A Memorial Offered to John Williams, Part of biography 2 · Letter 14 – Letter 23

A Memorial Offered to John Williams · Part of biography 2 · Letter 14 – Letter 23

p. 98Moſt Reverend, &c.

UPon the Meſſage which I received from Mr. Sherman, of your Graces intention to viſit my Dioceſs this year, being the year of mine own Triennial Viſitation; and the certain News I heard of Sir J. Lamb's collecting of Preſidents, to induce your Officers to ſtir up your Grace thereunto, I have, both by my ſelf and others, made ſome enquiry into the Records, and ſeveral Regiſtries of the Dioceſs, and do find clearly, that in Groſthead's time, anno 1235. this Dioceſs had never been metropolitically viſited, and that ever ſince that time, until now, no Archbiſhop of Canterbury did viſit this Dioceſs (otherwiſe than in vacancy of the See) but by the vertue and power of ſome particular Bull procured from the Pope, or Letter of Aſſiſtance from the King's Majeſty, ſince the Supremacy was reaſſumed in this Realm. And I find the ſeveral Biſhops in theſe ſeveral Ages to have aſſented to theſe Viſitations, as they were Papal and Regal only, not forbearing notwithſtanding to exerciſe all manner of Act or Acts belonging to their Juriſdiction Epiſcopal, not only in the times, but in and on the very days of theſe Archiepiſcopal Viſitations, and refuſing to pay any Procurations or other Fees, by vertue of a ſpecial exemption p. 99granted unto this See, and ſome others, by Pope Innocent the Fourth, by the procurement of Biſhop Groſthead, depoſited in this Regiſtry, and never waved by the Biſhops of this See, however, ſome other of your Graces Suffragans have omitted peradventure (as having not the cuſtody thereof) to implead the ſame: Yet do I differ (may it pleaſe your Grace) in this particular from all my Predeceſſors in this See, that I do believe your Grace may viſit, even by your own metropolitical Power, all this Dioceſs, (unleſs this great Preſcription of an hundred years may debarr the ſame) but truly I do, under Favour, conceive, that your Grace ought not to inhibit my ordinary Juriſdiction, nor do any acts to impeach the ſame. Nor can I find any word ſounding that way, in any one of all the Viſitations kept, as before is rehearſed, by your Grace's Predeceſſors, excepting only in Archbiſhop Cranmer's, the laſt Archbiſhop, who above one hundred years ſince viſited this Dioceſs; and yet Longland, then Biſhop of Lincoln, did not only execute all parts of his Juriſdiction, pendente viſitatione metropoliticâ, but the Dean of the Arches, Archbiſhop Cranmers, and the King's chief Commiſſioner for that Service, did freely and voluntarily of himſelf ſet all the Biſhop's Officers at full liberty, to exerciſe all their Juriſdictions, after the firſt day of his Viſitation, reſerving his Detections only to his own cognizance. Now, ſince this Viſitation of Archbiſhop Cranmer, (which was more Regal than Metropolitical, as appears by the Inſtructions given to the Commiſſioners at that time) no Archbiſhop of Canterbury hath ever offer'd to viſit this Dioceſs, as well for the Reaſons premiſed, as becauſe all the means of Livelihood belonging to this See, being taken away by the Duke of Somerſet, 2 Ed. 61. and a new, airy, and phantaſtical Corps being framed for the miſerable Biſhoprick, conſiſting in great part of Eccleſiaſtical Juriſdiction, if your Grace ſhould inhibit the exerciſe thereof, and divert the Profits aſſigned therefrom for the Biſhop's Maintenance, he ſhould not be able to eat or drink, much leſs to pay unto his Majeſty Firſt-fruits, Tenths, and Subſidies, charged upon this Biſhoprick, with relation to this laſt Endowment: In the which laſt Difference this Biſhoprick is, for ought I know, miſerably diſtinguiſh'd from all others. Thus I conceive the caſe to ſtand, my gracious Lord; and I hope, (unleſs your Grace will be pleaſed to permit me to go on with my Viſitation for this year, and take further time to conſider thereof) by our Lady-Eve, to procure all thoſe ſeveral pieces, which confirm theſe Premiſſes, to be tranſcribed out of our Records and Regiſtries, and ſent by my Officers to attend your Grace's further Good-will and Pleaſure, &c.

How reaſonable the Propoſitions of this Letter are I know not; I know they did not prevail: Sed ne querelae tum quidem gratae fuere, cum forſitan erant neceſſariae, ſays Livy in his Preface. His Complaints were not well taken, though they were neceſſary, and good to ſtand upon Record, to ſhew what was alledg'd for the benefit of his own See, and the emolument of ſmaller Biſhopricks. In the end our Biſhop let it go on the Archbiſhop's ſide, without more contradiction, having not forgotten that Philoſophy in Seneca, Acerbiſſimam partem ſervitutis effugit, qui imperium libens excipit.

97. All this, and ſo many Quarrels piled one upon another, were too little to bow the ſtraightneſs of his Spirit, yet there was enough to make his Foes audacious, becauſe a heavy Charge in Star chamber depended Seven years againſt him, proſecuted for the King by the Attorny-General, concurrent all along with the rehearſed Troubles; Omne tulit ſecum Caeſaris ira malum, Ov. 3. Triſt. el. 12. God complains of the Rigour of the Heathen againſt Jeruſalem, I was but a little diſpleaſed, and they helped forward the affliction, Zech. 1.15. Beware to help Affliction forward, Revenge is fierce when Miſery cannot mitigate it: It may be a Court-leſſon, it is not a Chriſtian, to thruſt him down that is a falling: Mark Reader, that the Actors herein came into the hands of a Power, or rather of a Tyranny, that had no compaſſion of any. Optima vindex inſolentiae variet as humanae conditionis, Valer. lib. 4. c. 7. The Wheel of Viciſſitude turning many Sticklers that were at the top to the bottom, is the Act and Motion of Providence, to be the Scourge of Inſolency. Among all Devices to thruſt him under Water, that was ſinking already, none was hatcht of more Deſpight and Indignity, than a Book publiſh'd by a Bluſter-maſter, ann. 1636. call'd, A Coal from the Altar, to defame a Letter ſent nine years before by the Biſhop, to ſome Divines of the Neighbourhood of Grantham in Lincolnſhire, to reſolve a Doubt upon the Site of the Communion-Table, or Altar, as the Vicar of Grantham call'd it, from whoſe Indiſcretion the Contention began. If ever any had a Wolf by the Ear, the Biſhop was in that quandary upon this provocation. Gladly he would have made his Peace with the King, to which he came near twice or thrice, but at laſt utterly loſt the ſight of it: It behoved him, for his Safety, not to make p. 100them his Enemies, who were like to be his Judges; chiefly not to treſpaſs againſt the Likings of Archbiſhop Laud, who could draw the King with one Hand farther than all the Lords in the Court with their whole Arm. From anno 1627, when the Letter was written in the Caſe of the Vicar of Grantham, to anno 1636, there had been much done in Preaching and Practice, to introduce ſome comelineſſes in the Worſhip of God, as they were ſtiled, which had not been before. The Archbiſhop ſet his Mind upon it, which a late Writer calls his Pregnancy to revive ancient Ceremonies; and another Book, Antid. Lincol. p. 85. No Metropolitan of this Church, that more ſeriouſly endeavour'd to promote the Uniformity of Publick Order, than his Grace now being:—The Clamours raiſed upon him are an Evidence of it. The Compliance; of many to curry Favour, did out-run the Archbiſhop's Intentions, if my Opinion deceive me not, and made the Clamour the greater; which meeting with other Diſcontents, might have warned Wiſdom to ſtop, or go on ſlowly. So well it is known to be dangerous to run againſt the Stream, and Unwillingneſs of the People; and no good Phyſician will try Experiments upon an accraſed Pody. An honeſt Mind is not enough to patronize that which is much condem…. I would have none to ſuſpect the Archbiſhop, that he meant any Change in the Doctrine of our Church; I would have none to tax his Reformation for Superſtition; but I will ſay as Polybius did, in defence of the nice Obſervations of the old Roman Religion, that it was foreign, an Exceſs of Piety: Yet be not too bold againſt cauſeleſs Jealouſies. Grant it, (but I do not give it) that the Clamours did riſe from weak Judgments; and paſs over that Rule, That the strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to pleaſe our ſolves, Rom. 15.1. Policy ought to liſten abroad to the Talk of the Streets, and the Marketplaces, (for ſecular Policy is no prophane thing, well uſed in the Service of God) and not to deſpiſe Rumours, when they are ſharpened againſt the innovating of any Diſcipline. Theſe things appeared but Straws to ſtumble at to a reſolved Stomach; and a Champion comes out in print, to gagg all popular murmuring againſt the placing of the Holy Table Altar-wiſe; Ambuſtum Torr…m Corinaeus ab arâ corripit, Aen. 12. one that would vent more, I believe, than the Maſters of the Game would have done, that put him into the Liſts. Athlet…e ſuts ineitatoribus fortiores ſunt, ſays St. Hicrom, in an Epiſtle to Julianus. Yet the common Vogue was, that this Author, though learned, was not the fitteſt to defend the Cauſe, being not fortunate in the good opinion of the Times. It was remembred, that the Spartans would not paſs that into a Decree, which was good in it ſelf, which a ſcandalous Fellow oſter'd to their Council, but turned him by, and ſet up a plain honeſt man to prefer it: Sic bona ſententia manſit, turpis autor mutatus eſt, Gel. lib. 18. c. 3. But if the Preſs muſt be ſet awork, as the Pulpits, Schools, and Conſiſtories had been, to maintain this matter, of no great moment, God wot, why muſt this Biſhop and his Letter be the Block to faſhion their Wit upon? He was one that would carry no Coals, they knew it: A judicious Reply from him would make the Shadow return ten degrees backward upon their Dyal, they knew it: That Abner gave good Counſel to Aſahel, not to purſue a valianter man than himſelf, and a Captain of the Hoſt, but lay hold on one of the young men, and take his Armour, 2 Sam. 2.21. they knew it: Yet they had ſhuffled the Cards, that they knew they ſhould win ſomewhat by the Hand; for, if the Biſhop gave no Anſwer to this Challenger, he was baffled, and poſted upon every Gate about London for a Daſtard. If he return'd them their own again, then pull him to the Stake, and worry him in the Star-chamber, where he was ſtruggling for Life at this time; in which fatal juncture the King muſt be told, that he was an Enemy to the Piety of the Times, and the Good Work in hand: So that this Spaniel was to put up the Fowl, that the Eagle might fall upon the Quarry. But it was ſoon decided; for rather than forſake a good Cauſe, and a good Name, Lincoln choſe to uſe his Pen to maintain his innocent Letter, though malicious Subtlety had made it manifeſt, that nothing could fall ſo moderately from him in that cauſe, which would not be ſubject to perverſe expoſition. The Athenians had deſerted their old Philoſophy, Cum imminente periculo major ſalutis quàm dignitatis cura fuit, Juſtin. lib. 5. Therefore a Mind that was not degenerous, had rather provide for Dignity than Safety. None writes better than Budaeus upon ſuch a caſe, de Aſſe, lib. 1. fol. 10. Tanta fuit vis numinis ad ſtylum manum urgentis, ut periclitari malis, quàm rumpi degeneri patientiâ. Some divine Spirit did ſo ſtrongly ſtir him up to write, that he had rather run any hazard, than ſmother ſuch an Injury with cowardly Patience.

p. 10198. I have cleared the riſe of the Controverſie which follows, That a Letter of the Biſhop's was ſent to ſome few perſons, nine years before, to ſtop a Debate in a private Pariſh, and to make Peace in the place. This was publiſhed by Dr. Heylin, with a Confutation, and cenſur'd for Popular Affectation, Diſaffection to the Church, Sedition, and for no better than No Learning: And the Plot was, as Concurrencies will not let it be denied, to pop out this Pamphlet, when the Biſhop's Cauſe in Star-chamber was now ripe for hearing: And this was the Pack-needle to draw the Whip-cord of the Cenſure after it. But what was this about? Take the Subſtance, or rather the Shadow, that was contended for, out of the Letter, in an Abſtract: The Vicar of Grantham, P. T. of his own Head, and never conſulting the Ordinary, had removed the Communion-Table to that upper part of the Chancel, which he called the Altar-place, where he would officiate when there was a Communion, and read that part of Service belonging to the Communion, when there was none. And when the People ſhewed much diſlike at it, becauſe it was impoſſible, as they alledg'd, that the 24th part of the Pariſh ſhould ſee or hear him, if he officiated in that place, he perſiſted in his way, and told them he would build an Altar of Stone upon his own coſt at the upper end of the Quire, and ſet it with the ends North and South, Altar-wiſe, and ſix it there, that it might not be removed upon any occaſion. A Complaint being made againſt this, by the Alderman, and a multitude of the Town, the Biſhop contented himſelf at firſt to ſend a Meſſage to the Magiſtrate, and the Vicar, that they ſhould not preſume either the one or the other of them, to move or remove that Table any more, otherwiſe than by ſpecial direction of him and his Chancellor; that in his Journey that way he would view the place, and accommodate the matter according to the Rubrick and Canons. There being no certain day ſet when the Biſhop would come, the Inhabitants of Grantham prevented him, and came with open cry to Bugden againſt the Vicar, who was among them at the Hearing. Some Heat, and ſharp Impeachments againſt each other being over, the Biſhop did his beſt to make them Friends, and ſupp'd them together in his great Hall, while himſelf retired to his Study, and bade them expect that he would frame ſomewhat, in a thing ſo indifferent to him, to give them content againſt the Morning. So he beſtowed that night in writing, and made his Papers ready by day: As the Panegyriſt ſaid to Conſtantine of ſuch Celerity, Quorum igneae & immortales mentes, mint…e ſentiunt corporis moras, p. 303. The Secretary gave a ſhort Letter to the Alderman, in which that which concerns the caſe in hand, is this little: That his Lordſhip conceived that the Communion-Table, when it is not uſed, ſhould ſtand in the upper end of the Chancel, not Altar-wiſe, but Table-wiſe: But when it is uſed, either in or out of the time of Communion, it ſhould continue in the place it took up before, or be carried to any other place of Church or Chancel, where the Miniſter might be moſt audibly heard of the whole Congregation. What can a Critick in Ceremonies carp at herein? What elſe, but that the end, and not the ſide of the Table ſhould ſtand toward the Miniſter when he perform'd his Liturgy? Is this all? And muſt a Controverſie as big as a Camel be drawn through the Eye of this Needle? But more of the ſame comes after in a larger Script, which the Biſhop at the ſame time willed to be delivered to the Divines of the Lecture of Grantham, to be examined by them upon their next meeting-day, that their Vicar being one of their company, might read the Contents, and take a Copy for his own uſe, if he would, but to divulge it no further. Herein the Biſhop derives his Conceptions from the Injunctions, Articles, and Orders of the Queen, from the Homilies and Canons, from Reports out of the Book of Acts and Monuments, and from the Rubricks of the Liturgy; and ſhews out of theſe, that the Utenſil on which the Holy Communion is celebrated, ought not to be an Altar, but a joyned Table; that the Name of Table is retained by the Church of England, and the other of Altar laid aſide; that the Table (without ſome new Canon) is not to ſtand Altar-wiſe in Pariſh-Churches, and the Miniſter be at the North end thereof, but Table-wiſe, and he muſt officiate at the North ſide of the ſame; that this Table, when holy Duties are not in performing at it, muſt be laid up in the Chancel, but in the time of Service, to be removed to ſuch a place of Church or Chancel, the over-ſight of Authority appointing it, wherein he that officiates may be moſt conveniently ſeen and heard of all. They that would peruſe the whole Letter are referred to it in Print, but the ſum of it is already laid before them. And the Author was ſo little over-weening, tho' p. 102in a frivolous caſe, that he prays the Divines to whom he ſent it, that if they found miſtakings in his Quotations, or had met with any Canons 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? foreign. 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 ſaevímque 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. foreign. 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 uniuscujuſ que 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 p. 103Wranglings, and remiſs in great Cauſes; as Laertius ſays of one Xenophon, of the Privy-Purſe to Alexander the Great, foreign, 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, foreign, 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) where it was ſpread, made it difficult to be obey'd. One about that time would have replied thus: Hold your Hands for all that, iſ ye be Good-fellows, for your hour is not yet come: The Stream is againſt you: Both they that have read this Letter, and they that never heard of it, wonder why you are ſo double-diligent about Acceſſories, more than about the Work it ſelf. foreign. ſays Ariſtoph. in Acharn. and are not pliable for this Alteration. He that ſeeks a thing in the wrong way, goes ſo far backward. The ſage Prelates that ruled for 80 years before, did overlook this matter; and they neither wanted Will nor Care to advance Decency with God's Glory. If you think that he hath more Power that now ſits in chief, than the beſt of his Order before him, that's true: Yet let him rein in a galloping Fortune, and he will ſit the ſurer: Beſide, he muſt have more than Power, he muſt have the Hearts of Men, that will form them to a new Model; this the Metropolitan wants; if he had that, he might eaſily command them; if he have not, he muſt ſlatter them, or he will do worſe: And it is well known, how he that will bring a People from a Cuſtom in God's Worſhip, with which they have been inured, to a Change, muſt be more than wiſe; that is, he muſt be thought to be wiſe: Look you to that. Can you ſay there is any harm in that which you are ſo buſie to correct? Then what good can you hope to bring in, which is more valuable than Conſtancy? I think Plato was a prudent Moraliſt, from whom this came, 7. de Leg. foreign. 'Tis hazardous to tamper with that, which hath continued long, to mend it, unleſs it be evil: But liſt Sirs, and tell me what Bell it is that rouls in your Ears; Do you not hear that Great and Small are not only froward, but ſull of Threatning againſt the Grandeur of the Church? As yet we have loſt nothing, all our care ſhould be to keep that which we have; elſe, as good Biſhop Hall wrote, while we plead for a higher strain of Proſperity, we bring our ſelves into a neceſſity of Ruin. Archbiſhop Abbot ſaid often, Parta tueri; Play for no more, leſt you loſe your Stake. It is an Epitaph for the Grave-ſtone of a Fool, I was well, and would be better; I took Phyſick, and dyed. Can you be inſenſible of this impendent Ruin? Are you ſo intent upon your Altars, that you know not how the Nation bears a grudge at you? Are you only Strangers in Jeruſalem? As Budaeus ſaid of the Troubles that broke in while he lived, de Aſſe l. 4. p. 110. France wanted Eyes and Ears, and which is ſtrange, it wanted a Noſe. Qui tantam cladem odorari ante non potuimus, quàm ab eâ oppreſſi. You do not ſmell the Vultures, but while you are chopping and changing, the Vultures ſmell after you, to prey upon the Carcaſs of your Patrimony. You cannot ſay that there is any thing in it of Conſcience to God, why you ſhould not forbear to provoke the Diſcontents of the Kingdom any further: Lege fidei manente coetera jam diſciplinae & converſationis admittunt novitatem correctionis, Tertul. de Vel. Virg. c. 1. Keep the Old Faith, God is the Judge of that; Order and Diſcipline may vary, according to the liking of the Times, Diſcretion is the Judge of that. In a word, we do not ſee but the Swarms of God's Servants work well in all Pariſhes, if you will let them alone; if you remove p. 104their Hives, or ſtir them, take heed they do not ſting you. It may be a Coal-kindler would think ſuch Counſel as this not worth the hearing, Fore-caſt and Fear with him are phlegmatick things; the Piety of the Times, and a rigid proſecution of a comely Uniformity, muſt not ſtoop unto them. Then do I ſay no more, but that I do not altogether diſlike what a wiſe man hath taught me, That warm Devotion quiet and innocent, is leſs hurtful than ardent Zeal which is turbulent and miſdirected.

101. So much adviſedly thought of might have conduced not to meddle in that Cauſe at this time; but this Biſhop and his Eſtimation was ſhot at, and he muſt be tempted what he would do by a Provocation in Print. They were none of the Biſhop's worſt Friends, that wiſh'd him, when he read the Coal, to look no more after it. It is a ſmall thing, but a pretty, which Camerarius tells of Melancthon, p. 79. His Daughter had gadded from home till it was late, What will you ſay to your Mother, if ſhe chide you, ſays he? Nothing, ſays the Girl. 'Tis well reſolved, ſays her Father. The Biſhop had more reaſon to take that courſe, becauſe the Rulers of the time frowned on him; and he that Anſwers a Calumny keeps it alive, he that will not, ſtarves it: A Reproach is warm when it is freſh, but no longer: As Aſtronomers ſay of the Dog-ſtar, Cunicula calore oritur, frigore occidit; It riſeth in a hot Month, it ſets in a cold. 'Tis much he did not liſten to this, and if it were but for another reaſon, that he thought Learning did ſurfeit of too many Books, and that the moſt of our late Authors were more troubleſome than profitable: To which Sir H. Wootton's Motto comes near, That the Itch of Writing makes a Scabby Church. And what elſe made ſo great a Wit as Fryar Paul profeſs, (it is in his Life) That he would never write any thing with intention to print it, unleſs Neceſſity conſtrain'd him? It may be the Biſhop fancied ſomewhat like Neceſſity in this caſe; or it was becauſe every one hath not both the Qualities of the brave General Decebalus in Dion, foreign; He knew how to charge on, and how to retreat upon occaſion: Therefore he publiſh'd a little Tractate, called, The Holy Table, under the name of a Lincolnſhire Miniſter. The Analyſe of it may be ſpared, ſince it is in many hands; it inſiſts chiefly upon two Heads, the Name Altar, and the Poſture of Chriſt's Table Altar-wiſe; a mean Subject for the Pen of ſo good a Scholar, but Art is confin'd to ſmall things ſometimes, as well as Nature: And Pliny teacheth us, lib. 29. c. 1. Non puduit naturam gignere muſcam, cum gignat hominem. Nature is not aſhamed to be the Parent of a Fly, as well as to be the Parent of a Man. That the name of Altar might paſs with more allowance, the Vicar of Grantham declared, that he would ſet up a Fabrick of Stone, to ſupport the Elements of the Holy Sacrament: Quite croſs to the Advertiſements 17 of Q. Eliz. That the Pariſh provide a decent Table ſtanding on a frame for the Communion; and croſs to the Canons Anno 1571. Title Church-wardens, They ſhall ſee there be a joined handſom Table, which may ſerve for the adminiſtration of the Holy Communion; in the Latin, Curabunt menſam ex aſſeribus compoſitè junctam. This is irrefragable, unleſs one be refractory, that he will not learn; as Eraſmus ſays of Poggius in his Epiſtles, p. 262. Poggius hôc erat animo, ut doctiſſimus haberi mallet, quàm reddi doctior: For if theſe were only Orders of Sufferance, they were nothing, but Canons are Church-Laws: Convocations meet not to make Permiſſions, but binding Canons to be obeyed by the Subjects, and by all the Ordinaries of the Kingdom, Hol. Tab. p. 205. Yet it was ſo forgotten by ſome, that while this Biſhop was in the Tower, one of his own Clergy in Bedford-ſhire, Dr. Jaſ. Fiſher, a fair Marble Stone being digged up in his Chancel, he ſet Workmen to ſmooth it, and to erect it for an Altar, till Troubles marr'd the Work, and Impeachments of Articles broke the Heart of a modeſt able man: He and the Vicar, that would be Altar-builders, might have ſpared their Stone, for the Altar of Incenſe was made of Shittim-wood, Exod. 30.1. or of Cedar, 1 Kin. 6.20. and over-laid with Gold, that the Wood might not catch Fire. Or, what if a Stone were ſet up? It were not the further for that from being a Table. H. T. p. 115. cites out of learned Gerard, Ceſſante ſacrificio altaria illa nihil ſunt aliud quàm menſae lapideae. Allowing no Sacrifice, thoſe Altars are nothing but Stone Tables. Of Judea I can ſay nothing, but in Rome, about Chriſt's days on Earth, the People did eat upon Tables, not only of Limon and Maple wood, but of Stone. We have added, and Decency commends it, a fair white Linnen-Cloth, to cover God's Board, and our own at Meal-times, which was not in uſe when our Saviour inſtituted the Sacrament, as far as I can ſee into the convival Cuſtoms of thoſe days; for ſince the Waiters did wipe away, at the end of Supper, the Liquors which were ſpilt from Cups or Diſhes with Sponges, it will not p. 105hold, that they had a Cloth ſpread upon the Table. What will Noveliſts ſay to this, that think we break the Second Command, if we vary from Chriſt in any circumſtance in the ordaining of the Holy Supper? Some of them may, perhaps, be ready hereupon to take away the Linnen Cloth: Why not? ſince one Faction of them hath taken away the Table: For, ſays Bayly in his Diſſwaſive of Errors, p. 121. The Browniſts at this day, at Amſterdam, have no Table at all, but ſend the Elements from the Pulpit, where the Miniſter preacheth, and celebrateth the Sacrament, by the Hands of the Deacon; and adds, that ſome Independents at London affect the like. foreign. Nothing ſo dangerous to do all kind of Evil as an ignorant Rabble. They that will not grant a Table to Chriſt's Servants, to come to his Feaſt, will not, if they can prevail, grant a Church or Chancel to place it in. From which Madneſs and Sacrilege God deliver us. Manil. lib. 5. Si forte acceſſer it impetus auſis,—Improbitas fiet virtus.

102. From the matter of Stone, the Diſpute leads us into a Striſe about the Name. In the firſt Liturgy of Edw. 6. Altar is moſt in uſe: In the ſecond, and from that day forward, the word Table is altogether read. In a year or two after the firſt of King Charles, the word Altar, per poſtliminium, was much in the mouth of many Divines, when it had been laid aſide. Obſerve Peace and Truth, and call it either, or both, and it is all one: But charge them before the Lord, that they ſtrive not about words to no profit, ſays St. Paul, 2 Tim. 2.4. For vanity, and things wherein there is no profit, are all one, Jer. 2.23. Scholars will underſtand me by this Inſtance; Altar for Table, or Table put for Altar, make no change in the ſence with knowing men; the Council at Syrmium turn'd foreign in the Nicene Creed into foreign, with no ſmall Injury to our Lord Chriſt: But a Biſhop in Nicephorus, inſtead of foreign, a Couch, as it is Jo. c. 4. read foreign, which is a Synonymum; yet Spiridion, a moroſe man, roſe up, and ſpake againſt the Novelty. Vitioſum eſt propter nominum mutationem contentionem intendere, ſays the Author to Herennius. They are as near as can be to be Friends, that have nothing but two words of the ſame ſignification to part them. Yet two things were to be cleared to ſtop miſtakings; Firſt, It muſt be yielded, that our Mother-language, our Church-canonical word is Table, Altar is arbitrary at large. Secondly, for the right inſight into the nature of the Sacrament, Table is the proper word, and Altar metaphorical. The Biſhop comprehends them both very well in theſe words. H. T. p. 75 He doth not deny but the name Altar hath been long in the Church in a metaphorical uſurpation; nor would he have blamed the Vicar, if he had, in a Quotation from the Fathers, or a Diſcourſe in the Pulpit, named it an Altar in this borrowed ſence; but to give the uſual call of an Altar (he ſays uſual) unto the Utenſil, which the Law, that always ſpeaks properly, never calls otherwiſe than by the name of a Table, is juſtly by him diſliked. foreign. And again in that Page; Where we have a Law and Canon to direct us how to call a thing, we ought not to hunt after Reaſons and Conceits, to give it another Appellation. It is apparent how the Liturgy confirmed Anno 1549. chooſeth the word Altar, which Liturgy is agreeable to God's Word, and the Primitive Church; yet ſince the alteration came in by the next Liturgy three years after, the firſt Book doth not allow you to call it an Altar for the preſent; your Tongue ought to ſpeak as the preſent Book and Law ſpeaks it to you; and when men in their nomination of things do vary from the Law, which is the quinteſſence of Reaſon, they do it in a Humor, which is the quinteſſence of Fancy. Thus far he again, p. 142. And it is truly ſaid in Antid. Lin. p. 96. Another Liturgy confirm'd by Act of Parliament, made void the old: Neither is it pretended out of any Law or Canon to be called Altar more than once. Statute 1 Ed. 6. c. 1. The moſt comfortable Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Jeſus Chriſt, commonly called the Sacrament of the Altar, and in Scripture the Supper and Table of the Lord, the Communion and Partaking of the Body and Blood of Chriſt. Says the Biſhop to this, H. T. p. 94. The holy Scripture ſhould carry it quite away for the Name—and Sacrament of the Altar is not the Name, but the Nick-name,—and a Penal Statute, as this is, was to take notice of every Appellation it was at that time known by, and diſcerned. The laſt Reformation, which is orderly, as ours was, is the beſt: As St. Ambroſe writing how Chriſtianity came in after other Religions, diſcourſeth thus, Ep. 32. Quis reprehendit vindemiam, quia in occaſu anni eſt? Aut …livam quia poſtremus eſt fructus? Suppoſe ſome Antiquity be alledged from the p. 106Fathers, it ſhall have its due reverence, and will help a little, and but little in this matter: For, ſays Biſhop Montague, Orig. Eccleſ. Tom. 1. P. 2. pag. 314. Aram habemus, ſeu potius altare, quibus nominibus vetuſti proceres locum illum, in quo erant foreign vocabant, ſed menſam ſaepius. The Biſhop quotes the words of C. Bellarm. lib. 1. de miſsâ, c. 27. That the New Teſtament, by the ſpecial inſtinct of the Holy Ghoſt, did purpoſely forbear to inſert into their Writings the name of an Altar. This is p. 116. Joyn to this what you find p. 147. That in the Romiſh Reformation of the Canon of the Maſs, they never uſe in Rubrick or Prayer, literally, nor ſo much as by alluſion, the name of Table. And is it not time to keep the proper, and Scripture Word, in authority, when the Papalines, with an ill mind, had quite ſhoulder'd it out? If there were any reaſons, as I know none, to think the name Altar as pertinent as Table, yet our Rubrick and Canons will be above them; for it is a prudent Maxim in Baron. anno 542. p. 205. Deſeratur reverentiae Synodorum, ut in his, quae minus intelliguntur, earum cedatur authoritati.

103. Which Rubrick and Canons have rejected the name Altar, and ſubſtituted the other of Table, as being conjunct with the Sacrament, ordained for eating and drinking from the Table. So out of Biſhop Morton, p. 130. H. T. Tell us, where was it ever known, that any Altar was ordained for eating and drinking? Out of C. Peron. p. 102. It is ever called a Table when it points to a Communion Supper, and an Altar when it points to the Sacrifice. Out of Biſhop Andrews Strictures, p. 131. Chriſt was given to us per modum victimae on the Croſs, per modum epuli in the Sacrament. Out of the Act of K. Edward's Privy Council, p. 132. If we come to feed on Chriſt ſpiritually, and ſpiritually to drink his Blood, which is the uſe of the Lord's Supper, then no man can deny, but the form of a Table is more meet for the Lord's Board, than the form of an Altar. The alteration of Words came in then (as, who doth not ſee it?) partly becauſe we would be beholden to the Scripture for our terms, rather than to the wiſeſt men in the World; partly to give in this Evidence among others, that we had renounced the Sacrifice of the Maſs, the very offering up our Saviour in an unbloody Oblation, not again, but by one and the ſame Act with which he offered up himſelf on the Croſs; a Chymaera which is not intelligible to any mortal man. This was never dreamt of by thoſe holy men, who freely called this Sacrament a Sacrifice and Oblation. Honeſta quidem, ſed ex quibus deterrima orirentur, Tac. An. lib. 1. They are excellent Notes which our Biſhop quotes out of Biſhop Bilſon, p. 116. Chriſt and his Apoſtles did forbear the term of Sacrifice, therefore our Faith may ſtand without it. The Speeches of the Fathers in this kind are dark and obſcure, and conſequently unuſeful for the edifying of the People. Laſtly, We find by experience, that the very Expreſſion hath been a great fomenter of Superſtition and Popery: Therefore this is an Exception at the word Altar, that it is a Relative to a Sacrifice. Dr. Heylin, Antid. p. 79. pleads for the Vicar, that in that name he aimed at no propitiatory Sacrifice. I believe him: And the like for many other of the noble Army of our Hierarchical Church; for when that Sacrifice was exploded, yet for a while Chriſt's Board was called an Altar. This was our Biſhop's mind; and, I take it, the ſame was and is in all our learned men, That in that Holy Sacrament there is a Spectacle of the Sacrifice of Chriſt's Body, as it ſuffer'd on the Croſs, repreſented by breaking the Bread, and pouring out the Wine, by eating the one and drinking the other; that there is a commemoration of that Sacrifice in the repetition of the words of Inſtitution; that there is an application of that Sacrifice to their Souls, that partake by Faith; and that all this makes properly a Sacrament, improperly and figuratively a Sacrifice. Hereupon, leſt the notion of a Sacrifice, in this improper and ſecondary acception, ſhould be forgotten, ſome are willing blameleſly to refreſh it in their Memory, by calling the place of the repreſentation of it an Altar. Nec cuiquam ſunt injucunda quae cantant ſibi, ſays Quintil. lib. II. But ſtay there, and ſtep no further, becauſe Lauds and Thankſgivings, the ſweet odour of the Oblation of Alms, the Calves of our Lips, a broken and contrite Heart, a mortified Body, are ſpiritual Victims before and after the Sacrament, as well as in it. Sed non ibi conſiſtunt exempla ubi caeperunt, Pater. lib. 2. It is good Counſel to be ſparing in the uſe of thoſe words, whoſe elegancy and innocency cannot countervail the Errors that have encroached from them. There are ſome, I have heard it from their own Lips, who ſay, that they call this Utenſil an Altar, without any reference to a Sacrifice: Thus they explain themſelves; That what is ſet apart to God ſhould be differenc'd in its Name from common things, p. 107that Religion might have a Dialect proper to it ſelf, as Paten, Chalice, Corporal, Albe, Paraphront, Suffront, for the Hangings above and beneath the Table: Inſtances are innumerous, and Church-men were ever pleaſed with Terms of Art peculiar to their own Myſteries, which are not common and familiar with ſecular occaſions. But if this Project breed confuſion, it is againſt edifying; if it give Offence, it is againſt Charity. And if I may not offend my Brother with my Meat, when I am free, that is, when my Superiors have made no Ordinance upon it; then, if I walk conſcionably, I muſt not offend him in uſurpation of words, when I am free, and ſhall not break the Commandment of Authority. I ſee not then but the word Table was to prevail, for the Goſpel brought it forch, the Church among us did more generally like it, the Canons and Rubrick ſcore it to be uſed; and if you will aſcend as high as to the Figures of the Old Teſtament, ſays the Biſhop, p. 126. not the great Altar for Sacrifice, but the Table of the Inner Temple, on which the Shew-bread was ſet, was the true Type and Preſiguration of the Communion-Table, as divers Jeſuits yield it. Now, in the end of this foreign, or Word-strife, I profeſs it had never been inſerted into this Memorial of the Biſhop of Lincoln, if the Doctor had not revived it in ſome late pieces, which he hath printed: For who hath leiſure to caſt his Thoughts upon ſuch ſmall Contentions, when we are overwhelmed with Hereſies and Schiſms that pluck up our Foundations? Praeſentia hobetantur incommoda, ſi cui dolor major acceſſerit, as Sidonius ſetcheth it out of Hippocrates, p. 163. When ſuch Wounds are made in our Body, little Scratches ſhould be inſenſible.

104. The ſame Author hath liſted up the Quarrel again, which was fallen, about the Place of the Holy Table: I would it ſtood in any place of the Houſe of God, ſo it might be uſed, but it is extreamly diſuſed. Was there ever ſuch a negligence among Chriſtians before? Sometimes the Pope hath interdicted the Churches of a Nation for a year or more; the greater was his Sin: But I will make Affidavit, that ſome Pariſhes among us have been interdicted from the Lord's Supper, by the Hirelings that teach them, from anno 1642. to anno 1659. and this Famine of the holy Bread is like to continue among them. Is this a Seaſon to renew what paſt anno 1637. between the Biſhop and him, how the Table ſhould ſtand? Deficilis eſt exitus veterum jurgiorum, Sym. Ep. p. 17. I ſpeak, as well aſſured, that the Dr. hath been often ſince that time proſtrate at that ſacred Banquet; why then doth he break out into old Grudges for their Quidlibets? Firſt, the Biſhop did deſire to ſatisfie his Reader where the holy Table ſhould ſtand, when the Communion Service was celebrated. Secondly, where it ſhould continue when that pious work was over. For the firſt, he durſt not decide it, but as the Liturgy hath it, To ſtand in the body of the Church or Chancel, in the Communion-time, where Morning and Evening-Prayer be appointed to be ſaid. And as the Advertiſements ſtate it, That Common-Prayer (the Communion being the ſupereminent part) be ſaid or ſung decently and diſtinctly in ſuch place as the Ordinary ſhall think meet, for the largeneſs and ſtraightneſs of the Church and Quire, ſo that the People may be moſt ediſied. And as Canon 82 doth enjoyn, When the Holy Communion is to be adminiſtred, it ſhall be placed in ſo good ſort within the Church or Chancel, as thereby the Miniſter may be more conveniently heard of the Communicants, in his Prayer and Miniſtration, and that they may conveniently, and in more number, communicate with the Miniſter. And therefore the Biſhop ſums it up, Ep. p. 59. That this Liberty for a convenient place of Church or Chancel, is left to the Judgment of the Ordinary, and that the King, in his Princely Order about St. Gregory's Church, did leave it to the Law, to the Communion book, to the Canon and Dioceſan. The Law refers to Salus populi, to the edifying of the People; which was never reſpected under Popery, for their Maſs was mutter'd at high Altars, far remote from the Auditory: Which Harding maintains, H. T. p. 204. That they never meant the People ſhould underſtand any more than what they could gueſs by dumb Shews, and outward Ceremonies. In old Liturgies it appears, that not only the Clerks, but where a Church had no more than one Clerk to officiate, the People made anſwer in Verſicles and Suffrages; an excellent way to keep them in godly action; of which Privilege and Comfort they have been robb'd in corrupt times, Eraſmus ſays, p. 216. of his Ep. That King Harry 8. defended, that no Prayer was to be expected from the People; Praeteream quae ment is cogitatione Deum alloquitur. And that is it which is intended in Cardinal Pool's Articles of his Viſitation, anno 1556. Whether the People be contemplative in holy Prayer? But we have not ſo learned p. 108Chriſt, whoſe Communion is ſo order'd, that all that are preſent may hear and be ediſied, every one ſay the Confeſſion of Sins after him that pronounceth it, every one profeſſes, as he is invited, to lift up his Heart unto the Lord. Let the Table ſtand ſo commodiouſly for the beneſit of Receivers, when it is employ'd, and it is not here or there, whether the Miniſter ſtand at the North ſide, as the Church in terminis directs it, or at the North end, as Altar-contrivers contend for it. So we are told that the Table ſtands, and unremovably under the Eaſt Window in the King's Chappel. And ſays the Doctor, Antid. p. 41. That which is wiſely and religiouſly done in the Chappel-Royal, why ſhould it not give Law to Pariſh-Churches? The King's Chappel (I ſhould ſay was, but my Heart will not let me) is a ſacred Oratory of great regard, and ancient mention. Conſtantine the Great had one portable with him in his Camp. In Charles the Great's time the Chappel of his Palace is ſamous. Luitprandus King of the Lombards had one in his Palace; Baron. anno 744. p. 23. And in the Reign of our William Conqueſtor, we read out of his Mouth, Mea Dominica Capella, Selden. Eadm. p. 165. Such Chapels, if like to our King's in all his Courts, were of no great dimenſion; the holy Board could not ſtand no where inconveniently in them, but that all might hear; therefore one conſtant ſite was moſt decent for it, where it deſerv'd the higheſt Room, it being the Fabrick on which the principal Service Evangelical is ſolemniz'd. The Biſhop, p. 182. remembers out of Suarez, that Altars in Oratories and Chappels, among them who are the Mint-maſters of Ceremonies, are not agreeable in ſituation to the Altars in Churches: Therefore private Chappels, nay, even the Kings, cannot be the Directories for all places, becauſe very often Pariſh Chancels being but a few ſtrides broad and long, cannot contain the multitude of all the People that come to take the Holy Myſteries. And when the Belfrey is between the Chancel and the Nave of the Church, as at Carſhalton in Surrey, the Miniſter can neither be heard, nor ſeen, unleſs he officiate in the Church, where all may enjoy the Exhortations, behold the Conſecration, and joyn in Prayer. Therefore the Biſhop anſwers prudently, H. T. p. 34. It is not His Majeſty's Chappel, but his Laws, Rubricks, Canons, Proclamations, which we are to follow in outward Ceremonies.

105. Neither can the Opponent appeal to Rubrick and Canons, but he betakes him to an Order, wherein the King's Majeſty was preſent at the Council-Table, Nov. 3. 1633. This is quoted at length, Antid. p. 62. and in ſome of his latter Works, for approving the Table to be removed from the middle of the Chancel to the upper end, and there to be placed Altar-wiſe. If the King had intended that the like ſhould be obſerved in all Parochial Churches, the Queſtion had been decided againſt the Biſhop's Letter. Nec turpe eſt ab eo vinci, quem vincere eſſet nefas, as Tigranes ſays of Pompey, Velle. lib. 1. The Biſhop ſubſcribes, p. 163. That the addition of any more Ceremonies than are preſcribed in our Book, is referred to the perſon of the King by Act of Parliament. The Contention remains, whether that Order of His Majeſty with his Council hath influence upon other places, beſide the particular of St. Gregory, which occaſion'd it. The Dr. himſelf ſays no ſuch matter directly, but, Antid. p. 36. The King did not command, but hath given encouragement to the Metropolitan, and Biſhops, and other Ordinaries, to require the like in all Churches committed to them. The Biſhop ſays, He hath left all to the Law, to the Communion-book, to the Canons and Dioceſan, p. 59. And which is much they two ſhould agree, the Doctor ſays ſo too, Ant. p. 64. That it is left to the Judgment of the Ordinary, for the thing, for the time (N. B.) when, and how long he may find cauſe. The Biſhop ſays more, That after this Order he had heard of no Biſhop that had exacted of his Dioceſs the placing of the Holy Table Altar-wiſe, p. 69. And in the year following, 1634. the Archbiſhop holding a Metropolitical Viſitation, keeps him to the ancient form in this Interrogatory, Doth the Table ſtand in a convenient place of Chancel or Church? If one Prelate was ſingular in his Viſitation of Norwich Dioceſs, which the Dr. would ſeem not to ſpeak out, but to intimate, our Biſhop hath a Paſſage to meet it, p. 85. out of Archbiſhop Whitgift; There is no manner of reaſon, that the Orders of the Church ſhould depend upon one or two mens liking or diſliking, Where now appears, I ſay not the Command, but the Encouragement, that the Order made for St. Gregory's Church ſhould be obſerved in all Pariſhes? It will conduce to this Cauſe, to borrow one Quotation out of the Biſhop, and two out of the Doctor; the Biſhop's is taken from an Act of Council made for reformation, 1 Edw. 6. That the form of a Table ſhall never move the ſimple from the ſuperſtitious Opinions of the Popiſh Maſs; and that this ſuperſtitious Opinion is more held in the minds of the ſimple and ignorant, p. 109by the form of an Altar, than of a Table. The Dr. p. 105. out of a Sermon of Biſhop Hooper's, preach'd before K. Edward, It were well it might pleaſe the Magiſtrates to turn the Altars into Tables, according to the firſt Inſtitution of Chriſt, to take away the falſe Perſwaſion of the People, which they have of Sacrifices to be done upon the Altars; for as long as the Altars remain, both the ignorant People, and the ignorant evil-perſwaded Prieſt will dream always of Sacrifice. Then p. 129. Biſhop Ridley took down Altars, and appointed the form of a right Table to be uſed in all his Dioceſs, Duo Scipiadae. Theſe two Biſhops were very learned, and very Martyrs. A little remains to ſhut up this Controverſie, or rather to ſhut it out: For to ſet the Table under the Eaſt Window of the Chancel, the ends running North and South, is this to ſet it Altar-wiſe? Verily it is a meer Engliſh Phraſe, or rather an Engliſh Error, becauſe Altars beyond the Seas are placed promiſcuouſly, either at the top, or in the midſt of the Chancel; as the Biſhop notes p. 218. and commonly ſo far from the Wall, that the Prieſts and Deacons might ſtand round about them: As in Cardinal Borromaeo's Reformation, a ſpace of eight cubits was to be left between the Altar and the Wall. Altare in medio Eccleſiae ſitum, ſays Baron. anno 451. p. 62. Joſephus Vicecomes, a skilful man in theſe punctilio's, Altaria in medio Eccleſiae allocata fuiſſe. But to faſten it ſure, I refer it to Marcellus Corcyrenſis, lib. 3. Sacr. Cerem. p. 215. he ſays, The Pope never preacheth, but when he celebrates the Maſs himſelf; he goes not up into a Pulpit, but ſits in his Chair. Sedet ante altare ſuper faldiſtorium, ſi altare eſt apud Parietem.—Si autem ſedes Papae non infra, ſed ſupra altare eſt, ut in Eccleſiâ S. Petri, & ſimilibus, tune Papa vertit faciem ad chorum ſedens in praedictâ ſede. Here's the Altar, in the chief Mother-Church of Rome, in the midſt of the Quire; which falls into this concluſion, that theſe local Differences among us, about the Holy Table, are not in imitation of any Church, but forms taken up at home; ſo that upon the final Sentence, Maxima de nihilo naſcitur hiſtoria, as Propertius ſays fitly.

106. Here you have the Book of the Holy Table epitomiz'd, and you ſee the Biſhop broke not the Peace of the Church, but was upon the defence. His Adverſary tells us lately, that it was a Book cried up every where with great applauſe, when it came firſt to light. What would it have been if it had been ſtudied any long time, and lick'd over with a ſecond or third examination? But one month in the Autumn began it, and ended it, as not only the Author, but the Amanuenſis teſtified. foreign, ſays; foreign; that is, when one is ſwift in doing a good thing, God and he were joyn'd together. But this Praiſe belongs to the Dr. as well as to him who is a ſwift Dromedary traverſing her ways, Jer. 2.23. There are Paſſages between them with ſome bitterneſs on both ſides; I like it in neither; they that ſpit upon one another are both defiled: I cite nothing faln in that kind, for every Dunghill ſmells ill, but not till you ſtir it. To excuſe ſuch things, Non contumelias, ſed argutias vocamus, ſays Seneca; It may be ſharpneſs of Wit, but it is bluntneſs of Wiſdom. One thing the Criticks noted beſide, That in ſome Paſſages the Holy Table is too light and merry; and no Merriment is worſe than the Laughter of Anger; Subridens miſtâ Mezentius irâ. Virg. It was not publiſh'd in the perſon of a Biſhop. And to me it ſeems that a joculary Style was not amiſs for a frivolous Cauſe: Nor would the Author ſeem to be damp'd or troubled, but full of ſanguine Alacrity for all the Provocation. And if Mirth keep decorum, it is a good Rule of Theages the Pythagorean, Laert. p. 847. foreign: It is the office of Virtue to act with pleaſure, and not with ſadneſs: Or as Solomon much better, A merry heart doth good like a medicine, Prov. 17.22. But if any the leaſt thing were amiſs, he heard of it on both Ears, in the Antidotum Lincolnienſe, which I paſs over, becauſe no Reply was made unto it: Not that the Author had won the Field, but as Livy ſaid, Dec. 1. lib. 3. when the People of Rome retired to the Aventine Mountain, for the Injury done to Virginia, and the Senators ask'd them what they would have, Non defuit quid reſponderetur, defuit qui reſponſum daret. The Biſhop, I know, was making his Notes ready to vindicate his Book, and was reſolved, as the Italian Proverb runs, to give his Adverſary Cake for Bread; for he was like to Biſhop Fiſher in Eraſmus's Character of him, Ep. p. 396. Roffenſis vir pius cum primis, ac eruditus: ſed eo ingenio, ut non facilè deſinat, ubi ſemel incaluit in certamine. He was prevented by his Cauſe in Star-chamber, which was brought to hearing in the ſame month that the Antidotum came abroad; a Cenſure paſs'd upon him, which was executed with that rigour, that all that he had, even his Books, were ſeized, p. 110and he deprived of his Library: He could not fight without his Arms; or how could the Bell ring out, when they had ſtoln away the Clapper? Baronius pitties Photius, whom he could not abide, for ſuſtaining that hard uſage, an. 871. p. 14. and brings him in complaining to his unkind Lord Baſilius, of whom he had deſerved better, Libris privati ſumus, novâ in nos excogitatâ poenâ,—librorum amiſſio non eſt poena in corpus ſed in animam. But hear himſelf ſpeak, Epiſt. 97. of Biſhop Montague's Edition, that Conſtantine had cenſur'd ſome Biſhops, foreign. Yet he ſpoiled them not of their Goods, nor deprived them of their Books. But the Biſhop of Lincoln found not that mercy, becauſe he might be indefenſible, and bear the Reproaches that fell thick upon him: Even ſorry Clerks came into the Liſts, when they knew they ſhould not meet the Champion. Children talk moſt when they can ſpeak leaſt ſence. Among theſe was a Doctor, like Theophraſtus's foreign, or Ardelio, foreign, that will be a Guide to Travellers, when he knew not a foot of the way. He thruſt out his Altare Chriſtianum, to revile his Maſter, and his Patron; for the Biſhop in his great Office had protected him againſt a Juſtice of Peace, who had ſerved this Doctor with a Warrant for ſome Miſdemeanors; the then L. Keeper put the Juſtice out of Commiſſion for it, and made this Doctor a Juſtice in his place, took him to be his Chaplain, kept him often by ſome months together in his Houſe, beſtowed on him a Prebend in Lincoln Church, commended him to the L. Chamberlain, to ſwear him the King's Chaplain in ordinary, and prevailed. Indeed the Dr. loſt ſome favour with the Biſhop at laſt, becauſe he was a Tell-tale, and made needleſs Complaints againſt his Brethren. In thoſe black days, when the Biſhop was over-clouded, this man ſtrikes at him with all the force of his no-great Learning: Want makes men buſie and induſtrious; the man wanted Preferment, for he would not have been ſo fierce if he had been full. The Puritans might ſit ſtill, and look on, when the King's Chaplains were allowed and preferred for their forwardneſs to do diſgrace againſt a Biſhop. There was a time when thoſe factious Romans were moſt extolled, that cried down their honourable Patricians, Quae res & Marii potentiam peperit, & reip. ruinam, Match. Reſp. lib. 1. c. 5. Now if theſe two Doctors think they got the Garland, becauſe no Anſwer was made to their Books, let them wear it; if they deſired work to write more, and to get Mony by the Preſs, like the diurnal Scribler, they were diſappointed. And well did Camerarius content himſelf, not to defend Melancthon againſt the Flaccians, becauſe it was in vain to meddle with them; they had no Forehead to be aſhamed, if they were convicted; Et ad unum probrum ſtatim erant quae adjicerentur decem. So far, if not too far, upon the Biſhop's Letter, and his Book The Holy Table, to ſet ſome Ceremonies in order in the Church of Grantham; and I will liſten to Sidonius, lib. 8. c. 1. Poſt mortem non opuſcula, ſed opeea penſanda. We are to conſider, after a good man's Death, his Works of Bounty and Mercy, rather than his Books of Controverſie.

107. It was not Art, but Power; it was not a Book, but a Bill, that cruſh'd our ſtout Prelate: All other Billows, even to the Rage of his Enemies, lifted him up, but this ſunk him. Now I muſt bring his Boat to the Tower-wharf, the worſt landing-place in all the River: foreign. Court and Court-luck, for Company, from that day forward farewel, he never more lookt for good from you. Here's as much occaſion to open a wide Gate to let in Complaint and Sorrow, as any caſe will afford, upon the oppreſſion and downfal of the moſt compleat Biſhop that the Age afforded, take him in the latitude of all his Abilities: Yet Thankfulneſs was not ſenſible of the Good-turns he had done, nor Honour of his Affronts, nor Juſtice of his Wrongs, nor Wrath of his Sufferings, nor Charity of his Undoing. If the Proſecution againſt him were fair, and the Sentence righteous, let him not be pitied, nor the Blot wiped out from his Memory: Se quiſque ut vivit & effert; As he lived, ſo let him hear well or ill, being dead. But he was ſo ſecure, ſo ready to repreſent his Cauſe to the Judgment of the whole Kingdom, that againſt a Parliament was call'd in April 1640. he drew up the whole matter of his Suits and Troubles, in twenty ſheets of Paper, to offer it to that Honourable Houſe, for their ſevereſt Review: And if his Remonſtrance were a Clamour, and not a juſt Complaint, he invited his Judges to lay a new and a ſeverer Cenſure upon him. And it is fit that every Complainant ſhould be devoved to that Court of Juſtice wherein he begins a Quarrel, to ſuffer as much Penalty, if he make not good his Bill, as he would have thoſe to undergo, whom he challenged for his pretended Injuries: Which p. 111was Roman Law in Symmachus's days, Ep. p. 67. Proviſum eſt ne quis temerè in alieni capitis crimen irrueret, niſi ſe idem priùs poenae ſponſione vinciret. But it came not to that dint, for this Parliament was beſpoken four months before, and was diſſolved when it had met but three weeks: A Duck could not hatch an Egg, if ſhe had ſate no longer. The opportunity therefore was prevented for the Plaintiff to make uſe of his Papers, which were prepared for this Parliament: Fortune had mock'd him, if he had tryed her Courteſie at that time, who is a true Handmaid to no Miſtriſs but Good-occaſion: Yet this Memorial of his Caſe, which came not to their Hands, but to mine, ſo large, ſo exact, ſo fairly copied, without expunction of a word, without interlining, or the leaſt correction in the Margin, is fortunately kept till now, (when ſo many noble Regiſtries have been torn, and embezzled in theſe conſuming times) to content both itching Curioſities and ſtaid Judgments, that would know the Truth; out of which I will glean up faithfully a few handfuls, and no more, for theſe reaſons: Firſt, For the length it may paſs for a Book, and I affect not to make this Book ſwell with the incorporation of another. Secondly, The Preſs at London, by hook or crook, lights upon every man's Papers, and doth licenſe it ſelf to publiſh them; the more ſhame for them that are in power, and do not mend it: And to ſave me the pains, Lincoln's Star-chamber-Trial will come ere long into the Fingers of ſome ſharking Broker of Stationers-hall, and be entred in there for his own Chattel, as well as the Author's Prayers and Meditations, made Anno 1621. for the uſe of L. M. B. which I glanced at in their due place, which a bold fellow hath filed up in his Hall, to be printed, to which he hath no more Right than Sir Ro. H— had to Charing-croſs. Thirdly, My Breviate ſhall only tell you, and no more, who they were in great Place, that trod this man down by oppreſſion and falſe ways, whoſe Pictures are drawn out at length in the larger Frame. 'Tis too much the Recreation of the common man, to ſtick longeſt in that Page wherein he reads Invectives. foreign. Demoſth. foreign. So engrafted it is in us to liſten unto Contumelies, as unto Muſick. But I will not feed my Gueſts with ſuch Acorns: It is enough for a Warning to others, that God did quickly bring the day which he had called, and they were made like him, Lam. 1.21. Or worſe, that oppreſt the Biſhop, for the abuſe of Fiduciary Power will never paſs long unpuniſh'd.

108. Every Effect is beſt known in its Cauſe, that's the beſt ground for a beginning. It is apparent, that much Anger was ſeeded, and thruſt out of one bitter Root. The chief Counſellors of K. James, and of his Cabinet, that deviſed with their Maſter how to compaſs the Spaniſh Match, and took no joy in the Failing, pleaſed their old Maſter, but loſt the Prince his Son, alienated from them by Buckingham, after he had returned home. Richmond, Hamilton, Belfaſt lived not long after: Middleſex and Briſtol, the firſt blown down, the other ſhaken by Impeachments in Parliament, and both laid aſide: Arundel ſent to the Tower, and there had continued, but for the clamour of the Peers in the Upper Houſe, for nothing but for marrying his eldeſt Son to a Daughter of the Houſe of Lenox: How then could Lincoln eſcape, who was K. James's right hand in all Diſpatches about that Treaty? Nothing was unaſſay'd to ſcourge him, becauſe he knew more Secrets than any man, and ſhewed moſt Stomach to defend himſelf. Sir A. Wel. beyond his wont, tells Truth in this, p. 174. That his Ruine was determined, not upon any known Crime, but upon Circumſtances, and upon Examinations, to pick out Faults committed in his whole life-time. And the blow was given, after nine years had been ſpent upon one matter, to frame a Cenſure out of it. Majora animalia diutiùs viſceribus parentum continentur, Quint. lib. II. The Whelps and Cubbs of great Beaſts are long in the Womb before they be brought forth. It came about anno 1628. that the Biſhop had ſuſpended Burden and Allen, the one a Surrogate to Sir J. Lamb, the other a Proctor in his Court, both of Leiceſterſhire, for doing Injuſtice, and being vexatious both to Clergy and Laity. Ut non—Compoſitus meliùs cum Bytho Baccius. They petition'd and clamour'd to be reſtored, but as Budaeus ſays proverbially of a Land-leaper, that makes himſelf a Cripple, and cries out for help, Tolleeum qui non novit, De Aſſe p. 104. Let him pity him that doth not know him. So Burden and Allen were too well known to get any Favour. At laſt Sir J. Lamb, a Creature of dark Practices, and Dr. Sibthorp, undertook for them, and propounded it to the Biſhop at his Table, when their Hand was with him in the Diſh. But when they would ingratiate them for their good Parts, as Mr. Hooker ſaid of Ithacius, that there was nothing p. 112commendable in him, but his Zeal againſt the Priſcillianiſts; ſo theſe had nothing to brag of in their Brace of Greyhounds, but that they were the ſwifteſt of their kind to chaſe the Puritans. The Biſhop told them, (Dr. Morriſon and Mr. Pregian Regiſter of Lincoln and Leiceſter, being preſent) That men of erroneous, but tender Conſciences, would never be reduced by ſuch as were ſcandalous for Bribes and Taverns, and other bad haunts; how that Severity againſt that Party was not ſeaſonable at that time, for he had lately conferred with the King, and that His Majeſty had condeſcended to give them ſome forbearance, though not openly profeſs'd, to get his ends out of ſome Members of Parliament, who were leading men, and more eaſie to be brought about, by holding a gentle hand over the Miniſters of their Faction. Here's the ſum of all: This was the King's mind; And how could it be follow'd, but by being revealed to ſome that were in Office? If there be any blame in this, let him that ſaid it cry out as Philotas did, Curt. lib. 6. Fides veri conſilii, periculoſa libertas, vos me decepiſtis, vos quae ſentiebam ne reticerem impuliſtis. Patt to the Biſhop's caſe to a word. This was carried to Bisſham in the Progreſs, where Biſhop Laud attended, and by him exaggerated to the King, that his ſecret Counſels were abuſed. The Hiſtorian Sanderſon taking it out of another, I ſuppoſe, who wrote the Reign of K. Charles, hath fancied an Accuſation that was never dreamt of, p. 220. That the Biſhop's Wit and Will tempted him to talk diſloyally of the King, and a Bill put in againſt him for it. A Woodcock's Bill; but no ſuch Bill was put in Star-chamber. Nullum decuit haec ſcribere, niſi quem conſtat optaſſe, Sym. Ep. p. 129. He that wrote ſo would have had it ſo. Piety forbid that a Biſhop ſhould violate the ſacred Honour of his Prince with a diſloyal word. Yet how moderately did Q. Elizabeth ſpeak of Sir J. Perrott's Offence in that kind (Camden, anno 1592.) quoting the Saying of Theodoſius, Si quis Imperatori maledixerit, ſi ex levitate contemnendum, ſi ex inſaniá miſerandum, ſi ab injuriâ remittendum. But Aurelian went further, that he might not hear of ſuch Complaints. foreign ſanxit ne audirentur, qui deferebant malè locutos de principibus, Carion. l. 3. c. 61. It was a generoſity in thoſe heroical men, which Shimei and Railers at Kings did not deſerve; but Lincoln was not touch'd with the lighteſt ſuſpicion of this Fault. O but His Majeſty's Counſels were revealed, and expiable Crime in the adverſe Biſhop's Conſtruction! Kings Counſels may be of that reach and choice, that to blab them abroad may touch his Life that did it. Upon ſuch great points of State Bodin moves a Queſtion, De Repub. p. 386. An poena capitis ſtatuenda ſit iis, qui principis arcana divulgant? Auguſtus told a Secret to one of the …abii, that he would bring Agrippa home again from Mitylene: Fabius told this to his Wife, and ſhe to Livia, who diſaffected Agrippa, and it coſt Fabius his Life; as Salmaſius enlargeth it in his Preface to Solinus. Plutarch hath wrote more upon it, Lib. de Cur. Aud. how dangerous it is to know the Privacies of Potentates, leſt they ſhould be vented in raſhneſs: So that Philippides asking Lyſimachus what he ſhould give him; ſays Lyſimachus, any thing but a Secret. But the thing communicated to our Biſhop was but petty in compariſon, and no Secret neither, not imparted at the Council-Table, but in Conference, in the time of Parliament, as to a Peer of the Houſe, lock'd up with no Seal of Silence, but to be opened to ſuch perſons as might make uſe of it in their Notice. He could not ſay leſs than he did to expreſs the King's ſence, nor at a better time for advantage: It can be called by no ill Name; but if you will call it Raſhneſs, weigh it how light the matter was, and I will not refer it to Honour and Mercy, but to Juſtice to paſs it by: Quae minora & vulgaria ſunt delicta oportet diſſimulari, non vindicari. Which is Grotius Maxim. de Ju. B. & P. p. 311. Petty Faults ſhould be overſeen with Magnanimity, and not revenged.

109. And that prevailed to the expiration of about three years, as in the next place will be cleared, when a few lines are firſt ſpent, what the Cenſure of underſtanding men was upon this Treachery of the two Delators. Lamb was the moſt hated of all that trod on the Earth in the County of Northampton, where he dwelt; yet as Tally ſaid of Aſinius Pollio, lib. 3. ep. 31. Quem nequaquam, perinde ut dignus eſt, oderunt homines. He was branded with the charge of many Crimes, under the Hands of all the Juſtices and Gentry, in a manner, in the Shire, and in two ſeveral Bills to be preſented to the Parliaments, anno 1621. anno 1624. This Perſon, whoſe Throat he went about to cut, brought him off from his Troubles, dubb'd him a Doctor and a Knight, ſettled him in his former Offices, and got him more; for which, I confeſs, he got no good name to himſelf. Lamb mark'd the Revolution of the Times, ſaw the Biſhop diſcarded, and obſerv'd, that p. 113he might pluck himſelf into a better Fortune, ſooner by being his Enemy than his Friend: Then what enſues, but as a ſhifter ſays in Plautus, Ut ſurſum in alto ventus eſt, exin velum vortitur; Veer the Sail as the Wind blows? So he watcheth a day to caſt off his Patron, and, to make it more meritorious, to caſt him down. Cum ſecum ſervilis animus praemia perfidiae reputaret, ceſſit fas, & ſalus patroni: As if we had found this Wretch foretold by Tacitus, lib. 15. Annal. An ungrateful Creature in the old times was held a Monſter, now adays none ſhall be ſooner taken into play, to be a State-Miniſter. Like Tobacco, every man ſtopt his Noſe at it, when Sir W. Raleigh brought it firſt into England; now the Pipe is in every man's Mouth. But how eaſie was it for the Biſhop to truſt this fellow with as much as he durſt utter to any man? He had redeem'd him, he had bought him for his own, and every falſe Knave doth not ſmell like a Pole-Cat. They are ſubtler in their Generation than the Children of Light. The beſt skill'd in the Greek Tongue ſay, that the Devout in the New Teſtament are called foreign, quia facilè poſſunt capi; becauſe they are charitable, and leſs ſuſpicious of others, ſo they are eaſily taken: Aditum nocendi perfido praeſt at fides, Sen. Oed. The Credit that is given to a perfidious man furniſheth him with advantage to do a Miſchief. He can hurt none but ſuch as he is beholden to for their good Opinion. Et perditiſſimi eſt hominis fallere eum, qui non laeſus eſſet, niſi credidiſſet, Cic. lib. 2. off. And of all Hypocrites, take heed of him that gropes into a man's Heart, to pluck out his Secrets. Which is well ſet forth in a Proverbial Similitude, Venti ſunt moleſtiſſimi qui abſtrahunt nobis pallia. 'Tis ill travelling when the Wind blows a mans Cloak abroad, and will not let him keep it cloſe about him. Meaning, that it is ill converſing with an Enſnarer, delving into the bottom of your Mind, to know what is hid in it. I would ask a Caſuiſt, if it were not lawful for me not only to hide my Mind, but to caſt ſomewhat which is not true before ſuch a Pocher? I mean it tentativè, not with intention to deceive him, but to try if he would deceive me; and I mean it of no other, but of ſuch a one as Ben Syrach ſets out, and this Biſhop found to his coſt: Ecclus. 13. v. 11, 12. With much communication will he tempt thee, and ſmiling upon thee will he get out thy ſecrets, but cruelly he will lay up thy words, and will not ſpare to do thee hurt, and to put thee in priſon. Ingratitude is Sir J. Lamb's Badge, Perfidiouſneſs both his and Sibthorp's: And that's not all. Quiſquam hominum eſt quem tu contentum videris uno—Flagitio? Juven. Theſe were ſuch as durſt do more than one Unſeemlineſs, and deſerv'd to be baffl'd for breaking the Laws of Hoſpitality. They did eat at the Biſhop's Board, gathered that Diſcourſe, which they carried away to kindle Coals of Fire to conſume him, and depoſed what they heard, and more than they heard; Unde illud apud Graecos, da mihi teſtimonium. Cicero pro Flacco. Fair Converſation ſhould keep up Table-talk: As Plutarch ſays of the Spartans in his Licurgus, That being frollick at Meat, they were wont to ſay, Not a word goes out of doors. They that brake that Order, ſhould dine alone, like the Hangmen of Germany. But ſeriouſly the ancient Tragedy-Writers, in their Buskin Scenes, exclaim mightily againſt thoſe who betray'd them that had feaſted them; as Hecuba inveighs againſt Polymeſtor, that murther'd her Son Polydor, foreign: What a Fiend was Polymeſtor, to do ſuch an Act, that had been her Gueſt ſo often? The very Emblem of the Wolf, that had eaten the Sheep, and would eat the Shepherd, if he could get him. Thus far of the Crime, and the Criminators, or rather the Tale and the Tale-bearers, that ſo little, they ſo bad: Qui ad notitiam poſterorum per odia virtutum decurrerunt. Sidon. lib. 8. c. 1.

110. I have dealt with the Pick-thanks as they deſerv'd, who travelling from Bugden to Higham-Ferrers, conferr'd their Notes, as they depos'd, and loſt not a day, but ſent Burden and Allen to the Court, as ſoon as they could be found, with an Accuſation againſt the Biſhop. As Fr. Junius gives his reaſon in cap. 3. Gen. why he thought the Devil tempted Eve not long after ſhe was made: Maleficus non poteſt feriari, ex quo eſt maleficus: So in this Inſtance we ſee, that Malice is Lead in weight, and Fire in ſwiftneſs. The King is moved to acquaint the Lords of the Council with it, where it gaſp'd in the firſt Hearing, and dyed. Allen the Proctor Petitions for it again, for B. L. upheld his Spirit in his Wickedneſs: The examining is referred to the L. Treaſurer Weſton, the Earl of Penbrock, the Earl of Montgomery, the Earl of Holland, who with one conſent caſt it away, as not worthy a Debate, that no Blame could ſtick upon Lincoln, that Allen was as good as frentick, for he had drawn up one Petition in Rhime. This the Biſhop alledgeth in his Addreſs prepared for the Parliament, while the third p. 114and fourth of the Lords-Referrees were living: But though they are all under Earth, Faith forbid that their Names ſhould be abuſed to a wrong Report. To keep Hiſtory uncorrupt from ſuch baſeneſs, 'tis daintily obſerv'd out of the Poets by Salmaſius Clymac. p. 819. Apud orcum defunctae animae jurare dicuntur, ne quid ſuos, quos in vitâ reliquerint, contra fas adjuvent. The Souls departed take an Oath, not to help their ſurviving Friends againſt Juſtice: But no ſuch Proteſtation needs in this Cauſe. There is a Petition to be produced, written with the Hand of Dr. Walker, a Gentleman living, and well known, wherein His Majeſty is minded, that he had cancell'd this Complaint, and had given his Royal Hand to confirm it. What could be more ſure? Yet it turn'd to nothing; the Wound was never ſuffer'd to heal by the daily Whiſpering of Biſhop Laud, diligent in the King's Ear. You may read of one in Suetonius's Caligula, Cui ad inſaniam Caius favebat: So the King ſuffer'd this Prelate, in exceſs of Power, to turn and return Cauſes as he would, and was obnoxious, by the bewitching of his Tongue, to facility of Perſwaſions, to grant and retract as he poſſeſt him: Which was ſeen too late in this excellent Paſſage of His Majeſty, in foreign, I wiſh I had not ſuffer'd mine own Judgment to be overborn in ſome things, more by others Importunities than their Arguments. As Eraſmus wrote honeſtly to a mighty Monarch Harry the Eighth, Ep. p. 74. Eximia quaedam inter mortales res eſt Monarcha, ſed homo tamen. And with much liberty our Poet Johnſon, in his Forreſt, p. 815.

—I am at feud

With that is ill, tho' with a Throne endu'd.

The Faults of the Bleſſed Charles were ſmall, yet ſome he had; who having aſſured Lincoln he ſhould never be queſtion'd again about the matter brought againſt him by Lamb and Sibthorp, yet remitted it to the Star-chamber: The Defendant conceived it would ſpend like a Snail, or the untimely Fruit of a Woman, but when he found himſelf deceiv'd, and that the Cauſe was glowing hot in Proſecution, he ſought the King's Clemency, Quaedam enim meliùs fugiuntur quàm ſuperantur; it is in Eraſm. Ep. p. 18. He thought it better to fly the Trial, than to get the Cauſe, and he put up this which follows into the Hands of His Majeſty.

The Humble Petition and Submiſſion of John Biſhop of Lincoln, &c.

THAT although he is innocent from any Crime committed againſt your Majeſty, in thought, word, or deed, yet abhorring (as he finds by Preſidents, all other Biſhops of this Realm have done) Placitare cum Domino rege, to have any Suit with his Sovereign Lord, Maſter, and Patron; he caſts himſelf in all humility at Your Majeſties Feet, and implores your Royal Mercy and Clemency, Non intrare in judicium cum ſervo tuo, coveting to aſcribe his Deliverance to Your Majeſties Clemency: And whereas your moſt Excellent Majeſty having, in the fourth year of your happy Reign, received the Opinion of the four Lords Committees, concerning theſe very ſelf-ſame Charges, did in your Majeſties Gallery at Whitehall admit this Defendant, brought in by the Right Honourable the Lord Treaſurer, one of the ſaid Committees, to kiſs your Majeſties Hand, and did uſe unto him this Defendant, in the preſence and hearing of the ſaid Right Honourable Lord, theſe gracious words: That your Majeſty was pleaſed to forgive all that was paſt, and would eſteem of this Defendant according as he ſhould deſerve by his Service for the time to come. He moſt humbly beſeecheth your moſt Excellent Majeſty, that according to that ſo gracious Remiſſion and Abſolution, no further Proſecution at your Majeſties Suit may be uſed againſt him, concerning the ſaid Charges; all which he doth the rather hope for from your Majeſty, becauſe he is a Biſhop that hath endeavoured not to live ſcandalouſly in his Calling, and hath formerly had the Favour from Almighty God, with his own Hands, to cloſe your Majeſties Father's Eyes, and to have written and drawn up that Commiſſion and Contract for your Majeſties Marriage, whereupon enſued to this Kingdom a moſt unvaluable Bleſſing; and heartily prayeth, that God, who hath delivered your Majeſty from your late Sickneſs, may bleſs you in all Health, Happineſs, and Proſperity.

p. 115So far the Petition: I will not teach the Reader what Sallads to pick out of it, but only the Herb of Grace, that the Biſhop kiſt the King's Hand upon the aſſurance of his Peace; that the Offence which was taken was buried, and ſhould never riſe up in Judgment more: Nihil periculi Soloni à Piſiſtrato, Diog. Laert. Now, who ever liked Julian the Cardinal, that made Ladiſlaus K. of Polonia break his League with the Turk? And who will defend B. L. that made his Soveraign break his word with his Subject? It was he, and none elſe, that put in an unſeaſonable Bar to hinder Lincoln the fulneſs of the Benefit. I know none that had the neareſt part in B. L's Favour, that can deny it: And let them turn it about as they will, is it poſſible they ſhould excuſe it? foreign. It is Theodoret's Ep. 2. Children ſee no uncomelineſs in their Parents. But although they will ſee no ill in the Perſon, they muſt in the Fact: For, what a Treſpaſs is this in Juſtice, to puniſh that which was forgiven? Let the King do Righteous Judgment like God, in whoſe Throne he ſits; before whom this holds inviolable, Peccata dimiſſa nunquam redeunt: No, not original Sin, when remitted in Baptiſm, it ſhall not be imputed to them any more, that are damned for actual Crimes, whereof they did not repent. So Grotius cites it out of Proſper in Matth. c. 18. v. 34. Extinctam ſemel obligationem non reviviſcere, ſed propter poſtrema crimina affici. The moſt that ſeems to be againſt this Rule, but falls in with it, is this; That when former Sins are forgiven, and new ones are ſuperadded, the latter ſhall be puniſh'd the more for the ungratefulneſs of the Sinner. Non quod jam remiſſa puniantur, ſed quod ſequens peccatum minùs graviter pun… retur, ſi priora remiſſa non fuiſſent; ſays Maldonat. My Sentence is at the laſt of all with Syracides, c. 29.3. Keep thy word, and deal faithfully; revoke not your Kindneſs; pluck not up the Seeds of a Benefit, which you had ſown with your own Hand: It is worſe to turn Mercy than Juſtice into Wormwood.

111. Deſtiny is unavoidable. A Bill is filed in the Star-Chamber, and proſecuted for the King, for Revealing his Councils. The Defendant made him ready for his Anſwer, and plyed the King with Petitions together; in Parody like Virgil's Aeneas, Et ſe collegit in arma—Poplite ſubſidens. At firſt he tried Biſhop Laud, if he would be ſo generous as to heal the Wound that he had made, and anointed him with the Weapon-Salve of remembrance of Friendſhip paſt, and proteſtation of the like for ever; he courted him to mediate for him. And was it not likely he would think, who had procured him his firſt Rochet, well fringed with good Commendums? But what Suſpicion, to find a thankful Man did bring Lincoln into this Error? foreign, ſays Pindar; Old kindneſs is faſt aſleep, and Men are forgetful. This Hand return'd him nothing from his Majeſty but Denials and Deſpairs; as if he had lighted upon one of the Genethliaci, or Figure-Caſters, that never portend a good Horoſcope to any; or as I may better ſet it down in Gaſſendus's Complaint, De Pareliis p. 309. Ita praepoſteri ſumus, ut nunquam captemus bona omina. A good word from ſo gracious an Agent would have cleared any man, who made Lincoln's Fidelity more ſuſpected to his Royal Maſter. Biſhop Laud knew him, how ſtrong he was in his Intellectuals, how fit to manage Civil and Church Affairs, foreign, as Tully tranſlates it out of Aratus, Huic non una modo caput ornans ſtella relucet. He thought it a diſparagement to have a Parage with any of his Rank; and out of Emulation did dry his Subſtance, that it might not flow ſo faſt into Charitable Works. Therefore as the Oratour wrote to Atticus, Qui mihi pennas inciderunt, nolunt eaſdem renaſci, ſo he kept the Feathers of the other ſhort, that they might not grow again, to fly before him. Lincoln took it not a whit to heart, becauſe he foreſaw it. I have heard him ſay, Though I did as much for him as I could, when he wanted me; yet I knew he would fail, if ever I wanted him. What remedy but the Cauſe, which had rotted three years in the Dung, muſt now be made ripe? a Miſchief which had lyen like a Match kindled to give fire to a Train of Powder long after. So it came to be ſifted by the great Abilities of Mr. William Noy Attorney General, a Man of Cynical behaviour, but of an honeſt heart to his Friends and Clients, and both together did become him. This famous Lawyer profeſt a great averſeneſs from dealing in this Cauſe: for he wanted a Ground to plead upon. The Defendant maintains that he had opened no Counſels of the Kings; but what he ſpake to Lamb and Sibthorp was Parliamentary Communication. Let the Peers and Commons look to it; it concerns them all that their Priviledges be maintain'd, to be unqueſtionable for thoſe things which paſt from one to another at that ſeaſon; who, by p. 116the Writ that Summons them, do meet as Counſellors for great Affairs concerning the Church and Commonwealth. And by this very Demurrer Mr. Selden, about two years before, had quaſh't a Bill which was preferr'd in the Star-Chamber againſt him in a like Accuſation. Neither contemn the Inconvenience, becauſe the ſtorm fell upon one Biſhop, and no more. The whole Tree was as good as unfaſtned, when one Bough was ſhaken. It is a good Caution in Ariſt. 5. Polit. foreign, It is all aſſumed to ſay, The Danger is not great that lights upon one or two Particulars, when by that Entrance it will break in upon the whole Kind. Be it known therefore, that this Bill was kept under Hatches, and never came to hearing: For which way could the Council ſtir to plead upon it? As great a Pleader as ever lived, Demoſthenes, gives us this Rule, Olynth.. foreign. As the Foundation of an Houſe, and the Keel of a Ship muſt be laid ſtrong and firm, ſo ſhould the Foundations of all Actions. But in this charge let Wit and Learning turn it ſelf every way, there was no Bottom to build upon. Therefore Mr. Noy, after two years, grew weary of it, and ſlackned the Proſecution. He died untimely for our Biſhop's good, who acknowledgeth it under his Hand, That he dealt fairly with him: not reckoning by his Maundings and rough Language, which came from him to pleaſe the ſuperviſing Prelate. But Lincoln never felt harm from him, whoſe Finger he cut but with the back of his Knife. Therefore I pronounce him innocent of this Man's ruin, upon the reaſon that Ulyſſes ſpared Terpiades, Odyſſ. foreign, He ſung ſuch Songs, as the riotous Suitors of Penelope would have him, by conſtraint and neceſſity.

112. Who have we next to play this Game but notorious Kilvert? and for the ſame reaſon that God gave, why Phocas was made Emperour of the World, becauſe there was not a worſe. Hem! Si quid rectè curatum velis, huic mandes oportet. A Man branded long before in a Parliament for Perjury; a Knight of the Poſt, as we call it. A Name which ſome learned Scholar gave at firſt to ſuch Catives: For Caſaubon in his Theophraſtus ſhews out of Pauſanias in his Atticks, that perjur'd Men were called foreign, that uſually ſtood about the Panathenaick Race-poſts, called Adrettum, to be hired to give a Teſtimony, whether it were right or wrong. Here's one that wore that Badge: and our Biſhop writes more, and Truth in all, That in ſcorn of Juſtice, for many years, he lived from his own Wife, a vertuous and well-born Gentlewoman, whom he had ſtol'n away from her Parents, and lived in open Adultery with another Man's Wife, one Mr. Bines, hard by White-hall, and begot divers Baſtards upon her Body, beſides his other Debaucheries and Infamies of all kinds. This Man, as himſelf avouched, was found out, and employed by Archbiſhop Laud (by this time he is in that Throne) by Secretary Windebank and Sir J. Lamb, to proſecute the Cauſe againſt the Biſhop, without entring him as a Proſecutor upon Record, as he ought to have done; and was aſſured he ſhould advance his Fortunes thereby; which was truly perform'd. This Fellow interloping into the Proſecution of the Cauſe, diſturb'd it in every point of the due Proceeding, left not one Rule or Practice of the Court unbroken, menacing, and intimidating Witneſſes, Clerks, Regiſters, Examiners, Judges, and the Lord keeper himſelf. One that would undertake any Office to ſerve Greatneſs, and would preſerve their Favour that kept him upon any Conditions: who lack't not ſuch Wiſdom as St. James abhors, c. 3. v. 15. which is earthly, ſenſual, devilliſh; whoſe Deſcription I cut off with that which Cutzen the Jeſuit ſaid of Illyricus, from his own Opinion about Original Sin, Cujus vel ſubſtantia peccatum eſt, a vitiated Leper in his whole Subſtance. O evil World! that the Vices of ſuch a Creature ſhould make free way for him to be gracious, inſtead of Vertues! how much do Powers and Dominions diſhonour themſelves, when it is not cloſe, but openly ſeen, that ſuch Inſtruments have their Countenance, nay their Recompence. Budaeus lib. 1. de Aſ. f. 15. ſpared not a great one in France for that Error; Immemor perſonae quam gerebat, quod virtuti debebatur, illiberali obſequio dandum eſſe cenſuit. While Kilvert ranted it, and bore down all Juſtice before him, there was not an honeſt Man, either that acted in this matter, or only look't on, whoſe ſilent conſent the Biſhop had not to awaken the King, that he would look upon theſe Courſes, that cried abroad to the amazement of his Subjects. All wiſh it done, and the Biſhop did not fear to do it. foreign. It is Theodorets ſtout Divinity, Ep. 21. Under the hand of God there is no remedy but patience; ſuffering under the hand of Man the beſt Remedy is Courage. p. 117So he ſtept forward to his Majeſty, with the confidence of this Petition.

To the King's moſt Excellent Majeſty, &c.

THat if your Majeſty be not pleaſed to accept as yet of his humble Submiſſion for his Peace, your Majeſty would graciouſly vouchſafe not to interrupt, but to permit the Petitioner to proceed, according to the ordinary Rules and Courſe of the Court of Star-Chamber, againſt Kilvert the Sollicitor, for his manifold Falſhoods and Injuries in the Proſecution of this Cauſe; particularly firſt, for menacing and frighting your Petitioners Witneſſes. 2. For publickly defaming this Petitioner to be your Enemy; averring that neither he, nor any of his, did know what the name of a King meant. 3. For offering to ſell the Proſecution of your Majeſties Cauſe againſt this Petitioner for Money: and becauſe this Petitioner refuſed to tamper with him in that kind, for procuring baſe People to make falſe and aſperſing Affidavits, to incenſe your Majeſty, and that Court againſt your Petitioner. 4. For menacing the Judges that ſhould report and certifie any thing for your Petitioner. 5. For not ſparing to tax moſt falſly your most Sacred Majeſty, with preſſing upon the Lords the Sentencing of your Petitioner: All which the Petitioner will clearly prove, and pray to God, &c.

So ſtrong an Accuſation, upon ſuch foul Heads, was fit to be ſifted, eſpecially upon the laſt Branch: For grant it was a lye; here's a falſe Report raiſed againſt the King's Honour. If it were true, what more criminal than to impart ſuch Secrets of his Majeſty's to his Goſſips at a Tavern, where they flew abroad? But ſome may more ſafely ſteal a Horſe, than others look over the Hedge. The Biſhop could get no leave to call this ſhameleſs Mate to an anſwer. From that day Kilvert was free from Righteouſneſs, and might do any thing. Ipſe ſibi Lex eſt, & quà fert cunque voluntas—Praecipitat vires, Manil. lib. 5. He that hath no Conſcience, and need to fear nothing, will turn a Monſter. So true is that of Livy, Dec. 1. lib. 4. Hominem improbum non accuſari tutius eſt quàm abſolvi: 'Tis ſafer to have a nocent Perſon never accus'd, than to have him diſcharg'd for an Innocent.

113. For all this the Defendant thought he had ſaid ſo much againſt the Proſecutor, that he ſhould never appear in Court again: But as Calvin ſaid of Bucer, Ep. 30. Qui ſibi eſt optimè conſcius, ſecurior eſt quam utile ſit. Yet he proved againſt him as foul a prank as ever was committed; That he got Warren the Examiner to the Fountain Tavern near to Shoe-Lane (Kilvert's daily Rendezvouz, from whence the Biſhop got continual and ſure intelligence) and fetch't out of him, contrary to his expreſs Oath, the Depoſitions which the Defendants Witneſſes had made; an heinous wrong to be done before Publication: which coming to light, Warren fled away from his Office, and never appeared more. But whether could he run from God's Vengeance? Omnia quidem Deo plena ſunt, nec ullus perfidis tutus eſt locus, Sym. p. 54. Kilvert ſtood to it, as if the ſin were not his, that drew the Examiner to Perjury; and no notice was taken of that conſtant Rule, which the Caſuiſts took from Tertullian de Bapt. c. 11. Semper is dicitur facere, cui praemmiſtratur; The Sin was Ahab's that purchaſt a Field of Blood by the Oath of the Sons of Belial. Let Religion look to this, for that Court would not; nothing would lace it in, it was ſo wide in the waſte. From this exorbitancy, from this, and nothing elſe, ſprung the Iliad of wrongs which the Biſhop endured: for Kilvert finding, by Warren's diſcloſures, that the Depoſitions for the Defendant were material, and ſome of the Witneſſes to be Learned men, that had depoſed upon Notes and Remembrances, he turned himſelf into all ſhapes to crack their Credit. At firſt he made an Affidavit of ſlight pretended Abuſes, which were over-ruled againſt him. Whereupon he vapour'd in the hearing of the Regiſter, and divers others, That he cared not what Orders the Lords made in Court, for he would go to Greenwich, and cauſe them all to be changed. It was the moſt ſcornful Defiance that ever was given to the Honour and Juſtice of the Star-Chamber, as the Biſhop's Counſel preſt it home. Every one expected the Ruin of the Proſecutor: yet the Lords perceiving, upupon the Archbiſhop's Motion, that it was not ſafe to puniſh him, it paſt over with a ſlight Submiſſion. One preſaged the Ruin of the Athenian State, becauſe Rats had eaten up the Books of Plato's Commonwealth. And might not a man that had no more Prophecy than Prudence, foreſee the Ruin of this Court, p. 118when ſuch a Rat-catcher did deſpiſe their Authority, telling them he could fetch Orders to ſweep away theirs from ſuch Powers: Quae nec tutò narrantur, nec tutò audiuntur, Seneca de Tranquil. Sir Robert Heath, Lord Chief Juſtice of the Common Pleas, was but one of the Lords Aſſeſſors, yet as juſt and ſufficient as any of his order; and the Indignity done to him, was as if done to all: Who made his own Complaint, That Kilvert threatned to procure him to be turn'd out of his place for his forwardneſs. Yet this alſo was ſlubber'd over with a little acknowledgment of Raſhneſs. So much were thoſe honourable Perſons now no longer themſelves, fearing that Severity which they perceived impending upon them. As Pliny bewails the Roman Senate in his Panegyrick, Vidimus curiam, ſed curiam trepidam, & elinguem: cum dicere quid velles periculoſum, quod nolles miſerum eſſet. It was become like Ezekiel's Vine-tree, c. 15. v. 3. you could not make a Pin out of it to hang a good Order upon it, that was equal and generous. Beſhrew the Varlet, that kept his word (which he was not wont to do) for Sir Robert Heath was diſplaced, and for no Miſdemeanour proved. But it was to bring in a Succeſſor, who was more forward to undo Lincoln, than ever the Lord Heath was to preſerve him. A man of choice parts, which yet he ſhewed not in this Cauſe, which cannot be ſmother'd without defacing the truth, which Poſterity muſt not want; Deſipiunt qui faeces ob v…ni nobilitatem abſorbent. The Dregs of the beſt Wine are but Dregs, and muſt be ſpit out as diſtaſtful; his Lordſhip's part cannot be ſpared in this Tragedy; yet it ſhall be ſhort, becauſe I will leave him to thoſe Figures that live in the Houſe of Memory.

114. The main Bill againſt the Defendant being not like to hold, the quarrel broke out into a collateral Point, the weighing of the Credit of Jo. Pregion, a man that had enjoyed two O…lices of great account for divers years, and was never queſtioned before this time in his Reputation. So the Siege of Troy was forgot, and the Battel was drawn out on both ſides, to get, or to recover the Body of Patroclus, foreign, Il. ρ. The Biſhop could not defend his firſt Cauſe without the Teſtimony of Pregion, which made him diligent to keep his good Name from being ſtained; and the Adverſaries were as reſolute to Impeach him, looking to ſpring up a new Information from the Defence of the old Matter. This tugg held eighteen Months, to the Biſhop's Vexation and Coſt, having ſpent as much upon it, as would have founded an Hoſpital to keep twenty poor People. The Archbiſhop took occaſion, upon the ſpinning out of ſo much time, to blame the Defendant for Traverſes and Delays: (a Courſe which the wiſdom of Treaſurer Weſton had put into him) and if it were bad to fly, with his Grace's leave, was it not worſe to Perſecute? Baronius juſtifies the Chriſtians that made eſcape from Heathen Tyrants with a good reaſon, An. 205. p. 12. Qui non fugit, cum poteſt, adjuvat ejus iniquitatem qui perſequitur. The Exceptions againſt Pregion were referred to the Lord Chief Juſtice Richardſon, and Lord Chief Baron Damport, which charged Pregion that he endeavour'd to lay a Baſtard-Child of his own begetting upon another. The two Judge, having heard all that could be alledged pro and con, diſallowed the Exception; and an order being drawn up for it, when the Lord Richardſon was about to ſign it, Kilvert moſt imperiouſly charg'd him not to do it, till he had heard from the King. The Judge, whoſe Coat had been ſing'd at the Court before, ſtopt his Hand, but delivered a Copy of the Certificate to the Biſhop's Sollicitor, and avowing he would maintain it, that is to ſay, if he durſt: but fear ſhook his Conſcience out of him. The Lord Damport would not vary from himſelf, and charg'd his Brother Richardſon freely with Inconſtancy. Of which Diſagreement the Star-Chamber having notice, added to theſe three more, the Lord Chief Juſtice of the Common-Pleas, Judge Jones, and Judge Vernon. Theſe ſitting together in the Lord Richardſon's Lodgings, Kilvert brought in Secretary Windebank among them, (though neither Referree, nor Witneſs, nor Party in the Cauſe) who argued the Buſineſs an hour and half againſt the Biſhop's Witneſs, and perform'd it weakly; for all men are not call'd to knowledge with their places; as Iſ…crates would have us believe in his Areopag. Oration, that the Office of an Areopagite transform'd a man, Ut tanquam loci genio afflatus, ex ingenio ſuo migraret. Budaeus in 1. lib. Pand. p. 283. The Secretary having done his part, and ſhewn what was expected from White-hall, departed. The five Judges drew up a Certificate, ſigned it, and aſſured the Biſhop all in general, and one by one, it ſhould not be changed. So ſaid the L. F. among the reſt; but he ſup't a Promiſe into his mouth, and ſpit it out again. This predominant Judge, like a Falcon upon her ſtretches, took home the Certificate p. 119with him, and the Biſhop with him, who ſtaid at his Houſe till almoſt midnight, becauſe the Lord F. would not give him the Order, till Kilvert had carried it to the Court to ſhew it to ſome body. This was not fair; for to be juſt and honeſt is ſo forcible, that it ſhould be done extempore; not an hour ſhould be borrowed to adviſe upon it. Yet the Judge ſolemnly proteſted, That he would dye rather than recede from it, it being the ſenſe, and under the Hand of all his Brethren. The Biſhop being in a withdrawing Chamber, read over the Order ſo often, that by the benefit of a good memory he got it by heart verbatim, and ſo departed to Bugden againſt Chriſtmas-day. About the midſt of the Holy-days, he heard by a good Hand that the Certificate was alter'd, and all that Matter inſerted which had been rejected by the Judges. He came up in all haſte to London, and finding Judge Jones, ask't him if theſe things were ſo. Yes, ſays he, 'tis true, all is chang'd from white to black, and your Friend the L. F. hath done all this. A Friend he might call him, if merit might have purchaſt him, for whom the Biſhop had done more than for any pleader in England, when he was in great place; Quae poteſt eſſe jucunditas ſublatis amicitiis! quae porrò amicitia poteſt eſſe inter ingratos? The Biſhop charging this Alteration upon the Judge to his Face, he replyed, Quod ſcripſi, ſcripſi, and would not hear Mr. Herbert, the Defendant's Counſel, who told the Judge with ſome paſſion, That there was more matter for Examination of Witneſſes couched in the new Certificate, than was in all the Cauſe. But the Biſhop demanded calmly of that Lord that had alter'd all, What he meant to uſe an old Acquaintance in that unheard of manner? He anſwer'd, (and ſaid the ſame to others) He had been ſoundly chidden by his Majeſty, and would not deſtroy himſelf for any man's ſake. This Judge was worthy of greater Honours, and did affect them. Haud ſanè aequo animo in ſecundo ſe ſuſtinens gradu, Curt. lib. 4. and not long after he got the Garland, by being the moſt active of all his Rank to bring about the King's Undertakings, chiefly againſt this forlorn Defendant; but held not the place one full year. From whence a Scholar may Contemplate upon thoſe two Verſes of Homer, Il. ρ.

foreign

foreign

Whom God doth honour, if with him you war,

The quarrel's Gods, your ruin is not far.

115. By this time, Kilvert put in Courage with theſe Stratagems, is ready to proceed to examination—of Witneſſes. Let me ſhew how he is armed, like Pliny's Ichneumon, lib. 8. Nat. Hiſt. Mergit ſe limo ſaepiùs, ſiccat que ſole, mox ubi plurimis eodem modo ſe coriis loricavit, in dimicationem pergit. He dips himſelf often in Mudd, and every time cruſts it hard in the Sun, and being covered with this dirty Harnaſs, he falls to fight with his Enemy. All will run even in the application. The Biſhop is forced, at an intolerable expence, to tumble in perſon with his Lawyers and Sollicitors from place to place, over ſix or ſeven Counties of the Kingdom. The firſt Abuſe done unto him in this courſe, was to deny him ſeveral Commiſſions to diſpatch his Troubles about the Witneſſes, which was never denied to any Subject before, and to force him to take an Examiner of the Court whether he would or no. 2ly, Every Defendant being allow'd to chuſe which Examiner he likes beſt, by the practice of that Court, the Biſhop pitch'd upon an ancient and experienc'd Clerk, yet could not enjoy him; for in conference with Kilvert he had ſaid, That in this Service he muſt be an indifferent man: Whereupon Secretary Windebank commands the Clerk of the Court, by a Letter under the Signet, to ſtay the Commiſſion ſo order'd, and to appoint another Examiner whom Kilvert did nominate. Thirdly, The ſame Secretary directed one Peachy, a Meſſenger of the Chamber, (ſtart not at it Reader, for 'tis true) to attend Kilvert in his Coat of Arms, all along with the Commiſſion, to apprehend and cloſe impriſon ſuch as Kilvert ſhould appoint, pretending Matters of State, and of deep conſequence againſt them. And Peachy did apprehend and cloſe impriſon, in the face of the Commiſſion, Philip Pregion, George Walker, and Thomas Lund, Witneſſes for the Biſhop, and chaſed away moſt of the reſt, that durſt not be ſeen for fear. Thoſe three Priſoners were brought to London, to the Secretary, who told them he had nothing againſt them, but bade them give Satisfaction to Kilvert; who could get no Liberty by his Maſterſhips Leave, till they had confeſſed Crimes againſt the Biſhop and themſelves, which afterward p. 120they revok'd upon Oath. Nor would he permit George Walker's Wife to ſee her Husband, cloſe kept by the Meſſenger, but for a baſe Courteſie, not to be named. Is not the Wand of Mercury like to charm Witneſſes to ſay and ſwear what they would have them, when ſuch Snakes as Kilvert and Peachy are twined about it? If all this be not true, though incomparably vile, Aut Thetidi, aut Veneris largire marito, either waſh the Book away, or throw it into the Fire. I meet with a mighty Concuſſion of Juſtice in Sidon. Apol. lib. 5. c. 7. yet nothing ſo bad as this; yet take it, becauſe it is the neareſt to it upon Record: Deputant arbitros, judicanda dictant, dictata convellunt, attrahunt litigaturos, protrahunt audiendos. The French Mercury hath related ſtrange Preſidents from the Parliament of Grenoble, let him match this if he can. But the Biſhop coming home from his Progreſs with Kilvert, and the Examiner having ſped his Commiſſion, in all haſte Publication muſt be granted, and the Biſhop is ſerved for a Hearing; ſo he came prepared with excellent Counſel to defend a Cauſe which he feared the more, becauſe neither he nor his Counſel could ſee, in a matter ſo violently purſued, any thing to be feared. But the King's Counſel having peruſed the Books, ſpied more than Kilvert could ſee, and found that the imaginary falſe News, and blazing the King's Counſels, were the damnable Invention and Conſpiracy of Lamb, Sibthorp, All…n, and Burden. Much was urged to expunge all on the Biſhop's part, that laid a Combination of Villany to their charge, becauſe it did impeach the Credit of the King's Witneſſes. The L. F. preſt it over and over, which was but once, and that fairly and modeſtly offer'd by the King's Counſel. After a long Argument of five hours at the leaſt, the Court did all vote, (except the Archbiſhop, and the L. F.) that the Defence ſhould remain undiſpunged, for elſe an unavoidable Miſchief would follow to all the King's Subjects, that being accuſed by two deſperate Witneſſes, they were remedileſs in that high Court, if they may not be called in queſtion by the Defendant for their Acts and Honeſties. The L. Coventry having gathered the Votes of the Court, and being ready to pronounce the Order, ſo much conducing to the good of all men, the L. Finch deſired their Lordſhips to take notice, that his Opinion continued contrary to them all. Quibuſdam evenit ut quaedam ſcire ſe neſciant, Sen. Ep. 7. Nay, ſuch Spleen was conceived at this juſt Order, that though the L. Keeper had pronounced it, the Regiſter had drawn it up, a Copy of it given to the Defendant, yet ſo precious a Rule for the common Safety of all honeſt men, durſt never be enter'd into the Book to this day. Yet this Order, though ſmother'd and buried, made an end of this firſt Cauſe; for the Combination of the four Contrivers was not held meet to come abroad into pleading, who would have fallen to pieces with a little ſhaking, that thought to lay the dead Child in the Biſhop's Boſom, while he ſlept; but their Patron had a care to keep them from Scandal, and that they knew. As Hegeſippus ſays of Mariamne the Wife of Herod the Great, Secura quod nihil ab eo exitii perpeti poſſit, qui ſupra modum dilexit. So theſe were the bolder to come off untouch'd, under the ſhelter of that Favour that did never forſake them.

116. Of a ſudden, by the perſwaſion of ſome noble Lords, the King began to grow milder to the Biſhop. Et reſerata viget vegetabilis aura Favoni. Lucret. His Majeſty hearkened to ſome Conditions, to have all Bills againſt the Biſhop caſt out, and to let him purchaſe his Peace with his Purſe. Some would diſſwade Lincoln from it, becauſe to buy a Pardon was to confeſs a Guiltineſs: A Nicety, ſays Xenophon, that coſt Socrates his Life, Apol. pro. Socr. who would pay no Fine to the Court of Athens, nor ſuffer any to be paid in his Name. foreign. He ſaid, To be acquit with a Ranſom, was to confeſs a Crime. The like was told me by the Lady Eliz. Hotton, That the Lord Cook was offered his Place in the Kings-bench, from which he had been removed, if he would bind himſelf in again with a Golden Chain: But he ſtood upon a Rule made by his own Wiſdom, That a Judge muſt not take a Bribe, nor pay a Bribe. Our Biſhop's Reſolution ſtuck not in thoſe Briers, who ſaw that this Offer proceeded out of the ſtreights of his Occaſions: Though no Evil were found in him, yet if the King's Power conteſt, who can ſtand upright? And if Malice will take no ſatisfaction but Ruin, the moſt innocent muſt fall: The L. Keeper, a good man, was over-balanc'd; the Star-chamber was become like the Tribunal of L. Caſſius, Scopulus reorum, Tacit. Annal. l. 13. a Rock that ſplit all Cauſes, that lately came into it, in pieces. The Archbiſhop thought not himſelf abſolute, till this man was unprelated, and cared not what he caſt at him, ſo he might hit him home: As Grotius accuſeth the Spaniards, that they are ſo p. 121ſet upon Revenge, Ut in hoſtem nihil turpe ſit, nihil illicitum, An. Belg. p. 5. He feared the L. F. as much as any, who in his private Chambers ſlaſht and cut out from his Defences that which was moſt material to his Safety. Et stylus non minùs agit cum delet, ſays Quintilian. He that puts out the Marrow of Defence, is worſe than he that puts in the Venom of an Accuſation. The Secretary was prepared for any Execution, yet the Biſhop gives him this Praiſe in his Notes, That he was a modeſt and a virtuous Gentleman, but in this Cauſe ſet on by his Maker. Therefore the Biſhop is content to ſatisfie the King's Demands, that is, to pitch and pay. The firſt Condition brought to him by the L. Cottington, was to part with 4000 l. with his Deanry, and two inconſiderable Commenda's. For the Money, ſays the Biſhop, I am low in Caſh, but will make a ſhift to pay it: To part with the Deanry will make an open Scar, and no fair one: Beſide, the Money is uſeful for the King's Revenue, the Deanry is no Profit to His Majeſty, to take it from my hand, and to put it into another; and what the World hath given me, I am willing to give it back again; but what His Majeſty's Father did give me, and by the Mediation of His Majeſty, being Prince, I can take no comfort in my Life, if I be ſtript of it. That Lord return'd again with a Meſſage to leave him his Deanry and Commenda's, but to raiſe up the Sum of Compoſition to 8000 l. The Biſhop held up his Hands to Heaven in amazement at it: But you will lift your Hands at a greater Wonder, ſays L. Cottington, if you do not pay it. Well, I will ſatisfie the King, ſays Lincoln, and I will ſell ſome Land for it. The Match is ſtruck, done 'tis, and the Biſhop as good as undone by it. He delighted to do charitable Works, but this would ſear the Vein, that it could run no more. It was a ſweet Apophthegm, which I heard come from him when all was exhauſted: I care not for Poverty, but I ſhall not be able to requite a Benefit; God grant every good King a better way than this was, to enrich him. Fiſcus bonorum Principum non ſacerdotum damnis, ſed hoſtium ſpoliis angeatur I commend thee Symmachus for it, p. 56. But on goes the Game; the Biſhop is dealing in London to take up a Cart-load of Money, and that right worthy Attorney Sir J. Blanks was ſedulous to draw up a full Pardon, ſo abſolute, that it included more than the Biſhop deſired; as this Letter to the L. Keeper will declare.

My very good Lord,

MR. Attorney hath once or twice ſent unto me, by my Man, ſome imperfect Propoſitions, about the manner of a Pardon, which His Moſt Excellent Majeſty ſhould grant unto me, which Propoſitions (not ſpeaking with Mr. Attorney himſelf) I do not well underſtand; for as it is delivered to me, His Majeſty's Offer's more than ever I deſired, by naming a general Pardon, to wit, to pardon all Offences contained in the two Informations, and any other Offence or Miſdemeanor I ſhould deſire particularly to be freedfrom; which, if it be ſo, is as gracious a Favour from His Majeſty as any reaſonable man can expect. But, my good Lord, I know nothing by my ſelf that ſhould of neceſſity be ſo ſolemnly pardon'd: Yet hearing His Majeſty's Inclinations to grant unto others in the condition that I ſtand, general Abolitions, and being not ſo wiſe as the laſt Parliament, to refuſe the benefit of a general Pardon, I confeſs I fell, in my Parley with your Lordſhip, upon that way propounded unto me by my Counſel Learned: But hearing of late it is conſtrued by others as a kind of Capitulation with my Soveraign, I beſeech your Lordſhip I may wave it altogether; and that your Lordſhip would repreſent me kneeling at His Majeſty's Feet, craving that his Goodneſs and Mercy only (without any thing in Writing) together with my Induſtry in his Service for the time to come, may be the ſubſtance and extent of all my Pardon; and this but for ſuch things, as by Informations or Petitions I have been (though undeſervedly) preſented as an Offender againſt His Moſt Excellent Majeſty, and deſir'd to be proceeded againſt by His Majeſty's immediate Directions. If any other private Subject hath ought to ſay againſt me, for any Treſpaſs or Miſdemeanour committed againſt himſelf, (and not His Majeſty) I deſire no Protection, but thoſe of His Majeſty's Courts of Juſtice, againſt any ſuch perſon whoſoever, &c.

December 11th 1635.

From December it hung as it were between Heaven and Earth, it will, and it will not be done, till the King had occaſion to go to Windſor, and the Biſhop had order to lye at Eaton, expecting to be ſent for to kiſs the King's Hand; But who comes thither that was not look'd for, it being the middle of the week, but the Archbiſhop, who malleated the King's Gentleneſs into ſtronger Metal? When Lincoln had laboured for Peace, from thenceforth it was as far ſet back, p. 122as if it had never been in Treaty. How was his good Soul toſs'd about between Friends and Foes, between Mercy and Frowns, and now in the laſt Attempt put to Job's note, c. 16. v. 11. God hath deliver'd me to the ungodly, and turn'd me over to the hands of the wicked: I was at eaſe, but he hath broken me aſunder, and ſhaken me to pieces, and ſet me up for a mark! Intempeſtiva benevolentia nihil à ſimultate differt, Polit. Ep. p. 26. A conſtant Enmity is more generous than to interrupt it with Offers of never-intended, or never-compoſed Agreements. Now the Archbiſhop look'd for the day when he ſhould trample upon this Biſhop, in a Cenſure: Azorius the Jeſuite ſhall apply it for me, Moral. tom. 1. lib. 13. c. 6. When the Order of the Knights Templars was plotted to be overthrown in a Council at Vienna in Dauphine, ſays Pope Clement V. Etſi non per viam juſtitiae poteſt deſtrui, deſtruatur per viam expedientiae, ne ſcandalizetur filius noſter rex Franciae. If they cannot fall by Juſtice, they muſt fall for convenience ſake: But here's the difference in the Story; There a Biſhop did gratifie the King, here the King did gratifie a Biſhop.

117. Proceed then to another Information, ſince it muſt be ſo. The firſt Cauſe being mortified, a new one took life from it; as Gorgias Leontinus his Mother was deliver'd of him when ſhe was dead. Viva fuit ſterilis, mortua facta parens, as Dr. Alabaſter writes in his Epigram upon it. They are but ill Examples in the New Teſtament, when an Accuſation is turn'd into a new Species. The Jews impleaded our Saviour at firſt, that he ſaid he would deſtroy the Temple, &c. and chang'd it before Pilate into another Charge, that he made himſelf a King. Paul was Indicted by the ſame Nation, that he brought a Greek into the Temple to pollute it; but it was turn'd into another matter, Revileſt thou God's High-Prieſt? They that will not ſtand to their own Bill, are more ſet upon Deſtruction than Juſtice. Kilvert onerated the Biſhop with Ten Charges together; the uſe of the Court being, as Judge Popham had regulated it, to admit but Four at once. But chiefly he was active to grime the Defendant with one foul fault, Subornation of Witneſs, that is, to foment Perjury. But the King's Counſel peruſing the Depoſitions, waved it, and gave it another form, Seducing of Witneſſes, a manifeſt injury to the atteſtation of Truth, and for contraction in a new phraſe, Tampering with Witneſſes, as my Lord of Canterbury called it in his Sentence, Perhaps it is not Subornation of Perjury, but it is Tampering. The Defendant thought to help himſelf with a Demur upon four Heads: Firſt, That it was utterly againſt the Practice of the Court, from the Foundation of it, to fall upon a new Charge, ſtarted out of a former, before the firſt had been heard. 2. That advantage was taken to undo any man living, to gather new Impeachments out of the Books, after the publication of the precedent Cauſe. 3. That for all that was offer'd to the Court, complaint had been openly made by Counſel, and not diſproved, That it roſe from the Proſecutors miſ-leading and menacing of Witneſſes, whom Terrour and Impriſonment would not ſuffer to be conſtant to themſelves. Like as Euſebius reports, lib. 6. Praepar. Ervang. c. 1. that when one importun'd the Oracle for an Anſwer, and threatned if he ſtaid any longer; the Oracle told him, Retine vim iſtam, falſa enim dicam ſi coges; Uſe no violence, for I muſt tell a lye, if you do. Laſtly, The Biſhop pleaded with Animoſity (quid enim loqueretur Achilles? Ovid. Met. 13.) that their Lordſhips ought to take ſuch a Charge into Cogniſance, for Tampering had never been noted for Criminal Action before any Judgment in the Land; which is not a Colour, but a Maxime of Law, which appears by that which is ſince publiſh't by the Lord Cook in Juriſdiction of Courts, c. 5. How that Court dealeth not with any offence, which is not Malum in ſe, againſt the Common Law; or Malum prohibitum, againſt ſome Statute. And that Novelties without warrant of Praeſidents, are not to be allowed. Aſſume now out of the Premiſes, that no Example could be found, that the cenſorious magnificence of the Star-Chamber had ever tamper'd with ſuch a peccatulum as tampering. Alteration in the forms of a Court beget the Corruption of the Subſtance. Who ever read, that a Bench of Honourable Judges came into hatred, ſo long as it kept cloſe to the ways of their wiſe and venerable Predeceſſors? But ſays Symmachus in Ep. p. 14. Si adjiciantur inſolita, forſan conſueta ceſſabunt. When the People are over-lay'd with new Diſcipline, perhaps the old Seats of Juſtice may crack in pieces. The Lord Keeper knew Juſtice, and loved it; and did not obſcurely ſignifie, that he thought the Demur was reaſonable: which had almoſt removed him. And he found by one occurrence, that the Biſhop's Caſe was to be ſevered from other mens: For whereas a Proclamation came forth in October 1636. that becauſe a Plague was p. 123begun in London and Weſtminſter, therefore all Pleas and Suits in Law ſhould be ſuſpended till Hillary Term was opened, and the Biſhop claimed the Priviledge, that all things might be reſpited about his Cauſe, branched out into ten Heads, till that ſeaſon. The Proclamation indeed is full and clear on your ſide, ſays the Lord Keeper, but I have ſpecial directions, that you ſhall have no benefit thereof. And I tell you as a Friend, if you rely upon the Proclamation, your impriſonment is aimed at. As if there were one Rule of Juſtice for all the Subjects in the Land, and another for this Biſhop; who took his qu. from this Caveat to attend his Buſineſs; and he did it with the more confidence, that in ſeven years his Adverſaries had got no ground of him; as Grotius writes of the Spaniards ſiege at Ha…rlem, being ſeven months about it; Annal. Belg. p. 42. Viſi ſunt vinci poſſe, qui tam lentè vicerant.

118. Of which none that look't into the Cauſe deſpair'd, till the Scale was overturn'd by the weight of a moſt rigorous Cenſure. The Charge in debate, without any favour to the Defendant, is thus compriſed: Anno 1634. when Kilvert wanted Water to turn his Mill, Sir John Mounſon, and Dr. Farmery, Chancellour of Lincoln, offer'd themſelves to debauch the Credit of Pregion, the Biſhop's Witneſs; who both expected to have gained, and did gain almoſt as much as Kilvert by the Avenues of the Cauſe. To bring their Contrivance about, a Baſtard is laid to Pregion, to be begotten of the Body of Elizabeth Hodgſon, and that he bribed her to lay it upon another Father. The Biſhop was to defend the Credit of his Witneſs, and had to do with Matters and Perſons in this Point, wherein himſelf was altogether a Stranger. He ſuſpected ill dealing from Sir J. Mounſon, the great Stickler, becauſe he knew he hated Pregion, for caſting a Scandal upon his Lady, as vertuous a Gentlewoman as the Country had; in which Cauſe the Biſhop had cauſed Pregion to give Satisfaction long before. Then he had more aſſurance of Pregions Innocency, becauſe he was clear'd of this Baſtard in a Seſſions held at Lincoln in May, Car. 9. and whereas it came again into debate at the Seſſions 3 Octob. following, and it was given out that an Order was paſt to find Pregion guilty, the Biſhop was certified that the Order was not drawn up in open Court, and that it was inſerted in many places with Farmeries hand. And Thomas Lund being preſent at the Seſſions, aſſerted, That it was not conſented to by the Juſtices, but drawn out of Sir J. Mounſon's pocket. He had Letters from Knights of far greater Eſtates than Sir John, who likewiſe teſtified the ſame; and from Mr. Richardſon the Clerk of the Peace, who refuſed to enter that Order; and that it was excepted againſt in open Seſſions by Mr. Sanderſon, a Counſellor of the Laws, and by the greater part of the Bench, as utterly illegal. So that afterward being tried at the King's Bench for the illegality of it, it was damned by all the four Judges. Yet more to detect the Corruption of that Order, at the next Seſſions held in May, the Juſtices diſcharged Pregion, and laid the baſe Child upon one Booth a Recuſant, a Kinſman of Sir J. Mounſon's; which Judgment was ſo inerrable, that it was proved by three Witneſſes, That upon the very day that the Biſhop was ſentenced, Booth himſelf confeſt, in the hearing of thoſe Witneſſes, that Pregion had nothing to do with that baggage Woman, but that he, the ſaid Booth, at ſuch a time and place, did get her with Child, and that Kilvert, whom he curſed bitterly, had promiſed him half the Fine to charge the Child upon Pregion, and had not performed it; and did vainly brag, that Kilvert had brought him to kiſs the King's hand. This was detected when the ſad day was over. Et inſtaurant dolorem ſera ſolatia, Sym. p. 86. But the Objection lay not only upon the getting of the Child, but how that Pregion, or rather the Biſhop, had carried themſelves, to entangle the Witneſſes that had ſworn againſt Pregion, which was the main Charge of the Information, and the colour for the heavy Sentence. The Biſhop being authorized from the Star-Chamber to uphold the Credit of his Witneſs, he found the Depoſitions of Lund, Wetheral, Alice Smith, and Anne Tubb to preſs upon Pregion. Grande doloris—Ingenium eſt, miſeriſque venit ſolertia rebus. Metam. lib. 6. So he did light upon a courſe which was inoffenſive, to extricate Pregion for his own ſafety. foreign, Xeno. Ath. Reſp. 'Tis pardonable for every man to help himſelf. Nor was it an indirect way, no not a jot; for there was neither Perjury nor Contradiction found between the firſt and ſecond Depoſitions of the Parties: And what the Biſhop did was by the advice of the beſt Counſel in England, to draw up ſome few Interrogatories to be put to the four Witneſſes, only to interpret, and not to vary from, or to ſubſtract, or contradict what they had depoſed before: For the words being ambiguous in themſelves, might be p. 124taken in one ſenſe to Defame, in another fence not at all to touch upon the credit of Pregion. It was agreed that Pregion offer'd money to A. Tubb, and Alice Smith to procure Eliz. Hodgſon to lay the baſe Child upon another man; this they had ſworn: this the Biſhop never endeavoured to impeach. But an interrogatory is drawn up, and offer'd to them, whether El. Hodgſon was dealt with to lay it upon the right Father, (which was a juſt and lawful motion) or upon ſome other, whether he had been the Father or no. They both anſwer, That Pregion ſollicited her to lay it upon another, that was the true Father. And this variation is all the Offence, that is, none at all, in that particular. And in that right meaning Sir J. Wray, Sir J. Bolls, and Richardſon the Clerk of the Peace, did receive it in the Seſſions. This Practice, ſo little as it is, is the grand Objection, all beſide comes not to ſo much as a filip on the Forehead: For inſtance, one Ward ſwears, that he heard a Servant of the Biſhop, C. Powel, offer Alice Smith Monies to take an Oath of his framing; but Alice ſwears directly it was not ſo. Powel ſwears he offer'd and paid her Money to bear her Charges, as a Witneſs, which is fit and lawful. Nec iſt a benignitas adimenda eſt, quae liberalitatem magis ſignificat, quàm largitionem, Cic. pro Murenâ. T. Lund takes his Oath, That Pregion told him, that he never had touch'd El Hodgson but twice: Being demanded hereof more ſtrictly in his examination in the Star-chamber, he ſwears, That Pregion did not ſay to him, that he touch'd her carnally, nor did he know what he meant by touching. Is there either ſubſtraction or contradiction in this? or any more than a plain interpretation? Laſtly, Wetheral had depoſed, That he was entreated by Pregion not to be at the Seſſions: He ſtands to it, but adds, that he was not bound to be there, nor ſummoned: He had depoſed, That Pregion ſpake to him to ſwear to no more, than the Court ſhould ask him. What harm was there in that Caution? Being examined in Star-chamber, he ſwears, That Pregion tempted him to nothing by Bribes or Reward, but that he told him, if he were ſworn to tell the whole Truth, he would not conceal it. Only one Witneſs, George Walker, layeth it on the Biſhop, how Powel and Richard Owen entreated him in the Biſhop's Name to ſpeak with Witheral upon theſe matters; which though it include no ill, yet Owen and Powel depoſe, They were never employed by the Biſhop to deal with G. Walker upon ſuch an Errand. So the Biſhop is cleared in every Information by ſufficient Oaths of ſuch, againſt whoſe Faith there was no exception. How eaſie a Province had the Defendant's Counſel to crumble theſe Impeachments into Duſt, and to blow them into the Eyes of the Impeachers? Verba innocenti reperire facilè eſt, Curt. lib. 6. Yet the Oratory of the Court, by pre-inſtructions, did turn them into filthy Crimes. As Irenaeus ſays in the beginning of his Work, That out of the ſame Jewels, which being handſomly put together make the Image of a Prince, being taken aſunder, you may contrive them into the Shape of a Monſter.

119. Could it be expected that ſuch Driblets, or rather Phantoms of Under-dealing with Witneſſes, ſhould hold the Court ten days hearing, in the long Vacation after Trinity-Term? What leiſure was taken to bolt out, to exaggerate, to wrack, to diſtort, to make an Elephant of a Fly! which I may juſtly pour forth in the words of Tully for his Client, Quintius de fortunis omnibus deturbandus eſt. Potentes, diſerti, nobiles, omnes advocandi. Adhibenda vis eſt veritati, minae intentantur, pericula intenduntur, formidines opponuntur. But here were worſe things, which the Oratour had never cauſe to complain of under the Roman Laws. All the Depoſitions of the main Witneſſes for the Biſhop were deleted, not fairly by a Hearing in open Court, where their Lordſhips might every one have conſider'd of it, but were ſpunged out by that Judge in his private Chamber, who was the bane of the Cauſe from the beginning to the end; and forſooth, becauſe they were impertinent Scandals againſt Kilvert, and others that had depoſed for the King: Only the Biſhop was allowed to put in a croſs Bill when it was too late, after he was firſt ruin'd in his Honour, Fortunes, and Liberty, and then leſt to ſeek a Remedy againſt a Companion not worth a Groat. And who was ever uſed like this Defendant ſince the Star-chamber ſate? that when his Cauſe was ſo far proceeded, as to be heard in three ſittings, that two new Affidavits ſhould be brought in by Kilvert, which ſtruck to the very ſubſtance of the Cauſe, to which no Anſwer could be given, becauſe they were new matters, quite out of the Books, obtruded long after publication, yet from thenceforth produced every day, which ſeduced divers of the noble Lords, and no doubt many of the Hearers, as though they had been Depoſitions in that Cauſe, which were not ſo, but Materials of another information, and in their p. 125due time were fully cleared and diſproved. When was it known before, that in every of the ten days that the Cauſe was in debate, a Cloſet-meeting was held at Greenwich, the Lords ſent for to it one by one, the Proofs there repeated to them, and their Votes beſpoken? Which was no better than when Junius Marius, in Tacitus, beſpake the Emperor Claudius to impart his private Commentaries unto him, Per quos noſceret quiſque quem accuſandum popoſciſſet. And between the full hearing and ſentencing the Cauſe, the Lords were well told a Paſſage, That a noble Perſonage had offered Ten thouſand pounds to compound for the Biſhop's Peace, (which is true, that the Duke of Richmond did it, when he ſaw how the Game went in the Cabinet.) Which was the very reaſon that induced their Lordſhips to lay ſuch an immenſe Fine upon a Fault conceiv'd, that was never ſentenc'd in any Kingdom or State before. Yet all this did not ſuffice, but in that morning of the day, when the Cauſe was ſentenc'd, it was firſt debated in an inner Chamber, ſo long till many hundreds waited for their coming forth till high noon, wherein Agreement was concluded by all Parties before they ſate. There, and then it was, that the Archbiſhop preſs'd for the degradation of his Brother Biſhop, and his deportation, God knows whither. Now, to decline that Extremity, the moſt of the Lords, who endeavour'd to do all the Favour that they durſt ſhew, concluded upon a Fine of 10000 l. Impriſonment in the Tower during Pleaſure, (which had been but ſhort, as they were aſſured before, if the King had been but left to his own gracious Gentleneſs) and to be ſuſpended during Pleaſure, in the High-Commiſſion-Court, from all his Juriſdiction: Which Suſpenſion paſs'd in that Commiſſion July 23. And it would not be paſs'd over, that Sir Ed. Littleton, then L. Chief-Juſtice of the Common-Pleas, Anno 1640. in the Month of July, brought Lincoln to Lambeth face to face, with the L. of Canterbury, when Lincoln told his Grace, That the Commiſſion under the Great Seal had not a word in it to enable him to ſuſpend either Biſhop or Prieſt by direction from a Sentence of Star-chamber, but only for Offences ſpecified in the Commiſſion; and that the Fact which His Grace had done, had brought him and the Commiſſioners into a Praemunire. To which the Archbiſhop anſwered, That he had never read the Commiſſion. A learned Satisfaction; Was it not? when he had cenſur'd ſo many by the Power of that Commiſſion, which he confeſt he had never read. But conſider now, as Iſocrates pleaded it well, ad Plat. p. 456. foreign. Whether it be right to inflict ſuch unjuſt and grievous Penalties upon ſuch petty pretended Miſdemeanors. Or did not the Latin Orator provide better againſt it? Cic. 1. de Off. Cavendum ne major poena, quàm culpa ſit; & ne iiſdem de cauſis alii plectantur, alii ne appellentur quidem. And let thoſe who meet with this Narration be acquainted, that albeit the Compact was in the Inner Chamber, that the Lords ſhould ſpeak all the ſame in their Judgment, yet a little Vanity ſlipt from ſome few to eaſe their Stomach: The L. Finch ſaid, That if it had liked others, he would have laid ſome Ignominy on the Biſhop's perſon. Promptum ad aſperura ingenium, Tac. An. lib. 1. So this Lord look'd on the Biſhop's Cauſe not only with a blear'd but with a blood-ſhotten Eye; for it was conceived he meant the cutting off his Ears, who had never ſate a Judge, in all likelihood, if this Biſhop, being then L. Keeper, had not prevented him from leaving his Calling, and travelling beyond Seas; from which courſes he kept him, by fair Promiſes to provide for him, and he made them good: I will name the time and place, Aug. 1621, and the Earl of Exeter's Houſe in St. John's Cloſe. Mr. Secretary Winnebanke ſaid, It was his deſire, if it might have ſeemed good to others, to have the Biſhop degraded. Hold, Sir Francis, and learn the Canons of the Church; it is not in the Power of Laymen to degrade Biſhops at their diſcretion; and as little can a Knight depoſe a Peer of the upper Houſe of Parliament; for he that can thruſt a Biſhop out of that Houſe, why not as well an Earl or a Duke? But Sir Francis ſhewed his Good will, as the Athenians did to Philip the Son of Demetrius, in Livy: Additum eſt decreto ut ſi quid poſtea, quod ad noxam ignominiam que Philippi pertineret, adderetur, id omne populum Athenienſium juſſurum, Dec. 4. lib. 1. Then comes in the Archbiſhop with a Trick, to hoiſe up the Biſhop with ſome Praiſe, that it might puſh him in pieces with a greater Cenſure, That when he thought upon this Delinquent's Learning, Wiſdom, Agility in Diſpatch, Memory, and Experience, that accompanied him with all theſe Endowments, he wondred at his Follies and Sins in this Cauſe. O Sins by all means! for by dioptrical Glaſſes ſome find Blemiſhes in the Sun: Teleſcopia fabri facimus ut in ſole maculas quaeramus, ſays Alex. More, in his Preface to Strangius's learned Book. So upon p. 126this matter his Grace took up no leſs than a full Hour to declaim againſt the horrid Sin of Perjury; and in this Cauſe he might as well have ſpoken againſt the horrid Sin of Piracy: So he lays all his Cenſure upon that Charge. Spirat inexhauſtum flagranti pectore ſulphur, as Claudian of Enceladus. The Auditors thought he would never have made an end, till at laſt he pleaded for more Right to be done Sir J. Mounſon. The Lords (let me ſay it freely and truly) had overſhot themſelves to fine the Biſhop to pay Sir John a Thouſand Marks, for ſaying that his Charge againſt Pregion was a Pocket-Order. It is confeſs'd the Biſhop ſaid ſo, and ſaid the Truth. But beſide, the Biſhop pleaded, that he heard it of T. Lund; Lund ſtands to it, that he told it the Biſhop, yet the Biſhop is cenſur'd, and Lund, that took it upon himſelf, is not queſtion'd. But the L. of Canterbury, who did ever mount higheſt in all Cenſures, ſaid, He was ſorry the Fine was not a Thouſand pounds.

120. This is the ſhutting up of the Cenſure, grievous to the Biſhop's Purſe and Liberty, but not a whit to his Honour and Good Name; which was ſo eſteem'd by almoſt all that heard the actings of that day, and ſhook their Heads at them. As Cicero ſays in pro Plancio, Opimii calamitas turpitudo Po. Ro. non judicium putandum eſt. I that write this was choſen to bring the relation of this Cenſure to the Biſhop, then hard at his Study; which he received with no change at all of his Countenance or Voice, but only ſaid, Now the Work is over my Heart is at reſt, ſo is not many of theirs that have cenſured me. And here began the way to Epiſcopal Diſgrace and Declenſion. It was his turn now, it was Canterbury's not long after. Howl Fir-tree, for the Cedar is fallen, Zech. 11.3. foreign; as Salmaſius of the Elephant and Dragon in Solinum, p. 307. The Vanquiſh'd was caſt down, and the Conqueror fell likewiſe. When ſuch a Pillar of the Church was demoliſh'd with Proſecutions, ſo uncover'd to every Eye, ſo tranſparent, that you might ſee the Bluſh of Injuſtice quite through them, how ominous was it to the higher and lower Dignities of the Clergy! As Mr. Morice ſays in his Coena foreign, p. 354. Perhaps it may be with them as with Staddels in a Wood, which ſcarce ever proſper when their fellows are cut down, and themſelves left naked. And what became in three years, or little more, of that Honourable Court of Star-chamber? of which the L. Coke ſays, That in the right inſtitution, and the ancient Orders of it being obſerv'd, it keeps all England in quiet. But in ſome late Cauſes it grew diſtaſteful even to wonder; as in that of the Soap-boilers, and that of London Derry, that of Mr. Osbolſton, nay, in that of Prynn, Baſtwick, and Burton, men not to be favour'd in the matter of their ſeditious Writings, but for their Qualities and Places ſake, to be pitied for the Indignity done to their Perſons; which I receive from a wiſe Hand, Bodin de Rep. l. 6. c. 6. Legibus Francorum ac Saliorum quamplurimae pro cujuſque statu ac conditione poenae infliguntur—Quin & barbariſſimi Indi, qui ad occaſum poſiti ſunt, cum de ſceleribus conviclum nobilem ac plebeium tenerent, nobili capillos aut brachialia truncabant, plebeio nares & auriculas praecidebant. But I ſaid, that after the Cenſure of the forenamed Cauſes, and that of this Biſhop, all much againſt the popular Judgment, many great men did preſage, and the Commonalty did wiſh the extinction of that noble Court; and it was overthrown by Vote in the firſt five months of the Long Parliament, before the King had carried away his moſt conſiderable Friends to York. This is the condition of mortal things, ſays Pliny, Ut à neceſſariis primùm cuncta venerint ad nimium, Nat. Hiſt. l. 26. Many Tribunals were of neceſſary inſtitution at firſt, and of neceſſary deſtruction when they run into Exceſs. Indeed it is not the primitive Court that is pulled down, but another, when it waxeth quite unlike it ſelf. Non eſt eadem harmonia, ubi è Phrygio in Doricum tranſit, ſays Ariſtotle, 5 Pol. The Muſick is not the ſame, which is altered from a ſhrill to a grave Note. Yet better terms, I hope, may ſet it up in a better Conſtitution. A Pot that boils over may be taken from the Fire, and ſet on again: Howſoever, I am not ſo bold with holy Providences, to determine why God cauſed or permitted this great Court to be ſhut up like an unclean place; or why Divine Judgment was ſo ſevere againſt their perſons eſpecially, that inflamed the Cenſure againſt our Biſhop. But I will cover his Caſe with St. Auſtin's Eloquence, touching the Doom paſs'd upon St. Cyprian, Alia eſt Sella terrena (aut Stella terrena) aliud tribunal coelorum, ab inferiore accepit ſententiam, à ſuperiore coronam, Pſ. 36. Conc. 3. And certainly Chriſt doth feel the Injuries done to an Innocent, who was ſentenc'd by unrighteous Judgment.

121. My Pen muſt not now go with the Biſhop, my good Maſter, to his Lodgings in the Tower, whither in my Perſon I reſorted to him weekly, and if p. 127I ſaid daily, a leſſer Figure than an Hyperbole would ſalve it; excepting when he was confined to cloſe Impriſonment, which was not wont, but upon the Diſcoveries or Jealouſies of dangerous Treaſons. The Chriſtians that were committed by idolatrous Emperors, were in liberâ cuſtodiâ, their Deacons and Relievers of their Wants might reſort unto them. I have the Authority of Photius for it, Ep. 97. foreign. They that put the Martyrs to death hindered not their Friends to come and adminiſter unto them: But Chriſtian Magiſtrates ſhould be more obſervant of that Clemency, elſe the Praiſe which our Saviour gives to the Charitable would be prevented; I was in priſon, and ye came unto me, Mat. 25.36. He that hath no more than the freedom of a Priſon, much more he that hath not ſo much, is in a ſtrait Captivity. The Rabbins have a Saying, That if Sea were Ink, and the World Parchment, it would never ſerve enough to contain the praiſes of Liberty. But ſo good a Diſciple as I write of did not believe the Jews, that there was ſo much ſweetneſs as they dreamt of, in any temporal Proſperity. And finding that the People on this ſide Tweed, and beyond, were provoked to Diſcontents, and more diſcontented than they were provoked; and hearing Preſages of ill to come, both from the Judicious, and from every Mechanick's Mouth, things were ſo bad without-doors, that he ſaw no reaſon, but to think, that Malice had withered him away into no unhappy Retirement. Upon which ſubject he made ſome Latin Poems, eſpecially when he took no good Reſt. I am of opinion it was ſo with Job, c 35.10. God my maker giveth Songs in the night; and after the vulgar Latin, Qui dedit carmina in nocte. To which Moral Gregory ſays, Carmen in nocte eſt felicitas in tribulatione. With ſuch Diverſions our Job compounded with his Sorrows, to pay them not the half he owed them: And whatſoever Face thy Fate puts on, ſhrink not, nor ſtart not, but be always one; as Laureat Johnſon ſings it in his Underwoods. Briefly, Impriſonment to him was no worſe than it is to a Flower put into an Earthen Pot, ſtreightned for ſpreading, but every whit as ſweet as in the open Beds of the Garden. Yet he wanted not Tentatious to break his Heart, if God had not kept it. He lookt for Mercy from His Majeſty, now he had pluckt him down, after a long chaſe, with a Cenſure: Ne que Caeſari quicquam ex victoriis ejus laetius fuit, quàm ſervaſſe Corvinum, as Vellicus hath immortalized the memory of Caeſar. Whereas three new Bills were allowed to be entred againſt this Biſhop, as I ſhall relate, when I come again into that rugged way; which was foreign, as Photius calls Baſilius's Uſage, an unſpeakable pickling a man in the Brine of Miſery. He lookt for ſome of the Nobles to mediate for his Enlargement, (as there were not a few that did lend him help before, while there was Hope that he might recover) but Kings like not that any ſhould pity them whom they have undone. So there was not one Ebedmelech in the Court, that would tye a few Rags together, to draw Jeremiah out of Priſon. How few there be that will co-part with any in their ruin'd Fortunes! Miſerorum non ſecus ac deſunctorum obliviſcuntur, Plin. Ep. lib. 9. which we may tranſlate into Engliſh out of the Pſalm. 31.12. I am a fear to mine acquaintance, I am forgotten, as a dead man out of mind. The ſame meaſure that David found in Jury, Thuanus confeſſeth, was to be ſeen in France, Hiſt. lib. 23. That among all that Diana Valentina had preferred, when ſhe was their King's Miſtreſs, Nemo unus repertus, qui fortunam jacentis, & à ſuis relictae ſublevaret. With the ſame Neglect Velleius chargeth the Aegyptians, when Pompey their great Benefactor fled unto them, and was deſerted, Quis in adverſis beneficiorum ſervat memoriam? Aut quis ullam calamitoſis deberi putat gratiam? Even they, whoſe Spiritual Father Paul was, whom he had begotten at Rome, in Chriſt's Goſpel, they all forſook him, and none ſtood to him when he was convented, 2 Tim. 4.16. Some few alſo of this bountiful Lord's Servants ſtood afar off now, and came not near him: They were ſo well provided under him, that they did not need him; and they were ſo heartleſs and timorous, that he did not need them. Hirundines Thebas, quod i.lius moenia ſaepiùs capta ſint, negantur ſubire, Plin. N. H. lib. 10. c. 24. Thebes was ſo often ſackt and taken, that no Swallows would neſt within it; a Summer-bird, and a ſubtle, that will endure Winter and hard Seaſons with no body. Yet, to give his honeſt Followers their due, the greateſt part of them ſhrunk not, but did their beſt Service that they could afford to their forlorn Maſter; like Sear Leaves, that hang upon an Oak in January; tho' the Tree can give them no Sap, they are loth to leave it.

p. 128122. Another thing came ſo croſs to the Biſhop, as nothing could be worſe to a magnificent ſumptuous mind; and if he had been covetous, it had done the Work which his Enemy lookt for, it had killed him. All that ever he had was ſeized, nay rifled, ſtormed, plunder'd; and what Enemy was ever ſo mad, to batter a Town when they had taken it? It was time for him to ſave ſomewhat, if he could, to keep him in a competency of Livelihood. He was in Debt ſome Thouſand pounds deep, and he heard that the King was reſolved not to abate a Denier of his Fine. No man was more willing to unlatch the Door, and to let out Wealth and Fortune if it would not ſtay. Si celeres quatit pennas, reſigno quae dedit, & meâ virtute me involvo, Hor. Od. lib. 3. penult. Yet that he might not be ſtuck on Ground, he petition'd, that His Majeſty would ſtall his Fine, and take it up as his Eſtate would bear it, by a Thouſand Pounds a year; which was never denied to any Subject, and was granted, till the Archbiſhop overcame to have it revok'd. foreign, Hom. Odyſſ. How much better had it been to do a good turn than a bad? But an Order is diſpatch'd, to gather up all that could be found, and to import it into the Exchequer, without any reſpite of Time. Kilvert is commiſſion'd to be the Publican, to go down to Bugden and Lincoln, with an Extent: And the Devil could do no worſe to Job, when he was put into his Hands; he ſeizeth upon all the Books he found, Movables, Goods, Plate, Furniture, to the value of Ten thouſand pounds, of which he never made account but of Eight hundred pounds, for the Thouſand Marks allowed to Sir J. Mounſon, which Kilvert's Man told the Biſhop, that Sir John and his Maſter ſhared it between them. He felled the Timber, which our new Purchaſers of Biſhops Lands learned of that honeſt man: He killed up the Deer of the Park; ſettles in Bugden-Houſe for three Summers, with a Seraglia of Quaedam; fells an Organ that coſt 120 l. at 10 l. Pictures that coſt 400 l. at 5 l. Books he filcht what he would; and for four Cellars of Wine, Syder, Ale, Beer, with Wood, Hay, Corn, and the like, ſtored up for a year or two, he gave not account of Six-pence, but ſpent it upon Baggage, and looſe Franions, as prodigally as if he had kept a Shrievalty. Thus a brave Perſonal Eſtate flew away into Atoms, and not a Tally ſtruck to pay His Majeſty, though enough to have paid all, if it had been juſtly husbanded. The worſt is behind. The Biſhop's Benefices, Lands, and Leaſes are offer'd to be rented at 4500 l. per annum, with ſufficient Security to pay the King: This had ſatisfied the Fine in two years, within a little. But Kilvert brings a Letter with him from Secretary Windebank, to direct, or rather force, the Juries to receive no Evidence againſt the King's Profit, but to find the Particulars at half the rate, and leſs; which the Varlet enjoy'd at thoſe Penniworths, and made Benefit of the Overplus, to waſte it in Luxury. Well might they allow the Biſhop, at this rate, 500 l. per annum, out of his own, for his ſubſiſtence; and yet of that the Fees of the Priſon ſuck'd up a conſiderable proportion: But Kilvert was a long-tongu'd fellow, and if he were alive, he would ſpeak out, and tell us, That there were Sharers with him in theſe Prizes, he had not all. He and Powel were Sequeſtrators indeed, to collect the Rents of Huntington ſhire, but Farmery had thoſe of Lincoln, Sir J. Lamb the Parſonage of Walgrave, the firſt Dog that lodg'd the Deer; the Prebendaries of Weſtminſter had his Deanry, that breathed him ſo well in the Royal Viſitation; the Archbiſhop had the Juriſdiction of the Biſhoprick, againſt the Canon-Law, which in vacancy or ſuſpention was to be executed by a Cuſtos Spiritualitatis, who was to be one of the Reſidentiaries of the Minſter. But thus he was given up to be devoured, as a Carrion, by his Promoters and Accuſers. And what Conſcience was there in the nomination of ſuch partial Sequeſtrators? Nor were they aſhamed that the Eyes of the whole Land were open, to ſee their Extortions: Tanta dulcedo eſt ex alienis fortunis praedandi, Liv. l. 1. dec. 6. Neither did they conſider, that if they ſhall be caſt upon God's left hand, that did not give charitably of their own, that their Condemnation ſhall be far greater, that did rob from others: Multi in hâc vitâ manducant, quod apud inferos digerunt, Aug. in Pſ. 49. But to return to the much injur'd Priſoner, his Bark was pilled round about, the Stock then muſt needs die: Yet he kept honourable Hoſpitality in the Tower, and maintain'd a Table furniſht for the Noon Meal (no Cloth was ſpread again that day) with as much Plenty and Decorum as any of the Prelates kept, that had all their Rents and Incomes to themſelves; and yet this little Solace, to draw Friends about him, was repined at by the Archbiſhop; for Sir Richard Winn, the Biſhop's Kinſman, knowing that he did ſenſibly decay by the Sums of Moneys which he had lent p. 129him, ſpake to Archbiſhop Laud, That ſome Order might be taken for a better adminiſtration of his Estate, that he might be fed and maintain'd like a Gentleman out of his own. His Grace gave him this ſnappiſh Anſwer, That he did not hear that his Kinſman lived like one that wanted. That's it then he would have heard. There were very good things to be found in the L. Archbiſhop, but his implacable ſpight againſt a Biſhop, his Raiſer, and now become a Spectacle of Pity, was unpardonable. Let him that weaves the Webb of his Life and Actions, untangle this Knot in the ſilken Skeen of his Memory, if he can. But I think, as Zenobius makes it an Adagy, Cent. 4. Prov. 28. foreign, That to draw the Picture of Butas truly, the beſt way was not to paint him from Head to Foot.

123. Malevolence did impotently break forth, and had no Vizard to hide its Face, that the Archbiſhop was not ſatisfied to have his Fellow Biſhop ſuſpended in the High-Commiſſion Court, but he advanced to deprive him for the Book called The Holy Table. Gregory the Ninth in his Epiſtles blames the Engliſh Clergy above any, that they ſtudied to undo one another: O Angli! hominum eſtis miſerrimi: quilibet veſtrum alium corrodit, ac ſtudet depauperare. He ſaw too much into the nature of our inſulary Severity, and not holding cloſe together. Uniti muniti. They of the ſame Tribe, if they be wiſe, ſhould not make a rent in their own piece, foreign, ſays the Emperour Antoninus, becauſe they are woven into the ſame Loom, and are ſupporters of the ſame Building. Where ſhould we look for kindneſs, but in the Rulers of the Church, the nobleſt part of Chriſt's Family? And kindneſs is nobleneſs, ſays St. Chryſoſtom; and mercy is a generous thing. The Beraeans were more noble than the Theſſalonians, Acts 17. foreign, ſays he. It doth not ſignifie nobleneſs of blood, but gentleneſs of pity. Now for the Book, the Stone of Scandal, at which his Grace ſtumbled ſo much, it was known unto him, that ſome things got into practice in the Church under his Government, and by his Authority, were diſreliſht by a conſiderable part in his Province, and they of the beſt conformity; whoſe averſeneſs he thought would be the ſtiffer, by the contents of that Book. His remedy was to bring the Author into queſtion, and to cruſh all that ſided with him in his Perſon; as the State Maxim goes, Compendium eſt victoriae devincendorum hoſtium duces ſuſtuliſſe, Paneg. to Conſtantine p. 339. But which way ſhall the Book be brought into Diſgrace? with bad Interpretations? It will do no good. Forced Earth in time will fall to its own level. Firſt then (beſides ſome Anſwers publiſht to decry it) he incenſed his Majeſty with a relation of it; in whoſe Eccleſiaſtical Rights it was mainly written: for what he had collected, and offered in a Paper to his Majeſty, Lincoln got a ſight of it by the Duke of Lennox, and proved that all the Matters of Fact ſet down againſt him were falſe, and not to be found in the Book, but that it ſtrongly maintain'd the contrary Poſitions: which when his Majeſty ſaw, he ſeem'd to take it ill from the Informer. So theſe flitting Clouds were blown over, before they could pour down the Storm they were big with. His Grace ſent the Book to the Attorney Gener…, to thruſt it into an Information, who return'd it back, that it would not bear it. Here again was Tencer's luck in Homer. Il. foreign, He had a good will to hit Hector with an Arrow, but he miſt him. Then in his Speech made againſt Burton, Prin, and Baſtwick, which he printed with a Dedication to the King, he fell upon this Book, reading out of his Notes, that he that gave allowance to thruſt it at that time into the Preſs, did countenance thoſeth…ee Libellers, and did as much as in him lay to fire the Church and State. Now under colour to Cenſure others, to fall upon a man that was neither Plaintiff, Defendant, nor Witneſs in their Cauſe, would amount to a Libel in anothers mouth, againſt whom Juſtice had been open. But as Demoſthenes ſays againſt Ariſtogiton, foreign, a Sword is uſeleſs, if it have not an edg to cut; ſo this bitter flam was but a leaden Dagger, and did not wound. What remained next but, take him Bull-begger, fetch him into the High-Commiſſion Court, where his Grace was Preſident Judge, and might be Advocate, Proctor, Promotor, or what he would. And he was ſo hot upon it, that three Letters were written by Secretary Windebank, in his Majeſties Name, to haſten the Cauſe. Whereas honeſt and learned Dr. Rive, the King's Advocate, knew not where to act his part upon it. Lincoln is now in his Coup in the Tower; whither four Biſhops, and three Doctors of the Civil Laws came to take his Anſwer to a Book of Articles of four and twenty ſheets of Paper on both ſides. The Defendant refuſeth to take an Oath on the Bible, claiming p. 130the Priviledge of a Peer; but his Exception was not admitted. He ſtood upon it, that himſelf was a Commiſſioner, that they had no power over him, more than he had over them; which did not ſuffice him. Then they come to the Articles; whoſe Proem in uſual form was, That he muſt acknowledge, and ſubmit to the power of that high Court; which he did grant no otherwiſe, than in ſuch things, and over ſuch perſons, as were ſpecified in their Commiſſion. The ſecond Article contain'd, That all Books licenſed by his Grace's Chaplains, are preſumed to be Orthodox, and agreeable to ſound and true Religion; which he denied, and wondred at the Impudency that had put ſuch an Article upon him. The third, That he had licenſed a Book, when none but the Archbiſhops, and Biſhop of London had ſuch power. Nay, ſays Lincoln, my ſelf, and all Biſhops as learned as they, have as much power as they; not only by the Council of Lateran under Leo the Tenth, and the Reformatio Cleri under Cardinal Pool, but by Queen Elizabeth's Injunctions, and a Decree in Star-Chamber. The fourth, That he named a Book, called A Coal from the Altar, a Pamphlet. The fifth, That he ſaid all Fleſh in England had corrupted their ways. The ſixth, That in a jear he ſaid he had heard of a Mother Church, but never of a Mother Chappel. The ſeventh, That again in a ſcoff he derived the word Chappel from St. Martin's Hood. The eighth, That he ſaid the people were not to be laſht by every mans whip. The ninth, That he maintain'd the people were God's people, and the King's people, but not the Prieſt's People. The tenth, That be flouted at the prety of the Times, and the good work in hand. The reſt of the Cluſter were like theſe, and theſe as ſharp as any of the ſeven and twenty Articles, and one and thirty Additionals. This was the untemper'd Mortar that crumbled away; or as the Vulgar Latin reads it, Ezech. 13.10. Liniebant parietem luto abſque paleis. So here was dirt enough; but not ſo much as a little ſtraw, or chaff, to make it ſtick together: But ſuch as they were, the Biſhop had the favour to read them all over once before he was examined; a favour indeed, not ſhew'n to every body. After the Examination paſt over, he required a Copy of it, which the three Civilians voted to be granted: but his Grace, and Sir J. Lamb would firſt have him re-examined again upon the ſame Interrogatories, to try the ſteadineſs of his memory, and to catch him in a Snare, if he did vary. An Error that may eaſily be ſlipt into, by the tediouſneſs of the Matter, and the intricate Forms of the Clerk's Pen, wherein an aged or illiterate man will ſcarce avoid the danger of Perjury. But the Biſhop, being of a prodigious memory, had every word by heart which he had depoſed before againſt two ſubſequent Examinations; which laid this Cauſe aſleep, till God ſhall awaken it, and hear it on both ſides at the laſt day.

124. No worſe could be lookt for, than that their frivolous Articles ſhould go out, as they did, in a Cracker. And leſs was expected from that which followed, whoſe ſteam, when it came abroad, was laught at in good Company; but it coſt the unfortunate Biſhop ſome thouſands in good earneſt, for Cyphers, for Riddles, for Quibbles, for Nothing: It made a third Information in Star-Chamber; for like Herulus in Virgil, Aen. 8. Ter letho ſternendus erat. The driver on, and the dealer in it was the Archbiſhop; and if all that read it, do not condemn it, I am not in my Senſes. For I will Appeal in thoſe words of Job, c. 17. v. 8. Upright men ſhall be aſtonied at this, and the innocent ſhall ſtir up himſelf againſt the hypocrite. Mark how the Game was plaid by a black Biſhop and two Rooks, and how the white Biſhop was taken by diſcovery. Dr. Walker, our Biſhop's Secretary, hardly eſcap'd in the ſecond Bill, and Kilvert's anger did ſtill hang over him. Cadwallader Powel his Steward was then fined at 300 l. and Impriſonment, yet was never toucht in his perſon, nor a peny of the Fine exacted of him. For which Favours he is dealt with to eſpy what he could, to cruſh his Lord with ſome freſh Oppreſſion. Who raking in every Corner to find out ſomewhat that might anſwer his Undertaking, he produceth two Letters of Mr. Oſbolſtons, the head School-maſter of the King's School at Weſtminſter. The Biſhop, to whom they are written, will not own them, that he did ever receive them. Powel ſays he found them in his Chamber. And it is poſſible there was ſuch heedleſſneſs; for I knew the Houſe well, and have ſeen ſome careleſs overſights in that kind. A fault incident to Melanctthon, ſays Camerarius in vit. p. 37. Litterae quae afferebantur, quotidie omnium oculis & manibus expoſitae, ex quibus ſubtractum plurimum eſſe conſtat. A negligence not to be cover'd with the excuſe of the greateſt and graveſt ſtudies. But it was made highly probable, that theſe Letters were neither found, ſcatter'd at random, nor pick't out of a Desk or Hamper of Papers, (both which for certain Powel broke open) but Powel received p. 131them immediately from the Carrier, and never deliver'd them to his Lord and Maſter. So it was confirm'd by many Oaths in Court; nay, confeſt by Powel, That when his Lord was in remoter parts, he had order to open all Letters directed to his Lordſhip, to look into them if they had any matter concerning the Suits ſo hotly proſecuted againſt him, and to ſend them, as he thought fit, to the Secretary to London. The Contents of theſe two Letters being gloſt upon by Powel to be dangerous to the Archbiſhop, and lap'd up in dark folds to give a greater affright, it founds likely that he reſerved them to himſelf, and kept them in lavender for ſuch a day wherein they might ſtand him in ſtead. For more confirmation, the Biſhop takes his Oath, He did not remember that ever he received ſuch Letters: and Osbolſton ſwears point blank, He never had an anſwer to them; which makes a ſtrong preſumption, that this truſty Steward did pocket them up. Of whom Kilvert received them; which is not denied. And he preſents them to his Grace: and if his Grace had been the Maſter of a brave Spirit, we would have thrown them into the ſire. That had been generous to abhor a Servant that betray'd his Maſter, and to borrow no Office of Villany from him. That had been noble, not to rake for Secrets and Advantages in the Letters of his Adverſary. So did Caeſar when Scipio's Cabinet was brought to him, found at Thapſus; ſo he did with Pompey's Papers ſeized on at Pharſalia, which he would not look into, but burnt them. Illa ſuit vera & incomparabilis animi ſublimitas, captis apud Pharſaliam Pompeii magni ſertniis Epistolarum, concremaſſe eas optima …, a…que non legiſſe. Plin. lib. 7. Nat. Hiſt. c. 15. Such Gallantry had better become a Primate of all England, than the Dictator of Rome, and all the World. This had been: way to have got him a great Name, to give Lincoln ſuch an Eſlay of his Civility. Nihil laudabilius, nihil magno & praeclaro viro dignius … & clem…ntiâ, Tul. 2. l. Of. But to look for ſuch things from a revengful mind, is as unlikely as to make the briſ…ly skin of a Hedghog ſmooth. And when all the Stuff in the Letters are scann'd, what Fadoodles are brought to light? Firſt, Oſbolſton is charg'd to write libellous matter againſt his Grace, in That he call'd him Vermin, little Urchin, medling Hocas Pocas; and the Lord Treaſurer deceaſed, Great Leviathan. 2. To contain falſe News and tales in this paſſage, That the little Urchin, and great Leviathan, are become at great diſtance in earneſt. 3. To contain a Conſpiracy to deſtroy his Grace, becauſe one Letter enquires, when Lincoln would come to Weſtminſter to look after this Gear. On the Biſhop's part, a Note ſcribled haſtily, but no Letter, is produced, ſent to Walker in theſe Words: MR. Osbolſton importunes me, to contribute to my Lord Treaſurer ſome Charges upon the little Great man, and aſſures me they are mortally out: I have utterly refuſed to meddle in this Buſineſs. And I pray you learn from Mr.Selden and Mr. Herbert, if any ſuch falling out be. And keep it to your ſelf, what I write unto you. If my Lord Treaſurer would be ſerved by me, he must uſe a more ſolid and ſufficient Meſſenger, and free me from the Bonds of the Star Chamber? Elſe let them fight it out for me.

What a Spider's Thread is here to pull a Man into the Star Chamber by it… So Fulgentius tells us of Padre Paulo, that he wrote a Letter in Cypher to Gabriel Colliſon, touching at the Court of Rome, as if ſome came to Dignities by evil Services; which Colliſon revealed to St. Severmo, Cardinal, and Head of the Office of Inquiſition, for which Paul was trounced with continual diſturbance. And our Inquiſitor St. Severo, did now make uſe of the like, or rather leſs opportunity.

125. To ſlide this Cauſe with the moſt ſly advantage into a hearing, Lincoln is kept in cloſe Impriſonment from All-hollantide till the end of Chriſtmas (for what Cauſe will appear in order) that he might be ſurprized, and neither trouble the King with Petitions, nor the Court of Star-Chamber with motions. He chaft at it extreamly, and could do no leſs. foreign, ſays Ariſtotle Eth. 4. c. 5. They that are not angry upon meet occaſion, are Foo's. But the day is ſet, and come, without any reſpect had to his due preparation, according to Rules and Cuſtoms. At the hearing Mr. Osbolſton pleads, That the great Prelate had no reaſon to take thoſe nick-names to himſelf; that he neither named him nor thought of him. He ſwears it, and proves it ſtrongly, That the Hocas Pocas was one Dr. Spicer, who was vulgarly abuſed with that by-word, and that Judge Richardſon was the great Leviathan, who had committed Spicer at that time, no leſs than five years before, to Newgate. What reaſon was there but he p. 132ſhould expound his own Riddle? Now here's a forked Dilemma, let the Biſhop, or any man living, eſcape one horn of it, if it be poſſible. For if he receive ſuch Letters, and not complain of them, if it come to light, diſtortions of Phraſes ſhall endanger him to be guilty of ſmothering a Libel. If he take the other courſe, and reveal them to a Juſtice of Peace, and ſay he takes the Arch-biſhop to be meant by Vermin, Urchin, Hocas Pocas, ſince the Writer did ſwear the contrary, he had evidently made himſelf the Author of a libellous Expoſition. But the Biſhop pleads he never received ſuch Letters to his remembrance; and to make it likely, Osbolſton ſwears he never had an Anſwer of them. Powel will not ſwear, but ſays he found them in a Band-box in the Biſhop's Chamber. They were like the Cup in Benjamin's Sack, no body but Joſeph and the Steward that plotted it, could tell how it came there. Dr. Walker believes, but dares not ſwear, that his Lordſhip receiv'd them; yet adds, he could not be aſſured that he underſtood them: for upon his knowledge the Biſhop was often to ſeek to underſtand Mr. Osbalſton's gibriſh, and was fain to ſend to him for his Cypher, which in this matter he did not. That which the King's Counſel urged was from the Papers that Dr. Walker brought in under his Lords hand, which tuned ſomewhat like to a Replication to the two Letters. The Secretary was pelted with many hard words that day from divers Lords, for doing that ill O…lice to his Maſter. I have heard Dr. Walker proteſt deeply, ſo have many beſides, That he would not have done it for all the world, but that he knew it was a main witneſs of his Lord's Innocency, and enough to clear him, howſoever the Court did ſtrangely miſunderſtand it. I am bountiful to him, if I think he did it for that good end; and I will think ſo, becauſe I never ſaw any immorality or vice in the courſe of his life. And he was right, that the Paper is very candid, and did deſerve from the Archbiſhop that he ſhould have caſt away at leaſt ſome unprofitable courteſies upon the Biſhop for it. And the proof was clear, even ex parte Reg is in the Court, that he refuſed to conſent or agree to make one in a quarrel againſt the Archbiſhop: but he holds cloſe to his main Plea, That the Letters excepted at did never come to his hands. If the matter of them be worthy of a cenſure, let it light upon his Steward, and his Secretary, who confeſs to have ſeen thoſe Papers ſome years before, and to know the ironical meaning, and did conceal them. He appeals alſo to the Laws of the Land, that if ſuch Letters had come to him, like Merlin's Rhimes, and Roſicruſian bumbaſt, that no Law or Practice directs the Subject to bring ſuch Gryphes and Oracles, but plain, litteral, grammatical Notions of Libels to a Juſtice of Peace, againſt a known and clearly decipher'd Magiſtrate. That nothing were more ridiculous, than to prefer a Complaint for canting, and unintelligible Expreſſions. It cannot be but ſo many wiſe Lords, as ſat in Judgment, underſtood this. Well might the Biſhop ſay, that all fleſh had corrupted their way. The Court in thoſe days was rolled about with fear, and were ſteered by imperious directions. As Syncſius ſaid of Athens in his days, Ep. 235. foreign, There was nothing but the Hide left, to ſhew what a fair Creature it was in times of Yore. Let it not be thought raſh to write thus of ſo noble a Senate How did a Commiſſion of Lords uſe Queen Ann of Bullen? and a greater Commiſſion than that uſe Mary Queen of Scotland? But Mr. Osbalſton is ſentenc'd out of all his Freehold, was doom'd to an opprobrious branding, who eſcap't it by concealing himſelf from the cruelty of the Tyger; only the Earl of Holland voted, that he ſaw no proof to bear a Sentence; but cleared both Osbolſton and the Biſhop; ſo did not the Lord Finch, and Sir Fr. Windebank, who liſted up the Biſhop's Fine to Ten thouſand pounds: Such as theſe made that Honourable Court inſupportable to the Subject, odious to the Parliament: For whoſe ſake I will change a word in a paſſage of Tullies Philip. 13. Iſt is locus ſi in hâc Curiâ fuerit, ipſi Curiae non erit locus. Sir J. Brampſton, Lord Chief Juſtice, led the moſt Voices for 8000 l. Fine and Damages, for receiving Libellous Letters. Yet was ſo judicious not to call the Script, ſent privately to Dr. Walker, a divulging of them, as ſome others did; nor did he tax him for not blaming the Indiſcretions of Osbolſton: yet thoſe were the Heads to which the moſt did refer the Contents of their diſlike. For all this the Biſhop reſted in peace of mind, and piouſly wiſh't his Judges Mercy from God; which Prayer I hope was heard for their perſons; but God was offended at the Court, which over-drip't ſo many with its too far ſpreading Branches of Arbitrary and Irregular Power. If the Excreſcencies had been pruned away, the reſt might have ſerv'd for wholſome uſe. When the Romans found the Carriage of their Cenſors to be inſolent, Mucronem ſenſorium muſtis remediis retuderant, Alex…ab Alex. p. 133lib. 3. c. 23. They blunted the Edge, but ſtill kept the Sword in the Magiſtrates hand. But God ſpared not to dig up this burdenſome Tree by the root; as Auſon. in Paneg. Quae mala adimis, proſpicis ne eſſe poſſint rediviva; yet it may be the Stump is in the Earth, though fetter'd to be kept under with a band of Iron and Braſs, Dan. 4.15. and may ſpring again in due ſeaſon. But this guilt, among a hundred more upon it, is, that this Biſhop being mulcted in eight thouſand pounds, for a pretence thinner than a Vapour, a Treſpaſs to mean for one Chriſtian to ask forgiveneſs of it from another, and never clap't upon him by the Evidence of any Proof, yet not a doit was remitted of that vaſt Sum. And yet I look upon our Biſhop as one that had a better hold in preſent comfort, hope hereafter, and glory for ever. For it is better by far to ſuffer, than to do an Injury. Miſerior eſt qui ſuſcepit in ſe ſcelus, quàm qui alterius facinus ſubire cogitur. Cic. Philip. 11.

126. Lucilius a Centurion in Tacitus Annal. lib. 1. had a ſcornful name given him by the Military Dicacity of his own Company, Cedo alteram. Quta fractâ vite in terga militis alteram, & rurſus alteram poſcebat; when he had broken a Baſtonada of a tough Vine upon a Souldiers ſhouldiers, he call'd for another, and another after that. Such an inde…inent Cruelty was exerciſed upon the perſon of this ſuffering Biſhop: when one Bill was heard and cenſur'd, Cedo alteram, & rurſus alteram, was all the pity that he ſound. foreign Heſiod. lib. 5. Fortune is not content with ſome mens miſeries, unleſs they be all over miſerable. A new Information is brought on with as much fury, as if Jehu had march't with it; and that the Deſendant might be utterly ignorant of a Conſpiracy that was hatching abroad, he was ſhut up cloſe, upon colour that he was obſtinate, and had not anſwer'd to ſome Interrogatories as was expected. They were Eighty in all. To which the Biſhop doth thus remonſtrate for himſelf. That when a Defendant is examin'd upon Interrogatories in the Court, and certified by a Judge to have anſwer'd inſufficiently, he is to pay twenty ſhillings coſts the firſt time, and to be re-examin'd. If he be reported to fail the ſecond time, to pay forty ſhillings Coſts. The third time to be impriſoned; but never in cloſe Impriſonment. Theſe were ever the conſtant Rules of the ancient Lords that ſate upon thoſe Cauſes. The Biſhop being called to anſwer to theſe Eighty Interrogatories, his Anſwers are certified to be imperfect to forty of them. But the Judges did not point out wherein the Imperfection lay, as it ought to be done. But the Defendant is left in a miſt, and knows not how to direct his courſe to pleaſe them Yet goes them over again, and anſwers ſo fully the ſecond time, that the Examiner thought his part was done; and himſelf proteſts, if he failed in any thing, it was for want of direction from the Judges. All that he had done, and he had done to his beſt, is not allow'd; his Anſwers are again return'd to be inſufficient, yet not challeng'd in a word for ſuch and ſuch Omiſſions, or Tergiverſations: for which an Amercement of 40 s. was the moſt that could be exacted by Rule. That's all one; he is committed cloſe Priſoner to his Chamber, with order that neither Counſellor or Sollicitor ſhould come near him, or ſend to him. The firſt night of his cloſe reſtraint he perfected his Anſwer the third time, to his beſt Abilities. The Judges, Jones and Berkeley are ſo awed, that they refuſe to certifie the ſufficiency of this Anſwer, till Kilvert will acknowledge it to be compleat. So he continued in a melancholy Retirement from Allhollantide till the end of Chriſtmas; and then he finds a new Charge, or rather no new one, but the After-birth of the ſecond Cauſe, heard and cenſur'd before about Tampering: A Courſe againſt the Fundamentals of Juſtice, as Budaeus Tom. 2. in Pandec. fol. 17. Senatus cenſuit ne quis ob idem crimen pluribus legibus reus fieret. But in this latter Bill the Myſtery of Miſchief broke out by God's wondrous work, and the detection of ſome Friends, whom the Biſhop had never ſollicited to look after it. Thus it runs; Cad. Powel, George Walker, T. Lund, W. Wetherall in this new Charge are made Co-defendants with the Biſhop: theſe all were partly ſentenced, partly in durance before, and muſt do ſome Service for their Freedom and Indempnity, alſo with expectation of Reward: that is, they muſt couragiouſly accuſe themſelves in their Examination, that they may be more forcible Witneſſes againſt the Biſhop; but ſhall be as ſo many Coy-duks, to cry a little in the ears of the World, until the great Mallard be catch't in the Coy; themſelves then to be ſet free, and to be fed with good Corn. The particulars of this Bill are branch't into Ten Heads: For the greateſt part, they conſiſted of old matter, That he had dictated Anſwers to Witneſſes, taught them cunning Evaſions, ſent ſome p. 134Witneſſes out of the way; with addition, that he had made Conveyances of his Lands and Leaſes, to prevent the levying of the King's Fine. Nay laſtly, to ſill it up, that he did not allow competent Means to a Vicar, from the Prebend of Asgaby. I would their Lordſhips had ſat upon ſuch Reformations for ſeven years together, if it did belong to their cogniſance. What a Task had the poor Biſhop to fence with his Adverſaries at all theſe Weapons? As Iſocrates extolls Evagoras, foreign, He was Maſter but of one City, and no more, when he waged War with all Aſia: But our forlorn Defendant had no ſhelter left under Heav'n but a Priſon, wherein he was mured, to encounter Perjuries, Conſpiracies, Malice, Kilvert, with all his Party, and all the Rulers in high places that back't him: only that promiſe of Chriſt remained good, Matth. 10.19. Dabitur in illa horâ: It ſhall be given you in that ſame hour what to ſpeak. And it did not fail him.

127. Firſt he demurs, and pleads, That five Charges chained together in this Information had been heard before, and cenſur'd in the Charge upon Tampering with Witneſſes. To bring the ſame Fault again to trial, that had been once puniſh't, is contrary to the Juſtice of God, and exceeds the cruelty of the worst men. The Lord Popham's Rules were famous, and regiſtred in the Court, That bounds ſhould be ſet to the proceſs of Cauſes, that they might not be infinite. If a fourth Bill be admitted to ſurvey the management of a former Defence, then a fifth may ſtart up in the management of the fourth, a ſixth upon the fifth, and proſecutions will be endleſs. Then he produceth his main defence, That he could prove that T. Lund and W. Wetherall were drawn by Kilvert, with divers indirect means of Terrors and Promiſes, to accuſe themſelves, to have had under hand dealings with the Defendant, to teach them to ſhift direct Anſwers, and to evade Interrogatories with Colluſions: That they had aſſurance given them, when the Biſhop was wounded through their ſides, their wounds ſhould be healed, their fines remited, and their good ſervice gratified. The Biſhop had this Confeſſion of Lund and Wetherall, under the hands of credible Gentlemen, who ſmelling that Villany, had conferred with them, and galled them with ſuſpicions, that they might thruſt themſelves into the Briars, and be forſaken by Kilvert, who was very falſe. And what if he ſhould drop away? which might be look't for from a man of his daily Surfeits. And let him do his beſt, when they had confeſt Perjury againſt themſelves with their own mouth, he could never ſoder up their crack't Credit, but the diſgrace would cleave to them, and render them deſpicable as long as they liv'd. Which Terrours being ſpread before theſe Men, they exclaim that they were circumvented, and undone for ever. This being inferred into the Biſhop's Defence, his Counſel came twice to the Bar to move for a Hearing, and were put off. His well willers, which droopt before, had a ſtrong opinion of a good Iſſue. So often we ſee, there is life in an Apoplectick, though he ſeem to be dead. Kilvert curſeth his Fortune, that his Spells are diſinchanted: Et fragil… quaer…ns illidere dentem—Inſreg… ſolido. Horace. The Biſhop's Innocency was not ſo brittle, as he thought to be torn in ſunder: but the Solidity of it did break his Teeth. Howſoever Kilvert is grown gracious, for his good parts I wiſs, and muſt not be forſaken in this plung…. But upon a reference, all this matter about Lund and Witherall is expung'd, as ſcandalous to Kilvert's good name. Scandalous to his good name! Non entis nulla ſunt attributa. Nay, but give us andience, ſays the Biſhop's Counſel; Is not all this neceſſary to our Clients Defence? That cannot be denied, ſay the Judges Brampſton and Berkeley; it is the very body of his defence; but reproachful to the Man that proſecutes for the King: and ſo it was appointed to be taken out. When this expunging was confirm'd, and the Attorney General had made his Replication upon the Demur, the Biſhop knowing not how to wear the Yoke of a baſe Spirit any longer, and full of the Courage that God had inſpired into him, Appeals from theſe intolerable Grievances to the High Court of Parliament in this Rejoynder: That the Defendant doth and will …, maintain, and juſtifie his Anſwers, and all the matters and things therein contained to be true, and certain, and ſufficient in the Law. And that nothing thereof ought to be expunged, which is neceſſary and pertinent to his Defence. And in caſe any part ſo pertinent and neceſſary for his Defence, under colour of ſcandal to a third perſon (who may clear his Credit if he be innocent, and be repaired with Coſts) be expunged, and he and all others in the like caſe be left remedileſs in the Law; The Defendant having no other Remedy left in a Defence against a Suit commenced against him in the King's Name, doth humbly Appeal unto the High Court of Parliament, when it ſhall be next Aſſembled, humbly protesting against any Sentence, as void and null, which ſhall paſs against him in the mean time, for p. 135and becauſe of the want of his juſt and neceſſary defence ſo taken away and expunged. Much was added in this Appeal to defie Kilvert, who had boaſted to proſecute the Biſhop to his degradation; and the Biſhop in the ſaid Appeal diſavows, that the Court of Star-chamber had ever degraded, or appointed to be degraded, or ever will degrade, or appoint to be degraded, any Biſhop, or other Lord and Peer of the Parliament, or take away their Freehold in point of Means, Profit, or Honour, &c. This Appeal was filed in the Office, enter'd in the Clerks Books, and Copies thereof were ſigned by the uſual Officer; although Sir William Pennyman, Clerk of the Star-chamber, took it off the File, and blotted it out of the Books. Sir William was ever of a laudable behaviour, but durſt not ſay them nay that thruſt him upon this Raſhneſs. Who did not gaze at this Appeal, as if it had been a Blazing-ſtar? Who did not diſcourſe of it? How did they, who club together for News and trial of their Wits, ſpend their Judgments upon it? Some thought, that exceſs of Wrongs done to the Biſhop had diſtemper'd him, to fall upon a courſe of Confuſion to himſelf. In plain words, being bitten by ſo many mad Dogs, they thought he bit again, as if he had been mad: Whereas he never did any thing with a more ſober mind. Inſanire me …iunt, ultro cum ipſi inſaniant, Plaut. in Menaech. Some replied, Let the danger be what it will, the Preſident tended to a Publick Good: Audendum eſt aliquid ſingulis, aut pereundum univerſis: For are we not all Paſſengers, as well as he, in the ſame bottom? And may we not be ſwallowed up in the ſame Shipwrack, if our Pilots look no better to their Duty? They that were acquainted with the beſt Pleaders, thought to have moſt Light from them, and askt if the Act did not exceed the Duty of a Subject. And would it not leave the Author to the fury of the Court, to be torn in pieces with a Cenſure? Nay ſurely, ſaid the Gown-men, there is no violation of Duty to His Majeſty, in appealing to his Parliament, for he ſubmits to the King, who is the Head of the Body. Or, at the moſt, it is Provocatio à Philippo dormiente ad Philippum vigilantem, from K. Charles, miſinformed in Star-chamber, to K. Charles, among his beſt Aſſiſtants, the three States of the Nation: And for the minacy of a Cenſure, do if they dare. A Parliament will repair him, when it ſits, and canonize their own Martyr. Both they that lik'd and diſlik'd the Appeal, confeſt, that the corruption of his Judges compell'd him to it. Should Kilvert, notoriouſly detected, be ſuffer'd to eſcape, by cancelling all that brought his Conſpiracies to light? Infixo aculeo fugere, in the Adagy? Strike in his Sting, and fly away like a Waſp! Suffer this, and at this one dealing of the Game the Biſhop's whole ſtate had been loſt, of Fortunes, Liberty, and Honour: Ne que enim levia aut ludicra petuntur—Praemia, ſed Turni de vitâ & ſanguine certant. Diſcretion was to give place to Courage in this caſe: Baronius tells us of Theodoret. ann. 446. n. 27. That being incenſed at the Tyranny of a Shark in Office, that had ſeized upon all he had, Uranius Biſhop of Emeſa, adviſed him to make no words of it, but to ſit ſtill by the loſs: Theodoret anſwers him bravely, Non ſolùm prudentia, ſed & fortitudo virtus eſt; Fortitude is a Virtue as well as Prudence, and is as laudable in her own turn and occaſion. Put the caſe to a Phyſician, when he thinks there is no hope of a Patient, what will he do? The ancient Rule was, Neſcio an in extremis aliquid tentare medicina ſit: certè nihil tentare perditio eſt. To give the ſick man Phyſic is againſt Art, but to give him nothing is to caſt him away wilfully. Here is Lincoln's condition, who being denied the Juſtice of that Court, had nothing to fly to in that Extremity, but this Appeal, with which he did ſo hough the Sinews of the Bill, that from that day forward it never hopt after him.

128. Becauſe ſome did not ſtick to ſay, that the Biſhop might thank himſelf for his inceſſant Troubles, that he did not take Conditions of Peace, that were offered to him, it muſt be preſented here, that Conditions indeed were tender'd, ſuch as Naaſh offer'd the Iſraelites, to thruſt out their right Eyes, 1 Sam. 11.2. or as the Samnites releaſed Sp. Poſthumious, and a Roman Legion overthrown at Caudis. with ſlaviſh Ignominy. But theſe were worſe: Ultra Caudinas ſperavit vulnera furcas, Luca. lib. 2. The Biſhop lying in Priſon, and ſuſtaining the heavy weight of the firſt Cenſure, July 11. 1637. he preſs'd the L. Coventry to move His Majeſty for ſome mitigation of the Fine, and to ſtop the violent levying of it, ſince it ſtood in no proportion with the Charges of the Bill, or the Preſidents of the Court. Hereupon His Majeſty tells the L. Keeper, he would admit of no ſuch motion, but by the Mediation of the Queen. The Biſhop is glad of the News, and could call to mind, that in greater matters than this, Princely Ladies had p. 136the Honour to make the Accord, which the greateſt Stateſmen had attempted in vain; as Madam Loviſe, Mother of K. Francis the Firſt, and Madam Margaret, Aunt to Charles the Fifth, Regent of the Low Countries, made up that Peace between the Emperor and the King, which other Mediators had given over for deſperate. Our Queen endeavour'd a Meſſage of Clemency, but that Honour was denied her. The Earl of Dorſet writes in her Name to the Biſhop, That all ſhe could obtain of the King, was, that if he would be bandied no more in Star-chamber, 1. He muſt leave his Biſhoprick and Deanry, and all his Commendams, and take a Biſhoprick in Ireland or Wales, as His Majeſty pleaſed. 2. He muſt recant his Book. 3. Secure all his Fine. 4. Never queſtion any that had been employed by His Majeſty againſt him. Strange Phyſick as ever was preſcribed, for it was a Pill as big as a Pumpion; and whoſe Throat could ſwallow it down? Non eſt pax, ſed ſervitutis pactio, Tul. Philip. 12. The worſt that all the Courts in England could do, could not impoſe ſuch Terms upon him: Beſide, to yield thus far were to fly the Field, and to receive an inglorious wound in his Back. Then he falls upon other Thoughts, that he would pleaſe the King, by making an unparallel'd Submiſſion to him: And were it not beſt to be content with half a Ruine, to prevent a whole? He muſt be a loſer; yet a man ſpends nothing, that buys that he hath need of. So he wrote back to the ſame Earl, that he would lay his Biſhoprick and Deanry at His Majeſty's Feet, but excuſed his going into Ireland. To the ſecond, That he could not recant his Book, which contain'd no Doctrine that he was not ready to juſtifie. To the third, He would pay his Fine as he was able. To the fourth he ſubmitted. Not this, not all this was accepted: The very L. Druſus, in Paterculus, Meliore in omnia ingenio animo que quàm fortunà uſus; His noble Wit, and good Parts were ſtill deſtituted by Fortune. He received this Return from the Earl; That His Majeſty was not contented to receive his Biſhoprick and Deanry from him, his Reſidency in Lincoln, and Rectory of Walgrave, are requir'd to be voided, and to Ireland, or no Peace. To the ſecond, No Doctrin ſhould be recanted, but Matters of Fact, &c. The Biſhop wonders at this, who look'd for Praiſe, that he had ſtoop'd ſo low; yet rather than conteſt with his Soveraign, he reſolves with David, Adhuc ero vilior: And the common Rule of Polybius was obſerv'd by all men, lib. 5. foreign. Of two good things, chuſe the greateſt; of two Evils, chuſe the leaſt. He offers to reſign all he hath in the Church of England, but ſtill will live in England; for the Book he pleaded ſo well for it, that the King was ſatisfied with a conditional ſubmiſſion, as, If any thing contained in it offended His Majeſty, he was ſorry. But to the third, about the Fine, he found very imperfect and unſolid Propoſals, and No Ground that's good is hollow. Since he muſt be ſtript of all that he had in the Church, he would know how much ſhould be left him of his Lands and Leaſes to live upon, that the King's Fine-gatherers might not ſnatch up all: And he craves an Anſwer, whether that Penſion of 2000 Marks per ann. bought of the E. of Banbury, by His Majeſty's Direction, and for his Service and Profit, being then Prince of Wales, and 24000 l. in Ar…ears for the ſame, ſhould be conſider'd towards the King's Payment. The Rejoynder began at the latter Clauſe, That Penſions are not paid to men in disfavour, the E. of Briſtol being the Example for it. For the Proportion what he ſhould have to live upon riſing out of his own Eſtate, he muſt know nothing, till he had wholly ſubmitted. From that hour the falſe Glaſs, wherein the Biſhop ſaw a ſhadow of Peace, was broken: And he writes to the Earl in the Stile of a man, That it were a tempting of God to part with all he had willingly, and leave himſelf no aſſurance of a Livelihood: That his Debts, if he came out of the Priſon of the Tower, would caſt him into another Priſon, no better proviſion being made for them, than he ſaw appearance for: That he would never hazard himſelf into a condition to beg his Bread. Truly he had cauſe to look for better Offers, and ſince they came not, he would lay his Head upon the Pillow of Hope, till he had ſlept his laſt: He had not ſuffer'd as an Evil man, his Conſcience bore him witneſs, whereby he was not obnoxious to Infamy: Majore poenâ affectus quàm legibus ſtatutum eſt, non eſt infamis; a Maxim of Reaſon and of Law in our Kingdom. To ſurrender up all he had, were to ſuffer as a Fool. Plato is made the Author of the Saying, That he had rather leave ſomewhat to his Enemies when he died, than ſtand in need of his Friends, who might prove no Friends while he lived. But this is ſurely Plato's in Apol. pro Socr. That when Socrates was ask'd, how he felt himſelf affected, when he was wrongfully condemn'd, he ſaid, p. 137he could give no Anſwer till he met with Palamedes and Ajax; foreign : till he had ask'd them how they took the Sentence of unrighteous Judges, he was not fully provided to ſatisfie them. Our biſhop conſulted day and night at his Study with Hiſtories of Saints in by-paſt Ages, and knew they had ſuffer'd more than he had done, and was ſorry for his human frailty, if they could bear it better. Now, I am confident that the Prudent will collect, that this Biſhop was never deaf to Conditions of Agreement, and that no man living could offer a greater Sacrifice than he did for a Peace-Offering, unleſs he would have ſtript himſelf of all, and not have left off his own two Mites, in all the World, to caſt into the Corban.

129. But if the Parly for Peace were nothing but Thunder and Thunder-bolt, how will the Biſhop endure it, when it comes to ſtrokes? God be praiſed, his Warfare in theſe Cauſes was at an end: Flebile principium melior fortuna ſecuta eſt, Metam. lib. 7. The Chamber of Horror, and its Star, did not ſhine malignantly upon him again; A time, and times, and half a time, had paſs'd over, and theſe things were finiſht, Dan. 12.7. For three year and half he continued in the Tower, and in that ſpace lived as if he had drank of Homer's Cup, Odyſſ. foreign; as if he had repreſented and not felt the part he acted: For except that ſo many Suits interrupted his Studies, he lack'd nothing that could be perceived, of Health, Solace, and Alacrity: Benè dormit qui non ſentit quàm malè dormiat, a Fragment of Publius Mimus. He wanted not good Society, for I muſt ever praiſe his conſtant Friend Dr. Alabaſter, who took up a Lodging in one of the Mint-maſter's Houſes, to be with him continually. While he was ſo many months ſhut up from the action of the World, he began to hear of ſome Occurrences abroad, which made him not dread his chief Enemy at Lambeth at all. The Archbiſhop had entangled himſelf in his own Webb, nay, the King, and all England and Scotland with him. In illa liturgiâ infeliciſſimè ad Scotos miſsâ, ſays wiſe Mr. Selden, de Syn. Jud. par. 2. His Majeſty's Expedition into the North gave our Biſhop a breathing time from his Troubles: And when the Articles of Pacification, made at Berwick, were burnt in London, (true or uncorrupted, I diſpute not) I that report this, was the firſt that carried the Tidings to the Tower, and I call God to witneſs, the Biſhop preſently broke out into theſe words: I am right ſorry for the King, who is like to be forſaken by his Subjects at home, but far more by all Kings and Princes abroad, who do not love him: But for the Archbiſhop, ſays he, he had beſt not meddle with me, for all the Friends he can make, will be too few to ſave himſelf. A fatal fore-ſight of all impending and enſuing Miſchiefs! But do you not hope, Sir, ſaid I, that ſuch Concuſſions as you fear to come to paſs will give you your Peace and Liberty? Poſſibly they will, ſays he. But no honeſt man ſhall be the better for a Scotch Reformation, wherein the Hare-brains among us are engaged with them. Which is like that of Rutilius deported in Baniſhment to Mytelene; one comforted him with hope of Civil Wars, and then all that were baniſh'd ſhould return to Rome; ſays Rutilius, Quid tibi mali feci, ut mibi pejorem reditum quàm exitum ſperares? That which did precipitate the common Fortune, and made all things worſe and worſe, was the King's very ſudden diſſolving the Parliament met in Apr. 1640. His Majeſty had been forewarned by a worthy Counſellor, and a dying man, againſt that Error in the Chriſtmas before, Cujus mortem, dolor omnium celebrem fecit, Sym. Ep. p. 11. It was L. Keeper Coventry, who made but one Requeſt with his laſt Breath to the King, and ſent it by Mr. James Maxwel, of the Bed-Chamber, That His Majeſty would take all Diſtaſts from the Parliament ſummoned againſt April, with patience, and ſuffer it to ſit without an unkind diſſolution. But the Barking of the living Dogs was ſooner heard than the Groaning of a dying Lyon; for that Parliament ended in a few days, in its Infancy, and in its Innocency, but the Grief for it will never end. The next came on Novemb. 3. with all Animoſities that could be infuſed out of Scotch and Engliſh Diſtempers. The Biſhop of Lincoln Petitions the King, by the Queens Mediation, that he might be ſet at liberty, and have his Writ, as a Peer, to ſit in Parliament; which was oppoſed by the L. Finch, then Cuſtos ſigilli magni, and Archbiſhop Laud, as appears by a Letter written to Sir Richard Winn, Octob. 3. in theſe words.

p. 138130.

Good Couſin,

WITH my hearty Thanks remembred for all your great, however unfortunate, care of me, and my Affairs: Though you would not let me know any thing that might be any Grief or Diſcomfort to me yet I hear it of other Hands; That I am eternally bound to the Queens Majeſty, and bound to remain her Vaſſal as long as I live; And that I owe much to ſome other great Lords of His Maj…ty's Council; And that his Grace, by my Lord Keeper's bold and much-miſtaken Information to His Majeſty, that the Parliament cannot examine Errors and Oppreſſions in ſuch an arbitrary Court as the Star-chamber is, doth keep off His Majeſty from uſing his Clemency towards me, or permitting me to employ my beſt Endeavours to ſerve him. My Lords,Grace and Secretary Windebank, have good reaſon to wiſh me out of the Parliament, and out of the World too, if they conceive I have no other buſineſs there, than to complain againſt them: And ſo hath the Lord Keeper, and Sir J. Lamb. If her gracious Majeſty (whom than willingly offend I will rather dye) will be pleaſed to ſet aſide the Relations thoſe two Perſonages have towards Her Majeſty, and ſet her poor Servant at liberty, to take his courſe for Redreſs for thoſe intolerable Concuſſions they have uſed againſt him. And that I do not ſpeak herein beſide my Books, I pray you and your Friends to peruſe the bundle of Papers I ſend you, which I deſire you to return to me, &c.

Through the Perſwaſion of thoſe about the King, whom the Letter diſcovers, Lincoln was like to lye by it, and to be ſhut out of Mercy by an irreverſible Decree. But the Lords of the Upper Houſe, after they had look'd about them a while, on Nov. 16. ſent to the Lieutenant of the Tower, to deliver him to then Officer of the Black Rod, who conducted him to the Parliament, and their Lordſhips gave him his Place among his Brethren in the Biſhops-Bench. The King did ſoon hear of his Carriage, that he neither complain'd, nor ſo much as glanced at his Perſecutors: As a true Lover of his Country ſaid, Cic. Ep. Fam. lib. 10. Non me impedient privatae offenſiones, quò minùs pro Reip ſalute etiam cura inimicis conſentiam. His Majeſty heard more, That he was his faithful Miniſter, and Stable to ſtand for him in all motions, and did not refrain to fall ſharply upon thoſe Lords, to whom he owed his Releaſement, for not ſpeaking dutifully of His Majeſty, and of his Actions, with Reverence. Upon it the King ſent for him, and had conference with him alone till after midnight, and made him ſome amends for the Evils paſt, by commanding all Orders filed, and kept in any Court or Regiſtry, upon the former Hearings and Dependencies againſt him, to be ſlighted, cancell'd crazed, that no Monument or Memorial of them might remain. So A…m. Probus tells us what Reparation was made to Alcibiades, after he was brought home to Athens from his Exile, Pilae, in quibus devotio ſcripta fuit contra Alcibiadem, in mare praecipitatae, poſt quàm à Spartá revocatus eſt? To quote a nearer Example; When Conſtantine let Athanaſius return again to his See at Alexandria, foreign. Athan. ad Solit. Vit. p. 823. All that was engroſs'd againſt Athanaſius, he commanded the Memory of it to be rid out of the way, and all of it to be blotted out. Look for ſuch another Inſtance in Symmachus Ep. p. 127. of him that was thrice honour'd, in being reinveſted in thoſe Honours, from which he was degraded, Majus quiddam eſt honorem reſtituere, quam dediſſe, &c. For, Fortune may confer, but only Judgment reſtores to Honour. I am come to the end of thoſe Suits with which our Biſhop was overwhelmed, and ſtill made Defendant againſt the King: Let Poſterity obſerve how he was cenſur'd, and grievouſly, but for two things, tampering with Witneſſes, (never known before to be a fault in the Realm of England) and for being ſuſpected to have received two Letters in Cyphers, of a myſtical ſence, and as ſlight regard. Being accuſed for divulging the King's Counſels, and for Subornation of Witneſſes, he broke the neck of thoſe Bills: Being queſtioned for his Book, in the High-Commiſſion Court, he wound himſelf out of the Labyrinth of all their Articles: From an Hodg-potch of new Informations in Star-chamber he deliver'd himſelf, by adventuring to appeal from that Court to the Parliament; and in that Parliament to which he appealed, he ſits a Member and Peer, and ſees all Papers of Record againſt him torn, and burnt to Aſhes. Ut advertas feliciter faclum reum, quem ſic videas abſolutum, Sym. Ep. 87. Be the Concluſion thoſe words of Ezek. c. 17. v. 24. All the trees of the field ſhall know, that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low true: have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flouriſh. Which the great Poet had rather p. 139aſcribe to a blind Goddeſs, in his Poetical Licenſe, Aen. 12. Multos alterna reviſens—Luſit, & in ſolidum rurſus fortuna locavit.

131. A Priſoner, whoſe Liberty I much long'd for, is releaſed, but out of Limbo into Hell. Can the worſt word be had enough for thoſe fatal days? Now being come with him as far as the Door of the Parliament, into which he entred upon the Call of the Lords, I turned away for no little time, and interrupted my ſelf for above two years from writing any more, not out of Sloth, but Diſdain. To part with him till his laſt day, was againſt my purpoſe; and to keep him company in thoſe boiſterous times, wherein a Senate of rigid men was dangerous. I was at ſuch a ſtay as Alexander in the dry Country of the Suſitans, Pigebat & conſiſtere & progredi, Curt. lib. 7. It was contrary to the Project of my Work to ſtop, and as contrary to my Mind to go forward in the Hurricane of an intemperate Rebellion: But it is reſolved to look over ſomewhat of one of the moſt bloody Tragedies that ever was performed on the Earth, rather than omit his part, who was ſo loyal in his Actings, and ſo magnanimous in his Sufferings: And this may be done with the leſs unwillingneſs, from one Paſſage that will recreate the Writer, and the Reader, that the chief Engineers, that wrought the Thunderbolts at the Forge, and laid the foundation of all enſuing Miſchief, lived to ſee themſelves thruſt out of their Den by a Brewers Drayman, with his tatter'd Regiment; a Paſſage to be kept for ever upon the Engravings of Memory, and would not be pleaſant, but burdenſome to know it and not to publiſh it: As Archytas of Tarentum ſaid, If a man were lifted up among the Stars, to know their order and motion, the knowledge of it, ſo admirable, would be ingrate unto him, unleſs he met with ſome, to whom he might relate it. So I am full of this, to tell it to Poſterity, That the pittiful handful of Lords Temporal (and now Temporary) that adhered not to the King, and caſhiered the Lords Spiritual out of their Society, for their immovable Fidelity, were diſmounted for ever from their own Privilege and Honour, and might pawn their Parliament-Robes if they pleaſed. And the remainder of the Commons, after Pride's Purge, was ſo deſpicable, that every Tongue was ſo audacious to give them the nick-name of the Poſteriors of a Beaſt; and they put it up, leſt angry Wits ſhould paſte a greater Scorn upon them. As Caſ. Severus ſatisfied himſelf with the Downfal of his Adverſary, Vivo, & quo vivere libeat Aſprenatem reum video, Quintil. lib. II. So this one Scene hath a good Cataſtrophe in the cruel Interlude, That the ſmall, but moſt ſpightful part of this continuing Parliament, held up their Tail, though not their Hand, at the Bar, and went out it ſelf in ſuch a ſtink in the Snuff, that all cry ſie at it, that have their Noſtrils opened. So my Mind is collected again, and my Heart at ſome Peace in it ſelf, to ſee the Honour of Heavenly Juſtice ſettled ſo far.

132. And to Preface no more, and no leſs could be ſaid; A Parliament was ſitting when our Biſhop had his Liberty, which held in its Fragments twelve years and ſix months: Nay, when the ſtub of the Members were baffled, and ſpurn'd out of the Houſe by the Ruſſian Cromwell, theſe Bankrupts opened their Shop once again, and by a poſt limintum recover'd their places; ſo that we reckon nineteen years from their firſt Call to their laſt Suppreſſion. Umbra ſerotina; A ſhadow is longeſt at Evening, when the Sun is ready to ſet. And our Sun went down quickly, when this ſhadow was ſo far extended. But there is a better ſimilitude for it in Pliny Nat. Hiſt. lib. 2. cap. 14. A Serpent was taken at the River Bagrada of 120 foot long, and the skin, ſays he, was hung up in the Capitol, as long as ſuch ſtuff could endure. Mark this; a Serpent, the longeſt that ever was heard of, the skin kept when it was mortified, and preſerved in the Senate-houſe. Who can miſs to apply it? A Serpentine brood of Men; none ever laſting ſo long in that High Court: withered away to a skin, or Skeleton: all were right, if they had been hung up in the Capitol. This Serpent was young and the worſt it could do was to hiſs, when Lincoln was brought in to ſit with his fellow Biſhops. He had not been many hours there, when he was amazed to ſee divers compoſed of new and ſtrong Paſſions; inſtigated to boldneſs by Scotch Confederacy; heightned up by the Petitions and Mutinies of City and Country; and preach't into diſorder by Presbyterian Divines: For a muffled Zeal for Religion hath a finger in all Combuſtions. And as one ſays, Multitudo vana ſuperſtitione capta meliùs vatibus, quàm ducibus ſuis paret, Curt. lib. 3. Church-men are the moſt dangerous Inſtruments to turn Male-contents into Sword-men, who being prepoſſeſt with an ill opinion of the Times, will quickly humble their Judgment under the Conſcience of their Miniſters. But what p. 140Credit can it be to our Biſhop, for ſuch Peers to take him into their number by their peremptory Vote? None, if he had anſwer'd their expectation. Yet his chief Friends were as faithful and noble-hearted as ever ſate upon the Benches of the Houſe. And it is no good thriſt to caſt out Gold-filings with the duſt, as if all were duſt. Theſe muſt be ſever'd from the reſt, to their immortal praiſe. It is as true, that he was ſought for by ſome of the reſt, who had only an eye to the North-Star of their own Anti-monarchical Intereſt: For he that was ordinarily read in man might know, this able Prelate was to be left out, that had ſo general an inſight into all Affairs and Motions of State. As Zeno prais'd Iſmenias his Muſick, foreign, that he could play well upon all Inſtruments. But when the diſloyal Part hoped, that a Man of a great Spirit, and ſo much injur'd, would revenge himſelf upon the Cauſes of his Troubles, and Pipe after their Tune, they were overſhot to imagine it. Though he is bound to be moſt true that is moſt truſted, yet no man was bound to be true to them, whom his Majeſty, as appears by his Writ, truſted with his moſt concerning and weighty Counſels, and were falſe to him that gave them Capacity to treat upon them. They that did intend to imploy him in their Faction, did repent in one day, that ever he came among them. For it was in ſo little time that one of them ſaid aloud, We have conjur'd up a Spirit, I would we could lay him down again. No harm will come to his Honour, that ſome in printed Books have lifted at him, as A. Wil. p. 197. gibe, him for cloſing again with the King, and ſhuggling, when he ſaw the Ax laid to the Root of Epiſcopacy. For he ſtaid not to long to declare himſelf, till the Hare was ſtarted out of the Buſh. But S. A. W. goes further, p. 175. for thus he Cenſures: We may obſerve the Judgment of God on him, for flying from the Parliament his Protector, to give wicked Counſel to to the King his former Proſecutor. Thoſe Temporary Judgments and Ruins were probably foreſeen; but woe be to him that looks not further to the Judgment of the great Day. Thoſe that troubled the Land like him not, as he was truly himſelf, but in ſuch a Character as they had framed of him to themſelves. Thou thoughteſt that I was altogether ſuch an one as they ſelf, Pſal. 50.21. It was St. Auſtine's Fortune to be ſo miſconſtrued, and he defends himſelf wittily, Ep. 7. ad Marcel. Non me diligunt, ſi non quod ſum, ſed quod non ſum diligunt. They love not me, but another for me that miſtake me. It is not ſtrange if thoſe Members of Parliament were weary of him, I am ſure he was more out of taſte with them. As who could chooſe, when he met with all fort of Brain-ſick Factions combined in one Couplement? It was better for him after thirteen months to be caſt out, and lock't up again in Impriſonment, than to continue in the gathering together of the Froward, and inſurrection of wicked Doers. In hoc res devoluta erat, ut niſi quis malus fuerit, ſalvus eſſe non poſſit, Salvi. l. 5. No Safety for any within thoſe Walls, nor ſcarce without, but to run Horſe and Man to Hell, with Decius, not to ſave their Country, but to ruin it.

133. What a giddy Pin man's life is turn'd upon? Here's a Priſoner and a Freeman; in the Peoples favour, and out with them: repulſed from the Court, and brought to the King's Preſence, and to kiſs his Hand; and all this variety in two days. foreign, Diod. Sic. lib. 18. The rowlings and reciprocations of Fortune were ſtrong on both ſides. Though his Reſtraint was over, his Liberty was ſtill dangerous, as Salmaſius ſays of Ambuſtius Valerius p. 840. in Solm. Quem condemnatio non perdidit, nec abſolutio liberavit. Misfortune exerciſed him as Original Sin doth the Juſt: The Condemnation of it was taken away, but not the Malignity. The outcry was among the revolted Lords, That he was good for nothing. Not for the Commonwealth; for he did maintain what the King had done for our Liberties. Not for Religion; for he was rivetted faſt to the Hierarchy of the Church. Not for himſelf; for they expected he ſhould have been a ſtrong Accuſer of divers whom they hated, and knew he had matter enough for a heavy Information: but they ſaw he was like a man dumb, and in whoſe mouth were no reproofs, Pſal. 38.14. Not a word came from him, that he had been Proſecuted, Cenſur'd, Impriſon'd, Sequeſtred, Riffled: but he ſtood like one in the ſame point, that had enjoyed quiet and honour fifteen years before. Hereupon both Houſes deſpiſed him, as one that would contribute nothing to their ends: and what ſhould they do with this Gamaliel in their Council? for when they had plotted to ſlay ſome principal Counſellors and Servants of the King, and this Biſhop would bring no Proofs to make them guilty men, his Sentence was in effect, Refrain from theſe men, and let them alone, Acts 5.38. Himſelf being now ſafe, and by God's Mercy free from Impeachments; it was a comfort p. 141to him to ſee, nay to procure the Safety of his Enemies. Sunt haec quidem magna, ſed in alio: in hoc verò minima, ſi caeteris virtutibus comparentur, Plin. Ep. l. 3. How fain would ſome ſay the like for thoſe, whom they adorn with their praiſe? But to revenge no wrongs; to requite them with no retaliation, that had bitterly provok't him, it was ſo ordinary with him, that in ſuch a man it riſeth to no remarkable Obſervation. And truly it was no time to puniſh for a particular quarel, but to look to the ſecurity of a tottering Kingdom. Prudence might Challenge ſomewhat to make him remiſs, as well as Charity. Yet the Injuries done him, with their miſchief in one aggregate, deſerv'd a Trial, that would have made as loud a noiſe as ever came to a Bar. For the Practiſers, as the Fox ſaid of his Cubs, If there be one good in the litter, there was never a bad For the practices they were ſuch as could not have ſeen the light, but would have brought pal…neſs on the Actors. And, which was worſt of all, the Biſhop could ſee no Appearance, which might efface his Apprehenſion, but that if his Adverſaries were in power again, they would ſhew no penitency for the evil they had done him. Yet when their Agents came to him to feel his Pulſe, they ſound it beat ſo calm and even, that he ſent them Meſſages to enhearten them, That if they had no w…rſe Foes then …, they might fear no harm, and that he ſaluted them with the Charity of a B… p. This was home, and as far as moral ſweetneſs could go. It a …, at non ignoſcere videaris, ſed abſolvere, ſays Sencca: So his bencht was ſo compleat, that he did rather ſeem to abſolve thoſe Nocents as a Judge, then to pa…ion them as a private Man. So confident were his Malevolents to play with his Gentleneſs, that Kilvert durſt come to him without a Medi…o…, to crave Pardon and Indempnity for all wrongs he had done. Says the Biſhop, I aſſure you pardon for that you have done before, but this is a new fault, that you take me to be of ſo b… ſ… a Spirit, as to file my ſelf with tredding upon ſo mean a Creature: Live ſtill by Petty-fogging and Imp…ching, and think that I have forgotten you. Yet he kept Kilvert two hours in private with him, before he let him go; and then he ſent him to his Cellar with his Servants, but with this Cenſure upon the Diſcourſe which had paſt between them, That his Enemies could not be ſo bad, as that Fellow made them; but for Kilvert's part he was worſe in treachery, and readineſs to do all devilliſh Offices, then he could have imagined. Thus far to the demonſtration of his Chriſtian Mind, and his Continency that he would not render evil for evil, that he would not gratifie the Parliament with Complaints againſt his Perſecutors. The not doing, or ſuſpenſion of ſuch an act, is as much, or more praiſe-worthy than the doing of divers things that are very plauſible, and may run well with the cloſe of Beza's Epigram in Parodie, Quod tu feciſti, ſit licet ingens: At quod non ſaceres ho… ego miror opus.

134. But the Injuries done to private Man, were Trif…les to the great Affairs that were in hand. His Majeſty's Affairs, which were in great decadence, took him up wholly; and how could he be ſafe? A good Subject cannot make any difference between the King's Fortunes and his own. A full Declaration of the Storms that were rais'd concerns not this piece. It was apparent that the Scotch were at one end of the Fray in the North, and the Presbyterians about London at the other end in the South: both confederate to root up, caſt down, ſyndicate, controul, and do what they luſt; and let them have their own will, it would ſcarce content them. Our wiſe Church-man knew, that he that fears the worſt prevents it ſooneſt: Therefore he did not loſe a minute to try all his Arts, if he could quench the flame amongſt the heady Scots, whoſe common ſort were like their Preachers, Tumidi magis animi quàm magni, as Caſaubon notes it in the Atherians, Lib. 1. Athen. cap. 20. rather of a ſwelling, than a noble Spirit. Their own polite Hiſtorian ſays more, Dromond Jam. 5. p. 161. That Hepburn Prior of St. Andrews, the Oracle of the Duke of Albany, told him, That he muſt remember that the People whom he did command (for he was Regent) were ever fierce, mutinouſly proud, and know not how to obey, unleſs the Sword were drawn. What hope then of their Submiſſion, when they had framed Covenants, Articles, gathered a Convention no leſs in Power, no leſs in Name than a Parliament, without their Prince's leave, and became Aſſailants to maintain that, and what they would have more, with the Sword. Let all Ages remember, that this ſprung from no other occaſion, but that the King invited them to prayer in publick, in ſuch a Form of Liturgy as himſelf uſed, putting no greater burden upon their Conſcience than upon his own. The Peccatulum was, that there wanted a little in mode and uſual way to commend the Book unto them. Perhaps the Error went a little further, that King James his Promiſe was not obſerv'd, as the Reverend p. 142Spotſwood doth not conceal it, p. 542. That the Lord Hamilton, King James his Commiſſioner, having ratified the Articles of Perth by Act of Parliament, aſſured the People, that his Majeſly, in his days, ſhould never preſs any more change and alteration, in matters of that kind, without their conſent. Admit this Promiſe, calculated for the days of King James, was obliging as far as the Meridian of King Charles, yet nothing was preſented to them againſt true Doctrine, or Divine Worſhip: for all the Learning of their Univerſities could never make the matter of the Liturgy odious. And let it be diſputed, That the Book was not authoritative without the publick Vote, and Conſent of the Nation in ſome Repreſentative. Yet if a Prince ſo pious, ſo admirable in his Ethicks, did tread one inch awry in his Politicks, muſt the Cannon be brought into the Field, and be planted againſt him, to ſubvert his Power at Home, and to diſhonour him abroad! was it ever heard, that upon ſo little a Storm Seamen would cut Cabble and Maſt, and throw their Cargo over-board, when there was no fear to ſhipwrack any thing, but Fidelity and Allegiance? God was pleaſed to deprive us of Contentment and Peace for our own wickedneſs; or Civil Diſcords, that laſted near as long as the Peloponneſian War, had never riſen from ſo ſlender an occaſion. The merciful and ſoft-hearted King could have ſet his Horſe-feet upon their Necks, in his firſt Expedition, which ſtopt at Barwick, if he had not been more deſirous of Quietneſs than Honour and Victory. I gueſs whom Dromond means in the Character of Jam. 3. p. 118. That it is allowable in men that have not much to do, to be taken with admiration of Watches, Clocks, Dials, Automates, Pictures, Statues: But the Art of Princes is to give Laws, and govern their People with wiſdom in Peace, and glory in War: to ſpare the humble, and proſtrate the proud. Happy had it been if his Majeſty had followed valiant Counſel, to have made himſelf compleat Conquerour of thoſe Malapert Rebels, when they firſt ſaw his face in the North. But the Terms of Pacification which they got in one year, ſerved them to gather an Army, and to come with Colours diſplay'd into England the next year, which was the periodical year of the King's Glory, the Churches Proſperity, the Common Laws Authority, and the Subjects Liberty. Threeſcore and eighteen years before, when England and Scotland were never at better League, Abr. Hartwell paſſeth this Vote in his Reginâ literatâ, more like a Prophet than a Poet,

Noſtráque non iterùm Saxo ſe vertat in arva:

Non Gallus, ſed nec prior utrôque Scotus.

135. And what could Leſly have done then with a few untrain'd, unarmed Jockeys, if we had been true among our ſelves? The Earl of Southampton ſpake heroically, like a Peer of an ancient Honour, That the Biſhop of Durham with his Servants, a few Millers and Plowmen, were wont to beat thoſe Rovers over the Tweed again, without raiſing an Army. If the People had not imprudently choſen ſuch into our Parliament, as were fitteſt to gratifie the Scots, day had ſoon cleared up, and Northern Miſts diſperſed. But our fooliſh heart was darkned; and any Scourge was welcome that would chaſtiſe the preſent Government: we thought we could not be worſe, when we could ſcarce be better. We greedily took this Scotch Phyſick, when we were not ſick, but knew not what it was to be in health. An Ounce of common Senſe might have warned us, That a Kingdom may conſiſt with private mens Calamities, but private mens Fortunes cannot conſiſt with the ruin of a Kingdom. The Love of Money is the Root of all Evil. Many in England thought they ſat at a hard Rent, becauſe of Ship-money; and would fire the Houſe wherein their own Wealth was laid up, rather than pay their Landlord ſuch a petty Tribute, as was not miſt in times of Plenty: but in ſhort time their Corn and Plate went away at one ſwoop, when their ſtock was low. The exacting of Ship-money, all thought it not illegal, but ſo many did, as made it a number equivalent to all. And a Camel will bear no more weight than was firſt laid upon him. Nec plus inſtituto onere recipit, Plin. lib. 8. cap. 18. This diſorder'd the Beaſt; and being backt with ſome thouſands of Rebels, march't on as far as Durham, made him ready to caſt his Rider. The Royal part was at a ſtand, and could go no further than this Queſtion, What ſhall we do? As Livy ſays of the Romans, catch't in an Ambuſh at Caudis, Intuentes alii alios, cum alterum quiſque compotem magis mentis ac conſilii ducerent. In ſuch a Perplexity every man asks his Fellow, What's beſt to be done? and being dozzled with fear, thinks every man wiſer than himſelf. Lincoln ſpake what p. 143was 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. foreign, 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 & …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 co…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 p. 144repaired; 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 the Scottiſh Army. Hami angulares quàm directi mucrones tenaciùs infiguntur, Macrob. lib. 7. c. 3. A Sword cuts deep, but a Hook ſticks in the Fleſh when it hath made a Wound. He replies, That any Government undiſturb'd, and enjoying Eighty years of Peace, cannot but contract accidental Abuſes remaining ſound in its Eſſentials. The Sun doth win certain Minutes and Seconds in the year, which in long tract of time breed great Alterations. The longer the Body hath been in Health, the harder to be cured, when a Diſeaſe overtakes it. But whether they were Inſolencies or Grievances that did diſtaſte them, they ſhould be remedied. The King was ready to lance every Sore, and to let out the Corruption, only keep up the Places of the Biſhops, Deans, and other Dignitaries, among which themſelves, men of great Godlineſs and Learning, did deſerve a ſhare, and ſhould be remembred: They need not be taught, that the Church, the Building of Chriſt, muſt not be built like a Barn, all upon one Floor, but muſt be framed with gradual Subordinations: There is a Babel in plucking down, as well as in raiſing up. And for the Revenues beſtowed upon our Maintenance, painful Preachers deſerv'd them, as well as the beſt Practiſers in other Profeſſions, and knew how to uſe them. There were plenty of ſuch. Blame not all for the Sloth or Errors of a few: Cur omnium fit culpa paucorum ſcelus, Sen. Hippol. This part brought on a Propoſition for a regulated Epiſcopacy: I cannot vaunt, that the Biſhop made his Party good with them in that; for the meaning of the Proponent ſpread out at the breadth, was to joyn the Presbytery with the Biſhop in all acts of Ordination and Juriſdiction, to give him the firſt Room, and the firſt Voice, but no more; his Suffragans and Coadjutors in the Conſiſtory being more in number, and every of them equal in Power, ſhould leave him for a Cypher: Then regulate Epiſcopacy is the ſame with demoliſh it; for turn a Light downward, and it will extinguiſh it ſelf: Take ſuch a Biſhop, and meaſure him, not with an Ell, but a Span, and he is Paterculus non Pater, a titular Chairman, Beza's Moderator for life, Cartwright's Preſident. How often hath this Mockery of Government been obtruded and rejected? But the Mortar will ſtill favour of the Garlick that was ſtampt in it before.

137. The power of the Presbyterians was ſo great in Tumults and concourſe of baſe People, that their Concluſions were ſtrong, though their Premiſſes were weak, to blunt the power of ancient Epiſcopacy. Nam quae eſt iſta nova & ſtulta ſapientia, novitatem quaerere in viſceribus antiquitatis? Optat. lib. 6. Yet in all this Lincoln was their Days-man, and gave them conſiderate Anſwers; but he did wind them off, and would ſpin the Webb no further with them, when he perceived they aimed more at a regulated Crown, than a regulated Mitre. Juſt p. 145as Pauſanius ſays of the Meſſenians, foreign. That they would change their Kings into Regents of a new name, ſubject to the People, and anſwerable for their Faults. So theſe would make our King as ſubject to their Elderſhips, as a Stadt-holder in the Netherlands; as to have no Government in Church-Affairs as their King, (I mean their Chriſtian King) to be liable to their Cenſures, to execute their Verdicts, without diſputing the Juſtice of them. Their politick Aphoriſms are far more dangerous, That His Majeſty is not the higheſt Power in his Realms; That he hath not abſolute Soveraignty; That a Parliament ſitting is co-ordinate with him in it: He may have the Title of only Supreme, yet a Senate have an eſſential part without the Name. The Soveraignty was mixt, and diſtributed into the Hands of King, Lords, and Commons. Though a Nation war againſt a King, and they on the Merit of the Cauſe have the worſer ſide, yet may he not war againſt the Publick Good on that account, nor any help him in ſuch a War. When a man's Poſſeſſion of the Crown doth ceaſe to be the means of the Publick Good, it is then his Duty to reſign, and no Injury to be deprived of it. Though the Power of the Militia be expreſly given to the King, it ſhall not be his alone, unleſs it be expreſt it ſhall not be in others. Do not theſe Aphoriſms ſuit horribly well with the 13th to the Romans? How could God have ſealed the King's Safety and Commiſſion with a plainer Text, and a ſtronger Warrant? Shall theſe crooked Rules obliquate thoſe loyal Maxims, which are ſo ſtrait in St. Paul? Theſe are Junius Brutus's Theorems, or worſe, which are top-heavy, and will fall with their own weight into Hell. Worthy Lincoln heard the Presbyterian Encroachments upon all other points with a civil welcome; but when ſuch Divinity, not fit for Engliſh Subjects, was pieced unto them, he would brook no more Addreſſes. The Cony-skin is eaſily pluckt off from the Body, but it ſlicks at the Head. O what a Flood-gate have they drawn up with theſe diſloyal Tenents, through which a Deluge of War and Miſchief hath burſt out! Should I tell them, that they have boaſted, that their Diſcipline did never prevail in a State, but in ſpight of the Princes of the place? They know it is true, and that Parſons, Fiſher, and other Jeſuites have told them of it. Saepius olim religio peperit ſceleroſa atque impia facta, quoth Lucretius. This was Olim, a good while ſince. But Grotius ſays of the modern ſort of theſe Miniſters, and ſome Popiſh Prieſts, Per quos communis hujus ſeculi peſt is in utraſ que partes vulgata eſt, Hiſt. p. 57. Which made a Marſhal of France, deſirous of his Countrys Peace, wiſh, That every Miniſter had a Prieſts Head in his Belly, that they might be rid of them both. The Devil wanted not the cunning to joſtle Heathen Princes out of their Rights, by Stratagems of Religion: Cleomenes taught the Delphick Oracle how to caſt Demaratus out of his Kingdom: So Pauſan. in Lacon. It was an eaſier thing than for Savanarola, a Preacher of Chriſt, to preach the Florentines out of an Optimacy into a Popular Government. The Citizens burnt him afterwards at a Stake in their Streets; they ſhould have fir'd him in his Pulpit. I muſt charge it on our Preſbyterians, that their Thunder-clapps of Rebellious Doctrine hurried our three Kingdoms into a moſt bloody War; foreign. Demoſth. foreign. The Plant comes from him that ſowed the Seed. With which Similitude Cicero arreſts M. Anton. Ut in ſeminibus cauſa eſt ſtirpium & arborum, ſic hujus luctuoſiſſimi belli cauſa Tu Fuiſti,Phil. 2. But what care theſe men to plead guilty to this Bill? For a Bell-weather of their Flock writes, I dare not repent of it, nor forbear the ſame, if it were to do again, in the ſame ſtate of things, Holy Commonw. p. 486. What hope have we of Good from ſuch Zealots? What Comfort ever to have Peace, when the greateſt Incendiaries do promiſe us, that they will never be better?

138. Sir Fr. Walſingham, an honourable Counſellor, did not miſtake them; but he was miſtaken that ſays ever he was a Puritan, as this Letter will teſtifie, written to Monſ. Crittoy, Secretary of France, and to be read in the Supplement of the Cabala of Letters, p. 40. For thoſe which named themſelves Reformers, and we commonly call Puritans, this hath been the Proceeding towards them a great while; when they inveighed againſt ſuch Abuſes in the Church, as Pluralities, Non-reſidence, and the like, their Zeal was not condemned, only their Violence was ſometimes cenſur'd: When they refuſed the uſe of ſome Ceremonies and Rites as ſuperſtitious, they were tolerated with much connivence and gentleneſs: Yea, when they call'd in queſtion the ſuperiority of Biſhops, and pretended to bring in a Democracy into the Church, yet their Propoſitions were heard, conſider'd, and by contrary Writings debated and p. 146diſcuſſed: Yet all this while it was perceived, that their courſe was dangerous and popular; as, because Papiſtry was odious, it was ever in their Mouths, That they ſought to purge the Church from the Relicks of Popery, a thing acceptable to the People, who love ever to run from one Extream to another. Becauſe multitude of Rogues and Poverty were an Eye-ſore and Diſlike to every man, therefore they put it into the Peoples Head… That if Diſcipline were planted, there ſhould be no Beggars nor Vagabond… ▪ A thing v…ry plauſible. And in like manner they promiſe the People many other impoſſible Wonders of their Diſcipline: Beſide, they opened the People a way to Government by their Conſiſtory and Presbytery, a thing in conſequence no leſs prejudicial to the Liberties of private men, than to the Soveraignty of Princes, yet in the firſt ſhew very popular. Nevertheleſs this (except it were in ſome few that entred into extream contempt) was born withal, becauſe they pretended but in dutiful manner to make Propoſitions, and to leave it to the Providence of God, and to the Authority of the Magiſtrate: But now of late years, when there iſſued from them a Colony of thoſe, that affirmed the Conſent of the Magiſtrate was not to be attended; when under pretence of a Confeſſion to avoid Slanders and Imputations, they combined themſelves by Claſſes and Subſcriptions; when they deſcended into that vile and baſe means of defacing the Government of the Church by ridiculous Paſquils; when they began to make many Subjects in doubt to take an Oath which is one of the fundamental points of Juſtice in this Land, and in all places; when they began both to vaunt of their Strength and Number of their Partizans and Followers, and to uſe Comminations, that their Cauſe would prevail, though with Uproar and Violence, then it appeared to be no more Zeal▪ no more Conſcience, but meer Faction and Diviſion. And therefore though the State were compelled to hold ſomewhat a harder hand to reſtrain them than before▪ yet it was with as great moderation as the Peace of the State and Church cou… permit. Thus far Walſingham the Wiſe, one of the Pillars of … …is Generation. It is not such Fire-Drakes as he writes of could not … to threaten the Nation, that they would prevail, though with Uproar and Violence: No worſe man than Cartwright, their Maſter, is the Author of thoſe Minaces, as Dr. Bancroft quotes him, and Scutliff againſt the Petition, p. 72. The Author of the Demonſtration ſaith, That great Troubles were coming, if they might not have their Will; and, That the Diſcipline ſhould come by a way that would make all our Hearts ake. And how right Sir Francis hits them! That Presbytery was popular in the firſt Shew, but odious in the Say: As Solinus ſays of the River Hypanis, c. 14. Qui in Principiis eum norunt praedicant: qui in fine experti ſunt non injuria execrantur. They that welcome it in, would be glad to open a Poſtern to let it out. If it conſiſted in no more than contemplative Doctrine, the trouble of it had chiefly fallen upon the Univerſities: But it is as practick as the Wind, of which we ſay, Uſque adeo agit, ut niſi agat not ſit; It is a medling byſie-body, that will let nothing be quiet. In ſhort, it is bred in the Brain, but like a Catarrh, it falls upon the Heart.

139. Had Secretary Walſingham taſted what Lincoln did from undermining Presbyterians, Monſ. Crittoy had heard more and worſe from him than he did, in that honeſt Letter: You ſhall have the Caſe as it follows. No ſooner did this Parliament open, but Diſquietneſs and Uproars began with it, in many Churches, to diſturb the Holy Service: The Houſe of Commons were their Countenance, therefore provided no Remedy to controul them: That Impiety, which was wont to be abhorr'd, was brooded and cheriſh'd: Yet the Houſe of Lords appointed a Committee of their own Members, to give Glory to God, by driving Profaners out of his Temple; and at the ſame time ſelected a Sub-Committee out of Divines of very contrary Opinions, for Indifferency ſake, to propoſe unto them matters fit for their cognizance, Biſhop of Lincoln. Primate of Armagh. Biſhop of Du…ham. Biſhop of Norwich. Dr. Ward, D. Prideaux D. Sanderſon Dr. Featly, Dr. Brounrigg, Dr. Holdſworth, Dr. Hacket. Dr. Twiſs, Dr. Burgeſs, Mr. White, Mr. Marſhal, Mr. Calamy, Mr. H….to prevent theſe Clamours odious in our Land, and ſcandalous to other Nations. The Biſhop of Lincoln had the Chair both in the Committee and Sub-committee, with Authority given him to call together thoſe Aſſiſtants, whom the Lords had named to conſult for Peace, and to ſtop the Breaches which Sedition had cauſed. Thoſe which were named for the Sub-committee, were ſome few more than did meet, but ſuch as did conſtantly appear to lay their Heads together, are recited in the Margin, who were called by Lincoln's Letter to attend, in theſe words.

p. 147—I am commanded by the Lords of the Committee for Innovations in matters of Religion, that you know, that their ſaid Lordſhips have aſſigned and appointed you to attend them as Aſſiſt ants in that Committee; and to let you know in general, that their Lordſhips do intend to examine all Innovations in Doctrine or Diſcipline, introduced into the Church without Law, ſince the Reformation. And if their Lordſhips ſhall find it behoveful, for the good of the Church and State, to examine after that the Degrees and Perfection of the Reformation it ſelf, which I am directed to intimate unto you, that you may prepare your Thoughts, Studies and Meditations, accordingly, expecting their Lordſhips Pleaſure for the particular points, as they ſhall ariſe.

Dated Martis 12. 1640.

The Biſhop, and as many as were of his Judgment, found no way but to let them, that ſeemed to be diſtaſted with the Church for certain things, have ſomewhat granted that they ask'd for, to let Suſpicions paſs for Proofs, and any Point of a dubious ſence for a kind of Error: As they that raiſe a Bliſter where there was none before, to prepare a Cure for preventing an Apoplexy. Neceſſity hath no Law, but it ſhews a great deal of Reaſon, to unſettle ſome few things by Condeſcenſion, for the ſettlement of a general Peace. Sometimes a little Loſs is a great Gain: Thoſe words of Tully will make it good, in his Oration for Plancius, Haec de ſapientiſſim is & clariſſimis viris, &c. non ſemper eaſdem ſententias ab iiſdem, ſed quaſcun que Reip. ſtatus, inclinatio temporum, ratio concordiae poſt ularet, eſſe defendendas. Now this Theological Junto had ſix meetings in Weſt. College, in all which time all Paſſages of Diſcourſe were very friendly between part and part. The Complainants noted the Paſſages of ſome Books that ſuited not, in their judgment, with the Doctrin of our Church; they were condemned. Somewhat in Ceremony and outward form was preſented, as beſide Canon, and ſupernumerary; they had their asking to bid it be reſtrain'd. Their Exceptions againſt our Liturgy were petty and ſtale, older than the Old Exchange; yet, for their contentment, the Vote of the Meeting did bend one way to caſtigate ſome Phraſes, to publiſh the next printed Books, in all Paſſages from the beginning to the end, with the Tranſlation of K. James's Bible, and to furniſh the Calendar altogether with Leſſons of Canonical Scripture, diſpunging the Apocryphal. The Biſhop had undertaken a Draught for regulating the Government Eccleſiaſtical, but had not finiſh'd it. The ſudden and quiet diſpatch of all that was done already was attributed to the Chairman's Dexterity, who could play his Prize at all Weapons, dally with crooked Humours, and pluck them ſtraight; bring all Stragglers into his own Pound, and never drive them in; foreſee a Tempeſt of Contradiction the beſt that ever I knew, and ſcatter it before it could riſe; and won all his Adverſaries inſenſibly, into a complyance, before they were aware. To this day they of the Nonconformiſts that ſurvive, and were preſent, will tell you that they admired two things in him, in their Phraſe, his Courteſie, and his Cunning.

140. When Peace came ſo near to the Birth, how it abortived, and by whoſe fault, comes now to be remembred. The Presbyterians knew not what to ask more than was yielded to them, before the face of ſuch Scholars, with whom they were match'd: But when they were among themſelves, in their own Body, they would ſtand to nothing. Itdem eadem poſſunt horam durare probantes? Hor. Ep. 1. They did never abide long by their own Reformings; for they walk by no Church-Rule of any Age. How ſoon would they be weary of other mens Conceſſions? A few weak Brethren might take theſe Alterations in good part, which were like to be obtained; but the noted men of the Faction could not bring themſelves into Fame and Name, and ſomewhat elſe, but in a greater confuſion: The old Waters muſt be troubled more, before they could catch the great Fiſh in their Flue: As one ſays of the Jeſuites, that profeſs Poverty, and yet build ſtately Colleges, richly endowed, that they are not Mendicants for ſmall Monies, but Beggars by wholeſale: So theſe could make no Trade out of ſuch ſmall Bargains, as mend this, and mend that, but it would be worth an Alderman's Wealth to a lucky Stickler, to be a Reformer by wholeſale: Then, as Ariſtophanes jeers in his Equit. foreign; He that's low to day, may be aloft to morrow. Therefore they make Clamour againſt the Biſhops; for, ſplit that holy Order, and they knew all would ſink with it. No Revilings were thought ill enough to make them odious; as Theophylact complains of his Bulgarians, Epiſcoporum accuſationibus tanquam ſuorum defenſionibus ninituntur, Baron. ann. 1073. par. 88. So our diſobedient Children, by blotting p. 148the good Name of their Reverend Fathers, ſuppoſed themſelves would look as white as a new-plaiſter'd Wall. It was their Eye, which was evil, that could not ſee the Good of our Apoſtolical Government: Like Luther's Fool, in his Comment on Gen. 13, who ſtanding in the Sun, and looking downward, complain'd his Shadow was crooked. The Presbyterians underſtood, that they ſhould expoſe themſelves and their Cauſe to the Cenſure of wiſe men, if they did adventure no further in conference at the Sub-committee. Therefore to cut off that Meeting in the heat and great hopes of it, they had a Champion that brought a Bill into the Houſe of Commons, to take away for ever Archbiſhops, Biſhops, Deans, Archdeacons, Chancellors, &c. call'd, The Bill of Root and Branch. This man was Sir Ed. Deering, a Knight of ſtrong Abilities. Qui omnes virtutes unus, facti temeritate abſtulit; as Paterculus ſaid of Brutus, lib. 1. What muſt not this poor Church ſuffer, when her Principalities were deſlin'd to be funder'd, before new could be provided, to which all might be firmly faſtned? What could a ſingle perſon do worſe, than abrogate all our Laws and Conſtitutions? Which is the ſame with that of Demoſthenes, ad Timocr. foreign. What Device was there left to make Sorrow eat further into our Hearts, than to obtrude the new Gewgaw of the Geneva Platform upon us, inſtead of the Chair which St. Peter, St. John, St. Mark had erected in Europe, Aſia, and Africa, from the Primitive Times? Rerum novitate extruſa vetuſtas, Luc. lib. 3. When the Athenians compelled the Spartans to renounce their own Laws, and to accept thoſe of Athens, Livy pitied them, Dec. 4. lib. 6. Nulla res tanto erat damno, quàm diſciplina Lycurgi ſublata, cui per annos 800 aſſueverant. This was worſe, compare continuance of time, but much more for Conſcience. But did theſe Innovators ſile another Bill then, or ever after, what form of Government ſhould ſucceed in the place of Epiſcopacy? No, they could never hammer out ſuch an Engine upon their Anvil; for which Dr. Owen girds them, being then in a good vein, Vind. Evan. p. 216. Wiſe Builders are they, pull down they will, although they have nothing in the room of what they endeavour'd to deſtroy Was there never a wiſe man among them, that had learnt the Polity of the Venetians, no ordinary Stateſmen? Where no Officer muſt depart out of his Government, foreign or domeſtick, Priuſquàm novus in ipſius locum ſubſtitueretur, Match. Reſp. lib. 1. c. 50. Ours were not ſuch Senators, but like School-boys, that make a Blot greater with wiping it out. It is not an Artiſt's Work, but a Hangman's, ſays Tully, to cut off the Limbs of a ſound Body, Orat. pro Seſtio. Non eſt ea medicina, cumſanae parti corporis ſcalpellum adhibetur, at que integrae: Carnificina eſt iſta, & crudelitas. But this was their hour, and the power of Darkneſs. All was in Tumult. The King's Arm was too weak to hold the Balance of Juſtice: As Plutarch, in Dion, makes or tells a Story, That Pigs were ſarrowed in Syracuſa, another London, without Ears: And the Soothſayers told Dionyſius the younger, upon it, That the People would be contumacious, and give ear to nothing. So you have the firſt and the laſt part of the Presbyterians Actings, with the other Divines, whom the Lords appointed for a Sub-committee. There may well be a Suſpicion, when their Deeds do make a Confeſſion, that they would prevail by Force, when they could not by Argument. And thus began the downfal of Epiſcopacy, which was never heard, never ſuffer'd to plead at the Bar of the Parliament in its own Cauſe, but, as one ſays pertinently, It was ſmother'd in a Crowd.

141. Anatomiſts obſerve, that the thinneſt Membrane is that which covers the Brain, that no weight might ſtop it from production of Notions and Phancies. Certainly it was ſo in our Biſhop's Head-piece, who was conſulted every day in weighty Affairs, and had a Task at this time, concurrent with all that went before, to look to the Caſe of the noble, but unfortunate Earl of Strafford: A Charge of great Crimes was haſtily drawn up againſt him, that he had been a Tyrant in Ireland, and ſtirred up His Majeſty to raiſe an Army to oppreſs his Subjects in England and Scotland; Haec paſſim Dea ſoeda virum diffudit in ora, AEn. 4. Theſe were the Fictions of Fame, and no more, but made the People caſt about diſtruſtful and diſloyal Doubts. The Earl, a man of great Wit and Courage, knew not whether the King and all his Friends could ſave him: In a rebellious nation wrath is ſet on fire, Ecclus 16.6. And to the ſhame of Subjects, bewitch'd with the new Spirit of that Bedlam rage, neither the King nor his Juſtice could protect any man. Too well do I remember that of Juſtin, lib. 30. Nec quiſquam in regno ſuo minùs quàm rex ipſe poterat. Some ſay of the French, lukewarm in Religion, that they kneel but with one Knee at Maſs; a great number p. 149in our rigid Parliament would not do ſo much, the locking Joynt of their Knee was too ſtiff to bend at all: Rebellion is a foul word, yet they bluſh'd not at the deed, who were aſhamed of the Title. Then the Scots were reſolved not to disband till this brave Lord was headleſs. Who hath ſeen a Hedge hog rouled up into a Ball? The whole lump is Prickles, do but touch it, and you hurt your Hand. Convolvuntur in modum pilae, ne quid poſſit comprehendt praeter aculeos, Plin l. 8. c. 37. So Lesſly and his Tykes were bloody and imperious, faſtned with much confidence in one body: Who could remove them? Nay, who could touch them, or go about to mollitie them, and get no harm? Then the Tumults of Sectaries, Corner-creepers, and debauch'd Hang-by's, that beſet the dutiful Lord, and Commons with Poniards and Clubbs, were worſe than an Army far off. Theſe call'd for Juſtice, that is, for the Life of the Earl. What had they to do with Juſtice? which if it might have fate upon the Bench, and tryed them, every Mothers Son of them had been condemned to the Gallows: But it was ſafer to ſit ſtill with Prudence, than to ruſh on with Courage. Plus animi eſt inferenti periculum, quàm propulſanti, Liv. lib. 38. The Affailant, that comes to do a Miſchief, puts on deſperately, and is fiercer than the Defendant: And there is no equal temperature, or counterpoiſe of Power againſt the ſtrong Ingredient of a Multitude. I will not ſay, but many of this Scum invited themſelves unbidden to do a Miſchief; but there was a Leader, a Presbyter Pulpiteer, that beſpoke them into the Uproar from Shop to Shop. Lucius Sergius ſignifer ſeditionis, concitator tabernariorum, Cic. pro dom. ad Pont. I need not a Lime-hound to draw after him that was the chief Burgeſs of the Burrough, who gathered this vain People to a head, that had no Head: Silly Mechanicks! Horum ſimplicitas miſerabilis: his furor ipſe—Dat veniam, Juven. Sat. 2. But what will he anſwer, that knew his Maſter's Will, and ran headlong againſt it? Now here's the Streight of the Earl of Strafford, expos'd to the greateſt popular Rage that ever was known: All that his good Angel could whiſper into him in Priſon, was, to truſt to God and a righteous Defence: But whereon ſhould he bottom his Defence? He could not upon the known Law, which is the Meraſtone to limit and define all Cauſes for Life, Limb, Liberty, or Living. He muſt ſtand to a Tryal, whether parcels of petty Offences will make an accumulative Felony; and be arraigned upon a notion of Treaſon, which could be wreſted out of no Statute, nor be parallel'd with any Preſident: The Treaſon was rather in them that call'd ſuch things Treaſon, to which no Engliſh Subject was liable by his Birth-right. In populo ſcelus eſt, & abundant cuncta furore, Man. lib. 2. The Law was too much his Friend, to bring him before the face of it. Anocent man fears the Law; an innocent man fears Malice and Envy. O vitae tuta facultas—Pauperis, anguſti que laris! O munera nondum—Intellecla, Luc. lib. 5. O the ſecurity and ſound ſleeps of a private Life! If this Earl had not climb'd as high as the Weather-cock of Honours Spire, he had not known the Horror of a Precipice. Iſocrates would never meddle with a publick Office, ſays the Author of his Life. foreign; the Athenians were ſo ſpightful at their Magiſtrates, that he would not truſt them. Demaſthenes was employed in great Places, and died untimely by a Poyſon which he had confected for an evil time. Says Pauſan. upon it in Atti. foreign. He that is entruſted to govern the people, when he hath ſerv'd their turn, ſeldom dyes fortunately. But this is the man, whoſe Troubles gave the Biſhop occaſion to ſhew his Abilities in two points: Firſt, About the circumſtance of the examination of the Cauſe. Secondly, About the Judges of the Cauſe, that is, Whether Biſhops might be ſuch in causâ ſanguinis. There is much of it, I confeſs, but the Learning will recompence the length. And I ſhall not blemiſh his Reputation, to ſay of him what the Orator ſaid of L. Aquilius, Orat. pro Caecinnâ, Cujus tantum eſt ingenium, ita prompta fides, ut quicquid haurias, purum liquidúm que haurire cenſeas.

142. Before I draw up to the Biſhop's Reports, there is more to be premiſed; as. That there was much ado to ſcore out the Hearing of Strafford with a ſtraight Line, and a Form to give ſome ſatisfaction; as a Child is often ſet upon its Legs before it can go. His Adverſaries toſs'd it about many ways, and manag'd it chiefly by two perſons, Mr. St. John, the King's Sollicitor, one that did very bad Service to the King his Maſter, and the Church his Mother, yet of able parts; therefore I will write the Inſcription of his Tomb-ſtone on the wrong ſide, and turn it downward to the Earth. The other was John Pym; Homo ex argillâ, & luto factus Epicuraeo; as Tully ſaid of Piſo, that is, in Chriſtian Engliſh, a painted p. 150Sepulchre, a Belly-god. From the firſt breaking out of the Plot againſt the Earl, they committed him as a Traytor to the Black Rod; who for any thing of Treaſon, or like to Treaſon, might go bare-fac'd through the World, and never be aſham'd: For, in the end of all, long after his Commitment, they had no proof towards that Crime, but a Paper brought out of old Sir H. Vane's Cabinet, by his naughty Son, Crudelis pater eſt magis an puer improbus ille? What were other Miſdemeanors to Treaſon? Sift any man that hath been long in a great Office, and if his Enemies may be permitted to accuſe him, ſee if he can eſcape a black Bill, which will found to his peril and diſgrace, amplified with the Rhetorick of Malice. So Plutarch defends the gallant Roman Fabius, Tòforeign Not to offend at all in great matters, is more than a man can do. Let me ſpeak of his Judges with reverence: It was a Parliament which is more able to prepare Laws to paſs where all are concern'd, than to ſit upon a Trial where one Subject is concern'd: Wiſe and Weak have the ſame Right to Judge; therefore Pliny the younger ſpared not to cenſure the Conſcript-Fathers of the Roman Senate, lib. 2. Ep. In publico concilio nihil eſt tam inaequale quam aequalitas: quia cum ſit impar prudentia, par omnium jus eſt. Thoſe that are no Body when they are ſingled and ſtand alone, muſt paſs for Oracles when they vote with others in the Houſe: Like the Vanity of Aſtrologers, as Salmaſius taxeth them, Chym. p. 795. Singula ſidera vix pro numinibus habent: Compoſita & offigiata potentum numinum inſtar habere voluerunt. The vertue of ſuch and ſuch a Star is not reckon'd in their Art, but put it into a Conſtellation, that Figure caſt into a Globe of Stars, they hold to be propitions, in-flowing into the Life and Death of Men. There were ſome in this Parliament that out of their Birth and Education were carried to noble Attempts, who would not concurr to the Ruin of great Wentworth; but their Names were poſted for it by Ruffians, as Enemies to the State: And this was never look'd into for a breach of Privilege. An Indignity will never be forgotten, till Truth hath left to breathe. And it was to no purpoſe to reaſon it ſoberly with ſo violent Oppoſites: Decernente ferociſſimo quo que non ſententiis, ſed clamore, & ſtrepitu, Liv. lib. 20. Their Blood was warmed with the greatneſs of their number, and confidence in the People: Beſide, ſays the rare Author, in his Eſſay of Faction, it is often ſeen, that a few that are ſtiff will tire out a greater number that are more moderate. What odds then was on their ſide, that exceeded in quantity and ſtiffneſs? Yet every thing that is ſtiff is not ſtreight. But here the bloody part were the Godly in their own Language, they, and no others. All that came from them, was pretended to be for Reformation and common Safety, but as different in event as Numbers that are even and odd. Hypocriſie dwells next door to Virtue, but never comes into its Neighbor's Houſe. What Juſtice was that which was thrown by for ever, which plaid its part ſo ill, that the very Actors hiſs'd it off the Stage, and provided by their own Vote, that it ſhould be ſeen no more? Quintil. lib. 7. hath this upon the Pleadings of his time, Tot ſaeculis nullam repertam eſſe cauſam, quae ſit tota alteriſimilis. No Cauſe was ever pleaded, that was the ſame with any that went before, in all points and circumſtances. But how ſay you to this Cauſe, when it was enacted by Statute, That no Cauſe ſhould be like it for the time to come? Sir Rob. Dallington notes the Subtlety of the Pope in theſe words: That he never challengeth a Power. till he be able to maintain it, (no more did this High Court) and then, that he never approves a Miſchief till it be done. So did not this Court, that would not approve their own Miſchief when it was done: They were not aſham'd before, and when they ſhed innocent Blood, but after: Quos cum nihil refert pudet: ubi pudendum eſt deſerit illos pudor, Plaut. in Bacch. Finally, no Evidence can have more light than this, That they knew not how to make their Juſtice paſſable, becauſe, before they began, they found ſo many Knots and Scruples how to enter into a Trial. When they had reſolved on a way, the King would have croſt them: Diſcreet men were afraid, leſt Oppoſition ſhould make them worſe: Lincoln is conſulted, approves the King's Zeal to uſe all expedient means to reſcue his faithful Servant, but thought it would do hurt, to check what the Parliament had deviſed for a legal procedure. He that ſeeks a thing the wrong way, goes ſo far backward. In all Conteſts of Power the King is ever thought to do wrong: The King's Greatneſs, made too much contemptible already, muſt beware to take a foyl at this time: Mary Queen of Scotland, Mother to James the third (who was deem'd worthy the Character of Livia the Empreſs, Ulyſſes stolata, Ulyſſes in a Petticoat, Calig. in Sueton.) gave this Counfel to her Son on her Death-bed, p. 151Suffer not your Prerogative to come in queſtion; but fore-ſeeing the danger, rather give way to all that in reaſon is demanded of you, Drum. p. 79. With theſe Conſiderations the Biſhop proceeds to deliver his Opinion, as followeth, to the Lords.

143. The firſt Queſtion which your Lordſhips have called upon me to reſolve is, Whether the Houſe of Commons may examine ſome of the Members of their Houſe before a Committee of your Lordſhips? There is no queſtion of the thing, but of the time. Regularly they ought not to do it yet: but ought firſt to put in a Specifial Charge, and the Reus, or Defendant firſt be call'd to his Anſwer. Then, and not before, Witneſſes ought to be produced. This is the regular Courſe. If the Charge be not Specifial, it may be demurred unto, and need not be anſwer'd at all. We have all this in the Acts of the Apoſtles, cap. 25. Feſtus brought brought forth Paul to be examin'd before Agrippa, that he might have foreign, v. 27. ſome certain matter to lay to his charge, ſo as he might not ſlip away from it. Therefore a general and uncertain matter will not ſerve the turn. For otherwiſe foreign, v. 28. it ſeem'd to Feſtus void of all reaſon, to ſend a Priſoner to Rome, and no Charge go along with him. They are call'd there foreign, particular Criminations. This is the regular way before your Witneſſes are uſed. The Star-Chamber goes a little further beſide the Rule: For in the King's Cauſe, upon Affidavit of Sickneſs, to prevent Mortality, and as it were de benè eſſe, ſome Witneſſes have been admitted to Examination before any Anſwer put in, or Iſſue joyned. Though theſe Witneſſes were to be re-examin'd after Iſſue joyn'd, in caſe they recover'd. A particular Charge being laid before you, when the Houſe of Commons is a Party, and the Charge of ſo high a nature as Treaſon, I ſhall not adviſe this Honourable Houſe to uſe any Chiquancery, or Pettiſoggery with this great Repreſentation of the Kingdom; but admit them forthwith to examine their own Members; yet with this Caution, To hew the Names two days before they be produced, to the Sollicitor of the Defendant, that he may have notice of the perſons. But the Houſe preſs for Secrecy in the Examination. Well, they are ſafe enough while they are in the Lord's hands; who have Urim and Thummim, perfect Knowledge, and perfect Integrity: and therefore nothing can be ſuſpected. Are not they ſurer than other Officers? In ordinary Commiſſions out of Star-Chamber, my Lord Ellſmore would not allow that any Clerks ſhould be uſed, to prevent Futility and Evaporation, ſaying, That the beſt Commiſſioner in England was not too good to be the King's Clerk. Secondly, I am as'kt about the Examination of the Peers, and the Aſſiſtants of this Houſe upon Oath. There is no queſtion to be made about the Aſſiſtants, they are no Peers of this Kingdom; but whether Peers may be produced as Witneſſes, and teſtifie upon Oath? A queſtion not ſit to be now handled, and impoſſible to be reſolved out of the Rolls of the Parliament; becauſe the Peers give their Teſtimony both in this Court, and others, either way. And I am confident a Peers Averment againſt his Fellow Peer cannot be refuſed either way; eſpecially in caſe of Treaſon: For a Peer judgeth his Peer worthy of Death upon his Honour, and therefore may witneſs againſt him upon his Honour. In this Court, and almoſt in this Caſe, in Alze Pierce her Caſe, 1 Rich. 2. Num. 21. Lord Roger Beauchamp ſwears upon the Holy Evangeliſts: The Lord of Lancaſter, King of Caſtile and Leon, is examin'd, but not ſworn. Nay, both ways have been declar'd in this Houſe to be all one. Your Lordſhips declaring that you did not bound, limit, or terminate your Aſſertion with your Honour, but mount it, and relate it up unto God, that gave you your Honour; and yielded your ſelves perjur'd, if you falſiſied in ſwearing upon Honour; which is juſt the very ſame, as if you ſware upon the Holy Evangeliſts. To ſwear upon Honour, and reſt there, were Idolatry. But to ſwear upon Honour with a Report and Relation to God, who beſtowed it upon your Lordſhips, as a ſpecial Favour and Grace, is as Chriſtian an Oath as any in the World: For new Scruples in the manner, as to touch the Book, to look on the Book, to hold up a Finger or Hand to Heaven, are Ceremonies which the Houſe of Commons little regards, but leaves them to us: And the Lord of Strafford is ſo wiſe, that he will never queſtion the Honour of his Peers. And why ſhould we trouble our ſelves about the circumſtance, but leave each Lord called to teſtiſie, to call God as a Witneſs to his Aſſertion, in which of theſe two manners it ſhall pleaſe his Lordſhip: Not the Book, not the Honour, but the Invocation of God to bear witneſs to the Aſſertion, makes the Oath.

p. 152144. I am put to it by your Lordſhips, to ſpeak, in the third place, about the examination of Privy Councillors: Here needs no diſtinction between Peers and Aſſiſtants: This is part of a Privy Councillor's Oath, That he ſhall keep ſecret all matters committed and revealed to him, or that ſhall be treated of in Council. 2. If any Treaty touch his fellow-Councillor, he ſhall not reveal it unto him, till the King or Council ſhall require it. I collect now, that matters of Fact he may reveal without violation of his Oath; and that he may be examin'd of matters revealed unto him, that were treated of in Council, if they were not treated of in Council when he was preſent: That a Privy-Councillor, for all his Oath, may be examin'd concerning Words, Advices, or Opinions of another Privy-Councillor, otherwiſe given than in Council: That Bed-chamber and Gallery Diſcourſe is nothing to the Council-Table: Private Entertainers of the King, when the Counſellors attend at the Door, are not to paſs for Counſellors: Ear-wiggs and Whiſperers are no Counſellors, but detracters from Counſellors: If they adviſe the Deſtruction of the King, the State, or the Laws of the Realm there is nothing in the Oath to protect ſuch an Ear-worm, but he may be appeached: For matters which touch another fellow-Councillor, or matters committed otherwiſe to him, or which ſhall be treated of in Council, theſe are not to be concealed from all forts of men, but from private men only; not from the King, not from the Council, (both thoſe are in the Oath) nor from the Parliament: That Privy-Councillots may be examin'd by Command of the Parliament, for things treated in Council; 2. for things revealed unto them ſecretly, from the King in his Bed-chamber; 3. and eſpecially, for ear-wigging and treating with the King in private, after things already ſettled in Council. The Caſe of Alze Pierce, 1 Rich. II. num. 41. clears all theſe Doubts: And it is the Caſe alſo of a Deputy of Ireland. William of Windſor, Lord-Deputy, misbehaved himſelf in Ireland; the Council directs Sir Nicholas Dagworth to go thither, and to enquire into his Actions; Windſor makes means to Alze Pierce to keep off this man, under pretence of Enmity betwixt them: This Shunamite, that lay in David's Boſom, prevails with the King to ſtay Sir N. Dagworth, the Council-Order notwithſtanding: The Lords in Parliament queſtion her for this act, as having drawn with it the Ruin of the State in Ireland: She pleads not guilty, Iſſue is joyned: The Lords produce inter alios, John Duke of Lancaſter, upon his Honor, and Roger Beauchamp Lord Chamberlain, upon the Evangeliſts: Alze produceth of her part the Steward and Comptroller of the Houſhold: All theſe four were Privy-Counſellors; they depoſe all of them nothing elſe but matters treated of in Council, and oppoſed by Alze Pierce, treating with the King out of Council. So that, if this Record be true, this Caſe is cleared, Privy-Councillors may not be forced by ordinary Courts of Juſtice, to reveal things treated of in Council, but may be produced, upon Oath and Honour, to reveal ſuch Secrets by the King, the Council, or the Parliament, eſpecially in deteſtation of Statewhiſperers and Ear-wiggs; yea, though they had taken no Oath at all. Yet God forbid a Privy-Counſellor ſhould witneſs againſt his Fellow, for publickly venting the freedom of his Judgment at the Board, who is bound to adviſe faithfully, not wiſely; as I do here this day. Should any man be accuſed for an Error of Judgment? O God defend! peradventure my Error hath ſet all the reſt of the Council ſtraight: Errores antiquorum venerari oportet: ſi illi non erraſſent, minùs ipſe providiſſem: otherwiſe you would take away all Freedom of Debates, nay, almoſt of very Thoughts. If I knew any man would witneſs againſt me for my Council-Table Opinion, I would ſay to him as Gallus did to Tyberius Caeſar, Good Sir, ſpeak you firſt, for I may miſtake, and you may witneſs againſt me for it in the next Parliament. Some did make Laws with Ropes about their Necks: What? Muſt men give their Counſel as it were with Ropes about their Necks? Solomon ſays, When thou comeſt to a rich man's table, put a knife to thy Throat. But what's here? When we give Judgment, as we are able, among the Lords of the Council, muſt we put an Ax to our Necks? Beware of ſuch Traps, pittying the caſe of human Weakneſs.

145. The fourth Queſtion is thus comprized; Whether ſome Members of the Houſe of Commons may be preſent at the Examination. Judicially they cannot, the Judicature is in your Lordſhips; but whether organically and miniſterially, is the Scruple to be ſatisfied. I will be brief in my Conceptions, what is againſt the claim of the Houſe of Commons, and what is for them. This is not for them, That 50 Edw. 3. one Love was a Witneſs in Lord John Nevile's Caſe; p. 153Love denied what he had confeſt before two Knights, Members of the Lower Houſe: The Houſe of Commons ſend them to the Lords to confront Love; which they did, and Love was thereupon committed. Now, their being here was only to confront, not to aſſiſt the Lords, either judicially or miniſterially. Many things make for them, why they may be there, miniſterially at leaſt: Firſt, Originally both Houſes were together, and ſo the Commons heard all Examinations; Conſiderent inter ſe. Modus ten. Pl. and ſate ſo till Anno 6 Edw. 3. by Mr. Elſing's Collections, which are not over-authentick. Secondly, After that time, they have, all the Houſe of Commons, been preſent, when Witneſſes were ſworn here—Anno 5 Hen. IV. Rot. 11. ſwears his Fealty before the Lords and Commons; and two or three days after, by the ſame Oath, and before the ſame perſons, clears the Archbiſhop of Canterbury, and the Duke of York, from a Suſpicion of Treaſon laid to their charge. The Commons were by, and heard all this. The third Reaſon is, Mr. Attorny-General, if this Lord were arraigned of Treaſon (as I pray God bleſs him from deſerving it) would be by, and obſerve his Defence, and ſuch Witneſſes as he ſhould produce for himſelf, and would, no doubt, bring Counter proofs Sur le Champ, and upon the ſudden againſt the ſame, if he were able. The Houſe of Commons is in this caſe the King's Attorny, who make and maintain the charge. So far, out of brief Notes (for take them to be no other) you have a ſtrong Judgment paſs'd upon four Queſtions. Says Tully in his Brutus, of Caeſar's Eloquence, Tabulam benè pictam collocat in bono lumine; He draws his Picture well, and hangs it out to be well ſeen: So here's a Piece well drawn, and placed in the light of Perſpicuity. His next Argument is very long, but of that uſe to the Reader, that he ſhall not ſind ſo much Learning in any Author on that Theme, that I know a Scholar would not want it. They that foſtered deadly Enmities againſt E. Strafford, laboured to remove the Biſhops from the hearing of his Cauſe. This Biſhop and his Brethren minding to him all the Pity and Help they could ſhew him, the Oppoſites began to vote them out of Doors, and would not admit them in the Right of Peers in this Cauſe, becauſe it was upon Life and Blood, Lincoln maintains, that the Lords did them Injury, and that Biſhops in England may, and ought to vote in causâ ſanguinis, That they were never inhibited by the Law of this Land, never by the Peers of the Land before this time; That their voluntary forbearance in ſome Centuries of the Ages before, proceeded from their Fears of the Canons of the Court of Rome, and by the ſpecial Leave of the King and both Houſes, who were graciouſly pleaſed to allow of their Proteſtations for their Indemnity, as Church-men, when the King and Parliament might have rejected their Proteſtations, if they had pleas'd. And much he inſiſted upon it, that the opponent Lords grounded their Judgment upon the corrupt Canons of the Church of Rome. Indeed, I find in my own Papers, that the Monks of Canterbury complain'd againſt Hubert their Archbiſhop, to the Pope, for ſitting upon Tryals of Life and Blood: They could not complain, that he went againſt the Laws and Cuſtoms of England, but their Appeal was to the Pope's Juſtice; and it was more tolerable for Monks to rake in the Rubbiſh of the Roman Courts, than for Engliſh Barons. And ſay, in ſooth, muſt not Divines of the Reformed Church meddle in Cauſe of Blood? foreign, Amph. Would they be laugh'd at for this Hypocriſie, or abhorr'd? For, who more forward to thruſt into the Troops of the late War, than the Miniſters, whom they countenanc'd? Have I not ſeen them prance about the Streets in London, with Piſtols in their Holſters, and Swords by their ſides? And ſo for Edg-hill and Newberry, &c. Could they ruſh into ſo many Fights, and be clear from cauſe of Blood? Nay, the Pontiſical part make but a Mockery of this Canon; for anno 1633, a Book was printed in Paris, ſill'd with a Catalogue of Cardinals, Biſhops, and Prieſts, who had been brave Warriours, moſt of them Leaders in the Field; the Author, a Sycophant, aimed to pleaſe Cardinal Richlieu, and a Fig for the Canons: Reaſon, Canons, Parliamentary Privileges, nay Religion, are to corrupt men, as they like them for their own ends. Now hear how this Biſhop did wage his Arguments for the affirmative.

146. It is to be held for a good Cauſe, againſt which nothing of moment can be alledg'd; ſuch is this concerning the Right of Biſhops to vote in causâ ſanguinis. Firſt, It is not prohibitum quia malum, not any way evil in it ſelf, no more than it is an evil thing in it ſelf to do Juſtice. Secondly, It was in uſe from the Law of Nature, when the eldeſt of the Family was King, Prieſt, and Prophet. p. 154Thirdly, It was in uſe under Moſes's Law, and ſo continued in the Prieſts and Levites, down to Annas and Caiaphas, and after Chriſt's death, till the Temple was deſtroyed; as appears by the ſcourging of the Apoſtles, by the ſtoning of Stephen, and commanding St. Paul to be ſmitten on the Mouth. Fourthly, It was in uſe in the perſons of the Apoſtles themſelves, as in that Judgment given upon Ananias and Saphira; in the delivery up to Satan, as moſt of the ancient Fathers expound that Cenſure, to be a corporal Vexation: And generally, in all the Word of God, there is no one Text that literally inhibits Church-men more than Lay-men, to uſe this kind of Judicature: For that Precept, to be no striker, 1 Tim. 3.3. is no more to be appropriated to a Biſhop, diſtinct from the reſt of Chriſtian men, than that which is added, not to be given to Wine, that is, immoderately taken. Proceed we to Practice and Uſe in our own Country. Why, it was in uſe in this Iſland before the Romans entred the ſame, when the Druids gave all the Sentences in Cauſes of Blood, Si coedes fac…e p…as conſtituunt, Caeſar Bel. Gai. li. 6. And ſee Mr. Selden's Epinomis, c. 2. Nor is it like that the Romans, when they were our Maſters, ſhould forbid it in Prieſts, whoſe Pontifical College, after they had entertain'd the twelve Tables, meddled in all matters of this kind, Strabo Geogr. lib. 4. And it is as unlike, that the Chriſtian Religion excluded Biſhops in this Iſland from Secular Judicatures, ſince King Lucius is directed to take out his Laws, for the regulating of his Kingdom, by the Advice of his Council, ex utráque pagina, the Old and New Teſtament, which could not be done in that Age without the help of his Biſhops. See Sir H. Spelman's Councils, p. 34. Ann. Dom. 185. And how the great Prelates, among the ancient Britains, were wholly employ'd in theſe kind of ſecular agitations, you may ſee in the Eccleſiaſtical Laws of Howel Dha, ſet forth by Sir H. Spelman, pag. 408. anno 940. And a little before this Howel Dha, lived K. Aetheljtan, in the ſecond Chapter of whoſe Eccleſiaſtical Laws we have it peremptorily ſet down, Hinc debent Epiſcopi cum Saeculi Judicibus intereſſe judiciis; and particularly in all Judgments of the Ordeals, which no man that underſtands the word can make any doubt to have been extended to Mutilation and Death, Sir H. S. Counc. p. 405. ann. 928. And that the Biſhops joyned alwaies with the ſecular Lords in all Judicatory Laws and Acts, under the whole reign of the Saxons and Danes in this Iſland, we may ſee by thoſe Saxon-Daniſh Laws (or rather Capitularies, which among the French and Germans do ſignifie a mixture of Laws, made by the Prince, the Biſhops, and the Barons, to rule both Church and Common-wealth) ſet forth by Mr. Lambert, anno 1568. See particularly the ninth Chapter of St. Edward's Laws, De his qui ad judicium ſorri vel aquae judicati ſunt; fol. 128. And thus it continued in this Kingdom long after the Conqueſt, to wit, in Henry Beu-clerk's time, after whoſe Reign it began to be a little limited and reſtrained; for at Clarendon, anno 1164, 8 Calend. Febr. 11 Henr. 21, a general Record is agreed upon by that King's Special Command, of all the Cuſtoms and Liberties of this Kingdom, ever ſince Hen. the Firſt, the King's Grandfather; as you may ſee in Matth. Paris, p. 96, of the firſt Edition; where, among other Cuſtoms agreed upon, this is one: Archbiſhops and Biſhops, and all other perſons of this Kingdom, which hold of the King in capite, are to enjoy their Poſſeſſions of the King as a Barony, and by reaſon thereof, are to anſwer before the Judges and Officers of the King, and to obſerve and perform all the King's Cuſtoms: And juſt as the reſt of the Barons ought (for it was a Duty required of them, as the King now by his Summons doth from us) to be preſent in the Judgments of the King's Courts, together with the reſt of the Barons, until ſuch time as they ſhall there proceed to the mangling of Members, or Sentence of Death.

147. Obſerve, that there is a diverſity of reading in the laſt words; for Matth. Paris, a young Monk, that lived long after, reads this Cuſtom thus; Quouſque perveniatur ad diminutionem membrorum, vel ad mortem. Which may be wreſted to the firſt agitation of any Charge tending that way; but Quadrilogus, a Book written in that very Age, and the original Copy of the Articles of Clarendon, which Becket ſent to Rome, extant at this day in the Vatican Library, and out of which Baronius, in his Annals, anno 1164, tranſcribes it, reads the Cuſtom thus, Uſque perveniatur in judicio ad diminutionem membrorum, &c. which leaves the Biſhops to ſit there, until the Judgment come to be pronounced, amounting to Death, or Mutilation of Members. And as this was agreed to be the Cuſtom, ſo was it the Practice alſo, after that 11th year, to wit, in the 15th year of Henry the Second, at what time the Lay-Peers are ſo far from requiring the Biſhops to withdraw, that they endeavour to force them alone to hear and determine a p. 155matter of Treaſon in the perſon of Becket. Stephanides is my Author for this, who was a Chaplain and Follower of that Archbiſhop, The Barons ſay, ſaith that Author, You Biſhops ought to pronounce Sentence upon your ſelves; we are Laicks, you are Church-men, as Becket is; you are his fellow-Prieſts, and fellow-Biſhops. To whom ſome one of the Biſhops replied, This belongs to you, my Lords, rather than to us, for this is no eccleſiaſtical, but a ſecular Judicature: We ſit not here as Biſhops, but as Barons. Nos Barones, & vos Barones, hic Pares ſumus. And in vain it is that you ſhould labour to find any difference at all in our Order or Calling. See this Manuſcript cited by Mr. Selden, Titles of Honour, 2 Edit. p. 705. And thus the Cuſtom continued till the 21ſt year of the ſame King Henry II. at what time that Provincial Synod was kept at Weſtminſter, by the Archbiſhop of Canterbury, and ſome few of his Suffragans, which Roger Hoveden mentions in his Hiſtory, p. 543. And it ſeems Gervaſius Dorobernenſis, which is a Manuſcript I have not ſeen. The quoting of this Monk in the Margin of that Collection of Privileges, which Mr. Selden, by command, had made for the Upper Houſe of Parliament, is the only ground of ſtirring up this Queſtion againſt the Biſhops at this preſent, intended by Mr. Selden for a Privilege to the Biſhops, not for a Privilege to the Lay Peers, to be preſſed againſt the Biſhops. The Canon runs thus: It is not lawful for ſuch as are conſtituted in Holy Orders, Judicium ſanguinis agitare, to put in execution Judgment of Blood; and therefore we forbid, that they ſhall either in their own perſons execute any ſuch mutilation of Members, or ſentence them to be ſo acted by others: And if any ſuch perſon ſhall do any ſuch thing, he ſhall be deprived of the Office and Place of his Order and Function. We do likewiſe ſorbid, under the peril of Excommunication, that no Prieſt be a ſecular Sheriff or Provoſt. Now this is no Canon made in England, much leſs confirmed by Common Law, or aſſented to by all the Biſhops of the Province of Canterbury, or by any one of the Province of York, but tranſcribed (as appears by Hovenden's Margin) out of a Council of Toledo; which in the time that Council is ſuppoſed to be held, was the leaſt Kingdom in Spain, and not ſo big as York-ſhire, and conſequently improper to regulate all the World, and eſpecially this remote Kingdom of England. Beſide, as this poor Monk ſets it down, it doth inhibit Church-men from being Hang-men, rather than from being Judges, to condemn men to be thus mutilated and mangled in their Members, an ordinary Puniſhment of the Goths and Vandals, who then lived in Spain, but never heard of here with us of many years before the Reign of Hen. II, and therefore not ſitly preſſed to drive Biſhops from ſitting as Peers in the caſe of the Earl of Strafford, who is not to be ſentenc'd to any mutilation of Members. True it is, that in the Council it ſelf, being the Eleventh Council of Toledo, Can. 6. they are forbidden, Quod morte plectendum ſit ſententiâ propria judicare, to ſentence in any Cauſe that is to be puniſh'd with Death: Whereas, in the Fourth Council of Toledo, Can. 31, under Siſinandus, not long before, held anno 633, it is ſaid, That the Kings do oftentimes commit to Prieſts and Biſhops their Judicature, Contra quoſcunque Majeſtatis obnoxios, againſt all Treaſons; howbeit they are directed not to obey their King in this particular, unleſs they have him bound by Oath to pardon the Party, in caſe they ſhall find reaſon to mediate for him. And thus the Canon-Law went in Spain, but no where elſe in Chriſtendom in that Age.

148. But theſe Biſhops at Weſtm. travelled not ſo far as Toledo, to fetch in this Canon into their Synod, but took it out of Gratian, then in vogue, (for he lived in the time of Hen. Beu-clerk, Grandfather to this Hen. II.) who in the ſecond part of his Decrees, Cap. de Clericis, ſaith thus, Clericis in ſacris ordinibus conſtitutis ex concil. Tolet. Judicium ſanguinis agitaro non licet. And ſo this Canon was fetch'd from Spain into theſe other parts of Europe, above four hundred years after the firſt making thereof, upon this occaſion. Pope Gregory the Seventh, otherwiſe called Hildebrand, who lived in the time of William the Conqueror, having ſo many deadly Quarrels againſt Hen. IV. Emperor of Germany, to make his part good and ſtrong, laid the firſt ground (which his Succeſſors in their Canons cloſely purſued) to draw the Biſhops, and other great Prelates of Germany, France, England, and Spain from their Lay-Soveraigns and Leige-Lords, to depend wholly upon him, and ſo by colour and pretence of Eccleſiaſtical Immunities, withdrew them from the Services of their Princes, in War and in Peace, and particularly from exerciſing all Places of Judicature in the Civil Courts of Princes, to the which Offices they were by their Breeding and Education more enabled, than the martial Lay-Lords of that rough Age, and by their Fiefs and Baronies, which they held from Kings and Emperors, particularly bound and obliged. And p. 156therefore you ſhall find, that whereas the Biſhops of this Iſland before the Conqueſt, did ſtill joyn with the Thanes, Aldermen, and Lay-Lords, in the making and executing of all Laws whatſoever, touching deprivation of Life, and mutilation of Members: Yet ſoon after, when the Norman and Engliſh Prelates, Lanfrank, Anſelm, Becket, and the reſt, began to trade with Rome, and as Legati nati, to wed the Laws and Canons cried up in Rome, and to plant them here in England, they withdrew by little and little our Prelates from theſe Employments, and Dependencies upon the Kings of England; and, under the colour of Exemptions and Church-Immunities, erected in this Land an Eccleſiaſtical Eſtate and Monarchy, depending wholly upon the Pope, inhibiting them to exerciſe ſecular Employments, or to ſit with the reſt of the Peers in Judicatures of Life and Members, otherwiſe than as they liſt themſelves; and hence principally did ariſe thoſe great heats between our Rufus and Anſelm, which Eadmer ſpeaks of, and thoſe ancient Cuſtoms of this Kingdom, which Hen. II. preſſed upon Becket, in the Articles of Clarendon, that the Prelates ought to be preſent in the King's Courts, &c. Which Pope Alexander, a notable Boutefeu of thoſe times in the Church of God, did tolerate, though not approve of; as he apoſtyles that Article with his own Hand, to be ſhewn to this day in the M. S. extant in the Vatican Library. And although I ſhall not deny, but the Popes did plead Scripture for this Inhibition (as they did for all things elſe) and allude unto that place, 2 Tim. 3.4. which they backed with one of the Canons of the Apoſtles, as they call them, the ſeventh in number. Yet it is clear, their main Authority is fetch'd from this obſcure Synod of Toledo, where eighteen Biſhops only were convened, under Bamba the Goth, who of a Plowman was made a King, and of a King a Cloyſter'd Monk; as you may ſee in the Hiſtory of Rodericus Santius, par. 2. c. 32. This is all the goodly Ground that either Gratian in his Decrees, or Innocent III, in the Decretals, or Roger Hoveden in his Hiſtory, alledges againſt the Eccleſiaſtical Peers, their ſitting as Judges in Cauſes of Blood, to wit, this famous Gothiſh Council of Toledo. The firſt that planted this Canon here in England was Stephen Langton a Cardinal, the Pope's Creature, (as his Holineſs was pleaſed to ſtile him in his Bull) and thruſt upon the See of Canterbury by a Papal Proviſion, where he continued in Rebellion againſt his Soveraign, as long as King John lived. This Archbiſhop, under colour of Eccleſiaſtical Immunity (for ſo this Canon is marſhall'd by Linwood) at Oſney near Oxford, did ordain; Ne quis Clericus beneficiatus, vol in ſacris Ordinibus conſtitutus praeſumat intereſſe, ubi judicium ſanguinis tractatur, vel exerceatur. And this is the firſt Canon broach'd in this Kingdom to this effect; that of Othobone being ſubſequent in time, and a meer Foreign or Legantine Conſtitution: See it at large in Linwood, Conſtit. lib. 3. ad ſinem. And by vertue of a Branch of this very Conſtitution, the now Archbiſhop, two years ſince, ſined the Biſhop of Glouceſter in the High-Commiſſion, becauſe he had given way, in time of Peſtilence only, that a Seſſions, a Judgment of Blood, might be kept in a ſacred place, which was likewiſe inhibited in this Canon. But this admits of a multitude of Anſwers. Firſt,

149. Quod haec dictio Clericus ex vi verbi non comprehendit Epiſcopum, Linwood lib. 3. de locat is & conductis. Secondly the irregularity, incurr'd by Judicature in Cauſes of Blood, is only Jure poſitivo, and therefore diſpenſable by the Pope, ſaith Covarruvias in Clemen. ſi furioſus, p. 2. com. 5. n. 1. and here in England is diſpens'd with in Biſhops by the King, who in his Writs or Summons to the Parliament, commands the Lords Spiritual, without any exception of Cauſes of Blood, to joyn in all Matters and Conſultations whatſoever, with the Temporal Peers of the Kingdom, their Summons being unto them a ſufficient Diſpenſation ſo to do. And Othobon himſelf, inhibiting other Clerks to uſe theſe Secular Judicatures, hath a Salvo to preſerve the Priviledges of our Lord the King, whereby he may uſe any of their Services in that kind, when he ſhall ſee cauſe, Tit. ne Clerici Juriſ. ſaec. exerceant. And Linwood upon that Text, doth inſtance in the Clerks of the Chancery, and others. Nor are theſe Writs, that ſummon the Biſhops, Diſpenſations only, but Mandates alſo: And thoſe Biſhops have been fined at the Kings Bench, and elſewhere, that abſented themſelves from Councils in Parliament without the King's ſpecial leave and licence firſt obtained. Thirdly, When they are forbidden, intereſſe, to be preſent, the meaning is not (in the very Canons themſelves, that they ſhould go out of the room; but only that they ſhould not be preſent to add Authority, Help, and Advice to any Sentence pronounced againſt a particular or individual Perſon in cauſe of Blood, or mutilation. If p. 157he be preſent auctorizando, conſilium, opem, vel operam dando, then he contracts an irregularity, and no otherwiſe, ſaith our Linwood out of Innocentius. And the Canon reacheth no further than to him that ſhall pronounce Sentence of Death, or Mutilation upon a particular Perſon: For Prelates that are of Counſel with the King in Parliament, or otherwiſe, being demanded the Law in ſuch, and ſuch a Caſe (without naming any individuum) may anſwer, generaliter loquendo, That Treaſon is to be puniſht with Death, and a Counterſeiter of the King's Coin. Hostien. lib. 2. eap. de falſ. monet. allowed by John Montague de Collatione Parliamentorum, In Tracta. Doctor. Vol. 10. p. 121. Fourthly, Theſe Canons are not in force in England, to bind the King's Subjects, for ſeveral Reaſons: Firſt, Becauſe they are againſt his Majeſty's Prerogative, as you may ſee it clearly in the Articles of Clarendon, and the Writ of Summons, and therefore aboliſhed 25 H. 8. c. 8. It is his Majeſty's Prerogative, declar'd at Clarendon, that all ſuch Eccleſiaſtical Peers, as hold of him by Barony, ſhould aſſiſt in the King's Judicatures, until the very actual pronouncing of a Sentence of Blood. And this holds from Henry the Firſt down to the latter end of Queen Elizabeth, who imployed Archbiſhop Whitgiſt as a Commiſſioner upon the Life of the Earl of Eſſex, to keep him in Cuſtody, and to examine him after that Commotion in London. And to ſay that this Canon is confirm'd by Common Law, is a merry Tale; there being nothing in the Common Law that tends that way. Secondly, It hath been voted in the Houſe of Commons, in this very Seſſion of Parliament, That no Canons ſince the Conqueſt, either introduced from Rome by Legatine Power, or made in our Synods, had in any Age, nor yet have at this preſent, any power to bind the Subjects of this Realm, unleſs they be confirmed by Act of Parliament. Now theſe Canons, which inhibit the Preſence of Church-men in Cauſe that concerns Life and Member, were never confirm'd by any, but ſeem to be impeach't by divers and ſundry Acts of Parliament. Thirdly, The whole Houſe of Peers have this very Seſſion deſpiſed and ſet aſide this Canon Law, which ſome of the young Lords cry up again in the ſame Seſſion, and in the very ſame Cauſe, to take away the Votes of the Biſhops, in the Caſe of the Earl of Strafford. For by the ſame Canon Law that forbids Clergy-men to Sentence, they of that Coat are more ſtrictly inhibited to give no Teſtimony in Cauſes of Blood. Nee ettam poteſt eſſe teſt is vel tabellio in causâ Sanguinis. Linw. part 2. ſol. 146. For no Man co-operates more in a Sentence of Death than the Witneſſes, upon whoſe Atteſtation the Sentence is chiefly paſt. Lopez pract. crim. c. 98. diſtl. 21. and yet have the Lords admitted as Witneſſes, produced by the Houſe of Commons againſt the Earl of Strafford, the Archbiſhops of Canterbury and Armagh, with the Biſhop of London: which Lords command now all Biſhops to withdraw in the agitation of the ſelf ſame Caſe. Biſhops, it ſeems, may be Witneſſes, to kill ont-right; but may not ſit in the Diſcuſſion of the Cauſe, to help, in caſe of Innocency, a diſtreſſed Nobleman. Whereas the very Gothiſh Biſhops, who firſt invented this Excluſion of Prelates from ſuch Judicatures, allow them to Vote, as long as there is any hope left of clearing the Party, or gaining of Pardon. 4. Conc. Tol. Can. 31. And by the beginning of that Canon, obſerve the uſe in Spain in that Age, Anno 633. as touching this Doctrine, Saepe principes contra quoſlibet majeſtatis obnoxios Sacerdotibus negotia ſua committunt; Binnius 4. Tom. Can. Edit. ult. p. 592. Laſtly, In the Caſe of Archbiſhop Abbot, all the great Civilians and Judges of the Land, as Dr. Steward, Sir H. Martin, the Lord Chief Juſtice Hobart, and Judge Doderidge (which two laſt were very well verſed in the Canon Law) delivered poſitively (when my ſelf at firſt oppoſed them) That all Irregularities introduced by Canons upon Eccleſiaſtical Perſons, concerning matters of Blood, were taken away by the Reformation of the Church of England, and were repugnant to the Statute 25 II. 8. as reſtraining the King's moſt juſt Prerogative, to imploy his own Subjects in ſuch Functions and Offices, as his Predeceſſors had done, and to allow them thoſe Priviledges and Recreations, as by the Laws and Cuſtoms of this Realm, they had formerly enjoy'd; notwithſtanding the Decree de Clerico venatore, or the Conſtitution, nae Clerici Saeculare, &c. or any other in that kind.

150. The only Objection which appears upon any Learning or Record, againſt the Clergies Voting in this Kingdom in Cauſes of Blood, are two or three Proteſtations, entred by the Biſhops among the Records of the upper Houſe of Parliament, and ſome few Paſſages in the Law-Books relating thereunto. The Proteſtation the Lords now principally ſtand upon, is that of William Courtney Archbiſhop of Canterbury, 11 Rich. 2. inſerted in the Book of Priviledges, which Mr. Selden collected for the Lords of the upper Houſe. In the Margin whereof p. 158that paſſage out of R. Hovenden, about which we ſpake before about Clergy-mens agitation of Judgments of Blood, is unluckily inſerted, and for want of due conſideration, and ſome ſuſpicion of partial carriage in the Biſhops, in the caſe of the Earl of Strafford, hath been eagerly preſſed upon the Biſhops by ſome of the Lords, in ſuch an unuſual and unaccuſtomed manner, that if I my ſelf, offering to ſpeak to this Objection, had not voluntarily withdrawn, the reſt of the Biſhops and I had been, without hearing, voted out of the Houſe, in the agitation of a Splinter of that Cauſe of the Earl of Strafford's, which came not near any matter of Blood. An act never done before in that honourable Houſe, and ready to be executed ſuddenly, without the leaſt conſideration of the merit of the Cauſe. The only words inſiſted upon in the Proteſtation of Courtney's, are theſe; Becauſe in this preſent Parliament certain matters are agitated, whereat it is not lawſul for us, according to the Preſcript of holy Canons, to be preſent.—And by and by after they ſay—Theſe matters are ſuch, in the which, Nec poſſumus, nec debemus intereſſe—This is the Proteſtation moſt ſtood upon. That of Archbiſhop Arundel 21 Rich. 2. is not ſo full and ample as this of Courtney's: For the Biſhops going forth left their Proxies with the Lay-Lords, and conſequently continued preſent in Judicature in the eye and conſtruction of the Law. Therefore I apply my Anſwers to Courtney's Proteſtation principally; which are divers, and fit to be weighed and ponder'd. Firſt, I do obſerve that Biſhops did never proteſt or withdraw in Cauſes of Blood, but only under the unſteddy Reign of Richard the Second. Never before, nor after the time of that unfortunate King, to this preſent Parliament, for ought appears in Record or Hiſtory. And that one Swallow ſhould make us ſuch a Spring, and one Omiſſion ſhould create a Law or Cuſtom againſt ſo many Actions of the Engliſh Prelates, under ſo many Kings before, ſo many Kings and Queens after that young Prince, ſeems to me a ſtrange Doctrine; eſpecially when I conſider, that by the Rules of the Civil and Common Law, a Proteſtation dies with the death of him that makes it, or is regularly vacated and diſannulled, Per contrarium actum ſubſequentem proteſtationem, by any one ſubſequent act varying from the tenour of the ſaid Proteſtation. Regul. Juriſ. Bap. Nicol. part. 2. Now that you may know how the Prelates carried themſelves in this point, and actually voted in Cauſes of Treaſon, and ſometimes to Blood, before Richard the Second, I refer me to what I cited before out of Mr. Selden, and he out of Stephanides, concerning Becket condemned by his Peers Eccleſiaſtical and Temporal, 15 H. 2. Archbiſhop Stratford acquitted of High Treaſon in Parliament by four Prelates, four Earls, and four Barons under Edward the Third. Antiq. Britan. p. 223. There was 4 Ed. 3. Roger de Mortimer. Berisford, Travers, and others adjudged Traitors by Biſhops as well as other Peers. 16 Ed. 3. Thomas de Berkely was acquitted of Treaſon in pleno Parliamento. And eſpecially I refer my ſelf to Roll 21 Rich. 2. Num. 10. which averrs, That Judgments and Ordinances, in the time of that King's Progenitors, had been avoided by the abſence of the Clergy; which makes the Commons there to pray, that the Prelates would make a Procurator, by whom they might in all Judgments of Blood, be at the leaſt legally, if they durſt not be bodily preſent in ſuch Judicatures. And for the practice ſince the Reign of Rich. II. be it obſerved, that in the fifth of Hen IV. the Commons thank the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, for their good and rightful Judgment in freeing the Earl of Northumberland from Treaſon. 3 Hen. 5. The Commons pray a Confirmation of the Judgment given upon the E. of Cambridge, by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal. 5 H. 5. Sir J. Oldcaſtle is attainted of Treaſon and Hereſie by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal. 28 H. 6. The Duke of Suffolk is charged with Treaſon before the Lords Spiritual and Temporal. 31 H. 6. The Earl of Devon in like ſort: and ſo down to the Earl of Briſtol's Caſe 22 Maii 1626. ten Biſhops are joyned with ten Earls, and ten Barons, in the diſquiſition and agitation of that ſuppoſed Treaſon. I leave it therefore to any indifferent Judgment, Whether theſe Proteſtations made all under one Kings Reign, dying with the Parties that made them, can void a Right and Cuſtom, grounded on a continual Practice to the contrary, in all other Tryals that have been ſince the Conqueſt, to this preſent Parliament.

151. Secondly, It is fitting we know the nature of a Proteſtation, which ſome may miſtake: Proteſtatio eſt animi noſtri declaratio, juris acquirendi, vel conſervandi, vel damnum depellendi causâ facta, ſaith Spiegle, Calvin, and all the Civilians. No Proteſtation is made by any man in his Wits, to deſtroy his own Right, and much leſs another mans, but to acquire, or preſerve ſome Right, or to avoid and put off ſome Wrong, that was like to happen to the Party or Parties p. 159that make the Proteſtation: As here in Courtney's Proteſtation, the Prelates in the firſt place conceive a Right and Power they had voluntarily to abſent themſelves, while ſome matters were treated of at that time in the Houſe of Lords, which by the Canon-Law (the Breach whereof the Popes of Rome did vindicate in thoſe times, with far more Severity than they did the Tranſgreſſions of the Law of God) they were not ſuffer'd to be preſent at, not for want of Right to be there in all Cauſes, but for fear of Papal Cenſures. In the next place, they did preſerve their former Right as Peers, which they ſtill had, (though voluntarily abſenting themſelves) More ſolito intereſſendi, conſiderandi, tyactandi, ordinandi, & definiendi, all things without exception acted and executed in that Parliament. And, in the laſt place, they proteſt againſt any loſs of right of being or voting in Parliament, that could befall them, for this voluntary abſenting of themſelves at this time. And where in all this Proteſtation is there one word to prejudice their Succeſſors, or to authorize any Peer to command his fellow-Peer, called thither by the ſame Writ of Summons that himſelf is, and by more ancient Preſcription, to withdraw and go out from this Common-Council of the Kingdom? Thirdly, We do not certainly know what theſe matters were whereat Archbiſhop Courtney conceived the Prelates neither could nor ought to be preſent: Theſe matters are left in looſe and general words in that Proteſtation. Some conceive indeed it was at the Condemnation of Treſſilian, Brambre, L. Beauchamp, and others, Ant. Brit. p. 286. But the Notes of Privileges belonging to the Lords, collected by Mr. Selden, do, with more reaſon a great deal, aſſign this going forth of the Prelates, to be occaſion'd by certain Appeals of Treaſon, preferred in that Parliament by the Duke of Glouceſter, againſt Alexander Archbiſhop of York, whom the Popiſh Canons of thoſe Times (as you know) exempted, as a ſacred perſon, from the cognizance of King or Parliament; and therefore the reſt of the Biſhops, as the Squares went then, neither could nor ought to be preſent, and Parties, to break the Exemptions, Immunities, and Privileges of that great Prelate. But the Earl of Strafford is not the Archbiſhop, but the Preſident of York; and to challenge any ſuch Exemptions and Immunities at this time, from the cognizance of King and Parliament, amounts to little leſs than Treaſon: Therefore this Proteſtation is very unſeaſonably urged, to thruſt out any Proteſtant Prelate from voting in Parliament. Laſtly, In the Civil and Canon-Law, (for the Law of this Land knoweth it not) a Proteſtation is but a Teſtation or witneſſing before-hand of a man's own Mind or Opinion, whereby they that proteſt, provide to ſave and preſorve their own Right, for the time to come. It concludes no more bende themſelves, no Stranger to the Act, no Succeſſor; but, if it be admitted, ſticks as inherent in the ſingular and individual perſon, until either the Party dyes or the Proteſtation be drawn and revoked. Therefore, what is a Proteſtation made by Will. Courtney to Will. Laud? Or by Tho. Arundel to bind Tho. Morton? And, what one Rule in the Common-Law of the Land, in the Journa…-Books, or in the Records of the Tower, can be produced to exclude the Lords Spiritual from ſitting and voting in Cauſes of Blood? Sometimes by the great Favour of the King, Lords, and Commons, (not otherwiſe) they were permitted to abſent themſelves, never before now commanded by the Lay-Lords to forbear their Votes in any Cauſe that was agitated in Parliament: So our Law Books ſay, That the Prelates, by the Canon-Law, may make a Procurator in Parliament, when a Peer is to be tryed: Which is enough to ſhew their Right thereunto. This is to be ſeen 10 Edw. IV. f. 6. placit. 17. And, That it is only the Canon-Law that inhibits them to vote in Sanguinary Cauſes. Stamford, Pleas of the Crown. f. 59. And, ſaith Stamford, the Canon-Law is a diſtinct and ſeparated notion, and not grown in his Age to any ſuch Uſance or Cuſtom, as made it Common-Law or the Law of the Land.

152. Coming now to an end, it moves me little what ſome object, That many worthy Fathers of this Church-reformed, and Biſhop Andrews among the reſt, did forbear to vote in Cauſes of Blood, and voluntarily retired out of the Houſe, if ſuch things came in queſtion; nor did offer to enter any Proteſtation. I do not doubt, but they had pious Affections in it, though they did not fully ponder what they did: I have heard, that a main Reaſon was that of the Record and Statute of 11 Rich. II. That it is the honeſty of that Calling not to intermeddle in matters of Blood. Now the French word Honeſty ſignifies Decency and Comelineſs: As though it were a butcherly and a loathſom matter to be a Judge, or to do Right upon a Malefactor, to Death, or loſs of Members: But this is an imaginary Decency, never p. 160known in Nature or Scripture, (as I ſaid before) but begotten by Tradition in the dark Foggs and Miſts of Popery: Such an Honeſty of the Clergy it was to have a ſhaven Crown, to depend on the Pope, to plead Exemptions, and to reſuſe to anſwer for Felonies in the King's Courts. All theſe were eſteemed in thoſe days the Honeſty of the Clergy: And ſuch an Honeſty it was in the Prelates of England, in the looſe Reign of Rich. II, to abſent themſelves when they liſted from the Aſlembly of the Eſtate, contrary to the King's Command in the Writ of Summons, and to the Duties of their places as Peers of Parliament: Yet they had more inſight into what they did, than ſome of our Biſhops; for they never offer'd to retire themſelves in thoſe days, before their Proteſtation was benignly received, and ſuffer'd to be enter'd upon the Parliament-Roll, by the King, the Lords, and the Houſe of Commons. I know thoſe excellent men, that are with God, propoſed other Scruples to themſelves; they doubted not of the Legality or Comelineſs, for an Eccleſiaſtical Peer of the Kingdom of England to vote in a Judgment of Blood; they did it continually in paſſing all Appeals and Attainders in Parliament; but it ſtartled them, becauſe it is not the practice of Prelates in other parts of the Chriſtian Church ſo to do, and thought it better to avoid Scandal, and the Talk of other Nations. That there being in the High Court of Parliament, and Star-chamber, Judges enough beſide them, they might, without any prejudice to their King and Country, forbear voting in thoſe Judicatures; ſomewhat the rather, becauſe all our Biſhops in England are Divines, and Preachers of the Goſpel, and conſequently to be employ'd in Mercy, rather than in Judgment; who never touch upon the ſharpneſs of the Law, unleſs it be to prepare mens Hearts to reliſh and receive the comfort of the Goſpel. Let the Piety then, and the Good-meaning of thoſe grave Fathers be praiſed; but I ſay, they forgot their Duty to the Writ of the King's Summons, and the uſe and weight of their Place. And now, to cloſe. I proteſt, without vaunting, I cannot perceive how this can be anſwer'd, which I have digeſted together: And if ſo many Biſhops cannot obtain their Right, which is ſo clear on their ſide, God ſend the Earl of Strafford better Juſtice, who is but a ſingle Peer.

153. Blame not my Book, that there is ſo much of this Argument; I hope the Ignorant will not read it at all, but let a knowing man read it again, and when he hath better obſerv'd it, he will think it ſhort. Some Hiſtory-ſpoilers have detracted from our Biſhop, that though he pleaded much in Parliament, to his own Peril, in the behalf of E. Strafford, yet he wrought upon the King to conſent to give way to his beheading. Says our Arch-Poet Spencer, lib. 3. Can. 1. st. 10.

—Great hazard were it, and Adventure fond,

To loſe long-gotten Honour with one evil Hand.

But he ſhall loſe no Honour in this; for firſt, as Nazian. Or. 27, rejects them that had raiſed an ill Report of him, whom he praiſed, foreign can you prove, that they were ſound in their mind that ſaid ſo? if any will believe it from ſuch authors, a good man hath loſt his thanks: Ego quod bené fec… malè feci, quia amor mutavit locum: Plautus. That which was well done is ill done, becauſe it is not lovingly requited. Hear all, and judge equally. Both the Houſes of Lords and Commons, by moſt Voices, found the Earl guilty of Treaſon; they made the greater Quire, but thoſe few that abſolved him ſung better. The King interceded by himſelf, by the Prince his Son, to ſave him, craved it with Cap in Hand:—Being founder'd in his Power, he could go no further; the Subjects denied their Soveraign the Life of one Man, ſo Strafford muſt be caſt away, Opimii calamitas turpitudo Po. Rom. non judicium fuit, Cic. pro Plancio, Whoſe Calamity is the ſhame of Engliſh Juſtice. His Majeſty, for divers days, could not find in his Heart to ſet his Hand to the Warrant for Execution, for Conſcience dreſſeth it ſelf by its own light. And I would he had been as conſtant to his own Judgment in other things, that we might remember it to his Honour; as Capitolinus teſtifies for Maximus, Non aliis potiùs quàm ſibi credidit. The fate of it was, that the Parliament would not grant Mercy to the Earl, and would have Juſtice from the King, according to their Sentence, whether he would or no: They threaten (and were as good as their Word) to ſit idle, and do nothing for publick Safety and Settlement, the whole Realm being in diſtraction till the Stroke was ſtruck: All the Palace-Yard p. 161and Hall were daily full of Mutineers and Outcries; His Majeſty's Perſon was in danger; the roguy Off-ſcum in the Streets of Weſtminſter talk'd ſo loud, that there was cauſe to dread it: Though there is nothing more formidable, than to fear any thing more than God, yet the moſt eminent Lords of the Council perſwaded His Majeſty to make no longer reſiſtance, Placeat quodcunque neceſſe eſt, Lucan lib. 4. Not he, but Neceſſity ſhould be guilty of it. If he did refuſe to concurr with the Parliament, nay, if he took more time to deliberate upon it, it would be worſe for the Earl, and he would come to a more unhappy Death; for an Helliſh Contrivance was reſolved upon, juſt as in St. Paul's caſe, Acts 23.15. the Zealots, that had vowed Paul's death, laid the Plot with the Prieſts and Elders, to ſigniſie to the Captain to bring him down, to enquire ſomewhat more perfectly concerning him, and ere ever he came near, they would fall upon him. The condemn'd Earl, when he heard of this, was no longer fond of Liſe, but ſent word to the King, that he was well prepared for his End, and would not his gracious Majeſt y ſhould diſquiet himſelf to ſave a ruin'd Veſſel that muſt ſink. A valiant Meſſage, and ſit for ſo great a Spirit. Loginus notes acutely, that when Ajax was to combat with Hector, he begg'd ſome things of ſuch Gods as he call'd upon, but to eſcape with life was not in his Prayer; foreign. It was beneath a Graecian Heroe to deſire Life. It being therefore to no purpoſe to diſpute what was the beſt Remedy to ſave this Lord, when there was none at all, the Houſe of Lords nominate four Prelates to go to His Majeſty, to propound how the Tenderneſs of his Conſcience might ſafely wade through this inſuperable diſſiculty; theſe were L. Primate Uſher, with the Biſhops Morton, Williams, Potter. There was none of thoſe four, but would have gone through Fire and Water, as we ſay, to ſave the Party; which being now a thing beyond Wit and Power, they ſtate the Queſtion thus to the King, (ſure I am of the Truth, becauſe I had it from the three former) Whether, as His Majeſty refers his own Judgment to his Judges, (in whoſe Perſon they act) in Court of Oyer, Kings-bench, Aſſize, and in Cauſe of Life and Death, and it lies on them if an innocent man ſuffer; ſo why may not His Majeſty ſatisfie his Conſcience in the preſent matter, that ſince competent Judges in Law had awarded, that they found Guilt of Treaſon in the Earl, that he may ſuſſer that Judgment to ſtand, though in his private mind he was not ſatisfied that the Lord Strafford was criminous, for that juggling and corrupt dealing which he ſuſpected in the Proofs at the Tryal, and let the Blame lye upon them who ſate upon the Tribunal of Life and Death? The four Biſhops were all for the aſhrmative, and the Earl took it ſo little in ill part, that Reverend Armagh pray'd with him, preach'd to him, gave him his laſt Viaticum, and was with him on the Scaſſoid, as a Ghoſtly Father, till his Head was ſevered from his Body.

154. Indeed His Majeſty, in his foreign, doth ſeem to repreſent it as if he did not approve what he received from the four Biſhops at that Conſultation. And I will leave ſuch good men to his Cenſure, rather than contradict any thing in that moſt pious, moſt raviſhing Book, which deſerves as much as Tully ſaid of Craſſus in his Brutus, Ipſum melius potuiſſe ſcribere, alium, ut arbitror, neminem. Perhaps the King could have wrote better, but I think no man elſe in the three Kingdoms. What a venomous Spirit is in that Serpent Milton, that blackmouth'd Zoilus, that blows his Vipers Breath upon thoſe immortal Devotions, from the beginning to the end! This is he that wrote with all Irreverence againſt the Fathers of our Church, and ſhew'd as little Duty to his Father that begat him: The ſame that wrote for the Phariſees, That it was lawful for a man to put away his Wife for every cauſe; and againſt Chriſt, for not allowing Divorces: The ſame, O horrid! that deſended the lawfulneſs of the greateſt Crime that ever was committed, to put our thrice-excellent King to death: A petty School-boy Scribler, that durſt graple in ſuch a Cauſe with the Prince of the learned men of his Age, Salmaſius. foreign as Eunapius ſays of Ammonius, Plutarch's Scholar in Aegypt, the Delight, the Muſick of all Knowledge, who would have ſcorn'd to drop a Pen-full of Ink againſt ſo baſe an Adverſary, but to maintain the Honour of ſo good a King, whoſe Merit he adorns with this Praiſe, p. 237. Con. Milt. De quo ſi quis dixerit omnia bona, vix pro ſuis meritis ſatis illum ornaret. Get thee behind me Milton, thou ſavoureſt not the things that be of Truth and Loyalty, but of Pride, Bitterneſs, and Falſhood. There will be a time, though ſuch a Shimei, a dead Dog in Abiſhai's Phraſe, eſcape for a while, yet he, and the Enemies of my Lord the King, will fall into the Hands of the Avenger of Blood: And that Book, the Picture of p. 162King Charles's innocent Soul, which he hath blemiſh'd with vile Reproaches, will be the Vade Mecum of godly perſons, and be always about them like a Guardian Angel. It is no marvel if this Canker-worm Milton is more laviſh in his Writings than any man, to juſtifie the beheading of Strafford, whom good men pray'd for alive, and pitied him dead: So did the four Biſhops, that I may digreſs no longer, who pour'd the beſt Oyl they could into the King's Conſcience, to give him Peace within himſelf when the main Cauſe was deſperate, and common Fury would compel him in the end to ſacrifice this Earl to the Parliament. Things will give better Counſel to men than men to things. But a Collector of Notes, W. Sa. hath a ſling at the Biſhop of Lincoln, his quill hits him, but hurts him no more, than if it were a Shuttle-cock with four Feathers. Forſooth, when thoſe four Biſhops were parting from the King, he put a Paper into His Majeſty's Hand, and that could be nothing elſe, but an Inflammatory of Reaſons, more than were heard in publick, left the King ſhould cool, and not ſet his Hand to the fatal Warrant. This Author was once in the right, p. 154. of his own Book, That it becomes an Hiſtorian, in dubious Relations, to admit the moſt Chriſtian and Charitable. Peſſumè it is, optimè herclè dicitis, Plaut. in Pen. But this Caſe needs no Favour: The Paper which that Biſhop put into the King's Hands (as he told me the next morning) was an humble Advice to His Majeſty, why he ſhould not give the Parliament an indeſinite time to ſit, till both Houſes conſented to their own diſſolution. Was not this faithful Counſel? For what could the King ſee in them, who had been ſo outragious already, to ſtand out the trial of their wavering Faith? Truſt ſhould make men true. Says Livy, lib. 22. Vult ſibi quiſque credi, & habita fides ipſam plerum que fidem obligat. But a number of theſe men cared not for moral Principles, they were all for the Scriptures, and they read them by new Lights: The King had too much Faith, and they had no Good Works. What magnanimous Prince would bow ſo low, to give the Keys of Government to ſo many Male-contents, and to ſtand to their Courteſie, when they would reſign them again? Nec miſſura cutem niſi plena cruoris hirudo, Hor. Art. Poet. It could be for no ſmall time that they itch'd to hold the Reins, and having govern'd ſo long, they would never be brought to obey. The Fox in the Fable crept into a Granary of Corn, and ſtaid till his Belly was ſo full, that he could not get out. It is a wiſe Note of Spartianus upon Did. Julianus, Reprchenſus in eo praecipuè, quod ques rogere auctoritate ſuâ debuit, praeſules ſibi ipſe fecit. When the prudent Auguſtus ſaw he could not ſhake off a ſtanding Senate, he ſaw no way, but to divide the Provinces of the Empire between him and them, and to take the worſt half, the remoteſt to himſelf: But did the King think to eſcape ſo well with an indiſſoluble Parliament? Balſack writes prophanely, That the World ought not to end, until the French King's Race ſhould fail. And it proved by this conceſſion, to continue the two Houſes to ſit as long as they would, that the Glory of the Crown ſhould fail, before they would endure their old Stump to be rooted up. When a Swarm of luxurious men, that made love to Penelope, waſted Ulyſſes's Subſtance in his abſence, Homer breaks out, Odyſſ foreign Let no King henceforth be gracious and kind, for he ſhall fare as ill as the worſt. So let no King ſuppoſe to oblige his Subjects with the greateſt Truſt that was ever committed to men, for he ſhall ſpeed the worſe for his conſidence in them. The Biſhop of Lincoln, but two days before, ask'd the King, If his wiſe Father would have ſuffer'd ſuch a thing to be demanded, much left have granted it? And, Whether it would be poſſible for his trueſt Lieges to do him Service any more? So bold he was, and ply'd his good Maſter to the laſt with new Motives to dehort him from it. I know not what ill Star ſcouled upon ſo good a King, to liſten to no good Counſel in that point. There was one that thruſt him on, whoſe Advices were more loving than lucky. And on a Sunday, May 9. he ſigned the indefinite continuance of the Parliament, (as it is commonly voiced) and Strafford's Execution, with the ſame drop of Ink. A ſad Subject! and as I found it, ſo I leave it.

155. Wiſdom and Reaſon were not wanting in that noble King; Fortune was. Darius, called Codomann, was the beſt of all the Kings of the Porſian Race, from Cyrus downward to himſelf, yet under him the Perſian Monarchy was ruined, and fell to the Macedonians; Deſtinatus ſorti ſuae, & jam nullius ſalubris conſilii patiens, ſays the Hiſtorian, Curt. lib. 5. It cuts my Heart, to ſay that this agrees to a far better Monarch than himſelf. King Charles makes ready in the Summer for a Journey into Scotland, hoping to bring over the Seditious there to love p. 163him, with Sweetneſs and Careſſes, by Bounties, as he was able, by Honours beſtow'd on ſome, by Promiſes, and by the gracious Interview of his preſence; for we owe Affection naturally to them that offer us Love. Or, if all this wrought not, he was ſo overſway'd with Diſdain to be near to Weſtminſter, where his Perſon, his Juſtice, his Court, or his Clergy were ſlander'd every hour, that he would ride far enough from the ſtrife of Tongues, and not be near the Furnace, where the ſteam was ſo hot. I heard one of his Bed-chamber ſay, That nothing made him remove ſo far from his Court and Council, as the tediouſneſs of Intelligence brought to him every minute, with variety of Gloſſes and Opinions upon it. As Adrian the Emperor ſaid in his laſt Sickneſs, that he had too many Phyſicians about him to be cured; ſo our King thought he had too many Counſellors at London to take diſtinct Advice. Walk in the Spring-Garden in May, and what Bird can you liſten to particularly, when there is not a Bough but hath a Bird upon it, that warbles his own Note? There is pleaſure in that: But thoſe that preſs'd ſo thick upon the King, came with ſome ill Augury: Seraque fatidici cecinerunt omnia vates, AEn. lib. 5. Howſoever, Home is homely, ſays the Country Adagy; and this Journey to Scotland was not begun in a good day. There was never any Parliament like it which now fate, that bewrayed openly ſo many fooliſh Fears, raked up in the cold Embers of Diſtruſt and Guiltineſs; Quae pueri in tenebris pavitant, ſing untque futurâ: Therefore a Jealouſie was ſtraightway in their Heads, that this Journey could not be good for them. Why? What can a King do, to be good for himſelf, and pernicious to his People? Well ſaid the Perſians, Xen. lib. 8. Cyr. paed. foreign cyrus can undertake nothing, and make it good for himſelf alone, and not for us. But upon their Jealouſie they reſolve to give the King ſuch a Welcome home, as ſhould offend him. O Hypocrites! that ſeem to be afraid of the King, when none had more cauſe than he to be afraid of them. Watchful Lincoln had dived into the Secrets of the Maſters of the private Aſſembly: Hannibali omnia hoſtium non ſecus ac ſua nota ſunt, Liv. lib. 22. Every man knows his own mind; a wiſe man, like Hannibal, will know his Enemies if he can. The Biſhop coming to the King, beſought His Majeſty, that for his ſake he would put off his Scotch Journey to another ſeaſon: His written Notes, in my keeping, are long and imperſect; the ſum is thus: He beſought His Majeſty to conſider, that the Scotts were Sear-boughs, not to be bent; whatſoever he ſaid to them, they would reveal it to their Cronies at Weſtminſter, for there was a Trade and Exchange that ran currently among them: Some of them, and not the meaneſt, make it a ſlight thing to be perſidious, and will laugh at it, when they are derected: They have diſtinctions for it from their Kirk, which ſtraddle ſo wide, that flat Contraries, Yea and Nay, Truth and Lyes, may run between them. K. James the Fourth had the knack of ſuch Devices, who having made a ſtrong League of Peace with Harry VIII. and yet invaded England with an Army (remember it was at Flodden-Field, Drummond. p 142.) ſaid, He did not break his League with England, but departed from it. The Biſhop pray'd the King to remember, that thoſe Lowns had been in Hubbubs, and Covenants, and Arms two years together; could they be converted of a ſudden without a Miracle? Integrum non eſt ad virtutem ſemel reliclam remigrare, Cic. Lelius. It will be a long time before Rebels find their Fidelity again, when they have loſt it. They have ſhew'd their Deſpight ſo lately, that it is too ſoon to offer them Courteſie; they know in what condition your Majeſty is, and they will not take it for Kindneſs, but Fear. Keep near to the Parliament, all the Work is within thoſe Walls; win them man by man, inch by inch, ſomewhat may be gotten out of ſmall pieces of buſineſs, nothing out of ſupervacaneous. And, Sir, ſays he, I would it were not true that I ſhall tell you, Some of the Commons are preparing a Declaration to make the Actions of your Government odious: if you gallop to Scotland, they will poſt as faſt, to draw up this biting Remonſtrance: Stir not till you have mitigated the grand Contrivers with ſome Preferments But is this credible, ſays the King? Judge you of that Sir, ſays the Biſhop, when a Servant of Pymm's (in whoſe Maſter's Houſe all this is moulded) came to me, to know of me in what terms I was contented to have mine own Caſe in Star-chamber exhibited among other Irregularities? And I had much ado to keep my Name, and what concerns me, out of theſe Quotations; but I obtain'd that of the fellow, and a Promiſe to do me more Service, to know all they have in contrivance, with a few Sweetbreads that I gave him out of my Purſe. What is there in all that the Biſhop ſaid, eſpecially in the laſt touch, that look'd not like ſober Warning? Yet nothing was heeded: The King ſaw Scotland, and I know not what p. 164he brought thence, unleſs it were matter to charge the five Members of Treaſon, who were priviledg'd from it with a Miſchief. His Majeſty being returned to London, Nov. 26. That which the Commons called The Remonſtrance of the state of the Kingdom, came forth by their Vote, Decemb. 15. to beſoil His Majeſly's Reign with ſtudied bitterneſs: And this was a Night-work, and held the Members Debate all Wedneſday night, and till three of the Clock in the Thurſday morning. Syneſius ſpake his worſt of Trypho's Tribunal, Lib. de Prov. foreign he did not adminiſter juſtice in the day-time, but in the night; a time more proper for thieves to go to work, and for the beaſts of the forreſt to come out of their dens, and get their prey. if the loyal part had ſtaid it out (who appeared the greater number in the beginning of the queſtion) they had caſt it out for a vile deſamation; but the one half of that part had ſlunk away, and were gone to bed. as st. Peter ſtood to his Maſter ſtoutly till midnight, but railed him by the ſecond crowing of the Cock. If theſe had kept the wiſe Rules of the Roman Senate, the one part had been fruſtrate in all they obtained in the dead of the night, and long after. Says Budaeus, Senatus conſultum ante exortum, & poſt occaſum ſolis nullum fait, lib. 1. in Pand. p. 231. And the other part had been fined for departing away: Senatori qui non aderit, aut cauſa, aut culpa eſto, Cic. de Leg. But their Apology is, That thoſe were no Juridical hours, either for a Roman or an Engliſh Senate; Birds of Day keep not time with Screetch-owls. But theſe Libertines had leave to ſit as long as they would by night or day. Magna ſumendo majora praeſumimus, Sym. Ep. p. 9. Great Conceſſions are the cauſe of greater Preſumptions.

156. During ſome part of the time that the King was in the North, Miſeries came trooping all at once upon the Church: The Reverend Fathers every day libelled and defamed in the Preſs, durſt not come in to help: The Times did make it appear what Blood was about mens Hearts: They that feared to diverſifie from the received Doctrine and Diſcipline of the Church before, dreading Eccleſiaſtical Conſiſtories, and the High-Commiſſion Court, encreaſed into ſo many Sects almoſt as there were Pariſhes in England. And as Aventine ſaid, lib. 8. Annal. of the Schoolmen newly ſprung up in his days, Singulae ſectae judicio multarum ſectarum ſtultitiae cowvincuntur. But what were we the better, when every Spark kindled another, to make a general Combuſtion? Our Caſe in God's Houſe was as bad as that of the Gauls in Caeſar's time, lib. 6. Bel. Gal. Non ſolùm in omnibus civitatibus, atque in omnibus pag is partibuſ que ſed in ſingulis domibus factiones ſunt. The Parliament, which ſaw the Body of Chriſt wounded, look'd on, and paſſed by on the other ſide, Luke 10.32. as if they did but ſmile at the variety of Throngs and Diſpoſitions. I think they durſt net pour in Wine or Oyl to heal the Wounds of Religion, for that reaſon which Dr. Owen gives, Praef. to Vind. p. 36. For by adhering to one Sect profeſſedly, they ſhould engage all the reſt againſt them. Only Lincoln, for all this univerſal Contempt of Epiſcopacy, viſited his great Dioceſs in October, not by his Chancellor, but in his own perſon; Naequid expectes amicos, quod tute agere poſſies, ſo cited out of Ennius, Truſt not to your Friends when you can do your Work your ſelf. A Biſhop is lazy that doth his Duty by a Proxy. Pontificium ſignificat & poteſtatem & officium, ſays a Critick, Heral. in Arnob. p. 115. The Etymology of a Pontificate imports Power and Office. They are both Yoke-fellows. Says another Critick, and a good Judge indeed, Salmaſ. in Solin. foreign, in the Age of Chriſtian Emperors, were Viſitors, that went from Church to Church, like Paul and Barnabas, to ſet things in order, who long before that were Phyſicians, that were ſent from Village to Village, to cure the Sick. This Labour our Biſhop undertook perſonally, to heal the Maladies of Brainſick Diſtempers at Boſton, Leſter, Huntington, Bedford, Hitchin, the laſt Viſitation that was held in either Province to this day: And God grant he might not ſay as Syneſius did of his Dioceſs of Ptolomais, when he and all the Biſhops of Aegypt were ejected by a conquering Party, foreign in foreign. O my Ptolomais! am I the laſt Biſhop that ever thou ſhalt have? But I hope better things: Hope is the common Revenue of the Diſtreſſed, they have much of that, who have nothing elſe. I go on with our Biſhop, who ſo long as he was in Place, and for a while that his Words were remembred, brought thoſe Counties to a handſom ſtate of quietneſs: Cocus magnum abenum, quando fervet, paulâ confutat truâ. When a Cauldron of hot Liquor boils, and is ready to run over, a Cook ſtays it, by caſting in a Ladle of cold Water. No man could comprize his Exhortations in better Harmony than this Oratour, and ſet ſeveral Inſtruments in tune one to another, and the Voice to them p. 165all: Eloquium tot lumina clauſit, Meta. l.—as Mercury lull'd Argos aſleep with all his Eyes; for, ſays he, much to this meaning, Countrymen and Neighbors, whither do you wander? Here are your lawful Miniſters preſent, to whom of late you do not refort, I hear, but to Tub-preachers in Conventicles. There is a Penalty for this, and no Power can protect you againſt the Statutes in force, which are not yet repealed, but you are bound in Conſcience to keep thoſe Laws, which are not Fetters upon your Hands, but Bracelets; they are the Vote of all the People in the Repreſentatives of your Forefathers; and you are obliged, as good and honeſt men, to maintain what your ſelves have done. It is not poſſible that all your Diſagreements blown abroad ſhould incorporate: then either you will devour your ſelves with Deſpight at laſt, or Strangers will de… us all: Dumque eſſe putamus,—Nos facimus miſeros, Grot. Poem. Lock back from the beginning of Q: Elizabeths Reign to this day; Can you wiſh the Geſpel to frand better againſt the Church of Rome than it hath done ſo long under the Biſhop., …, and Canons? That flattering word Liberty puts our whole frame out of joyur: Non dominari inſtar ſervitutis eſt; Many of the loweſt fortune are ſo proud, that they complain of Servitude, if they may not govern, nay, if they may not domineer. Out of this Idol of imaginary Liberty, which you worſhip, you will make ſo many Maſters to your ſelves, that we ſhall be all Slaves. It is a popular word, but in the abuſive ſonce of it like Homer's Moly, black in the Root, though white in the Flower. They that live in the lower Orb of Obedience, pleaſe God as much as their Rulers, and ſhall be bleſſed alike, if they quietly follow the motion of the higher Sphere of Authority. Our Doctrine is conſonant to the Conſeſſions of all Reformed Churches, and every Nation enjoy their own Ceremonies without oppoſition, only we excepted They are wiſer than we, who conſider duly, that they are the greater things of Faith and a Holy Life, for which we ſhall be tryed before the Judgment of Chriſt, and not for a ſew unvaluable Rites of Circumſtance and Comelineſs, which yet cannot well be ſpared. My Brethren I here can tell you, out of Naz. Orat. 23. that Hero, a peaceable Biſhop, ſaid often, foreign that piety conſiſted not in ſmall things. If you require more Juſtice from Chriſtian Counts, or that ſcandalous and dumb Miniſters ſhould be diſplaced, it may be done without Sedition: But becauſe you think you do not find ſo much Good as you look'd for in the old way, you would ſet up a new one, not foreſeeing how much evil you ſhall find in that: Non quod habet numerat, tantum quod non habet optat, Manil. lib. 4. But let me tell you, you will quickly love the Winding-ſheet of the old Wedlock, better than the Marriage-ſheets of the new. Enjoy that real Bleſſing which you poſſeſs, rather than an Utopia, found no where but in the Diſtempers of the Brain. A little ſmall Meney in the Purſe is better than a dream of Gold; and a Cottage to live in, is better than a Caſtle in the Air. Firſt ſeek for Piety to God, Loyalty to the King, and Peace with all men, and all things elſe will be added unto you. Theſe were the Lenitives with which the Biſhop prevailed more than could have been done with Cenſures and Menaces. As in the Old Teſtament a Cake of unleaven'd Bread was better made ready with Aſhes than with Fire. Beſide, the more hurt they could do, the leſs to be forced to Extremity. And marvel not, if a man of ſo loſty a Spirit could humble himſelf ſo far, as to ſpeak ſo correctedly in ſuch Auditories, full of ignoble Sectaries and high-ſhone Clowns: For, even Alexander taking the Kingdom upon him after the murther of his Father Philip, Diodor. lib. 17. p. 487. foreign, was fain to collogue with the People, to get their Benevolence with fair words: And he that gets a good Bargain with Courtly Language, buys it with Money which is ſoon paid, and quickly told.

157. No ſooner had our Biſhop diſpatch'd his Viſitation, and was come again to ſit in the face of the Parliament, but he heard of a muttering againſt him from the Lower Houſe, not only for viſiting his Dioceſs in ſuch a time of unſettlement, but becauſe he had ſaid in divers places, That no Power could protect them againſt Statutes ſtill in force, that ſell into Diſorders and Deviations againſt them. So he took his opportunity, at a Conſerence that was between the two Houſes in the Painted Chamber, as well to juſtifie the labour he had undergone to uphold the Rights of holy Government, as to ſilence them that were unlicens'd Preachers, and preſumed to ſay and do what they would, as if all Government were diſſolved: Non minùs turpe eſt ſua relinquere, quàm in aliena invadere injuſt um & ambitioſum, Saluſt. Bel. Jug. He maintained he had done God good Service to unmask them to their ſhame, that were ignorant Laicks, yet preach'd privately and publickly, to the corruption and diſhonour of the Goſpel. Nay, all would be Teachers in the gatherings of the Sectaries, ſcarce a Mute in the Alphabet of theſe p. 166new Chriſtians, but all Vowels. Every one puts Hand to Chriſt's Plough, that neither know Seed, Soil, nor Seaſon. Souldiers, as the Heathen feign, may come up like Cadmus Teeth, Seed in the Morning, and grow Men by Noon: foreign, Syneſ. Dio. Sativos Theologos nulla hactenus fabula prodigiosè finxit. Nay, theſe Praedicants were never ſo much as potentially Seed, but Muſhrooms. Chriſt is brought in, Luk. 2.46. being but Twelve years old, ſitting in the midſt of the Doctors, hearing and asking Queſtions, Ne infirmus quis docere audeat, ſi ille puer doceri interrogando voluit, Montag. Orig. par. 2. p. 299. Chriſt could learn nothing of them, but we learn of him, that ignorant men muſt not preſume to teach, ſince he that knew all things conformed himſelf to our Weakneſs, as if being young, he would be taught by Queſtions. It is a lame Excuſe to ſay in the behalf of ſome of theſe Upſtarts, that they are gifted men: Who reports this, but ſuch as are as blind as themſelves? They have bold Foreheads, ſtrong Lungs, and talk loud: foreign, Plut. 8. Sympoſ. An empty Cask will make a great ſound if you knock upon it: They have ſounded it ſweetly, when their Diſciples are Anabaptiſts, Familiſts, Browniſts, Antinomians, Socinians, Adamites, any thing but Orthodox Chriſtians; yet a world of theſe unſtable People flock after theſe Coachmen-preachers, Watchmaking-preachers, Barber-preachers, and ſuch addle headed Companions. Pliny ſays of Dates, taken juſt at their ripeneſs, lib. 13. c. 4. Tanta eſt muſteis ſuavitas, ut fims mandendi non niſi periculo fiat: So …entices and Country-folk hunt after theſe Teachers, and are ready to burſt their Bellies with new Dates. But worſt of all, theſe ſilly Bawle…s qualifying themſelves for the Peoples Favour, vent ſuch Politicks, as are by odds the moſt dangerous part of their Diſcourſes, encroaching ſo far upon Allegiance, that they cut off all Duty which St. Paul would have given to the higher Powers. But, what if they were guilty of ſuch Giſts as ſome would ſeem to obſerve in them? Is there nothing elſe that goes to the making of a Miniſter of God's Word? The Woman that reckoned the Charge of her Brewing, forgat the Malt, that coſt moſt; ſo you reckon their fitneſs to preach upon the ſcore of their Gifts; but, Where is their Calling? Where is their Ordination? Cooks or Butchers have a Gift to dreſs a Beaſt, yet God would admit none but Prieſts to make ready his Sacrifice. And if you mean by Gifts Learning and Knowledge, I am perſwaded if theſe your Chaplains had them, they would give them away again if they could: Learning is that which they decry, as a mark of the Beaſt; Qui omnes ſui ſimiles eſſe cupiunt, ut privata e…runt inſcitia ſub c…mmuni deliteſcat, ſays Eraſmus. I ſpend too much time to pull down a Sconce of Sand: I have no more to anſwer to, but to them that bid me ſpeak well of theſe and pity them, becauſe they are ignorant, and mean well. I report that of Bernard to it, Ut liberius peccent, libenter ignorant; They are willingly ignorant, that they may be wilfully factious. And through what Loop-hole doth their Good-meaning appear? In Railings or Blaſphemies? I will never impute a Good meaning unto them, ſo long as I ſee no ſuch thing in their Fruits, unleſs God ſhall ſay ſo at the laſt day. God grant to this Parliament a Good-meaning, to reform theſe Abuſes, and to act it with their Wiſdom and Power; for I have heard ſome ſay, that Hell is full of them that had nothing but good purpoſes. This which the Biſhop did then deliver, I may call his viſiting of the Parliament; and you have both what he acted in his Dioceſs, and what he ſpake at a Conference of both Houfes. foreign; as I may borrow it out of Nazian. upon another Athanaſius, He exceeded the moſt eloquent in Eloquence, and the moſt active in Practice. For all this good Warning, our great Commanders in the Belly of the Trojan Horſe mended nothing: Nay, in about a year and half after this, they ſequeſtred the choiceſt Divines of the Kingdom from their Livings, and many of theſe Mechanicks ſupplied their places. At Wimbleton, not far from me, a Warrener propounded to Thomas Earl of Exeter, That he ſhould have a Burrough of Rabbets of what colour he pleaſed. Let them be all white skinned, ſays that good Earl. The Undertaker killed up all the reſt, and fold them away, but the white lair, and left not enough to ſerve the Earl's Table. The application runs full upon a worthy Clergy, who were deſtroy'd, to make room for white-skinn'd Pole-cats, that came in with a ſtrike, and ſo will go out

p. 167158. But the King is come home again, who could not work the Scots to his own plight, or obtain any thing from that ungovern'd Nation: Here he found his Biſhops deſign'd to Undoing, and the Parliament would ſit his Patience out till it was effected. An unlimited Conceſſion (Utinam promiſſa liceret non dare, Metam. lib. 2.) forfeits the Giver himſelf to thoſe that have received the Privilege from him. The Houſes ſtand not upon Reaſons, but Legiſlative Votes. Reaſons! no, God wot: As Camerar. ſays of ſorry Writers, in vt. Melan. Miſeri homines mendicant argumenta: nam ſi mercarentur profectò meliora afferrent; They beg the Cauſe; for if they purchas'd it with Arguments, they would bring better. If they have no other Proofs, there were many in the Pack that could fetch them from Inſpiration: Or obtrude a Point of Conſcience, and then there is no diſputing; for it cannot live, no more than a longing Woman, if it have not all it gapes for. They ask it for a great-bellied Conſcience, to which, in Humanity, you muſt deny nothing. His Majeſty was mainly afflicted, both that an unſeaſonable Bar was deviſing againſt all the Clergy, to intermeddle in any ſecular Affairs; eſpecially, that the Biſhops Places, of which they were ſo anciently poſſeſt in Parliament, were heaved at, which came near to the leſſening, or worſe, of his own Royalty: He knew they were joyned in ſuch a couplement, as the removing of the one endanger'd the other. Grotius ſays it was the Judgment of a wife and mighty Prince, Charles the Fifth, Caeſari perſuaſum, conculcatâ ſacerdotum reverentiá, ne ipſi quidem manſurum obſequium, Annal. p. 11. What did perſuade the Emperor to think ſo? Not becauſe his Clergies Revenues are at his devotion, to help him more than other mens; or that they were learned, and able to diſpute his Right and Title with his Enemies; or that their Intereſt did legally keep his Throne from tottering; but becauſe commonly the King and the Prelates have the ſame Enemies; and the Conſtitution of them both is much at one; for he that thinks a Biſhop is too much a Potentate over the Miniſtry, is yellow with Diſdain againſt Superiority, and is prepared to conceive, that a free Monarch is too glorious a Creature over the People. The King therefore expreſt his Patronage, as much as he could, to that Holy Order, and exalted ſome worthy men to Biſhopricks in vacant Places; and among others, tranſlated the Biſhop of Lincoln to be Archbiſhop of the Province of York. This is that man, whoſe Life was ſo full of Variety; Quod conſul toties exul que ex exule conſul, ſays Manilius of Marius. He was advanced to great Honours very young; half of his Pomps cut off within five years; lay four years current in the Tower, ſequeſtred of all, and very near to be deprived of all, and of a ſudden recovers his Liberty, and a higher Place than ever. That of Patercu. upon the City of Capua is very like, or the ſame; Mirum eſt tam maturè tantam urbem creviſſe, floruiſſe, …ccidiſſe, reſurrexiſſe. His Sufferings, his great Name and Worth, his Service done daily at that time for the King and Church, did deſervedly prefer him, before divers that were of great merit. So Syneſius ſaid of Antonius, Ep. 68. that was choſen when many were in nomination, for a Biſhoprick, and all worthy of it, foreign; It gave him great Reputation to be accounted better than them that were very good. And for a Surpluſage, the King granted him to hold the Deanry of Weſtminſter in Commendam for three years, that he might not be diſplaced out of his Houſe, while he attended at that great Meeting, His Majeſty expecting it would not live above three years, but it had as many Lives as a Cat, and laſted longer: And York, after twice three months, never ſaw his Deanry more. This Parliament meaning to ſit till the Day of Doom, wanted, to their full Power and Pleaſure, to be rid of their Company, whom they liked not; which the Commons could not effect for their part, till they held out the Gorgon's Head of the Covenant. The Lords would not ſtay ſo long, but prepared a Bill, and read it, to reject the Biſhops from being Spiritual Peers of the Upper Houſe: But what Pincers will they pluck them out withal? Firſt, with the Reſorts, Petitions, and Ragings of the People. What, the People, that ſeditious Beaſt! Cupidum novarum rerum, ctio & quieti adverſum, Saluſt. p. 109. Sic eſt vulgus, ex veritate pauca, ex opinione multa judicat, Cic. pro Dom. And Grotius proves out of the Caeſarean Law in Matt. 27.23. That when Pilate enclined to hear the People, who would have Chriſt condemned, he acted contrary to Caeſar's Law, Vanas populi veces non audiendar Imperatores pronunciarunt. O thoſe of the right Heroical Race were dead and gone, who would not have endured to be directed by the Off-ſcourings of their greateſt Enemies: Nec bellua tetrior ulla eſt—Quam vulgi rabies in libera colla frement is, Claud. in Eutrop. The other catch of the Pincers was, their Lordſhips Legiſlative p. 168Vote, and their odds in number above the Biſhops, if you counted men by Noſes. Power ſhould be a divine thing, this was only Strength; as Ariſtotle ſays 2 Rhet. c. 2. foreign: which Tully hath put in good ſence and good words, pro Quinc. Arbitrantur ſine injuriâ potentiam levem, at que inopem eſſe. Some think it is not Power, unleſs they make us feel that it can do an Injury. Now methinks their Lordſhips ſhould have mark'd, that their Houſe was alter'd in its Viſage very much, when the Biſhops ſate no longer with them. And Hippocrates ſays, That ſick man will not recover, whoſe Face is ſo much changed, that it is drawn into another faſhion. foreign. And did the Lay-Peers look to laſt long, when the Aſpect of their Houſe was ſo metamorphos'd? It is a vulgar Error, If you pluck up a Mandrake, you will dye at the Groan of it: Though it be but a Fable, let them remember it that are for Extirpation; and ware them whoſe turn is next. Take away one Leg from a Trevit, it may make a ſcurvy Stool to ſit on, but it is no longer a Trevit. And take away the third Eſtate of Biſhops, be it nominal or real, a Convention it may be, but I doubt whether it be a Parliament. And as a bungling Painter ſaid of a Beaſt he had not drawn well, It would not make a good Lyon, but he could turn it into a good Calf. There was a time when the whole Academy of Philoſophers was baniſh'd out of Athens, but they were ſoon miſs'd, and he was well fined that was their Enemy. Sequenti anno revocati, & multa 5 talentorum Sophocli Archonti indita, Moeur. fort. Att. p. 65. But for them that thruſt the Biſhops out of their ancient Right, the Injury avenged it ſelf upon them; for it was not long when the Commons ſerved the Temporal Lords in the ſame kind: Nec longum, laetabere, te quo que fata proſpectant paria, AEn. lib. 10. They were not only thruſt out, but an Engagement, like a Padlock, clapt upon the Door, to keep them out for ever; and to their great diſhonour, the other Houſe made to reſemble the Peers of the Land. Duxit Sacerdotes inglorios, & Optimates ſupplantat: Mark their Sympathy in the words of the vulgar Latin, Job 12.19. Which retribution, meaſure for meaſure, the Biſhops did neither wiſh nor rejoice in, but committed their Innocency to be juſtified by the Holy God. Seek no other reaſon why they had ſo many Enemies, but becauſe Chriſtianity was mightily faln among us, both as to the credenda and the agenda. A mighty part had a Religion (I mean equivocally called ſo) that was a Picture looking equally upon all Sects that paſs'd by it; and as indifferent as Guſman …s Father, that being taken by the Pirates of Argiers, for quietneſs ſake, and as one that had not the Spirit of Contradiction, renounced Chriſt, and turned Turk. But when the Cauſe of the Biſhops, for other Immunities, and to keep their undoubted Right and Place in the Lords Houſe, was in the hotteſt diſpute Sentence ready to be call'd for, and like the laſt bidding, for a thing at the Port-ſale, York, at a Committee of the Lords, ſtands up for his Brethren, Muri que urbis ſunt pectore in uno, Sil. lib. 7, and delivers him in the long Harangue that follows.

159. I ſhall deſire as much Water, or Time of your H. Lordſhips, as your Lordſhips can well afford in a Committee, becauſe all I intend to ſpeak in this buſineſs, muſt be to your Lordſhips only, as reſolved, for mine own part, to make hereafter no Remonſtrance at all to His moſt excellent Majeſty, for theſe ſeveral Reaſons: Firſt, That I have had occaſion of late to know, that our Soveraign (whom God bleſs and preſerve) is, I will not ſay above other Princes, but above all Chriſtian men that ever I knew or heard of; a man of a moſt upright, dainty, and ſcrupulous Conſcience, and afraid to look upon ſome Actions which other Princes abroad do uſually ſwallow up and devour. I know (for I have the Monuments in my own cuſtody) what Oath, or rather Oaths, His Majeſty hath taken at his Coronation, to preſerve all the Rights and Liberties of the Church of England; and you know very well, that Churchmen are never ſparing in their Rituals and Ceremonials, to ampliſie and ſwell out the Oaths of Princes in that kind. Your Lordſhips then know right well, that he is ſworn at that time to obſerve punctually the Laws of King Edward; the firſt Law whereof, as you may ſee in Lambert's Saxon Laws, is to preſerve entirely the Peace, the Poſſeſſions, and the Rights and Privileges of the Church. And truly, I ſhall never put my Maſter's Conſcience, that I find reſenting and punctilious, when it is bound up with Oaths and Proteſtations, to ſwallow ſuch Gudgeons, as to ſill it ſelf with theſe Doubts and Scruples. My ſecond Reaſon is, That if His Majeſty were free from all theſe Oaths and Proteſtations, I du…t not, without ſome fair Invitation from himſelf, p. 169adviſe His Majeſty to run Shocks and Oppoſitions againſt the Votes of both theſe great Houſes of Parliament. Laſtly, If I were ſecretly invited to move His Majeſty to adviſe upon the paſſing of this Bill, yet ſpeaking mine own Heart and Sence, and not binding any of my Brethren in this Opinion, if I found the major part of this Houſe to paſs this Bill, without much qualification, I ſhould never have the boldneſs, nor deſire to ſit any more in any judicial place in this moſt honourable Houſe. And therefore, my H. Lordſhips, here I have ſixt my Areopagus, and dernier Reſort, being not like to make any further Appeal; which makes me humbly deſire your Patience, to ſpeak for ſome longer time than I have accuſtomed in a Committee; in which length, notwithſtanding, I hope to uſe a great deal of brevity, ſome length in the whole, and much ſhortneſs in every particular Head, which I mean ſo to diſtinguiſh, and beat out, that not only your Lordſhips, but the Lords my Brethren may enlarge themſelves upon all the particulars, which neither my Abilities of Body can perform, nor doth my Intention nor Purpoſe aim at, at this time: I will therefore caſt this whole Bill into ſix ſeveral Heads, wherein I hope to comprehend all that I ſhall ſay, or any man elſe can materially touch upon in this Bill. The firſt is, the Riſe or Motive of this Bill, which is the Duty of men in Holy Orders, for the words are, Perſons in Holy Orders ought not to intermeddle, &c. And this Duty of Miniſters may be taken in this place two ſeveral ways; either for their Duty in point of Divinity, or for their Duty in point of Convenience, which we commonly call Policy. In regard of either of theſe Duties it may be conceived, that men in Holy Orders ought not to intermeddle in Sacred Affairs, &c. and this is the Motive, Riſe, and Ground of this Bill. The ſecond point are the perſons concerned in the Bill, which are Archbiſhops, Biſhops, Parſons, Vicars, and all other in Holy Orders. The third point contains the things inhibited from this time forward, to ſuch perſons by this Bill, and they are of ſeveral ſorts and natures: Firſt, Freeholds and Rights of ſuch perſons, as their Suffrages, Votes, and Legiſlative Power in Parliament: Secondly, Matters of Princely Favours; as to ſit in Star-chamber, to be call'd to the Council-board, to be Juſtices of the Peace, &c. Thirdly, Matters of a mixt and concrete nature, that ſeem to be both Freeholds and Favours of former Princes; as, the Charters of ſome of the Biſhops, and ſome of the ancient Cathedrals, are conceived to be: And theſe are all the matters or things inhibited from thoſe perſons in Holy Orders, by this preſent Bill. The fourth point is the manner of this Inhibition, which is of a double nature; firſt, of a ſevere Penalty; and ſecondly, under Cain's Mark, an eternalkind of Diſability and Incapacity laid upon them, from enjoying hereafter any of thoſe Freeholds, Rights, Favours, or Charters of former Princes; and that which is the heavieſt point of all, without killing of Abel, or any Crime laid to their Charge, more than that in the beginning of the Bill it is ſaid roundly, and in the ſtyle of Lacedaemon, That they ought not to intermeddle in Secular Affairs. The fifth point is a Salvo for the two Univerſities, but none for the Biſhop of Durham, nor for the Biſhop of Ely, not for the Dean of Weſtminſter, their next Neighbour, who is eſtabliſh'd in his Government by an eſpecial Act of Parliament, that of the 27 of Queen Elizabeth. The ſixth and laſt point is a Salvo for Dukes, Marqueſſes, Earls, Viſcounts, Barons, or Peers of this Kingdom, that either may be, or are ſuch by Deſcent: Which Clauſe, I hope in God, will prove not only a Salvo to thoſe honourable perſons (whereof, if we of the Clergy were but ſo happy as to have any competent number of our Coat, Quot Thebarum portae, vel divit is oſtia Nili, this Bill ſurely had periſh'd in the Womb, and never come to the Birth) but I hope that this Clauſe will prove this Bill a felo de ſe, and a Murtherer of it ſelf; and intended for a Salvo to noble Miniſters only, prove a Salvo for all other Miniſters, that be not ſo happy as to be nobly born; becauſe the very poor Miniſter, for ought we find in Scripture, or common Reaſon, is no more tyed to ſerve God in his Vocation… than theſe foreign, and nobly-born Miniſters are. And therefore I hope thoſe noble Miniſters will deal ſo nobly, as to pull their Brethren the poor Miniſters out of the Thorns and Bryars of this Bill. And theſe are all the true Heads and Contents of this Bill: And among theſe ſix Heads your Lordſhips ſhall be ſure to find me; and I ſhall expect to ſind your Lordſhips in the whole Tract of this Committee. And now, with your Lordſhips honourable Leave and Patience, I will run them over, almoſt as briefly as I have pointed and pricked them down.

p. 170160. For the firſt, the Riſe and Motive of this Bill, which is the Duty of Men in Holy Orders not to intermeddle with Secular Affairs, muſt either riſe from a point of Divinity, or from a point of Conveniency or Policy: And I hope in God it will not appear to your Lordſhips, that there is any Ground either of Divinity or Policy to inhibit men in Orders, ſo modeſtly to intermeddle with Secular Affairs, as that the meaſure of intermeddling in ſuch Affairs ſhall not hinder nor obſtruct the Duties of their Calling: They ought not ſo to intermeddle in Secular Affairs, as to neglect their Miniſtry; no more ought Lay-men neither; for they have a Calling and Vocation, wherein they are to walk, as Miniſters have; they have Wife, and Children, and Families to care for, and they are not to neglect theſe to live upon Warrants and Recognizances, to become a kind of Sir Francis Michel, or a Juſtus nimis, as Solomon calls it, Eccleſ. 7.16. That place, 2 Tim. 2.4. No man that warrs entangles himſelf with the affairs of this life, will be found to be applied by all good Interpreters to Lay-men, as well as Church-men, and, under favour, nothing at all to this purpoſe. Beſides that, the word (foreign) doth point at a man that is ſo wholly taken up with the Affairs of this Life, that he utterly neglects the Offices and Duties of a Chriſtian man: And ſo I leave that place as uncapable of any other Expoſition, nor ever otherwiſe interpreted, but by Popes Legates and Canoniſts, that make a Noſe or Wax of every place of Scripture they touch upon. But that men in Holy Orders ought not, in a moderate manner, together with the Duties of their Calling, to help and aſſiſt in the Government of the Common-wealth, if they be thereunto lawfully called by the Soveraign Prince, can never be proved by any good Divinity; for in the Law of Nat…e before the Deluge, and a long time after, it is a point that no man will deny me, That the Eldeſt of the Family was both the Prieſt and the Magiſtrate: Then the People were taken out of Aegypt by Moſes and Aaron, Moſes and Aaron among his Prieſts, as it is in the Pſalm. Then there was a Form of a Common-wealth ſetch'd from Heaven indeed, and planted upon the Earth, and judiciary Laws dictated for the regulating of the ſame. Nor do I much care, though ſome men ſhall ſay, That perſons in Holy Orders ought not to intermeddle in Secular Affairs, when that Great God of Heaven and Earth doth appoint them to intermeddle with all the principal Affairs of that eſtate: witneſs the exorbitant Power of the High-Prieſt in Secular Matters, the Sanhedrim, the 23, the Judges of the Gate, which were moſt of them Prieſts and Levites. And the Church-men of that Eſtate were not all Butchers and Slaughter-men, for they had their Tabernacle, their Synagogues, their Prayers, Preaching, and other Exerciſes of Piety. In a word, we have Divinius, but they had operoſius miniſterium, as St Auſtin ſpeaketh. Our Miniſtry takes up more of our Thoughts, but theirs took up more of their Labour and Induſtry. Nor is it any matter that this Common-wealth is no more in being: it ſufficeth it hath been once, and that planted by God himſelf, who would never have appointed perſons in Holy Orders to intermeddle with things they ought not to intermeddle withal. I will go on with my Chronology of perſons in Holy Orders, and only put you in mind of Ely, and Samuel among the Judges, of Sadock's Employment under K. David, of Jehojada's under his Nephew King Joaſh, and would ſain know what Hurt theſe men in Holy Orders did, by intermedling in Secular Affairs of that time. Now we are returned from the Captivity of Babylon, I deſire you to look upon the whole Race of the Maccab…s, eve… to Antigonus, the laſt of them all, taken Priſoner by Pompey, and … afterwards by M Antony; and ſhew me any of thoſe Princes (a Woman or two excepted) that was not a Prieſt and a Magiſtrate.

161. We are now come to Chriſt's time, when methinks I hear St. Paul, 23. of the Acts, excuſe himſelf for reviling of the High-Prieſt: I wiſt not, Brethren, that he was the High-…ieſt, for it is written, Thouſhalt not ſpeak evil of the Ruler of thy People: Where obſerve, that the word Ruler in the Greek is foreign, the very ſame word that is uſed by St. Paul, Rom. 13.3. where this word foreign is tranſlated by Beza, Magiſtrates. Then you muſt be pleaſed to imagine the Church aſleep, or almoſt dead under Perſecution, for almoſt 300 years, until the happy days of the Emperor Conſtantine, and not expect to find many Magiſtrates among the Chriſtians: Yet you ſhall find St. Paul, 1 Cor. 6.5. offend againſt this Bill, and intermeddle Knuckle-deep with Secular Affairs, by inhibiting the Corinthians very ſharply for their Chicanery, their p. 171Pettiſoggery and common Barretry, in going to Law one with another: Beſides, that as all learned men agree, both the Apoſtles and Apoſtolical men that lived preſently after them, had a miraculous power of puniſhing exorbitant Crimes, which ſupplied the power of the ordinary Magiſtrate; as appears in Ananias and Sapphira, the inceſtuous Corinthian, and many others: But then, from Conſtantine's Age till the Reformation, began by Luther, Churchmen were ſo uſually employed in managing of Secular Affairs, that I ſhall confeſs ingenuouſly it was too much; there lying an Appeal from the Courts of the Empire to the Biſhops Judicatory; as you ſhall find it every where in the Code of Juſtinian. So it was under Carolus Magnus, and all the Carolovingian Line of our neighbour Kingdom of France. So, and ſomewhat more, it was with us in the Saxon Heptarchy, the Biſhop and the Sheriff ſitting together check by jowl in their Turns and Courts. But theſe exorbitant and vaſt Employment, in Secular Affairs I ſtand not up to deſend, and therefore I will haſten to the Reformation. Where Mr. Calvin, in the fourth Book of his Inſtitutions, and eleventh Diſtinction, doth confeſs, that the holy men heretofore did refer their Controverſies to the Biſhop, to avoid Troubles in Law. You ſhall find that from Luther to this preſent day, in all the flux of Time, in all Nations, in all manner of Reformations, perſons in Holy Orders were thought fit to intermeddle in Secular Affairs: Brentius was a Privy-Councillor to his Duke and Prince; Functius was a Privy-Councillor to the great Duke of Boruſſ…a, as it is but too notoriouſly known to thoſe that are verſed in Hiſtories; Calvin and Beza, while they lived, carried all the Council of the State of Geneva under their own Gowns. Bancroft in his Survey, c. 26. obſerveth, that they were of the Council of State there, which conſiſteth of Threeſcore: And I have my ſelf known Abraham Scultetus a Privy-Councillor to the Prince Palatine; Reverend Monſieur Du Moulin, for many years together, a Councillor to the Princeſs of Sedan; his Brother-in-law Monſieur Rivet, a great learned Perſonage now in England, of the Privy-Council of the Prince of Orange. You all hear, and I know much good by his former Writings, of a learned man called Mr. Henderſon, and moſt of your Lordſhips underſtand better than I, what Employment he hath at this time in this Kingdom: And truly, I do believe that there is no Reformed Church in the World, ſettled and conſtituted by the State, wherein it is held for a point in Divinity, that perſons in Holy Orders ought not to intermeddle with Secular Affairs: Which is all I ſhall ſay of this Duty of Miniſters in point of Divinity.

162. Now I come to the ſecond Duty of men in Holy Orders, in point of Conveniency or Policy, and am clearly of opinion, that even in this Regard and Re…ection they ought not to be debarred from modeſtly intermeddling in Secular Affairs; for i… there be any ſuch Inconvenience, it muſt needs ariſe from this, That to exerciſe ſome Secular Juriſdiction muſt be evil in it ſelf, or evil to a perſon in Holy Orders. Which is neither ſo nor ſo, for the whole Office of a ſubordinate civil Magiſtrate is moſt exactly deſcribed in Rom. 13. v. 3, 4. and no man can add or detract from the ſame. The Civil Power is a Divine Ordinance, ſet up to be a Terror to the Evil, and an Encouragement to Good Works. This is the whole compaſs of the Civil Power: And thereſore I do here demand, with the moſt learned Biſhop Davenant, that within a few days did ſit by my ſide, in the Eleventh Queſtion of his Determinations, What is there of Impiety, what of Unlawfulneſs, what unbecoming either the Holineſs or Calling of a Prieſt, in terrifying the bad, or comforting the good Subject, in repreſſing of Sin, or puniſhing of Sinners? For this is the whole and entire act of Civil Juriſdiction. It is in its own nature repugnant to no Perſon, to no Function, to no fort or condition of Men, let them hold themſelves never ſo holy, never ſo ſeraphical, it becomes them very well to repreſs Sin and puniſh Sinners; that is to ſay, to exerciſe in a moderate manner Civil Juriſdiction, if the Soveraign ſhall require it: And you ſhall find that this Doctrine of debarring perſons in Holy Orders from Secular Employments, is no Doctrine of the Reformed, but the Popiſh Church, and firſt brought into this Kingdom by the Popes of Rome, and Lambeth, Lanfrank, Anſelm, Stephen Langton, and the reſt, together with Otho and Ottobon, and to this only end, that the man of Rome might withdraw all the Clergy of this Kingdom from their obligation to the King and Nobility, who were moſt of them great Princes in thoſe times, and thereby might eſtabliſh and create (as in great part he did) Regnum in Regno, a Kingdom of Shavelings in the midſt of this Kingdom of England. And hence came thoſe p. 172Canons of mighty conſequence, able to ſhoot up a Prieſt at one ſhot into Heaven, as, that he muſt not meddle with matters of Blood; that he muſt not exerciſe Civil Juriſdiction; that he muſt not be a Steward to a Noble-man in his Houſe; and all the reſt of this Palea and Garbage. That is in plain Engliſh, the Prieſt muſt no longer receive Obligations from either King or Lords, but wholly depend upon his Holy Fathers, the Pope of Rome, and the Pope of Lambeth; or at leaſt wiſe, pay him ſoundly for their Diſpenſations and Abſolutions, when they preſume to do the contrary. In the mean time here is not one word or ſhew of Reaſon, to inform an underſtanding man, that perſons in Holy Orders ought not to terriſie the Bad and comfort the Good, to repreſs Sin, and chaſtiſe Sinners; which is the ſumma totalis of the Civil Magiſtracy, and conſequently ſo far forth, at the leaſt, to intermeddle with Secular Affairs. And this is all that I ſhall ſay touching the Motive and Ground of this Bill, and that perſons in Holy Orders ought not to be inhibited from intermeddling in Secular Aſtairs, either in point of Divinity, or in point of Conveniency and Policy.

163. The ſecond Point conſiſts of the Perſons reflected upon in this Bill, which are Archbiſhops, Biſhops, Parſons, Vicars, and all others in Holy Orders; of which point I ſhall ſay little, only finding theſe Names huddled up in an Heap, made me conceive at firſt, that it might have ſome relation to Mr. … Reading in the Middle Temple, which I ever eſteem'd to have been very inoffentively deliver'd by that learned Gentleman, and with little diſcretion queſtion'd by a great Eccleſiaſtick then in Place; for all that he ſaid was this, That when the Temporal …ords are more in Voices than the Spiritual, they may paſs a Bill without conſent of the Biſhops: Which is an Aſſertion ſo clear in Reaſon, and ſo often practis'd upon the Records and Rolls of Parliament, that no man any way vers'd in either of theſe, can make any doubt of it, nor do I; though I humbly conceive no Pre…ident will be ever ſound, that the Prelates were ever excluded, otherwiſe than by their own Folly, Fear, or Headineſs. For the point of being Juſtices of Peace, the Gentleman confeſſeth, he never meddled with Archbiſhops, nor Biſhops, nor with any Clergyman made a Juſtice by His Majeſty's Commiſſion. In the Statute made 34 Edw. 3. c. 1. he finds Aſſignees for the keeping of the Peace, one Lord, three or four of the moſt valiant men of the County; the troubleſome times did then ſo require it: And if God do not bleſs us with the riddance of theſe two Armies, the like Proviſion will be now as neceſſary. He finds theſe men included, but he doth not find Churchmen excluded; no, not in the Statute 13 Rich. II. c. 7. that requires Juſtices of Peace to be made of Knights, Eſquires, and Gentlemen of the Law, of the moſt ſufficient of each County. In which words the Gentleman thinks Clerks were not included; and I clearly ſay, by his favour, they are not excluded; nor do the learned Sages of the Law conceive them to be excluded by that Statute. If the King ſhall command the Lord Keeper to fill up the Commiſſions of each County, with the moſt ſufficient Knights, Eſquires, and Gentlemen of the Law, ſhall the Lord Keeper thereupon exclude the Noblemen and the Prelates? I have often in my days received this Command, but never heard of this Interpretation before this time: So that I cannot conceive from what ground this general Sweepſtake of Archbiſhops, Bithops, Parſons, Vicars, and all others in Holy Orders ſhould proceed. I have heard, ſince the beginning of my Sickneſs, that it hath been alledg'd in this Houſe, that the Clergy, in the Sixth of Edw. 3. did diſavow that the Cuſtody of the Peace did belong to them at all, and I believe that ſuch a thing is to be ſound among the Notes of the Privileges of this Houſe; but firſt, you muſt remember, that it was in a great Storm, and when the Waters were much troubled, and the wild People unapt to be kept in order by Miters, and Croſier-ſtaves: But yet if that noble Lord ſhall be pleaſed to caſt his Eye upon the Roll it ſelf, he ſhall find that this poor Excuſe did not ſerve the Prelates turns; for they were compelled with a witneſs to defend the preſervation of the Peace of the Kingdom for their parts, as well as the Noblemen and Gentry. And you ſhall find the Ordinance to this effect ſet down upon that Roll. I conclude therefore, with that noble Lord's favour, that the ſweeping of all the Clergy out of temporal Offices, is a motion of the firſt impreſſion, and was never heard in the Engliſh Common-wealth before this Bill.

p. 173164. I come, in the third place, to the main part of this Cauſe, the things to be ſevered from all men in Holy Orders, which are, as I told you of three kinds: 1. Matters of Free-hold, as the Biſhops Votes in Parliament, and Legiſlative Power. 2. Matters of Favour, to be a Judge in Star-chamber; to be a a Privy-Councillor, to be a Juſtice of Peace, or a Commiſſioner in any Temporal Affairs. 3. Mixt Matters of Free-hold and Favour too, as the Charters of ſome Biſhops, and many of the ancient Cathedrals of this Kingdom, who allow them a Juſtice or two within themſelves, or their Cloſe, as they call it, and exempt thoſe grave and learned men from the Rudeneſs and Inſolency of Tapſters, Brewers, Inn-keepers, Taylors, and Shoe-makers, which do integrate and make up the Bodies of our Country-Cities and Incorporations. And now is the Ax laid to the very Root of the Eccleſiaſtical Tree, and without your Lordſhips Juſtice and Favour, all the Branches are to be lopt off quite with thoſe latter Clauſes, and the Stock and Root it ſelf to be quite grubb'd and digged up, by that firſt point of aboliſhing all Vote and Legiſlative Power in all Clergymen, leaving them to be no longer any part of the People of Rome, but meer Slaves and Bond-men to all intents and purpoſes; and the Prieſts of England, one degree interiour to the Prieſts of Jer…boam, being to be accounted worſe than the Tail of the People. Now I hope no Engliſh-man will doubt, but this Vote and Repreſentation in Parliament is not only a Freehold, but the greateſt Freehold that any Subject in England, or in all the Chriſtian World, can brag of at this day, that we live under a King, and are to be govern'd by his Laws, that is, not by his arbitrary Edicts or Reſcripts, but by ſuch Laws confirmed by him, and aſſented to by us, either in our proper Perſons, or in our Aſſignees and Repreſentations. This is the very Soul and Genius of our Magna Charta, and without this one Spirit that great Statute is little leſs than litera occidens, a dead and uſeleſs piece of Paper: You heard it moſt truly opened unto you by a wiſe and judicious Peer of this Houſe, that Legem patere quam ipſe tuleris, was a Motto, wherein Alexander Severus had not more intereſt than every true-born Engliſhman. No Forty-ſhillings-man in England, but doth in perſon or repreſentation enjoy his Freedom and Liberty: The Prelates of this Kingdom, as a Looking-glaſs and Repreſentation of the Clergy, a third eſtate, if we may ſpeak either with Sir Edw. Coke, or the ancient Acts of Parliament, have been in poſſeſſion hereof theſe Thouſand years and upward. The Princes of the Norman Race, indeed, for their own ends, and to ſtrengthen themſelves with Men and Money, erected the Biſhopricks ſoon after the Conqueſt into Baronies, and left them to ſit in the Houſe, with their double Capacities about them; the latter invented for the profit of the Prince, not excluding the former, remaining always from the beginning, for the profit and concernment of the poor Clergy, and the State Eccleſiaſtical: which appears not only by the Saxon Laws ſet forth by Mr. Lambert and Sir H. Spelman, but alſo by the Biſhops Writs and Summons to Parliament, in uſe to this very day. We have many Preſident, upon the Rolls, that in vacancy of Epiſcopal Sees, the Guardian of the Spirituals, though but a ſimple Prieſt, hath been called to fit in this Honourable Houſe, by reaſon of the former Repreſentation: and ſuch an Officer I was my ſelf over that See whereof I am Biſhop, ſome 25 years ago, and might then have been ſummoned by Writ to this Honourable Houſe, at that very time, by reaſon of keeping the Spirituality of that Dioceſs, which then, as a ſimple Prieſt, I did, by vertue of the aforeſaid Office repreſent. And therefore, moſt noble Lords, look upon the Ark of God's Repreſentative, that at this time floats in great danger in this Deluge of Waters: If there be any Cham or unclean Creature therein, out with him, and let every man bear his own Burden, but ſave the Ark for God and Chriſt Jeſus ſake, who hath built it in this Kingdom for ſaving of People. And your Lordſhips are too wiſe to conceive that the Word and Sacraments, the means of our Salvation, will be ever effectually received from thoſe Miniſters, whoſe Perſons ſhall be ſo vilified and dejected, as to be made no Parcels or Fragments of this Common-wealth. No, faith Gregory, the laſt Trick the Devil had in this World was this, that when he could not bring the Word and Sacraments into diſgrace by Errors and Heretical Opintens, he invented this Project, (and much applauded his Wit therein) to caſt Slight and Contempt upon the Preachers and Miniſters. And my noble Lords, you are too wiſe to believe what the common people talk, that we have a Vote in the election of Knights and Burgeſſes, and conſequently ſome Figure and Repreſentation in the noble Houſe of Commons They of the Miniſtry p. 174have no Vote in theſe Elections, they have no Repreſentation in that Honourable Houſe, and the contrary Aſſertions are ſo ſlight and groundleſs, as I will not offer to give them any anſwer. And therefore, R. Hon. Lords, have a ſpecial care of the Church of England your Mother in this point. And as God hath made you the moſt noble of all the Peers of the Chriſtian World, ſo do not you give way that our Nobility ſhall be taught henceforth, as the Romans were in the time of the firſt and ſecond Punick Wars, by their Slaves and Bond-men only: and that the Church of God in this Iſland may come to be ſerved by the moſt ignoble Miniſters, that have ever been ſeen in the Chriſtian Church, ſince the Paſſion of our Saviour. And ſo much for the firſt thing, which this Bill intends of ſever from Perſons in Holy Orders, viz. Votes and Repreſentations in Parliament. The next thing to be ſevered from them by this Bill is of a meaner Mettal and Alloy, ſittings in Star-Chamber, ſittings at Council-Table, ſitting in the Commiſſions of Peace, and other Commiſſions of Secular Affairs, which are ſuch Favours and Graces of Chriſtian Princes, as the Church may have a being, and ſubſiſtence without them. The Fartunes of our Greece do not depend upon theſe Spangles: and the Soveraign Prince hath imparted and withdrawn theſe kind of Favours without the envy or regret of any wiſe Eccleſia…ical Perſons. But, my noble Lords, this is the Caſe; our King hath by the Statute reſtored unto him the Headſhip of the Church of England, and by the Word of God, he is Cuſtos utriuſque tabulae. And will your Lordſhips allow this Eccleſiaſtical Head no Eccleſiaſtical Senſes at all? No Eccleſiaſtical Perſon to be conſulted withal, not in any circumſtance of Time and Place? If Cranmer had been thus dealt withal in the minority of our young King Joſias, King Edward the Sixth of pious memory, what had become of the great Work of our Reformation in this flouriſhing Church of England? But I know before whom I ſpeak. I do not mean to Dine your Lordſhips with Coleworts: the harſh Conſequents of this Point your Lordſhips do underſtand as well as I. The laſt Robe that ſome Perſons in Holy Orders are to be ſtript of, hath a kind of Mixture of Freehold and Favour, of the proper Right and Graces of the King, which are certain old Charters, that ſome few Biſhops, and many Ancient and Cathedral Churches have purchaſed and procured from the ancient Kings, before and ſince the Conqueſt, to inable them to live quiet in their own Precincts, and cloſe (as they call it) under a Juſtice or two of their own Body, without being abandoned, upon every ſlight occaſion, to the Injuries and Vexations of Mechanical Tradeſmen, of which your Lordſhips beſt know thoſe Country Incorporations do moſt conſiſt. Now whether theſe ſew Charters have their Foundation by Favour or by Right, I ſhould conceive, under your Lordſhips ſavour, it is neither Favour nor Right to take them away, without ſome juſt Crime objected and proved. For if they be abuſed in any particular, Mr. Attorney-General can find an ordinary Remedy to repair the ſame by a Writ of Ad quod damnum, without troubling the two Houſes of Parliament. And this is all I ſhall ſpeak to this Point.

165. And now I am come to the fourth part of this Bill, which is the manner of Inhibition, heavy every way: heavy in the Penalty, heavier a great deal in the Incapacity. For the weighing of the Penalty will you conſider, I beſeech you, the ſmall Wyres, that is, poor Cauſes, that are to induce the ſame: and then the heavy Lead that hangs upon thoſe Wyres. It is thus: If a natural Subject of England, intereſſed in the Magna Charta, and Petition of Right, as well as any other, yet being a Perſon in Holy Orders, ſhall happen unfortunately to Vote in Parliament, to obey his Prince by way of Counſel, or by way of a Commiſſioner be required thereunto, then he is preſently to loſe and forfeit for his firſt offence all his means and livelyhood for one year and for the ſecond to forfeit his Freehold in that kind for ever and ever. And I do not believe that your Lordſhips ever ſaw ſuch an heavy weight of Cenſure hang upon ſuch thin Wyres of Reaſon in an Act of Parliament made heretofore. This peradventure may move others moſt, but it does not me. It is not the Penalty, but the Incapacity, and as the Philoſopher would call it, the Natural Impotency impoſed by this Bill on Men in Holy Orders to ſerve the King, or the State in this kind, be they never ſo able, never ſo willing, never ſo vertuous. Which makes me draw a kind of Timanthes vail over this Point, and leave it, without any amplification at all, unto your Lordſhips wiſe and inward thoughts and conſiderations.—The fifth Point is the Salvo made for the two Univerſities, to have Juſtices of Peace among them of their own Heads of p. 175Houſes, which I confeſs to be done upon mature and juſt conſideration: For otherwiſe the Scholars muſt have gone for Juſtice to thoſe Parties to whom they ſend for Muſtard and Vineger. But yet, under favour, the Reaſons and Inducements cannot be ſtronger than may be found out for other Eccleſiaſtical Perſons; as the Biſhop of Durham, who was ever, ſince the days of K. John, ſuffered by the Princes and Parliaments of England to exerciſe Juſtice upon the Parties in thoſe Parts, as being in truth the King's Subjects, but the Biſhops Tenants, and therefore not likely to have their Cauſes more duly weighed, than when the Balance is left in the hand of their own proper Landlord. The Caſe of the Biſhop of Ely, for ſome parts of that Iſle is not much different. But if a little Partiality doth not herein caſt ſome little Miſt before mine eyes, the Caſe of the Dean and City of Weſtminſter, wherein this Parliament is now ſitting, is far more conſiderable, both in the Antiquity, extent of Juriſdiction, and the Warrants whereupon it is grounded, than any one of thoſe places before mentioned. For there is a clear Statute made 27 Eliz. for the drawing all Weſtminſter, St. Clement, and St. Martins le Grand, London, into a Corporation to be reigled by a Dean, a Steward, twelve Burgeſſes, and twelve Aſſiſtants: And if ſome Salve or Plaiſter ſhall not be applied to Weſtminſter in this Point, all that Government and Corporation is at an end. But this I perceive ſince is taken into conſideration by the Honourable Houſe of Commons themſelves.—I come now to the laſt Point, and the ſecond Salvo of this Bill, which is for Dukes, Marqueſſes, Earls, Viſcounts, Barons or Peers of this Kingdom; which is a Clauſe that looks with a kind of contrary glance upon Perſons in Holy Orders: it ſeems to favour ſome, but ſo that thereby, and in that very act, it caſts an aſperſion of baſeneſs and ignobility upon all the reſt of that Holy Profeſſion. For if no Perſons in Holy Orders ought to intermeddle in Secular Affairs, how come thoſe Nobles to be excepted out of the Univerſal Negative? Is it becauſe they are nobly born? Then ſurely it muſt be granted that the reſt muſt be excluded, as being made of a worſer and rougher piece of Clay. For the ſecond part of this Reaſon in the beginning of the Bill can never bear out this Salvo, That the Office of the Miniſtry is of ſo great importance, that it will take up the whole Man, and all his beſt Endeavours. Surely the Office of the Miniſtry is of no greater importance in a poor man than in a noble man; nor doth it take up the whole Man in the one, and but a piece of him in the other. I cannot give you many Inſtances herein out of Scripture, becauſe you know that in thoſe days, Not many mighty, not many noble were called, 1 Cor. 1.26. But when any Noble were called, I do not find but that they did put more of the whole Man, and their beſt Endeavours upon the Miniſtry than other Men in Holy Orders are, at the leaſt in Holy Scripture, noted to have done. I pu… your Lordſhips in mind of thoſe Noble men of Beraea, compared with th…ſe of Theſſalonica, Acts 17.11. So that this Salvo for the Nobility muſt needs be (under your Lordſhips favour) a ſecret wound unto the reſt of the Miniſtry, unleſs your Lordſhips by your great Wiſdom, will be willing to change it into a Panacaea, or common Plaiſter both to the one and to the other. And, under your Lordſhips Favour, I conceive it may be done under a very fo…ing Argument. The Office of the Miniſtry is of equal importance, and takes up the wh… Man, and all his beſt Endeavours, in the Noble born, as well as in the mean born Biſhop. But it is lawful, all this notwithſtanding, for the noble born Miniſter to intermeddle in Secular Affairs, and therefore it is likewiſe lawful for the mean born ſo to do. And ſo in may Conſcience (I ſpeak it in the preſence of God, and great Noblemen) it is moſt lawful for them to intermeddle with Secular Affairs, ſo as they be not intangled (as the Apoſtle calls it) with this intermedling, as to ſlight and neglect the Office of their Calling; which no Miniſter, noble or ignoble, can do without grievouſly ſinning againſt God and his own conſcience. It is lawful for Perſons in Holy Orders to intermeddle; it is without queſtion: or elſe they could not make proviſion of Meat and Drink, as Beza interprets the place. It is not lawful for them to be thus intangled and bound up with Secular Affairs; which I humbly beſeech your Lordſhips to conſider, not as a Diſtinction invented by me, but clearly expreſſed by the Apoſtle himſelf.

166. And thus, my noble Lords, I ſhall, without any further moleſtation, and with humble thanks for this great patience, leave this great Cauſe of the Church to your Lordſhips wiſe and gracious conſideration. Here is my Marshill, and further I ſhall never appeal for Juſtice. Some aſſurance I have from p. 176the late ſolemn Vow and Proteſtation of both Houſes, for the maintaining and defending the Power and Priviledges of Parliament, that if this Bill were now to be framed in the one Houſe, it would never be offered, without much qualification, and I perſwade my ſelf it will not be approved in the other. Parliaments are indeed Omnipotent; but no more Omnipotent than God himſelf; who, for all that, cannot do every thing. God cannot but perform what he hath promiſed: A Parliament, under favour, cannot un-ſwear what it hath already vowed. This is an old Maxim, which I have learned of the Sages of the Law, A Parliament cannot be Felo de ſe, it cannot deſtroy or undo it ſelf. An Act of Parliament, (as that in the eleventh, and another in the one and twentieth of Richard the Second) made to be unrepealable in any ſubſequent Parliament, was ipſo facto void in the conſtitution. Why? becauſe it took away the Power and Priviledges, that is, not the Plumes and Feathers, the remote Accidents, but the very ſpeciſial Form, Eſſence, and Being of a Parliament: So if an Act ſhould be made to take away the Votes of all the Commons, or all the Lords, it were abſolutely a void Act. I will conclude with the firſt Ep. to the Corinthians, c. 12. v. 15. If the ſoot ſhall ſay, becauſe I am not the hand I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? v. 20. but now are they many Members, yet but one Body. v. 21. And the eye cannot ſay unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head unto the feet, I have no need of you. So far our brave Speaker: and all this is exſcribed faithfully out of his own Copy. Let another take his room; and let him that is wiſeſt perform it better. The Succeſs was, that he laid the Bill aſleep for five months (for I confeſs that by over-ſight I have not kept the juſt order of time; for it ſhould have been referred to the middle of May, before the King went into Scotland) and was in a trance by the charm of this Eloquence till November after: which ſhews how like he was to Athanaſius (Nazian. in Orat. pro codem) foreign. Athanaſius was an Adamant, not to be broken with violent blows: and a Load-ſtone to draw them to him that were of a contrary Opinion. Now mark the Partiality upon which the Speaker much inſiſted, That the Lords would grant Intereſt to noble Perſons in Holy Orders to act in Secular Affairs; but to none beſide. As Grotius fits it with a paſſage Annal. p. 5. Caſtellani quantumcunque uſurpent ipſi libertatem, in aliis non ſerunt. The Caſtilians are great encroachers upon liberty for themſelves; but will not tollerate it in any beſide. To the main Cauſe I yield that that was eaſie to be defended on the Clergies part; as learned Saravia ſhews de Chriſtian. Obed. p. 169. not only from Moſes's Law, but from the Cuſtom general of the moſt orderly among the Heathen, Gauliſh, Druids, Perſian Magi, Egyptian Heirophants, and ſo forth by induction from all places, to make it amount even to a natural Law, that Prieſts were no where excluded from honourable Imployments in Secular Affairs. I will appoſe two Quotations for it, and very remarkable. The firſt from the Judgment of the Scottiſh Preſbytery. R. Spotſwood Hiſt. p. 299. & 449. That they contended for that Priviledge, that ſome Miniſters ſhould give Voice in Parliament in the behalf of the Church—And ſome to aſſiſt the King in Parliament, in Council, and out of Council. Doth the Wind blow ſo from the North? The other taken from Ludo. Molin. Paraen. c 4. And he no well-willer to our Hierarchy in that Book, leaſt of all to their Conſiſtories—Deus Paſtori Evangelico non detrahit jus & poteſtatem Magiſtraturae: nec magiſtratum prohibet miniſterio, ſi ad utrumque factus & comparatus eſt. But this Bill that went no further, when it was firſt ſet on foot in May, began to enlarge its ſtrides, and mend its Pace in the end of Autumn. Either becauſe this fiery Parliament ſaw that Confuſion begun muſt be carried on with acting greater: or becauſe the King was ſuſpected that he tamper'd with the Scots, and they framed an Injury from his Neglect to leave them ſo long: or how it was that their thoughts were whi…'d about with the Wheel of ſwift Perſwaſions, themſelves knew beſt: but their Spleen began to ſhew it ſelf with ſtronger fits than ever againſt the Clergy, who were never ſafe ſo long as the Bill we have heard of was not cancell'd. For the Spaniſh Proverb tells us, That Apple is in great danger that ſticks upon the prickles of an Hedge-hogg. But if the Sum of the Bill had been right caſt, the now moſt noble Marqueſs of Dorcheſter, and more noble becauſe moſt learned, told his Peers May 21. Which of your Lordſhips can ſay he ſhall continue a Member of this Houſe, when at one blow ſix and twenty are cut off. This was ſooth, nay Sooth-ſaying and Propheſying: but it was not attended.

p. 177167. When all ways had been tried to paſs this Bill of Diſhonour upon the Clergy, chiefly the Biſhops, and it hung in the Houſe of the Lords: the event, methinks, is like that which we read I Kings 22. v. 21. There came forth a Spirit; and ſtood before the Lord, and ſaid, I will perſwade them. And the Lord ſaid, Wherewith? And he ſaid, I will go forth, and I will be a Spirit of clamour and tumult in the mouth of all the People. And the Lord ſaid, Thou ſhalt perſwade them, and prevail alſo. Go forth, and do ſo. There had been an unruly and obſteperous concourſe of the People in the Earl of Strafford's Caſe: But a Sedition broke forth about Chriſtmas, that was ten times more mad: Ludum jocumque dices fuiſſe illum alterum, prout hujus rabies quae dabit, Terent. Eunuch. which took heat upon this occaſion. The King came to the Houſe of Commons, to demand five of their Members to Juſtice, upon impeachment of Treaſon. His Majeſty, it ſeems, was too forward to threaten ſuch perſons with the Sword of Juſtice, when he wanted the Buckler of Safety: How far thoſe five were guilty, I have nothing to ſay, becauſe plain Force would not let them come to a Tryal. But if they were innocent, why did they not ſuffer their Practices to ſee the Light? It had been more to their Honour to be cleared by the Law, than to be protected againſt the Law: And that Cauſe muſt needs be ſuſpected, which could not put on a good outſide. I am ſure the King ſuffer'd extreamly for their ſakes: All Sectaries and deſperate Varlets in City and Suburbs, flock'd by thouſands to the Parliament. Diogenes was ask'd, What was to be ſeen at the Olympick Sports, where he had been? Says he, foreign, Laert. in Vit. Much People, but few Men. But here were no Men, but all Beaſts, who promiſed one another Impunity by their full body of Rebels; and where there is no fear of Revenge, there is little Conſcience of Offence: Quicquid multis peccatur inultum eſt, Lucan. The Rakehells were chaffed to ſo high a degree of Acrimony, that they preſſed through the Court-gates; and their Tongues were ſo laviſh, that they talk'd Treaſon ſo loud, that the King and Queen did hear them. Let the five Members be as honeſt as they would make them. I am certain theſe were Traytors, that begirt the King's Houſe, where his Perſon was, with Hoſtility by Land and Water: He that ſpeaks of them without deteſtation, allows them, and makes way for the like. Sometimes they called out for Religion, ſometimes for Juſtice: Ex iſto ore religionis verbum excidere aut clabi poteſt? as Tully of Clodius, pro Dom. Was the ſacred term of Religion ſit to come out of their Mouths? Did it become them to ſpeak of Juſtice? Sarah cried out to Abraham, The Lord judge between me and thee, when her ſelf was in the fault, Gen. 16.5. Every Tinker and Tapſter call'd for Juſtice, and would let the King have none, who is the Fountain of it. What did the great Parliament in the mean while? Give Freedom to their Rage. foreign. Odyſſ. foreign. Their Friends in their ragged rows were too many to be childden; they were more afraid of them than of the Ruin of a Kingdom; as little Children are more afraid of a Vizard than of the Fire; therefore they ſtroke them with fair words when they meet them. O Indignity! An quae—Turpia cerdoni Voleſos Brutum que decebunt? Juven. Sat. 8. That which was baſe in Coblers, was it not worſe in Lords, and Knights, and Squires, and ſuch as aſſumed to be the Princes of the Land? No Senators that intended to rule a People did ever endure the like. Let M. AEmilius the Conſul ſpeak for the State of Rome, Livy lib. 39. Majores noſtri ne vos quidem, niſi cum aut vexillo in arce poſito, comitiorum causâ, exercitus poſitus eſſet, aut plebi Concilium tribuni edixiſſent, aut aliqui ex magiſtratibus and concionem vocaſſent, temerè coire voluerint, ubi legitimum rectorem multitudini cenſerent eſſe debere. They that boulſter up ſuch Inſurrections as theſe, their own Guards, upon a new Quarrel, may knock them on the Head: Cum tot populis ſtipatus eas, in tot populis vix una fides, Sen Hercul furens. But theſe Wat Tylers and Round-Robins, being driven or perſuaded out of White-hall, there was a buzz among them to take their way to Weſtminſter-Abby; ſome ſaid, Let us pluck down the Organs: Some cried, Let us deface the Monuments; that is, prophane the Tombs and Burying-places of Kings and Queens. This was carried with all ſpeed to the Archbiſhop; the Dean, who made faſt the Doors, whi… they found ſhut againſt them, and when they would have forced them, they were beaten off with Stones from the top of the Leads; the Archbiſhop all this while maintaining the Abby in his own perſon, with a few more, for fear they ſhould ſeize upon the Regalia, which were in that place under his Cuſtody. The Spight of the Mutineers was moſt againſt him, yet his Followers could not entreat him to go aſide, as the Diſciples reſtrained Paul p. 178from ruſhing into an Uproar, Act. 19.30. but he ſtood to it, as Ceſius Quintius in Livy, lib. 3. Unus impetus tribunitios populareſque procellas ſuſtinebat. After an hours diſpute, when the Multitude had been well pelted from aloft, a few of the Archbiſhops Train opened a Door and ruſh'd out with Swords drawn, and drove them before them, like fearful Hares. They were already paſt their Duty, but ſhort of their Malice, and every day made Battery on all the Biſhops, as they came to Parliament, forcing their Coaches back, tearing their Garments, menacing if they came any more. What Times could be worſe? None, ſays Tully upon M. Antony's Violence upon the Senate, Phil. Or. 13. Caeſare dominante venicbamus in Senatum, ſi non liberè tamen tutò. What Aid did the Lords afford to quell theſe Affronts? Why, let Softhenes be beaten before the Judgmentſeat, Gallio cares for none of theſe things, Act. 18.17. The Biſhops were God's Miniſters, and let him defend them; as Tyberius to that way in Tacitus, Deorum injuriae Diis curae ſunt. The remiſſneſs of our Parliament Lords (Optimates non Optimi) ſhewed the ſame Indifferency: O ye religious Kings, that would govern with Peace, how are ye able? Theſe foul and unremediable Uproars tell you, that the only Imperatorian Art is to be furniſh'd with a good Army, and to know how to order it.

168. So great a Hurry continuing, wherein all things were turned the wrong ſide upward, there was ſuch an apparent Miſchief co-incident, that whatſoever did paſs in the Lords Houſe, during their conſtrained abſence, was null and invalid; for if any one perſon in either Houſe, be repelled by force, and be denied Freedom to give his Vote, that Nicety is a Bar to the whole Proceeding of the Parliament; as ſome write, that comment ſubtilly upon Parliamentary Privileges: Not as if the Speaker did ever ſit in his Chair, when none were abſent; or that one Vote is like to ſway a Cauſe, (yet ſometimes it comes to ſo near a ſcrutiny) but this Judgment is made of it, That it may ſo fall out, and doth often, that one Member (put the caſe the perſon forced out) may propoſe ſuch Reaſons to the Houſe, as that all reſolve into his Opinion. This great Prejudice concurring, by repelling the Biſhops tumultuouſly from taking their Places in the Lords Houſe, York called his Brethren together, to ſet their Hands to a Petition and Proteſtation made to His Majeſty, and the Lords Temporal, and put it into the L. Keeper Littleton's Hand, yet not to be read, till His Majeſty, by the Biſhop's Invitation, ſhould fit with the Peers in the Houſe, and then to read it in the King and the Lords audience, and not before. The L. Keeper unadviſedly (I hope it was no worſe) produceth the Petition, &c. before the King was made acquainted with it; which made a Project, well contrived, break out into a Thunder-clap of Miſchief; which raſh or bad dealing in the Lord-Keeper, York could not ſuſpect: And he that drives much buſineſs ſhall be croſs'd in ſome, for want of Luck, though he be never ſo prudent: Nulli fortuna tam dedita eſt, ut multa tentanti ubi que reſpondeat, Sen. lib. 1. de irâ, c. 3. That Proteſtation follows here, whoſe like, and almoſt ſame, York had found in the Records of the Tower, which he ſtudied there, till his Eye-ſight was much the worſe for it.

To the KING's Moſt Excellent Majeſty, and the Lords and Peers now aſſembled in Parliament,

The humble Petition and Proteſtation of all the Biſhops and Prelates now called by His Majeſty's Writs to attend the Parliament, and now preſent about London and Weſtminſter, for that Service.

THat whereas the Petitioners are called up by ſeveral and reſpective Writs, and under great Penalties to attend in Parliament, and have a clear and indubitate Right to vote in Bills, and other matters whatſoever debateable in Parliament, by the ancient Cuſtoms, Laws, and Statutes of this Realm, and ought to be protected by Your Majeſty, quietly to attend and proſecute that great Service. They humbly remonſtrate, and proteſt before God, Your Majeſty, and the noble Lords and Peers now aſſembled in Parliament, that as they have an indubitate Right to Sit and Vote in the Houſe of the Lords, ſo are they (if they may be protected from Force and Violence) moſt ready and willing to perform p. 179their Duties accordingly: And that they do abominate all Actions or Opinions tending to Popery, and the maintenance thereof; as alſo all Propenſion and Inclination to any malignant Party, or any other Side or Party whatſoever, to the which their own Reaſons and Conſciences ſhall not move them to adhere. But whereas they have been at ſeveral times violently menaced, affronted, and aſſaulted by multitudes of People, in their coming to perform their Services in that Honourable Houſe, and lately chaſed away, and put in danger of their Lives, and can find no Redreſs or Protection, upon ſundry Complaints made to both Houſes in theſe particulars; They likewiſe humbly proteſt before your Majeſty, and the noble Houſe of Peers, that ſaving unto themſelves all their Rights and Intereſts of Sitting and Voting in the Houſe at other times, they dare not Sit or Vote in the Houſe of Peers, until your Majeſty ſhall further ſecure them from all Affronts, Indignities, and Dangers in the Premiſſes. Laſtly, Whereas their Fears are not built upon Phantaſies and Conceipts, but upon ſuch Grounds and Objects, as may well terrifie men of good Reſolutions, and much Conſtancy. They do in all duty and humility proteſt before your Majeſty, and the Peers of the moſt Honourable Houſe of Parliament, againſt all Laws, Orders, Votes, Reſolutions, and Determinations, as in themſelves null, and of none effect, which in their abſence, ſince the 27th of this Inſtant-month of Decemb. 1641, have already paſſed: As likewiſe againſt all ſuch, as ſhall hereafter paſs in that moſt Honourable Houſe, during the time of their forced and violent abſence from the ſaid moſt Honourable Houſe; Not denying, but if their abſenting of themſelves were wilful, and voluntary, that moſt Honourable Houſe might proceed in all the Premiſſes, their Abſence, or this Proteſtation notwithſtanding. And humbly beſeeching your moſt Excellent Majeſty to command the Clerk of that Houſe of Peers to enter this Petition and Proteſtation amongſt his Records; They will ever pray to God to bleſs and preſerve, &c.

Subſcribed by Joh. Eborac. Tho. Dunelm. Ro. Cov. and Lich. Joſ. Norwicen. Joh. Aſaphenſis. Gul. Bath & Wellen. Geo. Hereford. Rob. Oxen. Matth. Elien. Godfr. Gloceſtr. Job. Petroburg. Maur. Landoven.

169. Hear and admire, ye Ages to come, what became of this Proteſtation, drawn up by as many Biſhops as have often made a whole Provincial Council. They were all call'd by the Temporal Lords to the Bar, and from the Bar ſent away to the Tower: Nonne fuit ſatius triſtes formidinis iras, Atque ſuperba pati faſtidia? A rude World, when it was ſafer to do a Wrong than to complain of it: The People commit the Treſpaſs, and the Sufferers are puniſh'd for their Fault. foreign, Athen. lib. 9. A Proverb agreeing to the drunken Feaſts of the Greeks, If the Cook dreſs the Meat ill, the Minſtrils are beaten. That day it broke forth, that the largeſt part of the Lords were fermentated with an Anti-epiſcopal Sourneſs. If they had loved that Order, they would never have doomed them to a Priſon, and late at night, in bitter Froſt and Snow, upon no other Charge, but that they preſented their Mind in a moſt humble Paper, to go abroad in ſafety. Ubi amor condimentum inerit quidvis placiturum ſpero, Plaut. in Caſin. Love hath a moſt gentle hand, when it comes to touch where it loves. Here was no ſign of any ſilial reſpect to their Spiritual Fathers. Nothing was offer'd to the Peers, but the Subſtance was Reaſon, the Style lowly, the Practice ancient; yet upon their pleaſure, without debate of the Cauſe, the Biſhops are pack'd away the ſame night to keep their Chriſtmas in Durance and Sorrow: And when this was blown abroad, O how the Trunch-men of the Uproar did fleer, and make merry with it! But the Diſciples of the Church of England took it very heavily; not for any thing the good Biſhops had done, but for that they ſuffer'd; for a Priſoner is not a Name of Infamy, but Calamity. Poena damnati, non peccati, Cic. pro Dom. Eſtque pati poenam, quàm meruiſſe minùs, Ovid. lib. 1. de Pont. Nothing can be more equal, than to lay the Objections the Lords made, and York's Anſwers for the Proteſtation together, as they go from Hand to Hand to this day, in Town and City: And let the Children judge what their Fathers did, if they read this hereafter.

p. 180Obj. 1. That the Petition is falſe; the Lords did not ſit in Fear, as my Lord of Worceſter, Wincheſter, London: Nor was it the Petition of all the Biſhops about London and Weſtminſter; not of Wincheſter, London, Rocheſter, Worceſter.

… If this were true, yet were it not Treaſon againſt any Canon or Statute-Law; but the Fact is otherwiſe: Firſt, the Fear complained againſt is not for the time of their Sitting in the Houſe, but for the time of their coming unto and going from the ſaid Houſe; and it is eaſie to prove they were then in Fear. Secondly, They know beſt, whether they were in Fear or no, who ſubſcribed or agreed to the Petition. And my Lord of Wincheſter agreed in it as much as the reſt, and inſtanced in the cauſe of his Fear, his chaſing to Lambeth. Thirdly, For the other part of the Objection, the Biſhop of London was then at Fulham, Rocheſter in Kent, Worceſter at Oxford; nor doth the Title of the Petition comprehend them, as not being about London and Weſtminſter. Wincheſter did agree thereunto, and came thither to ſubſcribe; and it was reſolved his Name ſhould have been called for, ere ever it was to be ſolemnly preferred to the King; which was never intended to be, but when the King ſate in the Upper Houſe of the Lords, which the Biſhops intended to pray His Majeſty to do: And this appears by the Superſcription of the Petition.

Obj. 2. The nulling of all Laws to be made at this time, that the Kingdom of Ireland was in jeopardy, was a conſpiring with the Rebels to deſtroy that Kingdom, and ſo amounted to Treaſon, or a high Miſdemeanour.

… 1. A Proteſtation annulleth no Law, but ſo far as the Law ſhall extend to the Parties proteſting: Nor ſo far, but in caſe that the Parties proteſting ſhall afterward judicially prove their right to annull that Law: So that it was impoſſible any Proteſtation of the Biſhops ſhould actually intend to hinder the Relief of Ireland. 2 The Relief of Ireland by 10000 Scots and 10000 Engliſh, was voted and concluded long before this Proteſtation, and all the Particulars of that great buſineſs referr'd to a Committee of both Houſes and the Biſhops unanimouſly aſſented thereto: So that the Relief of Ireland comes not within the Date and Circumſcription of this Proteſtation. And the Biſhops call God to witneſs, they never conceived one Thought that way. 3. The Biſhops proteſted againſt no Laws or Orders at all to be annulled abſolutely, and for all the time of this Seſſion of Parliament ſimply, but for that ſpace of time only, wherein they ſhould be forcibly and violently kept from the ſaid Parliament, by thoſe rude and unruly People. So that as ſoon as the King and the Lords did quiet their paſſage unto Parliament, (which the Lords did do before this Petition was read in Parliament) and that any of the Biſhops were preſent there, the Proteſtation was directly null, and of none effect; ſo as indeed the Proteſtation was void and dead in Law, before the L. Keeper brought the Petition in queſtion into the Houſe; becauſe the Biſhop of Wincheſter, and ſome others, had even then quiet acceſs unto that Honourable Houſe. And the Biſhops conceived the Proteſtation void in ſuch a caſe, and do moſt humbly wave and revoke the ſame, and humbly deſire both Houſes to accept thereof.

Obj. 3. They deſire the King to command the Clerk of the Houſe of Peers, to enter this their Petition and Proteſtation among his Records; which derogates from the Rights of Parliament: As though the King could be his Command make a Record of Parliament.

… It is to be conceived, that the Biſhops never intended that this Petition (as may appear by the Directory thereof) ſhould be preferred to the King in any other place, but in the Upper Houſe of Parliament. And it will appear among the Records of that moſt Honourable Houſe (11 Rich. II. num. 9.) that the King in that Houſe hath commanded the like Proteſtation of the Biſhops to be enrolled, which made the Biſhops uſe that Phraſe. Howbeit, beſide the King's Command, the Aſſent of the Peers and Commons have ſtill concurred, and the Biſhops never conceived it otherwiſe; which made them preſume, that no matter of their Proteſtation could poſſibly amount to any higher Crime than that of Error or Miſtake, conſidering that it was ſtill to be admitted or rejected by the King, with the Aſſent of the Peers and Commons.

Here the Anſwer ends, in this brief compaſs: Let all the Council in the Land plead againſt it, and ſhew where it is not ſound and ſatisfactory. Yet the Biſhops deſire no other reparation for their falſe Impriſonment, but Liberty, and Safety to Vote in that Houſe, to which they were called by the King's Writ. Sidonius ſpeaks in pity of Eutropia, lib. 6. ep. 2. Victoriam computat, ſi poſt dammum p. 181non litiget. And theſe innocent men would not hold it for Juſtice done unto them, if after ſo much Wrong ſuſtained, the Contention might be ended.

170. Every ſubſequent Action of that Parliament did caſtrate their Hope, Day utter'd unto Day how they meant to diſſolve that Primitive and Apoſtolick Order piece by piece: And what ſhall we have next? The very Kingdom of Chriſt ſet up in the Church, if you will believe them: As Piſiſtratus would perſwade the Athenians, that he changed not their Laws, but reduced them to thoſe that were in Solon's time, by which Trick he made them his Slaves, Laert. in Vit. Sol. Is it poſſible that men could have the face to pretend more ancient Rulers in Chriſt's Church than Biſhops? The method of Sacrilege was, firſt to pluck the Spiritual Lords out of the Houſe, and to diſable all the Clergy from intermedling in Secular Affairs. The Bill is read, and eaſily paſs'd, now the Biſhops were not in place to hear it, and diſpute it. The Plaintiff pleads the Cauſe at Weſtminſter, what can the Defendant ſay to it in the Tower? Proceed, my good Lords, he that runs alone by himſelf muſt needs be foremoſt. This was worſe than if a young Heir were ſent to travel by his Guardian, and the Guardian pulls down his Houſe, fells his Woods, leaſeth out his Lands, when he is not in the way to look to it. But where were thoſe Earls and Barons that ſided with the Biſhops before? Shrunk, abſent, or ſilent.

—They that are wiſe,

Leave falling Buildings, fly to them that riſe.

Or as Plautus in Stych. as neat in his Comick Phraſe as Johnſon, Si labant res laſſae, itidem amici collabaſcunt. But the King's part is yet to come: The Parliament makes ready a Bill, the King only makes it a Law: So he did this, and it was the laſt, I think, that ever he ſigned: Why he did it, is a thing not well known, and wants more manifeſtation: Neceſſity was in it, ſay they that would look no further; Nulla neceſſitas excuſat, quae poteſt non eſſe neceſſitas, Tertul. Exh. ad Caſt. c. 7. The moſt ſaid, That nothing was more plauſible than this, to get the Peoples Favour: Or, that the Houſes had ſate long, like to continue longer, and muſt have Wages for their Work; becauſe they are no Hirelings, they will chuſe and take, and this Boon they will have, or the King ſhall have no Help from them. It would ill become a Royal Spirit, to plead he was compelled by Fear, elſe His Majeſty might have revoked this Act upon that Challenge. As Sir Nic. Throgmorton, ſurpaſſing moſt of his Age for Wit and Experience, aſſured Mary Queen of Scots, ſhut up in the hold of Loquelevin, Ceſſionem in carcere extortam, qui juſtus eſt metus, planè irritam eſſe, Cambd. Eliz. ann. 1569. Yet Fear had not ſo much ſtroke in this, as the Perſwaſions of one whom His Majeſty loved above all the World. The King foreſaw he was not like to get any thing from this Parliament but a Civil War, he would not begin it, but on their part he heard their Hammers already at the Forge; Et clandeſtinis turgentia fraudibus arma, Manil. lib. 1. He being moſt tender to provide for the Safety of his Queen, went with her to Dover, to convey her into France; not that ſhe deſired to turn her Back to Danger, or refuſed to partake of all Hazards with her Lord and Husband, for ſhe was reſolute in that, as Theogena the Wife of Agathocles, Juſtin. lib. 20. Nubendo ei, non proſperae tantùm, fed omnis fortunae iniiſſe ſocietatem. But becauſe His Majeſty knew himſelf, that he ſhould be more couragious if his dear Conſort were out of the reach of his Enemies. Being at Dover, the Queen would not part with the King to Ship-board, till he ſigned this Bill, being brought to believe by all proteſtation of Faith from Sir John Culpepper, who attended there for that Diſpatch, that the Lords and Commons would preſs His Majeſty to no more Bills of that unpleaſing nature: So the King ſnatch'd greedily at a Flower of a fair Offer; and though he truſted few of the men at Weſtminſter, yet in outward ſhew he would ſeem to truſt them all, the more, becauſe the Queen had ſuch Confidence in them. How Culpepper inſtilled this into the Queen, and how ſhe prevailed, York is my Author, and could not deceive me, for he told me in the Tower, That the King had ſacrificed the Clergy to this Parliament, by the Artifices contrived at Dover, a day before the News were brought to London. Then they fell to Bells and Bonfires, and prophaned the Name of God, that He had heard them, whoſe Glory was not in their Thoughts from the beginning to the end. A Day-labourer lifts up his Ax towards Heaven, but ſtrikes his Mattock into the Earth. And all the Evil that the Earth breeds was in their Mind, when they ſeemed to look up to God. That which is of God, muſt p. 182have its Foundation in Humility, its binding faſt in Obedience, its riſing in Juſtice, and its continuance in Peace. So begins the Miſery and Fall of the Biſhops. Syneſius hath lent us words fit to expreſs, jump in the ſame Caſe, Ep. 70. foreign. That is, the Biſhops were expulſed meerly by Slander, nothing being demonſtrated to lay any Crimes againſt them: And verily, God was gracious to them. What ſhould they have done as it turn'd to be in five months after? Better be alone than ill accompanied. And if that World laſt ſtill, they will never wear out the Diſgrace by Repealing that infamous Bill. I were wicked if I wiſht it not otherwiſe, but fooliſh if I did hope it. I bewail not York more than I do the reſt. Nihil eſt praecipuè cuiquam dolendum, in eo quod accidit univerſis. Cic. lib. 6. Ep. ad Torquatum. Now when the worſt was done, the merciful Judges in Parliament gave the Biſhops their Liberty. And moſt of thoſe Grey-heads ſled from London, or were impriſon'd, in no long diſtance of time upon it. In May after York went away privily to ſeek the King, and never return'd again. foreign, Diodor. Sic. lib. 13. Few men ever lived whoſe lives had more Paradoxes in them. But from that day his Afflictions were conſtant to him, and never lent him pauſe or intermiſſion of Peace. Qui per virtutem peritat pol non interit. The Gail of Anguiſh is the Cup of Salvation, to him that gives thanks unto the Name of the Lord.

171. London was no place to contain the Lords and Gentry, that remembred they were ſworn to be faithful to the Crown, when it was known that the King had ſat down in the City of York. Many came ſeaſonably thither; many made ready for it, and were ſtopt: abundance ſent their Purſe: the Poor and wellmeaning ſent their hearts, who would have failed beyond the Cape of Neutrality, and caſt Anchor on the King's ſhore, if their Company could have brought profit or ſervice. Our Archbiſhop of that Province came with the firſt, being as reſtleſs as Tully was to leave Rome in the ſtirs of Pompey, Hinc ipſe evolare cupio, ut aliquo perveniam, ubi nec Pelopidarum nomen, nec facta audiam, Lib. ep. fam. He had been tranſlated from Lincoln to this Dignity ſeven months before; He that gives a Promotion to a worthy man obligeth all men: and this was marvellouſly well taken by all the Clergy of the Dioceſs. Until that day he had not ſeen the place, from which he was entitled; which he had propoſed to be the Scene wherein he would do the part of an Archbiſhop in great ſplendor. His Means were ſufficient; his Inclinations very hoſpital; Proviſions abundant in that Country: the Gentry addicted to Liberality, or rather Profuſeneſs: no man was ever ſo cut out to pleaſe them, ſince Alex. Nevil's days for magnificence. But God prevented it, that he could never ſettle his Houſhold in Yorkſhire, as he deſired. He found every thing looking with a face of Confuſion, the gallantry of the South poured into the North, not to begin a War, but ready for the defenſive part, as was expected. There are Miſchiefs approaching when common bodings miſgive them: which were not diſcerned ſoon enough, through fatal Security, before they were ripened. As Budaeus writes of France upon the firſt breaking out of Wars at home, That France wanted eyes, and ears, and, which is ſtrange, they wanted a Noſe; Qui cladem adventantem odorari ante non potuimus, quàm ab eâ oppreſſi, Lib. 4. de Aſſe, fol. 110. The Presbyterians, thoſe Scalda-banco's, or hot Declamers, had wrought a great diſtaſt in the Commons at the King, and at all that had his ear and favour. The Age growing Learned, and Knowledge puffing up, Scholars grew more impudent and malapert with us, and in every ſtate, than did become their Function. Our much Peace, which had laſted almoſt two Jubilees, was ſeeded with great Vice in our manners. Young men lived idly, which made them want, and therefore were ready for Buſtles and Commotions to boot-hale and conſume: they that propoſed to themſelves no laborious kind of Life, expected Alterations, and then to have enough to laviſh. And not a few of theſe were of good Houſes decayed, that, as one ſays, Had ancient Coats of all colours, but lack't Argent and Ore. Tempeſtuous weather was ſit for their Harveſt. And when Wars broke out, they crept out of their Cranies, like the Cimici in the Houſes of Italy, not of rotten Bedſteds. But the Parliament, our continual Hectick, did lend their Arm to all Miſchief, to uſher it in. They could not bow the King to all their Votes, and abaſe him to be contented with a ſhadow of Soveraignty, therefore they ranged every thing to a War, as palpably, as if their Drums and Colours had been in the Fields. Bacchae Bacchanti ſi velis adverſarier, Inſanam inſaniorem facies: feriet ſaepiùs. Plauti Frag. Their Motions now were not Mutinies p. 183à mutiendo, but Vociferations, as lowd as an Herald could proclaim them. But God will never ſuffer the abuſe of fiduciary Power (which a good, but an improvident King had paſt away) to go unpuniſht in themſelves, or in their Children. Perditiſſimi eſt hominis fallere eum, qui laeſus non eſſet, niſi credidiſſet. Cic. Off. l. 2. The King deſerv'd the better from them, that repoſed upon their duty both his own honour, and the weal of all his Subjects. The more publick the Perſon is, the more he muſt betake him to truſt many. Nay, none ſo private, no Action that comes abroad ſo mean, but you muſt believe in the fidelity of ſome. As Ruſſinus very well upon the Creed, Nihil eſt quod in vitâ geri poſſit, ſi non credulitas ante praeceſſerit. The City of London came in for a great ſhare, to encourage the drawing of the Sword; provided that the War came not near their Lines of Communication. This City, the Epitome of England, marr'd all England: as S. Hierom plays upon the River Pactolus, that it hath golden Sands, but unwholeſom water, Ditior caeno quàm fluento, that the Mud was the beſt part of their River, Ep. ad Mar. & Alex. So muddy Wealth was the beſt thing that the Chuffs of the City had: much elſe was but Diſh-water: except ſome few of the old ſtore, Sir H. Garrway, Sir Ri. Gurney, and their like, who were poured into the Kennel for their fidelity. But the worſt of them all durſt never have been ſo ſtout, if the Parliament had not held up their Spirit in their wickedneſs. And there was a Nation, that ſhall not ſcape me, that whiſtled to the Jades that plowed up the Furrows of our Land, and gave them Provendore, I mean the French: to whom yet I will aſcribe what Magius the Patavine doth, Gens bellicoſiſſima, honoriſque appetontiſſima. It hath a ſtock of very noble Gentry, but ſick of two faults, they abhor the Spaniards, hate the Engliſh, and wiſh the Confuſion of both: which may turn upon themſelves. They object how we aſſaulted them at Rhee: but forget what we did for them at Amiens, and Calis. They remember King Charles his Navy at Rochel: but take no notice of Queen Elizabeth, who advanced Harry the Fourth to the Crown, in ſpite of the Leaguers. Theſe kindled the Brands that ſet their Neighbours Houſe on fire: which lyes ſleeping under the Aſhes of our memory; and they may repent it when they want us. Now what banding here was on every ſide, to ruin the greateſt Saint that ever ruled our Nation? God was in them that came about him with their homage in ſuch a time of hazard. Magna negotia magnis adjutoribus egent. Paterc. And I am ſure the Metropolitan of York was none of the meaneſt of David's Worthies for Plot and Direction. He was fit for the Service, and obliged to aſſiſt it. For as Scipio Naſica very well, No good man is a private man; most of all, if the weal publick needs him.

172. But the King's Condition at York was not in ſuch ſtrength and readineſs as it deſerved: though the brave and reſolute Spirits about him thought not ſo. They perſwaded themſelves that the very Name of a King would ſupply the want of Power: and that they were on the right ſide, as ſure as God's Word could warrant them.

Cauſáque valent, cauſamque tuentibus armis

Ut puto vincemus.

Luca. l. 8.

For all that, the Parliament had made better preparation for a War. Firſt, A moſt deluded People, made to believe that his Majeſty had gathered a Popiſh Army to change Religion. Quod ſibi probare non poſſunt, id perſuadere aliis conantur. Cic. pro Roſe. Com. But upon this falſe Fame their great Preacher St. Marſhall tells them, pag. 6. of his Letter, That they may ſecure their Religion againſt their King with a good Conſcience. Next they had the Nerves of War, all the Money of London at their command: and, which was the worſt of all Infelicities, they had cheated his Majeſty of his Navy, and ſeized on his Magazines. It was not ſit that the King ſhould ſtay out their Provocations, and when they had ſoaled, then ſee what was in their Belly.

Dubia pro veris ſolent

Timere Reges.

Sen. Oedi.

And it was not reaſonable to abide their Courteſie, who had voted for Delinquents all that did Service to their Lord and Maſter. They did all they could to diſturb the tranquillity of a Soul moſt excellently compoſed, and to tire him out of his Principles. He held out the firſt Olive-branch, and ſought Peace p. 184from them by a moſt gracious Meſſage; who in right ſhould have begun. But as Laſicius notes of the ſullen-proud Ruſſians, Ni prior ipſe ſalutaveris, non ſalutaberis, Theol. Moſc. p. 64. They ſalute none that do not firſt uncover, and ſalute them. It was not once or twice that his Majeſty ſent, but he perſiſted, yet all in vain, to draw a dutiful Anſwer from them. And what's more tedious than to caſt all day, and not to throw a good Chance? Since nothing would ſerve them but to rally the Sons of the Earth, the Titans of their Tumults, and to fill up an Army with them, the King retired into his deep Thoughts, what was beſt to be done.

Hic magnus ſedet AEneas, ſecúmque volutat

—Eventus belli varios.

Aen. l. 10.

A Prince of ſo much Religion and Mercy was not to learn, That it was ſit to be ſlow in an Enterprize of ſo high a nature;

For Kingdoms in their Channels ſafely run,

But rudely overflowing are undone;

ſays our Engliſh Horace. It is Marcianus his Maxim in Zonaras, foreign, A King muſt never fly to Arms, if a noble, nay if a tolerable Peace may be had. Yet again, he did not forget that a proſperous Wind might blow away a Storm that was gathering, before the Shower fell upon him. Feſt inandum antequàm creſceret invalida conjuratio paucorum. Tacit. Hiſt. l. 1. Be ſudden before a Conjuration ſtrengthen it ſelf, and give it no day. And Pliny brings it for the Advice of Apollo's Oracle, Biduo citiùs meſſem potiùs facere, quam biduo ſeriùs, Lib. 18. c. 3. Begin Harveſt two days too ſoon, rather than two days too late. Alluding not to the Rural, but the Politick Harveſt. Another, and a good Genius too, would ſay to the contrary: What! will you embroil the Land in a Civil War? Every Life that is ſlain in it, on either ſide, is the King's damage. And the blood of Chriſtians ſhed in rebellion, is poured on the Devil's Altar. Every Field, and Town, and Caſtle that's ſpoil'd is the Kings loſs; who hath the dominion of all the Earth that ſerves him, though not the Property. His Majeſty knew the worth and good Governance of many in his Liſt,

Paciſque boni, bellique miniſtri.

Aen. l. 11.

But who could promiſe for ſo many hot Bloods, as were upon the place, that they would not rob and ranſack the Innocent, and make the Army odious by too much Cruelty upon the Nocent? All are not a King's Friends that follow him: ſo do Flies the ſmell of ſtrong Drink: but they that will maintain his Honour with Obedience, as well as his Quarrel with Manhood. If the Headſtronger ſhould be more in number—Such an If is enough to diſcourage any one to be the Captain of a Civil War. Nam in civilibus bellis plus militibus quàm Duci licet. Tacit. Hiſt. lib. 2. Their Commander dare not diſpleaſe them; ſo much he fears Revolt, or Treachery. And his Majeſty's great Wildom could not like it, that his Cavaliers were too conſident and Secure. Contemnendis quàm cavendis hoſtibus aptiores. Idem Hiſt. l. 4. No man could perſwade them that there was either number, wit, skill, or valour among the Rebels. But ſays a Maſter of Military Art, Veget. l. 3. Ille difficile vincitur, qui de ſuis & adverſarii copiis rectè poteſt judicare. It was ſafer for the Royal Battalion to know that the Enemy multiplied faſt, and pleaſed divers, by laying themſelves forth abroad to to all ſhew of Sobriety and Holineſs, though ſincere Honeſty had no Charge of them. And Deſpair will make Chicken-hearted Souldiers couragious. They that had drawn their Sword againſt their Soveraign, muſt throw away the Scabbard. They muſt purple their hands with ſlaughter in the Field, or be hang'd in Ignominy. What would they do to break all the Bands of the Law in ſunder, the King's Name and Authority, which would not allow them their Book to ſave them? Theſe things might be ſo deliberated in the King's Camp, or Cabinet; I cannot definitely ſay it. For after the Archbiſhop departed from Weſtminſter to the North, I never ſaw him more to confer with him; from whom before I learnt all things in effect that I knew. But as Tully writes L. de Senec. of L. Maximus, Illud divinavi, quod jam evenit, illo extincto fore unde diſcerem neminem. After I miſt him, who was wont to tell me, not barely what was done, p. 185but the reaſons, the fitneſs, or incommodities of it, I have heard ſomewhat, but I underſtand little. And I make as much moan for the want of him, as St. Baſil did for Martinlan, Ep. 379. foreign. What skills it to hear many Diſcourſe one after another, when this one had gathered as much Experience and Wiſdom as them all? But the tidings came from the moſt intereſted in both Armies, That none was more active than this great Prelate, to keep Yorkſhire in obedience to the King, to reduce them that were perverted: none more aſſiduous in the Conſultations of War with the Gentry to raiſe Money, Men, and Horſe for the Army. This was hung up in Picture in the Hall and Change. And let them do their worſt in thoſe peny Tables, Sint modo carminibus non onerata malis, as Paſſeratius deprecates all bad Epitaphs, let them make good Verſes to their Pictures, or let their Poets hang up for Company. But let this go together with his Loyalty, that there was not one man that ſerved him as Lord-Keeper or Biſhop, but either ſerved or ſuffered in the King's Cauſe, except a brace whom Kilvert had long before perverted. They that were affected to the ſin of the Parliament, ſaw ſo much oppoſition in him, and fierceneſs to bring them on their knees, that the ſame unhappy ones vowed his death, and were near to execution, who firſt refiſted his Majeſty at Hull.

—quae prima malorum

Cauſa fuit, belloque animos incendit agreſtes.

Aen. l. 7.

Which is worth a ſtory to obſerve, that theſe Profeſſors of the new Diſcipline, made no ſcruple to break down God's double Defence, Touch not mine anointed, and do my Prophets no harm.

173. King Charles his coming to York was not a Progreſs of Delight, but an Eſcape from his Palace of Weſt minſter, for the Alarums of continual Mutinies, which he could not ſtand out with ſafety. As great a blemiſh to the Parliament that provided no better for him, as the flight of Harry the Third of France was to the Guiſians on the Sunday, which is ſtill called by them Dominica dolearis, when they would have block't him up with Piles of Wine-Casks in the Louver, to keep him faſt for ſtirring. His Majeſty's firſt care was, and ought to be, to have ſome Hold of good Defence for Retreat, if Blood-hounds ſought him. And happy was that Fortreſs, of which he ſhould make Election for ſo good a Service. All places are patent to a Monarch that are under his Laws and Scepter, though he were a Tyrant. Then what inferiour Officer would not be glad to give the Keys of his Government upon his Knees to as great a Saint as Joſiah? Tribonius writes well to that matter in an Epiſtle to Tully of Caeſar, Lib. 12. Ep. Fam. Eum, quem neceſſe erat diligere, qualiſcunque eſſet, talem habemus, ut libenter quoque diligamus. And certainly he that ſhould repulſe the King in his firſt deſign, muſt both be his firſt and his greateſt Enemy. Initia ferè dare formam negotiis, Thuan. An. 1558. The firſt Succeſs gives Spirit to an Army, and Honour to their Chief. Which the ſolid man Tacitus teacheth, Hiſt. lib. 2. Ut initia belli proveniſſent, famam in caetero fore. And if the firſt Expedition be unfortunate, it is as ominous, as a ſiniſter hour at the birth of a Child, when an Aſtrologer Calculates a Nativity. So unauſpicious it was that his Majeſty did ſtumble, I may ſay, at the Threſhold, when he came out of Doors. He goes to Hull, where he had ſtowed up Shot, Powder, Arms in his Magazine. The Gates are kept ſhut, the Walls manned, Sir John Hotham and his Son capitulate that they keep it for the Parliament. Dirarum nidis domus opportuna volucrum. Aen. 8. A ſtrong Cage it was to keep theſe unclean Birds from the Royal Eagle. Great Ordnance, great Proviſion, great Wealth were within. No man would have ſealed up a Box ſo faſt, if it had been empty. Yet the Hothams were ſo kind, that they offer'd Entrance to his Majeſty's Perſon, with a few of his unarmed Servants: which was no better than to receive him to be their Priſoner. Intempeſtiva benevolentia mhil à ſimultate differt, ſays Politian. Ep. p. 26. Nothing is more hateful than a malicious Courteſie. But they look't to be born out in all they did by the ſtrength of their great Maſters; and had caſt it up, that when Crimes are carried in a happy ſtrain of Luck, they loſe their Infamy; that ſhame ſeldom or never follows victory. The Names of Delinquent or Traitor never p. 186ſcar'd them. Haec acies victum factura nocentem eſt. Silius. He muſt be the Delinquent that is at the Conquerour's Mercy. Unlucky Town of Hull for thy Commanders ſakes! Perhaps ſome other Garriſons would have been as bad as it, if they had been tried. Perhaps ſo. But no Dunghil ſmells ill till you ſtir it. Hull had the opportunity to be renown'd, if it had yielded to be the King's Harbour. Now her Infamy is like that of the Village of the Samaritans, which would not receive the Lord Chriſt, Luke 9.52. I do not condemn all that were within her Walls, who could not help this Inſolency, but with groans and tears, if they durſt do that. I will plead for ſuch (as I know there were ſuch) as Iſocrates did for the Plata…ks, forced by the Thebans to do unkindneſs to their Friends the Athentans, foreign, The Theban, conſtrained their Bodies, but their Hearts were with you. Their Lecturers were the Corrupters of that Corporation, who had preach't the People from Charitable to Cenſorious, from neighbourly Love to Faction, from Subjects to Rebels, from Sheep to Swine. Quá magis viá irrepunt vitia quàm publicá? Prin. l. 36. c. 2. If you would have ſome great harm done, imploy thoſe, who are heard ſo often in publick, and they ſhall do a miſchief ſooner than all the Brotherhood of the Guild beſide. Abſalom ſent Spies throughout all the Tribes of Ifrael, ſaying, as ſoon as ye hear the ſound of the Trumpet, ye ſhall ſay Abſalom reigns in Hebron, 1 Sam. 15.10. Spies, ſays Grotius upon the place, and in all the Tribes. Some of theſe muſt be Levites, for none but they dwelt among all the Tribes. Genus hominum ad turbandas res maxime idoneum, ubi ſuis indulgent affectibus. Theſe are they, that will ſooner rail againſt me for this obſervation, then leave off their girdings at the Civil State, and keep cloſe to that matter only which Chriſt hath taught them in his Goſpel. Their bald Rhetorick, ſit for great Ears, and groſs Brain…, made the King wait attendance two hours at their Gate, and had his Commands, nay his Prayers deſpiſed. O that a King ſhould give the ſtoop to ſuch as theſe?

—Meumque

Objeci caput, & ſupplex ad limina veni.

Aen. 8.

So great a heart in another Prince would not have turn'd away, without Choler and Fire flaſhing upon them. But he was a Soveraign over all his Paſſions, and opened not his mouth. Nullius hominis quàm ſui ſimillimus, as was ſaid of Picus Mirandula; He had no pattern of a meer Man before him, and none that ſaw him for a Pattern was ever like him for Patience. So let Cerberus that kept the Gates of Hull. keep them ſtill. It is a greater honour to come off with Judgment, than to go on with Courage in a deſperate Service. So the King retired from them, who were worthy to be torn up from the Society of Men. But the Hothams came forth of their Dens to raven for a Prey: they had the forehead to appear and not bluſh, unleſs blood did riſe in their Face, when they did mind to ſhed it. And the Archbiſhop eſcap't them as narrowly, as David did Saul, when Michol let him down throw a Window, and put an Image in his Bed to coſin her Fathers Meſſengers, 1 Sam. 19.13. My Relation I deliver out of the mouth of Mr. Roger Nightingale, a Gentleman of the King's Chappel, who was in Cawood-Caſtle with the Archbiſhop, When the pious and learned Dr. Ferne, requiting his Patron for the Archdeaconry of Leiceſter, came to him late at night with a ſolicitous counrenance, and warned him to change that Lodging, and that Country, as he tendred his Life, for the younger Hotham was making ready to come with force enough by five of the Clock the next Morning to take the Caſtle, and had drawn his Sword before ſome Gallants, with a Vow to cut off the Archbiſhop's head. The Family was much amazed; for Cawood was unprovided, ruinous, undefenſible: Young Hotham was a rough piece, provoked by the Archbiſhop's language among all his Alliances for the diſloyalty ut Hull; and above all, as Vellicius ſays of Clodius, Malorum propoſitorum executor acerrimus, One that never promiſed an ill turn, but he pay'd it. So after midnight the Perſon whoſe Life alone was threatned, made haſte out of the Houſe, with ſome few Horſe in his Company, conveyed away ſuch of his Goods, as could be ſaved in ſo ſhort a time, left the Charge of the Place with Mr. Nightingale, who ſtoutly undertook it, and was Summon'd with a Trumpet at the hour expected, and having no Colours, hung out a Sheet for a Parley with the Aſſailants. Whoſe Leader fell into a rage, when he heard from the Window, that the man lay not there that night, p. 187whom he called out to ſpeak with; but upon condition to ſave the Lives of all the perſons in the Caſtle, (which was faithfully kept) and to allow them Carts to carry away all their Furniture but Arms, the place was ſurrender'd up. The laſt Article was broken, and nothing was ſaved from the top to the bottom from the plunder of the Souldiers: But God provided that his Perſon was ſaved, whom the Lyons Whelp would have murder'd in cold Blood: Quàm pome furvae regna Proſerpinae, &c. Horat. Od. lib. 2. How near was the Sword to the Thread of his Life, to cut it off? Venerable Bede relates a ſtrange Paſſage, That Felix (well might he be named ſo) a Presbyter of Nola, ran under a Stair-caſe, from one that follow'd him with a naked Weapon, and no ſooner was Felix got in, but a Spider ſpun a Webb before the entrance of that dark place, which made him lurk there unſuſpected. But Solinus, pag. 11. would make us believe, that Castor and Pollux called Pindar the Poet out of his Houſe, to ſpeak with him, which fell down, by a fault in the Foundation, as ſoon as he was come out of doors. I am ſure it was worthy Dr. Ferne who called the Archbiſhop out of Cawood, elſe he had been ſacrificed to the Fury of a wicked Doeg; and I am as ſure that the Doctor thinks himſelf happy, that he ſaved ſo precious a Life. Now, what became of Hothams, Father and Son, whom their Patrons brought out of Hull to the Scaffold on Tower-Hill, is known to all; for there is none for whoſe ſake you do a wicked thing, but they deſpiſe you in their Heart, and when their turn is ſerved, they will caſt you off, as one that deſerves no better than Scorn: As David ſerved himſelf a while of Joab, and left order at laſt to cut him off.

174. In a midnight Affrightment the Archbiſhop left his Houſe and Dioceſs, as he thought for a while, but it was for ever. He went away without a Sumpter, nay, not with ſo much as change of Apparel; and for Coyn, it was ſo near to Cantabit vacuus, &c. he was ſure that no Highway-men would ſtop him for a Booty. All that he could gather while he was among his Tenants in York-ſhire, was little enough to furniſh the King: But his good luck was in his paſſage, to find His Majeſty gathering a rowling Army, the Drums beating for Volunteers, in which Service he left ſome of his ſtouteſt Followers behind him, and kept a ſlender Attendance, to carry him to the furtheſt parts of North Wales. At his parting, upon his bended Knee, with Tears running down his Cheeks, and hearty Prayers for His Majeſty, he received his Gracious Hand and Manual Seal for his ſafe Paſſage and Convoy, which brought him to his native Soil, beyond Pen-man-maur; where let him keep for a while, till I have ſhewn the great Sin of our Land, the Troubles of a Civil War, wherein the King was involved without any Fault of his. Every Digreſſion is not a Tranſgreſſion. When His Majeſty ſaw he had no Power to ſtop the daily Uproars about his Palace of Whitehall, which did emperil and threaten his Life, becauſe the Commons gave them Thanks, upon all occaſions, for their readineſs to aſſiſt them; the Lords of the Privy-Council, and his truſty Servants, could ſee no other in it than a Spark of Rebellion, and a Seed of War. Neither did they caſt about miſtruſtful and unfaithful Doubts, for he that had his Senſes could not err in that apprehenſion: Poteſt eſt bellum ſine tumultu, tumultus ſine bello eſſe non poteſt. It is the Judgment of the Senator Cicero Philip. 8. A War may be proſecuted without a Tumult; a Tumult cannot continue without a War. But the King minded not ſo much that his Life, as that his Honour was at the Stake; for he hated Rebellion more for the Indignity, than the Danger: Yet it becomes a Prince, more for our Good than his, to preſerve both his Perſon and his Dignity. Upon mature Judgment, he travels by eaſie Journeys, with his Houſhold, into the North, where he finds the Parliament profeſſing Hoſtility againſt him by their Command and Overt Act, denying him way into the Town of Hull, and the uſe of his Magazine; a Confront no leſs outragious than if they had given him Battel. Is not every foot of Ground in the Land, upon which Man and Beaſt treads, ſubject to the King's Dominion? Is not his Crown reach'd at, when any part of it is held againſt him? This is Goſpel, and it will be Law, if ever this Caſe come to a ſober reckoning. Subjection being quite diſclaimed, and that with a Martial Defiance, it was in vain to diſpute what Redreſs there was for it, when there was none, but to look to the Array, and to muſter ſtout and loyal Souldiers: Yet with what unwillingneſs did his Wiſe and Pious Heart go about it? How many Offers of Accordance did he make in that very Inſtant? How many Meſſengers were poſted to London? which p. 188was no better than to dry-ditch the buſineſs; for every Offer of Grace made his Enemies haughty, the King's Reputation leſs, his Friends ſuſpicious, that he could ſooner entreat for, than defend his Cauſe. Paper Mercuries, well worded, are fine things, but not forcible: foreign—foreign. for Ulyſſes ſake, ſo much abuſed, ſays Homer; For K. Charles ſo much rejected, ſay I, let no Prince hope to bend the ſtubborn and revolted Subject with Goodneſs and Mildneſs; break them to pieces, and quell them with Power; there is no other Art to work upon ſuch churliſh Metal. Foraſmuch then as the King ſaw that he but abuſed advantage of time to knock at a Door, that would never be opened, he opened the Temple of Janus, that was cloſe ſhut before, and let out War, if it might be called ſo, who brought ſcarce 600 into the Field; but had his Array been forty times more, he would not have look'd how ſtrong he was, but how innocent, and the more innocent, becauſe moſt unwilling. Well did the Orator ſtate it, lib. 4. ep. 7. Sapientem & bonum virum initia belli civilis invitum ſuſcipere, … non libenter perſequi. Which was conſonant to the Hearts-affection of our King, as he took it upon his Death. And to ſpeak to common Reaſon and Charity a man whoſe Paths were Piety, his Governance Mercy, his Bed Chaſtity, his Repaſt Sobriety, his Addreſſes Humility, how could he ſet a Ditty to any other Prick'd Song, but the Tune of Peace?

175. What Pardon can we expect from the Cenſure of a better Age, that we did not ſtop the Fury of Malecontents, before any drop of Blood was ſhed? I appeal to Fidelity, Homage, Duty, why did we no inſtantly raiſe an Hoſt of Horſe and Foot, which Rebels would not dare to encounter? And becauſe Help from remoter Countries would be too flow for ſudden action, why did not the adjacent Counties come in all as one man, where the Royal Standard was pitch'd? Water which is to be ſetch'd far will not quench a Fire. There are ſome Vertues which loſe their Name, unleſs they operate as ſoon as their fit Object is before them. To be loyal, to be thankful, to be juſt, to be remorſeful, ſhould be done ex tempore. And I appeal to Prudence, who doth not know, that if you endure the Feaver of a Civil War to have one Fit, it will have more, and conſume the Body-politick before it be cured? Semper erit paribus bellum, quia viribus aequant, Manil. lib. 1. Which Sir Walter Ral…igh well tranſlates, Hiſt. p. 179. Equals from Equals will receive equal harms. When a domeſtick War ſeizeth on a Country rich in Plenty, and full of Surfeits with continual Eaſe, it never leaves purging thoſe Superfluities till all be waſt d. It was an Impoſture which many were willing to put upon their own Cenference by this Excuſe, that they did nothing againſt Allegiance, becauſe they took not the contrary part. Firſt, None can ſin againſt themſelves, but that they incurr a great Guilt; and thoſe betrayed their Liberties and Livelihoods to the Rage of Tyrants, for not defending themſelves; themſelves, I ſay, for while they fight for their King, they fight for themſelves; if he fall, they are ruin'd, in whoſe Weal their own is comprehended. And their not liſting themſelves in the King's Battalion, was a Treſpaſs: It is called foreign by one word in Greek, when the Subjects make not ready to follow their Soveraign in Arms: And note the Puniſhment of it, 1 Sam. 11.7. Saul hewed a yoke of oxen, and ſent them throughout all the coaſts of Iſrael, by the hands of his meſſengers, ſaying, Whoſoever cometh not forth after Saul and Samuel, ſo ſhall it be done to his oxen: and the fear of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out with one conſent. Not the care of Wife and Children in a Family, not a weak Body, not a grey Head ſhould free a Subject from ſuch a Service. To the latter, which may look more excuſable than the reſt, Symmachus gives an Inſtance, p. 10. Epiſ. Nullam Nestor tertio aetatis curriculo militiae vacationem popoſcit. Where was the Engliſh Piety, or where was their Bravery at this ſeaſon, that ſo few adventur'd themſelves to draw their Swords for the Lord's Anointed, when ſo many invited themſelves unbidden to do a Miſchief? I go further: They were baſely backward to come forth into the Field, when they ſhould have ſtood manfully to their own Cauſe; for it was not the King's Cauſe alone, it was the Kingdoms Cauſe, and the King was in the Cauſe: Non magni partes, ſed magnum in partibus eſſe, Lucan. lib. 5. Put King Charles into the Verſe for Pompey, and the ſence is the ſame. I have no Name ſcurvy enough for it, that without ſome ſpecial feelings and ends of their own, few lead on to remove an Evil for the common Relief, but would thruſt every man before them into the danger of an Action; if they can ſhare in the Profit of an Event, they mind not the Glory: p. 189And that which in Reaſon ſhould have drawn the Peaſants on, held them back, the ſmall Band of Souldiers that march'd after His Majeſty. This Objection was every man's Fault, that did not make the thin Files more by one. And it was every ones Infidelity, that would not truſt in the Lord of Hoſts to maintain the Right. He gives power to the faint, and to them that have no might he encreaſeth ſtrength, Iſa. 40.29. What Cowardice was it to think all was loſt, before they ſtruck a ſtroke? Turpiter deſperatur quicquid fieri poteſt, Liv. lib. 10. If God had given the Multitude Faith to remove this Deſpair, and to have obeyed the King in the firſt Onſet, Rebellion had ſunk into the Ground like Snow, and nothing could have been added to our Proſperity with wiſhing.

176. And yet I will not ſay that the Sin of Omiſſion was bad in all alike; ſome did not diſcharge Allegiance out of Imprudence and Frailty, but take them by the Poll, and more offended out of Deſign and Subtilty; ſuch as turned their Sails to the changableneſs of the Wind: Utcunque in alto ventus eſt velum vortitur. So Plautus, of ſuch crafty Time-ſervers. That foreign I condemn'd, when subjects did not give up their names to the king's militia, was worſe in them by far, that kept at home, till they ſaw how fortune went abroad, who would be of no ſide in the open diſpute, that in the end they might be of the victor's ſide: they would wear the king's colours in the pale purple, if the day were his; or Eſſex's Badge in Orange-tawny, if Treaſon proved proſperous. Theſe Neutraliſts are of a Spaniel Brood, that will fawn as much upon a Stranger as upon their Maſter, and are welcome to none, becauſe they undertake Impoſſibilities, to be gracious with all. As Curtius doth inſtance in Amyntas, lib. 4. Semper … ancipiti rerum mutatione pendens; he would pleaſe the Macedonians, and not diſpleaſe the Perſians, and was diſtruſted by both. And Livy gives us an Example in Servilius, lib. 19. He was forward to plead for the Authority of the Senate, and not backward to juſtifie the oppoſite Liberty of the People: Ita medium ſe gerendo, nec plebis odium vitavit, nec apud patres iniit gratiam. I would not have my L. Bacon ill interpreted in his Eſſay of Faction, whoſe words appear more crafty than honeſt: Let a man be true to himſelf, with an end to make uſe of both Factions. He ſpeaks not of two Camps in the Field, one headed by the King, another by Cade, or Watt Tyler, but of two great parts in the Court, that have Clients adhering to them, and ſhould'ring one-another out of Favour, if they can; for he expounds it thus upon that very Contraſt: Mean men, in their riſings, muſt adhere to one ſide, but great men, that have Strength in themſelves, were better to maintain themſelves neutral and indifferent. But he that comes not to quench the Flame when the King's Houſe is ſet on Fire, watching what will be the Fate of the Incendiaries, he deſerves to undergo a Saxon Ordeal, to paſs through hot Plow-ſhares to reveal his Double-deaſing. Solon's Law in Plutarch hath eſcap'd no man, I think, that hath written Politicks, foreign: In a publick Seditum, be that looks on, and will be of no ſide, till the Fray be done, is to be branded with Infamy. I will degree this noxious Neutrality one Peg higher, when a cunning Fox, that would ſave all, curried Favour both with King and Rebels, lent his Sword to him, and his Piſtols to them: Dubiis Mars errat in armis, Georg. 2. Like the god of War, that fights on both ſides. What ſay you to two Kinſmen, what ſay you to two Brothers ſhewing their Proweſs one againſt another, he for Caeſar, and he for the Republicans; this a Gibelline, and that a Guelph? that upon the laſt Revolution of the Quarrel, the faithful Brother may merit to compound for the Peace of the falſe; or, if God would have it ſo, the falſe for the faithful. This was the Myſtery of Iniquity, when the ſame Family had ſuch a reciprocal Intereſt in our publick Miſeries, that their Cards were ſo well packt, that they could not be Loſers. An Example which Sir Robert Dallington hath given for ſuch juggling, is worthy to be remembred, Aphor. lib. 2. c. 2. The Duke of Ferrara would not enter into League with Charles the Third of France; but ſuffer'd his Son Alſonſo to ſight under the Duke of Millain, as his Lieutenant-General, that the Son might make the Father's Peace if the Leagues prevailed, and that he might free his Son if the French had the better. What Reward ſhould theſe have? But as the Scripture ſpeaks properly, Let them be divided in twain, and … their portion with Hypocrites. A Syren, half Fleſh and half Fiſh, is painted with its Eyes always caſt upon its Looking-glaſs, becauſe ſuch amphibious and all-part-pleaſing Creatures have their Eyes upon nothing but their own Preſervation. And Theophraſtus, in his Character of a glavering Sycophant, pinns this Knave upon his Back; foreign p. 190foreign. He will pleaſe his Client, and ſtrike in with his Client's Adverſary, becauſe he would be of that gender, which is the common of two, and ſo become unprofitable to both in proper conſtruction. I need not be long in this, for an ingenuous Pagan, how much more a Chriſtian, will eaſily learn this Leſſon, to be hot or cold; the luke-warm Quality, that partakes of both, is fit to make a Vomit. Salmaſius writes upon Solinus, That Tityrus was a Mungril Beaſt, begotten between a Goat and an Ew: But there is no Creature of that compoſition to be preſented at the laſt day, before the Judgment of God: They that are at the right Hand muſt be pure Sheep, harmleſs, gentle, without any Goatiſhneſs in them; and ſurely thoſe Tityri will be found among the worſt of the Goats, that are rejected to the left Hand.

177. After Caterpillars, the Locuſts ſucceeded; ſuch as you may find Rev. c. 9. v. 2, 7. The bottomleſs Pit (that is, the endleſs Parliament) was opened; and a ſmoak went out of the pit, (a Cloud of Ordinances to make War with the King) And there came locuſts out of the ſmoak, no ordinary ones, but ſuch as had stings like ſcorpions, who were like borſes prepared to battail, and they had as it were crowns like gold (for they took the Soveraignty of Kingly Power upon them). I do not interpret, but allude unto the place; They that commanded in the bottomleſs Pit, had Wealth enough to maintain an Army, all that London and the Land was worth. But to maintain their Cauſe, that is, to ſight againſt their Lawful King, all their Money could not purchaſe them ſo much Scripture, Law, or Reaſon, as would juſtifie them with one Argument. Their Preachers over-ſtretch'd their Sinews to defend them, and could not, but left it to the Sword-men, to hold it out at the Arms end: Yet they abuſed ſo much Divinity, as would ſerve to cover ſome of the deformity of the Sin, with a few torn pieces of Jeroboam's Garment; for I am perſwaded of ſome of them, that if they had look'd upon their Impious Act, without a Diſguiſe, they would have run mad at the aſtoniſhment of their Guiltineſs. All this Miſchief was their Pulpit-ranters Work. The great Sedition rais'd againſt Moſes and Aaron, Numb. 16. is called the Gainſaying of Core. Wherefore ſhould Core carry the Name, ſince Dathan and Abiram, great Princes, had their Hands in it? Becauſe that mucinous … did more harm by his prating, than all the Factious in the Conſpitacy beſide. The … of this Deſign gave great Wages to their Chaplains, but the Work which they perform'd was not worth the half of it, between Knave and Knave: The Crime was ſo black, that they could not lay any white upon it, to make it colour like Juſtice and Innocency. They dodg'd St. Paul, Rom. c. 13. and St. Peter's Text, 1 Ep. c. 2. v. 11. with as many turnings as ever old Hare gave to a brace of Grey-hounds, but they could find nothing out of the Scriptures to make them look like theirs; nor any Quotation out of pure Antiquity in the beſt Ages of the Church, to adjuſt their execrable Action: And muſt not that Cauſe be very bad, which could not put on a good outſide, either from the Authority of God or Man? Only as they enforced accumulative Miſdemeanors againſt the Earl of Straſſord, to indict him of Treaſon, ſo they rak'd up accumulative Miſgovernments in Charge againſt the King, to allow themſelves the committing of Treaſon. All their Shifts and Shufflings ſhall be curſorily examin'd; though their Perſons are in a Sanctuary, ſo are not their Opinions: There is a Writer, Gisbert Voetius of Utrecht, learned indeed, but bitter minded againſt our King, and the old Settlement of our Church; this man the Aſſembly of Divines did eaſily gain unto them, and for their Intereſt he ſtates a Queſtion, Diſput. tom. 2. p. 852. How Subjects may quell their King, and pull him down by force of A…: Which is intended for our Engliſh Caſe, cut out into as many Exceptions almoſt as there he words in the Theſis, and all the Particulars wrongly applied to our ungodly Diſtempers. His Hammer ſtrikes thus upon the Forge: Primo quaeſtio eſt an à Proceribus, Statibus, Ordinibus, Magiſtratibus Superioribus Infericribus, qui pro ratione regiminis publicâ auctoritate inſtructi ſunt? (palea.) 2. Regi & Principi limitato & conditionato? (palea.) 3. In extremo neceſſitatis caſu? (palea.) 4. Poſt omnia fruſtra tentata? (palea.) 5. Secundum leges, & pacta fundamentalia principatus? (palea.) 6. Defenſivè armis reſiſti? (palea.) 7. Ut reſpub. ab interitu conſervari poſſit? (palea.) Firſt When had our Peers, our Magiſtrates, ſuperiour and inferiour Power to bring His Majeſty by Fear or Force into Order? Never. 2. When was his Empire limited or made conditional, otherwiſe than to charge his Conſcience before God to keep his Laws? Never. 3. Were we brought by ill adminiſtration to the brink p. 191of extream Neceſſity? No ſuch thing. 4. Or, were all dutiful means tryed to obtain the King's Conſent to honeſt Demands? Wideſt of all from Truth. 5. Or, have we Pactions ſundamental between the King and People, to conſtrain him to concur with their Propoſals? 'Tis a meer Chimera. 6. Did the Parliament wage the defenſive part of the War? Quite miſtaken. 7. Was there no other way, but by ſuch a rout of Ruſſians to keep our native Country from Ruin? Nay, was it in the leaſt danger of Ruin? Not at all: not till theſe foreign, theſe Club-Lawyers, ſilled the whole Land with Blood and Burning. What cutting and carving hath this Dutch Workman made, to bring us to worſhip the Idol of Rebellion! And when all is ſaid, we know that an Idol is nothing in the World. 1 Cor. 3.4. and as it follows, there is no other God but one, and none but that one God above the King, againſt whoſe punitive Juſtice, and none beſide, K. David offended.

178. Many things were alledged to commence and continue this fatal War: Quae prima querar? Quae ſumma gemam? Pariter cuncta deſlere juvat, Sen. Her. Fur. One thing made a loud cry, far and wide, That His Majeſty had left his Parliament, and that the Members fate in great danger. This was a Scandal taken, which did raiſe ſuch Enemies, whom nothing elſe could have tempted from their Loyalty. He leſt his Parliament; yes, but conſider it intelligently, not till he had granted as much as was abundant for our Liberty, Peace, and Welfare; not till he had yielded up more Branches of his Soveraignty and Revenue, than all his Predeceſſors had granted in 300 years before; not till he had truſted them to ſpend out that Parliament at their own leiſure, and yet they would truſt him with nothing: An Affront of deep Indignity! Dare they not truſt him that never broke with them? And I have heard his neareſt Servants ſay, That no man could ever challenge him of the leaſt Lye? But as Probus ſaid of Epaminondas, Adeò veritatis diligens, ut ne joco quidem mentiretur. Was it ſquare dealing to proteſt againſt him, that would pay them all due Debt, if they would let him? I am ſure, when he left them, he left a great many traces of Fame, and Glory, a great many Benefits of Obligation, behind him. And this Caſe will prove the ſame, or much like to the Objection of the Pontificians. They ſay we made a Schiſm in departing from the Church of Rome. We ſay, that the Schiſm was on their part; for they that give the Cauſe, for which it is neceſſary to abandon Communion, they are the Authors of the Schiſm: We continued in the Fellowſhip of Chriſt's Church, and retreated from the Errors of an incorrigible corrupted part, and from the Affrightments and Cenſures of them, that were turned our open Enemies. Say over the ſame to this Parliament, and it will be the King's Apology. They made the Schiſm that offer'd him Bills, unfit to be paſs'd, with Clamoring, Menacing, and undutiful Violence, which he muſt ſign, or fly far enough: Sed qui mali ſenſu, aut metu extorquere aſſenſum velit, eo ipſo oſtendit ſe argument is diffidere, Grot. lib. 6. de Chriſti Relig. They made the Schiſm that uſed his Royal Name with Irreverence (a King muſt not be contented with mediocrity of Reſpect) but their Manners were groſs and Plebeian. They made the Schiſm, that heard the higheſt Indignities againſt his Crown with Patience, when Sir Harry Ludlow ſpake Treaſon, and was not queſtion'd. To cut off a great deal, they received his ample Conceſſions with no Thanks, and degreed to further Demands, and more unreaſonable, that fill'd the Palace, the Hall, their Stairs, their Doors, with ſuch as forbore not to bring in doubt the Safety of his Sacred Perſon. When ſo many were chaſed to ſuch a barbarous Boldneſs, what wiſe man would ſtand it out, and not prevent it? What ſecurity hath the Earthen Pitcher againſt an Iron Pot? He that fears the worſt, prevents it ſooneſt.

179. The High Court of Parliament, one Houſe or both, under the Saxon Monarchs, or in a few Deſcents after, was created to aſſiſt the King to be his great Council. When he pleaſed he call'd it, when he pleaſed he diſmiſs'd it. In ſucceſſion of days, none fate there before he had taken an Oath to bear true Ligance to him and his Heirs, and to defend His Majeſty againſt all Perils and Aſſaults. Never was it intended to obtrude upon him with force, to compel him to take out his Leſſon which they taught him, as in a Pedagogy, but to propound and adviſe with due diſtance and humility. Introducta in alicujus utilitatem in ejus laeſionem verti non debent, if I may believe the Civil Law. That which was inſtituted for the Soveraigns benefit in common ſence muſt not be elevated above him to unthrone him. A right Parl. is the Mind of many gathered into one Wiſdom; p. 192this look't rather like the petulancy of many breaking out into one frowardneſs. The form, that gives eſſence to every thing, was gone, when they that ſilled the places of Counſellors, would tranſcend, and give Law to Majeſty. If yet they dare criminate him upon Schiſm, tell them that Chriſt came to the lost Sheep of the Houſe of Iſrael, yet when they took up ſtones to ſtone him, he went away through the midſt of them. There is King Charles his Pattern. Wherefore then did they hunt after him in warlike Terrour, as if they would fetch him in by Proclamation of Rebellion? Had he ſeen the Tyde ebb but an inch, I ſhould gueſs by the ſweetneſs of his Patience, that he would have tarried with them, and hop'd for better. But moderate men did ſee no likelyhood. And why ſhould a gracious Prince imbrier himſelf any longer in Thorns, and do no good, but leave his Wooll behind him? There are a ſort of People in Guſman's Hoſpital, that when a Friend ſtays long, whom they had waited for, look often out of the Window to ſpy him, as if he would come the ſooner for that impertinency. Plautus hath drawn it up elegantly in his Stychus: Si quem hominem expectant, eum ſolent proviſere: Qui herclè illâ causâ nihilo citiùs veniet. Would you have a wife King one of this ridiculous Hoſpitals? And it was not wiſdom only, but heroick Magnanimity, that he would not ſeem to deſerve any thing by thoſe Favours, in paſſing their ill-fram'd Bills, which he verily thought would be pluck't up by the Roots, when the Day of the Lord ſhould come to redeem us. Matter ſo corrupt, and the manner ſo compulſory, muſt needs fall to the ground, upon review in ſober Times. Quae in pace latae ſunt leges bellum abrogat, quae in Bello pax. It is Livies. Elſe caſt it into this Anſwer: His Majeſty diſcern'd that he, himſelf had marred both Houſes, and he would do them no more harm to concur with them in their Exceſs of Diſobedience and Profaneneſs. For what made them ſtretch themſelves beyond their Power, but the King's Act, which gave them liberty to ſit beyond lawful meaſure. A Seſſion ſitting long grows ſour and ſtale, and is like to Theophraſtus's Date-tree, foreign. When it is young the Fruit it bears is without a ſtone in it: but if it grow long, a Date-ſtone is ſo hard, that it will break good Teeth to crack it. So this Convention, being durable againſt Diſſolution, wax't very corrupt, ſurly, and tyrannical. There were worthy Men among them, ſome very learned in the Laws, other Gentlemen well experienced in the Nature of the People; of whom ſome were tired out, and gone: and much that remained was Lumber and Luggage, tumbled together in a waſte Room: which brought up at laſt their final farewel and expulſion, ſo generally applauded, as Ballads and Paſquils did teſtifie. Behold Sidonius his Judgment Lib. 1. Ep. 7. upon Arvandus, a great Officer in his days, Non eum aliquando cecidiſſe, ſed tamdiu ſtetiſſe plus miror, qui primam praefecturam gubernavit cum maximâ popularitate, ſequentem cum maximâ populatione. So our imperious Maſters were flatter'd at firſt for Popularity, and hated in the end for Depopulation. And to put a ſignal Remark of Diſgrace upon them (it is not forgotten before) they were carried out of their Houſe like empty Casks with a Brewers ſling.

180. Some Pieces of Apology are patch't into this old Garment, which in my Judgment make the Rent worſe. When things were gone ſo far out of Order, it was a hard thing for a man to ſpeak truth to himſelf. Hear them howſoever: for ſometimes there is likelyhood in that which is a lye; and ſometimes Truth in that which is unlikely. It is not amiſs to alledge, that the Authority of Parliaments hath been venerable from times of old; but it is moſt certain that the Majeſty Royal was evermore venerable. For the King is God's Repreſentative, and the moſt part of their Patriots but the Repreſentatives of the People: But they would teach us, That the Judgment of the whole Land ſpeaks in the mouth of their Parliament. I cannot be their Diſciple in that; I am ſure their ſenſe was not the ſenſe of thouſand thouſands abroad: and the Parliament indeed ſupplies our Political Capacity, but they do not carry with them our Perſonal Wiſdoms. Says another, Were we not frank of our Loyalty, when we promis'd we would make his Majeſty a great King? This Spot at firſt made a ſhew of a good Card: but to their ſhame I rejoyn, there was a great diſparity between the Promiſes and the Sequels. Antiſthenes (ſo Laertius) came to ſee Plato being ſick, juſt after his Phyſick had wrought: Says Antiſthenes, I ſee your Choler in the Baſon, but not your Pride: ſo every plain man might read the ſlattery of the Promiſe, but not find the fraud. They make him a great King? It was God that made him a King, and in that Title made him great. Inde poteſtas illi p. 193unde & ſpiritus. Tertul. Apol. And by what ſign did it appear they would make him great? or what did they not do, to make him a great Underling? To give him Law, to ſubject him to their Votes, is the greatneſs of a Tympany, which ſwells and kills: The Sophiſtry in which they gloried moſt was extracted out of the Jeſuits Learning, That they were faithful to the Regal Office (which remained in the two Houſes albeit his departure) but contrary to this man in his perſonal Errors: and if they obey in his Kingly Capacity, and Legal Commands againſt his Perſon, they obey himſelf. All this, beſide words, is a ſubtle nothing. For what is himſelf, but his Perſon? Shall we againſt all Logick make Authority the Subject, and the Perſon enforcing it a have Accident? It ſounds very like the Parodox of Tranſubſtantiation, where… … qualit, … of Bread and Wine are feigned to ſubſiſt without the Inherence of a ſubſtance. With theſe Metaphyſicks and Abſtractions they were not Legal, but Perſonal Traitors. If an Underſheriff had arreſted Harry Martin for Debt, and pleaded that he did not impriſon his Memberſhip, but his Martin ſhip, would the Committee for Priviledges be ſob'd off with that diſtinction? Learnedly …aravia de ob. Chriſt. p. 51. Eundem hominem partiri Juriſconſulti neſciunt, ut idem homo ſibi imperet & par…at. Whatſoever a man's relations be, they are ſo conjoyned to the Suppoſitum, that you cannot treat with him, partly in honour, partly in diſhonour, as in terms of oppoſition. And ſometime there is not ſo much as a notional Difference between Imperial and Perſonal Reſpect. St. Paul inſtructs the Chriſtians at Rome, That every Soul ſhould be ſubject to the higher Powers. The higher Power under which they lived, was the meer Power and Will of Caeſar, bridled in by no Law. Pliny in his Pan…g. ſpeaks it openly to Trajan: Ipſe te legibus ſubjeciſri Caeſar, quas nemo Principi ſcripſit. This was too much. For Kings, ſhould not Rule without limitation of Laws; as Claudian to Honortus,

Primus juſſa capi, tune obſervantior aequi

Fit populus.

But if they fail, who ſhall judge them but God? To obey the King is God's Law, to obey our Laws is the Ordinance of Man: therefore the Bodies and Eſtates of the Subjects are obnoxious to the Common Laws, and the King to nothing but his Conſcience. It is God only that avengeth the violation of Conſcience; it is above the Judgment of Men. But I return to St. Paul. There was no diſtinction then in the Roman Empire between a Legal and Perſonal Capacity, yet Let every Soul be ſubject to the higher Powers. Put them together, for you cannot put them aſunder, foreign, let it be the Power in the abſtract; the word foreign (for st. Peter was not miſtaken) puts it into the concrete: and the Duty required is, That every Power be ſubject to that Power which is higher than it ſelf. This diſtinction, which I have eraſed, being too learned for every Shop-keeper and Headborough to underſtand, they fell to this plain Expreſſion That they were in danger of the King's Forces, and gathered ſuch Souldiers, as they' could make ready, to defend themſelves. And they that ſuffer more than Nature can bear, will be compelled to do more, than Duty can juſtifie. It is the word of the Helleniſts, Eccluſ. 4.35. foreign, when a capricious man thinks all his Imaginations to be Certainties. Theſe that fly to the excuſe of a Defenſive War are ſuch. For can this be perſwaded to any man, when all England did ſee ſo many Brigades, provided for the Service of the Earl of Eſſex, when the King had not Two hundred about him, and thoſe diſpoſed in no Military Titles or Orders? And ſays his Majeſty at the hour of his Death, Read the dates of their Proclamations and mine. they are in print, and let every eye be judge from whom the firſt Alarum unto War proceeded. A Defence is to avoid Blows, not to give them: and is it a Defence to parſue another from place to place? Then a Falcon is upon the Defence that … after a Pheaſant. But they never ſpoke truer than when this Conſe… came out, That they made themſelves ſtrong, to bring the King under their power, for they were bea…y afraid, and durſt not truſt him. They were ſafe for the preſent: not ſecure for the future: having a Conſcience of Guilt, which trembled in them, knowing that their Manners were the juſt occaſion of all the Evil that could be done unto them. Yet who brought them into this ſtrait? Says Porc. Latro in Saluſt. Serae ſunt hominum lamentationes, quae ſuo vitio deſidiâque contigerunt. The ſtyle of good Chriſtians was wont to be, Let them that have failed in the firſt duty of Innocency, lay hold of the next duty of Repentance. p. 194If they have offended, let them crave Mercy through Chriſt, and not command it with the violence of the Devil. If they will not truſt the King's Mercy, becauſe they have provoked him ſo far, whoſe Fault is it but their own, if they become Rebels? He that dares not truſt the Sea, and will not traffick, whoſe fault is it but his own, if he prove a Beggar? O, they dealt with a King, that knew it was no time for Vengeance, but for Pardon. Howſoever, the gate of his heart was wide open for Penitents at all times. If Cicero had ſaid more to Caeſar, it would not have tranſcended King Charles his Clemency, Nemo nunquam te placavit inimicus, qui ullas reſidiſſe in te ſimultatis reliquias ſenſerit. Pro Deiot. I have ſifted the dreadful War advanced by this Parliament, with truth impartial: there needs no falſhood to make their Practices ſeem worſe than they were. The Van of their Army was Treaſon, their Main Body Rebellion, their Rear Murder. So I found them, and ſo I leave them.

181. Sufficient is delivered to ſilence the Excuſe of the Parliament, that a juſt Fear put Swords into their hands to defend themſelves. An Ethnick muſt ſubmit to this Rule, which I will quote the ſecond time, Nulla neceſſitas excuſat, quae poteſt non eſſe neceſſit as, Tertul. exhort. ad caſtitatem, c. 24. and a Chriſtian hath learnt this Rule, That nothing is more formidable, than to fear any thing more than God. They provoked a King to his face in a Civil War, than whom no Prince did better deſerve the Purſe, the Proweſs, the Perſons of his Subjects to help him on, both to Safeguard and Victory. He failed in both, through that which Budaeus in one word calls foreign, cum populus Imperatori infenſus vincere nolit, Lib. 2. Pand. fol. 10. The common Peoples love to him, I conſes, was cold and lazy. They had not ſtudied him, and the great Graces of his unſpotted Life. Qui exemplo potuit eſſe his, quos nos habemus in exemplo. I borrow it for him out of Sidonius. He might have been an Example to thoſe, who were held the beſt Examples of the Times he lived in. But they fretted at ſome improſperous Expeditions, which his Miniſters had made into Spain, France, and Germany, and look't downward upon thoſe diſhonourable Actions, not upward upon his Vertues. So he loſt them. For evil Succeſſes are not ordinarily forgotten, though proſperous ones vaniſh in the warmth of their fruition. No doubt but he had framed his Imagination to things of great entertainment, for the good of his Nephew in the Palatinate, and the Proteſtants at Rochel. But who can foreſee what Chance the Dye of War will caſt? Centum doctum hominum conſilia ſola baec devincit Dea Fortuna, Plaut in Pſeud. An Heathen could go no further, but we underſtand more. And though foreign Enterprizes miſcarried, there was great Proſperity at home, Wealth, Trade, Peace, Plenty, all Profeſſions floarithing. But did he follow Polybius his Counſel to Scipio AEmilianus, never to go abroad but to oblige ſome before he return'd, it being the chief happineſ, of a Prince to get Frineds. Truly he did many Acts of Liberality, with a look that did not take much, and with a blind hand. He was not made to ſet his Face cheerfully, nor to attract with delightful Expreſſions. Whereas Heyward nicks it right in his Hen. 4. That the Multitude are more ſtrongly drawn by unproſitable Courteſies, than by churliſh Benefits. But our King's Motto might have been drawn from Illuſtrius the Pythagoraean in Laertius, foreign. Act great things, but promiſe little: which was the right temper of this diſpaſſionate Philoſophical Man, who cared not for Opinion, but would pleaſe himſelf in that which was juſt, though it were diſpleaſing to others: and delighted to live much to himſelf, and his own thoughts: As if, ſays a late Pen, he had rather been gueſt at, than known. You ſhall read nothing more apt to excuſe him, than that of Cicero to Cato. Ep. l. 15. Ea ſtudiosè ſecutus ſum, ete quibus vera gloria naſci poſſit, ipſam quidem gloriam per ſe nunquam putavi expetendam.

182. The ſame Parliament did for a while ſo much acknowledge his Vertues, that they would have praiſed him into a Fool. For theſe were their words: That they know him to be good of himſelf; and therefore did ſtrive per force to fetch him from a debauched Army and evil Counſellors. Wo be to him whoſe Head is bucketed with Waters of a ſcalding Bath. Theſe Flowers of Flattery, that would wither before to morrow, were they worth the prince of a Crown? The King's Army conſiſted of as valiant and brave Men, as ever march't upon Engliſh Ground. If there were ſomewhat of the Libertine among them, there was nothing but the Hypocrite among the Enemy; whoſe Sacriledges, Robberies, and Spoils I defer alittle to ſpread open, and the Foxes skin ſhall never be p. 195able to cover all the Lion. Few Soldiers in the heat of their Blood, in their Hunger and Watchings, in their Neceſſities, and revengeful Executions make perfect Saints. To have caſtra ſimillima regi, as Statius hath it, was to be wiſh't, more than hoped for. As for the Nobles, Commanders, Knights and Gentry, and many Scholars that jeoparded their Lives in that Service, I wiſh their due Honour may be ſet forth in a long-liv'd Hiſtory, to which I will lend that of Curtius lib. 4. Fatebimur & regem talibus miniſtris, & illos tanto rege fuiſſe digniſſimos, His Majeſty's Council, the beſt Peerage of three Nations, that could never leave him, had more true Piety in their hearts, than their Phariſees would diſſemble. To continue their Allegiance to death, had more of Heaven in it, than was in all their ſimpering Preciſeneſs. For Religion and Loyalty are like the Wax and Wiek, making one Taper between them to ſhine before God and Man: but for all that, they would bring the King away from his evil Council, and take him to themſelves, the very Pink of the faithful. I muſt not ſay but it it is a mannerly Expreſſion, if any thing be wrong, to remove it from the Soveraign, and to charge them with it, who did execute the Order. David, though he knew Saul's bitterneſs, yet is willing to impute his Perſecutions to Saul's Servants, 1 Sam. 26.19. If they be the children of men that have ſtirred thee up againſt me, curſed be they of the Lord. There will ever be ſuch Sycophants in a Court, that will whiſper corrupt talk, endeavouring that none ſhould get the ſtart of them in the Royal Favour: but muſt all prudent Senators be caſt off and ſuppreſt, if ſome Ear-wiggs peradventure had got into credit? Let the Shepherd put away his Dogs, and the Wolf will ask no more. Let the King once forfeit his Friends to an ignoble Trial, and he ſhall never ſee days of Comfort and Security again. Did he ever protect any Servant from the Trial of the Law? That would not ſuffice our Judges in Parliament; but he muſt leave them to the Votes of an Arbitrary Cenſure. Then a wife man had better pay half his Eſtate for a Fine, than be a Privadoe to the King in his neareſt Employments. And moſt miſerable is he, that muſt not chooſe thoſe whom he will truſt, but have his Officers of greateſt Diſpatches thruſt upon him by Compulſion. King Richard the Second had Counſellers and Guardians empowered to retrench him in his Government, whoſe Arrogancy when his great Spirit ſhook off, it is known what it coſt him. Never think to ſee a King's Houſe ſo purged of undeſerving perſons, that none of them will creep into that truſt they deſerve not. Budaeus gave over that hope, Lib. 5. de Aſſe, p. 110. Ita eſt reip. noſtrae ſtatus, ut clitella generoſis equis, inſtrataque ſpecioſa imponantur aſinis. The beſt Steeds ſometimes ſhall carry the Panniers, and Jades and Aſſes be covered with the Footcloth. There was never man ſo wiſe, that did not love ſome Simpletons, whom you may call Fools: Nor never Prince ſo abſolute, but did ſtamp ſome Honours upon baſe Mettal. Non eſt noſtrum aeſtimare quem ſupra caeteros, & quibus cauſis extollas, ſays a good States-man in Tacitus. And our excellent Camden ſhifts in this anſwer for Queen Elizabeths ſake, whoſe Affections were ſo ſtrong to Robert Earl of Leiceſter, that he knew not whether it were a Synaſtria, a Star which reigned at both their Births, that made him a Gratioſo to ſo brave a Lady. Make any unlikely anſwer, rather than defie a King with an Army, to pluck his beſt betruſted from him. Thuamus is an Author to be delighted in, whoſe obſervation it is, Lib. 11. That Maurice of Saxony made his Apology for raiſing War againſt Charles the Fifth, that he intended no offence to Caeſar, but to divorce him from Alva, and Granval, his evil Counſellors. A Stale and thread-bear Cheat, and yet the Devil to this day cannot find out a better. Take away thoſe, whom they call Evil Counſellors, place as good, or better in their room, (it is not impoſſible) it were a marvel if they did eat a buſhel of Salt in Court, and not be ſcowled upon with Envy, as much as they that did forego them. Let any Tree grow tall in favour, and the Shrubs will complain, that it drops upon the underwood. A great diſheartning it is to our Grandees, to ſee ſo many of worth and clear integrity ruin'd by a publick hatred; which made Pauſanias pity Demoſthenes, and the chief Burgeſſes of Athens, in Att. foreign. A great Actor in the Affairs of the Commonwealth feldom goes to his Grave with Honour and Peace. I am not of their Spirit then, that would remove the King's Counſel from him: but ſome are of my mind, that in many great Diſpatches, they did heartily wiſh that the King himſelf had been removed from his Council. For he was more happy, when he took the way which he ſpun out of his own Brain, than when he alter'd his Opinion to follow p. 196the Judgment of his Counſellors. But it was his humble temper, to like that wiſdom in others, which was greater in himſelf.

183. It is not too late to unblind ſome of the People, provided they beware of them that ſpit Holy Water, as other Jugglers have a ſlight to ſpit fire. The Pope's Cruciada drew thouſands of Soldiers to adventure into the Holy War; and our cunning Popelings made their Muſter exceed, by carrying the Figure of Religion in their Colours. Therefore it is good to take off this great Charm, that bewitcht the heedleſs into Rebellion. Which Inchantment was a common cry, That Religion lay a bleeding: reform the Church either now or never. This is the time to pull up Popery and Prelacy: and Fortune is an Hand-maid to no Miſtreſs but Occaſion. Therefore let the faithful live and die together for God's Cauſe and Chriſt's Kingdom. Pack away Biſhops, Liturgy, Courts Eccleſiaſtical, Canons, Croſſes, Organ Muſick, Ceremonies: Change for every thing, for any thing. Seraque terriſici cecinerunt omnia vates. Aen. 5. Survey all this calmly. They that undertake to alter ſo much at once, is it likely they will mend it all at once for the better? A better Head-piece than theirs gives them a wiſer Principle, Syneſ. de provid. foreign. Things may admit a general change of a ſudden for the worſt, but not for the better. Then to clap Religion into a quarrel is a formal foolery, that every Child can look through it. Ex cupiditate quiſque ſuorum religionem velut pediſſequam habet. Leo. Ep. 23. Now look back into King Edward the Sixth's days, who thoſe Biſhops and Divines were, whom God ſtirred up to frame our happy Reformation. Their Sanctity, Learning, Humility, Martyrdom, compel us to believe that they ſought the Truth: and the hand of God upon their works: that none did ever proſper in this Land, with their new frame of Worſhip to deface their Foundation, will perſwade us that they found the Truth. Let theſe words of the Orator be dedicated to their bleſſed memory, De aruſp. reſp. Sat is ſuperque prudentes ſunt, qui illorum prudentiam, non dicam aſſcqui, ſed, quantà ſuerit, perſpicere poſſint. We know who jear at this, and think they are far before all our Predeceſſors, to chalk out the right Line of Goſpel Purity, the Presbyter Divines and their Elderſhips. As Cato the Cenſor ſtrived to keep the Athenian Philoſophy and Learning out of Rome; for, ſays he, Quandocunque iſta gens literas ſuas dabit, omnia corrumpet. Plin. l. 29. c. 1. So we have had Cato's and prudent Senators, who have ſpared for no pains to cruſh the turbulent Presbyterians, yet they have continued to ſurpriſe the Judgments of unquiet Opiniators, and they flowed in by ſhoals in our Civil Wars. Schiſmatica pravitas ſemper bello ardente maximè luxuriat, ſays Camden Eliz. Anno 1588. and he ſpeaks it of theſe men. Theſe are they that are ſtriving to wind up higher in Reformation; which makes me inſert what I read ſince I wrote this, As if Religion were intended for nothing elſe but to be mended: Sirs, ſhall we change and change till all be ſatisfied? that's to put us off for Peace to the Greek Calends. When you tell us which in your Brains is the beſt and final Reformation, we will tell you another thing as impoſſible, which is the greateſt number. They troubled Queen Elizabeth and King James with their Platforms of Chriſt's Kingdom, and were repulſed: for who could give an eaven poiſe to ſuch uneaven Humours? chiefly perceiving that a Monarchy would not conſiſt with their Conſiſtories, their Pretences running one way, and their Practices another: and indeed their Encroachments are not only upon Royal Authority, but upon the Civil Magiſtrate, whoſoever he be. Now they would enforce their Scottiſh or Geneva Changeling upon King Charles, who was ſwift to run to any good; and when he ſtopt, it was becauſe Religion and Reaſon could go no further. This ſtinking Elder, lately ſhot up, he could not Authorize. Who can forget Piſiſtratus, how he toſs'd and turn'd the Athenian Commonwealth over and over, and yet would perſwade them, that he changed not their Native Laws, but reduced them to thoſe that Solon was the Author of; which none could diſprove, ſo much they were forgotten. So they that put on this Change, were impatient to hear that it was a Muſhroom of late growth: but boaſted it was the conſtitution of the Apoſtles, but laſted ſo ſhort a Time, that Hiſtory cannot make it out to juſtifie it. The diſcreet King was ſure that the Goſpel was planted over much of the Heatheniſh World by Biſhops; that they rooted up Idolatry, ſuppreſt Herefies, edified all places with the glorious Vertues of Faith and Charity, and that p. 197God would not go along with a corrupt Hierarchy, in ſuch manifold and great Mercies: And ſhould he ſet up another Government, from whoſe alteration he knew not what would proceed? was it not Prudence to owe unto Ignorance ſtill, rather than to try it? Nihil in ſpecie fallacius quàm prava religio, ſays Poſthumius, in Liv. lib. 9. Religion, though the beſt thing, yet the name of it is the greateſt Cheat, if you take not heed of Hypocriſie.

184. But who can diſpute with them that will fly to Inſpiration, and when they have no other Argument, will boaſt, that they have talk'd with GOD? foreign, Wiſd. 7.14. which is in our Margin, They have enter'd friendſhip with God. Then all that Reaſon ſhall ſay to the contrary is prophane, and underneath them. There is an Objection to be anſwer'd with Grief, That ſome learned and painful men did promote this Diſcipline. I will ſay to their Praiſe and Pity, as much as Tully did of the Gracchi, Orat. de acuſ. reſp. Quòd dolerent boni omnes, illa tanta ornamenta, and meliorem mentem voluntatem que non eſſe converſa. Their Pains in ſome were very laudable, in ſome little more than Lungs and Language. A little Gold comes to more in payment than a great deal of Copper Money. Pliny, lib. 16. c. 27. ſpeaks of ſome Vines that bore thrice a year, yet the Vineyard-dreſſer loſt by it: Inſana vitis trifero proventu, ſed evanida luxurians. There were Auditors that extoll'd ſuch Preachers, and would ſay, They could profit by no other. So Amnon pretended he could eat no Meat, unleſs his Siſter Tamar dreſs'd it. The Plot came to light in our days, that theſe were they that rung the Pan in the Pulpit, and then the Bees ſwarm'd to Rebellion. But that which is of God, muſt have its Foundation in Humility, its Riſing in Obedience, and its Continuance in Peace. View the Succeſs of Presbyteriſm, where it takes a little root here and there, what Shoots do grow by it, or out of it! Anabaptiſts, Antinomians, Familiſts, all Mr. Edwards's Gangreen, beſide Quacks and Quakers, Mahumetan Derviſes, of a raging, not a raviſhing Spirit; among all theſe the Independents, their young Brothers, by Burrough-Tenure, have got the Eſtate from them. I will borrow a ſtrain of his Wit, that ſaid there went but a pair of Sheers between them, That the Independents would not have a King, ſo much as in name; the Presbyters would have no more than the meer Name of a King. But, O how theſe blaſphemed the Name, and ſlander'd the Footſteps of God's Anointed! who laid our good King forth as a Papiſt to their Rabble, ſince he would neither be for the Conſiſtorians nor Congregationers: Nihil eſt audere relictum, Manil. lib. 5. Bleſſed Saint! how firm was he to the Antipapal Doctrine of this Church, which he maintain'd againſt the Marqueſs of Worceſter in the greateſt agony of his Troubles, and truſted his Soul upon it at the agony of Death. Moſt of all that Calumny came from Hell, that he gave privy leave to the Iriſh Hell-hounds, to commit that horrid Maſſacre upon ſo many Innocents, Men, Women and Babes: Did not Muſcerry and Philem O Neal tell the contrary at their Execution, and pawned their Salvation upon it, when it was no time to diſſemble? They, the Parliament, contributed much to that Aſſaſſinate, who cut off Strafford for an evil Counſellor, the only man of Courage and Counſel, to have prevented the Troubles of Ireland. A Paſſage ſhall decide it clearly, that came to my own knowledge; I was ſo ſcrupulous to forget nothing of it, that before I ſtirred I wrote down the Speaker, the Words, the Place, the Year, the Day.

On July 24. ann. 1654. at Rygate in Surrey, I had Conference about this Defamation, with that excellent Primate of Armagh, Dr. Uſher; ſays he, Stop their Mouths with this that I ſhall faithfully tell you. Sir William Parſons, our Chief-Juſtice, was much truſted with the King's Affairs in Ireland; he deceaſing, his Friends and Executors ſent his Papers to me, to look them over: In his Cabinet I found a Letter written by the King, to warn him to look well to the Meetings of the Popiſh Iriſh, for he had received certain Intelligence out of Spain, that they were upon ſome great Deſign of Blood and Confuſion. And did His Majeſty hold any Intelligence with thoſe Miſcreants, who fetch'd his Intelligence as far as from Spain to prevent them? Nulla ſunt certiora quàm quae ex dubiis fact a ſunt certa, Quintil. lib. 5. The reliquation of that which preceded is, it looks not all like Popery that Presbyteriſm was diſdained by the King; his Father had taught him, that it was a Sect ſo perfidious, that he found more Faith among the Highlanders. Experience taught, that it was not ſuitable to the Eternal Goſpel, for the Fautors of it did ſcarce Summer and Winter the ſame form of p. 198Diſcipline. His hatred of Sacrilege taught him, that upon the abdication of Epiſcopacy, there was no likelihood, but the Patrimony of the Church, which is the Patrimony of Chriſt, would be diſtributed by the Lords and Commons, to their own, but certainly to prophane uſes.

185. At the ſame time that a murmuring was raiſed for preſerving or advancing Religion, as much was pretended upon another ſcore, to recover Liberty; Populo ſupervacanea eſt calliditas, Saluf. p. 75. The dull-headed People knew not all what this meant, but ruſh'd on towards it; and when the Beaſt did imagin it was looſe from the Chain of Monarchy and Laws, who could tye it up again? They that ſay, the whole Earth turns about, will allow us to ſit ſtill; but let theſe earthy Clodds follow their own motion, Reſt and Safety are out of hope to every man. St. Paul ſays, that a Liberty to ſin is the greateſt Captivity; ſo a Liberty to be lawleſs is the greateſt Bondage. The Hedge of common Saſety is Law; the Hedge of the Law are Penalties; the infliction of Penalties is the power of the Supreme Governour. Can the Subjects be at more Freedom, if this Authority be taken away from one ſupereminent perſon? Whereunto that ingenuous Gentleman Mr. Wrenn ſays very well, Monarchy Aſſerted, p. 79. It can be nothing but Madneſs, voluntarily to expoſe ones ſelf to Miſery, for the taking away of a Power, in the room of which another equal Power, muſt neceſſarily be ſubſtituted. Yet it may be that Monarchy is excellens ſenſibile, the Splendor of it is an Eye-ſore, and one would better endure the faint Beams of leſſer and lower Planets. To this I will reply with Capito Coſſutius, when the Roman Senate deprived Nero Caeſar, To overthrow Soveraignty Liberty was cried up, but if Soveraignty be overthrown, Liberty will be ſet upon, Bolton, p. 258. Let Judgment be paſs'd upon the ſtate of our own Monarchy; the worſt Enemy to it hath given this Teſtimony upon it, Oceana, p. 97. It was a Throne the moſt indulgent to, and leaſt injurious for ſo many Ages upon the Liberty of the People, that the World hath known. And indeed how could it be otherwiſe? For the People preſide in the Houſe of Commons, to debate the Grievances of all Counties, Cities, and Burroughs, and to raiſe Levies of Moneys with Indifferency, which is Democratical. The Lords Spiritual and Temporal joyn their Wiſdoms to debate the Proceedings of the Commons, and are engaged in Honour to ſettle all things in Honour and Safety: which is Ariſtocratical. And His Majeſty gathering up the reſults of their Prudence, governs upon no other grounds, and can neither abrogate the Laws already enacted, nor enforce a new Law, which is not paſs'd, and preſerred unto him by both Houſes; which is the moſt inoffenſive Regulation of Monarchy to pleaſe GOD and Man. The moſt ancient Obſervator of the Temper of theſe three Governments, made up into one with ſuch Concinnity, is Polybius, lib. 6. thus he; Some people are under a pure Monarchy, ſome under an Optimacy, ſome like a Democracy; foreign. The beſt Government, without compare, muſt be that which hath collected the Properties of all the three into its Platform: This is that equal Hand (and it is our caſe) that ſets the Inſtruments in Tune one to another, and the Voices to them all. But it was exclaimed, that our Monarchy kept not the bounds of Law, untuned the Harmony, as the Remonſtrance, Decem. 15. expreſſeth it in a raging ſtile, Injuſtice, Oppreſſion, Violence broke in upon us without any restraint or moderation. And wherefore ſo much Outcry for Peccadilloes, and verily occaſion'd by the Undutifulneſs of former Parliaments, and ſubſequent Neceſſities? In ſome remedileſs Occurrences, the wiſeſt that ſate in the Houſe thought it would be more profitable to be inſenſible of them, rather than too ſharp, becauſe His Majeſty had rectified the principal Grievances, and was prepared to go on in the ſame Compliance and Serenity. Now when the Pox was coming out, Violence was the way to drive it in again: And let the Cenſurers of Evils foregone look with Charity upon them, and with Conceſſions of Humanity, and they will find ſome ſlight Taxes levied, which impoveriſht no man, the courſe of the Law ſtill open to all; it may be, and will ever be, in the winnowing the Chaff from the Corn, there would be a little loſs of Wheat. Then all they that have howled againſt the Oppreſſions of the Soveraign, if the Door of your Conſcience be not too narrow to let out ſo great a Sin, open the Wicket, that this Slander may fly away into the Deſarts of Forgetfulneſs, yet rather of Repentance. But if you could make your Proofs true, That you wanted your native Rights and Liberties, this will not juſtifie a rebellious War. The Principle of the ancient Church is ſtrong, If the Magiſtrate command things contrary to p. 199God's Law, ſuffer, and reſiſt not. Much leſs do not reſiſt, though he command things contrary to his own Laws; for, to break his Scepter, you wring the Scepter out of the Hand of God; He alone is above him, you are under him. Men that have Leiſure and Learning, may read Chryſantus's Oration in Xenoph. Cyr. Pa. lib. 7. I will ſpend but one Paſſage of it here: Fellow Souldiers, ſays he, we have obtained many Victories under our Lord Cyrus, and are become the Conquerors of great Kingdoms, and which way got we all we have? foreign? That is, by our Governour: There can be no greater Good, than to preſerve our ſelves in that Obedience. Audi'n' haec Amphiarae ſub terram abdite? Can the Ghoſt of John Pymm hear this, whom no good man's Patience can forgive, for making that dirty Remonſtrance?

186. Begin once again to detect this popular Cheat. The Ringleaders of the Impious War careſs the People, That if they will ſtick to them againſt the King, and leave the Power in their Hands, they would poſſeſs them in the beſt Liberty that they could imagine to enjoy. Theſe petty Tyrants grew very kind of a ſudden, but to be ſuſpected, as Appius Claudius the Decemvir was, when he courted the Citizens, Nunquam gratuita in tantâ ſuperbiâ comitas eſſe ſolet, Livy. So our King-quellers did not ſell their Complement for nothing; they had got a Forreſt of Fools in an Army after them; inſtantly all Laws were dead that kept men living, Liberty quite defunct, and will never have a reſurrection, but under a Monarchy in the true and lawful Succeſſor; the Laws, the ſworn Judges, the Verdicts of Jurors, the maintenance of all theſe under the Care and Juſtice of the King, theſe are the Preventions, that the Freemen of this Nation are not in the leaſt fear of Slavery: Be thankful for this Liberty, and ask for no better, for the Reſtraint which a man hath by coming under a Law, comes home to him again by the Benefit and Protection of the Law. Tully ſays more, and yet no more than Truth, Orat. pro Caecinná. Mihi credite, major haereditas venit unicui que noſtrum à jure, & legibus, quàm ab iis, à quibus ipſa bona relicta ſunt. Every man is more beholden to the Laws for his Lands and Chattels, than to his Parents that did bequeath them, for the Law gave the Parent Power to make his Will and Teſtament, that his Eſtate might be ſettled upon his Children, and the Law allows the right Heir to enjoy it: As a Vineyard yields us Wine, but unleſs that Wine be laid up in found Veſſels, and thoſe Veſſels hoop'd, that it leak not out, that which we got in the Wine preſs will be loſt in the Cellar. Therefore we did but put a Knife to our own Throats when we advanced an Army, which our ſoft Laws (meerly made for Peace) were not able to regulate, and were ſad Lookerson, when we ſaw our Martial Grandees cut and carve what they pleaſed to themſelves, for every one had an Eye to the Pole-ſtar of their preſent Intereſt. And lo, into what we are fallen: Pro communi imperio privatam ſibi quiſque ſervitutem peperit, Saluſ. p. 174. When the over-flowing Romans meant to make a Prey of a Nation not yet vanquiſh'd, their Phraſe was, That they would go and civilize them, reduce the Gauls or Britains from Barbariſm. foreign, ſays Plutarch, When they coveted a Nations Wealth, they did poliſh them into Bondage. So the Parliament-Militia robb'd us of all we had, upon Promiſe to call us to the Cap or Coxcomb of Liberty. Look into two or three Particulars, and ſee what theſe Huckſters ſold to a beſotted Nation, in exchange for the great Charter of our ancient Freedom: Firſt, They ask'd at once, and had it, the fifth part of all Land-Rents, and the twentieth part of all Goods and Movables, and gave us a Ticket of publick Faith, that is, of punick Faith, to repay it. Euclio in Plautus deſerved to be ſequeſtred, for ſpeaking ſo plainly to this Couſonage, Fidei cenſcham maximam vulgo fidem, cà mihi ſublevit os poeniſſimè. They that brought not this Sum into the maſs of the common Treaſure, were plundered of all they had. Woe be to the wealthy. foreign, as Plutarch ſpeaks of the Rapin which the thirty Tyrants made in Athens, It was more dangerous to be Rich, than to be the worſt of evil-doers. At the ſame time a Payment was laid upon our Necks, a Pick-purſe Trick, which they had learnt of the Provinces that revolted from the King of Spain, it is but one word, and much in little, Exciſe upon all Merchantable Wares, beſide Coals, Beer, and other things of Trade and Uſe at home. A word ſo odious to our Country, that if our Kings had put it in uſe, their Miniſters had been ſerved like Adoram, Grand-cuſtomer to Rehoboam, whom the Iſraelites ſtoned with Stones, that he died. Yet, after all theſe exactions, they will tell you with Pſeudolus, Ratio constat, argentum foreign, Take out your Tables, and write down Liberty.

p. 200187. Moreover, to make us ſwear our ſelves for ever into Prophaneneſs, Sin, and Baſeneſs, the ſolemn League and Covenant paſs'd by the Votes of both Houſes, and by the great approvement of their Journeymen the Aſſembly; and this Flag of ſix colours was hung up in all the Houſes of God in the Land; where the two Tables of the Law were put before, to hold out our Duty to God, and Love to our Neighbour, a new piece of Chriſtianity is clapt upon the Wall, to renounce the King, and to ruine the Church. Tertullian lik'd not this Alteration, lib. de Cor. Mil. Credimus ne humanum teſtamentum divino ſuperinduci deberi? And the Caeſarean Law gives a mortal Sentence upon it, as Elminſhorſtius quotes it, p. 148. upon Arnobius, Qui factionis ſuſceperit ſacramentum, vel dederit, gladio feriatur. O very wiſe Parliament. can you teach one how to piece Liberty and this Covenant together? for all that refuſe it muſt be ſequeſtred, impriſoned, diſoſſiced; the Clergy that will not ſubmit, loſe their Beneſices, and the Law cannot keep them in their Freehold: Their Caſe is alike, as it was with the Orthodox under the Tyranny of the Arrians, as it is in Athanaſius Apol. p. 329. foreign; Either ſubſcribe, or relinquiſh your Churches. I read in Cembd. Eliz. p. 71. That the Queen called them to an account, Qui penſiones religioſis, è monaſteriis ejectis, aſſignatas ſubtraxerant? It hat Proviſion did our Potentates make for Proteſtant ſequeſtred Miniſters? What? why Freedom and Choice, to beg or starve; but not a Denier allow'd to a ſingle man. They talk'd of a fifth part to maintain the Wife and Children of a married one, with ſo many Clauſes of Exception, Thirteen at leaſt, ſays Dr. Thomas Fuller, that the allocation came to nothing but Charge and Trouble. Liberal—Thieves! the Earth is the Lord's in all its fulneſs, and you ſhall know the Church will be Chriſt's in all its emptineſs: You all alter'd the Texts to good purpoſe, Act. 4, & 5. cap. there the Diſciples did, and Ananias ſaid he would, bring all he had, and lay it at the Apoſtles Feet, but now the Diſciples of the Apoſtles muſt lay all they have at Ananias Feet: Yet ſince you ſay all this is done to deliver us from the Bondage of the King's Power, take out the Tables again, and write down Liberty. To abbreviate the mention of a thouſand Wrongs and Evils, had we been a conquer'd People, trodden under the Feet of Turks, what could the Conqueror have done worſe, to transform us into Slaves, than to ſet up that Tribunal of Blood, the High Court of Juſtice? The Privilege of the Free People of England is their Tryal per Pares, as well in Criminalas in other Cauſes. Some ſmack of it is ſo ancient, that I find in Grotius de Jure bel. & pacis, p. 248. That Cato the elder would never puniſh a Slave, till the Slaves of the Family, who did wear the ſame Chain, did caſt him by their Verdict. Now the caſe is alter'd at Weſtminſter-Hall, a Priſoner is tryed at the Bar, neither by the Law for Reaſon, nor by Jury upon Matter of Fact, but by the Conſcience of ſome that are commiſſioned to judge upon Law, Reaſon, Right, and Fact. Suppoſe that the Conſcience of Sultan Cromwel, and his Viſier Baſhaw, alias Bradſhaw, ſit among them, that Court muſt prove a Rock, againſt which an Innocent cannot chuſe but ſplit, and theſe high Juſtitiaries Gentlemen of the firſt Edition. Quid facturi ſunt illi, ſi conſules, ſi Dictatores fuiſſent, qui proconſulorem imaginem tam trucem ſaevamque feciſſent? Liv. Dec. 1. lib. 5. They that raiſed ſuch Storms among us, being Vapours in the lower Air, would have lightned and thunder'd, if they had been Exhalations in the middle Region; but that the Authors of the forenamed Miſeries and Depreſſions durſt ſay, that they took up Arms againſt the King for Liberty, take out the Tables, and write down Villany.

188. Our Obſervation muſt not launch now into the Whirl-pool, or rather plounce into the Mudd and Quagmire of the Peoples Power and Right pretended, That the Soveraignty is theirs, and originally in them; That they of meer Choice and Election caſt themſelves into ſuch and ſuch forms of Government at firſt, and may diſſolve them by Force and Conſtraint, when they will, and do no man Injury, for they recall their own, which they did but lend during pleaſure, upon a natural Paction. Some things, diſcovered before, were very ill, which did diſorder us to Rebellion, ſaying that this Invention doth diſembogue it ſelf into the rougheſt and blackeſt Sea of Treaſon: Like to Verres's ſtripping the Sicilians, his laſt Oppreſſion was a more grievous Pillage than all the former. Secum ipſe certat, & id agit, ut ſemper ſuperius ſuum ſacinus novo ſcelere vincat, Act. 7. The Axiom, which hath gone from hand to hand, in ſome dangerous Books, is, Rex ſingulis major eſt, Univerſis minor. Grotius ſaid ſo, but it was Grotius the Advocate of Rotterdam, a Miniſter to a popular State, and Barnevale's Creature; but p. 201Grotius, the Ambaſſador to the French King, from the Swediſh Crown, would be aſham'd of ſuch Politicks. So ſays as ſpightful an Author to the Honour and Safety of Princes as ever writ, Stephanus Junius Brutus, that's the Title of his diſguiſe, whom learned K. James ſuſpected to be a Papiſt, diſſembling the perſon of an Hugonote, to make them all odious. But we are beholden to Gisb. Vootius, who hath pull'd off his Mask, Tom. 2. Diſp. p. 852. he ſays, that Tronchinus making an Oration in Geneva, at the Funerals of Simon Goulartius, made it known to his Auditors, that Simon Goulartius had aſſured him, that Hubertus Languettus, a Gentleman of Burgundy, and of good ſame till this Miſchief came to light, did hatch the Monſter, and ſend it forth. To ſpare the reſt, all but one, the ſame is the Doctrine of Parſons the Jeſuite in his Dolman, who follows it all the way, That Civil Government is radically in the People; that they may ſet up and pull down their Rulers for the publick good as they will. Let the Index of Expurgation look to it, whether the Temporal Soveraignty of the Pope come not under the Whip of this Doctrine.

foreign. Odyſſ. foreign.

The People of Romania, Bononia, Ancona, Ferrara will be very inſolent, if you buz ſuch a Bee into their Brain; every light Offence taken will make them threaten. But whence do theſe People-pleaſers draw this Maxim, That a King is greater than every Subject apart, but leſs than their Body taken altogether? Not from Scripture, for the Kings of Iſrael and Judah, in that Book, were above all the Tribes in their Aggregation. Hiram writes to Solomon, Bleſſed be the Lord, who hath given to David a wiſe Son over this great people, 1 Kin. 5.7. Hear the Queen of Sheba likewiſe, That Solomon was Miniſter Dei, non populi; God delighted in thee, to ſet thee in his Throne, to be a King for the Lord thy God, and made thee over them, to do judgment and juſtice to all, 1 Chron. 9.8. Shall I leave my fatneſs, ſays the Olive in the Parable, to be promoted over the Trees? That is, over every Tree in the Forreſt: But theſe Dogmatiſts dare not recourſe to Scripture, they muſt be traced in prudential ways. Proteus, the man of all ſhapes, ſays Syneſius, Ep. 136. foreign, acted always among Men, not in Heavenly, but in Earthly Wiſdom. Let it be Reaſon, and not Fallacy, wiſe men will be ready to hear it. One Argument of the Adverſaries is, That once upon a time, they know not when, Men were gathered out of Deſarts and Savageneſs into a body, to live ſociably, and it was their Courteſie then to ſet up ſuch a King as did pleaſe them: He is but the Peoples Creature, therefore in his firſt making, and always, at their mercy. This is a Tale put together of a thing out of the Memory of all Writers; which were it true, as it is unlikely, it will come to nothing. If the People did part with their Right to a King, to be governed and defended in Wealth and Peace, their Act is irrevocable, the Bond indiſſoluble. Though Democritus thought his Atoms might concurr to make a World, yet the World being made, thoſe Atoms could not fall aſunder again to diſſolve the World. Conceive we were in Polonia at this day, the Eligents, who make the King by their Vote, are tyed faſt by their Oaths and Faith, to their own Act. Nor do they give the King his Power, but deſign his Perſon, becauſe Election is not an Act of Power, but of Privilege. That a Monarch is not greater than the Univerſe of his People, whether it look like ſomewhat to the weakneſs of Sence, I know not, but it is nothing to Reaſon; for Compariſons are to be made between things of the ſame kind. Mark then. A part of the Body is leſs than the whole Body in magnitude, but the Soul, though one part of Man, and no more, is greater in Virtue than all the Body. The intellectual Faculty is but one Faculty, yet greater in Dignity and Regency than all the Faculties of the Soul beſide. The Sorboniſts adhering to the Council of Constance, tell us, That a Pope is leſs than a whole general Council; they give him Honour and Place before any ſingle Prelate, Metropolitan, or Patriarch, by Eccleſiaſtical Conſtitution, yet he is inferiour to an Oecumenial Synod in totâ, becauſe he comprehends not in his Office the Vertue of the Catholick Church, for that's an Uſurpation: But the Vertual Power of the Kingdom is in the King, which diſcovers the odds of the Compariſon. Our Politico's alſo object, that the People were before the King. Not before him, if Soveraignity grew firſt out of Paternal Right, (and ſo it did for certain in Adam, the firſt Father, and firſt King.) Yet grant them their asking, here is an Inſtance to ſilence them: All the Creatures were made before Man, yet God gave him the Dominion to govern p. 202them that were created before and after him. It is to no more purpoſe to cavil, That the King is made for the good of the People. Is that which is appointed for the good of another the leſs for that Cauſe? Quite contrary, 'tis therefore the greater. So is a Preceptor and Shepherd, the one above the Scholars, the other above the Flock. Saravia diſtinguiſheth skilfully, de Obed. p. 228. Quod eſt propter aliud, ſi beneſicium ab co accipit, minus eſl, ſi dat majus eſt. They ſtretch their Wit further, and ſay, That the King gives his Oath to his Subjects, to mamtam them in their known Laws. It well befits him. So God gave an Oath to Abraham and David, Quare juramentum, praeſ itum Inſeriori, non ei ſubjicn Superiorem, ſays the ſame Author. As for the matter of the Oath, to keep the Laws, it puts him not under the Wrath of Men, if he do not keep them, but under the Wrath of God. A King is to keep the Laws of Nations with other Princes, yet is not ſubject to them. God defend us from making Experiments, what would come to paſs if the choice of a Governor or Governors were referred to the thouſands and millions of England. Beware a Heptarchy again, beware an Hecatontarchy. Things give better Counſel to men, than men to things. Look behind, enquire into Hiſtories, what bloody meetings the World hath known upon ſuch ambitious bandings between Gogs and Magog's Parties.

An quae per totam res atrociſſima Lesbon,

—Non audita tibi eſt?

Metam. l. 2.

Is it forgotten how they have lifted up their Friends in a Fit, and ſtraightway pluck'd them down in a Fury? As the Greek Emperor ſaid to a Biſhop, Ego te Furne condidi, ego te deſtruam. For as Painters delight in Pieces not being made, but in their making, ſo the Hare-brain'd Multitude run on to a Choice with Greedineſs, and when it is paſs'd, they loath it with Fickleneſs. The Concluſion ſhall be, That this Stratagem to unthrone a King by the pretended inherent Right of the People, can come to no concluſion: For if there were occaſion for all Cities, Counties, Burroughs, Hamblets, to come to try that Right, who ſhall warn them, that the opportunity is ripe to require their concurrence? Who ſhall ſummon them? Why A. rather than B? Who ſhall propound? Upon what place ſhall they meet? Who ſhall preſerve Order and Peace? For every Hog, when you drive them, muſt have a String about his own Leg. Who ſhall umpire and ſtop Outrages? Such there will be, Saevit que animis ignobile vulgus. An hundred impoſſible Diſſiculties may be added to theſe, and he that can rowl them up all into Sence, deſerves the Philoſopher's Stone for his Labour. To divert the vulgar fort from meddling with things improper to, and ſo much above them, Budaeus remembers me how to call them to ſuch a Choice, as is fitter for them, lib. 1. de Aſ. In Pervigilio Epiphamae regnum ad ſeſquiboram luſu ſabae ſortiuntur. Let them chuſe the King of the Bean on Twelſth-night, and be merry with the Cake-bread.

189. The beſt of Kings had ſome that fell off from him, after the fuſt and ſecond year of the War, when they ſaw his Enemies had got ground in ſome Skirmiſhes and Sieges, and were poſſeſt of the beſt part of his Navies, ſurrendred to them by a falſe Faitour. This was a colour for their Rhetoricians to impute Righteouſneſs to the fortunate Part. And their Orders for Thankſgivings boaſt of it, that God did own their Cauſe, becauſe of the Victories which had beſall'n them. But Wiſdom dreſſeth her ſelf by her own Light, and minds not the ſhadow of Succeſs: for after the firſt dark Cloud that comes, it can be ſeen no more. It is not ſtrange that Self-lovers are ſo wary, and raſh Springolds ſo ſond, to like that which is moſt lucky. Thucyd. l. 1. notes it upon the variable turnings of the Peloponneſian Wars, foreign, Men cannot leave, but they will bend their Fancies to the Caſualties of Events. Nay, ſays Matth. de Prin. c. 25. There is no living for us without that Tropical Humour: Si tempora mutant ur, ſtatim perit, qui in agendo rationem non mutat. But all ſuch Errours ſhall be reverſed, and the miſtakes conſuted, before a Tribunal Eternal, Impartial, which will deceive none. Go not about then to try right and wrong, as they are bandied among us. No man knows either Love or Hatred by all that is before them. All things come alike to all. There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked, Eccleſ. 9.2. If you Judge the merit of a Cauſe, or the integrity of a Man by proſperous Chance, Epicurus will have a ſtrong p. 203tentation to ſay, Is there a God, whoſe wiſdom ſees and governs all things? Dionyſius, when he had rob'd a Temple, and failed away merrily with his Booties ſcoſt at it, Videt is amici quàm bona à Diis immortalibus navigatio ſacrilegis datur. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 3. Such a Scandal another of the voluptuary Sect took at a Courtezan, that had forſworn her ſelf, and look't more amiably after it.

—Obligaſti

Perfidum diris caput, eniteſcis

Pulchrior multo, juvenumque prodis

Publica cura.

Horat. Od. l. 4.

We, that are bred under holy Diſcipline, know that it will be the worſe for thee hereafter; for their Torments will appear more bitter in the next World, becauſe they felt nothing but pleaſure in this. The ways of God are paſt finding out; He permits that Evil which he hates, and he Corrects that Good which he loves. This is the Trial of Faith; Quicquid imponitur molit. All that is brought to her Mill, ſhe will grind it into fine ſlour of Thankſgiving and Patience: and is afſured, That as a Ball mounts higher, when it is thrown to the ground, ſo a good Cauſe when it is beaten will rebound higher to Heaven. Otherwiſe, ſays Manilius l. 5. Si ſorte acceſſerit impetus auſis, Improbitas fiet virtus. If Sin get the better at hand-blows, Vertue ſhall hold up its hand at the Bar, and be condemned for Vice Joſhuah's diſcomfit at Ai, Joſiah's at Megiddo, the hundred Victories that the Saracens have had againſt the Chriſtians tell us, how they that ſight the Lord's Battels, are not priviledged from turning their Backs to their Enemies. It is an acute paſſage of S. Ambroſe in an Epiſtle to Valentinian, That the Heathen had no reaſon to beaſt that the Idols, whom they worſhipt, were true Gods, and gave them …icleries: for if the Romans prevailed, where were the Carthaginian Gods to help them? if the Carthaginians triumpht, where were the Roman Gods, when they were beaten? Succeſs will neither ſerve Chriſtians nor Heathen to make a competent Judge for the lawfulneſs of their War: For is it not moſt impious to prove a Cauſe, not till after the Victory? and to have no Inducement that they ſought for the right, till all was done? Experience is ſtronger than twenty Reaſons againſt it. As Paterculus ſaid of one good man, Luſius Druſus, Meliore in omma ingenio, quàm fortuná uſus; ſo let there be thouſands of ſuch in a body, their Innocency may be greater than their Fortune. The fallacy of Succeſs is to be exploded out of the Morals of Juſtice: neither can ſuch a contingent Medium produce a demonſtrative Concluſion. It was bravely pleaded by the Rhodians in an Oration before the Roman Senate, Liv. lib. 35. You Romans were wont to account your Wars proſperous, Non tam exitu eorum quòd vincat is, quàm principiis, quod non ſine cauſâ ſuſcipiat is. I may ſay, hic rhodus, hic ſaltas. And this is ſapience, to liſt them, who admire Succeſs, among thoſe whom Fortune favours.

190. Neither were the vain-glorious content to pride it upon Succeſs, and to ſtamp it upon their Money, God with us, but ſharpned their preſumption againſt the King's Friends with Inſultations and Revilings, that they were unregenerate, ſuch as walked after the fleſh, forſaken of God, and appointed to ſlaughter. Bitter, untrue, uncharitable. Such as knew not his Majeſty's faithful Soldiers, thought vilely of them: ſuch as faw their daily diligence at Common-Prayer, their ſidelity for their Lord and King, their preparation for death, their adventuring their Eſtates and Bodies in all hard Service without pay, nay without neceſſary Subſiſtence, did deſervedly magniſie the Grace of God that was in them. Yet we do not juſtifie all. Some ſcores of them might have been ſpared, who were driven into the King's Quarters, by the Oppreſſion of the Parliament, and came to ſave themſelves, more than to defend the King: and it was a common obſervation at Oxford, that, excepting the great Counſellors and the Clergy, they that ſought leaſt liv'd worſt. Yet the looſeſt of theſe kept their Oath of Allegiance, which comes nearer to a Saint, than any Rebel of a good outſide,

—Qui neſciret in armis

Quam magnum crimen virtus civilibus eſſet.

Luc. l. 6.

p. 204But did they never read of an holy Commander, forced to take Arms in a good Cauſe, and guarded from his Enemies by Perſons of an homely Character? David is the Captain, the Heir to the Crown of Iſrael and Judah by God's Election; his Cauſe, to eſcape the Tyranny of Saul, not to bid him War. And what were his Soldiers? 1 Sam. 22.2. Every one that was in diſtreſs, diſcontented, in debt, of a bitter ſoul, gathered themſelves to David, and he became a Captain over them. There were ſins very reproveable in either of our adverſe Armies: put them thus into a compariſon. Which did moſt offend God, Noah's planting a Vine, and being drunk, or the building of the Tower of Babel? The Caſuiſts have an Anſwer at their fingers ends, That drunkenneſs corrupted the world, but ambition confounded it. And is not confuſion of a whole Realm more pernicious than corruption in a part? But how willingly did the ſober Army allow, cheriſh and make wealthy their Chaplain Peters? Is there ſuch another ſpotted Leopard in all the King's Quarters? as Catulus ſaid of Nonius, What a deal of dung doth that Cart carry? Have they no better excuſe for themſelves, than a pandanni Plauti trinum: Sceleſt us eſt, at mihi infidelis non eſt? or than Xenoph. makes for the Athenians in his Oration upon their Republick, foreign. The Athenians (a baſeneſs in them) loved thoſe that were fit and uſeful for them, though they were wicked men. Yet it was not the Riot of the King's Army that cauſed it to be improſperous: that was reported, where nothing was examin'd and weighed, but out of ſpight believed as it was rumor'd. It was partly neglect of Duties for want of pay. But chiefly Preſumption, that their cauſe was clearly loyal and lawful; that the name of the King was more than thirty thouſand: that the Subjects of England did never ſuffer the Crown in fine to be oppreſt: that they would fight for it, though it hung upon an Heythorn-Hedge. They forgot that the Engliſh were new caſt, and turn'd into another People, by ſcottiſh ſawcineſs and contempt of Soveraignty. This Preſumption kept the King's Forces ſleeping, when their Enemies were waking: and what is Preſumption but Hope run out of its Wits? The Rebels were well paid, well provided of all Ammunition, mightily courted by their Chieſtains, as Tertullian could ſay, de Praeſ. c. 41. Nunquam … proficitur quàm in caſtris rebellium, ubi ipſum eſſe illic promereri eſt. Again, none are ſo adventurous, as they that dare not be Cowards for fear of hanging. The Law was behind the Parliamentarians; ſight, or hang. Deſpair will inſpire a faint heart, as a skilful Author notes it, Vegetius l. 3. Clauſis in deſperatione creſcit audacia: & cum ſpei nihil eſt ſumit arma formido. Theſe are the Difficulties through which the King was to paſs, and could not; which is no diſhonour to his Goodneſs or Wiſdom. foreign. Plut. No man need to be aſhamed that he cannot do all things. And never wonder if the Counſels of men, well contrived, be fruſtrated by the ſecret Counſels of God, which an Ethnick expreſſeth in the ſtyle of his Religion, Deſtinata ſalubriter omni ratione potentior fortuna diſcuſſit, Curt. l. 3. To clear up this more: would they, that ſo much adore their Idol Succeſs, would they have confeſt from their heart their own Cauſe to be wrong, if the King had beaten them? I believe the God of this World hath darkned them ſo much, that ſuch a Confeſſion cannot be gotten out of them. The Weavers of Kidderminſter muſt not be brought to ſuch a ſight of their ſin, that is, they muſt never repent, if they be true Diſciples of Mr. Baxter's Doctrine. The beſt of Orators was the greateſt of Diſſemblers, in his Plea for Ligarius before Caeſar. Tully had been a violent Pompeian, but the whole Empire, after the Pharſalian Field, being turn'd Caeſarean, ſays the fine-ſpoken man, Nunc certè melior ea cauſa judicanda eſt, quam etiam Dii adjuverunt. Yet ſo much diſſonancy there was between his Tongue and his Heart, that he triumpht in the murder of Caeſar, the only Roman that exceeded all their Race in nobleneſs, and was next to Tully in eloquence. Boaſt not therefore in Succeſs, which is an advantage to make Inſidels proud: but the abſtruſe ways of God's Providence, which ſetteth up one, and pulleth down another, as he pleaſeth, ſhould make us Chriſtians humble.

191. For all this, if the wiſe men of Goat-ham will appeal to Succeſs, to Succeſs let the matter be referr'd, and then every eye may ſee what was the Summum bonum, the chief aim and drift of the rebellious Enterpriſe, Wealth and Spoil. So general is S. Paul's Rule, That covetouſneſs is the root of all evil. England was never more wealthy than when this War broke out. In fourteen years, now ſpent, the great ebb of Coin, and decay of Trade is a deep wound p. 205in the State. There was Employment to get a living for all that were induſtrious: Cup-boards were full of maſſy Plate: all Pay was in Gold, if it were to buy the Ware but of a Pedlar. All this is ſunk, vaniſht, conſum'd.

Sanctarum digeſtas opum, partaeque per omnes

Divitiae populos, magnique impendia mundi.

Statius.

Armies maintain'd eaſt, weſt, north, and ſouth have waſted it, which do not ſhear, but ſlay the miſerable People. Our Shields of Gold are converted into Braſs, as when Shiſack rob'd Jeruſalem and the Temple, 1 Kings 14.27. Brigades, and Garriſons of Beggars, are become the ſufficient Men, that can lend hundreds and thouſands. Here's right Quin. Varus in Paterc. Syriam pauper ingreſſus, invenit divitem; dives pauperem reliquit. Treaſurers of the Army, Exciſe-men, Collectors of Taxes, Victuallers of the Navy, Committee-men, with their Scribes, Officers of all forts, abundance of decayed Fortunes, nay Scoundrels, not worth a Groat before, are ſwell'd into vaſt Eſtates, progging and prowling every way in purveyance for themſelves. Will not theſe chooſe War rather than Peace againſt Foe or Friend? For the Wheel will run eaſily into any miſchief, when it is well greaſed. Who are they, ſays Polybius, that prefer a Soldiers life before any? Lib. 6. foreign. They that loved to eat upon other mens coſt, and to live upon their Countrymen. So ſenſible are all men of this fatal and general empoveriſhing, becauſe we are ſo far from having the wound healed, that the Arrow is not pluckt out, but ſticks ſtill in our ſide. To bring but part of their Rapines to an audit, the Members of Parliament voted all rich Offices to themſelves, which the Licinian and Aebutian Law among the old Romans would not have ſuffered, Ne quis Senator commodum ſibi & ſuis acquireret ex lege quam ferendam rogaret. But theſe Members gave vaſt Sums, Offices, Forfeitures of Delinquents Lands and Goods one to another: like Brutus and Caſſius, that committed an horrid act to make their Republick free, and then invaded Provinces to themſelves, without the privity of the Government, and took up all Moneys by their own power, which the Queſtors had gathered for the aerarium. And it will never be better, when freedom is driven on in a popular uproar. Now leſt themſelves in the Houſe, the Red-coats in the Field, or their Intelligencers abroad, ſhould want pay, they voted fifty Subſidies at one chop upon the City of London; impoſed a fifth and twentieth part upon all Lands and Moveables: gathered ninety thouſand pounds a month upon the Subſtance of all the Subjects: then, beſide Cuſtoms, ſuperinducted Exciſe upon divers Wares, which hath raiſed the prices of all things, never to be brought down: alas theſe are but flea-bits to the exaction of anipmoney. Inteſtine War is a Market that will grow dearer and dearer, as I will tranſcribe an Example for it out of Meurſius, Fortu. Atti. p. 55. Bellum Peloponneſiacum quo diutiùs duravit, eo majora vectigalia impoſita ſunt bello, ſub Ariſtide moderata: magna ſub Pericle: majora ſub Alcibiade: aucta ſunt ſub Lycurgo: ſub Demetrio admodum crevere. Yet for every Peny of theirs, our Tyrants impos'd a pound; it is beyond the reckoning of Sums and Ciphers: for theſe godly Patriots, upon a miſtake of Conſcience at the worſt, muſt have all the Cavaliers Eſtates, all the Kings and Churches Revenues, pay no Debts, no Tythes, no Lords Rents, no Copy-holds: War was their gains, and the Box ſwept in all. Every one that would be innocent, and live by the known Laws, was devoured. In the ſad words of Salvian, Eo res devoluta eſt, ut, niſi quis malus ſit, ſalvus eſſe non poſſit. Many that loathed the Rebellion in their hearts, liſted themſelves into it, being before reduced to beggery. foreign, Diodor. l. 18. p. 594. who adventur'd to die every day, that they might live. They were loſt, unleſs they could ſave themſelves in the publick Ruin. Sed it a ſe res habet, ut publicâ quiſque ruinâ malit occidere, quàm ſua proteri, Paterc. lib. 2. Deſperate men had rather be undone in the Kingdoms ruin, than in their private Fortune. Some Noddies thought that a general Innovation would ſet them higher than they were. Very ſententiouſly the great Livy, lib. Omni praeſenti ſtatu ſpes cuique res ſuas novandi eſt blandior. Collect all into this miſery; when every man may reap the Field that will, though he never ſowed, what will become of the Harveſt?

192. No wonder now if a right noble and harmleſs King was beaten, with all his Part, out of his ſtrong holds; for his Enemies were hired unto it with as much pay and ſpoil, being well husbanded, as would have beaten the Turk out p. 206of Europe. The plunder and pillage that was made of private perſons, would have payed twenty thouſand men for five years. In conjunction with them, or out of conjunction; round or rattle, if he were rich he muſt be a booty, or a compounder. There was but one thing that eſcap't their Claws, which Plutarch hath exempted in the Life of Demetrius, foreign, War will plunder no man of his Vertue, it is a Commodity (now grown an Incommodity) not regarded. Every thing elſe muſt pay tribute to the Sword. Videbitis oppida in quibus nibil aliud eſt, quam cadavera quae lacerantur, & corvi qui lacerant, as Petromus of the like times, every one was a Raven, or a Carkaſs. Or much like the riffling of Ptolemais in Aegypt, by the woful experience of Syneſius, foreign it was a night scuffle, no diſtinction could be made between friends and foes: which made ſome of the faction attrite, if not contrite, and ſing their sorrows to a pitiful tune, that they did ever concur to give the power to ſuch perfidious uſurpers. o planetblaſted wits, to think their cargo could be preſerved in the ſhipwrack of the whole kingdom! In vaſtitate omnium tuas poſſeſſiones ſacroſanctas futuras putas? as Tully told Catiline to his face. In this havock and torrent of Spoil, none ſmarted more than the Clergy, and their Patrimony. Their perſons were laid faſt in Priſon: their Churches were unrooſt and deſaced. An abomination which the Switzers will not commit in their Wars. You may believe their Hiſtorian, Semler lib. 2. Perpetua lex eſt, jam olim à noſtris ſancita, ut in omni bello nulla vis & injurta ſacris locis inferatur. But what do we talk of Law? Vis colitur, juriſque locum ſioi vendicat cnſis, Sil. l. 2. What Law is there to recover the Plate and Ornaments torn away from the Cathedrals? No Law can reſtore the Biſhops Palaces crazed, to turn all the Fabricks into Coin. Four hundred years will not reſtore their Woods and Timber-Trees ſo well preſerv'd, now not the Prelates, but the Kingdoms damage. What haſte they made to rid theſe things out of the way, and to purſe up all, and to barter preſently with their Cuſtomers the Jews? for fear was upon them, leſt what remained ſhould return to the right Owners. For no time, not an Age can croſs us in our juſt Claim hereafter. Praeſcribere volentibus mala fides in aeternum obſtat: a Maxim of Law in Dr. Duck's Book, p. 21. Long before him, and in plainer words, the Oratour in his beſt piece Phil. 2. ſpeaking of, and praiſing King Deiotarus, Scivit homo ſapiens jus ſemper hoc fuiſſe, ut, quae tyranni eripuiſſent, tyrannis ſublatis, ii, quibus ea erepta eſſent recuperarent. God hath a Cyrus in ſtore, we hope, to pluck away again, that which was dedicated to him, from prophane Belſhazzars. When the Phocians had ſpoiled the Temple of Delos, the Grecks were ſo offended at that Sacriledge, that they all reſolved in their Pan-hellenium, Quod totius orbis viribus expiari debet, Lib. 8. Juſtin. And when thoſe Phocians were routed in a bloody Battel, and ask't leave to bury their dead, the Locrians anſwer'd them, foreign, Diod. lib. 16. p. 427. That it was the Common Law of Greece, to caſt away the Carkaſſes of the Sacrilegious, and not to allow them Burial. Some of our Thieves, who rob'd God, are interr'd in Peace, ſome of them among Princes and Nobles: yet they and theirs cannot eſcape the Curſe of an hundred Anathema's darted againſt them. Now it is diſcernable that the Parliament, and ſuch as they raiſed to maintain their Cauſe, got an Eaſt and Weſt-Indies out of the Clergy and Laiety, pulling a few Locks away at firſt, at laſt the Fleece of all the Flock: like Graecian Toſs-pots, that begin with ſmall Cups, and quaff off great ones when they are drunk. Some little remains, to be put to this, nay no little, but more than a thouſand and a thouſand drams of Gold, to be caſt into the Heap of their Gains, wherein they ſuck't the Blood of the Rich, and quite ſtarved them, who were poor already, I mean they and their Horſes lying upon the Charge of the Country; Vetelliani per omnia Italiae municipia deſides, & tantum hoſpitibus met uendi, Tacit. lib. hiſt. 3. like to like, as the Devil to the Collier: they were our foreign, as Caſaubon puts it into one word upon Theophraſtus; we call it Free-quarter. What a grief to be made ſervile to provide for ſuch Gueſts, when the Family knew it was Judas that dip't his hand with them in the Diſh? What an Expence it was to bring out all their Stores laid up for a year, and to waſte it in a week ſometimes, upon an hundred of their Orgoglioes? It is an Arabian Proverb, If thy Friend be Honey, eat him not up all: But theſe Horſe-leaches ſeldom, leſt an Houſe, till they had threſht the Barn Empty, and drunk the Cellar dry;

p. 207And had their mouth been a little widder,

They would have devoured bidder and ſhidder;

ſays Spencer in his Calendar. There are greater wrongs to be complained of than this, yet none more vexatious: and he that is unlucky to be made an Hoſt to lodge ſuch Gueſts at Free-quarter, let him ſet up a Croſs for his Sign-poſt. Now if the Reader carry in memory, that Parliament Priviledges, Religion, Liberty, the Peoples innate Power, and the like, were the Colour and Pretence to take up Arms againſt the King, but the thing intended was Sacriledge, goodly Lands, Spoils of all forts, a Maſs of Riches; will he not excuſe an honeſt Vicar of Hampſhire, who changed one word in the laſt Verſe of the Song, Te Deum, O Lord, in thee have I truſted, let me never be a Round-head.

193. The Condemnation of an impious, diſloyal, and ſacrilegious Rebellion hath filled up many Pages of this Book. Loqui multum non eſt nimium, ſi tamen eſt neceſſarium; which is St. Austin's by-word. As for the Dependance, it is not unartificial which the Subject deſigned in theſe Papers; for that barbarous War running on through many years of the Archbiſhop of York's life, and it being the ſaddeſt, and moſt remarkable Paſſage of the Age, it could not be leſt out from the remembrance of any Occurrences made and traverſed upon thoſe infamous Times. The Hatred and Horror of it ſtruck as deep into this Prelate's Heart, as into any mans. I do not believe that of Cicero to Torquatus, lib. 6. ep. Nihil praecipuè cuiquam eſt dolendum in eo quod accidit univerſis. A wiſe man, full of Obſervation, apt to make likely Preſages from preſent Actions upon future Miſeries, could not paſs them by with Slights and Careleſneſs, as ſome others did. Of two things for certain he was diſappointed: Three years at the moſt never paſs'd over his Head, ſince he had a good Purſe, but he expended a valuable Sum upon ſome Monumental Work of Charity. His Mind was ſtill the ſame, for all Ground is not barren that lies ſallow. But being ſtript of thoſe Revenues which ſuppeditated Oyl to the Lamp, the Light of his Spirit was eclipſed in this obſcurity to be unprofitable. Another, and no leſs Calamity was, that his Papers of long ſtudy, and much commentation, with his choice Books, were either rifled, or, it may be, burnt with Cawood Caſtle, and being eager, if not ambitious, to reſtore his Notes again by diligence, and a mighty memory, yet in the noiſe of Wars, beating up of Quarters, and ſhifting of Lodging to ſly from Danger, it was impoſſible to contrive it. Arts did never profit in the diſtractions of Wars. Chirurgery may get experience by daily ſearching into wounds. Geometry may enhaunce its skill, by crecting Bulwarks and drawing Lines for new forts of Fortifications. But all Sciences beſide will wither in the midſt of Arms, and Barbariſm will over-ſpread, till Learning recover Maintenance, Reſt, and Peace. Aptly to this Iſocra. foreign. In the concord and good management of things in Greece, the Philoſophers and their Studies would fare much the better. Yet a man need not ſay his Life is under great Adverſity for want of ſuch Acceſſions; which are but Notes of good direction in the Margent of the Book, but belong not to the Text, which the Reader cannot ſpan: whoſe Contents are the Church of Chriſt in its Doctrine, Piety, Regulation of Order kept inviolate; the King's Crown and Honour ſupported; the Laws maintain'd to us, as our Anceſtors enjoy'd them; Liberty and Property defended from wrong and violence: theſe are the Contents of the great Charter, ſo precious to the pious and political man. And all theſe Pillars, which held up our Subſiſtence, were battered by the Sons of Anak, and ready to fall. In this diſaſterous ſeaſon, who would not pity a great and aged Prelate, driven into the remoteſt corner of the Land, and leaſt deſenſible: whither he carried the Prayer of Syneſius with him, foreign, I would preſently lay down my life, and very contentedly, if I might ſee my Country the beautiful Shape of former Peace and Happineſs.

194. Phyſicians uſe to preſcribe to their Patients, when a tedious Languor hangs upon them, to remove their dwelling, and change the Air. But Pliny ſays, Longiſſima locorum mutatio eſt utiliſſima, the further removing from the Soil, where they did not mend, the more wholeſom and healing. I would it proved ſo to this Archbiſhop, who leſt Cawood-Caſtle in the North, to come to Aber-Conway in Wales. It was the magnetick attraction of the Town, wherein he was p. 208born, that drew him thither. Summas in affectu partes jure ſibi uſurpat terra quae genuit. Sidon. lib. 3. ep. 8. And a greater than he, King James called it a Salmon-like inſtinct to ſee the place of his Breeding. Spotſw. Hiſt. p. 257. He had been near fifty years from the County of Carnarvan, and the Town of Conway, unleſs by incidentary Viſits, where his Mother brought him forth. Now, by the circulation of a ſtrange Deſtiny, he is carried thither, in a Rapture, or a Whirlwind, to ſpend a few years, and to end his laſt days. An ulla eſt patria tam digna quae hanc reciperet virtutem, quam quae peperit? as Tully pleads for An. Milo. Even now it was, that every Hundred, almoſt every Tything of this Kingdom did need ſome wiſe and couragious Man to defend it. And who could better ſettle the diſtracted People of Wales than this perſon? and who did better deſerve his help, than his own Fleſh and Blood? He came not ſo much for Refuge, as to be a Refuge to thoſe true-hearted Mountaineers, his Kindred and Allies. He is well, who is the better for others: but he is happy, for whom others are the better. And they might give God thanks, that their Chief was come among them. Their Fault is, that there are many emulations (another would call them Factions) between the tops of their Families, who would never have been brought into one Body, to do the King Service, unleſs ſuch a Man had interpoſed, who could wind in ſome with Patience and Bounty, and ſcatter others with Authority. Nothing liker to him than Pompo. Atticus in AEmilius Probus, Ita Athenis ſe gerebat, ut communis inſimis, par principibus haberetur. Though indeed it was not common Love, but common Fear, that drew thoſe Counties into Confederation: ſo true it is, what Philoſtratus hath in Proteſilao, The communion of good things, as Plenty and Peace, often breed heart-burnings and envy: but when men ſhare in Miſeries, they begin to love one another, recompenſing Compaſſion for Compaſſion. It behoved him that was a wiſe Man, and potent in thoſe remote places to watch two Evils, among them that cried up the King's Cauſe, Treachery among falſe Friends, and Diſagreement among true ones, but ſuch as had rather periſh than be ruled. The Archbiſhop had as good a ſcent as any Vulture, to ſmell them out, who held Intelligence with the Enemy, of whom he ſecured a few, and the reſt fled far enough out of guiltineſs. To ſtop the other Inconvenience, beſides the general Love born to him, and his great Alliances, he found it beſt to appear in the ſtrength of a ſtrong hold, with ſuch Men and Arms, as might incline the whole Body to obey his Counſels. For they that are beſet with danger, had better go one way in concord, then ran many ways, though they were better, with croſsneſs and diſcord. Which they might learn from thoſe that were diſciplin'd by the Parliament, nay from the Devils. Eſt quaedam concordia inter daemones, non ex amicitiá, ſed ex nequitiâ proveniens, as the School-men diſtinguiſh it. Moreover, this Prelate, well ſeen in all good things, inured all North-Wales round about to Piety, to brotherly Love, to Temperance, as well as to be fit to uſe their Arms. He bid that frequent Prayers ſhould be had in all Churches, with Faſting. Put the Miniſters to preach weekly, and none more often in the Pulpit than himſelf: invited well-prepared Chriſtians many times to partake of the Lord's Supper, the beſt Ordinance of the Goſpel, and little uſed there by moſt culpable negligence. This was the courſe he rook: foreign. Aeſchyl. in Perſis. Wiſdom did turn the Rudder of his Projects. And this was the way to bring down God among them. Si vis tuto vivere, benè vive: nihil virtute ſecurius; it is in a Dialogue of Petrarchs. And none could be more active in any place, that owned the King's Authority, than he was there, in providing Powder and Ammunition, in ſorting good Commanders, in fortifying Conway Caſtle, and ſuch like, to his Majeſty's high content, and his deſerved praiſe, as will come on in the ſequel. So much did Wales gain by that which Yorkſhire loſt. As Tully ſolaced himſelf in his baniſhment, Lib. 3. Ep. Duas res quibus me ſuſtineam habeo, optimarum rerum ſcientiam, & maximarum rerum gloriam: ſo he that was driven by the evil Spirit of the Hothams into this Wilderneſs, had theſe Companions to travel with him, great Piety, great Learning, and great Glory.

195. Being entred into the care of ſo great a Province he wearied himſelf, and all that aſſiſted in the Service with indefatigable diligence. His own ſhare in collecting Moneys, gathering Forces, repairing the Caſtle, caſting up Works, writing, ſending, conſulting, woing, and entreating, was his as much as the burden of all the Agitants beſides. In which aſſiduity of watching, and an hundred vexations, his ſtrength and healthful vigour, well maintained to that p. 209time, began to fail, and from that year came forward no more. foreign, Chryſoſt. lib. 2. de Sacerd. Continual cares, ſays he, will pull down the ſpirit; the body much more. The male-contents at London heard of it quickly, how buſie he was in arraying the Welch Militia, although no Biſhop belide would run ſuch hazard, but all fell quietly to their Prayers. Hereupon they that acted for the Parliament did him the worſt deſpight they could, libelling, be riming him, ſetting him in out in Picture covered with a Helmet, Muſquet on his Shoulder, Sword and Bandaliers about him. A trick which they had learnt of their Goſſips the Low-Dutch, who traduce the greateſt Kings in Europe in ſuch paltry Tables, with their Mechanick Scurrility: foreign: Baubles to be laught at for the folly, and to be lamented for the bitterneſs. The worſt was, that there were many claſhes at Conway, and in the contines of it among themſelves. The raw Soldiers now come into muſter and pay, were malapart, and crowed over their own Friends, that had not the honour, as they call'd it, to ſerve on Horſe, or to trail a Pike. They had not gotten John Baptiſt's Leſſon by heart, Luke 3.14. To do no violence, to put no man in fear, to be content with their allowance. In ſome things 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, quàm 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 Cava…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 O…icers o…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.

p. 210From 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 heart…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 NephewGryffith 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 belovedJohn Archbiſhop of York, makes his abode in the remoteſt parts ofNorth-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, andMerioneth, 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.

p. 211Another 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 Service and Affairs. And in that reſpect, as well as your common intereſt and duty, we command your ſuitable compliance; which we aſſure you ſhall be looked upon by us, as a freſh acceptable Teſtimony of your Affections to Us, and our Cauſe, and preſerved in our Royal remembrance, with the reſt of your Merits, againſt the time, when it may pleaſe God to enable Us to reflect thereon for your good.

Thus far his Majeſty, to make way for the Lord Byron, a gallant Perſon, a great Wit, a Scholar, very Stout, full of Honour and Courteſie, yet favour'd the Engliſh Intereſt above the Welſh in thoſe Counties, which did not take. And the Dye of War run ſo falſe, that he loſt the Caſt to one, who had not the Ames-Ace of Valour in him. Neither did the ſcatter'd Forces of thoſe diſtreſſed Parts ever ſet them another Stake. Prince Rupert, obſerving the Royal Directions, wrote largely, as followeth, May 16. 1644.

To all Governours, and Officers, to all Sheriffs, Commiſſioners of the Array, or Peace, all Vice-Admirals, or Captains of Ships in the three Counties.

WHereas I underſtand by his Majeſty's Letters unto me lately directed, that the moſt Reverend Father in God, John Lord Archbiſhop of York, by reaſon of his great Experience and Imployments in the Affairs of this Kingdom, as well under my Grandfather of famous memory, as under his Majeſty that now is, hath been intruſted in the three Counties, &c. from the firſt beginning of theſe Troubles, and gives his beſt Advice in Matters of Importance, which have relation to the King's Service, and the Peace, and ſafe keeping of thoſe Counties from all Invaſions by Sea or Land: And that he hath diſcharged that Truſt repoſed in him, faithfully and ſucceſsfully during the time of his abode in thoſe parts; My will and pleaſure is, That according to his Majeſty's intimation to me, you, and every one of you, in all matters of importance and moment, touching or concerning his Majeſty's, or my Service under his Majeſty, in thoſe Counties, as alſo in all Matters of Queſtions, Doubts, and Variances, which may fall out either among your ſelves, or between your ſelves and the ſeveral Counties wherein you govern, or command, ſhall from time to come conſult and adviſe with the ſaid moſt Reverend Father in God, and follow ſuch his Advices and Counſels in the Premiſſes, which ſhall be grounded upon the Laws of the Land, or the preſſing Neceſſities of theſe times, and agreeing with our Directions and future Inſtructions from time to time.

RUPERT.

Nothing was wanting of Royal and Princely care to preſerve the Archbiſhop in Conway-Caſtle; yet all would not ſerve. There was none whom Envy did more ſtrive to hold down upon all occaſions, which his great Deſervings brought upon him. So true is that of Syneſius de provid. foreign: Vertue doth not quench Envy, but rather kindle it. One violent Perſon unframed all good Order, who would ſubmit to no Authority: a hot Man, for he was ever dry: and he did not conceal it, for he was always drinking.

p. 212198. That Affront waited more leiſure to break forth, and ſuffered him to take a long and a tedious Journey in Winter to Oxford, in obedience to theſe Lines, which he received from his Majeſty Decemb. 16. 1644.

CHARLES R.

WE having had frequent experience of your good Affection and Ability to ſerve us, and having occaſion at this time to make uſe of them here, We have thought fit, and do by theſe Preſents require you to repair hither to Us to Oxon, with all convenient expedition. Deſiring you to come as throughly informed, as you can, of the true condition of Our Affairs, &c.

Preſently he ſet forward, (though the ways were much beſet) and came in January with the firſt to the King, for he had many things to repreſent, and was not in his Element when he was conſined in private Walls. He took up his Lodging with the Provoſt of Queens-Colledge Dr. Chriſtopher Potter, a Maſter in Divinity, and a Doctor of Piety. He was received in the Court with much Grace, where he ſaw his ſtay muſt be ſhort. For that City could not long receive ſo many Nobles and Gentry, as came to make a Seſſion of Parliament: neither could ſo many of the King's principal Friends be ſpared from their Countries. Being then a good Husband of his time, and having private Audience with his Majeſty, he gave him that Counſel to which Wiſdom and Allegiance led him; as Thraſeas Paetus, the famous Senator ſaid, Suum eſſe non aliam quàm optimam ſententiam dicere. One paſſage is fit to ſee the light, which had much of prudence in it, and too much of propheſie. He deſir'd his Majeſty to be informed by him, and to keep it among Advices of weight, That Cromwel, taken into the Rebels Army by his Couſin Hambden, was the moſt dangerous Enemy that his Majeſty had. For though he were at that time of mean rank and uſe among them, yet he would climb higher. I knew him, ſays he, at Bugden, but never knew his Religion. He was a common Spokes-man for Sectaries, and maintained their part with ſtubbornneſs: He never diſcourſed as if he were pleaſed with your Majeſty, and your great Officers: indeed he loves none that are more than his Equals. Your Majeſty did him but Juſtice in repulſing a Petition put up by him againſt Sir Thomas Steward of the Iſle of Ely; but he takes them all for his Enemies, that would not let him undo his beſt Friend: and above all that live, I think he is Injuriarum perſequentiſſimus, as Porcius Latro ſaid of Catiline. He talks openly that it is ſit ſome ſhould act more vigorouſly againſt your Forces, and bring your Perſon into the power of the Parliament. He cannot give a good word of his General the Earl of Eſſex, becauſe he ſays the Earl is but half an Enemy to your Majeſty, and hath done you more favour than harm. His Fortunes are broken, that it is impoſſible for him to ſubſiſt, much leſs to be what be aſpires to, but by your Majeſty's Bounty, or by the Ruin of us all, and a common Confuſion, as one ſaid, Lentulus ſalvâ Repub. ſalvus eſſe non potuit, Paterc. In ſhort, every Beaſt hath ſome evil properties; but Cromwel hath the properties of all evil Beaſts. My humble motion is, that either you would win him to you by the Promiſes of fair Treatment, or catch him by ſome ſtratagem, and cut him ſhort. Now if it ſhall be objected, Who reports this ſaving the Archbiſhop himſelf, to magnifie his own parts, that he was ſo excellent in fore-ſight, and as Ajax ſlighted his Rival,

—Sua narret Ulyſſes

—Quae ſine teſte gerit,

I ſatisfie it thus: His Servants, and they that daily liſtned to his Diſcourſes, have heard it come from him, long before the accident of ſaddeſt experience, how ſome of them would live to ſee, when Cromwel would bear down all other Powers before him, and ſet up himſelf. The King received it with a ſmile; and ſaid nothing. Darius deſtinatus ſorti ſuae, etiam nullius ſalubris conſilii patiens. Yet that Darius was the beſt of all the Perſian Kings from Cyrus, and for want of heed to the beſt Counſels loſt all. Our King was wiſe among wiſe men of the firſt magnitude: full of conſtant and great Vertues, all of them Pearls of a clear water, but had not the luck to hit the right, when he came to particulars. Yet I have heard ſome that were about him at Oxford proteſt, that he hath ſaid in their hearing, I would ſome would do me the good Service to bring Cromwel to me alive or dead. All good Subjects were bigg with that wiſh, when it was too late. p. 213Curt. lib. 8. Male humanis ingeniis natura conſuluit, quod plerunque non futura, ſed tranſact a perpendimus: It is a ſore Puniſhment upon Man's Underſtanding, that the Fillar of Fire is behind it, and the cloudy Pillar before it. The Fire lets it ſee the Harm that is done, that we may repent and bewail it; but the Cloud doth darken it before, that oft-times it hath no forecaſt to prevent it. Which is all one, as if a Knife ſhould cut better with the Back than with the Edge.

199. Much Prayer and Faſting were indicted and obſerv'd at this time in Oxford: A mighty Expectation was raiſed, what the Parliament would bring forth, which opened there. But what Parliament ſhall we call it? The ſame that was ſummon'd to meet at Weſtminſter, Nov. 3. 1640? The ſame: For they were the Members of them two Houſes neither called by new Writs, or new choſen, but the beſt of the old Stock, ſummon'd hither by the King, to take to themſelves their Right to be the High Court of Parliament: But the Parliament continued ſtill at Weſtminſter, and can one Body be in two places? Habent hoc publicae neceſſitates, ut impoſſibilia plerum que perſuadeant, Quintil. lib. 6. c. 3. This was a Knot not eaſily to be unty'd, but a Scruple to diſtract the beſt Gown-men that had the ſoundeſt Judgment in the Laws: Nothing but high Neceſſity could reſolve the Riddle, ſuch a Neceſſity as could find no other way to ſave the King and his Kingdoms: That Neceſſity compelled to ſtride over the ſeeming Abſurdity, to have one politick Body (not one natural) in two places. They that ſate at Weſtminſter were a Parliament by the force of an unhappy Statute paſs'd to them two years before: They that ſate at Oxford were the ſame Parliament removed thither, becauſe they could not diſcharge their Truſt with their fellow-Members, nor abide in Conſcience to hear the King's Honour traduced daily; therefore the Common Safety, which they had undertaken as Members of Parliament, compelled them to ſuch a way as was without Preſident, becauſe no Subjects had ever ſo much endanger'd the Crown of the King, and the Wealpublick. New Injuries require new Remedies. And we may learn much from a Paſſage in Quintilian, lib. 7. Tot ſaeculis nullam repertam eſſe cauſam, quae ſit tota alteri ſimilis. The Members therefore of theſe two Houſes took their places in the fair Schools of the Univerſity: Sir Richard Lain, Lord-Keeper of the Great-Seal, being Speaker in the Houſe of the Lords, and Serjeant Sampſon Evers in the Houſe of Commons. An appearance there was beyond imagination, of the Peers and beſt Gentry: The words of the Oratour will ſet it out gracefully, Philip. 3. Talis Senatorum & dignitas, & multitudo fuit, ut magnâ excuſatione iis opus ſit, qui talie in caſtra non venerunt. The King was marvelouſly pleaſed with the frequency of ſo many couragious perſons, whom he knew not well how to protect, leaſt of all to reward them: As the ſame Author writes it of Tarquin driven out of Rome, lib. de amicit. Se intellexiſſe quos fidos amicos habuiſſet, quoſque inſidos, cum jam neutris gratiam referre poſſit. So the good King knew not Sheep from Goats, Loyal from rebellious, till he was neither in condition to chaſtiſe the one, or advance the other. After great Conſult in Parliament, when the beſt Oratours had been fully heard, it was unanimouſly reſolved, that this Share of Parliament ſhould ſend a Meſſage to the other Share, (with Leave obtained from their General the Earl of Eſſex) for His Majeſty's Safety, to come to London, for ſuſpenſion of Arms, to fill up the Houſe at Weſtminſter, with one Body, all Affronts on both ſides to be obliterated, and Conditions for Amity for the future, and the Publick Good to be propounded. All which was uncivilly rejected, and nothing granted, but to ſtand to the mercy of an inſolent Clutter. Of the King's Parliament (which had agreed in a moſt reaſonable Meſſage, though proudly ſcorn'd) ſome voted, in the warmth of their Courage, that the Part at Weſtminſter was an illegal and trayterous Convention. Some ſlaked the Flame with cool Arguments, That they were very bad Members, and greatly abuſed their Truſt, yet they kept their Places by the conſent of both Houſes, and the Royal Conſent had paſs'd it into an Act: That this courſe would emperil the validity of all Parliaments paſt and to come: That the Blame would fall upon the King principally, whoſe confirmation of their continuance to hold out this Seſſion was not revocable; Princeps ad contractum tenetur ut privatus, cum maximè in eo requiritur bona ſides, Duckius de Jure, p. 44. That the King's Forces were thin, ill arm'd, ill paid, and it behoved not them that were low to uſe high words: foreign, AEſchyl. They that are declin'd, muſt encline to Moderation. The reſolute Members anſwer'd, It was true, an Act of Parliament cannot be revoked, but by a Parliament. What did they make of this Body of Lords and p. 214Commons met at Oxford? They would draw a Bill, and offer it to the King, to repeal that ſtale Aſſociation. The King had ratified their Bill for continuation of a Seſſion; but a Promiſe holds not, if ſuch a Miſchief break out upon it, as the Promiſer cannot with Conſcience and Safety hold Faith with them. It is a Maxim in the moſt ancient Laws of the World, Omnia debent idem eſſe quae ſuerant cum promitterem, ut promittentis fidem teneas, Senec. de ben. lib. 4. c. 35. The Succeſs of the Enemy was not ſo proſperous as it was given out and ſeared, but were they ten times ſtronger, they would not abate them a jot of the Impeachment of Traytors. The more Violence they did uſe to ſhake off that name, the more it would cleave to them. But let the times grow worſe,

—Sors ubi peſſima rerum,

Sub pedibus timor eſt.

Metamor. lib. 15.

And our laſt Breath ſhall be in Cicero's words, Phil. 7. Dicam quod dignum eſt Senatore & homine Romano, moriamur. Death is not ſo formidable as to ſubmit to Rebels. Which of theſe two Oppoſites did argue beſt, let Solomon judge, if he were alive, in which mind I diſmiſs it; for that which outgoes my Knowledge ſhall never undergo my Cenſure. As our Engliſh People ſay, Much Cry and little Wool; theſe two Houſes produced ſmall things in the cloſe: Nothing more uncertain than what a Parliament will bring forth in the end. At the Colloquy at Ratisbon, Tanner granted, that the Pope might err in a Council, unleſs he uſed all due and ordinary means: But the Jeſuit in effect granted nothing; For, ſays he, without all doubt and queſtion he doth ever uſe thoſe means. But if a Parliament were all Popes, and made out their Conſults with the Line and Plumbet of the beſt Diligence, Obliquity would fall out, becauſe all human Light burns dim in the Lanthorn of thick miſty Paſſions. It is obſerv'd, that His Majeſty removed one Parliament to Oxon in the firſt of his Reign, this other in the nineteenth, both roſe up abruptly, and gave him ſmall content. How is it that publick Councils were improſperous in thoſe delicate Seats of Arts and Sciences? The Genius of the place is not pleaſed with thoſe Areopagites, for they are not proper Viſitors of its learned Foundations. Themiſtius hath theſe words in an Oration upon the Muſes, foreign, They all agree very well together, but the Muſes like no other company.

200. Oxford wanted not Biſhops at this time, many lodg'd in it; but they were excluded to ſit and vote as Peers in Parliament, yet their preſence ſerv'd for very good uſe. His Majeſty had preferred Dr. Frewin, the Preſident of Magdalen-College, to the Biſhoprick of Lichfield and Coventry, whom none of his Predeceſſors did exceed in Prudence, Bounty, and Advancement of learned Scholars, who was conſecrated by the Archbiſhop of York in the Chappel of his own College, and feaſted the Nobles and Clergy in a fair Room built at his own Coſt. It is not to be paſs'd over, that he left the Preſidentſhip of that College, a place of Security and Plenty, to take a Biſhoprick, when thoſe Dignities were voted out of the Church by the Diſciplinarians, and their Revenues offer'd to ſale to pay the Charges of their Army. Which was an act of as much Hope and Courage, as that Roman's in Livy, That when Rome was beſieged by Hannibal, bargain'd for, and bought that piece of Land, upon which the Carthaginians had pitch'd their Camp. To return from this little Diverſion into the great Road, When the Parliament had made a receſs, His Majeſty call'd a few able Stateſmen to him in private, among whom our Archbiſhop was one, and being the firſt in precedency, was called upon to begin, and to ſay freely what might beſt be done, to bring His Majeſty, and his faithful part, out of thoſe Troubles, which the Lords and Gentlemen, that lately undertook it, had left no better than they found them. The Archbiſhop was very backward, and made many Excuſes, deſiring to hear others, that had been more aſſiduous in thoſe great Affairs, which being not granted, he was honeſter than the Oracle of Apollo, as Euſebius objects it to the Pagans, lib. 6. Praep. Evan. c. 1. That the Oracle, much importuned in a certain caſe, and loth to give an Anſwer, burſt out into this paſſion, Retine vim iſtam: falſa enim dicam ſi coges: An Evaſion ſit for the Coueſels of the Devil. But the Archbiſhop took his mark from St. Ambroſe, Ep. 29. to Theodoſius, Ne que eſt imperiale libertatem dicendi negare, ne que Sacerdotale quod ſentias non dicere. So he broke into the matter.

p. 215Sir, ſays he to the King, my Opinion will be ſtrange, and I fear, unwelcome: If it pleaſe not, yet do not impute it to Falſhood or Fear, but to Error and Miſtaking. Your Militia is couragious, but ſmall, not like to encreaſe, and then not to hold out. Your Enemies multiply, and by this time your Army hath taught them to fight: They are in Treaty with the Scots, to make a Recruit; and the Princes and States beyond Seas, to their ſhame, give them countenance. Their Treaſurers at Weſtminſter boaſt, that it coſts them large Moneys every month to keep Correſpondence with their Intelligencers and Spies about you. Your Souldiers in their March and Quarters are very unruly, and loſe the Peoples Affections every where, by the Oppreſſions they ſuſtain. Out of theſe Premiſes I inferr, and I engage my Life to your Majeſties Juſtice, and my Soul to God's Tribunal, that I know no better courſe than to ſtruggle no further, ſince ſo it is the Will of God, and to refer all to the pleaſure and diſcretion of that unkind and inſolent Parliament at Weſtminſter, but with the preſervation of your Majeſties Crown and Perſon, to which they have all taken an Oath to offer no Hurt or Violence, and have renewed it in many Proteſtations: As likewiſe with the Indemnity of your Adherents; for we ſave a Ship with the loſs of the Goods, not of the Paſſengers. If any thing will ſoften them, it will be this moſt pacifick and gracious Condeſcention. The Heathens ſpeak rudely, that Conſtancy in Suffering will tire out the Cruelty of the Gods; but certainly ſuch a Sufferance and Self-denial as reſigns up your Majeſties Cauſe and Truſt quite unto them, will make the worſt of them aſham'd of their pertinacy, and mel… the beſt into a ſhower of Repentance: But if your Majeſty diſdains to go ſo low, and will not put the good of the Church and Kingdom upon their Faith, to which Miſery, I fear our Sins have brought us, I am ready to run on in the common Hazard with your Majeſty, and to live and dye in your Service.

There was danger in ſo much Plain-lealing; for Xenophon, lib. 2. Hiſt. relates, that in a Caſe to this as near as can be, Archeſtratus was caſt in Priſon, for adviſing the Athenians to take ſuch Conditions of Peace, as the Lacedemonians would give them, after their great Overthrow at Aegos-potamos. Yet ſome noble perſons, at the proſecution of this Conſultation, ſtruck in with the Archbiſhop's Judgment, the moſt diſſented, the King was not pleaſed in it, and the Burden lay upon the Fore-man that began it. Says the Son of Syrach, c. 7, 5. Boaſt not of thy Wiſdom before the King. The Note of Grotius is extant upon it, Qui excellunt ſapientiâ ſuſpecti fermè regibus. But the Gallantry of the Array were quite out of patience to hear of it, their Heaven upon Earth was to ſee the day that they might ſubdue and be revenged of the Roundheads. The common Souldier, that ſubſiſted upon Pay and Plunder, had as lieve dye as loſe his Trade: Tanta dulcedo eſt ex alienis fortunis praedandi, Liv. lib. 6. Now, becauſe this was called the Archbiſhop's Judgment, though others conſented, and ſuffer'd hard words, it will be to ſome purpoſe to unfold it a little, and to defend the Innocent: For he that lives may out-wear a Diſgrace, not he that is dead: Therefore Ariſt. maintains it in his ninth Problem, that it is more juſt to do right to the Dead, than to the Living.

201. Firſt, let the magnanimous Junto be heard, who would try the hazard of War to the laſt, and had rather loſe their Heads, than put them under the Girdle of a Presbyterian Conventicle: It is enough (quoth they) to lend our Ears to a diſhonourable Advice; but ſhall we buy Peace with Diſhonour? We will never rent it for ſo much: He that fears Death, doth not enjoy his Life. It was an Ignominy in the Athenians, which they will never blow off, Juſt. lib. 5. Imminente periculo belli major ſalut is quàm dignitatis cura fuit. Faint Hearts, that in a ſore War had more reſpect to their Safety than their Dignity. We are not of Athens, but of England; and what are they under whoſe Authority we ſhould truckle? Heady, arrogant, implacable, that look upon their Speaker's Mace, as if it were the Scepter that ſway'd the whole World. Adeo eſt natura multitudinis, aut ſervit humiliter, aut impotenter dominatur, Liv. lib. 23. One of the three things that diſquiet the Earth, ſays Solomon, is an Handmaid that is Heir to her Miſtriſs, Prov. 30.23. But it will diſquiet the Earth a great deal more, to have ſuch Vaſſals exalted to be Kings, and while His Majeſty lives, to become Heirs to their Maſter. We'll not cap and kneel to them, we'll meet them on Hounſlow-health. Totidem nobis animae que manuſque, Aen. 10. We cannot believe that God will ſuffer ſuch Foes and Furies to proſper any longer; Fortune hath ſerved them, and will ſoon be weary of that Service. Nulli fortuna tam dedita eſt, ut multa tentanti ubi que reſpondeat, Senec. p. 216lib. 1. de irâ, c. 3. We are great Sinners we confeſs, yet we are obedient to the Church, loyal to the King, faithful to our Laws and Country. Non poteſt baerere in tam bonâ causâ & tam bonis civibus tam acerba injuria, Cic. Orat. pro Caecinnâ. Our fellow-Subjects in London, and moſt about in all places, have been entranced or bewitch'd; Neighbour-Princes are drowſie and ſupine, not aware that their turn will come ſhortly, if they endure a Rebellion ſo near them, and not advance to correct it. The Crown of England hath never wanted Aid in the moſt deſperate plunges. Regum afflictae fortunae multorum opem alliciunt ad miſericordiam, quod regale nomen magnum, & Sanctum eſſe videtur, Orat. pro le. Manil. But whatſoever becomes of us, God forbid the King ſhould leave himſelf to the will of the Kirk, and John Knoxe's Scholars. The Indignities they ſhew'd to his Grandmother will never be forgotten. Truſt theſe broken Reeds? Parthis fides dictis facliſque nulla, niſi ubi expedit, Juſt. lib. 21. They are lovers of their own Faction, fal…e to all the World beſide. In fine, this is a Knot not to be unlooſened with our Tongue, as if we were Boys at Blow point, but we will cut it aſunder with our Swords. This was ſtrong and rough. But to this one of the Lords of the Moderation would be like to reply, That it were pity ſuch redoubted Valour ſhould not be reſerved for Service of more likely Succeſs.

—Quantum ipſe feroci

Virtute exuperas, tantò me impenſiùs aequum eſt

Conſulere, atque omnes m…tuentem expendere caſus.

Aen. 11.

Our Sins have brought us to this dejection, to ask Quarter of them, when it was our Right to have given Mercy and Life to them, when they had beg'd it. I expect theſe will ſhew no Generoſity to their Betters upon the cloſe. Omne …l juſtum cenſent, quicquid ſuperior contra inferiorem decerneret; as Auguſtus ſaid of the Pannenians, Dion. lib. 44. The baſer their Carriage ſhall be to His Majeſty and his Friends, the worſe it will be for themſelves, for it will make their Tyranny more odious. Do you imagine, when we yield ſo far, but that we foreſee their own Pride and Demerits will in a little time caſt them out of poſſeſſion, and we are confident, ere long, all will revert into its former Channel. God ſe…geth us by them, to let the People feel the difference between the Reign of a ſweet King, and the Violence of a ſort of Mahumetan Baſhaws. As in the like caſe God ſays, 2 Chron. 12.8. Nevertheleſs they ſhall be Shiſach's ſervants, that they may know my ſervice, and the ſervice of the Kingdoms of the Countries. Gentlemen, you ſee much Hope to raiſe up the King, but where? in that Courage that is within your ſelves. I cannot ſee it abroad. Truſt not in Princes, nor in any Child of Man. The next-neighbour King, the French I mean, might and ought to aſſiſt His Majeſty by alliance of Blood; and I think I ſay not amiſs, that he is his greateſt Enemy. I remember the words of a Stranger, that writes our Hiſtory, Polyd. Virg. lib. 23. Hine colligere licet Aethiopem poſſe priùs mutare pellem, quàm qui terram incolunt Gallicam valde multum diligere Anglos. At home in our own Country the ſilly People every day fall away apace. Si labant res laſſae itidem amici collabaſeunt, Plaut. in Styc. And we our ſelves are in part guilty of it. Moſt look to govern Garriſons, and to take Contributions of the Villages to the quick, and to ſpend them laviſhly; as Diodor ſays, lib. 5. That the Dogs at Cuma leave the ſcent of the Beaſts they hunt, and ſtoop to ſmell at the Flowers of the Meadows: Therefore I ſay, before we be quite abandoned, and our Fortunes ſtoop lower, give this Sop to Cerberus, give them a Blank, and we ſhall bleed fewer ounce; of Wealth and Honour. I would I knew once the worſt that ſhall be impoſed on us: It is better to grieve for what we bear, than to fear at Uncertainty what we may bear. Doleas quantum ſcias accidiſſe, timeas quantum poteſt accidere, Plin. lib. 8. Grief is finite, but Fear is infinite. That Parliament dare not but receive the King with all outward Gratulations, they have made ſo much proteſtation to it already, and the Law of God and Nations extort it: For if the People rebel, and be tired out to ſubmit, the King is ſtill bound to keep his Oath, and to govern them by his known Laws. And if the King be wearied out in a Civil War, and let the People win the Day, the People muſt ſtill perform their ſworn Allegiance to the King. You hear my Judgment different from worthy perſons in a great caſe, foreign: It is an honourable Error to be miſtaken in ſo great a matter. Marvel not that my p. 217words appear the fruits of a low Spirit; marvel that the Anger of God hath compelled us to it. I reckon not my ſelf in the motion, but the King, his Poſterity, and his Kingdoms. Wiſdom is not the ſame thing at all times; neither is Truth always of the ſame ſtature. Hear Tully, becauſe he never ſpake better, Orat. pro Planc. Hoc de ſapientibus, & clariſſimis viris accepi, non ſemper eaſdem ſententias ab …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, foreign, 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 …oly, but at the firſt rebound. It is a Motto of great ſenſe and uſe, which Mr. Gataker cites Lib. …. Anton. foreign, 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 p. 218Subſtance. 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 quàm 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 diligence it was regiſtred among other Complaints, when he could get no more. The Inſtructions follow:

1. Upon the Ninth of May 1645. Sir J. Owen Governour of Conway, about Seven of the Clock in the Evening, before the Night-guard was ſent unto the Caſtle, the poſſeſſion whereof was placed by the King in the Archbiſhop of York, and his Aſſigns, upon great and valuable conſiderations by his gracious Letters, and under his Majeſty's Hand and Signet, bearing date at Oxford Auguſt. 1. 1643. did with bars of iron and armed men, break the Locks and Doors, and enter into the ſaid Caſtle, and ſeize upon the Place, the Victuals, Powder, Arms, and Ammunition, laid in by the ſaid Archbiſhop at his own charge, without the leaſt contribution from the King or the Country, for the defence of the place, and the Service of the King and the ſaid Country.

2. That being demanded by the ſaid Archbiſhop to ſuffer two of the ſaid Archbiſhop's men to be there with his rabble of Grooms and beggerly People, to ſee the Goods of the Country preſerv'd from filching, and the Victuals and Ammunition from waſting and purloyning, Sir John in a furious manner utterly refuſed it, though all the Company cried upon him to do ſo for his own diſcharge, yet would he not liſten to any reaſon, but promiſed the next day to ſuffer all things to be inventoried, and the Lord Archbiſhop to take away what the would, Sir John acknowledging all the Goods and Ammunition to be his.

p. 2193. The next day he receded again from all this, would not permit at the entreaty of the Biſhop of St. Aſaph, his own Couſin-German, any of the Archbiſhop's men to go and look to the Goods, nor ſuffer his ſervants to fetch forth for his Grace's uſe (who hath linger'd long under a great ſickneſs and weakneſs) either a little Wine to make him ſome Cawdles, or ſo much as a little of his own ſtale Beer to make him Poſſets, which all the Country conceive to be very barbarous.

4. The ſaid Sir John continueth rambling from place to place, and detaineth ſtill all the Goods of the Country, laid up in this Caſtle, as conceived to be owned by the Archbiſhop, who was like to be reſponſal for them; and had duly returned them in other years: and threatens to ſeize upon the Plate, and all things elſe of Value to his own uſe. Than which no Rebel or Enemy could deal more outragiouſly.

5. The Archbiſhop deſires his Majeſty would repoſſeſs him of the right of this Caſtle, according to his Majeſty's Grant made upon valuable conſideration. And that if his Majeſty's pleaſure be, that Sir Jo. Owen (or any other Man of more moderation and leſs precipitancy) ſhould be there, he come under the Archbiſhop his Aſſignment, as right requires, and as Colonel Ellis and Mr. Chichely were content to do, and did. To the which the Archbiſhop (as Colonel Ellis and Sir Will. Legg can witneſs) was ever willing to give way.

6. That howſoever, the Archbiſhop may have all his Goods and Chattels all his Cannon, Arms, Ammunition, Powder, Proviſion in Beef, Beer, Wine, Cheeſe, Butter, Oatmeal and Corn preſently reſtored to him. And what is waſted and made away, may be anſwer'd to him by Sir John: As alſo that all the Inhabitants of this and the Neighbour Countries, may have their Goods preſently out of the Caſtle, before they be pilfered and imbezeled.

7. Or otherwiſe, that his Majeſty, and Prince Rupert his Lieutenant, will graciouſly permit and ſuffer, with their gracious favour, the ſaid Archbiſhop and Inhabitants of the Country, to repair with their Complaints to the Aſſembly at Oxford, and the Committee there, againſt theſe, and many other Outrages and Concuſſions of the ſaid Sir Jo. Owen, under colour of being Governour and Sheriff of this Town, not warranted by any of his Commiſſions.

Every Line of this Remonſtrance is juſt, humble, pathetical, yet came to nothing. The time was protracted from week to week, and at laſt an Anſwer, like to a Denial, is given to Capt. Martin, That it ſhould be conſider'd at more leiſure. One Hector, a phraſe at that time for a daring Ruſſian, had the ear of great ones ſooner than five ſtrict men, that ſerved the King unblameably before God and all his People. But when the Meſſenger return'd to Wales, and brought not the leaſt ſatisfaction, not a complemental Excuſe to pacifie the Archbiſhop, he ſaid nothing, leſt he ſhould have ſaid too much: But as Livy notes upon Fabius the Conſul, when Papirius Curſor was made Dictator over his head, Apparuit inſignem dolorem ingenti animo comprimi: A great Spirit was chaſed with a great Indignity.

204. Fifteen Months were run out after the Archbiſhop received this baffle to be poſtponed to Sir J. Owen (the time is truly digited) and a year of darkneſs and gloomineſs came upon this miſerable Land. Nasby Fight was ſtruck, the Lord Jacob Aſtly defeated, the Weſtern ſtrong Holds reduced to Fairfax, Cheſter ſurrendred, Oxford it ſelf begirt; as Mindarus wrote to Sparta in his ſhort Country Language, foreign, all that was good was undone. Cheſter being poſſeſt by Col. Milton, the Door into North-Wales, he, full of Animoſity againſt the Royal Cauſe, marcheth over Dee, through Flint and Denbyſhires, unto the Town of Conway, where the Conawians would as ſoon fight for a May-poll, as for Sir J. Owen. The amazed People turn to the Archbiſhop, look upon his ſtrong wiſdom and grey hairs to ſtop the cruelty of the Conquerour, and to lighten the yoke of their Miſery. And an aged Counſeller is a Soveraign help at ſuch a pinch. foreign, Plut. foreign. Long time of Life, which robs us of all things elſe, pays us the Principal again with Uſe in Knowledge and Wiſdom. The Archbiſhop's Grace calls ſome few to Counſel with him, who agree to parly with Milton (one that underſtood his own ſtrength, and their weakneſs). The Welſh made ſome high Demands, which were not heard patiently. They perceived Milton's mind was at the Caſtle, where the Archbiſhop's Wealth, and of divers far and near was depoſited, which was ready to come every jot into the Colonels power; whom they perceived to be rather haughty than covetous, and they cloſed by inſinuations with him, relating how Sir J. Owen had ſurprized the p. 220Caſtle, detained their Goods, and inſulted over them, who had born Arms in the ſame Cauſe, therefore they offer'd to joyn with him to put him into the Caſtle, with condition that every Proprietary might obtain what he could prove by the Archbiſhops Inventory to belong to him, and for the Overplus, let it fall to the Colonels Mercy; whoſe Conſent the Archbiſhop's Art and fair Language drew on. And not the leaſt time being ſpent in delay, the Soldiers entred the Caſtle both by Scalada, and by forcing the Gates, aſſiſted by the Archbiſhop's Kindred, and other Welch; and Milton kept the Caſtle, and kept his Word, to let the Owners divide the Goods among themſelves, to which they laid Title, and could prove it. Let another take the Archbiſhop's room, and diſcharge it better. That which was loſt, the Caſtle, could not be kept; that which was ſaved helpt the King's Friends to ſubſiſt, which his gracious goodneſs would allow. Yes, but Milton was a Rebel. And may not a Rebel be uſed to do acts of Juſtice or Charity? Licet uti alieno peccato, is often allowed in moſt conſcionable Divinity. Make the caſe that one of the King's Ships at Sea piratically board a London Merchant, and ſpoil him; ſhall the Merchant be debarred from imploring an Algiers Captain to get him his own again, if he could find that favour? Here's the caſe, and all the caſe, upon whoſe miſ-report the Archbiſhop's good Name did ſuffer deeply. For whoſe juſtification more may be ſaid, than they that love detraction are willing to hear. Says Sanderſon, He fortified his Garriſon againſt the King: No ſuch matter. Mliton took the Garriſon, and kept it: but his Grace retired to his dear Kinſwoman's Houſe, the Lady Moſtyn. Yet ſays another, He was forward in the action in his own perſon, which was to fall away from the King. It is replyed, He was ever ſlow to revenge an unjuſt wrong, but earneſt to recover a juſt right: which Saluſt commends in Jugurtha's Wars, Non minus eſt turpe ſua relinquere, quàm aliena invadere injuſtum. This made him thruſt himſelf in among the Aſſailants, which in my cenſure of his Carriage did not become him. Elſe what harm was it to ſave his own ſtake and his Friends, without prejudice to the King's intereſt, whoſe Part could no longer hold any Garriſon in England:

Non vires alias, converſaque numinaſentis!

Cede Deo—

Aen. 11.

From his Fidelity to his Majeſty he never went back an inch. He ſuffered in the imputation to the contrary as innocently, as the Prophet Jeremy did, c. 37.13. who when he had ſeparated himſelf from the People, Irijah laid hold of him, and ſaid, Thou falleſt away to the Chaldaeans. So Athanaſius was baniſht by the good Emperour Conſtantine, being impeacht that he hindered the victualling of Alexandria, which might have endanger'd the ruin of the City. What did our Archbiſhop in this otherwiſe than his Excellency the noble Marqueſs of Ormond, whom Sanderſon juſtly praiſeth, That he thought it more honourable to ſurrender to the Parliament Forces, what the King held in Ireland, than to ſuffer the intereſt of the Engliſh Proteſtants, to fall under the power of the Iriſh Papiſts. Actions are not rigidly to be perpended, into which one is thruſt by neceſſity. A mild man, Nazianzen, pleaded pardon for them, who, being ſhew'd the wrack, ſet their hands to Athanaſius's baniſhment; foreign, Orat. de laud. Athanaſii. Their Mind was true, their Pen was forced. Integrity muſt be more precious to a Man than his Life: but in ſome things to be reduced to obey Rebels is no departure from Integrity. He was a Lord Chancellour of France, whoſe Decipher agrees exactly with this great Prelate, ſometimes Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, Guido Rupifalcaudius citra ignaviam circumſpectus, & generosè cautus: & tempori ita cedens, ut conſertis manibus integritatem fervaret, Budaeus de Aſ. fol. 36.

205. The Hiſtorian Sanderſon's Ink drops another Blot upon the Archbiſhop's Honour, That he diſſuaded the Country from Contribution to the King. I muſt exclaim as Demoſthenes did, when Aeſchines run into a great Abſurdity, foreign; why do you not take Hellebore, or Bears-foot, as we call it in Engliſh, to purge Melancholy? So quite is every thing miſtaken. For the Welch in thoſe Parts had now laid down their Arms, the Enemy being ſix to one that was broke in upon them. Omnes, quorum in alterius manu vita poſita eſt, ſaepiùs cogitant, quid poteſt is, cujus in ditione, & poteſtate ſunt, quàm quid ipſi debent facere, Cic. pro Quinctio. It was no time for the Subdued to ſhew their Teeth, when they could not bite. Beſides, they paid no Contribution before, p. 221but for their own defence, neither carried Moneys out of their own Country: The ſcarcity of Coin is well known in that remote corner of the Kingdom; they have Meat and Drink good ſtore for their Bellies, and home-ſpun Frieze for their backs, as the Modern Greeks have a Proverb in barbarous words, foreign, God provides thick Mantles for clothing, where there are hard Froſts. But the Silver of the Welch, which they talk of is in the Mines of the Mountains, not in their Purſes: or you may ſay their Sacks are full of Corn, but they are not ſo lucky as Joſeph's Brethren were, to have money likewiſe in their Sacks mouths, Gen. 42.27. Yet ſuppoſe they had been able now to make a bountiful Levy, would Milton have ſuffered them to ſend it to the King? Or might it be, they could have done it by ſtealth, their Friends at Oxford were block't up, and could not come by it. Collect then, what unlikelyhood, nay, what impoſſibility there was to diſſuade thoſe Counties from Contribution to the King. 'Tis far better yet on the Archbiſhops ſide, he might go bare-faced through the World, and not be aſham'd, but rather admired for the good Service he did to his depreſſed Country-men in their greateſt neceſſity. Livy ſays of the Corinthians, when they look't for hard bondage from the Romans, and quite above their expectation, a Praeco ſtanding by the Commander of the Legions proclaimed Liberty to them, and to all the vanquiſh't Graecians, Mirabundi velut ſomni ſpeciem arbitrabantur: So after the Archbiſhop had turn'd Milton up and down with fine Diſcourſes, and wrought him like Wax, the People thought they were in a Dream, when their League was made upon theſe Conditions, That none of thoſe Counties ſhould compound for Delinquency, nor be burthen'd with Free-quarter, nor have the Covenant offer'd to them, nor be charged with Taxes, but only in Victual for Men and Horſe in the Garriſons. As Valerius ſays Lib. 7. of Anaximenes ſaving Lampſacum, by turning Alexander's vow to deſtroy it, to be the obligation to ſave it, Salus urbis vaſramenti beneficio conſtitit: So theſe Cambro-Britains were conſerved by the cunning and dexterity of a Maſter-wit, and let Col. Milton come in for his ſhare of eaſineſs and lenity. Oxford had tolerable Articles of Immunity upon the Surrender: Exeter had better than it: but North-Wales had the beſt of all; and was never much oppreſt after, but by Vavaſor Powel: he and his fellow Praedicants ranſack't all that the poor Church had, foreign, Soph. Antig. Thoſe New-light-men, that thought they were near to be Prophets, were very rapacious and covetous. Let the Archbiſhop's carriage ſuper totam materiam now be brought to the Touch-ſtone: except ſome unadviſedneſs to venture perſonally upon the Caſtle (and it was no worſe) had been, I ſee nothing could make any noiſe, which made the entrance to a wrong, but a great ſuſpicion. Dr. Harmer hath flouriſh't it over with fine Latin to bring off the Archbiſhop from obloquy: but I am better acquainted from ſure Hands and Papers about every occurrence, and leave him to his own elegancies. This was the Judgment of Col. Samuel Sands of Amberſly near to Worceſter, which he gave to Mr. John Griffith, and the reſolution of Col. Samuel Sands of Ewel in Surrey delivered to my ſelf, That this matter was diſcourſed by many as good as themſelves, and that all concluded, it was an Action very excuſable, and full of prudence, and that the moſt of them were acquainted with the Apology which his Grace made to his Majeſty. How unlike is it that this Man ſhould be unfaithful to the King at this blunt only, and make his Life ſo unlike to it ſelf in all his proceedings and ſtudies before and after? It is a motion which Tully makes, Orat. pro Sullâ, and a juſt Judge cannot deny it: Neque poteſt quiſquam noſtrum ſubito fingi, neque cujuſquam vita repentè mutari, aut naturâ converti. Vita torqueatur, ex illâ quaeratur. An excellent Rule of Reaſon and Charity to ſilence many Defamations. Take another Maxim, which is good in all Courts in and out of England. Qui in reatu decedit integro ſtatu decedit, Bad. l. 2. in Pand. f. 3. The Archbiſhop was never brought to Anſwer for this imputed Miſdemeanour; yet that will not drive the Nail home: but he that is impleaded, and yet no Judgment awarded, dies an Innocent. Few conſider how odious the voice of Slander is before the God of Truth. In the two and twentieth Chapter of Deuteronomy, compare the 19th and 29th Verſes, and you ſhall find, how he that defames a Virgin to be a Whore, is amerced in twice as many Shekels, as he that defloured a Maid, and made her a Whore. If the Slanderer have recourſe for his own Apology to common Report and Fame, his Judgment marcheth after the Devil's Drum. Our time honoured Chaucer, in his pretty Fiction of the Houſe p. 222of Fame, condemns the Giddineſs of common Talk, in a very pleaſant Art: That Aeolus brought two Trumpets to Fames Houſe, one of Laud, another of Slander; That Fame would not ſuffer Aeolus to wind out the Praiſe of ſome, though moſt deſerving; bad him cry up others of no merit; authoriz'd him to diſgrace divers, that had done things worthy of Renown.

Speak of them Harm and Shrewdneſs,

Inſtead of Good and Worthineſs:

For thou ſhalt Trumpet all contrair,

If that they have done well and fair:

Some new thing, I wot not what,

Tydings, either this or that.

When Aeolus's foul Blaſts are over, which will not continue long, the Glory of this Archbiſhop, and his Innocency, will mount above the Envy and Credulity of his Foes; wherewith his Memory muſt be content, as Socrates was Cum ab hominibus ſui temporis parum intelligebatur, poſterorum judiciis ſe reſervavit, Quintil. lib. 11.

206. What a long range of Diſplacings, Disfavours, Cenſures, Sequeſtrings, Impriſonments, Hurries to and fro, and Revilings hath this famous Prelate met with in his troubleſome Life, and rather paſs'd by them than through them? No Croſs could come ſo heavy to him, but he could cut it into ſmall ſhivers, and play with them in his Hand, but never take the whole weight upon his Shoulder: As the Gloſs ſays on Exod. 4. v. 4. when Moſes put forth his Hand, and took the Serpent by the Tail, and it became a Rod in his Hand, Ut ſerpens, ad laedendum ſit baculus ad ſuſtentandum: So the Oppreſſures that in Three and twenty years, without intermiſſion, exercis'd the Defence and Patience of one man, made him ſtand the ſtronger. Not a Stoick, but a Chriſtian, may ſay, Though Miſeries have a real Evil in them not to be denied, yet there is much of meer Opinion in their nature. That Induſtry which is the daily Vocation of a diligent man, would crack the Sinews of a Sluggard. That Solitarineſs which is one mans Comfort, is anothers Captivity. That Abſtinence, which is Health to a ſober man, would put a Glutton in fear of ſtarving. And thoſe Troubles which are Potions to a weak Conſtitution, are Wine and Myrrhe to the found and luſty. I reach not too high when I ſet forth this Archbiſhop to be an undaunted Sufferer, like Paul rather than Job, one that could wipe off Afflictions as eaſily as he could dry his Hands when he had waſh'd them: Yet in the end one eminent Sorrow cut his Heart,

Exemplo que carens, & nulli cognitus aevo

Luctus.—

Lucan.

and no Comfort could ever cure it, but Death. Our excellent, but moſt unfortunate King, took a ſtrange farewel of Oxford: Fermè fugiendo in media fata ruitur, ſays Livy; What God wills ſhall be done; he that ſhuns his Deſtiny meets it by flying from it. His Majeſty, unwilling to ſtay to the laſt in a City begirt, (for it would be inglorious to fall into the Hands of his Subjects, like a Priſoner) by the perſwaſion of Monſieur Mountrevile, went privily out of Oxford, and put himſelf into the Hands of his Native Countrymen and Subjects at New-caſtle. What! ſays our Archbiſhop, when he heard of it, be adviſed by a Stranger, and truſt the Scots! then all is loſt. It was a Journey not imparted to above ten perſons to know it, begun upon ſudden Reſolution, againſt that Rule of Tacitus, Bona conſilia morâ valeſcere. When Pope John XXIII. was told by his Friends, that many things would be charg'd upon him at the Council of Conſtance, ſays the Pope, There is a fault worſe than them all, that I am come over the Alps, and have put my ſelf upon this Council. Such was the Miſhap of a brave Prince, that to avoid ſome approaching Harms, threw himſelf into their cuſtody, that cry'd, Hail Maſter, and took Money for him. The Scots, to chuſe, prefer a Monarchy before any other Government, ſo they may govern their Monarch: But they are as ſtiff for a King as the Cappadocians in Livy, that refuſed the Offer of the Roman Senate to be made a free State, Negant vivere ſine rege ſe poſſe. And p. 223they count it no ſmall Honour, that no Nation at this day can reckon ſo many Kings, as they have had, One hundred and ten; but no five Nations have murder'd ſo many Kings. To which Impeachment Dr. Rivet, the Profeſſor of Divinity at Leyden, gives this dogrel Anſwer, Sic ſunt Scotorum praefervida ingenia, who were not Blood-hot, but Hell-hot with his Favour. The Scotch at Newcaſtle to whom the King retired for Safeguard, had a brave occaſion to ſhew Faith and Loyalty, but they kept their wont, and ſold their Maſter, as Judas did his to the Jews, to the Race of New-England, the Independent Salvages: O barbarous! perſidious! mammoniſh! ſacrilegious! to make Bargain and Sale of him that ſate in God's ſtead over them!

Nomen erit pardus, tigris, leo, quicquid adhuc eſt

Quod fremat in terris violentius.—

Juven. Sat. 8.

I roar it out to all People and Languages, are you not aſtoniſh'd at it? Which you will not believe, though it be told you, Habbak. 1.5. Crediderim tunc ipſam fidem, humana negotia ſpectantem, moeſtum vultum geſſiſſe, Valer. lib. 6. whom Cromwel their Paymaſter uſed as they deſerv'd, and after that day would never believe the falſe Leſly, that made the Market, nor the turbulent Kirk, in any thing. Cromwel was cunning in that Art, and could ſee through Leſly, and his treacherous Nature, that if Leſly had advantage to betray him, he would take ready Mony for him. Like Ptolemy, that betray'd Pompey to Caeſar's Executioners; Qui Pompeii caedem partium fato, non Caeſari dederat: Haud dubiè idem in ipſum auſurus, ſi expediret. He would have ſerv'd Caeſar ſo, if Caeſar had been the Blot to hit, and by that to win the Game he play'd for, Florus, lib. 4. c. 8. There were Thouſands and Millions of the Scots innocent of this Crime, Onus invidiae non exuperabile terris, Manil. lib. 2. which ſtruck Grief to the bottom of their Souls to hear it, that waſh'd their Hands from the foulneſs of it, and curſed the Traytors to Damnation, who had left ſuch an indelible Stain upon their Kingdom. But what an iniquous thing it is, that the Contagion of a part ſhould infect the Honour of all the good People of a Country?

207. England deſerv'd worſe, and heard worſe than theſe Jocky-Pedlars that chaffer'd away their King, and our Countrymen are received abroad in ſome places, to this day, as the Off-ſcouring of Europe. Our Gentlemen that travel know it, how the Spaniards ſhrugg'd and ſtopp'd their Noſes at them, when they met them in Madrid. There is a Reaſon why the French give them no leſs Civility than they were wont; their Heads were in the Plot of our Civil Wars; they look'd on as unconcern'd Spectators, till our King was taken out of the way, and inſtantly confederated with our new States the Traytors, and conſented to all their Articles and baſe Demands: So much are they fallen from that Honour, which their own Thuanus gives them, an. 1559. p. 616. Afflict is Principibus fidum, ac tutiſſimum ſemper fuit apud Gallos perſugium. This perhaps was true, when ſuch ſage Senators as Thuanus ſway'd the Court: But how much of late is the caſe alter'd? But I haſten to the beginning and end of the ſaddeſt Tragedy that ever was acted ſince that of our Bleſſed Saviour. Our Innocent King, a Lamb dumb before the Shearer, being cheated out of the Presbyterian Guards which kept him, Cromwel and his Maniple of Miſcreants ſeized on him: Cromwel, that Imp of Satan, compounded of all Vice and Violence, and Titan-like Courage, devoid of all Pity and Conſcience, the greateſt of the Souldiery, and by his Arts greater than them all, waxen to be a Coloſſus, between whoſe ſtrides the Seas flowed, his Countenance confeſs'd him a Tyrant, ſuch as Domitian was; Saevus ille vultus & rubor, à quo ſe contra ruborem muniebat, Tacit. Vit. Jul. Agr. But he that bluſheth always, can give no Teſtimony of Shame in his Face: He regarded not Parliament, Courts of Law, Patents, Charters, much leſs any Canons which Holy Church had ever appointed, no, nor the Scriptures of God, in compariſon of ſome new Light ſhining in the Lanthorn of his own Head: But his way was to govern three Kingdoms by his Armies, the Armies by the Agitators, and the Agitators by himſelf, whom he ſhot dead upon the place, if they croſs'd his Will; Superbus, & ſanguinarius, & volens militariter imperare: It is as true Cromwel, as it was Macinus in Capitol's Hiſtory. But that which ſped him in all his Villanies was Perjury, like Ferdinand the Caſtilian, Ferdinandus grande perfidiae lucrum tulit, Thuan. anno 1502. a very Lyſander in Plutarch, that p. 224couzened men with Oaths, as Nurſes do Children with Plums and Cake-bread: He took as many Oaths (they were the Full-Moons of his Proteſtations) and kept as few as any that was ever baptiſed in the Name of Chriſt, unleſs Pope Alexander the Sixth did match him, Quo nemo ſpecioſius juramentum juravit, qui minus praeſtitit nemo unquam fuit, Match. Reſp. p. 76. He was ſo accuſtom'd to forſwear himſelf, that he could not leave it in Toys and Driblets; yet would ſooner keep Faith with Fernando the Portugal Jew, to provide him the beſt Sacks and Tobacco, than with his Cabinet, and all the fawning Folk that were about him. If I had ever met with a more odious Paſſage than that in St. Baſil, ep. 246. I would afford it him, foreign, a Morſel fit for the Devil's Stomach. This arch-juggler, to feel the Pulſe of the People, ſuffer'd His Majeſty's Servants to have better acceſs to him, than was under the Presbyterian Reſtraint; and he ſet out Declarations in print, That no ſure Peace could be made, without due care taken for His Majeſty, and his Poſterity. You would think he had been as penitent, and as much changed as Apuleius was, lib. 4. Statis ja…, dolis abjectis, aſinum me bonae frugi Dominis exhibere; that he was grown weary of all his Roguerie… in his transformed ſhape. Yet theſe were but Tricks, to rock all thoſe aſleep, who he knew would oppoſe him, if they were prepared: Sonmo occupari ut poſſint lenes audiendae ſunt naeniae, Arnob. lib. 7. But as ſoon as he had diſpoſed his Forces to bridle all popitious and ſtrong places of the Land, and to controul the Aſſurance that the City of London might make to ſave the King's Life, he ſell to compaſs that which Plutarch in Solon's Life calls the moſt hated thing among men, foreign, A Perpetuity or Eternity of falling out; and to implicate the souldiers in ſuch a Crime as could not be pardon'd, to make Rebellion immortal. So Tolumnius put the Fidenates on ſuch an Action, as they muſt fight with Rome to the laſt man, and never hope for Peace, Liv. lib. 5. Fidennates cruento ſe…lere interficiendi legatos implicuit, ne ſpem ullam à Romanis poſſint recipere. And together he found a means to forgive himſelf all the Miſchief he had done, by getting himſelf above all Law and Power, that might queſtion him. Matchiavel could find no fault in Cromwel, as he did in Pagalous, becauſe he kill'd not Pope Julius the Second, when he had him in Peruſium. Sic rei magnitudo omnia priora ſecler… obtegere potuit, & à periculo conſervare, De Rep. l. 1. c. …. So he calls his Familiar Ireton to him, the common Sewer of Malice, Sator, ſartorque ſcelerum, & meſſor maximus, Plaut. and theſe complot to draw in above an hundred more, to ſit in an High Court of Juſtice, (give them their Phraſe) to bring the King in perſon to be try'd before them, the Indictment is ſtudied and made ready, but St. John and Dorilaus: The great Bellows that blew out the fatal Sentence, was that Son of Perdition Bradſhaw, the Rider upon the red Horſe (for he ſate in Scarlet) and had power to take peace from the earth, that men ſhould kill one another: and there was given to him a great ſword, (to cut off the Lord's Anointed, his dear Servant) Rev. 6.4.

208. Theſe, with the Cubbs of the ſame Litter, ſhed the Royal Blood upon a Scaffold openly, for no Fault, God knows, but as Beda reports of K. Sigebert, ſlain by two Ruffians, who render'd this Cauſe for it, That his Meekneſs had made many Malefactors, and his Goodneſs had undone the Kingdom. O unheard of Immanity, above Mariana, and all Jeſuitical Poſitions.

—Quorum ſceleri non invenit ipſa

Nomen, & á nullo poſuit natura metallo.

Juven. Sat. 13.

O Sons and Daughters of Jeruſalem, droul out an Elegy for good King Joſias, Triſtius lacrymis Simonidaeis, Catullus. O moſt facinorous Fact, next above that of the Prieſts, that to poyſon the Emperor Henry the Seventh, forbore not to poyſon their own God in the Sacrament. O ruthleſs Monſters, that could ſtop their Ears at the Prayers of ſo many Nobles male and female, that kneeled unto them to ſpare their Soveraign, who would never have been moved, if the People had wept Blood! O day of wailment to all that are yet unborn! foreign, Syneſ. Ep. 58. As apt as ever words did light in my way. It was the day that they crucified Chriſt upon the Croſs again. O ye Kings of the Earth, wherefore do ye not revenge it? p. 225When Beſſus kill'd Darius, Justin puts you in mind, Communis Regum omnium eſt cauſa, lib. 13. every Monarch in Europe was wounded with that ſtroke: If thoſe Royal perſons will not regard it, to whom ſhould the Crown of England make its moan? Let the words of Tully be mark'd, Act. 7. in Verrem: Si in aliquâ deſertiſſimâ ſolitudine ad ſaxa & ſcopulos haec conqueri vellem, tamen omnia muta & inanima tantâ ac tam indignâ rerum atrocitate commoverentur. But wherefore do we quarrel the remiſſneſs of Princes abroad? Since there is not among our ſelves that hath the Courage of a gallant man, to meet with Cromwel, who jetts up and down, and ſtrike him to the Heart, and expire upon the Murderer; ſince the Law cannot puniſh him for ſo confeſs'd a Treaſon, is not the Equity and Vigour of the Law in every one that can attach him? Si quis eum qui plebiſcito ſacer ſit occiderit homicida non eſt. That's Law with Budaeus, lib. 2. Pand. fol. 28. Private Revenge is infamous and unlawful; but he is actually condemn'd that hath killed the ſupreme Magiſtrate, and every man is a Magiſtrate to cut off that Malefactor, when there is no Magiſtrate or Bench of Juſtice ſitting, to try the Traytor. But it is our Shame, that every one wiſheth that were done by another's Hand, which he dare not for fear do himſelf. Metellus Macedonicus was dragged to Priſon by Catinius Labeo, Tribune of the People: Says Pliny, lib. 7. c. 44. Indignationis dolori accedit, inter tot Metellos tam ſceleratam Catinii audaciam ſemper fuiſſe inultam. The Cattive Cannibal Cromwel lives, and is mighty, cockers his Genius, and abounds in Luxury: foreign. Odyſſ. 1. Here Cyclops, drink Wine, ſays Ulyſſes, ſince you have eaten ſo much Man's-fleſh. Says the learned Dr. Duport, Ironicè & moraliter dictum, ut ſomno vinoque conſcientiam ſopiat, qui homicidium commiſit. But our Cyclops will never be able to caſt his Conſcience into a ſound Sleep; the Furies of Hell will often laſh him and awake him. Nero was the Murtherer of his Mother Agrippina, and though afterward he drowned himſelf in all ſort of Pleaſure, he could not avoid the Torment of heavy Remembrance. So Sueton. par. 24. Ne que tamen ſceleris conſcientiam (quanquam & militum, & ſenatus, & populi acclamationibus confirmaretur) aut ſtatim, aut unquam poſtea ſerre potuit. Had Zimri Peace that ſlew his Maſter? Richard the Third ſeemed to ſee many Devils haling him, and tormenting him, the night before he was ſlain in Boſworth Field, Pol. Virg. Hiſt. p. 25. The ſame continual Excruciation muſt be in the Breaſt of brazen-fac'd Bradſhaw; God will run him into Phrenzy with the ſight of his Sins, as our Acts and Monuments record, That Judge Morgan fell mad, after he had paſs'd Sentence of Death upon Lady Jane, and cried out, Take away the Lady Jane from me; and died in that Horror. But whither am I carried? Silence in ſuch a Subject before me would condemn me, and Writing enrageth me. Our Criticks blame Euripides, that he is foreign, too long in his Bewailings. I could not contract Laments into a leſs compaſs, upon the moſt deplored end of a thrice-honour'd King, a moſt pious Saint, a patient and a crowned Martyr; of whom our Prelate Williams preacheth in a Faſt-Sermon, p. 55. That he was as like Virtue it ſelf as could be pattern'd in Fleſh and Blood. What Velleius writes of Aemilianus is too much for a man, but ſcarce any one came nearer it than this man, Qui nihil in vitâ niſi laude dignum aut fecit, aut dixit, aut ſenſit. But I will challenge to King Martyr Charles, what a Chriſtian Hiſtorian writes of a very Chriſtian King of ours, Malmsb. lib. 1. c. 4. It is King Kenwolf, to whom Beda dedicates his Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtory, Nihil quod livor dignè carperet unquam admiſit. And let his Death be bewailed his Memory be reſreſh'd with glorious Praiſes, and immortal Fame to the Worlds end.

209. The Thread of his Life ſo diſmally cut off, who was the Darling of all that were holy, and fear'd God, who was the Breath of our Noſtrils (as Naz. writ to Baſil, foreign, You are more my Breath than the Air I breathe in.) This the heavieſt Judgment of God that could befall us, turn'd all England into ſuch a Mourning, as no Relation can deſcribe, or Fancy imagine. Tears burſt out, Groanings bellowed forth, Hearts melted like Wax, few but forgat to eat their Bread, Melancholy ſtruck abundance dumb; the ſaddeſt p. 226Event was, that Frenzies ſeized on ſome, and ſudden Death on many. It pierced the Archbiſhop's Heart with ſo ſharp a point, that Sorrow run him down the Hill with that violence, that he never ſtay'd till he came to the bottom, and died. As ſoon as this Blow was given, many conceived Deſpairs, and are big with it yet, that the Slavery under which the three Nations are fallen is irrecoverable, till the laſt and terrible day of the Lord. In which doleful Sadneſs Lord Primate Uſher, I am witneſs of it, continued to his End. We Engliſh are obſerv'd to be too credulous of vain Prophecies, ſuch as are Father'd upon Merlin, and no better Authors. I remember an old Scotch man called Mony-penny, (if it were his right Name) taught me this Rhime, when I was Fourteen years old:

After Six is One,

And after One is None;

But Hey-ho and Weal-a-day

To the day of Dooms-day.

His Grace of York turn'd that Prophetick Conceipt into a Religious Practice: Dr. Floyd, a Religious Divine, Preaching a Sermon at his Funeral, extolled the moſt Reverend Father's Devotion, That from the heavy time of the King's Death, he roſe every midnight out of his Bed, and having nothing but his Shirt and Weſtcoat upon him, kneeled on his bare Knees, and pray'd earneſtly and ſtrongly one quarter of an hour, before he went to his Reſt again. I will inform Dr. Floyd in two things, which he knew not: Firſt, He obſerv'd the ſeaſon of Midnight, becauſe the Scriptures ſpeak of Chriſt's coming to judge the Quick and the Dead at Midnight. It is true, according to the motion of the Sun and Stars, it will be Day as well as Night in ſome Climate of the World, but very like to be Night, that is, cloudy Darkneſs over all the Earth. Secondly, The matter of his Prayer was principally this; Come Lord Jeſus, come quickly, and put an end to theſe days of Sin and Miſery. So much I learnt from himſelf, and ſo report it. His days were conſumed in Heavineſs, as his Nights in Mourning: Facetiouſneſs, in which he was ſingular, came no more out of his Lips, he ceaſed from Diſcourſe, from Company, as he could, and nothing could hale him out of this Obſcurity. Such another Condoler for his King worthy Spottſwood remembers, Hiſt. p. 106. That Will. Elphelſton, Biſhop of Aberdeon, hearing of the unfortunate Death of K. James the Fourth at Floyden, was never afterward perceived to laugh, nor willingly did he hear any thing that ſounded to Mirth or Gladneſs. Mourning for the Dead profits not, yet a tender Nature is liberal of it, and will pay more than it needs. Says Sophocles, If Tears would call the Dead again, foreign, they would be more valuable than Gold. But a Bucket of them will not empty the dead Sea of Grief. Wiſe Solon in Laertius taking on heavily for his Son's Death, ſays his Companion to him, Grief will do you no good. And that makes me grieve the more, ſays Solon, becauſe it will do me no good. It is a very weak Paſſion, and yet often too ſtrong for Reaſon. The Archbiſhop remained very ſilent in his dejected Heavineſs, and enquir'd after no News, except that ſometimes he would lift up his Head, and ask what became of the King's Tryers, Baanah and Rechab eſpecially, Cromwel and Bradſhaw, looking for ſome remarkable Judgment of God to come down upon them; which they have eſcap'd, for the greater tryal of good mens Patience: And a Dream of Felicity is granted to them here, that paſſing from Extremity to Extremity, their Pain may be the ſharper when they awake to Judgment. Caeſar writes like a Dictator of Reaſon, de bel. Gal. l. 1. Conſneſſe Deos immortales, quo gravius homines ex commutatione rerum doleant, quos pro ſcelere eorum ulciſci velint, his ſecundiores interdum res, & diuturniorem impunitatem concedere. Syneſius hath ſaid a little more, Ep. 44. foreign. He that holds out long unpuniſh'd, after a foul Fact, is to be eſteem'd moſt unhappy, and ſo baſe, that neither God nor Man regards him. Let theſe Regicides be reprieved, and each live with himſelf, he cannot have worſe Company than himſelf, till he deſcend into Hell.

p. 227210. Abite lemures peſſimi: I thruſt theſe Infernal Goblins out of my way with the Cenſure they deſerve; and I reſume the mournfful Archbiſhop, who is now come to the end of his days, and I of my Copious Labour. Two Years, and almoſt Two Months, he conſumed in a ſequeſtred and forlorn Condition, ſcarce any Witneſs could tell what he did all the while, but that he prayed, and ſate at his Book all Day, and much of the Night. That little which he ſpake at Meals would afford great Eſſays of Wiſdom, and obſervable Predictions, if it were remembred. As Nazian. ſaid of St. Baſil's common Talk, Quae ab eo velut obiter fiebant multò praeſtantiora ſunt,—Quàm ea in quibus alii elaborant. But let all paſs which he conceal'd to himſelf in the dark times. I remember my Rule, though I forget who taught it me, though it be not according to Nature, it is according to Honeſty, Vacuum potius relinquere quàm non verum. There was an Idol in Lacedaemon, (Pauſanias knew it well, p. 195.) called foreign, which they worſhip'd that were young, to delay Old-age: But no Times did precipitate Age and grey Hairs upon Men more than theſe wherein we live. Says the Maſter of the Sentences among the Heathen, Il. 4. foreign. Men grow old apace, that are in Miſery. Aſſuredly every month ſpent away the Archbiſhop's ruin'd Tabernacle now, more than a year before: And all Infirmities fly to Old-age, as Offenders to an Altar. Dr. Floud, the Panegyriſt at his Grace's Obſequies, tells us, That he had ſome Prognoſticks of his Death not long before it, and told it to ſome perſons with Aſſurance, and much Grief; and ſometimes when he had ſaid Grace after Meal, and was riſing from the Table, he would ſay, I am ready for the LORD. His Death came from a ſudden Catarrh, which cauſed a Squinancy, by the inflammation of the interiour Muſcles, and a ſhortneſs of Breath follow'd, which diſſolved him in the ſpace of twelve hours: In which time the virtuous Lady Moſtyn, where he ſojourn'd, ſpake to him of his preparation for Heaven: Says he, Couſin, I am already prepared, and will be better prepared. So he called for the Miniſter that was the neareſt, to read the Viſitation of the Sick, and twice over to him, the greateſt part whereof, eſpecially the Pſalms, he rehearſed diſtinctly himſelf, and received Abſolution: When the Pangs of Death approach'd, many other Prayers were read, and ſhort Sentences of Devotion repeated aloud in his Ears; and thoſe words being often ſaid, The Lord be merciful to thee, the Lord receive thy Soul, at that inſtant firſt he cloſed his Eyes with one Hand, and then lifting up the other, his Lips moved, and recommending his Spirit to his Redeemer, he expir'd. foreign.Syneſ. Ep. 57. He is gone before me, whom I deſir'd not to outlive: A Squinancy, whereof he dyed, was the Death of the only Pope that was born in England, Hadrian the Fourth: But the whole Conflux of the Diſeaſe that took him away, was in all circumſtances the ſame with Padre-Paulo's the Servite, as the Author of his Life ſets it down, that his Feet could receive no warmth, (the ſame Symptom that laid hold of this Prelate) and that a Catarrh deſtroyed him. There are many Diſeaſes dangerous and mortal; this is often cured by the launce of a ſorry Chyrurgion, of whom there was none in that place.

Ego timeam terres trementes, quem craſſior ſaliva ſuffocat?

Sen. de Nat. l. 6. c. 28.

p. 228The day of his farewel out of this Life was upon the Annunciation of the Bleſſed Virgin, which was his Birth-day, the 25th of March, 1650. Dureque ad miſeros veniebas exulis annos? ſays the baniſh'd Poet at Tomes, upon his Nativity-day, lib. 3. de Triſt. El. 13. Pompey was ſlain as near as could be to his Birth-day, Pridie Natalium, in the Obſervation of Plutarch. William Earl of Penbrook died ſuddenly upon his very Birth-day, Sanderſ. Hiſt. p. 141. Macrobius tells a Wonder, Saturn. lib. 1. that Antipater Sidonius had ever a Feaver upon his Birth-day, and in his Old-age died of a great Fit the ſame day. This Holy Father had compleated the juſt number of 68 years: Satietas vitae maturum tempus mortis aſſert, Cic. de Sen. He was weary of Life in thoſe hateful Times, therefore Death came welcome to him; and the more welcome, becauſe he lamented his own Condition, that he could contribute nothing to raiſe up the Ruins of the Church and Kingdom. Tum cecidit, cum lugere rempub. potiùs poſſit, quàm ſervare, ſays the ſame Eloquent of Hortenſius in his Brutus. When Satiety of Years was come about, a Body waſted, a Mind oppreſs'd with Deſolation of the Publick-weal, it had been a Puniſhment not to dye, after that neat Similitude of Epictetus, lib. 2. c. 6. foreign. It is an Injury, or in his word a Curſe, upon Corn, when it is Summer-ripe, not to be cut down with the Sickle. So this worthy Father of the Church died in his Maturity of Age at Glocketh, in the Pariſh of Eglowaysroſe, in the County of Carnarvan; his Body was interred, where his Houſe of Pentrin ſtands, in Llangeday, the Heriot which every Son of Adam muſt pay to the Lord of the Mannor of the whole Earth: If you look for more of him, it is in another and a better World.

—foreign,

foreign,

Says the Epigram, Anthol. l. 3. If you look for Menender, (it is …all one if I ſaid Archbiſhop Williams) look for him with GOD, and the Saints above. Or, if a little more will ſuffice, read this Inſcription upon his Tomb, in the Chancel of Llangeday-Church. Plato, in the Twelfth Book of his Laws, would have no Epitaph exceed the length of four Verſes; this ſhall not hold you four minutes.

211. HOſpes lege, relege. Quod in hoc Sacello, paucis noto, haud expectares,

Hic ſitus eſt Johannes Wilhelmus, omnium Praeſulum celeberrimus:

A paternis natalibus è familia Wilhelmorum de Coghwhillin ortus,

A maternis è Griffithis de Pentrin.

Cujus ſummum ingenium, & in omni genere literarum praeſtantia

Meruit ut, Regis Jacobi gratiâ ad Decanatum Sarum

Poſt Weſtmonaſterii eveheretur.

Ut ſimul, atque uno munere, tanto Regi eſſet à conſiliis ſecretis, & deliciis,

Magni Sigilli Cuſtos, & Sedis Lincolnienſis Epiſcopus:

Quem Carolus primus infula Epiſcop. Eboracen. decoraret.

p. 229Omnes ſcientias valdè edoctus: novem linguarum theſaurus:

Theologiae purae & illibatae medulla: prudentiae politicae cortina:

Sacrae, canonicae, civilis, municipalis ſapientiae apex, & ornamentum.

Dulciloquii cymbalum, memoriae tenaciſſimae, pluſquàm humanae:

Hiſtoriarum omnis generis myrothecium.

Magnorum operum, uſque ad ſumtum viginti mille librarum, ſtructor.

Munificentiae, liberalitatis, hoſpitalis lautitri,

Miſericordiae erga pauperes inſigne exemplum.

Poſtquàm inter tempora luctuoſiſſima

Satur eſſet omnium, quae videret, & audiret:

Nec Regi aut Patriae, per rabiem perduellium, ampliùs ſervire potuit,

Anno aetatis 68^o, expleto, Martis 25^o, qui fuit ei natalis,

Summâ fide in Chriſtum, inconcuſſâ erga Regem fidelitate;

Animam, anginâ extinctus, piiſſimè Deo reddidit.

Nec refert quod tantillum monumentum, in occulto angulo poſitum.

Tanti viri memoriam ſervat.

Cujus virtutes omnium aetatum tempora celebrabunt.

Abi viator, ſat tuis oculis debes.

212. That which my Prayers and Studies have long endeavoured, the diſpatch of this Labour, is come to paſs by the good Hand of God this Seventeenth of February 1657. which is ſome hearts-eaſe, but with reſpect, that I wait the Conſolation of the Lord in better times. Which Benefit, not I perhaps, but ſuch as are younger may live to ſee: as the old Father ſaid to his Son in Plaut. Trin. Mihi quidem aetas acta fermè eſt: Tuâ iſthuc refert maximè. I need not admoniſh my Readers, for they find it all the way, that my Scope is not ſo much to inſiſt upon the memorable things of one Man's Life; as to furniſh them with reading out of my ſmall ſtore, that are well-willers to Learning, in Theological, Political, and Moral Knowledge. Yet in thoſe Obſervations I have not ſet down a Cyrus, a feigned Subject, but wrought them into the true Image of this Prelate. So Nazianzen informs us, that when Athanaſius drew out the Life of Anthony the Hermite, foreign, He drew out the Inſtructions of a Rural Hermetical Liſe in his Behaviour. Some are cheated with Wit now-a-days after the French faſhion, and had rather Men ſhould be commended in Romances of Perſons, that were never extant, than in ſuch as lived among us, truly deſerved Glory, and did us good. My Subject is real, and not umbratick; a Man of as deep and large wiſdom as I did ever ſpeak with; and I fear not to ſay of him, as Laelius doth of Cato major, Aut enim nemo, quod quidem magis credo; aut, ſi quis uſquam, ille ſapiens fuit: He was conſtant to that Religion wherein he was catechized, and inſtructed in it more perfectly in Cambridge. A punctual obſerver of the ancient Church Orders, whereof he was a Governour, and a great decliner of innovations, holding to it, that what was long in uſe, if it were not beſt, it was fitteſt for the People. He taſted equally of great Proſperity and Adverſity, and was a rare Example in both, like Lollius in Horace, Secundis rebus dubiiſque rectus: not elevated with Honour, nor in the contrary ſtate caſt down. His Enemies lik't nothing worſe in him than his Courage, and he pleaſed himſelf in nothing more: Of a ſtately Preſence, and a Mind ſuitable to it. Some call'd it Pride and Haughtineſs, a Scandal laid upon St. Baſil, ſays Nazianzen, foreign, They twiſted him that he was lofty and ſupercilious. Underlings will never forbear to object it to Men in places of Preheminence, when there is more of it in themſelves. Well ſaid Petrus Bleſenſis, Melior eſt purpurata humilitas, quàm pannoſa ſuperbia. Yet I concur with others, who knew this Lord, that Choler and a high Stomach were his Faults, and the only Defects in him. And it had been better for him, if he had known a meek temper, and how p. 230to be reſiſted. Otherwiſe his Vertues were ſuper-excellent. A great Devotee to publick and private Prayer: There did not live that Chriſtian that hated Revenge more than he, or that would forgive an Injury ſooner. Moſt Munificent, Liberal, Charitable above his Means, for he died in a Debt of 8000 l. though his Heir, Sir Griffith Williams, had enough in Mannors and Moveables to pay it. He loved to do things Praiſe-worthy. Nulla eſt tanta humilitas quae dulcedine gloriae non capiatur, Valer. lib. 8. cap. 13. Juſtice, Charity, Temperance, tender Bowels of Compaſſion, enchaſed all his Life and Carriage with wonderful gracefulneſs. His Skill in the Tongues, his Skill in the courſe of all Academical Arts, in all Hiſtory, in all the parts of Divinity, muſt needs be excellent: for he had a piercing Wit, a ſound Judgment, a ſtrong Memory, and with all theſe concurred indefatigable Induſtry. Yet by the employment of a great Office, but much more by the Iniquity of troubleſome Suits, Impriſonments, fatal Wars, and moſt of all by the embezelling of his Notes and Papers, Poſterity is little beholding to his Pen; but it owes greatly to his good Works. Et poſt mortem non opuſcula ſed opera penſanda, Sidon. lib. ep. 8. ep. 1. I will part with him now, as Xenophon did with Socrates in his Apology for him, foreign. That is, to a word, conſidering the Wiſdom and Gallantry of the Man, I cannot chooſe but remember him, and when I remember him, I cannot but praiſe him. Se quiſque ut vivit & effert. Manil. l. 2. But Praiſe be given to God for all his good Giſts. Amen.

FINIS.