the World is more civil than in Ages past but the longer it lasts our Wars are more licentious and barbarous Livy says Fabritius was as innocent in War as in Peace Just in boasts of greater things lib. 25. Multa tune honest iùs bella gerebantur quà m nunc amicitiae coluntur Formerly they found honester Foes in the Field than we find Friends in the City When the rudeness of the common Soldier abated by courteous treatment the greater disliculty was to thrust back the Ambition of divers more than enough that would be Commanders Words of high Language past between him and some Gallants before they would sit down Ambrosius vir optimae ment is sed elatae says Lud. Molin Paren p. 539. So this Ambrose was not to be out-braved with a Buff-Jerkin and a Feather And though some of the Cavaâ—iers love not his memory for it to this time yet I shall give no scratch to Truth or Reputation to declare my self in his Defence that it was to be praised in him that he repuised the English from being chief Oâ—icers oâ—er the old Britains in their own Soil And it was prudence to preserve the Bulkly's that great Family of Anglesey in the Vice-Admiralty of those Seas rather than a valiant Gentleman born in Cambridgeshire for they will venture further with their own Deputy-Lieutenants Gentry and Landlord than with a Stranger The Western-men were never so well in heart as with their own Bevile Greenvile Ralph Hopton Killigrew Godolphin c. when they chang'd these for other Generals and Colonels their Purses were shut their Courage fell and their Duties were slackned In all these Contrasts the Archbishop prevailed and broke through Mutinies and high Threats which had been impossible but that he was ever most obliging and merciful in his greatest Fortune Bona sibi comparat praesidia misericordia He that would never hurt any when he might was most like if any to be shot free 196. Let it stick upon his good Name as a mark of Heroick Loyalty that he fell to these works upon his own cost and peril before the King was aware nor had yet requir'd it of him which will bring in that of Xenophon l. 3. Hist Hystaspas and Chrysantus were Cyrus his most faithful Ministers Hystaspas would do all that Cyrus bad him Chrysantus would do that which he thought was pleasing to Cyrus's Service before he bad him But when his Majesty heard of this Prelates Actions he posted Letters often to him and those so sweet and affecting that they did recoct his drooping Age into Youth and cozened him that he saw no danger in the Camp and selt no envy from the Parliament Of those Letters there are many reserv'd yet no more shall be produced than concerns the keeping of Conway-Castle because it turn'd to a sharp quarrel and procur'd him obloquy From Oxford Aug. 1. 1643. CHARLES R. MOst Reverend Father in God c. We are informed by our Servant Orlando Bridgman not only of the good Encouragement and Assistance you have given him in our Service but also of your own personal and earnest endeavours to promote it And though we have had long experience of your fidelity readiness and zeal in what concerns us yet it cannot but be most acceptable unto us that you still give unto us fresh occasions to remember it And we pray you to continue to give all possible assistance to our said Servant And whereas you are new resident at our Town of Aber-Conway where there is a Castle heretofore belonging to our Crown and now to the Lord Conway which with some charge is easily made defensible but the Lord Conwaybeing imprison'd by some of our rebellious Subjects and not able to furnish it as is requisite for our Service and the defence of those parts You having begun at your own charge to put the same into repair We do heartâ—y desire you to go on in that Work assuring you that whatsoever Moneys you shall lay out upon the Fortification of the said Castle shall be repayed unto you before the Cusiody thereof shall be put into any other hand than your own as such as you shall recommend Upon the backside of this gracious Letter this the Archbishop hath written with his own Hand I Jo. Archbishop of York have assigned my Nephew Mr. Will. Hookes Esq Alderman of Conway to have the Custody of this Castle mention'd in his Majesty's Letter under his Signet until I shall be repay'd the Moneys and Money-worth disbursed by me in the repair thereof by virtue of this Warrant And in case of Mortality I do assign my Nephew Gryffith Williams to the same effect Jan. 2. 1643. 197. New Motions and sudden started Counsels were no new thing at the Court in Oxford Now the illustrious Prince Rupert is made the Generalissimo and the Powers of the War are given to him The Lord John Byron is entrusted and furnish't with a part to secure North-Wales Neither of them had success according to his Cause or according to his Courage What Charge his Majesty gave to them both to listen to the Archbishops Counsels appears in the following Letters From the King to Prince Rupert Apr. 17. 1646 Right dear and right entirely beloved Nephew c. WHereas our most Reverend Father in God our right trusty and entirely beloved John Archbishop of York makes his abode in the remotest parts of North-Wales and hath been heretofore by reason of his great and long experience very useful to us in the advising and directing of the Commissioners of the Peace and Array in the several Counties of Carnarvan Anglesey and Merioneth in all things nearly concerning our Service Supplies and Assistance and that we have required the said Commissioners from time to time to listen to all his reasonable Counsels and Advice to that effect We thought it sit to let you understand that we have laid our Commands upon the said most Reverend Father in God to do you upon whom we have placed the care and government of those parts the like Service in this kind if you shall hold it fit to require it the said Archbishop humbly desiring us it might be no otherwise imposed upon him which we thought fit to signifie unto you As also that esteem we have of his Abilities and entire Affections in our Service which we desire you to encourage by all fair respects So we bid you heartily farewel Another of his Majesty's follows to the Archbishop Febr. 25. 1645. WHereas we have appointed the Lord Byron to Command in chief over all our Garrisons and Forces in North-Wales and hope that by his good Conduct in those parts our Service and the Countreys Security will be furthered with all diligence Nevertheless for his better and more effectual proceeding therein we have thought to fit desire the ready concurrence with him of your self and all our Friends knowing well how considerable advantage yours and their hearty and unanimous endeavours with him there will bring to our
and out of those their Treatises wherein especially they handled the Cause for which he Appealed unto them And Thirdly When he had fixed what was prime and principal Truth in any Debate with great Meekness and Sweetness he gave copious Latitude to his Auditors how far they might dissent keeping the Foundation sure without breach of Charity These were the Constellations whose fortunate Aspect did shine upon this Neophytus in the Orb of Cambridge and being under the Influence of such Luminaries a judicious Academian might Prognostic how much he would prosper without a judicious Astrologer But for all that he posted so speedily through the broad Way of the best Tracts of Knowledge yet he found a little leisure to call in as he went at the attaining of some Skill in Musick Instrumental and Vocal not as a Siren to catch him but as a Delight to solace him Nay though he set his Face to the end of a great Journey yet in transiâ—â— he took Acquaintance of the French Tongue to make himself able to read the choice Pieces of that acute Nation which flow'd in easily and apace into him having the Pipes of the Latin Tongue ready cast to convey it What shall we say to him that took in hand such a long Sorites of Sciences and Tongues together But that such Blood and Spirits did boil in his Veins as Tully felt when he spake so high Mihi satis est si omnia consequi possim Nothing was enough till he got all 14. The Gamester was the freer to throw at all because he was like to draw a good Stake Preferment already holding its Hand half open For â—fâ—câ—bi 2º his Patron and tenderly-loving Kinsman Dr. Vaughan was Removed from the Bishoprick of Chester to the See of London The young Eaglets are quickly taken up upon the Wings of the old one But the good Bishop within three Years after he had ascended to that Dignity ended his days greatly lamented of all and lived not till his young Cousin was adult for Promotion This only was much to his Benefit that every Year the Bishop sent for him to spend a few Weeks in his Palace of London a great help to his Breeding to let him see the course of Church-Government managed by the Piety and Wisdom of so grave a Prelate who had much of a Gentleman much of a Scholar and most of a Christian During his abode in the Reverend Bishop's Palace he had the opportunity to tender his Duty to that noble-minded and ancient Baron John Lord Lumley who received him with equal Courtesie and Bounty as his Kinsman That Lord having given his Sister in Marriage to Mr. Humfry Llyd of Nor. h. Wales a most industrious Antiquary as appears in Ortelius and Adjutant to Mr. Cambden in his great Work This Lord Lumley did pursue Recondite Learning as much as any of his Honourable Rank in those Times and was owner of a most precious Library the Search and Collection of Mr. Humsry Llyd Out of this Magazine that great Peer bestowed many excellent Pieces printed and Manuscript upon Mr. Williams for Alliance sake a Treasure above all Presents most welcom to him Yet the noble-hearted Lord a free Mccaenas gave with both hands and never sent his young Kinsman away from him without a Donative of ten Pieces The first Gift of Books he kept better then Gold for the Gold went from him again as magnificently as if he had been no less then the Lord Lumley himself But that he had received those noble Favours I heard him remember with great and grateful Expressions in the Chancel of the Parish-Church of Cheam near to Nâ—nâ—â—câ— in Surrey whereof my self have been Rector now above 30 Years coming on a day to view the Burial-place of the Lord Lumley where his Body lies under a comely Monument 15. It fell out luckily to Mr. Williams to keep him from incurring great Debts that he had such an Ophir or Golden Trade to drive with the Lord Lumley's Puâ—se who supplied him with a Bounty that grudg'd him nothing till the Year 1â—â—9 for then that aged Baron died Four Years before the loss of that dear Friend An. 1605 he took his Degree of Master of Arts and he Feasted his Friends at the Commencement as if it had been his Wedding having more in Cash at command by the full Presents of many Benefactors then is usual with such young Graduates His Merits being known brought him in a great Revenue long before he had a certain Livelihood A Master of Arts is a Title of honest Provocation rightly considered Nomina insignia onerosa sunt says the Emperor Alexander Mammaens But they are scarce so many as a few that are warm'd with the remembrance of that Honour which the Regent-House conferr'd upon them worthy to be taxed in parodie with that Increpation Heb. 5.12 Cum deberetis Magistri esse propter tempus rursum indigetis ut vos doceamini When for the time ye eught to be Masters you have need one teach you again Whose Reproach hath this and no other use that they are a pitiful Foil to their Betters I am sure I explain a Man who added as much Grace to the Name as any his Ancestors of those that came after he that was the best was but second in the Order Every day borrowing much of the Night advanced his Knowledge He hired himself to labour under all Arts and sorts of Learning The more he toil'd the more he perceiv'd that nothing in this Earth had such Amplitude as the extent of Sciences He saw it was a Prospect which had no Horizon a Man can never say he sees the utmost bound of the Coast Therefore he was continually drawing his Bow because he was sure he could never shoot home No Man fishes to get all the Fish in the Sea yet since the Sea contains so much he is slothful that labours but for a little Our Student began now to fall close to the deep and spacious Studies of Divinity I deliver from his own mouth what he would relate sometimes in his riper Years That he began to read all the Scriptures with the choicest and most literal and as he found it fit with the briefest Commentators so that all his Superstructure might knit close to that Foundation He compared the common places of P. Martyr Chemnitius and Musculus Calvin and Zanchie being in at all with the Sacred Text and found that Harmony in them all with the Oracles of God's Word that he perceived he might with a good Conscience as he would answer it to Christ Jesus defend the Integrity of the Reformed Religion taking it not upon Trust but upon Judgment and Examination But an Artist knoweth not what he hath got by all his Diligence till he useth it neither can a Scholar understand what Tast is in the Waters of his own 〈◊〉 till he draws some quantity out Therefore he disclosed himself both in his own Terms and for his Friends in common Places and
their Followers Dr. Richardson the King's Professor in Divinity to manage the chief Place in the Chair Dr. Davenant to moderate in the Theological Disputation and Mr. Collins to answer upon three Questions The next Care was for Opponents And Mr. Williams was so high in the Opinion of all the Learned Doctors that he was thought upon in his absence as a most Select Antagonist for this Conflict and Letters of Entreaty were directed to him to come and fulfil that part which upon Assurance of his Sufficiency was imposed on him There was no leisure for a Demur the straitness of Time said either do it or deny it But he submitted yet humbly protesting against himself from one point of Incapacity that though he had compleat time from the Midsummer elapsed for the Degree of Batchelor of Divinity yet he had not taken it And without that Title it was not usual or decent to shew himself in the luster of such an Auditory Well says Dr. Richardson you speak Reason yet we will not want you at this needful time for I will teach you how to fill up that empty Circumstance It will be a fortnight yet before our Royal Guests the Princes will come to us Prefer your two Questions Pro Gradu this night or to morrow to me I know your readiness that you need take no more time In five days after I will meet you in the Schools Incontinently your Degree shall be confer'd upon you Pro More or by special Grace He obey'd And the Theses which upon allowance of such short time he maintain'd were these 1. Peccata semel remissa 〈◊〉 redeunt 2. Qui sacres ordines susecperunt samulari possunt magnatious ut fructus Ecclestasticos percipiant Dr. Richardion who received from him these Tâ—â—ses as it were the Chartel of Challenge met him in the Schools He was a profound Divine as famous in the Pulpit as in the Chair which is not usual a great Linguist noted for a kind of Omnisciency in Church Antiquities of pure Language yet used not his Pen to Compose his Lectures but brought his Memory with him and dictated his Mind with great Authority We that frequented at his Polemical Exercises observ'd That if the Respondent that stood before him were not a lusty Game-Cock but of a Craven kind he would shake him a little but never cast him on his back But if he were one of the right Brood that would strike Spur for Spur he would be sure to make him feel the weight of a Professor's Learning before they parted Therefore he did not dally with Mr. Williams at this time but laid at him with all his Puissance Nothing could be more delightful for two long hours and better to us that were the Lookers on In ventilating the first Question we judged that the Doctor of the Chair had twice duck'd the Respondent under Water but he quickly appeared again at the top Once was upon the Objection That Original Sin is remuted in Baptism and yet some Baptized become Reprobates and are for ever Tormented Even so says the Answerer for their Actual Rebellions but not upon the score of Original which was wiped out The second Shock was upon that Scripture Matth. 18.32 where the Lord tells the Unmerciful Servant that He had forgiven to him the Debt which he desired but since he had no compassion of his Fellow he should be kept in Prison till he had paid all which was due Though I might decline the Instance says the Respondent because it is Parabolical yet to encounter the Text more directly I say that the Debt was not cancell'd to that rigid and hard Servant for if he had his Apâ—cha or Quietance to speak after the manner of Men he were free from all insequent Demands But I forgave thee in that Verse is as much as I forbear thee I did not pross thee or exact upon thee Though the Tally was not struck yet no Suit was commenc'd and a Temporary Forbearance is a kind of Forgiveness The Professor was satisfied and drove his Wedge no further into that Knot Upon the second Question I remember the grave Doctor gave the Onset somewhat frowningly But the Pith of his Obligation was That the Vocation to Sacred Orders Ministerium est non mercatura Piscatores sumus hominum non venatores munerum that is Our holy Profession is a Ministry not a Merchandise that we are made Fishers of Men and not of Livings The Retorsion to this had Strength and Sweetness like Iron that is gilded Alius est finis artis alius artificis The end of Theology is to gain Souls the end of the Theologue subordinate to the first and Architectonical end is for an honest Maintenance and Sustentation As the end of Art Medicinal is to cure a Sick Man but the end of the Physician is to live well upon his Profession This agrees with the mind of Seneca lib. 3. De Benef. That the end of Phidias his Art was to carve a Statue with likeness concinnity and due proportion Finis artificis fecisse cum sructu The Artificer's end was to take Money for his Work A Distinction that cuts by an even Thread which with all that was deliver'd beside received great Congratulation from the Professor and Auditors 33. From henceforth he was a Licemiate as the Transmarines call it as we a Batchelor in Divinity A Relation to beautifie his Profession or rather a mere Scabbard to put in the sharp-edg'd Weapon of his Learning out of which he drew it forth upon a fair Quarrel which was decided before a glorious Auditory Mar. 3. 1612. That was the day wherein the Princes with the Attendance of mighty Peers and one Bishop Dr. James Montagu Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells vouchsafed to give a most Gracious Hearing to a public Disputation held between some of our chief Divines The Place was filled with the most Judicious of this whole Island and some of the Attendants of the Palsgrave so Learned that One might stand for many Plato alone for Ten Thousand One Abraham Scultetus a Worthy greatly look'd upon was able to awake the Diligence of them that had been Drowsie But they that were set forth for this Encounter had Metal enough and needed no Provocation but their own Virtue Dr. Richardson Agmen agens Lausus magnique ipse agminis instar began first with his grave Nestorean Eloquence and having saluted Prince Charles the great expectation of our future Happiness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as G. Nyssen calls Isaac the Branch of Succession and having blessed his Serenity the Prince Elector the Bridegroom with Solemn Votes and Wishes to be added to his Hymeneal Joys then he called forth the Son of his right hand Mr. Samuel Collins created Doctor at this Commencement to stand in the gap and to maintain the Truth in three Theses against all Assailants He was a firm Bank of Earth able to receive the Shot of the greatest Artillery His Works in print against
great Honour yet some it is presumed they were nettled with Emulation utterly disliked his Age that it was not wrinkled with Gravity They were but Yonkers themselves that made such Cavils For he that is stepping into the Fortieth Year of his Life if he have spent his Time as he ought is come to adult maturity Many as soon as their Spring is over are in their Autumn So Nazianzen calls Basil then but a young man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One whose Mind was gray with Senility before his Head was enrich'd with Silver Hairs And how prevailing was Cato in the Senate at the time of the Catilinarian Conspiracy And yet in my Collection at that time he had scarce seen 30 years in the World I will cite out of many Examples but one more and that 's Lasthenes in Aeschylus his Tragedy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He carried an aged Soul in a youthful Body We learn out of the Typical Lessons of the Old Law Levit. 2.14 That green Ears of Corn were accepted for an holy Oblation if Oyl and Frankincense were put upon them Which will bear this Note That the Gifts of our young and flourishing Age are very sweet when they are Balsam'd with Discretion 68. At last I come slowly to a Stone of Offence that cannot quite be removed yet I come to it It were not Ingenuous to deal like Fl. Josephus that in all his History never mentioned the Trespass of his Fore-fathers in Worshiping the Golden Calf at Horeb. But why should that be covered which the Penitent himself did not conceal That Eruptions of Anger flash'd from him too often which he confess'd in his Letter to the Lord of Buckingham printed in the Cabal p. 78. Heat and Earnestness I know by looking into my self are Symptoms of good Nature It is in a manner a National Cognizance among his Country-men the Welsh to be quickly stirred and of an hot Blood and when they have been very loud in Choler for a trice after a short fray to be as good Friends as ever I confess this was a Bird of that Feather He that will trouble himself with me to look upon the Disease and the Sympton's in a moral Landchape shall not altogether be weary of it The composition of Fire is great in some men there is some of it in all men So says he that wrote the Book of Wisdom c. 2. v. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is a little Spark in the mâ—ving of our Heart Some are so still so happy in Tranquility that they are little provoked to Hastiness and Heat The Spark glows not but lies as if it were cover'd under the Ashes Some have more Brimstone in their Complexion and if they take disrelish their Spirits are hurried to their Heart swifter then Lightning which blow the Spark and the Spark kindling in the Blood makes it boil over before Reason can be consulted how to cool it Now as there is no Good in us but hath much Infirmity so there is no Infirmity in us out of which God cannot bring much Good For in the memory of all Times those that were of Cholerical Complexions have been the most active and the most fortunate in bringing great Exploits about No better Witness can be quoted then the meekest Writer that the Greek Church enjoyed Nazian Orat. 26. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He writes it for the Defence of St. Peter of an hasty Nature and a prompt Speaker Do not utterly condemn all angry Heat without which nothing that is Brave can be brought to pass towards Piety and Virtue Again though it be an unruly Passion it wants not this Apology That it chafes away Malice as it were by imperceptible Perspiration Usually such as are quickly instigated to Displeasure and seem to be Foes of all that we converse with soonest become Friends When I instance in Theodosius the Elder it is to let him stand for the Figure of Ten thousand of whom says Aurelius Victor Irasci rebus indignis sed flecli cito unde modicâ dilatione emolliebatur He was quickly angry and quickly entreated mollified after his Fit in the turning of an hand A Weakness that deserves much Indulgence when it draws such a Virtue after it Which in the knowledge of all men that were willing to see the Truth was the Dispraise and the Praise of our Prelate who came to such sudden Greatness He was quickly stirred and provoked but the Sun never went down upon his Wrath. There did not live that Christian that would put up greater Wrongs or pass them over with a more slight Contempt He forgat Injuries as if they had been Dreams neither could be endure to be told that he had been injured when fawning Sycophants came to whisper such things in secret He liked the Informer far worse then the Offender The first was sure to have no Reward the other was certain to have no more then a mild Rebuke for his Punishment Revenge is a kind of Savage Justice though Wolvish Natures affect it which he abhorred first out of Evangelical Charity next out of the greatness of his Spirit Wherein if he had his match I think upon Earth he had not his Superior being most exorable to Offenders facile in taking Satisfaction faithful after Reconciliation using his Power too much to Protect some but never to Ruine any towards Male-contents that sometimes forgat good Manners his Heat was so far abated that he was too cord in Repressing them As Theophylact said of Joseph his Pacificatory Thoughts toward the Blessed Virgin That he was willing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so he was ever inclined to overshadow a Fault with a gentle Interpretation Take his Picture in his own words as he wrote them to the L. Buckingham in behalf of the wise and valiant Earl of Southampton Cabal p. 59. Of all Actions forget not those of Mercy and Goodness wherein Men draw nighest to God himself Nor of all Persons Prisoners and afflicted Josephs Celerity doth redouble an Act of Mercy therefore it is no Flattery to contest that such a proneness to Ebullition of Anger is much better then a sullen Saturnine Temper which betrays not it self outwardly in flame but burns inwardly with implacable Rancour which Cato of Veica had learnt out of the School of the Stoics He was not easily incensed but if he were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Plutarch being once warmed he was never cool again To whom this man was so contrary that if he had been Transported to Transgress against Civility towards any Man who in the distraction of much business had rush'd upon him unseasonably and follow'd him with Insolency able to discompose a most Resolved Patience I would have undertaken in less than two hours to present that man's business to him with hope of good success if the Justice of his Cause would bear it when I durst not have moved him for another Man 69. To stoop this Vinacre to the very Lees some will say that Eruptions
were cut off too soon that delay would bring them to a more considerate Ripeness Sic vero dificiente crimine laidem ipsam in vituperium vertit invidia says Tully but he is sufficiently prais'd who is disprais'd for nothing but his Vertues Dispatch was a Vertue in him And all his Sails were fill'd with a good Wind to make riddance in his Voyage He was no Lingerer by Nature and kindly warmth is quick in digestion Our time is but a Span long but he that doth much in a short Life products his Mortality To this he had such a Velocity of mind that out of a few Words discreetly spoken he could apprehend the Strength and Sirrup of that which would follow This is that Ingeny which is so much commended 4. Tuseul Multarum rerum brevi tempore percussio such a Wit is ever upon an Hill and fees the Champain round about him And it was most contrary to his incorruptness to prolong an hearing as Felix did Act. 24.26 Till Mony purchas'd a convenient Season He never was Accus'd of it Quod nemo novit poene non fit as Apuleius says 10. Metam 'T was never known therefore 't was never done is a Moral and a Charitable inference Guess his great Spirit from this Essay and how he Coveted no Man's Silver or Gold that when he was in his lowest Want and Misery in the Tower Sequestred of all he had yet he Refus'd the offers of his Friends with this Reason that he knew not how to take from any but a King There is another Rub in the way sometimes Court Messages and Potentates Letters for alass in many Causes there are great Betters that are no Gamesters But he had a Spell against that Inchantment an invincible Courage against Enmity and Envy I will truly Translate Mamertinus his Qualities upon him of which he boasted in the Panegyric for his Consulship Animi magm adversus pecuniam liberi adversus offensas constantis adversus invidiam Those Magnificoes that were Undertakers for perdue Causes gave him over quickly for a stubborn Man that would go his own Pace and make no Halt for their sakes that sate in the Gallery of great ones above him As Cicarella says of Sixtus Quintus in his Addition to Platina In ore omnium erat nunc tempus Sixti est it is not as it was these are Pope Sixtus's days No Man now can work a Reprieve for a Malefactor So this Magistrate was passive to many Solicitations but strenuously Resolv'd to be Active for none for whatsoever Cause was brought before him he could instantly discern the true Face from the Vizard and whether the Counsel did not endeavour rather to shut it up then to open it It askt him a little time to Learn as it were the use of the Compass how to Sail into the Vast Ocean ef Pleadings and not to creep always by the Shore To follow the Pleaders in their own method and to speak to them in their own Dialect nay to reduce them from starting out and to Rectifie every Sprain and Dislocation See what a Globe of Light there is in natural Reason which is the same in every Man but when it takes well and riseth to perfection it is call'd Wisdom in a few 90. The Terms of the Common Law as in all other Professions and Sciences seem Barbarous to the Vulgar Ear and had need to be familiariz'd with pre-acquaintance which being the Primar of that Rational Learning he had inur'd himself to it long before and was nothing to seek in it Yet one of the Bar thought to put a Trick upon his Fresh-man-ship and trouled out a Motion crammed like a Granada with obsolete Words Coins of far fetch'd Antiquity which had been long disus'd worse then Sir Thomas Mores Averia de Wethernham among the Masters of Paris In these misty and recondit Phrases he thought to leave the New Judge feeling after him in the Dark and to make him blush that he could not Answer to such mystical Terms as he had Conjur'd up But he dealt with a Wit that was never entangl'd in a Bramble Bush for with a serious Face he Answer'd him in a cluster of most crabbed Notions pick'd up out of Metaphysics and Logic as Categorematical and Syncategorematical and a deal of such drumming stuff that the Motioner being Foil'd at his own Weapon and well Laugh'd at in the Court went home with this New Lesson That he that Tempts a Wise man in Jest shall make himself a Fool in Earnest Among many Gown-men at the Bar this was but one and that one proved a solid Pleader and sound at the hands of a more reconcileable man more than common Favour who procur'd him Knighthood and did send him his help in another Capacity Ten Years after to advance his Fortunes To proceed his Judgment could not be dazzled with Dark and Exotic Words they were proper to the matters in Hand The difficulty that he did most contend with was against Intrigues and immethodical Pleadings so that he had much to do to force the Councel to gather up their Discourses more closely and to hold them to the Point in Hand checking Excursions and impertinent Ramblings with the Rebuke of Authority though it seem'd a little Brackish to some Palates With a little Experience he gather'd up such Ripeness of Judgment and so sharp-sighted a knowledg that upon the opening of a Bill he could readily direct the Pleaders to that which was the Issue between the Plaintiff and Defendant and constrein them to speak to nothing but the very Weight of the Cause from the Resolution whereof the whole business did attend it's dispatch So true it is which Nepos delivers in the Life of Atticus Facile existimari potest Prudentiam esse quandam Divinati nem Prudence is a kind of Divination let it Tast a little and it can guess at all It needs not to have all the Windows opened when it can see Light enough through a Chink On the Judges part it is not Patience but Weakness not to abridge Prolixity of Words that he may come the sooner to the Truth And on the Advocates part 't is Affectation to seem more careful of his cause then he is when he speaks more then he needs Thus the Lord Keeper behav'd himself constantly and indifferently towards every Bill and Answer using the same method the same diligence the same Application of his great Gifts to all Causes following the Council which Q. Cicero gave to his Brother de Petiti Consul It a paratus ad dicendum venito quasi in singulis caulis Judicium de omni ingenio futurum sit so he carried himself as if he his whole sufficiency were to be Tried upon every Decree he made I shall say much I think enough to his Approbation that in the Tryal of two Terms the Councei at the Bar were greatly contented with him The Primipili or Vantguard of them were such as fil'd up their place with great Glory in
Keeper did not unforesee how far this Cord might be drawn And that those Discontents which were but Vapours in common talk might thicken into a Thunder-Clap in an ensuing Parliament Which though it assembled not in 14 Months after yet this Prometheus had learn'd his Lesson That Safety is easiest purchas'd by Prevention An Instrument that is strung may be us'd upon a little warning Having thus studied the Welfare of the Duke he spake to him to this effect My Lord YOur Mother is departed out of the Bosom of the Church of England into whose Confession of Faith she was Baptiz'd a strong Schism in any to go away from that Society of Christians among whom they cannot demonstrate but Salvation may be had I would we could bring her Home so soon that it might not be seen she had ever wandered For it is a favourable Judgment among Divines Hormisda in Epist ad Anastasium Imperatorem Propè ab Innocentiâ non recedit qui ad eam sine tarditate revertit He seems almost not to have faln from Innocency that returns into it without delay But my Care I cannot dissemble it is more for your self Your Integrity My Lord is wounded through your Mothers Apostasie Perhaps you hear not of it For I believe it is late before any Truth meets you that is offensive It is one of the greatest Miseries of Greatness which Pollio imputes to Gallienus Nemo ei vera nec in bonis nec in malis nuntiat But it is time to let your Lordship know That the Mouth of Clamour is opened that now the Recusants have a Potent Advocate to plead for their Immunity which will increase their Number When this is banded in the High and Popular Court by Tribunitial Orators what a Dust it will raise I have touch'd a Sore with my Finger I am furnish'd with an Emplaster to lay upon it which I presume will Lenifie Only measure not the Size of Good Counsel by the Last of Success My Lord Your Mother must be invited or provoked to hear Debates between Learned Men speaking to those Points of Controversie that have staggered her Let her Ladiship bring her Champions with her Entertain her with many of these Conferences Let them be solemn as can be devised the King himself being ever present at the Disputes and the Conslux of great Persons as thick as the Place will permit Let your Lordships Industry and Earnestness be Conspicuous to catch at every Twig of Advantage much more to give Applause to every solid Reason which may bring your Mother home to a sound Mind again If her Ladiship recover of her Unstableness by these Applications you have won a Soul very precious to you and will raise your self up into the Fame of a Sincere Protestant But if the Light within her be Darkness and that she frustrate all hopes of her Reparation the Notice of your Lordships Pious Endeavours will fill the Kingdom with a good Report and will smell to every good Nostril like a sweet Savour My Lord Courage I set my rest upon 't that this Counsel will not deceive because you will labour your Mothers Conversion not as a Stratagem of Counterfeacance but upon my Knowledge from the very Mind of your Heart The Conferences went presently to work His Majesty singularly versed in Polemical Theology was Superintendent The Champion in whose Sufficiency the Lady most affied was Fisher the Jesuit With whom Dr. Francis White then Dean of Carlile first encountred and gave him Foil after Foil as the Colloquy did let the World know most impartially publish'd But Female Weakness was not evinced by Manly Performance The Logick of the Serpent had strong force upon Eve and that Infirmity is descended upon her Daughters Another Meeting was prepared wherein the Lord Keeper entred the Lists with Fisher because he had advised to those Disputes he was willing to be Active as well as Consultative As the old Rule would have Precept and Example to go Hand in Hand Cum dixit quid faciendum sit probat faciendo He had observ'd when he was an Auditor at the former Conflict that if divers of the Jesuits Postulata were yielded to him datis non concessis that the Church of England repurging it self from the super-injected Errors of the Church of Rome would stand inculpable So he labour'd to evidence if unnecessary Strifes were discreetly waved what little was wanting to a Conclusive Unity Ut quae non licuit per omnia ex necessariis partibus allegentur as the Emperor Justin wrote to Pope Hormisda The King did greatly commend his Charitable and Pacificatory handling of Controversies which gentle usage though it put the Jesuit out of his ordinary trot yet he fell into a shuffling pace and carried away the Lady behind him The Lord Keeper exposed not his part in Print as Fulgentius says of Frier Paul That he writ nothing with Intention to publish it unless Necessity constrein'd him The third 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that contended with the Jesuit both for the Palm of Victory and to bring Eye-Salve to the dim-sighted Lady was Dr. Laud then Bishop of St. David's who galled Fisher with great Acuteness Which the false Loiolite traduced and made slight in his Reports Whereupon the Bishop for his just Vindication Corroborated all that he had delivered with very strong Enlargement paying his Adversary both with the Principal and Interest and divers Years after finish'd it with an Auctarium which hath rendred it a Master-Piece in Divinity But all this labour was spent in vain as to the Countess's part and she left to be numbred among those of whom Christ foretold that they loved Darkness more than Light Qui scis an prudens huc se dejecerit Atque Servari nelit Horat. Art Poet. Yet on my Lord her Sons part that which was desir'd was Atchieved He had appeared in the Field an Antagonist to her Revolt whom he Honour'd and Observ'd with the most of Filial Duty So she was less Valued ever after and sent from the Court for her Obstinacy But he was Blazed abroad for the Red-Cross-Knight that was Unàs Champion against Archimago Yet it was not Printed to be Read and Judg'd of till the Parliament Sate which was now call'd 179. And lest the precedents of the King's Writs should be lost as his Houses and Revenues are embezel'd here follows the Copy of the Summons directed to the Lord Keeper under the Signet James Rex TRusty and well beloved Counsellor we Greet you well Whereas we are Resolv'd to hold a Parliament at our Palace of Westminster the Twelfth day of February next ensuing These are to Will and require you forthwith upon the Receipt hereof to Issue forth Our Writs of Summons to all the Peers of our Kingdom And also all other usual Writs for the Electing of such Knights Citizens and Burgesses as are to serve therein And withal to issue out all usual Writs for the Summoning of the Clergy of both Provinces
their Clutches that by Arms or cunning Treaties do Usurp it But the way and Manner in Discovering the Couchant Enemy in preserving that handful of our Friends in laying down some Course of Diversion and the like you do most wisely and modestly refer to the proper Oracle His Majesties Wisdom and Deep Counsel Yea but I must tell you Mr. Speaker Vinci in amore turpissimum the King cannot endure to be outvyed by his People in Love and Courtesies What you in Duty do refer to him his Majesty in Confidence of your Wisdom and Loving Assections returns upon You. You say you would have the King betake him to sound Counsel You are his Counsel Consilium magnum his Main and Principal Counsel It is very true That since the begining of Harry the 8th the Kings of England have reserved those Matters to their own Conisance and Resolution But it is as true that from Harry the First until that Harry the Last our Kings have in every one of those Questions Repaired to and received Advice of their Parliaments Id verum quod primum Our Master means to follow the former Precedents His Majesty Commands me to yield unto you Hearty Thanks for your just Resentments of his Sufferings in this Cause and to tell you withall that because the main of the Expedition is to be born by the Persons and Purses of the People whom you do represent He is pleased to accept of the Advice of the House of Commons concerning the finding out of this secret Enemy the re-inforcing of our remaining Friends and by what kind of Diversion we shall begin the Enterprize And God the Holy Ghost be present with you in all your Consultations 184. In the Ninth Place That Well of Wood our Navy Royal wherewith you well observed this whole Island to be most strongly fortified we must all attribute the well Rigging and good Condition of it to the great Cost Care and Providence of his Sacred Majesty Hic tot sustinuit hic tanta negotia solus And yet as that Carver that beautified the Temple of Diana although he wrought upon other Mens Charges was suffered notwithstanding to engrave his own Name in some eminent Places of the Building So surely can it be denied by Envy it self but that most Noble Lord who is now a compleat Master in his Art and hath spent his seven years Studies in the Beautifying of the Navy should have a glorious Name enstamped thereupon though in a sitting Distance from his Lord and Master whose Princely Majesty A longe sequitur vestigia semper adorans Lastly For the Reformation of Ireland this I am bidden to deliver Pliny commending the Emperor Trajan to the utmost reach of Eloquence says That the most laudable and most remarkable Point in all his happy Government was That his Care was not consined to Italy alone but Instar solis like the Beams and Influence of the Sun it shed it self to many other Countries Surely his Majesty's Providence is of a large Extent for where the Sun scarce darteth his Beams his Majesty hath shined most gloriously by the Execution of wholsome Laws engrafting Civility and Planting true Religion And let this be our Soveraign's Comfort that though this poor Kingdom though never so reformed shall add very little to his Crown of Temporal Majesty here on Earth it will be an Occasion of an immense Access to his Crown of Glory hereafter in Heaven And now for your four Petitions Mr. Speaker his Majesty grants them all in one Word What Priviledge Liberty Access or fair Interpretation was ever yielded to the Members of that House his Majesty grants them to the Knights and Burgesses now assembled fully and freely without the least Jealousie Qualification or Suspicion I will only add a Memorandum out of Valerius Maximus to cut an even Thred between King and People Quid Cato sine Libertate Quid libertas sine Catone What is Wisdom without Liberty to shew it And what is Liberty without Wisdom to use it 185. Hitherto the King spake to the People by the Lord Keeper's Mouth and then the House rose All rejoyced that such gracious Concessions were returned to Mr. Speaker's Motions which were the Beam that held up the insequent Counsels till the Roof was covered with Agreement And it took the more that it was inlaid with such Mosaick Work not to the Eye but to the Ear by a perfect Orator It was the greatest and the knowingest Auditory that this Kingdom or perhaps the World afforded whose general Applause he carried away to as much as Modesty could desire Isocrates extolling the famous Acts of Evagoras before the full Celebrity of the Athenians exulted that Evagoras was approved by them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whose good Opinion was more honorable to him than all the Earths beside It was a happy sight at that time to see the Patriots of both Houses depart with Hands held up to God and with Smiles in their Looks that you might think they said one to another as the Princes of the Congregation and the Heads of the Thousands of Israel said to the Children of Reuben and Gad c. This day we perceive that the Lord is among us Jos 22.31 The Lord Keeper was summoned in three days after to a fresh Business and a larger Task than the former So fine a Tongue was sure not to want Work The Lords and Commons were brought into the Banqueting-House at White-Hall Feb. 24. where the Duke of Buckingham spake unto them leading them into the Maeanders of the Spanish Treatise and lead them out of them by the Clew of his own Diligence as he spared not to give himself the Honour of it For this time he was the Alcibiades that pleased the Common-wealth His Zeal and unremovable Pertinacy not to cope with the Spaniard in any Proposition unless the Prince Elector might be brought into his own Land again with an honorable Post liminium did enter inwardly and into the Marrow of all pitiful Affections But when he unfolded how strong the Prince was to the Principles of the right Faith and how attendant and dutious himself was to see that no Emissaries should poyson his Highness's Heart the general Suffrage was that the Prince had march'd valiantly like a Captain of Holy Truth and that the Duke deserved a great Name as a Lieutenant that maintained the Cause of God under him For it was ever easie to strike the good People of England half blind with the Dazling of Religion So much did the Parliament thirst for the Report of this Narration that it was imposed on the Lord Keeper to make it the next day All that might be done was that he took him to his Memory and to his Pen and drew up three Sheets of Paper upon it in a fast and scarce legible Hand He must proceed by the Pattern My Lord Duke's Oration was the only part of Speech he must follow and like a wise Man whatsoever he thought he must make
second quick and acute Dr. Ward in the Chair a rare Determiner Dr. Brownrigg in the Schools an unparallel'd Disputant and in the Pulpit a most divine Preacher As Tully said of Crassus and Scevola In aliquibus dissimiles erant inter se statuere tamen ut non possis cujus te malles esse similiorem So these two in some things were Matches in some things unlike in all things excellent and happy were he that could be like to either He that received such as these under his Roof might be comforted not that he received Angels unawares but Christ himself in his Disciples This Matter might have broken off here but that Mr. W. S. who likes the Gallantry of the Bishop's House-keeping adds that which was very true that Watches were set to note and espy him Warning was given by some that were appointed to it The Court is not always the closest Cabinet to keep Secrets As Budaeus observes it Lib. 3. de Asse fol. 105. Aius ille Locutius arcanum nihil sinit esse eorum quae in Aulâ geruntur But the Bishop would take no knowledge that such a Snare was laid esteeming of it as Physicians do of Cancer Occultus that it is more safe to let it alone than to go about to cure it nor was it easie for him to keep in his Freedom Which yet many times had subtlety mixt with it such as Fulgentius says was in Padre Paulo That he would seem open in his Talk out of an admirable Dexterity to make others speak freely But more often custom did make his Words run from him without regard to those that might be suspected As Camerarius writes of Melanchthon Oratio ejus erat libera etiam sine circumspectione consideratione eorum coram quibus illa haberetur Where much Knowledge and a sweet Nature meet with intelligent Company Discourse will flow without an over-anxious advertency upon the Hearers Yet Offence could never be grounded upon his Words if a candid Interpretation judg'd them Doubtless he that had lost one Eye would be more tender to keep the other As for those Spies and State-rats that are set to run and scent in every corner Budaeus a great Courtier as well as a Scholar in his Work cited before Fol. 188. Accounts them to be most ignoble Instruments bred at first under the ragged Princes of Asia But he that did most employ them was Midas King of Phrygia which gave occasion to the Fable that he had Asses Ears Quem narrant asininas aures habuisse quod multos otacoustas auricularios sermonum captatores haberet Thistles were fitter for such Asses to feed on than the sumptuous provision of a most bountiful Lord. 36. Though the good Fare remembred was much seen and much talk'd of yet there were Issues of Liberality from the same Purse no less or more to be approved The Lordly Senators of Rome sed the Bellies of their Clients that came officiously to salute them Fructus amicitiae magnae cibus Juven Sat. 5. And that was all the good they did But as this Bishop's Table was free and open so was his Hand Except Bishop Andrews who was sublime in all Vertue there was not so great a Giver of his Order to the Supply of the Learned and of Gentlemen of hard Fortune whom he gratified with no small Sums Beside some poor Scholars of eminent Hopes in both Universities whom he cherish'd with sufficient Pensions to maintain them modestly A Servant of a worthy Family that look'd to his Disbursements Mr. John Mostyn will avouch it that in such charitable Out-lets he spent a Thousand Pounds every Year at the least sometime Twelve Hundred Whatsoever Colours you lay upon the praise of a great Man certainly such Works are the best Mettal of his Coat Titulis fascibus olim Major habebatur donandi gloria Juven ut supra And that 's Truth in Ar. Will. History p. 196. That this Bishop was of a bountiful Mind to Men in want being a great Patron to support them when there was Merit that wanted supply The same Author hath instanced in one of the best to whom he did minister out of his store the Man whose Renown will ever be fresh Dr. Peter Moulin the Elder Who flying from the mortal Threatnings of his Enemies at the time of the Siege of Mount-Alban and finding harbour in England was not only furnish'd for his present use by this compassionate Providor but he sent also for his Son Dr. Peter the younger out of France ordain'd him a Deacon to make him capable of his Patronage instituted him into a Donative one of the best in North Wales and caused him to engage that Provision should be made out of it for his Mother-in-Law as it were in the way of a Joynture if the survived his Father A Benefit which the Father that great Pillar of the Reformed Churches in France neither sought nor expected For he had never seen his face that conferr'd it and came so welcome to discharge him from all further care of laying up for his Family that among his other rate Gifts he proved the most acknowledging true-hearted and constant Friend that ever the Bishop had to do with From whom he was presented every Month with all those Rarities which the Gallican Church and State set forth Neither were the Moulins the Father and Son the All and the only ones among the Worthies of the Transmarine Churches that were Debtors to his Courtesie But as our holy Fathers Grindal Whitgift and Abbot had done before him many in the Universities of France and the Netherlands that were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Men of Fame and Industry were greeted from him with ample Tokens of Benevolence For though the Government and comely Order of our Church is far better contrived than theirs through the good Hand of God upon us yet he was not pufft up like some that think their Imperfections make them unworthy of Communion with us Is there but one Tree of Knowledge in all the Paradice of the Church of God Or must all be despised that are not reformed ad amussim The good God pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek the Lord God of his Fathers though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the Sanctuary 2 Chron. 30.19 Alas yet many of these or their Colleagues since they were filled with good things from our Right Reverend Fathers have turned against us and have brought fuel to kindle the fire which hath burnt up the houses of God in our Land Lord lay not this sin to their charge They have received good things from us and we have received evil from them The white stone is on our side the blot is on theirs But our Bishop's End was good the Coagmentation of the parts of the Building of God's House and to oblige the Master-builders His Prudence and Humanity went far to close up Breaches and to advance Unity And as the Showers of the Clouds drop
or Constitutions differing from the alledg'd or did vary in their Judgment that they would send their Reasons and they should be kindly and thankfully accepted How could a Prelate carry himself with more Moderation or a Scholar write with more Modesty or a Variance be more suddenly composed as it was with more Indifferency Did this Letter deserve to be ript up nine years after and torn into Raggs by an angry Censure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Odyss w. It will be a dishonour to the Times that Posterity should hear of it I see if the Dr. had been in the place of the Bishop he would have led the Parish of Grantham another Dance to their cost and vexation Many that are in low condition are best where they are As Livy says lib. 1. dec 5. Quidnam illi Consules Dictatoresve facturi erant qui proconsularem imaginem tam trucem saevÃmque fecerint If such had been the Consuls and Dictators of the Church what would they have done who flew so high when they had no Authority 99. Scan this now both for the Form and Matter before equal Judges in some Moral and Prudential Rules The Letter or private Monition as he calls it that drew it up Hol. Tab. p. 82. was written nine years before and in all that time had gained this Praise that it savour'd of Fatherly Sweetness to satisfie the Scrupulous by Learning in matter of Ceremony rather than to strike the case dead with Will and Command The Contents of it had been quoted in a Parliament with well done good and faithful Servant thou hast been faithful in a little A Divinity-Professor in his Chair Dr. Pr. had spoken reverendly of it by the relation of many it was punctually read or opened fully to the King at the hearing of the Cause of St. Gregory's Church Ho. Tab. p. 58. and no Counsellor did inform that it was disparaged A Litter of blind Whelps will see by that time they are nine days old and was the Answerer blind that could not see the reputation this Paper had got by that time it was nine years old Let a Presbyter for me dispute the truth with him that is of the greatest Order in the Church yet what Canons will suffer him to taunt and revile a Bishop whose whole Book was but a Libel against a Diocesan p. 58. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Const lib. 2. c. 31. Which Canon will not allow a Clerk of a lower degree to raise an evil Murmur against a Bishop Much of the like is an Antiquity from Ignatius downward Their supereminent Order is not to be exposed to petulant Scoffings by their own Tribe Sed servanda est uniuscujusque Episcopi reverentia says Gregory Ep. 65. Ind. 2. since the Age grew learned and Knowledge puffed men up Ministers are more malapart among us and in every state with the Fathers of the Church but from the beginning it was not so If the like to this had been done upon the Person of another Bishop he would have been taught better Manners that had presum'd it The Example is the same wheresoever it lighted and might have taught them that where Reverence is forgotten to any of the chief Order that he that abuseth one doth threaten many It is a sad Presage to my Heart to apply that of Baronius to them that did not maintain the Honour of their Brother Quod Praesides ecclesiarum alter alterius vires infringebant Deus tranquilla tempora in persecutiones convertebat an 312. p. 6. These Annals prevent me not to forget that for a better colour to make licentious Invectives the Respondent takes no notice that a Bishop wrote the Letter For why not rather some Minorite among the Clergy Indeed it had not the Name but the Style tells him all the way that it could come from none but the Diocesan of Grantham Therefore I will give him his Match out of Baronius anno 520. p. 22. Maxentius contra epistolam Hormisdae scripsit sed ut liberam sibi dicendi compararet facultatem Hormisdae esse negavit sed ab adversariis ejus nomine scriptam esse affirmans This is a stale Trick to bait a Pope or a Prelate in the name of one that was much beneath them Sternitur infoelix alieno vulnere Aen. lib. 10. but he that wilfully makes these mistakes I take him for what he is I pass to the main Question What did this Letter prescribe that it should be torn with the Thorns of the Wilderness It pared away no Ceremony enjoyned O none further from it but it moderated a doubtful case upon the Mode and Practice of a Ceremony how the Communion-Board should stand and how the Vicar in that Church should pray and read at it for best edification of his Flock He must give me time to study upon it that would demand me to start him a Question belonging to God's Service of less moment Had the Gensdarmery of our great Writers no other Enemy to fight with Nothing to grind in their Brain-mill but Orts This the Colleges of Rome would have to see us warm in petty Wranglings and remiss in great Causes as Laertius says of one Xenophon of the Privy-Purse to Alexander the Great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 632 He would quiver for cold in the hot Sun and sweat in the Shade It was a Task most laudably perform'd by Whitgift Bridges Hooker Morton Burgess to maintain the use of innocent Ceremonies with whom Bishop Williams did ever jump and as Fulgentius says in P. Paulo's Life would defend and observe all Ordinances the least considerable and no whit essential But this was a great deal below it to litigate not about the continuance but about the placing of a Ceremony an evil beginning to distract Conformists who were at unity before and to make them sight like Cocks which are all of a Feather and yet never at peace with themselves Wo be to the Authors of such Cadmaean Wars Quibus semper praelia clade pari Propertius A most unnecessary Gap made in the Vine yard through which both the wild Boar our foreign Enemy and the little Foxes at home may enter in to spoil the Grapes Plutarch lib. de Is Osyr tells me of a Contention between the Oxyndrites and Cynopolites who went to War for the killing of a Fish which one of the Factions accounted to be a sacred Creature and when they were weaken'd with slaughter on both sides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in sine the Romans over-run them and made them their Slaves Let the Story be to them that hates us and the Interpretation fall upon our Enemies 100. Yet will some of the stiffer Faction say it was time to clip the Wings of this Letter or if it could be done to make it odious abroad for the Mctropolitan intending one common decency in all Churches of his Province about the Table of Christ's Holy Supper this Paper six years older than his translation to the See of Canterbury
to be done and being dozzled with fear thinks every man wiser than himself Lincoln spake what was fit for Comfort and did what he was able for Redress He lookt like the Lanthorn in the Admiral by which the rest of the Fleet did steer their Course And as Synesius gives a Precept to a Bishop Ep. 105. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To do as much work as all his Clergy beside So this Man bestirred himself and ran before the most diligent in this Chase When he was a Courtier he had ever declined Acquaintance with James Marquess of Hamilton now he made him his most Intimate waited on him at his Lodgings went in hand with him to the King tried him every way what Counsel he had in his Breast to breed Loyalty in the Scottish Army that the Contagion might not breed the same Rudeness in the English and would give an even poise to such uneven Humors The Bishop knew not what to make of this Marquess Incertum Lar sit an larva whether he were a good or a bad Genius Only he said he found every thing in him contrary to the Vulgar Opinion which esteemed him cunning and false For he took him to be no false one had will enough to help the King neither did he find any great Cunning in him but rather that he wanted a Head-piece So he laid him and aside but used him sparingly because he could not frame things of any great concernment from him Then he gets acquaintance with Mr Alexander Henderson and some of his Disciples in Commission with him presents them feasts them offered good pay to them and the Heads of their Faction as much as the King could spare which was the only Bait to catch his Country-men who were needy and ravenous for Prey Which is well set out in Salust p. 187. Feras omnis generis quò magis sunt attenuatae penuriâ cò magis praecipites â—ffraenatas ruere in perniciem videmus All Beasts will venture their Lives to devour what they can get when they are hungry The Bishop was sure he dealt with such as were bare and necessitous from the Orcades to Berwick and that it was part of their Errand into England to carry away Gold and to get Pensions But the House of Commons that knew their half famisht Fortunes as well as the Bishop voted such a Mass of Money to them by a word which coâ—t England dear called Brotherly Assistance that the King with all his Exchequer and perhaps his Credit was not able to raise it far less to out-bid it Yet Lincoln gave not over to perswade their headstrong Party to have no quarrel with the Church of England to draw no hatred upon themselves by reaching at the Subversion of the Episcopal Dignity which was never wanting here since the Nation received the Gospel of Christ Bade them remember what Vows their Kirk had made and printed them in their Common-Prayers never to unquiet the Peace of this Land since Queen Elizabeth Anno 3. of her Reign did beat the French out of Leith and compelled their Forces to return home conducted under the best Souldiers of France whose purpose it was to drown the Protestant Religion in the Blood of their Lords of the Congregation Hereupon some of Henderson's Assistants stagger'd and bade leave our Church to its own staple Order when at the same time in their private meetings they began to forsake this moderation They saw how their Debt of Brotherly Assistance would be paid the better if the Revenues of the Prelates were confiscated They look'd upon their own Work that they had dethron'd Bishops in Scotland and so long as England kept up that Dignity it cried Shame upon their Confusion And if Bishops lived at Durham and Carliste so near to their Borders they suspected the like would creep in again at Glascow and Edenburg And their intention was to shape our Church as ill as their own to make us as odious to the King as themselves that both our Offences might grow higher than the hope of a Pardon could fly unto So in fine our Bishop perceived that he dealt with men that made no scruple to shift from Promise and to break Faith Diodorus lib. 3. tells of strange men in the Island of Taproban Divisam linguam habentes eodem tempore duobus hominibus perfecrè loquntur I would such double Tongue had lived as far off as Taproban that we had never known them The end of this Conflict was when Entellus could not overcome Vastos quatit aeger anhelitus artus Aen. lib. 5. 136. No sooner had the Northern Carles begun their Hunts-up but the Presbyterians flock'd to London from all quarters and were like Hounds ready to be entred They had struggled in the days of Q. Elizabeth and K. James to set up their Discipline Patriae communis Erynnis but in vain After twenty Repulses they began afresh Tantus novelli dogmatis regnat furor Prud. de Coron and though their Liquor was stale and sowre as dead Wine they broach'd it now again to set out Teeth on edge The Stings of Wasps once lost are never repaired but these were like Staggs that had cast their Horns often but new ones sprouted up The Independants the same Creature with the Brownists but had shed their upper Coats and look'd smoother these had not yet a Name And as Alexander spoke neglectfully of the Cadusians Quod ignoti sunt ignobiles sunt nunquam ignorari viros fortes Curt. lib. 4. so these were of no reckoning in the first sally of the tumultuous times and such Ignotes were not courted but pass'd over as a Pawn at Chess that stood out all of Play The wise Bishop turned his Skill upon the Presbyterians being less distastful to them in his Person than any that wore a Rochet He laid down his Reasons to them in many Conferences with such prudence such softness and lenity that they confess'd for his part he deserv'd a great Place of Pre-eminence And some of the chief Lords of that Knot made him such Offers of Honour and Wealth for his share if he would give way to their Alterations that they would buy him if his Faith had been salaeble with any Price The worst Requital that could be propounded to an honest man and of the narrowest to scantle their Blessing to him alone that labour'd for a Publick Good As Ben. Johnson hath put it finely into his Underwoods p. 117. I wish the Sun should shine On all mens Fruits and Flowers as well as mine When they saw he was not selfish it is a word of their own new Mint some of their Ministers that were softened with the dewy drops of his Tongue eased their Stomachs with Complaints against the Courts Ecclesiastical and the rugged Carriage of certain Prelates Lincoln knew their Censures had somewhat of Truth and much of Malice but seemed to give them great attention in all for he had rather bring them over to the King than
â—â—â—dem sed quascunque reip status inclinatio temporum ratio concordiae postulant esse deferendas And it is noted in as great a Christian as he was a Heathen That exactness of Honour Justice and Decorum cannot be kept even at all times 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Synes ep 67. So that the Counsels of the great Athanasius did give place to the variation of Times The Leaders of both sides have spoken but the negative did carry it Perhaps I may say with the old Proverb Chorus ejus major est meus meliùs eccinit yet I would rebuke him that should think the worse of those heroically resolved men from the fatal Accidents of succeeding Times Doubtless we had compounded for less blood less loss of Honour less confusion with the Presbyters then than with the Independent or Congregational Tyranny after The first pinnion'd our Arms the latter cut them off The first were like the Philistines which made the Children of Israel their Slaves the other were the Chaldaeans that murder'd our King pulled down every great Man's House and the House of the Lord. The one gave us Vinegar to drink and the other Gall. The one made us a miserable nation the other have made us execrable Parricides to God and Man 202. All being run over and disputed in this Argument the Archbishop controuled not the greater number and therein the better because the King was better satisfied to try his right by his Sword It is fit to serve Kings in things lawful with undiscoursed Obedience which Climachus calls Sepulchrum voluntatis For we deny When Kings do ask if we ask why says our Master Poet Johnson So the Archbishop took the Ball fairly not at the â—â—oly but at the first rebound It is a Motto of great sense and use which Mr. Gataker cites Lib. â— Anton. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a good man is either right or rectified as some Plants grow straight some are help't by adminiculation to be straight and some are wise at the first sight some not until the second inspection into a Cause Now our Prelate leaves Oxford at the opening of the Spring with a Charge from his Majesty to look to North-Wales chiefly Conway-Castle with easie Journeys and the safe-guard of some Forces that march't the most of the way that he road he came to Conway and that was his last Journey in this World where some few years after like old Jacob Gen. 49.33 He gathered up his feet into his bed where he first set his feet upon the Ground Felix qui prepriis aevum transegit in arvis Ipsa domus pucrum quem videt ipsa senem Claudias One year and a tedious one run out in listning to things abroad how the King's Forces and his Garrisons did speed The bold Britains would believe them that reported the best and the best was that they were Cadmaean Wars Et semper praelia clade pari Propert. It molested them not alittle that they were jealous among themselves how to keep their own For we that live in the South slander them if their common men be not Filchers and Thieves And though it were piped by a Mouse It must needs come to Fame's House says noble Chaucer As many in those Counties as had Plate Coin Jewels Moveables that were precious besides their Writings and Evidences got favour of the Archbishop to slow them up in the Castle each Person having an Inventory of his own share And some suspected to be corrupt-hearted to the Royal Cause obtained that favour the ground of much ensuing mischief But it was the forecast of the wise Prelate to take Hostages as it were from such and to be secured against their Revolt being in possession of the best of their Substance A Twelve-month after Sir Jo. Owen a Colonel for the King that had gone out with a Regiment of Foot and returned after a year with a few of the shatter'd Remnant though he had been unfortunate against his Enemies would try his Valour upon his Friends and contrived how to recover his Debts and Damages with the Spoil of Conway-Castle slighting with the clack of his singers all sober Counsel That all North-Wales was concern'd to have their Wealth in the custody of so trusty a person as his Grace of York that their hearts were with their bag and baggage if he made a prey of it their whole Body would turn against him that nothing would prosper after it in the King's behalf that their Atlas in those parts the Archbishop had the custody under the Signet to remain quiet in it till his cost bestowed on it should be refunded to him which was not hitherto treated upon or offer'd that the Prince the General had corroborated his Majesty's pleasure therein and had commanded all Officers by Sea and Land to assist him in it What Conditions could be assured to any man by Royal Faith if these were broken A violent Man and a Furioso was deaf to all this and purchast the favour of Prince Rupert to be made under his Hand not equal to the King's Signet to be Commander of the Castle and by force he surprized it and entred it which in somewhat more than one year was taken from him by Colonel Milton who relieved the Archbishop and such as had Interest in it to carry away their Goods which remained All this fell into a hard Construction derogating much to the Archbishops credit and the infamy was not only hot when it was fresh but it cools not much to this time Though Love hath a soft hand to touch where it loves I will not so far defend the whole Process but I confess he was more earnest than advised in this unlucky action Camerarius penning the Life of Melanchthon casts in a few sweet words thus Out of my great opinion of him Quaedam fortè cariùs existimem quà m mereantur But I disdain to call bad good and darkness light Yet in justice I must patronize the noble Williams against Mr. Sanders Hist p. 889. in these Lines That he fortified his Garrison against the King and dissuaded the Country from contribution to the King Those were Times when he wrote to outface Truth and willing to listen to Slanders no wonder if many took the liberty and had the confidence to broach Fictions And it is a great advantage against the Truth when Lies and false Rumours have got the start to speak first chiefly when they have spread long Mensuraque ficti Crescit auditis semper novus addidit autor Ovid. Thus much I will undertake to inform all Readers with truth in the matter and satisfie the greatest part of many men with a clear Apology 203. He builds ill that lays not a sure Foundation therefore my Entrance shall be from the very words not a syllable varied wherein the Archbishop laid forth to his Majesty how he had suffered from Sir Jo. Owen which he sent to Oxford by Captain James Martin a faithful and undaunted Soldier and by his