects considering the antipathy and disaffection betwixt the Nations There were at that time indeed in England three kindes of Laws The first called Dane-lage or the Danish Laws prevailing for the most part in the Kingdome of the East-Angles and that of Northumberland Secondly Saxon-lage used generally in the Kingdoms of the West-Saxons East-Saxons South-Saxons and that of Kent And thirdly Mercen-lage extending over all the Provinces of the Kingdome of Mercia As for the Britans of Cornwall and Cumberland they had no distinct Law for themselves as had those of Wales but were governed by the Laws of that Nation unto which they were Subject By these three sorts of Laws were these Nations governed in their several and respective limits which being afterwards reduced into one body and made common equally to all the subjects did worthily deserve the name of the Common-Law But secondly I dare not give the honour of this Action to King Edward the Confessor The great Iustinian in this work was another Edward called for distinctions sake King Edward the elder who began his Reign Anno 900. almost 150 years before this Confessor to whom our Author hath ascribed it But the truth is that these Laws being suppressed by the Danish Kings who governed either in an arbitrary way or by Laws of their own Countrey they were revived and reinforced in the time of this Edward from whence they had the name of Edward the Confessors Laws and by that name were sued and fought for in the time succeeding of which more hereafter Now as this work may be ascribed to his love to Justice so from his piety his successors derive as great a benefit of curing the disease which from thence is called the Kings-Evill which some impute as our Author tells us to secret and hidden causes Fuller This long Note might well have been boiled down from a Gallon to a Gil to make it more cordial If the Reader can pick any information out of it much good may it doe him Let the honour of so good a Deed with all my heart be parted betwixt the two Edwards one the Beginner the other the finisher thereof Dr. Heylin Our Author proceeds Fol. 145. Others ascribe it to the power of fancy and an exalted imagination Amongst which others I may reckon our Author for one He had not else so strongly pleaded in defence thereof But certainly what effect soever the strength of fancy and an exalted imagination as our Author calls it may produce in those of riper years it can contribute nothing to the cure of children And I have seen some children brought before the King by the hanging sleeves some hanging at their Mothers breasts and others in the arms of their Nurses all touch'd and cur'd without the help of any such fancies or imaginations as our Author speaks of Fuller If I be reckoned amongst them I am mis-reckoned for though I conceive fancy may much conduce in Adultis thereunto yet I believe it partly Miraculous as may appear by my last and largest insisting thereon I say partly because a compleat Miracle is done presently and perfectly whereas this cure is generally advanced by Degrees and some Dayes interposed Dr. Heylin Others lesse charitably condemn this cure as guilty of
was made Knight of the Bath at the Coronation of King Iames Anno 1603. and afterwards created Lord Montague of Boughton in the nineteenth year of that King Anno 1621. which honourable Title is now enjoyed by his Son another Edward Anno 1658. And thirdly though I grant that Dr. Iames Montague Bishop of Winchester the second Brother of the four was of great power and favour in the time of King Iames. Thus far Dr. Heylin out of his Advertisements written in correction of Mr. Sandersons History of the Reign of King Iames. To rectifie this heap of Errors not to be paralleled in any Author pretending to the emendation of another I have here plainly set down the Male-pedegree of this Noble Numerous and successfull Family 1 Sir Edward Montague Lord Chief Justice in the Reign of King Henry the eighth 2 Sir Edward Montague a worthy Patriot in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth Sir Walter Montague Knight second Son died without Issue Sir Henry Montague third Son Earl of Manchester Lord Chief Justice Lord Treasurer c. Edw. Montague now Earl of Manchester besides other Sons 3 Sir Edward Montague made Knight of the Bath at the Coronation of King Iames never a Martialist and created by Him Baron Montague of Boughton dying in the beginning of the Civill Warres William Mountague Esq of the Middle-Temple second Son 4 Edward now Lord Montague of Boughton Ralfe Montague Esq second Son Edward Montague Esq eldest Son Christopher Montague third Son died before his Father being a most hopefull Gentleman Sir Charles Montague fourth Son who did good service in Ireland and left three Daughters and Co-heirs Iames Montague fifth Son Bishop of Winchester died unmarried Sir Sidney Montague sixth Son Master of the Requests Edward Montague now Admirall and one of the Lords of the Councel I presume the Animadvertor will allow me exact in this Family which hath reflected so fauourably upon me that I desire and indeed deserve to live no longer than whilest I acknowledg the same THE FOURTH BOOK From the first preaching of Wickliffe to the beginning of the Reign of King Henry the eighth Dr. Heylin OUR Author begins this Book with the Story of Wickliffe and continueth it in relating the successes of him and his followers to which he seems so much addicted as to Christen their Opinions by the name of the Gospel For speaking of such incouragements and helps as were given to Wickliffe by the Duke of Lancaster with other advantages which the conditions of those times did afford unto him he addeth That Fol. 129. We must attribute the main to Divine Providence blessing the Gospel A name too high to be bestowed upon the Fancies of a private man many of whose Opinions were so far from truth so contrary to peace and civil Order so inconsistent with the Government of the Church of Christ as make them utterly unworthy to be look'd on as a part of the Gospel Or if the Doctrines of Wickliffe must be call'd the Gospel what shall become of the Religion then establisht in the Realm of England and in most other parts of the Western World Were all but Wickliffes Followers relaps'd to Heathenism were they turn'd Jews or had imbrac'd the Law of Mahomet If none of these and that they still continued in the faith of Christ delivered to them in the Gospels of the four Evangelists and other Apostolicall Writers Wickliffes new Doctrines could not challenge the name of Gospel noâ— ought it to be given to him by the Pen of any But such is the humor of some men as to call every separation from the Church of Rome by the name of Gospel the greater the separation is the more pure the Gospel No name but that of Evangelici would content the Germans when they first separated from that Church and reformed their own And Harry Nichols when he separated from the German Churches and became the Father of Familists bestows the name of Evangelium Regni on his Dreams and Dotages Gospels of this kinde we have had and may have too many quot Capita tâ—t Fides as many Gospels in a manner as Sects and Sectaries if this world goe on Now as Wickliffes Doctrines are advanc'd to the name of Gospel so his Followers whatsoever they were must be called Gods servants the Bishops being said fol. 151. to be busie in persecuting Gods servants and for what crime soever they were brought to punishment it must be thought they suffered onely for the Gospel and the service of God A pregnant evidence whereof we have in the story of Sir Iohn Oldcastle accused in the time of King Harry the fifth for a design to kill the King and his Brethren actually in Arms against that King in the head of 20000 men attainted for the same in open Parliament and condemn'd to die and executed in St. Giles his Fields accordingly as both Sir Roger Acton his principal Counsellor and 37 of his Accomplices had been before For this we have not onely the Authority of our common Chronicles Walsingham Stow and many others but the Records of the Tower and Acts of Parliament as is confessed by our Author fol. 168. Yet coming out of Wickliffes Schools and the chief Scholar questionlesse which was train'd up in them he must be Registred for a Martyr in Fox his Calendar And though our Author dares not quit him as he sayes himself yet such is his tendernesse and respect to Wickliffes Gospel that he is loath to load his Memory with causlesse Crimes fol. 167. taxeth the Clergie of that time for their hatred to him discrediteth the relation of T. Walsingham and all later Authors who are affirm'd to follow him as the Flock their Belweather and finally leaves it as a special verdict to the last day of the Revelation of the righteous Iudgements of God Fuller First I fain would know whether the Animadvertor would be contented with the Condition of the Church of England as Wickliffe found it for Opinions and Practise and doth not earnestly desire a Reformation thereof I am charitably confident that He doth desire such an Emendation and therefore being both of us agreed in this Point of the convenience yea necessity thereof in the second place I would as fain be satisfied from the Animadvertor whether He conceived it possible that such Reformation could be advanced without Miracle all on a sodain so that many grosse Errors would not continue and some new one be superadded The man in the Gospel first saw men walking as trees before he saw perfectly Nature hath appointed the Twilight as a Bridge to passe us out of Night into Day Such false and wild opinions like the Scales which fell down from the Eyes of St. Paul when perfectly restored to his sight have either vanished or been banished out of all Protestant Confession Far be it from me to account the rest of England relapsed into Atheism or lapsed in Iudaism Turcism c. whom I behold as Erronious Christians
Soveraign having learnt primum in unoquoque Genere est excipiendum The Animadvertor hath here taken occasion to write much but thereof nothing to confute me and little to informe others He deserved to be this King Henry's Chaplain if living in that Age for his exactnesse in the distinct enumeration of all his Dignities and Estate before he came to the Crown Dr. Heylin Our Author proceeds Fol. 190. That States-men do admire how blinde the Policy of that Age was in keeping King Henry alive there being no such sure Prison as a Grave for a Capâ—ive King whose life though in restraint is a fair mark for the full Aim of mal-contents to practise his enlargement Our Author might have spar'd this Doctrine so frequently in practise amongst the worldly Politicians of all times and ages that there is more need of a Bridle to holde them in than a Spur to quicken them Parce precor stimulis fortiùs utere loris had been a wholesome caveat there had any friend of his been by to have advis'd him of it The murthering of depos'd and Captive Princes though too often practised never found Advocates to plead for it and much lesse Preachers to preach for it untill these latter times First made a Maxim of State in the School of Machiavel who layes it down for an Aphorisme in point of policy viz. that great Persons must not at all be touched or if they be must be made sure from taking Revenge inculcated afterwards by the Lord Gray who being sent by King Iames to intercede for the life of his Mother did underhand solicite her death and whispered nothing so much in Queen Elizabeths eares as Mortua non mordet if the Scots Queen were once dead she would never bite But never prest so home never so punctually appli'd to the case of Kings as here I finde it by our Author of whom it cannot be affirm'd that he speaks in this case the sense of others but positively and plainly doth declare his own No such divinity preach'd in the Schools of Ignatius though fitter for the Pen of a Mariana than of a Divine or Minister of the Church of England Which whether it passed from him before or since the last sad accident of this nature it comes all to one this being like a two-hand-sword made to strike on both sides and if it come too late for instruction will serve abundantly howsoever for the justification Another note we have within two leaves after as derogatory to the Honour of the late Archbishop as this is dangerous to the Estate of all Soveraign Princes if once they chance to happen into the hands of their Enemies But of this our Author will give me an occasion to speake more in another place and then he shall heare further from me Fuller My words as by me laid down are so far from being a two-handed sword they have neither hilt nor blade in them only they hold out an Handle for me thereby to defend my self I say States-men did admire at the preserving King Henry alive and render their reason If the Animadvertor takes me for a Statesman whose generall Judgement in this point I did barely relate he is much mistaken in me Reason of State and Reason of Religion are Stars of so different an Horison that the elevation of the One is the depression of the other Not that God hath placed Religion and Right Reason diametrically opposite in themselves so that where-ever they meet they must fall out and fight but Reason bowed by Politicians o their present Interest that is Achitophelesme is Enmity to Religion But the lesse we touch this harsh string the better musick Dr. Heylin Now to goe on Fol. 197. The Duke requested of King Richard the Earldome of Hereford and Hereditary Constableship of England Not so it was not the Earldom that is to say the Title of Earl of Hereford which the Duke requested but so much of the Lands of those Earls as had been formerly enjoy'd by the House of Lancaster Concerning which we are to know that Humphry de Bohun the last Earl of Hereford left behinde him two Daughters onely of which the eldest called Eleanor was married to Thomas of Woodsâ—ock Duke of Gloster Mary the other married unto Henry of Bullenbrook Earl of Darby Betwixt these two the Estate was parted the one moity which drew after it the Title of Hereford falling to Henry Earl of Darby the other which drew after it the Office oâ— Constable to the Duke of Gloâ—ester But the Duke of Glocester being dead and his estate coming in fine unto his Daughter who was not able to contend Henry the fifth forced her unto a sub-division laying one half of her just partage to the other moity But the issue of Henry of Bullenbrook being quite extinct in the Person of Edward Prince of Wales Son of Henry the sixth these three parts of the Lands of the Earls of Hereford having been formerly incorporated into the Duchy of Lancaster remained in possession of the Crown but were conceiv'd by this Duke to belong to him as being the direct Heir of Anne Daughter of Thomas Duke of Glocester and consequently the direct Heir also of the House of Hereford This was the sum of his demand Nor doe I finde that he made any suit for the Office of Constable or that he needed so to doe he being then Constable of England as his Son Edward the last Duke of Buckingham of that Family was after him Fuller The cause of their variance is given in differently by several Authors Some say that at once this Duke requested three things of King Richard 1. Power 2. Honor 3. Wealth First Power to be Hereditary Constable of England not to hold it as he did pro arbitrio Regis but in the right of his descent Secondly Honor the Earldome of Hereford Thirdly Wealth that partage of Land mentioned by the Animadvertor I instanced onely in the first the pride of this Duke being notoriously known to be more than his covetousnesse not dâ—nying but that the Kings denyal of the Land he requested had an effectual influence on his discontent Dr. Heylin Our Author proceeds Fol. 169. At last the coming in of the Lord Stanley with three thousand fresh men decided the controversie on the Earls side Our Author is out in this also It was not the Lord Stanley but his Brother Sir William Stanley who came in so seasonably and thereby turn'd the Scale and chang'd the fortune of the day For which service he was afterward made Lord Chamberlain of the new Kings Houshold and advanc'd to great Riches and Estates but finally beheaded by that very King for whom and to whom he had done the same But the King look'd upon this action with another eye And therefore when the merit of his service was interposed to mitigate the Kings displeasure and preserve the maâ— the King remembred very shrewdly that as he came soon enough to win